It’s a Hard Knock Life for Them Essay -- Literary Analysis

In both Katherine Porter’s â€Å"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall† and Eudora Welty’s â€Å"Why I Live in the P.O.†, the main characters deal with family members they frankly do not like. Due to both of their being jilted by men, they are full of resentment and anger causing these women to leave their families on bad terms. Porter and Welty are presenting through the character’s flashbacks and memories that we should pick our battles wisely when it comes to our families because one day they will be gone and, some of us might miss our deceased loved ones, like Granny from â€Å"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall†, or be filled with a hatred towards them, like Sister from â€Å"Why I Live in the P.O.†. Porter and Welty both provide flashbacks and memories in their stories to help the reader see what Granny and Sister’s lives were like before everything fell apart with their families. Porter’s â€Å"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall† is packed of the flashbacks and memories of Granny’s past relationships with the only people she loves even though are all dead. She reminisced about her youthful days when she was strong, independent, and with John, the man who stood her up at the altar and died when Granny was young. She still loves him and wants to see him, but â€Å"John would be looking for a young woman with the peaked Spanish comb in her hair and the painted fan,† (Porter 81) she believed he would not recognize her. Granny also lost one of her daughters, Hapsy along with her newborn who also died. When Granny brought those memories to the surface a fog of darkness, clouds reality and she gets lost and recalls that, â€Å"there was the day, the d ay, but a whirl of dark smoke rose and covered it, crept up and over into the bright field where everything was planted so c... ...to be pertinacious like Sister. The flashbacks allow the reader to go back with the characters and see what we missed out on, example; Granny’s happier days, when she had her man and she was strong and young, or Sister’s happier days when she also had her man and was treated respectably by certain members of her family. Furthermore, I believe the point both authors proposed was this, â€Å"Choose battles wisely and forgive or, forever suffer continuous loss.† Works Cited Porter, Katherine. â€Å"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.† Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 11th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 79-86. Print. Welty, Eudora. â€Å"Why I Live at the P.O.† Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 11th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 42-50. Print.

How market structures determine the pricing and output decisions of businesses Essay

3.1 Explain how market structures determine the pricing and output decisions of businesses There are different kinds of markets in different economies/sectors/goods. Accordingly, there are different kinds of output and pricing decisions which take place. Usually, output and pricing decisions are interdependent except for the case of perfectly competitive markets. In perfectly competitive markets, a single firm is so small compared to the market that it cannot affect the prices. In that case, it must take the price as given, and then decide the quantity to be supplied. Price in this market is equal to the marginal cost of production. In monopoly, however, things are different. The monopolist can change the prices, as it is the sole provider of the good and thus has the market power. But here also, if the price increases quantity demanded decreases. Therefore, the monopolist must take under consideration both the positive and negative effects of increase in prices. In another market oligopoly, pricing is a bit more complicated and it depends upon the strategic interaction am ong the firms. Market structure is the number of buyers and sellers in a market. There is different market structures such as Perfect Competition, Monopoly and Oligopoly and are discussed below: A place where different sellers of the same product then the firm’s price purpose and the output decision depends upon the demand for their products. In a competitive market buyers actually decide the price and firm take the output decisions as compare to the demand for the product because every firm tries to offer lower prices to their customer to increase their market share is known as Perfect competition. A scenario/market structure where a sole provider then price determination and output decision lies by the firm because in a monopolistic market the firm is the price maker and they can charge whatever price they want and customer have to pay because customers will not have the choice to buy somewhere else with a lower price, In Pakistan we can find such an example with WAPDA. This is known as a monopoly. Market structure where several sellers of the same products then the sellers have a bit of command over the price due to the ongoing rate for their products. For example they all charge the same price and then it depends upon the customers from whom to buy. Sellers may charge the same price but there will be difference in the way they advertise their products  and attract customers to purchase their products,; known as Oligopoly. 3.2 Illustrate the way in which market forces shape organizational responses using a range of examples Forces that determine the price level in the economy. Market forces can be a number of elements such as demand, supply, internal stakeholders, customers and suppliers. Two things can happen with the demand and the organizations are bound to give. If the demand for product increases the organization’s response for the increased demand will be they will hire more workers and will produce with full capacity. If the demand for the product decrease there will be decrease in cash inflow of organization due to which their costs will exceed than their profit. Organization response for such situation will be that they will cut jobs of their employees to cut their costs. Same as the demand two things can also happen with supply of the products. When there is increase in supply of products the demand will decrease while if there is a decrease in supply of the products the demand will increase. Employee is also the factor that can change the behavior of the organization. If government announces mini wage the organization must accept it and must pay their workers with a minimum wage. If do not pay it to their workers, their employees will leave their jobs and will work for other organizations. Every organization aim is to satisfy their customers with their products. If any organization producing fashion product but they do have continuous interaction with their customers as fashion changes after every specific time period the organization will lose their customers because they won’t be able to fulfill customer requirements and won’t be able to satisfy their customers with their products. An organization is dependent to its supplier and without supplies the production process is unable to run. If supplier increases price for the raw materials it will automatically increase the cost of production of an organization. 3.3 Judge how the business and cultural environments shape the behavior of a selected organization Political decisions also have an impact on business activities such as health and education for workers and the infrastructure of the economy. Nokia transferred one of its manufacturing facilities to India, it is important that Nokia have to follow all the rules in regulations set in India. The rules and regulations by India for Nokia may include that Nokia must be aware of the minimum wage, working hours per week and health and safety for workers etc. All the new  law and regulations by the government affect Nokia’s operations. Economic factors may include the economic situations as a whole. These factors include interest rate, exchange rate, inflation and economic development etc. Nokia’s Economic situation in Finland went to recession period once which decreased the level of income and resulted in decrease in demand for Nokia’s product. Due to an increase in costs Nokia cut jobs and unemployed some of their employees. Nokia must be aware of all such economic situations to be ready to handle them well. Social is about the society. Social factors may include change in taste, change in level of income, change in fashion etc. All the above factors affect the demand for the product; normally it happens with Luxury and fashion products. Nokia operates in all over the world with their products and consider the culture of every place they operate, now a day people want to have good looking and smart up to date pho nes, Nokia tries to be aware of every social trends in the society and come up with the demanded products by their customers. Technical; this refers to a change and development in the way of production, as new technology improved the quality of products, increase in productivity etc. Legal; the new laws applied on businesses by the government. Government passes different new laws after every specific time period which increases cost of the businesses. Such laws may include age discrimination, increase in minimum wage etc. For example, Apple operates where it is very difficult to have a product different from its competitors. Environmental factors include a change in weather, climate. Environmental changes affect businesses such as farming and tourism. Environmental factors are the external factors which firms have to consider due to a global change in the economy. Nokia must be friendly with their customers to operate in appropriate manner as they water proof cell phones, phones with a plastic body which can be unbreakable etc. Environmental Culture is the attitude, behavior and the knowledge in a society i s called the cultural environment. Cultural environment can be of two types: Internal Culture – Any attitude, behavior, action or policy developed among people in the company is called the internal culture of the company. Apples internal culture is that there is a team work system among employees and every employee has the freedom to give in input of their ideas for the success of the company. External Culture – company’s own mission and needs of the customers that the company  can quickly respond is called the external culture. Nokia’s external culture is that they give customers service to their customer as their first aim is the customer satisfaction and to achieve such satisfaction they always try to come up with high quality of products. Nokia always have an interaction with their potential customer to gain new ideas from them. Nokia always conduct their business in ethical, legal and socially responsible fashion.

Human Values and Ethics in the Workplace

Human Values and Ethics in the Workplace Improving Leadership and Performance in the Water Education, Supply and Sanitation Sectors RESOURCE PAPER Teaching Managers Human Values â€Å"Human Values and Ethics in the Workplace† is a capacity-building initiative developed in a collaborative effort between the Global Dharma Center (GDC) and UN-HABITAT, within the framework of the Human Values Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education (HVWSHE) Initiative of the Water for African/Asian Cities Programmes. The purpose of the capacity-building is to improve leadership and performance in every aspect of the water education and water supply and sanitation sectors, and to help bring about a new ethic in water use and management.  © 2005 UN-HABITAT and Global Dharma Center For more information: www. globaldharma. org/hvew. htm 2 Teaching Managers Human Values by B. Gustavsson, School of Business, Stockholm University, Sweden; A. N. Tripathi, Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, India; G. P. Rao, Department of Management Studies, Madurai Kamaraj University, India. Abstract The authors are convinced of the necessity in a human dimension in managerial decisionmaking. The problem is to define values in a human context. We have suggested a framework for understanding the origins and scope of human values. We trace values to theistic, humanistic and empirical origins, and connect these to individual, sociological and ecological levels of application. We have illustrated our framework with a case study of a systematic approach to teach human values to managers in India. While this approach is mainly using a theistic approach, we recommend that other approaches to values can be included in courses teaching human values to managers. Human values are necessary in today's management. Business is no longer confined to a national state but is really borderless. Hence business from the international viewpoint, cannot be regulated by governments unless international agreements can be reached. In this â€Å"lawless land† the responsibility of the executive is greater than ever. Which values does s/he promote in her/his actions and decisions? Which responsibility does s/he take? Only towards the bottom line or also towards the growth of mankind? On a national level we find similar concerns with ethics and values in management. Being a generator and facilitator of human material wealth, does her/his responsibility towards human values end there? We do believe that the manager of today has a wider responsibility than that. We believe that it is in the interest of the managers themselves to have a heightened awareness of the values of humankind and also to promote them. I. Human values: what are they? Like most basic areas of human knowledge and experience, the concept of human values defies definitions. Yet it can be instinctively felt, cognitively grasped, discussed as a shareable experience, and thus made a valid area of enquiry. This enquiry is a major under-current of the wisdom literature of all the ancient civilisations and of the later day philosophers, scholars and great leaders of social and political movements. The profusion of ideas, divergent approaches and intermixing of several strands of thought make the effort of conceptualising human values a daunting task for modern scholarship. However, for a clearer understanding of the scope, significance and interrelationship of these ideas it is necessary to have a conceptual framework for classifying them. In the following paragraphs we make a humble attempt at this difficult academic endeavour. Classical literature does not make a distinction between values and human values. Perhaps there was no need for it then. Philosophical ideas on value enquiry were directed towards finding the nature, meaning and purpose of human existence. In the present century search for a theory of values has become a separate branch of modern philosophy and has been called axiology. Although the different realms of this value enquiry cover all areas of human concern like ethics, religion, art, science, social science, law etc. , no separate or special significance is attached to the term human values. One main approach to this classical value enquiry we would like to call the ideal-normative approach. In the Western tradition it is represented by Plato's formulation of the absolute values of Truth, Goodness and Beauty. They are conceived as having independent existence of their own and are 3 used as ideal norms for value judgement at the relative level of human existence. In the Indian tradition absolute values are related to the absolute reality whose nature is described as Sat,Chit and Anand. Attainment of a state of eternal bliss by the realisation of identity of the individual self with the universal Self of this absolute reality is the highest and ultimate object of human striving. Closely related to this absolutist perception is the theistic view which may be called a sub-group of the idealistic-normative approach. It is based on a metaphysical belief system which accepts the reality of a divine cosmic order and faith in the authority of a creator God who is also the upholder of all values. The basis of all ethical, social and other human values is sought in the enduring truths, either revealed or obtained through super conscious insights of sages, contained in the sacred religious literature. Although differing in their belief systems, rituals and customs, the great world religions have a large area of agreement on the basic moral values, conceptions of personal virtues and social group behaviour based on humanistic values of love, brotherhood, caring and sharing. Many leaders of the Indian renaissance, e. g. Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi, were inspired by the absolutist-theistic value system and used it as the basis for their efforts towards the spiritual, social and political rejuvenation of the Indian society. In recent times the term ‘human values' has been used for this theistic approach to value system (Chakraborty, 1995a,b; Swami Ranganathanand, 1991). This is perhaps because of the need to highlight the universal humanistic aspects of this value approach, as against the merely speculative, mystical, or life-denying ascetic aspects. In the modern interpretation of theistic value approach the authors have shown its relevance and significance to the managers and other professionals. Another reason for the use of adjective ‘human' before these values may be to distinguish this value approach from the modern, so-called scientific, approach to human phenomena and associated values. Interpreted in its narrow sense this scientific approach robs man of the dignity of his divine association, his spiritual nature and reduces him to a biological organism of a random collection of atoms. It denies any meaning and purpose to life and rejects all considerations of faith, belief, feeling and intuitive religious perceptions. This mechanistic, deterministic interpretation makes man merely a malleable automaton, to be ‘programmed' to meet the demands of the existing socio-technological order, through manipulation of his lower order needs and desires. In the second sub-group of the idealistic-normative approach to human values we would like to place all the different strands of humanistic thoughts, ranging from love and compassion of Buddha to the radical humanism of Marx. Included in this sub-group are the ideas of humanists having varying degrees of theistic, non-theistic and atheistic leanings but attaching prime importance to man and to human values. As Fromm (1981, p. 148) points out â€Å"There is a remarkable kinship in the ideas of the Buddha, Eckhart, Marx, and Schweitzer: their radical demand for giving up the having orientation; their insistence on complete independence; their metaphysical skepticism; their godless religiosity, and their demand for social activity in the spirit of care and human solidarity† (emphasis added). These humanist ideas and movements developed as protests against oppressive constraints on human spirit of freedom, creativity and dignity, imposed by religious dogmas or by dehumanising social or technological orders at their day. They developed a new ethics of man based on interconnectedness of humankind, love and respect for life, the joy of sharing and caring, and the faith in man to shape his own destiny. They find deep reflections in the literary traditions of both the East and the West over the last few centuries (Bharati, 1990), and gave rise to different kinds of social and political theories, like liberalism and socialism, for the betterment of humankind, particularly of the oppressed and the exploited. In recent times it has led to the declaration of Universal Human Rights by the United Nations. The term human values has generally been understood in this context of humanistic thoughts. The second main approach to human values we would like to call the empirical-purposive approach adopted by modern psychologists and other social scientists like Rokeach (1973), Schwartz (1994) 4 and Mukherjee (1965). It views the of values as a distinct component of the total human personality, which guide or affect attitude and behaviour of the individual and social groups. In Schwartz's view values are â€Å"responses to three universal requirements with which all individuals and societies must cope: needs of individual biological organisms, requisites of coordinated social interaction and requirements for smooth functioning and survival of groups† (Schwartz, 1994, p. 21). This approach is non-normative and is not based on any religious, philosophical system of ideas or world view, nor on any social-political ideology. Identification of values, their classification, and search for interrelationships between them is based on empirical methods of observation, attitude surveys, statistical validation techniques etc. Conceptualisation of human values based on the findings of empirical research is fast becoming a distinct area of social science research. These empirical studies and researches on human values are not merely idealistic or intellectual exercises. They are purposive in the sense that the knowledge gained by them is sought to be utilised for practical purposes in diverse areas like, management science (leadership and team building, human resource development etc. , socio-political policy decisions (welfare programmes, race relations, positive action programmes for minorities, population control programmes, environmental policy etc. ). Hence the use of the term purposive in the descriptive title 'empirical-purposive' for this approach to human values. Another way of classifying the different approaches to human values could be in terms of the level of aggregation they focus their attention on. These levels may be called the individual, the sociological and the ecological. The first level focuses on the individual human being, taken as an independent entity. Some illustrative value terms referring to this level are survival values, character, personal virtues, aesthetic appreciation, human rights, salvation, self-realization, etc. At the second level individual values are subordinated to the sociological values. It is concerned with operation of values at the collective level of human society and includes values associated with family and other social institutions and professions; caring nd sharing, sense of social responsibility, social and economic justice, sarvodaya, values of humanity and human interconnectedness, etc. Similarly the ecological level subordinates the first two and consists of values from the standpoint of human beings as a part of the total ecological system. In the reports commissioned by the Club of Rome there is a concern for developing a â€Å"new world consciousness†¦ , a new ethic in the use of material resources, a new attitude towards nature, based on harmony rather than on conquest †¦ sense of identification with future generations† (Mesaroric, M. D. and Pestel, E. , 1974, p. 148) to avoid global catastrophe caused by unrestrained economic growth. â€Å"For the first time a demand is being made for an ethical change, not as a consequence of ethical belief but as the rational consequence of economic analysis† (Fromm, 1988, p. 149). Human values perceptions from this perspective focus on the inter-dependency of human beings and nature and include expressive terms like respect for and harmony with nature, concept of Mother Earth, sustainability, conservation etc. We thus arrive at a two-dimensional matrix for the classification of human values concepts. One dimension of this matrix consists of the different approaches and the other of the three levels of aggregation, shown as the horizontal and the vertical columns of the table below. Approach Level Individual Sociological Ecological Table 1: Two-dimensional classification framework of human values IDEAL-NORMATIVE Theistic Humanistic x x x EMPIRICALPURPOSIVE x x x 5 It needs to be emphasised that the categories in this proposed classification scheme are far from being exclusive. In fact they very much overlap. For example many of the humanistic approaches have theistic foundations and many items of the empirical approach are reformulations of the idealistic approach. What is being implied in the classification is the identification of the main emphasis or main focus of the approach. The entries in the matrix indicate what we consider to be the main level(s) of aggregation which a particular approach focuses on. In our view the theistic approach focuses mainly on the individual level in its quest for making a â€Å"good† man, whereas the humanistic approach is concerned with both the â€Å"good† man and the â€Å"good† society. This is not to deny the sociological and ecological concerns of the theistic approach; however we feel that these concerns are secondary to that for the individual. On the other hand the different empirical approaches together cover all the three, individual, social and ecological levels. The progression in the above matrix, both in the vertical and the horizontal directions, has a chronological order. The earliest human value perceptions were related to the individual level. The growing complexities and tensions of the human societies enlarged the scope to include the sociological considerations as its second focus. And the disastrous impact of the rapid technological developments, coupled with the population explosion, of the present century has made ecological concern as the third focus. Once again this chronological flow has no exclusivity. The philosophical speculations and beliefs of the earliest civilisations, including the aboriginal civilisations in existence today, have remarkable sensitivity and insights about the nature and man's relation to it. However it is only in the recent times that the theme has acquired an urgency to prompt development of a concerted approach to human values in relation to ecology. Similarly many of the later day humanistic values have been traced to the earliest Upanishadic idealistic-theistic views on life and its value (Devaraj, 1988). Yet there is a general chronological flow from the absolutist, theistic view of human values to the humanist view and finally to the present day empirical view. II. Can human values be taught? The question of interest to us is if human values can be taught to modern managers in any systematic way and, if so, to what effectiveness. S. K. Chakraborty, Management Centre for Human Values, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, has since 1983 been giving workshops on the theme â€Å"Human Values† on an in-house basis in many companies and as open workshops for managers from different companies and academics, mainly from India, but also from abroad. The impetus for this development is said to have come from managers at various management development programmes given at Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta, asking for Indian insights that could be valuable for organizations and management. The objective of the workshops is to enhance in course participants the sensitivity to and sustenance of the value-system, which Chakraborty has distilled from what he calls â€Å"the Indian ethos†, based on studies of Buddhist, Vedantic and Yogic literature together with Indian epics and Pauranic literature. It is claimed that Indian values are found in the deep-structure of the Indian psyche, as reflected in these sources. The basic idea is purification of the mind, partly through a mind-stilling technique, and partly through practice of nourishing noble thoughts (e. g. compassion, friendliness, humbleness), and rejecting wicked ones (e. . greed, jealousy, arrogance). Such practice will reveal the â€Å"divine†, or â€Å"higher self†, within the individual and s/he will be able to perceive the same in others. The goal is that in a management setting these practices will have repercussions on business life, more specifically in respect of the individual, improve d cooperation, non-attachment to the selfish rewards of the work, increased creativity, service to the customer, improved quality, creating an ethico-moral soundness, cultivating self-discipline and self-restraint, and enhancing generosity (Chakraborty, 1991, pp. 9-20). 6 The content of the workshops varies according to the duration. There are three modules, the first one lasting three days and the next two lasting two days each. Each module elaborates on different principles. Module I, also called the â€Å"foundational module†, develops the basic concepts and practices. It is argued that managerial effectiveness is dependent on a sound values system, undergirding the superstructure of skills, which in turn emanates from a pure mind. The factors influencing a pure mind are discussed in terms of higher and lower self, disidentification and reidentification with the latter and the former respectively, the guna, karma, samskaras, nishkam karma and other theories. The first steps of the mind-stilling technique relating to these principles are given at this stage. Module II focuses on leadership and teamwork and elaborates on a number of principles from the Vedantic and Buddhist literature connected to the theme. Additional steps in the mind-stilling techinque are also introduced. Module III covers the topics stress, counselling and communication. The main issue here is to identify with one's innermost self, which is ananda, as the basic remedy for stress-generating influences. A few more steps are included in the mind-stilling process in this module. These modules can be taken separately or jointly. In the annual workshop at the Management Centre for Human Values all three modules are offered integrally. The workshops are promoted directly and indirectly: directly through mailing of pamphlets to selected companies, and indirectly through the network of previous course participants on the workshops. Initiatives to the in-house workshops can come from top management, HRD (personell) department, open workshop participants who want to bring in the workshop to the company, persons who have come in contact with Chakraborty's ideas, etc. The participation in the workshops are mostly on a voluntary basis, whereas there could be occasions when managers have been asked by the CEO or someone high up to attend the workshops. Following our categorization of human values above, these workshops would fall into the â€Å"idealnormative† approach, with theistic leanings. The source of the values taught at the workshops are derived from the sacred texts of Indian wisdom literature, and the values are claimed to have an eternal and universal character to a great extent. It is normative in the sense that the values are something people ought to have from the ideal perspective, not accepting certain values, or disvalues, just because people are having them. The basic foundation of values is taken to be divine, implying a theistic approach, whereas the humanistic elements are found in caring values, concern for others, love and compassion. The level of focus is mainly on the individual in terms of personal virtues. It is stated that in order to change the environment we must start with ourselves. Thus, more aggregated human levels (organizational, political, societal, ecological, global) are not neglected, but the starting point is the individual. III. Participant responses The participants are asked to submit on the last day of the workshop plans of action which they would like to implement in the six months to follow. We have such plans of actions from a total of 208 participants who attended seven in-house workshops and one Annual International Workshop, held between August 1995 and February 1996, as per the following particulars: 7 Serial No. 1 2 Workshop Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) Tata Engineering and Locomotive Limited (TELCO I) Bokaro Steel Plant (BSP) Ordnance Factory Ambajhari (OFAJ) Tata Engineering and Locomotive Limited (TELCO II) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Indian Farmers and Fertilisers Company Limited ( IFFCO ) TOTAL No of participants 22 32 4 5 23 17 23 6 7 17 32 166 42 208 8 Annual International Workshop ( IIMC ) GRAND TOTAL Table 2: Workshops examined TISCO and TELCO belong to the well established and highly reputed Tata Group of Companies in India, while the others are leading public sector undertakings / government organisations. Managers belonging to senior and middle management cadre normally participate in these in-house workshops. The rank during the workshop s can vary; some are pure peer-groups and at some there can be a superior-subordinate relationship during the same workshop. The annual international workshop, on the other hand, attracts top and senior practitioners, owner-managers, academia, consultants, and government officials from India and abroad. The respondents whose plans of action would be analysed thus represent a cross section of highly educated,motivated and successful persons in their chosen spheres of activity. The responses/ data which constitute their plans of action, however, have certain built in limitations : 1. We can only make inferences from the immediate time at the end of the workshop; 2. We can only study the managers' responses to, and expectations of human values, not how they are reflected in their behaviour; 3. We do not know whether there has occured any changes in the managers' attitudes towards human values, as we don't have data from them prior to the workshop; 4. We do not know how honest their attitudes are due to perceived group pressure from peers, super/subordinates, from the course leader, desire to give a good (or bad) impression or other possible factors. 5. The answers are given spontaneously without forewarning and therefore may not be well thought out ideas. 8 The analysis of the plans of action meant to understand the intentions of the participants, and make inferences from their statements the extent to which these workshops have influenced human values in managers. The intended actions are analysed with reference to (a) the contents of the workshop, and (b) the purpose of, and the direction in, which they want to make use of the contents, inputs, knowledge and skills they have learnt from the workshops. A) Content Analysis A content analysis of the responses shows that the most frequent item figuring in almost all of the course participants' plan of action is the resolve to practice the mind-stilling and breathing exercises taught in the course as an essential experiential practice for Chitta-Shuddhi and for communion with the higher Self. Its enthusiastic reception may have also been prompted by the urgent need for maintaining a calm mind in the tension ridden life of practicing managers. The next most common resolve relates to the practice of a cluster of values and value-principles emphasised in the course. It includes, (i) cultivation of values related to higher self and suppression of disvalues associated with lower self, (ii) practice of nishkam karma (self-less action) in work-life as well as personal life, (iii) practice of giving model of life based on the concept of five fold debts (deva rin, rishi rin, pitririn, nri rin, and bhuta rin) (iv) cultivation of satwaguna over rajoguna, and (v) introspection to examine, and to rearrange one's career goals, life styles, attitudes and value systems in the light of the above noted paradigm of higher values. Some responses indicate a desire to propagate and share the ideas learnt in the course with members of the family as well as members of the work-group. A smaller number of responses show the desire to learn more about these ideas by reading the sacred wisdom literature of India, like Gita, Upanishhads, writings of Vivekanand, etc. One can conclude from this content analysis that the value concepts of Indian psycho-spiritual tradition have been well received. They have had a positive impact on the participants as indicated by their resolve to internalise them and to use them as a basis for self-development. B) Purpose/Direction Analysis A perusal of the plans of action indicated that the purpose of the participants was to apply the knowledge gained by them for development of the self, members of his/her workgroup, viz, superiors, colleagues, and subordinates, and of his/her family members and friends. They also wanted to transmit or communicate the knowledge they gained to the members of their workgroup, family and friends. The purpose thus was three-fold (development of self, workgroup members, and of family and friends): and, the direction two-fold (toward workgroup members, and toward his/her family and friends). Juxtaposing the purpose and direction, a table is prepared containing relevent particulars and percentage analysis. 9 WORKSHOP NO. OF PRTICIPANTS WITH MAJOR FOCUS ON SELF DEVEL. OTHERS TOTAL NO. OF PLANS OF ACTION FOCUSING ON SELF OTHER PERSONS DEVEL. IN OUTSIDE ORG. 5 85 (75%) 89 (96%) 92 (80%) 29 (66%) 61 (90%) 37 (54%) 147 (96%) 540 (82%) 215 (87%) 755 (84%) 6 14 (12%) 3 (3%) 18 (16%) 11 (25%) 4 (6%) 25 (37%) 4 (2. 5%) 79 (12%) 21 (9%) 100 (11%) 7 15 (13%) 1 (1%) 5 (4%) 4 (9%) 3 (4%) 6 (9%) 2 (1. 5%) 36 (6%) 11 (4%) 47 (5%) TOTAL PLAN TO COMMUNICATE KNOWLEDGE TO OTHERS WITHIN ORGAN. 15 (52%) 2 (67%) 11 (48%) 7 (29%) 1 (100%) 15 (88%) 5 (63%) 56 (53%) 5 (38%) 61 (52%) OUTSIDE ORG. 10 14 (48%) 1 (33%) 12 (52%) 17 (71%) nil 2 (12%) 3 (37%) 49 (47%) 8 (62%) 57 (48%) TOTAL 1 1. TISCO (N=22) 2. TELCO (N=32) 3. BS P (N=23) 4. OFAJ (N=17) 5. TELCO (N=23) 6. HAL (N=17) 7. IFFCO (N=32) TOTAL 8. MCHV (N=42) GRAND TOTAL 2 11 (50%) 28 (87%) 11 (48%) 4 (24%) 18 (78%) 4 (24%) 31 (97%) 107 (65%) 37 (88%) 144 (69%) 3 11 (50%) 4 (13%) 12 (52%) 13 (76%) 5 (22%) 13 (76%) 1 (3%) 59 (35%) 5 (12%) 64 (31%) 4 22 32 23 17 23 17 32 166 42 208 8 114 93 115 44 68 68 153 655 247 902 11 29 3 23 24 1 17 8 105 13 118 Table 3: Analysis of plans of action from course participants on workshops for human values As stated, two values (percentages) have been calculated, viz. number of participants with 50% or more plans aimed at self-development; and, number of plans aiming at self-development as a percentage of total number. of plans. For example, in the first workshop included in the table (TISCO, N=22), 50% of participants had their plans aimed at self-development (column 2), while 75% of the total number of plans discernible from the statement of the participants of the workshop were meant for self-development (column 5). The most forceful and consistent finding from above relates to the self in terms of both the number of participants focussing on themselves, and also the number of plans made for their own development. In all, 69% of participants had 50% or more of their plans aimed at self-development (column 2) and 84% of the plans of actions envisaged related to self -development (column. 5) such as those discussed under the content analysis. The first three workshops in the first category, viz. the percentage of participants with focus on self, are IFFCO (97%), IIMC (88%) and TELCO-I (87%). TELCO-II, IFFCO, and TELCO-I workshops occupy the top three positions with 96, 96 and 90 percentages respectively in the second category, viz. the percentage of plans aimed at self-development. The remaining three workshops have corresponding percentages as follows: BSP (48% of participants, and 80% of plans being selforiented), OFAJ (24 and 66), and HAL (24 and 54). Even in the case of OFAJ and HAL workshops which have lowest percentage of participants with 24 each, also have more than 50 percent plans each (66 and 54%) aimed at self-development. It thus appears that self-orientation in terms of the percentages of participants and of plans of action cuts across, and permeates, all the eight workshops covered. The other finding deserving attention relates to the desire of the participants to use their knowledge gained through the workshops for the development of their workgroup members, i. e. superiors, 10 colleagues and subordinates of the participants. On the whole, 31% of participants had their plans primarily aimed at the deveopment of their workgroup members (column 3). Eleven percent of the plans of action were aimed at such development (column 6). However, the public sector organizations, OFAJ, HAL and BSP, show significantly higher interest in their workgroup members. This can bee seen in both the number of participants with major focus in their plans on others (76, 76 and 52 % respectively, column 3), and in the number of plans of action focusing on others persons in the organization (37, 25 and 16 %, column 6). The inferences are that the public sector managers perceive -as compared to their counterparts in private sector – higher need for training of others and lower need for themselves. This difference may be indicative of a different organizational behaviour and social thinking in these organizations with respect to individual and group focus. It may indicate that the managers in the governmental organizations consider themselves less needy in development than their subordinates (â€Å"I'm OK but you're not†). Or it may indicate a sincere concern of the managers in the governmental sector for their fellowmen. Such difference in organizational behaviour could stem from factors connected to the difference in ownership influencing the organizational culture. However, the responses in our data are too inconclusive for us to make any definite conclusion on this point. IV. Our conclusions Chakraborty's innovative approach to value education for practising managers is impressive. He has culled out selected psycho-spiritual values from the traditional wisdom literature of India, suitably reinterpreted them and woven them together to form a coherent theory of human values. This theory is then utilised to explain the problems and tensions of both personal and work life of modern professionals and to indicate the way for a better quality of life. That this approach finds deep resonance in the hearts and minds of Indian managers is evident from our observations of the course participants' enthusiastic, and at times deeply moving, articulations at the conclusion of the workshops. At the beginning of section II we raised the question whether human values can be taught and with what degree of effectiveness. Judging from the course participants responses, Chakraborty's approach seems to have met with mostly deep appreciation. Such response undoubtably provides a fertile soil for reexamining and developing one's human values. To that extent it is evident that the workshops have been effective in influencing the human values of the course participants. However, it is difficult to reach any conclusion as to what extent the course objectives have been interiorised by the course participants and the general learning effects of the workshops in the daily lives of the participants. What are the effects in the managers' work and family lives, and do their decisions reflect an increased awareness of human values? Neither can we draw any conclusions about the duration of the effects, i. e. whether it will last for a day or week and then vanish, or if the effects are stable and enduring. It is also evident from the responses and the stated objectives of the course that the main focus is on the self; self-awareness, self-analysis and self-development. It is consistent with the view that the individual is the cornerstone of all changes and transformations at the organizational as well as the societal levels. While the necessity of this self-development as a precondition for the value transformation in society may not be in doubt, the emphasis on it may convey the message that it is also sufficient for all the value problems of today's living. At the organizational level the difficulty may be posed in terms of two distinct, though related, categories of intra-personal and inter-personal values. The latter are of vital significance to managers' organizational role of a team leader, a change agent or a member of a work group. A heightened sensitivity to personal virtues, which is very effective t the intra-personal level, in itself may not be sufficient for values needed for effectiveness at the inter-personal level. Additional emphasis on humanistic values like human warmth, friendliness, acceptance of the other person as s/he is, trust, 11 empathy etc. , may help bring about a better value balance. As indicated in our study, the emphasis on the inter- and intra-personal levels, as also th e extent to which other approaches to human values should be emphasized, may have to be adjusted depending on the type of organization that is approached. The manager significantly affects, and is affected by, the value culture of the society, through the mediating agency of organizations and other social institutions. Proper appreciation of this value dynamics requires understanding, and interiorisation, of the operation of human values at the societal and ecological levels of our categorization. It is not clear as to what extent values at these levels can be developed and nourished through the present structure and approach of the human value workshops. An evaluation of the impact of the workshops, including long-term effects and effects on different levels of human values, may help clarify the position and lead to suggestions for expansions and alterations in the course contents as well as the methodology of the workshops. References Bharati, D. (1990). Mnav Mulya Aur Shitya (in Hindi; transl. : â€Å"Human Values and Literature†) Delhi, Bhartiya Jnanpith. Chakraborty, S. K. (1991). Management by Values. Delhi: Oxford University Books. Chakraborty, S. K. (1995a). Human Values for Managers. Delhi: Wheeler Publishing Co. Chakraborty, S. K. (1995b). Ethics in Management. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Devaraj, N. K. (1988). Humanism in Indian Thought. Delhi: Indus Publishing Co. Fromm, E. (1981). To Have or To Be. New York: Bantam Books. Mesaroric, M. D. and Pestel, E. (1974). Mankind at the Turning Point. New York: E. P. Dutton, quoted from Fromm, 1988, p. 148. Mukherjee, R. (1965). The Social Structure of Values. Delhi: S. Chand. Rokeach, M. (1973). The Nature of Human Values. New York: Free Press. Schwartz, S. H. (1994). â€Å"Are there universal aspects in the structure and conduct of human values? † Journal of Social Issues, 50, no. 4, 19-45. Swami Ranganathanand (1991). Human Values in Management. Delhi: Bharati Vidya Bhavan. Notes 1. The authors are grateful to professor S. K. Chakraborty, convenor of the Management Center for Human Values, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India, for his collaboration, support and comments on this paper.  © Gustavsson, Tripathi & Rao 1996. No part of this work may be reprinted in any form, physical, electronic, or otherwise, without written consent from the author. About the authors B. Gustavsson graduated (civ. ek. ) 1975 from School of Business, Stockholm University, Sweden, and received his Ph. D. (Ekon. r. ) there in 1992. He is presently working as assistant professor at School of Business, Stockholm University. His latest project is a study on values transition in Indian management. A. N. Tripathi is a professor of electrical engineering at the Intstitute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, India. He obtained his B. Sc engg (electrical) from Banaras Hindu University in 1 960, M. Tech (control systems) from Indian Institute of Technology, Karaghpur in 1965, and Ph. D. from University of Wales in 1971. He is presently working on a project called â€Å"Human Values in the Engineering Profession†. G. P. Rao is senior professor and head of the Department of Management Studies, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, India. He has an M. A. in economics and postgraduate Diploma in Management 12 (PGDM) from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC). He has recently finalized a project called â€Å"Human Values in Industrial Organizations: A Feminine Perspective†. . 13 United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) P. O. Box 30030, Nairobi, KENYA www. unhabitat. org www. unwac. org Tel: +254-20-623060 Fax: +254-20-623588 Global Dharma Center (GDC) Dallas, Texas 75240 USA www. globaldharma. org Tel/Fax: +1-646-514-8260 14

Prevention of Absenteeism in Organisation

How to reduce absenteeism in organisations 1. Identify the causes for an employee’s absenteeism. If you can find out why an employee is consistently absent, then you can deal more effectively with the problem. For example, if an employee is often absent because of issues with childcare, you could offer them the option of more flexible working hours. 2. Implement a thorough record system. For every employee, you should record the date, duration and reason for each case of absenteeism.This way you will have evidence of each absence if you need to refer back to it. 3. Meticulously follow up on each case of absenteeism. You should write a letter recording each case of absenteeism and distribute it to the employee. This will make them aware they are being monitored and make them more likely to think before they take a sick day. 4. Properly inform and regularly update your employees about your standards and policies regarding absenteeism.If you make a change to your absenteeism poli cy, make sure you let your employees know. Even if you don’t make a change, you should still remind your employees regularly of the standards you have in place. You could do this via a company-wide email or memo. Employee absence is a significant cost to 90% of businesses, according to the survey. This section outlines ten tips to help you in managing absence and tackling poor performance in the workplace. Top 10 Absence Management Tips: Create an absence policy and communicate it 2 Record and measure absence 3 Reduce absenteeism by enforcing and managing the staff absence policy 4 Follow employee absence with return to work interviews 5 Proactive absence management – reward excellent attendance 6 Be realistic – plan for unscheduled staff absence 7 Consider unpaid leave or options to buy more holiday time 8 Minimise absence by improving their working conditions 9 Make controlling absenteeism a business priority 10 Keep your staff absence policy up-to-date

Mircroeconomics ( AT&T and T-mobile merger) Essay

Mircroeconomics ( AT&T and T-mobile merger) - Essay Example On the other hand, this implies a reduction in congestion and therefore a possibility of better signal quality and service for the customer base. AT&T consumer's who have been suffering worsened quality because of the heavy data-demands of the iPhones launched in 2007, may expect better quality service because the integrated network will have a substantially better carrying capacity. Service quality is thus likely to improve for iPhone users as well. Rivals, given such improvements are likely to push forward on the same dimensions and improvements in overall signal quality and service provision could be expected. The major groups concerned with the merger, apart from the company owners and employees are the customers, the rivals and the providers in the supply chain for these companies and their rivals as well. In the present paper, we examine what are the expected effects of this merger on related groups of consumers, competitors, and last but not the least, the suppliers. The rest of the essay is organized as follows: in the next section we look at the expected impact on consumers, particularly in terms of prices, signal quality and coverage. ... ven the small number of competitors present in the market and the observed strategic interdependence between them, we are looking at an oligopoly market. Collusion between rivals in such a market has substantial impacts on the characteristics of the market. On one hand such collusion leads to a reduction in the number of firms and thus the market deviates away from competition even more. Therefore, this increasing distance of the market from a perfectly competitive market implies a number of welfare reducing aspects. First and foremost, a fewer number of firms implies an increased market power and thus greater control over prices. Prices are likely to increase and so that will lead to a fall in consumers' surplus. There are reductions in productive and distributive efficiency as well (Varian, 1992). However, there are certain benefits that accrue to enhancement of welfare as well. For instance, the excess capacity that causes productive inefficiency also implies resources that can be utilized for innovations. Particularly, as pointed out by Schumpeter (cited in Solow, 2007), there cannot be privately motivated innovations or R&D activities unless industries earn positive profits. Therefore, for overall economic growth and progress, some degree of market power is crucial. Additionally, the enhancement of capacities is likely to yield scale benefits and increased efficiency as well. This allows merged firms to reduce prices without reducing profitability. In the present context therefore, the proposed merger has twin effects on the customers. Before the merger, AT&T's network is highly congested and customer's complain regularly about poor signal quality. The merger is likely to solve these problems since T-mobile's network is not nearly as congested and the total number

Human behavior in orgzations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human behavior in orgzations - Essay Example It is, because organizational behavior has a direct influence on productivity that is the chief managerial concern. Defining organization behavior Robbins (p.11) states, â€Å"OB is concerned with the study of what people do in an organization and how their behavior affects the organization’s performance.† OB is a very vast concept that may include the study of simple disciplinary matters of employees, interactions, reactions, employment of power and skills, turnover, leadership, performance, communications, actions and perceptions etc. hence there is no consensus on the definition of OB among researchers and scholars. Minor (2006, p. 40) observes, â€Å"Although it does seem that consensus is at a rather low level overall within organizational behavior, there are subfields and sectors where this is not the case.† However, Ostrof, Kinicki & Tamkins (cited in Kinicki, p.41) have presented a more comprehensive and objective definition of the concept, â€Å"Organizational culture is the set of shared, taken-for-granted implicit assumptions that a group holds and that determines how it perceives, thinks about, and reacts to its various environments.† The increasing need to understand and react according to the demands of organizational behavior has exposed managers to tough challenges of interpersonal skills and expertise. Today, the effectiveness and success of a manager is heavily associated with his knowledge and commitment to the OB. Studies have shown that managers with better communication and networking skills are effective and successful. Managers need to administer human resource extensively and keeping in touch with lower level employees and higher-level managers simultaneously has become inevitably important to achieve managerial objectives for the organization. Horizontal and vertical communication with individuals and groups can help to bridge gaps and evade

Inventory Management Systems Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Inventory Management Systems - Assignment Example Other equipment required in the inventory is the barcode printer and scanner. The scanner will be used to read and identify the product. It looks up the information it present about the product (Bernard, 2002). The printer will print a receipt showing summary of the product purchased and total price of the product. New computer set of more than 2 GB RAM, 2.3 Gigahertz duo core processor and more than 250 GB hard disk will be required to install the software and database for keeping information of the entire inventory. External hard disk will also be required for backups. Barcode readers and printers can also be purchase with their user manuals and drivers ( Manthou & Vlachopoulou 2001). The hardware includes the computer set with correct operating system, Ink jet printers with its drivers and the external hard disk. Maintenance of the inventory system is modifying it after delivery to correct faults, make it more users friendly, and improve its performance and many other attributes. This will ensure that the defects in the system are fixed and make it more interactive. Maintenance required includes the following; Perfective maintenance involves implementing changed or new user requirements that will improve the performance of the inventory system and ensure that it meets up to date requirements of the business. Preventive maintenance ensures that the inventory system is reliable and prevents any future problems. Proper maintenance of the system will ensure that the system works efficiently and effectively all the time and cannot slow down any business process. Manthou, V., & Vlachopoulou, M. (2001). Bar-code technology for inventory and marketing management systems: A model for its development and implementation. International Journal Of Production Economics, 71(1),