Modelling Human Activity Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Modelling Human Activity Systems - Essay Example Knowledge management is particularly important in the case of multinational corporations which have the additional task of communicating efficiently between its units and in order to communicate better, knowledge management is essential. Knowledge of aspects outside of the organization as well as knowledge within the organization are both very important aspects of knowledge (Senge, 1990 ; Nonaka and Takeushi, 1995). Multinational corporations usually face a problem of cultural differences among its different units, which might cause many problems in the overall performance of the organization. The problem resides in the fact that it is very difficult to unite all the different cultural backgrounds into one organizational culture. To put it in a different way, different cultures have different views and goals and the organization needs to have the staff as well as the senior management focusing on one goal. The suggested solution to this problem is the cultural adaptation human activity system and the information system that serves it which is expected to resolve the problems initiated by cultural differences. A system that (X) allows workers from different cultures to adapt to the needs of the organization by means of (Y) Informing them about the required adaptations and the methods of achieving them in order to (Z) overcome cultural difficulties of the organization and improve productivity of all different subsidiaries. The cultural adaptation Information System (IS): A system to (X) inform the workers of different cultures about the adaptations needed and the method of achieving them by means of (Y) gathering and sharing information about each culture and the adaptations needed to suite the needs of the organization (Z) Allow workers from different cultures to adapt to the needs of the organization. CATOWE: C: QES staff. A: QES management. T: Achieve the adaptations of staff with different cultural views to suite the needs of QES. O: QES senior management. W: A multinational organization usually faces many challenges as different cultures evoke contradictions in management. E: Staff coming from different cultural views. Root definition: A QES owned system (O) in a multinational organization functioning within different cultures (E) to achieve the adaptations of staff with different cultural views to suite the needs of QES (T) by means of informing workers from different cultures with the adaptations needed and methods of achieving it. This transformation will be carried out by QES management (A), and affects all the staff of QES (C). What makes this an important move is that a multinational organization usually faces many challenges as different cultures evoke contradictions in management (W). Conceptual Model: Measures of System Performance or MOP for the system: Efficacy: Addresses the question; to what extent is the system successful at adapting the staff from different views to the same goal and vision of the organization, and to answer this question staff from different countries can be interviewed to see to what extent they are adapting to suite the need

Sprint Communication Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sprint Communication - Term Paper Example The merger of Sprint and Centel in 1993 gave the company an edge by providing wireless communication packages across long distances (Sprint). Company Founder and Vision The company was founded by Cleyson Brown in 1991 (Sprint). The company is centered on four main principles: integrity, honesty, creativity and commitment. The company’s mission is to create sustainable partnerships with customers on a long term basis, based on trust and collaboration. There are four central tenets of its mission. Firstly, to provide high quality, out of the box solutions for customers to provide them with cutting edge technology (Sprint). Secondly, it provides strong communications platforms to enable customers to deal with day to day networking issues (Sprint). Thirdly, it is responsible for accounting for managers who are loyal to the business and who truly understand the needs of the businesses and align their personal needs with those of the business (Sprint). Fourth, providing highly respo nsive and interaction based service on a localized basis which is capable of being trusted and guaranteed to give ultimate peace of mind to the customer (Sprint). Empowerment The company has gone at lengths to ensure empowerment of not only its employees, but the community in general. It has a plan under the banner of â€Å"inclusion and diversity† which addresses the issue of corporate citizenship and allows minorities and ethnic groups an equal share in the operations of the company (Sprint). The company proudly declares itself as a learning organization and offers merit based advancement of its employees with extensive training programs to ensure their personal as well as professional growth. Under this strategy the company has created â€Å"employee resource groups† that comprise of self-directed work teams where constructive discussion and contribution is encouraged. These teams are also continuously benefitting from the advice of their seniors (the executive cham pions) who provide mentoring and counseling as well. In its efforts to provide Equal Opportunity, the company was recognized by the Hispanics Magazine as among the top 100 companies to work for (Black Enterprise). It further received the â€Å"Empowerment† award by Urban League of Kansas City (Sprint). Ethical Behavior and Social Responsibility As far as ethical behavior is concerned, the company has a stringent â€Å"Sprint Code of Conduct† that needs to be followed by all managers, employees and stakeholders of Sprint (Sprint). The purpose of this Code of Ethics is to ensure good practice, and foster a character consistent with the company’s mission of which integrity and honesty are the founding pillars. The Code of Conduct allows the company to take ethical decisions and enhances the goodwill of the company in the market. As far as corporate social responsibility (CSR) is concerned, Sprint offers â€Å"wireless recycling† and use of renewable energy i n its communications along with grants in education (Sprint). In pursuance of its recognition of CSR, Sprint announced its plan for producing environmentally friendly devices in 2007 with the popular Sprint Green Logo (Sprint). The company plans to address CSR at all levels: the customer, employees, community, operations and product offerings. For instance, the

Effect Of Plagiarism In University

Effect Of Plagiarism In University Plagiarism is to use someone elses words or idea without acknowledging the source. With the development of globalization process, more and more students choose to study aboard. Different education background precipitate plagiarism becoming more serious. Since the diploma from international university has become more valued by most people, resulting in a large number of people to study abroad is not in order to acquire knowledge, but in exchange for a diploma. This lead to a lot of students who are at the low foundation choose to study abroad, but limited academic competence and can not be independently completed the task of assignment, then they would use plagiarism complete it. According to that plagiarism is becoming more common in university. Another reason of plagiarism is that some students lack of understanding on foreign universities plagiarism discipline, therefore during the process of finishing the assignment the mistake may be happened. In short, plagiarism is a very serious issue in the academic writing. To avoid plagiarism, students must complete understand what the plagiarism is, and the cause of plagiarism. Only understanding the cause and effect could prevent it. There are many reasons for the cause of plagiarism. Moreover it has several negative effects on students and education system. Causes Do not understand plagiarism First of all, sometimes students do not realize that they are plagiarizing, because sometimes the inaccurate language can be regard as plagiarism. There is one way to avoid plagiarism is using the quotation marks around the copy words, and also need to add the authors name and publish year. But improper quote is a kind of plagiarism. When a direct quote is used, the quotation mark must be put in. If not, even if the reference is provided. This situation could cause the writer be accused of trying claim another persons work as his own (http://library.leeds.ac.uk/tutorials/plagiarism/). Even the quote is completely correct; overuse of direct quotations can lead a poor mark on the assignment. So its not a good choice to use too many quotations. That is why students need to use paraphrase and summary in academic writing task. An unfortunate thing is for the international students, especially the students from the non-English speaking countries. English as their second language they can not use it as well as their first language, so paraphrase and summary may make trouble in their writing. Students may use some sources full of complex sentence structure. To paraphrase those sentences is hard to organize words as well as the original one. That may make some students thinking their own work cannot compare and they may choose to copy the original source or just change some words of them, but use its primordial structure. (Kuhn 1957) To avoid plagiarism when paraphrasing, not only should the original words be changed, but also the sentence structure of the newly paraphrased text must be different from that of the original ( Roig, 2001) . According to that, students do not really understand it maybe plagiarizing. Inaccurate referencing In addition, inaccurate referencing could also cause the plagiarism. It includes five forms. (http://www.uea.ac.uk/plagiarism/understanding_plagiarism). Firstly reference must be clear to readers exactly which parts of essay draw on which scholars work. Simply including a bibliography at the end of assignment does not help the reader to distinguish which is own work and which is drawn from other scholars. Secondly using misleading reference is not allowed. Students can not forge references or include ones that they have not read. When students do not read the original but find it quoted in others article, it must indicate both the original text and the one they found. If only the original was acknowledged which is falsification. Third one, the ideas, theories, findings, etc of others are failed to attribute. Even there is no exact words quoted, it is still another scholars work that need to be acknowledged with a reference. Fourth one, the images, diagrams, tables etc should be also referenced in the same way as words. Even if the information in the presentation has been reworked, it also should be acknowledged where the data come from. The last but not least, on occasion students use some source without reference because they think it is a common knowledge, but sometimes the assuming is incorrect and it must actually be ascribed a certain individual or individuals. All in all, incomplete or inaccurate references can lead to plagiarism. Students need to check all references thoroughly when proofreading to ensure that no errors have been made. All references should be complete so that they can be traced by the reader. ( http://www.uea.ac.uk/plagiarism/plagiarism_forms5) Pressure According to famous research (Patrick G 1998), pressure is the strongest factor lead to possibility of plagiarism or cheating. The main kinds of pressure are grade pressure, time pressure, and task pressure. These three kinds of pressure are not isolated, for example, in many conditions without some time restraint the likeliness of feeling task pressure was reduced. (1) Grade pressure means academic pressures to a certain extent. When the students study in a university, they will face this pressure. Getting a degree is not a simple thing. To finish the assignment is quite a hard work and sometimes may get a low mark or even worse after a long period effort, after that student perhaps feels awful. Moreover going to study with an awful feeling can not achieve a satisfactory result. Then students will find themselves in the cycle. (https://www.york.ac.uk/students/support/health/problems/academic-pressures/) When students in this situation probably choose plagiarize to get a better mark to avoid it. (2) Time pressure -Students are often juggling conflicting constraints on the time they allocate to study due to working part-time or an active sporting or social life. Spending a significant amount of time undertaking paid employment whilst studying at university can present challenging situations which are likely to cause students to resort to plagiarism. Although there is no causal link between plagiarism and students being employed, evidence has found that students face increasing pressure to work whilst studying full time, putting them at risk of academic dishonesty or intentional omission of references as they make choices between allocating time between study and work.(Powell. L 2012) Time pressure maybe a excuse for students but it does exist. (3) Task pressure Task pressure relates to the number and types of assignments a student is struggling to complete during a given time period.(Patrick G 1998) Sometimes students will be given many assignments by different tutors but need to finish them in a short time. There is one more pressure need to be statement. The whole education system pressure The number of undergraduate and graduate students has been growing in almost every country around the world and those who enter the system stay for a longer time. (Just consider how much time it takes to get a Ph.D.) The personal investment is greater, as is the competition. In addition, there are more countries trying to move into the big leagues of academia, which adds even more pressure to the whole system.(Ivan Pacheco 2011). This pressure provokes the plagiarism in the academic field. more:http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/the_world_view/is_academic_corruption_on_the_rise#ixzz24z8KBAk9 Negative attitude Final cause is the negative attitude. Personal attitudes determine success or failure. The students with negative attitude could effect their academic motivation. If the academic motivation went to the negative part, students will lose their learning interests. When students lose it they will cost more time on enjoying college life, such as go parties or anticipate other activities, and when they pick up books they would feel sleepy. It is necessary to consider how these students can pass the exam? The majority of students may choose cheating in the exam or even pay someone to write the essay or just copy and paste others work then add a reference list at the end. Besides the student, even the professors are drawn into cheating issues. A professor at Columbia Universitys Teachers College who was propelled into the national spotlight when a noose was found on her office door last fall has been found to have plagiarized the work of a former colleague and two former students, the college has announced. (KAREN W. ARENSON and ELISSA GOOTMAN 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/education/21prof.html?_r=1adxnnl=1pagewanted=alladxnnlx=1346065286-naQLgtFv9vk7661DOblX1Q). Academic research is tough and endless. If the professors feel too eager to succeed or finish the tasks given by university, they may choose a closer way to succeed by plagiarism. To sum up above mentioned, plagiarism include two main types, Unintentional plagiarism and intentional plagiarism. Plagiarism is not allowed whatever the reason is. Effects Respect The first effect of plagiarism is this behavior is disrespectful to the original author. It is so rude to use anothers idea without referencing. Taking the exact words of another person without attribution is just like stealing a car from another person (Janice Moulton and George Robinson, Smith College, 2002). Michelle Langley (2010) claims that A student who has copied the work of another person is not showing respect for his own creative and intellectual potential. It also shows that he does not care about maintaining personal integrity. (http://www.ehow.com/facts_5472037_effect-plagiarism-students.html#ixzz24md4DHE4) Worsen academic environment Plagiarism tarnished the academic purity. When many students cheating in university, the whole learning environment will be affected then make the situation worse. When one student pass the assignment through plagiarism successful, and people around him know this news, they may try it. Then more and more students will find it is easy to finish assignment by plagiarism. That will make the number of people who plagiarism rise continue. That is minority students plagiarize cause plagiarism rife. It is certainly effect the whole academic environment in the university. Even in the famous university Oxford can not avoid it Plagiarism could threaten the value of a degree from Oxford University as students increasingly copy large slabs of work from the internet and submit it as their own, the university has warned.(Alexandra Smith 2006 http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2006/mar/15/highereducation.news) That is plagiarism produce plagiarism. Academic corruption The third effect is plagiarism make academic corruption on the rise. (Ivan Pacheco 2011) Plagiarism is one main part of academic corruption. (Michael Agelasto, 2004). According to that, when plagiarism is becoming more serious , it will be accompanied by the academic corruption. The fact is that the number of students in the UK who plagiarized is rising. (BBC news) That leads to academic corruption become more serious. For example, China now is experiencing the most serious academic corruption in recent years. In Chinese university, students finish the course work in the selected course by copy and paste from internet will not receive a punishment. And if one student finishes his/her assignment, the others will copy his/her work. Also it will be not a big deal in Chinese university. Those things make situation worse. Punishment Students will receive a stiff penalty when they were caught in plagiarism. In educational institutions, particularly universities and colleges, treat plagiarism as a serious problem of academic purity. They admonish their students of serious results for plagiarizing the assignment of others. Maybe different colleges and universities have different discipline on plagiarism. There are four common penalty always be used by Our Lady of the Lake College. (1)Lowering a students grade on the assignment (2)Giving the student a failing grade on the assignment (3)Lowering the students overall course grade (4)Giving the student a failing grade in the course (http://www.ololcollege.edu/archive_material/plagiarism_project/Penalties_Plagiarism1.html) Loss of Degree or Job University students who were accused plagiarism College students who commit plagiarism face the loss of their degrees upon discovery of the offense. College faculty members who plagiarize the work of other scholars face serious consequences as well. Professors who commit plagiarism may lose tenure and face even if being the loss of their jobs and damaging reputations. An academic found guilty of plagiarism faces the permanent loss of her credibility as a scholar. Plagiarism also may damage the reputation of schools as places of learning and intellectual inquiry. Damaged Relationships Plagiarism poisons the relationship between students and teachers by undermining the mutual trust that is an important element of the learning process. Widespread incidents of plagiarism, such as students taking work from the Internet and presenting it as their own, force teachers to act as police investigators, constantly searching for wrongdoing. All students become suspect in such an environment, and learning becomes impossible. Suspicion and mistrust replace intellectual curiosity and trust. Plagiarism also damages relationships between students who plagiarize and those who earn their grades honestly. Lack of Critical Thinking When students or instructors present others work as their own, they fail to develop and use critical thinking skills, which are necessary for learning and success in life. Financial Aid Continued receipt of federal financial aid is based upon a certain percentage of successfully completed course work. Students who receive Fs or who are suspended for entire semesters will likely be affected in financial aid eligibility. Private scholarship eligibility could also be affected. Reputation Schools maintain student records, and instructors share information informally. Students who are caught plagiarizing may develop reputations as cheaters. Teachers will likely scrutinize students with reputations more carefully than other students. All in all, effects of plagiarism can conclude into two main parts. Effects on education and students. Conclusion

Americas Fear of Evolution :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

America's Fear of Evolution In August of 1999, the teaching of evolution in schools was banned by the state of Kansas. In Texas, educators have debated over which textbooks to use in grade school science solely by the language of evolution each text contains. In Georgia, educators talk about replacing the word "evolution" with the phrase "biological changes over time." (1) Apparently, our apprehensions about teaching the theory of evolution are popping up all over the news. In hearing these debates, one usually thinks that it is only religious groups or fanatics trying to preserve their stories by eradicating the teaching of evolution. However, I think that culturally we have trouble accepting the theory of evolution because of other stories we tell ourselves. While religion does play a large role in our stories of creation, we have many ethics and ideals outside of faith that contrast with the theory of evolution. We may have trouble facing the facts of evolution because of what it says about the human race. A ccepting the theory of evolution places us on the same level as all other species in terms of how we came into existence and how that existence will end. It means letting go of many misconceptions we hold about ourselves. For example, that humans are somehow superior or meant to wield control over the earth. It affirms that we have not been here for nearly as long as our world, and will be long gone before the world ends. Evolution, it seems to me, touches more closely on our fears about death and our place in the grand scheme of things than it does on our faith. The reason evolution comes into such great conflict with religion is because questions such as, "Where will we go after our lives here end?" are so important to us. Consequently, the fear surrounding the theory of evolution belongs not only to the religious and the fanatical, but also to anyone who has ever asked him or herself such questions. America was founded on the concepts of idealism and opportunism; we all are broug ht up to take advantage of our opportunities and succeed to the best of our abilities. The nature of evolution is to go against these ideals. Evolution occurs randomly, meaning the human race did not "earn" its place as sovereign of the earth. As Americans, we see ourselves working toward a society that is closer and closer to perfection.

Customer Benefit Package (Walmart vs Luxury Clothier) Essay

Wal-Mart is no doubt the biggest retail store in North America. It is considered to be the most efficiently run retail business in the world. Wal-Mart compared to luxury retailers have a lot of contrasting factors both in goods and services provided. The most significant factor that I see when one is to compare Wal-Mart to a luxury retailer is the price. Wal-Mart is considered to be a discount retail store which is why their products are reasonably priced goods whereas luxury retailers tend to be highly priced. To contrast the Customer Benefit Package of Wal-Mart against a luxury clothier for purchasing a suit or a new formal dress, there are many contributing factors. Different people look for different types of benefits from the products to satisfy their needs. Typical sources of benefits are Good Comparative Price, Good Quality, Good After-Sales Service, Reputable Company Image, Well Known Product/Brand, Low After-Sales Costs, Prompt Delivery, Well Designed Product, Fashionable, Ease of Purchase, and Reliability. In terms of price, Wal-Mart has definitely an advantage over its competitors particularly a luxury clothier in this case. Let us say we compare Wal-Mart to Zara. Zara’s prices are definitely higher than Wal-Mart. In terms of quality, Zara sources out more quality materials used on their products to provide their consumers with that certain quality they are expected of because of the name as compared to Wal-Mart, which limits their stocks on a per style, per season basis due to purchase cost. This gives the customer a sense of pride knowing that not too many people will have the same item on their closet. Zara or any luxury clothier is focused more on quality design for this is their main area of business. They spend on the design, style and quality. A luxury clothier or Zara for that matter is a well-known brand. Consumers buy their products because of their name. They have trust in these brands. These brands carry sophisticated designs with upscale fashion and offer excellent or one on one customer service. This is an advantage that they have over Wal-Mart. They provide their customers with that assistance in referring or suggesting other products, such as accessories that may suit the buying customer. In case of Wal-Mart, they have their in house brand, George, which provides consumers with reasonable  priced products and carry other brand names as well so consumer has more choices. The difference here would be the preference of the consumer. Do I go for a dress or suit with a brand name or a suit or dress that would fit me well and does not matter what brand it is. A luxury clothier would have more variety of choices since clothing is their main line of business. For its goods, a luxury clothier carries more accessories to go with the suits or dresses they sell. Their staffs are knowledgeable enough to assist the consumer what accessories they can wear together with the suit or dress. Wal-Mart on the other hand, does not have this kind of service where they can suggest to their consumer what to wear together with a suit or dress. Wal-Mart’s staffs are not trained for this kind of service. Another major contrasting factor between Wal-Mart and a luxury clothier is its service. This plays a major role in the decision making process of the consumer. Am I satisfied with how the stores staff assisted me? Did I have an intimate shopping experience? How long did I have to wait to pay? Was the staff courteous and knowledgeable about their product? One would even go as far as coming back to that store just because of how he/she was treated by the staff. I like shopping in that store because the staff treats me like a VIP. Wal-Mart offers various after sales service that keeps their customers going back to them. The Cash Back Reward program that they have entices its customers to go back and shop in their store. This is where they have an advantage over luxury clothiers as the latter does not have this kind of a program to customers. Wal-Mart also has an adequate return policy wherein they freely accept returns within a specified time frame. Wal-Mart has a lot of cashiers considering the size of its store. For a luxury clothier, they usually have 2 to 4 cashiers and on a busy day, you would see lines in the cashier. Wal-Mart boasts of offering top quality products and services, providing its customers with a â€Å"one-stop† shopping experience. They offer various products from food, clothing, housewares, gift items, garden centre, and auto centre. It also offers services such as financing, travel agency,  pharmacy, vision centre, salons and photo centre. It also offers McDonald’s in almost every store. You can also shop online by creating your account with them. There are definitely a lot of contrasting ideas between Wal-Mart and luxury clothier. There are many contributing factors mentioned. Why do people go to Wal-Mart? Like many consumers’, the main reasons would mostly be due to convenience, impulse buying due to being a â€Å"one-stop† shop, after- sales service and the price. For a luxury clothier, it would be more of the brand you are buying, the quality and reliability of the product, image of luxury clothier, updated style or fashion, and one on one customer service.

International Legal and Ethical Issues in Business

In this paper I will discuss environmental regulations and labor laws in place in Thailand and Singapore. This paper will show that while Singapore seems to have stricter environmental regulations in place in it’s country, the labor laws in Thailand seems to protect its citizens better with better work hour regulations and wage requirements. Singapore’s labor laws can stand to be revisited so as to keep the working citizens safe from greedy business owners. What are Thailand and Singapore’s environmental regulation levels? Thailand’s government has been known to keep loose environmental standards for investors. Many foreign investors have been used to Thailand’s loose environmental regulation, however, the country’s government is now struggling to deal with tough new environmental regulations. An upheaval from residents in some of the more industrial areas of Thailand has set in motion a movement to toughen environmental regulations, which has many companies like Ford thinking of relocating some of its manufacturing plants. Singapore, however, has very strict environmental regulations in place, with an extension of liability even reaching to directors and officers of the companies that operate in Singapore. The government in Singapore has passed strict laws to ensure that corporations operating in the country do not compromise the health of their people. Violators of the environmental regulations in Singapore may even face mandatory jail time if found guilty of participating in activities that are deemed harmful to the environment and the people living in the area. What kind of legislation has been passed in the country regarding working hours and wages? The Department of Labor in Thailand enforces labor laws in the country. Currently, Thailand has some pretty good labor laws in place to protect it’s citizens. The most hours a person can work per day in Thailand is 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week. If the job is deemed hazardous, the workday is considered complete after 7 hours, or 42 hours per week. Employees must be paid overtime pay at a rate of 1. 5 to three times the normal hourly rate when the maximum amount of hours has been surpassed. The minimum daily wage rate varies, depending on location. Some provincial areas can pay a daily rate of 137 baht, or $3. 43 U. S. dollars, whereas the daily rate can be 175 baht or $4. 38 U. S. dollars in Bangkok. Office and management staff working full-time hours can earn about 15,000 baht (US $375) to 150,000 baht (US $3,750) per month, depending on the level of management and experience. Singapore does not have any regulations in place with regard to a minimum wage for it’s workers. The Employment Act in Singapore only stipulates that workers be paid timely, which is translated to mean at least once a month. Workers who make less than 2,000 SGD per month may not be required to work more than eight hours a day or 44 hours per week. Employees working in management positions or higher may be permitted to work longer hours, depending on what terms are outlined in their contract. Do you think the country's environmental regulation is sufficient? Explain. It seems Singapore has sufficient environmental regulations in place, what with punishments which include jail time for those found guilty of infraction of the regulations. However, I feel that Thailand still has a long way to go in establishing effective environmental regulations. The people of Thailand are still fighting to get proper regs in place to keep their environment and their people safe and healthy. It seems that Thailand is reluctantly coming around, however, the threat of losing many of its foreign investors because of new environmental regulations might hinder any real progress. Do you feel that the country's hour and wage legislation is ethical? Explain. Thailand’s hour and wage regulations are adequate; however, Singapore’s hour and wage regulation still leave way too much room for employees to be taken advantage of by their employers. The fact there is no national minimum wage requirement leaves too much room for employers to underpay their employees. There is also no regulation in place to limit the amount of hours per day an employee can work. There is also no regulation for overtime pay. The lack of regulation in place to determine how many hours per day or week a person can work before overtime pay is required leaves the employees at the mercy of their employers. References http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704182004575056421383885014.html http://www.business-in-asia.com/thai_labor_law.htm http://www.ehow.com/list_5989991_labor-laws-singapore.html