Compare and Contrast the Western and Middle Eastern Culture Essay

Compare and Contrast the Western and Middle Eastern Culture - Essay Example Eating with fork and knife is culture in the west but eating with hand is culture in the Arab world. Cultural differences can be found in all aspects when we compare the east and the west. Even when we commence a business activity in a foreign land we need to give importance to the culture followed so that the company is accepted globally. Situated between Africa, Asia and Europe, the Middle East has been the dream destination for travelers, empire builders and traders. The population includes Kurds, Iranians, Arabs, Jews, Turks, Armenians, and Nubians. The diversified population gives rise to the cultural richness in Middle East. Completely in contrast to the eastern culture, the western culture evolved in ancient Greece, slowly spreading over the European countries. The two traditions which contributed to this culture is the inheritance of the classical culture and Christianity. Today this culture has moved out of European countries and gradually spread across the entire globe. This culture mainly dominates in the central European nations and western countries like the US and Canada. We can also see the increasing influence of this culture in Asian nations like India, China, Thailand and Singapore with the liberalization of the economy. The people of the eastern world give great importanc... The people of the Arab world follow Islam. The Koran is the holy book which is considered as a spiritual guide, a system of law, code of ethics and a way of life. All Muslim members are expected to read the holy book everyday. The teachings of the Koran forms the foundation for Islamic culture and tradition. The teachings of Prophet Muhammad are considered paramount in the Koran. Friday is considered as the holy day and no business activity takes place on this day. Facing east (direction of Mecca), kneeling, forehead and palms touching the floor, Muslims pray five times a day and Friday noon prayer is led by a spiritual leader. All the male members of a Muslim family go to mosque compulsorily and the female members pray at home. All Muslims are expected to make a pilgrimage or Hajj to Mecca once in their lifetime. The month of Ramzan is considered as the holy month for rejuvenating oneself by abstaining from food, drinks and personal pleasures in the daylight. (Religion in the cultur es of Middle East. 2006). However, the Christian religion dominates the western culture. The Bible is considered as the force which has created religious identity to the western culture. The religion encourages freedom of expression and speech to both genders equally. Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving are the important celebrations of this culture. Sunday is considered as the holy day and no business activities takes place on this day. The Vatican City is the place of pilgrimage for this religion, and decisions taken by Pope play an important role, in the progress of the world economy, as the Christian population remains the largest in the world. Family and

Business Strategy Report for H&M Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Strategy Report for H&M - Essay Example the UK fashion market in 1976, and eventually became one of the leaders in the UK fashion-apparel retailing market, with 234 stores across the country, and the second-biggest apparel retailer in the world. (H&M’s Annual Report, 2013) The fashion industry is one of the most vibrant and creative business sectors in the UK. It directly contributes nearly  £21 billion to the UK economy. (British Fashion Council, 2014) H&M is currently ranked as the second-biggest apparel retailer in the world, following the Inditex, the parent company of Zara. H&M states that it vision is that all its operations are run in a way that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. (H&M, 2014) The company is helping to meet the needs of both present and future generations by supporting fundraising program, ensuring the working condition in its supply chain and continuously developing new and green materials in production. The main mission of H&M is to offer quality fashion at the best price. In its company report, H&M states numerous of times that quality is more than making sure that products meet or exceed consumers’ expectation. H&M is constantly working towards its vision and mission. And this is the key for its profit and growth. It is not rare to find high quality clothing or clothes at a low price within the fashionindustry. Therefore, by utilizingresources and depending on strong design team, H&M is combing the core competencies of quality, fashiondesign with a best price strategy, to ensure its competitiveness. The idea of the fashion industry is to spot the right trends on catwalks and have the items on shelves before your competitors do. This makes the rivalry level is high since there are a large number of similar retailers including both large and small firms. The rapid change in the industry leads firms constantly renewing their product to appeal to fickle customer bases as well. In addition, the loss of consuming interest on apparel caused by

The Challenges In Implementing Erp Systems

The Challenges In Implementing Erp Systems ERP is the process of integrating all the business functions and processes in an organization to achieve numerous benefits. First, a single point of data entry helps to reduce data redundancy while saving employees time in entering data, thereby reducing labour and overhead costs. Second, the centralization of information, decision-making, and control leads to increases in efficiencies of operations and productivity, as well as coordination between departments, divisions, regions, and even countries. This is especially true for multinational corporations (MNC), in which global integration could result in better communications and coordination around the world. The global sourcing and distribution of parts and services could also provide appropriate benchmarks for operations around the world. Third, the sharing of a centralized database provides business managers with accurate and up-to-date information to make well informed business decisions. Further, it reduces data redundancy while improving data integrity at the same time. Fourth, functional integration will consolidate all sorts of data, such as financial, manufacturing, and sales, to take advantage of bulk discounts. ERP is especially important for companies who are intimately connected to their vendors and customers, and who used electronic data interchange (EDI) to process sales transactions electronically. Therefore, the implementation of ERP is exceptionally beneficial to businesses such as manufacturing plants that mass-produce products with little changes. Nevertheless, the revolutionary and innovative ERP software system quickly expands into other business areas such as finance and retailing. ERP also provides companies with a competitive advantage over their competitors. But despite these several benefits, there are also certain challenges faced by ERP, especially during the implementation phase. Some of the challenges faced during the implementation of an ERP system are explained in the following sections. Typically ERP systems are very costly, take a lot of time to implement and have a risk associated with implementation, and also affect the job profiles of many employees. Thus the three major dimensions involved are money, time and people involvement. In addition, there is also a requirement to re-engineer existing business practices to match the needs of the new ERP system. AN ERP IMPLEMENTATION PLAN The following flowchart depicts several activities that must be performed before implementing an ERP system. Step 1: Managers must conduct a feasibility study of the current situation to assess the organizations needs by analyzing the availability of hardware, software, databases, and in-house computer expertise, and make the decision to implement ERP where integration is essential. They must also set goals for improvement and establish objectives for the implementation, and calculate the break-even points and benefits to be received from this expensive IT investment. Step 2: The second major activity involves educating and recruiting end users to be involved throughout the implementation process. Step 3: Managers form a project team or steering committee that consists of experts from all functional areas to lead the project. Step 4: After a decision is made to implement ERP, a team of system consultants will be hired to evaluate the appropriateness of implementing an ERP system, and to help select the best enterprise software provider and the best approach to implementing ERP. In most situations, the consultant team also recommends the modules that are best suited to the companys operations (manufacturing, financial, human resources, logistics, forecasting, etc.), system configurations, and Business-to-Business applications such as supply-chain management, customer relationship management, e-procurement, and e-marketplace. Step 5: Adequate employee and manager training must be provided to all business, stakeholders, including managers, end users, customers, and vendors, before the system is implemented. Such training is usually customized and can be provided by either internal or outside trainers. Step 6: The system installation process will address issues such as software configuration, hardware acquisition, and software testing. Step 7: Data and information in the databases must be converted to the format used in the new ERP system and servers and networks need to be upgraded. A post implementation review is recommended to ensure that all business objectives established during the planning phase are achieved. Needed modifications are tackled during this phase too. Issues Faced while Implementing an ERP Although issues faced while implementing an ERP are numerous, but this report classifies them majorly into selection related issues, technical issues, psychological issues, organisational change related issues and time and cost related problems. Selecting an appropriate ERP The first and foremost challenge faced by many organisations is deciding what sort of an ERP system they should select to implement. The managers must decide on the size, type and scope of the ERP system they actually require and how to choose the best solution amongst the existing hundreds of systems in the market. This selection problem arises for all businesses without exception and should be considered as seriously as possible for the reason that ERP system choice defines a companys strategy for at least the following 6 to 10 years and, no doubt, has a major impact on the future success of the entire business. To decide on the implementation of a successful ERP program, the managers should have an in-depth understanding of the organisations current business processes, organisational structure, culture, work environment and financial and economic strength. Due to enormous impact on the competitive advantage of the company, top management must consider the strategic implications of implementing an ERP solution keeping in mind the size of the company and the modules installed. Management must ponder about several topics like:- à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Does the ERP system strengthen the companys competitive position? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ How does ERP affect the organizational structure and the culture? What is the scope of the ERP implementation only a few functional units or the entire organization? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Are there any alternatives that meet the companys needs better than an ERP system? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ If it is a multinational corporation, the management should be concerned about whether it would be better to roll the system out globally or restrict it to certain regional units? Only when all these points have been taken care of, can an ERP system be selected for further implementation. Technical Issues Once the appropriate ERP is selected, the arduous task of implementation has only begun. The next part of implementation issues are related to the technical aspects of the project both hardware and software. These issues include the existing servers and workstations to be updated and new and modern ones to be ordered, purchased, and replaced. The internal network also has to be analyzed and modernized if required; the speed and bandwidth of the existing Internet access should be taken into consideration, along with possible technical concerns about the mobile devices being used. If these questions are underestimated, they can dramatically impact the overall result of the project and easily result in slow performance in the first few weeks, or in some cases months of ERP implementation hence resulting in a slackening of the existing pace of business. However the situation has been changed during the last few years, and plenty of software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications that have shown up on the market now allow the cost and headache of hardware problems to be minimized. More specifically, ERP systems need a Graphical User Interface at the front end, and are based on a client-server technology. They require the ability to access and share data across all applications across different platforms. Some servers and equipment might have a need to be custom built, and that can also cause a time lag in ERP implementation. In short, it can be said that the unique hardware and software needs of an ERP system, along with the continued use of pre existing applications in an organisation can prove to be tricky and are a major consideration while implementing an ERP. Data quality and consistency issues This issue is common in companies that are implementing ERP for the first time and transferring their legacy data into the new system from Excel spreadsheets, manual records, or old disparate applications. Basically, the question is that old data that have been used and stored for years can for many reasons appear approximate or even incorrect in the new ERP system. Integration of data from other older systems with the new ERP system is a major concern while implementing the system. A particular company might have accounting and finance systems operating on different mainframes (say IBM 370 architecture), MRP systems on a high end VAX, and a logistics system on an AS 400. The legacy systems of this company might be coded in COBOL. Thus, the implementation of a new ERP system for such a company needs to be done very carefully and requires technical judgement for the implementation of this new system. People related Psychological Issues This is the most difficult type of issue to resolve. These are the questions and issues that originate from the aspect of human nature that never accepts any change without seeing the visible advantages of it. People-related issues such as corporate philosophy and leadership style can play an important role in the ERP implementation process. Research has concluded that active top management support and commitment are essential to the success of any system implementation. Frequently, executive councils and steering committees consisting of top managers are developed to plan and manage the IT initiatives. Employees can be quite wary of any kind of change in the business processes, particularly during periods of economic downturn. Ill-trained employees who fight the changes in the business process tend to be poor performers. Therefore, to increase the chance of a successful ERP implementation and to reduce users resistance to change, employees, especially those who are very knowledgeable with the operations, must be involved in all stages of the implementation process. Employees must also be educated about the ERP installation. Such educational endeavours should include a concise introduction to the basic concepts and architecture of ERP systems, including actual screen shots of the function modules. During these training sessions, it is important to discuss the managerial issues involved and to build a basic understanding of the integration concepts prior to the actual installation of the ERP system. Further, any Business-to- Business initiatives, reengineering projects, alliances, an d the introduction of new technologies should also be addressed. Project managers must take charge of the implementation process at all times. They must oversee the reengineering of the key business processes, reassign job responsibilities, restructure the organizations chart, and redefine work relationships. Further, they must also learn how to manage the software vendors and any outside consultants. Employees working on an ERP implementation project put in long hours (as much as 20 hours per day) including seven-day weeks and even holidays. Even though the experience is valuable for their career growth, the stress of implementation coupled with regular job duties could decrease their morale rapidly. Leadership from upper management and support and caring acts of project leaders would certainly boost the morale of the team members. Other strategies, such as taking the employees on field trips, could help reduce the stress and improve the morale. Organisational Changes ERP implementation brings significant changes into a companys conventional business model and the day-to day practices it has been using for years or even decades. ERP implementation requires organizations to reengineer their key business processes in fundamental ways, revamping old ways of conducting business, redefining job responsibilities, and restructuring the organization. For major multinational corporations (MNC), the ERP systems must be customized to address global issues where different countries have different ways of doing business, and to incorporate country-specific business practices pertaining to accounting, tax requirements, environmental regulations, human resources, manufacturing, and currency conversion into the integrated systems. While integrating the information systems across various countries, three types of misfits (relating to data, process, and output) can occur due to incompatibilities between software functionality and organizational requirements as well as differences in cultural and regulatory environments. The unique context of each country in which an organization operates must be carefully included into the traditionally Western-biased business practices inherent in the ERP systems. Implementation Cost and Time Implementation Cost: Even though the price of prewritten software is cheap compared with in-house development, the total cost of implementation could be three to five times the purchase price of the software. The implementation costs would increase as the degree of customization increases. After training the selected employees, strategies such as bonus programs, company perks, salary increases, continual training and education, and appeals to company loyalty work to retain them. Other intangible strategies such as flexible work hours, telecommuting options, and opportunities to work with leading-edge technologies are also being used. Implementation Time: ERP systems come in modular fashion and do not have to be implemented entirely at once. ERP packages are very general and need to be configured to a specific type of business and may follow a phase-in approach with one module implemented at a time. Some of the most commonly installed modules are sales and distribution (SD), materials management (MM), production and planning, (PP), and finance and controlling (FI) modules. The length of implementation is affected by the number of modules being implemented, the scope of the implementation, the extent of customization, and the number of interfaces with other applications. The more the number of units, the longer the implementation time. Further as the scope of implementation grows from a single business unit to multiple units spread out globally, the duration of implementation increases. Conclusion An ERP implementation is a huge commitment from the organization, causing millions of dollars and can take up to several years to complete. However, when it is integrated successfully, the benefits can be enormous. A well-designed and properly integrated ERP system allows the most updated information to be shared among various business functions, thereby resulting in tremendous cost savings and increased efficiency. When making the implementation decision, management must considered fundamental issues such as the organizations readiness for a dramatic change, the degree of integration, key business processes to be implemented, older applications to be included, and whether or not new hardware needs to be acquired. In order to increase the chance of user acceptance, employees must be consulted and be involved in all stages of the implementation process. Providing proper education and appropriate training are also two important strategies to increase the end user acceptance rate. The o rganization is also going through a drastic change, with changes in the way businesses are conducted, the organization being restructured, and job responsibilities being redefined. And finally, the cost and time of implementation of an ERP system also are a major challenge faced during the implementation process.

Self-Hate in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye Essay -- Essays on The Blu

At a time when blue-eyed, pale skin Shirley Temple is idolized by white and black alike, eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove desperately seeks out beauty for herself. In order to attain beauty in her culture, Pecola must do the impossible: find white beauty. Toni Morrison shows the disastrous effects that colorism and racism can have on a whole culture and how African- Americans will tear each other apart in order to fit into the graces of white society. The desire to be considered beautiful in the white world is so compelling, that the characters in The Bluest Eye loathe their own skin color and feel shame for their culture. These feelings of self-loathing and contempt pass on from the adults to their children, creating a continuous cycle of negativity and self-hate. â€Å"Here was an ugly little black girl asking for beauty†¦A little black girl who wanted to rise up out of the pit of her blackness and see the world with blue eyes† (Morrison, 174). By petitioning for white beauty, Pecola Breedlove is desperately attempting to pull herself out of the pit of blackness. Because Pecola has dark-skin and authentic African-American features, black and white society has conditioned her to believe that she is ugly. Pecola.s physical features ensure her to be a victim of classical racism; classical racism being the notion that the â€Å"physical ugliness of blackness is a sign of a deeper ugliness and depravity† (Taylor, 16). This notion allows the mistreatment of dark-skinned people because their blackness is a link to a â€Å"dark past† and to uncivilized ways. Pecola does not epitomize white society.s standards of beauty because she does not have light skin and trademark blue eyes; therefore, she must be ugly and ba... ...Melus: 19.4 (1994): 109-127. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 24 March 2014. Lobodziec, Agnieszka. â€Å"Theological Models of Black Middle-Class Performance in Toni Morrison.s Novels.† Black Theology: An International Journal 8.1 (2010): 32-52. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 24 March 2014. McKittrick, Katherine. â€Å"Black and „Cause I.m Black I.m Blue.: transverse racial geographies in Toni Morrison.s The Bluest Eye.† Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography 7.2 (2000): 125. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 24 March 2014. Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Penguin, 1970. Print. Taylor, Paul C. â€Å"Malcom.s Conk and Danto.s Colors; or Four Logical Petitions Concerning Race, Beauty, and Aesthetics.† Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism 57.1 (2000): 16-20. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 March 2014.

Philosophy as Metaphysics Essay

ABSTRACT: Philosophy works with special types of objects: the totalities. The basic characteristics of this type of object are their metaphysical, transcendental, and total character. The character of these objects determines the specificity of language and the methods of philosophy. The language of philosophy represents symbolic language; speculation is the basic method of philosophy. On the one hand, objects of this type emphasis homo sapien as essences capable of constructing such objects, which in turn assumes the ability of human consciousness to make synthetic acts. On the basis of philosophy as metaphysics, an original approach is offered which divides the history of philosophy into periods as well as providing analysis of different philosophical systems. Feature of philosophical activity, as against a science, is the work with special, not physical objects — the totalities, which are constituted by the philosopher. One of such objects is the world, and, in this sense, we often say, that philosophy is a wel-tanschauung (world-outlook) . Certainly, the world as some set of things can be studied by physics (sciences in a broad sense), but in this case a researcher can miss the point that the world is a totality, not just a simple set of things. As distinct from scientific study the philosophy takes its objects as the totalities, which the subject of knowledge cannot study as ordinary objects, because the including the learning subject character of these the totalities excludes any standard scientific approach to knowledge in principle. Others examples of the above mentioned objects (the totalities) are Ego and God. Objects of this type (with some reservations) are a lot of human being phenomena, such as love, virtue, conscience, courage, bravery, understanding and so on. All these objects are those, that the precise fixing of objective criteria of their existence is impossible, it is impossible to create the high-grade theory of these phenomena (for example, theory of love or bravery), as they assume not only objective Contemplator (as it occurs in case of objects of scientific knowledge), but also postulate the Actor inside them, that causes essentially twinkling way of them being. (2) Exactly the character of these objects determined essential features of the philosophizing as metaphysical activity. The underlining of metaphysical character of philosophy objects dictates the special procedures of work with them, distinct from of methods of scientific knowledge. Metaphysical objects — constructs cannot be given in frameworks of physical experience; the study — constructing of these objects occurs by a way of thinking means, procedures of speculation. That is why the one of the most typical mistakes in the researching of these objects is procedures of naturalization metaphysical objects, i. e. consideration of natural (physical) analogs of these objects. For example, instead of work with the world (the world as totality) we consider the world as some sets of physical, chemical, biological etc. objects, and instead of the analysis of phenomenon of consciousness proper as metaphysical object the natural analog of consciousness — brain or mentality of the particular human being, we examine. Specifying the status of these objects, it is possible to tell, that the subject of the philosophy activity are metaphysical-transcendental objects, i. e. objects having the boundary status of their existence. The boundary character of these objects allows to specify Kantian distinction sensible phenomena and transcendent things in itself. Moreover, metaphysical-transcendental objects are located on border of other known distinctions of classical philosophy. (3) They are, for example, not subjective and not objective, not conscious and not material. It is interesting in this respect appearance of the first proper philosophical category of being, which, in fact, was entered Parmenid`s as boundary metaphysical-transcendental object being-thinking (in this case, alongside with Parmenid`s postulating his first thesis, entering a category of being, presence of the second his thesis, establishing the coincidence of an entered category of being with another category — the category of thinking). In some sense, metaphysical-transcendental objects are Husserl`s phenomenal, from which as a result of procedures of objectivizing and (or) subjectivizing the subjects and objects can be received, i. e. is entered subjective-objective distinction of New time. On the other hand, the boundary character of these objects allows still to work with them ( I specially avoid the term to learn, as far as these procedures are applied only for work with usual objects). Above this mode of working with them was named as speculation, which, as a result, the construction of these objects to occur by a way of thinking means. The creation such thinking construct is caused by that the person aspires to understand mode of functioning of the totalities, which surround him. And just this phenomenon of surprise before presence of such totalities is a beginning and basic nerve of philosophy. In this sense, philosophizing is possible only as an act of work of the beings, capable to postulate these totalities, due to synthetic acts (Kant), as being, perceiving the environmental world not in itself, but by means of symbolical function (Cassirer), through a prism of the transformed forms (Marx, Mamardaschvili). Another important characteristic of metaphysical objects is their total-making nature. It means, that the purpose of designing such objects is the attempt of understanding of some phenomenon of totality (for example, the world as whole, totality) in light of a question how (why) this phenomenon is possible?. The answer to this question assumes revealing mechanism of existence of this phenomenon. That is why it is important for the philosopher not to know some common aspect, that is allowed at a level of the primary, superficial description of it and other similar objects, but to know general (total) principle of functioning of objects of this type. For example, if a row of the plane polygons is given to us, a triangle(4) will act as general principle of this variety, because all others plane polygons can be given with the help of a triangle. Thus, philosophical constructs act as transcendental condition of seeing of other physical objects. That the phenomenon of seeing of a house was possible as some totality, it is necessary to postulate a row of transcendental conditions of this phenomenon, among them we can allocate necessity being of the house (Parmenid), recognition (and taking shape) this being by means of idea of home (Plato), fixing the house as an object of perception by some subject (Decartes) within spatial-temporary a priory forms of sensuality (Kant). On the other hand, a row of such philosophical constructs define a horizon, a way of seeing of subjects (Wittgenstein), associated with a certain epoch. For example, the mentioned above transcendental conditions of a phenomenon of seeing of a house define a way of seeing of subjects within the framework of classical philosophy. In this sense these constructs act as total-necessary cultural machines, that set the cultural way of living activity of the person and made imperceptible but essential background of his existence. For example, when a modern man looks at star sky, he sees not simply separate stars, but constellations — and it is impossible to explain to a person from other culture (and the more so, being, which is not having ability to the synthetic acts). Moreover, developing this example with constructing of constellations, it is possible to tell, that exactly it has made possible occurrence of such activity as an astrology. The above mentioned metaphysical character of philosophy objects causes the specification of the language and methods philosophizing. The language of philosophy has not signal, but symbolical character. Let’s stop on it hardly more in detail. Already science differs from the common sense description, because it uses some abstraction, ideal elements, which, in a common case, it is impossible to compare any certain objects of the physical validity. For example, as D. Gilbert says, in mathematics, those are language fictions, and one of the main problems of a substantiation of mathematics is either an exception these fictions, or imposing some certain restrictions — all that prevent the appearance of negative consequences, while using language fictions. Any language works with signs, besides that, any theory deals with mentioned language fictions (=  «symbols »), i. e. such kinds of signs, with which nothing corresponds in sensible reality. For example, in physics has concepts a material point, an absolutely black body, etc. They are often called as abstract — ideal objects, which turn out by a way of abstraction (idealization) from any properties of real physical objects. But in physics there are and more fictitious objects: cwarcks, for example, which not only is evident not imagine, but also until last time have acted only as theoretical constructs essentially of unobservable nature. In this case we can postulate a metaphysical mode of existence for these objects. It is important to emphasize, that these metaphysical objects do not exist in the same sense, as it is for the particular objects of a physical reality, such as table, chair,etc. The majority of the philosophy terms, its categorical apparatus have such symbolical character. It is impossible to give any referents of philosophical categories inside a physical reality. We can take as an example of such philosophical categories as being, consciousness etc. , for which we can somehow find certain physical analogues (for example, for a philosophical category  «being  » such analogue is the category  «substance » or matter). But there are more humanitarian objects connected with some features of a human being way, for which in general there are no analogues in a nature. These are, for example, concepts virtue, conscience, love, debt, bravery†¦ This specification of the philosophy language, which symbols indicate an existence of a special metaphysical dimension of a reality could be expressed by Kantian exclamation â€Å"Excuse me, but it is not, what I speak about (mean)! † in reply to German poet Schiller`s misunderstanding his categorical imperative. The metaphysical character of the categorical philosophical apparatus predetermines also specification of philosophical reasoning. The postulated non-sense character of perception of objects of the filosophizing assumes the special procedures of work, which were above characterized as a procedure of speculation. The main difficulty thus — is absence of a support on sensible analogy, which often helps us in daily life. The structure a reasoning about pure being (or conscience) is principle different from the reasoning about a tree, or a sex, or other objects of the physical world. Danger, which here waits us — influence of our vital experience, influence sensible hooks, which can destroy the ability for the reflex and philosophical analysis. To explain the idea about involuntary influence ours sensible apparatus, M. Mamardaschvili in the lectures about M. Proust, used as an example biblical commandment when they beat you on the one cheek — put another one as a vivid example of inhibition (Husserl`s  «phenomenological reduction ») of a standard human reaction (reflex), imposed to us by sense-figurative thinking (if somebody hearts you — reply with the same). Moreover, it is possible, that some other logic operates in area of speculative objects, distinct from usual, earthly logic. In particular, according to opinion of the Russian philosopher and the logic N. A. Vasiljev, validity of the logic law of excluded third, has purely earthly an origin and it is connected with primacy, after Aristotle, of individual existing things. (5) If we, following Plato, consider classes of subjects as primary (for instance, subject a class of tables), the law of excluded third will be incorrect, as the table as one of set of subjects of a class of tables can be simultaneously both white and non-white (in instance, green). Of course, here it is necessary to realize, that the opposite properties are attributed to the different individuals of primary â€Å"subject† — different things of the same class). The transfer of the point of view from single objects to classes of objects has allowed N. Vasiljev to formulate imagined logic with the law of excluded fourth. This logic in anything does not concede on its parameters to our habitual logic with the law of excluded third, but expands opportunities of our thinking. Within the framework of this logic the paradoxical coincidence between maximum and minimum, revealed Nikolaj from Kuza, does not cause surprise. The only acceptable procedure for understanding of philosophical categories within of some philosophical framework is the correlation of the different speculative (metaphysics) objects with the help of a method language game.

Love in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - 1035 Words

The course of true love never did run smooth in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† The idiom â€Å"The course of true love never did run smooth† implies that the path to love is never simple and straight forward. The path to true love is filled with difficulties and obstacles from society, religion, or culture. In â€Å"Pride and Prejudice,† none exemplify this idiom more than the couples Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth and Mr. Bingley and Jane. The idea behind the proverb plays a central role in constructing the plot of the story as seen with the relationships, especially those of Bingley and Jane, and Darcy and Elizabeth. Jane Austen tells a fairy tale of how an attractive young lady, who is virtually penniless, meets with a handsome and rich gentleman, who is†¦show more content†¦Jane and Bingley’s relationship also depicts the idiom â€Å"the course of true love never did run smooth.† Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley meet and fall in love at a dance in Meryton. Their mutual attraction is evident to everyone, especially Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley’s sisters who disapprove of Jane’s social disadvantage. Jane and Mr. Bingley are considered the potential couple that will eventually marry. Elizabeth is happy and wants her sister to be happily married, therefore, she is happy at the thought of a marriage between Bingley and Jane. In the eyes of Elizabeth, this is would be the marriage of true affection. However, as the idiom indicates, one of the obstacles that makes the road to love for Jane and Bingley not smooth is the interference by his family. Bingley’s sisters try to convince Bingley not to marry Jane. If he is to marry, he should marry for money, connections, and pride (Schaefer 17). These are the same sentiments voiced by Darcy who is also concerned with social status. When Elizabeth joins Jane to keep her company at Netherfield, the Bingley sisters delude them for their country girls’ customs, lifesty le, and relations. Darcy cynically indicates that these relations, â€Å"must very materially lessen their chance of marrying men of any consideration in the world† (Austen 37). The Bingley sisters try everything to prevent the relationship as they also interfere with the relationship betweenShow MoreRelatedThe Immortality of Love in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen839 Words   |  3 PagesLove is a word that cannot be given one simple definition. Love is a different thing to different people. Love has extreme powers. It has started great wars, and it can cause people to do unbelievable things. Jane Austen has a very clear opinion on love and personal relationships, and she makes various statements about these personal relationships throughout her novel Pride and Prejudice. 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A Small Number Of Key Concepts Have Become Very Significant To Operations Managers - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2054 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Compare and contrast essay Level High school Did you like this example? Over recent years, a small number of key concepts have become very significant to Operations Managers. Four of these concepts are: Customer Care Kaizen Just-in-Time Total Quality Management Your task is to compare and contrast each of these four concepts, clearly describing each. Your work should help the reader to understand how each interrelates to the others and how, if properly applied, they will help any organisation to be a success. In order to understand the four concepts of customer care, kaizen, just-in-time and total quality management, there is a need to understand operations management and what this entails in the relationship between the four concepts and operations management. It is vital to the task to understand the meaning of each of the concepts in relation to operations management as well as to the business in which it is situated. Operations management is the area of business practice which is associated with the production of goods and services. It involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient through the use of as little resources as possible and also that the customer requirements are met in and effect ive and efficient manner. According to Bartol et al (1998: p. 53), operations management Is the function, or field of expertise, that is primarily responsible for managing the production and delivery of an organisations products and services. The main use of operations management is the management of the process that converts inputs into outputs. Every organisation has an operational function, because every organisation produces a good or service for its consumers. According to Slack (1999: p. 122), operations managers are ‘the staff of the organisation who have particular responsibility for managing some, or all of the resources which comprise the operations function. The main aim of operations management is to increase the organisations value added activities within any given process. This organisational aim is helped along by the four concepts mentioned earlier – customer care, Kaizan, Just-in-Time and Total Quality Management (TQM). Each of t hese concepts are integral to the productivity of the organisation and to its overall success within the business environment. Customer service is often referred to as customer support operations and this provides the activities which support the customer in the use of the organisations products as well as providing the means by which the equipment is serviced. Customer care is the after sales service which is often regarded as the need to satisfy warranty requirements. According to Slack (1999: p. 30) many organisations mistakenly believe that this is relevant after a sale has been made, ‘However, customer service and support is influenced by, and should influence, earlier stages in the contact with customers and the design and production of products. This philosophy is one of a consistency of service for customers by means of a designed and built-in serviceability of products. The role of customer care should be an integral part of the organisations servic e strategy. Customer care is driven by three factors: Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "A Small Number Of Key Concepts Have Become Very Significant To Operations Managers" essay for you Create order Its initial purchase price The cost of failure to customers, and Its reliability index. Customer care is important to any organisation and in order to gain customer approval, the organisation must concentrate on not only the quality of the product or service but also on the customer service both while the customer is in the process of buying the product but also in the aftercare period of the product. Kaizen is the Japanese word for improvement and refers to the philosophy that focuses on continuous improvement in manufacturing and business activities. The concept of Kaizan was implemented first in Japan during the post-war economic miracle and has spread through the global business environment. Kaizan refers to the continual improvement of all the business functions of the organisation, from the manufacturing of the product to the management of the organisation, from senior management to assembly line workers. Kaizans aim is to eliminate waste through the improvement of standardised business activities and processes. The process of Kaizan when completed corr ectly ensures that the workplace is humanised and sees the elimination of overly hard work, and through this process increases productivity. In order for the concept of Kaizan to work, there is the need for the participation of all of the organisations employees from senior management to the assembly line. The key elements which are crucial to the process of Kaizan are Quality Effort Involvement of all employees Willingness to change Communication. It is important to the concept of Kaizan that the theories of teamwork are established as well personal discipline and an improved morale from the employees as well as the establishment of quality circles and suggestions for improvement. Just-in-Time is the modern day Western approach which has been developed from Japanese companies in the 1950s and 1960s. The primary objective of Just-in-Time is to make the time between the order of the customer and the payment of cash. Just-in-Time is the process which is the integration of philosophy and techniques which are used to improved performance. According to Slack (1999: p. 85) ‘only the customer is free to place demand when he or she wants: after that the JIT system should take over to assure the rapid and co-ordinated movement of parts throughout the system to meet that demand. The key philosophy behind Just-in-Time is to squeeze out waste at every junction. Waste, by definition in this context is defined by any activity which does not add value. Just-in-Time can be defined as a quest for superior performance manufacturing. Just-in-Time operations are done as and when they are needed. According to Waters (2002 p. 454) ‘In essence, just-in-time or JIT organises all operations so the occur at exactly the time they are needed. They are not done too early (which would leave products and materials hanging around until they were actually needed) and they are not done too late (which would give poor customer service). The management philosophy of Total Quality Management (TQM), according to Slack (1999 p.224) embraces ‘all activities through which the needs and expectations of the customer and the and the community, and the objectives of the organisation are satisfied in the most efficient and cost effective way by maximising the potential of all employees in a continuing drive for improvement. Total Quality Management places emphasis on the planning and organ isation features which are integral to the quality improvement process. There is a need for a long term approach for Total Quality Management which needs to be integrated with the other strategies such as information technology, operations and human resources, organisational business plans etc, in order for the business to compete within the environment. For the Total Quality Management process to be successful, effective use of the quality systems and procedures are imperative to the running of the system. Total Quality Management has become a particularly important development and the effects of this process are likely to remain in good organisations. This concept is the realisation that poor quality can cost the organisation in terms of cash and loss of the future market share, whereas excellent quality can offer the organisation a definite competitive advantage. These four key concepts of operations management are essential to operations managers in determining the futu re of the business and are important in significance to the nature of success of the business and how it is run. All four concepts of customer care, Kaizan, Just-in-Time and Total Quality Management are all interrelated to each other through their respective processes and if these concepts are properly applied they can guarantee the success of the organisation. The concepts are all essential to the workings of the organisation and these concepts are overseen by the operations manager. The concept of customer care is seen by the operations manager as essential to the overall success in the organisation through the value which the product or service has added as well the aftercare service which is provided whether this is by technical support or through a warranty which the organisation has provided. According to Bartol et al (1998: p. 588) on the subject of managing customer contact ‘Experts argue that the degree to which a service can be efficient is directly related to the extent of the customer contact. This can be related to the other concepts especially with regards to wastage. The more time the employ has to manage contact with the customer, the more time they are neglecting other aspects of the operation. Contact with the customer can lead to a greater prospect of requests from the customer, changes in the instructions which had been finalised or the desire for the customer to chat can be seen as wastage. The role of the operations manager is to control this contact in a manageable and reasonable fashion so that there is no major loss to the company. This in turn can be linked to the Just-in-Time system which controls the inventory as described by Bartol et al (1998: p. 565) ‘an approach to inventory control that emphasises having materials arrive just as they are needed in the production process. It is important in supply and demand as well as the value chain when adding value to the service, the product and the comp any that this inventory system is vital to the successful running of the organisation. This inventory system is also overseen by the operations manager and like customer care it is necessary to allow little wastage in order for the implementation of successful future planning. With the Just-in-Time system high quality is a vital necessity as the production is reliant on the materials being provided by the supplier in a timely manner. It is up to the operations manager to monitor and stay on top of this operation to allow production to be continuous. In relation to the concept of Kaizan, it is up to the operations manager to guide their employees through the process. There is no set group through which Kaizan can be initiated, it can be through the individual, a small group or a large group. Through this concept of Kaizan, the process can generate in organisations Total Quality Management and helps free up the efforts through improvements in productivity through the organisa tions employees. Total Quality Management as part of the operations management process is important in conjunction with the other three concepts. Bartol et al (1998: p. 544) defines the process as ‘A management system that is an integral part of an organisations strategy and is aimed at continually improving product and service quality so as to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction and build strong customer loyalty. All four of these concepts are interrelated and cannot be separated from each other in a successful organisation. It is important that the operations manager understand the needs for these concepts and how they affect the overall success of the business and how both customer loyalty and employee morale are important to the direction of the organisation for future planning. It is important to the role of the operations manager for these concepts to be installed in the organisational ethos and so that they are not separated and can be worked in conjunction with each of the concepts. The role of the operations manager within the organisation is to oversee the production side of the organisation and with the four concepts implemented successfully, this can place both a greater emphasis on future planning and success of the organisation as well as building customer loyalty and employee morale, therefore allowing the organisation, the customer and the employee to have an element of satisfaction. Bibliography Bartol, K.M., Martin, D.C., (1998) Management, McGraw Hill Bettley, A., Mayle, D., Tantoush, T., (2005) Operations Management: A Strategic Approach, Sage Publications/ The Open University Bicheno, J., Elliott, B.B.R., (2002) Operations Management: An Active Learning Approach, Blackwell Publishers Ltd Brown, S., Blackmon, K., Cousins, P., Maylor, H., (2001) Operations Management: Policy, Practice and Performance Management, Butterworth-Heinemann Greasley, A., (2008) Operations Management, Sage Publications Lewis, M., Slack, N., (2003) Operations Management: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management, Routledge Lowson, R.H., (2002) Strategic Operations Management: The New Competitive Advantage, Routledge Needham, D., Dransfield, R., Harris, R., Coles, M., (1995) Business for Higher Awards, Heinemann Shim, J.K., Siegel, J.G., (1999) Operations Management, Barron Educational Series Slack, N., (1999) The Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Operat ions Management, Blackwell Publishers Ltd Waters, D., (2002) Operations Management: Producing Goods and Services, FT/ Prentice Hall