Simens Case Study Essay Example

Simens Case Study Essay Motivation within a creative environment A Siemens case study http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/siemens/motivation-within-a-creative-environment/introduction. html#axzz2OdbuuXae 3 theories: Frederick Taylor’s Scientific Management Theory Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory Herzberg’s Two-factor Theory (Satisfiers and dissatisfiers)This case study focuses upon three different theories of motivation which include Frederick Taylor’s Scientific Management Theory, Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory and Herzberg’s Two-factor Theory (Satisfiers and dissatisfiers) and uses these to illustrate how employees are motivated within an engineering environment at Siemens. Maslows hierarchy of needs was first articulated in 1943 by Abraham Maslow which is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid with the largest, most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom and the need for self-actualization at the top.With reference to the Siemens’ case study, it can be seem that the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be used for recognition and developing people. One important element for self-esteem is recognition of accomplishments. Whenever you are recognized and praised for any accomplishment by someone whose opinion you hold in high regard, the self-esteem goes up, along with eagerness and enthusiasm to do even better on the job. Therefore, siemens runs schemes in which suggestions and projects for improvements are rewarded.Self-actualization is to develop or achieve employee’s full potential during working so that to make the ideal-self equals to actual-self. We will write a custom essay sample on Simens Case Study specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Simens Case Study specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Simens Case Study specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Self-actualization leads to better work and peak performance. For example, engineering staff training helps engineers to extend their capabilities which may lead to a progression up the career ladder as well as to meet the changing demands of the business global markets. * Frederick Herzberg proposed Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory in 1950s.It states that there are certain factors in the workplace that causes job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction. * The first factor is Motivators that give positive satisfaction, arising from intrinsic conditions of the job itself and stimulate better performance such as * recognition of achievements, opportunities for growth and development. * Hygiene factors means the employee would be dissatisfied with the absent of * the factors.These are extrinsic to the work itself, and include aspects such as * salary, working conditions, company policies and interpersonal relations. It can be concluded from Herzberg’s theory that it is important for managers to achieve the balance of hygiene factors and motivators factors to stimulate higher levels of performance of employees. With reference to the Siemens case, Siemens strengthening motivations by raising awareness of issues with employees and encourage their involvement to reduce dissatisfactions as well as creative environment of the engineering industry creates recognition and growth.

Critique on Creating Shared Value

Critique on Creating Shared Value In the January –February 2011 issue of ‘The Harvard Business Review,’ Michael porter and Mark Kramer wrote an article titled â€Å"The Big Idea-Creating Shared Value†. According to Porter and Cramer, the concept of shared value can be defined as â€Å"policies and operating practices that enhance the competitiveness of a company while simultaneously advancing the economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates†.Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Critique on Creating Shared Value specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This quote from Peter Brabeck can bring the definition home. This new approach of doing business puts societies wellbeing at the centre of the companys strategy and operations. It enables the business to maximize economic value for the company while addressing societal challenges. They contend that this is a modern way of doing business and many companie s are embracing it for example GM, Nestle, Uniliver, Intel, Wal-Mart stores among others. Companies can create shared value in three major ways that are re-evaluating products and markets, redefining productivity in the value chain, and building supportive industry clusters at the companys locations. According McConnell et al. (2012), companies are beginning to realign their operational and production activities to meet the customer’s requirements in terms of the quality of goods and services that they produce. For example, food industries are now focusing on better nutrition instead of the traditional taste and quantity, in the technology sector computer manufactures such as IBM and Intel are now designing machines, which are more energy efficient. These are examples of where shared value has been created through development of products that meet societal needs. In the process of creating value, a company affects and in turn is affected by several social factors such as natu ral resource, working conditions, health and safety, water use, and fair treatment of workers. These societal factors can positively be exploited by the company and turned into economic gains instead of costs. Even in the absence of regulation, organizations that cannot create shared value still have to incur internal costs from externalities. To support this argument, Porter and Marker explain that Wall-Mart was able to create shared value by reducing its packaging and adopting new routes for its trucks to cut 100 million miles from its delivery routes in 2009.Advertising Looking for article on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Porter and Marker identified six major areas through which productivity in the value chain can be redefined. These are energy use and logistics, resource use, procurement, distribution, employee productivity, and location. Organizations have continuously revised their opera tions in order to come up with processes that are more energy efficient. This has been necessitated by continuous increase in oil prices and the rising opportunities for energy efficiency. This has resulted into efficient use of energy resources through better technology such as the computers manufactured by IBM and Intel, recycling, use of natural energy sources like the sun, windmill to light homes and irrigate farms respectively. Porter gives the example of British retailer Mark and Spencer initiative of stopping to source supply from distant places and shipping them to where the company is located. This initiative is projected to reduce costs by $175 million per annum by the financial year 2016 and significantly reduce on carbon emissions. According to Halbert et al. (2008), technological advancement together with environmental awareness is reshaping new ways in which we use resources such as water, raw materials, packaging of finished goods as well as recycling and re-use. Thro ugh technological advancement, it is predicted that better resource utilization will be finally embraced by all stages in the value chain. Coca-cola for instance has reduced its water intake by approximately 9% from the base year 2004It is almost halfway of achieving a 20% reduction by 2012. Dow Chemical’s is yet another example. It saved $4 million through cutting its water use by one billion gallons. According to porter when a company uses its monopoly power to exploit suppliers through payment of low prices for their supply, then the farmers are unlikely to remain productive and less likely to improve the quality of supplies. To increase productivity and ensure quality supplies companies should invest in providing inputs to farmers, sharing technology and financing the operations.Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Critique on Creating Shared Value specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In this way, they will be creating quality volumes of supply for themselves as well strengthening the suppliers. (Shared value) Nepresso one of the Nestle fastest growing divisions, has registered a significant growth of 30% since 2000. It has achieved these by formulating a procurement process that helps the small farmers in poor rural areas of Africa and Latin America. It has worked with these growers giving them advice on best farming practices, extending loan facilities, helping them acquire inputs such as fertilizer and plant seeds. It further established weighing facilities for coffee at the point of sale, a bonus paid to owners of quality beans directly to improve their incentives. This has resulted in breaking the cycle of poverty and improved environment. Nestle on the other hand was able to get continuous supply of good coffee (shared value created).this point further emphasizes the advantage of making the suppliers capable then buying from them. According to Gross Compa (2009), companies are real izing that investments in employee productivity through offering health cover, helping employees quit smoking cost less compared to costs associated with poor health of staff. In deed, even governments have been complaining that the total cost of treating smoking related diseases is much greater than the revenue derived from taxing tobacco products. This point out that even government needs to embrace the concept of shared value. Johson and Johnson Company saved a total of $250 million on health care costs. For each dollar spent on wellness programme since 2008, the company had a return of $2.75 in addition to a more productive work force. Modern business can no longer afford to move from once place to another in search for cheap labor and raw materials. This is because distant operations create more costs like the cost of buying supplies from one hemisphere then delivering them to another hemisphere, additionally, cost of energy and carbon emissions limit such mobility. Forbes maga zine (2011) notes that a mobile laboratory BMW Guggenheim lab will travel to nine major cities in the world in a span of nine years. It aims at getting new ideas in the areas of urbanization, architecture, science and technology, design and education that will address issues of current urban life through public discussions and programmes.Advertising Looking for article on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The current global economic challenges that include double food production, increased demand for energy, water management, global warming are avenues through which business can think come up with a solution through long term sustainable and profitable growth that also focuses on social involvement. Furthermore, there is need to re engineer the model by which resources are used because it is more resource intensive and cannot be sustainable in the end. According to Zadak, in the pyramid of corporate social responsibility organizations have to be compliant with the laws, with the codes, and the values that it has (Including shared value). For weaknesses, in my view, the new model of shared value is a little biased. On one side, we can measure the returns to the firm through use of financial statements, but on the contrary, no framework by which we can measure the social aspects of the return. Secondly, how is it possible to achieve harmony between NGOs and private companies in the pro vision of societal services? NGOs view the society as aid recipients; private companies on the other hand view the same people as customers. References Forbes Magazine. (2011). Three great examples of shared value in action. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/csr/2011/06/14/three-great-examples-of-shared-value-in-action/ Gross, A. Compa, A. (2009). Human rights in labor and employment relations. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Halbert, T. Ingulli, E. (2008). Law and ethics in business environment. New York, NY: Cengage Learning. McConnell, C. R. et al. (2012). Economics (19th Edn.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Inovation on action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Inovation on action - Essay Example Credit cards also changed from single purpose to multi-purposes in which they can be used for even hundreds of services as long as the limit allows. Use of credit cards is very convenient and secure which is the main selling point of the cards. Individuals as well as businesses prefer the use of credit cards for this purpose. However, there are a number of risks associated with these cards. Fraud and security risks have increased especially with the introduction of internet. At the same time, the use of credit cards has been associated with controversies. Most credit cards allow people to borrow money they do not have and with the debt ceiling limits, they are thought to contribute to high debt. Addressing the challenges associated with the credit card use can make them very sustainable, convenient and safe Use of plastic cards for payments is one of the best innovations in the payment industry, having many benefits appreciated by individuals but also has some risks History First Gen eration Unlike what most people would expect, the use of cards goes back to the 19th century. The first credit card was produced in 1880 in the United Kingdom. Customers would be issued with the voucher which they could use to shop from certain shops. After shopping, a person who was responsible for collecting the money used from the clients would go to their homes to collect the money. The method was convenient and offered the clients the security they deserved. The use of these vouchers is not well documented and it is not known for how ling it was used (Longemann, 2012). A few decades later, companies in the United States started to use credit cards as way of maintaining customers. In this case, customers were issued with loyalty cards which would allow them to buy goods and pay later. The cards were limited to the stores issuing them and clients could only use the cards at those particular stores or their branches. Oil companies also issued cards to their employees every three t o six months for entertainment. These cards improved business as the issuing businesses knew that the clients they provided the cards would always go back to those stores. At the same time, clients were happy that they could be allowed to make purchases only to pay later. It was convenient for the customers as they did not have to carry money around all the time they were to make purchases. In addition, they could make purchases even when they did not have money at hand (Sienkiewicz, 2001). About a decade later, Western union started to offer metallic cards to their clients. The cards gave the customers with the cards certain preferences over customers who did not have those cards (The U.K Cards Association, n.d). These cards can be termed as the first generation cards but had a lot of limitations. Second generation The next generation cards were much better compared to the first ones. This generation of cards was started by a banker at Flatbush National Bank of Brooklyn, New York, John Biggins. Biggins realized there were many people using the ban and needed something unique to retain the customers. He invented credit scripts which would be used by the consumers to make small purchases at selected merchants. Customers would present the script to the merchant who would copy the information on the script on the payment slip which would later be deposited to the bank. The customers and the merchants had to be members of the Flatbush bank for transfer of money between accounts to be completed

Case study and analysis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

And analysis - Case Study Example Frozen food is also brought in from the kitchen and taken upstairs to the loft where the customers are seated (http://www.rom.on.ca/en/visit-us/shopping-dining/food-studio-caf%C3%A9). On the other hand, c5’s seating arrangement is in a lounge and there are no open spaces to view the kitchen. The lounge is however free from the kitchen noises as it uses a conventional system where the kitchen is far away from the lounge itself. c5 opens from Monday to Sunday between 11am and 3 pm but also has evening services where they have no minimum fee for food and beverages and the charges usually are $1000. According to the Royal Ontario Museum website, both food cafà © and c5 restaurant lounge offer great services including provision of 10% discount to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) members (Royal Ontario Museum, n.d., Shopping and Dining). The c5 restaurant lounge website (http://www.c5restaurant.ca/) portrays the restaurant seems as being more elegant and hence will attract highly rated and elegant clients and especially so because of their scenic location (at the pinnacle of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal with its amazing architecture). It is designed in a lounge manner hence offering privacy, comfort, superb atmosphere most rich and highly classed people normally require and their menu is also on the elegance side (Medicoff, 2007). On the other hand, food cafà © seems to be a food court that is attended by â€Å"the common man† who is mainly in a hurry and does not mind the location, seating arrangement or comfort as long it is convenient enough to grab a quick bite and leave. This is the exact reflection of this cafà © with its open loft space seating around 350 people hence no privacy or comfort, there is noise from the open kitchen and a lot of diners and hence their equipment does not fully serve the pur pose and they may require to expand on their space especially during the peak season where there are many people and less production equipment to serve

Gulf War between Iraq and Kuwait Essay Example for Free

Gulf War between Iraq and Kuwait Essay This paper that in intensively researched, will examine on the reasons that led the Gulf war between Iraq and Kuwait, Saddam Hussein war invasion to Kuwait, Relations between Kuwait and Iraq, causes and effects of the war, the characteristics of Saddam Hussein, and the reason why he need money. According to the western sources especially from the USA, Saddam Hussein, a complex political leader, is portrayed as the â€Å"axis of Evil† in the Middle East. . He practiced cruel methods of leadership skills, his motivations, perceptions and decision making on behalf of the Iraq’s and his country neighbors for example the Kuwaitis. He has been pursing the development of weapons of mass destruction, despite the UN sanctions and terrorizing his associates especially in Kuwait. This information was gathered through the following sources. Information about â€Å"The Gulf Syndrome† www. geocities. com Retrieved on 6th April 2009 Information about â€Å"The profile of Saddam Hussein† www. mideastnews. co. Retrieved on 6th April 2009, Majid K. â€Å"War in the Gulf 1990-1991†, Information on â€Å"Persian Gulf War† www. encarta. msn. com Retrieved on 6th April 2009, Jerrold M. (2002), â€Å"Saddam Hussein of Iraq: Apolitical Psychology profile† and Information on â€Å"The characteristics of Saddam Hussein† www. qrmapps. com Retrieved on 6th April 2009 The historical background of Iraq and Kuwait Iraq was created under the British rule in 1932. The formation of this state under single administration resulted to third pole power in that region leading to unstable combination of people with collective influences that might lopsided its neighbors to the south. State of Kuwait northernmost emirate of Arabian isthmus dates its history as a take apart geopolitical body back to the founding of Kuwait City in 1710. It became independent from British. Following the 1973 oil crisis, the soaring oil prices brought with it extraordinary wealth to this small country. Relations between Kuwait and Iraq As Kuwait was declared a sovereign state, Iraq voiced objections to its admission to the Arab league but instead declared it an Iraq territory. In 1963 Iraq dropped the objectives and in 1980 they enjoyed close ties during war against Iran as Kuwait supported Iraq. Causes of the war The border between these two counties has been in question. Nominally, Kuwait was part of the Ottoman Empire from the 18th century. In 1899, it asked for and received British protection in return for autonomy in its local affairs. It was granted independence in 1961 and this lead to Iraq claiming that Kuwait had been governed as part of the Ottoman province in southern Iraq and was rightfully Iraq’s. It only recognized Kuwait in 1963. But since then, there have been occasional clashes between the two nations. The Iraq troops invaded Kuwait in August 2nd 1990 taking the emirates by one day headed by the strongest leader in this region, Saddam Hussein. The 150,000 of his troops from Iraq overwhelmed the 20,000 Iran’s troop staking control of the capital city of Kuwait and then controlled the whole country. Effects of war It had a vast impact to the oil industry and affects the future of the civilians in Iraq. This has reduced it from affluence to a third world status. This led to a large number of the US and British forces stationed in Kuwait and other gulf states as well as Turkey. There is an increasing rate of a multinational task force of warships patrols the red sea and the Persian Gulf which tries to prevent the illegal export of oil from Iraq. The war led to many environmental hazards such as the destruction of marshes, burning of hundreds of oil wells, hence polluting the global environment. Characteristics of Saddam Hussein He is a dictator who saw Iraq as a great country and as an extension to himself. He saw himself as the successor of Nebuchadnezzar. He once said that â€Å"Our nation has a message,† he once proclaimed. â€Å"That is why it can never be an average nation. Throughout history our nation has either soared to the heights or fallen into the abyss through the envy, conspiracy and enmity of others. † He is self-centered. He saw the Iraq treasury centered to himself. During the Gulf war, the Kuwaitis investigated on Iraq’s assets by Kroll Associates, a New York firm and the detected that he had $2. 4 controlled deposits which spread among 50 banks which were controlled by Hussein’s family. He used to skim five percent of the Iraq’s annual oil income and did business with other external firms in foreign territory. He is an exalted self concept. â€Å"Saddam is Iraq and Iraq is Saddam†. He made sure that he built a cult of himself allover Iraq. This can be proved by his images everywhere in Iraq. His name is linked to hundreds of public works projects. For example the Saddam housing companies and also the â€Å"Saddam Line† in Iraq. He named part of Kuwait to himself the moment he took over Kuwait. When he appears in public, he has created an environment where people cheer, clap, and even kiss his hand when he appears in a public gathering. He killed whoever who did not show enthusiasm to the great leader. He killed by imprisoning them, helicopter crashes, tortured to death, sealing their bodies to the coffins. He used a secret police unit to achieve his ordeals. He used his Messianic to achieve his ambition of political power. He is malevolent. He has cold canning behind his every action. His ruthlessness was found to be terrible leading to cruelty, for fun, leadership style of Vlad the Impaler. He was stupid because the boasts were proved to be hollow. His lies were proven false quickly His is also portrayed as the madman of the Middle East and his name means the one who confronts. He is a paranoid in decision making His achievements were the transformation of the country where he built new roads, improved housing standards; food was brought to the people’s tables, cut illiteracy by 11% according to the official estimates. The cultural aspects of Muslims were relaxed allowing women equal pay for equal work. Reasons as to why he needed money The oil money allowed him to accumulate the largest and best equipped military machine in the Arab world. Most of them were Soviet, French and from other nations. Most of them were first rated. He had an annual budget of $12. 9 billion which was an average f $721 per Iraq citizen ye the average annual per citizen was $1950. He therefore equipped his army to distress the regional balances by ruthless mass killings, He was the veteran in army in the region. According to Jordanian newspaper ad-Dustour, Saddam â€Å"awakened the desire in every Arab soul for a glorious Arab stand,† Saddam Hussein was a ruthless dictator who was used to terrorizing his neighbors and gassed his own subjects. He normally followed his mafia rules which were not well understood by many in the world including the United States of America. He grew up as a thug and a hired gun, yet he has a soaring popularity in the Arab world. The differences between a Totalitarian and Authoritarian leader A totalitarian political power is in the hands of a few groups while the authoritarianism refers political power is in the hands of one person. Hence Saddam Hussein can be equated to both an authoritarian leader and a totalitarian according to the definitions and his leadership skills. Reference Information about â€Å"The Gulf Syndrome† www. geocities. com Retrieved on 6th April 2009 Information about â€Å"The profile of Saddam Hussein† www. mideastnews. co. Retrieved on 6th April 2009 Majid K. â€Å"War in the Gulf 1990-1991. New York: McMillan. Information on â€Å"Persian Gulf War† www. encarta. msn. com Retrieved on 6th April 2009 Jerrold M. (2002), â€Å"Saddam Hussein of Iraq: Apolitical Psychology profile† New York: Pearson’s Education. Information on â€Å"The characteristics of Saddam Hussein† www. qrmapps. com Retrieved on 6th April 2009

Effect of Light in The Stranger and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisov

The light in the two novels The Stranger and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich(One Day) has an animalistic effect on the protagonists. In The Stranger, Meursault complains about the intensity of sunlight. His nature is not a light friendly one, he becomes distracted and begins to sweat under intensive light. Meursault may in several ways be compared to a bat, confused and irritated by light, though when in a dark environment, he is able to concentrate and focus. On the other hand, Shukov from One Day experiences light as mental freedom from the dark camp. Light allows him to hope for a better future for him and everyone in the camp. Shukov shows animalistic features as well, as he wakes with the sun rising and ends his day with the sunset. He tolerates darkness as long as he does not encounter major vision difficulties due to the dark. Meursault lives in a small town at the beach with daily, sunny and warm weather. On the contrary is the weather in the USSR, in which Shukov has family and a home . The USSR, by maintaining mostly negative temperatures throughout the year, transmits a rather negative image of the environment. Both protagonists ironically react to light and darkness opposite to the presence of light and darkness in their environment. In The Stranger, Meursault is not able to tolerate intensive light which causes him to think narrowly and furthermore behave according to such thoughts. He does not seem to feel any emotions at his mother’s funeral as he shows more interest in the details of her death than his emotional connection to her as his mother. He is more bothered by the intensity of the light than the fact that his mother died. He portrays this kind of attitude at his mother’s funeral and then later on ... ...eursault is lead by it and thus is not fully aware of his actions. Another difference between both characters exists on their emotional level. One has to allow light to enter the heart to have the ability of sensing feelings. Being suppressed by the authority, Shukov sees light as hope for freedom and is well-heartedly open to it. Mersault though is not able to tolerate it thus open his already emotionless heart for it. He does not know if he loves Marie, nor cares who he would be married to. No tears are spilled by him at his mother's funeral and he neither shows any kind of emotions at his own execution. Meursault is not able to say if his lawyer is on his side and if he can trust him because there "no way of knowing it, because our heart is blind." (The Stranger, 120) Light entering the eye allows us to have vision, only light entering the heart allows emotions.

7 Army Values: the Standard Behavior of a Soldier Essay

Army basic training has two main stages in the process of building a Soldier. The first five weeks are to break you down, and the last five weeks are to break you down, building you into a Soldier. While a Soldier is being is being built they instill something called the Seven Army Values into you. The values are something that I lived by in the Army, and to this day I still live by them. I can take these values and apply them to everyday life. They are the standard for behavior, not only in the Army, but in any ordered society. Loyalty: â€Å"Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S constitution, the Army, and other soldiers†. This can be applied to my role as a student as I will be loyal to my fellow classmates and teachers. In my personal opinion, Loyalty means being a person that others can count on, so when the time comes, I will be there to do what needs to be done. Duty: â€Å"Fulfill your obligations† Accept responsibility for your own actions and those entrusted to your care. As a student I will accomplish the task that needs to be done, no matter how much I would rather be doing something else. If I do not fulfill my duties on a regular basis, then those around me will have to pick up the slack, and any sense of loyalty begins to become tarnished. See more: Homelessness as a social problem Essay Respect: â€Å"Treat people as they should be treated†. How we consider others reflects upon each of us, both personally and as a professional organization. I will respect everyone in my class and also my teachers. I would want them to treat me the same way. With respect we can get a lot accomplished and complete things as a team. Selfless Service: â€Å"Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own†. Selfless service leads to organizational teamwork and encompasses discipline, self-control and faith. In college and in life I will commit to go a little further, and get the job done right the first time. Honor: â€Å"Live up to all the Army values†. I will encompass all the values into one and apply them to everyday life as a College student and my life in general. I believe these values are important to live by. Integrity: â€Å"Do what is right, legally and morally†. Be willing to do what is right even when no one is looking. I have a real bad self conscience so I would not be able to cheat. I am an honest person and I will always be this way. Personal Courage: â€Å"Our ability to face fear, danger, or adversity, both physical and moral courage†. I will take responsibility for my decisions and actions and accept responsibility for my mistakes and shortcomings. I will try my hardest not to make mistakes but no one is perfect. These are the values that I live by every day. They are what I stand for. In everyday situations I can apply one of these values.