Tariffs in the 1800 essays

Tariffs in the 1800 essays The debate over whether the institution of slavery should come to an end was not the only divisive to conflict America. Tariffs and states right to nullify acts of congress, nearly brought the country to a secession and the possibility of a civil war. These tariffs were detested by many southerners felt that they were being left out in the cold. Although the tariffs on Great Britain's goods had negative impacts they also had positive aspects throughout the United States. The tariff of 1812, which was proposed by James Madison, was one of the first taxes to be placed upon foreign goods. Originally this tariff was to help pay for internal improvements, such as roads, canals, and lighthouses. Tariffs continuously affected the southern states negatively. The south was not dependent on manufacturing as the northern states were, causing the south to become not as eager to tax European imports. These formations of tariffs began to increase the need for slaves in the south, who depended more and more on slavery agriculturally as the tariffs created additional competition for money. Slavery became such a problematic issue that the legislature created the gag rule, which was a rule created to lessen the time spent discussing or debating on the issue of slavery. Another tariff was placed on Great Britains goods in 1828. Jackson's vice-president, John C. Calhoun, called the 1828 tariff a Tariff of Abominations, a disgusting and loathsome tariff. As an agricultural region dependant on cotton, the south had to compete in the world market. Yet the high tariffs reduced exports to the U.S., and Britain began to buy less cotton. The south thought that the North was getting rich at the expense of the South. The South became fed up with this unfair treatment and threatened to secede from the Union. This threat angered President Jackson, who had proposed the Force Bill. This w ...

The Historical Use of the Mercury Mineral, Cinnabar

The Historical Use of the Mercury Mineral, Cinnabar Cinnabar, or mercury sulphide (HgS), ​is a highly toxic, naturally occurring form of the mercury mineral, which was used in the ancient past for producing a bright orange (vermillion) pigment on ceramics, murals, tattoos, and in religious ceremonies. Cinnabars Earliest Use The primary prehistoric use of the mineral was grinding it to create vermillion, and its earliest known use for this purpose is at the Neolithic site of Çatalhà ¶yà ¼k in Turkey (7000-8000 BC), where wall paintings included cinnabars vermillion. Recent investigations in the Iberian peninsula at the Casa Montero flint mine, and burials at La Pijotilla and Montelirio suggest the use of cinnabar as a pigment beginning approximately 5300 BC. Lead isotope analysis identified the provenance of these cinnabar pigments as coming from the Almaden district deposits. In China, the earliest known use of cinnabar is the Yangshao culture (~4000-3500 BC). At several sites, cinnabar covered the walls and floors in buildings used for ritual ceremonies. Cinnabar was among a range of minerals used to paint Yangshao ceramics, and, at Taosi village, cinnabar was sprinkled into elite burials. Vinca Culture (Serbia) The Neolithic Vinca culture (4800-3500 BC), located in the Balkans and including the Serbian sites of Plocnik, Belo Brdo, and Bubanj, among others, were early users of cinnabar, likely mined from the Suplja Stena mine on Mount Avala, 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from Vinca. Cinnabar occurs in this mine in quartz veins; Neolithic quarrying activities are attested here by the presence of stone tools and ceramic vessels near ancient mine shafts. Micro-XRF studies reported in 2012 (Gajic-KvaÃ… ¡cev et al.) revealed that paint on ceramic vessels and figurines from the Plocnik site contained a mixture of minerals, including high purity cinnabar. A red powder filling a ceramic vessel discovered at Plocnik in 1927 was also found to include a high percentage of cinnabar, likely but not definitively mined from Suplja Stena. Huacavelica (Peru) Huancavelica is the name of the largest mercury source in the Americas, located on the eastern slope of the Cordillera Occidental mountains of central Peru. Mercury deposits here are the result of Cenozoic magma intrusions into sedimentary rock. Vermillion was used to paint ceramics, figurines, and murals and to decorate elite status burials in Peru in a range of cultures including Chavà ­n culture (400-200 BC), Moche, Sican, and the Inca empire. At least two segments of the Inca Road lead to Huacavelica. Scholars (Cooke et al.) report that mercury accumulations in nearby lake sediments began rising about 1400 BC, probably the result of the dust from cinnabar mining. The main historic and prehistoric mine at Huancavelica is the Santa Barbra mine, nicknamed the mina de la muerte (mine of death), and it was both the single largest supplier of mercury to the colonial silver mines  and the major source of pollution in the Andes even today. Known to have been exploited by the Andean empires, large-scale mercury mining began here during the colonial period after the introduction of mercury amalgamation associated with the extraction of silver from low-grade ores. Amalgamation of poor quality silver ores using cinnabar was begun in Mexico by Bartolomà © de Medina in 1554. This process involved smelting the ore in grass-fired, clay-lined retorts until vaporization yielded gaseous mercury. Some of the gas was trapped in a crude condenser, and cooled, yielding liquid mercury. Polluting emissions from this process included both the dust from the original mining  and the gasses released into the atmosphere during smelting. Theophrastus and Cinnabar Classical Greek and Roman mentions of cinnabar include that of Theophrastus of Eresus (371-286 BC), a student of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Theophrastus wrote the earliest surviving scientific book on minerals, De Lapidibus, in which he described an extraction method to get quicksilver from cinnabar. Later references to the quicksilver process appear in Vitruvius (1st century BC) and Pliny the Elder (1st century AD). Roman Cinnabar Cinnabar was the most expensive pigment used by the Romans for extensive wall paintings on public and private buildings (~100 BC-300 AD). A recent study on cinnabar samples taken from several villas in Italy and Spain were identified using lead isotope concentrations, and compared with source material in Slovenia (the Idria mine), Tuscany (Monte Amiata, Grosseto), Spain (Almaden) and as a control, from China. In some cases, such as at  Pompeii, the cinnabar seems to have come from a specific local source, but in others, the cinnabar used in the murals was blended from several different regions. Poisonous Medications One use of cinnabar not attested in archaeological evidence to date, but which may have been the case prehistorically is as traditional medication or ritual ingestion. Cinnabar has been used for at least 2,000 years as part of Chinese and Indian  Ayurvedic  medicines. Although it may have some beneficial effect on some illnesses, human ingestion of mercury is now known to produce toxic damage to kidney, brain, liver, the reproductive systems, and other organs. Cinnabar is still used in at least 46 traditional Chinese patent medicines today, making up between 11-13% of Zhu-Sha-An-Shen-Wan, a popular over-the-counter traditional medicine for insomnia, anxiety, and depression. That is about 110,000 times higher than allowable cinnabar dose levels according to the European Drug and Food Standards: in a study on rats, Shi et al. found that ingestion of this level of cinnabar does create physical damage. Sources Consuegra S, Dà ­az-del-Rà ­o P, Hunt Ortiz MA, Hurtado V, and Montero Ruiz I. 2011.  Neolithic and ChalcolithicVI to III millennia BC  In: Ortiz JE, Puche O, Rabano I, and Mazadiego LF, editors.  History of Research in Mineral Resources.  Madrid: Instituto Geolà ³gico y Minero de Espaà ±a. p 3-13.use of cinnabar (HgS) in the Iberian Peninsula: analytical identification and lead isotope data for an early mineral exploitation of the Almadà ©n (Ciudad Real, Spain) mining district. Contreras DA. 2011.  How far to Conchucos? A GIS approach to assessing the implications of exotic materials at Chavà ­n de Huntar.  World Archaeology  43(3):380-397. Cooke CA, Balcom PH, Biester H, and Wolfe AP. 2009.  Over three millennia of mercury pollution in the Peruvian Andes.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  106(22):8830-8834. Gajic-KvaÃ… ¡cev M, Stojanovic MM, Ã…  mit , Kantarelou V, Karydas AG, Ã…  ljivar D, Milovanovic D, and Andric V. 2012.  New evidence for the use of cinnabar as a   Journal of Archaeological Science  39(4):1025-1033.colouring pigment in the Vinca culture. Mazzocchin GA, Baraldi P, and Barbante C. 2008.  Isotopic analysis of lead present in the cinnabar of Roman wall paintings from the Xth   Talanta  74(4):690-693.Regio (Venetia et Histria) by ICP-MS. Shi J-Z, Kang F, Wu Q, Lu Y-F, Liu J, and Kang YJ. 2011.  Nephrotoxicity of mercuric chloride, methylmercury and cinnabar-containing Zhu-Sha-An-Shen-Wan in rats.  Toxicology Letters  200(3):194-200. Svensson M, Dà ¼ker A, and Allard B. 2006.  Formation of cinnabar- estimation of   Journal of Hazardous Materials  136(3):830-836.favourable conditions in a proposed Swedish repository. Takacs L. 2000.  Quicksilver from cinnabar: The first documented mechanochemical reaction?  JOM Journal of the Minerals, Metals   52(1):12-13.and Materials Society

Current Event Perspective Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Current Event Perspective - Term Paper Example taxpayers of about $124 billion, the colossal corporate scandals of Enron, Tyco International, Adelphia, Global Crossing, WorldCom and others, the dot.com bubble between 1995 and 2001 and the 1998 Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) hedge fund fiasco. Their argument is that the corporate world has been heading down a dangerous path for more than 20 years while governments, regulators and the society failed to put the necessary checks to stop the big disaster that was looming. In short they are saying that we are now facing the consequences of our actions. Smiths contribution to the study of Economics lay primarily on his demonstration of the interdependence of the different segments of the economy and of the policies to be followed to promote the wealth of a nation. He advocated for competitive markets without government intervention on the assumption that natural process within the economy have the ability to resolve conflicts more effectively than any arrangements developed by man. From his book we get the following famous quote: With competitive markets and an absence of government regulation, the resulting natural prices bring about an optimum allocation of resources in that consumers receive the goods they want at the lowest possible cost and maximum rates of growth are ensured (Smith, 2009, p.24) Smith essentially was saying that self interest + free markets + deregulation results in prosperity for everyone. The global financial crisis has taught us otherwise. It has taught us that unrestrained capitalism that is obsessed with self-interest and is unconcerned about the long-run, can lead to monopoly, inequitable distribution of income, unemployment, and environmental disaster (Pitelis, 113). However we cannot put the blame on Smith considering that he was speaking in the 18th century when the context of Economics had not yet experienced the industrial

Environmental issues in China and the role of government Research Paper

Environmental issues in China and the role of government - Research Paper Example Being the member of the global community, China takes an active part in the international environmental protection affairs and conscientiously fulfills the accepted obligations. This testifies about the desire and intention of the Chinese government and Chinese people to protect the environment on our planet. The given paper will provide the overview of the efforts taken by China to protect the environment and discuss the state of the environment in the country. Large population size, comparatively low supply of natural resources per citizen, low level of economic and technical development are the conditions, which accompany the modernization of China (Ming). The process of social and economic development which led to the fast growth of the population, and the increase of consumer demand, intensified the tension in the supply of resources and ecological balance. In these conditions choosing the right development strategy became crucial tasks as future existence of China and its citiz ens depends on it. â€Å"All in all, China, with a total population of 1.3 billion, is faced with a challenging task concerning resources, the environment and sustainable development. This is also of great significance for sustainable development of mankind. ... With the purpose of the harmonious development of economy, society and the environment Chinese government has worked out a number of political directions aimed at the environmental protection. In 1990s the important step on the way to the solution of the problem of environmental protection was made on the global scale. The government worked our 10 important political directions concerning the environmental protection and the development in China. It was clearly stated that the long-term development strategy was the inevitable choice for China. â€Å"The Chinese Government increased input in this field, readjusted taxes on mineral resources, and raised the prices of crude and refined oil products. We adopted a policy to limit the expansion of businesses with high energy consumption, and encourage desulphurization in power plants and development of renewable energy. We improved the fee-collecting mechanism for treating wastewater and wastes out of daily lives, and set up a market-base d operating mechanism to control pollution. All this has played an effective role in preventing and controlling pollution† (Wenzhong). In March 1994 Chinese government presented the white paper on China’s population, environment and development in XXI century, which contained the general strategy, political directions and the plan of actions aimed at the long-term development of China taking into account the realities. China pays much attention to the legal construction in the field of environment. The Chinese Constitution states that the country takes measures on the preservation of the environment and struggles with different kinds of pollution. The state guarantees rational use of the natural resources and preserves the valuable species of animals and plants. No

Cradle to Cradle Essay Example for Free

Cradle to Cradle Essay The ? rst key aspect of Cradle to Cradle ® in education is to move away from teaching children to feel guilty. We have faced a long period of all kinds of environmental disasters which has created a feeling that it would be better if we were not here. This is why people talk about minimising footprints. For education, however, that’s not a very positive message. There’s no doubt that sustainability has brought us a great deal of valuable expertise such as knowledge about supply chain management, logistics, toxicity, top soil, phosphate, nutrient recovery, material ? ows, etc. There is a wide range of knowledge that we can now use and build on. However, this has also led to us feeling guilty for being alive and being on earth. If this is the basis for education, you will not be able to inspire people to do new things. You can’t be innovative working from guilt because you’re trying to minimise feeling guilty. We now have the opportunity to use 30 years of environmental debate for innovation. To put plastic into the ocean is just stupid, just like making chemicals that damage biological systems. People become more creative when they feel appreciated and live without fear. It’s far more powerful to be proud of what you do. So the ? rst, and far most important thing is to tell children that we are happy that they are here. I’ve looked at over 50 different types of native tribes and learned that when people feel accepted and safe, they are always generous and friendly. Even the poorest of the poor share their things. I hope this book inspires teachers and educational policy makers to create more room for children and students to feel accepted and give them the opportunity to be proud of being here. Noodle to Noodle? There are many approaches that can be taken when teaching children about our planet. However, I would kindly like to ask you not to confuse the concepts of industrial ecology, sustainability and life cycle assessment with C2C ®, because otherwise it all just becomes ‘noodle to noodle’. Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® 5 In my opinion, the concept of sustainability is especially unattractive for education. There is no innovation that is sustainable; otherwise it wouldn’t be an innovation. Sustainability always remains within the realm of existing systems, i. e. it always stays in the same paradigm. And just so that we’re clear, if we stay in the same paradigm, we will destroy the planet. Minimising your footprint, doesn’t help; we need to do things differently. People have been trying to do things that are less bad for many years now, but that just delays the process. We’ll just destroy the planet a little later. That doesn’t make sense. Cradle to Cradle is about innovation, quality and beauty. It’s not  ® And this requires long-term goals. By teaching children to set longterm positive goals, like: In 10 years we want to be soil ‘positive’, the educational system could make a dramatic change and generate endless innovation. Cradle to Cradle ® in education needs all your expertise This book showcases examples of the ? rst steps that are being taken to implement Cradle to Cradle ® in education. Several institutions in the Benelux countries are looking at how to implement C2C ® in their respective curricula. And there are similar developments in Denmark, Germany and Sweden as well. It’s amazing how fast it’s spreading. C2C ® helps empower students and teachers to become engineers, designers, architects, chemists, economists, communications specialists, managers, product developers, marketeers and urban planners because there is so much room to innovate. We need a change in education in all the different subjects. We need a whole range of skills to work together on solutions, and for that we need a whole range of quali? cations. Some people are more into operating things and others more into constructing, while some are more into conceptual work and others more into applying it. To really make things work, we need C2C ® principles to be applied to all ? elds. beautiful when it’s toxic. And it’s not beautiful when people can’t make a living either. These young kids want to be proud of what they do. Educational institutions have all the means to make young people feel accepted so they can be kind and generous. Sustainability is guilt management from the past. Why would we want to be less bad, when instead we can be good? Instead of talking about minimising our footprint, Cradle to Cradle is about making a big and positive footprint.  ® Positive intentions goals Education is always about intentions: Where do I want to be? What do I want to achieve? What is relevant for the people I’m working with? 6 Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® I would be delighted if this book could help bridge the gap between the universities of applied sciences and the traditional universities because we need to develop solutions together. We need to combine theory with applications for ? nding answers to the question of how can we do this. Cradle to Cradle ® in education is about taking people as they are and supporting them to become what they want to be. This means looking at a C2C society. It’s about looking at what the human role is on this  ® While repairing the engine, the student mechanics automatically sorts the metals and other materials used, to make sure the other students have plenty of stuff to work with. Again. And again. And again. It has been a long day and Jeanne sits down for a second while watching over her lovely smelling hand creams, moisturisers and planet; it’s about innovation, a positive footprint, a system that allows us to be bene? cial, instead of less bad; it’s about giving people a long-term goal and a positive vision of where to go. Cradle to Cradle is about a positive agenda. To reach that goal, everybody needs to be on board. All your expertise and all your skills are essential. I hope this book invites and inspires you to look at how to translate C2C principles to your ? eld.  ® other skin products. She had been taught to read and really understand what is on the label. And these†¦ she Kind regards, Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart Hamburg, February 2011 Cradle to Cradle ® and C2C are registered trademarks of EPEA Internationale Umweltforschung GmbH and McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC.knows for a fact, have only nice, healthy things in it. Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 28 29 30 31 8 Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® Ljiljana Wiersma-Rodic PhD Douglas Mulhall, Cradle to Cradle Chair, Erasmus University Cradle to Cradle ® is an innovation framework developed by Michael Braungart, and William McDonough and their colleagues in the 1990s for designing products and systems that are explicitly bene? cial to the individuals involved as well as to the natural environment and society at large. It is based on award-winning research started in the 1980s and continuing today at the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA) in Hamburg Germany, for designing bene? cial economic, social and environmental features into products, processes and systems. The approach was originally known as the Intelligent Product System, and was awarded the Oce van der Grinten Prize in 1993. The approach is primarily an entrepreneurial and innovation concept that starts by determining the intended bene? ts of a product or service instead of focusing on minimizing negative environmental impacts. Development and design of materials, products, production processes and entire systems are based on the principles of natural ecosystems, where the quality and effectiveness of material and energy ? ows are central features. Some examples of this include the development of human- friendly buildings that produce energy and clean air, or agricultural and other activities that help to restore topsoil as one of our most valuable natural resources. Much like in natural ecosystems, material ? ow partnerships play a key role in the implementation of Cradle to Cradle principles. C2C functions in three distinct but inter-related categories Philosophy E. g. the concept of positive intentions and being bene? cial instead of ‘less bad’. The concept of C2C as an innovation platform for improving quality. These philosophical approaches provide an inspirational basis that distinguishes C2C from conventional ‘sustainability’. The philosophy of C2C also allows for further development of C2C as well as healthy discussion over what is the purpose of human beings on this planet, as described by Michael Braungart in his introduction. Principles Three basic principles that guide implementation of the C2C philosophy. The distinguishing point about these principles is that they can each be implemented measurably so that progress can be determined toward a goal. Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® 9 Application Tools The scienti? c, technical, economic, management and social tools that are used to implement the principles. C2C innovation starts by determining the intended value and de? ning one’s own positive, bene? cial intention. The process is then supported by a ‘road map’ prepared to ensure complementarity and synergy among the individual activities. An example is the ABC-X or ‘traf? c light’ system of assessing product ingredients for their de?ned use. is a nutrient for something else. This includes materials that are not normally considered to be waste. One of the fundamental laws of nature holds that residual materials from the metabolism of one organism constitute food for another organism. In a society that is based on Cradle to Cradle principles, all materials that we consider to be waste serve as input (nutrients, food) for a new cycle of production, time and time again. In this way, Cradle to Cradle eliminates the concept of waste because waste = food. The Cradle to Cradle concept distinguishes between consumption products and service products. Consumption products either get spent Principles The three basic principles of the Cradle to Cradle framework are: Waste = Food (everything is a nutrient for something else) Use current solar power income Celebrate diversity (biodiversity, conceptual diversity and cultural diversity). Waste = Food (everything is a nutrient for something else) There is often a misunderstanding of this principle due to the quick and catchy but somewhat misleading title. The important thing is not that waste becomes food for something else, but instead that everything 10 Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ®Ã‚  (consumed) or wear out during their period of use and, if anything is left over, it can be safely returned to the natural environment. Some examples of this include agricultural products like bread and butter, cosmetic products like soap and hand cream, and natural ? Bre clothes and shoes. Such materials are considered to be biological nutrients, as they feed into a natural biological metabolism (‘biosphere’). Biological nutrients, e. g. wood, can be used in pre-de? ned ‘cascades’, where the quality deteriorates from one application to the next, but in the end all of the material can go back into the biological cycle, in ways that are bene? cial for and thus not harmful to human health or the environment. As these materials come from the land, due care is required for these nutrients to indeed remain on land instead of ending up in the ocean, where processes of biological degradation are quite different to those of terrestrial ecosystems or a composting installation. Service products do not get consumed, but rather provide the user with a certain desired service. Some examples of this include cars, washing machines and TV sets. These products are usually made out of metals and various synthetic materials, which originate from renewable or non-renewable sources and are often hazardous to human health and the environment. As such, they cannot be safely returned to the environment if they are completely disassembled into their component materials and disposed of after special processing. Those types of processes are usually impractical or too expensive, so it makes more sense to keep the materials in technical cycles where they can be reused and do not enter the environment in concentrations that are hazardous. Moreover, they often contain rare metals that are available on earth in very limited amounts. For these reasons, they are considered technological nutrients and should be returned to the technological cycle (‘techno sphere’), where they will be used to make new products with the same level of quality, time and time again. A famous example of this is Herman Miller’s Mirra chair, which has been designed for disassembly and for its materials to be reused in high-quality applications at least 200 times. According to Cradle to Cradle, the worst possible designs are so-called monstrous hybrids, consisting of materials that cannot be separated after use their period of use, and thus cannot be returned safely to either of the two cycles. Design for Sustainability Eco-efficiency C2C Environmental cost accounting Global view Partnerships in total chain management Product Stewardship / LCA Integrated managent systems Management system focus Pollution prevention Compliance proactive Compliance reactive Waste/ costs/ noncompliance Unprepared Aware/reactive Proactive Mainstreaming. Outward view Inward focus Mature/highly integrative Use current solar power income The Cradle to Cradle concept assumes a reliance on renewable energy sources that ultimately originate from the sun, i. e. solar energy, wind energy, water and various innovative bio-based sources, provided that they meet requirements of the ? rst C2C Principle, and do not compete with food crops. For further explanation of current solar income please refer to Cradle to Cradle Criteria for the Built Environment (Mulhall c. s. , 2010) which contains an annex on C2C and Energy describing this more precisely. Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® 11 Celebrate diversity Respect for diversity in all its forms, including biodiversity, cultural diversity, and diversity of ideas and innovation to suit local conditions, is an integral part of the Cradle to Cradle concept. Instead of relying solely on legislation as a means to of reconciling the perceived con? ict between economic interests and environmental protection, Cradle to Cradle encourages designers, entrepreneurs, policy-makers, material and other scientists alike to create systems and products that are  bene? Cial and add value to all three domains: the economy, society and the environment. under sustainability principles, individual mobile phones have become far more ef? cient, but collectively consume many times more materials and energy than they used to, because ef? ciency made them affordable for billions of users. Mobile phones produced under C2C principles are designed to make sure they can be effectively recovered at the same level of quality, not to minimize materials. This is a basic difference in approach for business. This is why C2C is often referred to as ‘surpassing’ or ‘going beyond’ sustainability. There are many other differences between C2C and sustainability as illustrated in the scheme on page 11. It is important for readers to Cradle to Cradle versus conventional Sustainability In further sections of this book you will frequently see reference to ‘sustainability’ when interviewees are discussing C2C. This is because companies often include C2C under their ‘sustainability’ portfolios. But actually this is not the ideal way to approach C2C because there are fundamental differences. Conventional sustainability usually attempts to minimize bad impacts through ef? ciency while C2C aims at improving bene? cial ones. To illustrate this let’s consider the case of mobile phones. Produced 12 Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® keep this in mind when reading this book. It is also true that some application tools used for sustainability are also used for C2C1. 2. 1 Waste no more – The Van Gansewinkel Groep Roel Majoor, Organisational Development Manager (interviewed by Judith van Heeswijk) technological cycles. The constant conversion of waste into energy and raw materials is seen as added value. The company transformed from a traditional waste collector into a supplier of sustainable raw materials and energy. They seek sustainable solutions for their waste streams and consider their knowledge of waste as something of value to partners. Their goal is to work together in early product design stages so that they can ful? l a role and help deliver pro? table solutions for waste streams. Given that Van Gansewinkel has embraced the Cradle to Cradle The Van Gansewinkel Groep is a major player in waste management in Western Europe. It’s also one of the ?rst companies in Western Europe to fully implement Cradle to Cradle design in its business processes. The company’s sustainability ambitions have been translated into their business operations and into a strategy that includes Cradle to Cradle objectives. From their mission statement : 2 concept, this has also had implications for its operations and the way business (waste) processes are designed and managed. This means additional knowledge and competences are needed from employees. Since 2008, the company has been working together with EPEA to streamline knowledge in operations. They found that a lot of implicit knowledge about waste management is useful for understanding the transition to C2C. There was less explicit knowledge about C2C basic Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® 13 †By seeing Cradle to Cradle as a guideline, we deal with raw material shortages and the CO2 problem. We assume opportunities and not debt management. † The company sees waste as a source of new raw materials and energy. They see their role as one that closes the biological and principles, so the company had to acquire additional knowledge about this. The EPEA shared these principles during a ?rst meeting. After that, practical knowledge and experience was even more important to bring employee knowledge up to a working level. The company understands that there is a signi? cant difference between knowing C2C in theory and predicting the way it will have to be applied in daily practice. The steps and processes have to be thought through and visualised several times to be able to thoroughly understand the principle. To really use C2C, insight into its use is essential. You have to make it your own. It is a radically different way of thinking and is, therefore, a paradigm shift. This means it also asks for a paradigm shift from employees. And in relation to customers’ needs in particular it is becoming more and more practical, as it also means that you ask the customer to think about waste from another perspective. The Van Gansewinkel employee has to be able to communicate the principle to the customer. Communication is something that should not be underestimated in the transition to C2C. Van Gansewinkel used three different training courses: waste managers, sales and marketing managers. A total of approximately 150 people took the course. The training course focused on large industry. 2 Sponsors training. A two-day EPEA training course for employees that need to know how to translate the C2C concept into the organisation. This training course was developed for managing directors, etc. 3 Advisors training: two one-day training in company courses for sales executives. It dealt with the basic principles and translating them into business operations. The training course focused on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). 1 Champions training: A four-day EPEA training course, in which the theory is brought to life and cases are studied. This training course was developed for regional management, key account managers, ‘Garbage Elefant’  © Franny Thonhauser 14 Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® Large industry is able to close the biological and technological cycles itself, but that isn’t the case for SMEs, which are often just a small link in the production chain. Therefore, they are more dependent on other companies to change production and waste processes. Van Gansewinkel has turned out to be a chain facilitator in some cases. Van Gansewinkel has a reason for doing so because large volumes of waste are often necessary to be economically ef?  cient. Competences Van Gansewinkel states that working with C2C principles is more important than knowing them. General change management competences are essential and the three change management steps are: Management noticed that employees invest more time and energy in their work than their role requires. This is also evident at course reunions that take place a year after the training. Everyone is very willing to attend them and a lot of passion for the concept is shared. Technical issues From a technical point of view, it is mainly the strength of innovation that is important for the company. The company is implementing biomimicry for its innovation processes. It starts by learning to understand processes in nature and, from there, to develop and innovate the company’s processes. It’s a link between biology and technology or taking the ecological system into the technological one. Knowledge management Knowledge management has been very important for the main issues surrounding C2C transition. Several knowledge centres were opened to gather information and knowledge on materials and processes. It is not only the operators who have access to this information, but also account managers and local waste managers. These knowledge centres also provide information on where certain knowledge on materials is available and what speci? cs are accessible. 1 2 3 To raise awareness about the need for change. To highlight the momentum for change. To create a willingness to change It is only after you have taken these steps that you can work on the ability to change. The new competences for Van Gansewinkel were primarily change management ones. The main goal is to be able to address the story in a positive way, to tell it simply and convincingly, i. e. the sales pitch. Telling the story is not about selling a product, but about conveying an ideology. The employees have indicated that using the C2C concept adds more depth to their work and energises them. Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® 15 Seeing as the company is moving towards a more facilitating position in the materials market, it is focusing more on logistics and purchases. New business opportunities have also arisen, e. g. it’s investigating the possibility of producing and selling recycled glass for the consumer market. The glass industry is reluctant to invest though, so Van Gansewinkel has decided to develop this business on its own. This shows how innovative its new role can be. Additional knowledge on the basic Cradle to Cradle principles is needed for vocational-level competences. The basic ideology has to be embedded, so that employees are able to convey it to others. Employees on the technical site who have a vocational education background have to deal with the concept when working on separation plants. The main part of the machines in the plants is developed within the company. Technical engineers and operators are consulted during the development of new separation lines. This process actually hasn’t changed since C2C has been implemented. The operators are used as part of the developing processes. Only the perspective, goals and market needs have changed. Current developments within the organisation are expected to be temporary, because the transition to C2C is now leading the way. In the future, all the necessary changes will be made. The current change asks for a more project-oriented way of working and for employees to invest more time in it. Over time, however, products in the waste stream will be more and more assembled or degradable. The company wants  Knowledge and education At the moment, the company has to consult others in the new ? elds of expertise required. For the very ? rst time ever, they have three technical university trainees for these ? elds, i. e. Geometrics; Industrial Design, and Energy Sciences and Operation Management Logistics. 16 Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® to have its waste processes aligned with these products and material streams by then. At the moment, the company has to deal with different types of material streams. Over the next few years, all technical engineering education needs to focus more on design. Design principles have to be taught to higher education and academic students. C2C principles also impact the organisation. A roadmap 3 has been designed to change facilities, e. g. the vehicles, human resource management (diversity and employing senior personnel,) and to make internal processes more C2C proof. They admit that pursuing these ambitions is sometimes a bit dif? cult ? nancially speaking. Desso is the ? rst carpet manufacturer in Europe, the Middle East and Asia to adopt the Cradle to Cradle design philosophy and they are planning further geographical expansion into Latin America. Their carpets and arti? cial grass will be produced using manufacturing processes that rely on renewable energy, seek to conserve water and embrace social responsibility. Their products are made from environmentally friendly, pure materials that are safe for human 2. 2 Quality personnel DESSO Joris Bressers, Human Resource Advisor (interviewed by Judith van Heeswijk) health and are designed in such a way that they can be biologically or technologically recycled 5 at the end of their useful lives. Prior to formal Cradle to Cradle certi?cation being granted, products, materials and components must all undergo a rigorous assessment procedure. The initial stages of the certi? cation process comprise assessing raw materials in terms of human and environmental health criteria, and evaluating the manufacturing process according to recycling potentials, energy and water use, and social responsibility. EPEA will be supplied with detailed information regarding all the materials involved in DESSO’s products and processes. The future steps towards Cradle to Cradle certi? cation are: List all the chemicals a product contains. All compounds are also separated into their components (the base chemicals). Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® 17 Carpet, carpet tile and arti? cial turf manufacturer Desso is one of the leading companies in its ? eld in Europe. Their Business Carpets division manufactures carpets for commercial locations such as of? ces, banks, retail units, public buildings, schools, universities, hospitals and care centres. Point 3 of DESSO’s innovation strategy is its ambition regarding Cradle to Cradle: 4. â€Å"Cradle to Cradle: Developing products and processes that will contribute towards a better environment and better indoor quality. † Material Safety Data Sheets are collected as well as all toxicological and eco toxicological data. EPEA evaluates all chemicals on 12 different criteria and gives an overall assessment, i. e. red, yellow or green. Work on phase-out plans for those chemicals that are given a red assessment. EPEA monitors these plans. DESSO has already launched its innovative EcoBase ® carpet tile backing – enabling the world’s ? rst Cradle to Cradle silver certi? cation for an entire carpet tile product. Competences In 2007, when they started on their Cradle to Cradle journey, DESSO needed additional expertise in the company primarily chemical expertise at the design stage. The marketing department also needed additional expertise on the basic C2C principles, in order to be able to communicate the added value of the certi? ed products. Special technical project teams were set up to develop new machines. The key values encouraged throughout the organisation – and required At this point in time, 90% of DESSO’s polyamide carpet tile collection is Cradle to Cradle certi?ed. 6 from every employee to ensure a successful Cradle to Cradle work method are ‘ownership’, common sense, ambition and integrity. Furthermore, Desso have seen that employees are motivated and driven by being involved in this ambitious, strategic change of direction. A large group of employees from the company from a variety of departments and disciplines were given a training course at EPEA and this expertise has since been transferred into the production processes. EPEA has been contributing to further increasing knowledge within the organisation. The company has found that it is one of  the leaders in implementing the concept and therefore had to discover and tackle a lot of issues themselves in the early stages. 18 Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® Employee commitment to the Cradle to Cradle goals is of utmost importance, along with a strong belief in the philosophy. If they see for themselves that implementing it works, and that the market responds positively, that creates great encouragement to move ahead. DESSO created a Cradle to Cradle awareness team tasked with raising awareness on sustainable issues within the organisation, such as waste management. The company strategy places Cradle to Cradle as the top concern for every part of the organisation, and has identi? ed their production processes as the ? rst area to target. education organisations are sometimes not up to speed with the new developments within multinationals. The students are often not fully equipped with essential frontline knowledge. Moreover the multinationals have dif? culty ? nding new employees that can immediately take up a complicated subject like Cradle to Cradle and AkzoNobel needs these kinds of people as their ambition is to belong to the world’s most sustainable multinationals. The company seeks to attract genuinely motivated and interested students. A real compassion is essential, especially when it comes to sustainable issues. AkzoNobel took the initiative to search for those students another way. With some partners (BECO, Royal Cosun, DPI Value 2. 3 Factory of the Future Akzo Nobel Jan Verlaan, Ideation Manager (interviewed by Judith van Heeswijk) Centre, Search, Witteveen+Bos, and DSM), it developed a conceptual production environment based on sustainable principles, in terms of people (equity), planet (ecology) and pro?t (economy), for the total value chain. The aim of this virtual facility is to close the biological and technological cycles of a product and its related manufacturing as much as possible. AkzoNobel has extensive global experience cooperating with educational organisations both on traineeships and on projects. The impression of Jan Verlaan, Ideation manager at AkzoNobel, that universities and higher The critical factor in developing this virtual Factory of the Future 7 is sustainable design, in which Cradle to Cradle principles form the foundation where possible. The facility’s design showcases renewable energy, water management and active materials and transport management. Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® 19 The Factory of the Future demonstrates the feasibility of a typical chemical plant designed according to a continuous loops system, i. e. a production environment based on sustainable principles for a positive footprint. All the partners realise that existing processes have to be redeveloped for sustainable development. Therefore, starting from scratch is essential. The project aims to generate an open concept for the factory, one that can be used by other companies and projects to bene? t society as a whole. The production environment will be suitable for a variety of sustainable products and production lines. The facility will be available as a training centre for users to train employees on new processes and products. The aim is to design not only a sustainable building, but also a sustainable production chain, which requires solutions at a much higher level. The Factory of the Future project also extends into a learning community. Students have to apply for the Honours course, which they follow for six months and which can lead to a graduation project. AkzoNobel reckons it will particularly need people from different disciplines who relate to sustainability. Production chains will become sustainable and will, therefore, change in the near future. Nonetheless, other aspects of enterprise will change. Financing structures, business 20 Inspired by Cradle to Cradle ® models, the legal system, policy, facility management, buildings, training, HR management, etc. ; all of these will change because of the increasing orientation towards sustainability that will become explicit when Cradle to Cradle is introduced into the organisation. They have people with chemical process.

The Somewhat Scary Progression of Technology :: Computers

The Somewhat Scary Progression of Technology Technology has carved the path of human existence since our humble origins. It is our curious nature and ever present ingenuity that leads us to create technological wonders of perplexing magnitude. As the first Neanderthal man sharpened a spear and tempered it in lightning born flames he sealed man-kinds future; a future as certain as our past. The pendulum of human dominance started its undulation and science was conceived to replace the ignorance of our times of yore. With our undying fortitude our achievements soared to the sky within heavens reach, surpassing even our own expectations. Although, with this progress also came the burdens of responsibility, and our technology soon outreached the length of our control. Controlled or not, technology has shaped our fate in ways that are unfathomable by the human mind. The future of technology is difficult to foretell, and can only be prophesized by the study of our past. Technology as it exists in current times has taken the digital for. With a matrix of binary number systems; computers process information at speeds mystifying the more appreciative of our race. Our innocence and simple life style has been traded for the raw technology that subsidizes our every day existence. The evolution of technology has spurred the loss of culturally identifying characteristics of our society. Par example, labor has become less skilled and more monotonous in structure. The development of computers destroyed many talented workers who created superior goods with a level of quality unmatched by computerized mass production. Also, technology has lead to the ignorance of much of our youth. Video games have prevented scores of people from experiencing life and its awesomeness. They use false fantasy worlds created in the minds on game designers to replace their scanty reality. This spawns drab people without the necessary experiences to live life. With the advent of technology also came mankind’s loss of privacy. There are many things that the masses do every day that are being recorded and analyzed without our knowledge or consent. The purchases you make, such as beer, are recorded by servers to analyze the effects companies marketing strategy is having on your subconscious (cnn.

The Shifting of Imperial Power

The Shifting of Imperial Power and its Effects on the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Koala Collins HEISTS: world History Since 1500 March 18th, 2014 The Shifting of Imperial Power and its effects on the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Before the British Empire even set a foot in India, there was a thriving civilization known as Hindustan that occupied the area. As mentioned in the lectures by Dry. Cotton, the McHugh people were powerful people of Islamic faith who swept into this region in the late sass and early sass and began to implement their ruling system over the people of Hindustan, and grew wealthy off of the labor and resources of the Natives. However, it is the specific ways the McHugh Empire exercised this power that made them so successful in governing this area. It is the observation and imitation of this power system that allows the British Empire to slowly assert and expand their rule over India later in the sass. Therefore, it is due to these power changes and shifts from the trad itional power structure of the McHugh Empire to that of a strict, Imperialistic British Empire, that resentment of foreign occupation by the Native peoples of India grew strong enough to warrant a rebellion on their part against the British occupiers in the mid-sass.When the McHugh Empire conquered the Hindustan peoples in the late sass, a man by the name of Baber was at the head of the McHugh Empire. 2 However, as Baber entered the scene he did not oppress the peoples of Hindustan or impose strict laws demanding the assimilation of their culture to that of the McHugh people, and neither did his successors. In addition, as noted in lecture, his later successors such as, Kafka, who worked to expand the territory of the domain, decided that the est. form of power to ensure the cooperation of the conquered peoples was that which let them govern themselves for the most part. Although the Empire built up impressive displays of Islamic and McHugh might such as the various Mosques and arch itectural works of art such as the Tax Mall, they did not force their religious beliefs on the Hindustan people, but allowed them to continue their practice of their Hindu religion and cultural customs. 4 Furthermore, McHugh leadership put Native, non-Muslim officials, called Seminars, in certain mains of power in order to increase the cooperation of the native peoples for the wealth of the McHugh Empire and its leaders. This system of power encouraged the cooperation of the natives, which helped expand the wealth of the McHugh Empire that began to attract the eyes of other wealthy empires such as the British Empire. At first the British did not come as weapon-wielding conquers of the Mussels. It was only through the permission granted by the Nash and Maharajah, who were, as cited in lecture, McHugh and Indian Princes respectively, that the British were allowed to build trading posts and factories in the Empire. The rulers of the McHugh Empire saw this as a beneficial trading relati onship in which both empires could work together to bring wealth to their countries. Overtime the British presence began to grow in India, and the development of the powerful East India Company helped give an even stronger economic foothold for the British in America. 7 However, the relationships were not hostile between the British and the people of the McHugh Empire, nor with the natives of India.In fact, the image from the Lecture of Kelsey Snyder, is of a painting that depicts this specific time period in history in which there is a typical McHugh parade taking place and all of the natives are armed with British Muskets. 8 The synthetics shows the harmony of the cultures, and the willingness of the British to arm these people depicts the imitation of the McHugh exertion of power, or rather the allowance of certain freedoms and tolerance of Native peoples to derive the cooperation of the natives.However, as the British Empire began to change internally, their form of rule in thei r colonies began to change. Britain had begun to expand into a more literate culture with issues of morality, especially regarding the slave trade, becoming popular topics of writing and debate. 9 The attitude of Great Britain towards her colonies began to change to that of a greater Imperialistic culture with aims to improve the morality and education of the world beginning in herself and then her colonized areas. 0 Around this time in the mid-sass the McHugh Empire had weakened from corruption and it was during this time period that the McHugh Emperor Mir Safari awarded one of the most powerful positions in the Empire of tax electing called the Dianna-I to a British military officer named Robert Clive. 1 1 With such economic power in the State now in the Hands of the British, their confidence increased, and due to the moral revival in Great Britain there developed a push by the British to spread Christian beliefs, and education throughout the colonies, which in their eyes, include d the Indian peoples.The feelings of Racism also began to grow which increased tensions between the British and the Native peoples. This can be exemplified in the fictional but historically accurate story of The Siege of Krishna. The section reads, â€Å"if the native was coming either directly towards them†¦ It was fair to assume that his intentions were mischievous and they could blow him to smithereens,† which depicted the generalized loathing that these British soldiers had towards the Native peoples no matter the true intention of the man, and the labeling them all as one â€Å"mischievous† person groups all Native people into one negative image. 2 Moreover, the final straw that forced the Indian Revolt in the mid-sass, as related in lecture, was the refusal of the Native soldiers to load their weapons cause of the use of pig and cow grease that coated the cartridges that must be torn off by the teeth to insert into the muskets. 13 As revealed in lecture, the se men were loyal soldiers of the British crown, but refused to compromise their religious beliefs by consuming a part of the cow that was sacred in their religion, Just to adhere to British rule. 4 The retaliation of the British for insubordination of by the Native soldiers sparked Native anger. Dry. Cotton stated in lecture, that this event showed the failure of the British to recognize the importance of the religion of the datives, and unlike the McHugh Empire, the British Crown tried to force their beliefs upon the native military men inciting an Indian Revolt in 1857 that left many dead, and a stain in the history of the British Crown.Because of their shift to Imperialistic control, and their push for assimilation of the Native peoples the British thrust the Native peoples past their limits, which led to the bloody revolt. Therefore, although the British were successful in the beginning of their occupation of the Indian Territory and engaged in wealthy commerce, it was because of their shift to a more rueful and imperialistic rule, they were unable to pacify the natives, and instead drove them to revolt under their leadership.The abandonment of McHugh idea of power delegation to Seminars, and Dianna-is, left the British implementing their imperialistic rule from their moral revival. The collapse of the McHugh Empire solidified the economic strength that Great Britain held in the country and led to their increasing aggressive and racist attitudes towards the Indian people. Lastly, the ignorance of the British to honor the religious and cultural principles of the Native peoples, and what they believed to be Justified aggressiveness in their shift to a more dominating imperialistic rule, is what led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Mgc1 Study Guide

Strategic Management (Chapters 4 & 9) 1. Identify elements of the external environment and internal resources of the firm to analyze before formulating a strategy. a. External Environment: Industry and market analysis (industry profile, growth, and forces), Competitor analysis, Political and Regulatory analysis, Social analysis, Human Resources analysis, Macroeconomics analysis, and Technological analysis. Also forecasting future trends b. Internal Resources: Financial analysis, marketing audit, operations analysis, other internal resources analysis (such as research and development, management information systems, engineering and purchasing. ), human resources assessment. 2. Define core competencies and explain how they provide the foundation for business strategy. a. Core Competencies: A unique skill and/ or knowledge an organization possesses that gives it an edge over competitors. A core competence is something a company does especially well relative to its competitors. b. Think of core competencies as the roots of competitiveness and products as the fruits. c. It can provide a sustainable advantage if it is valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and well organized. 3. Summarize the types of choices available for corporate strategy. a. Concentric i. focuses on a single business competing in a single industry. b. Vertical Integration i. involves expanding the domain of the organization into supply channels or to distributors. Vertical integration generally is used to eliminate uncertain-ties and reduce costs associated with suppliers or distributors. . Concentric Diversification i. involves moving into new businesses that are related to the company’s original core business. ii. Often companies such as Marriott pursue a strategy of concentric diversification to take advantage of their strengths in one business to gain advantage in another. Because the businesses are related, the products, markets, technologies, or capabilities used in one business can be transferred to another. Success in a concentric diversification strategy requires adequate manage-ment and other resources for operating more than one business. d. Conglomerate Diversification i. a corporate strategy that involves expansion into unrelated businesses. For example, General Electric Corporation has diversified from its original base in electrical and home appliance products to such wide- ranging industries as health, finance, insurance, truck and air transportation, and even media, with its ownership of NBC. Typically, companies pursue a conglomerate diversification strategy to minimize risks due to market fluctuations in one industry. 4. Discuss how companies can achieve competitive advantage through business strategy. . Two different business strategies generally lead to gaining a competitive advantage: Low Cost Strategies and Differentiation Strategies b. Low Cost Strategy: Businesses using a low- cost strategy attempt to be efficient and offer a standard, no- frills product. (i. e. Walmart and Southwest Airlines). To succeed, an organization using this strategy generally must be the cost leader in its industry or market segmen t. However, even a cost leader must offer a product that is acceptable to customers compared with competitors’ products. c. Differentiation Strategy: With a differentiation strategy, a company attempts to be unique in its industry or market segment along some dimensions that customers value. This unique or differentiated position within the industry often is based on high product quality, excellent marketing and distribution, or superior service. (i. e. Nordstrom’s commitment to quality and customer service). The most competitive strategy is one that competitors are unwilling or unable to imitate. 5. Describe the keys to effective strategy implementation. a. Step 1: Define strategic tasks. Articulate in simple language what a particular business must do to create or sustain a competitive advantage. Define strategic tasks to help employees understand how they contribute to the organization, including redefining relationships among the parts of the organization. b. Step 2: Assess organization capabilities. Evaluate the organization’s ability to implement the strategic tasks. A task force typically interviews employees and managers to identify specific issues that help or hinder effective implementation. Then the results are summarized for top management. In the course of your career, you will likely be asked to participate in a task force. c. Step 3: Develop an implementation agenda. Management decides how it will change its own activities and procedures; how critical interdependencies will be managed; what skills and individuals are needed in key roles; and what structures, measures, information, and rewards might ultimately support the needed behavior. A philosophy statement, communicated in terms of value, is the outcome of this process. d. Step 4: Create an implementation plan. The top management team, the employee task force, and others develop the implementation plan. The top management team then monitors progress. The employee task force continues its work by providing feedback about how others in the organization are responding to the changes. e. *Strategy must be supported by structure, technology, human resources, rewards, information sys-tems, culture, leadership, and so on. Ultimately, the success of a plan depends on how well employees at low levels are able and willing to implement it. Participative management is one of the more popular approaches executives use to gain employees’ input and ensure their commitment to strategy implementation. . The 6 Barriers to Strategy Implementation (or Silent Killers) a. Top- down or laissez-faire senior management style: With the top team and lower levels, the CEO/ general manager creates a partnership built around the development of a compelling business direction, the creation of an enabling organizational context, and the delegation of authority to clearly accountable individuals and teams. b . Unclear strategy and conflicting priorities: The top team, as a group, develops a statement of strategy, and priorities that members are willing to stand behind are developed. c. An ineffective senior management team: The top team, as a group, is involved in all steps in the change process so that its effectiveness is tested and developed. d. Poor vertical communication: An honest, fact- based dialogue is established with lower levels about the new strategy and the barriers to implementing it. e. Poor coordination across functions, businesses, or borders: A set of businesswide initiatives and new organizational roles and responsibilities are defined that require â€Å" the right people to work together on the right things in the right way† to implement the strategy. f. Inadequate down- the-line leadership skills and development: Lower- level managers develop skills through newly created opportunities to lead change and drive key business initiatives. They are supported with just- in-time coaching, training, and targeted recruitment. Those who still are not able to make the grade must be replaced. 7. What are the steps in the strategic planning process? Why should companies engage in strategic planning? a. Step 1: Establishment of mission, vision, and goals b. Step 2: Analysis of external opportunities and threats c. Step 3: Analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses d. Step 4: SWOT Analysis and Strategy Formulation e. Step 5: Strategy Implementation f. Step 6: Strategic Control 8. What are the components of a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis? a. SWOT analysis: A comparison of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that helps executives formulate strategy. b. Strengths and weaknesses refer to internal resources. i. For example, an organization’s strengths might include skilled management, positive cash flow, and well- known and highly regarded brands. Weaknesses might be lack of spare production capacity and the absence of reliable suppliers. . Opportunities and threats arise in the macroenvironment and competitive environment. i. Examples of opportunities are a new technology that could make the supply chain more efficient and a market niche that is currently underserved. Threats might include the possibility that competitors will enter the underserved niche once it has been shown to be profitable. 9. What is the difference between strategic vision, strategic intent, strategic objectives, and strategic mission? a. Strategic vision: The long- term direction and strategic intent of a company. b. Strategic Intent: The direction a company intends to go c. Strategic Objectives: d. Strategic Mission: The mission is a clear and concise expression of the basic purpose of the organization. It describes what the organization does, who it does it for, its basic good or service, and its values. 10. What is the value chain concept? a. A value chain is the sequence of activities that flow from raw materials to the delivery of a good or service, with additional value created at each step. b. A value chain describes the way in which value is added to various areas of an organization. Porter’s value chain model categorizes an organization into five primary and four support activities. Primary activities include inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, sales and marketing, and service. Support activities are company infrastructure, technology development, human resource management, and procurement. c. According to Porter’s model, you can achieve competitive advantage by reducing costs or restructuring one or all primary activites to gain a cost advantage. 11. What is the purpose of the value chain analysis? a. Managers can add customer value and build competitive advantage by paying close attention to their organization’s value chain— not only each step in it, but the way each step interacts with the others. 2. Describe Porter's Five Forces model. a. Michael Porter provided a framework that models an industry as being influenced by five forces. The strategic business manager seeking to develop an edge over rival firms can use this model to better understand the industry context in which the firm operates. i. Force 1: Rivalry 1. DEGREE OF RIVALRY a. -Exit barriers b. -Industry concentration c. -Fixed costs/Value added d. -Industry growth e. -Intermittent overcapacity f. -Product differences g. -Switching costs h. -Brand identity i. -Diversity of rivals j. -Corporate stakes ii. Force 2: Threats of New Entrants & Barriers to Entry: It is not only incumbent rivals that pose a threat to firms in an industry; the possibility that new firms may enter the industry also affects competition. In theory, any firm should be able to enter and exit a market, and if free entry and exit exists, then profits always should be nominal. In reality, however, industries possess characteristics that protect the high profit levels of firms in the market and inhibit additional rivals from entering the market. These are barriers to entry. 1. Absolute cost advantages 2. Proprietary learning curve 3. Access to inputs 4. Government policy 5. Economies of scale 6. Capital requirements 7. Brand identity 8. Switching costs 9. Access to distribution 10. Expected retaliation 11. Proprietary products iii. Force 3: Buyer Power: The power of buyers is the impact that customers have on a producing industry. In general, when buyer power is strong, the relationship to the producing industry is near to what an economist terms a monopsony – a market in which there are many suppliers and one buyer. 1. Bargaining leverage 2. Buyer volume 3. Buyer information 4. Brand identity 5. Price sensitivity 6. Threat of backward integration 7. Product differentiation 8. Buyer concentration vs. industry 9. Substitutes available 10. Buyers' incentives iv. Force 4: Threat of Substitutes: The competition engendered by a Threat of Substitute comes from products outside the industry. The price of aluminum beverage cans is constrained by the price of glass bottles, steel cans, and plastic containers. These containers are substitutes, yet they are not rivals in the aluminum can industry. 1. -Switching costs 2. -Buyer inclination to 3. substitute 4. -Price-performance 5. trade-off of substitutes v. Force 5: Supplier Power 1. Supplier concentration 2. Importance of volume to supplier 3. Differentiation of inputs . Impact of inputs on cost or differentiation 5. Switching costs of firms in the industry 6. Presence of substitute inputs 7. Threat of forward integration 8. Cost relative to total purchases in industry 13. How does Porter's Five Forces model influence strategic planning? 14. Discuss why it is critical for organizations to be responsive. a. Responsiv eness is the quickness, agility, and ability to adapt to changing demands. b. Businesses today must be responsive because of the fast-changing business environment. 15. Describe the qualities of an organic organization structure. . The organic structure stands in stark contrast to the mechanistic organization. It is much less rigid and, in fact, emphasizes flexibility. The organic structure can be described as follows: 1. Jobholders have broader responsibilities that change as the need arises. 2. Communication occurs through advice and information rather than through orders and instructions. 3. Decision making and influence are more decentralized and informal. 4. Expertise is highly valued. 5. Jobholders rely more heavily on judgment than on rules. 6. Obedience to authority is less important than commitment to the organization’s goals. 7. Employees depend more on one another and relate more informally and personally. b. People in organic organizations work more as teammates than as subordinates who take orders from the boss, thus breaking away from the traditional bureaucratic form. The more responsive a firm is, the more responsive it will be to changing competitive demands and market realities. 16. Identify strategies and dynamic organizational concepts that can improve an organization's responsiveness. a. New and emerging organizational concepts and forms include core competencies, strategic alliances, learning organizations, and high-involvement organizations. b. Participative management is becoming increasingly popular as a way to create a competitive advantage. c. High-involvement organization: high- involvement organization, top management ensures that there is a consensus about the direction in which the business is heading. The leader seeks input from his or her top management team and from lower levels of the company. Task forces, study groups, and other techniques are used to foster participation in decisions that affect the entire organization. 17. Explain how a firm can be both big and small. a. Historically, large organizations have had important advantages over small organizations. Today, small size has advantages, including the ability to act quickly, respond to customer demands, and serve small niches. The ideal firm today combines the advantages of both. It creates many small, flexible units, while the corporate levels add value by taking advantage of its size and power. 18. Summarize how firms organize to meet customer requirements. a. By using Customer Relationship Management (A multifaceted process focusing on creating two- way exchanges with customers to foster intimate knowledge of their needs, wants, and buying patterns. ) b. By continually changing in order to connect with customers, even without waiting for customers to make the first move. c. Research and development focus on innovation and new products. Inbound logistics receive and store raw materials and distribute them to operations. Operations transform the raw materials into final product. Outbound logistics warehouse the product and handle its distribution. Marketing and sales identify customer requirements and get customers to purchase the product. Service offers customer support, such as repair, after the item has been bought. d. Utilizing Total Quality Management e. Firms have embraced principles of continuous improvement and total quality management to respond to customer needs. Baldrige criteria and ISO 9001 standards help firms organize to meet better quality specifications. Extending these, reengineering efforts are directed at completely overhauling processes to provide world-class customer service. Total Quality Management (Chapters 5 & 9) 1. Define total quality management. a. An integrative approach to management that supports the attainment of customer satisfaction through a wide variety of tools and techniques that result in high- quality goods and services. 2. Discuss Deming's 14 points of quality. a. Deming’s â€Å" 14 points† of quality emphasized a holistic approach to management that demands intimate understanding of the process— the delicate interaction of materials, machines, and people that deter-mines productivity, quality, and competitive advantage: 1. Create constancy of purpose— strive for long- term improvement rather than short- term profit. 2. Adopt the new philosophy— don’t tolerate delays and mistakes. 3. Cease dependence on mass inspection— build quality into the process on the front end. 4. End the practice of awarding business on price tag alone— build long- term relationships. . Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service— at each stage. 6. Institute training and retraining— continually update methods and thinking. 7. Institute leadership— provide the resources needed for effectiveness. 8. Drive out fear— people m ust believe it is safe to report problems or ask for help. 9. Break down barriers among departments— promote teamwork. 10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and arbitrary targets— supply methods, not buzzwords. 11. Eliminate numerical quotas— they are contrary to the idea of continuous improvement. 12. Remove barriers to pride in workmanship— allow autonomy and spontaneity. 3. Institute a vigorous program of education and retraining— people are assets, not commodities. 14. Take action to accomplish the transformation— provide a structure that enables quality. 3. Discuss Six Sigma. a. One of the most important contributors to total quality management has been the introduction of statistical tools to analyze the causes of product defects, in an approach called Six Sigma Quality. b. The product defects analyzed may include anything that results in customer dissatisfaction— for example, late delivery, wrong shipment, or poor customer servi ce, as well as problems with the product itself. When the defect has been identified, managers then engage the organization in a determined, com-prehensive effort to eliminate its causes and reduce it to the lowest practicable level. At Six Sigma, a product or process is defect- free 99. 99966 percent of the time— less than 3. 4 defects or mistakes per million. Reaching that goal almost always requires managers to restructure their internal processes and relationships with suppliers and customers in fundamental ways. 4. Identify ways that firms organize around different types of technology. . Small batch: Technologies that produce goods and services in low volume. b. Large Batch: Technologies that produce goods and services in high volume. c. Continuous Process: A process that is highly automated and has a continuous production flow. 5. Define reengineering. How is reengineering important to an organization's success? a. The principal idea of reengineering is to revolutionize key organizational systems and processes to answe r the question: â€Å" If you were the customer, how would you like us to operate? The answer to this question forms a vision for how the organization should run, and then decisions are made and actions are taken to make the organization operate like the vision. b. Reengineering is not about making minor organizational changes here and there. It is about completely overhauling the operation, in revolutionary ways, to achieve the greatest possible benefits to the customer and to the organization. 6. What are the benefits of implementing a total quality management system? a. Total quality management (TQM) is different from the old concept of quality because its focus is on serving customers, identifying the causes of quality problems, and building quality into the production process. b. When it is properly implemented, this style of management can lead to decreased costs related to corrective or preventative maintenance, better overall performance, and an increased number of happy and loyal customers 7. What is continuous improvement? a. Continuous improvement, called kaizen by the Japanese, requires that the company continually strive to be better through learning and problem solving. Because we can never achieve perfection, we must always evaluate our performance and take measures to improve it. 8. What are the steps for building a quality management system? a. 1. Customer focus — learning and addressing customer needs and expectations. 2. Leadership — establishing a vision and goals, establishing trust, and providing employees with the resources and inspiration to meet goals. 3. Involvement of people — establishing an environment in which employees understand their contribution, engage in problem solving, and acquire and share knowledge. 4. Process approach — defining the tasks needed to successfully carry out each process and assigning responsibility for them. 5. System approach to management — putting processes together into efficient systems that work together effectively. 6. Continual improvement — teaching people how to identify areas for improvement and rewarding them for making improvements. 7. Factual approach to decision making — gathering accurate performance data, sharing the data with employees, and using the data to make decisions. 8. Mutually beneficial supplier relationships — working in a cooperative way with suppliers. . What is the difference between quality assurance and quality control? a. Quality control is the set of activities performed to ensure that the products or services meet the requirements as defined during the earlier process for assurance of quality. These activities are done during the manufacturing process and once the product is manufactured. b. Qual ity guarantee or assurance is the set of procedures developed and activities done before the product or service is manufactured or delivered to assure of good quality to the customers. This is a proactive approach. 10. What is a quality audit? When is it used? Entrepreneurial Perspective (Chapter 7) 1. Summarize how to assess opportunities to start new companies. a. You should always be on the lookout for new ideas, monitoring the current business environment and other indicators of opportunity. Franchising offers an interesting opportunity, and the potential of the Internet is being tapped (after entrepreneurs learned some tough lessons from the dot- bomb era). Trial and error and preparation play important roles. Assessing the business concept on the basis of how innovative and risky it is, combined with your personal interests and tendencies, will also help you make good choices. Ideas should be carefully assessed via opportunity analysis and a thorough business plan. 2. Identify common causes of success and failure. a. New ventures are inherently risky. The economic environment plays an important role in the success or failure of the business, and the entrepreneur should anticipate and be prepared to adapt in the face of changing economic conditions. How you handle a variety of common management challenges also can mean the difference between success and failure, as can the effectiveness of your planning and your ability to mobilize nonfi-nancial resources, including other people who can help. 3. Discuss common management challenges. a. When new businesses fail, the causes often can be traced to some common challenges that entrepreneurs face and must manage well. You might not enjoy the entrepreneurial process. Survival— including getting started and fending off competitors— is difficult. Growth creates new challenges, including reluctance to delegate work to others. Funds are put to improper use, and financial controls may be inadequate. Many entrepreneurs fail to plan well for succession. When needing or wanting new funds, initial public offerings provide an option, but they represent an important and difficult decision that must be considered carefully. 4. Explain how to increase your chances of success, including good business planning. a. The business plan helps you think through your idea thoroughly and determine its viability. It also convinces ( or fails to con-vince) others to participate. The plan describes the venture and its future, provides financial projections, and includes plans for marketing, manufacturing, and other business functions. The plan should describe the people involved in the venture, a full assess-ment of the opportunity (including customers and competitors), the environmental context (including regulatory and economic issues), and the risk (including future risks and how you intend to deal with them). Successful entrepreneurs also understand how to develop social apital, which enhances legitimacy and helps develop a network of others including customers, talented people, partners, and boards. 5. How does an organization cultivate entrepreneurship within the organization (intrapreneurship)? a. Intrapreneurs work within established companies to develop new goods or services that allow the corporation to reap the benefits of innovation. To facilitate intrapraneurship, organizations use skunkworks— special project teams designated to develop a new product— and allow bootlegging— informal efforts beyond formal job assignments in which employees pursue their own pet projects. Organizations should select projects carefully, have an ongoing portfolio of projects, and fund them appropriately. Ultimately, a true entrepreneurial orientation in a company comes from encouraging independent action, innovativeness, risk taking, proactive behavior, and competitive aggressiveness. 6. What role does entrepreneurship play within an organization? 7. Should organizations encourage an entrepreneurial spirit within their organization? Why or why not? 8. What is the relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship? a. Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of lucrative opportunities by enterprising individuals. . Entrepreneurship is inherently about innovation— creating a new venture where one didn’t exist before. 9. What are the common characteristics of an entrepreneur? a. 1. Commitment and determination: Successful entrepreneurs are decisive, tenacious, disciplined, willing to sacrifice, and able to immerse themselves in their enterprises. 2. Leadership: They are self- starters, team builders, superior learners, and teachers. Communicating a vision for the future of the company— an essential component of leadership that you’ll learn more about in Chapter 12— has a direct impact on venture growth. 7 3. Opportunity obsession: They have an intimate knowledge of customers’ needs, are market driven, and are obsessed with value creation and enhancement. 4. Tolerance of risk, ambiguity, and uncertainty: They are calculated risk takers and risk managers, tolerant of stress, and able to resolve problems. 5. Creativity, self- reliance, and ability to adapt: They are open- minded, restless with the status quo, able to learn quickly, highly adaptable, creative, skilled at conceptualizing, and attentive to details. . Motivation to excel: They have a clear results orientation, set high but realistic goals, have a strong drive to achieve, know their own weaknesses and strengths, and focus on what can be done rather than on the reasons things can’t be done. 10. Do the financing issues that new businesses face differ from those faced by a well-established business? How? Conflict and Change (Chapters 14, 16, 7 18) 1. Identify ways to manage conflict. a. Managing lateral relationships well can prevent some conflict. But conflict arises because of the sheer number of contacts, ambiguities, goal differences, competition for scarce resources, and different perspectives and time horizons. Depending on the situation, five basic interpersonal approaches to managing con-flict can be used: avoidance, accommodation, compromise, com-petition, and collaboration. Superordinate goals offer a focus on higher- level organizational goals that can help generate a collaborative relationship. Techniques for managing conflict between other parties include acting as a mediator and managing virtual conflict. 2. Identify different conflict styles. a. Avoidance, accommodation, compromise, competing, collaboration 3. Discuss the role of a mediator. a. A Mediator is a â€Å" third party† intervening to help settle a conflict between other people. Third- party intervention, done well, can improve working relationships and help the parties improve their own conflict- management, communication, and problem- solving skills. 4. Explain the difference between avoidance, accommodation, compromise, competing, and collaboration as conflict styles. a. Avoidance: A reaction to conflict that involves ignoring the problem by doing nothing at all, or deemphasizing the disagreement. . Accommodation: A style of dealing with conflict involving cooperation on behalf of the other party but not being assertive about one’s own interests. c. Compromise: A style of dealing with conflict involving moderate attention to both parties’ concerns. d. Competing: A style of dealing with conflict involving strong focus on one’s own goal s and little or no concern for the other person’s goals. e. Collaboration: A style of dealing with conflict emphasizing both cooperation and assertiveness to maximize both parties’ satisfaction. 5. Describe four types of control systems. a. Bureaucratic Control: Bureaucratic control is the use of rules, regulations, and formal authority to guide performance. It includes such items as budgets, statistical reports, and performance appraisals to regulate behavior and results. b. Market Control: Market control involves the use of pricing mechanisms to regulate activities in organizations as though they were economic transactions. Business units may be treated as profit centers and trade resources ( services or goods) with one another via such mechanisms. Managers who run these units may be evaluated on the basis of profit and loss. . Clan Control: Clan control, unlike the first two types, does not assume that the interests of the organization and individuals naturally diverge. Instead, clan control is based on the idea that employees may share the values, expectations, and goals of the organization and act in accordance with them. When members of an organization have common values and goals— and trust one anotherâ₠¬â€ formal controls may be less necessary. d. Dynamic Control: 6. What types of control systems have you seen in operation in your organization (or one you know well)? 7. What is functional conflict? Describe the conflict process. 8. What are some conflict-resolution techniques that can be employed in an organization? 9. What is the controlling function within an organization? 10. What are the steps in the control process? 1. Setting performance standards. 2. Measuring performance. 3. Comparing performance against the standards and determining deviations. 4. Taking action to correct problems and reinforce successes. 11. What are the stages of change within an organization? a. Unfreezing: breaking from the old ways of doing things b. Moving: instituting the change c. Refreezing: reinforcing and supporting the new ways 12. What strategies can mangers use to overcome resistance to their change initiatives? a. Understand why people often resist change (inertia, timing, surprise, peer pressure/ self interest, misunderstanding, different assessments, management tactics) b. Force- field analysis: involves identifying the specific forces that prevent people from changing and the specific forces that will drive people toward change. c. Education and Communication: Management should educate people about upcoming changes before they occur. It should communicate not only the nature of the change but its logic. d. Participation and Involvement: change requires reflection and dialogue. It is important to listen to the people who are affected by the change. They should be involved in the change’s design and implementation. e. Facilitation and Support: Facilitation involves training and other resources people need to carry out the change and perform their jobs under the new circumstances. This step often includes decentralizing authority and empowering people, that is, giving them the power to make the decisions and changes needed to improve their performance. . Negotiation and Rewards: When necessary and appropriate, management can offer concrete incentives for cooperation with the change. Perhaps job enrichment is acceptable only with a higher wage rate, or a work rule change is resisted until manage-ment agrees to a concession on some other rule ( say, regarding taking breaks). g. Manipulation and cooptation: One form of manipulation is cooptation, which involves giving a resisting individual a desirable role in the change process. The leader of a resisting group often is coopted. For example, management might invite a union leader to be a member of an executive committee or ask a key member of an outside organization to join the company’s board of directors. As a person becomes involved in the change, he or she may become less resistant to the actions of the coopting group or organization. h. Explicit and implicit coercion: Some managers apply punishment or the threat of punishment to those who resist change. With this approach, managers use force to make people comply with their wishes. Human Resource Mgmt & Diversity (Chapters 10 & 11) 1. How do companies use human resource management to gain a competitive advantage? a. To succeed, companies must align their human resources to their strategies. Effective planning is necessary to make certain that the right number and type of employees are available to implement a company’s strategic plan. It is clear that hiring the most competent people is a very involved process. Companies that compete on cost, quality, service, and so on also should use their staffing, training, appraisal, and reward systems to elicit and reinforce the kinds of behaviors that underlie their strategies. 2. Give reasons companies recruit both internally and externally for new hires. a. Some companies prefer to recruit internally to make certain that employees are familiar with organizational policies and values. In other instances, companies prefer to recruit externally, such as through employee referrals, job boards, newspaper advertising, and campus visits, to find individuals with new ideas and fresh perspectives. External recruiting is also necessary to fill positions when the organization is growing or needs skills that do not exist among its current employees. 3. Identify various methods for selecting new employees. . There are myriad selection techniques from which to choose. Interviews and reference checks are the most common. Per-sonality tests and cognitive ability tests measure an individual’s aptitude and potential to do well on the job. Other selection techniques include assessment centers and integrity tests. Background and reference checks verify that the informati on supplied by employees is accurate. Regardless of the approach used, any test should be able to demonstrate reliability ( consistency across time and different interview situations) and validity ( accuracy in predicting job performance). In addition, selection methods must comply with equal opportunity laws, which are intended to ensure that companies do not discriminate in any employment practices. 4. Evaluate the importance of spending money and time on training and development. a. People cannot depend on a set of skills for all of their working lives. In today’s changing, competitive world, old skills quickly become obsolete, and new ones become essential for success. Refreshing or updating an individual’s skills requires a great deal of continuous training, designed with easurable goals and methods that will achieve those goals. Companies understand that gaining a competitive edge in quality of service depends on having the most talented, flexible workers in the industry. 5. Explain alternative selections for those who appraise an employee's performance. a. Many companies are using multiple sources of appraisal because different people see different sides of an employee’s performance. Typical ly, a superior is expected to evaluate an employee, but peers and team members are often well positioned to see aspects of performance that a superior misses. Even an employ-ee’s subordinates are being asked more often today to give their input to get yet another perspective on the evaluation. Particularly in companies concerned about quality, internal and external customers also are surveyed. Finally, employees should evaluate their own performance, if only to get them thinking about their own performance, as well as to engage them in the appraisal process. 6. Describe the fundamental aspects of a reward system a. Reward systems include pay and benefits. Pay systems have three basic components: pay level, pay structure, and individual pay determination. To achieve an advantage over competitors, executives may want to pay a generally higher wage to their company’s employees, but this decision must be weighed against the need to control costs ( pay- level decisions often are tied to strategic concerns such as these). To achieve internal equity ( paying people what they are worth relative to their peers within the company), managers must look at the pay structure, making certain that pay differentials are based on knowledge, effort, responsibility, working conditions, seniority, and so on. Individual pay determination is often based on merit or the dif-ferent contributions of individuals. In these cases, it is important to make certain that men and women receive equal pay for equal work, and managers may wish to base pay decisions on the idea of comparable worth ( equal pay for an equal contribution). Also, the Occupational Safety and Health Act requires that employees have a safe and healthy work environment. 7. Summarize how unions and labor laws influence human resources management. a. Labor relations involve the interactions between workers and management. One mechanism by which this relationship is con-ducted is unions. Unions seek to present a collective voice for workers, to make their needs and wishes known to manage-ment. Unions negotiate agreements with management regard-ing a range of issues such as wages, hours, working conditions, job security, and health care. One important tool that unions can use is the grievance procedure established through collective bargaining. This mechanism gives employees a way to seek redress for wrongful action on the part of management. In this way, unions make certain that the rights of all employees are protected. Labor laws seek to protect the rights of both employees and managers so that their relationship can be pro-ductive and agreeable. 8. Describe how changes in the U. S. workforce make diversity a critical organizational and managerial issue. a. The labor force is getting older and more racially and ethnically diverse, with a higher proportion of women. And while the absolute number of workers is increasing, the growth in jobs is outpacing the numerical growth of workers. In addition, the jobs that are being created frequently require higher skills than the typical worker can provide; thus, we are seeing a growing skills gap. To be competitive, organizations can no longer take the traditional approach of depending on white males to form the core of the workforce. Today, managers must look broadly to make use of talent wherever it can be found. As the labor market changes, organizations that can recruit, develop, motivate, and retain a diverse workforce will have a competitive advantage. 9. Distinguish between affirmative action and managing diversity. a. Affirmative action is designed to correct past exclusion of women and minorities from U. S. organizations. But despite the accomplishments of affirmative action, it has not eliminated bar-riers that prevent individuals from reaching their full potential. Managing diversity goes beyond hiring people who are different from the norm and seeks to support, nurture, and use employee differences to the organization’s advantage. 10. Identify challenges associated with managing a diverse workforce. a. The challenges for managers created by a diverse workforce include decreased group cohesiveness, communication problems, mistrust and tension, and stereotyping. These challenges can be turned into advantages by means of training and effective management. 11. Define monolithic, pluralistic, and multicultural organizations. a. Monolithic: An organization that has a low degree of structural integration— employing few women, minorities, or other groups that differ from the majority— and thus has a highly homogeneous employee population.. b. Pluralistic: Pluralistic organizations have a relatively diverse employee population and try to involve various types of employ-ees ( e. g. , engaging in affirmative action and avoiding discrimination). Conflict is greatest in a pluralistic organization. c. Multicultural: Multicultural organizations not only have diversity but value it, and they fully integrate men and women of various racial and ethnic groups, as well as people with different types of expertise. 12. List steps managers and their organizations can take to cultivate diversity. a. To be successful, organizational efforts to manage diversity must have top management support and commitment. Organizations should first undertake a thorough assessment of their cultures, policies, and practices, as well as the demographics of their labor pools and customer bases. Only after this diagnosis has been completed is a company in position to initiate programs designed to attract, develop, motivate, and retain a diverse workforce. 13. What is strategic human resource planning, and how does it benefit an organization? 14. What legal considerations must organizations consider when hiring employees? 15. What is the job characteristics model (JCM)? a. Hackman & Oldham proposed the Job Characteristics Model, which is widely used as a framework to study how particular job characteristics impact on job outcomes, including job satisfaction. The model states that there are five core job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback) which impact three critical psychological states (experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility for outcomes, and knowledge of the actual results), in turn influencing work outcomes (job satisfaction, absenteeism, work motivation, etc. ). 16. Why are certain types of diversity protected by law? What are they? a. Female, minorities, immigrants, disabled people. 17. What are some barriers to cross-cultural communication in an organization? a. isunderstandings, inac-curacies, inefficiencies, and slowness. Speed is lost when not all group members are fluent in the same language or when additional time is required to explain things. Sometimes diversity may decrease communication, as when white male managers feel less comfortable giving feedback to women or minorities, for fear of how criticism may be received. The result may be employees who do n ot have a clear idea of what they need to do to improve their performance. 18. When are organizations required to modify their workplace in order to accommodate the needs of an individual employee? a. When the employee is unable to accomplish his job without reasonable accommodation. 19. What is an effective diversity training program? a. A program that has 1. Position training in your broad diversity strategy. 2. Do a thorough needs analysis. 3. Distinguish between education and training. 4. Use a participative design process. 5. Test the program thoroughly before rollout. 6. Incorporate training programs into the core training curriculum. CHAPTER 10 QUIZ QUESTIONS 20. Conducting demand forcasts is the most difficult part of HR planning. 21. Job analysis provides job descriptions and job specifications. 2. Which of these is the most popular selection tool? – Interviews 23. The behavioral description interview explores what candidates have actually done in the past. 24. Which of these is a managerial performance test in which candidates participate in a variety of exercises and situations? –Assessment center 25. The degree to which a selection test predicts or correl ates with job performance is called validity. 26. While laying off 160 employees in a cost cutting move, Peel and Seal, Inc. is also helping these laid-off employees regain employment elsewhere. This is referred to as outplacement. 27. Development involves teaching managers and professional employees broader skills needed for their present and future jobs. 28. The law that prohibits gender based pay discrimination between two jobs substantially similar in skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions is Equal Pay Act. 29. MBO is one approach to results appraisals. 30. The decision that prices different jobs within the organization is pay structure 31. Internal factors affecting the wage mix include compensation policy of organization. 32. Individual incentive plans are the most common type of incentive plan. 33. The use of a neutral third party to resolve abor dispute is called arbitration. CHAPTER 11 QUIZ QUESTIONS 1. What percent of women currently make up the workforce? -46% 2. Rosalie reached the level of regional manager at Bike Tools Etc. nine years ago. Three of her counterparts have been promoted to vice president level. Although Rosalie has more experience and better performance numbers, she has no t been promoted. As a matter of fact, white males occupy all senior positions at Bike Tools Etc. Rosalie appears to have hit the glass ceiling. 3. William was denied promotion because he rejected the sexual advances from his boss, Reba. This appears to be a case of _____ harassment. Quid Pro Quo 4. Minorities and immigrants hold approximately _____ jobs in the United States. –1 out of every 4 5. All of the following statements are true except: African American workforce is growing the fastest in the United States followed by Asian and Hispanic workforces / by 2020, most of California's entry-level workers will be Hispanic / the younger Americans are, the more likely they are to be persons of color / three in ten college enrollees are people of color / foreign-born workers make up more than 15 percent of the U. S. civilian labor force 6. _____ are the largest unemployed minority in the United States. People with disabilities 7. The most common negative effect of diversity is c ommunication problems. 8. A(n)____ is an organization that has a relatively diverse employee population and makes an effort to involve employees from different gender, racial, or cultural backgrounds. –pluralistic organization Organizational Structure (Chapters 8, 9 , 15, & 17) 1. Explain how differentiation and integration influence an organization's structure. a. Differentiation means that organizations have many parts. Specialization means that various individuals and units throughout the organization perform different tasks. The assignment of tasks to different people or groups often is referred to as the division of labor. But the specialized tasks in an organization cannot all be performed independently of one another. Coordination links the various tasks in order to achieve the organization’s overall mission. An organization with many different specialized tasks and work units is highly differentiated; the more differentiated the organization is, the more integration or coordination is required. 2. Summarize how authority operates. a. Authority is the legitimate right to make decisions and tell other people what to do. Authority is exercised throughout the hierarchy, as bosses have the authority to give orders to subordinates. Through the day- to- day operation of authority, the organization proceeds toward achieving its goals. Owners or stockholders have ultimate authority. 3. Define the roles of the board of directors and the chief executive officer. a. Boards of directors report to stockholders. The board of directors controls or advises management, considers the firm’s legal and other interests, and protects stockholders’ rights. The chief executive officer reports to the board and is accountable for the organization’s performance. 4. Discuss how span of control affects structure and managerial effectiveness. a. Span of control is the number of people who report directly to a manager. Narrow spans create tall organizations, and wide spans create flat ones. No single span of control is always appropriate; the optimal span is determined by characteristics of the work, the subordinates, the manager, and the organization. 5. Explain how to delegate effectively. a. Delegation— the assignment of tasks and responsibilities— has many potential advantages for the manager, the subordinate, and the organization. But to be effective, the process must be managed carefully. The manager should define the goal, select the person, solicit opinions, provide resources, schedule checkpoints, and discuss progress periodically. 6. Distinguish between centralized and decentralized organizations. a. In centralized organizations, most important decisions are made by top managers. In decentralized organizations, many decisions are delegated to lower levels. 7. Summarize ways organizations can be structured. a. Organizations can be structured on the basis of function, division ( product, customers, or geographic), matrix, and network. Each form has advantages and disadvantages. 8. Identify the unique challenges of the matrix organization. a. The matrix is a complex structure with a dual authority structure. A well- managed matrix enables organizations to adapt to change. But it can also create confusion and interpersonal dif-ficulties. People in all positions in the matrix— top executives, product and function managers, and two- boss managers— must acquire unique survival skills. 9. Describe important integrative mechanisms. a. Managers can coordinate interdependent units through standardization, plans, and mutual adjustment. Standardization occurs when routines and standard operating procedures are put in place. They typically are accompanied by formalized rules. Coordination by plan is more flexible and allows more freedom in how tasks are carried out but keeps interdependent units focused on schedules and joint goals. Mutual adjustment involves feedback and discussions among related parties to accommodate each other’s needs. It is at once the most flexible and simple to administer, but it is time- consuming. 10. What is the difference between forward vertical integration and backward vertical integration? a. Forward Vertical Integration b. Backward Vertical Integration: 11. What are the benefits and challenges of a matrix organization structure? . Benefits: i. Decision-making is decentralized to a level where information is processed properly and relevant knowledge is applied. †¢ Extensive communications networks help process large amounts of information. †¢ With decisions delegated to appropriate levels, higher management levels are not overloaded with operational decisio ns. †¢ Resource utilization is efficient because key resources are shared across several important programs or products at the same time. †¢ Employees learn the collaborative skills needed to function in an environment characterized by frequent meetings and more informal interactions. Dual career ladders are elaborated as more career options become available on both sides of the organization. b. Challenges: i. Confusion can arise because people do not have a single superior to whom they feel primary responsibility. †¢ The design encourages managers who share subordinates to jockey for power. †¢ The mistaken belief can arise that matrix management is the same thing as group decision-making— in other words, everyone must be consulted for every decision. †¢ Too much democracy can lead to not enough action.