Discuss Cultural Classification

1. In some communities arranged marriages are the norm and in other’s the individual is expected to choose their life partner; without judgment of wrong or right, what cultural elements do you believe impact this behaviour. How do you believe communities that support arranged marriages and communities that support individual arrangements view the concept of love?
   Arranged marriage is a form of marriage where the bride and groom are selected by a third party other than by themselves. However, unlike forced marriage, parties in the arranged marriage must agree for the marriage to continue. The cultural behavior of arranged marriages is still common in many countries. Other than individuals, there are also some religions that apply arranged marriages to some of their followers.  In my opinion, the communities that support arranged marriages do so after a thorough research on individual traits of the bride and the groom.  Some of these traits include their religion, educational background, and family backgrounds. When the bride and the groom have similar backgrounds and religion, the third party believes that this will make it easier for them to understand each other upon marriage. Although arranged marriages are not founded on strong love, communities that practice it believe that love prospers after marriage when the couples learn more about each other. For the communities that support individual arrangements for marriage, people are given a chance to look for their marriage partner through courtship. In my opinion, marriages based on individual provide the couple with more time to know each other. The love between the two is also likely to be stronger than in the arranged marriages. However, none of the two marriages can be said to be better than the other in terms of sustainability. In the Chinese culture, arranged marriages have been in existence for a long time and continue being practiced to date. However, marriage where individuals choose their life partners are also common in China and it all depends on the cultural affiliations of the couple in order to take part in arranged or individual marriages (Colson, 2013). In my opinion, the main cultural element that impacts the behavior of arranged or individual marriages is individualism cultural dimension. In both cases, individual partners have to make a decision whether to be married or not.
2. In some communities public displays of emotion are the social norm and expectation and in other communities public displays of emotion are not the norm. How do you believe communities with these behaviours view outward expressions of anger – like yelling?

In the communities that have low-context culture, public display of affection is the social norm. People are comfortable expressing their feelings directly even in public places. Although yelling may be considered as rude, it is still a form of communication. For instance, when one is angry you can express your anger through yelling and hence letting people around you know your feelings.  In a high-context culture like China, public displays of emotions are not the norm (Colson, 2013). Expressing anger is considered to be impolite, rude, and selfish and mostly such people will be ignored. For this reason, yelling is treated as a source of embarrassment in China.  Although I was brought up in a high-context culture where public display of emotions was not allowed, I strongly believe that expression of anger in public should depend on the situation and should not be condemned entirely. In some cases, I found myself yelling at my colleagues especially when I was disappointed with their behavior. The intention was not to upset them but just to show them that I was uncomfortable with their actions. Whenever I decided to keep quiet when I was disappointed, I felt shortchanged and always assumed the silence was hurting my feelings. Yelling and displaying my anger in public gave me a sense of satisfaction as I relived the emotional burden.

 

Reference

Colson, M. (2013). Chinese Culture. New York: Raintree.

Military History- Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was misled from the beginning. The war involved the arrogance of authority and power. The main supporters of the containment policy were wrong in the first case. Containment policy was a defective policy as reflected in its lack of concern to the Southeast Asia history (Hagopian, 2009). The communism obsession of its leaders resulted into a deeper tragedy of the U.S. Leaders believed in the mission of America, as well as, in the usual superiority of all that America did. However, they were wrong. This presented a question of who the real enemy was.

The Communist China, the U.S.S.R., and the Vietcong were, therefore, not the real enemies, but the protestors in the U.S. were. In fact, Chinese were anxious about the U.S. This, however, does not mean that they should be underestimated as enemies of Vietnam because they each played their role. The U.S. lost the war due to the foreign policy of America. The policy was aimed at stopping the spread of Communism rather than to eliminate it (Hagopian, 2009). The U.S. lost the war because they surrendered. Although it had the opportunity to destroy Communism, they did not have authorization and, hence failed to achieve their main goal.

The principles of the containment policy were not based on realistic grounds, and the U.S. was mainly focused on their interests in the country. For instance, the assumption that countries must be aligned with the U.S.S.R. or the U.S. was not realistic. China supported Communism, although it had failed to overrule in the years of its enmity with Russia (Hagopian, 2009). The U.S. was the enemy because it was afraid of the international spread of Communism, although the policy made it hard to see countries as different with different problems, different cultures, and different histories.

Reference

Hagopian, P. (2009). The Vietnam War in American memory: Veterans, memorials, and the politics of healing. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.

 

 

 

 

Workplace Conflict

Using three intercultural theories identify some of the categories and classifications you and your colleagues may identify with.

The three intercultural theories selected are acculturation theory, extended parallel process model (EPPM) theory, and uncertainty reduction theory. Using these theories, the categories and classifications that my colleagues and I may identify with include power distance, individualism/ collectivism, and masculinity/femininity.

Acculturation Theory

This theory focuses on the process by which groups from different cultural background adjust to each other (Lee, 2008). In this case, the relationship among the members in a group may cause psychological threats to the minorities in such a group. Using this theory, my colleagues and I may classify themselves using the individualism/collectivism cultural dimension. People in our group identify themselves as “We” as an illustration of their collectivism since there are no minorities in our group.

Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) Theory

This intercultural theory refers to the actions people take when they recognize any form of threat. According to this theory, when a person perceives threat he might use danger control to find a solution, or use fear control to avoid a threatening situation (Lee, 2008). Danger control is used when there is an effective response while fear control is used when there is no effective response to a threat. Using this intercultural theory, my colleagues and I may identify with the power distance cultural dimension. This is due to the fact that we are likely to interact with people from Argentina who have different cultural backgrounds from ours. As a result, there will be inequalities in our cultures which might lead to unequal distribution of power where we might feel superior on inferior to the Argentinean culture.

Uncertainty Reduction Theory

According to this theory, uncertainty is unpleasant and hence people are motivated to reduce it using passive or active strategies (Lee, 2008). In our case, there will be uncertainty on how our group will interact with the people from Argentina. This is due to some cultural stereotypes and the uncertainty in the knowledge of the host culture. Using this theory, our group will reduce the uncertainty by classifying ourselves using the masculine/feminine cultural dimension. In this classification, we shall take the masculine approach where we will work hard to excel and become successful in the organization we shall be working for in Argentina.

Using the same three theories you chose above, discuss the categories and classifications residents of the country you picked may identify with

Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) Theory

In relation to this theory the residents may use danger control to find a solution for a threat or fear control to avoid a perceived threat. In this case, the residents of Argentina will classify themselves using the power distance cultural dimension (Lee, 2008). This cultural dimension adheres to the fact that all individuals in a given society are not equal.

Furthermore, this dimension also focuses in expressing the attitude that the culture has towards the inequalities among its people. Specifically, power distance is the level at which the less powerful members in the society or organizations in a certain country agree that there is unequal distribution of power. Argentina’s score for the PDI is 41, a score that is lower than in other Latin American countries. The origin of the Argentina’s low score in the power distance dimension is the migration waves experienced in 1900 where more than six million European immigrants entered Argentina (Hofstede, 2012). In relation to the power distance, the residents of Argentina are likely to identify with physical appearances since these attributes are taken seriously. The implication for this is that the residents will mostly dress in dark attire, expensive watches, good mobile phones, and even visit expensive hotels. All these will be done to affirm that these people do not entirely believe that there is cultural inequality in Argentina.

Acculturation Theory

The acculturation theory states that relationships among people of different cultures may cause psychological threats to the minority members. In relation to this theory, residents in Argentina may be classified under individualism/ collectivism cultural dimension. The basic issue that is addressed by this cultural dimension is the level of interdependence that a society has among its members. It is mainly concerned with whether people identify themselves as “I” or “We”. For this reason, people in individualist societies only look after themselves and their families. However, in collectivist societies people belong to groups that are likely to take care of them. With a score of 47, Argentina is in the middle rankings and hence considered to be among the most individualistic society in Latin countries (Hofstede, 2012). The residents of Argentina are therefore likely to be individualistic where they think of themselves before others. Moreover, their private life and work life is also likely to be very different as they strive not to mix the two.  In terms of workplace relationships, the employer-employee relationship is likely to be very minimal where the employees will not be willing to share information about their private life with their employers.

Uncertainty Reduction Theory

According to this theory, Argentinean residents may use various strategies to deal with uncertainty. The uncertainty will be about interacting with foreigners with different cultural affiliations. Therefore, the residents will classify themselves using the masculinity/femininity cultural dimension. The basic principle in this cultural dimension is what motivates people in the society. In this regard, wanting to be the best or successful is considered to be masculine while appreciating or liking what you do is considered feminine. Argentina has a score of 57 in this dimension which reflects a presence of more masculine than feminine elements (Hofstede, 2012). The residents of Argentina are therefore likely to be more assertive and competitive in achieving what they want. These residents would want to excel in everything they do and also try to outdo one another if they are in the same organization. In addition, Argentinean residents are likely to identify themselves with winners while distancing themselves from unsuccessful people. This means that even the female residents will tend to have masculine behavior of competition and success.

References

Hofstede, M. (2012). The Hofstede Centre. Retreived from http://geert-      hofstede.com/argentina.html (Accessed 19th Feb, 2014).

Lee, J. (2008). The Influence of Culture and Dimensions of Service Quality on positive Affect,         Negative Affect, and Delightedness. New York: ProQuest.

 

 

Brand Management

Category of product

Smartphone Operating Systems (OS)

Two main Brands

Google Android and Apple iOS5

Target Markets

For Google Android, the target markets are teenagers to pre-middle aged people, the systems are more scientific than creative meaning that one can customize the OS, change and see the source code. The OS customizability is highly appreciated by customers who do not like Apple products. TheApple iOS5 is appropriate for learners, working professionals, and urban lifestyle. It is arty and hip and targets people who think differently, those with greater disposable income levels, great brand loyalty.

Main points of parity and points of difference

Points of parity

• Multiple Applications available
• Smartphone Operating Systems (OS)
• High-quality cameras
• Multi-touch screens
• Improved user interface
• Wireless online connectivity

Points of Difference

Android

• Created by Google
• “Open”/ customizable software
• Android mascot
• Available on large numbers of mobile phones (LG, Samsung, Motorola, HTC)
• Higher selection of hardware depending on brand loyalty in existence (Lopez-Tarruella, 2012)

iOS5

• Made by Apple and only available on the iPhone
• Very powerful and simple to use
• Easy compatibility with iPad, iCloud, and Mac computer
• Purchasing the ‘whole package”. This means that everything is a product of Apple, (the phone and the OS)
• Limited distribution
• Largest App store among mobile phone OS (Neuburg, 2013)

Definition of Positioning

Android

Google has only lately expanded from its search engine (initial claim to fame) into several other markets. Google is a powerful competitor in the Smartphone industry and market. The organization has position its software as more fun, customizable, and playful. This is mainly represented in their logo that uses the green alien. The organization’s positioning is adaptable in relation to the target market. In my opinion, however, I would not have though an expert in business would be as fast to adapt it as is the case with the iOS5 or even other brands such as BlackBerry. In my opinion, Google has “correctly” positioned itself because before Android, there was no real adaptability in iPhone Smartphone operating system and BlackBerry. Google Android provides the added advantage of partnering with various distinct mobile phone companies. Customers, therefore, are not limited to choose a Smartphone solely based on the operating system (Lopez-Tarruella, 2012).

Apple iOS5

iOS5 has correctly defined its position. Apple has done an incredible work efficiently by creating its position in the Smartphone industry and market. As it is the founder of multi-touch screens (displays) and greatly interactive Smartphones from the initial iPhone, the organization has paved its path in the industry. Presently, Apple is still on top of invention and innovation. It has a greatly loyal customer base (Neuburg, 2013). Bearing in mind that it has been leading in many realms such as being the first multi-touch Smartphone, the first Graphic User Interface (GUI) on a computer, and the first highly efficient portable MP3 player, its first-mover band innovation benefits have strengthened the brand. The simple and clean brand (Apple) is seen in the iOS5.

How to improve it

Android

Google should take into consideration the idea of re-enforcing its target market and positioning. It was not easy to get the target market for the brand because it appears to be rather versatile. Probably, this strategy would work well for it; however, by clearly targeting and defining a specific market, the brand will have a strong position in the market.

iOS5

For Apple, it should carry on with what it is doing. However, more forward-thinking innovation is needed since more Smartphone and Operating Systems are being invented fast. A majority of business experts and customers hold that Apple should make its software open so that people can customize it. In my opinion, however, I think Apple should stick to what it is doing. This is because Steve Jobs, founder of Apple noted that the software was closed because it is “prefect” and does not need any customization. I would agree with this as the brand is doing well in the industry.

References

Lopez-Tarruella, M. A. (2012). Google and the law: Empirical approaches to legal aspects of knowledge-economy business models. The Hague: T. M. C. Asser Press.

Neuburg, M. (2013). Programming iOS 5. Beijing [China: O’Reilly Media.

 

 

Cell Phone Protective Measures

 

Report Plan

Protective measures for cell phones

Cell phones release radio waves that can potentially harm their users (National Cancer Institute, 2013, Davis 2011). There three major concerns that policy makers must be worried about in relation to radiation. First, cell phones produce radio waves, which can be taken up in the body through tissues close to the body where the gadget is held (National Cancer Institute, 2013). Secondly, radiation can lead to cancer, which has become a leading cause of deaths. Lastly, the number of mobile phone users has increased significantly in the last few years (National Cancer Institute, 2013). The report is going to focus on the increasing radiation exposure in the phone industry especially the big companies like Samsung. Samsung produces many phones in the market and is able to provide more data for the research in addition to data that will be collected. The research intends to examine the extent of the radiation and what protective measures can be adopted to help in preventing the radiation.

Purpose

The purpose of the report is to determine solutions to cell phone radiation and what products can be made to prevent effects of the radiation on users. This is because cell phones make use of the ultra high frequency wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. Most people are now using cell phones for communication. This means a great number of people are exposed to harmful radiation emanating from cell phones. However, most of the people do not know the dangers of using the phones and handling them. The report will be critical since it will enlighten cell phone users to be cautious of cell phones. The cell phone should not always be kept or placed near sensitive body parts. In addition, the report will open a debate that could lead to further research to come up with safe products.

Resources

The potential resources required for the project will be sourced from the university, friends, and family. The research will be carried out in the Samsung branch to establish effective methods that can be used to protect one against cell phone radiation.

Data collection

The data will be collected using various methods including interviews, experiments, surveys, observations, and the use of questionnaires. In addition, secondary methods will be used. This will include going through studies that have been conducted on the subjects. This will include perusing through journals, books, and the internet among others. The data will eventually be consolidated to come up with recommendations on the solutions.

After getting all the data, recommendations will be drawn based on the collected data. Since we are looking into the protection against microwave radiation, the report will analyze the data that includes information from cell phone users and the experiments to come up with necessary protective measures. The report aims to come up with a protective device either embedded in the phones or covers the earpiece but allows the sound to pass through. This will provide a solution to protect cell phone users against microwave radiations.
 

References

Davis, D. (2011). Disconnect the truth about mobile-phone radiation, what the industry has done to hide it, and how to protect your family. Brunswick, Scribe Publications. Retrieved from http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=867208.

National Cancer Institute. (2013). Cell Phones and Cancer Risk. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/cellphones

Article Critique

This paper provides a critical review of the study by Cheryl Hyde, Multicultural Development in Human Service Agencies: Challenges and Solutions. The critical analysis will look at the research problem, hypothesis, research questions, literature review, the conceptual framework, the research design, sampling, and data collection procedures, criteria for inclusion or exclusion, ethical considerations and data collection procedures. The conclusion will evaluate whether these components have been addressed through the research design chosen by the researchers, and whether the conclusion is in line with the stated hypothesis.

Research Problem, Hypothesis and Research questions

The research problem and objectives are provided by the researcher in the article. These are not explicitly stated in the study. However, a careful reading of the introduction reveals what the problem under investigation is, and objectives for carrying out the study.  The research problem emanates from the fact that organizations cultures do not seem tailored to meet the demands of an evolving world. This calls for the reduction in the barriers that hinder uniformity of practices among the various individuals in the human services agencies. Therefore, the objective of the study is to examine the multicultural organizational development in order to understand the hindrances in embracing diversity.

Literature Review

Hyde does not provide a clear section or heading to show the literature review segment. However, there are several citations where appropriate references have been indicated. First, the author makes use of citation in the introduction part of the study, which aids the reader to understand the subject of the study. In addition, author tries to reinforce the statement of the problem by referring to earlier studies. For instance, the author cites works that deal with gender, race, age diversity to show that human service managers must confront the challenges of multiculturalism in modern enterprises. In addition, the author uses previous studies to show the activities that have been undertaken by human service managers to respond to diversity challenges in human service organizations. For instance, Ferguson; Fong & Gibbs (1995) have been cited by the writer to show that training, hiring and retention plans are critical in dealing with the challenge of diversity in the workplace. However, there are instances where the author also consults his earlier works. Any research study is prone to personal bias. Using ones study as a reference point could mean having a narrowed view of the problem under study. In general, the literature has been used by the writer to guide and support the focus of the entire discussion.

The Conceptual Framework

There is no clearly stipulated analytical framework for this study. However, a keen extrapolation shows that the author uses a guiding hypothesis as a conceptual framework for the study. This can be deduced from the opening paragraph, where the writer observes, “Human service agencies must become more multicultural to appropriately serve diverse and disenfranchised people” (Hyde, 2004, p. 7). By using various studies and conducting his own study, the author tries to find out if this is the case. Therefore, this statement is the guiding framework for the discussion by the author.

Research Design

A research design is a framework used by the researcher to help in gathering and analyzing data (Hakim 2012). There are various designs that a researcher can choose from depending on the type of research or the aims of the study. Hyde uses an exploratory design for this study. The exploratory research design, as the same suggests, is aimed at discovering ideas or insights on a given subject under study (Hakim 2012, Levy and Lemeshow, 2013). It helps the researcher to develop a better understanding of a given situation, and does not aim at generalizations. Hyde tries to examine multicultural organizations to identify any possible obstacles to successful change (Hyde, 2004).

Sampling, Data Collection and Analysis Procedure

The key concern of the sampling is how well it represents the targeted population (Hakim 2012). This underlies the population validity, which is the degree to which the results of the study can be applied to the larger population. In other words, it helps the researcher to make generalizations. A common error in sampling is that the sample size pooled for a study does not reflect or is not identical to the target market (Levy and Lemeshow, 2013). For instance, in this study the writer uses “20 practitioners and 20 consultants in a New England metropolitan area” (Hyde, 2004, p.8). The respondents were people knowledgeable in area under study. In addition, the sample was diverse. Although the sample size was small, it was, to some extent, diverse. Another common error in sampling is having a narrow sample. This is the problem with this study because it focuses on a group of respondents with similar traits, which can lead to biased results. Although sometimes a researcher can be interested in a certain characteristic, say people with knowledge in a given field, the focus of the study would have better used a broad population base of maybe 500 respondents. A critical part of the sample has been ignored, and this includes people with lived experiences. These could be employees or recipients of human services across several sectors. This group would also have provided useful insights as to the barriers to MCOD.

The analysis of data was undertaken through constant comparison. Themes were compared among the responses received to identify a common focus and point of disagreements. This iterative analysis helped the research to identify a training model for human services, challenges and probable solutions to the identified problems.

Criteria for inclusion/exclusion

Hyde targeted respondents based on their experience with MCOD as well as people with definite characteristics. The author chose people from his professional network, who in turn recommended others to be included in the study. Any person who did not fit into this criterion was excluded from the study. The inclusion and exclusion criterion chosen by Hyde, though made to get a clearer picture of the subject under investigation, was extensively deficient. It is not possible to have a perfect research. However, it would have been prudent for the researcher to include more subjects into his sample to increase the validity of the results. Having a sample with similar traits would most likely lead to findings that reflect the idiosyncratic nature of the selected category.

Ethical Consideration

Ethical considerations in research are important. Respondents should be informed early as to the purpose of the study so they can decide whether to take an active part in the study or not. Research involving human beings should not be carried out without the informed consent of the participants, and since some of the issues raised by the participants might touch on their personal lives. Seeking the consent of the participants minimizes the risk of coercion and exploitation. In addition, participants should be reassured that their unwillingness to participate is their right and cannot jeopardize their occupation of professional life in any way. In this study, there is no evidence that participants were informed about the purpose of the study. In addition, there is no evidence of their consent being sought to take part in the study. Moreover, the researcher does not embrace the ethical protocol of having a short questionnaire. Instead, “flexibility is the hallmark” (Hyde, 2004, p. 9) in this study. This means the interviewers can pull as many questions as possible to the respondent. It would be embarrassing and unethical to keep a respondent for as many hours as the researcher tries to purses any lead he or she deems fit for the study.

Conclusions

The study achieved the stated objectives and shed some more light on the issues of multicultural problems in human services agencies. The author concurs that MCOD is a challenging issue as was evidenced by the results in the analysis section. Respondents talked more on the barriers to embracing multiculturalism, as opposed to the solutions. This shows that multicultural issues are not easy to deal within the organizational set-up. In addition, the author concurs that multicultural human services are more necessary than there before. This is evidenced by demographic shifts, among other factors explored by the author. In summary, the conclusions largely helped identify the model that can be used to guide the training process to deal with multicultural issues in human services organization.

References

Hakim, C. (2012). Research design: successful designs for social economics research. London: Routledge

Hyde, A. C. (2004). Multicultural Development in Human Service Agencies: Challenges and Solutions, Social Work, 49 (1) 7-15.

Levy, P. S. and Lemeshow, S. 2013. Sampling of populations: methods and applications (4^th Ed.). London: John Wiley & Sons.

Gender Stereotypes, Gender Discrimination, Androcentrism, and the Personal Consequences of Internalizing Gender Stereotypes in the Film Revolutionary Road

 

The movie Revolutionary Road is set in an American background in the 1950’s. This was a revolutionary time as it was in the beginning of the civil rights movements and at the height of the clamor for gender equality. The title of the movie is therefore somewhat symbolic of the mood of the American society at that point in its history. April and Frank Wheeler are the two main characters who are married with two children and living in the suburbs. Frank is a low-level worker in the same company that his father worked while April is a housewife (Bailey, 2007). They were originally depicted as a young beautiful couple with everything to look forward to as they were ‘intellectuals’ and in a world where computers were just coming to the fore. Their suburban life was not what they had envisaged when they become married. Many reviewers of the book and film have posited that the central themes are feminism, andocentrism and gender stereotyping (Tas, 2010). This discussion will dwell on the latter two by analyzing the different roles played by the characters in contrast to what was the expected societal norm.

Gender stereotyping is simply defined as generalization of gender attributes, differences, and roles of individuals and/or groups. These generalizations can either be positive or negative but are rarely accurate or vary from situation to situation. In Revolutionary Road, and in the 1950’s, women had specific roles distinct from those of men. Since the early civilizations, women were confined to marriage and childbearing where the primary roles included caring for the family and nurturing children. Their own aspirations were not considered important and were relegated as secondary. These stereotypes imprisoned April and she always felt trapped in her suburban life. She compared what she had become with what her envisaged life would be and felt lost. When she is depicted placing her trash cans on the curb as perfectly as all others in the suburb, there is an effect on the viewer that leads one to empathize with her situation. In sharp contrast, Frank is depicted smoking in the train situation seemingly without a wonder in the world. These stereotypes led to discrimination of April as her life was out of her control and in the control of the society as she was expected to conform to its norms. The greatest factor that leads the viewer to conclude that April is discriminated is the lack of reproductive control on her part. Every time she was pregnant, her misery was compounded as she was expected to raise her children and not much else.

Gender stereotyping is not a reserve of the 1950’s or traditional societies. It is prevalent today. In most societies in Africa, girls are not even given the opportunity to go to school since they are not considered as breadwinners but rather confined to the family roles. In progressive societies too, gender stereotyping is common. During the holidays, I visited a vet to take my friends pit bull for a checkup. This dog is considered in some societies as a fight dog and naturally belongs to men. I was shocked that some people at the vet drew the conclusion that I could not own such a dog. Even the vet stopped short of asking me who the dog owner was and I got the feeling that if I at no time mentioned that it was my friend’s then he would not have believed it mine. These assumptions that certain things are a preserve of certain genders based on inaccurate perspectives are exactly what led April to feel confined and discriminated. Nowadays, people associate the color pink with women or gay men and consider it a girly color. This in itself amounts to gender stereotyping.

Although Frank was on occasion depicted as unhappy, his position is incomparable to that of April. He had choices. He is even seen as having the occasional affair with a secretary that serves to spice up his otherwise boring suburban life. In the end, April convinces her husband that they would be best suited in Paris where they could fulfill their dreams. However, and predictably, April’s pregnancy with her third child spoils these plans. Frank is of the view that his third child warranted a stay in America so that he could be raised in the country as was expected. This masculine view of the world further compounds April’s misery as her plans are scuttled. Her opinions are not considered here and Frank becomes very bitter in the ensuing fight where he says mean things about April while throwing the furniture around. Many people expect that gender discrimination only occurs where one party is violent towards the other. However, in this film, Frank was never violent but nonetheless discriminated against his wife by disregarding her opinions and viewpoints. He could not understand the misery that she underwent since she was a stay-home mother while he was out in the world which served to break the monotony and boredom of suburbia. The society was acutely andocentric and only what mattered to Frank was seriously considered whereas what mattered to April was ignored.

The ending to this film is tragic (Honeycutt, 2008). April was backed into a corner where the society so ignored her opinions that she took matters into her own hands in the pursuit of happiness. The gender stereotypes, which she did not conform to came back to haunt her. She well knew what was expected on women during that period in history and she dared defy it. Her third pregnancy, she knew, was her doom. Since it was illegal in those days to abort, she decided to do it regardless. The societal pressure was too much for her. Her dreams and aspirations had been hindered for so long and she was not about to surrender to another cycle of pregnancy and nurture. She had to get out of the prison that she found herself in: the results were tragic. She knew the risks involved in having an abortion but felt they were worth it compared to succumbing to the stereotypes that were deeply rooted in the society.

 

References

Bailey, B. (2007). Revolutionary Road—the Movie. Retrieved 21st Feb, 2014 from http://www.Slate.com.

Honeycutt, K. (2008, November 17). Film Review: Revolutionary Road. The Hollywood Reporter

Tas (2010). Was ‘Revolutionary Road’ about feminism? Megaphone Diaries. Retrieved 21^st Feb, 2014 from http://metrac.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/was-revolutionary-road-about-feminism/

 

 

The World Trade Organization (WTO)

Introduction

The years after the First and Second World War saw the birth of many international organizations that aimed at offering a lasting peace and cooperation among nations. These bodies included International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and International Trade Organization among others (Amrita, Martin, and Robert 85). The General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs is one of he bodies that aimed at fostering economic cooperation among member states. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a successor to General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT). This paper seeks to explore the factors that led to the development of World Trade Organization and its relation to the overall globalization project. The paper will also reflect on the role of WTO in facilitating international flow of production and investments. Lastly, the discourse will examine the role of WTO in dealing with economic inequality among cooperating nations.

World Trade Organization: The Origin

World Trade Organization is an international body that oversees free international trade. The organization started operating officially in 1995 because of an agreement in Marrakech (Amrita, Martin, and Robert 370). The creation of WTO replaced the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs that commenced in 1948 after the Second World War. The principle function of WTO is to regulate trade between the member states, offer a framework for the negotiation, and formalization of agreements arising from trade. It also has the key role of resolving disputes that ensure that the member states uphold the WTO agreements signed by the member states, and later ratified by their respective parliaments. The bulk of the regulations that WTO enforces come from the negotiations carried out in Uruguay between 1986 and 1994.

As noted earlier, GATT operated from 1948 until the creation of WTO in 1995. There were several attempts among the nations to create an institution with international influence to govern international trade, but GATT continued to operate for almost over fifty years on provisional grounds. Several attempts at negotiations took place under GATT (Amrita, Martin, and Robert 102). The main aim of these negotiations was to reduce trade tariffs. Whereas the negotiation named the Kennedy round in the 1960s created the anti-dumping regulations, only the Tokyo round tackled the existence of trade barriers among the nations. Some of the achievements of Tokyo round were refinements of the existing GATT regulations, but others were entirely new breakthroughs brought about through negotiations (Philip 137). However, these new regulations did not receive full acceptance from the existing GATT members, and remained entirely as codes. Full acceptance and enforcement of these codes only occurred in the Uruguay round of negotiations.

Before forty years of GATT operations, the various member states were realizing various operational deficiencies in its structure. GATT could not address the rising complexity in the rapidly globalizing economy. In consequence, the members organized the Uruguay round of negotiations. The Uruguay round, noted as one of the biggest negotiations, reflected in trade in services, intellectual property ownership, vital reforms in agriculture, and textiles and this also brought all the previous GATT regulations for review. However, the greatest achievement was in the Uruguay last round of negotiation carried out in Marrakech, Morocco. This last round of negotiation created the WTO (Edmond 5). However, GATT still exists as an umbrella body for WTO. The highest decision making organ in WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which meets after every two years. This conference makes all the key decisions that affect the international trade agreements among the member states. The Doha and Cancun rounds of negotiations are the current active negotiation that focuses on making globalization more acceptable, reducing poverty, reducing trade barriers, and offering subsidies to farming. There are proposals to offer substantial aid to developing countries, although the issues remain very contentious.

Functions and Principles of WTO

There are several functions of WTO. Firstly, it provides the forum for the negotiation and settling of trade disputes. Secondly, it reviews the nation’s trade rules and ensure adherence to the agreed international standards (World Trade Organization 1). Thirdly, WTO offers assistance in terms of training to developing nations to bring them to closer conformity to the set regulations and standards. Lastly, WTO is the centre for research and analysis on economic matters that affect the entire globe. Apart from the functions, WTO operates under the guidance of several key principles (World Trade Organization 2). These principles include transparency, enforceability of commitments, reciprocity, non-discrimination, and safety measures among others. Firstly, non-discrimination principle requires a nation to apply the same rules of trade to all other partners, while reciprocity demands that mutual gains arising from free trade should be greater than those from one-dimensional trade should. Secondly, binding and enforceability rule requires strict adherence to regulations agreed upon by the member states. Thirdly, the member states should also publish their trade rules to facilitate understanding among members. Lastly, the safety measures rule allows nations to apply certain measures for reasons that may not even be economical.

 

 

Motivations for WTO Development

The understanding of the motivations behind the creation of WTO requires a proper reflection on the theory, and concept of multilateral trading system. The idea of WTO represents a convergence of three areas namely; law, economics, and politics (Craig 3). The member states of WTO, desired to work together to reduce barriers of trade among members with varying economic levels, and asymmetrical political ideologies. The first idea was that nations are sovereign, and have proper control over their destinies (Philip 6). However, proper sovereignty can only be realized when nations enter into agreements which puts mutual limits on the exercise of their sovereignty. This idea prompted the creation of international law, which included diplomatic norms, protocols, and treaties that eventually led to the creation of international organizations. WTO thus, represents international point of legal, economic, and political convergence for mutual benefit to the member states.

The second motivation relies on the notion that nations can enjoy the benefits of free trade (Craig 4). Policy-makers form various nations would only consent to international trade agreements if such agreements guaranteed not only collective but also individual interests. This hinges on comparative advantages, varying production levels, and specialization (Philip 63). From the economic perspective, the idea of open markets overwhelms the mercantilists’ theory that viewed international trade as maximization of exports, and minimization of imports. The birth of cooperative economic thoughts and the establishment of international law provided countries with the motivation, and capacity to initiate closer economic ties. However, the field of international cooperation, particularly along the lines of trade, is delicate and dynamic, and thus proponents of such ideas must cope up with frequent obstacles relating to such cooperative movements.

The last concept in international cooperation revolves around power and politics. The legal and economic ideas underlying international trading so far discussed seeks to downplay the role of power. These regulations seek to bring powerful countries into world order by proper legal framework or recognition of mutual benefits. However, power remains an indispensable tool in the creation internationally recognized world order. The conception of international world order, and its subsequent translation into practice could not receive attention without the powerful intervention of Great Britain, and USA (Craig 6). The onset was the British hegemonic tendency followed by the US leadership that eventually led to GATT and, finally the WTO. These two powerful nations established the envisioned international order that saw the equalization of legal and economic advantages, radically changing the one-sided and unregulated forms of trade. The magnitude influence of these factors varies accordingly, depending on the scenario.

World Trade Organization and Globalization

Globalization entails a movement towards the integration of worldwide economic, financial, and communication activities. In practice, globalization thrives in free trading and flow in goods, services, technology, and capital among nations. However, certain regional barriers impede the success of this view. Such barriers include high tariffs, protectionist regulations, piracy, and several forms on intellectual property violations (Amrita, Martin, and Robert 394). The barriers arise from discriminatory trade rules, uneven trading patterns, and dumping problems. WTO plays a key role in minimizing the effects of such barriers in several ways.

Firstly, WTO brings the member states together to meet, and discuss these vital issues affecting trade, and reach generally acceptable agreements. These agreements aim at opening and liberating trade regimes in smooth and gradual pattern. WTO also arbitrates and settles trade disputes arising between member states. The disputes could involve violation of trade agreements or treaties. WTO therefore, promotes free trade increasing globalization, international integration, and interdependence among international economies (Philip 127). The main function of WTO in trade regulation expands on this role towards globalization. With free markets, customers receive a wider choice of goods, suppliers and producers have reliable and open foreign markets.

Secondly, WTO achieves its agreements through negotiations, which must receive support from the majority at the conference, and at parliamentary level of the member states. Such agreements serve as the basic regulations for international trade. In practice, these rules guarantee members economic rights (Philip 128). Moreover, the contracts force governments to keep their trading activities within the set limits for the benefit of all the members. The importers and exporters can enjoy a wider market.

Thirdly, WTO seeks to improve the overall welfare of the citizens of the member states. The existence of WTO with almost 134 members represents a global organization (Philip 136). WTO not only supervises, and liberalizes international trade, but also negotiates, and implements fresh trade agreements, and ensures the adherence to such regulations by the member states. Different nations host varying standards of technology, and production capacities (Philip 129). With the chief aim of WTO being free trade, the citizens in the member states enjoy services from various states at competitive prices. Moreover, the existence of wider choice of products also serves to improve the standards of living among the citizens of the member states.

The Role of WTO in Facilitating Trans-national Flow of Production and Investment

There are a number of ways through which WTO contributes to the international flow of production, and investment. On matters of investment, the WTO is still conducting negotiations on the perfect liberalization of foreign direct investments. The Doha and Cancun rounds of negotiations represent important steps towards this end. However, WTO facilitates the flow of production in some vital ways.

Firstly, the fragmentation of production and sales of goods and services among multinational corporations has increased steadily (Andreas and Christophe 6). Due to the free trade, most firms can shift production from the domestic firms to the firms a broad. The goods sent to these firms abroad go to specific zones where the producers enjoy lower tariffs, and preferential tax benefits. In most cases, the goods sent abroad reach the Export Processing Zones in the developing nations where final processing takes place in readiness for export. Thus, the free trade regulations allow the shift in production from domestic zones to foreign zones. The economic importance of Export Processing Zones is immense. These zones help the host nations diversify their exports, improve their balance of payment, and offer employment to their citizens.

The second aspect involves the intra-firm trade (Andreas and Christophe 11). With the opening of global markets, most international firms can move goods and services to foreign firms without changing ownership and thus enjoying the existing tax considerations. Similarly, most international firms can easily relocate their production units to countries where they can enjoy relative economic advantages. Most firms can ship raw materials to its affiliate firm abroad for final assembly. The exportation of the final products to other developing countries then follows. The pattern is clear in considering how the Japanese multinationals moved to East Africa where the final products reach other developing countries.

The last aspect is the trade in value added (Andreas and Christophe 14). The emergence of globalization has seen the rise in the concept of sharing international production through supply chains. This leads to increased trade and production flow with intermediate products. The service sectors also experiences linking through the global production chains, which ensures that products are well customized, and diversified. Presently, most multinational firms only have their service sectors claiming a huge portion of the economy in their host nations. This results from the fact that production is shifting to offshore locations. Firms are realizing that the cost of production is dependent on transport cost more than the tariffs and taxes. Admittedly, the lowering of tariffs and taxes favors the offshore relocation of production to bring firms closer to the market in order to lower the cost of transport.

WTO and Inequality in Production and Trade

WTO addresses economic inequality among the member states through its provisions. Firstly, the principle of the most favored nation offers the member states a similar treatment. This principle eliminates the possibility of discrimination within WTO. If one member of WTO grants another member certain preferential treatments, then the treatments must extend to all other members of the WTO (World Trade Organization 4). The concept of the most favored nation also extends to other articles such as General Agreement on Trade and Services and Intellectual Property Rights. However, in most cases, there are slight differences in the application of the principle.

According to World Trade Organization (2014), the principle of national treatment demands that nations that are members to WTO should apply the same treatment to both local and foreign goods, and services. The nations should not discriminate the foreign goods and services by applying unnecessary restrictions that hinder their penetration of the local market. However, the countries are free to charge certain taxes even if such charges are not applicable to locally produced goods. The charges imposed should cushion the local producers from competition with well-established international firms that also enjoys economies of large-scale production.

Lastly, the anti-dumping law also offers the member nations fairness and equality. Some countries can produce certain products cheaply, and therefore can compete favorably in the international market. Moreover, some countries may choose to export their products at prices lower than their actual value. This tendency stifles the growth of domestic producers, and creates monopoly in the importing country. There are provisions for actions against those involved in dumping. The countries affected can take action or even consult on matters of dumping. However, the complexity of the idea of dumping, and the fact that developing nations do not have the expertise to explore these avenues of redress hinders the effectiveness of this provision.

 Conclusion

WTO is increasingly gaining praise for facilitating trade, investment, and production in the global field. WTO achieves these through expanded regulations, lower subsidies, dispute resolution, stimulation of demand for products from the developing world, giving of more attention to developing countries, and recognition of individual country needs among other notable areas (World Trade Organization 3). However, there are several points of failure. Firstly, WTO favors the rich as opposed to the developing nations. The anti-dumping regulations clearly do not favor developing countries. Moreover, environmental destruction, violation of labor laws, privatization of essential services, and unregulated market for agricultural produce among other areas are some of the weaknesses WTO has to deal with.

However, countries occupy different geographical locations with varying norms that govern the social, economic, and political interactions. Moreover, the international arena is continually evolving in all dimensions. Creating uniform international laws that suits every nation is not an easy task. WTO has so far done well than GATT; more open and guided consultations will still render it more relevant.

 

Works Cited

Amrita, Narlikar, Martin, Daunton and Robert, Stern. The Oxford handbook on the World Trade Organization. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.

Andreas, Maurer, and Christophe, Degain. Globalization and trade flows: what you see is not what you get! World Trade Organization, Economic Research, and Statistics Division, June 2010.Web. 21 February 2014.

Craig, VanGrasstek. The history and future of the world trade organization. Geneva: World Trade Organization, 2013. Print.

Edmond, McGovern. International trade regulation. Topsham: Globe field Press, 2013.Print.

Philip, McMichael. Development and social change: a global perspective (sociology for a new century series). New York: Sage publications, 2012. Print.

World Trade Organization. WTO trade topics. World Trade Organization, Feb. 2013. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.

 

 

 

ERP Systems

Introduction

            Microsoft Dynamics is said to be in line of ERP and CRM software applications. The delivery of these applications is done via a network of reselling partners who offer specialized services (Rama, 2013). A very small number of installations are carried out with no aid and cost of the resellers. This paper is going to focus on the integration of e-Con with Microsoft Dynamics customer relationship management.

Integration of e-Con with Microsoft Dynamics CRM

The e-Con product and sales configurator causes sales as well as services to become a greatly integrated portion of quote to the delivery processes and also equips sales people to work beyond “winning deals to being the customer’s trusted advisor” (e-Con, 2014, p. 1). Integration with Microsoft Dynamics customer relationship management gives a reflection of an organization’s dedication to client-facing teams as well as to Microsoft Dynamics.

It is pointed out that the integration of e-Con with Microsoft Dynamics customer relationship management goes beyond e-consolutions.com proven reputation with Dynamics electronic resource planning and clients (“Free-style configuration”, 2014). Customers can now have it all; linked processes and information, which reach every person that is involved in the production and selling of custom commodities and services. E-con engages in operating as a native portion of Dynamics CRM to undertake integration of CRM and difficult calculations as well as quotation processes. The company’s aim is to make it possible for the companies to satisfy unique client needs, undertake containment of costs, “and speed time to market while sustaining and enhancing quality” (e-Con, 2014, p. 1).   

            E-con goes beyond operating as an “integrated sales configurator”, it is found to be a solution that is complete, which brings all teams that are involved in selling and providing products and services, together. E-con is found to be different from the configurators which integrate with the Microsoft Dynamics customer relationship management, but utilize propriety databases. Since there is no integration of systems, data is “never in real time”(e-Con, 2014, p. 1). In the contrary, e-Con operates directly with the customer relationship management system database.

Moreover, operating within an interface which feels and looks like customer relationship management, the users can engage in drawing on centralized information “to build opportunities, sales quotations, technical quotations, sales orders, service orders, customer requests, and more” (e-Con, 2014, p. 1).

There can be generation of any document in consistent and well-branded Microsoft Office formats, which undertake enhancement of communications as well as professional identity. In addition, e-Con serves to equip sales channel with online quoting tools, which are accessed through the web, which utilizes real-time data automatically from Dynamics customer relationship management. The generation of results can as well be undertaken in a direct manner in Dynamics customer relationship management. For accuracy, the ease of use as well as flexibility, e-Con just cannot be beat (e-Con, 2014).

 

 

 

 

It is pointed out that by using e-Con, companies can be able to do away with the need of uploading data from the Microsoft Dynamics customer relationship management to a rigid and fixed configurator database (e-Con, 2014). E-Con utilizes data in a direct manner from “Microsoft Dynamics CRM” and other solutions that may be associated with it. Customer information, product information, discounts among other data “can be accessed in real-time from e-Con” (e-Con, 2014). There can be controlling and setting up of product portfolio by product management in a direct manner in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. There would be reflecting of whatever change in product portfolio in the e-Con configurator.

It is found out that unbeatable integration with the Microsoft Dynamics customer relationship management allows users to work with no much effort with all electronic resources planning data (e-Con, 2014). Moreover, e-Con can facilitate writing of data into any table or entity of the Dynamics application. The user is not limited to the sales order and quotation area. This integration makes it possible for the user to utilize the configurator in whatever area of Dynamics and be able to write data into other custom entities or ISV solutions. No programming is required.

It has also be established that e-Con studio offers users or customers the flexibility to engage in building any model design that is required and operate with unlimited rules, functions and levels (e-Con, 2014). Even the users that do not have programming experience are able to engage in adding common logic to e-Con. The object-oriented modeling allows model builders to operate with smaller sub-models and this ensures easy maintenance as well as the capability to change and re-use models for the diverse set-ups.

It is also pointed out that, with e-Con, there is “virtually no down time for productivity” (e-Con, 2014). E-con can be utilized from within the Dynamics CRM while at the same time utilizing data originating from Dynamics electronic resource planning for selections, calculations, or the related activities.

Conclusion

            It has been seen in the discussion that integrating of e-Con product and sales configurator with Microsoft Dynamics customer relationship management has a number of benefits to the organization. It is recommended that it should be adopted by more organizations in order for them to enjoy these benefits.

 

References

e-con, (2014). Retrieved from, http://e-consolutions.com/solutions/products/for-dynamics-crm

Free-style configuration – e-Con rules for wild, winning combinations, (2014). Retrieved from, http://www.e-consolutions.com/blog/

Rama, G. (2013). Microsoft’s Dynamics ERP now available as Azure service. Retrieved from, http://redmondmag.com/articles/2013/06/18/dynamics-erp-as-azure-service.aspx

Economics in the Healthcare Sector

Economics has a vital role to play in healthcare. Stakeholders including the government, policy makers, and healthcare workers are interested in finding a way of reducing the healthcare costs while at the same time ensuring that quality care is provided. They work to ensure that the consumers get value for their money. Health care economics deals with diverse interests such as controlling expenditure and determining the allocation of resources. Healthcare resources include personnel, medical supplies, and capital inputs (Santerre & Neun, 2012). Applying an economic perspective of healthcare will enable better designing of policies. The economic demands of supply and demand have an impact on healthcare resources. Applying economics in this sector also leads to a clearer understanding of how the availability or lack of healthcare resources affects people. Healthcare economics will enable effective distribution of resources to ensure that most people benefit from them. It will be possible to determine the medical goods and services that will be produced and the people who should benefit from them.

Economic efficiency in medical care enables the stakeholders to determine the most appropriate way to allocate resources based on the needs of the consumers. It involves determining the amount that needs to be allocated to meet the healthcare costs. The scarce nature of resource means that the government has to determine the best allocation mix of non-medical and medical goods and services. It has to determine how to divide the available funds to meet the healthcare demands and other needs that people have (Santerre & Neun, 2012). Economic efficiency also deals with determining how the health sector will divide the available resource to meet all its needs. There are different markets within the medical sector, and each of them has to be efficient to allow for affordable costs. Inefficiency in some of the markets leads to an increase in medical costs.

Reference

Santerre, R., & Neun, S. (2012). Health Economics. New, York, NY: Cengage Learning