Culture of Cherokee American Indians Essay Example for Free

Culture of Cherokee American Indians Essay Scholars differ on where the Cherokee subculture came from and when they arrived on their traditional lands in the Southeast. The archaeological record of human occupancy of the Southeast goes back to at least 10,000 B. C. (Muller, 1978, p. 283; Canouts and Goodyear, 1985, p. 181), but this does not mean the Cherokees, or even their very distant ancestors, were there that early. Cherokees, as Cherokees, did not exist nearly so far back in time, nor did they necessarily emerge from the first or even from early occupants of the Southeast. The Cherokees as a more or less distinct American Indian people seem to be at the very most only one or two thousand years old. They may have developed from other American Indian peoples already in the Southeast, or they may have migrated there from another region. The Cherokees say they and other human beings were created after plants and animals were made. Plants and animals were told by the creatorthe Cherokees do not know who he or she wasto stay awake for seven nights and watch the world. Most could not do so. Of the plants, only the spruce, cedar, pine, holly, and laurel trees were able to watch so long: that is why they are now green all year. Of the animals, only the owl, the panther, and a few others were able to stay awake: that is why they see at night and prey on those who must sleep. Human beings were then created: At first there were only a brother and sister until he struck her with a fish and told her to multiply, and so it was. Seven days afterward the girl had a child; another came seven days later, then another, and so forth, and the human beings increased very fast until there was danger that the world could not keep them. Then it was made that a woman should have only one child in a year, and it has been so ever since (Mooney, 1982, p. 240). The Cherokees do not now know when or how some humans first became Cherokees. Almost certainly they had their origins in an ancient time, distinct from the present, when things were not as they are now. The Cherokees think they may even have emerged from the ground after other human beings were created, for it is said there is another world under the surface, identical except that the seasons are different. According to the Cherokees, The streams that come down from the mountains are the trails by which we reach this underworld, and the springs at the heads are the doorways by which we enter it, but to do this one must fast and go to water and have one of the underground people for a guide ( Mooney, 1982, p. 240). Some scholars have asserted that this is where the name Cherokee came fromgiven them by their neighbours. The scholars have argued that Cherokee means cave people, for the Cherokees are said to have come from under the ground (Reid, 1970, p. 3) and also lived in a mountainous land full of caves. The eighteenth-century trader James Adair asserted that the name came from the (apparently Cherokee) word chee-ra, meaning (sacred) fire, forming cheera-tahge, or men possessed of the divine fire (Adair, 1930, p. 237). Probably the name is from the Creek chilokee, people of a different speech, as John W. Swanton has stated; perhaps it is the name from which the form Chalaque was derived (Swanton, 1985, p. 49-50). The anthropologist John Witthoft supported this interpretation, based on his work with Eastern Cherokee informants: The name came from the Creek, Celokokalke, people of another language. He asserted, The Creek name by which the Cherokee were first known to Europeans became the general name for them in the Southeast, and was soon accepted even by the Cherokee themselves; names for other tribal groups have come into existence after a similar fashion (Witthoft, 1947, p. 305). The Cherokees commonly called themselves Tsalagi or, in the plural, Ani-Tsalagi, perhaps corrupted to form the name Cherokee or perhaps derived from the same word as Cherokee. According to James Mooney, their proper name for themselves was Yunwiya or, in the plural, Ani-Yunwiya. It means, more or less, the people, the real people, or the principal people (Mooney, 1982, p. 15). Tradition played an important role in Cherokee clans. It made sure certain elements of a culture from generation to generation were passed down. Such as, the traditional matrilineal Cherokee family structure, which means descent, is traced through the female line (Conley, 2002). The children belonged to the mother and her family clan. There was not any relatedness with the father and he’s family clan. This family structure provided a safe and secure environment for women and children. Also, it meant the man lived in the wife’s house, surrounded by her clan’s people, so he would not dare to abuse her unless he wanted a tribal beating. Women were largely incorporated into the tribes. Not only was she the head of her domain with mutually respected power and authority, she had equal say in the affairs of war and peace. She was also in charge of the household and nourishment of her family. The women were involved in many functions of daily life. It seems as if the women were the tribe, but not for long. Years after the first American contact, European traders living amongst would marry Cherokee women. European traders could not accept that fact of tracing descent through the female line, but slowly the clan system gave into the European style bilateral family, which traced descent through both male and female (Conley, 2002). The Cherokee were not too happy with this movement. It jeopardized the Cherokee’s clan traditional ways of a matrilineal family structure carried on for many centuries. Nevertheless, the Cherokees could do nothing about it. Before the first known contacts, life of the Cherokee nation had grown and thrived for many years in the south-eastern United States in the lower Appalachian Mountains in states such as: Georgia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, and parts of Kentucky and Alabama. However, in less than thirty years, after the first recorded contact with outsiders, in particular with Hernado De Soto in his expedition of 1540, the Cherokee Indians reformed their culture. Many adaptations took place which resembled similar American cultures. The Cherokee soon built schools and court systems. This infuriated Andrew Jackson, a supporter of the Indian removal policy. After awhile, George Gist, also known as Sequoyah, established a Cherokee written language, utilizing an ingenious alphabet of 86 characters in 1821 (Ehle, 1925). Soon, this was adopted into Cherokee culture and a newspaper was formed. Again, Andrew Jackson grew more furious. He wanted the Cherokees removed off their lands. In 1830, United States Congress passed an Indian Removal Act pushed by President Andrew Jackson following the recommendation of former President James Monroe in his final address to Congress in 1825 (King, 1979). This act enforced the previous Georgia Compact of 1802, since many were ignoring that removal act. But, many opposed this Indian Removal Act ratified by congress. After debates over this issue, the oppositionist won. However, Andrew Jackson was able to reinforce the act, due to the Treaty of New Echota on Dec. 29, 1875 (Conley, 2002). The signing of the Treaty of New Echota set the stage for the beginning of Cherokee extermination. The treaty signed away the entire remaining tribal territory east of the Mississippi in exchange for five million dollars and the right to occupy lands west of the Mississippi (King, 1979). Major Ridge, John Ridge, Elies Boudinot, and the rest of the Treaty Party doomed the whole Cherokee Nation when they agreed to sign a fraudulent treaty with the federal government, which did not represent the Cherokee Nation as a whole (Martin, 2001). The Ross Party, people who oppose the removal treaty, tried to resist, but nothing else could be done. This removal process started what was to be known as the â€Å"Trail of Tears† or â€Å"Trail where they cried. † This forced migration journey consisted of thirteen groups of consecutive waves led by Cherokee captions that lasted from August 28, 1838 to March 18, 1839 (Conley, 2002). Over the journey many Cherokees died, approximately, four thousand out of sixteen thousand, due to diseases, exposure, or fatigue (Martin, 2001). The history of the Cherokee people is one of defeat and despair. After the first encounters with Americans, the Cherokee Nation was deteriorating. For instance, Cherokee family structures were changing, vast amounts of lands were being ceded to Americans, and Cherokee Indians were forced from their lands. Overtime, this constant chipping away at the Cherokee Nation, lead to the final Indian removal from homelands and the demise of the Cherokee Nation in southeastern United States. References Adair, James. (1930). Adairs history of the American Indians. Johnson City, Tenn. : Watauga Press. Canouts, Veletta, and Goodyear, Albert C. (1985). Lithic scatters in the South Carolina Piedmont. In Structure and process in southeastern archaeology, ed. Roy S. Dickens Jr. , and H. Trawick Ward, (pp. 180-94). University: University of Alabama Press. Conley, Robert, J. (2002). Cherokee. Portland: Graphic Arts Center Publishing Co. pp. 24-5, 44. Ehle, John. (1925). Trail of tears. New York: Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. King, Duane, H. (1979). The Cherokee Indian Nation. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press. pp. 16, 129. Martin, Ken. (2001). History of the Cherokee. Retrieved February 13, 2006 from cherokeehistory. com Mooney James. (1982). Myths of the Cherokee and sacred formulas of the Cherokees. Nashville: Charles and Randy Elder. Muller Jon D. (1978). The Southeast. In Ancient Native Americans, ed. Jesse D. Jennings, (pp. 281-325). San Francisco: W. H. Freeman. Reid, John P. (1970). A law of blood: The primitive law of the Cherokee Nation. New York: New York University Press. Swanton, John R. (1985). Final report of the United States De Soto Expedition Commission. Washington, D. C. : Smithsonian Institution Press. Witthoft, John. (1947). Notes on a Cherokee migration story. Communicated by W. N. Fenton. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 37, 304-5.

Management In Action Starbucks Marketing Essay

Management In Action Starbucks Marketing Essay 1. Introduction: At global level there are many developed and successful organisation which have powerful strategy, modern technology, good managerial system and sound financial conditions. StarBucks is one of the famous and successful organisations. StarBucks is a global organisation. This case study is going to describe about the StarBucks value at global level and relation with theories of trade. Main thing is strategy of StarBucks that which type of strategy StarBucks have adopted and what the impact on the organisations was. StarBucks has used well structure strategy to develop the organisation at the global level. So that is why StarBucks have achieved its aim, objectives at domestic and global level. StarBucks has faced many challenges during its success. There are some supporting theories which have explained about the national advantage of the StarBucks like Porters diamond model. There is also analysis of SWOT Matrix which explains about the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of the StarBucks. SWOT Matrix is the alternative of the strategy of the company. Market development of StarBucks was diversification in culture, marketing mix and development of product. There are some unrelated developments like WIFI internet connection is available on the stores, entertainments, music etc. StarBucks have also partnership with different organisation. 2. History of StarBucks: Starbucks has launched in 1971 in Seattle. Three friends have opened a small coffee shop. There name were Jerry Baldwin, Zev Sigel and Gordon Browker. They were found of fresh coffee. They started to sell fresh roasted, gourmet coffee beans coffee beans. Then things started change in 80s. In 1981 sales man of plastic has noticed about the usage of drip prepped thermoses which StarBucks was buying from Hammerplast. Starbucks sold out from Zev Sigel. In 1982, Howard Schultz haired by Baldwin as a new marketing head and he is sent to Italy for attending the international show. Schultz noticed an important point rather than the coffee that customers came to coffee shop and enjoy every sip of coffee it was inspiration moment for him. Schultz explained that impressive moment and said change old world with new world and make a place where people can do gathering by using the marketing techniques. Baldwin did not allow Schultz to do. After that Schultz has opened its own coffee shop with nam e of Il Giornale and start selling 700 coffees per day it was great success for him. In 1987, Schultz pushes up the business and forces the investors to open 125 outlets in next five year. Starbucks started outlet from 17 stores in 1987 then business expanded in Vancouver, Chicago, and Portland as well. StarBucks also started mail order business and licensed on airport. Business also expanded in California, United States, Japan and Singapore. Star bucks also started WIFI free internet connection, selling CDs, producing ice cream and also make relation with Apple Company as well. StarBucks have 1334 stores all over the world and got success. 3. Globalisation: We can define globalisation that it is a process, in which we can reduce the distance, time, easy access, connection by using the global networking. It will call global village as well. Regional, economical and cultural activities become incorporated with each other by globalisation. Globalisation helps to reduced and minimized the barriers between national borders and flow of goods, capital, services, and labour. Globalisation has made easy access to the products, services etc. We can see the example of KFC, McDonalds, Dominos pizza many other organisation which are worldwide spreader. Globalisation is not a minor term, it is board term. There is one more example of StarBucks which is worlds famous organisation. It has a lot of branches on different countries globally. StarBucks and Globalisation: StarBucks is a multinational organisation in America. It has more than 16000 StarBucks branches in the world. Starbuck sale out coffee and espresso and many other products as well. Almost 70 percent branches are in United States and rest of percentage in the world. Starbuck speciality is whole bean coffee. It also offers frapaccino, baked goods and beverages as well. A star buck is the one of the successful organisation of the America which is globally spreader business. 4. Theories of international trade: International trade mean import and export of goods and services across the boundaries of the countries. It helps to increase in the gross domestic profits in the countries. International trade is affected by industrialisation, modern technology, and advance infrastructure system and by many other factors as well. Theory of international trade includes four types of theories.1) comparative advantage2) absolute advantage3) trade theory4) mercantilist theories. Two theories are most important one is comparative advantage theory and other is absolute theory. Comparative advantage means two counties are committed they want to increase production by their motivational power and want to reduced consumption because they prior to trade lower relative marginal cost than other goods. Absolute advantage theory means take advantage by using the cheapest source by doing trade of products which was totally unattainable at domestic level. StarBucks and theory of international trade: StarBucks is the well known multinational organisation. StarBucks import and export their products in the different countries. StarBucks outlets are scattered on the whole world. So it has connected with the theory of trade. Star buck expended its business. It opened first coffee warehouse in Tokyo then it open its branches in different countries and adopted the theory of international trade. Absolute theory is related to StarBucks because America has StarBucks which is specialist in coffee and food and extended its business across the boundaries of the country. 5. Globalisation strategies of StarBucks: StarBucks faces many up and down to expand its business. To become a multinational company StarBucks have to mage globalisation strategy which have give the benefits and also accepted many challenges. On the 40th anniversary of StarBucks chair man, CEO told about the global strategy of StarBucks which explain about the achievement of discipline, profitable growth by approval the global market place, forcing our brand strength through new and existing ways. He also describe about the good customer services, new innovation in the market. In the global strategy of StarBucks also include about the employees which are providing good customer service and trying to maximize the satisfaction of the customer. StarBucks basic object is providing good and valuable quality coffee and food to the customer and make them happy. Global strategy is helpful to achieve their objective, vision, and mission. It also explains about the financial the conditions, strengths, weakness, environmental condition of StarBucks and also explains about the cultural and organisational behaviour of the StarBucks. Challenges for StarBucks: A star buck has faced different challenges during the journey of success. StarBucks have challenge the economical and consumer environmental condition in US and across the boundaries in many countries. StarBucks adopted those trick which has developed in the financial condition, operating performance and also its fiscal health. StarBucks also handling the disciplines and strategy growth in US and in retail business and also in global market. Most of these challenges were related to the organisation global strategies. 6. Supporting theories: There is one of the famous theories which are porters diamond theory that explain about the comparatives advantage of the country. This theory includes some factors which are labour, natural resources and size of population. Michael E. Porter has explained in this theory that nation can create new advance factors as well. Porters diamond national advantage: There are four factors which can affect the comparative advantage. Availability of natural resources. Important information which help in decision making. Goal of individual of company Pressure on company to invest and innovate. Factor condition means a country create its own skilled factors like StarBucks has created its own value and specialised in coffee. StarBucks have labour force and also a lot of strengths it can achieve its goals. Market of specific product demands more important rather than the international level whenever local market will not be strong then bunnies will not extent so StarBucks did the same thing so thats why it is globally famous organisation. Related and supporting industries show about the market competition. StarBucks have competition with Costa coffee. StarBucks strategy, structure and rivalry also effect on the organisation. 7. Effectiveness and efficiency of operations: There are some operations which are StarBucks doing and focusing on them. These operations are effective and helping in progress of business. Recycling system was started in 2005 but plastic cup could not be recycled then they have changed the material of cup for recycling. Many stores did not have bins to store the recycle but now many stores have arranged it and it is effective because they can easily collect the rubbish and recycle it. In 2004 StarBucks, StarBucks have reduced to use the napkins and the store garbage bags because the usage of these thing s very high. The usage of water was also so much high23.4 million per day. It was continues usage of water during washing utensils. Then StarBucks have started to use machine push button for washing the utensils. Efficiency of this operation was it has reduced the usage of water 150 gallons per day. StarBucks also started staff training. This training was give for the properly coffee making. Except it StarBucks have stared some charitable operations like Ethos water which was way of charity to the children, product red was launched foe the AIDS medicines and New Orleans is different employees working different projects like gardening, planting trees in urban areas. 8. Strategy of StarBucks and its alternatives: Strategy of StarBucks is very simple and unique. Their mission statement is always providing good quality coffee to the customers they grew coffee and roast them with great care. They also care about those people who grew the coffee. StarBucks are worldwide famous organisation so there is diversity fall but they respect each other. StarBucks also serve the customers with the nice smile and with good beverages. StarBucks think that their store is place where customers can come and enjoy their precious time together. They can do get together. StarBucks also explain about the relation as a neighbour which positive. Basic objective of StarBucks expanding their business whole the world and good customer service and make employees proud on it. If we do SWOT analysis of StarBucks then we can find out the alternatives of the strategy of StarBucks. Best way is SWOT matrix which is more help full. SWOT MATRIX: LEAVE BLANK Strength(S) List strength Weakness(W) List weakness Opportunities (O) List opportunities SO strategies Use strength take advantage of opportunities WO strategies Overcoming weakness by taking advantage of opportunities Threats (T) List threats ST strategies Use strength avoiding threats WT strategies Minimize weakness and avoid threats. SO strategies: StarBucks is good market leader and have good ability to attract the customers. StarBucks have well train employees and good working environment. StarBucks are strong financial organisation and it is spreader all over the world. StarBucks have also good relation with customers as well. Through using its strength StarBucks can take advantage from the opportunities. StarBucks can use new technology and can expand also retail business. StarBucks can also launched new and branded product by emerging with the other organisation at global level. WO Strategies: StarBucks can overcome the weakness by using the opportunities. StarBucks are focusing the size of the business. It trying to expand the business but its not focusing on internal factors. Numbers of competitors are increasing in the growing market so StarBucks should have to think about it. StarBucks have also weakness of cross functional management. Product pricing of the StarBucks is also high. StarBucks have to take advantage of the opportunities which includes new distribution of channels, distribution of products and segmentation at domestic level and adopting new managerial systems. ST Strategies: By using the strengths StarBucks can avoid threats. StarBucks have threat of competition which includes other coffee shops and super markets. There is also fluctuation of prices in other developing countries. Some cultural and political issues also threats for StarBucks. By suing the power and strength can achieve its goals. StarBucks are knowledge based and board organisation. It has strong financial resources as well. StarBucks have trademarks and patents rights as well. WT Strategies: Last strategy alternative is minimizing weakness and avoid threats. StarBucks is focusing on the expansion of the business but its not expanding the business but have to do analysis its internal factors. It should reduce to adopt the cross functional managerial system. It should have to reduce the prices. Through this automatically threats will minimized as well. 9. Market development alternatives: Market strategy of StarBucks is to expand the business at high market level and also in global market. StarBucks have leadership quality as well. StarBucks have good relation with its suppliers and have ability to be an industry market leader. Customers accept its products and like to eat it. Its have its competitors like Costa coffee and cafe Nero. Diversification: Starbucks prefer diversification to their customer, Communities, partners and supplier. There is diversification in employees because in different areas have different employees according the countries. There is also diversification between the customers according to the cultural of the people. Starbucks do contributions to their neighbours have partnership with different companies and organisation. Starbucks always try to develop its business by doing relationship with other new suppliers. Product and market growth: StarBucks have to launch new products with good and developed taste. StarBucks can do brand extension as well. It will be help full to increase demand of products and market development at domestic level and also at global market. Market growth can be increased by doing good advertisements. It will maximise market development. Marketing mix: Marketing mix also an alternative of development of a market. StarBucks have competitive advantage and also good leadership quality. By adopting the marketing mix StarBucks can develop the market at domestic and global level. 10. Unrelated developments: StarBucks is well known organisation at global level. Its coffee quality and taste is also liked by the customers. Their strategy is to give good taste and good quality coffee to customers. They want to make happy to the customers. StarBucks try to do some direct development but it also affect directly. There are some indirect developments which are as follow. Wireless internet: StarBucks is offering free internet connection at their stores. Every customer can get easy access to the internet while taking coffee. There is no charge, no need to use password and user name and no restriction. Its unlimited usage of internet connection. StarBucks try to do direct development but it was indirect development because StarBucks is an organisation where providing coffee not WIFI system. I Phone Apple: StarBucks did agreement with Apple Company. They offer the customer to get free music. In 2007, in ITunes stores StarBucks entertainments option added. These were similar songs which were played in StarBucks store. StarBucks want to entertain their customers as well. StarBucks want to do directly development but it indirect development of entertainments. MSNBC: StarBucks have relation with Moring news by name of brewed by StarBucks. It shows logo changed in company as well StarBucks as well. StarBucks wants to give up to date news to customers. It was indirect development in media in StarBucks 11.Strategic alliances, joint ventures and routes to survive: StarBucks have different joint ventures and used different strategic alliances. One of them was HEAR MUSIC which is purchased by StarBucks in 1999. StarBucks realised it first album with name of opera. This album includes famous singer. StarBucks use this strategy and get development and extension in business. StarBucks have partnership with the Apple Company which is very well known and famous at global level. StarBucks did joint venture with it and add option of music of StarBucks in ITunes store. People love to listen music and like the barded products so that is why StarBucks had taken advantage. StarBucks also having partnership with the BT for free WIFI connection. It was successful strategy to develop the business and get attraction of customers. 12. Conclusion and recommendation: At the end, StarBucks is the good competitors and successful organisation in the world. Starbucks has achieve its aim , goal and objective in very short time period by adopting well structured strategy by using at global level and domestic level as well. StarBucks have good and valuable roast beans coffee and also well trained staff and employees with good managerial system. Starbucks has good strengths and opportunities through it can competitor its rival and also can over the weakness and can avoid threats as well. In my opinion is that StarBucks is expanding its business day by day but it not giving attention to its internal factors like financial condition and cross function managerial system. It should have to make strategy to minimize its weakness and threats that can be a cause of its loss. Starbucks is famous all over the world and people like the taste of coffee.

Assumptions, research design and data collection strategies

Assumptions, research design and data collection strategies Chapter 1 Introduction The purpose of this assignment is to offer a critical analysis of the underpinning assumptions and research design and data collection strategies and the practice of academic research. Two research papers are chosen for the purpose of this analysis. The first paper is a quantitative study and the second paper is a qualitative study. They are as follows:- Shafer, W. E., Fukukawa, K. and Lee, G. M. (2007) Values and the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility: The U.S. versus China, Journal of Business Ethics, 70 (3), pp. 265-284. Tsoi, J. (2007) Stakeholders perceptions and future scenarios to improve corporate social responsibility in Hong Kong and Mainland China, Journal of Business Ethics, pp. 1-14. The main reason for selecting these two papers is that they both report upon the area of corporate social responsibility, which is the focus of my PhD. Within the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR), there has been considerable research discussing the relationship between values and perception with the attitude/behaviour of businesses towards CSR. These values are considered quantifiable and thus have been measured quantitatively using scales developed by authors such as Forsyth (1980), Singhapakdi et al.(1996), and Vitell and Patwardhan (2008). Interviews have been used to bring forward the values that are deemed important by stakeholders, and were explored qualitatively by Fukukawa and Teramoto (2009), Siltaoja (2006), and Là ¤hdesmà ¤ki and Siltaoja (2009). The two papers selected both looked at cross-cultural values and perceptions, however, they utilise different methods of investigation. This difference could provide a good basis for comparison, in terms of philosophical assumptions, research design, and the method of data collection. The analyses will begin for each paper with an introduction of the research aims, followed by the epistemological and ontological position, the research design, followed by analysis of its research methodology, the alternative research design and lastly, conclusions from this discussion will be provided. Chapter 2 Review of Quantitative Research paper 2.1 Research Objectives This study by Shafer, Fukukawa and Lee (2007) examined the values and the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility on managers from China and the U.S. The authors used scales instruments to obtain quantitative data in order to make inferences on whether the managers nationality and personal values have effect on their ethical perception. The American and Chinese managers are assumed to differ in their personal values and subsequently this should be reflected from their responses to the â€Å"Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility† (PRESOR) scale. The authors provided the relevant background information and built up the reasoning for their hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that managers from China would believe less strongly than American managers in the importance of ethically and socially responsible conduct to achieve organisational success. The second hypothesis was that both American and Chinese managers personal values are believed to have significant impact on the responses to the scale. These hypotheses seem to correlate strongly with the research objectives which are to determine that there is variation in response due to cultural differences. 2.2 Epistemological and Ontological Assumptions It is likely that the authors based their research on moral philosophy which â€Å"refers in particular to the principles of rules that people use to decide what is right or wrong† (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2005:19). This paper seems to indicate that the principles of rules of managers of different cultures are likely to differ and thus ethical decision-making would vary. The authors provided examples of other empirical research to support this notion. The assumption that personal values can influence ethical decisions shows that the research is likely to infer an ontological assumption of realist, whereby reality is seen to have an existence independent of the activities of the human observer (Blaikie, 2007:13). As the research strives to compare values and perceptions, these elements are thought to be measurable and quantifiable; seemingly leaning towards the empiricism position in which the key idea is that knowledge comes from observing the world (Blaikie, 2007:19). The authors employed deductive research whereby the â€Å"hypotheses formed are tested to determine if the statements can be supported† (Sekaran, 2003:31), which is a typical research approach of empiricists. Taking possibly the stance of positivists, these values are assumed measureable, and are thus thought to form the social reality that these values affect the perception of corporate social responsibility amongst the managers from these two countries. 2.3 Research Design The intention is to establish the differences in personal values, by using large quantities of data, which would be representative of the overall population of American and Chinese managers. This suggests that there are two assumptions, that values are measureable and that it is possible to generalise the population from the sample. In order to generalise, a considerably large amount of data is required, thus a survey research instrument was employed. The PRESOR scale developed by Singhapakdi et al. (1995) was used. The reasons that the PRESOR scale was chosen over the cultural dimensions formed by Hofstede (2001) were argued; examples of the latter in other research were shown to be inconsistent and inconclusive in its directional impact, thus making theoretical predictions difficult. The use of PRESOR scale in other research was exemplified and seemed to have established the reliability of its measurement. The PRESOR scale was explained further in the introduction of the paper. Thirteen out of sixteen original items were selected and the authors justified this by stating that only these thirteen items had significant factor loadings in the Singhapakdi, Scott and Franke (1999:25) study. These items were grouped into two categories; the Stockholder and the Stakeholder views. The Stakeholder View reflects the importance of ethics and social responsibility to organisational survival and success, whilst the Stockholder view indicates that organisational success depends on more than just profitability and obligations to the stockholders (Axinn et al., 2004:104) In the methodology section, the Schwartz value instrument and a demographic questionnaire were mentioned as being used together with the PRESOR scale. There was little mention of the reasons the Schwartz scale was used and how it was applied. It was only later in the appendix that the items considered in the Schwartz scale was provided in details. A clearer explanation could have improved the clarity of the paper. The research design employed the use of two research instruments (PRESOR scale and Schwartz value instrument) as means for data collection. The sample of practising managers from the two different countries was given the same survey to complete, thus the responses could be compared on that basis. The results from the analyses were then compared against the hypotheses formed, affirming or not affirming the hypotheses. This process is typical of the deductive approach (Blaikie, 2007:70). 2.4 Data Collection The sample consisted of 311 practising managers, enrolled part time in selective MBA programmes in the U.S. and China. The participation was voluntary and the scales were completed as an in-class exercise. The authors acknowledged potential problems from this sample selection. The first is that, although the MBA programmes in these two countries appear to be comparable, the sample may have confounded the effects of national differences and MBA programme differences. Secondly, the sample was not randomly selected as the authors had asked their students to complete the scales in-class. The authors did not provide further justification for these two problems and thus this is believed to have weakened the external validity of this investigation (Bryman and Bell, 2007:204). Aside from this comment from the authors, there was very little mention of the validity of the measurement which makes it difficult to make further discussion on this. The basis of their selectivity and the criteria in which these programmes were said to be comparable, were also not provided in details. The details of its comparability may have helped clarify and strengthen the validity of the selection criteria, as well as making the paper more understandable. Considering the objectives of the research, in which the authors seem to be looking at making generalisations on the affect of personal values, there is a need to collect large quantities of data. The survey method seems to be appropriate as surveys are easy to distribute to large number of people and costs can be kept to a minimum (Bryman and Bell, 2007:195). This relates to external validity, which is â€Å"about generalisability of results beyond the focal study† (Easterby-Smith et al., 2008:87). In this paper, external validity was not discussed; however, it is likely that the results are meant to be applicable for the context of China and the U.S. only. The authors stated the limitation of which the participants can not be assumed as representative of the broader populations of managers in these two countries, due to the fact that the MBA programmes were selective in nature. The research took consideration of the possibility that the age and experience differences of their sample might affect the results, and thus these factors were examined for significance. The scale was translated to Mandarin Chinese and later back-translated with resolution of discrepancies, to take account of the language difference. These examples seem to reflect on the effort of the authors in ensuring that the results are not significantly affected by other variables. In order to test the dimensionality of the PRESOR scale, a principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation and Kaiser normalisation was applied. This is typical of a quantitative study where factor analysis is usually applied as part of the research design. In terms of research replication, this research had provided considerable amount of information which would possibly allow other researchers to perform similar research. The items from the two views (Stockholder and Stakeholder) of the PRESOR scale were provided in details. In addition, the authors also mentioned the calculation method used, such as the use of mean values and the Univariate Analysis of Covariance models (ANCOVA). The only exception would probably be the PRESOR scale itself, whereby the questions that were asked and the choice answers were not explicitly given, which might mean that future researchers might find it difficult to replicate the research and might even have to approach the authors or Singhapakdi who developed the scale. 2.5 Alternative Method The authors mentioned that more in-depth examination using qualitative design of investigation such as interviews would perhaps be more revealing. It is agreed that qualitative measure would allow insights into the importance of ethics to managers, and the various ethical issues that managers prioritise. The researchers are more likely to obtain a richer data of the decision-making process of managers, at the same time; they would be able to achieve the research objectives. The researchers can make use of semi-structured type interview which will allow better control of what questions need to be asked, and to ensure that the objectives of the interview are achieved as well (Bryman and Bell, 2007:474), if time and costs are constraints. There are also other alternatives methods to obtain qualitative data that would have fit this research, such as the use of focus groups. Focus group interviews allow researchers to observe the behaviour of the American and Chinese managers as they interact with each other. It would be possible to see the differences in reaction to ethical issues much more clearly, when these managers are given, for example, the same ethical dilemma, and they are required to rationalise the problem and come up with solutions. This method might be more useful than questionnaire surveys, particularly in that the values of the American and Chinese managers could be brought out through the way they respond and react to ethical problems, the problem-rationalisation process, and the degree of attention paid on a particular problem. Similar to the interview method, this would be considerably more costly to conduct, and it might even be more costly than doing interviews, however, the researchers would gain no t only in achieving the research objectives but they would also attain a better understanding of the effects of personal values in ethical decision-making. However, if the goal was only to establish that perception of CSR differs between diverse cultures, the research design would have fit the purpose. This is because the data collection strategy used (questionnaire survey), allowed the authors to obtain considerably response for generalisation. A questionnaire survey would also have been more cost-efficient and less time consuming, especially for cross-cultural studies. Chapter 3 Review of Qualitative Research paper 3.1 Research Objectives In this second paper, this qualitative study aims to make apparent the perceptions and views of the future scenarios from stakeholders within the garment industry in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The underlying intention was to seek consensus and common ground, on a local and regional level to help companies develop an appropriate CSR strategy, to improve the state of corporate social responsibility and in the long run, to achieve sustainability in the region. The main objective was stated as â€Å"by engaging with major stakeholders, to identify the local and regional supply chain stakeholders perceptions and expectations† (Tsoi, 2007:1). Typical of a qualitative study, generalisation is often not the objective of the study (Bryman and Bell, 2007:410). This is apparent from this study as the author had mentioned that the sample may not be sufficient for generalisation for the entire garment industry, however, it is â€Å"relevant to garment businesses involved in export-orientated activities† (Tsoi, 2007:1). Tsoi (2007) used an inductive approach to identify the perceptions of stakeholders by conducting interviews. 3.2 Epistemological and Ontological Assumptions Although the author did not indicate the philosophical assumptions behind this study, the author implied that by identifying the stakeholders perception, â€Å"the findings would help in building consensus, strengthening the implementation, and establishing future CSR framework†. This suggests that the author has an ontological position of constructionism, which asserts that social phenomena and their meanings are continually being accomplished by social actors, implying that there exists social interaction and that there is a constant state of revision of the social phenomena (Bryman and Bell, 2007:23). In this case study, the social reality of what is happening in the garment industry, in terms of its corporate social responsibility, is a social reality that was formed by the stakeholders. It suggests that the social phenomena (condition of CSR) can undergo changes, and that it is dependent on the activities of the social actors. The views of the social actors are thought to be indicative of the important issues in corporate social responsibility, within the garment industry. This form of research is consistent with the research paradigm of the interpretivist position, as the basis of the research is that the study of the phenomena requires an understanding of the social world that social actors have constructed and which they reproduced through their continuing activities (Blaikie, 2007:124). In this instance, the stakeholders are the social actors who will continually interpret and reinterpreting their social world which can be the garment industry. The social phenomenon that the author is investigating is the current state and the future of the corporate social responsibility in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The future conception of CSR in these two places is related to phenomenology, whereby, it concerns with the question of how individuals make sense of the world around them (Bryman and Bell, 2007:18). In this case, it can be viewed as the way stakeholders make sense of the state of corporate responsibility in the region. 3.3 Research Design The author relied on a qualitative method, specifically, the face-to-face semi-structured interview, which indicates the leanings of the author in â€Å"conducting a naturalistic inquiry in real-world rather than experimental or manipulated settings† (Ritchie and Lewis, 2003:4). For qualitative studies, semi-structured and unstructured interviews are commonly used as they provide rich, detailed answers and taps into the interviewees point of view (Bryman and Bell, 2007:474). As the focal source of data was the stakeholders themselves in this study, this seems to infer that the research design is based on the interpretivist view that the â€Å"social phenomena can only be understood and be investigated from the inside† (Blaikie, 2007:125). The author identified major stakeholders possibly with stakeholder theory, stating the assumption â€Å"that multinationals see stakeholder consultation and management as an important communication tool in identifying and interpreting the needs of salient stakeholders† and as such would enable â€Å"the development of a common language for CSR and subsequently the development of proactive CSR strategies†. This correlates with the stakeholder approach of Wheeler et al. (2003:19) who stated that â€Å"value creation at the highest level requires an ability to build value-based networks where all stakeholders see merit in their association with and support for a business†. In this instance, it is likely that the stakeholders were deemed to be important in the future direction of CSR in the region, and this was the reason that stakeholders were chosen as source of data. The author mentioned that these interviews conducted in 2004 and 2005 may no longer be relevant, since there were major developments in 2008. This might have made the interviews slightly outdated however; there should not be many changes to the overall aims of the stakeholders and thus the outcomes of this research would remain valid. However, as an alternative, the author could have applied longitudinal design which â€Å"represents a distinct form of research design than is typically used to map change in business and management research† (Bryman and Bell, 2007:60). The longitudinal design would not only serve the purpose of this study, but it would also allow insights into the factors that cause change to the perception. With this sample, it is possible to use cohort study, whereby â€Å"the cohort is made up of people who share a certain characteristics† (Bryman and Bell, 2007:61), since the stakeholders have a stake in the garment industry. However, longitudinal re search may require a lot more preparation, could be time-consuming and thus it could be more costly. 3.4 Data Collection With regards to the methodology, the interview questions that were used for this research was not provided. As this was a semi-structured interview, it would have been useful if the author had provided general information on how the questions were formed, and the structure of the interview questions as this would provide an indication of the depth of the interviews, and hence the validity of the research design. For the sample, 25 representatives from academia, the business organisations, the non-government organisations, trade association, and government officials were identified. The response rate was 84%, in which 21 out of a total of 25 representatives of these organisations agreed to be interviewed. It was mentioned that the reason for such a high response rate, was that the author had contacted the interviewees on a one-to-one basis. Furthermore, the interviewees were also guaranteed anonymity. The sample, thus, appears to be extensive and is representative of the various stakeholders that are vital in the garment industry. 3.5 Alternative Method The intention was that the â€Å"findings would help in building consensus, strengthening the implementation and establishing the future CSR framework† (Tsoi, 2007:1). The author might have meant that having collected all the different views from these stakeholders, the author would be able to determine the consensus of how CSR should be developed and how CSR should be like in the future. However, it is doubtful that a consensus could have been obtained using this method of analysis. The interviewees, although were representative of the garment industry, each one a vital stakeholder, there was no real interaction between these stakeholders, and thus, the consensus that is meant is only based on the researchers understanding from the interviewees responses. Stakeholders are thought to be able to reach a better compromise through discourse, with different sides arguing for the validity of their point as well as ensuring that the interests of the group or association that they re present are taken account of (Bryman and Bell, 2007:511). While it is understandable, that there is a strong possibility that it could be costly to get all the interviewees to sit together through a discourse, nevertheless there are alternatives which might be more useful for the purpose of this investigation, given that the objective is to reach a consensus amongst the stakeholders. With this reasoning, the research design could improve by firstly conveying the findings of the interviews to all of the stakeholders interviewed, and follow up with another interview to see if there were changes to their views. Alternatively, the author could use the method of focus group interviews. With this method, Merton et al. (1956) (in Bryman and Bell, 2007:511) stated that the â€Å"accent is upon interaction within the group and the joint construction of meaning†. Focus group interviews could provide a platform for the interviewees to interact and to establish a joint construction of what it means to strengthen CSR and also determine what future scenarios should and could be like. With regards to selecting a suitable size for the focus group, it is recommended by Bryman and Bell (2007:517) that the typical group size should be six to ten members, whilst Sekaran (2003:220) recommends a size of eight to twelve members. The reason that the focus group interview method was recommended was that the interviewees would be encouraged to express their opinions argumentatively, which would then allow the researcher to gauge the degree of importance of certain issues and how much flexibility the interv iewees might have to reach a compromise with others. There are of course possible pitfalls using the focus group method, in that some interviewees might be dominant over others, and thus the opinions of those less dominant might not be heard, but these effects can be reduced to a minimum level by having a good moderator (in Bryman and Bell, 2007:511). The one-to-one interview method could still be more advantageous compared with the focus group interview, as the time and monetary costs of conducting a one-to-one interview would probably be considerably less and thus be more manageable especially if there was only one researcher, as was with this case study. In this case study, it seemed that a quantitative design would actually be difficult to apply, and it would also be inappropriate for an investigation on the perception of CSR as a business concern. Taking the example of using a questionnaire survey with closed-ended questions, it is very likely that the respondents would answer that they are very concerned about CSR, as that might be perceived as the correct response, thus creating social desirability bias to the results. Furthermore, with a questionnaire survey, the researcher would not be able to pin-point all the various future scenarios for CSR in Hong Kong and Mainland China, even if it was possible, the list of future scenarios might be too long to be practically manageable. Another issue would be that in making assumptions of the future scenarios that are deemed significant to the stakeholders, it would be problematic as the researcher might risk missing out relevant information. Therefore, it would be difficult, from these r easons, that a quantitative design would not be suitable for such a case study. Chapter 4 Conclusions In summary, the two papers reflect significant differences in their research approach. This was seen through the objectives of the research, the underlying assumptions of the research philosophy and the conceptualisation of research design and the data collection. There is certainly much to learn from these two research papers, both had given valuable information on the differences between quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as offer guidance on the selection of research method and how to go about utilising these methods. The research designs, as shown in these papers, are dependent of the research objectives and the designs are also influenced by the epistemological and ontological assumptions made. Even though the philosophical positions of the researchers were not made explicit, however, the likely positions can be assumed. These papers have also shown that the advantages and the disadvantages of the different methods of investigation, and they need to be considered to e nsure that the best method is chosen for the purpose of the research. In these two papers, the method of investigation is distinct, one was a qualitative study and the other was a quantitative study, however, this does not necessarily mean that a mixed method of investigation can not be used. In fact, (Bryman and Bell, 2007:646) suggested that triangulation can be applied, in which â€Å"the results of an investigation employing a method associated with one research strategy are cross-checked against the results of using a method associated with the other research strategy†.

Acquiring Personal Freedom Essay -- Narrative Memoir Essays

Acquiring Personal Freedom On a cold January day, a performance broke all barriers. The crowd erupted as the curtains opened to reveal the silhouette of a rock legend. The music initiated moves that seemed to defy explanation. Long, sensuous legs captured the audience as they moved with lightning speed while voluptuous red lips seemed to pour lyrics like a fountain. Some people were in shock about who was performing, while some mystified by how the artist seemed to control the stage. The singer was creating questions with every gyration during the unstoppable performance. No one, including me, could believe what was happening on stage. How someone’s attitude can change over a small amount of time. When I entered high school, I was very self-conscience about what I did and how I acted. This mental approach really dampened my creative side and it kept me from doing a lot of things I find fun now. By the middle of my sophomore year, I was ready to do something that would stir things up a bit and get the big wheels turning. Winterfest was only a week away and I, along with the rest of the school, was ready for a little break from the monotonous everyday routine. There was a competition scheduled for Thursday which was between different â€Å"air guitar† performances. I had been to a concert earlier in the year and saw Tina Turner perform one of her most famous songs, â€Å"Proud Mary.† To my mind, the idea of dressing like Tina Turner and performing on stage was absurd. I thought about it for a few days and decided that this could be something that might break the self-conscience chains holding my spirit down. I knew it would be hard and some people might think it a little overboard, but there was only one way to fin... ...ual attire rather than the leather mini-skirt. A glint in my eye seemed to light the way out of the dim-lit bathroom. Today, when confronted with a challenge, I just look back at this experience to help me through it. After I performed in front of the school in a skirt and high heels, some things seem minuscule. By overpowering my self-conscience feelings, I am now able to do things without caring how people might view me. I have noticed that my newly gained social confidence helps me through everything from interviews to relationships. On a cold January day, a performance broke all barriers blocking me from my goals. I did something I had never done and discovered that what others thought would not control my life any longer. On that day, my spirit escaped the bounding chains and set my big wheels in motion with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

The Great White Father Myth - A Hypocritical Belief :: Synthesis Essays

The Great White Father Myth - A Hypocritical Belief  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   In the informative article "The Great White Father Myth," the author Stan Steiner discusses the stereotypical view that the white man has created of himself as the hero, conqueror, and savior. He labels this view as "The Great White Father Myth," and begins by talking about the silent role the Indians have taken in the face of their Great White Father. Steiner supports his view of the white man's superiority as being nothing more than a myth, by discussing the crimes the white man committed against the Indians were silenced. The Indian Wars and the White man's desire to civilize the Indians were illustrations of the myth that whites were superior. Although the article contains a one-sided view of the events between the Europeans and the Indians, the fact that the white man is hypocritical in the view of himself as the Great White Father comes through very accurately and strongly. This idea is shown very evidently even though Steiner never comes out and defines what the Great White Father Myth is. He shows what he means through examples. Basically, through illustrations he shows that he feels the myth is that whites are superior beings of the human race. This created identity makes their values, religion, and culture the ideal goal for other races to follow. Since the white race is the "father" it is his duty to punish and change anyone who is different. In "An Indian Story of the Sierra Madre," the typical white hero and savior image of the Great White Father Myth that Steiner describes comes through. Captain Ben, who is the white cowboy hero, knows everything. In the beginning, he knows that the Indians are near just by looking at some birds over head. In his mind, Ben knows without even seeing them that they want to kill him and his men. As a result of this conclusion, smart Ben devises a scheme to kill the Indians and saves the day. After the massacre, he finds money with the Indians and knows automatically that they stole it. Captain Ben, being the savior and all around good guy, recovers the money and intends to find its owner and return it. The story continues in this same stereotypical fashion (DeQuille 242). This is how the white man pictures himself in comparison to the Indian: white = good and red skin = bad.

Lenovo’s Promotional Information Essay

To create a brand is a difficult and expensive task but to build a brand with worldwide influence is even more difficult and is often associated with huge risks. Research shows that only 25% of new products/brands generate more than $7.5 million in sales in their first few years and even fewer are able to generate enough revenue to keep them on market for long. Lenovo continues to build brand awareness through aggressive marketing and new product promotions. Lenovo uses this promotional mix to strategically penetrate new markets worldwide as well as to sustain its position as a global leader and to continue growth over the long term. Investment in brand awareness through Lenovo’s recent â€Å"For Those Who Do† promotional campaign has proven fruitful, helping the company establish a foothold in the U.S. market among the top five PC vendors. Lenovo is investing aggressively in new products such as Ultrabooks and all-in-one PCs, allowing it to rapidly adapt to changes in the marketplace and to consistently meet the ever-changing demands of its customer base. Promotion and IMC Promotion is an important and integral part of marketing process. To be successful, a producer must not only offer a good product at a reasonable price but also inform potential customers about the product and where they can buy it. The overall range of tactics available to a producer is known as the ‘promotional mix’ and comprises of advertising, sales promotion, publicity, sponsorship, direct marketing, internet marketing and personal selling. In addition to these key promotional tools, its marketing team also relies on other techniques, such as exhibitions and product placement in movies, songs or video games, which have gained in popularity in recent years. The promotional mix used by Lenovo is aligned with the decisions made with regard to product, pricing and distribution and different promotional methods that handle different parts of the job. Determining to blend these together is a strategy decision that should be kept consistent to communicate its beneï ¬ ts to a target market. Lenovo’s uses a variety of techniques to effectively communicate its products to its target market. Their promotions come in the form of coupons, instant savings, and online rebates. Lenovo is informing, persuading and reminding customers of their products and educating them in deciding on their available choices. Lenovo continues to build consumer interest which helps build favorable impressions of the company and its products. Theme and Positioning Statement The positioning theme of Lenovo is â€Å"We are for those who do.† Lenovo’s mission is to bring affordable innovative products for its customers. Lenovo’s vision clearly states â€Å"We are now one company with one goal: To build the best, most innovative products in the world. To use world-class economies to put new and better technology in the hands of more people, by innovating on cost the same way we innovate on technology. To focus our energy and our commitment on the success and trust of our customers.† Though a lot has changed in the recent years, however, Lenovo has always remained true to its mission statement. Promotion Blend Lenovo is increasing its brand awareness by campaigning, including social media, design, branded content, retail experience, event and strategic engagement and partnerships. The company sponsored the annual HopSotch independent music fest, and was a tech partner with â€Å"Transformers 3† and even showed up at Fashion Week in New York with designer partnerships and the Lenovo Lounge. In the U.S., the campaign kicked off with a 60-second TV spot that laid out their â€Å"do† theme, while smaller, subsequent campaigns focused on specifics such as its rapid boot technology. In one advertisement, Lenovo throws a PC out of an airplane and it must â€Å"save itself† by booting up quickly and deploying a parachute. Salespeople In today’s fast paced world, where the electronic and print media are having huge influence on everybody’s life, a product or service cannot survive without proper promotion. Personal selling is an extremely important part of this promotional mix. Sales are divided into three main tasks: order-getting, order-taking and supporting. Depending upon the situation a salesman can performs all these duties. A good salesperson should be knowledgeable about the products and its competitive environment. In many situations salesman can also answer questions about what promotion should be directed toward the final consumer. Lenovo’s salespeople handle most of the important communication with wholesalers and retailers. Additionally, Lenovo uses sale promotions not only to focus on best profit potential but also to give itself a competitive advantage in the market. A good customer service not only builds brand loyalty but also acts as a promotion because often satisfied customers share their experience with their friends and family. Therefore, building a long term relationship and trust with its customer base is very important part of product selling. Sales Promotions for Channel Members/Customers/Employees Promotions are important part for any marketing campaign, as it directly influences customers. In order to be effective a promotion should be able to persuade, inform and remind its customer base of the benefits of its marketed product. Lenovo uses promotions to motivate employees to provide better customer service or achieve higher sales. Lenovo has a special birthday rewards program and each employee is emailed on the 1st day of the month prior to their birthday thanking them for their contribution to the success of the business and asking them to log onto Lenovo’s branded website using their unique user name and password to order their gift online. Recently, Lenovo also shared a $3 million bonus that they received of increasing success with its junior-level employees. Lenovo awarded CEVA Logistics, one of the world’s leading supply chain companies its Innovation and Operations Excellence award for the second year in a row in North America. This award recognized CEVA’s efforts around freight consolidating and optimizing transportation resulting in substantial cost savings. Lenovo also has year around online promotions available for its customers. Push and Pull Strategy Lenovo distributes with push strategy that involves selling into channel intermediaries like large retailers, wholesalers and it is also reliant on personal selling and trade promotions. Its promotional efforts like personal selling, advertising and sales promotion helps sell the whole marketing mix to its channel members. Lenovo also distributes using a pull strategy which relies on customer demands that pulls the product through the channel. Lenovo’s uses both push and pull strategy in combination to promote its products to large business customers as well as to individual final consumers. Lenovo’s highly aggressive promotion to final consumers using coupons or samples, builds consumer interest and help them achieve higher sales of their products. Its informative and interactive website includes customer reviews and video demonstrations that help customers build favorable impressions of the company and its products. Recent Positive Publicity Lenovo continues to excel in the PC market and its products has achieved highest recognition among both its peers and customers. Recently Lenovo received 16 awards and honors highlighting its brand innovation, design and versatility in the PC industry at Top Industry Awards at 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show. Additionally, Lenovo relies extensively on fundraising to enter into new markets and market new products. Eedoo Technology, the video gaming unit that is associated with Lenovo Group has raised tens of millions of dollars. Their gaming product, Ebox comes with 30 games built in and a set-top camera that can detect a player’s movements, according to the article. With this joint venture with a Chinese company, Lenovo not only hope to tap into Eedoo existing network within China but also hope that by including the games in the system they can cut down on the rampant piracy that is prevalent in the video game business in China. Interactive Media In order to be successful in towards highly competitive environment latest marketing trends and methods of communications are key to successful promotion strategies. Recently, Lenovo implemented a YouTube strategy, they created a competition called ‘Seize The Night,’ asking 15 finalists to create an alternative ending to the following video with the winner determined by most views. One of the contestants, Joshua, organized and filmed a massive cycle ride in London using a Lenovo laptop. Featuring hundreds of cyclists, the video has quickly taken off, going viral and spreading the Lenovo brand for free. This campaign has been very successful to Lenovo as it gained hundreds and thousands of YouTube views and followers without doing any marketing on its own. In addition, it is comparatively cheap and gains a much higher return on investment. Their YouTube campaign was extremely successful and has now become a must read case for all business people. Here is the link to the videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_119513&feature=iv&src_vid=xGtBPlPqIFQ&v=OoXr6sQlaRk and the responding video by the contestant Joshua is following: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGtBPlPqIFQ&feature=player_embedded#! References Lenovo Reveals ThinkPad X1 Carbon, Shakes Up Ultrabook Market Lenovo Reveals ThinkPad X1 Carbon, Shakes Up Ultrabook Market http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdZNUxPiwMs http://wraltechwire.com/business/tech_wire/news/story/11335630/ http://www.cevalogistics.com/en-AU/aboutus/newsmedia/mediareleases/Pages/release_19_july_2012.aspx http://www.partnerinfo.lenovo.com/partners/br/pt/entitled/LENOVO%20COOKBOOK_V1.5_FINAL.pdf http://news.lenovo.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1557 http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120113005747/en/Lenovo-Receives-Top-Industry-Awards-2012-International http://www.lenovo.com/social_responsibility/us/en/Lenovo_CSR_Fast_Facts.pdf

Case study Partnership Principles

Early on childhood instruction plays a critical function as it is the first measure to further physical and cognitive competency in bend to act upon a individual ‘s womb-to-tomb acquisition and accomplishment. To work as a successful early childhood pedagogue, empathy and an apprehension of the early childhood course of study – Te Whariki is requested. Along with this ordinance, an effectual partnership between pedagogues and whanau has appeared as an indispensable and valued assistance to accomplish the mark successfully – to achieve a quality accomplishment for kids ‘s acquisition and development. Harmonizing to this, the importance of partnership in the context of early childhood service and its cardinal constituents to implement will be discussed in this essay. Definition of teacher-parents ( whanau ) partnership The term ‘partnership ‘ is used to depict a mutual relationship between two parties who collaborate on a joint activity or undertaking. With different valued beliefs which may happen in the procedure of coaction, instructors and whana, in this partnership, complement each other in assorted learning attacks to advance a valuable and choice early childhood instruction service for kids. Similarly, the impression of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which states about partnership between people who from different cultural backgrounds, Maori and pakeha, to â€Å" mahi tahi – work together † ( Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, 1992. ) in any fortunes. For this ground, in Aotearoa/ New Zealand, the early childhood course of study – Tellurium Whariki have employed the impression of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and suggested in its bicultural attacks for an equal and respectable attitude in learning attacks. Effective partnership and cardinal constituents Teachers ‘ attitude in a partnership with whanau and the scene of teaching method are influential to win the early childhood service ( Lindon, 1997 ) . As Stonehouse ( 1994 ) insisted, â€Å" unless staff in kids ‘s services give precedence to relationships with parents, they do non assist kids † ( p55 ) . Along with the Guiding Principles of Quality in Action, it has besides mentioned directors and instructors should work together â€Å" by admiting parents as first pedagogues and by working collaboratively to develop shared ends and outlooks † ( Ministry of Education,1998, p. 14 ) . Therefore, coaction with parents/whanau in the context of early childhood Centre is one of major appraisal for all pedagogues while promote the lovingness service. In short, a figure of cardinal constituents to accomplish effectual partnership are listed as mentions: Empowerment & A ; Involvement Harmonizing to ‘Family and Community ‘ , a rule in Te Whariki, instructors should admit that the engagement of whanau in their instruction attacks is indispensable – â€Å" Families should be portion of the appraisal and rating of the course of study † ( Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 30 ) . Likewise, in order to â€Å" authorise parents/whanau to recommend their kids and do determinations or to act upon the patterns † for their kids ‘s ain goods ( Keesing Styles, 2000 ) , an appropriate teaching method demands to be settled. For illustration, plan a programme for parents/whanau to construct a household portfolio with their kids. These attacks are to promote whanau to analyze Centre ‘s policies and teaching method by take parting their ain kids ‘s acquisition and development procedure. A positive respect and trust between whanau and instructors will be formed whithin the procedure. Communication â€Å" Communication must be meaningful and effectual as it is communicating that forms the footing of partnership † ( as cited in Grey & A ; Horgan, 2003, para 18 ) . Inviting whanau to fall in regular meeting â€Å" to discourse their kid ‘s learning advancement, involvements, abilities and countries for development on a regular footing, sharing specific observation-based grounds † ( Ministry of Education,1998, p. 55 ) can be a proper channel for an effectual communicating. Manager and pedagogues should guarantee the communicating with parents/whanau are continued and in two-way. The intent in this attack is for interchanging positions and back uping the single demands. It is besides a scheme to further parents ‘ assurance in the context of early childhood service and increase the chance to better learning attacks by geting their important advices. In add-on, a positive attitude to accept and esteem different ideas or peculiar questions is indispensable. Consultation â€Å" Parental apprehensions and outlooks will change kids ‘s outlooks of themselves † ( Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 30 ) . â€Å" Consultation is the procedure of garnering information to accomplish shared apprehensions, ends, and outlooks that will inform determination devising † ( Ministry of Education,1998, p 51 ) . A statement of doctrine is an illustration to show Centre ‘s cardinal beliefs, vision, values and Centre ‘s instruction. This attack will derive the trust and support from parents/whanau. Decision â€Å" Partnership between parents and professionals is regarded as the â€Å" integrating of different wisdoms † ( as cited in Grey & A ; Horgan, 2003, para 16 ) . Contribution from partnership between parents and instructors is valuable in the context of early childhood instruction service as it may act upon the consequence of kids ‘s acquisition and development. In the decision, the authorization and engagement of parents/whanau and appropriate communication and confer withing channels from instructors can assist to build a echt partnership to win the end for a quality service of kids ‘s acquisition and development. However, an effectual partnership may hold trouble to keep, for case, hard personality or unacceptable belief, which may ensue from how an pedagogue perceives him/herself in function of the instruction and how they encourage parents/whanau to step on this partnership. Effective Partnership In Action Introduction To build an effectual partnership with parents/whanau is more hard than holding a pleasant relationship with kids. The ground what I observed is grownups have complex ideas which acquired from the experiences of societal world for protecting themselves from selfishness and injuries. In a relationship of partnership, when differences of personality, belief or value come out, they mislead the determination and neglect to make the end. Unfortunately, this state of affairs go on easy and it ever necessitate a long clip solve and keep the relationship in stable because we are grownups who might come from unexpected background as we need to cognize each other first so acquire into deeper relationship to join forces with. To be a negotiable individual and acquiring effectual communicating accomplishment with an opened-mind will advance quality partnership relationship in this instance. Furthermore, a positive attitude of trust and regard is a cardinal constituent to build an effectual partn ership. As an early childhood instructor, there is a necessary to hold a self-awareness, to accept single differences, to be courageous plenty for challenges and the ability of job work outing since they all count as factors of accomplishment of partnership. In short, to larn to build effectual partnership with parents/whanau, we need more hand-on experience to grok the rule and detect the grade of understanding while using our cognition into pattern. It is an outlook for my acquisition for become a professional in early childhood instruction service. Personal instance survey My brother has a boy named Alvin. He is 16-month old. We live together and I help to look after small Alvin in my trim clip while the parents are busy. Alvin has a strong fond regard with me as I had proven from his actions. He normally becomes exciting when he seeing me around and so be given to run towards me for a large clinch even his parents are playing with him. From my observing, his parents have their ain attacks to raise their ain kid which some of them are against mine. They have pride and have no willing to portion the experiences of Alvin ‘s lovingness to others. In effect, Alvin have had a cautious lovingness from them, for illustration, no outdoor walk without places, no H2O playing and has no much chance to larn to eat by himself as I think he is large plenty to make those in his age. In fact, he is already a 16kg – 70cm fittingness male child and he understands our words most of clip. My teaching method encouraged him to research and meet his milieus safe ly through our interaction. This could be the ground he has strong fond regard to me and intend to listen what I say when he has emotional upset instead than his male parent. In this state of affairs, I feel abashed and fighting in my brother ‘s green-eyed monster and a tense relationship with my sister-in-law. They had complain my action is about to replace their function as kid ‘s ain parents. It sounds a large job in our relationship. Interpersonal communicating schemes I think our relationship is form as a ‘partnership ‘ relationship as I am insouciant carer of Alvin and they are parents. Through our reading stuff for partnership rule and some advises from instructors who are working in my support Centre. I had thought about my job which leads the tenseness between me and Alvin ‘s parents need to be solved by my attitude with communicating scheme. My apprehension from the rule of partnership and Te Whariki acknowledged that I had break the regulation of 'empowerment ‘ which insists the mandate of parents ‘ right and to authorise parents to do determination for their kid ‘s ain goods ( Keesing Styles, 2000 ) . Therefore, I could non derive the regard and trust from my brother or my sister-in-law in this partnership, alternatively, a negative feedback came. Listed some good illustrations from Quality in Action. They are utile assistance to work out my job in this cautiousness partnership and it works good in my pat tern. Provide chances for parents/whanau to discourse their kid ‘s larning â€Å" procedure, involvements, abilities and countries for development and sharing specific observation † ; â€Å" Acknowledge the rights of all parents/whanau and their aspirations for their kids † ; â€Å" Listen, value and esteem the positions of parents/whanau † ; â€Å" Invite and empower parents/whanau to lend through their engagement † in the synergistic activity ; â€Å" Consult † and discourse â€Å" with parents/whanau about learning attacks that concern their kids † ; Make parents/whanau feel comfy â€Å" to show their concerns † ; Less the fond regard with kids and promote them to interact with parents and concentrate on their relationship ; In order to delight our relationship from this state of affairs I had explained. I applied the above attacks and communicating accomplishments learned from reading and advises from instructors of support Centre into pattern. As the consequence, trust and regard from Alvin ‘s parents have dismissed my concerns from our tense relationship. I move Alvin ‘s attending back to his parents by promote his trust to his parents when we are all in the same room. For illustration, ‘please listen to what mum/dad said and Dendranthema grandifloruom can assist him ‘ ; or ‘yes, mum/dad is right, why do n't you travel with them and look into what will go on? It must be good. ‘ In those interaction, There are some suggestion that I gave as deductions to avoid a misinterpretation for taking off parents ‘ power from Alvin ‘s lovingness. For illustration, I asked for parents ‘ permission and their willing before I gave Alvin something else that they h ave non provided yet. It besides comforted me that we could hold chances to play hide-and-seek with parents ‘ engagement and work together with the same purpose – do Alvin happy. Decision In decision, I am larning to supply a quality lovingness to my nephew through playing and larning from grownups without confounding which side is right or incorrect. The partnership between me and Alvin ‘s parents is building positively in advancement. I had recognized the importance of partnership in child care service as we can back up each other ‘s clip, ability and intelligence as complementation to accomplish our common end for kids ‘s demands. As from my experiences, my communicating accomplishment and attitude with parents, who are besides relation of mine, shall acquire more betterment as I do hold a willing to go a professional and work in the context of early childhood instruction service. I will ne'er halt learn or halt my patterns. It is besides fortunate to hold this experience at place that I could larn from it before I may run into the same state of affairs at workplace.