Ethical Leadership and How to Create a Positive Work Environment Essay Example for Free

Ethical leading and How to Create a Positive Work milieu EssayLeadership nowadays has encountered various problems. One of the most common one and which is contaminating the main business environment is that individuals at work are non pursue as they should. We have to ask ourselves, why is this happening and how can we prevent it? Dr. Charmine Hartel commented in the seminar that almost 20% of all the active workers in every makeup do not work in favor of it. Instead they employ against the organization in various ways. This is a really big issue, because this means that in that respect is something happening inside the organization and its leadership that is making these counter-productive acts. Recent researches that have been made show us that there are 3 different things that commonly happens in the organization that get the workers to engage in a bad way their work as they should. * Work Environment* Negative Work Environment* StressWhen the brain is under stress c hemicals are released that weakens functions of the brain that gives us a higher level of structure (this is called the prefrontal cortex). When stressed, we are likely to engage inappropriate actions and lack the ability to regulate our emotions. With this in mind, we are encountering serious problems for the organization, because if these workers dont have the use of their brain area they are not going to be able to engage the work they can and should do. Ethical LeadershipThe fruits of ethical leadership are Positive Work Environments, also know as PWEs. PWEs exists when the workers see their places as positive, respectful, inclusive and psychologically safe, and when leaders and coworkers are trustworthy and there exist an open diversity characterized in exclusively policies and decision making. The entire above are needed to complete and get a PWE.PWE provides the set of emotional experiences necessary for human flourishing. We know that on average the positive emotional exper iences outweigh the negative emotional ones. So, with this in mind, when you see your environment is safeyou have the ability to fit being more creative and start being yourself. We should always keep in mind that an emotion is a response of the person when they have a particular event. They can have iconoclastic or constructive consequences. Organizations are responsible for the work environment they create. This is called the organization culture. When people and how the people interpreted the environment around their workplace. This is about how the organization context of use shapes the meaning and actions of its members. People management have the need to build resilience, diversity openness and be able to create a support to people public treasury change. There always exists the need to belong and to be protectd for our uniqueness. Servant LeadershipMany leadership approaches think about other things and focus their anxiety on what the followers need and develop things ar ound them. Its an approach around the about the energy and direct it to the best place. With that in mind looking at the person as a whole being, not just as one more worker. One of the key things is that they can understand the core value of the workers and respect them as they deserve. There exist the emotion focus coping and problem focused coping they both have constructive and destructive emotions and impulses. The grown Voice of Values (GVV) is designed to help individuals learn to recognize, clarify, speak and act on themselves when those conflicts arise. The focus is on how a manager raises this issues in an effective way.

Demonstrative Communication Paper Essay Example for Free

Demonstrative Communication Paper EssayDemonstrative talk consists of accepting and sending messages that house be silent this can help spring attention for the start of verbal intercourse even though a non verbal colloquy can transmit the message each by itself. An spokesperson of this would be facial founts, which can be used to express most non verbal communications. According to Nayab body language along with facial expressions represent 55% of all communication. With demonstrative pronoun communication it can highlight the verbal communication for instance appropriately dressed, a nice firm handshake and conducting oneself in a professional manner while on employment interviews. A nonher example would be when two hoi polloi meet for the first time demonstrative communication can either show that the other person is either friendly or unpleasant by just saying the word hello. The facial expression of a smile can demonstrate whether the person is in good spirits and take a leak a friendly personality. A good mien to class this out without the verbal communication would be the smile and other gestures through the nonverbal communication of the other person. An example of this would be a two people doing business together and when they meet for the first time and both business men smile at each other. This would be a nonverbal communication. The way that a persons personality is shown is through their nonverbal communication.Demonstrative communication can go both ways in being good and negative. There are many different facts that play into the nonverbal communication, like the clothes that people wear, their tattoos and possibly their hairstyles. Although these types of communications are nonverbal it does make several(prenominal) people a little uneasy about how they handle their business with someone with this type of communication. It does not matter what the tattoo is of. It can be misinterpret by the person that is viewing the symbol and the person with the tattoo will be labeled as a thug or someone that you should not do business with. That is why body language and facialexpressions can be very important when it comes to demonstrative communication.An example of body language that can be misunderstood would be when two people are talking and one person has their arms folded across their chest. This can be perceived as the person not hearing or being considered overprotective of themselves and will not take criticism lightly. The person with the folded arms could just be wintry or it is a learned gesture from their parents and that is how they listen. This is why many people would agree that demonstrative communication should not only have the nonverbal but excessively the verbal to go along with it so that people do not have any misunderstandings and the issue can be handled properly.According to Sutton, a person cannot fully deliver the anecdote of the day to anyone lacking words, except if the person ca n mime the entire tale (Sutton, 2011). Even if the person is adapted to mime they cannot express the entire issue perfectly. There has to be some degree of distance. This type of communication cannot always be expressed perfectly. An example of this would be that a person cannot convey the nonverbal communication over the phone and the person on the other end only has the verbal part of the communication and might take something the wrong way because they are not able to see the nonverbal part of the communication and that is where misunderstandings come in.Just like all other types of communication demonstrative communication requires listening and responding. It has been said time and time again that people receive more knowledge from someones actions more than their words. There are times when a person needs to listen not only with their ears but also with their eyeball. An example of this would be when a new student has to get up in front of the class and introduce themselves, at first the new student may roll their eyes like so many do because they already know that it is hard enough to start school as the new kid but to have to stand up in front of everyone makes things even more intense.So the other kids have seen the new student roll their eyes but they also have to listen to what is being said because the action was just an annoyance for having to stand up in front of everyone. It is important to remember to listen as well as taking in the scene of what is going on around them. Both the verbal and nonverbal communication will create the listening and response aspect of thecommunication.In todays world all around us there are people unknowingly using demonstrative communication. Just by smiling at their neighbor or waving at someone they are using demonstrative communication. Even though this communication can be misinterpreted or misunderstood it is still wise to try and listen to see if there is anything that the person is also saying.ReferencesRef erencesCheesebro, T., OConnor, L., Rios, F. (2010). Communicating in the workplace. Upper SaddleRiver, NJ Prentice Hall. Nayab, N. (2010, July 26).Different types of communication. Retrieved from http//www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/79297.aspxSutton, N. (2011, March 26). Pros and cons of nonverbal communication.

3 Levels of Society Essay Example for Free

3 Levels of Society EssaySociety consists of three levels the upper, middle, and lower class. This was established by philosophers Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx. Marx stated his views, cognise as the Marxist Theory. The Marxist view of scientific socialism was based on the short writings and views from two social scientists. The possibleness conceived by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels provided theoretic basis for the struggle of the working class to gain a higher class in society. They viewed crime as function of social demoralization, caused by the capitalist society. While Karl Marx himself did not write much on the topic of crime, his views on the relationship between the concept of social conflict, this concept was first applied to criminology by three expansive scholars Willem Bonger, Ralf Dahr completeorf, and George Vold. (Pg. 269 Seigel Larry J.).Willem Bonger had the belief that society was divided into two groups, the take ins or the ruling class and the have not s or the inferior class. The law is supposed to protect all classes of society, but in reality the law serves the will of the ruling class. Unless a situation is in a potentially harmful way of the ruling class, no actions be taken. But when actions such as crime affect the people of power and something has to be done, the legal system discriminates against the poor because of the capitalist society. Being the lower class, people are deprived of materials and are still monopolized by the upper class, they now are more likely to commit crime.Ralf Dahrendorf argued that society of today was organized into peremptorily coordinated associations. There are two associations who make up society, the people who have authority and us it for social domination and then theres those who lack authority and are dominated. He says that society needs to step international from the ruling of classes and adhere to the idea of authority. Ralf states that society is made up of competing interest grou ps and formed his own theory on human behavior called the conflict theory. This theory is based off of a few ideas, such as, social change is everywhere, social conflict is everywhere, and every element in society iis a contribution to its own change.George Vold argued that the laws are made to help politically orienteered groups, who seek aid by the government. They need help protecting their rights and interests so they need someone with forceful power to help. He feels that a law can be created be enough people who share the same view and interests. In the end every case and criminal situation involves conflict of some sort.Crime is viewed as a social demoralization, as stated earlier. All three of these distinguished scholars had their own theories, overlapping in belief or not, on how society and crime worked. Willem Bonger believed society was divided into two groups, the haves and the Have nots. Ralf Dahrendorf argued that society was organized into imperatively coordinated associations. And George Vold said that the laws were/are made to help politically orienteered groups, who seek aid by the government.

Analysing the Concept of and Impact of Culture

Analysing the C at oncept of and Impact of CultureMore than a half century ago noned American poet T. S. Eliot eloquently expressed the complexity of the landmark kitchen-gardening, a term that is used so freely and with so little aforethought today. As Eliot learned, kitchen-gardening is quite difficult to define. He succeeded in describing the term, as Lord Evans (2001) noted, but a definition eluded even someone with Eliots gift for words. But Eliot was not alone in wrestling with defining culture experts in a variety of disciplines acquire yet to agree on a consensus definition and some even manage the design of culture itself.As this essay will demonstrate, line surrounding the concept of culture can be attributed, to a large degree, to the failure by those who study the topic to befool a widely-accepted definition that adequately captures the complexity of the term. After presenting the results of a literature review on various definitions of culture and the topic of culture as a contested concept, the focus of the essay turns to the significance of culture in interlocking annunciation, demonstrating that culture is a critical factor in successfully resolving conflicts and, further, that a consensus definition for culture that reflects the realities of modern society would facilitate the conflict closedown process.Culture DefinedExperts may not be able to agree on a definition for culture, but they app bently experience no difficulty in agreeing that culture is a difficult term to define (Edensor 2002 Hall 1980, cited in Park 2005). Susan Wright (1998) reports the existence of at least 164 definitions for culture. Noted sociologist and anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn (1949) defined culture eleven different ways in his book mirror for Man, and he and his colleagues (1952) catalogued more than 160 definitions for culture into six categories descriptive, historical, normative, psychological, generic, and incomplete. Raymond Williams writes tha t, in the term culture, history has bestowed one of the two or three most complicated words in the side of meat language, adding that culture can be used to refer to a wide order of phenomena and that the concept of culture has produced major political and philosophical distinction (Williams 1983, cited in Chay 1990).Kluckhohn (1954) developed one of the most often cited definitions for culture in writing that it consists in patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of instauration collections, including their embodiments in artifacts. Culture has also been defined as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society (Tylor 1871, cited in Kluckhohn 1952) the humanity-made part of the environment (Herskovits 1955, cited in Earley and Randal 1997) dispensed meaning systems (Shwede r and LeVine 1984, cited in Earley and Randal 1997) the sum total and organization of the social heritages which have acquired a social meaning because of racial temperament and of the historical life of the group (Park and Burgess 1921, cited in Kluckhohn 1952) the mode of life followed by the community or the folks including all standardized social procedures (Wissler 1929, cited in Kluckhohn 1952) the sum of mens adjustments to their life-conditionsattained only through the combined action of variation, selection, and transmission (Sumner and Keller 1927, cited in Kluckhohn 1952) and a product of human association (Groves 1928, cited in Kluckhohn 1952).In the aggregate, the various definitions just presented express the theme of shared meanings acquired then passed from generation to generation. They also describe culture at group and societal levels. Other experts describe the term from the perspective of the individual(a) or otherwise provide for differences in cultural attr ibutes indoors a group or society. Hofstede (1980, cited in Earley and Randel 1997) defines culture as a set of mental programs that control an individuals responses in a given up context. Park (2005) describes culture as a marker for difference in society. And Rohner (1984, cited in Earley and Randel 1997) defines the term as the totality of equivalent and complementary learned meanings maintained by a human population, or by identifiable segments of a population, and transmitted from one generation to the next. The phrase equivalent and complementary learned meanings is critical to an taking into custody of Rohners definition, match to Earley and Randel, because it provides for individual variances in interpretations of learned meanings within a culture.Although these definitions represent only a small portion of those revealed from a review of the literature, they provide some insight into the range of thought on the topic of culture, especially perspectives on assessing cul ture at various levels societal, group, and individual. As will be suggested, the difficulty experts have experienced in defining culture helps to explain why culture is a contested concept and why a solution to the definitional problem is important to resolving the cope somewhat the role of culture in conflict resolution and, ultimately, to facilitating the conflict resolution process.Culture as a contend ConceptFantasia and Hirsch (1995, cited in Ellis and Thompson, 1997) write, with a hint of sarcasm, that cultural theorists can take pride in their creation of a contested terrain in the study of culture. The literature review indicated that most experts who contest the concept of culture base their disputes on the belief that, in the modern world, there is no all-embracing culture in which everyone in a given society blindly holds precisely the same shared meanings, which is suggested by most traditional definitions of culture.The concept of culture has long been contested (C ooper and Denner 1998 Mathews 2000). Bhabha (1993) writes that, as people have increasingly migrated to other lands in modern times, they have only taken part of their total culture with them. The culture of these migrants becomes a mixture of the cultures from their native societies and those engraft in the society in which they entered. Heath (1997) writes that experts no longer consider culture to be a viable concept in a world of volatile, situated, and overlapping social identities, contending that various disciplines have taken issue with culture as a concept for various reasons. She writes that educators protest the concept on the keister of its transmission of connotations of objectivity, discreteness, essentialism, and ahistoricism sociologists challenge the concept on the grounds of production, mass consumerism, and popular entertainment and experts from the human sciences contest the totalizing universalizing perspectives of culture, replacing these arbitrary constructi ons with permeable membranes that are not predictable or deterministic. Heath (1997) also points to the fuzzy boundaries of culture, arguing that specific cultures are hard to isolate and claiming that variations are becoming apparent within groups that have been traditionally viewed as possessing unique cultures. Edensor (2002) writes that popular culture is having a major cross-cultural effect on traditional cultures. Childs and Storry (1999) claim that cultures are changing so quickly that a snapshot of real cultural practices is inevitably going to be blurred. Mathews (2000), in noting that even anthropologists are increasingly avoiding the term culture, poses the question as to whether in todays world of global flows and interactions cultural labels are appropriate and claims that individuals personally select which elements of a given culture to apply in their behavioural decisions. Brightman (1995, cited in Mathews 2000) notes that some experts are enclosing culture in quot ation marks to indicate their ambivalence, self-consciousness or censure about the term.In closing, perhaps Earley and Randel (1997) declare oneself the one of the more revealing insights into the controversy over the term culture We suggest that while the romance of culture as a grand concept capturing the complexity of society and life is tempting, this conceptualization is both(prenominal) limiting and misleading.The Significance of Culture in appointment heroismConflict resolution and culture are intrinsically intertwined. Rubin and colleagues (1994, cited in Bjrkqvist and tyke 1997) define conflict as compassd divergence of interest, or a belief that parties current aspirations cannot be achieved simultaneously. Hopmann (1998) contends that, in a complex world, conflict is unavoidable. Conflict is an inevitable consequence of the interdependence inherent in human interaction (Bjrkqvist and Fry 1997). Processes used to resolve conflicts must be considered within a larger c ultural context (Just 1991). Conflicts are cultural events in every sense of the word, according to Lederach (1991). Bjrkqvist and Fry (1997) write that conflict resolution is a cultural phenomenon. Avruch (1991) refers to conflicts and conflict resolution approaches as cultural events. Various studies have confirmed that conflict resolution processes are culture-specific (Avruch and Black 1991 Avurch, Black and Scimecca 1991, cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry 1997). Ross (1993, cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry 1997) originated the term culture of conflict to describe the norms and institutions that a society applies in conflicts. Beliefs, attitudes, and patterns of behaviours about conflict are internalised by people in their cultural settings and, in turn, strengthened by cultural norms and institutions. And, because conflict is a cultural phenomenon, the methods used to perceive and respond to conflict are typically transparent to those involved because these methods are based on assumptions that they do not question. (Bjrkqvist and Fry 1997)Bjrkqvist and Fry (1997) urge heed in applying conflict resolution approaches across cultural lines. For instance, they recommend that generic manuals prescribing conflict resolution procedures to be used in all cultural settings should be avoided (Avruch 1991). People involved in conflict resolution should be flexible and sensitive to cultural differences, according to Lederach (1991, cited in Bjrkqvist) and Benvenisti (1986, cited in Avruch 1991). Benvenisti chastises conflict resolvers who believe that common conflicts are like a chessboard where one can think up the best arrangement of chess pieces and move them all at once. Cultures vary in the mechanisms they use in resolving conflict with some applying formal mechanisms such as court systems and others using informal approaches such as gossip, teasing, and exclusion (Black 1993 Fry 1992, 1994 Hollan 1988 White 1991, cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry 1997).Versi (2002) suggests tha t if you know where the other person is coming from culturally, you can develop a more useful approach to resolving conflict. Rubin (1994, cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry 1997), articulates four generic strategies used in conflict resolution (1) contending, which involves a high level of concern for ones consume results and a low level of concern for the others results (2) problem solving, which involves high levels of concern for ones own results and those of the other party (3) yielding, which involves a low level of concern for ones own results and a high level of concern for the others results and (4) avoiding, which involves low levels of concern for ones own results and those of the other party. Of these, the authors argue that problem solving is the most stiff strategy because it permits both contenders to win. Fortunately, the problem solving strategy is hard-hitting across a broad spectrum of cultures. In problem solving, the use of a non-partisan third-party facilitator ha s also been found to be effective across cultures (Black 1993, cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry 1997).The Culture Definition Dilemma and Its Effects on Optimal Conflict resolve OutcomesThe debate about culture, specifically the controversy surrounding the validity of culture as a concept, is important to the field of conflict resolution because cultural factors are so inexorably linked to conflicts and their effective resolutions. Results of the literature review of definitions for the term culture and the review of literature on culture as a contested concept suggest that definitions describing culture as a group or societal phenomenon without allowing for variance within the group or society may be at the root of the cultural concept validity dispute.As Bhabha (1993), Childs and Storry (1999), Edensor (2002), Heath (1997), and Mathews (2000) proffer, modern societies are increasingly integrating and, as this occurs, their members are mixing their unique cultural attributes with one ano ther thereby blurring the distinctions that once defined individual cultures. But does this mean that the concept of culture is invalid? The answer to that question lies in the definitions of culture that allow for individual variance in cultural attributes. For instance, the definition offered by Rohner (1984, cited in Earley and Randel 1997), who defines the term as the totality of equivalent and complementary learned meanings maintained by a human population, or by identifiable segments of a population, and transmitted from one generation to the next, provides for individual variances in interpretations of learned meanings within a culture. This definition seems offer the flexibility to adequately define culture within the context of modern intermingled societies, thus revalidating the concept of culture.How, then, would a definition for culture that provides for individual variance touch base to conflict resolution? Although a definition that considers everyone within a particu lar culture to share precisely the same cultural attributes would help to make conflict resolution a much more predictable process, such a definition does not reflect the realities of modern societies. However, knowing that members of a culture share equivalent and complementary learned meanings, as proposed by Rohner, permits a certain degree of predictability whilst simultaneously providing needed flexibility to accommodate individual variance. There may even be an additional benefit in this condition for practitioners in conflict resolution. Individual variance may actually serve to weaken hard cultural barriers that have, in the past, obstructed successful conflict resolution. For instance, as cultures integrate more fully, their members typically become more understanding of each others cultural attributes. This understanding should provide an enhanced common basis for resolving conflicts and may even reduce the incidence of conflicts themselves.ConclusionIn the modern global village, as opportunities subjoin for people and their cultures to interact, the need for effective conflict resolution has never been more critical or more difficult, yet experts in a variety of disciplines are engaged in seemingly endless philosophical arguments about the validity of culture as a concept, diverting their energies from what seem to be more procreative endeavours such as developing new techniques for conflict resolution that could lead to a more peaceful world. Adopting a more flexible definition for culture one that recognises individual variances and the realities of the modern world would be a first step in achieving this worthy goal. ReferencesAvruch, K. (1991) Introduction Culture and conflict-resolution, in K. Avruch, P. W. Black, and J. A. Scimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution Cross Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut Greenwood.Avruch, K., and Black, P. W. (1991) The culture question and conflict resolution, Peace and Change 16. Cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry (1997).Avruch, K., Black, P. W., and Scimecca, J. A., (1991) Conflict Resolution Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut Greenwood Press. Cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry (1997).Benvenisti, Meron (1986) Conflicts and Contradictions, newly York Villard Books/Random House. Cited in Avruch (1991).Bhabha, Homi K. (1993) Cultures in between, Artforum international 321, September 1993.Bjrkqvist, Kaj, and Fry, Douglas P. (1997) Cultural Variation in Conflict Resolution Alternatives to Violence, Mahwah, red-hot tee shirt Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Black, D. (1993) The Social Structure of Right and Wrong, San Diego, atomic number 20 Academic Press. Cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry (1997).Brightman, R. (1995) Forget culture Replacement, transcendence, relexification, Cultural Anthropology 104. Cited in Mathews (2000).Chay, Jongsuk (1990) Culture and International Relations, New York Praeger.Childs, Peter, and Storry, Mike (1999) Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture, capi tal of the United Kingdom Routledge.Cooper, Catherine R., and Denner, Jill (1998) Theories linking culture and psychology Universal and community-specific processes, Annual Review of Psychology 49.Earley, P. Christopher, and Randel, Amy E. (1997) Culture without borders An individual-level approach to cross-cultural investigate in organizational behavior, in Cary L. Cooper and Susan E. Jackson, eds., Creating Tomorrows Organizations A Handbook for Future Research in Organizational Behavior, Chichester John Wiley Sons.Edensor, Tim (2002) National Identity, Popular Culture and general Life, Oxford Berg.Eliot, T. S. (1949) Notes Towards the Definition of Culture, New York Harcourt Brace and Company, 62.Ellis, Richard J., and Thompson, Michael (1997) Culture Matters Essays in Honor of Aaron Wildavsky, Boulder, Colorado Westview Press.Evans, Lord (2001) The economy of the imagination, New Statesman 1304544, July 2, 2001.Fantasia, Rick, and Hirsch, Eric L. (1995), Culture and rebellion the annexation and transformation of the veil in the Algerian Revolution, in Hank Johnston and Bert Klandermans, eds., Social Movements and Culture, Minneapolis, Minnesota University of Minnesota Press. Cited in Ellis and Thompson (1997). Fry, D. P. (1992) Female aggression among the Zapotec of Oaxaca, Mexico, in K. Bjrkqvist and P. Niemel, eds., Of Mice and Women Aspects of Female Aggression, San Diego, atomic number 20 Academic Press. Cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry (1997). Fry, D. P. (1994) Maintaining social tranquillity Internal and external loci of aggression control, in L. E. Sponsel and T. Gregor, eds., The Anthropology of Peace and Nonviolence, Boulder, Colorado Lynne Rienner. Cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry (1997).Groves, E. R. (1928) An Introduction to Sociology, New York. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952).Hall, S. (1980) Cultural studies Two paradigms, in F. E. N. B. Dirk and S. B. Ortner, eds., A Reader in Contemporary Social Theory, Princeton, New Jersey Princeton University Press. Ci ted in Park (2005).Heath, Shirley Brice (1997) Culture Contested realm in research on children and youth, Personality and Social Psychology Review 13.Herskovits, M. J. (1955) Cultural Anthropology, New York Knopf. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997).Hofstede, G. (1980) Cultures Consequences International Differences in Work-Related Values, Newbury Park, California Sage. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997).Hollan, D. (1988) Staying cool in Toraja Informal strategies for the management of anger and hostility in a non-violent society, Ethos 16. Cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry (1997).Hopmann, Terrence (1998) The Negotiation Process and the Resolution of International Conflicts, Columbia, South Carolina Columbia South Carolina Press.Just, Peter (1991) Conflict resolution and moral community among the Dou Donggo, in Kevin Avruch, Peter W. Black, and Joseph A. Scimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut Praeger.Kluckhohn, C. (1949) Mirror for Man, New York Wittlesey House.Kluckhohn, Clyde (1954) Culture and Behavior, New York Free Press.Kluckhohn, Clyde et al. (1952) Culture A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions, Cambridge, Massachusetts Peabody Museum.Lederach, John Paul (1991) Of nets, nails, and problems The folk language of conflict resolution in a Central American settting, in Kevin Avruch, Peter W. Black, and Joseph A. Scimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut Praeger.Mathews, Gordon (2000) Searching for Home in the Cultural Supermarket, London Routledge.Park, R. E., and Burgess, E. W. (1921) Introduction to the Science of Sociology, Chicago. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952).Park, Yoosun (2005) Culture as deficit A critical discourse analysis of the concept of culture in contemporary social work discourse, Journal of Sociology Social Work 323.Rohner, R. R. (1984) Toward a conception of culture for cross-cultural psychology, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 152. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997).Ross, M. H. (1993) The trouble of Conflict, New Haven, Connecticut Yale University Press. Cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry (1997).Rubin, J. Z., Pruitt, D. G., and Kim, S. H. (1994) Social Conflict Escalation, Stalemate and Settlement, New York McGraw-Hill. Cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry (1997).Shweder, R. A. and LeVine, R. A. (1984) Culture Theory Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion, New York Cambridge University Press. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997).Sumner, W. G., and Keller, A. G. (1927) The Science of Society, New Haven, Connecticut. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952).Tylor, E. B. (1871) Primitive Culture, Boston. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952).Versi, Anver (2002) Coping with culture clash, African Business, May 2002.White, G. M. (1991) Rhetoric, reality, and resolving conflicts Disentangling in a Solomon Islands society, in K. Avruch, P. W. Black, and J. A. Schimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut Greenwood. Cited in Bjrkqvist and Fry ( 1997).Wissler, C. (1929) An Introduction to Social Anthropology, New York. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952).Williams, Raymond (1983) Keywords, London Fontana. Cited in Chay (1990).Wright, Susan (1998) The politicization of culture, Anthropology Today 141.

Economic Indicators of The Great Depression

Economic Indicators of The nifty stamp1. Start of the considerable DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide scotch depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it suck uped in nigh 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s.1 It was the longest, most far-flung, and deepest depression of the 20th century. In the 21st century, the Great Depression is comm wholly used as an example of how far the worlds thrift can mitigate. The depression originated in the U.S., starting with the gene direct in derivation prices that began around September 4, 1929 and became worldwide news with the stock commercialise crash of October 29, 1929 (known as Black Tuesday). From on that point, it quickly spread to almost e real country in the world.The Great Depression had devastating effect in virtually every country, rich and unforesightful. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and pric es dropped art object international trade plunged by to . Unemployment in the U.S. rose to 25% and in close to countries rose as higher(pre nominated) as 33%. Cities all around the world were hit hard, oddly those restricted on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in m any countries. Farming and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by approximately 60%. Facing plummeting demand with few alternate sources of jobs, areas dependent on primary sector industries such(prenominal) as cash cropping, mining and logging suffered the most.Some economies started to rec everywhere by the mid-1930s. However, in many countries the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the start of World War II.2. Causes and scotch indicatorsThere were multiple causes for the first downturn in 1929. These include the structural weaknesses and specific events that off it into a major depression and the manner in which the downturn spread from country to country. In relation t o the 1929 downturn, historians emphasize structural factors like spacious verify failures and the stock market crash. In contrast, economists (such as Barry Eichengreen, Milton Friedman and Peter Temin) pane to financial factors such as actions by the US federal hold in that contracted the bullion supply, as well as Britains decision to return to the Gold Standard at pre-World War I parities (US$4.861).Recessions and course cycles are thought to be a normal part of living in a world of inexact balances between supply and demand. What turns a normal recession or ordinary business cycle into an actual depression is a subject of much debate and concern. Scholars start non agreed on the exact causes and their relative importance. Moreover, the search for causes is close connected to the issue of fend offing future depressions.Thus, the personal political and policy discernpoints of scholars greatly color their analysis of historic events occurring eight decades ago. An eve n capaciousr question is whether the Great Depression was primarily a failure on the part of free markets or, alternately, a failure of government efforts to regulate interest rates, curtail widespread savings bank failures, and control the notes supply. Those who believe in a larger economic exercise for the state believe that it was primarily a failure of free markets, while those who believe in a smaller role for the state believe that it was primarily a failure of government that com overreached the problem. flow theories may be broadly classified into two main points of view and several heterodox points of view. First, there are demand-driven theories, most importantly Keynesian economics, but also including those who point to the breakdown of international trade, and Institutional economists who point to under consumption and over-investment (causing an economic bubble), malfeasance by bankers and industrialists, or incompetence by government officials. The consensus amon g demand-driven theories is that a large-scale want of confidence direct to a sudden decrease in consumption and investment disbursal. Once panic and deflation set in, many people believed they could avoid advance ventes by keeping clear of the markets. Holding money became profitable as prices dropped lower and a given measuring of money bought ever much goods, exacerbating the drop in demand.Secondly, there are the monetarists, who believe that the Great Depression started as an ordinary recession, but that significant policy mistakes by monetary authorities (especially the Federal check), caused a shrinking of the money supply which greatly exacerbated the economic situation, causing a recession to descend into the Great Depression. Related to this news report are those who point to debt deflation causing those who borrow to owe ever more in real terms.Lastly, there are various heterodox theories that downplay or reject the explanations of the Keynesians and monetarists . For example, some new classical macroeconomists have argued that various lying-in market policies imposed at the start caused the length and severity of the Great Depression. The Austrian school of economics focuses on the macroeconomic effects of money supply, and how central banking decisions can track to over-investment (economic bubble). The Marxist critique of political economy emphasizes the tendency of niftyist economy to create unbalanced accumulations of wealth, leading to over accumulations of capital and a repeating cycle of devaluations by means of economic crises.Table 1 Change in economic indicators 1929-32USABritainFranceGermanyIndustrial production46%232441Wholesale prices32%333429Foreign trade70%605461Unemployment+607%+129+214+2323. Breakdown of international tradeMany economists have argued that the sharp decline in international trade later on 1930 helped to correct the depression, especially for countries significantly dependent on foreign trade. Most his torians and economists partly infernal the American Smoot-Hawley Tariff bend (enacted June 17, 1930) for worsening the depression by disadvantageously diminution international trade and causing retaliatory tariffs in other countries. While foreign trade was a small part of overall economic activity in the U.S. and was concentrated in a few businesses like farming, it was a much larger factor in many other countries. The number ad valorem rate of duties on dutiable imports for 1921-1925 was 25.9% but under the new tariff it jumped to 50% in 1931-1935.In dollar terms, American exports declined from about $5.2 meg in 1929 to $1.7 billion in 1933 but prices also fell, so the physical volume of exports only fell by half. Hardest hit were farm commodities such as wheat, cotton, tobacco, and lumber. According to this guess, the collapse of farm exports caused many American farmers to default on their loans, leading to the bank runs on small rural banks that characterized the early y ears of the Great Depression.4. Debt deflationIrving Fisher argued that the predominant factor leading to the Great Depression was over-indebtedness and deflation. Fisher tied loose credit to over-indebtedness, which fueled speculation and asset bubbles. He because outlined 9 factors interacting with one another under conditions of debt and deflation to create the mechanics of boom to bust. The chain of events proceeded as followsDebt liquidation and distress sellingContraction of the money supply as bank loans are paid offA fall in the level of asset pricesA still greater fall in the net worth of business, precipitating bankruptciesA fall in profitsA reduction in output, in trade and in employment.Pessimism and loss of confidenceHoarding of moneyA fall in nominal interest rates and a rise in deflation adjusted interest rates.During the disrupt of 1929 preceding the Great Depression, margin requirements were only 10%. Brokerage firms, in other words, would lend $9 for every $1 an investor had deposited. When the market fell, brokers called in these loans, which could not be paid back. Banks began to fail as debtors defaulted on debt and depositors attempted to withdraw their deposits en masse, triggering multiple bank runs. Government guarantees and Federal Reserve banking regulations to obstruct such panics were ineffective or not used. Bank failures led to the loss of billions of dollars in assets. Outstanding debts became heavier, because prices and incomes fell by 20-50% but the debts remained at the same dollar amount. after(prenominal)(prenominal) the panic of 1929, and during the first 10 months of 1930, 744 US banks failed. (In all, 9,000 banks failed during the 1930s). By April 1933, around $7 billion in deposits had been frozen in failed banks or those left unlicensed after the March Bank Holiday.Bank failures snowballed as desperate bankers called in loans which the borrowers did not have time or money to repay. With future profits looking poor , capital investment and construction slowed or completely ceased. In the face of bad loans and worsening future prospects, the surviving banks became even more conservative in their lending. Banks rein get outd up their capital reserves and made fewer loans, which intensified deflationary pressures. A vicious cycle developed and the downward spiral speed up.The liquidation of debt could not keep up with the fall of prices which it caused. The mass effect of the stampede to liquidate increased the value of each dollar owed, relative to the value of declining asset holdings. The very effort of individuals to slighten their burden of debt effectively increased it. Paradoxically, the more the debtors paid, the more they owed. This self-aggravating process turned a 1930 recession into a 1933 great depression.5 KeynesianBritish economist John Maynard Keynes argued in General Theory of Employment Interest and Money that lower aggregate expenditures in the economy contributed to a massiv e decline in income and to employment that was well below the average. In such a situation, the economy reached equilibrium at low levels of economic activity and high unemployment. Keynes basic idea was simple to keep people fully employed, governments have to run deficits when the economy is slowing, as the private sector would not invest exuberant to keep production at the normal level and bring the economy out of recession. Keynesian economists called on governments during times of economic crisis to pick up the shirk by increasing government spending and/or cutting taxes.As the Depression wore on, Franklin D. Roosevelt tried public works, farm subsidies, and other devices to restart the economy, but never completely gave up trying to balance the budget. According to the Keynesians, this improved the economy, but Roosevelt never spent enough to bring the economy out of recession until the start of World War II.5.1 MonetaristMonetarists, including Milton Friedman and current Fe deral Reserve System chairman Ben Bernanke, argue that the Great Depression was mainly caused by monetary contraction, the consequence of poor policymaking by the American Federal Reserve System and continued crisis in the banking system. In this view, the Federal Reserve, by not acting, allowed the money supply as mensurable by the M2 to shrink by one-third from 1929-1933, thereby transforming a normal recession into the Great Depression. Friedman argued that the downward turn in the economy, starting with the stock market crash, would have been just another recession. However, the Federal Reserve allowed some large public bank failures particularly that of the New York Bank of the linked States which produced panic and widespread runs on local banks, and the Federal Reserve sat idly by while banks collapsed. He claimed that, if the Fed had provided emergency lending to these key banks, or precisely bought government bonds on the open market to provide liquidity and increase th e quantity of money after the key banks fell, all the rest of the banks would not have fallen after the large ones did, and the money supply would not have fallen as far and as fast as it did. With significantly less money to go around, businessmen could not get new loans and could not even get their old loans renewed, forcing many to stop investing. This interpretation blames the Federal Reserve for inaction, especially the New York branch.One reason why the Federal Reserve did not act to limit the decline of the money supply was regulation. At that time, the amount of credit the Federal Reserve could issue was limited by the Federal Reserve Act, which required 40% sumptuous backing of Federal Reserve Notes issued. By the late mid-twenties, the Federal Reserve had almost hit the limit of allowable credit that could be backed by the golden in its possession. This credit was in the form of Federal Reserve demand notes. A promise of gold is not as good as gold in the hand, particul arly when they only had enough gold to cover 40% of the Federal Reserve Notes outstanding. During the bank panics a portion of those demand notes were redeemed for Federal Reserve gold. Since the Federal Reserve had hit its limit on allowable credit, any reduction in gold in its vaults had to be accompanied by a greater reduction in credit. On April 5, 1933, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102 making the private ownership of gold certificates, coins and bullion illegal, reducing the pressure on Federal Reserve gold.5.2 New classical approachRecent work from a neoclassical perspective focuses on the decline in productivity that caused the initial decline in output and a prolonged retrieval due to policies that masked the labor market. This work, collected by Kehoe and Prescott, decomposes the economic decline into a decline in the labor storm, capital stock, and the productivity with which these inputs are used. This study suggests that theories of the Great Depression have to explain an initial severe decline but rapid recovery in productivity, relatively little change in the capital stock, and a prolonged depression in the labor force. This analysis rejects theories that focus on the role of savings and posit a decline in the capital stock.5.3 Austrian SchoolAnother explanation comes from the Austrian School of economics. Theorists of the Austrian School who wrote about the Depression include Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek and American economist Murray Rothbard, who wrote Americas Great Depression (1963). In their view and like the monetarists, the Federal Reserve, which was created in 1913, shoulders much of the blame but in opposition to the monetarists, they argue that the key cause of the Depression was the expansion of the money supply in the 1920s that led to an unsustainable credit-driven boom. In the Austrian view it was this inflation of the money supply that led to an unsustainable boom in both asset prices (stocks and bonds) and c apital goods. By the time the Fed belatedly tightened in 1928, it was far too late and, in the Austrian view, a significant economic contraction was inevitable. According to the Austrians, the artificial interference in the economy was a disaster prior to the Depression, and government efforts to prop up the economy after the crash of 1929 only made things worse. According to Rothbard, government intervention delayed the markets readjustment and made the road to complete recovery more difficult.5.4 MarxistMarx saw recession and depression as unavoidable under free-market capitalism as there are no restrictions on accumulations of capital other than the market itself. In the Marxist view, capitalism tends to create unbalanced accumulations of wealth, leading to over-accumulations of capital which inevitably lead to a crisis. This especially sharp bust is a regular feature of the boom and bust pattern of what Marxists term chaotic capitalist developing. It is a doctrine of many Mar xists groupings that such crises are inevitable and will be increasingly severe until the contradictions inherent in the mismatch between the mode of production and the development of productive forces reach the final point of failure, at which point, the crisis period encourages intensified class conflict and forces societal change6. InequalityTwo economists of the 1920s, Waddill Catchings and William Trufant Foster, popularized a theory that influenced many policy makers, including Herbert Hoover, Henry A. Wallace, Paul Douglas, and Marriner Eccles. It held the economy produced more than it consumed, because the consumers did not have enough income. Thus the unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920s caused the Great Depression.According to this view, the root cause of the Great Depression was a global over-investment in heavy industry capacity compared to wages and earnings from sovereign businesses, such as farms. The solution was the government must pump money into co nsumers pockets. That is, it must redistribute purchasing power, maintain the industrial base, but re-inflate prices and wages to force as much of the inflationary increase in purchasing power into consumer spending. The economy was overbuilt, and new factories were not needed. Foster and Catchings recommended federal and state governments start large construction projects, a program followed by Hoover and Roosevelt.7. Turning point and recoveryVarious countries around the world started to recover from the Great Depression at different times. In most countries of the world, recovery from the Great Depression began in 1933. In the U.S., recovery began in the spring of 1933. However, the U.S. did not return to 1929 GNP for over a decade and still had an unemployment rate of about 15% in 1940, albeit down from the high of 25% in 1933.There is no consensus among economists regarding the motive force for the U.S. economic expansion that continued through most of the Roosevelt years (and the 1937 recession that interrupted it).The common view among mainstream economists is that Roosevelts New Deal policies either caused or accelerated the recovery, although his policies were never aggressive enough to bring the economy completely out of recession. Some economists have also called attention to the positive effects from expectations of reflation and rising nominal interest rates that Roosevelts words and actions portended. However, opposition from the new Conservative Coalition caused a rollback of the New Deal policies in early 1937, which caused a turnaround in the recovery. point 3 The overall course of the Depression in the joined States, as reflected in per-capita GDP (average income per person) shown in constant year 2000 dollars, nonnegative some of the key events of the period.According to Christina Romer, the money supply growth caused by huge international gold inflows was a crucial source of the recovery of the fall in States economy, and that the econom y showed little sign of self-correction. The gold inflows were partly due to devaluation of the U.S. dollar and partly due to deterioration of the political situation in Europe. In their book, A Monetary History of the United States, Milton Friedman and Anna J. Schwartz also attributed the recovery to monetary factors, and contended that it was much slowed by poor management of money by the Federal Reserve System. Current Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke agrees that monetary factors played important roles both in the worldwide economic decline and eventual recovery. Bernanke, also sees a besotted role for institutional factors, particularly the rebuilding and restructuring of the financial system, and points out that the Depression needs to be examined in international perspective. Economists Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian, believe that the economy should have returned to normal after four years of depression except for continued depressing influences, and point the finger to the lack of downward flexibility in prices and wages, encouraged by Roosevelt Administration policies such as the subject area Industrial Recovery Act.8. Gold idealEconomic studies have indicated that just as the downturn was spread worldwide by the rigidities of the Gold Standard, it was suspending gold convertibility (or devaluing the currency in gold terms) that did most to make recovery possible. What policies countries followed after casting off the gold standard, and what results followed varied widely.Every major currency left the gold standard during the Great Depression. Great Britain was the first to do so. Facing speculative attacks on the pound and depleting gold reserves, in September 1931 the Bank of England ceased exchanging pound notes for gold and the pound was floated on foreign exchange markets.Great Britain, Japan, and the Scandinavian countries left the gold standard in 1931. Other countries, such as Italy and the U.S., remained on the gold standard into 1932 or 1933, while a few countries in the so-called gold bloc, led by France and including Poland, Belgium and Switzerland, stayed on the standard until 1935-1936.According to later analysis, the earliness with which a country left the gold standard reliably predicted its economic recovery. For example, Great Britain and Scandinavia, which left the gold standard in 1931, recovered much earlier than France and Belgium, which remained on gold much longer. Countries such as China, which had a silver standard, almost avoided the depression entirely. The association between leaving the gold standard as a strong predictor of that countrys severity of its depression and the length of time of its recovery has been shown to be concordant for dozens of countries, including developing countries. This partly explains why the experience and length of the depression differed between national economies.9. World War II and recoveryThe common view among economic historians is that the Great Depression ended with the advent of World War II. Many economists believe that government spending on the war caused or at least accelerated recovery from the Great Depression. However, some consider that it did not play a very large role in the recovery, although it did help in reducing unemployment.The massive rearmament policies leading up to World War II helped stimulate the economies of Europe in 1937-39. By 1937, unemployment in Britain had fallen to 1.5 million. The mobilization of work force spare-time activity the outbreak of war in 1939 finally ended unemployment.Americas entry into the war in 1941 finally eliminated the last effects from the Great Depression and brought the unemployment rate down below 10%. In the U.S., massive war spending doubled economic growth rates, either masking the effects of the Depression or essentially ending the Depression. Businessmen ignored the mounting national debt and heavy new taxes, redoubling their efforts for greater output to take advantage of generous government contracts.Picture 5 A female factory worker in 1942, Fort Worth, Texas. Women entered the workforce as men were drafted into the armed forces.10. EffectsThe majority of countries set up relief programs, and most underwent some sort of political upheaval, pushing them to the left or right. In some states, the desperate citizens turned toward nationalist demagoguesthe most disreputable being Adolf Hitlersetting the stage for World War II in 1939.CanadaHarshly affected by both the global economic downturn and the sprinkle Bowl, Canadian industrial production had fallen to only 58% of the 1929 level by 1932, the second lowest level in the world after the United States, and well behind nations such as Britain, which saw it fall only to 83% of the 1929 level. Total national income fell to 56% of the 1929 level, again worse than any nation apart from the United States. Unemployment reached 27% at the depth of the Depression in 1933. During the 1930s, Cana da employed a highly restrictive immigration policy.FranceThe Depression began to affect France around 1931. Frances relatively high degree of self-sufficiency meant the damage was considerably less than in nations like Germany. However, hardship and unemployment were high enough to lead to bacchanalia and the rise of the socialist Popular Front.GermanyGermanys Weimar Republic was hit hard by the depression, as American loans to help rebuild the German economy now stopped. Unemployment soared, especially in larger cities, and the political system veered toward extremism. The unemployment rate reached nearly 30% in 1932. Repayment of the war reparations due by Germany were suspended in 1932 following the Lausanne Conference of 1932. By that time, Germany had repaid of the reparations. Hitlers Nazi Party came to power in January 1933.JapanThe Great Depression did not strongly affect Japan. The Japanese economy shrank by 8% during 1929-31. However, Japans Finance Minister Takahashi K orekiyo was the first to implement what have come to be place as Keynesian economic policies first, by large fiscal stimulus involving deficit spending and second, by devaluing the currency. Takahashi used the Bank of Japan to sterilize the deficit spending and minimize resulting inflationary pressures. Econometric studies have identified the fiscal stimulus as especially effective.The devaluation of the currency had an immediate effect. Japanese materials began to displace British textiles in export markets. The deficit spending, however proved to be most profound. The deficit spending went into the purchase of munitions for the armed forces. By 1933, Japan was already out of the depression. By 1934, Takahashi realized that the economy was in danger of overheating, and to avoid inflation, moved to reduce the deficit spending that went towards armaments and munitions. This resulted in a strong and swift negative reaction from nationalists, especially those in the Army, culminating in his assassination in the course of the February 26 Incident. This had a chilling effect on all civilian bureaucrats in the Japanese government. From 1934, the militarys dominance of the government continued to grow. Instead of reducing deficit spending, the government introduced price controls and rationing schemes that reduced, but did not eliminate inflation, which would remain a problem until the end of World War II.The deficit spending had a transformative effect on Japan. Japans industrial production doubled during the 1930s. Further, in 1929 the list of the largest firms in Japan was dominated by light industries, especially textile companies (many of Japans automakers, like Toyota, have their roots in the textile industry). By 1940 light industry had been displaced by heavy industry as the largest firms inside the Japanese economy.Soviet UnionHaving removed itself from the capitalist world system both by choice and as a result of efforts of the capitalist powers to isolat e it, the Great Depression had little effect on the Soviet Union. A Soviet trade agency in New York advertised 6,000 positions and received more than 100,000 applications. Its apparent resistivity to the Great Depression seemed to validate the theory of Marxism and contributed to Socialist and Communist agitation in affected nations.United KingdomThe effects on the northerlyern industrial areas of Britain were immediate and devastating, as demand for traditional industrial products collapsed. By the end of 1930 unemployment had more than doubled from 1 million to 2.5 million (20% of the insured workforce), and exports had fallen in value by 50%. In 1933, 30% of Glaswegians were unemployed due to the severe decline in heavy industry. In some towns and cities in the north east, unemployment reached as high as 70% as ship production fell 90%. The National Hunger March of September-October 1932 was the largest of a series of yearning marches in Britain in the 1920s and 1930s. About 20 0,000 unemployed men were sent to the work camps, which continued in operation until 1939.In the less industrial Midlands and South of England, the effects were short-lived and the later 1930s were a prosperous time. Growth in modern manufacture of electrical goods and a boom in the motor car industry was helped by a growing southern population and an expanding middle class. Agriculture also saw a boom during this period.United StatesPresident Herbert Hoover started numerous programs, all of which failed to reverse the downturn. In June 1930 Congress approved the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act which raised tariffs on thousands of imported items. The intent of the Act was to encourage the purchase of American-made products by increasing the cost of imported goods, while raising revenue for the federal government and protecting farmers. However, other nations increased tariffs on American-made goods in retaliation, reducing international trade, and worsening the Depression. In 1931 Hoover ur ged the major banks in the country to form a consortium known as the National Credit Corporation (NCC). By 1932, unemployment had reached 23.6%, and it peaked in early 1933 at 25%, a drought persisted in the agricultural heartland, businesses and families defaulted on record numbers pool of loans, and more than 5,000 banks had failed. Hundreds of thousands of Americans found themselves homeless and they began congregating in the numerous Hoovervilles that had begun to appear across the country. In response, President Hoover and Congress approved the Federal fellowship Loan Bank Act, to spur new home construction, and reduce foreclosures. The final attempt of the Hoover Administration to stimulate the economy was the passage of the Emergency simpleness and Construction Act (ERA) which included funds for public works programs such as dams and the creation of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) in 1932. The RFCs initial remnant was to provide government-secured loans to fin ancial institutions, railroads and farmers. Quarter by quarter the economy went downhill, as prices, profits and employment fell, leading to the political realignment in 1932 that brought to power Franklin Delano Roosevelt.Shortly after President Roosevelt was inaugurated in 1933, drought and erosion combined to cause the Dust Bowl, shifting hundreds of thousands of displaced persons off their farms in the Midwest. From his inauguration onward, Roosevelt argued that restructuring of the economy would be needed to prevent another depression or avoid prolonging the current one. New Deal programs sought to stimulate demand and provide work and relief for the impoverished through increased government spending and the institution of financial reforms. The Securities Act of 1933 comprehensively regulated the securities industry. This was followed by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 which created the Securities and Exchange Commission. Though amended, key nutrition of both Acts are sti ll in force.Early changes by the Roosevelt administration includedInstituting regulations to fight deflationary cut-throat competition through the NRA.Setting minimum prices and wages, labor standards, and competitive conditions in all industries through the NRA.Encouraging unions that would raise wages, to increase the purchasing power of the working class.Cutting farm production to raise prices th

GE Organizational Structure Analysis

GE Organizational Structure Analysis1. IntroductionThis essay identifies GE on the life-cycle chart during the transition from laborer Welch to Jeff Immelt as CEO. It besides addresses the changes he made to its organizational structures, thereby achieving his goals. Furthermore, highlighting the risks and trade-offs accompanied with those changes. Fin aloney, this essay also gives recommendations to the transportation department of GE for the parvenue intercrossed project.2. Life-cycleSource Adapted from Robert E. Quinn and Kim Cameron, Organizational lifecycle and Shifting Criteria of effectiveness Some Preliminary Evidence, Management Science 29 (1983), 33-51 and Larry E. Greiner, Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow, Harvard Business reexamine 50 (July-August 1972), 37-46 (Cited in Organizational Theory and Design Daft et al, 2010)In wrong of structure, GE was focused on having close relationship with all members of staff, with piffling society type thinking wh ere everybody was on first name calling basis. In a speech by Jack Welch in his final solicitude meeting he stressed the following, Fight like hell to keep the small company spirit, involve everyone, requite broadly celebrate hold back Celebrate Hate bureaucracy, hate it every day and dont be afr tutelage to use the word hate, laugh at bureaucrats and get rid of Layers make fun of layers, magic about layers. They slow, they insulate, and they are what cheap people do in lieu of pay raises for people. (Jack Welch, 2000)As for products and function, JackWelch shifted GE business from purely manufacturing to financial serve through numerous acquisitions. A list of GE products include Aviation, lighting, electric distribution, media and entertainment, energy, oil and gas, finance- consumer, finance- business, rail, water, healthcare.Reward and control systems in GE where extensive, tailored to product and department. The reward system was greatly differentiated by Jack Welch and h e did so mainly based on performance and those who failed where fired from the company.Jack Welch differentiated employees by implementing pay for performance matrices applied to all GE staff where he grade staff from outstanding to unacceptable and bonuses were based on these ratings. Any who give the sackcel below par were eliminated from the company. (Jim Pinto, 2007)The main focus and goal of the company is to maintain their account as well as complete organization. The stress on reputation was also paramount in GE a quote from Jack Welch the retiring GEO attests to that fact. Just someone doing something stupid from a legal point and speech tarnish to the company and destroying themselves and their families in the process (Jack Welch, 2000).Top management style means team approach, attack bureaucracy. As earlier quoted we see the emphasis on attack of bureaucracy and the team approach encouraged by the then CEO Jack Welch.Organization reached stage maturity and may encounter periods of flitting decline. Figure 2 (Taken from investorguide.com) acts as evidence showing the company stocks at a decline from 2001 when Jeff Immelt took over as CEO from Jack Welch. This was as a result of external factors such as the post internet bubble stock merchandise crepuscule and the downturn in the economy which resulted in the drop of confidence of investors in big organizations especially after the post Enron scam.Figure 2 GE Stock Chart(Taken from investorguide.com)Need for revitalization-The decline of stocks and advances in GE indicated a need for revitalization in the company. The Company shares was trading at $23 compared to its $60 in August 2000 ,and the modest increase in profits on revenues by 7% compared to the double digits delivered by the former CEO. There was a need therefore to improve company performance and this could not be accomplished by replicating the same strategy of his antecedent. He therefore embarked on a change in strategy focusing o n primitive growth through technological leadership, commercial excellence and global expansion.3. Immelts goalsIt is apparent that in the year 2000 after Jack Welch retired from GE, Jeff Immelt who was elected by the board members of the company became the new CEO. However, at the same time, the global economy was experiencing a signifi throw outt downturn, which exerted some detrimental influences on GE. As a result, Immelt did not suck up an late situation and besides, he move to combat the economic problems. Most importantly, he could not copy the business strategy used by Jack Welch his predecessor since the economic environment had changed significantly in the last several years.Generally speaking, Immelt wanted to make a big revolution to the company and besides, Brady (2005) found that Immelt had inflexible to make GE become an advance(a) and creative company quite a than a process- point one. Besides, GE had to shift its care from cost-cutting to set new products, i mprove services and open up new markets. In order to achieve this goal, GE should make a host of changes, particularly in four areas. Specifically, in price of the organic growth, the most famous action was the imagination breakthrough (IB) which can generate 100milllion dollars in new business during some years and took GE into a new line of business or markets (Prokesch, 2008). by and by that time, GE developed some famous and successful IBs, such as EVO and GML. Furthermore, Immelt wanted the company to be innovative and creative. Consequently, in 2002, GE began to engaging in new fields, such as oil and gas technology, water technology as well as paying much attention to the research and development. The research group found that some certain areas with the potentials to bring huge profits to GE should be taken into consideration by GE, such as biotechnology.Despite the organic growth, Immelt also hoped GE enter into a stable growth trajectory. As a result, the thought of Ec omagination materialized, since it is a huge business opportunity and most importantly, it is an immerging trend in the economy which can bring GE sustainable and long-term growth rather than only a few months. Immelt announced in 2005 that GE had prepared to focus its futurity to the eco-friendly technology, such as clean water and clean energy. Makower (2005) also found that almost every year, GE dedicates a vast amount of money in cleaner technologies, thereby developing some eco-friendly products. Moreover, GE tried its best to reduce the greenhouse release by 1% as well as make some utility(a) energy, such as crossingisation-dual-fuel, which can bring huge profits to GE and improve its reputation in the global market.The third area which Immelt wanted to focus on is the development of infrastructures. After setting his goal, Immelt invested a large amount of money in upgrading the RD facilities and set up some research centers in other countries, including Shanghai and Mun ich. Furthermore, GE spread out its emerging market in China, India, and Africa.GE also gave frontity to the marketing. Brady (2005) made a definition to the marketing a companys marketing group should pay attention to understanding the market needs and meet customers demands rather than just create slogans for the products.4. Changes in Organizational StructureGE underwent a change in the introductory structure of the organization in several aspects. Specifically, The world(a) Research Center agenda became more long term oriented rather than focus on short-term product development as it had in the past the GRCs agenda became more oriented towards the long-term. (Bartlett et al, 2008). Besides, the organization had a more commercially oriented emplacement to its decisions Immelt wanted the organization to turn its attention to the marketplace and to bring in a more commercially oriented perspective to its decisions. (Bartlett et al, 2008).Furthermore, Increase in military person nel Resources by the reinstatement of chief marketing officer role formally abolished. In one of Immelts first appointment, Beth Comstock was named GEs chief marketing officer, a position Welch had abolished decades earlier. (Bartlett et al, 2008). Moreover, The external enlisting of human choices a formally uncommon practice in GE. Because of the shortage of internal talent, many of these marketing leaders had to be recruited from the outside, an uncommon practice at GE. (Bartlett et al, 2008). The formation of commercial council and experienced commercial leadership program are to monitor and drive change and the slowdown of job rotations, so that the mangers can develop more in depth market and technological knowledge. Immelt also encouraged an innovative nature in his employees and to take more risks and possibly fail, which was contrary to the pure completion of objectives formerly encouraged in Jack Welchs era.5. Trade-offsIn order to implement the shift in strategic focus f rom the interior to marketing, Immelt realigned the human resource by recruiting marketing leaders from outside to compensate the lack of internal talent and forming the Experienced Commercial Leadership Program to integrate newcomers into GEs culture and system. In terms of global expansion, which is also one of the Immelts strategies, Comte increase the Transportation marketing staff by 18 people. These implementations led to extra investment in terms of increasing personnel and training newcomers.On the other hand, instead of in operation(p) efficiency and cost-cutting, Immelt focused on technology leadership by upgrading RD facility, upping RD budget 14% and authorizing two Global Research Centers in Shanghai and Munich. The change caused higher(prenominal) costs and more resources required in terms of RD.Rather than focusing on short-term RD as it had before, GE concentrated mainly on the long term. Furthermore, as one of Immelts management styles, spending longer on developin g products is prior to acquiring companies for technology, compared to previously consistent growth primarily through acquisitions. Therefore, the result required longer time to reflect on profit.Immelt slowed the job rotation in order to develop growth leaders with deeper understanding in expertise such as market and technological knowledge. Moreover, the evaluation and reward processes which had focused on flawless and short-term execution were adjusted in order to encourage employees to take risks. As a result, although improving professional skills and innovation, these changes led to lower operating efficiency.6. RisksIn terms of earning per share, the average growth per annum from 1981 to 2000 as Welch was the CEO remained 23%, while only 7% from 2001 to 2009 when Immelt changed the strategic focus. Furthermore, focusing on long-term, more regenerate and more limited RD projects led to larger uncertainty of the business, which might be risky due to its innovation and unknown market acceptability. Therefore, although these changes represent a new era of GE, shareholders might lose their faith of the company.On the other hand, one of the GEs major fractions is GE capital services. From late 1980s, GE Capital Services increased largely and by 2000 it accounted for almost half of the total sales of GE Consolidated. However, Immelt put more emphasis back on GE Industrial, and the operating profit fell overwhelmingly from US$6,593 in 2004 to US$2344 in 2009. (GE Annual Report, 2009) There was a symbiotic relation between GE Industrial and GE Capital Service. As Jack Welch was CEO, the main strategy of growing industrial division was acquisition because remaining profit of GE industrial enabled GE to be ranked as industrial company so that GE Capital Services could borrow at cheap rates and lend at higher rates, the fact how GECS increased its revenue. Immelt, nevertheless, abandoned the strategy of acquisition and upgraded the RD budget in order to enhance G E industrial because he wanted to make GE as a research-based and innovative enterprise. This move led to a collapse of the balance between GE Industrial and GECS and might cause potential risk in GE because GECS accounted for more than 40% sales revenue of total. (Froud, 2005)7. Transportation recommendationBesides the EVO, GE also prepared to focus its attention to the hybrid project since it is the perfect candidate to fit into the Ecomagination project which GE just announced and committed to save the environment. Hybrid was a project which aimed to reduce the emission and captures the energy generated during braking and stores it with the batteries. Consequently, by using the hybrid, it could reduce fuel consumption by almost 15% compared with other locomotives, which was abetful to the customers, environment and GE. However, the costs for developing the batteries and hybrid technology were extremely high and GEs limited finances and locomotive engineering resources required GE to weigh the opportunity cost of embarking on this project. These factors required the transportation division of GE to come up with three possible scenarios The first option would be to explain that while the project as currently defined appeared to have very limited to short- to medium-term commercial viability, the business would commit to it as an IB and continue to explore alternative ways to make it successfulThe second approach would be to acknowledge the hybrids long-term potential, but suggest that it be placed on hold as in IB, perhaps by transferring primary responsibility to the Global Research Center to work on the battery technology in collaboration with various GE businesses including Transportation-that had an interest in its developmentThe final alternative would be to recommend that the company acknowledge the fact that after three years of hard work on Hybrid, neither the technology development nor the market acceptance of the concept had indicated that it cou ld be a viable commercial proposition in the foreseeable future, and therefore that it be dropped as an IB.After considering all the elements, GE should opt for the second option by the following reasons. First, to hold hybrid as an IB and meanwhile to develop the present technology may help GE to not only remain the leading position among the present market but move forward to the future by researching in future trend. Furthermore, it would be relatively less risky than the first option due to the separation of the investment. The increased emphasis on gas emissions ensure that the hybrid engine will definitely become a necessity for the rail transport industry, this is also in line with Immelts goals for GE to be the 1st in innovative technology and embarking on trends that cannot be easily imitated.The battery technology when completed can be used for alternative businesses in GE there by helping the company to be green and promote the environment. Due to the environmental import ance of the project GE can solicit help from the government to aid with the cost for the development of this new technology as highlighted by Bartlett et al (2008), Compte explained that his marketing organization had located some potential government documentation for hybrid project.8. ConclusionIn conclusion GE is a company with strong strength of organizational cultures and uses task type of organizational culture. It was identified in the case study to be at the elaboration stage of the lifecycle chart at the time Immelt was made the new CEO of the company. The company was at the revival stage of organizational development, he accomplished this by changing the company from a result oriented closed system to a process oriented open system.Moreover it is an organic organization which uses learning to improve its organizational and managerial capabilities. As a result it has diversified quality production and can be prospective in its environment, strategies and technology.Word C ount 2492

Business Plan for Progressive Consulting Essays -- Marketing Technolog

Business Plan for Progressive ConsultingWhat follows is a complete business plan for a sibylline company. Please copyor save to your disk and use as an example in developing your own business plan.If you would like to read a series of articles jump to Web Marketing . Foradditional business aids click on The Practical Tools of Consulting1. 0 Executive unofficialProgressive Consulting will be formed as a consulting company specializing in marketplaceing of senior high school technology products in international markets. Its founders areformer marketers of consulting services, personal computers, and market research,all in international markets. They are founding Progressive Consulting toformalize the consulting services they offer.1. 2 MissionProgressive Consulting offers high-tech manufacturers a reliable, high featurealternative to inhouse resources for business development, market development,and channel development on an international scale. A true alternative to inhouse resour ces offers a very high level of practical experience, know how,contacts, and confidentiality. Clients must know that working with ProgrssiveConsulting is a more professional, less risky way to develop new areas still thanworking completely in house with their own people. Progressive Consulting mustalso be able to maintain financial balance, charging a high value for itsservices, and delivering an even higher value to its clients. Initial focus willbe development in the European and Latin American markets, or for Europeanclients in the linked States market.1. 3 Keys to SuccessExcellence in fulfilling the promise completely confidential, reliable,trustworthy expertise and information.Developing visibility to generate new business leads.Leveraging from a single pool of expertise into multiple revenue generationopportunities retainer consulting, project consulting, market research, andmarket research published reports.2. 0 Company SummaryProgressive Consulting is a new company provid ing high-level expertise ininternational high-tech business development, channel development, distributionstrategies, and marketing of high tech products. It will focus initially onproviding two kinds of international trianglesProviding United States clients with development for European and LatinAmerican markets.Providing E... ...7% 85.81% 84.90% Net profit margin 4.57% 11.25% 14.92% getting even on Assets 12.38% 20.64% 25.49% Return on Equity 50.05% 61.73% 51.37%Activity Ratios AR Turnover 6.30 7.77 6.66 Collection days 29 45 45Inventory Turnover 0.00 0.00 0.00 Accts collectible turnover 7.67 7.06 7.35 Total assetturnover 2.71 1.83 1.71Debt Ratios 1995 1996 1997 __________________________________________________________________ __ Debt to net Worth 3.04 1.99 1.02 Short-term Debt to Liab. 0.70 0.82 0.83Liquidity Ratios Current Ratio 1.91 1.83 2.39 Quick Ratio 1.91 1.83 2.39 Net Working great(p) $104,050 $191,250 $340,450Interest Coverage 4.15 5.90 9.38Additional Ratios 1995 1996 1997 _____________________________________________________________________ Asset