Organizational Culture and Structure Research Paper

Organizational Culture and Structure - Research Paper Example It had the good foresight that GSM will be replaced by a new technology, and so it was not afraid to take the risk. Its advances in technology were brought by this excellent foresight. T-mobile boats of its â€Å"latest technologies and modern multimedia services† faring well with its fiercest competitors such as Vodafone. â€Å"In line the Companys vision of ‘Connected life and work’, the mobilization of personal social networking is at the heart of T-Mobiles corporate activities† (Deutsche Telekom, 2009). An example of this is their mobile internet offering, the web’n’walk which enables customer to have a mobile access to the internet. Taking advantage of its wide product portfolio, Deutsche Telekom Group has increasingly its integrated product portfolio, â€Å"which enables standardized access to personal data like music, videos and addresses across all terminal equipment and which also provides for ever more integrated services on an incr easing number of mobile devices† (Deutsche Telekom, 2009). In an industry where technology spells success, T-Mobile’s key culture is its fast, timely and courageous innovation. Taking advantage of its wide business portfolio, Deutsche Telekom Group has never stopped to amaze its customers with innovative and valuable IT solutions. â€Å"This becomes even clearer with mobile web surfing: T-Mobile was the first provider in Europe to give its customers open access to the Internet and thus offer them unrestricted access to the web. The range of news, films, music and infotainment available to customers is constantly growing† (Deutsche Telekom, 2009). Currently, Deutsche Telekom is â€Å"is systematically gearing its business to broadband services and mobile Internet† as this is the need of the hour (Deutsche Telekom, 2009). This is in congruent to their vision of connected life and work. Recently, it has adapted its â€Å"Focus, fix and grow† strategy which is

Journal of Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Journal of Business Ethics - Essay Example Some argue there is little evidence that the UNGC vision, an economy with the human face, can be realized for the poor and developing nations with economic globalization. Many do not agree with the assumption of the Global Compact that globalization in its current form can be made sustainable and equitable, even if accompanied by the implementation of standards for human rights, labour, and the environment because they are well aware that many corporations would like nothing better than to wrap themselves in the flag of UN in order to blue wash their public image. Williams argues that they should respond to any criticism of their practices and discuss corrective action where necessary. As indicated â€Å"We expose the reality in a field too often dominated by rhetoric and help protect vulnerable people and communities against abuses†. The second group of critics is not focusing so much on the mission of UNGC but rather on the fact that the initiative is housed in the UN. There were fears that businesses would become too dominant in the organization. Williams responds that the background of this criticism is important because the UN had no close relationship with the private sector and in the 1960s this was amplified as many developing countries moved away from their colonial masters and became independent, As indicated â€Å"The UN served as a countervailing power for developing countries who understood multinational companies to be partially responsible for their slow economic and human development†.

Managing in an Inclusive Environment Diversity Essay

Managing in an Inclusive Environment Diversity - Essay Example Meisinger 2007 State of Workplace Diversity Management Report conveys that a survey with 1400 HR Professionals reveal that 52 percent of the respondents believe that diversity practices accomplish specific business objectives to a large extent. Still, these respondents had stated that diversity management remains a challenge because, diversity management field is not well-defined or understood, focuses too much on compliance, and places too much emphasis on ethnicity and also on gender. Creating an Inclusive work environment pays. By bringing about diversity programs an organization can create such environment. There are at least 19 business houses, which have taken seriously and brought in enviable diversity programs. These efforts include such interventions like giving women of color access to variety of support networks, extending leadership development programs to minority groups and diversity workshops to managers Chubb Group of Insurance Companies have offered a comprehensive diversity initiative called 'Reach Up, Reach Out, Reach Down', in which high-potential employees of color receive management training and development opportunities. Almost a quarter of female employees who took advantage of management training last year were women of color. Compliance is no doubt an important factor. ... Competitive Advantage Experts are of opinion that there are valuable competitive advantage in employing diverse work groups and they offer seven good reasons why an organisation should have diverse workforce : 1. It is the right thing to do, both ethically and morally. 2. A diversity helps complying with the laws regarding issues of discrimination. 3. Having diversity in a company opens up marketing opportunities, because prejudice aspects of customers are substantially balanced 4. A diverse group of people provides better and varied ideas. 5. Companies want to hold themselves out as the employer of choice. 6. Diversity helps retain your people. 7. Diversity initiatives impact the bottom line. [MANUEL ESPINOZA, (2007), 6-2-2009()] Compliance with law Compliance is no doubt an important factor. US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), has observed that, particularly after the Sep 11 attacks , focus was on preventing workplace discrimination, harassment and backlash against innocent employees and applicants for employment who were, or were perceived to be, Arab, Muslim, Middle Eastern, South Asian or Sikh. Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 (ENDA, H.R. 3685) prohibits discrimination. Further, it would add 'Sexual orientation' to the list of protected groups, classified by race, religion, ethnicity, sex, age, disability and pregnancy. This would grant protection to gay men, lesbians and bisexuals against discrimination at the workplace. In the Constitution, free exercise of religion is an absolute right. The Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2007 (WRFA, H.R. 1431) involves accommodation of religious freedom in the workplace. Currently, under Title VII of the Civil

World Literature Paper 2(B) - IB English HL Essay

World Literature Paper 2(B) - IB English HL - Essay Example The plot of the story revolves around the life stories of these two prisoners, Luis Molina, a homosexual, and Valentin Arregui, a political prisoner. Molina was guilty of some pedophilia, for having sex relations with a young boy. Valentin on the other hand was jailed and mercilessly tortured for supporting the Marxist movement. How each prisoner dealt with their fate in prison also varies in perspective. While Valentin was wary on how to change the world and win the cause their movement is fighting for, Molina found escape by narrating lines from an old favourite movie, Her Real Glory, which his prison mate identified as a Nazi Propaganda film. But Molina for her part was not mindful of the political color of the film; he fantasized on the emotional drama of the lovers in her story, mimicking selected acts of the lady lover. Not long after, a friendship bond develops between the prisoners accepting the fact that they only have each other to cling to, each the protector and helper of the other. They are trapped in prison cell where circumstances ease out the differences between their ideals and forge understanding, acceptance and emotional attachment. Later Molina got out of prison on parole while Valentin was left behind to be tortured. On the day Molina left the prison cell, he gave in to Valentin’s plea for him to call his comrades and deliver his message. The story ended with Molina’s death while carrying out favor for his prison mate, while Valentin was in the infirmary after being tortured to death. Then the prison mates joined in the surreal each still being wary of what had happened to each other. This assignment will explore the creative aspect of the plot particularly on how the Molina’s narration of the movie within the movie, the dialogues and voices affected the audience imagination. Such vivid description of the characters and acts

Select a country and analyze the recent state of their fiscal policy Research Paper

Select a country and analyze the recent state of their fiscal policy - Research Paper Example To ask which comes first is like asking the perennial question, â€Å"Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?† On the one hand, there is the leisure and pleasure travelers who come from around the world come to enjoy its pristine beaches and breathtaking coral reefs. Then while there, they make a little side trip to the business center to open an offshore bank account, invest in the stock market or buy the nice lot they have spotted while trekking. On the other hand, there are the business people on their nth business trip to the Caribbean islands to have their corporation or business registered. They are also there to buy stocks, invest in trust and mutual funds, or open an offshore bank account. And while waiting for their business to get processed, they check-in into a resort and go scuba diving on one of the island’s amazing reefs. Aside from its natural wonders, the government of this three-island country lures investors with its zero direct taxes. Yes, you hear d it right. The 57,000 Caymanians pay no direct taxes to the government. There is no tax on income, donation, and inheritance. Capital gains tax and corporate taxes are also unheard of in this Caribbean haven. Finally, there are no property taxes in Cayman Islands. At most the government collects a six percent to seven and a half percent (6% to 7.5%) stamp duty for the sale of real property, which is based on its value at the time of sale. There is also a one percent to one and a half percent (1% to 1.5%) fee that is collected for mortgages of real property (Cayman Islands Government FAQ). Simply put, for the Caymanians, it means that there is no need to declare your income, what your properties are, or any other assets for that matter (Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce). The government does not collect data how much you earn, how much you spend or how much you owe. The government is not interested to know how you earned your wealth. They don’t care if you worked for it, inh erited it or received it as a gift. For the foreigners, zero direct taxes means there are no restrictions on land ownership. Foreigners can purchase land for as much as they can afford. There are no limits on investment opportunities. The government does not want to know what you invested into and how much money you put in a certain business. Foreigners can open as many bank accounts as they like. As a matter of fact, if you show up in person and present yourself for interview by the bank, you only need to present your passport to open an account. No certification of identification is necessary (Investing in Cayman) As a matter of fact, this zero direct tax system is the country’s major selling point to investors who are always on the lookout for better terms for their money. The primary industry of financial services, together with its allied professional services industry which includes lawyers, bankers, accountants, and financial advisors account for 55% of the countryâ₠¬â„¢s Gross Domestic Product (Teather 11). More specifically, this industry provides 12,500 jobs which is 36% of the employment rate of Cayman Islands. The 55% GDP actually account for 40% of the total revenue of the government. Finally, financial service is what brings in 30,000 visitors annually to the three islands of this Caribbean nation. I have focused my research and discussion on the zero direct tax rates in Cayman Islands because I

Closed-book vs closed-notes quiz Essay Example for Free

Closed-book vs closed-notes quiz Essay 1. This is a closed-book, closed-notes quiz. No reference material (including assignments and labs) will be permitted for use during the quiz session. 2. The quiz contains the following types of questions: * Short essay type 3. Place your answers in the space immediately following each question. Quiz Questions 1. What does MAO define? Defines how long a business can be without system or applications before having adverse effects on the mission of the business. 2. Define CSFs for a BIA. The success of recovering critical systems or application necessary in an event that interrupts the services of the business. 3. List four of the seven steps for a contingency plan based on the NIST 800-34 standard. Develop a BIA, develop a recovery strategy, preventive controls identified, test the plan and train individuals. 4. What is the objective of a BIA? To identify the critical and non-critical resources of a business. 5. In the seven domains of an IT infrastructure, list three things that should be included as CBFs. The System/Application Domain, The LAN Domain, and the WAN domain. 6. List at least two differences between BCP and a DRP plan. A BCP covers all units of the business while the DRP covers functions of the IT department only. A BCP contains strategy and incidents to be included and the DRP contains recovery steps and procedures. 7. Describe and list four elements of a BCP. Identify critical equipment necessary for the business mission. Identifying critical personnel necessary for the business to return to normal operations of the business. Conduct a BIA, determine the impact on the business if systems were unavailable. Maintenance and updating of the BCP as changes are made to the network. 8. What does a BCP program manager do? What are his or her duties? Take the leadership role as they are responsible for writing the BCP and conducting the BIA. 9. Describe and list two of the commonly used teams for a BCP. BIA- which is the business impact analysis- The impact a disruption of service would have on a business. DRP- Disaster recovery plan- plans to recover from a disaster resulting in a loss of business systems necessary for the business to operate normally. 10. Describe at least one element that would be in a recovery phase of a BCP plan. An Alternative site to set up business operations in the event of a lost site due to a disaster.

Reflection Paper On Hong Kong Tourism

Reflection Paper On Hong Kong Tourism Hong Kong tourism is one of the four pillars in its economy. With its image as a cosmopolitan city, Hong Kong has attracted millions of tourists each year. However there are tourism issues that should not be overlooked by the government and the Hong Kong Tourism Commission (HKTC) in order to develop strategies to maintain the long term sustainability of Hong Kong tourism. In this paper, a situation assessment is presented and key tourism issues are identified together with the problems associated and relevant strategies to overcome these problems identified. After the handover of Hong Kong back to the hands of China in 1997, Hong Kong developed its strong links with China. Tourism is with no exception. In 2010, Hong Kong recorded 36 million visitors with more than 60% of visitors coming from Mainland China (HKTB, 2011). This was the result of the extension of Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) and the relaxation of visa arrangement that stimulate the demand. In the coming future, demand from Chinese tourists is still in a grow. Despite the stable demand from Chinese tourists, Hong Kong faces huge challenges from nearby destinations. Hong Kong is used to have being a shopping paradise and being a MICE destination as its competitive edges, however these edges seem to be narrowing down. Hainan province in China has launched a shopping tax refund program to attract non-residents to spend in shopping (Peoples Daily, 2011). Singapore and Macau have developed casino resorts together with MICE facilities to attract business tourism. Despite all these, Hong Kong still has its advantage on its geographic location to be a gateway to China which attracts millions of people in and out of Hong Kong as a hub. Besides, Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city and an Asias world city which contains characteristics of the West and the East, tradition and contemporary which is appealing to overseas tourists. Its financial position in Hong Kong has attracted many business travelers to come to Hong Kong for business purpose and its image of being a Shopping and Food Paradise has also attracted many leisure tourists. Though Hong Kong still has these advantages, these competitions should not be overlooked in order to strategically maintain its long term sustainability. Tourism Issue 1 Reliance on Chinese tourists In the light of the huge share of Chinese tourists in the mix of Hong Kong tourist arrivals, it is an issue of whether Hong Kong tourism should rely that much on the Chinese market. Some supporters would say the huge supply and spending of Chinese tourists has stabilized Hong Kong tourism demand. From the statistics obtained by HKTB (2011), while the numbers of short haul tourists from Taiwan and Japan and that of long haul tourists from Europe and USA declined in the past 10 years, the visitor number from Mainland China grew rapidly. It can be said that Chinese tourists have sustained Hong Kong tourism. Moreover, according to another statistics from HKTB (2011), Chinese tourists were big spenders that have accounted for 69% of the total visitors spending in 2010. All these reasons have led Hong Kong to develop tourism policy especially for this group of tourists. However, over reliance on the Chinese market would create problems as well. In case of external forces or simply the change of taste of Chinese tourist would pose difficulties for Hong Kong to maintain its visitors number. The 12th National 5-Year Plan released by the Chinese government is one of the external forces mentioned. It was the first time that Hong Kong tourism was not highlighted in the plan, instead the Chinese government intended to develop Macau as a world-class tourism and leisure center (Hong Kongs Information Services Department, 2011). With this aim, the Chinese government might be policies that favor that development of Macau tourism. In that case, more Chinese tourists would be encouraged to go to Macau instead of Hong Kong. Back to Hong Kong, cases like Ah Zhen incident that happened recently would discourage Chinese tourists to travel to Hong Kong. Ah Zhen has been accused to have damaged Hong Kongs reputation as Shopping Paradise by blaming Chinese tourists for not purchasing souvenirs from designated shops. Similar incidents have also happened after this (Wall Street Journal, 2010). These incidents would hinder more Chinese tourists to travel to Hong Kong for shopping. In the long run, this would pose challenges to Hong Kong tourism. China is a huge market that would supply sufficient demand for Hong Kong tourism, Hong Kong government should continue retaining this group of guests to come to Hong Kong. In order to achieve this, there are several recommendations to protect the interests of these guests. Firstly, the government could expand its Quality and Honest Hong Kong Tours Programme to continue strengthening Hong Kongs image as a quality and value for money destination. At the moment, the programme has been carried out in 27 Mainland cities and also in the virtual world on the Internet. Participating travel agents in the scheme have to commit that their itineraries should not contain designated shopping stops and forced shopping and forced self-paid activities. In the new expansion of the programme, the government can promote these tours together with its benefits in more cities in China. Besides, the government can also promote them more extensively via different communication channels, e.g. TV advertisement, social media, etc. Moreover, secret shopper campaign should be continued and done more extensively to spot out illegal or unethical behaviors of travel guides to maintain a satisfactory level of services. This campaign can be used to facilitate the implementation of the Quality and Honest Hong Kong Tours Programme as well to make sure the travel agencies in China and in Hong Kong if they are following the guidelines offered by Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) and the Hong Kong Tourism Commission (HKTC). It is hoped that by this campaign, travel agencies would self regulate themselves in service delivery and provision. Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) should develop a more regulatory system to warn and punish travel agencies or tourist guides once illegal or unethical behaviors have been spotted out. In the case of Ah Zhen, originally she was suspended from being a tour guide after the case discovered, however, after her appeal to TIC, she is now suspended for only half year. This indicates the ineffectiveness of the existing system which could allow similar incidents to happen in the future. TIC should be more careful in designing its regulatory system in order to exercise more regulatory power and punishment on Hong Kong tour operators and tour guides who have offended the rules and gives more confidence to Chinese tourists, thus remedy the bad reputation built. However, for the long term benefit of Hong Kong tourism, over focusing on one market segment could be dangerous, Hong Kong government should also find ways to attract other markets. Issue 2 Sustainability of cultural and heritage attractions In view of this and the keen competition from neighboring destinations, Hong Kong has tried its best to develop new tourism products to overcome these challenges. Cultural attractions are popular among these new attractions in recent years to improve Hong Kongs cultural image. Tsim Sha Tsui piazza and the West Kowloon Cultural District are two of the big projects that the government has under taken as new tourism attractions. Besides, the government has also emphasized in developing heritages to showcase Hong Kongs mixed culture. Examples are the former Marine Police Headquarter in Tsim Sha Tsui which has renovated to become a square 1881 Heritage and a boutique hotel named Hullett House. Another example would be the Central market which will be developed into Central Oasis and the project of revitalizing the Former Police Station is Central. One key issue that can be identified among all these projects is whether they could enhance sustainability. According to the Chief Executive in 1999 (Hong Kong Sustainable Department, 2008), the Hong Kong government would ensure a sustainable development to bring about full integration of economic and social development with conservation of environment. In order to achieve this, local participation is very important in leading to sustainable development which gives win-win situation to all parties of the society. However, one common key critics faced by the government in these big projects is lack of transparency. For example, in the case of Tsim Sha Tsui Piazza, a workshop that aims to gather opinions from different parties was subjected to question as these parties were mostly come from the government or government-related organizations (Tourism Commission, 2007). Another example is from another big project, the West Kowloon Cultural District. The management authority of the project is questioned as all of the 15 members from the authority were appointed by the government. Therefore, it is commonly believed that due to lack of transparency, the interest of the government might have affected the management. For heritage sites development, given that the Heritage Tourism Task Force was set up in 1998, it was blamed to be lack of leadership and lack of influence in the government bureaucracy (Chu and Uebegang, 2002). The essence of sustainable tourism development is how to balance different views from different parties which is actually a huge challenge that the government has to face in planning and developing tourist attractions. In order to fully implement sustainable tourism development, a bottom-up approach has to be adopted to collect more objective views from all sectors in Hong Kong so that specific needs could be satisfied and win-win situation for tourists and locals could be achieved. Cooperation with and involvement of locals or significant cultural group should be guaranteed and local community should be involved at the beginning stage of planning and operation to avoid these heritages to lose its original value, especially to the locals who have grown up with these heritage sites. It is hoped that by this approach, the integrity and authenticity of the heritage could be maintained while new elements like environmental friendly designs could be also involved in the new design. Another problem raised from sustainability is whether these new attractions could showcase the local elements. Perhaps due to the image of Hong Kong as being an international city, projecting an image of East-meet-West, attractions are often blamed to be lack of local characteristics. For example, in the case of West Kowloon Cultural District, even one of the advisory committees of the project criticized that the design is lack of local elements (HKheadline, 2011). This problem has to be dealt properly, or else every new attraction in Hong Kong would deliver similar image to tourists, especially for revitalized heritage attractions which are supposed to deliver a unique image and background knowledge of Hong Kong so that visitors could appreciate and understand more about Hong Kong. One of the solutions is to keep up with public consultations and gather opinions of the public about the kind of local culture to be included in the design of new attractions. By that, local culture could be incorporated into the design and would not be missed out. Conclusion With its strong link to China, Hong Kong relies on the supply of Chinese tourists to sustain tourism. Though the huge number of Chinese tourists remains a consistent supply, there are risks associated with it and as a government body, HKTC should develop measures to also attract other markets and diversify the profile of Hong Kong visitors. On the other hand, sustainable tourism development is often questioned due to lack of transparency and overlook of Hong Kong local elements in development new attractions. HKTC and the government should involve a more transparent public consultation and public engagement so as to guarantee a more sustainable tourism planning and development.