The Effects Of Music Videos On Children Young People Essay

The Effects Of Music Videos On Children Young People Essay Music wakes up in our minds in the morning to the point of making us want to dance and probably soothing us when we have sand feelings. From our childhood through teenage to adulthood, music becomes our integral part in our whole life. At teenage, music helps define the characteristics of an individual. Pediatricians have tried to specialize in adolescent medicine and also consider the power of music and how it affects their identity. The impact on the individuals cultural and social boundaries is highly attributed to the long average hours of listening to music. Despite the fact that there is extensive variety of genres of music, adults and children differ on how they select the content to listen to. With the ability to discern what is right and what is wrong, adults may not be highly affected by the current behavior or social ills. Children on the other hand are much prone to the attractive violent category of music; the music contains plots that draw adolescents and other minority. During the development stages in adolescent, children try to discover their own Hero and role models. This means that the environment in which these children spend and grow will give them the character they want as own hero. At this time, the most inspiring issue to the child is to get what she or he wants. Assuming that the child has personal problems o challenges that he or she wants to defeat, it would be easier to prefer violent characters on TV and then adopt their way of doing things. Most of the hip hop music for instance contains violent engagements, use of drugs, sexual situations as well as sexual violence. The child would then develop with the notion that he or she must be violent or arrogant to survive in life. Heavy metal music has extreme alienating effects on developing children which includes psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, sex-role stereotyping and suicide risk. If a child displays violent acts against other children, the parent or the teacher has to pay close attention the music being listened to by children (Kathy John). Most music videos may show half naked women which affect the mental health of a child. Due to the societal behavioral classification, this mode of dressing is not acceptable in public. Therefore children experience severe mental strain in deciding what to accept as a norm or evil. Depending on the exposure the child experiences, the child can develop in favor of the environment. A child can grow in a calm environment which may promote the wellbeing of the child. Calm videos can help the child admire to have the future he or she sees on the TV or such media. These groups of children prefer to stay in peaceful environment and mostly tend to be obedient and accepted in the society. On the other hand violent videos tend to portray that the world is much violent than the way it is. This makes children believe that their home is the only exemption that is safe. Children get deceived that their families must align with the society. Children do not have great exposure to the outer society due to their parental care. This leaves the children to understand the community to be home and TV or digital media. This means that if the parents do not stay at home for long hours, the child may end up adopting the media culture other than the home culture. The child advances in being violent and aggressive through the adolescent to early adulthood. The cognitive scripts developed by children are developed through imitating media heroes. Most of these are adopted from violent music videos and shows. As teenagers and children watch these violent acts, they are able to internalize these scripts and become effective in influencing the life of the individual (Mhhe.com). Fashion is one of the areas that teenagers and children want to feel like they rule. They always want to outdo others, either among themselves or when alone. Celebrities adopt specific fashion for different tracks and videos; this leaves the child in a much vulnerable and delicate situation of selecting the style they want. These fashion problems may become an issue to the family since they may not be acceptable to the parents and the general public. The tense can lead to family problems where parents engage in physical confrontation with the child. Children on the other hand are not in a position to argue with the situation in which case they may be drawn away from their family. Areas in which fashion affects girl child includes scanty dressing, improper make up usage and use of drugs to change their body contour to look attractive. Boys may not experience extensive effects since the society does not set what is morally incorrect for the boy child. The problem however may be pronoun ced in a Christian family setting. This means that children can negatively be affected by such fashion (Media Awareness Network). The other problem area that music videos affect children during development is the misuse and use of alcohol in children. Video show explicit situations where young people are using alcohol and drugs. The child thinks that such use of drugs and alcohol would make the known and respected in the society. Since the video may not be only one that show such behaviors, the child tend to think that use of drugs or alcohol does not have any consequences after all. Although they may see warning signs on billboards highlighting the negative effects of using drugs and alcohol in young age, they do not get convinced as they get while watching a video. Such a child faces the wrath of using such drugs and alcohol to a point of addiction. The problem with such addiction is that they would require the individual to get medical attention and rehabilitation to recover and have a normal life again. Before the child or a parent discovers this problem, the child would have wasted a lot of precious time t hat could be used to develop talents and discover his or her mission in life. As earlier said, children may not be in a position to determine their role model with a conscious mind; the prominent environment chooses for them (Media Awareness Network). Language is the other aspect of a child that is affected by these videos. A child would always want to develop his or her commanding ability especially among peers or to use when asking something from the parent. The process of developing such that he or she can command respect naturally can get interfered with through audio and visual media. When the child sees someone on video eliciting vulgar words to others and gets what he needs done, and then the child will find it easier and efficient. The fact that such language is common in hard music which happens to be wide spread, the child assumes that such language is allowed in the society. The child ends up adopting the vulgar language for use in the community. Such children get discriminated in a society that values respectful individuals (Media Awareness Network). Fear is the other effect the music videos can have on the children. Children always want to feel safe and secure; it may not be the case when they discover that the world is not as they take it. Guns and deaths seem exaggerated on videos such that the child feels that anyone can be killed anytime and the criminal goes scot-free. The child may develop fear that this may happen to him or her or even to one of the family members. This can result to negative development of such children. With advancement in video production technology, video animation has become much easier. Some videos contain pictures showing situations where human being are being traumatized by unknown creatures, such video can be a fear factor to a child who has not developed enough to understand that such images are human creations and fiction. Such videos that scare children can trigger suicidal or homicidal feelings in a child. Music videos show explicit motion pictures that promote sex in the society. It is clear that such pictures would be of much interest to children who have not yet tried to indulge in sex itself. They act as the base upon which they learn how sex takes place. The sexual consciousness of a child may be aroused through such videos. Children can then try among themselves what they observed happen. In the process of trying, careless adults may become attracted to such minors. This opens to the child many challenges in life including sexually transmitted infections or even AIDS. Such sexual experiences are hard for children to contain and control, making them much vulnerable to rapists and child sex (Aubrey Jennifer). In conclusion, music videos have highly affected the structure of our society due to the effectiveness audio visual media. The power of such media has numerous advantages that have benefited the society, but this does not happen without a variety of back draws. Through the same visual technology, our society has degraded to a point of snatching childrens mind; children cannot live any more without videos. Media has become much accessible to children and teens through internet. It is however the responsibility of the guardian to create conducive environment for the child to grow. This can be achieved through use of internet filter tools to lockout inappropriate media from streaming. The parent can also subscribe for family programs that have their content checked for general audience. It might be hard or the parent to control what the child watches when alone therefore, it is also the responsibility of the parent to advise his or her children on what is appropriate and what is not. Work cited Aubrey Jennifer. The impact of sexually objectifying media exposure on negative body motions and sexual self perceptions investigating the mediating role of body self consciousness 2007. May 3, 2010 Kathy Dix John Harris. Violence in Music May 3, 2010 Media Awareness Network. Inappropriate content in music negative effects May 3, 2010 Mhhe.com Does media violence promote violent behavior in young people? July 2001. May 3, 2010 http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/english/allwrite3/seyler/ssite/seyler/ se04/promote.pdf> Murray Jeannette. The Negative Effect of Music Videos, July 29, 2006. May 3, 2010

Should the Quest for Knowledge be Boundless? Essay -- Exploratory Essa

  Ã‚   Victor Frankenstein suffered from a lack of foresight. He only planned to reanimate a human being; he did not consider the consequences of such an action, and he did not build protections for unexpected, detrimental effects. Real-life scientists suffer from the same problem. Today we are reminded with every issue of "Time" that scientists in one modern field, nuclear technology, and emerging field genome mapping/genetic engineering wield considerable power. Shelley raises the question whether the quest for scientific knowledge should be bound. The quest for knowledge should never be bound because injunctions against originality would lead to the oppression of mankind's most important resource, our thinkers. But scientists themselves should be bound by foresight. At the inception of a new idea or process, bodies of scientists should review the question before the new methods have been applied. They should try to foresee possible ill effects and seek to minimize these beforeha nd, and contain them afterwards. This would have come in handy for Victor Frankenstein.    The emergence of agriculture at the dawn of civilization was also the emergence of genetic engineering. Everyday varieties of horses and wheat that we know today were crossbred into current, recognizable states from earlier, wild plants and animals well before history began to be recorded. "Crossbreeding is a relatively slow and clumsy method of 'improving' animal and plant species" *1* compared to modern times, when gene manipulation means tests tubes and petri dishes, not dirt or husbandry. While prohibitively expensive (for the time being) DNA manipulation and fertility techniques will become simpler, cheaper, and more accurate. Soon, any hack scientist with... ... 1991. Andrea A Lunsford, John J. Ruszkiewicz, The Presence of Others: Voices and Images that Call for Response Mary Shelly, Frankenstein. Bedford/St.Martins, Boston MA, 2000. 1 Van Doren p.398 2 Van Doren p.293 3 quoted in McGowan p.82 4 quoted in McGowan p.82 5 Van Doren p.398 6 McGowan Ch.12 7 http://www.doug-long.com/einstein.html 8 http://www.wakeamerica.com/past/books/manhattan/manhattan/manhattanmanhattan11.html 9 http://www.prop1.org/prop1/histnuke.html 10 http://www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,158208-412,00.shtml 11 http://www.dreamscape.com/morgana/adrastea.html 12 http://www.cadu.org.uk/ 13 McGowan p.191 14 http://www.chernobyl.co.uk/ 15 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/three/ 16 http://www.sierraclub.org/nuclearwaste/ 17 http://www.un.org 18 Shelley p.232 19 Shelley p.232

Nefertiti

The existence of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti could be dated back to fourteenth century BCE, 18th Dynasty. Nefertiti is the chief wife of the pharaoh, Amenhotep IV and she is most well-known for her emergence in Egyptian art, particularly the prominent bust which was located in 1912 at Amarna, aside from that she is also well-known for the role she most likely played in the religious rebellion focusing on monotheistic worship of Aten. Aten, on the other hand is also a well-known Egyptian sun disk. Amenhotep IV made use of the name Akhenaten when he took charge of the religious rebellion which situated Aten as the main focus of their worship. Art during that period illustrates a closely knitted family relationship with the royal family. These arts are illustrated in a naturalistic, individualistic, and informal manner, and it comprises of Nefertiti, her husband and their six children. Most representations of the Egyptian queen, Nefertiti also showed her as taking an active part in the Aten cult. Approximately, fourteen years later, Nefertiti suddenly vanished from the public’s eye and Amenhotep IV was succeeded to the throne by Smenkhkhare, often depicted as his son-in-law. One speculation regarding the sudden disappearance of queen Nefertiti is that she took on a male identity and governed under the name Smenkhkhare, another hypothesis is that she was killed as a piece of the come back to the customary Egyptian religious traditions, there are however, also some speculations that she died a natural death (Akhet Egyptology, 2007). Nefertiti’s origin is very debatable in that no one knows exactly where she came from, and up to now, it is still argued over by archaeologists and historians alike. There is a probability that she is a foreign princess or the child of a former pharaoh, Amenhotep III which all opened the possibility that Amenhotep IV may not actually be the son of the pharaoh, Amenhotep III, or even that they are married in spite of the fact that Nefertiti may have been Akhentaten’s half-sister (since it is only natural and customary in Egypt to marry half-brothers and sisters). However, there are also possibilities that she is not of a noble or royal blood and that she is the child of Ay (brother of Amenhotep III’s wife). Ay, in turn, is at times referred to as â€Å"the God’s father†, therefore implying the possibility that Ay is Akhenaten’s father-in-law, although there had not been, up to this point in time, no precise references which could be used to back up this particular declaration. Mutnojme, Nefertiti’s sister, on the other hand is presented outstandingly in the adornments in Ay’s tomb, yet, one could not just deduct that Mutnojme and Nefertiti is already Ay’s daughters, since Mutnojme’s presence on Ay’s tomb alone could not be sufficient evidence of their relationship to one another. There are also some speculations of Nefertiti being an heiress, and it opens the possibility that she may be a progeny of ahmose-Nefertari, although she was never really depicted as God’s wife Amun, on the other hand, Nefertiti never claimed to be the offspring of a pharaoh, and from that one could be certain that Nefertiti is not on the direct line of descent even if it so happened that she is indeed a child of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Also, there are speculations that even if Nefertiti is truly an offspring of ay, it is highly probable that she is not the daughter of Ay’s chief wife, and that her mother met an early death which left her to the care of Tey. On the other hand, there are still a great deal of claims in regard to her origin which only proves how debatable her exact origin really is (Lewis, 2007). Nefertiti is most celebrated in the ancient times because of her exceptional beauty, and she is ranked, up to this point in time, among the most famous Egyptian queens. The renowned sculpture of Queen Nefertiti, which had been found in a sculptor’s workshop in Akhenaten, is considered as one of the most instantly identifiable images from Nefertiti’s time. It has diverted the excesses which could be found on the Armana artistic style, and it also endured the extensive obliteration wrought by Akhenaten’s memorials after his demise (Drake, 2007). It appears that Queen Nefertiti have taken up till now unparalleled height of magnitude in the Amarna age art. As could be seen from one of her statues in Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, Nifertiti is usually depicted making some kinds of presents or offerings to the sun god, Aten, and it is even assumed that she equaled her husband’s fame. Fact is, there are even speculations that Queen Nefertiti’s fame far surpasses that of her husband. It is even speculated that even in the ancient time, her exceptional beauty was widely renowned, and her celebrated statue (the one mentioned earlier which was found in an artists’ workshop), is not simply a renowned and most identifiable icon in all Egypt, rather, it is also a subject of a great deal of debate. In response to those who think that the only thing which made Nefertiti famous is her exceptional beauty, they ought to know that there is more to this Egyptian queen than meets the eye especially since it appears that up to this point in time, she have an unmatched rank of importance in the Amarna era in the eighteenth dynasty. In numerous work of arts, Nefertiti’s rank is obvious and it denotes that her influence may have equaled, if not surpassed, that of Amenhotep IV. For an instance, Nefertiti is represented almost twice as often as Amenhotep IV, at any rate, during the 1st five years of her husband’s period in office. Definitely, Nefertiti is once even portrayed in the traditional stance of a pharaoh cutting his adversary. As was the case with her husband, there is also no suggestion or traces of her mummy, some jewels which bears her symbols were located at the royal tomb at Akhenaten. However, there is no real proof or confirmation that Nifertiti was even buried in Akhenaten. According to some existing accounts, it is probable that she fell from favor from her husband or she met her end during her husband’s time in power. In any case, it is probable that her burial had been held anywhere but Akhenaten’s. As was already mentioned earlier, Nefertiti is the chief royal wife of Amenhotep IV and they have had six offsprings (all of which are females). However, there are claims that it was in all probability, with Amnhotep’s another wife, Kiya, that he was able to father his would successors to his throne. His successors had been Smenkhkare and Tutankhamun. Aside from Kiya, Amenhotep IV have two other wives namely, Mekytaten and Ankhesenpaaten, there are even conjectures that Merytaten (possibly one of Nefertiti’s daughters) was also a wife of Amenhotep IV. Indisputably, Amenhotep IV really loved his chief wife, Nefertiti in that Nefertiti and Amenhotep IV had been always together on the first reliefs, most of which depicted the royal family in a affectionate, loving and about an almost perfect masterpieces. From time to time, the pharaoh could be seen riding with Nefertiti in a chariot or the pharaoh kissing his chief wife in public, or with Nefertiti sitting on his husband’s lap. One of the eulogies even declared Nefertiti as: â€Å"the Heiress, Great in the Palace, Fair of Face, Adorned with the Double Plumes, Mistress of Happiness, Endowed with Favors, at hearing whose voice the King rejoices, the Chief Wife of the King, his beloved, the Lady of the Two Lands, Neferneferuaten-Nefertiti, May she live for Ever and Always† (Dunn, 2005). Remarkably significant to Amenhotep IV was Femininity which was not simply essential in his personal life, but to his thoughts, philosophies, and convictions as well, as a matter of fact, it is definitely hard to find another founder of a religion on which females have had a similar functions as that of the male of the species. Amenhotep IV had a great number of women which surrounds him (this is evident by the sheer number of his wives), and they are all portrayed in nearly every appearances of a cult ritual performed by the pharaoh at his new capital as a tribute to Aten which proves that Amenhotep IV treated all of his wives in a respectful manner. Each and every one of Amenhotep IV’s wives was given their very own refuge, which were usually referred to as the sunshade temple. They were often positioned in parkland surroundings of plants as well as water pools, all of which gave emphasis to the significance of these women in the every day restitution of creation impinged on by Aten. Nevertheless it was the image of Queen Nefertiti that Amenhotep IV had fashioned on the four corners of his granite tomb and it was also Nefertiti who presented the fortification to Amenhotep IV’s mummy, a position customarily played by the Egyptian goddesses Isis, Selket, an Neith. One thing which may have greatly influenced the royal couple’s relationship was the presence of the pharaoh’s mother Tiye. It is surmised that Tiye holds an important and very exclusive role in Amenhotep IV’s court, and one could only deduce that this may have had affected the relationship of the royal couple. Tiye, as the â€Å"wise woman† of El Amarna was often portrayed in such a way which indicate her old age as well as her life experiences and wisdom which generates awe, reverence, great regard from every one (Yakutchik, 2007). One could then surmise that the wrinkles or the carvings which indicates old age in Tiye’s face also indicates her position as a â€Å"wise woman† whose wisdom she derived through her so many experiences in life. It was basically this reason why when Nefertiti’s face was also depicted in such a way which also signals old age, one could only conclude that by that time, the queen Nefertiti also attained the wisdom Tiye had through her many experiences on Earth. Most of this depictions occurred after Tiye’s death which made some conclude that Nefertiti is the successor of the â€Å"wise woman†. This in turn, brought Nefertiti’s position in court a higher status. Queen Nefertiti is probably best known for the painted limestone bust which portrays her, a large number of people regard it as one of the greatest masterpiece there is in the pre-contemporary world. This bust is at times called the Berlin bust and it had been recently subjected into a great deal of controversy. For so many years, this particular bust had been the most renowned display in Berlin’s Egyptian Museum, drawing an immense number of foreigners because of its sheer beauty and history and defying every endeavor at repatriation (Tyldesley, 1999). However, a conceptual work of art which involves the Berlin bust and the body of an inadequately dressed female incited a great deal of indignation and anger in Nefertiti’s motherland, along with the allegation that Nefertiti is no longer protected in Berlin, this particular depiction of Nefertiti in an insufficient outfit was made by Little Warsaw. This caused so much outrage, particularly in the part of the Egyptian officials for numerous reasons. One ought to take note of the fact that Egypt is a very conservative country and the putting of the queen’s head to a scantily clad figure is nothing short of an insult to the Egyptians not to mention the fact that such exhibit may cause considerable damage to the bust (Dunn, 2005). Another controversy and the more recent of the two was the probability that Nefertiti’s mummy had at last been located. Joanne Fletcher, a well-known mummification expert from the University of York, declared the likelihood that Nefertiti’s mummy may at last been discovered. Fletcher pointed out some clues in support of her claim such as the shaven head on which, according to her is needed in order for the crown to fit. However, in spite of this all there are still some debates on whether the mummy was indeed Queen Nefertiti’s or not. As could be seen, the life of the beautiful and interesting queen Nefertiti is indeed full of controversies and there is a huge probability that things would forever remain as such. One could only hope that there would come a time that a light would be shed to some interesting issues which surrounds the queen and that we would at last be able to ascertain the things which had been linked to her life as well as the issues which surrounds her decades later after her death. Works Cited Akhet Egyptology. â€Å"Nefertiti†. (2007). Drake, Nick. Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead. Harper Collins, 2007. Dunn, Jimmy. â€Å"Feature Story Queen Nefertiti.† (2005). . Lewis, Jone Johnson. â€Å"Nefertiti†. (2007). . Tyldesley, Joyce A. Nefertiti: Egypt’s Sun Queen. Penguin Books Ltd; New Ed edition, 1999. Yakutchik, Maryalice. â€Å"Who Was Nefertiti?† (2007).         

Why self-publishing kickstarted my childrens lit career

Why self-publishing kickstarted my childrens lit career Why Self-Publishing Kickstarted My Children's Lit Career Native Finn,  Tuire Siiriainen  is an illustrator and the founder of Blueberry Pie, a self-publishing company. With the help of a Kickstarter campaign, she published her first book through her company in August 2016 - a personalized children’s adventure called "Message in a Bottle." Read on to hear how the campaign was fully funded in just two weeks.I was born in Finland, and have always seen stories around me. A lot of my inspiration came from my surroundings - forests, lakes, countryside cottages, and animals - but especially from children’s books. Rather than Roald Dahl and Dr. Seuss, my favorite authors growing up were Astrid Lindgren (author of the Pippi Longstocking series), or Mauri Kunnas. Books about strong, Nordic children doing stubborn and seemingly foolish things have inspired me up to present day.During university in Belgium, I studied marketing - which is a form of storytelling itself. While in school, I rediscovered the magic of drawing and returned to the picture books of my childhood. When I reached the end of my studies at the age of 23, I knew that I wanted to create my own picture book.From a book idea to self-publishingI was never fascinated by the idea of traditional publishing. To me, it seemed slow and stiff, and even though I’m the first one to acknowledge the value of a printed book, the ways of publishing them felt out-of-date.Then I discovered the world of personalized children’s book and heard about print-on-demand (POD). It hit me instantly - this is how I want to create my book! I saw the unexplored possibilities of POD technology that would allow highly creative and inventive story concepts to come to life. "I saw the potential of POD  for  bringing creative and inventive story concepts to life." @MIABBook The StoryIn the summer of 2015, my partner Wojtek and I came up with the idea for our first children’s book, Message In A Bottle, during one of our forest walks: A lone bottle with a message inside is found on a beach by an animal. On the bottle label, there is a name and an address. The animal decides to deliver the bottle to its rightful owner, and with the help of many other animals around the world, the message in the bottle finally reaches its intended destination - and the mysterious message is revealed.The message in the bottle is created by the giver of the book, whether it’s a family member or friend. And the name and address on the bottle belong to the real child - the reader of the book. This is where the personalization aspect of the book come into play.Gathering a teamWe hesitated regarding whether or not I should illustrate the book because I had no professional experience - but, we knew I could draw. In the end, my drawing passion, paired with the need for constant marketing artwork, led us to picking our illustrator: me.Our digital agency had been working on the â€Å"Message In A Bottle† website since May 2016. They had the big challenge of creating an online platform where it would be easy to personalize and order the book. This meant submitting the child’s name, address, country and a personal message for the bottle, personalizing the world map page to show the route Kiki took to deliver the bottle, previewing the personalized book and creating a print-ready file to be sent to the print house.In July, all of the illustrations for â€Å"Message In A Bottle† were completed. And after countless website tests and print proofs, our website went live end of August.Since the launch, we have delivered over 100 personalized books to children all over Europe: the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Germany to name few. It’s the reaction of children that has completely touched our hearts. Hearing how much they lo ve their own personal book and how Kiki has become a beloved character in the whole family has been the most amazing reward.One year ago I had no idea where to start in terms of publishing a children’s book. Now I can’t wait to begin my second one!Fore more resources on writing and publishing a children's book, don't forget to check out these posts:How to Publish a Children's BookHow to Write a Children's BookHow to Find the REAL Target Market for Your Children’s BookVisit the Message In A Bottle website to personalize and purchase your own copy!If you've run your own campaign, what have been your positive or negative experiences? Did you have any learnings or takeaways from the experience?  Leave your thoughts, experiences, or any questions for Tuire in the comments below.

Business Management in Armenia

Business Management in Armenia Free Online Research Papers Abstract: The workforce of the 21st century is increasingly diverse and multicultural. Every society generates its own cultural values. It creates its own vision of the world to explain man’s destiny, and organizations and management systems compatible with that vision. To effectively manage and lead in this environment, business managers must be knowledgeable about cross-cultural factors-on both the domestic and global fronts especially in human resource management. This paper shows the importance of adapting training seminars and management methods of the Armenian cultural context. This means not only taking into account a different economic regime but also accounting for Armenian cultural values. 1 Introduction As a concept and as a reality, culture is broad and multifaceted. On a daily basis, culture influences who we are as individuals, families, communities, professions, industries, organizations and nationsand how we interact with each other within and across regional and national borders. Defined as a set of values and beliefs with learned behaviors shared within a particular society, culture provides a sense of identity and belonging. From language, communication styles, history and religion to norms, values, symbolism and ways of being, culture is everywhere. Companies are not managed in the same way in all countries. In order to predict what management style would emerge from the post-Communist era in Armenia, we had to gain some very practical knowledge about the concrete problems faced by Soviet company directors on one hand, and begin to examine the basic values which make up Armenian culture on the other. In domestic and global workplace settings, people in organizations reflect their respective cultures. As shifting demographics bring together people of many cultural backgrounds, human resource management (HRM) must be thoughtfully examined and sometimes altered to support organizational goals. SHRM Special Expertise Panel members point out that for sustainability, organizational leaders must expand their perspectives from a local to a worldly view. SHRMs 2008 Workplace Forecast highlights several trends in culture that will likely have a major impact on the workplace: 1) heightened awareness of cultural differences in domestic and global workplaces; 2) greater need for cross-cultural understanding/savvy in business settings; 3) managing talent globally; 4) greater emphasis on global leadership competencies; and 5) increased use of virtual global teams. Thus, HR professionals experienced in workplace diversity and cross-cultural communication are well-positioned to develop and implement culturally appropriate HRM strategies, policies and practices. While not exhaustive, this Research Quarterly focuses on selected cross-cultural factors in HRM in todays workplace and provides insights for HR to better serve the needs of the organization. With the advent of globalization, research on cross-cultural organizational behavior has become a pathway to understand the dynamics of multicultural domestic and international workplaces. In fact, successful organizations of the 21st century require leaders who understand culturally diverse work environments and can work effectively with different cultures that have varying work ethics, norms and business protocols. Yet, diverse cultures create HRM challenges. As Lisbeth Claus, Ph.D., SPHR, GPHR, associate professor of global HR at Willamette University, points out, that the HRM challenges lie between the various types of culturesthe cultures of emerging and developed countries and the growing heterogeneity of the workforce in terms of multiculturalism. Gaining cross-cultural competence takes time, education, experience, openness and sensitivity. When people lack intercultural skills, miscommunications can damage business relationships, deadlines can be missed, projects may fail and talented people will go to the competition. Key HR responsibilities are to understand how cross-cultural factors interact with HRM, be the conduit for organizational learning for cross-cultural intelligence and foster cross-cultural communication throughout the organization. Cultural Value Dimensions: Cross-cultural intelligence is the ability to switch ethnic and/or national contexts and quickly learn new patterns of social interaction with appropriate behavioral responses. This competence is essential to work effectively in multicultural environments. Thus, linking future career paths and global business success with cultural competence is important for HR to emphasize, with the goal that managers are motivated to acquire new behaviors and skills and understand the benefits of learning from different cultures. To become culturally competent, the first step is to have a solid understanding of ones own values and how they shape cultural identity. Within this process, it is also important to realize that different cultures often exhibit different values. There are 5 cultural value dimensions (according to Hofsted’s theory): 1. Power distance 2. Individualism/Collectivism 3. Masculinity/Femininity 4. Uncertainty Avoidance 5. Long/Short Term Orientation 1) High power distance indicates that hierarchy is important 2) Uncertainty avoidance is achieved by behavior that results in fewer unforeseen consequences 3) High-context cultures rely upon an internalized social context and/or physical environment (such as body language) and face-to-face communication for all or a large part of the message (e.g., indirect, subtle, ambiguous), whereas low-context cultures rely on direct messages (e.g., clear, stated in words, with emphasis on time management, punctuality and deadlines). 4) Collectivism refers to societies in which the group is valued over the individual and the individuals responsibility to the group overrides the individuals rights; individualism refers to societies that emphasize individual achievements and rights. 5) Long-term orientation indicates that cultural values are future-looking, including thrift, perseverance, humility/shame, and observe hierarchical relationships, whereas short term orientation values look to the past, such as respecting tradition. The culture of an organizations headquarters may highly influence the overall organizational culture. Specific factors determine the shape of corporate culture: 1) the relationship between employees and the company; 2) the hierarchical system of authority; and 3) the overall view of employees about the companys future, including its mission and goals, and their respective roles in the organization. (12) According to cross-cultural researchers and management consultants Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner, there is a link between corporate and national cultures. Organizations can be classified into four different ideal-types of corporate culture, based on their focus on tasks/relationship and the extent of hierarchy: 1) the family; 2) the Eiffel Tower; 3) the guided missile; and 4) the incubator. These models of corporate culture provide insights as to why HRM policies and programs differ. Building Business Relationships: Building optimal business relationships requires global fluency. Global fluency defined as facility with cultural behaviors that help an organization thrive in an ever-changing global business environment is a competitive advantage to establish and maintain good business relationships. To promote people working effectively with those of other cultures, cross-cultural training assists employees in becoming knowledgeable about cross-cultural communication in terms of their own cultural values, behaviors and assumptions, and those of other cultures. Cross-cultural communication also includes global business etiquette from greeting behaviors, exchanging business cards and toasting at business dinners to work attitudes, appropriate work attire and nonverbal communication. To not cause offense, it is helpful to be aware of differences in greetings, such as the handshake. Another differing communication style is the use of silence, a form of nonverbal commun ication. In high-context cultures, such as in Asian countries, silence indicates thoughtfulness in decision-making. In contrast, people in low-context cultures, such as the dominant culture in the United States, are uncomfortable with silence and tend to fill the void with small talk, such as comments about the weather. People establish rapport in accordance with their cultural values. Based on social capital theory and the importance of social networks, a recent study explored intercultural communication strategies for business relationship building through interviews with business executives in Armenia. The findings indicate that building a business relationship is defined within the socio-cultural and economic contexts of the respective cultures and that depending on the culture, different strategies are used to build and maintain business relationships. The following mini-case study demonstrates a success story from the viewpoint of the Armenian culture. 2 Case Study: The Armenian Story A senior manager works at an Armenian company that sells a broad array of products (groceries, liquor, durable goods) and describes his philosophy about relationship building with an example from his company: As he says to successfully achieve our business goals, establishing and maintaining relationships with distributors is an essential strategy. Some of our customers are large firms, managed by graduates from the elite university I attended. This link creates strong networking opportunities. Once this connection is made, it is critical to invest time in this relationship, and I always counsel my subordinates on the importance of relationship building. One employee in particular is very good at maintaining relationships. He works hard to do so, even going to the airport or train station without prior arrangement to meet clients upon their arrival, once at 5 a.m. This effort shows that he is sincere and demonstrates how far he will go to maintain this valuable relationship. This personalized service adds to our commitment to nurture a long-term business relationship. Effective cross-cultural communication is necessary to build and maintain business relationships. To support their organizations, HR professionals can develop HRM practices and policies that promote cross-cultural training and reward managers for their part in educating employees on effective cross-cultural communication. 3 Methodology Analysis and identification of basic values prevailing in Armenian society was made by international consultant. After having gained some insight into the country’s mentality was determined what type of business management would evolve. This article deals with the findings of the second of these investigations. They are the result of a small study carried out in Armenia among 55 executives and directors in training at the HCYS in Yerevan. The questionnaire used in this research was based on Hofstede’s studies examining company executives’ and directors’ cultural values, which included 116,000 questionnaires in 20 languages, administered in 72 countries across five continents. The methodology used and detailed results for all the countries surveyed may be found in the book Culture’s Consequences. 4 Results 4.1 Position of Armenian culture in four main cultural values 4.1.1 Power distance: This perception varies a great deal from country to country, and so the concept of power distance is an important key to identifying differences between them. Armenia rated 76, placing it among the countries with high power distance. This score is as high as, India, Sub-Saharan Africa and a little higher than France (68). By way of comparison, the US scored 40 and Scandinavian countries have an even lower rating (e.g. 30 for Finland). This value constitutes a permanent part of Armenian mentality. One of the findings of investigation is that 42 per cent of our interviewees’ direct superiors are described as autocratic and 22 per cent as paternalistic. 4.1.2 Uncertainty Avoidance: The measure of uncertainty avoidance is in direct proportion to the degree of freedom in the country. Anxiety leads to accepting ways of limiting uncertainty, which in turn leads to accepting restrictions on individual liberty. Numerous observers have recorded the Armenian need to control uncertainty. According to the survey, Armenian executives display a high level of anxiety about the future which manifests itself in a tendency to be nervous, emotional and aggressive. Armenia has a similar rating to France (86) on uncertainty avoidance. It is therefore not surprising to find that 78 per cent of Armenian executives questioned say that they feel â€Å"constantly† or â€Å"often† tense or strained at work. Job stability is uppermost in everyone’s mind: 66 per cent hope that they will continue to work in their present company for more than five years or up until retirement. 4.1.3 Individualism: Today, there are both collective societies who value time spent within the group and individualist societies who value time spent by individuals in their personal lives. With a factor of 26, Armenia falls into the groups of countries with a collective mentality. How things are done in business is related to this dimension. For example, in a country with a collective mentality, employees expect their firm to take care of them like a family does. In countries with a more individualist mentality, the company does not get involved in the personal lives of its employees. In the Soviet system, the main role of a factory director consists of looking after the workers’ situation: building housing, managing shops where workers can find products unavailable elsewhere, organizing children’s playgrounds, looking after the medical centre and sending workers on holidays in company owned apartments. Managing a business is based on loyalty and a sense of duty, and decisions are made on the basis of personal relationships with managers. 4.1.4 Masculinity: Armenia (although this certainly varies greatly from one region to another) is in the same group as Scandinavian countries on this dimension, it scores 28. 4.2 The implicit consequences for management systems in Armenian organizations While management style overall is implicitly influenced by a country’s culture, there are three important areas where it is explicitly at work: (1) Appropriate management style. (2) Motivation. (3) Implicit organizational structure. 1. Appropriate Management Style: Appropriate management style is dictated by subordinate expectations. A typology of management styles is established by crossing countries’ power distance ratings and individualism ratings. The Armenian research showed high power distance and strong collective mentality. In this type of culture, employees expect an autocratic management style, offset by the support given to the subordinate’s family. Therefore, a system of management by objectives, which presupposes the confidence and independence to negotiate with one’s boss, a shared desire among bosses and subordinates to take risks and a desire to achieve, is incompatible with Armenian culture. 2. Motivation: We obtain a typology of motivations by crossing the masculinity value with uncertainty avoidance. In this respect, Armenia is similar to France. For this group of countries, security and a sense of belonging are the strongest motivators. Group solidarity is even more important than individual wellbeing. Today’s Armenia is fundamentally reactionary, in the sense that the priority is to protect achievements, rather than take risks in an uncertain future. 3. Implicit Organizational Structure: The organizational structure of companies differs from one country to another. Once again, two cultural values can help explain the differences: The power distance rating explains the degree to which decision-making is centralized in a country: the more pronounced the power distance is, the more likely it is that power will be centralized. The uncertainty avoidance rating is an indication of how companies perceive and control their environments. Controlling uncertainty can explain the extent to which roles are formalized in a firm. 5 Conclusion In practice, the implicit organizational model found in Armenia is the same as that found in Japan or in France. High power distance combined with high uncertainty avoidance gives rise to a pyramid-shaped bureaucratic structure, which is both formal and centralized. Work procedures and the relationships between individuals are formally established, either through strict regulations and laws, or through custom and tradition. All of the above basic information should be taken into account when defining the structure of new Armenian firms and developing internal processes. References (1) Bodley, J. H. Cultural anthropology: Tribes, states, and the global system (3rd edition). United Kingdom: Mayfield Publishing Company. 1999, 154 189 (2) Society for Human Resource Management. Glossary of human resources terms. Retrieved, 2008 (3) Gelfand, M. J., Erez, M., Aycan, Z. Cross-cultural organizational behavior. Annual Review of Psychology, 2007, 479-514. (4) Hofstede, G. Cultures consequences: International differences in work-related values. Newbury Park, 1980, 89 134 (5) Alon, I., Higgins, J. M. (2005, November/December). Global leadership success through emotional and cultural intelligence, Business Horizons. 2005, 501 542. Research Papers on Business Management in ArmeniaAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfDefinition of Export QuotasOpen Architechture a white paperThe Project Managment Office SystemPETSTEL analysis of India

Environmental Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Environmental Issues - Essay Example Handling temperatures and pressures of subsea oil can easily be monitored through the use of sensors and other instruments even during drilling (p. 135). But Rose argues that even though modern technology, research and monitoring systems have reduced the frequency of ecological catastrophes, still, there are factors that can cause oil-well blowout from high-pressure and high-temperature which can result to emission of buoyant plume of oil, producing water and methane (p. 141). Baird stated that â€Å"hurricanes have become manageable, with oil lines now being capped at or beneath the ocean floor† (p. 135). But aside from oil lines on and beneath the ocean floor, Rose said Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed 115 platforms, spilling roughly 17,700 barrels of petroleum and 25,110 barrels of mixed crude oil from above-ground storage tanks in Louisiana (p. 141-142). Petroleum leaks, Baird said, can now be restrained by industrial seals (p. 135). Although this is the case, the pro blem does not stop at petroleum leaks. Rose argues that another disturbing impact of offshore oil is the volume and type of wastes, such as produced water, drilling fluids, cuttings, diesel emissions, and chemicals associated with operating mechanical, hydraulic, and electrical equipment (p. 142). Even with modern technology, we cannot guarantee that offshore drilling can withstand the force of God, which include hurricanes and other natural disasters, and human errors. Modern technology cannot reverse the destructive environmental impacts of offshore drilling gone wrong. It is better for us to find alternative sources which are safer for the environment and for the people’s health. Protecting the environment does not mean we are less concerned about protecting the country from economic problems, but other alternative sources can lower oil imports and thus save our country from further spending. Issue 8 - The release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere contributes to global w arming and is thus a danger to the well-being of human beings. To ease global warming, either people refrain from using fossil fuel as an energy source or capture carbon dioxide before it reaches the atmosphere (Easton, 2011, p. 148). In carbon capture technology, the debate is not about the existence of the said technology but on their sustainability, safety and viability in being stored underground indefinitely (p. 149). In a nutshell, there are three issues surrounding the debate between David Hawkins and Charles Schmidt – the availability of technology, safety concerns and the political will to end the use of coal (Easton, 2011, p. 149-150). Hawkins maintains that the technology to capture carbon emissions are already existing and can already be utilized while Schmidt contends that the available technology is not yet technically and financially viable to be utilized in a major scale (p. 149). Anent to this issue is the question on safety, while Hawkins maintain that the t echnology on safety concerns are already feasible, Schmidt contends that there is still no assurance that carbon dioxide can be stored and can remain in containment underground indef

Economic and Political Motives for European Expansion into Africa Essay

Economic and Political Motives for European Expansion into Africa - Essay Example Missionaries persuaded their respective European governments to colonize Africa and thereby provide a supportive environment for the expansion of commerce. European powers used mineral exploitation, large-scale agricultural production, mixed economies as well as the supply of labor as modes of economic activity to generate revenue in colonial Africa. The major political reason that led to European expansion in Africa was political rivalries between the countries. England and France loathed one another for a considerable length of time due to the infamous hundred year’s war, and they both wanted to outdo each other in Africa. Nonetheless, the race for power was not limited to France and Britain. Other European nations wanted to benefit as well. Nationalism was popular among most western European nations as each nation wanted to be strongest. Nationalism is a strong identification with and pride in one's nation.This resulted in competition between European powers leading to wars . This competition made most nations to acquire more territories to uphold the spirit of nationalism in order to be seen superior than other nations. The strategy was another political reason for colonization of Africa. Most European countries were keen to maintain control of specific territories for strategic reasons. The British considered that South Africa offered a useful stop for ships on their way to India. Besides, the Suez Canal in Egypt significantly created a much shorter route between the UK and her colonies further east.