Contemporary Political Culture

Introduction Poverty comes as a result of oppression of individuals in society. Oppression on the other hand cannot perpetrate its self without the constructive or deductive participation by the oppressed. The social setups in society have segregated and branded individuals as poor for lack of common societal indicators of not being poor.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Contemporary Political Culture specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This inadequacy is not in the simplest sense relevant when it comes to intelligence and brilliance. In fact the most intelligent and brilliant persons hail from poor setups. Therefore, I dare say that poverty is not a condition but rather an attitude. I propose that poverty is a brand name that is contracted by social stratification and class. A social class is a societal group of people who perceive themselves as being of similar ideology thinking and condition of life. In effect, po verty is an attitude of a class of people. You may be poor but smart. The level of poverty is in no way a measure of one’s intelligence. I shall interrogate the connection between attitude intelligence and poverty. Argument The philosophical question of the century has been whether the state should wage a war against poverty or to formulate programs to end poverty. Both arguments have similar objectives of facing pout the menace of poverty. The liberalists have taken the literal meaning of waging war against poverty and gone ahead to wage war against the poor. These attempts have had opposite results in the form of riots and protests that have been accompanied by looting and damage to property. It begins with the dramatic and gradual economic shifts in the local and world fora, which culminates in unemployment and high costs of living. Concentration of wealth among the middle and upper classes makes it hard for the lower poor class to access security in jobs housing and food. Gradually the persons find it hard to escape the poverty. Despite the willingness of the poor to move away and work their way out of it, the prevailing political and social environment makes the war against the poor inevitable (Lynch and William, pp. 502-503). For instance if education becomes stratified and yet it is the main system that the poor use to access the path away from poverty then the poor have little choice. Back in the 19th century, the mass education program placed a level beam on which people from all walks of life would balance their way through to the other end against poverty. This has since changed since the basis of financing these schools has been purely the local taxes collected from the individuals. Therefore, it is obvious that the more affluent towns pay more taxes and therefore attract better learning facilities slowly and gradually locking out the poor and less financially able students from accessing these institutions.Advertising Looking for essay on political culture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Ivy League universities are slowly replaced by classy universities such as Harvard where a child needs up to $150000 with a few receiving scholarships .even worse, the changing economic conditions have slowly and gradually driven the state colleges to increase their fees. This was the safety net for the children of less wealthy parents (Babb Pp 233-312)Â  . It is not hard to imply that the child from a wealthy family has a better chance at graduation than one from the less wealthy family. Moving up the ladder, the child from the wealthy family has a better chance at getting a good job as well as good prospects. The point here is that the difference between the rich and poor is not only based on wealth and income, it is a representation of inequality in opportunities. This inequality moves in on to the social realm with people of certain educational qualifications tending to mi ngle and/ or marry from those with similar or higher educational qualifications. The age at which the educated bear children is also different with majority having their first child at 30 years. The bottom end of the story has a different twist. Due to the limited opportunities or lack of access to them, the women at the bottom of the heap tend to marry or bear children earlier. It is not surprising that most of these children are born out of wedlock. The road to upward mobility is one, education, and yet it grows narrower by the day. The days of utilitarian ideology have been trounced by the whims of capitalism and the harmony and concept of socialism left to the churches and charitable institutions. Income is at the heart of the debate between poverty and wealth. The level of balance in income was fairly balanced right after the war. This was not to survive long since within only a quarter of a century there has been a dramatic shift in the balance in favor of the well of minority . Their incomes doubled and their proportion of the national income rose to a third of the annual total income. This state of affairs continues to worsen with the few wealthy persons accumulating wealth at the expense of the poor. This could be attributed to the change in obligation and roles across the century. At the beginning, the minority wealthy persons worked lesser hours as compared to those at the bottom of the heap. Today the tide has turned and the top few work more hours than the lower majority. This tends to justify their massive wealth and control. This line of thought leads to the rod of attitude. The majority of individuals in America for instance believe that it is possible to start out poor and move upwards . This however depends on how balanced the opportunities available are.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Contemporary Political Culture specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, in a balance d society with equal access to opportunities, then poverty is an attitude. This is to suggest that there is a difference between living in poverty and being poor. This difference lies in the will, personality and attitude in the individual(Banerjee Duflo, pp 319- 475). The mobility of persons between the classes borrows heavily from the level of equality in the society. The established class system has brought forward several defenses for the continued quest to increase the gap. The first is the separation of poverty from moral failure. As it is the moral corruption and pollution is common among peoples of all classes. The level in the upper class however is more skimmed and covered and does not receive allot of criticism and publicity. It is allowed that he boss can drink and sleep on his desk but not the poor worker who only has a gutter to himself. The middle class on the other hand slip through unnoticed and remain untouched until they incur or cause great damage. The state of undeservingness results from poverty. The lack of fit between individuals in society is not a willed eventuality but rather a consequence of poverty. Stratification of class related to poverty in both value and sense. Unmarried middle class mothers fail to marry the fathers of their children due to the obvious consequences of financial and social undeservingness. A more conservative stand emphasizes the responsibilities of the poor leaving aside the responsibilities of the rich. The poor o their end find no obligation to be responsible to society until society treats them responsibly. Class stereotyping forms a class under the undeserving poor whose everyday labeling turns into a form of discrimination and self-fulfilling prophesies. It is common among children from single parents who suffer the lack of parenthood and end up confronting everyday life from a partisan stand. They suffer the discrimination for their lack of mentoring, one which they had no choice but to bear with. Conc lusion Blaming the poor for their sate does nothing to deter poverty related neither character nor poverty in its self. Waging a war against the poor only agitates them to look for alternative escape route to survival. It explains why most of the news on poverty is influenced by crime. The true objective of the reporting of the poverty situation loses its momentum and becomes a blame game. The general population now feels threatened by the poor all because of the relationship that has been established between them and crime.Advertising Looking for essay on political culture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is common ground among social scientists philosophers and societal enthusiasts that the circle of poverty is motivated by inequality in opportunities. The more imbalanced the access to opportunity is the greater the magnitude of poverty. On the other hand, in a society of equal opportunity, the focus of poverty migrates to individual attitude alongside class stratification. References Babb, Sarah. Behind the Development Banks: Washington Politics, World Poverty, and the Wealth of Nations. University of Chicago Press. (2009): Pp 233-312 Banerjee, Abhijit Esther, Duflo . Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty .New York: Public Affairs, (2011): pp 319- 475 Lynch, Kennedy and William, Kennedy .Writing in the Disciplines New York London: Pearson Prentice Hall. (2008): pp. 502-503 This essay on Contemporary Political Culture was written and submitted by user Giovani Holloway to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Populist Vision by Charles Postel

The Populist Vision by Charles Postel Introduction Charles Postel’s book, The Populist Vision, has provided an exhaustive explanation of the American populism during the late nineteenth century. The Populist Vision still stands out as the most convincing and gripping examination of the populist movement of all the time. After reading the book, one wonders how a writer could have the power to alter the restraints that governed a key historiographical contest.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on â€Å"The Populist Vision† by Charles Postel specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More By referring to previous works of Richard Hofstadter and Lawrence Goodwyn, the author develops a new account of populism where proponents of agrarianism reacted to politics surrounding the growth of international trade in a reasonable and comprehensible way. Postel (7) disputes the thought that populists were upright democratic intellects. He views them as individuals mold ed by their own generation with the aim of providing contemporary solutions to economic challenges whilst promoting classical ideas of the social ladder. The Populist Vision The narration provided by Charles Postel in The Populist Vision draws support from a vast volume of research comprised of newspapers, leaflets, and reports. The author begins his narration by explaining the origins of the Populist Movements, which according to his research, was stirred by the Farmers’ Alliance in the Midwest and southern region during the 1870s and 1880s. After going through the speeches made by influential populists such as Charles W. Macune, Postel (13) notes that the desire of most supporters and leaders of the Farmer’s Alliance in the late nineteenth century was to promote technological development and a business organizational structure that would increase agricultural yields. He appreciates the effort of farmers to device means of resolving the modern economic issues. For exa mple, he observes that in the South and West, farmers recommended that the state should subsidize products to increase the agricultural sales in the global market (Postel 45). Postel (276) explains why farmers were steadfast in preaching the need for education as well as vocational training during the agrarian age by arguing that it would lead to a more contemporary and industrious life. As per his observation, the farmers were aware of the importance of transforming their independent Farmer’s Alliance to a Populist Party that could speak to a greater population on the need for a just as well as lucrative agricultural competition by introducing brilliant federal policies to govern the economy. Moreover, Postel (83) asserts that the populist thinkers discreetly preached the need for state reforms on certain issues such as currency and railroad development through Christian messages, whilst their corporate political character was still evident.Advertising Looking for bo ok review on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The greater half of the book analyses the Populist politics. The author asserts that the movement aspired to create a platform where politics would be used to establish reasonable, unbiased, and businesslike leadership (Postel 169). Corruption had become the norm for most political parties and parties had failed to usher in the American people into the modern age, which established poverty. In line with the aforementioned arguments, attempts to introduce sub-treasury plans and government-licensed paper painted Populists as the pacesetters in their generation (Postel 45). Reading through the chapters narrating issues pertaining to gender and race coupled with how they affected the Populist Movement is interesting. Postel (53) admits that women often disagreed with the Populist Movement’s position with regard to women rights. For example, women opposed th e Populist Movement’s approach on suffrage, but always supported the perception that women had the right to join and participate proactively in movements. Since populists supported most of the male farmers’ issues in relation to the economy, they got high-profile positions in the movement. A special observation by Postel (185) is that although the movement was gender biased, it was evident that they were racially biased. As one approaches the last chapters of the book, it is apparent how Postel (227) continues with his ambitious explanation of the numerous urbanites, workers, and other groups who united with the Populist Movement to help achieve their goals. The Populist Party played a huge role in representing the interests of labor and urban activists through speaking to a broader population particularly those barred from the influential business positions (Postel 109). His last chapter creates a platform to discuss the advocates of Populist Movement, which could be enlarged even to a book. However, it is worth noting how Postel escapes the rural stereotypes and urban discrimination that prompted some interpreters to develop outrageous perceptions and inference. Nonetheless, certain issues emerge as one reads on, which raises some questions. For instance, one fails to understand how the locals received the Populists’ ambitions and how they responded to their contemporary ideas.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on â€Å"The Populist Vision† by Charles Postel specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Secondly, there is no detailed explanation of how political life of the Populist evolved as they tried to transform their ambitions into electoral veracity. Though the author has supported his writings with a huge volume of research, some of the materials are not mentioned in the bibliography. Furthermore, the author focuses his historiography on the populists, but gives littl e attention to contemporary works. Conclusion The little shortcomings of the book cannot negate its brilliant work. After reading this book, it emerges as the most essential writing on Populism in the contemporary times. Armed with adequate research collected from secondary and primary sources, Postel writes a book that ranks him among the best American political historians. He provides a new, legible, and insightful study of the broad history of Populism in the nineteenth century. Postel, Charles. The Populist Vision, New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.

Competitive Advantages Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Competitive Advantages - Research Paper Example Therefore, Riordan will have to produce highly standardized products so that it can compete with other producers of plastic products. It will have to adopt a global or a multi-domestic outlook, where it will either compete globally or compete at different national markets in a manner differentiated from that at other national markets. In the case of Riordan, it will have to adopt a global strategy at the target global markets, and a multi-local strategy at markets that are principally multi-domestic. The market drivers of its strategy will include customer needs uniformity, developing global networks of distribution, and ensuring that its marketing is transferable. The cost drivers to guide Riordan include those of transport, economies of scale, economies of scope, and product development. The government drivers to guide the business strategy include segmenting markets on the basis of the favorability of trade policies, the compatibility of technical standards, universal marketing control, as well as privatization. The global business strategy will be focused around increasing sales levels to existing customers, expanding sales to emerging markets and new customer groups, and the development of value-added services, which can compete globally. The company can maintain its cost-plus pricing strategy while at the same time increase segmentation on the basis of customer regions and locations. Riordan is a plastic manufacturer operating at different countries around the globe. The global market will affect the business strategy of Riordan in a number of ways. These ways include expanding economies of scale and scope, adopting a global and a multi-domestic market outlook, developing global distribution networks, and cultivating strategy drivers like product

Personal Statement for master's degree at Cambridge university Essay

Personal Statement for master's degree at Cambridge university - Essay Example The memory of my childhood in Kazakhstan is full of questions related to economics. Why is there nothing on the shelves in the shops? Why do my parents need to queue all morning for basics such as flour and sugar? At the time, I did not understand the intricacies of a transition economy or how the policy of Shock Therapy for the Kazakh economy in the 1990’s lead to the poverty, hyperinflation and unemployment that I witnessed all around me. Once I understood that these social realities could be explained and possibly prevented by studying and applying economic knowledge, I made the firm decision to study Economics at university. For me, a decision to study economics is much more personal than simply selecting a future profession. I want to study economics to solve the problems that surrounded me growing up in Kazakhstan. This decision has lent great focus to my academic endeavours. I am a great candidate for studying at Cambridge because I have a strong history of academic ach ievements. I was proud to be awarded The President’s Bolshak scholarship and was a recognized Gold Medal scholar, meaning I graduated with distinction in all of my courses. I also excel at mathematics courses and have a natural ability for working with numbers. My first step towards my future degree in Economics was a foundation course at UCL, which I completed last year. The Economics module introduced me to the theory as well as the practical side of Economics. Currently, I am earning a BSc in Economics at the University of York. My undergraduate courses are expanding my knowledge, though most of it is focusing on theory at this point. I am currently learning about micro and macro economics as a part of my undergraduate studies. In addition to these standard economics courses, I have added modules that highlight my math ability. These courses started with Dynamic Modeling for Economists in my second year and continuing with Industrial Economics in my third year. The former is by far my favourite field of Economics: I am fascinated to learn the techniques available for modeling economic processes which evolve through time and for solving dynamic economic problems. I have also elected to add a concentration of advanced mathematics that I believe will help me with my graduate studies at Cambridge. In addition to these formal studies, I am getting real world experience through internships. I have worked at The Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Competition Protection. This agency is in charge of monitoring and ending monopolistic practices. While there, I helped investigate the telecommunications sector in Kazakhstan, helping to identify monopolistic practices. Last summer I was able to work for PricewaterhouseCooper back home in Astana. I assisted in data analysis for the â€Å"Samruk-Kazyna† project. I also serve as vice-president of The York Kazakh Society, handling all financial arrangements for the club. My most exciting experience so fa r has been travelling to New York City on a scholarship to participate in a three week seminar on finance. In addition to my academic pursuits, I have two great passions in my life. I love to compete in debate and go ballroom dancing. These activities help my studies by giving me a way to relax and sharpen presentation skills. Continuing my study of Economics at Cambridge is very important for my future. Cambridge is universally recognised as a top tier school for Economics. My goal is to study in the graduate school at Cambridge so I will be equipped with the best

Testing on Animals. Some people are FOR and some people are against Essay

Testing on Animals. Some people are FOR and some people are against - Essay Example Animal testing or animal research involves using animals other than humans for doing research. While such studies may involve mere observation of the animals or their behaviors, in most cases, tin many cases, they involve subjecting the animals to unnatural situations such as in the case of drug testing. Some of the animals that are commonly used in research include mice, guinea pigs, frogs, birds, zebra fish, and primates, to mention but a few (Humane Society International, 2014). Different organizations offer different statistics relating to the number of animals that are used for research across the world and in the U.S. annually. According to Speaking of Research (2014), between 13.6 and 25 million animals are used for research in the United States annually. According to ProCon (2014), roughly 26 million animals are subjected to research tests for commercial or scientific purposes in the United States of America alone annually. In New Zealand and Australia, in excess of six milli on animals are used for teaching and testing annually according to Animals Australia (2014). The statistics, as varied as they are for the few countries mentioned, are nothing short of appalling. The reality is that millions of animals are used for experimentation throughout the world, and more so in developed countries. Do Something (2014) notes that more than 100 million animals suffer burns, abuse, or are poisoned in labs in the United States annually. Many of the animals used for testing die accidentally during the tests or are intentionally killed by researchers. One wonders whether or not it is right for animals to be subjected to pain and suffering by humans as they try to look for solutions that face the world. Different people have different views concerning animal testing. While some experts note that animal testing is useful because it goes a long way in saving humans from preventable deaths and provides good testing grounds for new products, others note that the

Study On The Proctor And Gamble Company Management Essay

Study On The Proctor And Gamble Company Management Essay The Proctor and Gamble Company was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1837 by an English immigrant William Procter, and James Gamble, an immigrant from Ireland. Both men had arrived in Cincinnati separately and were forced to stop there to recuperate from illnesses while on their way to the West. Each independently decided to settle to found a business and Procter became a candle maker while Gamble became a soap maker. This was not coincidental as the raw material for both candles and soap was animal fat. Cincinnati, also popularly nicknamed Porkopolis was the countrys largest meatpacking center allowing for inexpensive access to animal fat. On a personal front, the two gentlemen married sisters and subsequently formed a partnership in 1837. Due to the abundant supply of raw material, many competitors entered the market and Proctor and Gamble (PG) had to differentiate itself by embarking on an aggressive investment strategy building a large factory in the 1850s despite rumours of the imp ending civil war. Response to the Civil War and effects of their response During the Civil War, PG focused on operating day and night to supply the Union armies, and by the wars end sales had more than quintupled to over USD 1 million. When soldiers returned home carrying high quality products, distinguished by their unique characteristic moon- and- stars packaging, PG quickly developed a national reputation. As a result, their rapid growth and a series of innovations in their internal processes such as human resource management, RD, distribution, marketing, and organizational design soon followed. Growth through the Years using different organizational structures From inception, PG focused on product innovation, branded goods, research and development, direct distribution and sales and as the growth increased, diverging organizational structures and reward systems were introduced. In 1948, PG established its first international sales division to manage its rapidly growing foreign businesses. Over the next forty years, PG would steadily build its foreign presence, while carefully managing its United States (U.S.) operations. The two types of organizations, that is, the United States one and the European one, led to two distinctly different modes of organizational architectures. The United States, with a large homogenous market, lent itself to nationwide brand and product division management. Western Europe, on the other hand, which represented the larger share of PGs overseas division, was a heterogeneous market with different languages, cultures and laws and therefore adopted a decentralized hub and spoke model. In the United States, in 1954, PG created individual operating divisions to better manage growing product lines of products, supported by its own line and staff organizations. As a result, growth developed along two key dimensions: functions and brands. In 1987, the matrix reporting structure entered the scene, whereby functional leaders reported directly to their business leadership and also had a dotted line reporting relationship to their functional leadership. In Western Europe, geographic management was the original structure which developed along the three dimensions of country, function and brand. In this model country managers were responsible for profitability and market strategy, not brand managers. This and other effects led to silos and slow growth. By 1980s, PG attempted to shift focus from country management to product category management to promote cross- border cooperation across functions. Eventually, PG moved into the global market due to attractive expansion opportunities in Japan and developing markets and as a result, it reassessed its globalization model and opted to focus on the global matrix structure of categories and functions. This structure had several pitfalls and externally, competitors were catching up quickly challenging PGs first mover strategy and related advantages. PG had grown to be a USD 38 billion multinational consumer -products company, with over 50 categories, ranging from toilet paper to pharmaceuticals, with more than 300 brands. Competitors were steadily eating away market share. As a result in September 1998, PG announced a six year restructuring plan called Organization 2005. This new structure had adverse effects on PG sustainability and the scene in the case is set around the negative results of Organization 2005 resulting in the CEO Durk Jager, 17 months into his role as CEO, resigning and A.G Lafley taking over in June 2000 faced with the significant decision of whether to make a strong commitment to the Organization 2005 or dismantle. He also had to decide whether he created more value by splitting the company into sets of stand- alone businesses. Why did US organizational structure shift from Product grouping in the 1950s to a Matrix in 1980s? The United States had a large homogenous market which lent itself to nationwide brand and product division management. In 1954, PG created individual operating divisions to better manage growing lines of products, each with its own line and staff organizations. Specialization by product as described by Cole G.A is when grouping is arranged around specified products, with each group having its own specialist functions provided at the operational level. The advantages of product grouping are that it enables the companys major product groups to concentrate on their own priorities, within the total business plan. It also provides a mechanism for supplying the major groupings in the company with their own specialist resources and to develop their own preferred culture. In addition, it encourages the senior specialists at director level to focus on corporate issues, leaving production matters within product groups much more in the hands of senior managers involved. The main disadvantage of this kind of structure is that individual divisions may seek to promote their own objectives so forcefully as to endanger wider, corporate strategies. Thus the senior directors need to be capable of exercising sufficient control over corporate intentions, but without robbing the line manager of their motivation to obtain the optimum results for their divisions. According to Mullins, L.J. in Management and Organizational Behavior, the Line and staff organization structure is concerned with concerned with different functions which are to be undertaken. It provides a means of maximizing on the utility of specialists while maintaining the concept of line authority. Line organization relates to those functions concerned with specific responsibility for achieving the objectives of the organization and to those people in the direct chain of command. Staff organization relates to the provision of specialist and support functions for the line organization and creates an advisory relationship. Within this model, PG US developed along two key dimensions: functions and brands. Brand managers bore responsibility for profitability and could focus on matching company strategy with product category dynamics. Brand managers competed in the same marketplace but also shared access to strong divisional functions which in turn transferred best practices and talent across many brands, fostering leading edge competences in RD, manufacturing and market research in a rapidly developing consumer products industry. For instance, the invention of fluoride toothpaste in 1955 was a key result of this structure. In 1987, the United States PG made a historic shift away from the 56 year old competitive brand management system, to a matrix system whereby brand would now be managed as components of category portfolios by category general managers. The reason for this shift in structure was because product categories were beginning to require more differentiated functional activities but at the same time, PG US needed to retain functional strengths. As a result, a matrix reporting structure was set up whereby functional leaders reported directly to their business leadership and also had a dotted line reporting relationship to their functional leadership. Thus 39 US category business units were created, with each category business unit having its own sales, product development, manufacturing and finance functions. Mullins, L.J. describes a matrix organization as a combination of functional departments which provide a stable base for specialized activities and a permanent location for staff members and units that integrate various activities of different functional departments on any of the following bases: project, product, geographical or systems basis. He goes on to add that matrix structures offer the advantages of flexibility, greater security and control of project or product information and opportunities for staff development if management implement the structure effectively. The potential problem areas, as seen later in the PG case, include the fact that a matrix structure can result in a more complex structure. By using two methods of grouping it sacrifices unity of command and may cause problems of co-ordination. There may also be a problem of defining the extent of the product (project) managers authority over staff from other departments and of gaining support of other functional managers. Why did the European organizational structure shift from Geographic grouping in 1950s to Category management in 1980s? In Europe, the PG organization developed along three dimensions: country, function and brand. This model was established to tailor products and processes to local tastes and norms. This resulted in a portfolio of self sufficient subsidiaries led by country general managers (GMs) who adapted PG technology and marketing expertise to local markets. These were called mini-U.Ss in each country as new product technologies were sourced from U.S. RD labs in Cincinnati, qualified, tested and adapted by local research and development (RD) and manufacturing organizations in each country. In 1963, a European Technical Centre (ETC) was created and housed in Brussels and it developed products and manufacturing processed that country managers could choose to adapt to and launch in their countries. Country managers, not brand managers, had responsibility for profitability and market strategy, while the Brussels regional headquarters was very hands-off, serving mostly legal, tax accounting and public relations entity. Geographically based structures, according to Cole, have key advantages of widely spread markets can be catered for, local knowledge of customers, labor market and distribution can be utilized as seen in PG Europe. However, the key disadvantages as with any attempts at decentralization are associated with the inevitable tension that develops between Head office and the regions concerning priorities for action and priorities for scarce company resources. In addition, geographical based cultures and focus may veer away from the overall company strategy, culture and increase costs. The main reason why geographic grouping did not work positively for PG in Europe was that it resulted in innovations and brands taking unnecessarily long to globalize. For instance, Pampers, was launched in US in 1961, Germany in 1973 and France not until 1978. In addition, functional organizations became embedded in company silos and worse still, European corporate functions were also completely disconnected from the US operation. To cap it all, focus on product categories and brands was fragmented by country, virtually precluding region- wide category or branding strategies. This led to unstandardized and subscale manufacturing operations in each country which were expensive and unreliable. Products were tweaked unnecessarily, creating pack size and formulation variations that added no value to maintain and reinvented the wheel with each new product initiative. Thus in early 1980s, Europe attempted to promote cross border co-operation across functions and to shift focus from country management to product category management. Why were the 2 structures integrated into a global cube in the 1990s? The two main PG structures: U.S matrix structure and Western European category management structure were integrated in the 1990s into a global cube due to the several reasons. Attractive expansion opportunities in Japan and the developing markets led PG to question its globalization model, particularly in anticipation of the new challenge of appealing to more diverse consumer tastes, cultures, preferences and income levels. This was demonstrated by the fact that in Europe, increased focus on cross border category management had proven successful. However, corporate function in Brussels still lacked direct control of country functional activities. PG was also seeking positive results in the area of innovation such that the creation of global technical centers in different regions could have core competencies in a specific product category. PG also sought tremendous top-line and bottom-line improvements such as creation of powerful and independent global functions promoted to the pooling of knowledge, transfer of best practices, elimination of intra-regional redundancies and standardization of activities. It was also seeking integration of manufacturing, purchasing, distribution and engineering into one global product supply function which managed the supply chain from beginning to end. PG achieved this specific integration in 1987. In the new global cube, PG was also seeking massive savings which could b e achieved by regionally managed product- supply groups consolidating country manufacturing plants and distribution centers into higher scale regional facilities. PG also sought a stronger global sales organization with regional leadership so as to develop closer global relationship. One key result of this specific objective was the Customer Business Development (CBD) function which developed closer relationship with bug customers such as the one unprecedented step of co-locating with Wal-Mart in Bentonville, Arkansas to pursue joint strategic planning. Coupled with early supply chain initiatives, this undertaking allowed PG to be a first mover in electronic integration with customers, leading to disproportionate share growth with mass discounters. Finally, significant initial standardization in Information Technology (IT) systems was made possible by a globally managed IT organization. By 1997, financial and accounting information storage had been consolidated at three global data storage centers. PG was also seeking global category management whereby it aimed at developing close relationships. This occurred with strong global Research Development (RD) product category organizations, helping to standardize and accelerate global product launches. As a result, PG started migrating to a global matrix structure of categories and functions. The global cube entailed Europes country functions being consolidated into continental functions characterized by dotted-line reporting through functional leadership with direct reporting through the regional business managers. Global functional senior vice presidencies were created to manage functions across all regions. Then in 1989, to better co-ordinate category and branding strategies worldwide, PG created global category presidencies reporting directly to the CEO. All country category GMs had dotted- line reporting to their global country president, however, career progression and promotion remained in the hands of regional line management. Some additional key results included a much reduced duration to globalize a new initiative. For instance, by the early 1990s, it took only four years, on average to globalize a new initiative. This advance allowed PG to quickly inject new technologies into recently acquired beauty care products like Pantene, Olay and Old Spice. For example, two-in-one shampoo and conditioner technology was developed at the Sharon Woods beauty-care global technical center in Cincinnati in mid-1980s. The hair care global category president then achieved its roll out globally under the Pantene brand name with consistent worldwide marketing message and identity. In just over a decade, increased global focus on product categories helped PGs beauty care division to grow from USD 600 million to a highly strategic USD 7 billion business. What are the key distinguishing features of Organization 2005? Organization 2005 was a six -year restructuring plan announced by PG in September 1998. The companys objectives were to achieve a USD 900 million in annual after- tax cost savings by 2004 after spending USD 1.9 billion over the five years. This was to be achieved by specific features and actions of the Organization 2005. The first part called for voluntary separations of 15,000 employees by 2001, of which almost 10,500 (70%) were overseas staff. Forty five percent of all job separations would result from global product- supply consolidations and a quarter from exploitation of scale benefits arising from more standardized business processes. The plan sought to eliminate six management layers, from 13 to 7. The second part called for dismantling the matrix organizational structure and replacing it with an amalgam of interdependent organizations which were: Global Business Units (GBUs) with primary responsibility for the product and whose teams were compensated on profitability. Market Development Organizations (MDOs) with primary responsibility for markets and whose teams were compensated based on sales growth. Global Business Services (GBSs) which was a unit responsible for managing internal business processes and whose teams were compensated on cost management. This radical new design was aimed at improving the speed with which PG innovated and globalized its innovations. In detail the GBUs were responsible for product development, brand design, business strategy and new business development. Each operated autonomously focusing on different product categories. In total, there were seven GBUs with complete profit responsibility and benchmarked against focused product category competitors. Each GBU was led by a president, who reported directly to the CEO and was a member of the global leadership council that determined overall company strategy. At GBU level, Vice Presidents of Marketing, RD, Product supply, New Business Development and support functions such as IT implementation reported to the GBU president. To ensure that RD division of different GBUs would share technological innovations, a technology council composed of all GBU RD VPS would be formed to share and cross pollinate ideas. The intention of this structure was to increase agility and reduce costs through accelerated global standardization of manufacturing processes and better co-ordination of marketing activities. Global standardization of processes which were on different platforms would eliminate the lengthy process of obtaining launch approval from regional managers and result in systematically faster global rollouts of innovations and new brands. MDOs were designed to take responsibility for tailoring PG programs to local markets and using their knowledge of local consumers and retailers to help PG develop market strategies to guide the entire business. Customer Business Development functions previously dispersed among various business units would be consolidated regionally and converted into line functions in each MDO. There were seven MDOs with each being led by a president who reported directly to the CEO and, like the GBU president, sat on the global leadership council. GBS was the third leg of the Organization 2005 with the responsibility to standardize, consolidate, streamline and strengthen business processes and IT platforms across GBUs and MDOs globally. The aim was to centralize responsibility for managing these processes which could lead to economies of scale while allowing the other two GBUs and MDOs to focus on core competencies. This structure was focused on specialization.GBS was organized as a cost center with the head of GBS reporting directly to the CEO but was not a member of the global leadership council. Routine and HR policies were also to be impacted in Organization 2005. Many decisions were to be made by individuals rather than committees so that routine business tasks that had taken months would now be accomplished in days. Budgeting was streamlined, integrating separate marketing, payroll, and initiative budgets into a single business planning process. It was also to overhaul its incentive system while maintaining the promote- from- within policy PG increased its performance based portion of compensation and extended its stock option compensation formerly limited to 9,000 employees to 100,000 employees. Why did PG adopt this structure? PG adopted the structure of Organization 2005 due to key challenges and problem occurring in the Global Matrix during 1995-1998. Firstly, the matrix structure had never been symmetrical as the function retained a high degree of de-facto control because it determined career paths and promotion for its employees. Unfortunately, each function had determined its own power base and strategic agenda rather than co-operating with other functions and business units to win in the market place. The initial tension caused by functional conflict had served as an effective system of checks and balances but eventually led to poor strategic alignment throughout PG causing its position to begin to weaken in the global market as managers were focused on their particular countries rather than these global functional conflicts. This was because their focus was based on aiming for their own maximization of particular parameters rather than an optimal tradeoff. Secondly, the matrix structure had also not fully resolved the tension between regional and product category management. Regional managers still had sole responsibility for financial results and thus it was they who ultimately chose whether or not to launch initiatives made available by global category managers. RD divisions struggled hard to globalize new technological and brand innovations quickly but had to obtain agreement from regional managers, sometimes country managers and these managers would sometimes hesitate even if it made sense for PG strategically because it could weaken their upcoming profit and loss statement. As a result, the companys track record of being a global leader in innovation and brands stagnated and was slipping behind some of its more focused rivals. For instance, Cover Girl, a U.S. cosmetics brand that PG had acquired in 1989 had still not been globalized in 1997 compared to Maybelline, acquired by LOreal in 1996, was globalized in just a few years and well on its way to becoming a global billion-dollar brand. Thirdly, competitors were catching up quickly. PG had always been a first mover in supply chain consolidations and integration with customers, but by the latter half of the decade, over 200 vendors had opened embassies to Wal-Mart in Bentonville. Share price consequently dropped by 3.3% since 1993 and the sales growth slowed down to 2.6% in 1997 and 1998 by contrast to 8.5% on average in the 1980s. Lastly, the defining question was whether the global matrix cube was internally coherent or scalable over the long term. Full accountability for results could not really by assigned to regional profit centers because they couldnt fully manage functional strategy and resource allocation. This resulted in a culture of risk aversion and avoidance of failure. With over 100 profit centers, it seemed like there were too many cooks in the kitchen meaning too many managers making decisions that were moving the company away from its intended objectives. Should Lafley make a strong commitment to keeping Organization 2005 or should he plan to dismantle the structure? A.G. Lafley should consider dismantling the structure after a careful analysis of the previous structures of Proctor and Gamble and a thorough assessment of the negative adverse effects of Organization 2005 so as to develop a more effective global structure. The main objective that the previous CEO, Durk Jager had was to use Organization 2005 to change PGs risk averse regionally managed structure so that it could launch new blockbuster brands based on new technologies rather than incremental improvements of existing products. He also frequently scrutinized PGs RD portfolio and personally stewarded new technologies through the pipeline that he thought were promising. Initially, in October 1999, fiscal first quarter results were promising indicating an immediate acceleration in business performance, with sales up by 5% over the previous year which was a marked improvement over the 2.6 % annual revenue growth over the last two years. Core net earnings fell short of long term goals but made a respectable increase of 10 %. This resulted in PGs stock price appreciating significantly. When the next quarterly report came out on 30 January 2000, the stock price reached an all-time high of USD 118.38 and sales had grown by an impressive 7% and core net earnings increased by 13%. Tables turned on 7 March 2000, when PG gave a profit warning due to external factors such as increased raw material costs, delays in FDA approvals and intense competition. With 50 new products in the pipeline, the situation was expected to reverse. However, on 25 April 2000, when results were announced, core net earnings had dropped 18 % while sales increased 6 % despite a 2% hit from fluctuations in exchange rate. The stock price lost 10 % of its value. The last straw was on 8 June 2000, when fourth quarter profits were flat compared to the expectations of 15 17 % increase. PG lowered its future quarterly sales growth estimates to 2 3 %, casting doubt on whether Organization 2005 was even lifting the top line. Market research companies confirmed PGs poor competitive position citing loss of U.S. market share in 16 out of 30 categories since the preceding year. PG stock finally fell to USD 57 after the announcement and was the worst performing component of the Dow over the previous six months. Conclusion In conclusion, Lafley, bearing in mind the past performance and stiff competitive arena, should dismantle Organization 2005 for the above reasons as well as for the sagging employee morale due to the substantial job reductions.

Hittite’s Self-Image Characterized by Grandeur :: Hittite Culture Cultural History Essays

Hittite’s Self-Image Characterized by Grandeur The Hittite empire, like many others of the Bronze Age, arose at a time when new tactics and implements for fighting were being developed in abundance. Like many other empires of that time, the Hittites recognized the importance of protecting their lands and acquiring new ones. As the size and influence of the Hittite empire grew, it sometimes formed peaceful agreements with foreign lands. These agreements, however, primarily served their own interests. Evidence of the behavior of the Hittites found in primary documents reveals that they treated civilizations other than their own as their inferiors. Religion was central to the Hittite’s culture and they considered their devotion to it to be one of their primary strengths. The upkeep of Hittite religious institutions and their functionaries was a primary obligation of the commander of the Hittite border guards. A document containing instructions for that commander explains these responsibilities: â€Å"In the town through which the commander [passes]†¦ he shall attend to the necessary provisions for town-elders, priests, ‘anointed’ (and) mothers-of-god.† (par. 1) It was important to the Hittite king (also called the Sun) that all cities in the empire contain adequate sites for worship of the Hittite gods. This suggests that they believed paying tribute to the gods ensured them some sort of security or protection. In that same document it was stated, â€Å"The commander of the border guards shall make an inventory of the god’s utensils and send it before the Sun.† (par. 3) ‘Utensils’ probably refers to the possessions of the gods, perhaps including their temples, servants, and any commodities held in their name. A list of them was most likely held by the king so that what the Hittites had given to their gods was on record. The magnitude of religion in this civilization and the closeness of it to the military reveal that the favor of and protection from its gods gave its people a perceived power and authority that other civilizations lacked. Religion was also directly connected to imperial Hittite rule through the king. In a treaty between Mursilis, Sun of the Hittites, and Duppi-Tessub, king of Amurru, the preamble mentions that Mursilis was the â€Å"favorite of the Storm-god.