Analyzing John Lennons free essay sample

All Dreamers Imagination comes about in dreams and requires the willpower to make them real. In the song, â€Å"Imagine,† John Lennon somewhat instigates everyone to visualize his vision of his imagination. Throughout the song he states how different the world would be, in lack of killing, material possessions, greed, hunger, etc. , thus leading us to virtually, an unrealistic, but ideal world. The word imagine, just that one word, can lead the complex mind to many notions. â€Å"What he left behind was the utopian imagination we all share that still exists in a million brains refusing to be silenced. (World Socialist Movement) â€Å"Imagine theres no heaven, its easy if you try, no hell below us, above us only sky, imagine all the people living for today † The first verse of this song, â€Å"imagine theres no heaven,† is already thought provoking enough. I think what he is trying to get across is the world would be a much better place without religion. We will write a custom essay sample on Analyzing John Lennons or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The reason why he states, â€Å"it’s easy if you try† is because the world is horrific and brutal and it’s not hard imagining the world without a heaven. Lennon once stated, If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion—not without religion but without this my God-is-bigger-than-your-God thing—then it can be true the World Church called me once and asked, Can we use the lyrics to Imagine and just change it to Imagine one religion? That showed [me] they didnt understand it at all. It would defeat the whole purpose of the song, the whole idea. Lennon caused much conflict just within the first 15 seconds of the song, considering religion is quite a touchy subject among many people. I can positively see why this song triggered so much controversy. Imagine theres no countries, it isnt hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too. Imagine all the people living life in peace†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Here again Lennon speaks upon religion. â€Å"The true inspiration for writing lyrics that captured that message of tranquility and harmony came to Lennon after he read â€Å"Grapefruit†; an in scription by his Japanese spouse Yoko Ono in which she speaks of the childhood experiences she had to live through during the course of the Second World War in her homeland of Japan. † (Writing A Writing) Ono’s book â€Å"Grapefruit† contains an array of poems, which I found very similar to the song â€Å"Imagine†. I think Lennon wrote that lyric, â€Å"imagine there’s no countries†¦Ã¢â‚¬  to state how he felt about war and religion. Without violence, the world would be uniformed. Within every verse Lennon shows how much potential humanity has. The chorus of the song contains a lyric so relatable to almost everyone. â€Å"You, you may say Im a dreamer, but Im not the only one. I hope someday youll join us, and the world will be as one. † For the most part, everyone has imagined changing something or someone to resemble what they imagine flawless. Lennon’s dreams concern humankind and world peace ultimately. â€Å"Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man. Imagine all the people sharing all the world † The first line of this section of this song is what really stuck out to me. Possessions mean everything to a large majority of people nowadays. For example, most people want the biggest and the best of everything. If there a new phone, TV, or car out, everyone needs to have it and sometimes the material possessions mean more to the person more than their own family. Another obstacle that keeps people at a distance is their lack of ability to see everyone as equals, but, if we somehow found a way to cut out our greed, possessions, and our pride we could create a world of equals. This song is ultimately the voice of optimism and more so hope for mankind and humanity. It is an example of what the future can be, if we, as the people can accomplish. Lennon wanted to show what we were doing to ourselves and that with perseverance and determination we could mold the world and all nations into something we could be proud of. World peace is the crucial fixation Lennon is trying to get across during the whole song. â€Å"You, you may say Im a dreamer, but Im not the only one. I hope someday youll join us, and the world will be as one. † That’s what Lennon is ultimately trying to get across. Don’t be afraid to dream and make a difference.

Pros and Cons Erp Essays

Pros and Cons Erp Essays Pros and Cons Erp Paper Pros and Cons Erp Paper even six months are considered to be short period for implementation * Reduced or no Dependency on ERP Vendor As the open source ERP packages have proper documentation and user manuals, there is no or reduced dependency on ERP vendor to come and fix the issue. A good programmer can handle the issue in considerably less time. * High Accuracy and Quality The productivity and accuracy is high in the case of open source ERP systems. Also, the failure rates are often discovered to be on the lower side in comparison to commercial ERP packages. All open software has strong user community which is also very responsive and very knowledgeable. * Open source testing The open source users in the process of development are able to thoroughly test and 99% of the bugs are reported and highly secure. Except a very few, most of the commercial ERP systems are tested to a decent extent, but still are many security flaws, traps, pitfalls and loop holes, which can be easily harnessed by the hackers. * Handling security With the ever evolving nature of technology, security has become a problem of the past. And, there are many open source security applications on the market today which can be easily used with open-source ERP, which include; Nessus, Snort, Nagios, SpamAssassin, ClamAV, Open SSL, OpenSSH, Nmap, Ossec HIDS, and Wireshark. Open Source ERP Solution Cons * Risk of over-customization Delivering customized codes could prove troublesome for some organizations just in case you get into over-done customization and you can’t get out of it. Too many customizations can be a definite issue. * Difficulty in finding implementation and support resources Open Source ERP solutions also calls for the best and finest programmers of open source  ERP solutions on the code. This may be difficult and may cause higher support costs at times. Compatibility Issues with Proprietary Packages Some of the open source ERP packages are incompatible with the proprietary products of certain corporations like Microsoft, Oracle, or IBM etc (sometime due to variation in platform used for implementation). * Lack of Dedicated Support from a Specific Vendor Despite all of the benefits of open source ERP packages, the fear of the failure of open source ERP package during crucial stages of a project is considerable driving forces for commercial ERPs where vendors provide dedicate support in lieu of big bucks on licensing costs. Unstructured approach to issue resolution There are no proper defined product roadmaps and time line as most of the enhancements and bug fixes are done by freelancers and independent consulting companies and developers based on their requirements. * Devoid of feature- richness Proprietary software are feature-lade and have more features that are not found in the case of open source ERP packages mostly and may be cited helpful by commercial ERP vendors as a tool of ease and productivity. Open Source ERP Success Story Open source ERP has had its own share of successful implementations. There is no better argument for the use of an ERP solution than a testimonial by and organization which has used the system and reaped benefits from what the software has to offer. Let us take a look at a successful implementation that happened at a Danish pharmaceutical firm named Pharma Nord. The implementation was done by a firm by the name Compiere Company Overview Denmark-based Pharma Nord is one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of preventive dietary supplements and herbal remedies. The 500-person company, founded in 1981, develops, manufactures and markets scientifically well-founded dietary supplements, herbal remedies and medical drugs with optimal bio-availability. Pharma Nord’s products are available in 50 countries throughout Europe, Asia and North America. Issue At Hand Due to market success with its initial line of dietary supplements, Pharma Nord was continually expanding its product line and markets served. Growth in the regulated pharmaceutical industry, however, requires precise inventory management to address business and regulatory complexity. Pharma Nord’s ERP solution requirements extended well beyond the standard set of distribution and accounting functionality that performs at a global scale. They viewed the selection of an ERP solution as having a 15-20 year life. For a solution to succeed for more than 15 years, product licensing, ease of customization and confidence in the vendor were as important as out-of-the-box functionality The Solution Pharma Nord uses Compiere to manage its sales orders, invoicing, cash collections, purchasing and accounting for its sales subsidiaries and also to manage receipts and shipments in its warehouses. Pharma Nord liked what they saw in the earliest versions of Compiere in 2001. Using knowledge gained at a Compiere training class, Jacob Pedersen, Compiere Project Manager, completed an initial Compiere deployment in early 2002 focused on a single subsidiary. â€Å"We did it on the basis that we would probably find things that need to change along the way. And we have. It’s been with us, it’s been upgraded and we’ve changed quite a few things. We’ve been able to migrate to new versions of Compiere all the way from 2002 and now we’re here at 2008. I find that quite impressive. Before selecting an ERP solution, Pharma Nord assessed a number of offerings, notably Compiere and Navision. Midway through the evaluation, Navision was acquired by Microsoft. A few months later, the Linux version of Navision was discontinued. These events were eyeopening for Pharma Nord’s information technology and executive teams. The result was an even stronger requi rement for the kind of open source licensing offered by Compiere to ensure Pharma Nord’s long-term ERP success. Services from the Compiere Partner Network and Compiere helped Pharma Nord succeed. For example, the 2001 version of Compiere lacked support for tracking lot/batch numbers and expiry dates- essential functionality for the pharmaceutical industry. Pharma Nord’s sponsorship accelerated the development of this general use functionality. â€Å"We wrote the specification of exactly what the software should be able to do and it was developed by the Compiere team. † Pedersen Results Seven years after initial deployment, Pharma Nord is still going strong with Compiere. Their database has grown over the years as they’ve added business partners, products and transactions. Having transaction history available for analysis and reporting is a nice benefit from using a single product continuously over time. â€Å"What’s great about Compiere is that everything is stored at the most detailed level,† explained Pedersen. â€Å"So whenever you need to do reporting, you have a number of dimensions to work with. You can combine each product, different sizes, and different countries. All of those will be dimensions. Since you can report and group on these dimensions, you can get the answer you’re looking for by grouping and merging these data afterwards. With its sales and distribution operations productive with Compiere, Pedersen is looking toward the future: â€Å"Pharma Nord is also a manufacturing company. We manufacture all of our products ourselves. We know that Compiere is also working on manufacturing capabilities. † The Bottom Line Several unbelievably productive, efficient and highly secure open source ERP packages are not y et well recognized in the market, most of the customers are still prepared to shell out big bucks on custom commercial ERP packages. This might be due to the credibility that the big ERP producing organizations like SAP and Oracle. In times that are proving increasingly tough for organizations the world over; organizations are taking measures to tighten their operations and keeping stock of each and every penny that is spent; open source ERP packages provide a very robust and cost effective alternative for midsize companies who might not have a big budget allocated to cover their IT requirements. Even the large corporations can cut maintenance costs by making use of these brilliant packages. However, lack of support from a particular vendor is something that the open source ERP packages badly lack, and compatibility issues with other custom third party apps are one of their biggest turn-offs. Open source ERP scores higher than commercial ERP on many aspects. Yet, commercial ERP still have major share in ERP markets. This is because open source products are quite new and people are a bit conservative about choosing ERP software, because if implemented ERP software does not work, then there is serious business trouble. The first adopters of open source ERP were in Latin America, Europe, and Asian countries because of economic reasons. Now, open source ERP is gaining popularity even in US markets and one day, it will be able to challenge the domination of commercial ERP in ERP markets of USA Top Open Source ERP Applications to Look Out for The finance applications, especially the custom ERPs, can be extremely costly and burn big holes in the pockets of business owners, and as such the demand for open source apps in the field of finance has been increasing dramatically. So, let us take a look at the top open source finance applications * Goodness of Open Source ERP Packages Not only do the open source finance packages come totally free of cost, but they are also not dependant on a particular platform. However, the proprietary programs work well on only specific platforms, as theyre designed only for specific needs. As such, even after paying a lot of money on licenses, the proprietary financial packages don’t allow you to work with all platforms and require additional licenses based upon the number of machines on which, the software is used. On the contrary, the open source packages can be used on as many systems as needed, and they work well on all open source platforms like FreeBSD, UNIX, Linux, Solaris etc. * Open Source ERP Packages To cater to the needs of small business owners, countless open source finance packages were developed, such as Adempiere (an ERP Business Suite), GnuCash (a double-entry book-keeping system), ERP5 (a Zope/Python based ERP solution), and the likes of them. Turning the focus towards other popular open source ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) packages, Compiere, an ERP solution that automates processes like accounting, managing sales orders, inventory, and supply chain is also quite popular, while packages like Grisbi, a single-entry and KMyMoney a double-entry book-keeping program, have also gained significant levels of popularity. * FriFinans is yet another impressive open source finance application that offers facilities like taking orders, generating invoices, ordering products and doing a lot more. It is still under final stages of development, and isn’t tested completely yet, but even at this stage it looks quite promising. * Java-Based Open Source Finance Apps jFin, JGnash (double-entry book-keeping), JQuantLib (Quantitative Finance API framework), and JStock (stock market software) are some of the popular Java-based open source finance packages that have become extremely popular these days. * Latest Developments Looking at the latest developments,  n21 eBusiness Suite, a web-based ERP/CRM package is quite a powerful open source finance package that has emerged in the market, while  Mifos  - Microfinance Institution management software, Openbravo, and OpenERP have also been recently developed and gained high popularity soon enough. TurboCASH  is a popular double-entry book-keeping for Windows environment, while  GnuCash  is a treat for Linux/Unix/FreeBSD lovers. HomeBank  is an open source application for personal use, and  Marketceterais an open source trading platform for those whore interested in stock trading, but dont want to spend any money on using paid tools. Note:  All Linux financial tools are not necessarily free there are some proprietary packages that require licenses, and dont come under the GNU/GPL free distribution license, but majority of Linux/UNIX based finance packages are totally free for personal and commercial usage. GnuCash: The Ultimate Free Open Source Accounting Software Primarily coded in C,  GnuCash  is a free open source accounting software, and happens to be a part of the GNU Project. It runs on platforms such as OpenBSD, Solaris, UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, and the likes of them. Looking at the features of GnuCash, you’ll discover that the package allows you to perform double-entry bookkeeping, maintenance of Stock/Mutual Fund Portfolios, Scheduled Transactions, and Mortgage and Loan Repa yment Druid. It also offers support to HBCI and Multi-Currency Transaction Handling. GnuCash also comes with Transaction-Import Matching Support, OFX, QIF Import facilities, Small Business Accounting Features and even Multi-User SQL Support, making it an extensive open source finance application. What’s more, GnuCash can also export data to TXF format and can be used in tandem with the tax preparation programs with great ease. You can virtually perform all kinds of finance related tasks with the help of GnuCash.

Answer the questions about Game industry and innovation Essay

Answer the questions about Game industry and innovation - Essay Example Demographic factors in the U.S have influenced the operation and success of the Japanese industry in international market especially the U.S (Inafune, 2011). The sex, age, and marital status of the American citizens have different attitudes about imported products because they aim at promoting domestic industry than international companies. Therefore, Japanese game industry needs to merge with American company in order to succeed in the U.S market. In addition, the Japanese industry does not use modern technology like its competitors in the U.S. For instance, Japanese game technology is lurking behind than its competitors in the U.S. It is clear that the technical quality and the user interfaces have been enhanced but some concepts such as the game play and design are the same. This shows luck of originality and innovation. The company only commands ten percent of the external market. For instance, in 2002, the company claimed about 50 percent share of global revenues but it declined in subsequent years because of fierce competition, demographic changes, and poor technology. The key performance indicator of the Japanese game industry is attempting to increase the sales in order to avert considerations like whether to measure value of sales (products). The company should adopt modern technology in order to remain in the market. Taking advantage of the new available and emerging technologies is great (Inafune, 2011). The reality is an issue yet to be solved by most of the organizations. The complexity and cost pin out most small and medium enterprises. Organizational goals achieved by aligning business strategy, culture, process and technology in the business environment improve the effectiveness of the organization. It ensures the balance between the future and the present demands for a sustainable operation of the organization. In a business environment, the degree to which objectives of the organization are achieved can be termed as the

Discuss the evolution of style in Greek sculpture, naming and Essay

Discuss the evolution of style in Greek sculpture, naming and describing specific works that illustrate each of the stages you mention - Essay Example For instance, one of the major statues from this period includes the Karditsa warrior, which was found in Athens; another prominent statue was the mythological Mantiklos ‘Apollo’ found in Thebes (Boardman). The next prominent Greek stylistic era is referred to as the classical period. The classical period is recognized as extending between 500 to 400 BC (Stewart). The classical period was ushered in after the Greeks ended the Persian invasion at Marathon in 490 (Stewart). This optimism is reflected in the style, as Greek artists strove towards a new sense of realism. Among the prominent statues of this period includes Discobolos created by the artist Myron; this statue depicts a man in the process of a discus throw (Stewart). The final recognized Greek stylistic period is the Hellenistic period. This era is recognized as lasting from the late 4th to the 1st century BC. (Stewart) This period witnessed greater sculptural detail, as well as an attempt to demonstrate dynamic motion. The most seminal statue of this period is the Nike of Samthrace Statue, as it expertly demonstrates dynamic movement of wind flowing through the

Project work, Quantitative methods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Project work, Quantitative methods - Assignment Example In fact this is the standard mathematical treatment, especially for mathematical software that does not have input filtering capacity. As the code is presented, users can extend it to suit their individual needs (Wright 2007). 3) Yes. From the values on confidence intervals obtained in section (3) regarding the proportion of subscribers with home broadband, 62% of the respondents answered in the affirmative. At least 57% of all the subscribers have home broadband, and it could be as high as 67%. These are favorable statistics for the venture. Yes. To make the conclusion we refer to the confidence intervals gotten from section (3). The percentage of subscribers who have children, who would in turn require the educational software is 53.4%, with a lower confidence value of 48.6% and an upper limit of 58.2%. this is approximately at least half of the number of subscribers, a favorable percentage. Proportion of men among the subscribers is: 229/410 = 55.85%. The ratio of men to women among the subscribers is 56: 44, which would suggest a fair distribution of articles relating to each gender group. The average age is 30.11 according to the sample, a value that could fall lower to 29.72 years, and a high of 30.5 years for the entire population. This shows that the majority of the subscribers are in the youth

Current And Traditional Approaches To Motivation Business Essay

Current And Traditional Approaches To Motivation Business Essay In this dissertation paper I am going to provide a definition of motivation, describe and explain the differences between current and traditional approaches to motivation and identify and describe all motivation theories including content, process and reinforcement theories. I am going to explore the way motivation influences performance and explore ways in which managers can create a sense of meaning and importance for employees within their working environment. ACKNOWLEGMENTS In this paragraph I have the need to express my deepest gratitude to all the people that in one way or another contributed in the gathering of information and successful completing of this dissertation paper. First of all I would like to thank my tutor please state the name of your tutor, whose constant advising and guiding has offered me wealth of knowledge and support throughout my years of study. I would also like to thank my internship and at the time work supervisor, for showing me that theory can be put into practice and even though there might be difficulties in applying academic theories, results compensate for all the effort that is put in these actions. Last but not least I would like to thank my parents that offered me the opportunity to continue my studies at this academic level and have supported my efforts, both morally and financially, throughout all my years of study. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Motivation is not a new managerial or leaders tool. It has been used for years and therefore a number of motivation theories exist, current and traditional ones. However applying motivational theories in practice makes us come across difficulties that have to do with each individual employee. Personality, needs and goals are factors to take under consideration before applying any motivational theory to a group of employees in order to make sure that positive results with derive from this effort. Daily change makes its appearance due to either market switches or technological achievements. Every industry faces changes and in most cases senior employees become outdate and reduce their productivity. Younger and more energetic employees become their managers, leaving them with no other personal goal rather than to wait for their retirement. So companies have come to a point where, what used to be once the most productive part of their manpower stop producing. Even if the new employees fill the gap of the reduced production (or sales) the company still is at loss and that has to be corrected. During this effort to produce a realistic and actual solution to this problem, I came across the strongest limitation I could ever encounter. Motivation, as well as all the factors it involves cannot be observed directly. All theories and their evaluation derive from the final outcome of a persons actions. However our observation of that result makes the steps followed previously seem rational and make sense. But it is not until the final result is measured that we actually know if the method used was the correct one or the most efficient one. So, in order to provide a solution I am going to present the data collected from my research and attempt an analysis that will offer a number of proposed solutions. I can not claim that this paper includes new motivational theories and concepts. However, I believe that it depicts, analyzes and offers solutions to a major problem of out time. The motivation Concept Motivation refers to the forces either within or external to a person that arouse enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain course of action. Richard L. Daft, 2006. Every day, from the very morning we wake up, we are involved into actions. We go to school, or to work, we have a certain behavior, but it is very rare for as to question the reason behind, us liking some activities more than others. For instance why do we enjoy one class more, or certain projects at work bring out the best of us. However our behavior is always motivated by something. The following table will help us indentify what hides behind our behavior. Model of Motivation. Source Modified from Games H. Donnely, James L. Gibson, and john M. Ivancevich, Fundamentals of Managemnet, 3rd edition, p. 185, 1978, by Business Publications, Inc. The needs we feel depend on our recent activity. For example, some one who is attenting a dinner event and has just eaten, may not feel hungry but yet wishes to communicate and entertain. On the other hand someone who is just returning from work and had no meal during the day, is hungry and probably has no mood for social interraction until he/ she eats. So, what we want (our goals) depends on our approaches to satisfying our needs. Let us not forget that the approach to satisfying ones need may seem logical to the person involved, but strange to someone who has other needs to fulfill. The next step is to follow a certain behavior that will lead to reaching our goals. This effort might tow different outcomes. One is the goals achievement which gives feedback that the behavior used to satisfy the needs is succesful. However a continious effort with no success will bring frustration, in which case the person involved may either try a new constructive behavior (actually involves new search behavior, goal indentification and goal-directed behavior). If again numerous efforts do not succeed, psychological defense is put to use, meaning that the person involved avoids thinking and feeling of the need even though it is not fully or at all fulfilled. When a goal is achieved a person received a sort of reward, that indicate that the behavior followed was the appropriate one and is to be used again in the future. There are two types of rewards. The instrinsic reward, which derives within the person involved and has do more with the sense of self fulfillment. And the extrinsic reward, which is given by a third person a supervisor or manager and could be a promotion, or bonus. Both types of rewards are important for an employee. Successful managers help their employees reach their intrinsic reward, while offering them extrinsic rewards too. It has been observed that the most innovating and high performance employees are the ones that find reward in the work itself. It is only natural to conclude, enen though studies have also proven it so, that employee motivaton leads to high performance nad increases productivity and profits. motivation approaches There are four motivation approaches and the managers form the way they use motivation and rewards according the motivation approach they choose to follow. The Traditional Approach Frederic W. Taylor was the first who studied employee motivation in order to increase their work efficiency. The rewards of this approach are only financial. The employee is paid more according the to quality and quantity of the work produced. The Human Relations Approach The human resource approach takes a step further that the traditional approach. For the first time employees were studied as people and managers tried to provide rewards that covered social needs as well, which seemed more important that economic rewards. The Human Resource Approach This approach brings the two previous approached to a new level. This theory actually identifies employees as complex human beings that can be motivated in more than one way. According to the human resource approach, working a vital activity for every person. This is the basis of the contemporary approach. The Contemporary Approach Three types of theories dominate the contemporary approach. The content theories point out the employees needs and help managers identify them and fulfill them in the working environment. Process theories are focused on the behavior the employees embrace in order to reach rewards within the work place. The third and final are the reinforcement theories that focus on how employees are going to be trained into a certain type of behavior, within their working environment that will lead them to the desired result and thus the reward as well. Content theories on motivation Understanding what motivates employees is a key aspect of management and can assist in achieving high performance standards and organizational development. Content theories seek to identify what people need at work and additionally how they try to meet these needs. Managers need to understand the variety of needs employees are trying to fulfill and design work in such way as to help them satisfy these needs but at the same time reach organizational goals as well. So, this theory focuses on the needs that drive employees. People have all sorts of needs, at one time or another, from basic needs such as food and clothing to achievement and money rewards. Content theories help identify the needs that act as motivators and make people adopt behaviors that will lead them to fulfill these needs. So, all management has to do is to design jobs that will meet theses needs and promote desired work behaviors. The Hierarchy of Needs Theory Developed by Abraham Maslow, the hierarchy of needs theory may be the most famous theories and identifies that people have multiple needs which are put in hierarchical order. According to Maslow human needs form a pyramid, at the base of the pyramid are most basic human needs, also knows are physiological needs. They involve eating food, drinking water, breathing air. Within a working environment these needs represent salary to ensure survival as well working condition up to sufficient heat and air supply. Just above are the safety needs that represent the needs for a safe and secure environment. Following are the belongingness needs and they include the need of feeling part of a group, having good relations with other co workers and generally being accepted as a team member. Then come the esteem needs that mainly have to do with receiving recognition and positive attention, being appreciated and motivated by receiving praise, promotion and more responsibilities. Last come the self actualization needs that represent the need for self fulfillment. Within an organization self actualization is reached when employees are provided with opportunities for growth, creativity and training. According to Maslow the needs at the base of the pyramid must be met, before the one at the top are satisfied. Once one level of needs is satisfied then the person seeks to fulfill the next in hierarchy level of needs. The ERG Theory The ERG theory is a modification of the needs hierarchy that proposes three categories of need: existence, relatedness and growth. (Richard L. Daft, 2006). This theory was developed by Clayton Alderfer that actually modified Maslows theory. He simplified the needs and set the tree below categories: Existence needs, are the needs of physical well being that include food, water, air, heat, safety and so on. Relatedness needs, are the needs to have relationship with others. Growth needs, are needs that focus mainly on a persons development. This theory also suggest that when an employee fails to fulfill a higher level need, as the need of personal growth, then turns back and focuses on an already fulfilled need, as the need to earn more money. This theory explains why companies are working so hard in order to find ways to show recognition and encourage participation of employees in decision making. The reason is that employees that contribute ideas and feel appreciated feel valued, loyal and motivated. It is also important to note that when an employees idea is actually implemented the positive affect of motivation influences not only the employee involved but the entire work force, that sees hope for their efforts to be recognized and appreciated as well. It is also important to note, at this point that other actions such as offering job flexibility enhance motivation within organizations. Such actions include telecommunicating, flexible hours, and job sharing, enables employees to have more control over their work and responsibility for its organization. Job flexibility is considered an important benefit that makes employees more committed to the company they work for. Additionally companies have tried to make employees feel that there is connectivity between their personal and working life, by trying to add the element of fun in the workplace, making less strict rules and making work something more pleasant and personal. The Two-Factor Theory The two-factor theory was developed by Frederic Herzberg, who after interviewing large number of employees concluded that there are two factors that influence work motivation. The first set of factor is also called hygiene factors. Are the factors that make an employee not satisfied, but not dissatisfied with the working environment. They include work condition, payment and interpersonal relationships. When the hygiene factors are low then the employee is more likely to be dissatisfied. It is important to note that good hygiene factors only remove dissatisfaction, but do not provoke satisfaction. The second set of factors are called motivators. They are mainly focused on the higher level of needs, such as recognition, achievement, personal growth and responsibility. The absence of motivators causes, with good hygiene factors cause neutral feeling towards work. The conclusion of this theory is very interesting. It shows that dissatisfaction and satisfaction for ones work come from totally different factors. So managers need to correctly focus their efforts towards both factors in order to have not only, not dissatisfied employees, but also motivated ones that will increase their performance. Acquired Needs Theory According to David McClelland, some needs people acquire during their lifetime. These needs are not at the basis of Maslows pyramid of needs and people are not born with them, but rather learn to have them. More specifically these needs are: The need for Achievement. The need for Affiliation The need for Power Life experiences are responsible for the acquisition of such needs. After 20 years of study McClelland concluded that people with high needs for achievement are mainly entrepreneurs, while those with high need of affiliation make good coordinators and establish good working relationships. Those with high need of power are most probably the ones to choose paths that will lead them to managerial positions. PRocess theories on motivation Process theories of motivation seek to understand the complex relationship between the many variable that motivation consists of. Managers need to understand what initiates behavior, and how it is directed and sustained. There are two main process theories. The equity and the expectancy theory. Equity Theory The equity theory is the process theory that focuses on individuals perceptions of how fairly they are treated relative to others (Richard l Daft, 2006). J. Stacy Adams, who developed the theory, claims that people are motivated by seeking social equity. If people believe that they are compensated as much as others for a relative equal contribution, then they would feel that they are fairly treated. In order for people to measure equity they use a ration of inputs (that are effort, education, experience and ability) to outputs (that are recognition, payment, promotions and benefits). Equity is achieved when ones persons ration equals anothers persons ratio. Within a working environment that inequity is perceived there is tension and a strive to bring equity back. The methods most commonly used to correct inequity are: Change inputs. For example a person that is overpaid may increase effort while a personal that is underpaid may decrease it. Change outcomes. For example an employee or a union may request a raise or better working conditions in order to equal input with output, relatively to better paid employees. Distort perception In such cases, people artificially believe and make others believe that their job position is more important than it really is, or that someone elses benefits are not so important as they might sound. This brings a delusional balance. Leave the job. For example people that feel that there is no equity will seek another working environment that is more balanced. Expectancy Theory According to the expectancy theory, motivation depend on individuals expectations about their ability to perform tasks and receive desired rewards. It is concerned with the thinking process people use in order to be rewarded. Based on individual effort and performance it involves the following: Whether the effort that will be put into a task will result to the desired performance level. Whether the successful performance will bring the desired outcome. Whether the value of the outcome is highly valued by the employee as well. High expectancy and high valued outcome leads to high motivation, otherwise motivation level is low. So actually this model theory is not concerned with the needs people have and how they act as motivators. It focuses on they way employees think in order to achieve rewards. Since each employee is a personal with different personality, their goals may differ as well and seek to satisfy different needs. This personalization of needs brings implications for management. Since the goal of the management team is to help employees meet their own goals but at the same time meet the companys goals as well, managers need to make sure that personal abilities match the job demands and at the same time that each employee is given the time, equipment and support needed to reach the goals set. The Goal Setting Theory It has been observed that employees seem to be more motivated when specific targets are given to them to achieve. The goal needs to be specific, attainable and accepted by the employees. The last and one of the most important elements of his theory is feedback. Performance feedback is crucial in order to sustain desired work behavior, though motivation. According to Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, who came up with this theory, goal setting increases motivation because it helps employees target their energy and efforts towards one direction. Challenge is another strong motivator, when asked to achieve difficult goals, that drives employees into putting in more effort to reach their goal achievement. Reinforcement theories on motivation The reinforcement theory does not involve approaches according to the needs and ways of thinking of the employees. It is only based on the relationship between behavior and consequences. The law of affect is what rules over this theory. A behavior that is rewarded tends to be repeated when a behavior that is punished tends to be corrected. So a positive reinforcement, is a pleasant rewarding for an employees working behavior and may consist of praise, promotion, more responsibility, work flexibility, social recognition. This tool of reinforcement theory shows that non financial incentives have proven to be as powerful as the financial ones. Another tool is negative reinforcement, that mainly indicates that a negative consequences will stop once the desired behavior is adopted. Punishment is another tool that suggests that an undesirable working behavior suffers consequences, however this tools fails to point out the desired or correct behavior, since it provide only negative input to the employee. The last reinforcement tool is extinction, that involves the withdrawal of positive rewards such as praises, pay raises. Reinforcement Schedules There are five basic types of reinforcement schedules, according to which the timing and frequency of reinforcement have the desired impact on employees. Continuous reinforcement is one method, suggesting that every time the desired behavior occurs it is reinforced. This strategy is especially effective in the early stages of learning desired working behaviors. Partial reinforcement suggests that positive reinforcement occurs only after the repeating the desired behavior several times. Motivational ideas No doubt, we are going through some turbulent times. Organizations seek ways to increase performance and by hiring new, young and highly ambitious employees, that are highly motivated to reach new, increased sales and productivity goals. They are positioned as managers of senior employees with precious experience and know how. So from the one hand we have highly motivated young managers and on the other we have low motivated senior employees. What happens to them is that the seconds lose interest in their job and rather pass their time, until retirement. The loss for the organization is greater than suspected, since the under productive employees, apart from their own productivity, influence the productivity of their entire group or team. Their behavior derives from the lack of motivation. The new, younger and inexperienced employees are put to positions above the seniors, receiving the same or even more payment. This a clear case of inequity, that influences the performance of the once strongest performers are constantly under performing even though they know they still have a lot to offer. A smart manager should try to keep feelings of equity in balance in order to keep the entire workforce motivated. Empowerment Empowering people to meet higher needs is a very good way by which management can provide motivation. In our case of the senior workers empowerment would mean power sharing, and even if new and younger employees were put in managerial positions, authority could be shared with senior employees. This way, the managerial job description would be a little altered, however senior employees would not be hostile towards the junior managers and would try to work together with them as a team. This is also a way for the senior employees to put themselves on the test and check if they could, within the current market conditions, lead their team to successful results. These employees already know the can do a good job and so empowerment at this stage only releases a motivation that already exists. Employee empowerment involve four elements that need to be given to employees in order for them to be able and accomplish their job. Information. Employees receive all information about company performance. Access to the companys financial and operational information gives the feeling of power and importance to the employee. Knowledge. Training programs are put together, made accessible to all employees, making sure that everyone has the knowledge required to contribute to organizational performance but also fulfill the need of personal growth. Power. Employees have the power to make substantive decisions, influencing organization performance, within self directed work teams. Reward. Employees are rewarded based on the companies performance. This kind of reward inspires more team work and acts as a very powerful motivator. Giving Meaning to Work Another way to motivate employees is to help them identify intrinsic rewards from their own work. For example in the case of the senior employees, let them give talk to seminars for new management trainees and to speak and lead sessions at conferences on district managers, helping them fulfill high level esteem and self actualization needs. Mentoring relationships could also be allowed to help towards the same direction. Another way to give meaning to the work for the senior employees could be to put them in groups that keep close communication and make them compete on actual results. Using the above techniques and actions will help senior employees feel respected, valued, important and empowered within the company, shooting their motivation and thus their performance to the sky. conclusion Now that we have closely seen what motivation is and how it is applied it is time to answer the question of how does motivation actually affect performance. Traditional and contemporary motivation theories as analyzed before suggest that there is a strong link between motivation and performance. What we actually need to do is to understand the nature of motivation. An individual employee may question the motivation theory, by simply asking Why should I perform harder?. Is there concrete evidence that motivation is linked to performance? In order to answer this question we need to look to this issue from another perspective. Since motivation and the factors involved in it, cannot be directly observed and it is only the final outcome that can be evaluated, let us observe what happens to performance in the lack of any motivation activity. Taking under consideration the content theories of motivation there are clear hygiene factors, such as working conditions, payment and safety, that if not fulfilled will lead to extremely low performance. Accordingly factors such inequity or rare reinforcement also show a very low performance level. However it is very hard to expect employee behavior to follow a certain pattern and also hard to suggest to what extend a yearly or semi yearly appraisal will ensure that desired working behavior is achieved on a daily basis. The role of the manager nowadays is not to control the workforce but more to establish the environment in which the workforce will learn, contribute and grow. Their role also includes channeling employee motivation toward the accomplishment of organizational goals, by making the best out of each employees unique skills, talents, interests and needs.

A Local Foreign Manager is Best for Managing Foreign Subsidiaries Essay

A Local Foreign Manager is Best for Managing Foreign Subsidiaries For many global organizations, or organizations that produce or sell goods or services in more than one country, a difficult question is how to develop and place managers in foreign operations. Some people believe organizations should let foreign managers run foreign subsidiaries because of the large differences among national cultures while others believe that domestic managers should be trained to run foreign subsidiaries because of loyalty issues. Nation culture is the particular set of economic, political, and social values that exist in a particular nation. This culture effects all aspects of global organizations operations. Foreign exchange rates, banking and accounting laws, and tax codes can all affect the profitability of foreign subsidiaries. These rules and regulations vary from country to county. The way Japan accounts for good will varies dramatically from the way the United Sates regulatory agency demands it be recorded. In some countries politics play a larger role than others. In sm...