One of the major strengths of the culture metaphor rests in the fact Essay

One of the major strengths of the culture metaphor rests in the fact that it directs attention to the symbolicsignificance of even the most rational parts of organisational life [Gareth Morgan, 1986] - Essay Example It is in this uniqueness that the significance of organizational culture resides; in this formulation, â€Å"culture† contains the seeds of distinction that can differentiate a given organization from its competitors in the market, resulting in success or failure. Culture is not only the opposite of rationality; it transcends rationality and becomes the something extra that brings a necessary human element to organization, imbuing an abstract collective with identity, personality and â€Å"a face.† This opposition, and its transcendence, has been at the heart of all analyses of â€Å"culture† dating back to the early days of the discipline of Anthropology in which â€Å"other,† seemingly irrational foreign cultures were investigated by Western academics and researchers, whose goal was to discern the underlying and apparently unapparent rationality. In this original formulation, culture both obscures rationality and gives it its unique form; the same holds true for the analysis of business and organization. Organisational culture is both a product of formal organizational rules and structures, and also helps to produce the structures themselves, both formally and in their practical function. Like all cultures, organizational cultures have subcultures as well as practices and values that directly contradict the stated values and norms of a given organisaton. Both the relationships between organizational culture and the larger structure of an organization, as well as the relationship between formal â€Å"values† and the values as practiced by employees, managers or other organizational figures are best investigated through direct, analytical observation, an anthropological practices known as â€Å"ethnography.† An example of the relationship between organizational culture and formal structures as mutually reinforcing systems may

Research critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Research critique - Essay Example The implications to the practice of nursing includes further understanding about the impact of pressure ulcers on the lives of older people, revelation about the pain suffered by older people with pressure ulcers and how the use of pressure relieving devices may increase their pain and awareness of the coping mechanisms developed by older patients with pressure ulcers. The authors of the research came up with the title â€Å"Patient stories of living with a pressure ulcer†. The title is informative and it indicates the focus of the study. It allows the reader to easily interpret the content of the study. 1. The title is the subject matter of the study. The locale of the study, the population involved, and the period when the data were gathered were all omitted on the title but were indicated on the description of participants on page 347 of the research. 4. The authors avoided using the terms â€Å"An Analysis of,† â€Å"A Study of,† â€Å"An Investigation of,† and the like. This is important since all these things are understood to have been done or to be done when a research is conducted. The abstract is found on the first page of the research. It has the findings which provide the summary of the key components of the research. The abstract provides a short summary of the study. It includes the aim of the study, outline of the methodology and the main findings. The purpose of the abstract is to allow the readers to decide if the study is of interest to them The researchers hold appropriate academic qualifications and are linked to a professional field (nursing) which is relevant to the research. The authors or researchers are Alison Hopkins MSc RN DNCert is a Clinical Nurse Specialist, East London Wound Healing Centre, Tower Hamlets PCT, London, UK. Carol Dealey BSc MA PhD RGN RCNT is Senior Research Fellow, Research Development Team, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK. Sue Bale BA PhD RN RHV

Ocular Centrism and the Other Senses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ocular Centrism and the Other Senses - Essay Example The author traces such an ocular centric culture from the renaissance era during which individualism took shape and found more application during the industrial era of the 19th and 20th century that have led to the present technological dependence of mankind, however, he also cites a few examples of ocular centric architecture as early as the age of the Greeks. In addition, the author feels that significance given to the power of sight has been witnessed in the architectural structures and the culture of the respective periods. For example, a person with blindness is considered severely disabled when compared to one who is deaf. The ocular centric nature of succeeding cultures has not only led to an increasing dominance of sight and its influence of culture, it has led to ignorance of the other senses which has also influenced architecture by making it one – dimensional. In order to prove this point, the author examines various structures of the past that have qualities absent in contemporary architecture. For example, the author explains the use of light and shadows in some famous structures and how a lack or limited amount of light contributes to the aesthetic beauty of a structure. He also goes to propose that light in the use of today's structures invades privacy and has other effects such as limiting the creativity of the human mind. With respect to sound, he says that although it has been taken into account in today's buildings, they do not aid the effects of hearing such as its interactive ability which was incorporated in structures of the past. Similarly, the power of smell and touch have not only shown to be important factors in architecture, they are shown to have an influence on the human mind itself. Therefore, by ignoring these senses in creating architecture, western culture has also experienced a significant reduction in the qualities that is attached to these senses such as intimacy which is associated with touch, warmth associated with smell and interactivity associated with hearing, etc. Therefore, the resulting structures are one-dimensional in nature and do not engage the individual as intensely as with structures of the past. Hence, architecture needs to encompass the variety of senses and emotions experienced by an artist rather than the dominating sense alone. The author also establishes that art is as much an interaction between the viewer and the structure as it is with the quality of the structure alone. Ocular centrism has not only led to a one-dimensionality of the structures but also a corresponding quality in today's artists that significantly decreases the quality of contemporary art. Today's structures are built with the idea of optimality and rationality than through the experiences of the artist. The author also cites simple buildings such as hospitals and houses for this purpose (Pallasmaa, 285-296). Human Rootedness The author's remarks are significant because of the importance of architecture i n human life. Architecture is a reflection of the characteristics of the culture of the particular period. It is the same reason architecture is studied in such detail while endeavoring to know about the nature of past civilizations. Architecture and other forms of art deal with questions that have been at the centre of man's imagination ever since civilization took shape. This is evidenced in the ancient cave paintings around the world to the relatively

Marketing International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing International Business - Essay Example often through relaxed postures with precision of a point which plays an important role in showing that the parties are familiar to what the topic is (A, 2003, 1017). Statuses in power for interacting persons are also critical in dealings as the country exhibits high levels of hierarchy. This therefore justifies the need for any investor intending to advance operations within any area to be well conversed with the cultural dimensions at play within the market. This paper therefore takes a critical analysis of the cultural aspects at play with the Vietnamese people along the lines of individualism and collectivism, masculinity and femininity, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance (Blodgett, Bakir & Rose, 2008, 339-349; Migliore, 2011, 38-54). Societies across the globe hold different perceptions on individual equality and how power would be equally or unequally distributed among the people. The Vietnam people score relatively higher in acknowledging that there are variations in power proximity between the less powerful low class persons and the powerful high class citizens. According to Hofstede’s ranking, the Vietnamese natives score 70% in accepting that people hold different positions and that everyone has a distinct position within the society which may require no justification at all. There is also a lot in centralization within the country, a fact that explains the high managerial power that the seniors hold over the subordinates (Berrell, Wright & Tran, 1999, 578-582). The subordinates therefore have to wait for orders on what to do from their bosses hence they portray low levels of self drive. This has an adverse effect on the leadership problems as the structure fails to acknowledge any role that the subo rdinates would play in correcting the leaders whenever on the wrong (Clinton, 1998, 180-183; Hoang, 2008,  1-26). This implies that the UK based organization must appreciate that while working with Vietnam people, well-structured systems of power

Essay about a movie Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

About a movie - Essay Example Her family expects her to marry a Greek man and raise children. His father is over-patronising, according to Toula, as he refuses to let her pursue further education in a computer academy. She manages to achieve it with the help of her mother and eventually takes up an office job and stops working at her family restaurant. Toulaa, played by Nia Vardolas, undergoes sea change in terms of her looks, grooming and fashion in the mean time. At the same time, she falls in love with a young Anglo-Saxon Protestant, Ian Miller, who is a school teacher, played by John Corbett. Toula’s patriarchal Greek family, especially her overbearing father, refuse to accept their relationship and Ian agrees to be baptised as a Greek Orthodox Christian, which earns the family’s approval. The families get introduced and the couple get married eventually. The movie is a portrayal of ethnic-identity, romance and interaction between cultures. For example, while almost everyone in Toula’s large extended family interferes in wedding planning, Ian is surprised at just the size of her family and the number of cousins she has. Especially when the two families come together and interact, the differences are more evident. For instance, Ian’s nuclear family is surprised to see that every single person from Toula’s extended family being present at the introduction and make it a big party. The movie was very interesting to watch and it was pleasant and funny. It was also insightful into inter-cultural marriages. The range of characters and their vastly different characteristics made the movie a great

The rights and obligations of parties involved in marine salvage under Essay

The rights and obligations of parties involved in marine salvage under the admiralty law - Essay Example The oil ship Rusty Floater was moored alongside Old Bucket in the process of feeding oil to the latter when a gale blew and,though moderate,was enough to break the forward quay moorings of Old Bucket.It came so sudden that there was no time to disconnect the oil supply pipeline. Old Bucket broke free from the oil feeder ship and proceeded to drift into port, threatening to collide with other vessels anchored at the marina. At this, the crew of a tugboat in the area sprung into action. The tugboat master, who is experienced in oil spill control at sea, concentrated on Rusty Floater and helped disconnect its oil pipeline properly, while his crew cast tow ropes at Old Bucket to hold her steady. The operation succeeded such that Old Bucket did not harm other vessels and the oil feeder ship Rusty Floater was prevented from spilling bunker oil into the sea. When the danger was over, the tug towed Old Bucket to another berth, while the master of Rusty Floater signed an LOF 2000 agreement wi th a SCOPIC clause with the tugboat owner.In signing the LOF (Lloyd's Open Forum) 2000 contract with a SCOPIC clause, the owners of Rusty Floater basically signified their agreement to provide an award to the tug for the salvage of their vessel. As a form of salvage contract, LOF 2000 defines the services rendered by the rescuer and the rights and obligations of the parties, such as what proportion of the salved values of the vessel would be awarded. In the instant case, the LOF 2000 contract probably specified the parties' agreement that the salvage operation was a low-value case that nonetheless became critical because of the threat to the environment (Bishop, 2000). The addition of the SCOPIC clause in the contract indicates the parties' agreement to an amount of award appropriate to this "low-value" threat. The SCOPIC clause in the LOF 2000 contract also means that the parties agreed to a two-tier remuneration system: full tariff rates if all the tug's salvage equipment were rea sonably engaged or used at some stage of the operation, but only 50 percent if these equipment were mobilised but not used. In effect, the signing of LOF 2000 with a SCOPIC clause between the masters of Rusty Floater and the tug guarantees a successful salvage claim against the oil feeder ship. There was no mention if the owners of Old Bucket signed the same agreement but if they did, the tug owner is due for two potentially successful salvage claims against both Rusty Floater and Old Bucket. The salvage claim against Old Bucket derives its strength from admiralty law provisions dictating that there is such a claim if a vessel requires assistance as result of an incident to try to minimize the extent of its losses and, in this case, prevent a possible collision with other moored vessels. From the oil carrier Rusty Floater, the tug owner deserves an even higher salvage award because his action served to prevent pollution and damage to the

US stock market Indexes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

US stock market Indexes - Research Paper Example The index is used in the context of actual 500 companies having their stocks in it. All the companies are publicly held and trade on NASDAQ, one of the two largest US stock markets. The S&P 500 comes on the second number as the most widely observed index of large-cap US stocks in comparison to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), which is the no. 1 large-cap US stock. Otherwise, the S&P leads the US economy as a part of the index of leading indicators (â€Å"Real Time Charts,† 2008). The Dow Jones Industrial Average index was compiled to measure the industrial component of America’s stock markets, which is the oldest continuing U.S. market index. Currently, it consists of 30 of the biggest and vastly held companies in the U.S. The â€Å"industrial† name is no more relevant as many of the 30 modern components are unrelated to heavy industry. To make up the effects of stock splits and other settings, DJIA is currently a scaled average, not the real average of the prices of its component stocks. To generate the value of the index, the total of the component prices is fractioned by a divisor that changes over time (â€Å"Real Time Charts,† 2008). The NASDAQ Composite is a stock market index of all of the common stocks and similar securities like ADRs, tracking stocks, limited partnership interests, listed on the NASDAQ stock market, which means that it has more than 3,000 components. It is renowned as an indicator of the performance of stocks of technology companies and growth companies in the US (â€Å"Real Time Charts,† 2008). On the other hand, a number of index funds and exchange-traded funds follow the performance of the S&P 500 by keeping the same stocks as held by S&P 500 in the same values to reach near its performance level. Such companies that have added their stock to the S&P 500 list may see a rise in their stock price as the managers of the mutual funds have to purchase that companys stock