African American and American Society Essay Example for Free

African American and American Society Essay Is Racism a Permanent feature of American Society? Derrick Bell argues in this issue that the prospects for achieving racial equality in the United States are â€Å"illusory for Blacks. Bell reminds us despite the fact of the progress of blacks in United States; the legacy of slavery has left a portion of the race â€Å"with life-long poverty and soul devastating despair†. Bell believes that race consciousness is so imbedded in whites that it is virtually impossible to rise above it. He also argues that â€Å"few whites are able to identify with blacks as a group† and tend to view blacks through â€Å"comforting racial stereotypes†. Bell feels strongly that critical and proper examination of the history of black-white relations supports his conclusion that racism is a permanent feature of American Society. Bell makes some good point about racism in the American society today. The fact that the psychical part of racism is gone does not mean that racism as permanently left American Society. The fact that racism still â€Å"exist† is does not reflect on blacks’ success any longer. Majority of whites had a head start because their generation of success goes so many years back, were as for blacks success was not allowed at a point in time. Blacks have come a long ways over the years but there is still racial discrimination that â€Å"affects† the black population. Dinesh D’Souza does not agree with Bell, he believes that racism is not a permanent Strain of fabric in the American Society. D’Souza distinguishes between racial discrimination that is â€Å"irrational, motivated by bigotry† and which is â€Å"rational from the point of view of the discriminator. † D’Souza admits that such discrimination may be harmful to individual blacks but he rejects any casual linkage between the lagging indicators of blacks’ overall progress with racial discrimination. He believes race is a diminishing force within American society, D’Souza argues that factors other than racial discrimination are the sources of lagging process toward the American Dream. D’Souza reasoning for blacks not achieving more in America is because blacks fail to observe and embrace certain cultural norms of the dominant American Society. He implies that those who are successful exhibit cultural values that promote success. He states blacks need to place a much greater emphasis on overcoming cultural barriers rather than continuing to assert that race is being held by a persistent racism that afflicts America. Black’s generation has come a long way in American Society. Racism shouldn’t be the excuse for the failure in African American success when in 1919- current we have African American first. Slavery started around 1808 and ended in 1865 due to Lincoln Emancipation Proclamation. Racism was still in effect because the fact that blacks had rights was new. Still in all there were blacks who succeed shortly after that time. Madame C. J. Walker was the first African American female who was a self-made millionaire. In 1893 Dr. Daniel Hale Williams was the first black to perform open heart surgery. In 1908 Jack Johnson was the First African-American world heavyweight Champion. In 1993 Toni Morrison was the first African-American to win the Nobel Prize for literature. In 2009 Barack Obama was the first black president of the United States, with the support of some whites. Racism still is â€Å"permanent† due to history but it is not an excuse for Blacks not becoming successful. Derrick bell major argument is that blacks are faced at the bottom of the well. Bell exclaims despite undeniable progress for many, no African American is insulated from incidents of racial discrimination. He states because of our color we are threaten through our lives, careers. Dinesh D’Souza states racism undoubtedly exists, but it no longer has the power to thwart blacks or any other group in achieving their economic, political, and social aspirations. The arguments relates to the overall theme because yes, racism still occurs but it should not pun Blacks from achieving their aspiration. Bell major point is as a Black he experiences the racism. Blacks can work in a white community and experience racism because whites fear the superiority of blacks. D’Souza points out in his argument that racism is the least bit worries blacks should have, when there are black on black crime occurring. Racism should not be such an excuse for â€Å"underclass† blacks not achieving their goals. D’Souza points out the facts where African Americans now live in a country where black man, Colin Powell, who three decades ago could not be served in restaurants, is now a Joint chief staff. Also a white man who supported the nomination of Clarence Thomas, a black man married to a white, for the Supreme Court. D’Souza question is if white racism controls the density of blacks today, how one segment of black community has prospered so much over the past generation. Some unsupported claims in bells argument was he says, â€Å"Modern discrimination is, moreover, not practiced indiscriminately. † Bell implies whites idolize black athletes and entertainers but refuse to hire and work with blacks. Bell also states whites who number individuals blacks among their closest friends approve, or do not oppose, practices that bar selling or renting homes or apartments in their neighborhood to blacks they do not know. Then in his argument he also states that most hotels and restaurants, who offer black patrons courteous treatment, uniformly reject black job applicants. Bell defense for this was â€Å"When did you last see black waiter in a really good restaurant†. These are unsupported claims because this may be true but there are no proven facts that racist is the cause of these arguments. In D’Souza arguments there were not any unsupported claims really found. D’Souza stated his arguments and had accurate information to support his defense. D’Souza makes great points and has a lot of validity in his arguments. He states if blacks are going to reform their community, they have a right to expect that they will be treated equally under law. Hypothetically speaking D’Souza implies if blacks were refused hire on every baseball team in America, blacks would suffer most because they would be denied the chance to play professional baseball. Fans would also suffer because the quality of games would diminish. He says â€Å"But what if a few team-say the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers- refused to hire blacks? † African Americans has a group would hardly suffer at all, because they would offer there service to other teams. D’Souza saying the Yankees and the Dodgers would suffer a great deal, because they would be deprived of the chance to hire talented blacks’ players. Eventually the competitive pressure would force those teams to either hire blacks or suffer losses in games and revue. Then he makes another valid point he referenced from Gary Becker pointed out, in free market, selective discrimination imposes the heaviest cost on the discriminator where it should be. Some whites will undoubtedly discriminate against blacks but with deal with them because of the law and taste for profit. *Dinesh D’Souza is an Indian American conservative political commentator, public intellectual and current president of the King’s College in New York City. He graduated from Dartmouth College, where he graduated with a B. A. in English. D’Souza also published a book in 2007 called The Enemy at home: the cultural left and its responsibility for 9/11. In his argument D’Souza used government documents, books, articles and oral very frequently. D’Souza would state his opinion and have facts and documents to support his defense. No, the reading did not significantly add to my knowledge because these are issues that has been discussed for many years. In the article I did learn some new ways of thinking of Racism. This article did broaden my thoughts with the factual evidence the authors used to support their defense. I would recommend this article to be read to those who do not have a clear understanding of the term racism. The subject that was focus on in this case study is racism a permanent feature of American Society? The case study focused on political, social and economic issues. Bell argued blacks will never gain full equality in American and D’Souza argued that blacks have equality and racism is not important issue blacks should be worried about in today society.

Early Childhood Education Essay Example for Free

Early Childhood Education Essay Children are our future. This explains to you, the reader, why I chose to dive into the career path of Early Childhood Education. In this essay I will explain to you what the job of an early Childhood professional is, what training they need and what standards they are expected to maintain. These are all important facts in becoming an Early Childhood professional. First of all, what is the job of an Early Childhood professional? Well, their job is to nourish the growth of children, support families, and work closely with coworkers. Their work with children begins before the first child arrives, and continues until after the last child leaves. Early Childhood educators spend a lot of time with not only the children, but with the families of the children. The book, Who Am I in the Lives of Children states that young children cannot be separated from the context of their homes, so relating to and working with families is an important part of the role of the Early Childhood educator. If your not a people person, this job may not be for you. Educators provide a safe and secure environment for the children, allowing them to grow and blossom into an independent child, with a personality of their own. Early Childhood education may take a number of faces including family childcare providers and nannies, teacher aides or teacher assistants, assistant teachers or assistant care givers, teachers or care givers, master teachers or head teachers and lastly, directors. Members of this field share a mission, commitment and set of values. Also, they have agreed on standards, in the form of a code of ethics. In one single day, an Early Childhood professional may function as a teacher, friend, secretary, parent, colleague, nurse, janitor, counselor, entertainer, and a diplomat. Second of all, what training are Early Childhood professionals expected to have? Well, paraphrasing from the book, Who Am I in the Lives of Children, the training and experience required will be determined by program licensing. Requirements vary from state to state. In some states being in good health and having a diploma are all that is necessary. Most states require that teachers and care givers in center based programs be qualified for their jobs through training, either by having a college degree, or a CDA credential(Child Development Associate). From what I know you need approximately 12 units of ECE training to go into the field of Early Childhood education. Lastly, what standards are Early Childhood professionals expected to maintain? I think the core values of early childhood education are very important to maintain. These core values are: appreciating childhood as a unique a valuable stage of the human life cycle basing our work with children on knowledge of child development appreciating and supporting the close ties between the child and the family recognizing that children are best understood in the context of family, culture and society Respecting the dignity, worth and uniqueness of each individual (child, family member and colleague) Helping children and adults achieve their full potential in the context of relationships that are based on trust, respect and positive reguard. The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct is also important is the field of Early Childhood education. (A copy of the code is found in the appendix of, Who Am I in the Lives of Children) These two things are important because young children are vulnerable and lack the power to defend themselves. In conclusion, when people say that you just babysit kids they are wrong. Being an Early Childhood professional is a very important job. You are helping shape and raise our futures leaders.

Analysis of Employee Treatment in MNCs in Malaysia

Analysis of Employee Treatment in MNCs in Malaysia According to The Columbia Encyclopedia (2008), a multinational company also called as multinational enterprise (MNE) or transactional corporation (TNC); it is a corporation business enterprise with manufacturing, sales, or service subsidiaries in one or more foreign countries. It can also be referred to as an international corporation. Besides that, Mohamed A. Youssef (2004) said that multinational companies are firms that engages in foreign direct investment and owns or controls value-adding activities in more than one country. The study of multinational companies is relevant to the major theme of changing national business systems in two important ways. Firstly, multinational companies reflect the strengths and weaknesses of their own country. Second, multinational companies work in at least two different national business systems, in their home and host countries (Maurits van Os, Gerarda Westerhuis, Onno de Wit, 2003). The Multinational companies are a powerful vehicle for the transfer of not only the capital and other production functions but also managerial and technical knowledge across nations (Limerick, 2004). Based on Bartletts (2003) research, the multinational corporations account for 40% of the worlds manufacturing output and almost a quarter of the world trade. About 85% of the worlds automobiles, 70% of computer and 65% of soft drinks are produced and marketed by multinational corporations. During the last two decades, many smaller corporations also become multinational, some of them in developing nations (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2008). This often results in very powerful corporations that have budgets that exceed some nationals GDP and multinational corporations play an important role in international relations and globalization (Multimedia Corporation, 2009). In Bartlett (2003) research shows that in 1973, the United Nations defined the multinational corporation as an enterprise which control assets, factories, mines, sales offices and the like in two or more countries. The first qualification required a multinational corporation to have substantial direct investment in foreign countries and not just an export business. The second requisite for a true multinational corporation would be a company that engaged in the active management of these offshore assets rather than simply holding them in a passive financial portfolio. Overview of Multinational Companies in Malaysia Malaysia ranks as among the worlds top 20 attractive countries for foreign direct investment, according to the World Investment Prospects Survey 2007-2009. Among the Southeast Asian countries, Malaysia was the third favourite foreign direct investment location, just after the Vietnam and Thailand (Rajeswari Raman, 2008). Historically, multinational corporations in Malaysian manufacturing were concentrated in import substitution production in areas such as foods and beverages, chemicals and pharmaceutical. Their involvement in export production was limited to some processing activities linked to primary product sectors. In 1970s, there was a dramatic transformation in the product structure of multinational corporations participation. From about the mid-1980s, production for the domestic market has become secondary to using Malaysia as a base for manufacturing for the global market (Multinational Enterprises, Employment and Real Wages in Malaysian Manufacturing, 2005). According to Halims (2000) study, foreign direct investment has always been a major factor in developing Malaysias industrial sector. The promoting of the presence of the multinational corporations in Malaysia is to provide domestic firms with access to advanced technologies through subcontracting, the creation of spin-off firms, OEM and training activities. The Malaysian government encourages direct foreign investment, particularly in export oriented manufacturing and high-tech industries, but it has discretionary authority over individual investments. Malaysia has a stated policy of not promoting low value-added and labour-industries, preferring quality investments. A foreign company or a multinational corporation can conduct business in Malaysia through setting up a representative office, registering a branch office, setting up a joint venture company or granting patent licenses and franchising. General policy limits foreign equity to minority 30 percent shares, but 100 percent fo reign ownership in manufacturing is permitted in certain instances for export-oriented industries (www.atimes.com). According to list of multinational companies in Malaysia (2009), there are 37 major industry sectors covered in the foreign companies in Malaysia which are: Academic food drink petrochemicals Accountancy government pharmaceuticals/medical Agriculture/environmental individual printing/paper Aviation/defence insurance real estate/property Banking/finance IT/computers/software retail Chemicals legal services Chemicals/petrochemicals machinery/equipment telecoms/communications Construction/engineering manufacturing textiles Consultancy media tourism/travel/leisure Consultancy goods motor industry transport Electronics/electrical oil gas Energy/utilities packaging Multinational corporations from more than 60 countries have invested in over 3,000 companies in Malaysias manufacturing sector, currently 1052 regional establishments were approved, which included 67 operational headquarters, 182 international procurement centres, 29 regional distribution centres, 579 representative offices and 195 regional offices. The main sources of foreign investment were from USA, Germany and Japan (Rajeswari Raman, 2008). Manufacturing goods, mainly products from the electronics and electrical (E E) industries make up the Malaysias largest body of exports. However, most manufactured exports were produced by foreign firms in Malaysia. For example, the electronics industry which contributes more than half the exports of manufactured goods comprised mostly foreign owned multinationals (Abd Halim, 2000). Based on Rajeswari Raman (2008) research, the major factor that has attracted investors to invest in Malaysia is the governments commitment to maintain a business environment that provides companies with the opportunities for growth and profits. The government having the regular government-private sector dialogues and these allow the various business communities to air their views and to contribute toward the formulation of government policies which concern them. Besides, the Malaysian government offers multinational corporations a range of incentives designed to encourage the establishment of subsidiaries that are regarded as especially advantageous. The incentives primarily entail taxation allowances and more liberal ownership rights for investments (1) in particular industries like the manufacturing and high technology, (2) in particular geographic locations such as the Multinational Super Corridor or the Eastern Corridor, (3) offer significant learning opportunities such as from research and development and have particular strategic roles like the operational headquarters and international procurement centres (Southeast Asia, A New Era in Asian Shipping,2005). By the mid-1980s, there was a growing conviction among the Malaysian policy circles that certain elements of the ethnicity-based affirmative action policy of the NEP were inconsistent with the national economic goal of achieving greater integration of the Malaysian economy with the global economy. These policy inconsistencies were redressed and further incentives for foreign investors were introduced under the promotion of Investment Act passed in 1986 (Multinational Enterprises, Employment and Real Wages in Malaysian Manufacturing, 2005). The increasing trends of outsourcing of core as well as non-core activities by large multinational corporations have open greater investment opportunities in the provision of support services. Malaysia continues to enjoy healthy surplus in the external trade, low unemployment as well as strong international reserves and high national savings (Rajeswari Raman, 2008). According to Rajeswari Raman (2008), the private sector in Malaysia has become partners with the public sector in achieving the nations development objectives. Justification Based on Jaime Bonache (2005) finding, job satisfaction is usually defined as an affective or emotional response toward ones job. A better salary, for an identical level effort, will determine the decision to quit and a higher level of satisfaction. To expect more and active contributions from the staff members to the company, satisfaction will become the natural choice. Furthermore, regarding the reason for demission, the American company attributes it to the culture and the Japanese company thinks that the most important reasons for demission are disappointment on welfare and the work satisfaction. Both American company and the Japanese company recognize that the requirement of employees should be fully concerned. The welfare, working environment, job satisfaction, and the self-realization are the three factors that motivate the staff. Sonal Shukla (2009) found out that appreciation and recognition are more important and meaningful than a financial pay raise or a position promotion . It is important for providing the satisfactory welfare package in the company, learn and try to meet the employees requirement, create chance for self-improvement and wide space for self-development to the employee in the company because the welfare, individual career development, and the company brand are the three attractive aspects. (Yuanqiang Zhou, Lei Lu, Bo Jiang, 2005). Besides that, according to Jaime Bonache (2005), a person can be relatively satisfied with the absolute monetary rewards he or she received and dissatisfied with how they fare relative to others, or with other aspects of his or her job. Job satisfaction will not be understood as a unitary concept, but as an affective or emotional response toward various facets of ones job, and in which processes of social comparison take place. Furthermore, Jaime Bonache (2005) lodge that satisfaction results from ones perception that work outcomes, relative to the inputs, compares favourably with a significant others outcomes and inputs. We can identify the referent used in the individuals comparisons by analyzing peoples satisfaction with their salary. Through Sonal Shukla (2009) research, it is accepted that a satisfied, secure and happy employee during times of a recession, gives back much more to the organization in terms of loyalty and performance. A low level of salary satisfaction is a very common problem among all types of employees. It is well known that employees on international assignments are particularly costly for most organizations (Jaime Bonache, 2005). According to John Stredwick (2000), the pay must become more variable instead of a wage or salary being a fixed amount each week, month or year. A growing proportion should become contingent upon performance. Performance can be measured on an individual basis, often called performance related pay, or through the team based pay, gain sharing or the profit related pay. In addition, there must have the final change for the basic pay itself, which also need to become more flexible. The 1st thing that needs to be changed is in how levels of basic pay have been determined. In the public sector and in many large private concerns, basic pay levels used to be subject to national negotiations between a collection of unions and officials from the trade association or government body. Furthermore, according to John Stredwick (2000), the reward issues need to play a major part to produce a high-performance people machine, focused on organizational objectives. Many schemes of performance related pay have a built in conflict because they have been devised to reward the achievements of individuals while other parts of the human resource policy puts great emphasis on building up team working skills and practice. To release the company from the conflict, there must be a reward strategy in place. It must be derived from and contribute to corporate strategy and be based on corporate values and beliefs. A further development in reward strategy is related to the development of competencies. Organizations have identified specific competencies which can differentiate them from their competitors. So, rewards must contingent upon circumstances and performance (John Stredwick, 2000). Problem statements Nowadays, the economic down turn has given a lot of impacts to each companies and organizations, especially the multinational corporations because they have a lot of transnational companies in each country. No one can run away from this economic down turn and each countrys exports and imports have decreased dramatically in 2009. Malaysia also suffered in this financial crisis and the Malaysia government has tried their best to cushion the economic. Organizations also cut down the employee welfare to lower their monthly expenses. The Watson Wyatt survey shows that 61% of employers expect their current financial performances to remain poor at least until the end of 2009. About half said they plan to increase their cost-cutting actions in 2009 and beyond (Sarah, 2009). In view of recession, additional financial measures for welfare may not be possible. According to Sonal Shukla (2009), recession changed the work of work culture where cost-cutting plays a predominant part. The first affe cted are the employee welfare. All the luxuries enjoyed by the employees are either reduces or may come to a standstill. Furthermore, although the rewards system can motivate the employees to perform well and become the companys core competitive advantage, some of the organizations seldom provide the rewards system in their organizations. The employees will only get the bonus or incentives once or twice a year but this is quite hard to motivate the employees. Most of the Asian companies still experience double-digit voluntary turnover rate like the India (13.8 percent) and China (10.3 percent). An organizations ability to retain talent is a challenge facing all companies. This provides challenges to be more innovative in retaining the top people in the organizations with a tighter budget during the recession time (Salary Increases Decline in Asia Pacific after One Year of Economic Turmoil, Hewitt Annual Salary Increase Study Reports, 2009). Besides that, organizations in Malaysia rarely provide the self-improvement and the self-development environment for the employees. The employees will lost their aspirations towards the organizations because they will feel that they cannot have any improvement in the organizations and they will resign the job. Employees will feel that the organizations are not pay attention to their basic needs and the organizations will also lost the high productivity workers and the turnover rate will be very high. This issue will become more serious during the economic downturn. According to Sarah (2009), during the recession time, most of the employers will intend to save the money by freezing salaries, reducing workweeks and eliminating the training programs and 18% intend to reduce or eliminate tuition reimbursement and subsidized other financial perks. Lastly, the basic pay, or the salaries for the employees are very low amongst each companies. The fresh graduate with a bachelors degree can only command a basic salary ranging from RM1, 600 to RM3, 500, with a median of Rm2, 000 per month (Betty Yeoh, 2009). This issue becomes more serious after the world is having the economic down turn and the economic in each country are still very unstable. However, the low basic pay cannot match with the real life that the employees are facing with. 2009 the actual salary increase rate went down by 4 percent and 8 percent respectively and over 60 percent of responding companies keeping wages constant (Salary Increases Decline in Asia Pacific after One Year of Economic Turmoil, Hewitt Annual Salary Increase Study Reports, 2009). Now all the products prices increase the total expenses of each month become bigger and bigger but the salary still remains unchanged. The low basic pay will demotivate the employees and the productivity will also become very low. In short run, the low basic pay may cut down the total operating expenses of the organizations but in long run, the quality of the products will decrease and the organizations need spend more money to increase their production. Based on the above scenarios, there is an urgent need for a deep discussion on the following problem: The cutting down of the welfares towards the employees in multinational companies The cutting down of the self-development and self-improvement activities in multinational companies The absence of the attractiveness of the incentives and bonus in multinational companies The low basic pay in the multinational companies Research Objectives There are three main objectives in this study, which are: To address the adoption of compensations and benefits in the multinational corporations. A well designed and managed compensations system can change the employees behaviour and their passion in their works, in order to improve their performance and productivity. The compensations may become a very critical in supporting managers to achieving the organizations goal. Furthermore, a good compensation system may also develop a positive organizational culture. It may influence the degree to which the employees view the organization is having the human resource-oriented, result based oriented and so on. Consequently, compensations not only influence on individual, but also affect the whole organization as a result. To examine the satisfaction towards compensations in the multinational companies will affect the performance. Compensations can be considered as the best ways to ensure performance at the individual level. The employees may perform well when they get the high job satisfactions from the compensations. However, there are some arguments that indicate that the compensations may not be able to assist the workers to enhance their performance, and it may also lead to a negative organizational climate, which needs to use the compensations to motivate the workers and the absence of commitment to organizational objectives. To examine the satisfaction towards the benefits in the multinational companies will affect the performance. The main purpose for having the benefits is to motivate workers to perform better well. It plays a critical role in affecting individual performance. It is critical to make sure that the benefits systems are effective in motivating individual performance as the increasing of importance of this systems in achieving organizations goal. Organization of Paper Chapter one addresses the overview of multinational companies, the overview of multinational companies in Malaysia, the research problems, the objectives and the significance of the study. From the overviews, we will have the brief idea on what are multinational companies and the multinational companies in Malaysia. Besides that, from the research problems, we will notice that what exactly happened around the world and we will understand what other researchers have found out from the significance of the study. Furthermore, form the objectives this part can know the main purposes to have this research. In chapter two will reviews issues that related on the compensations and the multinational corporations literature. The role of the multinational companies, the conflict amongst the multinational companies and the labour union in Malaysia will be reviews in Chapter 2. Furthermore, Chapter 2 will also explain what are compensations and benefits towards the employees, the types of compensations and benefits, the importance to have the compensations and benefits. In chapter three, will discuss the research method and the theoretical framework of the study. Chapter three also will present the development of the hypothesis to further describe the relationships between the independent variables and the dependent variables. Besides that, Chapter three will also include the questionnaire that used in this study. In chapter four, will discuss the results of the statistical analysis of the data and the hypothesis tested. We want to know that the results will match with the finding from other researchers. Lastly, chapter five will have a comprehensive discussion on the finding of this study, the limitations, recommendations and suggestions for future research. Chapter 2: Literature Review Introduction In this chapter, author presents the literature background on the multinational companies, the compensations and the benefits to the employees. Author will discuss the role of the multinational companies in Malaysia and their force and the conflict amongst the multinational companies with employees. As noted in chapter one, the performance can be generally affected by the basic pay, performance related pay, the welfare, the employees development and the reward system (Jaime Bonache 2005; Sonal Shukla 2009; Yuanqing Zhou, Lei Lu, Bo Jiang, 2005; John Stredwick 2000). Therefore, in this chapter, relevant study background will be study to understand the types of the compensations and the benefits, and the importance to have the compensations and benefits. As workers or the employees are the manpower of the company, there is a need to examine what will motivate the workers or the employees to perform better by using the compensations and the benefits package. Additionally, employers need to identify which plan will be more suitable and preferable in motivating a certain performance. Foreign direct investment (FDI) represents one component of the international business flow and includes start-ups of new operations, as well as purchases of existing companies. Firms will choose to become multinational to reduce the direct and indirect costs, to reduce the capital costs, to reduce taxes, to reduce logistics costs, to overcome tariff barriers, to provide better customer service, to spread foreign exchange risks, to build alternative supply sources, to pre-empt potential competitors, to learn from local suppliers, and to attract talent globally (Zubair M. Mohamed, Mohamed A. Youssef, 2004). According to Zubair M. Mohamed and Mohamed A. Youssef (2004), there are six strategic roles for foreign factories of multinational companies, they are; off-shore factory, source factory, server factory, contributor factory, output factory, and the lead factory. An off-shore factory is established to produce specific items at a low-cost and then export for further rework or for resale. For the source factory, is also a low-cost production but gives local managers authority over production planning, redesign, process changes, and out-bound logistics. The primary purpose of the server factory supplies specific national or regional markets. It typically provides a way to overcome tariff barriers, logistics costs, and exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations. Furthermore, a contributor factory also serves a national or regional market, as developed as a source factory, has more powers to develop products, process engineering, sources of supply, and development of production capabilities. Besides that, an output factorys primary role is to collect information. They are located where competitors, research laboratories, or customers are located. Lastly, a lead factory creates new processes, products, and technologies for entire company. It should be noted that the choice of the factory not only influences the location, but also the operating decisions of the facility. The shorter product life cycles, fragmented and saturated markets, more demanding customers, consolidation and mergers of companies, and rapid advances in processes and technology always present a dynamic competitive situation. A firm need to made the decisions related to international locations, production strategy, and operations strategy when they decides to become an multinational companies (Zubair M. Mohamed, Mohamed A. Youssef, 2004).he From the list of multinational companies in Malaysia (2009), there have 1690 multinational companies in Malaysia. The Role of Multinational Companies Multinational corporations have played an important role in globalization. Countries and sometimes sub national regions must compete against one another for the establishment of multinational corporations facilities, and the subsequent tax revenue, employment, and economic activity. To compete, countries and regional political districts sometimes offer incentives to multinational corporations such as tax breaks, pledges of governmental assistance or improved infrastructure, or lax environmental and labour standards enforcement (Multimedia Corporation, 2009). In the fifty year from 1950 to 2000 world trade grew by a remarkable 1,700 percent. There is an unprecedented growth in both trade and international investment leading directly to a remarkable growth in living standards, not just in developed, industrialized world but also in many developing countries when there is a period of remarkable openness in the international economy (John Browne, 2002). Multinational companies expected to help develop the region where they operate by hiring local employees, providing training programs, sourcing locally and consequently supporting the local economy (Juliette Bennett, 2002). In addition, Juliette Bennett (2002) said that multinational organizations are increasingly drawing the private sector into the global initiative against corruption in order to encourage good governance and conflict prevention. When US multinational companies invest abroad, they usually introduce their management practices, along with production technology, into less developed countries (Daniel A. Sauers, Steven C.H. Lin, Jeff Kennedy, Jana Schrenkler, 2009). Besides that, according to Juliette Bennett (2002), good corporate governance at home and abroad, promoting economic inclusiveness and community goodwill and it are very important elements of international security. The intercourse between the business and the government for the sharing skills and expertise can be valuable in promoting regional and global stability. Of course the multinational companies cannot and should not replace governments as the primary actors in international peacekeeping. However, multinational corporations working in partnerships with government and the civil society can use their business skills and financial leverage to promote regional stability. Furthermore, the multinational companies are a powerful vehicle for the transfer of not only the capital and other production functions but also managerial and technical knowledge across nations (Wenchuan Liu, 2004). Corporations have an interest in leveraging their skills and impact to promote stability in their areas of operation. All the multinational companies should bear some responsibility for the effects of their operations on the local environment and population (Juliette Bennett 2002). There are a lot of constructive engagements drives by the multinational corporations. For examples, the use of solar powered equipment to such as refrigerators which can store vital medicines in remote areas and the support for the creation of civil society in countries damaged by conflict and violence. There is a commitment from the multinational corporations to diversity founded not on quotas but based on the ability. Merit becomes the guiding factor which influences the multinational corpor ations approach to people everywhere (John Browne, 2002). Lastly, according to Juliette Bennett (2002), multinational companies can contribute to crisis management in conflict zones through commercial or philanthropic support for humanitarian relief and responsible management of security arrangements for the companys operations, thereby minimizing the risks of human rights abuses. Many cross-sector partnerships promote international security and explore conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict reconstruction strategies that address the three principal causes of conflict: corruption, poverty and social inequality. However, there is a strongly argued view that in the poorer countries of the world the role of multinationals is exploitative, environmentally damaging, and hostile to human rights and democracy, and divisive, destroying established communities. It distorts the process of development against the interests of local communities. It challenges protected niches, and established patterns of activity. It is disruptive and in places where the adjustment mechanisms are imperfect of nonexistent it produces casualties (John Browne, 2002). Besides that, according to Juliette Bennett (2002), globalization creates poverty and inequality, which in turn create the motive for much violence. Juliette Bennett further explained that the private sector is becoming more public-minded, while the public sector is becoming more business-minded. The Influence of Multinational Companies According to Maral Muratbekova-Touron (2008), globalization processes during the past decades has led to the development of the large multinational companies expanding their activities across countries and continents. One of the main issues facing the development of the global companies has always been to find the right balance between the local autonomy between subsidiaries and the control of the corporate headquarters. Compared with domestic firms, the operation of multinational companies foreign subsidiary is complicated by the existence of the dual imperatives to serve both the needs of the parent company, and possibly of other sister subsidiaries (Riliang Qu, 2007). According to Zubair M. Mohamed and Mohamed A. Youssef (2004), the growing trend among multinational companies is to leverage organizational practices across their international subsidiaries in order to improve the worldwide use of their organizational skills as an important source of competitive advantage. Traditional thinking assumed that corporate head quarters of multinational companies are responsible for the decisions concerning the roles and the capabilities of the foreign subsidiaries. However in recent reach showed that in some circumstances the management at multinational companies foreign subsidiaries are responsible for defining the strategies and objectives of their subsidiaries, within the constraints set for their opera tion (Riliang Qu, 2007). According to Daniel A. Sauers, Steven C.H. Lin, Jeff Kennedy, Jana Schrenkler (2009), Multinational companies faced the problems relate to the cultural differences. Thus, subsidiaries and joint ventures face conflicting pressures from the parent firm and the local environment. The subsidiaries of multinational companies face pressures for both local adaptation and global integration when they operate in foreign countries. Furthermore, Riliang Qu (2007) has classified subsidiaries roles within the intra-firm organisational networks of multinational companies into four categories, which are receptive, active, autonomous and quiescent subsidiaries. Receptive types of subsidiaries are highly integrated into the multinational companies network of operation and are given relatively little power in making their own decisions in relation to the local markets they serve. For the autonomous subsidiaries, are much less integrated to the multinational companies network operation and have a lot of autonomy powers. The following type is the quiescent type of subsidiaries,

Perspectives of Marriage in Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre :: Jane Eyre Essays

Perspectives of Marriage in Jane Eyre          Many novels speak of love and indulging in passion, but few speak of the dynamics that actually make a marriage work. Jane Eyre is one of these novels. It doesn't display the fleeing passions of a Romeo and Juliet. This is due entirely to Bronte's views on marriage and love. The first exception to the traditional couple the reader is shown is Rochester's marriage to Bertha. This example shows the consequences of indulging in passion. The opposite side is shown through another unlikely would-be couple, Rosamund and St. John. Through this pair, Bronte reveals the consequences of indulging in duty. Another view of marriage is also present in the book, through the character Jane Eyre and her actions.    The first example of Bronte's view on the role of passion is in Rochester's marriage to Bertha. This marriage is based entirely on passion. Rochester does nothing to either restrain or question his passion. Because of his impulsive passion, he entraps himself in an unfufilling marriage. He thought nothing of his duty and his consequence of this was he becomes the pride owner of a marriage based entirely on duty. Through Rochester's choices and consequences of those choices, the reader can see that Bronte asserts that marriage decisions based on passion and ignoring the role of duty will bring more than the loss of passion, it will bring an abundance of what you failed to factor into the decision, duty. People have to take care of responsibilities if they want to have fun and happiness later.    In case the reader failed to recognize the opportunity the Rochester marriage gives her to see Bronte's views, she puts in the book the could-be St. John marriage. St. John decides not to marry Rosamund Oliver based on his passion for her. He completely shuns his passion, the opposite extreme of Rochester. In doing this and basing his marriage decision on his duty to God, he looses a genuine chance to gain true happiness. Through this example in Jane Eyre, Bronte is trying to show the reader that the opposite end of the spectrum is also wrong in making a marriage decision.

A Room of One’s Own and Modern Fiction Essays -- Lectures Literature P

A Room of One’s Own and Modern Fiction One of the first things to notice about A Room of One’s Own is that it is not a typical lecture. It rambles and flows back and forth, in and out. It is more narrative than logic. It breaks many of the conventions of a formal address. Why does Virginia Woolf choose to do this? Why choose this style, this method? One reason is to turn predominantly masculine, or traditional, thinking on its head in order to undermine its authority. There is another reason for her approach, however—one that rises from her most basic ideas about what literature and writing should be and do. Her ideas about what makes for good writing are contained in this text, if indirectly. Grasping these ideas allows the reader to see how she is able to write so convincingly, particularly since there seems to be such a significant lack of argument involved. Where she does not tell the reader what she thinks, she shows them. But why does she add an undergraduate in a boat, and why a river? She is doi ng more than simply trying to keep the reader interested with a few colorful descriptions. She is showing us what she values most about writing while at the same time artfully expressing her views on women and fiction. Woolf is a modernist, concerned with illuminating life through the subjective consciousness and its impressions. Her seemingly random details and descriptions, in fact, work together to paint a picture, to leave a skillfully crafted impression upon the reader. She believes the best door to the human mind and heart is through the subjective. She places us inside the minds of others, where we, more often than not, find a little of ourselves. Eudora Welty writes, in her foreword to To the Lighthouse, â€Å"The inte... ...onal narrator is scarcely able, scarcely bold enough, to drop a line of thought into these waters. Descriptions of dinners and the construction of buildings give the reader a feel of Woolf’s picture of the world that no sermon, no argument, no plea, could. And it is through a taxi cab, holding a young man and a girl, and the massive force of the river that the entire work seems to float down, that she captures life and convinces us that she is telling the truth. Works Cited Welty, Eudora. Introduction. To the Lighthouse. By Virginia Woolf. 1927. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace and Co., 1981. vii-xii. Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One’s Own. The Longman Anthology of Women’s Literature. Ed. Mary K. DeShazer. New York: Longman, 2000. 16-72. ---. â€Å"Modern Fiction.† The Virginia Woolf Reader. Ed. Mitchell A. Leaska. New York: Harcourt Brace and Co., 1985. 284-291.

The Choice to Marry :: Essays Papers

The Choice to Marry John Stuart Mill, an ardent and foundational liberal theorist, aims for apparently thorough women’s liberation through freedom and equality. To the extent that he succeeds and fails, it is largely because of his liberal understanding of humans as partially constituted by their social situation and yet partially autonomous sources of reason. Mill, following Wollstonecraft, argues that women have been systematically undereducated and neglected by society, thus channeled into a marginalized status. This condition is then used as evidence of the inferiority of women in justification and reinforcement of the very structures that constitute women (Mill 23). For this problem, Mill offers a solution of institutional change that alters the mindsets of individuals in society, and structurally transforms the laws and norms that marginalize women. Mill’s basic goal is for women to gain formal equality, from which substance will follow. He also calls for liberty, partly as an extension of equality and partly as ability for a woman to define and determine herself (in ways, he later clarifies, that â€Å"mankind be †¦ better off† (Mill 85)). Therefore, just as men, with whom women ought to be made equal, can decide what career they would pursue, so too should women be allowed to select if they become a chemist, shopkeeper, or wife. However, in the case that a woman chooses to be married, she should take on domestic duties, as he suggests this is what it means to become married. She may still keep whatever extraneous pursuits she chooses, so long as they do not conflict with her domestic duties. In this step, Mill retreats from â€Å"profession† as an entirely determined term, to one with some allowance for variations on the theme, wherein â€Å"freely chosen† side activities can be added to the married woman’s role. For Okin, Mill’s premise of liberal feminism may be acceptable, but his neglect for the economic and daily realities of domestic duties discredits his conclusions. Economically, Okin accepts Mill’s advocacy of independent property for husband and wife, but complains that this formal equality of parallel property entitlements forgets that women in domestic roles will not create the property men do, because their work is unpaid (Okin 228-299). Mill’s â€Å"assumption of the immutability of the family structure† (Okin 228) also reinforces the conditions which initially gave rise to women’s distortion into the beings who men consider inferior and more simply forces upon women the drudgery of homemaking.

Red Badge of Courage Essay

â€Å"The central thrust of the Red Badge of Courage is directed towards the puncturing of Henry Fleming’s youthful range of illusions. † â€Å"Our inescapable conclusion concerning Red Badge of Courage is that Fleming is as deluded as the novel ends as he is when he first joins the Union Forces. † Which of the above assessments of the development of Henry Fleming’s character do you feel comes closest to the truth? In your answer you should Consider the arguments for and against accepting the question’s assertions; Bring to bear knowledge of external critical opinion on the issue; Look at contextual aspects of the novel in relation to the topic under consideration. ANSWER I feel that both these arguments show strong opinions and though both show a critical view of Henry Fleming, they are opposing views. The first statement seems to come closest to the truth in that the narrator uses irony to mock and deride Henry yet at the same time he feels a certain affinity with him also. Statement two is a conclusion but not inescapable as Henry, although still deluded, is not as deluded as he was at the time he joined the Union Army. In choosing statement one to be the truer of the two I have come to the conclusion that the narrator is being used as a figure who mocks Henry’s egotism and self deception on one hand then shows sympathy on the other. Stephen Crane uses the narrator to tell the story from a third party point of view and therefore can use this to get his points across. This use of third parties belies Crane’s own experiences of death and mutilation both in his private life with the death of his siblings and in the stories, pictures and photographs he has seen whilst researching the book. It is possible, Stephen Crane had read General Ulysses S Grant’s memoirs and also â€Å"Battles and Leaders of the Civil War†, which was a very popular and factual compendium of four books at the time and he no doubt saw Mathew B Brady’s photographs of the Civil War in these also. The novel is a naturalistic human- interest story but Crane uses the experiences of ordinary soldiers who fought during the Civil War to get the feel of how young men were forever changed by their experiences. Crane cleverly uses contrasts to show how Henry feels at differing times, using monster images to show how active an imagination Henry has, for example to describe a column of men, â€Å"two serpents crawling from the cavern of night†. Crane also uses nature and colour to show contrasts, with constant references to how the sky looks and the fact that â€Å"Mother Nature† still goes on regardless of anything that puny men can do to themselves, for example â€Å"a river, amber tinted in the shadow of its banks, purled at the army’s feet, and at night, when the stream had become of a sorrowful blackness, one could see across it the red, eye-like gleam of hostile campfires†¦ † Phrases like â€Å"A fair field holding life. †¦ It would die if its timid eyes were compelled to see blood† and â€Å"He conceived nature to be a woman with a deep aversion to tragedy† all show Henry’s wonderment at the fact that nature can carry on despite what happens, and at times the narrator sometimes unfairly mocks Henry for this. As the story develops and we see how Henry deals with the harsh realities of war the use of symbols becomes more developed, with Henry seeing the darker sides to war and death. This is when, I feel, the narrator becomes sympathetic to Henry as he tries to reconcile himself with the terrible things he has seen and done. The narrator give the most sympathy to Henry when he gets lost in the woods and finds a dead man, â€Å"horror-stricken by the sight of a thing† and again when he meets up with Jim Conklin and watches as he dies. Paradoxically he mocks when Henry’s thoughts turn to death and the hope that he â€Å"would be understood† in the afterlife. When Henry celebrates victory too soon and then runs away and when Henry leaves the tattered man to die despite staying with Jim whilst he died. After Henry returns to his own camp and Wilson tends his wound he gets very defensive if anyone mentions his absence or his wound, to the point of him thinking of blackmailing Wilson with the return of his letters and the narrator here shows how Henry is feeling superior yet benevolent, thinking himself the better for not being able to conjure up a scathing remark and how his self justification makes him pompous, devious and condescending. Henrys illusions are punctured again when after bravely fighting, he hears the veterans laughing at him, which only provokes him to further prove his own worth on the battlefield. His perception of the battle is now coloured by the â€Å"brotherhood of battle. † The second claim, is wrong in that Henry is not as deluded as he was, he has fought his demons and come out on the other side, not perfect, but able to realise that he has done dreadful things and he will have to live with them. Crane uses this discovery of self to great aplomb as he makes Henry question himself in the final chapter. Henry has a totally selfish and biased view of the world at the start, which slowly unravels as the story goes on. Crane uses the narrator to give us an insight into Henry’s mind by verbalising his thoughts and giving the narrators view of his actions. This in turn helps us to see the turmoil that Henry faces both within fighting the war and within himself. He turns out to despise his early blusterings and convinces himself that he has matured fully. Although this is not true, he has matured to some extent by being able to see the flaws in his character. Henry still romanticises himself and his surroundings but his personal battle between his consious fear and his desire to become a hero has been won. When Henry joined up he believed that he would become a great hero and that he would win great battles, he of course had never even seen a battle except those that went on in his head. He boasts and brags, to himself, about how brave he is going to be yet he turns and runs once the realities of the fighting become apparent. Through his experiences he slowly comes to terms with the fact that war is bloody and cruel And when his friend shows weakness he stores the information to use at a later date – something he later cannot do. To justify all that he has done he thinks † it had been necessary for him to swallow swords that he might have a better throat for grapes. Fate had, in truth been kind to him. † And to justify leaving the tattered man â€Å"he exclaimed that its importance in the aftertime would be great to him if it even succeeded in hindering the workings of his egotism. † Critics of Stephen Crane have both blasted this story as utter rubbish and Crane’s usage of the third party narrator as him trying to write a biography. General McClurg, when this book was published blasted it as blatant lies. His soldiers would never act like that in such a base manner. McClurg himself fought in the Civil War but being a general was not of course in the front lines of the battle. Many of the men who were, swore that they had fought with Stephen Crane even though he was not born until after the Civil War had ended. Such was the reality of the story to those people. The people who thought that this story was an analogy for Stephen Crane’s life based this assumption on these claims, so therefore, Stephen Crane must know of the battle mindset. Personally I think that Crane had heard so many stories of the war he could picture himself there and could imagine how a young boy would feel going through these experiences. Rather like modern stories penned by writers for television and films. I believe that Crane has shown himself to be a psychological realist in writing this piece and that each reader takes from it what they want in relation to their own experiences and knowledge. Perhaps this was a biographical piece and Crane used Henry to show his own delusions. On discussion of this piece, both within a classroom setting and using discussion groups on computer, I have read and heard many differing views of Henry. These views vary depending on the critic’s age. Many young people see him as egotistical, judgemental and self absorbed whilst mature students see him as just like most teenagers, too young to be able to see the big picture. Henry may be deluded but like most people once maturity sets in delusions become lessened as experience is gained. In conclusion I feel that statement 1 is true because the story develops many internal storylines one of which is the puncturing of Henry Fleming’s youthful range of illusions, of which he has many. Statement 2 on the other hand seems true because Henry is deluded to a certain extent. This is one definite statement with no real detail behind it, the author of it seems to be assuming that Henry can not or will not change.