Why did good people do bad things (commit white-collar crimes) Essay - 1

Why did good people do bad things (commit white-collar crimes) - Essay Example Jeffrey Skilling was a former Enron Chief Executive officer who was convicted of several counts of conspiracy and actual fraud. Russell Wasendorf was the CEO of the bankrupt Peregrine Financial group. Jeffrey Skilling was convicted of making false financial statements, wire fraud and securities fraud and sentenced to 24 years in prison. He was accused of committing a series of frauds that were geared at misleading investors and business analysts (Friedrichs 325). On his part, Russell Wasendorf admitted to stealing millions from about 13,000 investors who had entrusted him with their investment through his Peregrine Financial group. The judge sentenced him to 50 years jail imprisonment depending on the huge financial loss and sophistication of the fraud. Jeffrey Skilling and Russell Wasendorf were both not born criminals. Jeffrey Smilling was born in Pennsylvani and graduated from West Aurora High school. He attained a Bachelor of Science degree at Southern Methodist University in 1975 and after an MBA from Harvard Business School. Jeffrey was smart in class and in his early career since he was the youngest partner at Mckinsey consulting. There is no evidence that shows that Jeffrey Smilling had negative behaviours in his early childhood. On the other hand, Russell Wasendorf was born in 1948 and never displayed any signs of criminal behaviour in his early childhood. In the case of Jeffery Skilling, it was a case of a good person doing the bad things. According to his previous employment records, he displayed financial discipline and intense management qualities that helped McKinsey attain higher profitability and customer satisfaction. Russell Wasendorf is also a case of a good person doing the wrong thing. This is evidenced by his ability to stand the best direct online trading system that could connect the traders with the CME’s Globex in 1998 (Friedrichs 325). The two fraudulent crimes can be explained by the fraud triangle theory that asserts that

Law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Law - Research Paper Example 1. Arguments in support of firing the teacher (Pros): There are numerous grounds on which the aforesaid high school teacher is liable to be punished and they are stated as follows: I. The act of posing for an adult website is an immoral act by itself and should not have been committed by the teacher. II. Any teacher is a role model for his students and as such the high school teachers’ act of posing in an adult website gives a bad effect on the ideology of the students. Thus, the teacher should be penalized to prevent further damage on the students’ ideology. III. As a teacher of a school she should have conformed to some public, moral, business, and ethical standards as her actions affect her students and indirectly a larger community, which she did not, making her eligible to be dismissed. IV. Before getting hired by the school, the teacher signed an agreement which read, â€Å"I agree to promote this schools mission of training good and law-abiding citizens who will make this society a better place to live.† The act of posing for the adult website creates a bad impact on the students. It can happen that the students start posing for adult websites following the teacher. The teacher violates her contractual obligation â€Å"of training good and law-abiding citizens who will make this society a better place to live† (Contract clause) and therefore she should be fired. V. It can be presumed that the teacher has caused harm to the students by posing for an adult website once students have come to know about it and this makes the teacher liable to â€Å"be sued personally for causing student injury† and she may â€Å"also lose her job† (Kaplan and Owings 252). VI. The high school teacher was also negligent in doing her duty towards preventing harm to the students. She never thought for an instant that when her act of posing for an adult website is disclosed she may cause a bad impact on the ideology of the students and in directly the future of the students. Moreover, â€Å"neglect of duty and negligence† is a ground for dismissal of a teacher in 26 states of US (Neal 86). 2. Legal provisions in support of firing the high school teacher (Pros): There are numerous legal grounds which entail the dismissal of the high school teacher in this case, which includes dismissal of the teacher for immorality, causing harm, violation of contract, injury to the students and negligence. The burden of proof is on the school for proving through evidence that the teacher actions fulfill one of the aforesaid categories, making the teacher liable to be dismissed. The statutes of many states of US allow the dismissal of a teacher for immorality or unprofessional conduct. Immorality or unprofessional conduct authorize firing of teachers for behavior and choice of lifestyle the community or school board holds wrong or unfitting for teachers (Imber and Geel 193). In the instant case, the act of posing for an adult w ebsite is an immoral act and the teacher is liable for immorality. As stated by Essex in his book that immorality â€Å"is often cited as grounds for dismissal† (197). Immorality is a conduct that offends the ethics of a particular community that makes the teachers unfit to teach. The courts tend to view unprofessional acts of immorality as those actions that have an adverse impact on the teacher’

Do Unions Have Any Kind of Future In Australia Essay

Do Unions Have Any Kind of Future In Australia - Essay Example This will be the time to forge a global partnership between developing global partnership between developed and developing countries to ensure that employment growth policies are put in place to put an end to the scourge of our times - increasing unemployment, poverty and inequality' - said ICFTU President Sharan Burrow. The major corporations of the world are hopping around the world seeking the lowest cost worker. The ITES has meant that the developed world will lose more employment opportunities to developing countries where wages are cheap and working conditions can be stringent. The west and the rest of the developed world already troubled with rising unemployment will see a worse future. The 'global workforce' if at all one arises will require more such meetings and negotiations to make things happen - for a better tomorrow. The Unions around the world have emphasised on the need for collective bargaining. They are primarily composed of skilled and semi-skilled workers. But membership figures vary widely with the industry in question. The problem has particularly plagued Australia in sectors such as health because a large number of health workers from the commonwealth countries are present in these sectors. But what do unions do Changes in the structure and nature of work The Unions seek changes in the structure of work so that the work is less monotonous and comfortable to the worker. Further the unions make sure that the working conditions are also ideal. Unions form and people flock to join them for many reasons. They feel that their grievances will be redressed by the collective bargaining power of the unions. Some members also enrol for ideological issues such as the socialist cause and the anti-capitalism campaign. The Webbs defines that unions arose when the great bulk of workers had ceased to be independent producers, themselves controlling the processes, and owning the materials and the product of their labour, and had passed into the condition of life-long wage-earners, possessing neither the instruments of production nor the commodity in its finished state (Webbs, 1920: 25). In the 1920's Perlman stated thatTrade unionism, which is essentially pragmatic, struggles constantly, not only against the employers for an enlarged opportunity measured in income, security, and liberty in the shop and industry, but struggles also, whether consciously or unconsciously, actively or merely passively, against the intellectual who would frame its programs and shape its policies (1928: 5). Allan Flander says of Unions that 'The first and over-riding responsibility of all trade unions is to the welfare of their own members. That is their primary commitment; not to a firm, not to an industry, not to the nation. A union collects its members' contributions and demands their loyalty specifically for the purpose of protecting their interests as they see them, not their alleged 'true' or 'best' interests as

Housing Industry Research Essay Example for Free

Housing Industry Research Essay People would often refer to real estate and housing industry as the best way to build up riches, or possibly the best, easiest and fastest way for anybody to get rich. Most of the time, the terms real estate industry and housing industry are being used interchangeably by people, not knowing the very basic distinctions between the two terminologies. Real estate industry more formally refers to the industry that focuses on simply buying and selling real estate properties. Whereas, the housing industry is more concerned on developing and incorporating improvements to a real estate property. Basically, those that are in the real estate industry are doing much more of retail business, while those in the housing industry are doing much more of service and nonetheless, research, design, and manual work. The housing industry is the industry which is primarily concerned in building and developing houses and housing designs for private individuals, for government housing projects and for a local community. Moreover this is also the industry which provides the basic materials such as the building materials, and hard escape materials for a housing project. When you drive or ride through a community, the variety of architecture often reflects some of the history of the community or the locality. Architectural styles of the past are illustrated in the older neighborhoods but also influence the styles of homes built today. In a community, the housing industry is the one which is mainly concerned in all these. For most communities, there is only one housing industry which can be regarded as the main housing industry of the community. This can be a company, or a group of companies that would generally dominate all the housing projects within the locality, be it a private housing project or a housing project from the government. Mostly, these housing industries would dominate the landscaping industry, hard escape industry, and the hardware, building equipments and materials industry as well. Since most people believe in the logical trend that as one industry goes up the black, a counter industry would fall down the red; this would lead many to believe that the immediate spike in the information technology and communications industry would leave other industries such as the real estate industry and housing industry, to experience its most protracted slump for several years. This is actually the opposite of what’s really happening in the economy, for many years, the housing industry has remained as one of the most stable industries all over the globe. Indeed the housing industry has had its share of downs and suffered greatly from economic destabilizations, inflations and other economic fluctuations, but in spite of all these, it has retained itself as still one of the most promising, and stable industry. With nearly 17 million new conventional homes added over the past decade, the home building industry continues to set new records and standards. In 2005 alone, single-family starts exceeded 1. 7 million—far and away the largest number ever. Thanks to a stable economy and low mortgage interest rates, the home building industry has not seen a significant downturn since the early 1990s. This undeniable stretch of strong, stable growth in the home building industry has ushered-in a period of prosperity for major builders and supported a wave of mergers and acquisitions within the industry. In the early 1990s, the top 10 builders in the country accounted for less than 10 percent of all conventional new single-family home sales. By 2004, their share had risen to over 20 percent in most major metropolitan areas; larger builders hold an even greater market share. There are three major reasons for the dramatic increase in the scale among the home builders. The change in the access to capital is one of these reasons. After World War II, the savings and loan industry was the principal source of capital for the home building industry. With the collapse of many of these institutions in the late 1980s, builders had to turn to other sources of financing. Banks and private funds companies have thus, stepped in to fill the need for capitals and investments. These funding companies gave an edge to the housing industries since their presence meant easier access to capitals. Another reason is the change in the land use regulation. More and more communities are restricting residential development in an effort to manage growth. As a result, the development process in many locations takes longer than it once did, with land assembly and entitlement typically more complex and costly. This again creates a premium for scale of operations, since smaller builders often lack the resources to work with local officials over extended periods to secure the necessary approvals. The third reason is the change in economic environment. This has favored large-scale home builder industries. The strong economic environment for home construction over the past decades has ushered a stable growth and low mortgage interest rates that have prevented a major recession in the home building industry since 1991. This combination of market conditions has produced stunning increases in top-line growth and bottom-line financial performance for large home building companies. Between 1999 and 2004, builders of 500 units or more each year realized inflation-adjusted revenue growth of 135 percent. In addition, their gross margins on homes sold and net income each increased about 4. 5 percentage points. With industry consolidation have come new opportunities. To increase their scale and overall capabilities, larger-scale builders have incentives to reinvest in their operations by adding information systems for estimating, scheduling, and purchasing, or investing in panel plants to save time and costs in the construction process. With such investments, larger home builders continue to improve their operating performance, at a much faster rate relative to smaller builders. Better performance encourages even more builder consolidation, which in turn produces even greater scale economies, creates more incentives for investments to leverage these opportunities, and so on. This cycle would dictate further consolidation and greater efficiency in the home building industry in the years ahead. When asked to name the single most important reason for their recent financial performance, over half of the corporate-level survey respondents attributed their success to strong housing market fundamentals, and nearly a third cited their land assembly strategies. Another 13 percent considered improved customer satisfaction the key to profitability. In sharp contrast, few respondents attributed their success to shorter construction cycles, savings on product purchase, man power, on-site construction costs, and other operational efficiencies. Still, evidence of operational improvements does exist, particularly within the divisions of national and international home builders. Although their homes have become bigger and have incorporated higher-quality materials in recent years, national and international home builders have been cut the construction time to minimal, keep cost increases at modest levels, and significantly improve customer satisfaction scores, in parallel to improvements in the quality of finished products. Local divisions of regional builders have been less successful in improving the efficiency of their operations. Improvements in home building efficiency were the most common results from the implementing of innovative operating practices. Studies from Harvard have cited four general types of operating practices that homebuilders especially those at large scale, have used to their advantage. 1. Coordination with subcontractors. Subcontractors are typically the ones who purchase the materials used in home building, making payments to contractors a major expense category for homebuilders. Innovative builder practices in this area include initiatives such as making scheduling information easily accessible to subcontractors, automatically notifying subcontractors of schedule changes, and frequently updating the job site production schedule. As a result, increased efficiencies in the building process and lower production costs is maintained. 2. Component preassembly. Preassembling major components such as roof trusses allows greater precision in manufacturing and often provides cost savings by substituting semi-skilled off-site labor for skilled on-site labor. The preassembly process is also more efficient when done off-site, thereby creating the potential for shorter construction cycle time, and even so, smaller labor costs. 3. Supplier installation. In many product categories, builders have begun to purchase installation services from the manufacturers or distributors. Supplier installation helps to limit product disputes over the source of any problems. In addition, this practice can reduce construction labor needs since product manufacturers and distributors typically serve broader geographic areas than subcontractors. 4. Supply chain management. Supply chain management covers a broad range of practices from price negotiations for products and value-added services to the implementation of information systems to support purchasing and inventory management. Supply chain management is an area where scale economies give larger builders an obvious edge over their smaller competitors. Innovative operating practices help large home builders not only run their operations more efficiently and use their market power more effectively, but also better manage risk especially financial risks and risks in operations. Builders have reduced their exposure by controlling more land through options, joint ventures, and other approaches that keep land costs off their books until they buy the entitled lots. In this way, builders only incur these expenses close to the time of construction. With more efficient operations and better management controls, large builders typically do not begin construction until a home is pre-sold. Across builders surveyed, 73 percent of all homes closed in 2004 were sold before construction began an increase from 70 percent in 1999. National builders pre-sold over three-quarters of homes closed in 2004, while regional builders pre-sold about two-thirds. Larger builders have incentives to adopt innovative operating practices because they have the market power to implement these efficiencies and can leverage the benefits across a broader range of operating divisions. The financial payback for these improvements, however, depends greatly on conditions in the local market. Over the past years, consolidation of the home builders has dramatically changed the home building industry. In addition to improved financial performance, the adoption of innovative practices and methodologies related to product distribution and assembly line and development, has improved the operational performance of large builders along such dimensions as construction cycle time, efficiency of the building process, stability, style, and overall quality of structures, and customer satisfaction. In generating these efficiencies, builders have helped to streamline processes throughout the entire homebuilding industry. Home buyers have also benefited in parallel to the home building improvements. More efficient builder operations have kept construction costs low and customer satisfaction levels high, allowing builders to offer more model home options and more product choices without any corresponding increases in prices. In addition, greater efficiency has enabled builders to pre-sell more homes, which in turn has reduced the risk of overbuilding, and thus reduced the risk or putting the company financial trend line on the red. By keeping supply in line with demand, home builders have helped to bring greater stability to house prices, since overbuilding has historically been a principal cause of house price declines. Whether these improvements will continue as market conditions change remains to be seen. One encouraging sign is that operating efficiencies, as opposed to financial performance, have increased most in more competitive markets. If the housing market weakens in the years ahead and competition increases, larger builders still have the potential to improve their operations and maintain their strong financial performance. In communities where demand is strong but residential development opportunities are limited, house price appreciation tends to be high. In markets where price appreciation is low, land is generally more accessible and builders face fewer barriers to entry. As a result, construction activity can respond very quickly to changes in demand. As market conditions shift, however, builders can get caught with excess inventory, which drives down area-wide house prices. In these markets, builders must run their operations efficiently to remain profitable. In high-appreciation markets, demand for new homes is generally greater than the number of homes that can be added under existing land use and building regulations. This limits the risk of rapid overbuilding. Given that it takes more time and resources to build in these markets, higher barriers to entry and higher land costs push up the average price of homes sold. Builders working in these communities generally put a premium on their land acquisition and development strategy. Since they are often able to achieve higher margins on homes sold in these markets, they may put less emphasis on operational efficiencies. The market conditions that have helped to create a more efficient home building industry over the past years have also, in turn, favored the housing consumers. A more stable economy, with more muted cycles and low inflation, has produced some of the lowest long-term interest rates in a generation. Low interest rates, together with low unemployment rates, have also provided greater financial security for many citizens and thus given them more initiative to build their own households or improve their current household. Internationally, house prices have raised an average of 127 percent since 1990, with nearly half of this increase coming since 2000. Until recently, economic cycles interacted with housing cycles to produce tremendous volatility in home prices. From 1975 to 1993, house prices rose more slowly than overall inflation in 10 of the 19 years, or over half of the time. In each of the 12 years since 1993, however, house price appreciation has exceeded the pace of inflation. Builders that have already adopted more innovative practices have clearly profited from their investments. New practices related to product distribution and assembly has improved the operational performance of large builders, particularly in terms of construction cycle time and customer satisfaction, and thus greatly increasing their profits. Although being in the housing industry has a lot of economic advantages it is undeniable that there are still various external, economical, factors that can negatively affect this industry. A low economy, and low living standards, would most likely correspond to a decrease in the demands for housing industries. Natural disasters and calamities such as earthquakes, floods and typhoons that would occur at an unfortunate time, would leave home builders hanging in the deadlines for finishing their projects, since building cannot continued during such occasions. Generally speaking, the housing industry reflects the type of economy in a given region or locality. A region with a high economic state, low inflation, and high monetary value would most likely have a high level of housing industry in turn. The houses in the said region would also be of high quality; however, man power for construction would also come at higher rates at such an area. A stable economy in terms of monetary value and inflation would be the most ideal economy for a successful housing industry. Even high-performing builders still have the potential to make more improvements. Given that their strong financial performance has largely resulted from their leading land positions in booming housing markets, builders just have not to focus on implementing innovative practices and on maximizing operational efficiencies. Larger builders are those that would especially benefit from focusing on efficiency. Local builders with closings of 10,000 homes or more in 2004 reported implementing only half of the common innovative practices, while the divisions of builders with sales of 2,500 to 10,000 homes implemented less than 40 percent of the innovative practices. There are many valid reasons why implementation has been relatively weak. The corporate offices of larger builders report above-average development of innovative procedures, but implementation at the division level has often lagged. With the increase in the number of acquisitions in recent years, many of these divisions have only recently come under management of the acquiring builder and may thus need additional time to implement new systems and procedures. Furthermore, given their strong financial performance in recent years, corporate offices have less incentive and reason to develop new procedures for their local divisions, and local divisions have less incentive and reason to implement such changes. Whether builders will seize these opportunities remains to be seen. One encouraging sign, however, is that operational improvements have increased the most where house price appreciation is relatively low and no one builder dominates the market. If the house building industry weakens in the years ahead, house price appreciation is likely to slow and more builders are likely to compete within individual markets, these are exactly the conditions that lead to the development and implementation of operational improvements made in recent years. This means that a crisis such as the weakening of the economy leading to the weakening of the housing market, although has its undeniable negative effects in the housing industry, on the positive side, it would somehow force the home building industry to continuously and further develop and implement more and more innovations in their systems. Nonetheless, this would consequently lead to further innovations and efficiencies in the home building industry, and thus more high quality and affordable choices of homes for the consumers. References What’s next for housing industy CIOs. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://www. cio. com/article/134004 Seiders, D. F. (2006, September 19). Housing economics. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://www. nbnnews. com/houseecon/issues/2006-09-19. html Milt N. (2005, April 27). Housing market crisis threatens economy. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://www. workers. org/2005/us/housing-0505/ Schoen J. W. (2007, June 19). Housing industry still looking for the bottom. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/19311316/ Buban C. E. (2007, December 22). Housing developers and current industry trends. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://showbizandstyle. inquirer. net/ lifestyle/view_article. php? article_id=108293 Zito K. (2006, June 16). Billions to state from housing. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://www. sfgate. com/cgi-bin/article. cgi? f=/c/a/2006/06/16/BUG77JER951. DTL Housing slump reflects worsening economic crisis. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://en. internationalism. org/inter/144/housing-slump A new paradigm of the housing industry. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://www. meti. go. jp/english/newtopics/data/nBackIssue20080408_01. html Brief overview of the housing economy. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://www. oppapers. com/essays/Brief-Overview-Housing-Economy/116741 Barry S. Housing industry, subprime loans and mortgage woes: how serious is it? Retrieved

characteristics of Thailand

characteristics of Thailand Culture has long been a topic of interest in the academic world and has been written extensively on by many sociologists and ethnographers. As individuals from different countries have their own cultural norms and values, there are bound to be some cultural conflicts that occur when people with different cultural background interact with one another. Thailand has long been regarded as one of the most attractive markets in Asia for foreign direct investments (FDI) due to its many advantages such as its infrastructure, strategic location, FDI policies, government support, etc. (Thailand BOI, 2009). Although there are literatures on about the Thai culture and suggestions, particularly to Westerners, about how to adapt to this unique country, little remains said about how foreign workers as a whole can adapt to the Thai working environment. In attempt to shed some light on the matter, the author shall combine data from past researches about how Westerners should react to the Thai culture, along with more literature that explain the Thai society in more specific details. Lastly, the author shall discuss and analyze his interview data set taken from foreign workers in Company X and present a conclusion. As this paper’s focus revolves around the field of culture, a common understanding about what the word actually entails should first be established. Some examples of definitions have been made by a number of anthropologists. However, selecting from the most popular definitions, the following best describes the meaning of this important concept: Triandis (1994) views culture as interplay of sameness and differences; whereby all cultures are simultaneously very similar and very different. Furthermore, he perceives that as human beings, people share many commonalties and universals, but as groups of people or societies, we exhibit many differences Triandis (1994). However, the author feels that Ogbu (1988) best defines the concept of culture, as he explains, â€Å"[It is] a way of life shared by members of a population, and that it is the social, technoeconomic, and psychological adaptation worked out in the course of a people’s history. Culture includes customs or institutionalized public behaviors, as well as thoughts and emotions that accompany and support those public behaviors. It includes artifacts-things people make or have made that have symbolic meaning. Particularly important is that the definition of culture includes people’s economic, political, religious, and social institutions – the imperatives of culture. These imperatives form a recognizable pattern requiring competencies that guide the behaviors of members of the culture fairly predictably.† (p.11). For foreign workers to enter into Thailand, it would be inevitable that they will come across cross cultural challenges and some culture shock. Culture can have effect on what may seem to be the simplest things in life, such as meetings, greeting, perception of time; but what may seem to be normal to Thais may not be as familiar to foreign workers. This subject is indeed, and has been for a long time, difficult to identify and analyze effectively, as one can dig deeper and deeper into the academic findings and come up with such a variety of opinions and analysis that has to do with culture and its effect in the business world. In this case the author shall choose to focus on the Thai culture, and attempt to aid and produce further explanation to foreign workers wishing to come to Thailand in order for them to be able to better adapt to the Thai working environment. The term culture shock, which was first popularized by Kalvero Oberg (1960), portrays to the feeling of anxiety and disorientation that people experience when living in another country and culture. In explaining this phenomenon, Jandt (1998) shows 4 stages of culture shock: Initial Euphoria: Everything seeming new and exciting. Irritation and hostility: All the focus at this stage is on the differences between one’s own home culture and the new culture that they are experiencing. Gradual adjustment: When one becomes more accustomed and more comfortable in the new culture. In other words, things become more predictable and there are less unpleasant surprises. Adaptation: The person has fully adjusted and can function in both their own culture and the culture they are currently living in. The first and second stages of culture shock have some correlations with companies that decide to expand their operations abroad, as each company must overcome cross-cultural boundaries – named â€Å"psychic distance† according to Johanson and Vahlne (1977). However, instead of companies, this paper wishes to look at human individuals who wish to work abroad in Thailand. Psychic distance has been defined as factors preventing or disturbing the flow of information between potential and actual suppliers and customers, in which examples are differences in language, education, business practices, culture, and industrial development Johanson and Vahlne (1977) (p.24). The connection between psychic distance and knowledge within a firm is that a firm’s mangers will tend to be more comfortable towards country markets that they can get to know most easily. Thus, they will avoid countries that are more difficult to get to know – the bigger the perceived psychic distance, the less likely a company will expand into that territory (Brewer 2007). Johanson and Vahlne (1977) and Brewer’s (2007) are analysis about companies entering new markets, but their notions are still applicable in the sense of foreign workers living and working in Thailand. Much of the problem of culture shock stems from the lack of understanding within a particular country. The more difference that is perceived between the Thai culture and the foreign worker, the more psychic distance he or she would tend to feel against the Thai people. This would inevitably lead to the feeling of isolation, loneliness, or even hostility perceived in stage two of Jandt’s (1998) culture shock phases. If the foreign worker is not integrated into the Thai organizational community, then any work that must be done together with Thai workers and foreign workers will not be at its most productive stage, as the best output comes when there is group cohesion and good synergy. The aim of the research is to help foreign workers in Thailand better understand Thai culture and lessen the third stage of culture shock, along with promoting a smoother transition and adaptation to the Thai working environment and working better with Thais. By understanding more about the Thai working environment, along with the norms and unique culture, foreign workers can be better suited and prepared to adjust themselves to a new working environment, and lessen the chances of any conflicts occurring in the Thai work place. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Barriers to effectively adjust to a national culture One main problem that prohibits understanding of another culture is an ethnocentric orientation, which is using one’s culture as the standard for judging other cultures (Cavusgil et al, 2008, p.128). As most people have been brought up in a single-world culture, they cannot help but have a one-sided view of the world – which is a result of an ethnocentric view that believes that one’s own race, religion, or ethic group is somehow better or superior than other cultures (Cavusgil et al, 2008). Therefore, in order to overcome this cross cultural barrier, foreign workers are suggested to have a Polycentric orientation, which is a host-country’s mindset where one has developed a great affinity with the country in which one is in – or the best option having a Geocentric orientation, which a global mindset where a person is able to understand any culture in the world and combines an openness and awareness to other cultures (Cavusgil et al, 2008). Understanding a new culture – in this case Thailand – essentially requires effort from the foreign workers if they wish to get a better grasp and understanding of the Thai culture. However, doing so may be easier said than done. Although in this paper we shall be focusing on foreign workers, some aspects that may help expatriates adjusting to Thailand may have some relations to what other foreign workers may have to deal with. Barsoux et al. (2002) states that the â€Å"interaction adjustment† is the most difficult for expatriates because it requires them to learn the host country’s behavior patterns and their ways of communication, along with how varieties of relationships are handled – which differs depending on the country, but, nonetheless, also applies to the situation of foreign workers coming to Thailand. This task would be particularly hard to achieve if the expatriate does not speak the local language, as the only way to fully understand a particular culture is through its language (Valdes, 1987). 2.2 Hofstedes Dimensions of Culture Geert Hofstede, a Dutch cultural anthropologist, has been considered to be one of the most acclaimed academic writers who throughout the years has been cited numerously in the field of cultural studies. Through a statistical analysis of questionnaire data sets conducted with several hundred IBM employees from 53 countries, he was able to discover a pattern that indicated national cultural differences and similarities among his subjects; and how such characteristics can be generalized and grouped together to graph different human behaviors and motives – best known as Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions. In a preliminary attempt to conceptualize the Thai culture and put it in writing, the author shall initially start with the findings of Hofstede and how he has identified his initial four cultural dimensions that explain each country’s national culture – in this case, Thailand. In doing so, it should help the reader slowly build up an understanding of the overall picture of different aspects of the Thai culture, which would later be complimented with more detailed explanations. Check again if the ranking of the data is from Hofstede 2005 or earlier Although still important, it should be noted that Hofstede’s research can only be used as a general guide to the understanding of the Thai culture. His research does not provide sufficient understanding on how to manage a multicultural organization or gain a deeper comprehension of any particular culture. Therefore, extra literature relating to Thailand and its people shall be integrated into the review of Hofstede’s theory in order to fill in more gaps and further explain some of the more specific characteristics of the Thai society. In his most recent book, co-authored with his son, Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) explain the cultural dimensions (see appendix for Thailand’s cultural rankings) as follows: 2.2.1. Power Distance (PD) High PD countries tend to exhibit a tall hierarchy in their organizations with large differences in salary and status. Subordinates highly respect their bosses and do what they are told. Inequality is expected, and may even be desired in some cases. An example given by McCann and Giles (2007) shows that young workers in an organization perceive their interactions with older workers to be more problematic compared to their interaction with their peers, as the older workers were seen as more â€Å"non-accommodative† and superior – making them feel obligated to be more polite and respectfully avoidant in their communication tactics (e.g. holding back their opinions). Moreover, in such scenarios communication is almost always one way (top to bottom), and the manager is always expected to know more than his subordinates; input or feedback from subordinates is seldom practiced and may in fact be seen as somewhat impolite or disloyal (Javidan House, 2001). As Thailand is ranked as a High PD country, the status differences are often large (Sriussadaporn and Jablin, 1999) compared to Low PD countries that have a flatter hierarchy system, in which subordinates and supervisors are viewed as closer together and more interchangeable, but not identical (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005). 2.2.2. Individualism vs. Collectivism Thailand is characterized as a collectivist country in which people belong to a strong cohesive group that they believe will protect them in return for their loyalty to the group (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005). This type of patronage, or kinship, system is based on relationships between people that revolve around favors and reciprocity that give great importance to kindness and sincerity, in which personal links and family connections are valued to be of extreme importance (Holmes and Tangtongtavy, 1995). Collectivism can also be seen in the Thai people’s belief of social harmony where everyone is always consciously, or even unconsciously, making the effort to avoid any personal conflict with others (Nakata and Dhiravgin 1989; Sriussadaporn and Jablin, 1999; Knutson et al., 2003), which also fosters and supports the concept of â€Å"kreng jai† – later explained. In his research, Hall (1976) made a distinction that characterized cultures to be either â€Å"low context† or â€Å"high context†. Low-context cultures rely heavily on verbalization and emphasis on the delivery of verbal messages – expressing one’s self clearly, logically, and as convincingly as possible (Hall, 1976). In other words, Low-context cultures tend to value expertise and performance, and tend not to beat around the bush (Cavusgil et. al, 2008). High-context cultures, such as Thailand, are the opposite. They tend to focus on non-verbal messages and prefer indirect and polite face-saving style that emphasizes a mutual sense of care and respect for others (Cavusgil et. al, 2008, p.136). Interestingly Hall’s approach is very closely related to Hofstede’s individualism and collectivism cultural dimension, which has been further explained by Gudykunst and Ting-Toomey (1988) that cultures that have been labeled by Hall as â€Å"High-context† are considered to be â€Å"Collectivists† in Hofstede’s theory, and vice versa. Hence, Thailand is considered to be a High-context and a Collectivist culture. This may also help explain why it is difficult for Thai people to say â€Å"no† when one may feels disagreement or is unable to carry out an order. Moreover, as maintaining harmony is the center focus of a Collectivist culture (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005), showing bad emotions such as frustratio n, impatience, frustration, anger, or irritation is seen as disrupting the social harmony and is considered relatively rude and offensive (Sriussadaporn and Jablin, 1999; Knutson et al., 2003). Also part of the characteristics of Thailand’s high-context (Hall 1976) and collective culture (Hofstede and Hofstede 2005), it was found that young people seldom speak up – which may have stemmed from childhood as students do not express their opinions in class as much because quietness is also considered a virtue in the Thai culture (Knutson et al., 2003), which is also the case with younger people not disagreeing with older people in organizations (Boode, 2005; McCann and Giles, 2007; Javidan and Dastmalchian, 2009) – further supporting Smutkupt and Barna’s (1976) findings that any doubts or contradictive thinking in one’s mind are very rarely communicated openly in the Thai culture. 2.2.3. Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) Broadly defined, people in High UA countries tend to be more emotional than other countries, and are more motivated by their â€Å"inner nervous energy† (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005). As Thais are ranked as having high UA, one of the ways they reduce their uncertainty in everyday life communication is through their proper use of pronouns and postures to show respect, deference, politeness, and closeness towards others (Sriussadaporn and Jablin, 1999). This can also be seen through their use of silence to avoid uncertain confrontations with other people – especially with the more senior people (McCann and Giles, 2007). Moreover, as a result of this high UA ranking characteristic, Thais generally tend not to readily accept change and are relatively against taking risks (Swierczek and Ha, 2003). 2.2.4. Masculinity vs. Femininity Thailand has the lowest Masculinity ranking among the Asian countries, which indicates that they show a low level of assertiveness and competiveness compared to other countries in the region (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005). Sriussadaporn and Jablin’s (1999) research shows this with their observation that Thais do not truly express their own opinions as much as they deserve to due to their non-dominant and non-assertive characteristics. This may have derived from or have some indications to their Collectivist and confrontation avoidance nature in the findings of McCann and Giles (2007) attributed to the complex Thai hierchical system and their expected respect for the older generation. 2.3 The Thai workplace environment Words that could describe the Thai management style and its working environment, or business culture, are the following: compromise, slow, centralized, seniority-based, relationship-based, conservative, and family-based (Adams and Vernon, 2004). These terms seem very much to stress the maintenance of harmony in the company – being non confrontational and accepting the differences of inequality. As stated earlier, Thailand is traditionally a high power distance country (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005), which makes Thai society a segregated one with distinct unofficial class groupings and little chance for mobility across the class lines – also applying to the workplace environment (Komin, 1995; Lawler et al., 1995). Interestingly this type of class system in Thailand, is very much reflected in the organization and management of family-owned companies and enterprises according to Lawler et al. (1995). In other words, the need for a formal or set of rules in management may not be as high of a priority as the environment produced by the Thai social system has a great influence in defining the interaction between peer-to-peer and worker-to-worker in a company setting YES ACCORDING TO THE INTERVIEWS. In the largest firms in Thailand, family connections has served as a foundation for building international trading companies and has been a very important aspect of understanding the Thai working environment, which has been characterized by Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya and Taira (1977) as â€Å"management by entourage†. In other words, it conveys the concept of the importance of knowing the right people to get the job done and having connections in the right places. However, this concept becomes less manageable as a company grows and requires being more responsible for its accountabilities, more professional managers are needed – creating a hybrid of Westernized practices in a traditional Thai family enterprise (Lawler and Atmiyanandana, 2003). In the aspects of companies that are family enterprises, HRM practices are very much influenced by traditional Thai values and their social practices compared to the everyday management theory (Bertrand et. al., 2008). In other words, professional managers in the HRM filed are found to be very rare in family enterprises, even ad hoc, along with HR planning and the systematic analysis of employment issues are found to be virtually absent in such organizations (Lawler et al.,1989). So how are the employees controlled? The answer is through a complex hierarchical class system that has been deeply rooted within the Thai culture (Adams and Vernon, 2004). – also conveying that employees with lower positions react to people with higher managerial levels out of a sense of duty rather than according to the rules and regulations set by the company (Knutson et al., 2003). Moreover, this can be seen through the use of the complex Thai language between superiors and subordinates. EXPLAIN SOME OF THE IMPORTANT â€Å"JAI† WORDS: KRENG JAI, NAM JAI, SBAI JAI. This emphasizes on the importance of social harmony can be seen with the proper linguistic uses that must be used in everyday life when addressing people of different status (Knutson et. al., 2003). Where English has one word, â€Å"I†, as the first person pronoun, and one other, â€Å"you†, for the second person pronoun, Thai speakers must choose from up to 9 commonly used forms for the first person pronouns, 8 second person pronouns, and 5 third person pronouns (Iwasaki and Preeya, 2005). In addition to these variety of words, Cooke (1968) has listed up to 27 first-person pronouns, 22 second-person pronouns, and 8 third person pronouns, which include language used with royalties and specialized tems used by specific people (i.g. Buddhist monks have specific terms to address themselves and others). This would all depend on the politeness or closeness the speaker wishes to convey, and depending on the status of the other person who is involved in the conversation. Specific uses of language and conflict avoidance are some very specific characteristics of the Thai culture that conveys to the collectivism and high context society explained thus far. If, however, a disagreement should arise, Thais will look for indirect means for their resolution – usually through third parties or by â€Å"intense† private talks (Lasserre and Probert 1996; Lawler and Atmiyanandana, 2003). Kreng jai, is one of the most difficult concepts of the Thai cultures for foreigners to understand (especially for Westerners), which has been defined by Komin (1991) as, The concept of time in Thailand is somewhat more lenient than in other countries. Foreign workers have sometimes found this aspect of the Thai culture to be the hardest to adjust to – unless the foreign worker himself has the same attitude towards time. Mainly speaking, punctuality can at times be seen as unimportant when going out or having socials with friends. However, foreign workers have found that Thai are very punctual when it comes to meetings and appointments with their superior. 2.4 The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis The notion that language and culture can be interlinked may not be obvious to us at first, as we, being native speakers, may not be conscious how we say things, and why we say it the way we do in our own languages. However, Jandt (2001) suggests that a person who has learned a second language, or has grown up speaking more than one language, may become aware of the different ways each language allows the speaker to describe and grasp the reality we live in. It is these different perceptions one has of reality that Jandt (2001) believes to be the same differences in culture – making the relationship between language and culture resembling mirrors to each other. This relates back to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that says cultural elements can be seen in a language’s vocabulary and grammar (Whorf, 1956). Harley (2001) supports the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in that it shows how a culture’s or country’s language determines the structure of the speaker’s thought process. That is to say, language affects the way humans remember and the way people perceive the world. If a language has a rich vocabulary for certain notions and concepts, then it makes it easier to describe those ideas in that particular language (Whorf, 1956). Thus, ideas, notions, or things that are easily described in a language must be important to the culture (Jandt, 2001). The two main ideas comprising the Sapire-Whorf hypotheses starts with the first being linguistic determinism, which is the idea that the form and characteristics of our language determine the way in which we think, remember and perceive; and the second, linguistic relativism, which is t he idea that as different languages map onto the world in different ways, different languages will generate different cognitive structures (Harley, 2001, p.81). Although there are studies relating to the intricate nature of the Thai language (Komin 1991; Chantornvong, 1992; Komin, 1995; Knutson, 1994; Knutson et al., 2003), there has yet to be an establishment between the numerous words that contain â€Å"jai† (heart) and the way Thais think and perceive others. It can seem a bit daunting or even a tedious endeavor for a foreign worker to deal with such vicissitudes of the different nuances of the Thai culture. However, the most important aspect to bear in mind is the relationships that Thais hold so dear towards one another, and the mutual understanding one has towards the other person (Komin, 1995; Knutson et al., 2003). For Thais, the heart shows sincerity, and thus so many words are derived from it to express the different feelings one has. In order to test whether or not this may be true, the author has conducted and compiled data set from his interviewees. Moreover, having to express oneself in another language means learning to adopt someone else’s reference frame (Hofestede and Hofstede, 2005, p.328). In other words, by understanding and speaking the local language, one is better able to understand the national culture. With no knowledge of Thai, a foreign worker is likely to miss out on a lot of hidden nuances and subtleties of the Thai culture, and may result in being left as a relative outsider. One of the examples given by Hofestede and Hofstede (2005) is the subtleties of humor, which varies amongst different culture and is very specific sometimes to one culture.

Advertising . . . It’s What’s for Dinner :: Personal Narrative Papers

Advertising . . . It’s What’s for Dinner I was putting the finishing touches on the chicken when the doorbell rang. I ran to the table to make sure everything was in place. I wanted tonight to run as smoothly as possible because it isn’t every night that you get to have such internet advertising experts over for dinner. When I opened the door I was surprised to see all three of my guest standing before me. I guess it was coincidence that they all arrived at the very same time, but, nevertheless, they were right on the dot and I welcomed them into my home. After we all made our introductions, I took their coats and gave them a quick tour of my small, but cozy house. I found it funny that even before everyone was formally introduced I clearly could guess the identity of each person. I guessed that the woman in the business suit was Ms. Heim. She works for Media Week magazine and because of her to the point, matter of fact writing style she seems exactly like the type of woman who would have to wear a suit so much that it has become her own fashion statement. But surprisingly, her hair was down and hanging just above her shoulders, softening the official business-look of the suit. Ms. Zeff was more on the casual side wearing a nice sun dress that seemed proper for a woman of her age. The color of the dress was a peachy orange that accented her skin tones and gave her a very warm and loving appearance. Not to mention the wrinkles on her forehead that translated into a woman full of wisdom and knowledge. However, her appearance was not one that you would imagine for a woman of such caliber. But even though she has a PhD1, she refused to be addressed as Dr. Zeff - she simply told us that Robbin or Ms. Zeff would be fine.

Apa Essay on Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment is a demeaning practice, one that constitutes a profound affront to the dignity of the employees forced to endure it. By requiring an employee to contend with unwelcome sexual actions or explicit sexual demands, sexual harassment in the workplace attacks the dignity and self-respect of the victim both as an employee and as a human being. Sexual harassment is well defined as an unwelcome sexual request for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. In many countries, sexual harassment is considered a form of sexual abuse and employment discrimination. Sexual harassment is most prevalent is organizations both professional and academic, though it can occur almost anywhere. Unfortunately, sexual harassment is a complicated issue that confronts employers and employees far too often in the workplace. It causes confusion and uncertainty which interferes with a productive working environment. Sexual harassment interferes with individuals work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment results in poor performance and lack of motivation. Policies and facts Organizations should have a policy that will not cause any confusion. Men and women were using the same word to describe different behaviors may contribute to the continued existence of sexual harassment. But when a man thinks that sexual harassment only comes from a supervisor, he may feel free to make sexual comments to a female coworker. The female coworker is likely to see the sexual comments as a quest for power and label it as sexual harassment. There are facts that men are considerably less threatened by behaviors that women found harassing. They also found that men and were threatened by different things such as, whereas women were more threatened by behaviors that emphasized their sub ordinance, men were more bothered by behaviors that threatened their feeling of dominance. Sexual pressure was found by the most threatening behavior to men, and they felt threatened by behavior that had not been identified as threatening for females. Quid pro quo harassment occurs â€Å"when submission to or rejection of such unwelcome sexual conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual†. Hostile environment harassment, on the other hand, occurs when unwelcome sexual conduct causes the environment to become hostile, intimidating, or offensive, and unreasonably nterferes with an employee's or student's work. Quid pro quo harassment occurs where employment decisions or expectations are based on an employee’s willingness to grant or deny sexual favors; whereas a hostile environment is created where verbal or non-verbal behavior in the workplace that focuses on the sexuality of another person or occurs because of the person’s gender, a unwanted or unwelcome, and is severe or pervasive enough to affect th e person’s work environment. Many hostile environment harassment claims have nothing to do with speech, for instance when a harassment claim is based only on offensive physical touching or vandalism or discriminatory job assignments which have generally been seen as â€Å"harassment† rather than discrimination. When harassment claim it is based on generally unprotected speech such as threats or fighting words or slander. Factors contributing to determination in much time victims are the men and women tend to have a victim mentality to begin with. Bullying† is defined as repeated less favorable treatment of a staff member by another person or others which is considered unreasonable and inappropriate. It includes behavior which intimidates, offends, degrades, humiliates, undermines or threatens. Bullying may take place in private or in front of others. Whether or not the person responsible for the behavior intends to harm, the effect of the behavior is harmful. A single incident of bullying behavior i s unacceptable workplace behavior and should not be ignored or condoned. Bullying or other unacceptable behavior may also be a form of unlawful discrimination or harassment. Severe, â€Å"pervasive,† â€Å"hostile and â€Å"abusive† are mushy terms, as courts have specifically acknowledged. I'm not completely sure what it means to say that people have to say it’s bizarre. They might just have had a different notion of how offensive something must be to be â€Å"severe,† or how frequent it must be to be â€Å"pervasive. †Ã‚   Certainly courts have taken very different views of what these terms mean. Men Working or jokes about sexually graphic road signs to be â€Å"severe† or â€Å"pervasive† enough to create a hostile environment; but obviously other people, who probably thought themselves to be quite reasonable, have disagreed. When we judge a rule, we can't judge it simply by how we would apply it ourselves, or by the best-case scenario of how it could be applied. The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states that prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. In 1997, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Knabe v Boury that companies must take action that is reasonably calculated to prevent harassment (â€Å"Facts Sheet† 2001). However, the responsibility also falls on victims to do their part to prevent harassment. This does not mean that the actual harassment is the fault of the victim, but rather that the victim has certain responsibilities in how they handle and respond to incidents of sexual harassment. These responsibilities include reporting the incident or incidents through proper channels as well as cooperating with investigations of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment in the workplace presents an ongoing and growing risk to businesses operating in the United States. Today, the time is right for businesses to begin to manage their risk in this area more wisely. Preventing sexual harassment in the workplace requires a considerable investment of time and personnel. In the end, however, these costs will be offset by significant savings in legal fees and health-care costs. Companies will also benefit from increased worker productivity. From a purely business perspective, a company only stands to gain if it takes a no-nonsense, hard-line position on sexual harassment. Not only is it the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. Reference American Psychological Association. Sexual Harassment Myths and Realities. Retrieved from http://all. net/games/sex/harass. html Equal Employment Opportunity Committee. (2002). Facts About Sexual Harassment. Retrieved from http://www. eeoc. gov/facts/fs-sex. html Sexual Harassment. (n. d. ). In Merriam-Webster online. Retrieved from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/sexual%2Bharassment Shockwaves: The Global Impact of Sexual Harassment, Susan L. Webb, New York 1994. Retrieve from http://www1. umn. edu/humanrts/svaw/harassment/explore/1whatis. htm