One Independent Federal Law Enforcement DHS Agency Assignment

One Independent Federal Law Enforcement DHS Agency - Assignment Example Introduction As a response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government signed the Homeland Security Act in 2002, establishing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) charged with primary responsibilities in terrorism prevention and response alongside emergency planning and response (DHS, 2002). This important agency operates through various divisions including U.S Customs and Border Protection, U.S Coast Guard, U.S Secret Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services. This study narrows down to the operations of the U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) division, noting the primary and subsidiary roles of the agency and how these two roles impact on the agency’s ability to execute its primary responsibility. Further, preparation of agents for operations and how the agency interacts with state and local law enforcement agencies is analyzed. 1. The CBP division of the DHS is primarily charged with preventing terr orists and terrorist weapons from having access to the United States. To pursue this role, the CBP guards about 9000 miles of land border (Canada and Mexico- 7000 miles) and water border (coastal waters-2000 miles). Further, the agency collaborates with the U.S Coast Guard division of the DHS to guard 95,000 miles of maritime border. The operations of the CBP in counterterrorism are geared towards the official ports of entry in the borders while air and marine patrols are undertaken to further deter terrorism. The CBP also undertakes prevention and response against agro-terrorism and bioterrorism. At the points of entry, the CBP undertakes a number of field activities to prevent terrorism including cargo inspection, immigration inspection program and automated targeting systems. Between the border points of entry, mobile units for patrol purposes are deployed. On the air front, the agency utilizes 700 pilots and 290 airplanes several types including unmanned ones. Lastly, the marine front is backed with 360 marine agents who work in coordination with the air division to interdict and repulse any terrorist activities (CBP, 2010). With all this capacity, the CBP is an important division of the DHS in terms of the objectives of the latter’s formation in counterterrorism. It maintains the largest law enforcement manpower in the USA indicating prioritization made about terrorism. 2. The CBP agency also undertakes several other roles besides its primary counterterrorism activities. 3. One of these non-counterterrorism roles of the CBP are in terms of trade. Through maintenance of close relationships with the government, trade parties and foreign governments, the CBP facilitates the occurrence of legitimate trade through serving as a U.S trade laws enforcement agency. This is undertaken through prevention of counterfeit trade at the official points of entry and through patrolling non-point of entry areas. The CBP not only inspects arriving cargo (about 25 mill ion containers arriving each year at U.S seaport, airports and through rail) but also ensures revenue for these is properly collected (CBP, 2010). To further support its roles in trade, the CBP maintains a trade support network, provides traders with information for locating ports of entry, publishes trade newsletters, maintains information about import trends, commodity status reports, tariff rates, quota

Lauching a Lebanese Beer Company Essay Example for Free

Lauching a Lebanese Beer Company Essay Introduction 961 Beer has a fascinating history which illustrates to aspiring entrepreneurs that with hard work and determination, even crazy business ideas are able to succeed. At a time when building were being destroyed and the city of Beirut, Lebanon was in shambles, the founders of 961 Beer decided to move forward with founding Lebanon’s first craft brewing company – a surprising fact because this region of the world begin the tradition of brewing beer. As discussed below within the framework of a SWOT analysis, several factors contributed to the success of the company, and will play an integral part in the company’s future as it expands to meet demand. SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis is meant to drive a company into meaningful action to capitalize on its strengths to seize opportunities as well as protect itself from outside threats or internal weaknesses. Strengths 961 Beer is fortunate in that it benefits from several internal strengths. Organizationally, the company is simplistic: with few employees and condensed management, the company is able to benefit from the strong direction of a select few. In addition, the few people involved, particularly Hajjar and Henrik, have a passion for food and drink and enjoy the process of providing high quality wine to their customers. In addition, with less â€Å"baggage† the company is able to quickly innovate and adapt to changes in the customers tastes. Hajjar is also very passionate about food and wines of the region, leading to his dedication to the success of 961 Beer. He provides leadership that focuses more on the product itself, in order to ensure that it will be a beer that the Lebanese will be 1 proud off. As a recent CEO, Hajjar also appears to bring a substantial amount of capital to initially invest in the business. However, money runs out quickly, and now 961 Beer must pay for itself. The 961 Beer product line also has several strengths. The beer is of high quality because it was produced using only fresh ingredients and in small batches. The company is able to produce several new beer styles, and it heavily uses Lebanese products in brewing its beer. This gives 961 Beer a unique advantage over other beer options, and it attracts customers who are looking to try something new, all while support Lebanese products. Several areas of marketing also have specific strengths. 961 Beer was able to coin the catchphrase â€Å"Are you resistant to change? † which took off in a time when the country was suffering from the effects of war. â€Å"Change† is a simple idea that is very popular in a downtrodden country, and by associating itself with such a concept, 961 Beer is able to appeal to a large group of potential customers. To further this concept, the packaging is deliberately â€Å"under-designed† and meant to be seen as simplistic, pure, and natural, which will attract customers interested in such aesthetic characteristics. The pub is also strategically placed in Beirut’s bustling nightlife scene. This helps to increase 931 Beer recognition and build brand loyalty among new customers. The pub also helps to provide as a gathering place for people to come and education themselves about the brewing process and try various types of beer. Weaknesses Like most entrepreneurs, 961 Beer was started by founders who had very little idea of what they were doing. By trial and error, Hajjar was able to brew batches of beer in his kitchen for several months until the beer began to improve. Although 2 Organizationally, the company is operating at capacity and is simply unable to produce any more for its additional customers. Also, it does not appear that 931 Beer is able to adequately predict how much demand is set to grow. Because the company is still new, there is little money for expensive advertising. This means that customers will be less mainstream, and more trendy, with the ability to follow the latest trends on the internet. Opportunities 961 Beer is the first craft beer in Lebanon in recent memory, even though Lebanon has a history in beer brewing. Education of customers leads to a fun, exciting experience that allows customers to â€Å"experience change† by trying more types of 961 Beer. This opportunity to provide a personal touch will give customers a lasting positive impression of 961 Beer. Personal interaction with customers allows the company to collect feedback on its beers and make adjustments. Customers are interested in supporting companies that heavily use Lebanese products. Particularly when the country is plagued by war, providing people the opportunity to work and be part of 931 Beer is a great way to create loyal customers. Advertising on social media is an effective way of reaching the younger, trendier crowd that is more along the lines of who is frequenting the bars and drinking on a regular basis. Threats Clearly, the colossal threat to the company’s survival is the place of its headquarters. Lebanon is routinely in wartimes, and has been through several wars with neighboring countries ever since 961 Beer began in 2006. Unfortunately, visitor levels to the 961 Bar decrease when conflict increases, which makes sales plummet. The competitive environment is monopolistic. The local beer market was monopolized by Almaza, which was acquired in 2002 by Heineken. In total, Heineken 3 controlled about 70% of the local beer market at the time 961 Beer was founded. With so much power, Heineken has pricing power that 961 Beer cannot match. Other bars became more reluctant to sell 961 Beer because the bar was seen as a threat to their own business. 961 Beer will need to befriend these bars and show them that the bars can enjoy more success by joining 961 rather than going against them. Many customers are not accustomed to drinking anything besides commercially processed, mass-produced beer from large competitors. This means that 961 Beer must educate their customers about the different types of beers and convince them to try 961 Beer. Evaluation Plan: Expand outside of Lebanon Based on the analysis performed above, it is clear that 961 Beer must expand out of Beirut, Lebanon in order to remain successful. While this will increase the risk of lesser quality or require the use of non-Lebonese products, expansion is required to ensure the company’s long-term success. Several steps must be taken before the expansion, all while 961 Beer continues to grow business in Beirut and manage bar operations. First, 961 Beer must address its capacity issues. 961 Beer seems to have had some difficulty in predicting the amount of beer it needs to brew in order to meet the growing demand. An analysis of their books will be helpful to garner a better idea of what demand will look like in the future, accounting for their company’s growth rate. Next, 961 Beer needs to establish relationships with businesses in neighboring cities and countries. Bottling and shipping beer from Lebanon is unrealistic with high likelihood of war, so 961 Beer will need to establish microbreweries within these other locations. Quality can still be maintained by ensuring that Lebanese ingredients are still used in the brew, but costs can be recuperated by charging customers in those 4 countries a higher premium for the same beer. Finally, 961 Beer needs to join international beer festivals in other countries in order to garner worldwide interest and to further increase recognition and demand among worldwide customers. There are several major risks that could undermine this plan for expansion. Clearly, the largest threat to 961 Beer is the ongoing threat of war in Lebanon and neighboring countries. Unfortunately, there is little to nothing that can be done to stop this threat. Without expanding into other countries, a war in Lebanon could wipe out the entire company. However, as discussed above, 961 Beer can minimize this risk by establishing separate microbreweries in other countries so that there is no single source where 961 Beer is brewed. Nonetheless, establishing other microbreweries increases another risk: the risk of uneven and unequal quality. 961 Beer can lessen this risk by brewing its â€Å"brewmaster’s select† along with seasonal beers to appeal to customers in the new countries. 5.

Is Latin America An Homogeneous Continent Politics Essay

Is Latin America An Homogeneous Continent Politics Essay Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages, those derived from Latin particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French are primarily spoken  [1]   Historical background To understand the history of International Business in Latin America it is necessary to begin with a look in the eighteenth century were all of the countries in the region were colonies of the European powers and the commerce were tightly tied to the home country. But with the independence the IB had been taking a major role in Latin America because it is possible to consider that the first international business in the region was financing by the Latin American governments for the wars independence and since that moment these countries began to involved with IB, exchanging raw materials, such as gold and silver exported for products from Europe like clothing, iron and manufactured goods  [2]   By the middle of the nineteenth century foreign direct investment began with projects in mining and infrastructure, also LA become one of the most trading partners for United States, providing natural resources and low cost assembly of manufactures (Clothing). The most attractive countries in LA for investment are Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. The government-Business relationship Latin American governments imposed increasingly restrictive policies on foreign MNES, toward the end of import-substituting industrialization and promoting domestically owned business  [3]   but this didnt last for so long because of the 1980s crisis, that forced the governments of the region to look for foreign financial resources and by 1990s most of the LA join the opening economy system. Privatizations Privatization of state-owned enterprises has been one important step of the economic opening process and for FDI, with these system LA governments attracted the world leaders to invest in airlines, telephone companies, electronic power companies and banks. Regional Economic Integration The first regional integration done in LA was by Simon Bolivar in 1820 with the goal to unite South America, but since the World War II there had been integration efforts beginning with the LAFTA or ALALC in 1960 (Latin America Free Trade Area), this agreement never achieved its free-trade goals. It is possible to said that the first true agreement done in the region was the Andean Community in 1976, these group promote FDI into the region and tariff elimination among the members country  [4]   Another Sub regional integration effort is Mercosur has served to open trade mostly between Argentina and Brazil. The most successful agreement is NAFTA that produce economic growth in Mexico because many multinational firms of US locate its production there. Barriers to trade and invest in Latin America The most relevant barrier is the geographical one rather than the legal one because this zone has high mountains so the transportation cost is very expensive and this problem cannot be eliminated by tariff reductions or other government policies. Latin America MNE ´S It can be considered that the Latin America NME ´S emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s, as firms established operations in mostly neighboring countries to serve local markets. The leading firms are located in the largest countries, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. Five of the top 25 MNE ´S are steel companies from Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. Many companies are leaders in their respective industries, such as the Brazilian Gerdau Group. Most of MNE ´S tend to expand regionally before going farther abroad. And thinking in the consumer, this can often be a benefit because of the cultural similarity of most Latin American countries that makes regional firms better to supply to regional taste. At the same time, a firm that lacks international experience might want to acquire the skills needed to manage across borders by first learning in a country that is similar and nearby. This could explain CEMEX, the third-largest producer of cement in the world, captures many of this idea. Multinationals are often closer to their host countries geographically, culturally, economically, and politically, and with their know-how and technologies may be well matched for the other markets where they invest.  [5]   Latin American firms are responding to global trends by restructuring, developing a variety of tangible and intangible assets- including advanced management capabilities  [6]  After decades of protection and transition, Latin American firms are able to think and compete globally. 7 LATIN AMERICAN WORKING AND MANAGEMENT CULTURE. Plenty of information has been written about the American, Japanese or German management styles. These have proved to be successful in the greatest multinationals around the world and as a consequence many organizations in developing countries try to implement them. Well known is, that most of the Latin American countries have economies in transition and this is true also for management models used in Latin American organizations. In 2005 Martha M. Elvira, then the academic director of the Lexington College, together with Anabella Dà ¡vila, then the teacher of The theory of the Organization and business history at the School of Graduate in management and direction of business, had published in the Magazine Universia Business Review and article called Cultura y administracià ³n de Recursos Humanos en Amà ©rica Latina in English Human Resources culture and management in Latin America. There the authors assumed that the Latin American management models have some cultural traits deriv ed from an specific historic process with a social, political and economical structure. This unique process differentiates Latin American management styles from others and makes it worthy to examine the cultural background in order to better understand how the organizations in Latin America behave and how human resources practices in this region can be improved. It is thus highly important to review what has been written about the work culture in Latin America in order to understand better the management practices in that region and perform well when interacting with Latin Americans. For a better understanding of the subject of which is Latin-American cultural behavior and in some way decode the way Latin-Americans work and develop within an organization or during a business, we will divide these behavior into some themes or dimensions in which this culture will be analyzed. Our first dimension will be sympathy, personal dignity or classism, defining sympathy as the warmth of personal relationships, always respecting human dignity (Silvio de Franco, 1999). People in Latin American countries always take time to greet one another with a show of genuine pleasure, this culture is very familiar and always has close relationships with its workmates, if it is their decision they prefer working and negotiating with friends and family, rather than with strangers. Latin Americans are known for developing interpersonal relations with co-workers; this is why they are very predictable and expected by all. Personal contact is very important to Latin American workers; face-to-face contact with superiors is common and valuable for both employee and superior. Personal relations are charged with a high emotional content and both superiors and employees expect to be treated politely and friendly. Loyalty and reliability are very important in the personal relations of Latin Americans in the workplace. Other face of sympathy is the tendency to avoid open conflicts and unpleasantness, that is the reason why, people tend to be very polite and nice with others, and not to demonstrate disagreements in public. Latin Americans prefer a peaceful coexistence, and may be unwilling to confront others about negative behaviors that could be harmful to an organization; over the working environment what people want is to keep positive relationships among co-workers, taking aside the fact that their putting in risk the companys welfare. From here we can say that criticism is the key tool for discharging all madness of employees, this tool goes underground and is expressed most of the time through rumors and gossip. When talking about classism we refer to Latin Americans emphasizing in very rigid social divisions, so, sympathy is more likely to see in members of a same social class or level, you can also find sympathy from a high level class with a lower one, but it is less common in these countries. Hierarchy and social status is important, academic titles and other signs are mechanisms of social differentiation and help to establish the distance between employees and their superiors. Anabella Dà ¡vila and Martha M. Elvira affirm nevertheless, that superiors try to get near to the employees enough to eliminate the barriers between them. There is one exception to the rule, in terms of sympathy; some of Latin people are characterized because of their rudeness when talking, always taking advantage of the position power, when dealing with people that is less powerful, but this subject will be better explained when we arrive to hierarchical relationships and power dimensions. The next dimension is very linked to the first one, personalism; a desire for personalized and individualized attention. For Latin Americans, it is a priority to do things for others as relatives and family. Being helpful is very important for Latinos. First thing to have in mind when working with this culture is trying to develop good relationships, create loyalty within the working group and connecting as much as possible with people. Us, as Latin Americans, prefer to give opportunities, do favors and accept things, from people we know, giving them an advantage over the others, who will become strangers for us. Foreign people need to develop relationships based on mutual help, improve their level of empathy in order to gain Latin Americans trust and personalize the way of dealing with co-workers; we choose approaching people directly in person, rather than delegating tasks, or just sending letters. Personal relationships are needed and mandatory for Latin Americans, as an example, if a person wants to have a good position in the workplace, it is easier to success if they have palanca, term used by Latinos for the extra help they can get inside an organization by contacts and friends to be chosen over others. Latinos want everything to be easy, and fast, this is why friendship and personal relationships as said before are key issues to survive in a Latin American organization or society. Particularism dimension refers to the fact that Latin Americans are always choosing whom to help to, making exceptions to the rule based on individual circumstances level and obligations of friendships. For friends, everything; for strangers, nothing, and for enemies, the law (Rosenn, 1988, p.143) In this culture, law exists, but is just an ideal, because Latin Americans, only pay attention to law, which they agree with, otherwise, it is just ignored. In the personalism dimension, we talked about how influential friendships can become when getting a job, in other words Particularism appears as an answer to the personalism weve been talking about. As explained, particularism is in easier words, to have a strong group of friends, who will obtain benefits from my owns, therefore, the person who is getting the benefit is the one analyzed through the personalism dimension. Now, more than a group of friends or relatives, dealing with government is also part of the particularism, sometimes managers, can influence government to work on their side, giving benefits just to their companies. Latin American culture generally have a fairly low level of trust in people who are not family or close friends, with this we arrived to our 4th dimension, trust, generally, Latin American managers do not trust all of their employees, so, they always have 1 o 2 persons who they trust 100% (friends or family), to leave in charge of important tasks. Sometimes this lack of trust can affect the training and development for employees; Latinos always panic about teaching others the way they work, because we think, they could steel ideas and develop projects based on the stolen knowledge. This distrust issue is also an answer to our listening difficulties, and acceptance of others ideas. Latinos presume we know everything, and that there couldnt be a person who knows more than what I know, so we become depth to others comments. In order to gain the trust desired by Latin Americans, persons from other cultures, should not expect to start negotiating without developing first a relationship with us. Collectivism and in-group/out group behavior dimension, Latin American countries are generally described as collectivist cultures, which is characterized by individuals who give their loyalty to a group, and in return the group takes responsibility for the individual.  [8]  The collectivist unit for Latinos is family. 9 According to the chart, Latin American culture is located in the lower right quadrant, low trust/vertical relationships, finding pseudo-collectivism in the protective hierarchical structures very common in this part of the world. Relationships in Latin American organizations are vertical, people think top-down, with the prevailing lack of trust of out-group members. For Latin companies, it still exist the image of feudo, the boss who gives orders to employees, but beyond that it takes care of anything that could happen to them and their family and personal situations or problems, that could affect them. The in-groups are the ones that always receives preferential treatment, with this we are looking back, to the trust, personalism and particularism dimensions; they are all linked, from bosses perspective, you find your partners, gives them preferences, trust in them and you create an in-group structure, which is the one that characterized collectivism. As explained before, we still have the feudo image, the father who takes care for his children, continuing with the patron system, we now arrive to explain the paternalism and hierarchical relationships. Academics have identified a paternalistic behavior in management positions in many organizations across Latin American countries. In this sense managers care about the protection of the employees and their families. They might be seen as moral support by the employees to the extended that many organizations see themselves as a family. Strong solidarity and mutual understanding characterized Latin American workers whose intention is to work always in a harmonic and warm environment. Latin American employees always feel that bosses should take an interest on their nonwork lives, moving forward and beyond the working barriers, employees think bosses as they are developing the fathers role within a company, should be aware of what if happening with the family, and also they should be part of special events as weddings, baptisms, etc. For employers, their role must of the time is linked to the pobrecito attitude, always to excuse the employees for not doing things, or just when they need to be fired. With this, we conclude that paternalism has to aspects, the power of the father, government, or boss to make decisions for others, as well as the responsibility for those who are dependent on them. Relating paternalism and the hierarchical relationships, within a company, the boss always has a trust man, who will do anything for him, and would burn on fire to cover him, most of the time is the assistant. The disadvantage of this model of hierarchical relationships is that information from the bottom of the organization seldom floats to the top, allowing bosses to make poor decision, because of the lack of input from below that might help them avoid errors. Upon this point all dimensions have been intrinsically related with power, our next dimension, which is the principal theme in the Latin American organizations (Hofstede, 1980). Power is generally and more expressed in the top of the hierarchies. Bosses think that thanks to their position they are allow to do whatever they want, that they control the company and beyond, that employees should exceed in their attentions. And can delegate, tasks that they should act. People with power are accorded special privileges and often use their position to personal gain. It is said also that Latin Americas like to be dependent on someone else; they accept the authority and avoid confrontation with superiors. Conflict avoidance characterizes them and when theres a discussion taking place in public both superior and employee feel uncomfortable and even insulted. One of the most important Latin American cultural characteristics is the sense of humor and joy, which is also a dimension to analyze our culture. Humor plays a major role in the work settings, the constant teasing and joking at work is a pleasure, besides it makes working hours to go faster, helps to create the perfect environment for working and develop more efficient all tasks. But it is not always for having fun, humor has two other functions in the organizational life of Latin America; it is sometimes used to keep people in line, pointed jokes are an acceptable manner of conveying feedback to people. This, because concern for social approval is very strong in Latin America. And it also works as a safety tool in the form of black humor, as an example, employees that are not happy with their boss always make jokes about him but always behind his back or they make them to face just acting ironic. The powerless the people, the more plentiful the jokes. Lastly, we find fatalism, as one very important dimension where Latin American people could be analyzed. As we are evolving with all global changes, it still some negative organizations within the Latin culture. For some of us there is never a positive answer to things or in terms of the organization to projects, comments, etc. It is easier for as to say maybe or it could be rather than be 100% sure. The most common negative (in some way) word Latinos use is si Dios quiere. Even though people are sure things will happen, prefer to leave destiny to the religious part.  [10]  , but there are also some negative movements as always doubting, what if? is it possible? Im not sure it would work. Latin America has been always characterized as fatalistic and resistant to change, but there are some, however, individuals, companies, etc that are rapidly undergoing a transformation in response to changing circumstances as free markets and global economy. Companies with negative patterns find very difficult to compete with foreign companies because they are victims of their own selfishness, always having over all the negative view first. It is important for people who will be working with Latin Americans to understand all cultural contingencies, to do not fall into mistakes or be part of an unexpected cultural shock. Anabella Dà ¡vila and Martha M. Elvira take some human resources ´ practices and explain cultural characteristics founded in them. When referring to the recruitment, selection and promotion process, the authors affirm that in Latin America the appearance and personality are very important in the hiring or promotion of an employee. Relatives, friends or contacts are highly important as well as stated above. Low budgets characterized the training and development process, and a lack of technical knowledge is faced by the firms when importing machinery from abroad. Nevertheless education level in Latin America is growing faster and expatriates in Latin America are being replaced by well-qualified Latin American youth. Family plays a primary role in the lives of Latin American workers. To provide the family with the best living standard is the meaning of work of the Latin American worker. This is why social benefits given by the firms are valuable for them. Rewards for managers take the form of luxury cars, school enrollment for the kids or memberships in clubs. This enhances the living standard of the family and their social status. Acknowledgment is important for the workers; seniority recognition and social benefits are valuable for them. Given the importance of family it is hard for Latin American workers to be transferred from one place to another (far). Working groups are commonly to find in Latin American organizations, authority or coordination within them is also common. Latin American workers dont like to face all the responsibility and thus prefer to share it. The communication in the organizations flows from top-down; the avoidance of conflict generates many times misunderstandings and obstacles in communication processes. When conflicts take place, identification with primary groups more than with the organization itself is common. But, is really Latin America homogeneous as many states? In the year 2003, T. Lenartowicz and James Patrick Johnson wrote an article called A Cross-national assessment of the values of Latin America managers: contrasting hues or shades of gray? which was published in the Journal of international business studies. There the authors through a research concluded, Common perceptions of Latin America as a culturally homogeneous region are stereotypical and incorrectà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Based on Rokeach ´s study of values, T. Lenartowicz and James Patrick Johnson proved that divergence in the importance of values can explain differences in business phenomena across the region. Values form part of culture, and they influence well the behavior of the people. Managers and workers grew within a culture filled with values, and thus the studying of values in Latin America can contribute to the understanding of management styles in the region. Diversity characterizes Latin America; and this diversity is reflected in the behavior of the people across the continent. Despite the common historical background shared by Latin American countries, each one of them has different features, geographic conditions, ethnic groups, and historical development. To develop the research, T. Lenartowicz and James Patrick Johnson divided the region in 6 representative parts. Colombia and Venezuela; Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia; Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile; Brazil, Mà ©xico; and Puerto Rico. The study didnt cover any of the Central American countries. According to the results, Brazil showed to have the major number of differences in importance of values (as expected) and Puerto Rico the lower. According to the authors, The values that differ significantly across the 12 countries include: ambitious, clean, intellectual, logical, open-minded, pleasure, world at peace. Three of these intellectual, logical, open-minded relate directly to decision-making and negotiation processes, suggesting that there may be considerable variation in these processes from one country to another. Variation in values is also likely to affect workplace issues such as delegating authority and responsibility, motivating employees, and compensation and reward systems. The study shows that even if there are similarities among Latin American countries, it would be an error to treat the whole region and homogeneous. CONCLUSIONS The Latin American environment could diverge since the colonization moment, because not all of Latin American countries were colonized by the same European countries, so in this order, we can find a French business culture, as well as Spanish and Portuguese, this situation has influenced the management style of Latin American MNEs. Some reason why this environment diverge are the economic and political policies implemented by the government before 1980s, with the ideology of a close economy that ends with each country developing its own business culture. In terms of geography, most of Latin American countries have high mountains, which generates difficulties in transportation of merchandise, this makes that almost all of Latin American companies develop same strategies in order to reduce transportation costs. Each Latin American country has develop its own business culture, but at the same time, thanks to the colonization characteristic and its location it is possible to gather them into groups, to facilitate studies in this continent. Geographical and historical factors served to divide the region into five aggregates which showed to be consistent within them and different among them. These are: the northern South America (Colombia and Venezuela); Perà º, Ecuador and Bolivia, the Southern cone (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay); Brazil; and Mà ©xico. When doing business, Latin Americans are recognized for being a friendly and informal bargainer, who prefers negotiating with already known people as family and friends; we do not sacrifice thing at a short term to obtain benefits at a long term. It is impossible for Latin Americans to arrive on time to meetings or things related to it, but this is why we cannot ask for punctuality and we became very flexible with time, and it uses. Latinos are very manipulative with emotions, and we count with a strong convincement power. In conclusion, all Latin American enterprises have their own ways of doing business, but there are some similar characteristic among them, such as friendship, loyalty, humor, collectivism and power. Friendship and humor are Latinos key tools for interacting and performing within a working and managerial environment. Being surrounded of trust people; the best way of ascending inside an organizational hierarchy and gaining the best positions is trough a Latin term palanca, which is the extra help they can get by contacts and friends to be chosen over others. Communication in Latin American organizations is top-down, with a lack of feedback from information given from bottom positions. Latinos are very preferential; we have preferences for in-group members over out-group members. Although Latin America has been treated as an homogeneous region, he results of a research contradicts prior studies that have tended to group Latin American countries together, and this finding validates the view that Latin America should not be regarded as a culturally homogeneous region.

English Essay -- English Literature

English The Crucible Essay The Crucible, a tale of superstition and tyrannical oppression set to shake our complacency and make us think. Arthur Miller, the author of this compelling play, deals with controversial issues and subjects which could be classed as taboo such as infidelity and witchcraft. He has a rare talent when it comes to writing and conveying human emotions to his audience. Act 2 opens in the ‘common room’ of Proctor’s house. John Proctor arrives later than usual after a hard days work. Carrying his gun he enters the â€Å"low, dark and rather long living-room†. The stage directions not only suggest he is displeased with his food upon tasting it - he meddles with the pot situated on the fire: â€Å"Then he lifts out the ladle and tastes. He is not quite pleased†¦Ã¢â‚¬  - but also suggest that the setting in which this takes place is depressing and lifeless, symbolising the feelings that are conjured up in John when entering his ‘home’. The first words spoken between husband and wife are Elizabeth questioning his whereabouts in a very accusational way ‘What keeps you so late? It’s dark.’. There is no reaction from John just an honest reply as if Elizabeth had no double meaning to her inquiry, no Hi or Hello in sight. From then onwards basic chit-chat such as the farm and the weather ‘Pray now for a fair summer’ fill their conversation. The little conversation that they manage to force feels stunted and false as both John and Elizabeth are being too polite - not as man and wife should behave. John manages to eat a whole meal but they only speak six or more times leaving much of the time to be filled by uncomfortable silence. Elizabeth watches the reaction of her husband when he tastes her .. ... utter despair. The confession of John’s left her feeling vulnerable and alone. Her suspicion of her husband is so strong because of her low self-esteem and insecurities. Abigail threatens her. What is she to do? Everyday she is faced with the reminder that she wasn’t enough for the love of her life but she has no choice - she cannot leave. Society had not yet accepted even the concept of divorce, especially Practising Catholics like themselves. People judged their neighbours and it mattered about keeping up appearances. There would be no way Elizabeth could have confided in a ‘friend’ about her husband’s infidelity and there was absolutely no way she could walk out on her marriage - divorce was out of the question. Though it may be all dead and buried and laid to rest in John’s mind, for Elizabeth the wounds are just as deep as the day they were made.

Accounting Firm Case Essay

Case 1: Sunrise bank recently appointed the accounting firm Smith, Godfroy, and Hannaford as the bank’s auditor. Sunrise quickly became one of Smith, Godfroy, and Hannaford’s largest clients. Subject to banking regulations, Sunrise must provide for any expected losses on notes receivable that Sunrise may not collect in full. During the course of the audit, Smith, Godfroy, and Hannaford determined that three large notes receivable of Sunrise seem questionable. Smith, Godfroy, and Hannaford discussed these loans with Susan Carter, controller of Sunrise. Carter assured the auditors that these notes were good and that issuers of these notes will be able to pay their notes after the economy improves. Smith, Godfroy and Hannaford stated that Sunrise must record a loss for a portion of these notes receivable to account for the likelihood that Sunrise may never collect their full amount. Carter objected and threatened to dismiss Smith, Godfroy, and Hannaford if the auditor demands that the bank record the loss. Smith, Godfroy, and Hannaford want to keep Sunrise as a client. In fact, Smith, Godfroy, and Hannaford were counting on the revenue from the Sunrise audit to finance an expansion of the auditing firm. See more: Defining research problem and setting objectives Essay Discussion questions: 1. What is the ethical issue in this situation? 2. What are the alternative decisions for Smith, Godfroy and Hannaford to consider? 3. Who are the stakeholders in this situation? what are the possible consequences to each stakeholder? Analyze from the following standpoints: (a) economic, (b) legal, and (c) ethical. 4. If you were the auditor, what would you do? How would you justify your decision? Case 2: St Genevieve Petroleum Company is an independent oil producer in Baton Parish, Louisiana. In February, company geologists discovered a pool of oil that tripled the company’s oil reserves. Prior to disclosing the new oil reserves to the public, St. Genevieve quietly bought most of its shares back from current shareholders. After the announcement of the discovery of new oil reserves, the company’s share price increased from $6 to $27. Discussion questions: 1. What is the ethical issue in this situation? 2. Who are the stakeholders? what are the possible consequences to each stakeholder? Analyze from the following standpoints: (a) economic, (b)Â  legal, and (c) ethical. 3. Place yourself in the role of decision maker. What decision would you have made? Case 3: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the most discussed and debated topic in today’s business environment. Various arguments have been made regarding the relationship between firms’ social responsibility and their financial performance. One view is that firms face a tradeoff between social responsibility and financial performance. The contrasting view is that CSR improves firms’ financial performance ensuing in win-win model. The Baltazar, a chemical company, is considering whether it should maintain several socially responsible actions such as establishing environmental protection procedures, making extensive charitable contributions, promoting community development plans, and maintaining plants in economically depressed locations. The CFO of Baltazar opposes such actions as he believes these actions deviate from the company’s economic goal and they will negatively affect the company’s financial performance. Discussion questions: 1. Explain your view of the social responsibility. 2. What are the potential costs (benefits) of having a low (high) level of social reasonability to a company? 3. Do you think the company should continue or dis-continue these socially responsible actions?

Foreign Workers in Malaysia

Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. At least that’s what quite a lot of Malaysians I know feel about them. Deputy Human Resources Minister, Senator said that there are 1. 403 million foreigners here holding the Temporary Employment Visit Pass, which accounts for 11. 2% of Malaysia’s total workforce. That’s actually quite a lot of foreigners for a country with a 2. 7% unemployment rate as of last year. But it’s no use denying the fact that we need them. The fact that we still don’t have minimum wage means that there are just too many jobs out there that pay too little (from the perspective of Malaysians) and are considered not worth the trouble by Malaysians. As our cost of living continues to rise against stagnating wages, even fresh graduates earning around RM2,000 will sometimes find it hard to keep things afloat living in Kuala Lumpur, let alone having to survive on a construction worker’s wages. And even now we can see foreign workers in supermarkets and restaurants, jobs that are considered ‘comfortable’ and not ‘heavy’, but more and more locals are turning away from them simply because in the current economic climate the pay is nowhere near good enough. On the one hand it’s a shame that we prefer being unemployed rather than at least earning something, even if it means working a hard job with not very good pay. But on the other hand it’s also understandable why we’d prefer to hold out and keep looking for something better, considering the economic realities that we have to face in our daily lives. The side effect of being dependent on foreign workers is that it puts a strain on a lot of things – public amenities and services especially. They also compete with the poor for low cost accommodation, and the congested living conditions have also contributed to societal and environmental problems. But blaming things on them will not solve anything. The fact of the matter is, these are men and women trying to make an honest living in a foreign country where their presence is not exactly welcomed with open arms. They had to leave their family behind, live in sometimes abominable and unacceptable conditions, and push themselves to the limit to work as many hours as possible in order to send as much money as they can home to their families. Try doing that and see if you won’t find yourself in similar social problems should you be in their exact same shoes. It’s easy to blame the ‘other’ when you’re comfortably on the other side of the fence, but not so easy when you really look and try to empathize with them. Trying to combat these problems will definitely cost money, and if we’re being honest with ourselves, it’s just like dousing a raging fire – it’s unlikely that we can totally put a stop to it. The only way we can avoid these problems is by not having them here or not being too dependent on foreign workforce. Paying the 3D jobs (dirty, dangerous and difficult) better wages to attract locals to do it is a start. A good minimum wage is a start too. Of course companies employing foreign workers will moan that this is not good business, but that is why we vote and have a government – to think about how best to solve this dilemma, because what’s a government here for if not to take care of its people?