Wal-Mart

It will describe Wal-Mart as a non-union employer, paying lower wages to heir employees than other retail and grocery stores. They do not offer benefits to all employees and most are unable to afford them. Between Wal-Mart's business practices in increasing their profits and the need to recognize their social and ethical responsibilities, Wal-Mart needs to find a comfortable balance of profitability and responsibility in order to improve their reputation. During the process of writing this report, we found that there was much more Information to be discussed about Wal-Mart's unethical business practice than what was reported.We also wanted to point out that although all companies do everything ossible to lower their costs and maintain high production rates, Wal-Mart has crossed the line over the years by managing their profits In unethical ways compared to otner large corporatlons wno nave Deen etnlcally ana successTully managlng tnelr business practices. Information that can be foun d on Wal-Mart is changing everyday and it was sometimes difficult to keep up. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Wal-Mart has been recognized as the leader in its industry and the largest company in the nation.With its powerful profit making abilities, Wal-Mart has grown from a local corner store to the money making â€Å"monster† it is today. The company has amaged its reputation over the years due to unethical choices made by its top executives. As a result, its anti-union stance has been singled out on issues concerning benefits, wages, and overall business practices. When reviewing Wal- Mart's financial statements, one would be overwhelmed to see such high performances; but when you are a Wal-Mart employee, it is no surprise why that is true.Employees have been denied opportunities of advancement and pay raises. Lawsuits have been pending against the company with employees claiming they have been denied promotion opportunities in the company due to their gender, and some mployees have sue d for being over-worked and under paid. Wal-Mart has become so big in its industry, that it has lowered the wages through out the country and has influenced economic change. Since most of Wal-Mart's employees live below the poverty line, it is difficult for them to afford health insurance when deductions out of their paychecks are sometimes as high as 33%.A Wal-Mart employee who obtains health insurance would have a very difficult time raising a family with this kind of premium. Wal-Mart employees are unable to receive healthcare benefits because the cost is too high and their wages are low. As a result, employees face a difficult time deciding whether to sacrifice such a large portion of their pay to obtain health insurance; in most cases Wal-Mart employees persist without health coverage. Deductions for health insurance are higher for Wal-Mart employees than other national retail employees.A Wal-Mart employee pays about 25% more for health insurance than the average retail worker. Wal-Mart has also been opposed by its female employees, who make up two- thirds of its workforce. Women have been discriminated in wage and have been denied any advancement to upper managerial positions – dominated my men. Men ake approximately more than women and have a higher chance of advancing to a better position. Dukes vs. Wal-Mart, filed in 2001, was the largest lawsuit against a private employer in the nation and represented 1. million female employees who were discriminated based on their sex. From lawsults to employee complalnts, Wal-Mart nas Deen Tacea wltn a great deal 0T difficulties that have developed through their own unethical business practices. Although every company's goal is to lower costs and produce large numbers, Wal- Mart has made sky-rocketing profits by unethically hurting its employees and cutting down their wages. Many question why Wal-Mart, the richest retailer in the world, chooses not to provide adequate wages or health benefits for its employ ees.If Wal-Mart were to reform its health benefits program, raise their product prices by as little as a penny, and create a bias free working environment for women, Wal- Mart would be in better terms with its employees and improve the reputation it sacrificed from the start. NOT ON WAL-MART WAGES INTRODUCTION Background Wal-Mart, the large international discount chain was founded by Sam Walton. On May 5, 1950, Walton purchased a store in Bentonville, Arkansas, and opened Walton's & 10.Little did the small town residents know that they would later become the headquarters for the world's largest retailer store in the U. S. Through his sa'. n. y, and sometimes unusual, business practices, he and his associates led the company forward for thirty years. As Wal-Mart grew into a global corporation it is today, it has dealt with a great deal of criticism by outsiders. Wal-Mart's ethical citizenship has been questioned numerous times and researched by many. There have been many doubts about Wal- Mart's business integrity and questions whether their practices are ethical or not.Wal-Mart has faced, and is still facing, a significant amount of controversy over several different issues. Wal-Mart has been caught bribing its employees, discriminating against women, denying its employees of training or promotions, paying low wages, and providing high deductibles for health insurance. Wal-Mart is now paying the consequences and need to become socially responsible in order to maintain a better reputation with society. Although consumers are reeled in with the low prices Wal-Mart has to offer, others feel their ethical beliefs are more important than saving a quick buck.Purpose Statement of The purpose of this report is to examine Wal-Mart's unethical business practices with a focus on employee wages and high health care deductibles. The report will question Wal-Mart's aptitude to sell products cheaper than any of its leading competitors and yet maintain making a substantial am ount of profit. The report will analyze the unethical practices that have developed through Wal-Mart's history as a result of focusing on high productivity and profit making strategies. cope The report will describe Wal-Mart's unethical business practices that affect its employees. It will examine Wal-Mart's unethical behavior in conducting business with n overall focus on employee wages. Limitations Time constraints have limited the extent of the research. There is a vast amount of information regarding this issue and we are unable to report it all. In addition, no funds are available to conduct primary research. Methods of Research The method of research for this paper was secondary research through databases, internet websites, and books.The research databases of California State University, Los Angeles, will be used to locate articles in current and past publication. The databases used are Lexis/Nexis and Business Source Premiere. Also libraries, uch as the John F. Kennedy Memor ial Library at California State University, Los Angeles and Los Angeles Public Library in Porter Ranch, California. The major findings of this study indicate that Wal-Mart being the world's largest and richest retail chain is setting the standard on wages for retail workers and beyond.Because Wal-Mart has become so big, it has dragged down wages throughout the country. Wal-Mart has become what it is today by selling products at low prices and paying their â€Å"associates† even lower wages. Unhappy Wal-Mart workers complain as much about being over-worked as underpaid. Wal-Mart has its own stated policies at its employees' expense. Wal-Mart pays it's â€Å"associates† below basic living wage standards and even below poverty lines. Overworked and Underpaid Employees H. Lee Scott Jr. is the chief executive of the powerful corporation we call Wal-Mart.According to Mr. Scott, by selling vast quantities of goods at its trademark â€Å"Every Day Low Prices,† Wal-Mart has single-handedly raised America's standard of living, saving consumers about $100 billion a year (Bianco 2). They feel that selling vast quantities of low price merchandise gives them the right to act as if they represent the American people. Scott states, â€Å"Wal-Mart also provides good Jobs for hundreds of thousands of equally deserving employees, offers even part-time workers generous health insurance and other benefits† (Bianco 2).He accuses greedy labor unions, inefficient supermarket chains, and other Wal-Mart opponents of distorting â€Å"the facts† to suit their own purposes. Wal-Mart insists on describing themselves as â€Å"pro-associate, not anti-union,† but is quick to suppress any and all attempts to have unions organize in its stores. In his book The Bully of Bentonville, Anthony Bianco describes how Wal-Mart has ffected wages beyond their own company: Because Wal-Mart Is so Dig, It nas araggea clown wages tnrougnout the country.Economists at the University of California at Berkeley found that Wal-Mart's expansion during the 1990s cut the income of America's retail employees by 1. 3 percent-or by $4. 7 billion in 2000 alone. What is more, the depressing effect of Wal-Mart's expansion on payrolls extended well beyond retailing. According to a 2005 analysis by economists at the Public Policy Institute of California, take-home pay per person fell by 5 percent across the board following Wal-Mart's entry into a country.The evidence â€Å"strongly suggest(s) that Wal-Mart stores lead to wage declines, shifts to lower-paying Jobs (or less skilled workers), or increased use of part-time workers. (4) Today, Wal-Mart is surrounded by controversy, but the greatest is from within. Unhappy employees are quitting and dozens of class-action lawsuits are pending against the company. Managers have been known to force employees to work extra hours without pay; either by eliminating breaks or by having them clock out and keep working â₠¬Å"off the clock†. This is Wal-Mart's way of saving on costs at the price of its employees.Store managers earn bonuses based on earnings. Since the corporation dictates the inventory and operating expenses, managers' only control is labor costs. Joyce Moody, a former manager in Alabama and Mississippi, told the New York Times that Wal-Mart â€Å"threatened to write up managers if they didn't bring the payroll in low enough†. Depositions in wage and hour lawsuits reveal that company headquarters leaned on management to keep their labor costs at 8 percent of sales or less, and managers in turn leaned on assistant managers to work their employee's off-the-clock or simply delete time from employee time sheet (ufcw. g). In the late 1990's Wal-Mart's annual turnover rate was a remarkably high 70 percent, 40 percent higher than in previous years (Slater 120). Wal-Mart does not see this as being a problem. The constant turnover reduces employees eligible for raises, promotions, benefits, and holds the average wage down. Just another way to keep payroll costs at a minimum. Employee Wages Wal-Mart employs 1. 3 million workers in Just the U. S. and operates more than 3,400 stores throughout the United States. A full time employee working 28- 40 hours a week at Wal-Mart is paid on an average of $250 a week.Besides having low wages, those workers who are interested or eligible in obtaining health insurance for themselves or for their family pay high premiums and frequently don't get the coverage they expect. The majority of Wal-Mart employees live below the poverty line and after making deductions in taxes and insurance coverage, a Wal-Mart employee's salary is not enough to provide them a standard way of living. â€Å"The 2003 poverty guideline for a family of four is $18,400, $4,256 more than the $14,144 in earnings a full-time Wal-Mart worker earns at $8 per hour†¦A household of four with a gross ncome of $23,920 or less could be eligible for food sta mps -$9,776 more than a full- time, $8-an-hour Wal-Mart worker would earn in a year. † (www. aflcio. org) These numDers are even worst Tor part time workers. I oaay, one -tnlra 0T Wal-Marts employees are part-time workers. They are limited to less than 34 hours of work per week and are not eligible for benefits and must wait 1 year before they can enroll. Sex Discrimination in the Work Place In addition to Wal-Mart's low wages, its female workers are more disadvantaged and discriminated against in wage than its male workers.More than two thirds of Wal- Mart's hourly employees are women and make up most of the lower wage positions which include: working the cash registers, stocking shelves and working the sales floor. Although men take responsibilities in these positions as well, the majority of men who work at Wal-Mart have positions as Management Associates or much higher ranked positions. Seventy-two percent of Wal-Mart employees are female and less than one-third of those w omen have management positions in the company.With that in mind, the average male employee was paid about $5,000 more in 2001 per year than the average female full-time employee. As Wal-Mart's own workforce data reveals, women in every major Job category at Wal-Mart have been paid less than men with the same seniority, in every year since 1997 even though the female employees on average have higher performance ratings and less turnover than men. (http://www. walmartclass. com). Dukes vs. Wal-Mart is said to be the largest and most famous gender discrimination lawsuit against a private employer and is the largest class-action suit in U.S. history, representing 1. 6 million current and former female employees. Betty Dukes was the leading plaintiff in the case and sued Wal-Mart for ex discrimination; she was a fifty-four year old African-American woman who worked as a greeter for Wal-Mart. Factors such as seniority and performance were Wal-Mart's main excuses and reasons that women ear ned from 5% to 15% less than men. It is disappointing to see that even the cashier positions, that are dominated by women, have men earning more than women.Wal-Mart not only overworks, under pays and discriminates against women, but it also provides neither childcare for workers or affordable family health benefits. Unaffordable Healthcare Deductibles Wal-Mart employees are incapable of receiving healthcare benefits available for hem because of its high cost and their low wages. Since most of Wal-Mart's employees are unable to afford these health benefits, most of these individuals either turn to government aided insurance such as Medicaid, depend on their spouse's plans, or expect to see a doctor in rare and emergency cases with no insurance.It is argued that uncovered Wal-Mart employees are not signing up for medical insurance and benefits because most of them exceed the income ceiling and are not eligible. Wal-Mart provides insurance for over 900,000 employees that are with and w ith out dependants. Employee premiums range between $143. 54 to $249. 71 per month for family coverage and $33. 04 to $72. 04 per month for single coverage. The National Average of workers covered by employer health insurance is 67 percent, and only 47 percent of Wal-Mart's employees are covered by the company's health care plan.That is a huge gap when considering that each percent represents thousands of people. Most Wal-Mart employees have a difficult time aec101ng wnetner to attaln nealtn Insurance or stay unlnsurea Tor tne sake 0T saving money. ‘Cynthia Murray, who has worked at a Wal-Mart store in Laurel, Md. , or six years, suffers from asthma, but goes to see a doctor only when she suffers a bad attack. Murray is 50 years old, makes $9. 47 an hour, and says that the Wal-Mart plan that costs $23 a month has a $1,000 deductible, which makes it too expensive for her to use. Another plan subtracts $100 from her paycheck every two weeks. l don't think anybody working at Wal- Mart has that kind of money,† says Murray. â€Å"All I'm asking from Wal-Mart is a fair share† (Gogol). Many Americans question why Wal- Mart, one of the richest companies in the United States, can't offer affordable health insurance and pay a living wage. Comparing Wal-Mart's employee health benefits and wages to Costco's employee health benefits and wages, one will notice that Costco not only pays its employees higher than Wal-Mart but their deductions are far less. â€Å"The average wage at Costco is $17 an hour†¦. a full-time worker at Wal-Mart makes $7. 0 an hour on average. Costco workers pay Just 8% of their health premiums, whereas Wal-Mart workers pay 33% of theirs. Ninety-one percent of Costco's employees are covered by retirement plans, with the company contributing an annual average of $1 ,330 per employee† (Cascio). Based on these facts, it is easy to ay that Wal-Mart employees are giving up a large portion of their paychecks to obtain health ca re. Wal-Mart employees who do have health insurance and receive coverage are paying more in premiums but receive less for their money; in large corporations this has become a trend.New laws have been passed intended to force large corporations to control employee wages and reduce insurance deductibles. From law suits to employee complaints, Wal-Mart has recently thought of ways to reduce the cost of health benefits. The new plan would charge monthly premiums ranging from $25. 00 for individuals to $65. 0 for a family, making that 45-65% less than what employees contributed in the company's existing plan. But it is not enough to reform the reputation Wal-Mart has lost or the vulnerable employees they let down. oncluslons High productivity and lowering costs is one of the top and most important objectives in business. Wal-Mart being the World's largest retailer can afford to pay their â€Å"associates† more than what the minimum wage offers. They are in fact, the richest retail er in the world and yet neglect to provide their employees affordable health care with a livable wage. Even if Wal-Mart was to pass 100 percent of the wage ncrease on to consumers, the average impact on a Wal-Mart shopper would be quite small.Wal-Mart's choice of action toward employee wages, health benefits, and bias work environment have not only brought an enormous shadow over its employees' lives but also over its own big business reputation. The injustice decisions made through out the history of Wal-Mart has changed many lives and has forever changed the American economy. In the business world, there is big, and then there is Wal-Mart. Recommendations Based on the conclusions presented above, the following actions are recommended: 1 . Retaining â€Å"associates† already on staff would be more cost affective then high employee turnover. 2.Train employees. Give the opportunity to advance and have freedom to associate and organize. 12 3. Our analysis reveals that establish ing a higher minimum wage for large retailers like Wal-Mart would have a significant impact on workers living in poverty or near- poverty. 4. In order to increase employee satisfaction, reforming the cost of health insurance would help keep Wal-Mart in good terms with their employees. 5. If Wal- Mart was to raise their prices by as little as a penny to the dollar it would afford them o pay the higher wages. Higher wages provide the employees opportunity to afford health coverage. . Implementing fair employment and labor practices.

Stylistic analysis: One Stair Up by Campbell Nairne

The book â€Å"One stair up† was written by a Scottish novelist Campbell Nairne in 1934 and describes the life of a working-class family from Edinburgh. And we can see a fragment that shows fine style and good sense of humour. The scene takes place in one of the Broadway cinemas. Two young people – Andrew and Rosa – decided to watch some movie. The culminating point of this story is the moment when Andrew says in excitement, â€Å"Good, isn't it? †, but receives the answer, â€Å"I don't see anything funny in that†. In this scene we can see how different Rosa and Andrew are.From this fragment we don’t know anything about their origin and social status, but we can guess that Rosa was from richer family than Andrew, that’s why she had better taste and didn’t like the foolish comedy. We can also easily understand it from one sentence: â€Å"It pleased her to be seen in the dress circle, even with Andrew†. She hoped to see so me of her friends to spend more pleasant time with them, but as she couldn’t see anybody, she had to stay with Andrew. There is one more evidence for it: â€Å"Is he really so stupid, she wondered. Yes, I suppose he is†.All these facts show us that Andrew and Rosa had very different social status. So, we can say that the main idea of this small fragment is to show how difficult it is for people from different classes to understand each other. What is fun for one is absolutely fool for another. Some habits, like talking in the cinema, are absolutely normal for one and unacceptable for another. I think that the moral of the story can be very well illustrated with two proverbs: â€Å"Tastes differ† and â€Å"A place for everything and everything in its place†. In order to describe the scene properly author uses different stylistic devices.On the whole he describes the movies that the heroes watched in details, so the reader can easily imagine everything that happened on the screen. For this aim the author forms his speech into short sentences that follow one after another like the scenes of the movie. But to make the story more artistic he uses, first of all, different epithets: â€Å"shadowy faces†, â€Å"looped curtain†. Also there are similes: the carpet â€Å"yielded like springing turf†, â€Å"a hard-worked dog, for you saw it, or another like it, in dozens of these comic films† and other to recall some associations in the readers’ mind and to make the images more  Ã¢â‚¬Å"visible†.What is more, similes help the reader understand the way of thinking of different characters and the author, too. The author uses different set phrases like â€Å"The film seemed to have smashed all records. It drew tears from the hardest hearts. It sent thrills down the spine† and others. It is described even with some kind of sarcasm as a sample of bad taste. Also there is an oxymoron: the main part in the â€Å"mightiest drama of Broadway† has a â€Å"bewitching† actress named Minnie Haha.Also the author uses book and high lexicon for usual things, for example: â€Å"to-night he would resist that awful temptation to explain the story in a whisper†, so it’s a burlesque. As for me, I liked this story, but I feel pity to Andrew. It is better to have a good sense of humour than trying to show your tastes. And Andrew just wanted to have better social position and dated with a girl from a rich family. But it is really difficult to them to be together. So, I think that Campbell Nairne had shown everything really truly.

Education and Globalization Essay

This research attempts to investigate the importance of technical & vocational institution. This research is also carried out to find out the various methods objective of research. What is the expectation to fulfil the requirement of being indusrtialized nation?. Well, having the existence of technical & vocational institution are mainly to produce hands on skills on students as well as to develop them to become a part of industrialized nation. In developing our country , technical & vocational school has come to existence to give students opportunity to choose skills that can be learned. This research is carried out to find out the advantages of having technical & vocational institution in Malaysia. Besides that, this research to investigate the effectiveness of having this kind of school in our country and ways to improve vocational & technical education system. 1. 1 BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH This research is carried out to provide awareness of the existence of technical and vocational institution as well as to introduce the importances of this institution. Nowadays, we are facing problem that this kind of institution is out of date and is lacking systematically and also having doubts whether it is meeting the current industrial needs in the country. Therefore, this research is carried out to introduce and emphasized on the importance of this institution. The background of this research is based on its development. The formal technical and vocational education system under the Ministry of Education starts at the upper secondary level, where there are 70 secondary vocational schools with an enrolment of 33,751 students and nine secondary technical schools having a total 5,339 students. The secondary vocational schools offer a course structure that covers the same core subjects as in other upper secondary academic schools. In addition to these core subjects, the vocational school students select a group of vocational subjects in accordance with the vocational course following. Vocational studies make up about 50 percent of the total course content in the secondary vocational school. Based in nature and technical subjects offered are less practical in nature. Technical studies make up only about 17 per cent of the total course content in the secondary technical school. At the post-secondary level there are six polytechnics with a student population of 15, 000 with about 12,000 students undergoing courses at the certificate level and 3,000 students at the diploma level. The objective of the polytechnics is to produce trained manpower at the semi-profesional level in various areas of engineering and commerce. At the certificate level about 80 percent of the students are following engineering courses. Female students make up about 25 percent of the total student population. Some examples of training government agencies are MARA- skills training institutes Ministry of Youth and Sport – Youth Training Centres and Ministry of Welfare Services- Training Centres. 1. 2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Statement of problems: 1. It shows that lately technical & vocational institution is out of date. 2. Students mainly are not aware of the avantages of technical & vocational institution. 1. 3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY This researh method to meet the following objectives: * To investigate the importances of technical & vocational institution. * To find out ways to improve tecnical & vocational education system. 1. 4 RESEARCH QUESTION The following research question is translated in order to meet the research objective. * Which is the importance of technical & vocational institution?. * What is the implication to students on the importance of having technical & vocational institution?. 1. 5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The significance of the study is to help students and teacher to indentify the importance of having technical & vocational institutons. Vocational and technical education is important because not everyone should be expected to take the path of going to a university and getting a university degree. Some people prefer to take a non-academic path because this is where their passion and interests lies. As such, having a good vocational and technical training and education program is important to ensure that students who are inclined towards these sectors have a respectable channel to pursue skills in this area. In Malaysia, making the pursuit of these skills is one of the ways to reduce school dropout rates and to increase the skills and earning power of those who do not lean towards the academic arena. Most students graduate without actually obtaining a real tertiary education, and the good students also suffer because the intellectual discourse that is supposed to happen in classes never materializes. This is a truly unfortunate side effect of the governments drive to produce more graduates. Enrollment criteria into universities get lowered every year because of the competition to get students at all costs, so quality suffers even more. 1. 6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY This research covers only students from Universiti Industri Selangor ( UNISEL ) where the research was conducted to find out the results and point of views regarding the topic of research. Besides that, the research only covers students aged between 18 to 25 years old for oipinions and point of view on the matter of the topic. The research also covers only soe student from technical & vocatioanal school. 1. 7 CONCLUSION. This chapter gives brief explaination, definition on the background of the study where researcher aim to investigate the mportance of technical & vocational institution and the affectiveness of having this kind of school in our country as well to support our country to become and industrilized country. This chapter also gives the background of the study and significance of the study. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 INTRODUCTION Literature review comprises of related literature which is definition of topic, a general overview, advantages and also types of technical & vocational institution. In this chapter it shows the types of technical institution available. Besides that, the current importance is shown in the advantages as well as the implication of the topic. The variations of institution is also mentioned in this chapter to give clear view of the types of school available, thus emphasizing on the importance of this research. 2. 2 RELATED LITERATURE 2. 2. 1- Definition of technical and vocational institution. 2. 2. 2- Advantages of technical & vocatioanal institution. 2. 2. 3- Types of technical & vocational institution. 2. 2. 1 DEFINITION OF TECHNICAL & VOCATIONAL INSTITUTION Tecnique means a particular way of doing something, especially one in which you have to learn special skills. Besides that, it is the skill with which somebody is able to do something practical. ( Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 7 Ed, 2006). Institution on the hand is defined as a large important organization that has a particular purpose, for example, a university or school. In this case, institution is a place where it serves the need of educating technical skills as well as basic subjects to students. While cited in the web Wikipedia, vocational education or Vocational Education and Training (VET), also called Career and Technical Education (CTE), prepares learners for jobs that are based in manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic and totally related to a specific trade, occupation or vocation, hence the term, in which the learner participates. It is sometimes referred to as technical education, as the learner directly develops expertise in a particular group of techniques or technology. 2. 2. 2 ADVANTAGES OF TECHNICAL & VOCATIONAL INSTITUTION In this chapter, researcher will be emphasizing in the advantages of technical & vocational institution. Nowadays,not everyone should be expected to take a path of going to University and getting a university degree. Therefore, having technical & vocational institution is to ensure that students who are inclined towrd these sector ( technical & vocational ) have a respectable channel to persue skills in this area which is to technical & vocational scholls as well as institution. Besides that, having technical and vocational school is to reduce school dropout  rates and to increase the skills and earning power of those who do not learn toward academic area. These students will have quality hands on skills and is useful in providing them job opportunity in future especially in the techinical industry. Students also are abe to develop their skills as well make use of it in the current development. On the other hand, some student are able to study basic subjects and favoured skills as they want to. This increase the capability of learning and creats creatve individuals for the nation. Besides being a stepping stone, yhis hands on students in developng skill and providing job opportunity. Iit also produces active quality manpower in the country 2. 2. 3 TYPES OF TECHNICAL & VOCATIONAL EDUCATION Technical and vocational institution is diveded into two levels first is the upper secondary level (Form 4 and Form 5) is the level where technical and vocational education formally commences. Here, the technical and vocational schools offer the same core subjects as normal academic schools. These cover several core subjects for the languages, mathematics, and sciences but in addition the students are required to take selected technical and vocational subjects from a group of several different options. Secondary Technical Vocational School has 3 streams for selection which includes:Technical Stream, Vocational Stream and Skill Training Stream. Upon completing 2 years of studies at this level, the technical or vocational school students are required to sit for the common public examination called the Malaysia Certificate of Education or Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination similar to those academic school students from the secondary academic schools. However students from the Skill Training stream will sit for Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia* (Malaysian Skill Certificate) after which a government skill qualification is awarded for Level 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. The higher level is Technical and Vocational Education at Post Secondary Level – This post-secondary level of technical education, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Higher Education, comprises the following public institutions: Polytechnics, Community Colleges, Technical University Colleges and Public Universities. There are currently 19 polytechnics in the country conducting technical and vocational education offering 37 diploma and 26 certificate programmes covering study areas like engineering, commerce, food technology, marine, hospitality and Design. Community Colleges were first established by the government in the year 2000 with the primary objective of providing alternative skill training and education for secondary school leavers and those who have left the formal education system. In order to upgrade the image and professional level of technical and vocational education due to the increasing importance of employment in the industrial sectors, the government has, since 1999, set up 5 technical university colleges to focus on higher technical education offering engineering and related technical programmes designed to produce graduates with strong theoretical and cognitive knowledge and who possess high competency in application skills. They are:Kolej Universiti Sains dan Teknologi Malaysia ,Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn,Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia,Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan Utara Malaysia and Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan & Teknologi Malaysia. There are currently a total of 17 public universities in the country which is inclusive of the abovementioned 5 technical university colleges. Besides the 5 specialist technical universities colleges, many of the regular public universities, particularly the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia offer many technical and technological as well as engineering programmes leading to diploma and degree qualifications. In the meantime, as for technician/sub-professional and craft-level courses, the government training agencies which are involved in conducting training for student trainees include the Ministry of Human Resources. These agencies carry out the programmes through Industrial Training Institutes, MARA, under the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development, through the Skills Training Institutes, the Ministry of Youth & Sports through Youth Training Centres, and the Ministry of Welfare Services through its Training Centres. In addition, training is also conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture to produce Junior Agricultural Assistants at the Agricultural Institute. Mention must also be made of the training conducted by the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) in various specialised fields for the public and private sectors, as well as training by the National Productivity Centre for the public and private sectors in areas of management and administration. 2. 3 CONCLUSION This chapter gives explaination, definition, development as well as the importance of technical & vocational institution. This chapter comprises of variety of institution available and its fuction as well it effect n education system. Besides that,his chapter involves the development of institution from establishment to the current development. The importance which is the advantages is clearly in this chapter to match the objective of the research. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. 1 INTRODUCTION This research attempts to investigate the importance of technical and vocational institution. This chapter outlines the methodologies engaged in the research. This chapter is extremely important as it determines the success or failure of this research whereby it takes into account of the methodology and procedure used by the researchers to get the necessary and wealthy information. 3. 2 RESEARCH DESIGN In this research, the researchers have chosen to use a qualitative approach in order to collect data. In this research, a set of questionnaires will be administered to a selected number of people. This step is necessary for the researchers to gather the necessary data and submit the findings in a form of report. The data or information obtained from the questionnaire administered will be interpreted in Chapter 4. 3. 3 POPULATION AND SAMPLES The sample of this research will mainly be university students specifically University Industri Selangor (UNISEL) students. The sample will be approximately 20 students. The students will comprise of both male and female students from all races. The subjects will be randomly picked comprising of students with different point of view. 3. 4 INSTRUMENTATION In this research, the instrumentation would be in the form questionnaire. The instrument is revised for its clarity and importance towards the research. The questionnaire will be given to each student. It aims to research on how to improve the technical and vocational education system and make it up to date as well as to research on the importance of this institution in education. Besides that, the questionnaire is to gain opinions and suggestions from the public. 3. 4. 1 QUESTIONNAIRE The student was given a set of questionnaire comprising of 8 closed-ended questions and 2 open-ended question. The questionnaire is used to save time as the result of the questionnaire is easy to be evaluated. The questionnaire is formed in respond of Yes or No answers. The students need to choose and tick or circle the options accordingly. 3. 5 DATA ANALYSIS This research will be analysed using the results of questionnaire carried out the with the university students. The data will then be analysed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) computer software that enables the researchers to do many types of statistical analyses. The percentage of questionnaire results will be analysed and calculated through this software. Then, the researchers will make references based on the statistical analyses. This allows the researchers to have a better quality of research outcomes. CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS 4. 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter will mention the results of questionnaire after they are analysed and calculated. The data collected is based on the qualitative approach. The data presented will include the total of 20 samples (students). The questionnaire will be further analysed according to 10 different questions given. 4. 2 QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS. In this section, the data with references to the topic of the research has been collected by distributing 20 set of questionnaires to the university students. The feedbacks and responses from the students have been positive for the researchers to draw a certain conclusion. 4. 2. 1 Q1 The first question in the questionnaire is â€Å"Are you aware of the existence of technical and vocational school? † The question’s objective is to find out whether students are aware of this kind of school’s existence. Based on the questionnaire results, the 20 students who took the survey comprises of 20 samples with different answers. The results is that almost 95% of the students answered yes, and are aware of the existence of this type of institution while 5% of the students were not aware of the existence of this type of institution. This shows that mostly Students are aware of the existence of this type of institution. 4. 2. 2 Q2 The second question in the questionnaire is â€Å"Is technical and vocational institution beneficial? † This question is aimed to find out the importance of this type of institution. Almost 85% of the students agreed that this type of school is beneficial. While 15% of the students did not agree that this institutions were beneficial. This result shows clearly that students in majority agreed that this institution is giving advantages while minority have doubts on its advantages. 4. 2. 3 Q3 The third question is â€Å"Does it helps develop skills? †This question is to determine whether the main medium in this school will help students develop skills. 90% of the response agreed that it develop skills while 10% of the responses found that attending this school does not help develop skills. 4. 2. 4 Q4 & Q5 The fourth and fifth questions in the questionnaire are inter-related to each other. Question 4 â€Å"Is technical & vocational education up to date? †60% of the students agreed that it was not up to date while only 40% agreed that it was up to date. Question 5 is â€Å"Is it efficient in training skills? † Only 39% agreed that it is efficient while 61% agreed that it was not efficient. This proves that the efficiency of its productivity has link with the current development of this type of institutions. . 4. 2. 5 Q6 & Q7 The sixth question in the questionnaire and the seventh question is inter-related too. â€Å"Is it necessary to have vocational & technical education system? The results was 90% agreed it is necessary while 10% agreed the other way around. Question seventh is â€Å"Do you think Malaysian vocational & technical institution meets the current industrial need? † 40% think it meets the current industrial need while 60% disagree with it. This shows that in question sixths result that it is important to have this type of institution. 4. 2. 6 Q8 The eight question is â€Å"Does it help proving job opportunity in future? † this question aims to prove one of its advantages. 85% agreed that it helps providing job chances while 15% disagree it help in providing job opportunity. This shows that it is important to have this type of institution for students in our country. 4. 2. 7 Q9 & Q10. The ninth and the final question in this questionnaire is an open-ended question which is â€Å"In your opinion, what benefit does technical & vocational school provides? and â€Å"Suggestions on ways to improve vocational and technical education system†. This final question is to give the students a chance to express their idea or suggestion. Based on the suggestions given, most of the students feel that the main benefit is it develops in training students skills. Besides that, it also provides job opportunity to students and it gives student who are not academically successful an opportunity to excel in a different field of study. The suggestions given was more focused in upgrading the system, the facilities, the study tool, the learning environment as well as the materials in order for Malaysia to take a step forward in industrial development as well as vision 2020. 4. 3 SUMMARY Based on the data collected and using SPSS for the questionnaire, there are more advantages than the disadvantages of having this type of school. Besides that, the importance of technical & vocational institution is that it is the current demand of the era that each country produces its own manpower and nation with good quality skills which is useful for the development of the country. CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION & SUGGESSTION 5. 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter incorporates the last aspect of the research which is the most important part of the research. The first section of the chapter will cover the survey of the findings which is based on the main findings. The second section is on implication and suggestion or recommendation. The third section is on the final summary or the conclusion of this survey. 5. 2 SURVEY OF FINDINGS Based on the main findings, it clearly shows that students mostly almost all the students are aware of the importance of the technical & vocational institution. Besides that, in building an industrialized nation we have to be aware of the importance keeping and upgrading this type of school to its best level. In a nutshell, there are loads of advantages having and attending technical & vocational school. 5. 3 IMPLICATION AND RECOMMENDATION According to the suggestions gathered through the survey, the students strongly agrees that the institution to be upgraded and improved both in its syllabus and also education system to provide conducive learning to take place. Besides that, the skills taught should be inclined with the industries upgrading demand. 5. 4 CONCLUSION In fulfilling the vision 2020, our country of all parties should upgrade its education system. Besides that, having technical and vocational skills is not just as a place for students who are not successful in academic but it should be an institution which produces good quality skilled professionals in future. It should also be a stepping stone for every student attending this school in obtaining better jobs in future. The importance of technical and vocational school is clearly aware by students. Therefore, this institution should be taken seriously into consideration by students as it provides extra knowledge as well as helps develop hands on skill in students. This institution has a great advantage in the industry especially in producing and moulding new generation with certified skills therefore each and every nation should support its development and existence. In a nutshell, everyone should play a major role in keeping the importance of this technical and vocational institution and also support its function in education to make it more efficient. REFERENCES http//:www. wikipedia. com http//:www. studymalaysia. com. my Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 7 Ed, 2006 RESEARCH: THE IMPORTANCE OF TECHNICAL & VOCATIONAL INSTITUTION NAME: Susanthi Rani Rajoo 4091008981 Noorfara Ashikin Ahmad Tarmizi 4091009991 Alyani Mohd Radzi 4091009561 Lisa Mastura Muhd Zahid Poh4073010421 GROUP: 1A SUBJECT: Philosophy and Development of Education Industry In Malaysia LECTURER: Mr Baghawi PROGRAMME: Bachelor Of Education (Hons)(TESL) FACULTY: Faculty Of Education and Language Studies.

In what ways might the state be considered to be 'gendered' Essay

In what ways might the state be considered to be 'gendered' - Essay Example The status of women in this generally patriarchal world is a discussion that has passed, at least two centuries. It has been a sociologically proven fact that â€Å"historical construction of the state [†¦] represents a gendered masculine model†. Women who â€Å"constitute half the world’s population, perform nearly two-thirds of its work hours, receive one-tenth of the world’s income, and own less than one-hundredth of the world’s property† (cited in Bubeck, 1995: 2). It is this injustice and inequality that prompts discussion on the possibility of gendering the state. In different countries, women as individuals and as groups have been engaged in attempts to gender the state that govern them. Men who have internalized gender politics have also been partners in such attempts. To assess whether and to what extent a state is gendered, is to be able to scrutinize the actions, attitudes and policies of the state. And this assessment has to be base d on the notion that â€Å"any meaningful conception of equality must provide all women with political, social and economic rights† (Cornell, 1993: 162). From this reasoning and the discussion made above, it can be seen that just like there is no gendering of the state possible without the gendering of the society, no political change is possible without corresponding social and economic changes. But still, for the sake of convenience while making a gendering intervention, the state can be compartmentalized into different segments. like executive, legislature, media, informal political sphere, public space, etc. Gendering the processes of state The communist, capitalist and democratic forms of state, have been criticized by feminist scholars, for being hierarchical when it comes to gender relations (Abu-Laban, 2009: 7). The gender power relations within each of this system of rule were found to be typically an extension of family and its gender relations (Abu-Laban, 2009: 8). Some feminist scholars (cited in Abu-Laban, 2009) have debated whether nationalism is â€Å"progressive or reactionary† in terms of a gender perspective (12). The duality and contradiction involved with the role of women as citizens and as inferior members in a family has to be addressed if the gendering process of the state is to gain stability by finding roots in the society (Abu-Laban, 2009: 13). True (2003) has drawn attention to the need of â€Å"gendering socialist state† by which it becomes clear that even a state establishment that addresses certain inequalities like class and race cannot be considered as gender-sensitive (28). In such a scenario, the gendering of state is viewed as to include: Election [of women] to legislatures, the appointment of women to public office as ministers and bureaucrats, the presence of women’s policy agencies, and the potential for these women and agencies to promote women-friendly policy outcomes (McBride and

New Testament 'Queer' interpretations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

New Testament 'Queer' interpretations - Essay Example Christians regard the Bible as a record of God’s connection with mankind, written by persons who were inspired by Him. Imbedded in the Bible are teachings that show which deeds are judged as good or sinful by God. Conservative Christians consider the Bible as infallible in that it is a direct representation of God’s word, which represents their ultimate source for belief and behaviour. Eastern Orthodox Christians consider the Bible as totally originating from Jesus Christ’s apostles (without involvement of divine inspiration by God). The Christian Left considers the Bible as a fallible record that is the result of a little divine inspiration, but which is tainted by defects arising out of being recorded, reproduced, censored and updated by men other than Jesus Christ. Non-believers look upon the Bible as a collection of traditional local stories that contain a moral message; however the morality from which those messages are taken is obsolete and old fashioned.1 Jesus Christ. It contains 4 Gospels (by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), and several Epistles by other apostles, most notably by Paul. There are several passages in the New Testament that refer to homosexuality. In the Epistle to the Romans 1: 26-27 (King James Version of the Bible {KJV}), the apostle Paul wrote: â€Å"Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.† This passage has been singled out as the one and only specific reference to female homosexuality or lesbianism in the New Testament, and it is the only passage where male homosexuality and female homosexuality are both denounced as deviations against the divine order [PENNA]. It is important to analyse the words of

Ottomans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ottomans - Essay Example The Turks conquered the Byzantine city Bilecik in the year 1299. Subsequently, several other cities, villages and forts in Byzantium were conquered by these warriors. These developments took place, in the earlier years of the 1300s. In addition, several of the Turkish principalities and tribes were also annexed (Parry 65). As such, the origin of the Ottoman dates back to the year 1299, when it evolved from a frontier principality of Anatolia. In the years that followed, it emerged as an important empire of the world. Its territory extended from Eastern Europe and the Arabian Peninsula to North Africa, in the sixteenth century. Thereafter, it underwent a gradual decline and was extinguished in the year 1922 (Gocek 3). This was due to the formation of Turkey on its central lands. The merging of western influences with the extant social structure resulted in a divided bourgeois. This brought about fragmentation of its bureaucratic and commercial classes, which in turn resulted in the decline of the Ottoman Empire (Gocek 3).Kosovo was under the control of Serbia for different spells of varying duration, until a final defeat in the year 1455. Thereafter, both these nations became Turkish allies and part of the Ottoman Empire (What is History of Kosovo). Subsequently, Bayezid II became the Ottoman Sultan in the year 1481. He continued in his father’s footsteps, by promoting both eastern and western culture. This was in distinct contradiction to the practices of the other Sultans. In addition, Bayezid II spared no pains in his efforts to have a smooth political culture in the nation. This earned him the well – deserved sobriquet of the Just (Bayezid II). The empire of the Seljuk Turks was undergoing a systematic breakdown. The outcome was the emergence of several Turkish states in Asia Minor. The Ottoman state had its humble beginnings in

Reflective Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Reflective Paper - Essay Example bility to establish and maintain harmonious relationships with diverse people and groups, especially with those different from themselves is a quality most effective leaders have. He is the glue that fuses the group together with diplomacy and commonality of goals. He possesses high emotional intelligence, maturity and understanding of people coming from various backgrounds. I believe that having a sensible and stable moral and ethical base should be the foundation of an organization. Michael Fullan, a leading advocate in the study of leadership claims that a leader should have moral purpose. This moral purpose pushes him to act with the intention of making a positive difference in the lives of the people around him and in society in general (Fullan, 2004). â€Å"Moral purpose infuses an organization with passion and purpose since workers become eager to know the enabling purpose of their work† (Fullan, 2004, p. 26). A manager needs the capacity to keep his focus on the real purpose of the organization. He has a clear vision of where he is going and sets directions to others towards that vision. He works together with others on thinking of ways and means to reach their goals and not focus on the authority on himself. In doing so, he empowers them to be confident in their abilities and motivates them to welcome challenges and opportunities. His positive influence gains him the respect of everyone to follow his lead while pursuing a common mission for the growth and development of the organization (Leithwood & Riehl,2003). Although the manager is imbued with great knowledge and skills, he is aware that he still needs help from others. He is humble enough to admit when he does not really know instead of putting up a faà §ade of being all-knowing. He is always open to learning something new, and not haughty enough to claim that he is already â€Å"made†.† Being human and fallible is one trait that all people share, and what better quality to relate to

Moral Implications of Media Violence and Its Affects On Society Research Paper

Moral Implications of Media Violence and Its Affects On Society - Research Paper Example The ability to produce and distribute independent content is among the most important rights in a democratic society† (Rand-Hendriksen: Long Version, 2011, par. 1). Despite support to freedom of expression, there is still a need to enforce gun control laws, for instance, where failure to restrict purchase and use have been proven to endanger the lives of children and those around them. As emphasized by President Clinton in response to the Littletons Columbine High School shootings, â€Å"access to weapons was greater in the United States than anywhere else in the world, and pledged to continue to work for legislation that would help keep guns out of the wrong hands† (CNN Politics, 1999). Media should also have the ethical responsibility to remind children of the danger of using guns and enforce strict restrictions to access and use through legislative policies that propose strict sanctions for violations. One therefore agrees that it is acceptable opinion based on moral reasoning to justify banning of violent content for programs that could be viewed and accessed by children and teen-agers on identified time slots, in addition to provision of classifying television programs to include strict parental guidance and restricted, as needed. According to a report published by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), â€Å"the problem is not that the broadcast TV networks can no longer discern contemporary community standards. The problem is that they long ago stopped caring much about these standards† (p. 16). It finally confirmed that â€Å"among those very important tasks are maintaining a decent society, protecting the privacy of the home, and protecting children† (Federal Communications Commission, n.d., p. 35). CNN Politics. (1999, April 22). Clinton discusses school violence with high schoolers. Retrieved August 21, 2012, from articles.cnn.com:

Watch a movie and write about it "The Milagro Beanfield War" Essay

Watch a movie and write about it "The Milagro Beanfield War" - Essay Example It is important for the audience to understand the motives and influences that make the characters do what they do and considering their backgrounds as well. In this case, the small village is denied water for reasons that they cannot understand. Powerful people in the society probably picked such a small village since most of its inhabitants are very poor and are likely to offer very little protest if any at all. The residents are not given any explanations and they also do not do anything about it until Joe Mondragon in a fit of anger unplugs the water into his bean fields. The developers are known to change any piece of land that they come across as resorts and golf clubs that are used by the rich people. It is clear that the poor people are not of any importance such that even heir source of livelihoods are manipulated in order to create space for the rich people in the society. The poor do not have anyone to stand for them and it takes the action of Joe Milagros who was angered by the fact that he could no longer farm to help the residents get back their source of livelihoods. However, this does not happen without major confrontations as people unite against the said developers. There are some villagers who are against it while majority of the other villagers prefer not to get involved in the issues. The reluctance to get involved shows how meek the villagers are and it also shows that they believe that nothing can be done to help them in their situation and would rather suffer in silence. They may also fear for even their lives as the developers ar e rather powerful people who could do anything they wished. The movie shows the plight of the poor against the rich in that the rich most of the time can do anything that they wish with minimal consequences. While there are people who are willing to fight for their rights, most people just believe that they should let things be as they are even if they are suffering.

What is a Hero Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

What is a Hero - Essay Example But a question arises that whether this definition can be used in modern times where heroes are ordinary people that in time of crisis and need perform exceptionally and for the greater good. The meaning of the word hero has changed over the years and this word has been used in different contexts. One act of heroism represents a new definition of a hero. Whenever a hero is pictured, a strong, powerful individual is imagined who is not only experienced but also mature. But when Carlos, a seven year old boy’s home was invaded by burglars, not only did he show nerves of steel but also called the police and urged them to send help. Hiding in the bathroom with his sister, Carlos told the police everything that was happening in their house and explained the situation with poise and calmness that many adults fail to show in these circumstances. Even though the suspects have not been caught yet, but Carlos will be awarded the Kids Medal of Honor and he has been labeled as a hero. Though Carlos was a young boy and did not fulfill the image of a hero but his act of bravery serves to imply the use of the word hero for him (Fremd & Seigel 2010). One of the most deadly terrorist attacks that took place in today’s world was no doubt the World Trade Center attack. These attacks not only left thousands of citizens dead but also witnessed many acts of courage and bravery by the New York Fire Department and the policemen who even though were put on alert since the building could collapse anytime but still continued with the rescue efforts. These men and women showed strength and bravery while knowing completely well that they would not survive if the building that was already on the verge of collapse, fell down. This is again an example of heroism and these people who worked selflessly were marked as heroes. Thus a hero may be defined as an individual who works for helping people without

Is Hofstede's cross cultural work outdated ( international human Essay

Is Hofstede's cross cultural work outdated ( international human resources ) - Essay Example In Hofstede’s view, nations have separate cultures which an international business has to adapt to, in order to successfully conduct its business in a particular nation. Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture are defined in terms of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, individualism and long-term orientation. Although Hofstede’s theory of cross cultural dimensions has been subjected to criticisms, his cross cultural dimensions had been of practical applications in the international commerce. However, ever since the advent of globalisation, nations have stopped being watertight compartments with the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions attributable to individual nations in varying degrees having become outdated. It is proposed to place herein evidence based arguments to show that Hofstede’s cultural dimensions for the purpose of international commerce have become irrelevant or outdated in the wake of globalisation. Hofstede attempted to explain that cultures are shaped within nations. But when businesses transcends beyond national boundaries, these cultural dimensions become cultural interconnections. Now globalisation has become the order of the day and irreversible. Cultural attributes are likened to an iceberg in that only very few are visible to the eye. They are language, behaviours, customs, and norms. And traditions, beliefs, priorities, assumptions and values are only perceptible (Parker, 2005 p189). As already well known, Hofstede (1980) arrived at the above said dimensions based on his study of 88,000 employees of IBM from 72 countries. He expanded his study to ten more countries and three regions in his updated version (Hofstede, 2001).At the time of Hofstede’s original work in 1980, the world was not as complicated a place as it is today. In the last three decades, nations have become more permeable and heterogeneous besides undergoing disintegration or dismantlement like Soviet

Farewell Address Analysis Essay Example for Free

Farewell Address Analysis Essay In 1976, former United States President George Washington delivered one of the most meaningful and talked-about Farewell Addresses. The Address was a combination of his personal thoughts on his presidency, as well as a warning and advice to the people of United States. Washington begins by telling his countrymen that it was originally planned to be delivered four years prior when he thought of retiring as president of United States. However, feeling that he is obligated to answer to the needs of the very people who elected him to his post, he decided to extend his presidency. Washington knew that his retirement would cause a lot of concern and anxiety among his fellow Americans and so he builds their confidence, and at the same time, warns them about the dangers of sectionalism, political factions, and foreign alliances. Sectionalism Washington stresses the need for unity throughout his Farewell Address, saying that this where the true success and liberty of the country depends on. He also warns against sectionalism; that is, having a state-centric rather than a Union-centric mindset. He further calls on to the American people to continue defending the Union against possible attacks from other countries who seek to destabilize the government. In addition, Washington warns his countrymen against misleading ideas propagated by the government’s enemies that United States is too big a territory to be handled by just one administration. He underscores that this seemingly large and fragmented territory can be bound by unity and cooperation. He reminds the people that regardless of the state they live in, or the regional boundaries that exist between and among them, they are, at the end of the day, all Americans. Thus, everyone should play his or her part in keeping the Union intact. Political Factions Another aspect that Americans should be on close guard, according to Washington, is the existence of political factions which seek to weaken, and later on overthrow the government. He points out that while people advocating political factions may seem to have reasonable arguments, they are ultimately doing it for personal, and oftentimes, greedy motives. Washington also alerts his fellow Americans that these people might use government policies or exploit certain provisions of the Constitution to carry out their selfish plans. He continues to warn the people about the dangers of having political parties in any government. He argues that political parties have always been viewed as enemies of the state because of their tendency to amass great power to destabilize the government or hit on their political rivals. While political parties may be useful in other forms of government, they are not necessary in a democratic government such as the United States. Foreign Alliances While Washington encourages the people to treat all people and all other countries with utmost respect and avoid engaging them in battles or disputes, he warns them against establishing long-term or permanent ties with foreign governments. This, he says, develops unnecessarily strong attachment to other countries which might negatively affect the government’s ability to establish sound foreign policies. Throughout this Farewell Address, Washington regards the American identity in the highest possible level, and calls on the people to continuously defend and protect this. His personal love of his country was also evident in his Address through the warnings and advice he issued to his fellow Americans. Moreover, his personal love for the country was evident in the contents of the Address. He did not leave without making sure that the country is strong and that the people are even stronger to take good care of it.

Gattaca Film Synopsis and Analysis

Gattaca Film Synopsis and Analysis Gattaca is a film regarding not only the troubling implications of excessive gene therapy, but also how it could be used in a sort of dystopian society where your genetic profile divides you into different castes. This society is one in which enough money can buy you the ideal designer child not only free of genetic defects but also with superior physical attributes. The main character is one of the few people born without genetic tampering. He is not expected to live very long as he has a congenital heart defect, but he has a dream to become an astronaut, one which he can never attain. The sort of funny thing about this is that someone in his condition would be unable to become an astronaut today, not only due to his heart problems but also his myopia. Regardless he is subject to genetic discrimination, because he has these problems he is considered a low class citizen. Another character, named Jerome, is meant to have the best genetic profile ever created and is an all-star swimmer . Even though he has been designed to be the best, he only takes second in a swimming competition. This being too much to bear, of course, leads to him attempting suicide. He manages to only paralyze himself from the waist down. The main character Vincent is then able to buy his identity, by increasing his height, using contacts matching Jeromes eye color and also obtaining blood, urine and tissue samples to pass any genetic tests. Vincent is now an imposter, and although the legal ramifications would not be too extreme, if he was found out the social repercussions would be monumental. He is shirking all of the social mores set up by this society of genetic castes. He quickly obtains a job at the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation through only a urine test, because his fake genes are so impressive. Vincent then proceeds to eventually achieve his goal of becoming an astronaut and leaves for Saturns moon, Titan. Jerome on the other had ends up committing suicide using an incinerator in his house, wearing his silver medal, as the rocket takes off. The irony of this whole movie is that Vincent who was seen as a second class citizen due to his genetic makeup was able to achieve his dreams through sheer determination and force of will. But, Jerome who had been groomed to be almost some sort of ubermensch, failed, despite his genetics. The thing that makes this movie really interesting and applicable today is that some of these genetic screening processes already exist today. And it doesnt seem entirely unfeasible that most if not all of these genetic therapy processes will be possible in the next ten to twenty years. Now I do not believe that our society will fall into the complete dystopia that was the case in the movie, but at the same time most people today are so vain that they would probably dump some money into genetically purifying their children. So although we may not fall into an absolute caste system based on genetics, certain parts of genetic screening could be applied to facets of our everyday lives that may have slightly malicious consequences. Imagine having to go through a genetic screening in order to apply for health insurance. If you had markers for too many genetic defects the insurance company may see you as an unnecessary risk and reject you. In which case how could you be expected to pay for all of your own medical expenses. If there is any blame to be assigned to anyone for the state of the society in the film, it is to the citizens in that society who allowed things to get so out of hand. I could see the government running propaganda campaigns attempting to make the genetic purity of the nation the way to a better tomorrow. But, the way that everyone would have had to have bought this idea and allow the government and the corporations to run away with such a concept is insane. Its not entirely unheard of though, in Nazi Germany genetic purity of the Arian race was paramount among everyone and the one extreme that the movie did not go to was that instead of just being discriminated against people who were seen with inferior genes were executed. Gattaca basically demonstrates a soft version of eugenics. Even though you are seen as having defective genes, you are still allowed to live, just not to the extent that the more genetically superior people are. I suppose that a lot of blame could be put on whoev er the insane person that was put into power who was trying to push these ideals, but then again in a republic the blame falls back on the people. The general message of Gattaca is that its not so much what your born into but how much youre willing to strive to overcome obstacles and achieve your goals. So if policies like these do come into place hopefully people would see this as a cautionary tale. Like I said earlier, were probably not too far off from being able to completely genetically engineer a child, the strange thing about having a genetically engineered child is that, at that point is it even your child? Like sure you care for it and birthed it but, it carries none of your genes. It leads to a perversion of the prime directive of life, to carry on ones own genes. The other takeaway from the movie is that while genetic screening is not in and of itself evil, and is actually a major medical advancement that can lead to much healthier lives for people. But when taken in a direction such as it was taken in the film it can lead to discrimination and prejudice based off of things that are out of anyones control. As a cautionary tale Gattaca does evoke some ideas for what could be done to prevent such things from happening. It should be insured that all genetic screening information remain private, only between the medical professionals and the patients. Im pretty sure that there are laws already in place to prevent genetic information from becoming public. The popular genetic screening service 23andme used to give out medical information from genetic samples, including markers and health risk factors to people who requested screenings. This is no longer done, because it could involve a serious breach in confidentiality in addition to possibly unnecessarily scaring people into thinking they had something seriously wrong with them. Medical genetic screenings should only ever be done by medical personnel with the express purpose of helping the patient. Screening to see if your child is going to be the next Usain Bolt is not only not what the purpose of these screenings is or should be, but also is just unethical because of the standards that that child would be held to in life. Much like Jerome, who was meant to become the best and most athletic swimmer but only took second in the competition. Where normally second place is still an incredible achievement, in this scenario where the person is meant to be the best, second is seen as a failure. Gattaca is a story set not far into the future, and pretty soon it will be set in the present. Genetic screenings, while having their place in medicine can also be very volatile if their usage expands beyond that. Using genetic screening to get ahead of the ball, so to speak, on medical issues is a very valuable asset to doctors and patients alike. However, using someones genetics as a way to screen for a job or healthcare benefits or in any other fashion that impacts where their place is in society is not only scary but exceptionally unethical.

Product Life Cycle (PLC): Strength and weakness

Product Life Cycle (PLC): Strength and weakness Introduction: Marketing is a process which is based on communication and whereby individuals obtain what they need through others creating or exchanging products and value with them. For companies to sell their products, marketing is the most important factor to reach out to customers as Kotler Armstrong, (2008) define. This essay presents the product life cycle and focuses on its strength and weakness points. The concept of Product Life Cycle (PLC): Product life cycle (PLC): is an idea from cradle to grave and considered sales record of a product time. PLC has four hypotheses: 1. a limitation life of products, 2. each phase has its own different features such as: methods of sales, 3. profits variation throughout the life cycle, 4. strategic methods used at each stage differ (Bennett, 1995 Thetimes100, 2009). The Stages of PLC: PLC has five stages 1. Development (pre-Launch), 2. Launch (Introduction), 3.Growth, 4.Maturity (Saturation), 5.Decline (Thetimes100, 2009). The development phase: In this stage, a firm has an idea and tries to make improvements to it, which is done by employing the researching skills for that purpose. This usually costs a lot of money in designing, production, advance promotion and if there were no sales, there would be no profit (Mark, 1998). The introduction phase: If the product agreed on, which a firm has decided to launch was its own innovative, unique one, normally, in this case, chances are less that any difficulty get in the way, especially and mainly from competitors. It remains at the beginning of this stage from the 4 Ps mentioned previously: promotion and place. A firm needs to create awareness, encourage sales, advertisement, public relations, and most importantly develop an image (Mark, 1998 Netmba, 2009). The growth phase: When a product achieves success, competitors will have reaction that entering market as quickly as possible. As a result promotional cost would increase in this stage for the sake of persuading consumers that the product of ours is better than other competitors (Mark, 1998 Netmba, 2009). The maturity phase: Competitors are rising sharply in the market and there is no space in for new copartners. Firm at this stage will exert all promotion options to preserve its brand loyalty within its own customers. However, at this stage sales and price begin fall down in the same time there are a large several of versions of product. By using different approaches competitors will detach part of market from the firm (Blythe, 2009). The decline phase: This is the stage leading towards the end. In other words, it is the stage where the death of the product begins to take place. There are a small number of balance sheet promotion sections which could manage it with. As much as the firm can keep its product on the life, it will still be able to earn some money. However, in this stage, varieties of versions are not available and the price might need to be raised (Blythe, 2009). â€Å"In fact, most decision to eliminate products is made on the basis of intuition and judgment rather than any formal analysis† (Blythe, 2009.pp:81-82). Strengths of the PLC. When used alongside analysis of sales figures and forecasts, PLC can be a powerful tool in providing guidance and marketing tactics that are appropriate at a particular stage (suite101, 2009). What are the keys of succeeding? Clearly, to allow a product to succeed and penetrate the market, it has to fulfill the needs of a sizable number of customers. With new products, this usually occurs automatically when the product possesses some new features which cannot be found in other existing products. Improvement in operation and technology is another cause of success (Dibb et al., 2006). Weakness of PLC. Even with using the PLC diagrams, there is no way to predict the length of each phase that the product is going to stagnate at. Furthermore, neither can it be used in forecasting accurately. These are the main failures and weakness points of the PLC model (Know this, 2004 mind tools, 2009). What is the fatal mistake which marketers do? Why do some products fail? The critical major mistake that marketers may neglect is when the product they introduce to the market does not meet the needs of the customer. This occurs for any of the following reasons: 1. the product does not offer value and therefore fails to progress in the marketplace. 2. The branding is ineffective or not well known. 3. Sometimes, the mistakecan be within the design. 4. In some other cases, technical problems appear. Moreover, Distribution and overestimation of the market size problems are considered a huge mistake which marketers can possibly commit (Dibb et al., 2006). What are the internal and external factors have effects on PLC? There are many features which effect PLC and the vital of them Product decisions and Consumer behavior. Product decisions (Internal factor): Product decisions include those intended to have an effect upon the firm primarily, then product, its sales, and, hence, its lifecycle and not related directly to the consumers. This is so clear in the example of Coca-Cola case below. Consumer behaviour (External factor): Decision making process elements are considered many three issues: First: Personal characteristics: personality, lifestyle, motivation, beliefs, attitudes, and perception. Second: Circumstances of the buyer: gender, age, family, life-cycle, income, and education level. Third: Social environment: culture, reference groups, and social class (Hill OSullivan, 1999). These are out-of-control factors that a firm has no hand on. They affect the life cycle of a product and given the name, external factors. In fact, this is not precisely the case. Because this is mainly more related to the customer buying that very product, a fair look at psychology can be devoted here to face any of the problems caused by any of the above factors. If looked more closely at the nature of this situation, one finds that it is concerned with decision-making process area of psychology. As soon as a consumer makes the decision to buy that product, which is what marketers look forward to, the business will begin a nd the product introduced will continue going through the stages to live its cycle. The external factor effect should be clear in the Kelloggs example later (Hill, OSullivan, 1999). Coca-Cola case study In this case study, it will be shown clearly that some of the products dont even reach the growth or the maturity stages but straightforward towards the declining stage. This was when Coca-Cola thought to launch its own bottles of water in 1993. â€Å"Dasani†, was the marketing name of the product. In the UK, what happened was that the factory had contaminated the bottles with what a cancer-causing chemical called â€Å"bromated†. This is different from the chemical substance â€Å"bromide†. The factory was using the tap water which comes normally from the Thames River. Then, this is being purified using the reverse Osmosis method of purification. After, this purified water is added to a batch of â€Å"Calcium Chloride (CaCl2)† and â€Å"bromide†. When Ozone gas is pumped into that batch, the bromide will be oxidized to â€Å"bromated†. This was mainly the reason for Coca-Cola to divest this kind of a product. Apparently, for this reason, the water of Thames River is being monitored to check the existence, or the concentration for that matter, is below the 10 micrograms per litre. This clearly shows how the internal factor effect here led to the end of the product (Dibb et al., 2006). Kelloggs Nutri-Grain Case study: In 1997, Kelloggs has achieved successes for approximately fifty per cent, which was part of the growing a puffed rice of market Perform in short time less than three years. Until 2002, sales continued growing and increasing within new improvements of flavour and ingredient to the original product. Nutri-Grain, as an example, grew gradually to be identified and recognised by the customers themselves. Nutri-Grain has changed customers understanding from missing breakfast to become a health daily snack. All Bran bars and Alpen bars are the main competitors of Nutri-Grain yet the interesting issue about the two is that both are from Kelloggs itself. However, there are others producing similar products to Nutri-Grain which slightly caused cutting of total profits. Each product of Kelloggs itself has a life cycle, some of which spend months within one stage and others, such as: Nutri-Grain spent years in only the growth stage. In the middle of 2004, Kelloggs noticed that Nutri-Grain sales started falling and losing its position. Meanwhile, the rate of market reached 15% of growing. It is obvious that Kelloggs should choose one of two decisions, either to withdraw Nutri-Grain or add some improvements to it to return it back to life (Thetimes100, 2009). Evaluation Simply, an analogy to the PLC is the life of a being. The living being starts developing from the moment it is born. Next step comes the stage of growth when it becomes a youth through towards maturity when it becomes adult. Finally, it dies which is similar to the withdrawal of a product from the market but before that it gets old; its sales show a decline. Having stated that, it shall be clear as to why be it that not all the products come through the lifecycle phases in the same pattern! As figure number 1 shows: The above plot shows the general typical life cycle that virtually every product should go through if no obstacles were on the way but the pattern differs. As expected in the research and development stage, the sales are zero since the product is not introduced to the market yet. Then, once it is introduced, the sales will begin and this is shown on the graph as sudden rise forming a curvature upwards shape. The rise continues until the stage of decline is reached and this is represented as a downward curvature shape indicated that the sales have fallen. In the development stage, small firms and big firms are not equal in terms of the precautions and the initiatives they take and so for the new and old companies. New Companies are more vulnerable to suffer from the consequences that the old ones and the reason for that is that the old have far more experience than the new firms. Big companies have a strong finical base which allows them to fight in the market with no fear. As have been stated above, in the introduction phase section, that the awareness and sales encouragement and more importantly the advertising is done actively at this stage. Doing the same kind of comparison between small and big firms, the latter have a variety of products in its production line which, in turn, adds a huge space for marketing activities such as, making ads about two or more products of their own, in other words, promotional effect dominates more than in the small firms. After passing the first two stages and the product reaches the growth stage safely, competitors reaction did not exist, both of the small and big firms are equal. However, if their reaction was catalyzed and competition was prevalent, they are not similar in the sense that the potential of each differs. As result, the course of action of each will be different and each will reap the harvest of competitors reaction differently, in accordance to their potential. Some products, although reach their decline stage, do not believe in what is called the decline phase and getting old. As a result, they overcome this problem and regain their position and popularity after taking the necessary strategies. This normally occurs when a little innovative tweak, be it a promotion, or an additional feature that is applied to the existing product. To reinforce the point of weakness mentioned earlier about the model that it fails to predict the exact time a product will spend at a certain stage, a set of examples are presented and exposed to evaluation. One of the examples is clothing. Cloths cannot be handled, to some extent, somehow to extend its life cycle as it is down to the fashion of the year. So, normally this kind of product lasts for no longer than a couple of months up to a year. (Know this, 2004) On the contrary, products like cars or bells live longer and can be trusted for at least five years or even more than that. These products life cycle, unlike the cloths, can be extended Products in between are prone to societies. A typical example is mobile phones. In some communities, people consider the mobile phone as fashionable item that is changeable each time a better, newer one is launched to the market. Others are fulfilled with it as being merely a mean of communication and that it is hard to do its job. Internal and external factors are equally as important. It has been seen in the example above how exceeded legal limit of bromate of a bottle of water has led Coca-Colas product towards death directly from the introduction phase; internal phase. Similarly with Nutri-Grain, Realistic snackers interest in healthy food, and it being the only healthy product have forced Kellogs to revitalize Nutri-Grain, external factor. Conclusion: PLC is a brief description or representation of a life cycle of a product in terms of graph. It is one of the powerful analysis tools in business generally and in marketing specifically. PLC mode can imply the possible strategies to be pursued in order to extend the life cycle of the product having known the stage at which the product is at standing. It can be concluded that in order to overcome this external factor, a marketer needs to play with the elements of decision-making process. By the death of the product, a complete description of the whole life of the product will be provided by the PLC model that can be used later on in the research and development stage of a new product. Business Culture Differences: USA and France Business Culture Differences: USA and France Globalisation has prompted many researchers to conduct intercultural studies. This report analyses the case of Southern Candles Tour De France and identifies several cultural differences. The ideas of Halls cultural model and Shannon-Weavers communication process will be presented with cultural issues. INTRODUCTION The purpose of report is to recognise the differences of business culture between U.S. and France and how they influence the cooperation of Southern and Belles companies. This report will be divided into three four dimensions. The first section presents a sequenced identification of cultural issues in the case. Theories of Halls and Shannon-Weaver models will be defined in the second section with clear tables and figure. The third section contains of some viewpoints about how the cultural issues relate to the chose models. Various perspectives of suggestions will be included in the last section. MEETING STRUCTURE Based on the research (1), the French prefer to have a flexible meeting and often change the plan easily, whereas, the Americans prefer to have a formal meeting and often adhere religiously to the plan (2). The conflict of meeting structure can be described as a cultural distinction. Conversely, this conflict can also significantly affect the positive impression of companies. For instance, the Americans may think that the French do not respect the meeting, and the French may think that the Americans are not creative. LUNCH TIME Another cultural issue between U.S. and France can be observed while Durand and his team members spent twenty minutes into meeting but used two hours break time to have a hot lunch. According to the research1, the Americans can just eat a small sandwich as their lunch and turn back to work, but a hot lunch is essential for the French to fulfill their energy. REACTION At the end of meeting, the reactions between Picard and Durand can also be considered as a cultural issue. U.S. people often present their reactions on surface (3); for instance, Picard gave a quick okay sign to his team members after finishing a well-presented meeting but the U.S. okay sign actually means zero or useless in France (4). Contrarily, the French frequently reserve their reaction and then release their decision after a series of discussion3. For example, Mr. Durand had decided not to corporate with Mr. Picard after two weeks consideration. DRESS APPEARANCE In Frenchs culture, formal dress look is very important at all times particularly in the meeting with high management level5. However, Picard made a mistake of this different cultural issue as only he took off the coat during the business meeting after an uncomfortable hot lunch. NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION In France, eye contact, handshake, and double kiss are three main skills of non-verbal communication to show their friendly manner (6). In the case, Dubois extended a warm greeting in French to Durand. Nevertheless, the Americans usually avoid physical contact with people and this cultural issue creates an arrogant impression for the French1. WORK AND LIFE SEPARABILITY The problem of work and life separablity can be simply discovered when Picard kept mentioned several times the business meeting earlier in the day, but conversation always drifted back to social amenities. For the view of Durand, he has strong tendency to build lifetime relationship with Picard during the party dinner. However, Picard is accustomed to a short-term business relationship (2). LANGUAGE BARRIER The serious barrier between two central leaders is that they do not have same language to do deeper communication and this problem may have impact on building a trust business relationship. Although Picard has hired Dubois as his representative, the problem of different languages still significantly influences the interaction with Belles. For illustrate, Durand and his team members are repeatedly staring at Dubois because they think that she is the only person to give response so they put more concern on her reaction. LITERATURE REVIEW EDWARD TWICTHELL HALLS CULTURAL MODEL 1981 Hall is an anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher and he developed a cultural model that emphasised the importance of nonverbal signals and modes of awareness over explicit messages7. There are three fundamental dimensions: CONTEXT HIGH CONTEXT AND LOW CONTEXT Hall adds that high context communication or message is one in which most of the information is already in the person, while very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of message. A low-context communication is just the opposite, that is, the mass of the information is vested in the explicit code7. The following table shows the characteristics of Halls high context culture and low context culture3: HIGH CONTEXT CULTURE LOW CONTEXT CULTURE Much convert and implicit message Much overt and explicit message Reserved actions Reactions on surface Distinct in groups and out groups Flexible in groups and out groups High commitment Low commitment Open and flexible time High organised time TIME -MONOCHRONIC AND POLYCHRONIC Hall explained that monochronic cultures value schedules and can evolve efficient bureaucracies. Polychronic cultures regard events as embedded in more of a simultaneous matrix of occurrences5. The following table gives the characteristics of two different time concepts (2): MONOCHRONIC POLYCHRONIC Do one work at a time Do multiple works at a time Concentrate on job Are highly distractible and subject to interruptions Are committed to the job Are committed to people and human relationships Work is clearly separate from personal time Work is clearly not separate from personal time SPACE (PROXEMICS) INTERPERSONAL DISTANCE Proxemics is the study of the human use of space within the context of culture. People handle space differently the way they do largely determined by the culture in which they are immersed9. Related to the case, only the theory of intimate and social distance will be provided. Intimate distance ranges from body contact to approximately 45 cm. At intimate distance, the presence of the other person is unmistakable (9). Social distance is the casual interaction-distance between acquaintances and strangers and ranges from 120 to 360 cm. Its close phase, 120 to 210 cm, is the characteristic of informal interaction9. The following figure shows that distance of Proxemics concept (10): SHANNON AND WEAVERS COMMUNICATION MODEL 1961 Shannons model of the communication process is a general model of the communication process that could be treated as the common ground of such diverse disciplines as journalism, rhetoric, linguistics, and speech and hearing sciences11. The following figure shows the communication process of Shannon-Weaver model (12): This model consists of 7 elements which are (13): Information source chooses desired message among a set of possible messages which can be mixture of any form of written or spoken, image or sound. Transmitter changes the message into the signal, also known as encoder. Message is the thing which is sent and received and all communication is about. Channel is the path that message passes through from the transmitter to the receiver. Receiver is the reverse transmitter which changes the signal back into the message, also known as decoder. Destination is the target place of the transmitted message. Noise is any unwanted additions to the transmitted signal which cause distortion or error in transmission. CASE ANALYSIS EDWARD TWITCHELL HALLS CULTURAL MODEL LES BELLES CHOSES Meeting Structure In the mind of the French, the meeting structure of U.S. represents low creativity and boring. In the mind of the Americans, Frances meeting structure is not organized and disciplined. Reaction Information is more likely transmitted in indirect way so the reaction is normally reserved. Reaction is normally appeared in a very direct way and also comes up with different signals. Interpersonal Relationship People always have strong boundaries and hard to adapt an outsider as part of their group. People are more flexible to accept outsider or a new culture. POLYCHRONIC MONOCHRONIC Schedule Schedule can be arranged independently if the better achievement can be established. Also, they do not mind to do multiple things simultaneously and always have a great involvement with human relationships since they are more concerned with family and friends. Time is very important as they often complete one project at a time or before the deadlines. Therefore, the Americans may think that time was dispersed with two hours lunch break and the French are not focused on the corporation. Work-life separability The issue of work-life separability also has direct impact on the corporation. Durand tended to create a close relationship with Picard but it was disturbed by irrelevantly conversation. The Americans typically follow the rules, show great respect for private property and less to build long-term relationship. So, Picard kept mentioned the works during personal time is eliminating the potential of cooperation. INTIMATE DISTANCE SOCIAL DISTANCE Interpersonal distance and Non-verbal communication People can accept the intimate distance mean that they often have body involvement with people or strangers. In the case, Durand and Dubois have an extended greeting in French. However, Mr. Picard did not have this action with Durand. People in the category of social distance mean that they have less body involvement with people and always in a common distance to do interaction with strangers. This kind of people usually avoids physical contact with people. Picard who from U.S. is a typical example. SHANNON-WEAVERS COMMUNICATION MODEL Destination Meeting Party dinner Decoder Durand receives the message and decodes the meaning Channel Dubois is the interpreter Encoder Picard sends the message and encodes the meaning Information sources Business proposal Ideas Opinions Noises Error messages, mistakes in translation, Wrong meaning created by interpreter Information source includes business proposal (written message), ideas, and argumentative opinion (spoken message) that were identified during meeting and party dinner. Transmitter is also called as encoder. In the case, Picard is the sender who is encoding the meaning. Message refers to the every information that was sent and received in the communication process. Channel will be the interpreter. For example, Dubois is responsible for translating the meaning for Picard and Durand. Receiver is also known as decoder. In this case, Durand may change the received messages and signals back into his preferred language or meanings. Destination refers to the meeting or the target place to do presentation in the case. Noises may include the error messages and meanings due to Picard and Durand are using different languages. RECOMMENDATIONS MEETING ALERT In France, people will never skip lunch and they are allowed to have lunch at least forty-five minutes at the company cafeteria and ninety minutes at a restaurant 14. Picard should have awareness of the Frenchs office hours and lunch hours and schedule the best time to have meeting. BUSINESS DRESS CODE If dealing with senior management level in France, a formal suit and well business dress code are highly needed15. Social gathering requires tastefully coordinated clothes even the invitation card with states that informal dress15. During the meeting, Picard should sustain his formal dress appearance. CONVERSATION Language barrier between Picard and Durand creates a resistance in their conversation. The best way to remove the barrier is to learn the same language; however, it could not be reached in a short period. There are some tips for Picard to increase the potential of success16: Practice effective communication as much as possible Convey ideas in a positive, clear and convincing manner PROSPEROUS ENTERTAINING Actually, a business meeting is not supposed to be conducted during lunch or dinner. However, sharing a meal is intended to help establish a personal acquaintance17. In France, business lunches are the most common form of entertaining business contacts18. For that reason, Picard can use a business lunch to present his sincerity of cooperation and his respect to the Frenchs culture. PUBLIC BEHAVIOUR In Frenchs culture, some non-verbal communication actions are expected to be performed19. To gain more familiarity with French, Picard should learn some greeting behaviour and avoid some objectionable public behaviors. GIFT-GIVING In France, gifts are expected for social events, especially as thank you after a dinner party20. When Picard was invited to the party dinner after meeting, he should awake that gifts-giving for the host is important to show an honor manner in the Frenchs culture. CONCLUSION After looking the ideas of Hall and Shannon-Weaver, it is easier to understand why problems occur from different cultural backgrounds. These ideas especially help in workplace and international cooperation. The recommendations proposed will provide a guideline on how to cooperate and avoid some unpleasant problems. References 1. http://www.understandfrance.org/France/Intercultural3.html 2. http://hackvan.com/pub/stig/etext/monochronic-vs-polychronic-time.txt 3. http://www.siu.edu/~ekachai/dimensions.html 4. http://www.executiveplanet.com/index.php?title=France:_Public_Behaviour 5. http://www.worldbusinessculture.com/Meals-and-Entertaining-in-France.html 6. http://www.culture-at-work.com/highlow.html 7. Hall, E.T. (1998). Basic concepts of intercultural communication: The Power of Hidden Differences. Maine: Intercultural Press Inc. 8. Hall, E. T. (1983). The dance of life: The other dimension of time. New York: Random House. 9. Hall Edward T.: The hidden dimension, 1966, Doubleday Company, Inc. 10. Tool for Proxemic research: Edward T. Half, A System for the Notation of Proxemic Research, American Anthropologist, Vol. 65, 1963, pp. 1003-1026. 11.http://www.shkaminski.com/Classes/Handouts/Communication%20Models.htm#TheShannonWeaverMathematicalModel1949 12. http://faculty.mdc.edu/jmcnair/Communication%20Theory%20A%20First%20Look.htm 13. http://www.zainbooks.com/books/mass-communication/introduction-to-mass-communication_4_elements-of-communication-and-early-communication-models.html 14. http://www.executiveplanet.com/index.php?title=France:_Appointment_Alert! 15. http://www.executiveplanet.com/index.php?title=France:_Business_Dress 16. http://plushtext.com/6-ways-to-communicate-more-effectively-in-the-workplace 17. http://www.worldbusinessculture.com/Meals-and-Entertaining-in-France.html 18. http://www.executiveplanet.com/index.php?title=France:_Prosperous_Entertaining 19. http://www.executiveplanet.com/index.php?title=France:_Public_Behaviour 20. http://www.executiveplanet.com/index.php?title=France:_Gift_Giving