Cross-cultual Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cross-cultual Managment - Essay Example How important are organizational status, prestige and level in the organizational hietrarchy What rights to make decisions are given to managers as function of their positions To what degree should employees automatically defer to the wishes and decisions of their managers Power distance refers to the belief that strong and legitimate decision-making rights separates managers and employees; this custom is frequently observed in Asian and South American countries. By contrast, employees in the United States and Scandinavian countries subscribe to beliefs of lower power distance and are less likely to believe that their managers are automatically correct. Therefroe, many employees in the United States and Scandinavia do not blindly defer to their manager's wishes. Cultures that emphasize individualism tend to accent individual rights and freedoms, have very loosely knit social networks and place considerable attention on self-respect. Strong emphasis is placed on the person's own career and personal rewards. Collectivism heavily accents group and values harmony among members. Individual feelings are subordinated to the group's overall good, and employees are more likely to ask, "What is the best organization" Face-saving (maintaining one's self-image in front of others) is highly important in collectivistic cultures. When face-saving is accomplished, then one's status in the group can be maintained. The United States has an individualistic culture; Japan is collectivistic, with a culture that can be characterized by the proverb "The nail that sticks up gets pounded down." The Chinese culture accents the importance of quaxi or relationships. Femininity versus masculinity Masculine societies define gender roles in more traditional and stereotypical ways whereas feminine societies have broader viewpoints on the great variety of roles that both males and females can play in the workplace and at home. In addition, masculine societies value assertive behavior and the acquisition of wealth; feminine cultures trasure relationships among people, caring for others and a greater balance between family and work life. The Scandinavian countries have the most feministic cultures; Japan has a markedly masculine one; and the United States has a moderately masculine culture. Uncertainty avoidance Employees in some cultures value clarity and feel very comfortable receiving specific directions from their supervisors. These employees have a high level of uncertainty avoidance and prefer to avoid ambiguity at work. Employees elsewhere react in an opposite manner since ambiguity does not threaten their lower need for stability and security. These employees may even thrive on the uncertainty associated with their jobs. Employees in countries such as Greece, Portugal and Belgium have high uncertainty avoidance characteristics and often prefer structure, stability, rules, and clarity. Countries lower in uncertainty avoidance characteristics include China, Ireland and the United States. Long-term versus short-term time orientation Some cultures accent values such as the necessity of preparing for the future, the value of thrift and savings and the merits of persistence. Members of these cultures exemplified by Hong Kong, China, Japan

Sociology for Social Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sociology for Social Work - Essay Example Applied research on the other hand, as postulated by Pickering (2001), has to do with pursuing knowledge so as to enhance program application or policy assessment. In most instances, social programs are assessed on the basis of their effectiveness in diminishing an experienced problem or in enacting desirable changes. Information retrieved by way of applied research can be inculcated into social programs like the one Ms. W was signed into. It is characteristic of all sociological research to commence with a theory. As such, the research identifies a client, for our case Ms W, whereupon he attempts an explanation, ultimately offering the derived explanation for the exhibited behaviour patterns. As postulated by Frankfort-Nachmias and Leon-Guerrero (2003), the researcher identifies causal relationships between variables. Variables in sociological research are features of individuals or items that ideally can take on two or more values. As sociologists try to explain Ms W’s behaviour they may give a specific explanation regarding the relationship that characterises two variables, for instance, the husbands death and her denial to own her problems. Ms W. denial can be measured according to a variety of variables. These could be her lack of acknowledgment of having paranoid schizophrenia, her s trange behaviour in public as well as her refusal to take medication. The researcher states the relationship that exists between these variables in a hypothesis as Astbury (1996) contends. A hypothesis is a tentative statement which tends to assume to know how the variables relate to each other. A researcher could assume that upon the death of Ms. W’s husband together with the frustration she received from her dealings with the government, she was overwhelmed and thus broke down into paranoiac schizophrenia. Research methods are constituted by a combination of

Hebrew Bible Essay Example for Free

Hebrew Bible Essay I attended the First Baptist Church this last week. The message the pastor shared was from the book of Proverbs. This is the Old Testament of our scriptures. This is the Hebrew Bible which is regularly used in the Baptist Church. The passage taught this week was â€Å"32 My children, listen to me. Blessed are those who keep my ways. 33 Listen to my teaching and be wise. Dont turn away from it. 34 Blessed is the one who listens to me. He watches every day at my doors. He waits beside my doorway. 35 Those who find me find life. They receive favor from the Lord. † (Proverbs 8:32-35). The Old Testament was incorporated into the service by the Pastor in way of introduction. The pastor will stand before the congregation and ask them to turn to a certain passage. The passage he directed us all to this week was Proverbs 8:32-35. The passage is talking about finding wisdom wisdom in the Lord. The Pastor taught on how that passage is just as true to the listener today as it was in times past. When we find that wisdom we listen to that wisdom and we remain obedient to that wisdom then we receive favor from the Lord. This applied thousands of years ago when the Hebrew King David wrote the Proverbs and it applies today. The writings of the Hebrew Bible are as applicable today as they were thousands of years ago. The God of our Bible Old and New Testaments is the same today and yesterday. Applying the lessons from His scripture is the right thing to do -as much today as yesterday. Verse 33 in the reading directs the reader to not turn away from wisdom. That applies to everyone’s life. Makes no difference if one is a believer in the writings of the Hebrew Bible or not. Hanging on to wisdom is a smart thing to do. Bibliography Proverbs. (2009). Bible Gateway. New International Readers Version. Retrieved 20 March, 2009, from, http://www. biblegateway. com/passage/? book_id=24chapter=8version=76

Theories Of Intellectual Property Philosophy Essay

Theories Of Intellectual Property Philosophy Essay Introduction: The term intellectual property refers to a loose cluster of legal doctrines that regulate the uses of different sorts of ideas and insignia.   The law of copyright protects various original forms of expression. The economic and cultural importance of this collection of rules is increasing rapidly. And lawmakers throughout the world are busily revising their intellectual-property laws.  [1]  Partly as a result of these trends, scholarly interest in the field has risen dramatically in recent years. There has been an evident mushrooming of articles deploying theories of intellectual property in law reviews and in journals of economics and philosophy. This article discusses those theories, evaluates them, and considers the roles they do and ought to play in lawmaking. Different jurisprudential approaches in IP law making: Most of the recent theoretical writings consist of struggles among and within four jurisprudential approaches of intellectual property law. 1.2.1 Utilitarian aspect of IP jurisprudence: The first and most popular of the four employs the familiar utilitarian guideline that lawmakers must put emphasis on maximization of net social welfare while shaping property rights.   In the context of intellectual property, it is generally thought that, lawmakers must strike an optimal balance between, on one hand, the individual rights of the creator and on the other hand maximization of public interest. A good example in this regard is William Landess and Richard Posners essay on copyright law  [2]  .   The distinctive characteristics of most intellectual products are that they are easily replicated. Those characteristics in combination create a danger that the creators of such products will be unable to recoup their costs of expression (i.e. the time and effort devoted to writing or composing and the costs of negotiating with publishers or record companies), because they will be undercut by copyists who bear only the low costs of production (the costs of manufacturing and distributing books or CDs) and thus can offer consumers identical products at very low prices.   Awareness of this danger will deter creators from making socially valuable intellectual products in the first instance.   We can avoid this by allocating to the creators (for limited times) the exclusive right to make copies of their creations. All of the various alternative ways in which creators might be em powered to recover their costs are, for one reason or another, more wasteful of social resources.  [3]  Ã‚   This utilitarian rationale, however has been criticized on the ground of its tendency to create monopoly rights. A related argument dominates the trademark law. The primary economic benefits of trademarks, are (1) the reduction of consumers search costs, because consumers can rely upon their prior experiences with various brands while deciding which brand to buy in future, and (2) the creation of an incentive for businesses to produce consistently high-quality goods and services. On the other hand while dealing with its criticism, trademarks can sometimes be socially harmful also, like for example, by enabling the first entrant into a market to discourage competition by appropriating for itself an especially attractive or informative brand name. Awareness of these benefits and harms should (and usually does), guide legislators and judges when tuning trademark law; marks should be (and usually are) protected when they are socially beneficial and not when they are, on balance, deleterious.  [4]   1.2.2 Labour theory and its jurisprudential aspect: Robert Nozick  [5]  after associating himself with Lockes argument, Nozick turns his attention to Lockes famously ambiguous proviso the proposition that a person may legitimately acquire property rights by mixing his labor with resources held in common only if, after the acquisition, there is enough and as good left in common for others.  [6]   Nozick contends that the correct interpretation of this limitation is that the acquisition of property through labor is legitimate if and only if other persons do not suffer thereby any net harm. Construed in this fashion, the Lockean proviso is not violated, Nozick argues, by the assignment of a patent right to an inventor because, although other persons access to the invention is undoubtedly limited by the issuance of the patent, the invention would not have existed at all had the inventor not put in any effort due to fear of copying. 1.2.3 Personality theory and its jurisprudential aspect: The premise of the third approach derived loosely from the writings of Kant and Hegel i.e. private property rights are crucial to the satisfaction of some fundamental human needs; policymakers should thus strive to create and allocate entitlements to resources in the fashion that best enables people to fulfill those needs. From this standpoint, intellectual property rights may be justified either on the ground that they shield from appropriation or modification artifacts through which authors and artists have expressed their wills (an activity thought central to personhood) or on the ground that they create social and economic conditions conducive to creative intellectual activity, which in turn is important to human flourishing.  [7]   Justin Hughes derives from Hegels Philosophy of Rights the following guidelines concerning the proper shape of an intellectual-property system (a) We should be more willing to accord legal protection to the fruits of highly expressive intellectual activities, (b) Because a persons persona his public image, including his physical features, mannerisms, and history is an important part of personality, it deserves generous legal protection, despite the fact that ordinarily it does not result from labor (c) Authors and inventors should be permitted to earn respect, honor, admiration, and money from the public by selling or giving away copies of their works.  [8]   1.2.4 Social planning theory and its jurisprudential aspect: The last of the four approaches says that, property rights in general and intellectual-property rights in particular can and should be shaped so as to help foster the achievement of a just and attractive culture.   This approach is similar to utilitarianism in its orientation, but dissimilar in its willingness to deploy visions of a desirable society richer than the conceptions of social welfare deployed by utilitarians.  [9]   Other writers who have approached intellectual-property law from similar perspectives include Keith Aoki, Rosemary Coombe  [10]  , Niva Elkin-Koren, and Michael Madow.  [11]  As yet, however, this fourth approach is less well established and recognized than the other three. 1.3 Varying jurisprudential views in US, UK, France and Germany: Until recently, the personality theory had much less currency in American law.  However in contrast, it has figured very prominently in Europe.  The French and German copyright regimes, for example, have been strongly shaped by the writings of Kant and Hegel.   This influence is especially evident in the generous protection those countries provide for authors and artists rights. In the past two decades, moral-rights doctrine and the philosophic perspective on which it rests have found increasing favor with American lawmakers, as evidenced most clearly by the proliferation of state art-preservation statutes and the recent adoption of the federal Visual Artists Rights Act.  [12]   Critical analysis of the theories of IP jurisprudence: Lawmakers are confronted these days with many difficult questions involving rights to control information. The proponents of all four leading theories purport to provide lawmakers with answers to the upcoming questions in IP jurisprudence. Unfortunately, our choice among these four options will often make a big difference. The third, for instance, suggests that we should insist, before issuing a patent or other intellectual-property right, that the discovery in question must satisfy a meaningful utility requirement; the other three would not.  The second would counsel against conferring legal rights on artists who love their work; the other three point in the opposite direction. The fourth would suggest that we add to copyright law a requirement analogous to the patent doctrine of nonobviousness; the others would not.  In short, a lawmakers inability to choose among the four will often be disabling. Similar troubles arise when one tries to apply Lockes conception of the commons to the field of intellectual property.  What exactly are the raw materials, owned by the community as a whole, with which individual workers mix their labor in order to produce intellectual products? It is agreed that IP law would have to be radically revised to conform to the Lockean scheme.  But the scale of the necessary revision is daunting. Is it justifiable on Lockean or any other premises -that if one thinks of a new way of dancing he claim IP protection and prevent everybody else from doing the same? Similarly, by registering the trademark Nike, can one prevent others from using it in any way- including reproducing it in an essay on intellectual property? If not, then what Is the extent of these rights? We come, finally, to the well-known problem of proportionality. Nozick asks:  If I pour my can of tomato juice into the ocean, do I own the ocean?  How far, in short, do my rights go?   Locke gives us little guidance.  [13]   1.5 Conclusion: The limitations of the guidance provided by general theories of intellectual property is perhaps easiest to see with respect to the last of the four approaches.  Lawmakers who try to harness social-planning theory must make difficult choices at two levels.  The first and most obvious involves formulating a vision of a just and attractive culture. What sort of society should we try, through adjustments of copyright, patent, and trademark law, to promote?   The possibilities are endless. Through continued conversations among scholars, legislators, judges, litigants, lobbyists, and the public at large, there may lie some hope of addressing the inadequacies of the existing theories.  The analytical difficulties associated with the effort to apply the Lockean version of labor theory to intellectual property may well prove insurmountable, but there may be some non-Lockean way of capturing the popular intuition that the law should reward people for hard work.  Only by continuing to discuss the possibility and trying to bring some alternative variant of labor theory to bear on real cases can we hope to make progress.   Much the same can be said of the gaps in personality theory.   The conception of selfhood employed by current theorists may be too thin and acontextual to provide lawmakers much purchase on doctrinal problems.  But perhaps, through continued reflection and conversation, we can do better. Conversational uses of intellectual property theories of the sort sketched above would be different from the way in which such theories most often have been deployed in the past.  Instead of trying to compel readers, through a combination of noncontroversial premises and inexorable logic, to accept a particular interpretation or reform of legal doctrine, the jurists and lawmakers should attempt, by deploying a combination of theory and application, to strike a chord of sympathy in their audience.  The sought-after response would not be, I cant see any loopholes in the argument, but rather, it needs to be acknowledged and addressed. That conclusion, however, does not imply that the theories have no practical use.  [14]  In two respects, I suggest, they retain considerable value.  First, while they have failed to make good on their promises to provide comprehensive prescriptions concerning the ideal shape of intellectual-property law, they can help identify nonobvious attractive resolutions of particular problems. Second, they can foster valuable conversations among the various participants in the lawmaking process.  

Pos. and Neg. of DNA Profiling Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Positives and Negatives on DNA Profiling DNA testing has many uses, both positive and negative, in our society. Genetic profiling has been beneficial in paternity suits and rape cases, where the father or the assailant could be identified. However, despite its growing number of utilizations, DNA profiling is extremely hazardous when results are inaccurate or used to discriminate. Many have benefited from the genetic engineering that has developed at a frightening rate in the last decade. Evabeth T. wrote in the Family Forum expressing her gratefulness of DNA testing. â€Å"Had I not had the genetic testing, I would not have known of the tumor until symptoms occurred, and then I might have had major problems like a heart attack or a stroke,† (Ask the Family). Evabeth is not the only person DNA profiling has benefited. In 1989, Donald Roultodt a prominent father of three was convicted of sexual abuse with his seven-year-old daughter in the Georgia courts of law, (Thompson, 1989). Donald’s conviction, along with many other similar cases, was due to the DNA testing Aside from its usefulness in many legal investigations, DNA profiling can be used in the workplace to discriminate against employees whose profiles could pose a financial risk. For example, genetic technology can and has been used to determine whether or not a person will contract certain diseases, such as sickle-cell anemia. This could cause many employers to hesitate in hiring these people. In the early 1970's, the United States began a carrier screening for sickle-cell anemia, which affects 1 in 400 African-Americans. Many of those identified as carriers mistakenly thought they were afflicted with this debilitating disease. Furthermore, confidentiality was often breached, and in some cases, carriers were discriminated against and denied health insurance along with employment. Genetic engineering with respect to insurance does not stop here. Further development could lead to a complete knowledge of who will develop a disease and when. This will drastically affect the practicality of life insurance policies. Another striking danger of insurance companies discriminating is with infants. The companies may become extremely hesitant in insuring babies who have a high susceptibility to certain diseases. The frequency of genetic testing in criminal investigations has been increasing dramatically despite... ...fidentiality and discrimination, and insurers and employers concerned about liability, it will fall upon legislators and the courts to define the proper use of genetic information.† What matters is how the knowledge of DNA profiling is used. DNA profiling can be an extremely beneficial tool in the war against crime. However, when used for discriminatory purposes, this tool becomes a crime in itself. The ability to compare and contrast a person's genetic code with another should not be taken lightly, for with this great knowledge comes great responsibility. Bibliography â€Å"Ask the Family.† VHL Family Alliance Home Page 5:4 (December 1997): Online. http://www.vhl.org/newsletter/vhl1997/97dpdnat.htm. Grubb, Andrew. Blood Testing, AIDS, and DNA profiling: Law and Policy. Bristol: Family Law, 1990. â€Å"Paternity and Testing Center.† DNA Diagnostics Center Home Page Online. 09 October 2000 http://www.dnacenter.com/htm. â€Å"Privacy and DNA Fingerprinting News.† Eubios Ethics Institute Publications. Online. 10 October 2000. http://www.zobell.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp~macer/NBBFP.htm. Thompson, William C. "DNA Evidence in Criminal Law: New Developments." Trial. 08 August 1989.

Culture and the Environment on Easter Island and Tikopia Essay examples

In his book Human Natures: Genes, Culture and the Human Prospect , Paul Ehrlich argues that the cultural practices of a given society develop largely as a result of the large-scale environmental factors of the area in which the society lives. He gives the striking example that all religions that developed in deserts are monotheistic, whereas those that began in rainforests are polytheistic (Ehrlich, pp 9 of handout, 2000). Ehrlich argues that the size and geography of a region, its climate, the availability of resources - the "macroevolutionary" forces - will have an enormous effects on the cultures that develop there. Ehrlich continues by pointing out that cultures do not only develop as simple, predictable reflections of their environments. The influences do not only run in one direction; cultural beliefs and practices may lead to large-scale environmental changes made by a society. The culture of a given society may influence how and to what extent that society interacts with its environment. The rate at which cultures acquire new technologies has historically been highly variable; on the one hand, a culture may deliberately restrict the use of a given technology or simply may not have the cultural demand for an available technology (1) . On the other hand, many cultures seem to have desires and appetites that far exceed a sustainable method of utilizing their environment. All too often, the practices of a society over-strain its existing resources in ways that leave those resources irretrievably damaged. A telling example of the complex interactions between a culture and its surroundings is the relative fates of two Pacific islands: Easter Island and Tikopia. Although it would be impossible to pin-point a simple cause-an... ...because they had received early notice and were able to protect themselves in caves. However, their water supply was affected, threatening their fruit supply. These storms have historically hit the island with terrible frequency. In one instance in the 1950s, 200 islanders were killed by a famine in the aftermath by a storm. (ABC News Online, January 4, 2003) Literature Cited: Ehrlich, Paul. Human Natures: Genes, Culture, and the Human Prospect. Island Press, 2000. Firth, Raymond. History and Traditions of Tikopia. New Zealand: Avery Press Limited. 1961. Kirch, Patrick Vinton and Yen, D.E. Tikopia: The Prehistory and Ecology of a Polynesian Outlier. Hawaii: Bishop Museum Press. 1982 Ponting, Clive. A Green History of the World. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1991. Ross, Marc Howard. The Management of Conflict. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1993.

Friend Compare and Contrast

A Friend His name Is If you ever met this Individual you would certainly have a good or bad impression of him. I've basically grown up with him. We attended the same school all from elementary through high school, grew up in the same neighborhood. You could say that we both had a common thing. I'm not sure if meeting this person was a way to teach me a few things or not. I always wanted to think that him and I would get along and be good friends. Maybe that's the reason why I have kept him my friend for so long. Now days he resides as my roommate, I don't know if that session was a mistake or not.Time will tell or maybe it has already. His views are not like mine at all. We we're brought up completely different as was taught under a Latin background and him†¦ Well, that's a different story. I'll explain about us: he and have completely different personalities, different and same friends and diverse ethics about education. Ill explain this through. For example, I believe that per sonality Is one If the main things that leads a relationship, even Just as friends. When you think of someone you want to be friends with you think of the same things you might share with that person.To me, personality is one of the main ones. When I met Matt I was in 4th grade, a young child, you could say. I didn't really know much about how a person should be or how he should act as I was Just growing up. He seemed Like an okay kid and since we lived In the same neighborhood and hung out with the same friends I decided to start talking to him to see how things went. At the beginning everything was Just dandy but as time progressed I started to notice him being a controlling, self-righteous individual. His personality was completely different than mine. I was always a caring person but he†¦ Was more off â€Å"me first, me second and me third† kind of guy. For example, we always used to play football at my house, a quick game of 5 on 5. This might seem silly but when I saw him tackle someone I always used to see how much of a better person he wanted to be than the one being tackled. I could see that he was trying to show the other how much of greater man he was. After he would tackle someone he would slap them and say something rude or racist. According to him†¦ Anyone that isn't white isn't anything at all. It might seem harsh to say but to me that's what he comes off as.I'm the complete opposite. Sure I'm competitive too, but not to that level. If I was to beat someone at anything of course I would gloat and such but I would never demise that person to the point where the individual would feel less than me. It's a passive personality, me, to a very aggressive one, him. I wasn't the only one who would think about him this way, there were also our friends. Since Matt and I lived in the same neighborhood and went to the same school, we were bound to share the same friends. We were all group and till this day we still call ourselves â€Å"the farms boys†.Sharing the same friends brought upon me him talking Enid my back, and others too. Since we all always used to hang out with each other there wasn't much I could do. I couldn't Just leave him and the others behind, I wouldn't have friends! But now I see that he was no friend at all. Some of my friends that were also buddies of him viewed him as I started too, mean. Sure the kid had his 1 OFF good clays Ana Dad out Nils Dad were a lot more tan Nils good MY Eternal Dalton won was also friends with him till this day thinks Matt Just thinks for himself. I agree completely.Although we shared the same friends, we treated them differently and vice-versa. The ones that would hang out with Matt the most, would view him as a superior you could say but still saw that aggressiveness in him. Now take in consideration this was all during out middle school phase where we were all trying to be â€Å"a cool kid†. He was the kid that could say one thing and turn everyone agai nst you, at least everyone in the neighborhood. Even if it was Just a rumor, trying to fight your side to prove it wasn't true was a pain. So as the saying goes â€Å"keep your friends close, but your enemies closer†.Don't get me wrong. I don't consider the kid an enemy Just a bad seed. Even when it came down to education, we would have completely different work ethics about it. Ever since middle school, Matt has always been on top of his school work. He rarely had to study because the material we were going over Just came easily to him. Not with me. I had to take my time and review, review and then review some more before I could even think about acing a test. Although he was a smart kid†¦ He always had a way to brag about how well he did in school, or how much better he was at this than me.While me on the other hand, when I did good on something I would maybe how him Just to get a sense that â€Å"him I'm better than him†. I know it sounds a little self righteou s of me, but that's how I felt. Mat's work ethics when it came to school would never compare to mine. We had a test in our English class once and of course he got a better grade than me and Just boasted about it. While me, I kept quiet and was Just proud that I got what I deserved. It's almost like he was trying to prove to me that he could beat me or anyone at whatever he tried. In this case it was education. When we took our Sat, I got a better score than him.His excuse was â€Å"l went out the ay before therefore I wasn't at my fullest†. I didn't understand why he couldn't Just have said, â€Å"good Job man† or something along those lines. Although one thing that I have to admit is that him and I do have a very good habit of turning assignments in on time and doing pretty well on them. We both like to exceed ourselves on our work. That part of his work ethic is something I can compare to me in a good way. In a nutshell, my friend Matt is one of a kind. Him and I hav e our differences when it comes down to personality, friends and education†¦ Then again everyone has their differences.He has more of an â€Å"l own everything personality', while mine is a caring and courteous one. We do share the same friends and treat them differently, he with a kingship attitude and I with a friendly one. While when it comes down to education we both share some same characteristics and attributes. We finish our work with a timely manner even if he Just gets out of bed the day of and finishes while I take a week to do it. Now, Matt resides as my roommate. For now, I think it was a huge idea taking this mini adventure with him but only time will tell if I am right. After all, not everyone is perfect.