Comparing Gotma to Siddhartha Essay Example for Free

Comparing Gotma to Siddhartha Essay Siddhartha and Govinda both begin their journeys searching after the same goal, to find themselves and attain nirvana. They travel many of the same paths but each thinks differently in their situations. But while Siddhartha eventually reaches Nirvana, Govinda does not because he never learns to absorb what is around him and learn from life like Siddhartha does but mistakenly tries to find peace through other peoples lives. Even from the beginning you can see distinct differences in the mind set between Siddhartha and Gotma, one as a thinker and one as a follower. Siddhartha had grown uneasy in his state as a Brahmans son. The riches of his lifestyle babied him too much and blocked him from the real world. He wanted to go off on his own and experience and find himself. Siddhartha is a Scientific thinker, his brain is always wanting and explanation and continues to ask questions and at this point his maturing mind is starting to doubt the Brahman and Hindu ways. The repetitious ways of the daily prayers and rituals seemed an unreal way to finding nirvana. Something that never changes cannot lead higher, it always stays at the same level. So when a group of samanas passes through town he joined their lead, wanting to experience their lives and to learn from them. Everyone was shocked at his decision; Govinda knew not what to say, and Siddharthas father became enraged at first thought, but later admits something very important to Siddhartha. You will go to the forest and be a samana. If you find salvation in the forest, come and teach me salvation. If you find disappointment, then come back and let us once more sacrifice to the gods together. His father has never reached the goal he has sought after his whole life, even now as an old man, and he understands that Siddhartha must leave for himself. The next morning Siddhartha leaves early and finds his friend, Govinda, waiting to go with him. This is the first true sign of Govindas misconception of how to find himself. Govinda only goes because his friend thinks it will be good. He did not think over in his mind and decide if it was truly right for him. So they wandered and learned from the samanas. Siddhartha had learned self-denial and meditation but started to doubt if they were progressing anywhere in their search for salvation. The Samana teachings were nothing more than trickery, magic and self- control all of which can be taught. None of these qualities would lead even a step towards salvation because you are never learning something new; it is purely a way to keep your mind occupied and content. He even compares drunkenness to the samana teachings. It is just another escape, a way to leave yourself and forget all lifes pains. Even their samsara leader had never attained nirvana so how would they ever get there either following him. Word comes of a great man, Gotma, who had reached nirvana. Surprising to Siddhartha, Govinda decides to seek out the illustrious one. Although Siddhartha has his doubts he is curious and travels with Govinda to listen to the Buddha. After hearing the teachings of the Buddha the simple and accepting Gotma immediately joins as his disciple. But Siddhartha comes to a realization here. He knows that the Buddha has reached nirvana but sees the difference between teaching and experience. The teachings of the Buddha were not for him, they were for the suffering, the weak, a comfort zone which numbs people from the harsh realities and allows them to live in a false contentment. Even the Buddha himself knows this; he is just trying to help the masses that are not as clever as Siddhartha. Siddhartha now sees that experience is the only way to gain knowledge and goes out into the world to try it all. For many years of his life after he tries many new lives. From Kamala, a young courtesan, he learns about Physical love. He learns to become a merchant and indulge in the pleasures of a wealthy life. He lived on many years like this and grows old and worn but finds it is all a false happiness. After everything he obtained he is still discontent. The women, clothes, wine; all do nothing for the mind. He abandons it all and runs away into the forest and falls asleep beside the river, wishing to die. Here he meets Govinda again for the first time since he had joined the Buddha. And Siddhartha saw that Govinda had not changed. Govinda was still blindly following in Buddhas steps, doing the rituals and living under his ways. Vasuedeva the ferryman is very important to developing Siddhartha. He never tries to teach Siddhartha but hints at where to look. Vasudeva says that it seems as though the river has spoken to him and suggests that he stay with him beside the water. It is through Vasudeva that he realizes the symbolism of the river to life. Life is always flowing, changing but always there and continuing on. Even later on when Siddhartha gains and loses his son he again sees the cycle of life in the river. In grief for his loss he cries into the river and catches a glimpse of his reflection. In it he sees himself, his father, and his young son. Siddhartha sees the pain that his father must have felt when he left as a boy is the same as when his own son ran away. Although he tried otherwise, the same trials and pains he left behind are recurring again and again. He finally sees the true cycle of life. Siddhartha comes to realize that the whole world, everything, is one. We are born of our mothers, live our lives and eventually die, then decompose in the dirt. Trees grow up from the dirt and produce fruit, which is eaten by man and animals alike. The air we breathe is recycled and breathed back in by plants. Everything is made of the same particles that have been around since the beginning of time. The world is constantly changing: destroying, creating, and reforming every molecule into something new. So we are a part of that, apart of everything. Rebirth is made within yourself and what you choose to change. Siddhartha experienced many lifestyles all of which he learned from and his decisions to move forward and change was his renewal. And in the end he comes to see that you must let go of your self and your needs completely and love and appreciate everything because it is all one. Govinda appears once more when he asks the ferryman, now Siddhartha, to take him across the river. Once Govinda realizes it is Siddhartha he presses him to know too how to Nirvana. Siddhartha tries to explain that you cannot search for nirvana it must come to you. Nirvana is not one thing but everything you experience in life and if you are trying only to find nirvana everything around you will be missed and wisdom and understanding cannot be found. But even after Siddharthas speech Govinda did not understand, he still could not comprehend what Siddhartha was trying to convey. Nirvana cannot be reached only through writings and other teachings. These things can lead you down the path but it can bring you only so far because it is all feelings and discoveries that others have achieved through their own life. Writings can only convey part of the message because you cannot produce in words your experience and have another understand every aspect of the way you felt. That is how your mind dealt and reacted to that situation. Can you tell someone exactly how good jamoca almond fudge ice cream is? They can tell you how it tasted to them, but can they interpret the exact sense it will have on your tongue? Can you truly understand how much you would like it unless you have tasted some yourself? Some may think its too strong, some may not like almonds, some might like vanilla better, and everyone will have their own opinion and slight difference. Life is the same way. Govinda never reached his goal because his whole life he was searching in others lives. First he followed Siddhartha with the Samanas then leaves the samanas by his own choice, only to follow another. And in the end he comes back to Siddhartha with one last desperate plea to try and understand. He never learned anything about himself because he was blinded by the belief that someone else could show him how. Everyone must decide for himself or herself what they do with their life, for following only leads you down another minds path away from your own awakening.

Subsidiary Perspective of a Mobile Phone Service Company

Subsidiary Perspective of a Mobile Phone Service Company Global Integration Background The literature review looks into the various resources related to the study on the subsidiary perspective of a mobile phone service company towards MNC global integration. This would justify the significance of the study in terms of the clarification and application of concepts as well as contribution to knowledge or research gaps. The literature review is structured to start with a clarification of the research issue for purposes of determining linkages to available literature before moving on with the identification of the parent, intermediate and immediate literature. Afterwards, debates or differences in perspectives based on various literatures, together with the gaps or unresolved questions follows. The literature review ends with a summary of developments in literature pertinent to the research topic. The Research Issue Investigating the subsidiary perspective of a mobile phone service company on MNC global integration has a number of research implications. One, the subsidiary perspective of firms on global integration determines the success of the global business operations through value chain configuration and marketing standardization. Another, the subsidiary perspective of a mobile phone service company on global integration also provides a contextual basis of the issues and problems experienced by the subsidiary and the mother company in achieving value chain integration and marketing standardization for its entire global operations. Integration and standardization are important to successful international business operations. Concurrently, it becomes important to clarify the concepts of global integration and subsidiary relations together with the sub-concepts under these general principles to provide a sufficient framework for the study. Categorization of literature covering these concepts an d sub-concepts fall under parent, intermediate or immediate literature with most of the literature constituting parent and intermediate literatures. This implies the need for empirical research investigating the application of these concepts and sub-concepts to actual business contexts, which the present study attempts to fulfill. The Parent and Intermediate Literature This section covers the parent literature, specifically those explaining the basic concepts involved in the study especially global integration and organizational structures of multinational corporations involving subsidiaries. Existing literature sufficiently covers the definition of global integration as well as the organizational structure that involve business operations in various markets through subsidiaries. Definition of Global Integration Existing literature on global integration have not been able to arrive at a consensus on the definition of global integration. Haspeslagh and Jemison (1991) explained that global integration actually carries a different meaning for various parties involved in different situations. This means the possibility that a subsidiary, operating on a distinct market environment, can develop a different perspective and understanding of global integration relative to the mother company or other subsidiaries operating in different markets. Although, there is no clear consensus on the definition of global integration, Schweiger and Goulet (2000) stated that the different perspectives commonly revolve around the combination of the assets and human resources of the target and the buyer or the subsidiary and the mother company. The concept of coordination has found close links to global integration. Mintzberg (1983a; 1983b) stated that coordination constitutes a fundamental element of management and since the management of global operations involves coordination, then integrating the operation of subsidiaries with the operations of the mother company necessitates coordination. However, even with the close links between global integration and coordination, there are distinctions between these two concepts, with the extent of difference covered by various perspectives. On one hand, Martinez and Jarillo (1989) described the close links between the global integration and coordination by using these two concepts as synonyms describing the same situation. The authors also defined coordinative mechanisms as administrative tools used in developing integration of the various business units of a business organization. On the other hand, Kobrin (1991) provided a clear variance between global integration and coordinati on. Global integration also meant transnational integration that involves the processes of product standardization, technology development centralization, and manufacturing linkages that is either horizontal or vertical. As such, global integration was characterized as a change process involving centralization, combination, concentration, and standardization. Coordination also meant cross-border coordination that pertains to the business efforts directed towards the alignment of the operations of various business units to ensure the completion of the tasks of these units in contributing to aggregate productivity. Global integration has also found links to value creating activities at the level of the business headquarters. Goold, Campbell and Alexander (1994) and Burgelman and Doz (1996) stated that global integration pertains to the manner that headquarters creates value encompassing its international operations. This definition of global integration provides a limit to the scope of the concept to cover only business units forming part of a multinational corporation. This means that global integration does not involve business units considered as external to the firm. In addition, existing literature also discussed the definition of global integration by looking at its opposite or contrast concepts. Through the process of contrasting, these resources have been able to determine the areas not covered by global integration (Hambrick Finkelstein, 1987). Bartlett (1986) considered local autonomy as the opposite of global integration with local autonomy referring to the independent management of the operations of different business units under a single multinational corporation so that decision-making in the local level is made without need of consulting the other business units or headquarters. Bartlett and Ghoshal (1989) identified local responsiveness as another opposite of global integration. This is similar to independent decision-making exclusively based on the particular context of the local market without need to consult decision with other business units or the corporate headquarters. However, Prahalad and Doz (1987) explained that business f irms could achieve high levels of responsiveness and integration. As such, the more rational opposite of global integration is local autonomy. Based on existing literature covering the definition of global integration, the definition used in the dissertation is cross-border integration, encompassing value-creating activities and marketing standardization, arising between business units operating in different markets but falling under a single multinational corporation. This definition limits the scope to business units forming part of a multinational corporation but operating in particular markets. This definition fits the requirements of the study in investigating the perspectives of subsidiaries on global integration that involves a subsidiary and headquarters as the units of data collection and analysis. Elements of Global Integration Based on the definition of global integration, this has two specific elements, which are the configuration and coordination of the multinational corporation’s value change and the standardization of marketing strategies. Existing literature have differentiated the configuration and coordination. Porter (1985) explained that configuration of the value chain pertains to the spatial decisions of the multinational corporation covering the location or site of business units together with the number of business units within the multinational corporation and in the different sites. Lim, Acito and Rusetki (2006) developed the concentration-dispersion perspective to encompass decision-making on spatial issues. Porter (1985) stated explained that coordination refers to the manner and extent that the activities of the different business units are combined as opposed to being autonomous. Lim et al. (2006) introduced integration-independence perspective as the concept that covers the combination of activities of various business units forming part of a single multinational corporation. The configuration and coordination of value chain processes of business units belonging to a single multinational firm includes t he sourcing of raw materials and basic service components, production processes and linkages, marketing strategies, distribution networks, and support activities encompassing the operations of business units located in different countries but comprising the sub-units of the multinational firm. Available literature also covered marketing standardization, which Jain (1989) describes as the extent of the uniformity in the experiences of customers of the different business units operating in various countries. Here, classification of literature depends on internal and external focus. Literature on strategies focus on business activity as the core basis of analysis so that these looks into the manner that business units apply uniform policies given specific business contexts. Literature on international marketing carries an external focus by considering the uniformity in the marketing mix applied across the business units. (Yip, 1997) The extent of uniformity in the aspects of price, product, place and promotion determines the level of uniformity in the experiences of the firm’s customers in different countries. Rationale for Global Integration After identifying the definition of global integration as limited to cross-border decisions encompassing business units belonging to the same multinational firm and covering the areas of value chain configuration and marketing standardization, the next area that involves clarification is the rationale for engaging in global integration. Available literature provided two distinct perspectives, which are environmental contingency and strategic choice, explaining the rationale for global integration. While the distinctions between these two perspectives is theoretical, these determines the driving factors for global integration as either industry forces and other factors in the external environment or firm-specific capabilities and other factors within the internal environment of the multinational firm. The distinctions reflect similar characteristics as the debates on environmental determinism as against strategic choice (Astley Van de Ven, 1983; Hrebiniak Joyce, 1985). In addition, the distinctions between the two perspectives are parallel to debates involving the positioning-oriented view (Porter, 1985) as opposed to the resource-based view (Barney, 1991) or the dynamic capabilities view (Eisenhardt Martin, 2000). These perspectives highlight one aspect or more reasons for engaging in global integration so that focusing on only one perspective would provide the study with a limited theoretical foundation (Morgan, 1997). As such, these perspectives require consideration to allow the study to gain insight on the multi-dimensional reasons of justifications for global integration. Advocates of the environmental contingency perspective propound the basic assumption that industries hold different potential for globalization. As such, firm strategists play the important role of identifying the trends and influencing factors affecting the industry as bases for the determination of the appropriate strategy addressing the needs and demands of the industry (Bartlett Ghoshal, 1989). In application, a number of best practices have emerged as generic strategies for various industry trends found to lead to positive performance (Prahalad Doz, 1987). This implies that the environmental contingency view favors the development of contingencies (Galbraith, 1973) that considers the alignment or congruence of the structure of the firm and the strategies implemented by the organization with the environment within which the business firm operates. These contingencies find expression in the different types and levels of structures and corresponding strategies that have evolved. A simplistic typology is the description of global firms as evolving from ethnocentric to polycentric before finally becoming geocentric (Perlmutter, 1969). This means that the structure of multinational firms evolves according to this evolutionary process and the strategy of multinational firms depend on the best practices determined for the different evolutionary stages. Another simplistic structure and strategy is one determined by technological drivers (Levitt, 1983) so that the organizational structure revolves around the enhancement of technological capabilities and the strategies involve the standardization of products through a uniform technological capability in order to enhance the homogeneity of customer experiences. However, the simplistic perspectives received criticisms for not being able to cover other important business factors. An alternative perspective involves mixed strategies (Douglas Wind, 1987) so that standardization occurs for some products and product components become while differentiation occurs for others. In application, the mixed strategy involves standardization marketing mix aspects in a given region, market or market segments and differentiation for one or more of the marketing mix components for different regions or markets. The rationale for the mixed perspective is that achieving a universal strategy is not possible since some strategies receive rational support in some market context but not in others even if the same products, brand and company is involved but operating as different business units (Ohmae, 1989). This implies that the purpose of global integration is not really to derive a universal structure and strategy but to provide a way for the multinational corp oration to rationalize its mixed strategies across regions or markets and tie these efforts to address common goals. Most of the typologies that emerged later on found basis on mixed strategies. One manner of classifying multinational firms is through worldwide integration, national responsiveness, and administrative coordination (Doz, 1980). This developed the concept of transnational firms and propounded the important role of administrative coordination to facilitate administrative and structural shifts directed towards the achievement of the benefits of integration on a global scale and responsiveness on a national level. This manner of classification revolves around firm level analysis. Another typology, which considered the industry perspective, distinguished industries as either multidomestic or global (Hout, Porter Rudden, 1982). This means that the structure and strategy selection of business firms depend on the characteristics of the industry within which the firm belongs, which is either multidomestic or global. Another typology that considered the industry level perspective distinguishes strategy selection based on whether the firm falls under multinational or transnational industry (Bartlett, 1986). The author explicitly developed the transnational concept. This means that integration and responsiveness act as the forces that pressure firms to move towards the transnational model. Hedlund (1986) further expanded this typology by introducing the concept of heterarchy to describe the business units of international firms organized into non-hierarchical networks moving toward the goals of integration and responsiveness. The characterization of international fi rms as networks was carried by other literature through the development of the concept of independent network (Bartlett Ghoshal, 1990) and differentiated network (Nohria Ghoshal, 1997). Another typology emerged as the alternative by combining the firm and industry level perspectives to come up with four distinctive strategies of multinational firms, which are purest global, export-based, high foreign investments together with extensive subsidiary coordination, and country-centered (Porter, 1986). Purest global and export-based strategies are variants of global strategy; country-centered strategies are similar to the multinational concept; and high foreign investment with extensive subsidiary coordination is similar to the transnational concept. Another alternative emanates from the integration and responsiveness factors to influence the introduction of the types of strategies into global, multifocal and locally responsive. Integration on a global level considers multinational customers, multinational competitors, intensity of investment, intensity of technology, cost reduction pressures, universal needs, and raw materials and energy access. Local responsiveness pres sures the firm to consider variations in customer needs, variances in the distribution channels, existence of substitutes and adaptations, market structure, and regulatory demands. These pressures then comprise the areas of strategy determination for international business firms. In addition, another strategic area that considers the factors of integration and responsiveness revolves around knowledge and capabilities sharing between corporate headquarters and the various business units (Bartlett Ghoshal, 1989). Based on the development of various typologies, three general structural and strategic distinctions emerge, which are the multinational, transnational and global configurations. These types involve different integration strategies. The global configuration involves the strategy of tight integration of the value chain processes of the different business units resulting to a high level of centralized strategic resources including knowledge and research and development (Bartlett Ghoshal, 1987a; 1987b). This means that the activities of the business units are likely to revolve around the utilization of raw materials and application of service policies instead of focusing on activities that promote the independence of the business units. Moreover, the business units under the global configuration are unable to function without consulting company headquarters. As such, the high level of centralized control leads to the importance of a strong centralized leadership and decision-making. This would likely involve limited development and innovation from the business units operating in the peripheral markets. The network flows between corporate headquarters and the business units revolve around products. Thus, firms adhe ring to the global configuration tend to achieve high levels of integration because of centralization but low levels of responsiveness on a national level because of the lack of development and innovation coming from the business units operating in various national contexts. The multinational or multidomestic configuration pertains to the fostering of high levels of autonomy on the part of the subsidiary units because of the corresponding high degrees of decentralization in decision-making (Roth Morisson, 1990; Harzing, 1998; 2000). This means that the business units or subsidiaries are self-sufficient in their operations on a national level. As such, the subsidiaries enforce value chains that can stand alone in their country of operations (Leong Tan, 1993). Corporate headquarters manage this situation by considering the business units as independent firms but manages the productivity of the subsidiaries through output controls, especially financial measures. The output controls comprise the integrating factor for the different subsidiaries since this measures their adherence to overall firm goals (Muralidharan Hamilton, 1999). Moreover, an informal network exists between the top managers assigned in the corporate headquarters and the expatriates serv ing as representatives of the headquarters in the subsidiaries (Gupta Govindarajan, 2001). Multinational business units exercise relatively high levels of independence because of the minimal intervention and interference from the corporate headquarters except only the application of output controls. The derivation and enhancement of knowledge occurs locally instead of coming from headquarters for dispersion in the different business units. Concurrently, the flow that involves corporate headquarters and the business units encompasses financial resources. Thus, the application of the multinational configuration leads to a high level of responsiveness on a national or local level but resulting to limited integration. The transnational configuration involves the creation of international business firms with the simultaneous capability for responsiveness on a local level, integration on a global level, and learning on a worldwide level. This configuration involves the ability to consider various areas of responsiveness or ambidexterity, which refers to the ability to target conflicting demands at one time (Birkinshaw Gibson, 2004). Nohria and Ghoshal (1997) described the transnational configuration as both differentiated and interdependent. As such, the transnational configuration involves greater integration relative to the multinational configuration but involves greater responsiveness relative to the global configuration. This means that the activities of the business units covering aspects of the value chain becomes integrated physically and coordinated strategically. The subsidiaries the play pre-determined roles within the context of the multinational goals instead of just focusing on the ma ximization of opportunities in the local level. Creation of knowledge involves a higher level of dispersion compared to the global configuration because the objectives are sharing of knowledge derived on level of the peripheral units. The manner of integration then involves mechanisms of socialization instead of output measures as in the multinational configuration. This means the development of standardized norms across the business units (Mintzberg, 1983a). Flow of resources is also expanded to encompass resources, products as well as knowledge across the various business units. Overall, the rationale for global integration based on the environmental contingency perspectives depends on the typology of the operations of business firms. The different typologies carry corresponding structural frameworks and strategic activities directed towards the achievement of the one or both objectives of integration and responsiveness. Proponents of the strategic choice perspective focus on internal factors and pressures in determining structure and strategy for international business firms constituting the rationale for engagement in integration. As such, the focal areas of the strategy choice view include resources, capabilities and processes (Ghoshal, 1987). Concurrently, available literature focused on the two concepts of strategic integration together with corporate parenting that provide distinct multinational firm capabilities. Strategic integration covers the manner that management develops value that encompasses value creation of the different business units forming part of the international firm. Moreover, strategic integration has links to the combination and cultivation of the different resources of the international firm such as the intangible assets together with capabilities in the long-term through the process of coordinated deployment from the corporate headquarters to the business units. However, the subsidiaries have room to enhance further assets and capabilities to respond to their particular business contexts. (Burgelman Doz, 1996) Another view of strategic integration is as pertaining to dynamic capability that is based on particular strategic and structural routine activities (Eisenhardt Martin, 2000). This means that integrating factors comprise the routine activities common in all the business units. Capabilities for strategic integration receives importance in the case when managers intend to shift from one configuration to another but there are variances in the levels of resource needs, strategic requirements, and structural frameworks involved in the configurations. Strategic integration as a capability is also important in situations involving the shift from a weak to a stronger implementation of a given configuration. (Teece et al., 1997; Eisenhardt Martin, 2000) This means that the international business firm employs various combinations of value chain integration and marketing standardization for particular configurations. To ensure integration and standardization, coordination mechanisms comprise important means of unifying processes and outputs across the different business units. Parenting theory evolved to apply to multi-business contexts, specifically the manner that corporate parents influence the operations of subsidiaries in order to add value to the operations of the business units (Goold, 1996a; 1996b; Goold Campbell, 1991; 2002; Goold, Campbell Alexander, 1998). The parenting theory does not particularly focus on integration. Nevertheless, the descriptions of the parenting strategies capture the situation of multinational firms and the manner that corporate headquarters affect the dynamics or workings of the subsidiaries. Since integration involves limitation on the freedom of operation of the business units, the role of the parent company becomes important in achieving effective integration. This means that according to the parenting theory, the rationale of engaging in integration lies in the significance of the role of the parent company in providing effective integrative factors intended to enhance the output and process outcomes across the diff erent business units. Parent firms can create value for the company in four ways. First, the parent company can apply a stand-alone policy, which means that the strategy and performance of the business units are affected minimally by the parent company. Integration at a minimal level of influence occurs through output standardization (Mintzberg, 1983a), which is implemented through financial rations serving as the targets of the subsidiaries. Second, the parent company can increase its influence on the subsidiaries by implementing synergistic practices and transfer of knowledge and best practices to the business units (Mintzberg, 1983a), specifically activities such as standard work systems, standard norms of practice, and training of workers. Third, parent companies can further enhance its influence on the business units by extending the reach of its central functions to the business units. This extent of influence is nearer integration as strategic change instead of coordination. Fourth, an even greater influence on the business units can be made with the parent company altering the corporate portfolio through the acquisition or removal of operations to facilitate restructuring. This also involves greater parallelism with integration as strategic change instead of a coordinative process. Fifth, parent companies can extend their influence to an extent that covers the influence of purchasing firms during post-mergers (Schweiger, 2002). These different extents of influence applied by the parent company translate into different rationales for integration given different multination firm contexts. Regardless of the extent of influence employed by the parent company, it is necessary that the parent company that constitutes the corporate center constitutes a resource in itself through varying levels of influence or provide alternative processes that derive resources for the business units in order for the level of integration to achieve value to the subsidiaries and justify the engagemen t in integration. In addition, there are also parenting styles (Goold, Campbell Alexander, 1994) that describe the manner that the parent company relates to its subsidiaries. First is the financial control style that involves decentralized decision-making of the business units that usually apply in small business firms (Hout et al., 1982). Second is the strategic planning style that involves an influential staff involved in a wide range of areas of operation in the business units (Hout et al., 1982). Third is the strategic control style involving top-down planning but bottom-up implementation that is achieved through the balanced consideration of financial objectives and strategic milestones. These parenting styles provide the factors that have to be present for parent companies to create value for the business units and provide a reason for the type of integration. Integration Challenges After discussing the definition and rationale for integration, the succeeding discussions look into the integration challenges experienced by the multinational firms. Existing literature classify these challenges into those experienced by corporate headquarters and those felt by the subsidiaries. Corporate headquarters experience a number of integration challenges. First is ensuring the creation of value to support the extent of integration. This means that the integration should create greater value compared to the previous status of the firm (Goold, 1996b). Second is preventing any misguided intervention that depend on the context of business units since excessive guidance can thwart much needed innovative action on the subsidiary level (Goold Campbell, 2002). Third is enhancing the quality of execution and support staff services of the company headquarters (Goold Campbell, 2002). Fourth is avoidance of multiple levels of parenting that could lead to redundancy and contradictions (Goold Campbell, 2002). Fifth is the management of various kinds of intra-firm reporting so that the type of reporting should match the simplicity or complexity of the multinational firm (Prahalad Doz, 1987). Sixth is the avoidance of the building of empires at headquarters by clearly establish ing the roles of top management in maintaining corporate entity and adding value to the subsidiaries (Goold Campbell, 2002). Subsidiaries also experience problems in integration. First is achieving structural and strategic fit (Jemison Sitkin, 1986a; 1986b; Olie, 1994; Carleton, 1997) given variances in administrative heritage (Bartlett Ghoshal, 1989) that requires the development of a common administrative infrastructure. Second is managing opportunism among the subsidiary managers within the context of agency relations (Jensen Meckling, 1976; Eisenhardt, 1989a; 1989b) through risk management and agency clarification. Third is ensuring the commitment of the subsidiary managers since commitment determines the success of the integration process (Kim Mauborgne (1991; 1995) by developing a perception of fairness of the integration (Greenberg, 1993). Available literature on the problems experienced by the subsidiaries provide significant foundational information for the study by providing concepts that relate to the study on the perceptions of subsidiaries, particularly the managers of the subsidiaries regarding the integration. The factors of attitudes, commitment and cooperative behavior are the problem areas of integration on the subsidiary side but these also comprise determinants of the perceptions of subsidiaries towards integration. Immediate Literature This section covers immediate literature since the integration capabilities and the modes of managing the subsidiary provide the determinants of the perspectives of subsidiaries towards integration, similar to the part on the problems experienced by the subsidiaries discussed in the previous section. Integration Capabilities A number of integration capabilities are important in the integration initiative. Since integration involves actions and responses not only from the company headquarters

Occupational Health And Safety Management Systems Construction Essay

Occupational Health And Safety Management Systems Construction Essay Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) have been defined by Gallagher as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a combination of the planning and review, the management organisational arrangements, the consultative arrangements, and the specific program elements that work together in an integrated way to improve health and safety performance A management system is a set of interrelated elements used to establish the policy and objectives, and to reach these objectives, it includes an organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources. The implementation process of a management system adds value to organizational culture since it develops competences related to the planning and execution of activities, prioritizes the capacity of team work and promotes the improved reliability of production systems.According to OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (2007), occupational health and safety are conditions and factors that affect, or could affect, the health and safety of employees or other workers (including temporaries and outsourced workers), visitors or any other person at the workplace. An occupational health and safety management system can be defined as part of the organizations management system used to develop and implement its policy and manage its occupational health and safety risks (OHSAS 18001, 2007). The implementation of occupational health and safety management systems has been the main strategy to combat the serious social and economic problem of work-related accidents and illnesses and it can also be used by companies as a factor to increase competitiveness (TRIVELATO, 2002). When an employee is hired by a company, the perception he has regarding the physical and social environment he finds will influence his daily behavior. That is why aspects such as order, cleanliness and personal hygiene are of utmost importance, as is the organization and utilization of space by means of an appropriate layout (BARBOSA FILHO, 2001). OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System The British Standard BS 8800 (Guide to Occupational Health and Safety Systems), created in 1996, was the first successful attempt at establishing a standard reference for implementing a health and safety management system. It aims at improving the organizations performance in terms of health and safety, providing guidance with regards to how its management should be integrated with the administration of other aspects of company performance. This standard was broadly disseminated throughout the world and adopted in the most diverse industries. It is comprised of a series of elements (requirements); however, it does not establish performance criteria or even specifications on how to design the system. In 1999, OHSAS 18001 was published by the British Standards Institution (BSI). It was elaborated by a group of international entities (BVQI, DNV, LLOYDS, SGS and others), which used BS 8800 as its basis. It was developed in response to the needs of companies to manage their occupational health and safety obligations more efficiently. In July 2007, OHSAS 18001:1999 was replaced by OHSAS 18001:2007, and some alterations were introduced, thus reflecting the experience of 16,000 certified organizations in more than 80 countries (QSP, 2007). OHSAS 18001 aims at providing organizations with elements of an effective occupational health and safety management system that can be integrated with other management requirements and help them achieve their OHS and economic objectives (OHSAS 18001, 2007). It is applicable to every type and size of organization and can be integrated with other management systems (quality, environment and social responsibility) in order to help them achieve their occupational health and safety objectives. As per Figure 1, OHSAS is based on PDCA methodology (OHSAS 18001, 2007). This OHSAS Standard is based on the methodology known as Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA). PDCA can be briefly described as follows. Plan: establish the objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with the organizations OHS policy. Do: implement the processes. Check: monitor and measure processes against OHS policy, objectives, legal and other requirements, and report the results. Act: take actions to continually improve OHS performance Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 provides the mechanism for occupational health and safety management, helps companies in the systematic inspection and measurement of the degree of their suitability, as well as trains employee to understand their role in the health safety system and its improvement. Companies hoping to implement an effective occupational health and safety management system should have a clear understanding of the changes in health and safety laws, as well as potential hazards existing inside the factory. A good understanding could reduce accidents, accident and calamity risks, as well as upgrade the general health and safety risk control efficiency of the company. The study explains the implementation performance and execution procedure of the occupational health safety management system based on actual implementation experience of the occupational health safety management system. Occupational health safety management system establis hment experiences showed that one undergoes eight stages when setting up an OHSAS 18001 compliant health and safety management system execution procedure; namely, preparation, initial review, planning, documentation, implementation operation, checking corrective action, management review, and continuous improvement. 1.0 Preparation Stage Preparatory work and psychological construction are fairly important in the establishment of the occupational health safety management system. Generally, during the initial period of introducing occupational health safety management system into a factory, factory workers already possessed a health and safety precognition, as well as understand that the establishment of the company occupational health safety management system would require their full coordination and support. The primary function of this stage is to foster top executive support and authorization, implementing body organization, and stimulation of personnel recognition. Top executive support and authorization Top executive is the highest authority of the occupational health safety management system, as well as the highest decision making manager of the factory However, prior to setting up system, a factory should obtain the approval and support of its top executive. The occupational health safety management system establishment responsibility and authority should be assigned to the appropriate personnel to integrate internal existing resources and dissolve possible resistance that may surface during the execution process. A specific measure would be to employ a paper or hierarchic order relay method starting from the top factory executive, e.g. chairman, CEO, president, or factory manager, openly making official explanation of the system to the management executives and operators. For instance, holding a Kick-off Meeting or employing other official announcement or publication to notify managers and staff about the establishment of the occupational health safety management system. It is imperative that each individual should understand the companys determination in promoting the occupational health safety management system. Organizing an implementing body Clear-cut scope of individual responsibilities is an imperative essential of a good management system. OHSAS 18001 requires the assignment of corresponding responsibilities to employees, clearing defining their responsibilities, authority, and mutual relationship. The management should provide the resources needed for execution, as well as appoint the suitable management representative. Hence, the organization should have a written document clearly defining the role of each individual in the system to allow each person to understand his/her importance, responsibilities, and authority in the scheme of operations, position in the organization, and the vertical relationship of the management level. The organization might explain to the persons in charge, positions and management level possessing the relevant management responsibilities in the handbook or procedure manual. The regular training and internal communication channels may be used to make each person understand the nature of hi s/her responsibility. As for management responsibilities, aside from total authority delegation, it is also necessary to provide the appropriate resources; e.g. money, manpower, materials, technology, information source. The management representative is the soul of the occupational health safety management system. Pursuant to higher management instructions, he/she is responsible for leading the system to the right path, as well as verifying the right operating responsibilities of the occupational health safety management system and report system execution performance to higher management. Stimulating health and safety recognition of employees Education and training are important tools organizations use to maintain the professional knowledge and skills of employees; especially during the early stage of occupational health safety management system establishment. Education and training are the best means for upgrading personnel skills, stimulating employee understanding of his/her work as well as health and safety effects. A training premise is that the organization should first identify the individuals expose to potential serious health and safety risks to provide a suitable training. Likewise, employees assigned to special jobs should possess adequate educational background, training and experience for the job. Generally, the business sector does not have a clear perception of health and safety, therefore under such deficient information supply, employees could hardly understand their role in the health and safety problems, needless to say take measures to further ensure his/her or another partys safety. The OHSAS 18001 training requirement goes beyond work technology, it also emphasizes recognition upgrade. Factories introducing the occupational health safety management system concept may use education and training as a foundation; when requiring employees to maintain or upgrade their skills, factories should first allow employees to understand correlation between and importance of their work and health safety. Organizations may relay health safety management system requirements to employees through means most suitable to the factory culture. If everyone understands ones role and responsibility in the system, then working under the health and safety effects, one would be able to upgrade ones health and safety performance, as well as gladly coordinate with the health safety management system of the company. 2 Initial review period During the establishment of the occupational health safety management system, initial review of the condition understanding and data compilation work provided the formulation of subsequent or amendment of occupational health safety policies; formulation of objectives and management programs; definition of references for standard procedure documents. Initial review is not part of the OHSAS 18001 certification requirement, however those who have not established their occupational health safety management system in the OHSAS 18002 may use this measure as foundation of subsequent operations. Initial review allowed factories to understand fully the relationship between their internal operations and the safety problems, as well as the safety problems and responsibilities of the factories. The purpose of initial review is to provide a thorough understanding of the health and safety advantages and disadvantages of the organization per se, well as provide a clear-cut direction for the futu re occupational health safety management system. The endeavor is like a medical examination; it is used to understand the health and safety weaknesses and probable improvements inside the factory. The matter of weakness improvement will form the future execution content of future occupational health safety management system execution. Initial review findings are finally compiled into the initial review report by the organization or an appointed person in charge. The report should be able to summarily explain matters under investigation, present a conclusion and suggestions for future to management review and future reference purposes. 3 Framework and planning period Following the completion of initial review and factories development of a general health and safety consensus comes future health and safety policymaking. Framework and planning execution covers the following: defining health and safety policies, setting objectives, organizing health and safety management programs, and formulation of document outline. Defining health and safety policies Health and safety policies manifest the commitment of the top executive, it is also the highest guiding principle of the health safety management system, the force behind the implementation and improvement of the health safety management system, as well as the manifestation of the organizations intentions in terms of health and safety responsibility and performance requirements. Likewise it serves as the standard for future occupational health safety management system establishment and improvement. Prior to the establishment of occupational health safety policies, the top executive should have a full understanding of organizational conditions as well as the hazards and health safety risks resulting from factory operations. The top executive should also have a thorough understanding to determine and manifest adequately intentions and direct future organization direction. Health and safety affairs often existed under a high subjective consciousness; hence the suitability of the he alth and safety policies could determine the success or failure of the occupational health safety management system. During the execution of the continuous improvement process, subjective and objective factors would change with progress; hence for the effective system operation, health and safety policies should be properly adjusted and amended in response to time and space changes. Defining health and safety objectives For effective risk control and reduction, as well as health and safety policy realization purposes, the organization should define health and safety objectives. The health and safety objectives should be able to manifest health and safety policies and be consistent with their objectives. Objectives should be expressed in writing and extend to every relevant management mechanism. Generally, health and safety objectives should be specific and as much as possible be measurable. Regardless which manner objectives are defined, they should focus on the significant hazards as well as health and safety risks of the factory. When formulating the health and safety objectives, in addition to the factory resource, skill and feasibility considerations, it is also imperative to consider the extent of the influence of the health and safety risks. The health and safety policy realization function of the health and safety objectives should also allow the upgrade of the general health and safety perfo rmance, moreover health and safety objectives should be quantifiable as much as possible. Defining the health and safety management program The health and safety management program is defined for the achievement of objectives; hence it should be able to layout the method, time, person(s) in charge, and goals of each department. Primary considerations include: derivation of specific action plans from objectives, clear-cut and flexible responsibility definition of management program executors, timely revisions. Generally, a program is often creates for a single objective and the achievement time of each objective may vary. A factory could consolidate the other programs or plans under implementation for the simultaneous achievement of multiple projected objectives. Since a management program is the bridge between planning and execution, the various execution requirements (e.g. framework and responsibility, operations and document control, communication, inspection, etc.) should be clearly defined to ensure smooth execution. Formulating document outline The primary objective of document outline formulation is to integrate the occupational health safety management system into the existing management system of the company for the realization of occupational health safety management operations. To ensure the proper execution of occupational health safety management system policies, objectives and management programs, integration with the existing system is imperative. Moreover, for the purpose of reducing excessive overlapping management documents, one should prepare the document outline beforehand. The more popular method is to prepare a checklist of existing management documents, may them be ISO 9000, ISO 14001, or other management system documents; then a comparative study with health and safety policies, objectives, and management programs should be conducted. Documents for addition or amendment should be identified then submitted to the departments concerned for preparatory work. The existing document management system of the c ompany may be used as the opener for the internal management system integration to facilitate quality, environment, occupational health safety management system integration. The endeavor would not only boost system operation efficiency, but also reduce the resistance due to the implementation of a new system. 4 Documentation stage What the OHSAS 18001 requires is a complete system managing health and safety affairs, not a bunch of scattered management techniques. Hence, every management method and document regulation of the system should be systematically and documentarily expressed for the creation of a future management system that is written into uniformity. Therefore, document amendment, utilization, maintenance, preservation, and control should be regulated through written rules for utilization and management convenience. Documents should be properly updated, valid, clearly identified, and easily traced for the effective management execution. Every document should be able to reflect work conditions, and duly evaluated by the approving authority. Document compilation, preservation, revision, and retraction should be suit time and place. Generally, one should still refer to the ISO 14001 document control and best options available during the implementation of OHSAS 18001; since the two came from the same or igin and are highly compatible. OHSAS 18001 does not have many documentation procedures; but whatever circumstances are, aside from the procedure, the factory should define the criteria for support based on its requirements. Let us take hazard detection for instance some companies would separately define procedures for the acquisition of relevant documents or methods that would ameliorate management information. In the case of objective definition, the provisions only required organizations to establish documentation objectives, but some companies separately formulated procedures for objective definition, or use a complete procedure to define the steps and precautions necessary for the planning portion. 5 Implementation and operation stage It does not matter what planning objectives were, how perfect planning was, or if planning was effective, what matters is the implementation execution. If policies, objectives, and programs are but matters of propaganda or are regarded as slogans, then their effects could not be optimized and the final planning objectives could never be achieved. In terms of the first health and safety management system established, since initial review was not included in the regular scope of execution of the system, one need not use a specific operating procedure to implement it. Once the health and safety policies have been set, proper utilization of initial review experience could simultaneously establish the document and execution plan procedures. Having completed planning operations, it is imperative to execute plan according to the management program. The relevant procedures, provisions, and operating standards should be established before program execution to avoid implementation difficulties . The more special requirements in the execution of the occupational health safety management system are communication and consultation. Since health and safety affairs are often interlinked and closely related to other parties, it is not just a matter of doing the job well, but one should also exchange opinions with the related groups or individuals whenever necessary. When dealing with internal operations, it is imperative to have two-way communication and consultation channels; when dealing with external matters, a good management is not dependent on ones singular determination. It should be recognized by the external community; moreover, while handling health and safety affairs, the organization should acquire the consensus of interested parties to reduce conflicts and doubts. The organization should be willing to coordinate related safety regulations and control. 6 Checking and corrective action stage It is imperative to continually check system execution trend to keep the health safety management system operating properly; the examination and corrective measures serve this function. The OHSAS 18001 requires system to have at least inspection and measurement procedure, corrective and preventive measures for inconsistent conditions, recording, health and safety management system audit. These features are correlated and could keep system operation within the prescribed parameters of the law and standards.à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ Inspection and measurement should be realized in daily operations and conducted in line with record management procedures. Records allow the tracing of execution results, so at the event of inconsistent conditions (including false alarm incidents), the authorized personnel should investigate matters as per prescribed procedure to reduce health and safety risks and prevent the recurrence of the same problem. In terms of health safety management system audit, the organization should institute procedure and program control to ensure that system would not deviate from the plan and be efficiently maintained and executed. The audit also provides the management a basis for evaluation. The progress of a health safety management system is due to continuous follow-up and improvement. Techniques employed are health safety management system audit and top executive management review. The purpose of health safety management system audit is to make sure the organization accomplished the job. It is regular conducted by the internal auditor of the factory, who examines whether operations meet the prescribed procedure and standards; whether departments complied with health and safety policies and objectives. The management review aims to ensure that job is done properly and done by the authorized top executive. The audit reports, past records, and inspection results determine whether the next stage of the entire organization and management system will be in the right direction. 7 Management review The completion of the management review marks the end of a PDCA cycle; it means one could prepare official verification. Prior to the official evaluation of the verification personnel, the factory should verify the completion of the following important matters: at least one PDCA management cycle was completed; the appropriate records were retained; all required documents were executed; version has been updated; execution operation records were written and approved as regulated; related supporting documents are attached; related parties have a full understanding of the health safety policies, health safety risks, and objective execution conditions; subcontractors and vendors were included in the health safety management system management; health safety management system audit has been improved (including internal audit or external evaluation); resolution of the deficiencies found during the previous audit, conclusion of management review, or other matters under related procedure e xecution. 8 Continuous improvement stage Introducing a new management system would give rise to problems during implementation. As long as problems are not serious enough to cause system breakdown or failure, improvements could be instituted. Continuous improvement of the system could be effected through management system audit and management review; as such is a basic requirement of OHSAS 18001. Prior knowledge of factors that may lead to possible problems could save manpower and material costs, as well as post-mortem efforts. The factory should maintain such a healthy state of mind when executing the OHSAS 18001, instead of going on a blind pursuit of a piece of certificate, this way, the factory not only alleviates personnel injury and environmental damages, reduce risk, reduce cost, improve factory image, upgrade factory performance through the health safety management system. In the continuous improvement process, the two major mechanisms fostering continuous improvement are health safety management system audit and management review. A planned and full-scale health safety management system audit could locate the common factors and special factors causing the health and safety performance problems resulting from system deficiency. The top executive determines the right direction for the systematic consideration of health and safety problem solutions, as well as the continuous execution of the PDCA logic continuous improvement mechanisms.

Pro-Choice Abortion Essay -- Freedom of Choice, Pro-Choice Essays

Abortion Abortion is one of the most personal, widely discussed, and controversial topics in American culture today. In most cases, people on both sides of the argument take worthy and moral positions. Who can blame someone who wishes to prevent the termination of a teen pregnancy to save the life of an unborn child? On the other hand, who can blame anyone who advocates the soon-to-be mother's right to make such a personal, heartbreaking choice? No matter what she chooses to do, should anyone have the legal right to force her to bear an unwanted child? Most people in the US are pro-choice, and believe that abortion should be a legal, confidential decision that only a woman can make for herself. However, some are against the idea of terminating life, regardless of its current stage. People advocating this pro-life opinion believe that de-legalizing abortion will make it go away. Sadly, that is incorrect. Throughout American history, despite complications of legality, women have managed to have abortions without much difficulty, whether from a doctor, a back-alley abortionist pretending to be a doctor, or even themselves. Fittingly, about 80% of women are pro-choice, while 60% of men follow the pro-choice ideal. This is exemplified by the fact that nearly half of all American women (including teenagers) have had an abortion at least once. Abortion has been a very common part of American life since the eighteenth century. Both in times of public scrutiny, and acceptance, abortion has always been present in the United States. At the start of the 1900?s, it was common practice for doctors to refuse medical care to woman suffering from abortion complications, until she confessed to having an abortion. This cruel practice ... ...responsible, naÃÆ'Â ¯ve adolescent. For example, the possibility that a girl whom is ?flamboyant? in her physical excapades, demands an abortion every other month, is purely ridiculous. I do not condone such behavior, but I do believe that abortion is sometimes the most logical, least heart-wrenching choice. Although I do not whole-heartedly agree with the concept of terminating the possibility of life, it is sometimes necessary to prevent or even end one life, to save a massive amount of suffering, and rescue the livelihood of many others. Furthermore, the opinion of corrupt political officials and the twisted view of society should have no say in the personal matters of a single, suffering woman. As a result, it is the right of every woman in the United States to judge how serious the circumstances are, and make the decision to accept or decline abortion for her self.

The Role Of The Media In Democracy Essays -- essays research papers f

How much does your vote really count? As a voter, does your choice really matter? How much influence does the media have on your vote? How many choices does the media actually make when it comes to our nation's leadership? These are questions pondered by both political scientists and the average American citizen each year as the second Tuesday in November approaches. Though we know that the framers founded this nation on the principles of representing it's citizens, and on the ideals of a nation for the people and by the people; it is obvious that the people feel that their vote doesn't always count. In this paper I plan to expand on these questions and the justifications behind asking them, and I plan to follow up with a specific example in which the media played a highly significant role in the choice of high government officials. How much does your vote really count? Does your choice really matter? According to the framers, your choice does matter. They say that one man equals one vote. Congress also seems to believe that the American vote should count. They have passed Amendments to the Constitution in order to give more people the chance to vote and the chance to make a choice of their representatives. But why then does the people actually directly elect so few officials? Perhaps they agree with the ideas of Converse and Lane and are using voting only as a way to attempt to get the citizens out of the voting slump they seem to be in. Converse stated that voters are minimally informed, minimally capable, and therefore incompetent of voting. Lane claims that this is not the problem, but that instead, voters are simply lazy in their ideology. (Muraca, July 13, 1999) I tend to agree with both, but I don't feel that the fault lies on the shoulders of the people. Rather, I feel that the burden of voter incompeten ce lies on the shoulders of the media. Voters are not uninformed perse, but they are limited in the amount in information that they posses. The reason that this information is limited is because of the media. Media makes the choice everyday what they do and do not want the public to know. The power to make the choice of our knowledge rests in their hands. Without the information they pass on from day to day, we, as voters know nothing about the happenings of our government. Yet on more than one occasion the media has held back information that c... .... It is a nation founded on free speech and freedom of the press, and the media uses these freedoms to influence some of the most important decisions that may ever occur in our country. It is somewhat scary that the fate of our nation could be put in the hands of the King of Porn, but at the same time it is somewhat invigorating. As citizens, the framers entrusted everyday citizens with the right to influence the actions and fate of our government, even if only through a small article in the newspaper. Even though they did give the media this right, and we as citizens the right to use it, they still found fault with the nation as a whole. Otherwise, citizens would have been given the chance to directly elect those they feel represent them the best. The question of why they did this remains, but the fault lies at the feet of the media for keeping the citizens left uninformed and unable to cast a reasonable vote. Works Cited Janda, Berry, Goldman. The Challenge of Democracy. Sixth Edition. Houghton Mifflin, 1999. Muraca, Stephanie, T.. In-class-notes. July 13, 1999. Shepard, Alicia, C.. "Gatekeepers Without Gates", American Journalism News Link. March 1999.

Hilton Case study Essay

Problem: From the case, we know Hilton is currently using the marketing penetration by focusing on business travelers. And now the expensive loyalty-program features that are added by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. for attracting more business travelers is threatening Hilton by increasing Hilton’s cost or decreasing Hilton’s market shares. Solution: In my opinion, in response to the Starwood’s strategy, the solution for Hilton’s dilemma should be market development which is developing new market from current products or services. Hilton can avoid increasing its cost by showing customers Hilton has more and better benefits. There are several reasons for this solution. Firstly, HHonors Program has been a good service program for Hilton. On the other hand, Starwood’s Preferred Guest announcement was a strategy to their less effective frequent-guest program. As it shown on the case, â€Å"they changed it every few years†. Secondly, it is risky to compete with them by increasing the cost and adding the features Starwood added. It is because the lower cost-effectiveness will hurt the profit of the whole hotel industry eventually. Also, if Hilton can have the same or more amount of business with lower costs compared to other competitors, Hilton earns more profits. The last but not the least, it is important to market and consolidate the Hilton brand nowadays. We need to let customers know how superior Hilton is than other hotels to attract and retain consumers. Implementation: For implementation, Hilton needs to realize its flashpoints and put more marketing efforts on them. Firstly, HHW’s program has a unique practice called Double Dipping which means customers can earn mileage in partner airline and also earn HHonors points. This flashpoint can not only attract customers but also better relationship with corporate clients. Double Dipping melts the conflict of competing with the airline’s program. Hilton can talk to partner airlines by sharing members and create a complemented program with them. Then, Hilton can advertise this program to more airlines by calling them. So Hilton can attract more customers through airlines without increasing advisement costs. Also, Hilton can increase the number and range of partners such as car rental firms and Cookies firms. This action will help customers attain their rewards easily and eventually will help Hilton get more customers. Thirdly, Hilton can franchise to more small hotels with comparable with lower loyalty- program cost than its competitors in order to increase the market share of Midmarket without F&B segment which other big competitors don’t have. After that, Hilton can send an email to their current customers in their computer system by presenting the appreciation for being Hilton customers and introducing Double Dipping and other partners for customers to attain rewards earlier. Also, tell them they can get desirable points by having someone experience Hilton. Guest managers who are responsible for making the best customers feel special and satisfy their needs as perfect as possible can call upper-rank customers by introducing themselves.

Review of Hunger Games Movie Essay

I thought that The Hunger Games movie was overall an â€Å"ok† film with just the right amount of special affects and action sequences to complement a decent story. The director and producers stuck very close to the book as far as the story goes. This explains why the movie runs for over two hours. Although the events were very accurate, there were certain things that were not explained properly in the movie whichmovie, which changed its interpretation. One thing that bothered me was lack of explanation behind Katniss’s and Peeta’s relationship. I was fortunate enough have analyzed the book so I, or course, knew that the relationship started off as fake in the beginning and kindled into actuality. As a person watching the movie, you would think that Katniss simply fell in love with Peeta as time passed. Within the movie, tThey also neglected to elaborate on the dog-creatures at the end of the story, which were genetically engineered from the dead tributes. The lack of this detail prevented the audience from fully understanding the depravity of the Capital and their general disregard for the people of the districts. Also, Rue’s death was made to look like it was not the fault of Katniss, but another tribute. Again, I think this hurt the movie because it did not depict the type of sacrifices struggles one had to make endure in order to survive the Hunger Games. While the movie lacked some details, others were added in their place to perhaps aid in telling the story the way it was meant to be told. One thing that was added was the behind the scenes meeting between the Game Keeper and the leader of the Capital. These meeting help to reveal the Capital’s hidden agenda with the Hunger Games, which otherwise would be unknown to a person watching the movie without having read the book. Also, they showed the districts rioting at the death of Rue. This is helps to illustrate the hatred and anger that the people of the districts have for the games and I suppose its easier to make that scene than it is to imply it through the houghts of Katniss and dialogue between the characters, like in the book. All in all, I think the movie stuck very close to the book and I found that to be very refreshing. Compared to most movie adaptations, such as the Harry Potter series, its sticks more closely to the story. In the Harry Potter movies, the studio took a fair amount of artistic license with the stories and changed many finite details. This was likely done because of lack of funding and screen time. The Hunger Games did not have this problem probably because the story if more realistic than that of the magic conjuring, broomstick flying Harry Potter. There is little need for computer generated imagery (CGI) in this movie and the book is kept at a reasonable length so the movie did not have to compromise too much. This to me is the thing that it did best and I look forward to seeing the next one.