Alternative Methods of Involvement of Employees in Decision Making Essay

Alternative Methods of Involvement of Employees in Decision Making - Essay Example Managers today are under pressure to engage employees in all aspects of their jobs. Generally, they must find ways to engage employees so they will stay working in the organization. Without engagement, many employees begin to slack in their duties (Farndale, van Ruiten, Killiher & Hope-Hailey, 2011; Gupta, 2011; Liu, Listen-Heyes & Ko, 2010). Companies are pressed to find alternative ways of engaging employees to motivate them to stay. Part of this engagement happens when employees have a voice in the decision making process. When they have a voice and understand that their ideas and opinions are valued and often taken into consideration when large decisions are made, the individuals have a better time of staying with the organisation. Employee Decision Making and Retention One of the ways to retain employees is to give them an opportunity to provide information about change and opportunities for advancement. Many employees bring their most creative and innovative ideas when they fee l they have the opportunity to be heard. Chen, Ployhart et al. (2011) studied the issue of employee turnover and why this often happened. They found that an employee’s job satisfaction is central to whether they stay in on organisation or whether they leave. Part of job satisfaction came from the employee’s perception of their control within their job. Control was often felt by the opportunity to take part in specific decisions as they happened. ... (2011) add to this discussion on voice because they suggest that employees have more commitment to the organisation when they perceive that their voice is being heard. They also found that this perception was directly related to whether employees developed trust in senior management. The authors state that the employee must have a psychological attachment to the organization and its values. This means that employees must be actively involved with decision making and there must be an â€Å"exchange relationship† which means a â€Å"one party provides a benefit to the other, thereby causing an obligation to respond by providing something beneficial †¦ â€Å"(Farndale et al., 2011, p. 115). In an exchange relationship in the organisation, employee voice is heard on a regular basis. The positive aspects of treating employees as stakeholders is that it makes them feel valued, makes them create a stronger commitment to the organisation and motivates them to contribute (Wilkin son and Fay, 2011). With employees as active participants in the decision making process, the managers would become more accountable in their financial practices as well as in their accounting of what they were charged to do (Chilosi and Damiani 2007). Some of the challenges to this method include that some employees may feel they do not have to work as hard because they are important to the organisation, and this attitude can lead to a lessening of productivity. Also, employees involved as stakeholders could create a challenge for outsiders who come into the firm to bring their assistance because they would know as much as the insiders. In some cases, managers can become disgruntled because they may perceive that they do not have as much power because all employees have a say (Chilosi and Damiani 2007).

HRM Case study (giving HR advice) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HRM Case study (giving HR advice) - Essay Example Elements of organizational structure Specialization Managers need to decide how much work is to be done by each employee. Less degree of specialization would mean one worker handling many tasks at a time. This works with small organizations. But with a large organization, tasks need to be divided into chunks and each chunk should be handled by the designated worker. This improves productivity which also gives total control on the task (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2010). Departmentalization Forming departments as per different functions is a logical way to do things in a large organization. It is a practical solution in which two different functions cannot hinder each other as they have been separated by their respective departments (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2010). Authority An important issue arising is of who is going to take how much authority in his hands. None of the organizations are completely centralized or decentralized. Managers must consider the experience and personality of the s ubordinates when deciding for the management style and strategy of the organization (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2010). Span of control First and foremost, organizational structure of an organization should be determined. This will determine the nature of responsibilities and authority on each member of the organization. ... A narrow span of control would have fewer people to report directly to the manager. This would add more layers to management and hence communication would be slow between lower employees and top managers. A wide span of control would have more subordinates to report directly to the manager. There is a good flow of communication between its lower level employees and top managers. Few layers are involved in the structure (Thomas, 2011). It has been researched that a small span of management with a taller organization structure would be more expensive to run because of greater number of managers. It would also show communication problems. A wider span of control would is more recommended and proves to be useful in most environments. The reason is more employees report to managers directly which would increase employees’ motivation, morale and productivity (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2010). Coordination of activities Even if there is departmentalization and specialization, there shoul d be coordination between its activities. Problems arise when there is lack of coordination of activities. There should be a link between the functions of two departments (O'Fallon & Rutherford, 2010). A Functional Organization Mr. John Brown needs to make his hotel a functional organization. A functional organization organizes itself along functional lines, with departments being grouped according to their specific functions. Each department is further sub-divided into further small departments. For instance, if there is Rooms Department in a hotel, it is further subdivided into other smaller departments such as laundry department. This way, specific tasks are performed by employees in a specific pattern and there are fewer chances of errors. A functional organization

The Obstacles Between Israel And Palestine

The Obstacles Between Israel And Palestine The Israeli Palestinian conflict is the longest running contemporary conflict, still ongoing, to date. The origins of the conflict and its history provide the context necessary to understanding the obstacles to a to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The obstacles to a peace agreement are both numerous and complex. Some of the more major obstacles, recent and still current today include: (1) land issues over the West Bank and Gaza strip, (2) status of Jerusalem (3) security concerns, (4) Palestinian refugee problems, and (5) issues over water resources. The purpose of this academic essay is to provide a brief overview of the origins and history of the Israeli Palestinian conflict, placing a primary focus on providing a detailed account of the aforementioned major obstacles to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The origins and particularly the history of Israeli Palestinian conflict can become mindboggling as the conflict has gone on for so long; a simple, selective and brief overview would best facilitate an understanding of this epic saga like conflict. Starting from the very beginning; in ancient times Judea was originally the home of the Jews until it was conquered by the Romans, renamed Palestine, and later reconquered and inhabited by Arabs for over a thousand years. Zionism, a movement of national liberation to achieve a homeland for Jews (Heywood, A. 2007) later came about and it aimed to restore the Jews to Israel, largely ignoring the existing Arab population. In 1917, Britain was granted Palestine as a League of Nations mandate under the Balfour Declaration, in which Britain committed itself to the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. Arab resentment over the loss of their land to the Jews fostered repeated riots and a revolt that later prompted Br itain to cease Jewish immigration to Palestine. Jewish immigration to Palestine resumed due to the pressure created by the Holocaust and murder of 6 million Jews at the hands of the Nazis and in 1947 the UN partitioned Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. This would cause Arab tempers to flare, they could not accept the partition and as a result a war broke out. Israel would win a decisive victory and expand as a state, and in doing so create Palestinian refugees in the hundreds of thousands. This was only the beginning of the conflict. The Arab states would refuse Israel both recognition and peace; wars would break out in 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982. There were also many terror raids and Israeli reprisals. Each side blames the other entirely for the conflict and expects an apology. The intensity of the Israeli Palestinian conflict has varied over the years, but with the continued involvement of the international community, the calls for peace are growing ever louder. The Peace proc ess began in 1993 with The Oslo Declaration of Principles. In this document, both sides recognized the rights of the other to exist as a people within the borders of Palestine/Israel, and committed themselves to negotiating a permanent settlement and to improving relations between the two peoples. (MidEastWeb, 2008) Since then, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), currently led by Mahmoud Abbas, and the Israeli government, currently led by Benjamin Netanyahu, has been committed to an eventual two-state solution. The two parties have taken part in direct and official negotiations mediated by the Quartet on the Middle East, represented by and consisting of the United Nations, United States, Russia, and the European Union. Since 2003, however, the Palestinian side has become divided between its two major factions, that of Fatah, traditionally the dominant party, and that of Hamas, its later electoral challenger. Hamas seizure of power over the Gaza Strip in June 2007, caused a division of governance over the territory formerly controlled by the Palestinian National Authority (the Palestinian interim government) between the Fatah in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Annapolis Conference of 2007, would set out the central issues, and therefore the major obstacles needed to be ov ercome, in order for a peace agreement to be reached. Land issues over the West bank and (until 2005) the Gaza Strip is just one of the major obstacles to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The 2,200 square miles of land was occupied in the 6 day war of 1967, and since then Israel re-established old communities (destroyed in 1929 and 1948) and built new settlements for its people in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the majority of which reside in the West Bank. Israel expanded these settlements throughout the peace process that began in 1993 with the Oslo Declaration of Principles. The United States, United Kingdom, European Union along with the International Court of Justice have declared these settlements illegal under international law. In 2005, Israel enacted its unilateral disengagement plan, evacuating all residents of Jewish settlements located in the Gaza strip, as well as four settlements in the northern West Bank, and demolishing all residential buildings. The West Bank, however, still remains in dispute. The Palestinians demand a complete hand over of the West Bank in its entirety. Israel on other hand maintains that it needs to retain some land and settlements in the West Bank to act as a buffer against future acts of aggression. This issue remains unresolved and as such is one of the major obstacles to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The status of Jerusalem is another major obstacle to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians because of its significant religious importance to the three largest Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Both Israel and Palestinians assert claims over the eastern part of Jerusalem. For Israel, Jerusalem was the capital of Judea in ancient times and the site of the Jewish holy temple, of which only the Western Wall remains. For Palestinians, Jerusalem is also the site of the Al-Aqsa mosque, regarded by many as the third holiest Islamic site. Both sides also have grave concerns regarding the welfare of their respective holy sites being under the control of the other. Israel asserts that Jerusalem should not be divided, rather it should remain unified under Israels control. Palestinians claim the parts of Jerusalem that were not a part of Israel prior to June 1967. As of 2005, of the 719,000 people that lived in Jerusalem, 465,000 were Jews, most of which live d in West Jerusalem, and 232,000 were Arabs, most of which lived in East Jerusalem. At the Camp David in 2000 and Taba Summits in 2001, the United States proposed that the Arab parts of Jerusalem should be given to the Palestinians while the Jewish parts of Jerusalem should be retained by Israel. Both sides accepted the proposal in principle, but the summits ultimately failed. No concrete action has been taken on this matter as of yet and it remains a major obstacle to an Israeli Palestinian conflict resolution. Israeli security concerns are also a major obstacle in the resolution of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Throughout the Israeli Palestinian conflict, Palestinian political violence has been of particular concern to the Israelis. The Palestinian political violence against Israel, its civilians and military are considered acts of terrorism. Although violent Palestinian groups may disagree with each other on specific issues, they are united and motivated by a common goal; to eliminate the state of Israel, replacing it with a Palestinian Arab state. Another concern is the close proximity of Israeli cities to Palestinian territories. Many of Israels cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are within the Palestinians artillery range and the threat of Qassam rockets fired from the Palestinian territories is of great concern to Israeli defence. The Israeli government recorded 1,726 such rocket launches in 2006 alone. It is because of this Israel insists that the Palestinian state should be d emilitarized. These are not the only security concerns Israel has. The West Bank is of enormous strategic importance to any country intent on invading Israel. Israel insists that the Palestinian state provide guarantees that foreign armies will not be permitted to enter its borders; to ensure this Israel insists on the establishment of bases within the West Bank as a safeguard. Another major obstacle in the resolution of the Israeli Palestinian conflict is how to deal with the Palestinian refugee problem. In 1948, about 726,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in the war that followed shortly after the creation of Israel. Additional Palestinians fled from their homes in the 6 day war of 1967. Today there are about 4.6 million Palestinian refugees. Many of them live in poor conditions in crowded refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. Palestinians demand that these refugees should have the right to return to their homes in Israel under the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 of 1948 which states that: the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible. Israelis refute this right arguing that in 1948 Jews fled Arab lands to Israel in almost equal numbers. One of the main reasons Israelis oppose the return of the Palestinian refugees is because that would create an Arab Palestinian majority and thus would put an end to Israel as a Jewish state. Most Palestinian groups agree with and support this outcome wanting to see a resolution to the refugee problem and the end of Israel; killing two birds with one stone, as it were. The Israeli government also asserts that the Palestinian refugee problem is largely due to the refusal of all Arab governments, with the exception of Jordan, to grant citizenship to Palestinian Arabs who reside within those countries borders. Water resources and their management is another major obstacle peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians as it is a scarce commodity. The Israel National Water Carrier, however, has made a high population density and standard of living possible. The carrier works by pumping water from the Sea of Galilee and carrying it to areas in the centre and to the south of Israel and the Palestinian areas as well. Up to 1.7 million cubic meters of water can flow through the carrier in just one day; but this is not enough. Israel receives a great deal of its water supply from two large underground aquifers that continue under the Green Line. The use of this underground water has been contentious as some of the wells used to draw the water reside within Palestinian Authority areas. Even though Israel withdraws some water from these areas, it also supplies the West Bank with approximately 40 million cubic meters annually, contributing to 77% of the Palestinians water supply in the West Ba nk, which is to be shared among a population of about 2.3 million. Both sides need water for survival and development and want to ensure an adequate water supply from the limited resources available. Israel has reserved for its own use a large percentage of the water in West Bank aquifers. One of the Palestinians most central concerns is obtaining land and resources that have enough contiguity to provide them with a viable society, and not be forced to give up too many resources to Israel, as this may lead to economic collapse. The purpose of this academic essay was to provide a brief overview of the origins and history of the Israeli Palestinian conflict, placing a primary focus on providing a detailed account of the aforementioned major obstacles to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. There are 5 major obstacles to a to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. (1) Land issues over the West Bank and Gaza strip consisting of the Palestinians demanding a complete hand over of the West Bank in its entirety and Israel wanting to retain some land and settlements to act as a buffer against future acts of aggression. (2) The status of Jerusalem with both sides asserting claims over the eastern part of Jerusalem and fearing for the welfare of their respective holy sites being under the control of the other. (3) Israeli security concerns regarding: the Palestinian political violence and terrorism, Israeli cities being within the Palestinians artillery range, with the threat of Qassa m rocket attacks; and the defence of the West Bank from foreign invasion. (4) Palestinian refugee problems and finding a proper home for 4.6 million refugees living in poor conditions in crowded refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. (5) Issues over water resources, with both sides needing water for survival and development and wanting to ensure an adequate water supply from the limited resources available.

The Republican Party Essay examples -- Papers Government Politics Essa

The Republican Party The Republican party is one of the two major POLITICAL PARTIES in the United States, the other being the DEMOCRATIC PARTY party. It is popularly known as the GOP, from its earlier nickname Grand Old Party. From the time it ran its first PRESIDENTIAL candidate, John C. Fremont, in 1856, until the inauguration of Republican George BUSH in 1989, Republican presidents occupied the WHITE HOUSE for 80 years. Traditionally, Republican strength came primarily from New England and the Midwest. After World War II, however, it greatly increased in the Sunbelt states and the West. Generally speaking, after World War I the Republican party became the more conservative of the two major parties, with its support coming from the upper middle class and from the corporate, financial, and farming interests. It has taken political stances generally in favor of laissez- faire, free enterprise, and fiscal responsibility (at least until 1981) and against the welfare state. The Founding of the Party Scholars agree that the origins of the party grew out of the sectional conflicts regarding the expansion of slavery into the new Western territories. The stimulus for political realignment was provided by the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. That law repealed earlier compromises that had excluded slavery from the territories. The passage of this act served as the unifying agent for abolitionists and split the Democrats and the WHIG party. "Anti-Nebraska" protest meetings spread rapidly through the country. Two such meetings were held in Ripon, Wis., on Feb. 28 and Mar. 20, 1854, and were attended by a group of abolitionist FREE SOILERS, Democrats, and Whigs. They decided to call themselves Republicans--because they p... ...en George Bush won the presidency by a large margin. President Bush's approval rating reached an impressive 89 percent in 1991 after the international coalition he forged against Iraq achieved victory in the Persian Gulf War. However, a recession that began in 1990, combined with the electorate's growing concern with domestic issues in the aftermath of the Cold War and public impatience with "gridlock" in the government, counted against him in his reelection bid. Led by Bill CLINTON, the Democrats in 1992 captured the presidency (with 370 ELECTORAL votes to Bush's 168) and solid majorities in both houses of Congress. In 1994, having blocked Clinton's legislative agenda and mounted an aggressive counterattack in that year's mid-term election campaign, Republicans seized control of both houses of Congress. Bibliography: American Encyclopedia on line

Enterprise Strategy Essay

This type of business structure that is E-business is more common in the developed countries than in third class countries; to sell products customers in the comfort of their homes is widespread in these countries, so Forejustin Passman the founder and general manager plans to make widespread this type of business even in a developing country, Botswana. 1. 0 THE entrepreneur 1. 1 The motivation for starting the business Pull factors are exploiting opportunity and a financial incentive whilst the push factor that led him to open the business was threat of unemployment. The pull factors He was pulled into this business because he wanted to exploit an opportunity to sell gadgets such as tablets i. e. Apple’s Ipads, Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes &Nobles’ the nook. Consequently he decided to open Group Little, a predominantly virtual company, having little physical presence and high internet presence. After a market research he realised that most gadget stores in Botswana undermine internet trading and he decided to exploit this opportunity. Citing most gadget stores are set up according to a strategy and are purposely designed to make customer experience as pleasant as possible but their websites normally do not have a similar strategy applied to them, as the sites are normally a glorified business card that does not engage visitors and in some cases even harm the business image. Mr Passman was also pulled to gain financial incentive he paid meticulous attention to primary research in order to weigh the benefits, the cost and opportunities of his approach. The push factors The threat of unemployment is the only push factor that influenced Forejustin to start his business. At age 18 he performed poorly in his A-level results which caused him to fail to pursue a business degree at university, other than compromising and pursuing other degree programmes that he lacked interest in he decided to re-sit some examinations. Whilst in wait for examination results he did not want to be considered to be part of the unemployed so he started his company Group Little. 1. 2 Forejustin Passman’s character traits Proactive- he is one of the few people who do not believe in luck, he seeks after opportunities other than wait for them to present themselves to him. He is also quick and decisive, when faced with the dilemma of whether to go into just conventional retailing he decided and to have the virtual retailing, where he has limited physical presence and a fully-fledged internet presence. His logic behind such a decision being that the internet is a necessary portal for success in the 21st century business and beyond. He is regarded by some a restless while he considers himself easily bored because as he says he is easily diverted to the most recent market opportunity. He is especially known as a man who acts and then learns from the outcomes of his action, and thus far his upbeat approach has worked positively to advance the company. Visionary- Mr Passman has and had a clear vision for Group Little; for it to become a household name in virtual companies of Africa and to be an expert in Africa’s virtual market space. He wants Group Little to be benchmarked by any international company exploring to invest in the virtual market place of Africa. Now this visionary flair has positioned him to be always at the right place at the right time and being able snatch opportunities within his vision. 1. MR Passman’s personality type Mr Forejustin Passman is certainly spontaneous. Spontaneous because most of the things he does, he does instinctively. This matches positively with his proactive character trait mentioned previously in section 1. 2. He is a creative, lively and open-minded person. His humorous nature disposes a contagious zest for lif e. Forejustin’s enthusiasm and sparkling energy inspires the team to work harder, his strengths therefore are creative problem solutions, discovering new ways and opportunities, the conceptualization of new ideas on one hand, but not so much his concrete implementation on the other. To compensate for this weakness he has staff of capable colleagues that takes over his concepts and runs with them. Spontaneous is the best classification of Mr Passman, other than classifying him as an introvert or extrovert which is a widely used approach of personality type definition, which in some cases is limiting to define peculiar individuals as Mr Forejustin Passman. 1. 4 Decision making and leadership style Decision making style Forejustin Passman’s decision making style is conceptual. He has high tolerance for ambiguity in that even when he was not sure how Batswana will respond to an e-business he still went on decided to do what he planned. He has a broad outlook in business, with the resident of truth being not enough Batswana are connected to internet currently, he deemed it fit to go ahead because most industries around the world are adopting e-business and even though Botswana is still lagging behind the time is eminent for her as well to join in. His conceptual decision making style is also evident in that he has found a creative way to solve the local problem of segregated demand and supply. Where people in difficult to reach areas have a high quantity demand of some products from businesses yet they cannot reach those businesses to be supplied with what they demand, so he decided the customers will shop in the comfort of their own far away home and he will deliver the products to them. 1. 5 Leadership style Laissez-faire style, he is a leader who has consciously made a decision to pass focus of power to the outsourced employees. He considered since the workforce is already talented and qualified to do the job they must be able to positively exercise judgement to respond to issues. Mr Passman simply sets out the targets and deadlines afterwards he charges the taskforce to do the work that is at hand, he is not very interested in how they do the job he just wants the work to be done in due time. Some have criticised his type of leadership saying he is risking the success of his business by delegating power the employees but according to him this type of environment breeds creativity, and that is what he wants from his team, creative ways to solve problems, which is a direct match to his decision making style he wants them to think like him. 1. 6 Mr Forejustin Passman’s role within the business Forejustin oversees the review of Group Little’s corporate strategy, looks for market opportunities, acquires strategic assets and protects Group Little’s existing competencies. As this organisation is relatively small, Forejustin has adopted this multidisciplinary role. His acquisition of strategic assets is done in order to solidify their position in the market, he cites sometimes organic growth is too slow for the company’s vision therefore acquisition of some assets provides an impetus to desired growth. The staff The majority of his staff is outsourced, the employees are highly knowledgeable about internet business. Being a cheerful entrepreneur he advocates for a cheerful workforce because he believes if employees are happy that drives up productivity which in turn brings healthier profit margins. 1. 7 Entrepreneurial networking Forejustin’s decision to effectively network sprung up in the beginning stages of his business, he wanted a trademark for Group Little and he just happened to remember months earlier he sent his broken computer to some young technicians; one of them named Kabelo had recently graduated from a creative arts university of Limkokwing where he studied graphic designing. He had saved his contacts in case he needed computer help but his contact wound up birthing more than just computer solutions but also a trademark for his business. This was a highlight to Forejustin that networking especially informal networking is a tool for success, his response; * He strikes conversations with strangers, to get any bit of information he can, exchanges contacts with such an individual and then regularly contact that individual until they establish a network that can provide him relevant business information, advice and support services. Chats with movers and shakers of different industries in order to get some referrals and leads. Mr Passman’s formal networks In this the entrepreneur is lacking. He has not signed up to any formal network which means his chances for collaborative opportunities with others are diminished. It is highly unlikely for him to form new business relationships and lastly it is slow to solve problems because there is no access to a si gnificant number of possible solution providers as emphasised by Kay (2010). His professed inhibitors to formal networking are high membership fees of some formal arrangements. He also attributed inflexible structured timetable for some of these formal networks as a major impediment for him join as he prefers groups that are open where he can come on casual ‘drop in’ basis. But considerations are still being made to join the Diamond Trading Company (DTC) network an outlet that informs and organizes exhibitions for small enterprises. 1. 8 Innovation There a certain drivers of innovation that prompted Forejustin Passman to pursue e-business and figure a, is quite very useful in illustrating that. Source: Sheth and Ram (1987) Figure a Because of technological advances, after the internet boom he realised he needed to adopt an approach in business which matches the changes in technology. The change in technology alters the business environment. This then means that threshold competencies and basic resources are redefined, he implication to Forejustin’s company is, whatever used to be basic necessities of successful trading is now redefined to fit the current robust and continually changing business environment. Group Little’s business environment is no longer just about having the right gadgets, it is also about close interaction with customers and widespread, effective marketing therefore Mr Passman had to approach service delivery differently. Competition for selling gadgets has intensified, with Incredible Connecti ons, Hi-Fi, Game and other gadgets stores exerting pressure, Group Little had to distinguish itself by going online. Understanding that service delivery is directly related to the customer’s psyche he found it fit to offer technological products in a technological platform such as the internet which sends a message to customers of technological proficiency. He also had to innovate since customer needs are frequently changing consequently he had to effectively address them. The weakness of his innovative approach Even though innovation is commendable and obtaining ideas from the international front is encouraged it is evident Forejustin Passman has failed to address the contextualization of this worldwide trend. His payment outlets for instance should have been modified to fit the traditional payment outlets other than just adopting the internationally proclaimed payment system PayPal. 2. 0 The enterprise 2. 1 Business strategy According to Meyer (2010) strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long-term. General enterprise strategy Emergent strategy is Group Little’s adopted strategy. Having considered the high turbulence in the industry he trades in Mr Passman decided to use this approach to guide his business. This strategy has been adopted since this industry is uncertainty and innovation based. It allows frequent feedback on the business environment which in turn permits reallocation of resources to address any information that is received about any changes in the business’ external environment. Operations strategy Figure b Source:ibbusinessandmanagement. com(2012) Using Michael Porter’s generic model figure b above, Forejustin has opted differentiation operational strategy. In this strategy unique attributes that are valued by customers and which are perceived to be better than the gadgets of the competition are intensively adopted by Group Little. This company has the following internal strengths to make this differentiation strategy successful; * Highly skilled and creative development team. * Strong sales team with the ability to successfully communicate the perceived strengths of the gadgets The risks linked with this strategy include imitation by competitors and changes in customer tastes. In addition, a range of firms pursuing focus strategies may be able to achieve even greater differentiation in their market segments. 2. 2 E-business As Group Little is a typical example of an e-business it is quite instructive to use the SWOT model to analyse the strengths, weaknesses, opportunity and threats this organisation it has; Strengths Global reach to marketing. Since the web is an international platform Group Little’s marketing is not just limited to local media and advertising opportunities it spreads out to other regions. There is improved customer interaction. The customer and the enterprise meet in the comfort zone of the customer, therefore the customer can openly offer ideas, orders and even complaints all this will better Group Little’s service delivery. Weaknesses Security; customers are always concerned with the integrity of their payments, most shy away from revealing confidential bank information in the web, which costs Group Little significantly. The other weakness is the customer has no idea of the quality and physical condition of the gadgets; it is very common for discrepancies to exist between what sites advertise and the actual product. Opportunities New technologies surfacing could open up internet accessibility in Botswana which will be advantageous to Forejustin’s company since the critics’ argument pivots around this matter. Group Little also has prospects on cutting down local competition. As local competition has not adequately used the online trading space which can give Group Little an online competitive advantage if Forejustin Passman chooses to invest significantly to develop this area. Threats Fraud; given that there are some individuals that are out to deceive for financial gain are always Mr Passman’s concern, they may fake Group Little’s website and deceive the customers. Changes in law and regulation are always a threat. Regulatory authorities to protect customers from fraud they may place laws and regulations that will stifle Group Little’s competitiveness. 2. 3 Organisational culture This has been defined as, a system of shared actions, values and beliefs that develop within an organisation and guides the behaviour. This is as cited by Uhl-Bien et al. (2010). Forejustin Passman has directed Group Little culture, one of the shared values is the ‘no Sunday policy. ’ In this Forejustin has reflected his Christian beliefs and his philosophy of people before profit into the corporation’s culture. His belief in God prompts him to keep the Sabbath which to him is Sunday and his people before profits philosophy leads him to protect their wellbeing by giving them rest on Sunday. Any order placed on Sunday is attended on Monday by rejuvenated and more productive employees. This has its obvious disadvantages such as foregone sales but Mr Passman believes his policy is beneficial to all parties involved. When work is on between Monday to Saturday the team is relaxed and open, this as Forejustin says allows for conception of creative ideas. Any facet that stifles creativity is minimized be it the tangible such as tables or chairs or the intangible aspect like a mental attitude that stigmatizes mistakes. This culture solves two important issues external adaptation, which deals with reaching goals; how to reach those goals and if members have developed this freedom to make mistakes they can effectively guide their day-to-day activities. It also solves the issue of internal integration, members can easily merge and share ideas when mistakes are not stigmatized and this leads to greater productivity. . 4 Critical success factors of his business Branding Forejustin’s Group Little has to create a brand that appeals to the African technologically adept. Now as asserted by Perry (2009) a brand is more than just a corporate symbol it is an intangible asset that provokes emotional responses from individuals which presents a sustainable competitive advantage. This entrepreneur must position his company’s brand to be able to leverage from being one of Botswana’s few companies that are committed to successful internet trading. Little is known of Group Little but this is an incentive not a deterrent because the brand can be driven in any direction that Forejustin sees proper to execute his vision. Even though his company was registered with the Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property in 2009, not long ago every product and or service he introduces must align to the strategy of the company; he has to monitor Group Little’s identity, as the perception portrayed to customers over these few years is the one that affords the company to leverage on the brand premium. Realising that the company’s brand was its critical success factor efforts to protect his brand symbol from infringement were undertook; he decided to copyright the brand symbol. Distribution Comprehending their need for effective systems, Group Little has rationalized their distribution systems to enhance performance of their products. As an attempt to enhance the logistics execution and capabilities Mr Passman decided to form a synergy with Botswana Couriers. This he decided to do in order to quicken delivery of the gadgets sold, in contrast to sending the orders via Botswana Post with their renowned incompetence he decided to solidify his distribution by having an exclusive agreement with Couriers. As Meyer (2010) asserts exclusive distributor agreements will constitute a major impediment to the distributors if the distributor wants to switch from the commitment. In this synergy Group Little is offered discounts because of the volume of gadgets it trades around the country and basic efficiency in the distribution of the products is greatly enhanced. Technology It seems obvious yet still noteworthy that Group Little has technology as their trading platform has to remain on vigilant and aware of new technology developments. Most gadgets they sell use mobile applications, applications are pieces of software that are designed to fulfil a particular purpose, for Group Little that purpose simply is to make easy access to its website’s content and increase sales, therefore Group Little is in the process of having their own application. The entrepreneur has looked at engaging a company named Bright labs which operates in Tlokweng for the development of Group Little’s very own mobile application this will enable those who have bought these gadgets to also download the application and then browse for more products from Mr Forejustin Passman’s Group Little. 2. 5 Conclusion Forejustin Passman’s Group Little’s performance has been average, but if he can put measures in place to direct its strategy the company will realise its potential to become a benchmark e-business in Botswana and even in Africa. He simply needs to re-assess who he is and what Group Little is, a point of focus (the target market to approach, how he is going to approach that market). In addition he is required to solidify his networks as this is one business competence he has ignored and it will ultimately cost him and his business from growing from being a small medium enterprise to being the envisioned benchmark multinational. Contextualisation of Group Little’s business model also can provide an impetus its success as well, Mr Passman shall consider adopting traditional transaction means in order not to inhibit his business from reaching every possible customer. Bibliography Books 1. Meyer, R, Wit, B, (2010), Strategy-process, content, context an international perspective, 4ed, Hampshire: Cengage learning EMEA 2. Perry, B, (2009), Enterprise operations, Oxford: Cima publishing 3. Uhl-Bien. M, Schermerhorn J. R. , Hunt . J G, Osborn R. N, (2010), Organisational behaviour, Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons 4. Kay. F, (2010), Successful networks, London: Kogan Page 5. Yves, L, Goz, G. H, (1998), Alliance Advantage-The art of creating value through partners, Boston: Harvard business School Press. 6. Sugars. B, (2012), Super Size your sales, the entrepreneur, August, p. 2 7. Bessant J, Tidd J,(2011), innovation and entrepreneurship, 2ed, Sussex: John Wiley and sons 8. Moon. R, Gee. S, (2012), Creating business opportunity, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan 9. Mullins L. J, (2010), management & organisational behaviour, 9ed, Essex: Prentice Hall Websites 10. Multiply (2012): Spontaneous idealist [online] Available from: http://mirau. multiply. com/jo urnal/item/116/My-Personality-Type-Spontaneous ,[ accessed 14 December 2012] Appendix Personal reflection Studying real entrepreneurs and real companies always equips I as the student beyond lecture content. The study of this enterprise and Mr Forejustin Passman was a delight because I got to know interesting real aspects about business, I have learnt when in real business some academic theories will have to be set aside and suspended to deal with the challenges of real business. The more I researched I understood what differentiates successful entrepreneurs and unsuccessful entrepreneurs and that content I learnt were not part of the assignment requisite but I did learn This module lectures are also noteworthy, I figured this was a reiteration of Enterprise anagement I did in my second year, so lectures consisted of emphasis of year two material. Even though the material is more or less the same as of second year the assessment was interestingly structured, it was strategic rather than operational that seems like an obvious comment but this has really marked the difference in our approach. We were no longer just reporting facts, concepts and academic theories we had to apply and use our groomed understanding to critically analyse the business case.

History of Global Warming Essay

The succession of exceptional years with record high temperatures, which characterized the 1980s, helped to generate widespread popular interest in global warming and its many ramifications. The decade included six of the warmest years in the past century, and the trend continued into the 1990s, with 1991 the second warmest year on record. All of this fuelled speculation especially among the media that the earth’s temperature had begun an inexorable rise and the idea was further reinforced by the results of scientific studies which indicated that global mean temperatures had risen by about 0. Â °C since the beginning of the century. Periods of rising temperature are not unknown in the earth’s past. The most significant of these was the so-called Climatic Optimum, which occurred some 5,000-7,000 years ago and was associated with a level of warming that has not been matched since. If the current global warming continues, however, the record temperatures of the earlier period will easily be surpassed. Temperatures reached during a later warm spell in the early Middle Ages may well have been equaled already. More recently, the 1930s provided some of the highest temperatures since records began, although that decade has been relegated to second place by events in the 1980s. Such warm spells have been accepted as part of the natural variability of the earth/ atmosphere system in the past, but the current warming is viewed in a different light. It appears to be the first global warming to be created by human activity. The basic cause is seen as the enhancement of the greenhouse effect, brought on by rising levels of anthropogenically-produced greenhouse gases. It is now generally accepted that the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have been increasing since the latter part of the nineteenth century. The increased use of fossil fuels has released large amounts of CO2, and the destruction of natural vegetation has prevented the environment from restoring the balance. Levels of other greenhouse gases, including CH4, N2 O and CFCs have also been rising. Since all of these gases have the ability to retain terrestrial radiation in the atmosphere, the net result should be a gradual increase in global temperatures. The link between recent warming and the enhancement of the greenhouse effect seems obvious. Most of the media, and many of those involved in the investigation and analysis of global climate change, seem to have accepted the relationship as a fait accompli. There are only a few dissenting voices, expressing misgivings about the nature of the evidence and the rapidity with which it has been embraced. A survey of environmental scientists involved in the study of the earth’s changing climate, conducted in the spring of 1989, revealed that many still had doubts about the extent of the warming. More than 60 per cent of those questioned indicated that they were not completely confident that the current warming was beyond the range of normal natural variations in global temperatures (Slade 1990). The greenhouse effect is brought about by the ability of the atmosphere to be selective in its response to different types of radiation. The atmosphere readily transmits solar radiation which is mainly short-wave energy from the ultraviolet end of the energy spectrum allowing it to pass through unaltered to heat the earth’s surface. The energy absorbed by the earth is reradiated into the atmosphere, but this terrestrial radiation is long-wave infrared, and instead of being transmitted it is absorbed, causing the temperature of the atmosphere to rise. Some of the energy absorbed in the atmosphere is returned to the earth’s surface, causing its temperature to rise also. This is considered similar to the way in which a greenhouse works allowing sunlight in, but trapping the resulting heat inside hence the use of the name ‘greenhouse effect’. In reality it is the glass in the greenhouse which allows the temperature to be maintained, by preventing the mixing of the warm air inside with the cold air outside. There is no such barrier to mixing in the real atmosphere, and some scientists have suggested that the processes are sufficiently different to preclude the use of the term ‘greenhouse effect’. Anthes et al. (1980) for example, prefer to use ‘atmospheric effect’. However, the use of the term ‘greenhouse effect’ to describe the ability of the atmosphere to absorb infrared energy is so well established that any change would cause needless confusion. The demand for change is not strong, and ‘greenhouse effect’ will continue to be used widely for descriptive purposes, although the analogy is not perfect. Without the greenhouse effect, global temperatures would be much lower than they are perhaps averaging only ? 17Â °C compared to the existing average of +15Â °C. This, then, is a very important characteristic of the atmosphere, yet it is made possible by a group of gases which together make up less than 1 per cent of the total volume of the atmosphere. There are about twenty of these greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide is the most abundant, but methane, nitrous oxide, the chlorofluorocarbons and tropospheric ozone are potentially significant, although the impact of the ozone is limited by its variability and short life span. Water vapour also exhibits greenhouse properties, but it has received less attention in the greenhouse debate than the other gases since the very efficient natural recycling of water through the hydrologic cycle ensures that its atmospheric concentration is little affected by human activities. Any change in the volume of the greenhouse gases will disrupt the energy flow in the earth/atmosphere system, and this will be reflected in changing world temperatures. This is nothing new. Although the media sometimes seem to suggest that the greenhouse effect is a modern phenomenon, it is not. It has been a characteristic of the atmosphere for millions of years, sometimes more intense than it is now, sometimes less. Three of the principal greenhouse gases—CO2, methane (CH4) and the CFCs—contain carbon, one of the most common elements in the environment, and one which plays a major role in the greenhouse effect. It is present in all organic substances, and is a constituent of a great variety of compounds, ranging from relatively simple gases to very complex derivatives of petroleum hydrocarbons. The carbon in the environment is mobile, readily changing its affiliation with other elements in response to biological, chemical and physical processes. This mobility is controlled through a natural biogeochemical cycle which works to maintain a balance between the release of carbon compounds from their sources and their absorption in sinks. The natural carbon cycle is normally considered to be self-regulating, but with a time scale of the order of thousands of years. Over shorter periods, the cycle appears to be unbalanced, but that may be a reflection of an incomplete understanding of the processes involved or perhaps an indication of the presence of sinks or reservoirs still to be discovered (Moore and Bolin 1986). The carbon in the system moves between several major reservoirs. The atmosphere, for example, contains more than 750 billion tones of carbon at any given time, while 2,000 billion tones are stored on land, and close to 40,000 billion tones are contained in the oceans (Gribbin 1978). Living terrestrial organic matter is estimated to contain between 450 and 600 billion tones, somewhat less than that stored in the atmosphere (Moore and Bolin 1986). World fossil fuel reserves also constitute an important carbon reservoir of some 5,000 billion tones (McCarthy et al. 1986). They contain carbon which has not been active in the cycle for millions of years, but is now being reintroduced as a result of the growing demand for energy in modern society being met by the mining and burning of fossil fuels. It is being reactivated in the form of CO2, which is being released into the atmospheric reservoir in quantities sufficient to disrupt the natural flow of carbon in the environment. The greatest natural flow (or flux) is between the atmosphere and terrestrial biota and between the atmosphere and the oceans. Although these fluxes vary from time to time, they have no long-term impact on the greenhouse effect because they are an integral part of the earth/atmosphere system. In contrast, inputs to the atmosphere from fossil fuel consumption, although smaller than the natural flows, involve carbon which has not participated in the system for millions of years. When it is reintroduced, the system cannot cope immediately, and becomes unbalanced. The natural sinks are unable to absorb the new CO2 as rapidly as it is being produced. The excess remains in the atmosphere, to intensify the greenhouse effect, and thus contribute to global warming. The burning of fossil fuels adds more than 5 billion tones of CO2 to the atmosphere every year, with more than 90 per cent originating in North and Central America, Asia, Europe and the republics of the former USSR. Fossil fuel use remains the primary source of anthropogenic CO2 but augmenting that is the destruction of natural vegetation which causes the level of atmospheric CO2 to increase by reducing the amount recycled during photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a process, shared by all green plants, by which solar energy is converted into chemical energy. It involves gaseous exchange. During the process, CO2 taken in through the plant leaves is broken down into carbon and oxygen. The carbon is retained by the plant while the oxygen is released into the atmosphere. The role of vegetation in controlling CO2 through photosynthesis is clearly indicated by variations in the levels of the gas during the growing season. Measurements at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii show patterns in which CO2 concentrations are lower during the northern summer and higher during the northern winter. These variations reflect the effects of photosynthesis in the northern hemisphere, which contains the bulk of the world’s vegetation (Bolin 1986). Plants absorb CO2 during their summer growing phase, but not during their winter dormant period, and the difference is sufficient to cause semi-annual fluctuations in global CO2 levels. The clearing of vegetation raises CO2 levels indirectly through reduced photosynthesis, but CO2 is also added directly to the atmosphere by burning, by the decay of biomass and by the increased oxidation of carbon from the newly exposed soil. Such processes are estimated to be responsible for 5-20 per cent of current anthropogenic CO2 emissions (Waterstone 1993). This is usually considered a modern phenomenon, particularly prevalent in the tropical rainforests of South America and South-East Asia (Gribbin 1978), but Wilson (1978) has suggested that the pioneer agricultural settlement of North America, Australasia and South Africa in the second half of the nineteenth century made an important contribution to rising CO2 levels. This is supported to some extent by the observation that between 1850 and 1950 some 120 billion tones of carbon were released into the atmosphere as a result of deforestation and the destruction of other vegetation by fire (Stuiver 1978). The burning of fossil fuels produced only half that much CO2 over the same time period. Current estimates indicate that the atmospheric CO2 increase resulting from reduced photosynthesis and the clearing of vegetation is equivalent to about 1 billion tones per year (Moore and Bolin 1986), down slightly from the earlier value. However, the annual contribution from the burning of fossil fuels is almost ten times what it was in the years between 1850 and 1950. Although the total annual input of CO2 to the atmosphere is of the order of 6 billion tonnes, the atmospheric CO2 level increases by only about 2. billion tonnes per year. The difference is distributed to the oceans, to terrestrial biota and to other sinks as yet unknown (Moore and Bolin 1986). Although the oceans are commonly considered to absorb 2. 5 billion tonnes of CO2 per year, recent studies suggest that the actual total may be only half that amount (Taylor 1992). The destination of the remainder has important implications for the study of the greenhouse effect, and continues to be investigated. The oceans absorb the CO2 in a variety of ways—some as a result of photosynthesis in phytoplankton, some through nutritional processes which allow marine organisms to grow calcium carbonate shells or skeletons, and some by direct diffusion at the air/ocean interface (McCarthey et al. 1986). The mixing of the ocean waters causes the redistribution of the absorbed CO2. In polar latitudes, for example, the added carbon sinks along with the cold surface waters in that region, whereas in warmer latitudes carbon-rich waters well up towards the surface allowing the CO2 to escape again. The turnover of the deep ocean waters is relatively slow, however, and carbon carried there in the sinking water or in the skeletons of dead marine organisms remains in storage for hundreds of years. More rapid mixing takes place through surface ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream, but in general the sea responds only slowly to changes in atmospheric CO2 levels. This may explain the apparent inability of the oceans to absorb more than 40-50 per cent of the CO2 added to the atmosphere by human activities, although it has the capacity to absorb all of the additional carbon (Moore and Bolin 1986). The oceans constitute the largest active reservoir of carbon in the earth/atmosphere system, and their ability to absorb CO2 is not in doubt. However, the specific mechanisms involved are now recognized as extremely complex, requiring more research into the interactions between the atmosphere, ocean and biosphere if they are to be better understood (Crane and Liss 1985). Palaeoenvironmental evidence suggests that the greenhouse effect fluctuated quite considerably in the past. In the Quaternary era, for example, it was less intense during glacial periods than during the interglacials (Bach 1976; Pisias and Imbrie 1986). Present concern is with its increasing intensity and the associated global warming. The rising concentration of atmospheric CO2 is usually identified as the main culprit, although it is not the most powerful of the greenhouse gases. It is the most abundant, however, and its concentration is increasing rapidly. As a result, it is considered likely to give a good indication of the trend of the climatic impact of the greenhouse effect, if not its exact magnitude. Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish chemist, is usually credited with being the first to recognize that an increase in CO2 would lead to global warming (Bolin 1986; Bach 1976; Crane and Liss 1985). Other scientists, including John Tyndall in Britain and T. C. Chamberlin in America (Jones and Henderson-Sellers 1990), also investigated the link, but Arrhenius provided the first quantitative predictions of the rise in temperature (Idso 1981; Crane and Liss 1985). He published his findings at the beginning of this century, at a time when the environmental implications of the Industrial Revolution were just beginning to be appreciated. Little attention was paid to the potential impact of increased levels of CO2 on the earth’s radiation climate for some time after that, however, and the estimates of CO2 -induced temperature increases calculated by Arrhenius in 1903 were not bettered until the early 1960s (Bolin 1986). Occasional papers on the topic appeared, but interest only began to increase significantly in the early 1970s, as part of a growing appreciation of the potentially dire consequences of human interference in the environment. Increased CO2 production and rising atmospheric turbidity were recognized as two important elements capable of causing changes in climate. The former had the potential to cause greater warming, whereas the latter was considered more likely to cause cooling (Schneider, 1987). For a time it seemed that the cooling would dominate (Ponte 1976), but results from a growing number of investigations into greenhouse warming, published in the early 1980s, changed that (e. g. Idso 1981; Schneider 1987; Mitchell 1983). They revealed that scientists had generally underestimated the speed with which the greenhouse effect was intensifying, and had failed to appreciate the impact of the subsequent global warming on the environment or on human activities.