The History of Toyota Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The History of Toyota Corporation - Essay Example   Accordingly, the reporters averred that â€Å"safety analysts found an estimated 2000 cases in which owners of Toyota cars including Camry, Prius, and Lexus, reported that their cars surged without warning up to speeds of 100 miles per hour† (Ross, et.al., 2009, par. 2). As a result, there have been congressional hearings scheduled to investigate the complaints and the cases focusing on the safety problems posed by Toyota cars in the US. In this regard, this essay aims to evaluate whether or not Toyota was treated fairly in those hearings. When evaluating the congressional hearings, there are diverse sides that must be considered, to wit: Toyota’s explanation, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), testimonies from safety research institutes and other automotive authorities, the victims of the runaway cars, and the public. Toyota’s defense through James Lentz, president, and COO of Toyota US revealed in his testimony that â€Å"no proble ms exist with the electric throttle control system in our vehicles. Rather, floor mats and sticky accelerators are to blame" (Farber, 2010, par. 7). Two testimonies, however, blamed the accidents on the electrical malfunction with testimonial reports and personal testing and analysis. The side of the NHTSA is being criticized due to previous agency investigators subsequently being employed by Toyota. Any investigation on the sudden acceleration accidents could have been influenced and biased due to connections with Toyota. However, the hearings found â€Å"no violation for these two employees† (Schone & Rhee, 2010, 3). The victims have filed legal cases against Toyota for having sustained injuries with deaths to family members. Also at risk are the public who could be victims of these kinds of car accidents.

A Review Of Pixar Animation Studios Commerce Essay

A Review Of Pixar Animation Studios Commerce Essay Pixar(2010) Pixar is an American animation production company based in California, United States. The company was started in the year 1979 as the part of the computer division of Lucasfilm and was bought by The Walt Disney Company in the year 2006. The company during its 17 years of existence has delivered several movies that has redefined the world of visual technology and animation. Pixar is known for its some of the basic values that form the foundation of its unbeatable success. People at Pixar are extremely talented and there exists an open collaboration among people coming from multiple disciplines. However, a formal structure is followed at the company where it is necessary for every member to ensure enhancement of three inter-related facets of the business, namely, leadership, process and accountability. Leadership is taken very seriously at Pixar and it is ensured that leaders are able to tune their communications, and value the vision of the organization and come up with the ability to provide lots of ideas (Jeremy, 2010) Managers as well as workers of the enterprise have the freedom of expression so that their vision and ideas can be communicated freely that helps the organization to come up with innovative ideas ensuring a sustainable position in the market (Morris, Jeremy, 2010). Another important element of Pixars environment refers to its collaborative approach towards work. It is fine to have talented people hired in the company, but it is equally important to make these people work in a motivated manner towards achievement of organizational goals (Milter and Matveev, 2004). At Pixar, everyone is made to understand that his/her success lies in the success of all other members. This helps in moving in a collaborative manner to ensure that everyone working in the company succee ds. The team spirit at Pixar helps in development o fold hires and new hands in a similar fashion with a healthy respect for each other resulting in an environment of credibility and trust prevailing throughout the organization. Apart, from these two elements, accountability forms the foundation of the working environment at Pixar. Leaders and managers at Pixar follow a clear line of accountability that helps them in seeking ways to improve themselves. Every project is headed by a Director/Producer duo, to whom all members of the project are accountable. These directors and producers are in turn accountable to leaders of the company and have the opportunity to utilize the experience and knowledge of senior filmmakers who are the part of top management of the company. In short, Pixar follows a highly structured process aims at fostering a meaningful collaboration resulting in a culture that comprise of value for ability and contribution of others. Cultural Analysis Before going for a discussion on cultural analysis, we need to understand the meaning of culture in a proper manner. Various scholars and academicians have given several definitions for culture. Formally, culture has been defined as a pattern of shared beliefs that were developed by a group during the process of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. Martin (2002) explained that everyone knows about the groups, organizations, and societies in which certain beliefs and values prevail at cross purposes with the beliefs of others, resulting in a condition where conflicts and ambiguity prevails in a high degree. This is often the result of insufficient stability prevailing among members, insufficient shared history of experience, or the presence of several subgroups with difference in their personal experience s (Thorngate, 2004). Many a times conflicts and ambiguity also results because of the fact that an individual is not a part of a single groups but belongs to several different groups and this has an impact on the assumptions and beliefs that one brings to a particular group and is influences by the assumptions that re appropriate to some other groups to which an individual belong. Khan (2005) argued that it is necessary that people are matched with the organization in order to ensure success of the company. There is a set of collective rules through which a company operates, which is termed as the culture of the organization. (Conolly, 2008) explained that employees of the enterprise should be well aware of their workplace that will clearly define appropriate and inappropriate behavior. In the present paper, an analysis of cross-cultural issues arising out of the merger of The Walt Disney and Pixar will be undertaken. It makes it necessary to understand the meaning of cross-cultural analysis. Under a cross-cultural analysis, an investigation is made into the ways through which people coming from different backgrounds communicate with each other. Whenever any merger takes place there is an amalgamation of the culture of the two organizations participating in the merger (Stening, 2002). Here several cross-cultural issues may arise because of the interaction of people coming from two different groups with different background, beliefs, values and functions. Cross-cultural analysis thrives to harness the utilitarian function of culture in order to use it as a mode of increasing the adaptation of people and bringing an improvement in patterns of communication (Nigel, 2001). It is one of the discipline of international management that focus on cultural encounters, aiming at discovery of methods that can be adopted to handle cultural differences that often give rise to conflicts, ambiguity and miscommunication. There are several different models that can be used to conduct a cross-cultural analysis. Various models includes those suggested by Hawkins (1992), Terpstra and Sarathy (2000), Hofstede (1994), and Wills (1991). The framework suggested by Hawkins and Terpstra are similar in nature and explains some of the common elements such as values, education and learning, social status and organization. Hawkins has tried to approach culture from the perspective of a consumer lifestyle, while Terpstra approaches culture in somewhat wider contexts. Thus, it is much more easy to use the model suggested by Terpstra and Sarathy. In addition, Hofstedes model will be used to understand the various dimensions of culture that are based upon individualism, power distance, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. Wills (1991) considered learning as the key element of their model of culture. This will explain the basic idea of culture at Pixar as after the merger with The Walt Disney, the major aim of the co mpany was to establish Pixar as a learning organization. The dimensions of learning are used to consider a model of cross-cultural analysis suggesting a relationship between high/low context of a culture and the rate at which new products are adapted. In addition, it is to be noted that culture and leadership are interconnected. These are viewed as the two sides of the same coin, in that leaders first create cultures when they create groups and organizations (Edgar, 2004). Once cultures exists they determine the criteria for leadership and thus determine who will or will not be a leader. The unique function of leadership helps in managing the existing culture in case the elements of a culture becomes dysfunctional. Leadership also manages evolution of culture and change in such a way that the group is able to thrive in a changed environment also (Bal, 1999). Thus, it is right to say that it is necessary to understand the culture both for group members as well as for their leaders. The cultural analysis in relation to leadership roles will also be discussed and analyzed for Pixar. Cross Cultural Issues at Pixar The Walt Disney acquired Pixar with the view that Pixar would be able to bring some creativity to Disney, which had lost the luster in its animation. However, various major factors of the success of a merger were recognized by both the parties and they emphasized on The concept of transformational leadership and the importance of its existence for the success of the merger Creating a new strategic vision and mission for the new organization that is shared by both the parties to the merger Developing and maintaining learning teams resulting in fostering a learning environment throughout the organization. Creating and maintain a learning culture throughout the merged organization. Pixar is well known for its culture of collective creativity. Management think in a way to build capability to recover when some failures occur and not in the direction of preventing the risk. It is believed that smart people are more important as compared to good ideas (Catmull, 2008). The company aims at enhancing the power of creative people and builds a creative culture on the foundation of active feedback among peers. An open culture and communication prevails in the organization where people at all levels support each other and help each other to turn out their best (Catmull, 2008). All members of the organization respect each other and there are very rare cases of any unhealthy conflicts with groups having considerable problem-solving powers that act as an inspiration to be creative and innovative. However, with the merger of Pixar with The Walt Disney, the culture of the two organizations also merged and then arouse several cross-cultural issues that could have resulted in a failure of the merger if not managed properly (Haspeslagh, 2006). The Walt Disney is characterized with a highly regimented culture while Pixar is known for its unique, free-spirited, independent work dynamic culture (Lam; Chi and Lee, 2007). The successful combination of these two totally different cultures was the hallmark for the success of the merger. In case Disney would have made any attempt to get the people of Pixar work under pressure to generate efficiencies, even though the way of increasing its productivity or bringing about an elimination of the overlapping support positions, would have resulted in high rates of turnover with skilled employees leaving the Disney Pixar (Lam and Lee). It is to be noted that many a time sin such highly skilled industries such as animation and communication, people are allowed to let go because of skill gap. However, it is the issue of cultural gap that makes most of the skilled people switch companies frequently in animation and communicat ion industry (Keating, 2006). It is the clear understanding of magnitude of synergies that makes the mergers successful. Analysis of the cross-cultural issues at Disney Pixar As discussed in the previous section, to manage cross-cultural issues at Disney Pixar, management concentrated on four important elements of transformational leadership, shared vision, learning team and learning culture. These elements and Disney Pixars approach to these are discussed as follows: Transformational Leadership at Disney Pixar It is necessary that an organization have transformational leaders in order to develop creative thinking and problem solving to foster organizational growth. Transformational leaders are those who lead through social exchange. They help their followers grow and develop into leaders by responding to individual followers needs by empowering them and by aligning the objectives and goals of the individual followers, the leader, the group and the larger organization (Riggo and Bernard, 2008). It is the elements that can encourage organizations to develop and change more rapidly so as to be able to meet challenges of dynamic and competitive environments. Disney Pixar followed the approach of defining and developing the transformational leadership. The company decided to follow the approach in order to make employees easily adapt the new culture, which is a mix of the cultures of two organizations. It is believed that creative powers come from creative leadership (Riggo, 2008). It is so because effective leadership helps in effective development of support structures, the necessary resources and access to the experience and knowledge of the top management of the organization. At Pixar, access to the brain trust of the organization was easy for all individuals because of its independent and free-spirit culture. However, it was for Disneys culture to adopt this key feature in order to be successful in the competitive environment. Transformational leadership was chosen as a route to achieve this objective and make Disney Pixar a learning organization. Shared Strategic Vision Another key element ensuring the success of a merger is the sharing of a shared vision of goals and objectives by the merging organization. This helps in providing proper guidance and reducing the anxieties and uncertainties associated with the process of merger. It is necessary in case of a merger to develop an environment of learning throughout the organization. This is possible only if there is an availability of diverse learning teams that are led by leaders who are sharing a common strategic vision. An organization is able to create a sustainable competitive advantage through such a process (Jemison, 2006). This further makes it easy to manage the increasing complexities associated with economies of scale and then competitors find it more difficult to copy a companys operational methods (Janik, 2006). As explained by Gill (2010), managing through a shared vision proves to be much more productive as compared to the management done through coercion or control. Creation of a shared vision refers to the process where a consensus has to be achieved on the direction of the group and on the desired results. The basic aim is to make the members of a team approach their work with aim of achieving same goals for the future and being guided by same principles. A shared vision is also necessary for developing and fostering learning and change in an organization. In the case of Disney Pixar, a formal team of leaders was created in order to integrate the two companies. Among these steps, the Vice President of Pixar was appointed as the chief creative officer of Disneys and Pixars animation studios. Despite of his having the authority to green light films for both the studios, the ultimate authority to approve rested in the hands of Disneys CEO. The main aim was to maintain the Pixars culture. However, it is not enough to develop teams of leaders. It is necessary that leading teams emerge throughout the organization and leaders try to develop learning of each and every individual about the new cultural values, mission and vision of the organization and the objectives for which the various operations are being carried out in the organization (Gancel and Rodgers, 2002). Every individual is required to have a commitment towards the strategic vision of the merger. There is a need of combining the best skills as two organizations to enhance the shar ing of the strategic vision and avoid any cultural issues. Developing Team Learning At Pixar, it is believed that providing freedom to take decisions helps in development of teams. People are given full chance to be creative and use their ideas in order to learn from their success or failures. The cofounder of Pixar and his executives gives tremendous authority to their directors. All decision-making authority rests in the hands of teams and no single individual is considered as a decisions making authority. The rule is that the opinions and advice received from the brain trusts of directors will be used only as an advice and directors have full authority to refuse their suggestions if it does not fit their plans. However, Disney having a tight control culture, followed an approach where corporate executives micromanage by keeping tight control over budgets and entering in the departments to take final creative decisions. These two different approaches resulted in several cultural issues after the merger. Many of the key employees left the company because of Disneys dominating cultural values. Ed Catmull, the cofounder of Pixar had recently changed his vision to build the organization where everyone work in the direction of creating a magic even when the directors and cofounders are gone (Prokesh, 2008). This called for a strong transition in the culture of the organization where executives were expected to do something of themselves even when people carrying out the organization were not there. Same was expected out of Disney, and unfortunately Disneys staff lacked the spirit and failed to develop a strong learning approach towards their work. Creating a Learning Culture Traditionally, organizations used to follow a top to down bureaucratic, controlled and narrow approach to management. This approach used to limit the learning process in the organization. In case of a learning organization, new directions of growth and development can be identified and recognized that makes it possible to handle challenges and problems. In todays competitive global era, diversity and cross-cultural complexities have become the synonymous to the challenges that a business organization face while improving their operational efficiency. Disney Pixar failed to recognize the method through which an organization can turn into a learning organization (Keating, 2006). The process is being undertaken successfully at Pixar through developing relationships and recognizing the fact that talent is rare and thus its retention is essential. Ed Catmull believes that the assumptions of the organization must be constantly challenged and the search for flaws that can destroy the culture of the organization should not stop throughout the operations of the organization. However, the process could not be undertaken successfully at Disney Pixar and resulted in several cultural issues. The new company was unable to keep Pixars talent together as there were vast differences between the cultural values and working styles of the two companies (Haspeslagh, 2006). Management was not successful in creating a learning culture throughout the organization and the unionized culture of Disney may not successfully coexist with non-unionized culture of Pixar. Recommendations Disney Pixar has failed at many levels while making the merger successful. The company has taken strong steps to initiate learning in the organization but it is doubtful whether such learning will be institutionalized throughout the organization. Some recommendations to foster learning and avoid any cultural clashes are discussed as follows: A utilization of differences can be made through the use of matrix strategy. This will help in finding a perfect balance between the competencies of managers of both the companies. In addition communication plays an important role in managing cultural differences (Lodorfos, 2006). Leaders should allow open communication and integration between team members as well as between teams to ensure smooth flow of knowledge and information. This will help in people from both the organization understand each others values, beliefs and working style resulting in more respect for each others culture (Harding and Rouse, 2006). Treating the partner company members with respect is the key to the success of a merger. Additionally, formal as well as informal training should be provided to the employees of Disney in order to adjust themselves with the open and free culture of Pixar. The decision making authority should not rest in the hands of few authorities and managers must be delegated more and mo re decision making power as in case of Pixar. Furthermore, Disney and Pixar studios are kept separate in order to reduce the complications. However, it is advised to design a single studio where a combined set of values coming from the combination of the ideas of both the companies should be fostered to ensure success of the merger. This is so because keeping the two parts of the Disney-Pixar merger as separate organizations can create the conditions for separation in future. Such a separation will result in more differences on account of cultural values and style of leading to more clashes and conflicts among the individuals of two companies. Disney-Pixar should aim at developing a learning organization through efficient flow of information and knowledge throughout the organization in order to be successful in future. Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be concluded that proper management of cultural differences is one of the key factors in success of a merger. Todays business environment is characterized with an increasing number of organizations desiring to avail the advantage of globalization. Many of the companies take the route of mergers and acquisitions to achieve the objective. Many of such mergers fail due to cultural clashes among people of different organizations. Each of the merged company is required to integrate the corporate cultures of their organizations. It is the leadership style, management styles and communication lines that are necessary to be developed and managed in order to be successful in managing cross-cultural issues. It is evident that there is always a possibility of cross-cultural issues in case of a merger that cannot be avoided at any cost. However, it is possible to manage these issues through developing the organizations into a learning organization in order to fo ster knowledge sharing throughput the organization resulting a in a successful merger.

A Prayer For Owen Meany Essay -- essays research papers

Prayer As A Symbol in Irving’s A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY In John Irving’s A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY there are many prominent symbols. Those of arm-less figures, water, and angels are a few of the more prominent ones but, there are also many symbols that are much more subtle than those few. The most prominent of the subtle symbols is that of prayer. Prayer, in an of itself, is an idea. But, in A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY, Irving uses it to convey many more abstract concepts. "THE TROUBLE WITH CHURCH IS THE SERVICE." Owen states. "A SERVICE IS CONDUCTED FOR A MASS AUDIENCE. JUST WHEN I START TO LIKE THE HYMN, EVERYONE PLOPS DOWN TO PRAY. JUST WHEN I START TO HEAR THE PRAYER, EVERYONE POPS UP TO SING (23)." In this passage prayer is viewed only as a part of the "hocus-pocus (21)" of church ceremony. It is thus representative both of Owen’s view of church formality and ceremony, and of the attitudes that both Owen and Johnny hold toward certain aspects of the church and its traditions. This becomes important on a larger scale when the reader recognizes the conflict that plagues both Johnny and Owen when it comes to religious issues. Johnny states this point clearly when he says, "I was baptized in the Congregational Church, and after some years of fraternity with the Episcopalian...I became rather weak in my religion: in my teens I attended a non-denomination church. Then I became an Anglican...(1)." These freq uent internal religious conflict...

Report on Importance of Communication in Tourism Industry

TOURISM AS COMMUNICATION: THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN TOURISM Ms. Neena Gupta V. Research Scholar, Dept. of  Ã‚  English , Univ. Of Jammu, Jammu-180006 Email:  [email  protected] com Phone: 9796491314 Introduction Tourism is one of the most remarkable success stories of modern times. The industry, which only began on a massive scale in the 1960’s, has grown rapidly and steadily for the past 30 years in terms of the income it generates and the number of people who travel abroad. Tourism is the largest service – sector in India. Tourism contributes 6. 23% to the national GDP Tourism generates 8. 8% of the total employment in India . India is to be a Tourism hotspot from 2009 to 2011. (This data is available on Indian Tourism Website). It has proved to be resilient in times of economic crisis and will continue to grow at a rapid pace of almost 4% a year in the 21st  century. According to the WTO (World Tourism Organization) forecasts, more than 700 million people will be travelling internationally by the year 2000, generating more than US $620 billion earning. But what is Tourism? It is important to understand Tourism as a concept as well as a phenomenon .It is not enough to treat Tourism as an industry and keep conducting research to increase profits. This industry is marketing aspects of a country or a region for profit. This implies that one invites visitors to access a part of one’s home or neighbourhood. This cannot be dismissed as mere business. Tourism, therefore, is an extremely complex endeavour. Not only are huge amount of money at stake, it is in addition providing economic incentives for protecting the natural environment, restoring cultural monuments, and preserving nature.In a small but important way, Tourism is contributing to the understanding among peoples of very different backgrounds. But above all, it performs the business of providing a break from stress of routine and fulfilling dreams of leisure travelling. Concept O f Tourism The dictionary  defines tourism as’travelling for pleasure’; and a tourist as ‘one who travels for pleasure. ’  Ã‚  Some definitions attempt to define Tourism in conceptual terms. These provide a theoretical framework in order to indentify the essential characteristics of tourism and what distinguishes it from similar, sometimes related, but different activities.Tourism is the temporary movement of people to destinations outside their normal places of work and residence, the activities undertaken during their stay in these destinations and the facilities created to cater to their needs. Thus Tourism cannot  be treated like any other industry. The  Twentieth century changed the world forever. Technological advances translated into rapid strides in development in all fields—economic, political, social, arts and culture. Travelling, for profit or pleasure, came out of its exclusivity and became more routine.In the feudal world only th e Aristocracy would embark on a ‘Grand Tour’ of the ‘Continent’ or a ‘Voyage’ around the world. A more equal and prosperous population led the world towards this complex phenomenon we call Tourism. In  Ã‚  its simplest form it is travel to new lands; the experience of the exotic in the unfamiliar; an attempt to educate ones’ self  Ã‚  or simply immerse ones’ self in the joys of travel. The space of a hundred years between the twentieth century and the twenty-first has changed tourism from travel to a form of social activity.Rapid strides in knowledge about different, and little known parts of the world and their cultures has revolutionized the concept of tourism. The conceptual framework of human ‘Thought’ has undergone several transformations and the new world is an amalgam of a considerable number of worlds formed out of disparate ‘thoughts’. Right from the onset of the last century the world has be en searched and researched as a set of separate but related structures.The smug and complacent divisions of nation, religion and God; of the earth and its resources; of the space surrounding humans broke down in an acknowledgement that all these are a common heritage of all. Intellectual movements that developed in France in the 1950s and 1960s analysed human culture  semiotically. They are concerned with the analysis of  language,  culture, and  society. The structuralist mode of reasoning has been applied in a diverse range of fields, including  anthropology,  sociology,  psychology,  literary-criticism  and  architecture.Post-structuralism emphasizes the ways in which different aspects of a cultural order, from its most banal material details to its most abstract theoretical exponents, determine one another. These philosophies  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  include many, widely varying disciplines into a synthetic view of knowledge and its relationship to experience, the body , society and economy – a synthesis in which these are a part. Social theorists such as  anthropologist  and  ethnographer  Claude Levi-Strauss,  Marshall Sahlins,  James Boon  and  Pierre Bourdieu  have analysed human culture and society as a system of structures that need to be studied and analysed.The Postmodern philosophy and other related philosophies  such as a structural and scientific approach to all human activities like marriage, cultural values, religious beliefs, social conventions, art and traditions of peoples of the world  is a movement away from the viewpoint of  modernism. More specifically it is a tendency in contemporary culture characterized by the problem of  objective truth  and inherent suspicion towards  global cultural narrative or meta-narrative.It involves the belief that many, if not all, apparent realities are only social constructs, as they are subject to change inherent to time and place. It emphasizes the role of l anguage, power relations, and motivations; in particular it attacks the use of sharp classifications that are absolute and rigid, rather, it holds realities to be plural and relative, and dependent on who the interested parties are and what their interests consist in. With so much thought being generated in a cross-cultural, globalised scene, the concept of tourism has become a many-layered complex of meanings.Tourism has become the subject of much research. In  Global Tourism,  Davidson contends that tourism is not an industry at all. Tourism should not be viewed as a product activity or product but as a social phenomenon, an experience or a process. Recent research on tourism postulates that there are three approaches in defining Tourism—technical, economical and holistic. The first attempts to collect data by identifying tourists; the second treats Tourism as a business and industry. Holistic approach or definition attempts to include the entire essence of the subject. GMS Dann treats Tourism as a sociological process, an art of promotion, with a discourse of its own. The language of Tourism has its own essence. Tourism as Communication The social aspect of tourism enhances its value as a communicative process because  Tourism is an industry with a difference. There is an undeniable exchange between places and people. This exchange is what is meant by communication. Communication happens at many levels (even for one single action), in many different ways, and for most beings, as well as certain machines.Several, if not all, fields of study dedicate a portion of attention to communication widely, some recognizing that animals can communicate with each other as well as human beings, and some are more narrow, only including human beings within the different parameters of human symbolic interaction. Communication  is the activity of conveying  Ã‚  information. Communication  requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast distances in time and space.Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area of communicative commonality. The communication process is complete once the receiver has understood the sender. Thus, communication is a two- way process. The interaction of the tourist with the places he visits and the people he meets is therefore, a form of communication in which both the visitor and the visited form a communication cycle. A considerable amount of weightage is given to the power of impressions on the mind of a person living in the twenty-first century.One of the most important aspects of Tourism is the communication of the impressions created in the minds of tourists. These include non-verbal aspects — sights and sounds communicate a general impression– and the verbal aspect of communication– language p lays an important role in creating impressions. In the field of Tourism, communication, both non-verbal and verbal, can play a vital role in the promotion and profitability of this socio-economic process. THE  Ã‚  LANGUAGE OF TOURISM The third part of the paper deals with the language of tourism and its relevance to tourism in India.The International standard for Travel and Tourism, as recommended by the Ottawa Conference and adopted by UN  Ã‚  Statistical  Ã‚  Committee , proposed  Ã‚  leisure, recreation and holidays; visiting friends and relatives; business and professional; health treatment; religion/ pilgrimage; historical; other (transit etc. ),as tourist activities. The Global Tourist in India seeks  novelty, history,  knowledge, retreat, shopping,  medical expertise, and the endless variety of Indian culture   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every field has its language—the language of music, of art†¦so does Tourism.The language of Tourism, however, comprises of the non- verbal and verbal aspects of Tourism. Non- Verbal Communication And Tourism Nonverbal communication  describes the process of conveying meaning in the form of non-word messages such as  Ã‚  gesture,  body language  or  posture;  facial expression  and eye contact; object communication such as  clothing,  hairstyles,  architecture,  symbols  and  infographics, as well as through an aggregate of the above. Non-verbal communication is also called silent language and plays a key role in human day to day life from habits to etiquettes to civic sense and moral attitude.Visual communication  is the conveyance of ideas and information through creation of visual representations. Primarily associated with  two dimensional  images, it includes:  signs,  typography,  drawing,  graphic design,  illustration, colours, and electronic resources, video and TV. Canadian media scholar  Harold Innis  had the theory that people use different typ es of media to communicate and which one they choose to use will offer different possibilities for the shape and durability of society.His famous example of this is using  ancient Egypt  and looking at the ways they built themselves out of media with very different properties stone and papyrus. Papyrus is what he called ‘Space Binding'. It made possible the transmission of written orders across space, empires and enables the waging of distant military campaigns and colonial administration. The other is stone and ‘Time Binding', through the construction of temples and the pyramids that  Ã‚  can sustain their authority generation to generation, through this media they can change and shape communication in their society.This is an instance of Historical Tourism as well as visual and non-verbal communication. There are several examples of non-verbal and visual signs in the context of Tourism. These include historical monuments, places of interest, scenery, national par ks, rivers, forests etc. Indian Tourism offers an endless variety in all these. But our historical edifices silently communicate our inability to treasure our  controversial history, and our indifference towards the proud preservation of our cultural heritage, through the defacement of our historical structures by both, the public and the government.Keeping these points in mind one only has to  Ã‚  look around oneself to see what kind of non-verbal language we are using to woo our Tourist—filth on roads, dirty toilets, rape of foreign tourists, over-pricing of souvenirs, cheating, shabby treatment of women and the elderly, throwing water over balconies, or garbage in the handiest corner,†¦ the list of the  Ã‚  non-verbal images India communicates to the world through the tourists is not always what one wishes to project or convey. First we have to improve our non- verbal and visual signals; then our verbal skills.The sensitive advertisements made by` Incredible Ind ia’ are a very good step in this direction. The ‘DevoAtithiBhavo’ campaign is trying to sensitise the Indian public to view their actions and understand how they can appear to the outsiders or to Tourists. Verbal communication  is related to words and does not synonym for verbal or spoken message. Therefore, vocal voices that are not words, such as a mumble, or singing a wordless note, are nonverbal. Sign languages and writing are normally known as verbal communication.Nonverbal communication can be done by any  sensory  channel like with the help of sight, hear, smell, feel or taste. The forms of  verbal communication are sound, words, speaking, and language. Verbal aspects of language are  Visible or Written and Audible or Spoken,  Speech also contains nonverbal elements known as  paralanguage. These include voice quality, emotion and speaking style as well as prosodic features such as  rhythm,  intonation  and  stress. Likewise, written t exts include nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words and the use of  emoticons  to convey emotional expressions in pictorial form.Oral communication,  while primarily referring to spoken verbal communication, typically relies on words, visual aids and non-verbal elements to support the conveyance of the meaning. Oral communication includes discussion, speeches, presentations, interpersonal communication and many other varieties. In face to face communication the  body language  and voice tonality plays a significant role and may have a greater impact on the listener than the intended content of the spoken words. Spoken Language contains elements like  audibility  and  comprehensibility.Comprehensibility lies in the correct  modulation,  accent,  intonation,  vocabulary,  grammar. Visible verbal Language  refers to  bill boards,  sign boards,  pamphlets/leaflets,  menus in restaurants,  magazines, books—t ourist guide-books, literary books†¦Here also bad printing, wrong spelling and shoddily translated works convey to Tourists the impression of a badly educated and unaware India. Communication is thus a process by which meaning is assigned and conveyed in an attempt to create shared understanding. This process enables  collaboration  and  cooperation.Language is the most natural link between humans today. The variety of languages in the world makes verbal communication a challenge. The development of English, Spanish and Chinese as the language of a major segment of the global population is a healthy development. A common, communicative language is required to enhance tourism Verbal Language and Indian Culture. There are many Indias within India. Linguistic identity is an integral part of Indian-ness and culture. Indian history, literature, science, medicine, religion and spiritual knowledge is a priceless heritage preserved in hundreds of languages.Language  in India is a many-splendoured thing  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  there are several classes of  Indian languages– classical, regional,  dialect,  Ã‚  official,national. Since communication requires adeptness in language—both, national and international, Indian Tourism must pay attention to the socio-cultural-lingual aspect of India. Just as one pays attention to the non- verbal communication that Indians may convey to Tourists, it is important to ensure that the verbal communication of India and its public is impressive and Tourist-friendly.The language of any country or region is an indicator of the nature and complexity of its culture. The official languages of the country as well as of the states must be communicated to the Tourist in a befitting manner. This means that English and Hindi, and regional languages must be promoted and encouraged. This sounds simple but is a very tricky issue. With the emphasis on science and professional  subjects, language studies has been neglectedâ €”students and universities, both have let  Ã‚  the standard of language slide.Consequently, English, while preferred by the majority of young Indians, remains a difficult language to master, and native languages suffer due to indifference and the contempt of the familiar. Moreover, these languages do not seem to offer any avenues of advancement, as there are not many profitable careers in regional or rural languages. The Tourism sector can benefit enormously, at the same time it can revive  Ã‚  interest  Ã‚  in learning languages among the youth. It can, and should work towards raising the standard of language in the Tourism sector.It can do this in two major ways. First, it must engage persons with good language ability— in English, Hindi along with one or more regional languages. Second, it must invest time and money in Training. Language Training  in India is multi faceted—and involves the consideration of two vital issues–Indian Languages and In dian Heritage. The language Users—employees at  information desks, reception centers,  booking centres should have a high level of communication skills.The personnel working in the Tourist areas must be well-versed in the historical, geographical. cultural and socio-economic significance of the area they operate from. Tourist Guides  are a very visible face of tourism. A great presenter must capture the attention of the audience and connect with them. The audience or tourists should have a positive impact with his/her body language and tone of voice. Visual aid can help to facilitate effective communication and is almost always used in presentations for an audience.Here, the use of English, Hindi and of the local language is an important factor in making the experience a good means of communication between India and the Tourist. A widely cited and widely misinterpreted figure used to emphasize the importance of delivery states that â€Å"communication comprise 55% body language, 38% tone of voice, 7% content of words†, the so-called â€Å"7%-38%-55% rule†. This is not, however, what the cited research shows – rather, when conveying  emotion,  if body language, tone of voice, and words  disagree,  then body language and tone of voice will be believed more than words.A Guide who does not know the history and significance of the tourist item he is presenting would spoil the pleasure of the experience for the Tourist. If he knows and cannot communicate either due to poor communication skills or incomprehensible accent the whole exercise is rendered futile. Since the Guide represents, both, the tourism sector and the country and society of the visited, the poor performance of the Guide communicates a certain impression detrimental to the image of the country or state.At this point, an illustration of the use of Urdu in the Tourism of Jammu and Kashmir may add weight to the argument. If the personnel of the Tourist Departmen t have proficiency in English, Hindi, and Dogri, Urdu or Ladakhi, the temples of Jammu, the monuments of the Mughals and the eternal mountains of Ladakh would come alive for any Tourist and remind him forever of the richness, big-heartedness and timelessness of India. On the other hand, ignorant, and bad speakers may create the impression that a once great people have become an apology of a nation.Recommendations for making tourism more successful:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Make non-verbal signs of communication strong, correct and positive in their impact. People associated with the tourism industry must understand the vital role of language. Language is one of the most important tools in their work -kit   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The attitude of the industry towards the language-ability of their policy-makers, executives and field-level workers should not be indifferent   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Training in Languages must be stringent   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã ‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Special hubs must be created for teaching language skill ConclusionLanguage is a vital indicator of the level of any civilization. The level of the proficiency in language highlights culture of the people. Skill in the local, regional, national and an international language is the Brahamastra that will provide the cutting edge to successful Tourism SELECT  Ã‚  BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Burkart, AJ and Medlik, S. Tourism: Past, Present and Future. London: Heinemann, 1974. 2. Conrady, Roland and Buck, Martin, ed. Trends and Issues in Global Tourism . Berlin: Springer, c2008. 3. Dann, Graham M. S. Global Tourism. New York: CABI Pub. , 2008. 4.Dann, Graham M. S. The Language of Tourist: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. Wallingford, Oxon, UK : CABI Pub. , 1996 5. Dann, Graham M. S. Tourist as a Metaphor of the Social World. New York: CABI Pub. , 2002 6. Leed, J. Eric. The Mind of the Traveler: From Gilgamesh to Global Tourism. NY: Basic Books, 1991. 7 . Meethan, Kevin. Tourism in Global Society: Place, Culture, Consumption. New York: Palgrave, 2001 8. Roudinesco, Elisabeth. Philosophy in Turbulent Times: Canguilhem, Sartre, Foucault, Althusser, Deleuze, Derrida. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008

Organizational Behaviour Challenges Essay

Organizational Behaviour is academic study of organizations by examining them using the methods of economics, sociology, political science, anthropology, and psychology. Being of a multidisciplinary nature, organizational behaviour is all the more complicated to study as well. It is primarily the study of individual and group dynamics in an organizational setting, as well as the nature of the organizations themselves (culture, subcultures, psyche etc. ). Whenever people interact in organizations, many factors come into play. Organizational studies attempt to understand and model these factors and seek to control, predict, and explain them. There is some controversy over the ethical ramifications of focusing on controlling workers’ behaviour. As such, organizational behaviour has at times been accused of being the scientific tool of the powerful. Those accusations notwithstanding, OB can play a major role in organizational development and success. My six month long experience of setting up a design room in Romania was an eye opener into the aspects of organisational behaviour and how important it is for a manager to be able to deal with these aspects in the work arena. The project was fairly new to the manufacturing industry. Look more:Â  starbucks problem essay My job primarily consisted of setting up the design room and training people to run it. There were several problems that I faced and some of them are as follows: Problems at individual level Individuals make up a team. If there are problems among them, the whole team and its dynamics are affected by it. At Romania this was exactly the case which resulted in difficulty in making them work as a team, ask advise from one another, respect each other and in general increase job efficiency in order to meet targets. That is partly because the workforce in Romania is protected so there is not much that can be done by managers. Although the fact has been recognised by surveys etc. , nothing is done in the workplace officially in order to change things. The opposite is true for private companies however where management is very controlling and demanding. The human element I observed in such situations that the contingency approach to organisational behaviour in small teams only makes things difficult. Managers not only in my company but other companies that I had discussions with take it for granted that they will have to treat people in a different way in order to have their work done. Variations were stark due t the personal psyches of each individual in the team. This was however managed by trying to bring them at a standard level of thought and training. The above two problems can also be seen as a result of the fact that Romanians tend to keep their personal lives separate from the workplace (Steven 2003). I believe that managers should use Development Administration and Management techniques (Cooke 2004) to develop the workforce in places like Romania and other third world countries. Lack of responsibility Romanians, being used to the previous communist workplace, did not have to wrry about their work ethics much. They knew that they would have a job whether they did it well or not. This was something that didn’t change throughout the whole time I was there. It is clear that the reason for this failure was due to the fact that the external environment (communist culture) was at work here and an intrinsic part of their life conditioning. This ultimately meant that they did not learn from their mistakes and didn’t now show a commitment to improvement. Secondly I believe that the design room concept being new, it had to be implemented using change management techniques (Hay & Hartel 2003).

How to Write an Annotated Bibliography - Paperell.com

How to Write an Annotated Bibliography How to Write an Annotated Bibliography? Many students get confused by it. However, it is not that difficult. If you have been set an annotated bibliography, you have found yourself in the right place because, in this post, we are going to notify you about everything you should know to make an excellent annotated bibliography! Let’s go through how to write a perfect one.What Is An Annotated Bibliography?An annotated bibliography is like a reference list in a way that it is an organized list of sources used in the preceding text. The primary way in which it differs from a standard bibliography is that each reference needs to be followed by a short annotation of no more than around 200 words in most cases. Take a look at some tips and examples.There are some purposes for which you might   set an annotated bibliography:It can be useful in formulating a thesis on a subject;Providing a literary review on that subject;Illustrating your research;Highlighting significant sources of information available;Describing ideas th at others may find of use.To get some practical help you can use this annotated bibliography writing service,  which employs only the best experienced professional writers.Types Of PapersThere are a few ways how bibliographies can differ from each other. Firstly, we recognize two major categories: informative (or descriptive) and critical (or analytical).The former is similar to an abstract in a way that it describes and provides a summary of the source. Its job is to convey to the reader why the source might be useful, how it is distinctive. It merely depicts the author’s key ideas, arguments, and conclusions without individually analyzing them.The latter type of annotation adds evaluation of what the academic says. You must give an overview of the firm and weak points of their work as well as argue how the author’s judgments can be applied to your research. In most cases, you will be asked to write this type of annotated bibliography.General GuidelinesBefore you ge t started writing an annotated bibliography, pay attention to how it needs to be approached. Planning is critical as with any assignment.Firstly, choose relevant sources that would support your ideas: you will only be able to do this effectively after doing some prior research on the subject. Find out what materials are available to you that can be applied.Secondly, review those sources. Make sure you select a range of them that allow you to provide different perspectives on the topic: for this purpose, you can employ article abstracts.Finally, you can start writing your citations and annotation. Remember: full citation needs to come first, followed by an annotation. This is useful guidance to follow:Purpose of the workSummary of the contentTarget audienceHow relevant it is to the topic examinedSharp and/or weak points of the materialAnything remarkable about the sourceThere are two ways to arrange annotated bibliographies: alphabetically or chronologically. It is best to check with your instructor what they prefer. You can also find some helpful information on this  resource.Different Styling Of PaperThere are several common ways to format citations. Your instructor should have mentioned to you which format they want to see: the three most common ones are APA, MLA, and Chicago style.APAAPA annotated bibliography is commonly used in social science courses. Emphasis is placed on the works creation date – it is often recorded in the visible text, as well as immediately following the author’s name in a bibliography. After that, work title, the city of publication and publisher are mentioned. Refer to the APA manual for further details on how to correctly use this format. If you require help, you can also buy papers in APA style  from a reliable, experienced company.MLAThis citation format is mostly employed in humanities courses. Here it is authorship that is of most importance because sources don’t tend to become outdated as much: author ’s name is mentioned in the real text and comes first in the list at the end. The order is altered with work title following the name, then publisher and finally publication year. More information can be found in the latest MLA manual. For your peace of mind, you can also purchase a research paper in MLA template.ChicagoChicago style annotated bibliography is often found in history courses. It highlights source origins; therefore footnotes and endnotes are widely used to point out where the information originated from. A separate number is assigned to each fact used in the text the correlating note links the source to the book and the bibliography. Check out the CMOS manual to obtain more information.Useful TipsAnnotated bibliography format can differ from class to class, so always be sure to check with your teacher before writing anything. You will usually be instructed unambiguously when your assignment is set. Check out this  useful guide!Use one paragraph per reference While it will generally suffice to include no more than a paragraph for each reference, sometimes, depending on the purpose, you may have to provide an extensive analysis of the source. This is especially the case when you are explicitly asked to assess for bias and criticize sources: your annotation could even span several pages if necessary!Dont stop on one viewpointIt is not difficult to find an example of your annotated bibliography template on the web. So your research should include looking at several examples, paying close attention to what each format requires. As previously mentioned, each subject emphasizes a different aspect of the source. Therefore, when writing a science annotation, you will not only be likely using a different format but also focusing on whether there has been recent research on the subject that would make earlier sources obsolete. This is unlikely to be a common issue in literature because there is more room for discussion and different viewpoints wit h all of them being valid and relevant.Take as a basis the most reliable sourcesHistory finds itself in the middle. If more reliable primary sources are discovered, they can negate prior research and judgments invalidating many of the previously deemed reliable sources. So take great care when looking for your references to ensure you use the generally accepted ones and avoid the obscure unreliable ones.

Body Fat and Eating Disorders Paper Essays

Body Fat and Eating Disorders Paper Essays Body Fat and Eating Disorders Paper Essay Body Fat and Eating Disorders Paper Essay Body composition is the amount of tissue, fat and water that makes up your body weight, having excess body fat is becoming more of an issue and more common and it comes with health risks. Carrying excess body fat can lead to obesity which is being 30 pounds or more over weight. Some health risks that are associated with carrying excess body fat or being obese is: ? Heart disease ? Stroke ? High blood pressure ? High Cholesterol ? Type 2 diabetes ? Certain forms of cancer ? Excess Fatigue ? Increased risk of cardiac problems ? Hardening of the arteries ? GI disorders ? Decreased reaction time Reduced balance and coordination ? Increased susceptibility to infections ? Decreased circulation ? Delayed wound healing There are a few known factors that influence the obesity epidemic and they are: ? A high-fat, high-sugar diet ? Lack of exercise ? Overeating ? Excess alcohol intake There are several health problems that are associated with anorexia nervosa, here are a few examples: ? Irregular heartbeat and cardiac arrest ? Kidney and liver damage ? Loss of muscle mass ? Destruction of teeth ? Weakened immune system ? Icy hands and feet ? Excess hair on face, arms and body. Dry blotchy skin that has an unhealthy gray or yellow ? Fainting spells or seizures ? Low blood sugar Bulimia nervosa comes with its share of health problems also, to start with an electrolyte imbalance can cause the heart muscle to weaken and interfere with brain, nerve and kidney function. The heart could even stop beating, along with kidneys failing that could lead to having to be on dialysis or needing a transplant. When causing yourself to vomit the stomach acids can cause ulcers in the esophagus/tissues in the mouth and it can erode the enamel on your teeth. Binge eating is when a person over eats an enormous quantity of food repeatedly. When a binge eater does not take part in compensatory behavior they are either overweight or obese and can suffer from numerous health issues because of their weight. From a physiological standpoint one way that eating disorders can lead to health problems is by making someone depressed or suicidal because of their weight gain because of their eating disorder. There could also be the opposite problem and that is weight loss and not getting enough nourishment. A few examples of these problems is: Feelings of sadness or unhappiness ? Irritability or anger ? Loss of appetite All of these problems are very serious and should not be ignored, if you have any of these problems you should go to the doctor for care. The BMI Debate: Is it an Accurate Measure of Health?. (n. d. ). Retrieved from dietsinreview. com/diet_column/09/the-bmi-debate-is-it-an-accurate-measure-of-health/ Why a healthy body composition is important?. (n. d. ). Retrieved from fitnesswave. com/portal/portal/getdunked/whweighting/whyahealthybody;jsessionid=2D5F411B4A0200C9CB36FD48B6838E5E. node1