Globalization and Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Globalization and Entrepreneurship - Essay Example As a highly diverse company, 3M Optical's basic strength has been the core values that its has inherited from its mother company. These have served it in good times as well as bad. The sheer diversity of the company as it has traced its journey from mining to manufacturing of various products. The image of a company is a reputable one. It has a high degree of quality owing to its state of the art testing and development lab. Also, it has been known since its founding days, for bringing together the best technicians in the field under one roof. (Bartlett et al, 1999) Further, the company has at its disposable a huge resource base owing to the fact that it is an old company that has been acquiring these resources for the longest time. Other than that, it has a high capacity for production as well as the best brains working on it. The company also works along the principles of creativity - whether in its labs or outside of it. This has been one of the major reasons that have contributed to diversity in its product profile. (Bartlett et al, 1999) 3M is a company that is in strong need of a new image. The lack of the same has taken away from its core marketing values. The company has been so engrossed in founding and establishing new technologies that it has almost let marketing and branding take a backseat. Further, this has led to stagnation as far as growth and sales figures are concerned in the commercial sense. (Bartlett et al, 1999) The company's weaknesses lie in the fact that it needs to match it expansion with appropriate handling of the human capital within the company. This has led to a point where there is no freshness or motivation within the company and among its employees. (Bartlett et al, 1999) There needs to be more focus on the industrial relations practices that are followed within the organization. Owing to the type of products being produced, there is a certain monotonous tone to the activities within the organization. Further, managing corporate entrepreneurship has been an activity that has not been carried out very well in lieu of the expansion that the company is surging towards. This is due to the fact that there are no well structured lines of interaction and communication within the organization to match the growth in activities. (Achrol, 1997) Entrepreneurial Strategy There is a lot that can be done as far as this company is concerned. The CEO has already set the ball rolling with a new focus on shifting the focus towards gaining a competitive foothold in the global marketplace. This has been apparent in the new policies now followed by the company. In addition, a focus on creating a brand identity is a key measure that will

The Importance Of Being On Time Essay Example for Free

The Importance Of Being On Time Essay We are successful in life only when we make the best use of time. Time cannot be stopped, paused, or regained. Some point in life whether it be business related, or for leisure, someone or something will require you to be at a certain place at a given time. Punctuality could be the key to winning a contest, finalizing a business deal, or even keeping your job. We all as human beings have been late before, things happen, but constant lateness affects your dependability. If you are not dependable your opportunities for progression will start to decrease. The life of George Washington was characterized by a scrupulous regard for punctuality. When he asked a man to bring by some horses he was interested in buying at five in the morning, and the man arrived fifteen minutes late, he was told by the stable groom that the general had been waiting there at five, but had now moved on to other business, and that he wouldn’t be able to examine the horses again until the following week. When he told Congress that he’d meet with them at noon, he could almost always be found striding into the chamber just as the clock was striking twelve. Washington’s promptness extended to his mealtimes as well. He ate dinner each day at exactly 4 o’clock, and when he invited members of Congress to dine with him, and they arrived late, they were often surprised to find the president halfway done with his meal or even pushing back from the table. To his startled, tardy guest he would say, â€Å"We are punctual here. My cook never asks whether the company has arrived, but whether the hour has come.†( www.artofmanliness.com) George Washington was a perfect example on how important punctuality is, and what opportunities can be missed. For our first president, being on time was a way of showing respect to others, and he expected to be treated with the same level of respect in return. Although no longer live in an age of knickers and powdered wigs, but being pun ctual is just as important as it ever was. â€Å"Soldiers should be minutemen. Punctuality is one of the most valuable habits a soldier can possess.† Christopher Andrews said it the best, when it comes to punctuality in the army is your bread and butter. You could be the best soldier, but if you’re late all the time you can quickly be potrayed as something way less. Being punctual builds and reveals your discipline. The  punctual man shows that he can organize his time, that he pays attention to details, and that he can put aside this to do that ; he can set aside a pleasure to take care of business. The non punctual man shows he needs to be supervised, seems unprepared, and unprofessional. These things are all the things that could stop a soldier from progressing. It is like a domino effect, one consequence leads to another, and leads you down a trail of detriment. Something so simple as being on time can be the key to being allowed to go to a promotion board, or even staying in the military. If the conduct was constant, action may be intiated to separate you from the service. If you are involuntarily separted, you could receive an Honorable discharge, a general discharge, or under other than honorable conditions discharge. An honorable discharge is a separation with honor based on the quality of service, which meets the standards of acceptable conduct and performance of duty. A general discharge is a separation under honorable conditions , based on a military record being satisfactory but not sufficiently meritorious to warrant an honorable discharge. A discharge under other than honorable conditions is based upon a pattern of behavior of one or more acts or omissions that constitutes a significant departure from the conduct expected of a soldier. An honorable discharge may be awarded under any provisions. A general discharge may be awarded for separation under Chapter 5, Chapter 9, Chapter 13, or Chapter 14. An under othe than honorable conditions discharge may be awarded for separation under Chapter 14 for misconduct. If you receive an honorable discharge, you will be qualififed for most benefits resulting from military service. An involuntary honorable discharge, however will disqualify you from reenlistment for some period of time and may disqualify you from receiving transitional benefits. Also the Montgomery GI Bill you have not met other program requirements. If you receive a General discharge, you will be disqualified from reenlisting in the service for some period of time and you will be ineligible for some military and VA administered benefits, including the Montgomery GI bill. You may also face difficulty in obtaining civilian employment, as employers have a low regard for the General and Under Other Than Honorable conditions discharges. Although there are agencies to which you may apply to have the character of your discharge changed, it is  unlikely that any such applications will be successful. Time is the most influential factor in this world. It is abstract. Everything in this world is commanded and decided by time. Nobody can escape the hold of time. It is the time which gives us the opportunity to make use of it. Those who make best use of time and avail those opportunities grow and rise in life. Those who waste their time lag behind. They fail to make any mark in life. He is the wisest who makes the best use of time. He rises to the great heights who keep pace with the time. Time is very important, it should be managed as if each second , minute hour, day is money. After all time is money. If time isn’t important to you, remember its important to someone else. If you are late to something chances are you are wasting someone else’s time. Being late is a form of stealing. That’s a tough truth, but it’s a truth nonetheless. When you make others wait for you, you rob minutes from them that they’ll never get back. Time they could have turned into money, or simply used for the things important to them. In coming to meet you at the agreed upon hour, they may have made sacrifices – woken up early, cut short their workout, told their kid they couldn’t read a story together – and your lateness negates those sacrifices. If you wouldn’t think of taking ten dollars from another man’s wallet, you shouldn’t think of stealing ten minutes from him either. Being punctual shows you value time yourself, and thus wouldn’t think of depriving others of this precious, but limited resource. Even when you are not dealing with work related things being on time is still important to many people, family, and friends. Being late strains your relationships. When you’re late in meeting other people, it makes them feel under-valued, that whatever you couldn’t pull yourself away from was more important or that they didn’t mean enough to you to warrant allotting sufficient time to arrive on schedule. The guest who flies in to see you feels like a dope standing at the airport alone, your date feels awkward sitting at the restaurant by herself, and your child feels abandoned as she waits with her teacher for you to arrive, all the other children having already been picked up from school. This is not the first time you’ve heard that punctuality is important. It’s easy to understand how keeping our appointments and reporting on time is a  sign of respect. This is especially the case for improving employee productivity. If your leader keeps their word about meetings, deadlines and other time-sensitive promises, it’s easy to feel motivated to get things done. Failure to be prompt has consequences. When you are late or blow someone off entirely, you are telling them that your time is more important than theirs. Of course we should all be on time. And naturally, when circumstances pop up we should call ahead to say we are running late. Let’s put aside human psychology and Army mumbo jumbo for a moment, however, and talk about machinery. Time is an essential element in any working system. The spark plugs in an engine have to fire at exactly the right speed. A bridge can hold the weight of a million cars, as long as are spaced far enough apart. A clock quickly becomes useless if every second is not precisely one second long. All of these parameters are designed for increasing employee productivity. Time is important! Being late is like taking the oil out of a well run machine. It gums up the works, cranks up the heat, and causes things to break. When you are late to a doctor’s appointment, you may cause a domino effect that disrupts other patients. And when the doctor is running behind, you may end up waiting for ages thanks to overlapping ripples in the schedule. This problem applies to any business. Improvement is only possible if we recognize that failure to manage time affects everything.

Revolution Girl Style: Fifty Years of Women in Rock and Roll Essay

Revolution Girl Style: Fifty Years of Women in Rock and Roll Rock and roll was born of a black man's soul and a white man's...well, his whiteness; his wallet and radio station. Rock is the white man's version of black man's music; it's full of rebellion and rawness and soul, a style of music that captured America's youth and the fire and brimstone of the clergy's private hell. Elvis heard Big Mama Thornton's throaty and soulful "Hound Dog" and the rest is history; unquestionable talent aside, it was his white skin that allowed certain DJs to play him on the radio in the midst of the rigid segregation of the nineteen-fifties. Ever since then, rock has constantly walked the line between trendsetters and trendfollowers; those who innovate and those who capitalize. It is, perhaps, a natural occurance when you combine rebellion with big business. An innovative band or artist does something raw and passionate; other artists or labels take it and water it down just enough to make it marketable. As such, rock also has to keep reinventing itself, for t oday's innovation will quickly become tomorrow's tripe. The rawness of rock either frightens people or attracts them; its ability to shock and offend is legendary and vital to the survival of the genre. "Rock has always professed (although many times hypothetically) to ally itself with rebellion and to the dismantling of the status quo." (Juno 4) In the 1960s, racial tensions far surpassed gender ones; the Supremes encountered far more prejudice because of their black skins than Janis Joplin did because of her gender. But in the late sixties and early seventies, the faultlines that held together America's illusions of bliss fractured, and out of the cracks came people fighting for sel... ... Juno Books, 1996. Laven, Anna. Telephone interview. 11 April 2004. McDonnell, Evelyn and Ann Powers, ed. rock she wrote: women write about rock, pop, and rap. New York: Copper Square Press, 1995. Morgan, Joan. When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip Hop Feminist Breaks It Down. New York: Touchstone Books, 1999. O ¹Dair, Barbara, ed. Trouble Girls: The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock. New York: Random House, 1997. O ¹Hara, Craig. The Philosophy of Punk. San Francisco: AK Press, 1999. Sinker, Dan. Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews. New York: Adeline Press, 2003. Sinker, Dan.  ³Venus. ² Punk Planet July-Aug 2002: 64-67. Swirling, Ross. Telephone interview. 11 April 2004. Turner, Chà ©rie. Everything You Need to Know about the Riot Grrrl Movement: The Feminism of a New Generation. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2001.

Case Study of P&G (Marketing Issues)

| Case 5: P&G | | ————————————————- Company Background Porter and Gamble (P&G), founded in 1837, is one of the biggest consumer goods company over the world. P&G sells shampoos, baby care products, medicine and food etc. It not only diversified the product range but also the product width. Therefore, P&G has several brands under one single category but aimed with different customer segments. P&G is also famous for its innovative and customer-oriented approaches. For example, it designed one kind of shampoo which is suitable for Japanese.With the competitive advantages above, P&G was developing with an appealing growth rate and became one of the top 500 companies around the world. ————————————————- Why entered â€Å"$2 a day† market segment? In the past, P&G concentrated on medium and premium market segments. From the case, it was mentioned that P&G was too big to maintain a considerable growth rate within its existing target markets. It had to enter the bottom of pyramid, the 70% untouchable potential customers.Therefore, P&G targeted Chinese low end markets. In other words, P&G wanted to absorb Chinese living in countryside or second tier cities who earned around $2 per day. ————————————————- Marketing issues Following P&G customer-oriented traditions, the worldwide organization also put many efforts on the new target customers. It developed a series of marketing strategies as summarized. * Customer-oriented research P&G send employees to live in the rural areas in order to learn about the actual living style of the residents.After that, P&G found that Chinese living in countryside concerned more about the functions and the price level of the products. Besides, P&G still had more challenges to face. Firstly, the distribution channels were dispersed and small in size. Secondly, most people in the rural areas even did not know how to use shampoo correctly since they did not have chance to access those modern consumer goods. Moreover, P&G had to spend time on building mutual trust relationship with Chinese local parties as Chinese culture highly emphasized the importance of â€Å"Guanxi†.To attack all these challenges, P&G changed the method of packaging and developed â€Å"road shows† instead of its traditions TV advertisements to promote. * Packaging and prices of the products Since the new target customers only earned around $2 a day, they could not afford the normal price of its consumer goods. To solve this problem, P&G modified the packages to be used only for once in order to make the price of the products affordable for the new potential customers. * Road Shows P&G used its own prom otion teams to penetrate the rural areas.It had its own transportation team which decorated with its posters so that people could see the advertisements whenever the cars passed by the villages. Besides, P&G held many activities which attract people to know more about the products. In the activities, the promoters showed how to use the products to the residents. In addition, free samples would be distributed in order to attract the residents to try the products. It seemed that the marketing strategies were simple to implement but indeed, it spent P&G several years before it gained significant market shares in the new market segments. ———————————————— ————————————————- Strengths of the marketing strategies P&G was successfully using the localized strategies as wel l as customer-oriented approach. In my opinion, as the purchasing power of the bottom of pyramid was low, what they need was purely the basic functions of the products. Therefore, the company must learn the new target customers very well. The company hired many local employees who definitely understand the environment and living styles.Moreover, such strategies could make its promotion going deeper in the markets. Thought the number of audiences of every road show is limited, those who actual attended would get free samples. Then, they would tell their friends or relativities about how useful the products are. The effect of word-of-mouth would occur. ————————————————- Problems of the marketing strategies Everything has its down side. The marketing strategies P&G used were largely required time and resources. Such high investment was at risk.On the other hand, since P&G had a well-known image of premium class targeted, entering the low-end markets may lead confusion to its existing customers. In other words, there may lead some losses on original area of business. ————————————————- Recommendations Although in the rural area, residents earned just around $2 a day. P&G should not continue on the same strategy to them. The economy of China is growing with a high rate. Therefore, people living in countryside are expected to earn much more than current situation.The purchasing power of these customers should increase considerably in the near future. With the help of R&D center in Beijing, I suggest that P&G should start to invent some products which can fit for the change of the targeted customers. On the other hand, to avoid the confusion of brand image, I suggest P&G to launch another sub-brand names which include all the product categories aim ed at this market segments. (People earned $2 a day) Differentiated positioning product should have different brand names so that

Questions concerning criminal law Essay

i. What are the specific aims & purposes of the criminal law? To what extent does the criminal law control behaviour? Do you believe that the law is too restrictive or not restrictive enough? The specific aims and purposes of criminal law is to punish criminals, and prevent people from becoming future criminals by using deterrence. â€Å"Having a criminal justice system that imposes liability and punishment for violations deter.† (Paul H. Robinson, John M. Darley, Does Criminal Law Deter? A Behavioural Science Investigation, Oxford Journal of Legal studies, volume 24, No. 2 (2004), pp. 173-205). Criminal law intimidates citizens because most people won’t want to be arrested or have a write up on their personal record. Criminal law controls behaviour but only outlines what a good citizen should be doing, by creating laws. â€Å"More precisely, the term refers to substantive criminal law – a body of law that prohibits certain kinds of conduct and imposes sanctions for unlawful behaviour.† (The Canadian Encyclopedia, Criminal Law, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/criminal-law, para. 1.) Having laws and not enforcing them is pointless, so by creating a law you need to enforce it strictly so people stop committing the offence. Like in Alberta and other parts of Canada the Distracted Driving law was in full effect and anyone caught texting and driving or anything along those lines was given a major demerit dock, and a hefty ticket you need to pay. By doing this it enforces the law and creates that thought in the back of the citizens head that says â€Å"should I do that? What will happen if I text and drive and get caught?†. However, most criminals don’t have that subconscious thought and don’t care if they get caught breaking the law, that’s why so many criminals are re-offenders. Laws are either questions concerning criminal justice and safety too restrictive or not restrictive enough depending on where you live. Some people can be considered criminals in Canada, but be doing family honour killings in their homeland. Having pretty much non existent drinking ages in  Europe to the United States where you have to be 21 is absolutely unreasonable, and depending on where you live your laws can either be too restrictive, like in the US, or not restrictive at all, in Europe. There should be a universal drinking age of 16, and the driving age should be raised. Allowing teenagers and young adults to drive before they learn the effects of drinking is not a good policy. Too many citizens think because they have been driving for 2 – 4 years think that they can drive drunk which is not the case and creates a big problem. Among 18 – 24 year olds, they have the highest percentage in Canada for driving under the influence per 100,000 licensed patrons. Universally, if you lowered the drinking age and heightened the driving age to 21, hopefully less people would be drinking and driving because more people would have experienced the effect of alcohol before driving. If this actually worked then maybe less and less police officers would need to worry about check stops and be less restrictive on certain laws and would be able to focus on other important things around Canada. questions concerning criminal justice and safety  ii. Assuming that males are more violent than females; does that mean that crime has a biological rather than a social basis (because males & females share a similar environment)?  Statistically males made up for more then five times the amount of crime then females did in 2005. (Women and The Criminal Justice System, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-503-x/2010001/article/11416-eng.htm.) Males aren’t biologically programmed to be more physically aggressive and commit more crimes, but when people say males commit more crimes because of testosterone, that is crazy because women have testosterone in their body’s too. Males commit more crimes because most males want to assert their â€Å"macho – ness† to females and prove that they are manly. When males are 20-25 years old, the highest category for committing a crime, they have no other ways to show females how manly they are other then fighting and committing crimes. I think the reason why older males don’t commit more crimes compared to the younger generation is because older folk have other ways to show their manliness like their job, how much money they have, or the kind of car that they drive. That being said crime has nothing to do with biology, but it  comes down to men trying to show how powerful they are in an attempt to â€Å"woo† a female. Concerning the fact that males and females sharing the same environment but males being â€Å"more violent†, I think the reason is because males aren’t as protected as females are. During high school kids always hear about fathers or brothers who will protect their child or sibling from anyone that hurts them in any way. You never hear a sister or a mother saying that about their questions concerning criminal justice and safety son. (Introduction to Criminology, Lecture 3, September 23, 2013, Professor Jan Stanners.) So another factor about females being less aggressive is the fact that they are protected more and almost restricted from certain things because more people worry about girls then boys. Studies are also showing that women’s crime rates are increasing quite noticeably while males are slowly dropping. I think this is because since the 1950-80’s women’s roles were typically stay at home moms taking care of the children, etc. But now women have a lot more freedoms and have jobs and can they can now do whatever they please just like males, so I think that’s why female crime rates are rising steadily. Also, according to the statscan government website it shows that females have a higher victimization rate between the ages of 18-44, which we expect because men are â€Å"more violent†. However after that age range the males become the more victimized group which I found very interesting because that in itself refutes any debate of men being more violent because of testosterone, because no matter how old you are your body is still producing testosterone. questions concerning criminal justice and safety iii. Do you agree with the assessment that for young people, a school is one of the most dangerous locations in a community? Did you find your high school to be a dangerous environment?  Ã¢â‚¬Å"According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 17 teens were killed at schools and five children killed themselves in the year ending June 30, 2002.† (School Safety, http://www.ncpc.org/topics/school-safety.) School can be a very dangerous place for teenagers depending on the area of town that they live in. In Calgary high schools are more safe down south then in  Forrest Lawn just because of the type of families and people there are around influencing the teenagers. The type of influence a teenager gets can lead them on the path to becoming a bully. At the Columbine shootings two teenagers shot and killed many innocent teenagers, in Michael Moores documentary it is shown that the two students were bullied occasionally which may have caused them to act out and shoot their peers. (Michael Moore, Bowling For Columbine, 2002.) As far as schools being one of the most dangerous areas in the community I find that hard to believe. Around schools you have teachers and counsellors supervising you and helping you throughout your 3 years so it can’t be as dangerous as people make it out to be. However the activities that take place outside of school I think are the most violent ones. They involve students and peers that you’ve met through high school and I believe people are getting those two things mixed up, but that’s just from personal experience because inside of my high school was relatively safe. We had a lockdown where a student from another school came into ours with a knife looking for a student in one of the classes but the police came and handled the situation accordingly and our teachers were well prepared questions concerning criminal justice and safety and practiced lockdowns on a regular basis. Later we all found out this situation happened because of activity outside of school. My personal experiences in high school I never had a physical altercation with anyone but in grades 10 and 11 a lot of students would make organized fights after school and a big crowd would join. I think this relates to the previous question on men being more violent, because teenagers have no other way to assert their manliness to friends and girls other then to fight and beat someone up. I think the most dangerous places in our rural communities is back alleys at night time walking home from drinking at a friends or at a bar. You make yourself an easy target being drunk and that’s when criminals take the chance to mug you. By being at school it’s really hard to make yourself a big target with teaching staff all around you. To sum everything up I do not agree that schools are the most dangerous place for young people. In some instanced even your own home could be the most dangerous place to be and school could be like an escape for some students. questions concerning criminal justice and safety Reference Page The Canadian Encyclopedia, Criminal Law, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/criminal-law, para. 1. Michael Moore, Bowling For Columbine, 2002.  Paul H. Robinson, John M. Darley, Does Criminal Law Deter? A Behavioural Science Investigation, Oxford Journal of Legal studies, volume 24, No. 2 (2004), pp. 173-205. School Safety, http://www.ncpc.org/topics/school-safety. Women and The Criminal Justice System, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-503-x/2010001/article/11416-eng.htm.