Google in China Essay Example for Free

Google in China Essay Google is the fastest growing Internet search engine company. Google’s mission is â€Å"to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.†(International Business: Competing in the Global marketplace, pg 148-149) They have a mantra of â€Å"Don’t be Evil.† Google started this mantra to be the main message to show consumers they would not compromise the integrity of its search results. This case reviews the situation under which Google was required to censor its content and chose to launch its new search engine site. The case explains the role of the Chinese government and its regulations in the Internet market which had a negative effect on Googles operations in China. In 2000, Google started a Chinese language service. This service was operated from the United States. Chinese authorities blocked the site in 2002 because China censors information to their citizens. This block surprised Google’s managers. This was a challenge the managers did not plan on. If they done their research of the Chinese Government and culture prior to launching the Chinese language service, they would have known the block would be inevitable and they could have tailored their service to the Chinese regulations, culture, and laws. Google knew China was an advantageous business and they would need to adapt their service in order for it to be acceptable and profitable. Google also had to move the Chinese operations to China. Operating from the United States caused slow connection speed and hinder their operation and growth. This was a good move because it enabled Google to employee Chinese citizens who would be able to help understand and adapt to the Chinese laws, regulations, and censorship demands. Google managers made a mistake by not researching their target market. However, they acted quickly in learning and correcting this mistake. Google still offered Chinese citizens a better search engine, but it was not without censorship. The Google search engine offers more results than its competitors, Yahoo, Microsoft’s MSN, and China’s own company, Baidu. Google states Chinese consumers will â€Å"get more information on their site, though not quite all of it.† (International Business: Competing in the Global marketplace, pg 148-149) In 2006, Google had 30 percent share of China’s internet search engines. Baidu had 40 percent. This left another 30 percent split between Yahoo and Microsoft’s MSN search engines. These percentages are good, especially when one considers Yahoo and Microsoft had entered the Chinese search engine market prior to Google. Baidu has several advantages over Google that are mostly associated with it being a Chinese based company, the search engine has â€Å"competence in pinpointing queries in the Chinese language† (Yin Yulin, 2010, p. 4). Government relations with China are precarious for businesses effectiveness. Google did not have a clear understanding of what they would be involved in. China has become more supported and self-assured due to its increasing economic significance. They are more reluctant to be pressed by Western governments or companies into changing its long term regulations and censorship. Because of this aspect, China does not yet comprehend global strategies and the importance of global public relations. This causes them to be more rigid in their international business dealings. All-in-all, Google has been able to grow successfully in the Chinese search engine market and maintain the number two spot (behind Baidu) in China despite their lack of early research on the Chinese culture, governmental regulations, and laws. References International Business. Competing in the Global Marketplace, Seventh Edition, Chapter 3: Differences in Culture ISBN: 9780073381343 Author: Charles W. L. Hill copyright  © 2009 McGraw-Hill, a business unit of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Advantages of Learning Organization

Advantages of Learning Organization Due to impacts of the international financial crisis and the notable slowdown of the economy, Bank co has encountered more challenges. Accordingly, Bank co is transforming from an operational company to a sales-oriented one, in a bid to enhance their competitiveness. As the customer services centers are established and original branch institutes are shut down, the structure change influences 7 percent of the workforce. The board doesnt think a young management can handle the shift and further reforms; therefore, a great emphasis is put on staff learning approaches. As the staff capabilities are core resource to an organizations competitive advantage, all the management focuses on the planning and implementing of strategies. This essay not only elaborates Bank cos successful integration its HRM strategy with the overall business strategy, but also discusses the problems in the policy implementation. Some coherent solutions for these problems are also discussed in this essay. 2.0 Bank cos Objective as a Learning Organization 2.1 Definition of Learning Organization Peter (1990) proposed that any organizational thought a learning organization can be conducted by teams led by managers that facilitate a communication that values reflective thought, new patterns of thinking and a suspension of assumptions. In generally speaking, a learning organization has the following characteristics. First, the staff has a shared vision as their daily guideline and considers all organizational processes, functions, activities, and interactions with the overall environment as a member of the system. Second, each staff can air their own opinions to each other without fear of criticism or punishment. Third, staff sacrifices their personal self-interest and integrates department interest to cooperate to achieve the organizations shared vision. 2.2 Advantages of Learning Organization Brandt (2003) proposed that a learning organization is just like a school, a flexible and responsive organization should change in accord with changing circumstances. A learning organization has the following advantages. First, learning organization can promote continuous improvement. Whether project outcomes satisfy customers needs or not relies on how managers assess and narrow the gap between the two. Levine (2001) found that improve managers concentration span to organizational learning is a great potential to establish cooperation and continuous improvement that promote organizational performance. Second, learning organization can promote innovation. Although this statement is obviously true, but there is no quantitative study based on parallels between the characteristics of learning organization and the statement in literature that supports innovation and employee creativity can improve the performance of learning organization (Ramous and Steger, 2000). Third, learning organiz ation can foster community building. As learning community can break through stereotype routines and cultivate effective learning environment. Digenetic (1998) claimed that a learning community should be a mechanism for creating the learning organization. 2.3 Evaluation of Bank cos Objective With the financial crisis wreaking havoc on nations across all continents, the sense of living in a globalized age has become more acute. To cope with profound changes, Bank co made a strategic shift which focuses on four main units. First, human resource planning is long-term programs of Bank co. Due to the resignation of skilled and veteran managers, Bank co supports staff development by offering investment of  ¿Ã‚ ¡17 million. It allocates about 25,000 training days for the staff each year. The training and development (TD) department has finished the training programs for more than 5,600 managers until nowadays. And the training programs coherently focus on five units, such as, resourcing and development, HR quality, training design and delivery, equal opportunities and residential training. Second, training and development should be implemented to management staffs at all levels. Since a survey indicates that 60% employees considered that the training programs are just attending courses, the TD department decided to implement a wider range of flexible training methods, such as, self-directed learning, coaching, job rotation, secondments, etc. As a result, staff at all levels start to self-study in learning resource center without the reliance on training courses. Their hobbies and interests have been explored by a large margin. Thats to say, Bank co cultivates a learning atmosphere within the company, and ushers staff to take the responsibility of self-development. Third, employee relations are another focus of Bankco. The employee relations are cooperative instead of competitive, because staff at all levels share the same goal of the organization. It coincides with the policy of a harmonious society. It is an opportunity for staff to realize themselves, while it is a challenge for the managers who provide opportunities within which the staff can learn and develop. According to Maslows hierarchy of needs, self-actualization is the highest need on the pyramid of needs, self-actualization must produce an attraction and stimulant for staff to find themselves (Maslow, 2008). Fourth, personnel operation is important. As HR department had considerable power, Bank co established a belief that a learning organization would remain competitive and successful. The shift causes an unprecedented series of efforts and initiatives intended to learn from diverse source, because the line managers are responsible for ensuring that proper action will be good for individuals who keep a partnership with their mangers. During the establishment of learning organization, Bankco has achieved good financial performance as a reward. 2.4 The Achievement of Learning Shift The shift from being operational to becoming sales oriented has brought significant changes in the performance of Bank co. First, as a learning organization, Bankco retains knowledge workers. Bank cos shift causes some of middle-aged managers to leave, when the company is in desperate need of talent to rebuild itself. Therefore, the management had to give top priority to learning programs to cultivate talent as fast as possible. Second, the learning center collects public recording which is unobtrusive and useful in the execution of decision-making and work process. The data on management and information about staff behaviors to certain jobs are useful for researches to analyze Bank cos operation and set down the appropriate management policies. As learning is applied to innovate or modify individual dispositions, processes, policies, and procedures, the staff can further develop their interests and hobbies, Bankco can improve its management experience as well. 5.0 Conclusion In our uncertain world, the only thing that appears to be certain is that social computer-base communication technologies are rapidly becoming online hot spots and changing the way we communicate and information. It is convenient to express social relationships on the IM and blog through links and comments. But we should take advantage of these technologies and overcome their challenges. The best approach is to develop good habits to use computer-based communication technologies, even the link is from friends, they need verify to friends again.

The Changing Role Of The Management Accountant Commerce Essay

The Changing Role Of The Management Accountant Commerce Essay Charles Darwin the famous scientist who introduced the theory of natural selection said In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment. He used this theory to explain the extinction of the dinosaurs from the earth. I believe this theory in fact is not confined to species. It is a universal truth which is applicable to so many phenomena we see in our day to day lives. One such illustration is the transformation of finance function. The enormous change the corporate world underwent over the last few decades has inevitably pressurized the finance function to adapt to its operating environment. As a result, today the finance function is in the fore-front of decision making positioning itself as a business partner for the organization as opposed to a conventional support function. It is in this context that every organization today should embark on the journey of transforming its finance function to adapt to the challenges of the modern business environment. It is needless to exaggerate the changes this brings about in the role of the management accountant. However being humans it is natural for us to resist such change. What we should remember nevertheless is that if we fail to adapt to these changes, our destiny would not be different to that of dinosaurs. This reinforces the argument that tomorrows successful management accountants will be the ones who not only understand the need importance of finance transformation but also who take proactive measures to bring about effective change and eventually manage such change to ensure sustainability of the business. 2. Finance Transformation 2.1 How it has changed? Accounting Finance function over the centuries has evolved significantly from the basic double entry bookkeeping the revolutionary concept which started it all. Today we live in a world where global companies exist and the finance function like so many other things in human life has transformed itself to cater the ever increasing demands of modern day businesses. Let it be financial reporting, treasury management, budgeting or any other area in finance for that matter, there is visible transformation. For instance, bottom-line in financial jargon, only meant financial profitability until recently. But today organizations strive for a triple bottom-line which is way beyond the boundaries of financial profitability. A recent research conducted by CIMAs centre of excellence at the University of Bath concluded the following changes (see Figure 1) as the most frequent changes faced by businesses. Figure 1: Key changes faced by the Finance Function in the last decade Source: CIMA Centre for Excellence, Excellence in Leadership, December 2009, p.12 As per the above research data, an overwhelming majority of 96.4% has confirmed that there had been at least one change in their finance function for the period in concern. However the degree, to which these changes have been popular, may extremely vary with Cost reduction being the forerunner with a popularity of 59% while Outsourcing of non-routine tasks was confined to a mediocre 5.5%. The same study later classifies these changes to four broad types and also pinpoints two main motives behind these changes namely Cost efficiency and Value creation (See Table 2). Table 2: Classification of Changes Faced by the Finance Function Source: CIMA Centre for Excellence, Excellence in Leadership, December 2009, p.12 Cost Efficiency motive is where a business is keen to improve its output by using its resources more efficiently. On the other hand Value creation involves performing tasks in better ways whilst eliminating non-value adding activities such that the organization creates value in terms of profitability. It is clear from the data (See Figure 1) that it is the Cost Efficiency based changes which were more prominent in businesses during the last decade. As the research suggests, Cost Reduction and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) appear logical steps for organizations as they grow. The economies of scale, firms are expected to achieve with its size, rationalize such change. Further the world economic crisis stemmed in 2007 prolongs to date would also have significantly influenced finance managers to run their businesses on tighter budgets and thus focus on efficiency based transformation. Although cost efficiency measures, up to now, have had the upper hand in finance transformation, it is expected that the value based changes would take precedence in times to come, as finance functions embark on the journey to achieve the visionary value creator status. 2.2 Why has it changed? So far we discussed how the finance function has evolved over the years. Let us now examine the underlying drivers which caused this dramatic change. This inevitably leads us to look at the changes that occurred in the environment in which businesses operate. One thing that surely comes to my mind is globalization. I believe this concept single handedly revolutionized the way people engaged in business. For instance virtual organizations such as Dell and online market places such as e-bay have not only been highly successful, but also have challenged the future viability of traditional business models. However globalization is only one among many drivers of change as per CIMAs recent research findings on finance transformation. In fact it ranks well below the likes of increased competition technological advancement which grabbed the top two spots in terms of popularity (See Figure 3). Figure 3: Drivers of organizational change ranked in terms of popularity Source: CIMA Centre for Excellence, Excellence in Leadership, December 2009, p.15 Increased risk and uncertainty and External reporting requirements achieved 3rd and 4th places respectively with market development coming next. It is important to mention the part played by the collapses of big corporate giants such as Enron, Worldcom and subsequent changes it created in the finance function especially in terms of risk assessment models and stringent reporting guidelines. The report further highlights some of the differences that exist within different business sectors. For example, demographics are as twice as popular driver in public sector compared to the private sector in which competition market dynamics are more prevalent. In financial services industry risk uncertainty is hailed above all drivers of change. All these drivers subsequently created pressure on the tradition finance function and new finance control models evolved to suit the new playing field. 3. The changing role of the management accountant in todays environment 3.1 The way forward So far we analyzed the nature of finance transformation and its underlying causes. It is now high time to look at the evolving role of tomorrows management accountant. Having acted as a steward for decades, today the finance professionals are increasingly pressurized to be a navigator or a business partner in performing his/her duties. With reference to the previously mentioned study done by CIMA, it is evident that Business partnering is clearly emerging as a way forward for finance transformation. Table 4: Business Partnering in finance function Source: CIMA Centre for Excellence, Excellence in Leadership, December 2009, p.11. In its research report, Finance transformation business partnering, CIMA Centre for Excellence defines business partnering as a behavior which involves members of the finance function acting as close advisors or internal consultants in greater collaboration and cross-functional working with others in the organization, so they can understand the business better, and provide the advice and support that is needed.  [1]   The idea here is, for finance members to actively participate in the decision making process and take collective ownership of the decision as opposed to being passive advisors. However in order to do so, the finance professionals not only need to posses technical knowledge in finance IT, they should also be equipped with extensive industry knowledge business acumen. In addition to that, the need for enhanced interaction across all the levels in the organization would mean that the management accountants need to master necessary communication and interpersonal skills. Further the traditional barriers that exist between departments would also need to be relaxed so that effective inter-functional associations are enabled. Erik ter Horst, Vice President Finance, CFO EMEA and Latin America, BT, offering insights to CIMAs survey adds for me, finance can only be functional if the finance function is a part of the whole organization  [2]  . However one might also argue that this may compensate the level of independence exercised by finance and hence affect the objectivity of its decisions. While acknowledging the possibility, Morten Sorensen, Finance Director Central Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific, SSP, believes that the potential risk to the objectivity of finance function will be outweighed by the additional value generated at the end of the day it comes down to the integrity and professionalism of the individual.  [3]   3.2 Finance transformation and the role of the Management Accountant at Bodyline 3.2.1 Background: Bodyline Private Limited, a joint venture between MAST Industries, Triumph International MAS Holdings, is one of the largest lingerie sportswear manufactures in Sri Lanka with a workforce of around 6000 employees and an annual capacity of around 15 million pieces of bras. The company caters to some of the worlds most glamorous brands including Victoria Secret, Nike, Marks Spencer and Lane Bryant. Over the last couple of years Bodyline has synergized its multi product customer portfolio to its competitive advantage whilst investing on technologies such as bonding, 3D hemming and ultrasonic welding. However the company is constantly facing stiff competition from low cost manufacturers in Asian countries such as Bangladsh Vietnam, and as a result recently underwent drastic changes in its business model which in turn caused the finance function to transform accordingly. 3.2.2 Finance Transformation at Bodyline Table 5: Changes faced by the finance function at Bodyline Finance Function Change Example Type of Change Motive for Change 1 Greater emphasis on cost reduction Projects to curb major cost overrun areas. E.g. Overtime Tracking Mechanism Cost Reduction Cost Efficiency 2 Increased outsourcing of routine tasks Outsourcing of VAT Returns Process to a 3rd party BPR 3 Increased Use of Shared Service Centers for routine tasks Setting up a common commercial department in collaboration with MAS Intimates group 4 Increased work on product pricing Developments of Pre Post Order Profitability functions on SAP Product Focus Value Creation 5 Cross functional teams Formation of customer teams comprising of representatives of different departments including finance Focus on internal processes 6 Greater emphasis on poor performance within the organization Facilitating greater depth in Performance Management. (Catering to Business, Departmental Individual levels) 7 Increased external benchmarking of the whole organization Risk assessments and external benchmarking activities leading to sound business decisions being taken Source: Primary data collected from Bodyline The above diagram depicts functional changes experienced by Bodyline Finance and it could be directly compared with Table 2 in page 3. (CIMAs original model) 3.2.2.1 Cross Functional Teams:  A drastic structural change was introduced few months back where cross functional teams (representing virtually all the departments) were formulated to uniquely cater each customer. A business analyst was appointed to each team to represent finance and he/she adheres to a dual reporting structure where the individual reports to the Head of Finance as well as to the Head of the respective customer account. Each customer team sits together in a separate area within the factory so that interaction between the members is enhanced. However the transformation involved significant cultural change. People had to be convinced that the previous structure that had been adopted for the past 15 years was not the right way forward.   Members of finance worked very closely with the new leadership to change the internal structures reporting lines to logical cross functional business teams to support customer expectations. The management accountants involved in articulating the methodology of performance management systems including Key Performance Indicators as well as devising segmental reporting of customer bottom lines coupled with policy control deployment. This helped the people to understand the big picture and most importantly, where do they fit in to the new structure. The increased level of transparency helped us create a healthy competition among customer teams which in turn contributed to break the resistance to change whilst aggressively driving towards the achievement of business objectives. 3.2.2.2 Greater emphasis on poor performance: Performance management initiatives across many departments layers are being introduced with the direct involvement of finance which provides design to delivery solutions. For instance, the incentive scheme for sewing operators was changed to an efficiency based group incentive mechanism from an individual performance based incentive system, with finance department functioning as the project champion. This is one fine example where Bodylines finance function operated as a true business partner coming out of its comfort zones, co-operating with the other relevant departments and executing the project to perfection. It is noteworthy to mention that whilst executing this project, complex human dynamics of 6,500 people and the cost implications of providing incentives to all of them were considered. A series of information sessions had to be conducted to manage the knowledge transfer requirement in terms of the new system. Nevertheless a sign ificant increment in factory efficiency was noticed within the first month of project implementation. In order to facilitate such advance business requirements, the finance function was strengthened with people having dual backgrounds. In other words, apart from hardcore finance graduates, Bodylines finance team comprises of several apparel engineering graduates from the University of Moratuwa who are also qualified in CIMA. It is this unique resource combination that has enabled Bodylines finance team to successfully strive for excellence amidst numerous challenges. 3.2.2.3 Risk Analysis: The members of the finance department are also engaged in analysis assessment of risks facing the company, developing projections based on such risks to draw the attention of the management on high risk areas. For example early identification of the risks of Western economic recession, paved the way for the company to take immediate actions and thereby mitigate the impact of these adverse events at least to a certain extent. 3.2.2.4 Cost Reduction: As a follow up action plan to Budget Monitoring, the finance team in collaboration with other departments initiated 4 major projects to cut down companys overhead cost. These are namely Implementation of overtime cost tracking controlling mechanism A project to control transport expenditure A project to control courier charges A project to control stationary cost A project leader is appointed from Finance for each project and this individual is solely responsible for delivering the objectives of the project. The leader is expected to collaborate with relevant departments, device an action plan, follow up action points and present the progress at the next months budget monitoring session. Significant cost reductions were observed in each area with the inception of these projects. On the other hand, these projects offer a great opportunity for the budding management accountants to move out their comfort zones, actively involve in cross cultural teams, learn and become business partners who actively participate in achieving the companys strategic objectives.  Ã‚   3.2.2.5 Increased work on product pricing: To enhance the visibility of financial information at the Sales Order level, a project was initiated by finance with the collaboration of IT to develop SAP (the companys ERP system) based modules which calculates the expected profitability of a Sales order in the system itself. This process currently happens on spread sheets off the ERP system and as a result lot of information is duplicated and resources are wasted. The second phase of this project involves linking purchase order authorization procedure to sales order profitability so that an effective control on at the point of material purchases can be exercised. Yet again this is a challenging project which requires the individual to move out of the comfort zones of an accountant and work with System users/IT specialists and to gather system requirements and thereby ensure effective system development is achieved later. 4. Conclusion Modern day businesses experience change at a dramatic rate and whichever the ones that do not adapt quickly, would be gone before long. Being part of that business, the finance function can never isolate itself so should get accustomed to change. If the finance function has to change, that indirectly means the management accountants should expect their roles to frequently change in future. In fact it is the management accountants who are expected to manage the process of finance transformation. As their roles evolve, tomorrows management accountants will be expected to learn new skills (more often out of their comfort zones) work with cross functional teams and ultimately act as business partners who take responsibility for the collective decisions. Although we all tend to resist change initially, we also might feel it is after all not so bad. It certainly brings opportunities provided we take it in the right spirit we may end up being better off. The story of finance transformation at Bodyline is certainly of that type. Transforming was never an easy journey and it still is not. However as a team the finance function moved forward with positive attitude and as a result in the process has achieved so many milestones. As I conclude, the fundamental point I wish to bring up is that the finance transformation is inevitable. Irrespective of whether we like it or not its here to stay. However it is our decision either to embrace the change like a lizard which quickly changes its color to suit the environment and thereby survive through successful camouflaging or else ignore the change just like the dinosaur and simply extinct.

Personal Narrative - Sleeping with the Enemy :: Personal Narrative Writing

Sleeping with the Enemy When I fall asleep in public, Alex informs everyone that "Bryan likes to pay money to go to sleep." His words don't stray far from the truth. I am convinced that I am afflicted, cursed, by something. I am haunted by the constant threat of unconsciousness. Glancing behind me, I see nothing, but sense the shadow that lurks. He is never very far, waiting patiently for me to drop my guard. We are very close, my shadow and I, and we know all of each others' tricks. A continuing match of wits takes place every time I step into a living room, a movie theater, a library, an automobile. The summer after high school, five buddies and I set off in a van to watch baseball games at sixteen different parks across the continent. A dream road trip for six baseball crazed dudes. During one sweltering afternoon in Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium, the game tied in late innings, I passed out completely. As a rule, chests were painted to spell out the home team as we, imposter rabid hometown fans, cheered our lungs dry. Today I was an S. As my comrades leaped to their feet following a big hit, fans in front of us turned and squinted. "Who's Phill?" they asked mockingly. The embarrassed friends just pointed at a seated snoozing S, who would later find the outline of his letter sunburned onto his chest. I snored next to probably a dozen different sets of screaming bleacher fans that summer. "Sleepy McSleepsleep" and "Permanent S" became my permanent new nicknames. Yes, I fall asleep a lot. Wherever there is a big test to study for, wherever there is a great movie I must see, wherever there is an important person I should listen to, I am there, ready to enforce my reputation and see/hear/read none of it. It's not that I don't try to maintain long stretches of consciousness, but I fight a losing war. It's like the cybernetic Borg from Star Trek. "Resistance is futile," they drone, "Classes are irrelevant. Obligations are irrelevant. Friends are irrelevant. Time of day is irrelevant. You will be one with the Borg." A terrified crewman fires phaser blasts at the oncoming machine man, but it has adapted, and continues to mindlessly approach. Suddenly it extends mechanical tentacles into the poor guy's neck, and the crewman's skin goes gray, ceasing to be human and becoming part of their Borg collective.

Victorian Gothic Literature: Scientific vs. Medieval Thinking Essay

Victorian Gothic Literature: Scientific vs. Medieval Thinking      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Creatures of the night have always held a fascination and horror for people in all cultures. The English fascination with sensational and gothic literature came to a peak, after slacking slightly following the Romantic period, in the late Victorian period with such works as Dracula, The Strange Adventures of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. The literate populace avidly devoured this type of literature. While most publishers merely churned out serial horror stories en masse, such as Varney the Vampyre, many serious writers used this genre as a means to force their audience to think about their beliefs. Serious Victorian Gothic literature plays on the fears and emotions of the era, an era that was especially fearful since their beliefs had been ripped out from under them, largely by contrasting modern science with medieval superstition and belief.    The Victorian era was similar to our own in that it was a time when people weren't really sure what was true or what they believed. As this prayer, believed to have come from the Victorians shows, " 'O God - if there is a God - save my soul - if I have a soul' " (Houghton 22). New theories about the age of the earth had demonstrated that something was out of kilter with the bible, since the earth seemed to be older than the biblical account would show. Darwin had gone one step further and shown that man hadn't been created but evolved through natural selection. A generation was growing up in a culture that had had the rug of its beliefs pulled out from under its feet. The main difference between the Victorian sense of doubt and our post-modern doubt is, "faith in the existence of u... ...completely destroyed by his dabbling in alchemic science.    Much of Victorian Gothic literature plays to the Victorian doubt in what they believe, especially as concerns science and what is largely assumed to be medieval superstition. By playing on these fears, authors are able to create stories that are horrifying on several levels. First of all, the action that goes on in the book is enough to make the readers skin crawl. However, the authors go farther and use their audiences natural fears and doubts to create a story that is sensational on all levels.    Works Cited Davenport-Hines, Richard. Gothic: Four Hundred years of Excess, Horror, Evil and Ruin. North Point Press: New York, 1998. Houghton, Walter E. The Victorian Frame of Mind. Yale University Press: New Haven, Conn, 1957. Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Penguin Group: New York, 1992.

The Great Land Serpent

For starters, the train Is being portrayed as a serpent, and In biblical terms, the serpent Is an evil creature that lures Innocent people to betraying others. In the cartoon It stretches across the land Into the horizon, In a curvy motion, which shows how wide spread this creature Is, and showing how there Is no escaping It. The creature Is consuming money and people through Its mouth which shows what Is powering it as well as what it takes to create it. Close to the top of this creature is a hole for smoke to blow out of, which homilies the damage it does to the environment.In the smoke there is also a word written, dividend. According to the dictionary, dividend means a sum of money paid to shareholders. There is also another word cleverly hidden in the cartoon, on the street corner, it reads â€Å"Dangerous†, and when you put these two words together, you are able to come to the conclusion that the author doesn't think that the railroad is worth the risks and money. Anothe r important aspect to this cartoon is the human standing to the side.His resent may be to show that humans are responsible for this horrible creation that is in turn killing them. You are able to tell that he is raising his hand but it's hard to tell is he is saying to stop or continue on. By showing the train/creature running over many dead bodies and lots of money, it's clear the author disapproves. â€Å"The Great Land Serpent† symbolizes how the railroad is similar to a beasts evil creature. It's very apparent that it's negative because its' getting its' energy from the dead bodies, money, and manpower.The painter makes it a point to show his disapproval of the railroad and how evil his believes it to be. The author must have been greatly affected by the railroad system to cast such a negative light on It In this political cartoon. The Great Land Serpent By middleman 2 This political cartoon, titled â€Å"The Great Land Serpent,† casts the railroad and its were exp ensive, and had to be maintain constantly. Also it cut Jobs, because it eliminated the need for people to transport items from one place to another. Lord. For starters, the train is being portrayed as a serpent, and in biblical terms, the serpent is an evil creature that lures innocent people to betraying others. In the cartoon it stretches across the land into the horizon, in a curvy motion, which shows how wide spread this creature is, and showing how there is no escaping it.

Motivation in the workplace Essay

Motivation is the desire to do something. It plays a huge role in any workplace. You want your employees happy and wanting to come to work. People who work for the love of their job are showing intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to performing an activity for the inherent enjoyment or satisfaction derived from the activity. (Levin, et al., 2012). A worker motivated by extrinsic factors may be there just for the money and other benefits. It is motivation which keeps an employee performing and striving to become better at doing their job. There are different ways of motivation, theories, and pro and cons of financial incentives pertaining to the workplace. There are different ways to motivate people in the workplace. Redesigning jobs is one way to motivate people at work. When you are redesigning jobs, you may want to consider job rotation. Job rotation is a way of keeping the employee from boredom of the same routine. Job rotation also gives the employee the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in other areas within the job. Job enlargement is another redesigned job to help motivate employees. It involves adding on tasks at the same level of skill and responsibility. By giving employees more tasks, it is hoped to make jobs more interesting, which might increase production and job satisfaction. Increasing job involvement may also motivate an employee. Having employees involved in decisions that affect their works have a positive impact on their motivation. Using money as a motivator is also way to motivate people at the workplace. The opportunity to earn more money motivates some employees to increase productivity. There are two types of pay for performance programs. One type is called piece rate pay. It is when an employee is paid a fixed amount for each unit of production. In other words, you get paid for the work you complete. Another type of pay for performance is called merit-based pay plans. Merit pay involves the supervisor meeting with the employee to discuss the employee’s work and to award an increase or a bonus based on their performance. Another motivator for the workplace is alternative work arrangements. An alternative work arrangement is any arrangement which is different from the tradition nine to five while still getting 40 hours a week. Employees receive the same pay and benefits as they would if they were working the traditional schedule. Flexible work time is an alternative work arrangement. Our book states that employee on this work arrangement are expected to work eight hours and to be there during core hours, but they are free to work their remaining hours however they choose. (Youseff & Noon, 2012). Flex time helps employees meet the difficulties of family life, illness and personal emergencies. It also decrease employee stress, reduce sick leave, and increase productivity. Another alternative work arrangement is called compressed work week. For this arrangement, workers still work the 40 hours a week, but they do it in ten hour work day four days a week. Some employees may enjoy having a full day off during each work week to other things. The down side to compressed work week is it can increase fatigue which can decrease production. Telecommuting is also an alternative work arrangement. This arrangement is working from home. Working from home can be a problem for some because they can be easily distracted by their home life. For enhancing my own motivation at work, I would keep a positive attitude about things. I will stay motivated my surrounding myself with positive motivated people. I will do my best at my job and do what needs to be done to get my job done. I will be a team player and offer my help when need be. I would also keep in mind that I do not spend 24 hours at work. I would also take breaks during the work day so I won’t be stress. On my days off, I would relax and prepare myself for the work week. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Alderfer’s existence relatedness growth (ERG) theory are two content theories of motivation in a workplace. Content theories are theories that identify what motivates people. Both of these theories are similar because they recognize various types of needs as a hierarchy. Maslow needs are organized hierarchically. The five parts of the hierarchy are from bottom to top are: physiological needs, safety, belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. According to Maslow’s (1954) view of individual needs, job satisfaction is said to exist when the job and its environment meet an individual’s needs. (as cited in Brown, & Sargeant, 2007). Alderfer’s theory is in three categories: existence, relatedness, and growth. Existence relates to Maslow’s physiological and safety needs. Relatedness is similar to Maslow’s belonging needs. Growth is like Maslow’s self-esteem and self-actualization needs. Although both of these theories have needs that motivate worker, they also have differences. The difference between these theories is Maslow believed that you have to fulfill these needs in order to move to the next level of needs. Alderfer’s did not believe that each level had to be attained in sequence before moving on to the next. Alderfer’s believed that employee’s motivation can come from more than one level of needs. There are pros and cons for using money as a motivator in the workplace. The pros to using financial incentives in the workplace are employees job satisfaction may increase. Employees may want to do their job well to receive promotions. The employees are happy because they make more money and the employer is happy due to the company running well because of the hard work being done. The cons to financial incentives is that every employee may not get the same amount of financial incentives and that may lead to feelings of unfair treatment at work. In conclusion, motivation is very important in the workplace. Some ways to motivate people at work is to redesign jobs so they become bored. Alternate work arrangements may motivate people at work also. There are different theories that help us understand what motivate people in the workplace, such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which is broken down in five levels. There are also pros and cons how financial incentives can play a part in at work. In the workplace you want to do your best to keep employees motivated to run a successful company. References Brown, D., & Sargeant, M. A. (2007). Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, and Religious Commitment of Full-Time University Employees. Journal Of Research On Christian Education, 16(2), 211-241. doi:10.1080/10656210701647613 Levin, M. A., Hansen, J. M., & Laverie, D. A. (2012). Toward Understanding New Sales Employees’ Participation in Marketing-Related Technology: Motivation, Voluntariness, and Past Performance. Journal Of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 32(3), 379-393. Youssef, C. and Noon, A. (2012). Industrial/Organizational Psychology. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.