Islam Is The Fastest Growing Major Religion Essay - 980 Words

As of 2010, there are 1.6 billion people in this world (about 23% of the population) that claim to be Muslims (practicers of the Islamic faith), and Islam is currently the fastest-growing major religion in the entire world (Lipka 2016). Therefore, it is important for us as Christians to understand Islam and how to deal with it, as we will likely have a greater amount of contact with Muslims as their numbers increase. In order to understand Islam properly, it is necessary to look at its founder, Muhammad (though to Muslims, Muhammad is not the founder of Islam but the restorer; they claim Islam to be same religion as that of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus). Muhammad was born sometime between 570-580 A.D. – though 570 A.D. is the generally accepted date – to parents Abdullah and Amina (Al-Islam.org n.d.; Carr 2016). Muhammad’s father, Abdullah, died before Muhammad’s birth, just seven months after marrying Muhammad’s mother, Amina (Al-Islam.org n.d.). Muh ammad’s birthplace was the Arabian city of Mecca (or Makkah), a center of trading and pagan idol worship. The Arabian Peninsula was brutal area during Muhammad’s time. In this harsh climate, the various tribes were often in conflict and self-preservation was the chief focus (The Religion of Peace n.d.). This primitive culture stood in contrast to the developing and advancing world of Europe and the Middle East. Clearly, these factors greatly influenced the life and Muhammah and his religion. Born without a father, Muhammad soonShow MoreRelatedIslam Religion Of Peace Or War Essay1445 Words   |  6 PagesIslam a Religion of Peace or War Introduction: After the crisis of 9/11, the religion of Islam has raised a number of controversies. More specifically, the issue of Islam as a harmonious religion or not. In the last fifteen years, after 9/11, there has been multiple disputes among those believing Islam as a religion of peace, and those who believe otherwise. With any debate, numerous questions spring up to force the majority to believe their beliefs are the truth. Some of the questions orRead MoreIslam : An Monotheistic Faith, Monotheistic, And It1101 Words   |  5 Pages13 March 2015 Abstract Islam just like Christianity and Judaism is an Abrahamic faith, monotheistic, and it is also a universalizing religion. Although they all have those in common Islam differs in many different ways. For instance, Islam has the five pillars of faith that they practice, and a man named Muhammad started the religion because he received revelations from God. Islam also effects lots of cultures, including mine. Islam effects my culture, for example, through theirRead MoreIslam, by Karen Armstrong762 Words   |  4 PagesArmstrong, Karen. Islam. New York: Random House, Inc., 2000. Islam is the worlds fastest growing faith. It all began in 610 C.E. when the Prophet Muhammad received revelations of the Quran in Mecca. Islams reputation of promoting a strict and controlling government, female oppression, civil war, and terrorism is not completely correct. Islam is a rich and complex religion that is often misunderstood in the modern world. There have been many obstacles that have been faced. Islam wouldnt exist todayRead MoreEven Muslims View Terrorists as False of Islam981 Words   |  4 Pagesare more than 4,200 religions in the world, and 21 major religions that are followed in the millions and some even in the billions, there are two religions which utterly dominate every other religion in terms of followers. Christianity and Islam, both of which are Abrahamic religions, are similar in nature, out of which, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today. The compassion projected by Muslims has impressed me and has led me to admire the religion of Islam. The media is a deceptiveRead MoreA Brief History of Islam Essay545 Words   |  3 Pageswestern religions that through history have globally expanded throughout the world. One of those western religions is Islam. Islam was first introduced and developed on the Arabian Peninsula. Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, is a monotheistic religion. Islam means submission to one god. The followers of Islam are known as Muslims. One primary leader of Islam is a man named Muhammad. When an economy began to develop in the Arabian Peninsula and the city of Mecca played a major role inRead MoreReflection Paper for Inside Islam638 Words   |  3 PagesReflection Paper Two On the film Inside Islam Submitted to: Prof. Elma M. Lumantas Submitted by: Cresinte Gumilao Subject: History 3 Day and Time: T-Fr 4:00-5:30 School: MSU-GSC Date: March 10, 2011 Part 1. Summary Inside Islam’s background comes from this often misunderstood faith back to its tradition origins before and within the Hebrew Bible, also providing information about on how the religions central constituents helps spread Islam religious belief throughout the world. ThisRead MoreThe Books of the Three Major Religions in Southwest Asia691 Words   |  3 PagesThree major religions have ties to Southwest Asia. All three of those religions also have ties to one city, Jerusalem. The three religions are Judaism, Christianity, and finally Islam. The people who practice Judaism are called Jews, the people who practice Christianity are called Christians, and the people who practice Islam are called Muslims. All of these religions are widely practiced in Southwest Asia. They all are alike in some ways and different. Judaism started in a desert in SouthwestRead MoreThe Fourth Noble Truths By The Eightfold Path1093 Words   |  5 Pagesviolence. Buddhism is a religion that is different from Islam. Islam does not share any beliefs with Buddhism and vice-versa. But Islam has some common similarities with other religions such Christianity and Judaism since they all teach the existence of one God who is the creator. The world Islam is a noun formed from an Arabic meaning â€Å"to submit† or to commit oneself. A Muslim is one who submits or one who commits himself to Islam. Like Judaism, Christianity and Islam is a religion of revelation andRead More The Media and Mass Misinterpretation of Islam Essays893 Words   |  4 PagesThe Media and Mass Misinterpretation of Islam As the cross is the symbol of Christianity, the Star of David the symbol of Judaism, the Crescent Moon and Star are supposedly the symbols of Islam. Islam at its core is a peaceful religion, which like many other religions over the ages has at times been misunderstood not only as to the values it preaches, but also in relation to its core beliefs. Although in today’s post September 11th world Islam and its followers, who are also known as MuslimsRead MoreSimilarities Between Christianity And Islam993 Words   |  4 Pages Christianity and Islam are the two biggest religions that are present in the world today, with close to four billion followers combined. While Christianity and Islam actually have a lot more in common than most people think, there are still many differences to them. First, let’s start with the similarities between the two. Both religions believe that in one way or another, Jesus will return to Earth in the final days of the world to have a judgement day, in which essentially will determine if you

Short Story - 814 Words

A content smile was an immediate reaction to the quip directed at him as he readily turned heel and followed after his roommate, but skillful digits made sure to click the lock in a swift movement as a precaution that would hopefully ensure no intruders were there to greet them upon returning home. Lifting a delicate, well-sculpted brow, he didn’t bother to suppress the slightly startled laughter that slipped passed his lips at the response to his casual inquiry. Keeping his gaze steady, yet light-hearted Rhys removed the obstructive candy he treasured with a resounding pop and dangled it loosely between two firm fingers out of reflex. â€Å"Guess the cats out of the bag.† A teasing tone made the comment an off-handed one, and the glinting†¦show more content†¦It tottered dangerously towards the ideals of heroism that he harbored an unrelenting hatred for, and yet he still begrudgingly managed to admire those who did what his cowardice prevented. Drawing in a deep breath had the scent of rain nearly overwhelming his senses and to combat it he returned to appeasing at least his taste buds with an overabundance of sugar, but even that appeared to have soured with the turn of his thoughts coupled with the current atmosphere. Traipsing around The Strip perhaps provided a clear distraction to combat going stir-crazy indoors, nevertheless, there still remained an aura of unease that Rhys failed to shake. In truth, being an undercover agent should have granted him a pass for such fruitless feelings, yet despite his affiliation concern had managed to take root for the sake of his primary purpose: self-preservation. Plucking the now distasteful lollipop away with a minor grimace it was discarded into a nearby bin—a dented surprise considering the raids that had occurred—in passing, and regathered his focus to avoid having it fracture any further. Having to focus attention on Elwood speaking grounded him even more so in t he present, and he was thankful for the nonchalant comment. â€Å"Mints, huh? Could work, though I think it’s the gratitude for being able to breathe some fresh air at this point.† At least that was the reasoning that Rhys relied on to consider The Strip actually having a decent scent,Show MoreRelatedshort story1018 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Short Stories:  Ã‚  Characteristics †¢Short  - Can usually be read in one sitting. †¢Concise:  Ã‚  Information offered in the story is relevant to the tale being told.  Ã‚  This is unlike a novel, where the story can diverge from the main plot †¢Usually tries to leave behind a  single impression  or effect.  Ã‚  Usually, though not always built around one character, place, idea, or act. †¢Because they are concise, writers depend on the reader bringing  personal experiences  and  prior knowledge  to the story. Four MajorRead MoreThe Short Stories Ideas For Writing A Short Story Essay1097 Words   |  5 Pageswriting a short story. Many a time, writers run out of these short story ideas upon exhausting their sources of short story ideas. If you are one of these writers, who have run out of short story ideas, and the deadline you have for coming up with a short story is running out, the short story writing prompts below will surely help you. Additionally, if you are being tormented by the blank Microsoft Word document staring at you because you are not able to come up with the best short story idea, youRead MoreShort Story1804 Words   |  8 PagesShort story: Definition and History. A  short story  like any other term does not have only one definition, it has many definitions, but all of them are similar in a general idea. According to The World Book Encyclopedia (1994, Vol. 12, L-354), â€Å"the short story is a short work of fiction that usually centers around a single incident. Because of its shorter length, the characters and situations are fewer and less complicated than those of a novel.† In the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s DictionaryRead MoreShort Stories648 Words   |  3 Pageswhat the title to the short story is. The short story theme I am going conduct on is â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ by James Thurber (1973). In this short story the literary elements being used is plot and symbols and the theme being full of distractions and disruption. The narrator is giving a third person point of view in sharing the thoughts of the characters. Walter Mitty the daydreamer is very humorous in the different plots of his dr ifting off. In the start of the story the plot, symbols,Read MoreShort Stories1125 Words   |  5 PagesThe themes of short stories are often relevant to real life? To what extent do you agree with this view? In the short stories â€Å"Miss Brill† and â€Å"Frau Brechenmacher attends a wedding† written by Katherine Mansfield, the themes which are relevant to real life in Miss Brill are isolation and appearance versus reality. Likewise Frau Brechenmacher suffers through isolation throughout the story and also male dominance is one of the major themes that are highlighted in the story. These themes areRead MoreShort Story and People1473 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Title: Story Of An Hour Author: Kate Chopin I. On The Elements / Literary Concepts The short story Story Of An Hour is all about the series of emotions that the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard showed to the readers. With the kind of plot of this short story, it actually refers to the moments that Mrs. Mallard knew that all this time, her husband was alive. For the symbol, I like the title of this short story because it actually symbolizes the time where Mrs. Mallard died with joy. And with thatRead MoreShort Story Essay1294 Words   |  6 PagesA short story concentrates on creating a single dynamic effect and is limited in character and situation. It is a language of maximum yet economical effect. Every word must do a job, sometimes several jobs. Short stories are filled with numerous language and sound devices. These language and sound devices create a stronger image of the scenario or the characters within the text, which contribute to the overall pre-designed effect.As it is shown in the metaphor lipstick bleeding gently in CinnamonRead MoreRacism in the Short Stor ies1837 Words   |  7 PagesOften we read stories that tell stories of mixing the grouping may not always be what is legal or what people consider moral at the time. The things that you can learn from someone who is not like you is amazing if people took the time to consider this before judging someone the world as we know it would be a completely different place. The notion to overlook someone because they are not the same race, gender, creed, religion seems to be the way of the world for a long time. Racism is so prevalentRead MoreThe Idol Short Story1728 Words   |  7 PagesThe short stories â€Å"The Idol† by Adolfo Bioy Casares and â€Å"Axolotl† by Julio Cortà ¡zar address the notion of obsession, and the resulting harm that can come from it. Like all addictions, obsession makes one feel overwhelmed, as a single thought comes to continuously intruding our mind, causing the individual to not be able to ignore these thoughts. In â€Å"Axolotl†, the narr ator is drawn upon the axolotls at the Jardin des Plantes aquarium and his fascination towards the axolotls becomes an obsession. InRead MoreGothic Short Story1447 Words   |  6 Pages The End. In the short story, â€Å"Emma Barrett,† the reader follows a search party group searching for a missing girl named Emma deep in a forest in Oregon. The story follows through first person narration by a group member named Holden. This story would be considered a gothic short story because of its use of setting, theme, symbolism, and literary devices used to portray the horror of a missing six-year-old girl. Plot is the literal chronological development of the story, the sequence of events

Developing Succession or Workforce Planning

Question: Discuss about the Developing Succession or Workforce Planning. Answer: Introduction This report is based on the subject area of workforce planning and management. The report is divided into two parts. The organization selected for this study is the major dairy food manufacturing company in Australia called Bulla Dairy Firms. In the first part, the report discusses about the current situations of the Australian dairy food manufacturing industry and Bulla Dairy Foods. At the same time, the report also focuses on the analysis of the future prospects of the company. The study also presents analyses of the labor market in the current situation and suggests future growth strategies. In the second assessment, the primary focus is on the development of a strategy implementation plan for addressing the internal workforce need of Bulla Dairy Foods. After the strategy implementation planning, the report reviews the plan for workforce and evaluates the same. Current situation of the industry Factors that affect the supply of labor in Australian dairy industry In the analysis of the Australian Dairy industry, it can be stated that there are many factors that can affect the supply of labor for the Australian dairy industry. One of the major factors is policy uncertainties. Due to the uncertainties in the policies of Australian dairy industry, the fear of unemployment arises in the minds of Australian dairy workers. Due to this, the labor supply has been negatively affected. For example, currently, only 39000 people are working in the whole dairy industry in Australia, which is much lower than the other sector like hospitality (1200000 employees). Apart from policy uncertainties, the labor supply in Australian dairy industry is also positively affected by remuneration. The amount of money paid to the workers in this industry is quite good. Due to this, many people are becoming interested to work in this industry. As per the current data, the labor supply curve of the industry is upward trending because of the rise in rate of wage. Opportunity of overtime work is more in the Australian dairy industry and thus, the scope of additional income is high. This has positively contributed to the labor supply in the industry. Enhancement of occupational labor mobility is another factor that has affected the labor supply in Australian dairy industry negatively. Occupational mobility refers to ease of labor movement from one job to another. The young generation is moving out from this industry. The current data shows that the total number of employees in the industry is 39000 only, which indicates undersupply of labor in the industry. Factors affecting the demand for labor in Australian dairy industry The following factors shape the labor demand in Australian dairy industry. These factors are discussed as under: The primary factor that has affected labor demand in Australian dairy industry is increased target of dairy production. The companies under this industry are trying hard to increase their production level so that they can export more and improve the profit percentage. Therefore, the labor demand is also increasing. On the other hand, increasing number of organizations is another factor that is positively affecting the labor demand in Australian dairy industry. In 2015, total number of dairy firms in Australia was 528, in comparison to 2011 where the number of diary firms were around 507 only. Due to this increasing trend, the demand for properly skilled experts is also increasing. At the same time, the increasing demand for the dairy products in the national and international market has also positively influenced the demand for labor. Government initiatives that affect the demand and supply of labor in Australian dairy industry If the Australian dairy industry is compared with the dairy industries around the world, then it can be seen that, Australia is far behind in case of dairy production. It contributes only 5% of the total dairy production in the world, whereas Japan contributes 19%, South East Asia contributes 30% and Middle East contributes around 10%. According to International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 2014, the federal government of Australia has started to take new steps for increasing farming workforce in the country. The federal government of Australia is also focusing on the sustainability of the agriculture and dairy production. However, considering the current state of Australian dairy industry, it can be stated that Australian dairy industry must prioritize the planning for its workforce. On the other side, the state government of Queensland, Australia has announced in the beginning of 2016 that it is time to support the farmers in the Australian dairy industry. With the help of governments support, the farmers or the laborers in the dairy industry are being able to improve their skills through extensive training procedures. On the other side, the dairy companies are demanding for this skilled labor. Therefore, the governments support is indirectly influencing the labor demand. The current decrease in the price of milk has influenced the state government to take coordinated approach. At the same time, the local government in Victoria is also monitoring the labor flow in the dairy industry. The local government has focused more on labor welfare so that the supply of labor can be increased. The local government has arranged for free training programs for the farmers and at the same time, has also provided monetary supports to the farmers. For example, in the beginning o f 2016, the government has provided $11.4 million package to the dairy farmers. Current situation of the organization Bulla Dairy Foods is one of the major family owned dairy food manufacturing organization in Australia. Bulla family has been operating its business for more than 100 years contributing significantly to the growth of the Australian Dairy industry. Current employee strength of the organization is 450. Identifying whether the staff diversity meets the current organizational requirements The current organizational requirement at Bulla Dairy Foods is to increase milk production and thereby increase the revenue.. However, achieving the organizational requirements needs proper workforce and strategies. Therefore in order to check the feasibility of the success of Bulla Dairys organizational strategies, it is important to evaluate the staff diversity within the organization. The evaluation of two staff diversity variables at Bulla Dairy Foods has been stated below: Gender diversity: At Bulla Dairy Foods, the number of male employees is more than the number of female employees. Moreover, Bulla Dairy Foods has recruited the male employees for the primary activities of the firm which include extracting the milk, operating the machines and marketing activities. On the other side, female employees are engaged with the secondary activities like, taking care of the animals, packaging. The management team is comprised of both male and female employees. Therefore, it can be said that the gender diversity at Bulla Dairy Foods meets the requirements of the company. However, there is no indirect discrimination between the male and female employees for the primary and secondary activities. Age group: At Bulla Dairy Foods, majorly young employees are engaged with core production and marketing activities because young employees are quick learners. Moreover, there are certain tenured employees who can perform better and in an organized manner as compared to the younger workforce. Therefore, the possibility of hampering the production and marketing activities is less. On the other side, the management team of the organization has included senior employees because their experiences help the organization to identify effective strategies at the right time. Hence, the age diversity is also effective for meeting the organizations requirements. Comment on current organizational strategy and workforce plans Currently, Bulla Dairy Foods has started to expand its business in international market and so the company has taken the strategy of selling the products through super markets. This strategy requires an effective workforce in the supply chain. The company has recruited efficient employees for the supply chain so that the flow of products never gets hampered. On the other hand, the company has recruited educated people in the marketing team, who can deal with international business organizations. Furthermore the strategy that the organization has taken is high production with minimum cost. In order to meet this particular strategy, the company has recruited skilled workforce so that the production can be higher. However, due to the employment of skilled workforce, the company has had to recruit less number of people. Hence, the costs of salaries and wages were reduced . At the same time, the company is also providing training to the employees on a quarterly basis, so that they can per form better. Therefore, the workforce planning of Bulla Dairy Foods is aligned with the organizational strategies. Comment on staff turnover at Bulla Dairy Foods Few years back, the staff turnover at Bulla Dairy Foods was average. However, currently, the staff turnover within the organization has started to increase, which is not acceptable. The employee base in the organization is 450, which is much lower than before. In 2013-2014, the turnover rate was 7.2%, which increased to 8.62% in 2014-2015 and 15.09% in 2015-2016. This means the total staff turnover increased by 7.89% from 2013 to 2016. This increased staff turnover can affect the production and distribution of the productions also loss of knowledge for the business. However, this issue of staff turnover can be solved by the following strategies: Increase the salary and wage level by reducing useless costs. At Bulla Dairy Foods, the wastage is high, which causes extra cost. Therefore, if the company reduces the wastage, then it can use that money in the payment of salaries and wages. If the salaries and wages are competitive, the employees will not leave the organization. The firm needs to create a healthy working environment. It must maintain the hygiene level. The firm must try to build team unity among the employees. This will enhance the productivity of the employees. There must be friendly management within the organization. Good relationship between management and employees is very important for reducing the staff turnover. Strategies to find skilled labor from external sourcess In order to get the skilled labor from the external sources, the company needs to apply the following strategies: The company can use the medium of social media to find the skilled labor. The social media like LinkedIn is very popular selection of appropriate candidates as per the organizations desire. There is another option available to the management and that is the referral system. The company can introduce an incentive system for referring the skilled labor force. However, this must be restricted to the tenured employees. The company can also hold an open day for taking the interview of the local candidates. Developing the contingency options to deal with the extreme situations There may be different extreme situations, which Bulla Dairy Foods have to deal. Some of the extreme situations and the contingency options are as under: Loss of large number of retiring personnel: In order to handle this situation, the company must provide proper training to the employees, who are working for more than 10 years in the dairy industry or within the organization, so that they can handle the situation. Health epidemic: In order to handle the health epidemic situation, the company must maintain the hygiene factor within the workplace. At the same time, the company must start the free clinic facility for the employees. Unavailability of replacement workers at remote places: This situation can be handled by taking the strategy of providing free lodging, meal and travelling facilities to the employees belong from the urban areas. This particular strategy will attract the employees because their cost of living will be less. Future analysis Review of organizational strategy and change determination Current workforce strategies at Bulla Dairy Foods: Provide an initial 1 month training to each new employee recruited within the organization One time training to the existing employees Salary and wage increment once a year. The company has taken this strategy to reduce the cost. Recruit local people who can work for long time. Modification or changes in the workforce strategies: As Bulla Dairy is going to expand its business in the future, the management needs to introduce some new products, which requires more skilled labour. The company will get skilled labour by providing training to the existing employees for at least 4 times in a year. In order to get the skilled labour for the new products, the company will recruit some new employees who already have experience in dairy production. The management will introduce some contests for the existing employees so that they perform better than before. Determining the organizations workforce needs There are four main departments at Bulla Dairy Foods and these are production, operation, marketing and finance. Among 450 employees, the firm has recruited maximum employees in the production department that is 348 and minimum employees in the finance department that is 11. However, in order to achieve the organizations goal and maintain acceptable performance level, the organization needs to increase workforce in the marketing department which is currently at 57. This will help the company to capture the international market in a better way. The company needs to enhance the workforce in production department in order to produce more. The workforce is also needed to be increased in the operation department which is currently 34. However, the workforce in the finance department need not be changed. However, in order to expand the business more, the company needs to increase its workforce at least by 5%. Analyze the current workforce capacity to meet the predicted demand for goods and services Presently, the overall production of dairy products in the Australian market is 9.73 billion liters. However, in the Australian market, the demand for dairy products is 50% of the production. Currently, the workforce of the Bulla Dairy Foods is able to produce nearly 88% of the total countrys demand along with Bega Cheese Limited and Warrnambool Cheese Butter WCB. This indicates that the current capacity of Bullas workforce is more of less good as per countrys demand. However, the organization needs to improve the capacity so that it can meet the maximum demand alone. In order to do that, the company needs to increase its current workforce in each department. No labor transfer can be done because a production departments employee cannot work properly in the finance department. Hence, the organization needs to recruit expert employee in each department. Strategies to identify the gaps of future required staff The firm should retain the existing employees in the production department. The firm needs to recruit more skilled employees in the operation and marketing department. The firm should retrench the employees in the production department. Developing the communication strategies The firm can communicate the change to the effected staffs through face-to-face meetings and emails. This will help the management to communicate the change in a systematic way. At the same time, this will be verbal and written communication, which will help the employees to understand the change in a better way. Recommendations to the management Recruit at least 50 experienced marketing people: The management must recruit 50 experienced marketing people with experience of minimum 7 years. This will help the firm to get improved marketing ideas and utilize their skills in international marketing. Pay higher salary than the competitors: This is very important for keep the experienced staff within the firm. This will help to reduce the turnover of experienced people and help to keep sufficient qualified staff in house. Use social media: The management of the company can use social media in order to get highly knowledgeable workforce. At the same time, the organization needs to provide more training to the existing employees. Implementation Plan for diversity management, recruitment, training, redeployment and redundancy at Bulla Dairy Foods Internal labour needs identified Strategies to address need in the next year Required resources or budget Timeframe 10 female employees are needed for better customer relationship management in the international market The organization must employ more female employees in the marketing department in order to build up and maintain the customer relationship in the international market. Female employees are needed to be implemented because at Bulla Dairy Foods the number of female employees is less and if the organization employs more male employees, then there will be misbalance in the gender diversity management of the company. This strategy will also help the organization to meet the customized planning need principle of succession planning. The firm must budget 10% of its total cost for employing new female employees Within next 1 to 3 months By 31 Jan 2017 Need 2 experienced people for taking decision in critical situations. The company must recruit the experienced people who are above 45 years because it is seen that senior employees are often able to take better decisions in the critical situations. This is because they have faced greater challenges as compared to the younger workforce. Include 7% of the total cost of the organization. Within next 4 months By 28 Feb 2017 Recruitment of 20 skilled employees Take practical test to identify time management and quality of work of the new applicants, at the time of recruitment. Involve top management personnel at the time of taking the test because top management personnel have more judgmental capacity. This will also help Bulla Dairy Foods to meet the succession planning principle. Top management personnel Involve 0.5% of the total cost Take the test at the time of taking 2nd round of interview. Involve 2 hours Implement by 30 Nov 2016 Increase the workforce for product promotion In the marketing department, the management must employ the people who are willing to travel in different places for promoting the products. The employees may be male or female and young or aged. Involve 10% of the total budget for this recruitment. Within 3 to 4 months Urgent training Currently, many employees in the production department are not much familiar with the use of new machineries. Training required for 270 employees Company must arrange for the employees training session for at least 3 times in a year. This will help the company to educate its people regarding the use of new machineries. The employees will be updated. At the same time, some repetitive training is required because if an employee fails to perform better after one training session, he or she can try to understand the whole thing again in the next training session. Involve 30% of the total cost of the company in total training session in a year. Involve 3 days in each training session. Total number of days for the training of the employees in a year is 9 days Complete by 30 April 2017 Need of proper motivation for improving the employees productivity and reducing the rate of employee turnover Start entertainment sessions for each month. Include game show, quiz competition, parties. In the entertainment session. Provide different types of awards to the employees of different departments. For example, Employee of the Month award, and award for highest attendance. This will help the organization to influence its employees for better performance. Involve 5% of the total costs of the organization. Involve the middle level management team for organizing these events 1 day in each month Commence by 1 October 2016 Need employee management interaction Arrange for employee-management meetings on quarterly basis. This will help the management of Bulla Dairy Foods to convey their ideas and strategies to the lower level employees. At the same time, management also needs to consider the ideas of the lower level employees in decision-making. Due to this type of meeting, employees will feel that they are also important part of the organization. Involve all the lower level employees, top level and lower level management in the meetings 1 day in each 3 months Table 1: Planning Chart (Source:20) Therefore, from the above table, it can be said that there are various strategies that the organization (Bulla Dairy Foods) needs to implement in the coming future. These strategies will help the organization to achieve its goal or future targets successfully and at the same time, this will help the organization to reduce its employee turnover percentage. Determining the future staffing needs It has been identified before that the employee turnover rate at Bulla Dairy Foods has currently started to increase. This type of situation indicates that the company needs to recruit better people for the future days. The staff turnover figures at Bulla Dairy Foods in last three years and the future staff requirement of the organization are shown in the below table: Years Number of employees Percentage of turnover 2013 625 - 2014 580 7.2% 2015 530 8.62% 2016 450 15.09% 2017 (future requirement) 475 10.38% Table 2: Employee turnover ratio (Source:21) The above table is disclosing that from 2013-2014 to 2015-2016, the employee turnover rate has increased from 7.2% to 15.09%, which means that the percentage increased by 7.89%. However, for the next year, the management of Bulla Dairy Foods has decided to increase the workforce from 450 people to 475 people. This will result in the decrease of staff turnover rate by near about 5%. However, this percentage can be achieved with the help of two basic strategies, which are mentioned below: Recruitment strategy: The management of Bulla Dairy Foods must recruit the people by taking proper quality tests and at the same time, it must focus on the recruitment of experienced candidates. The company should emphasize on the employment of female employees. Rewarding strategy: The organization must reward the efficient employees on the monthly basis. This will develop a competitive attitude and interest in the mind of the staffs. An organization chart: Figure 1: Organizations chart (Source:22) The above figure is showing the organizational flow at Bulla Dairy Foods. In this organizational chart, there are five key positions and that are managing director, production manager, marketing manager, operation manager and finance manager. This particular structure shows that the managing director of the company recruits the managers of the four major departments of the company. This recruitment is done internally for the managerial posts. This is because the managers must be aware of each activity of the company in past, which is possible only if the recruitment is done from the internal source. However, the recruitment for the other posts is done from the external recruitment sources. A succession plan to ensure that the organization is the best employer An organization can be the best employer when it meets the requirements of the employees. In case of Bulla Dairy Foods, the employee turnover rate is increasing, which indicates that the company needs to take care of its employees. Therefore, a proper succession planning is required to improve the current position of the company. In order to identify the staff for the succession, the higher management at Bulla Dairy Foods needs to analyze and evaluate the performance of each employee on a weekly basis. This will help the management to identify the employees, who need performance improvements. At the same time, the management also needs to identify the employees, who are interested to improve their career in future. After identifying the staff for the succession, the management at Bulla Dairy Foods needs to develop strategies for the succession plan. The management of Bulla Dairy Foods can take the following strategies: The Management needs to monitor the succession program carefully at a regular interval. In order to do that, the management should provide the scope to the employees to learn the activities in a better way from the experienced personnel like, production supervisor for the employees of production department and marketing head for the marketing employees within the organization. The management can build a team with experienced and weak-performed employees, so that the weak-performing employees can learn in a better way. At the same time, the management can introduce special external management programs and special projects for improving the staffs quality. After one month, the management needs to analyze whether the performance level has been improved or not. Career development activities are also effective for the implementation of the succession plan at Bulla Dairy Foods. In these programs, the management should provide the tools to the employees, so that they can measure their own performance. It helps the employees to develop their career more effectively. Review of workforce plan and evaluation Review the workforce plan Presently, at Bulla Dairy Foods, most of the employees are male and young people. However, as per the new workforce plan, the organization will recruit more female employees and some experienced employees, who are above 45 years age group. These changes in the workforce will change the patterns of the existing employees. The existing female employees will be motivated, as the percentage of female within the organization will increase. At the same time, the female employees will feel more secure at workplace and the dominance of the male employees will be reduced. Due to the recruitment of experienced and relatively older people, the company will be able to improve the performance of the existing young employees because the young people will learn from the experienced people. The current workforce plan of the organization is not a low level workforce plan; however, the management must improve it to perform better in the future years. Climate survey to 10 employees and line managers How long are you working at Bulla Dairy Foods? Options Percentage of respondents Number of respondents Total respondents Less than 1 year 20% 2 10 1 to 3 years 70% 7 10 More than 3 years 10% 1 10 Table 3: Tenure of the employees and managers How far do you believe that current working environment at Bulla Dairy Foods is healthy? Options Percentage of respondents Number of respondents Total respondents Strongly believe 0% 0 10 Believe 30% 3 10 Neutral 10% 1 10 Disbelieve 40% 4 10 Strongly disbelieve 20% 2 10 Table 4: Satisfaction level of the employees and line managers How far do you believe that Bulla Dairy Foods needs to change the current working environment? Options Percentage of respondents Number of respondents Total respondents Strongly believe 30% 3 10 Believe 40% 4 10 Neutral 0% 0 10 Disbelieve 20% 2 10 Strongly disbelieve 10% 1 10 Table 5: Employees and line managers view regarding the change in Bullas current working environment Refining the objectives and strategies Objectives: To create a healthy environment at the workplace. To motivate the female employees towards better performance. To motivate all the existing employees to learn better techniques of performance improvements from the experienced people. Strategies: The management at Bulla Dairy Foods must develop new policies for the maintenance of the hygiene factor at workplace. The management must inform all the employees regarding new environmental policy, so that everyone can be responsible. New teams must be built by including all types of employees like, experienced and inexperienced, male and female, young and aged. Impact of global trends and incidents on workforce planning Impact of climate change: The production at Bulla Dairy Foods can be hampered due to the climate change because the production of milk is highly affected by the temperature. Therefore, in such situations can affect and hamper productivity which in turn can have an adverse affect on the profitability of the organization. As a result the company will not be able to pay the reward and salaries to the employees. Hence, the workforce planning will be a failure. Workforce casualisation: Due to the workforce casualisation, the discipline within the organization will be directly affected. Excessive casual attitude of the employees hampers their performance resulting in ineffective workforce planning. . Epidemic: Due to epidemics, employees will be physically unable to perform better and the employees, who are not affected by epidemics, will also refuse to come to the organization. Conclusion In the report on Bulla Dairy Foods it has been identified that the current workforce at the organization is mainly male oriented. The number of female employees is less and at the same time, the number of tenured employeesare also less. However, with the help of new succession planning the company wants to improve the performance of its employees. In order to create a successful succession plan and implement the same, the organization needs to adopt several strategies. However, there may be some barriers while implementing the succession or workforce planning which the organization needs to overcome. Bibliography: "Australian Dairy Industry News". 2016. Adf.Farmonline.Com.Au. https://adf.farmonline.com.au/ "Bulla, Made With Care And Shared With Love | Bulla Dairy Foods". 2016. Bulla.Com.Au. https://www.bulla.com.au/. "Dairy Information For Australian Dairy Farmers And The Industry - Dairy Australia". 2016. Dairyaustralia.Com.Au. https://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/. "En". 2016. Pwc. https://www.pwc.com.au/. "Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations". 2016. Fao.Org. https://www.fao.org/. "Home". 2016. Nga.Org. https://www.nga.org/. "Home". 2016. The University Of Sydney. https://sydney.edu.au/. "IUF UITA IUL". 2016. Cms.Iuf.Org. https://cms.iuf.org/. "Job Outlook - Make Your Career A Reality". 2016. Joboutlook.Gov.Au. https://joboutlook.gov.au/. "Stand-Up Economist - What Is (And Isn't) Funny About Economics". 2016. Stand-Up Economist. https://www.standupeconomist.com/. "The Weekly Times". 2016. The Weekly Times. https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/. "Welcome To O.J.A.F.R". 2016. Ojafr.Ir. https://www.ojafr.ir/. "Welcome To SARPN". 2016. Sarpn.Org. https://www.sarpn.org/. Bamberry, Larissa. "Restructuring womens work; labour market and household gender regimes in the Greater Latrobe Valley, Australia."Gender, Place Culture23, no. 8 (2016): 1135-1149. Catro, A., J. M. Pereira, J. Bueno, and C. Amiama. "Socio-economic, structural aspects and motivations in automatic milking system of Galician farmers." InAnimal Production Technology. International Conference of Agricultural Engineering-CIGR-AgEng 2012: Agriculture and Engineering for a Healthier Life, Valencia, Spain, 8-12 July 2012., pp. P-1410. CIGR-EurAgEng, 2012. Harris, David. "Policy Design and Industry Development Plans: Dairy Industry Experiences in Asia and Australia." InCRUCIAL AGRICULTURAL POLICY: Analysis of Key Threats to Food Security, pp. 235-271. 2016. Ivanov, Dmitry, Boris Sokolov, Inna Solovyeva, Alexandre Dolgui, and Ferry Jie. "Dynamic recovery policies for time-critical supply chains under conditions of ripple effect."International Journal of Production Research(2016). Kamande, Kelvin M. "The relationship between financial management practices and financial performance in the dairy industry in Kenya." PhD diss., University of Nairobi, 2015. Kupi, Mathias. "Determinants of labour market gender inequalities in Cameroon, Senegal and Mali: the role of human capital and fertility burden."Canadian Journal of Development Studies/Revue canadienne d'tudes du dveloppement37, no. 1 (2016): 66-82. Lennon, Jane L. "Changes to Continuing Landscapes: Industrialisation of Australias Productive Rural Lands."Landscape Research40, no. 6 (2015): 684-700. Lunner Kolstrup, Christina, Marja Kallioniemi, Peter Lundqvist, Hanna-Riitta Kymlinen, Lorann Stallones, and Susan Brumby. "International perspectives on psychosocial working conditions, mental health, and stress of dairy farm operators."Journal of agromedicine18, no. 3 (2013): 244-255. Mallawaarachchi, Thilak, Cline Nauges, John Quiggin, and Orion Sanders.State-contingent analysis of farmers response to weather variability: Irrigated dairy farming in the Murray Valley, Australia. No. 16-668. Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), 2016. McGuire, Jean, Sandra Dow, and Bakr Ibrahim. "All in the family? Social performance and corporate governance in the family firm."Journal of Business Research65, no. 11 (2012): 1643-1650. Montaha, Mamduha. "Recruitment and selection process of BKB." (2016). Ndinda, Elizabeth. "Employee incentive practices among dairy firms in Kenya." PhD diss., University of Nairobi, 2013. Nguyen, C. "Adoption of quality assurance systems in dairy processing firms in Vietnam." PhD diss., Lincoln University, 2013. Poulter, Catherine, and Janet Sayers. "Retention of skilled migrants in the New Zealand Dairy Industry."New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations (Online)40, no. 2 (2015): 1. Richmond, Rena. "An emerging disease could threaten Australian dairy cattle." (2016): N21-N21. Sposito, Victor A., Harmen Romeijn, and Robert Faggian. "Development of Regional Production Areas in a Changing Climate: A Case Study of Gippsland, Australia."Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy(2015): 1-23.a Strazdins, Lyndall, Jennifer Welsh, Sarah Hinde, and Peter Butterworth. "Intergenerational policy and workforce participation in Australia: using health as a metric."Health Promotion International(2016): daw044. Thongplew, Natapol, CSA Kris van Koppen, and Gert Spaargaren. "Transformation of the dairy industry toward sustainability: The case of the organic dairy industries in the Netherlands and Thailand."Environmental Development17 (2016): 6-20. Ullah, Aman, and Connie Zheng. "The Impact of Strategic Human Resource Management Practices on Australian Dairy Farm Performance." InWork Organization and Human Resource Management, pp. 55-72. Springer International Publishing, 2014. Van der Leek, Martin L. "Beyond traditional dairy veterinary services:'It's not just about the cows!'."Journal of the South African Veterinary Association86, no. 1 (2015): 01-10.

The Scarlet Letter Change and Transformation free essay sample

Dimmesdale walks around with his sin kept as secret, because he never admits his sin, his mental state is changing, and the sin degrades his well-being. Chillingworth is Hester’s husband, the man he cheats on with Dimmsdale. He also changes with the effects of the sin. He is on a quest for revenge, on a quest to find the father and to torture him. This changes the type of man he was. Throughout the Scarlet Letter, the main characters undergo a lot of change and transformation. In the novel, the way Hester is viewed, by both herself and others, changes over the years since she commits her sin. In the beginning, her sin weighs her down. She is ashamed by the â€Å"A† she wears. The people who know about her and her sin, disrespect her, and look down upon her. She is being teased by children, and strangers make faces at her. We will write a custom essay sample on The Scarlet Letter: Change and Transformation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Others, who know about her, make nasty comments about her both, to her face and behind her back. She is being degraded as a human being, but she accepts the torture because she knows they are consequences of her actions. Eventually, she continues to work with the community and her statusbegins to change. The symbols meaning goes from Adultery to Able. She becomes stronger and mentally more courageous. When she removes her â€Å"A† in the forest she completely changes. In the 3rd paragraph of chapter 13, Hawthorne writes, Such helpfulness was found in her,—so much power to do, and power to sympathize,—that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Abel; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength. Her change transforms her to a new person. It changes her so much, Pearl, couldn’t even recognize her. Dimmsdales sins affects his physical well-being, and his mental stability. Since he never publicly admits his sin, he has to keep his sins bottled up within him. He has no way to relieve himself of the burden of his sins, but to be shamed in public. He ultimately becomes a coward and he tortures himself . He was healthy before, but as the years go by, he becomes sickly, and he worsens his condition by abusing himself. Later on through the years, when he joins with Hester and Pearl in the forest , he becomes different, and when they decide what their plans will be, his health changes, and his energy seems as I it was back. He changes and transforms to another person. The ministers own will, and Hesters will, and the fate that grew between them, had wrought this transformation. It was the same town as heretofore; but the same minister returned not from the forest. He changed to a new him. Chillingworth also changes as a character. In the beginning, before he finds out about Hester’s sin, he is a peaceful and quiet physician. As time goes on, and he knows about Hester’s sin, he kindles a new fire for revenge. He carries a new dark energy that isn’t there before. As years go on, people even think him to be the devil himself. He transforms into something evil that was in thirst for revenge. He thrives to torture the man Hester committed her sin with. This new evil becomes his life, and that is all he lives for. He tortures Dimmsdale, which worsens both of their conditions. When Dimmsdale dies, Chillingsworth realizes that he has nothing else to live for. â€Å"Nothing was more remarkable than the change which took place, almost immediately after Mr. Dimmesdales death, in the appearance and demeanour of the old man known as Roger Chillingworth. † Throughout the novel, each character changes and transforms throughout the years. Each character changes differently, and suffers the consequences for their sins in a different manner. One grows stronger, as the other grows weaker and both commit the same sin, the other acts as the driving force to further worsen the conditions. They change each other, and in a way help to transform each other to who they become.

The LEGO Group Working with Strategy

Introduction Investors must evaluate the effectiveness of their strategies to ensure they do not waste time and resources on unnecessary expeditions. The need to develop management strategies pushes managers and other senior employees to invest in research and consultations to ensure they have the relevant knowledge about various approaches used to improve performance (David 2012).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The LEGO Group: Working with Strategy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is necessary to explain that business strategies are not static; therefore, managers should continue to develop new approaches that will ensure the operations of their companies are relevant, acceptable and reward their factors of production. This discussion presents an analysis of a case study about how LEGO Group worked with strategy to influence its performance. Company Background The management of The Lego Group has never left the family of its founder Ole Kirk Christiansen. It was established in 1932 in Billund, Denmark and used to manufacture wooden toys, ironing boards, stools and stepladders. However, the demand and market for wooden toys surpassed those of other products and this forced this company to specialise in this line of production. Today, it is the fifth largest company in the world that manufactures plastic and to some extend wooden toys. It has been managed by Ole Kirk Christiansen, Godtfred, Kjeld Kirk and Jorgen Vig Knudstorp. A report prepared in 2012 the revenue of this company was estimated to be 2.956 billion Euros. In addition, it had an operating capital of 1.001 billion and net income of 706 million Euros. It has more than 10,000 employees working in different branches located in Germany, America, Malaysia and other countries. This company started facing financial difficulties in the 1970s and 1980s, when its future was threatened by strategic uncertainty and poor performance. It took this company more than a decade to restructure and regain its excellent performance and this highlights the need for it to evaluate important strategic management issues. Features of Its External Environment The LEGO Group has been influenced by various external environmental features that have shaped its management strategies. PESTEL, 5 Forces and strategic group models will be used to explain how this organisation has adopted different strategies in ensuring that it succeeds in developing an effective performance strategy. PESTEL Analysis This analysis examines the macro-economic factors that affected this company and led to the development of performance and management strategic plans (Schroeder and Goldstein 2010). These factors involve political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal features that played significant roles in shaping the practices of The LEGO Group.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Ge t your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Political factors refer to organisational aspects that were influenced by the government and which affected its activities (Reeves 2012). Denmark offered conducive conditions for the activities of this company to thrive. The education system allowed this company to supply toys that were used to enhance learning in children. This promoted the popularity of this company and ensured its products fetched good prices in the local market. Taxation policies did not affect its performance; therefore, it had ample time to concentrate on its activities without worrying about the levies imposed on its products by the government. However, environmental laws played minor roles in limiting consumers’ demand for plastic toys. The government required companies to use environment-friendly ways of production; therefore, this limited the popularity of plastic toys. Political stability in Denmark helped this company to perform its duties withou t interference. Secondly, economic factors like inflation, exchange rates and the oil crisis were responsible for the slow growth of this company witnessed in the 1970s and 1980s. The economy of Denmark did not grow as it was anticipated by many investors and this means that companies like The LEGO Group were forced to reduce their recurrent expenses to cushion their capital against inflation. This company registered poor sales before 2008 and this was orchestrated by a decline in the international economy. Most people concentrated on the need to reduce their budgets to cut their expenses. In addition, competitions from other companies like Mattel, Bandai-Namco, Hasbro, Tomy-Takara and MGA Entertainment forced this company to lower the costs of its toys. This company experienced economic difficulties and this forced it to sack 1000 employees in 1999. Lastly, the exchange rate of the USS weakened and traded poorly against the Danish Krone. The social factors that affected the perform ance of this company include the resistance of customers from buying plastic toys. They were used to wooden toys because of their health concerns and long life. In addition, lifestyles were changing and children wanted toys that reflected current developments in the entertainment industry. This forced this company to struggle to adopt themes and models that reflected trends in the entertainment industry’ for instance, the successful production and launch of Harry Porter and Star Wars led to an increase in demand for toys that portrayed the themes of these movies. However, lack of new movies in 2003 led to a slump in production and sales of this company. Moreover, children were learning very first and thus they required sophisticated toys and this threatened the lifespan of the products of this company. In addition, this company faced barriers to entry because of changes in technology. The need to shift from wooden to plastic toys meant that it had to spend more money on the p roduction and marketing of its products. However, this was not proportional to the demand for plastic toys because consumers did not receive the new products positively.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The LEGO Group: Working with Strategy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Even though, this company innovated new products it started most of its financial calendars with high inventories in the shops and this forced it to offer discounts or wait for retailers to finish old stocks. Parents with young children are the main clients of this company and this means that it has limited ability to retain its customers. Lastly, technological factors impacted negatively on the performance of this company during the 1970s and 1980s. Consumers were reluctant to purchase plastic toys because of the need to preserve their traditional tastes. The company was at cross-roads because of the need to keep pace with the demands of moder n technology that was adopted by its competitors. In addition, toys differ depending on the era and generation targeted. This forced this company to keep inventing new techniques and modify its products to reflect changes in technology. Porter’s Five Forces Michael E. Porter proposed five forces that are responsible for shaping the strategies used by a company in planning its management and production processes (Pynes 2013). He defined industries depending on their attractiveness and claims that pure competitions drive organisations to get normal profits. On the other hand, attractive organisations combine the five forces of Industrial Organisation Economics (IOE) to initiate change and ensure they generate profits. The forces he identified include the bargaining power of suppliers and consumers, threats of new entrants and new products and competitive rivalry within an industry. These forces help companies to offer attractive services and products and generate higher profits than their competitors in the industry (Stevenson 2011). These forces have influenced the strategy development of the Lego Group in the following ways. Threat of new entrants refers to competition offered by other companies that wish to invest in business activities (Rosenbaum 2013). The Lego Group specialises in the production of toys that have high demand in local and international markets. This means that this industry attracts investors from different spheres. New entrants reduce market for products and services because of increased supply. In addition, they lower the prices of products in the market to attract customers and this reduces the profits generated by a company. Competition makes companies to struggle to acquire modern technology, give discounts and invest in marketing strategies to protect their brand names from copyright infringement and manipulation by their competitors. Even though, this company had established its brand name in the toy industry new entrants like Sony, Activision, Nintendo and Visual Arts were serious threats to the success of this company. Their entrance in the toy industry had huge impacts because they used sophisticated technology and produced advanced electronic games for children. The demand for Lego’s products was reduced because this company was unable to immediately keep with the pace of new entrants in producing new and more exciting products.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, it was necessary for it to diversify the production of toys and formed partnerships with film, clothing and games companies. In addition, it started offering other entertainment activities like parks and social centres to market its products and diversify its risks. In addition, the threat of substitute products or services started hitting this company when it invested in plastic toys. This move had serious consequences on this company even though it had long-term benefits. Other companies like Mattel and Hasbro had started producing plastic toys and did not have serious impacts in penetrating their markets. However, this company was traditionally concerned with wooden products and this made it difficult for it to persuade its customers to buy its products. In addition, it had already saturated its market with wooden products and retailers were not ready to add new stock yet they had huge inventories of wooden toys. In addition, parks are frequented during holidays like E aster and Christmas and this means that this company had limited products and services. Therefore, it had to develop products that would be used during other times of the year. Chase boards and other indoor games were introduced and this reduced competition from substitute product. In addition, it started to focus on family games and this supplemented its sales during low seasons. The high quality of the toys produced by this company is perhaps the only factor that enabled it to retain customers. The bargaining power of customers affects the volume of services of goods a company produces. In addition, it determines the production and supply strategies organisations use to market their products. It is the ability of clients to ensure a company is put under pressure to produce quality, cheap, affordable and adequate products to satisfy their demands. The LEGO Group failed to implement a loyalty plan to ensure it reduced the power of its clients. The need to reward loyal customers is a strategy employed by most companies to ensure their clients are loyal and have minimal influence on their production processes. For instance, the resistance of customers to buy plastic toys produced by this company shows their power in controlling the activities of this organisation. This company had minimal bargaining leverage powers and this exposed it to financial uncertainties that saw it register different performance records within a short time. Buyers were not sensitive to the prices of toys, but they concentrated on the uniqueness of the products offered by all companies in this sector. Some clients preferred wooden toys because of their health advantages and durability. However, they were very few and this means that the process of adopting the production of plastic toys was inevitable. In addition, the bargaining powers of suppliers bring long-term benefits to organisations (Zenger 2013). The need to reduce operation costs enabled it to sack 1000 workers, even though the impacts of this were not realised as soon as they were expected. In addition, this company realised the need to use professional skills to ensure its production met the demands of consumer and compete effectively with other similar investments. For instance, this company decided to seek the services of experts and hired a Chief Operating Officer (COO). This helped it to develop a restructuring and cost cutting programme that reduced the number of its employees and the launch of Lego Star Wars products and opening of LEGOLAND in California. Strategic Groups This company used this strategy to reduce competition and diversify its products in the international and local market. Strategic groups are links and partnerships formed by companies that have similar activities or specialise in offering related services. This company is ranked highly in the global production and sale of toys. However, this does not exclude it from competitive rivalry witnessed in this industry since the 1940s. I t tries very hard to change its products and services to ensure consumers are offered the best value for their money. For instance, it rebranded its product name from LEGO DUPLO to LEGO EXPLORER even though this step did not have positive impacts on its sales. In addition, it established a sustainable growth programme that included the opening of its own distribution shop in the U.S. in 2003. Moreover, it started inviting users to assist and participate in the development of its products. The development of its digital strategy that led to the production and launch of its first online multiplayer game (LEGO Universe) had major positive impacts on its sales and enabled this company to attract new clients and develop trust in existing ones. The partnership between the Lego Group and Warner Bros was welcome by investors and the public because it would promote diversity in the entertainment industry. However, transparency became a serious issue in this industry as other players like Tia njin Coko Toy, Best-Lock Construction Toys and Mega Blocks infringed on the patent rights of the Lego Group brick products. Impacts of the Resources and Competencies The Lego Group is a successful company because of its large capital base that enables this organisation to invest in different approaches to boost its performance. Even though, it faced financial difficulties in 2003 that led to huge losses. It has an operating capital of 1.001 billion Euros. This capital is adequate to enable this company to invest in modern technology, research, recruitment of professional staff and market its products. New entrants do not have this amount of capital to compete with this company; therefore, the Lego Group’s foot is ahead of most of its competitors. In addition, it has experienced staff and recruits professional workers in its key departments to ensure it offers quality services to consumers. The toy industry is experiencing tremendous changes, especially because of the need to incorporate various technological aspects in its products. This company has formed partnership with leading film producers like Warner Bros to ensure all latest movies are used to develop the themes of its parks. In addition, the company has invested in high cost countries and those that compete with China in political interests. This is an effective strategy of ensuring that the market for its products is protected from cheap products from China. Manufacturing products through outsourcing is another strategy adopted by this company to reduce its production costs. For instance, the company signed an outsourcing agreement with Flextronics and this enabled it to manufacture 20% of its products in Billund; therefore, other processes to be done in regions like Eastern Europe that offer cheaper options. Moreover, the management board did not fear to accommodate risks and thus it decided to order new equipment and increase production. Lastly, its foundation is based on the LEGO bricks and no matter what the global economy offers to this company it will not relent its quest to diversify its processes along this line. Redundant and dynamic capabilities of this business enabled it to regain its success in producing, marketing and selling toys. The CEOs managed to learn the demands of its customers and at the same time use current technology in manufacturing its products. Some aspects of technology may reduce the impacts of new products on consumers, but this organisation ensured there were less drawbacks associated with changes in technology used to produce toys. For instance, the procurement processes were reviewed and suppliers reduced to cut costs. Secondly, the company embraced partnership and outsourced some services like the production of some products from cheap locations to reduce operation costs. This enabled this company to sense opportunities and shape them to meet the demands of its clients. For instance, the introduction of family games was a major boost t hat ensured this company manufactured products that would fetch high demand throughout the year. In addition, its employees learn very fast and adopt new strategies like the use of modern technology in communication, marketing and distribution of its products. The CEOs effectively coordinate, integrate and use strategic resources like capital, machines, technology and company’s rich history to improve the performance of this organisation. The specialisation of the company’s employees, products and intellectual property provided energy and complemented the available financial assets. The combination of these assets ensured this company had a competitive advantage over other firms even if they offered cheap and a variety of products. The distinctive characteristic of this company is marked by its structure and history. It has been led by the Christiansen family and only seeks expert management in issues that are beyond their abilities. For example, the recruitment of the Chief Operating Officer in 1999 by Kjeld portrayed how this company had a unique way of outsourcing expert services in instances where its traditional managers were unable to offer quality services. In addition, it sought collaboration with other companies like Warner Bros, Flextronics and Wal-Mart to ensure its products penetrated into tough markets dominated by other giant toy producers. The VRIN strategy employed by this company involved the identification of the key resources of this organisation. This includes the huge capital that helped the company to invest in research and innovative processes to ensure it produced quality products. The identification of the capabilities of this company is a key aspect that helped CEOs to plan and execute their strategies properly. The need to combine the efforts of employees and company potentials enabled companies to rise every time they have financial difficulties (Williams 20110. 1999, was a period marked by financial difficulties that challenged the management and suitability of the operations of this organisation. It was almost being declared bankrupt and sold to the Merlin Entertainment Group. In addition, the laying off of workers was a significant step towards developing effective cost reduction and sustainable programmes that would help this organisation to be on its feet once the financial crisis of 2007 subsided. This company had strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that played important roles in influencing the decisions of this organisation. First, its long standing tradition of producing wooden toys was a major strength that made it easy for this company to enter high cost markets. In addition, the introduction of modern technology offered various opportunities for this organisation to develop diversify and improve its toys. However, it faced major threats from new entrants that had huge capital, experience and resources to invest in the international market. Conversely, its management syste m was decentralised and this was a major weakness before Jorgen introduced a decentralised form of leadership that allowed other employees to participate in key decision making. Lastly, this company considers its products unique and its market sustainable. The demand for toys will never fade because people will continue to give birth and create new market for the products of this company. It is necessary to explain that this company aspired to maintain the value chain of its products to ensure it embraces a unique way of marketing. This will help it to compete effectively with similar companies and reduce confusion associated with brand names and qualities (Slack, Chambers and Johnston 2009). Alternative Strategies This company focuses on the internal mechanisms of generating capital and this is why it has limited abilities to expand and explore international markets. Therefore, it should consider other ways of generating additional capital through the following ways. First, it has a well established history and no financial institution can deny it loans to boost its working capital. This is a simple way of ensuring the company has adequate funds to manage its activities and invest in technology, research and recruitment of professional workers (Martocchio 2012). Additional capital helps companies to explore investment opportunities in foreign markets. It is not easy for a poor or newly established organisation to penetrate into new markets if it does not have the financial muscles necessary to manage the impacts of competition, inflation and the need to observe local conditions that allow investors to achieve their objectives. Moreover, the huge capital enabled this organisation to mitigate the effects of inflation and competition that causes huge inventories in retail outlets. This strategy helped this organisation to manage various economic challenges that affected it in 1999 and 2003. Secondly, this company can merge with other similar organisations that a re struggling to succeed in toy manufacturing. Mergers enable companies to boost their capital because it injects additional funds that will help strengthen their financial bases. Moreover, it is necessary to explore the skills and abilities of different specialists from other companies because this enables companies to produce quality products and services. The need to equip employees with the relevant skills and knowledge regarding various operations highlight the importance of merging with companies that have experience, skills and knowledge that are relevant in this industry. It is necessary to explain that this company will reduce its operation costs if it merges with another company. It will enjoy economies of scale and diversify its marketing strategies to promote its products. Different companies use different ways to market their products and this will be imported to this organisation if it decides to merge with such investments. The cost of purchasing modern equipment is v ery high and most organisations cannot afford to acquire new machines after every few years. This means that they must seek the assistance of other organisations so that they can reduce their expenses. This means that merging with other organisations will ensure this company acquires modern technology without incurring huge expenses. In addition, it can acquire small firms to ensure it expands its ability to market toys in all regions. This is an effective way of minimising the influences of its competitors in international markets. Acquisitions enable organisations to get huge assets (physical, human and financial) that are available within a short time. This enables companies to get already established investments and boost their performance. Moreover, it has to diversify its management and develop a decentralised strategy that will ensure all key employees play important roles in making the decisions of this company. Decentralisation of management will delegate responsibilities t o workers and this will ensure every employee contributes his or her skills, experience and time to the success of this company. Lastly, this company can outsource some of the services it has not attained professional experience in it. This includes web hosting, call centres and some roles of the human resource department. This will enable this company to get professional services from qualified and experienced services from other firms. In addition, it will reduce the costs of recruiting workers and ensure this company focuses on its core competencies. Extent of LEGO’s Strategy Orientation The Lego Group is a highly strategy oriented organisation and most of its plans seem to bear fruits and give it a head-start when competing with others. In addition, it failed and managed to rise in different occasions and has never been on its toes since it started its operations. The strategies executed by its current and last two CEOs continue to yield good results for this organisation and enable it to generate profits, diversify products and services and control the impacts of competition on its markets. It is evident that this organisation has employed strategic management practices that ensure its practices reflect the demands of its consumers. The introduction of plastic toys was a major investment that was supposed to transform the performance of this organisation. However, this did not happen as it was expected and the company decided to focus on introducing new models and children parks to diversify its investments and cushion itself from imminent collapse. References David, R. F 2012, Strategic Management Concepts and Cases, Pearson, New Jersey. Martocchio, J. J 2012, Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management  Approach, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Pynes, J. E 2013, Human Resources Management for Public and Non-profit  Organizations: A Strategic Approach (Essential Texts for Non-profit and Public  Leadership and Management), Jossey-Bass, New Jersey. Reeves, A 2012, Telecommuting – A Guide on How to Be a Successful  Telecommuter, Anthony Reeves, Washington. Rosenbaum, J 2013, Investment Banking: Valuation Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers  and Acquisitions, Wiley, New York. Schroeder, R. and Goldstein, S 2010, Operations Management: Contemporary  Concepts and Cases, McGraw-Hill, New York. Slack, N., Chambers, S. and Johnston, R 2009, Operations Management and  MyOMLab, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Stevenson, W 2011, Operations Management (Operations and Decision Sciences), McGraw-Hill, New York. Williams, T 2011, Mergers and Acquisitions, Cases and Materials, Aspen Press, New York. Zenger, T. (2013). Strategy: The Uniqueness Challenge, Harvard Business Review, New York. This essay on The LEGO Group: Working with Strategy was written and submitted by user Alissa P. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

buy custom Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation essay

buy custom Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation essay Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a medical condition that results to a serious disorder in an individual blood when the proteins that control blood clotting become abnormally active. This process results to a person developing small blood clots inside every blood vessel throughout the body; these small clots will eventually use up the coagulation proteins and platelets that are substances responsible for blood clotting will not be able to operate sufficiently. Thus disrupting the normal process of blood clotting incase there is bleeding from the skin thus resulting to excessive bleeding (Armola, 2007). These small blood clots most likely affects the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract and surgical wounds it also affects the normal flow of blood to organs such as the liver, heart, brain amongst others thus resulting to malfunction of an individuals body (Dressler, 2004).This condition can be rapid or even slow and chronic depending on the patients medical conditio n but once a patient is suffering from this condition there are high chances of the patient developing multiple organ failures and death may eventually occur. This condition is responsible for a variety of medical conditions including Ischemia, Thrombosis, and Excessive Bleeding (Dressler, 2004). Ischemia is a condition where the an individual becomes thinner and thinner because for the patients body organs dont get enough supply of blood this is as a result ofthe blocked blood vessels as a result of the small clots inside their blood vessels; thus making it impossible for the blood to flow in its normal order into the vital body organs thus making a patient possess anemia like symptoms. Thrombosis is also another medical condition that is characterized with the clotting of blood in the vessels, thus resulting to the obstruction of the flow of blood throughout the circulatory system even if the body tissue isnt injured the blood will clot while inside the blood vessel and in consequence resulting to the blocking of the blood vessels (Armola, 2007). The condition is also responsible of excess bleeding this is as a result of the bursting of the blood vessels as a result of the pressure from the clotting and in some case it is the case of a cut the blood platelet and proteins will not be in a position of clotting in order to stop the bleeding thus resulting to excessive bleeding of an individual. Causes and the treatments Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) There are several factors that are considered as the main contributors of these conditions in an individual they include cancers of the lungs, pancreas, and stomach and even prostrate cancer viral infections and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (APML) also results to the disorder. Another cause iincludes the cases of massive tissue injuries like Trauma, Burns and Extensive Surgeries. Infections also play a significant factor in one developing the disorder infections like malaria, Gramnegative sepsis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Histoplasmosis amongst other infections results to the condition. Miscellaneous conditions like Shock, Stroke, Snake Bites and Liver Diseases are also contributors of this condition. The notable symptoms of this condition includes haemorrhage this is where an individual will be acutely ill and experience constant bleed in body openings like the mouth, nose, ears that bleed constantly with no indication of the blood clotting leading to excess blood loss. Other sign for the disorder will be Extensive Bruises and Renal Failures. A patient that is diagnosed with the acute or mild cases of hemorrhage is subjected to treatment after identifying the individuals condition and from the identification of the cause of the condition a patient is subjected to the relevant treatment; thus in cases of mild cases of no bleeding a patient is subjected to fresh frozen plasma will be administered in an individuals blood stream in order to replenish the blood clotting (Dressler, 2004). While in the case of severe cases of hemorrhage the patient is subjected increased numbers of platelets in his blood stream this is in order to help in the clotting of the blood in the cases of a cut or open wounds. Buy custom Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation essay

The Five Aspects of Fitness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Five Aspects of Fitness - Essay Example The world is very conscious of itself. People want to be looking good, feeling good, doing good and being overall happy. Happiness is the basis of everything. Whatever one does, whether it is earning a million bucks or working for a charity, it is only to satisfy one's inner yearning for happiness. Being happy is a relative term, and poses a different implication for everyone. Physical fitness is the first and foremost aspect of fitness occupying the lives of the world-conscious people today. Everyone wants to attain a lean and toned body, much like that of the model in the nearest fashion magazine available. Various organizations cash in on this very desperation engulfing the people. Many proclaim medications guaranteed to make one lose weight instantly, while others propogate various techniques involving absurd methods to attain weight loss. Some might even benefit from these, but mostly these means are mare gimmicks. The tried and trusted age-old approach remains exercise and regulation of one's diet. No pain, no gain! And there is absolutely nothing like instant weight loss. As the body adapts to more exercise and low fat diet, it takes up nutrition from the already present fat reserve in the body, thereby depleting that source and attaining loss of weight and inches. However, this only happens over a period of few months.

Setting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Setting - Essay Example The first scene is in his twenties where he is lonely, cold, bitter but also hopeful when he enters the circus. Although this early life is characterized by rough times, he still manages to get an escape to the circus when his parents died. The other scene is set in the nursing home with Jacob is in his nineties. In the nursing home, he is lonely too but life here is more permanent that in the circus setting. The fact that the story is set during the depression is very relevant. This is because the main theme of the story is based on the poor conditions and tough lives of the Americans during the great depression. As such, it emphasizes the high poverty levels. The people were too poor to afford even the food supplies due to loss of economic benefits. If it had been set in the Roaring 20s when jobs were plentiful and spirits high, it could not have expressed the theme of this story because people would have had plenty of resources to live comfortably. Apart from taking people from place to place, the train represents lack of permanence to the circus people. They have no permanent residence due to poor economic conditions and therefore, they have to move from place to place for commerce purposes. As such, the train is a representation of hope that the circus’s poor conditions will get

Educational Enquiry Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Educational Enquiry - Assignment Example The outcome so far has been disappointing, though it may be that cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists will soon produce something finer.†Hargreaves argues current educational research is neither adequately cumulative nor relevant to teachers’ practical concerns for it to initiate the contribution required. He draws a contrast between the role of research in education, and role to the practice of medicine by means of evidence based medicine as a model. He claims few teachers use psychology, sociology, philosophy, and history. This makes the teachers work more effective (Reynolds & Trinder, 1997, pg 56) Hargreaves is not very explicit about the form he believes educational research should take. He is neglective of strict methodological problems that are faced by educational researchers. He seems to view the procedure of developing cumulative knowledge about the outcome of different pedagogical methods directly. The use of a standard in judging current educational re search that assumes direct and instrumental form of the relationship. Hargreaves argues educational research has failed to provide practitioners with the required knowledge about pedagogical strategies work, and those that do not ensure competence of the practitioner; he claims that it is not only terms of practical skills but familiarity with practice relevant to the research. While Hammersley points out that it is the language Hargreaves uses implies a commitment to a method that many would deem positivist that it values research that emulates the scientific approach.Hammersley challenges the assumption by arguing this type of evidence is effective in improving practice on the basis that scientific methods, and... This essay approves that the goals of learning in a social constructive perspective differ, and learning is characterized by the subjective reconstruction of society means, and models by carrying out negotiations of meaning in social interaction. Its focus is on interaction within the local setting because they are viewed as automatically related. It is noted that neither an individual learner’s activity nor the local micro culture can be understood without the consideration of the other. These changes the research that is learning compared with a cognitive constructionist research.Constructionism is associated with qualitative data where as sociocultural approaches the original data collection is qualitative because the focal point is on interactions, and dynamic. Learning opportunities arise but research is done on experiences and changes entailed. Many social cultural studies focus on learning as a transformation of identity to forefront the personal characteristics, and ha ve little to say about the system. This report makes a conclusion that learning technology research is presently dominated by a paradigm that divides the research into two types qualitative, and quantitative. The division is normal science in learning, and has provided an agreement that has permitted researchers to shun disagreements over fundamentals, and an outline for standard research training. The standard structure is under pressure from developing research methods that are relevant to learning. Educational research fails to supply a cumulated body of concrete knowledge about the effectiveness, and efficiency of different methods. May be paradigm could finally be resolved in the natural sciences, because the outcome of research was unreliable.

Margaret Thatcher’s New Right and New Labour

Margaret Thatcher’s New Right and New Labour The welfare state can be defined as the process in which the Government takes the responsibility in paying for, and in some instances such as public healthcare, directly providing services for the people. Through measures such as unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, and other social-security processes, it further provides the social and economic security of its population (Jones et al, 2007, p.680). In addition, the responsibility of the state is to help families, who need support in bringing up their children, through providing a choice of services which promotes the welfare of children and family members (VSS, 2003, p.2). The welfare state existed as far back as medieval times when the monasteries in particular looked after and supported the frail and elderly and educated the children. In the 16th century, parishes became legally responsible for looking after the poor and the people of the parish were expected to pay the cost (Bartholomew, 2004, p.29). The Poor Laws (traced back to 1536) were passed by the UK government to provide housing to the poor, homeless or disabled and in the 1800s many workhouses were built to provide shelter, work, food and clothing to the destitute. In 1914 a new code was established which encouraged more generous relief to be given to widows but only to those of good habits who would bring up their families correctly and that workhouses should be used as a threat to weaker women as it was already being argued that the welfare system was changing the morals of society (Walsh et al, 2000, p. 35;36). The birth of the modern welfare state began in 1911 when Lloyd George and Churchill introduced the first compulsary national insurance scheme against unemployment (Bartholomew, 2004, p.51). In 1941 an enquiry was launched which put forward proposals on how to tidy up the state welfare and the Bevridge report was published in 1942. William Bevridge was disappointed in what the welfare state had become and his report focused on full employment continuing within a stable economy where both Conservative and Labour worked within similar ideologies at this time to keep this stability and growth (Harris, 2004, p. 289, Alcock et al, 2004, p. 246). He was a believer of the Keynes theory that suggested there was a need for Government intervention to manage the economy which would solve the problems of unemployment and this approach was adopted by the Labour party (Page, 1999, p.24). His report further outlined defeating the five giants: want, ignorance, disease, squalor and idleness and his ma in proposal was that a national security should be universal and be compulsary everyone would pay a flat-rate contributions to a national insurance scheme. Those who fell ill, became unemployable or reached retirement age would, in return, receive flat-rate payments (Bartholomew, 2004, p.57). His report made no special provision for lone parents at all, arguing that the reponsibility of supporting the unmarried mother would be her familys although the typical family (which was that of a working man, his wife and children) lived almost in an income tax free state. At the time there was a married-couples allowance and tax allowances paid for each child which made the two parent family more likely to succeed (Bartholomew, 2004, p.255). Feminists saw his report as advocating that the womens place should be in the home serving her husband and children (VSS, 2003, p.19) as Beveridge stated that married womens duties was the vital unpaid service which would ensure the adequate continuance of the British race and of the British ideals in the world (cited in Lewis et al, 2000, p.32). The years following the Second World War radically influenced British society the NHS was formed and various Acts such as the Education Act; Family Allowance Act and the National Assistance Act were introduced and National Insurance for the unemployed was developed (Walsh et al, 2000, p.46). The Labour government helped to create a more state orientated Britain which took place with the purchase of industries by the state however this focus changed when the Conservative government came into power in 1979 and the concentration shifted to privatisation (Burton, 1987, p.26). The Conservatives, led by Margaret Thatcher, faced the burdening situation of the governments finances, rise in unemployment and NHS budget, and an increase in welfare bills. She proposed major changes in the thinking about social welfare and how it should be administered. In order to considerably reduce the increasing demand on the welfare state, which she believed to be expensive and morally weakening, she shifte d the responsibility of welfare from the state to personal, private and voluntary organisations which would be more efficient and effective (Walsh et al, 2000, p.52). During her period in office, Thatcher was influenced by her belief that the traditional nuclear family was the central force of modern life that contributed to decency, manners, respect for property and law and self-reliance, and was the best atmosphere for raising children (Jones et al, 2007, p.156). The norms and values of society began to break down in the 60s and 70s when a more tolerant society began to emerge. Changes to social policies such as divorce legislation (Divorce Reform Act, 1969) and generous welfare benefits were blamed for society and values deteriorating and this had caused an increase in irregular families and household types (Douglas, 1990, p.412). Thatcher and the New Right believed that the only way social problems would end would be if the golden age returned in which people lived in conventional family units, women stayed at home, divorce was not considered, benefits for lone parents were low and tax allowance for children were paid out (Douglas, 1999, p.414 ). They further argued that the traditional values of womens roles and the tradition of marriage was important to hold society together (Jones, 2007, p.156). New Right thinking, although influential in the 80s during the Thatcher Government is not new and has been around since the 17th and 18th century. The belief was that the government should not intercede in peoples lives and freedom, and that any intervention would cause social problems to become worse rather than improving them. The New Right also differentiated between people who were thought to be deserving of help and welfare services (poor through no fault of their own) and those who were unemployed, lazy and wasted money who should not receive welfare and support (Page et al, 1999, p.23; 78). Although Thatcher was keen to encourage and maintain the roles and responsibilities of the traditional family unit for personal security, emotional satisfaction and care for family members, it became difficult due to changes in society and law, which allowed women more freedom. Abortions were legalised and the contraceptive pill became available for free. In addition several Acts were introduced which gave women the opportunity to be more equal to men such as the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Equal Opportunities Act (1995). Furthermore the marketization of the economy; deregulation and privatisation of labour markets and spreading owner occupation in an unstable housing market all played their part in the family breakdown and womens access to, and need for, jobs (Chadwick et al, 2003, p.8). As womens lives began to change, they moved away from their natural role of housewife and mother as divorce rates climbed and more lone-parent families became the nor m. The idea of family responsibility and informal care by the existing family was formally made public but in reality, it became more difficult for family members to support each other. The belief was that the normal nuclear family should be a family of two heterosexual adults, who were married and in a sexual relationship, producing children and instilling traditional moral values in them. Therefore the breakdown of the family and specifically the increase in lone parent families and illegitimacy were recognized as the cause of the increase in crime, unemployment, delinquency, educational underachievement and child poverty (Douglas, 1999, p.412; 413). Charles Murray whose New Right ideas greatly influenced Thatcher and Conservative thinking believed that society in the 1960s had done nothing to improve the life of the poor but instead had caused it to be worse by creating an underclass. Despite any evidence, he further argued that the welfare programmes had produced a rise in unemp loyment, crime and illegitimacy in the American underclass and defiantly stated that people were not owed a decent standard of living, it was something they had to work for (Page et al, 1999, p.79). Murray particularly blamed the children of lone parent families for social problems as he argued that the lack of both role models would increase their chance of living in poverty, becoming dependent on drugs, alcohol and benefits and therefore would increase the chance of them resorting to crime. He further stated that the welfare state encouraged dependency and a break from traditional values and argued that large benefits led to families not working, but remaining dependant on state benefits (Page et al, 1999, p.304; 78). Thatcher therefore believed that the only way to reduce poverty was by ending the benefit culture, removing this dependency and encouraging self-reliance. She would have preferred mothers not to work, as their responsibility was to be at home to care for and protect their children. More over it would have been desirable if there were no single mothers claiming income support. Dunn Toroosian (2009, p.74) argues that the terms legitimate and illegitimate referring to children born in or out of wedlock are old fashioned, value laden terms that reflect societies attitude to marriage and childbearing which reinforce the New Right view and the Conservative pro-family movement, derived from Christian morality. Thatcher addressed the increase in welfare costs by cutting social expenditure, withdrawing services and introducing a new form of means tested support, which she believed targeted those in real need. She reduced the level of benefits and replaced certain benefits with others, which meant some people lost all or some of their benefits. Furthermore child benefit was not increased in line with inflation. Discretionary payments for people in deprivation were completely removed and the Social Fund introduced to help struggling people was mostly given out in the form of loans and not grants. The effect of these changes left many people and families who were receiving benefits a lot poorer. It is however argued (Pascall, 2002) that these changes to social policy left women in a stronger position by the end of the Conservative era due to improved access to work and enabled lone mothers to do paid work which made women less dependant within families. Although many of the changes happened more because of the womens movement than to Thatcherism, Thatcherite policies played a part in the process. However regardless of the womans new position, the New Rights ideology of the nuclear family is not all it is made out to be. Functionalist in particular ignored the potential harmful effects of family life and inequalities of domestic life. Nuclear families are very stereotypical and discriminatory (other family types are not families and therefore inadequate), patriarchal (there is an unequal distribution of power and status as it is male dominant and women are exploited) and not inclusive (gay relationships, reconstituted families, unmarried parents and especially lone parents ar e all ignored). There was no discussion or argument about whether the nuclear family was the only one that could carry out the vital functions of the family or whether the role of nurturing children could possibly be carried out by other family types such as lone parents or two women/ men. In addition nuclear families, as with all other types of families, can be equally unfavourable especially if there is domestic abuse and violence or child and drug abuse. Women may have gained more rights to be considered equal to men but in most circumstances the man has remained the breadwinner and women were still considered to undertake the emotional role of the domestics, housewife, mother and carer. Women often work part time or flexible hours in order to allow them to continue to fulfil their childcare and household responsibilities (Dunn-Toroosin, 2009, p.63). In addition, because of the changes in the economic, demographic, political and cultural trends in the industrialised world, people s work and home lives had changed. Although great change had taken place, it seemed that other areas of society such as government, religion and business had not yet caught up with the new reality. The Labour Party led by Tony Blair came into power after a landslide victory in 1997 and one of his main agendas was welfare reform. Although he continued with many of the Conservatives themes and stated that the welfare state must offer a hand-up rather than a hand-out'(Page, 1999, p.306), he wanted people on benefits to pull their weight with his rights and responsibilities approach. However, in his attempt to break away from Thatherism, the new government adopted the Third Way which was about promoting opportunity instead of dependance, with a welfare state providing for the mass of the people, but in new ways to fit the modern world (DSS, 1998b, p.19). Although New Labour accepted that the government had a duty to provide appropriate training and education, Blair wanted certain people receiving benefits (including single parents) to be encouraged into work and training rather than continuing to receive benefits (Page, 1999, p.309). Blair stressed the importance of individuals bei ng socially independent, however he also emphasised the importance and morals of families arguing that the breakup of community in turn is consequent on the breakdown in family life (Lavalette et al, 1999, online). Blair promised that his policies would modernise and renew Britain however the ideas that they were based upon were hardly new. He frequently discussed his Christian beliefs and values and how they influenced his policies New Labour very much wanted to return to family values (Lavalette et al, 1999, online). Frank Field (Labour minister for welfare reform, 1998) adopted many of the views of Charles Murray and he again highlighted the role of divorce, family breakdown and illegitimacy as the main contributors of the underclass and that welfare should openly reward good behaviour and enhance those roles which the country values (cited in Lavalette, 1999, online). Labour used social welfare policy to assert a new moral agenda and similarly to the policies of the New Right f ocused on the problem of teenage pregnancy, single mothers and the one parent family which resulted in benefits being cut (Page, 1999, p.129). The New Deal (introduced in 1998) was concerned with moving people off benefits into work through better access to training and subsidies being offered to employers who employ young people who had been out of work for six months. Furthermore the New Deal for Lone Parents did not apply to lone parents with younger children and it did not consider how difficult it was for them in actually taking up paid work (Hills, 1998, p.26). The poor working class families were told that they would be held responsible for any crimes their children committed as New Labour focussed on strengthening families and communities and also shaping the institution in which children are brought up, on the basis of enduring values justice for all, responsibilty from all (Chadwick, 2003, p.32). Benefit recipients were told that work is their salvation, even if it meant working for benefits, and being unemployed was not an option. Another strategy on his agenda was to tackle social exclusion groups of the poor who lacked the income and the opportunities to access social establishments which again included young single mothers. New Labour saw paid work as the best way to improve the position of the socially excluded rather than creating dependancy on welfare payments and services (Page, 1999, p.307). Ironically his agenda led to increasing levels of unemployment and a greater divide between rich and poor. It is a continuation of a number of themes that have been central to British Government policy for the last 30 years and is based on a deeply conservative moral agenda where the poor working class is increasingly identified as a problem that must be forced to accept the values of modern capitalism. Both New Right and New Labour attitudes and personal belief in how the family does work and should work has significantly impacted and influenced the Governments decision on social policy. However Page (1999, p.15) argues that social policy has always been shaped and influenced by social factors such as gender, class and age. This has in turn had consequences for women in family and public life. The effect of encouraging traditional family structures and the labelling of single parents has had both psychological and physical effects on families and such stigma often shapes and overshadows life. There was no evidence that proved the nuclear family was better than other family units or that lone parents were unsuitable yet this influenced policies. Furthermore, it was seen as a life style choice for single parents to be on benefits but benefits offer little chance for lone parents (and/or their children) to get out of the poverty cycle and it needs to be recognised that poverty strips dignity and makes a person powerless. Although the solution was to blame individuals and therefore change and introduce new policies and benefits, it would have been better to deal with the inequality and the lack of choices faced by some women. Providing more jobs and opportunities with better pay would have enabled women and their families to claw their way out of poverty and their reliance on welfare. Although the increase in capitalism meant progress for women as it enabled them to enter the workforce, they still remained unequal as they continued to bear the burden of the family role. Childcare facilities which could have allowed women to go back to work were scarce due to the lack of Thatchers commitment to spend public money on expanding childcare facilities (Douglas, 1999, p.413). Whilst much has been achieved, women are still at a definite disadvantage compared to men and therefore remain economically dependant. The aim of state welfare was to remove divisions in society, political and class inequality however b ecause of the attitudes of the changing political powers which influenced the welfare state, the effect has been to make those divisions more visible: lone parents and the underclass who have little choice than to live in impoverished environments where there is overcrowding and crime WORD COUNT: 3051