Design Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Design - Assignment Example The above instruction based on learning consideration would be vital in ensuring that all the learners are actively engaged in the study of labor mobility while enhancing direct absorption of the required study instructions. As part of the teaching plan, the instructor must anticipate the use of authentic or elicit questions from the learners as it would create a self-test environment regarding their natural’s curiosity towards issues of labor mobility. With consideration to the maintenance of the study objectives, learners must be allowed to sit for test questions at different prompt and determine their progressive levels. As part of ADDIE training guided, some of the estimated costs that shall be incurred to undertake the process of training moderation are as shown. However, considerations must be put in place that such estimates are not exact costs and every value may be subjected to variation depending on the number of participant’s skills and contact hours. Any adjustments of the costs below musts be done in consideration to the actual estimated cost as it critical in keeping a record of a well-organized trail Major stakeholders involved within the above labor mobility training program are organizational employees and the management. However, the plan has given an allowance for modification to embrace legal personnel whose mandate would be to ensure that the training is moderated as per the required standards. The training is also designed on a computer based platform, and most notes shall be issued in the form of slides and handouts, but main themes of studies shall be highlighted through projectors. Ultimately, the training sessions shall be conducted within the organizational premise. More precisely, the training theater and a practical moderation would be carried out for two hours three days a week until all the contact hours are

History of the European Identity

History of the European Identity Introduction: Although the concept of collective identity is a post-colonial phenomenon, a few nations would describe themselves under a collective identity before the modern times of the 19th Century. In fact, Europe is historically unique in terms that it has been the people living in the continent of Europe who have persistently described themselves as Europeans since the 17th Century (Pagden, 2002). Indeed, European Union emerged as the most important attempt for creating a supranational entity in the Continent and the best example of a Pan-European common identity as even the words Europe and the European Union are being used as synonyms by millions of people every day. Nevertheless, an uncertainty of a common identity has always been the case for Europeans throughout history and the physical as well as social borders of Europe has never been distinctly known for centuries which are full of wars, tensions, competition and blood. Today, the same problem continues to exist and many believe that it is the major factor blocking the efforts for achieving a fully integrated Europe, as the definition and frontiers of a common European identity is still unknown. Indeed, one of the most important issues of the European integration from a socio-political perspective is the vague concept of a common European identity including prospects of European Union Citizenship. Although a common European identity had been long around for centuries, these are fairly new issues in relevance to the half a century long history of todays European Union. However, I believe how the common European identity is defined is very important for the future steps of the integration process, as nowadays the EU is undergoing transformation towards a political union with an aim to become a global actor in the international political arena. What shall be the elements of a common European identity, how shall it be formulized if it is to become a suc cessful construct which would define Europe correctly to end the efforts that lasted for such a long time? I believe a triumphant common European identity must include the concrete and symbolic realities and it must be rooted to the diversity of cultures which had been created by the long history of Europe (DAppollonia, 2002). Otherwise, if it remains as a form of thin identity suggested by Habermas (2006), the problems and uncertainties of European identity as well as the poorly functioning European Union citizenship is most likely to exist in the Unions foreseeable future. In fact, a common European identity can only be successfully constructed by taking into account all the ambiguities, contradictions and developments in form of a unity in diversity principle which can be applied to the reality of Europe rather than building a shallow and artificial construct as it seems to be today. Theoretically, a united Europe in political terms is made possible if a united Europe in cultural terms is established through formulating a collective common identity which may only be conceived as a coll ection of multiple and complex values created by complicated dynamics of Europes long history. Nevertheless, a united Europe in cultural terms shall not mean a homogenous and strictly ordered European society; rather the European identity shall celebrate Europes long tradition of diversity. Another important question is how should European Union citizenship be defined and what should be the frontiers of cultural implications of such a political formulation. Considering the wide cultural diversity and long history that the individual members of the European Union had share in the European continent, a collective identity may prove to be far too complex to construct, so one may argue that a common European identity is still an illusion. Although Europeans have a successfully formed a common economic and increasingly political union, they are still far away from the desired level of cultural unity and a common identity which seems to be an alarming factor for the next stages of the European integration. Nonetheless, European Union citizenship is an area open to developments and it might be used as a critically important tool by the European Union leaders to accumulate a common European identity, only if it is formulized correctly. The critical point on the debate of Europe an Union citizenship is that the dominant Classical Model of Citizenship is based on the structures of nation-state and that is why this model cannot be applied to the European Union, as it is a whole different level of organization. On the other hand, Post-National citizenship is a modern approach to the issue of European identity and it is suitable to Europe in order to reach its goals of unification and deepening through building a stronger common identity in the 21st Century. This paper is organized in several sections. European identity from a historical perspective is analyzed in the first part; the current status of European identity and the issue of national identities in contrast to the common European identity is discussed in the following part; a new European identity and suggestions for a new formulation is given in the third part; a brief history of European Union efforts and progress on building a common identity is examined in the fourth part; and finally the aspects of European Union Citizenship is discussed in the fifth part of this paper. After all, this paper argues that a common identity in form of a collective European identity is clearly necessary for the Union at this stage of integration, and it is a crucial element for the future of the European integration project especially as our world is getting smaller as well as more fragmented simultaneously due to the complex dynamics of international relations every day at the age of globalization. European Citizenship is very much connected to the issue of European identity and it is the key to achieving such a strong common European identity when it is formulized as a Post-National phenomenon. The Europeans must derive their power from the diversity of their cultures by building a thick identity for Europe rather than a thin identity which consists of merely political rights; yet the Europeans shall not overlook the uniqueness of the Continent and the similarities they share in comparison to the rest of the world emphasized by the Unity in Diversity principle. Today, it is time for the Europeans to unite under one roof in socio-political terms, complete the long standing task of defining the boundaries of the European civilization by establishing a common and collective European identity in order to carry on the progress of the European integration project in a globalized world. Nonetheless, the question of possibilities of the Europeans to achieve such a high level of cultural as well as political unity remains a question and it is subject to a whole different level of research. However, often seen as a regional product of globalization itself, I believe the European integration project cannot progress any further without achieving a common European identity which is more critical than ever today in order to overcome the challenges of globalization in the 21st Century. Identity has always been a problematic concept because it is uncertain, fluid and highly flexible. Identity is the way to define ones self and to differentiate from the others. If taken literally, identity means equal, identical. Identity is not static but dynamic, and it can be defined in different ways in different circumstances. Identity is construct, which cannot be constructed immediately but only in time. It is not a fixed, constant and pre-given entity; while identity formation is heavily dependent on how one is perceived by the others. Identification implies belonging or membership, in turn which implies the exclusion of non-members (Bretherton Vogler,1999: 236).In other words, the sole purpose of identity is to separate self from the others in a sense. Moreover, identities are multiple in nature, or even kaleidoscopic. A person may have a single identity, but it will be made up of many levels of loyalty and identification (Von Benda-Beckmann Verkuyten, 1995: 18). Meanwhile , identities change, because they are based on perceptions, which themselves change over time and environment; as it is possible to identify ones self with more than one thing at a time such as class and gender, or religion and age. Therefore there are various elements of ones identity and these various elements in an identity may well be contradictory (Von Benda-Beckmann Verkuyten, 1995: 12). On the other hand, a collective identity means the attitudes, which all members of that group have in common in their thoughts and behavior; which differentiates them from the other (Munch, 2001: 137). Collective identities can provide existential meaning for people, thus they are primary means of unity in a society which give additional stability especially during periods of upheaval. Collective identities can generate a degree of continuity between individuals and their social environment, and can confer social recognition and approval (Von Benda-Beckmann Verkuyten, 1995: 24). Therefore, collective identities are defined mainly by culture from a historical point of view rather than biological genes, ethnicity, nationalism or simple political rights. Finally, It they are used to construct community and feelings of cohesion and holism, a concept to give the impression that all individuals are equal in the imagined community (Strath, 2002: 387). From the perspective of political scie nce; there are two types of political identities: a civic identity and a cultural identity. The cultural definition of political identity entails a sense of belonging of an individual towards a particular group which can mostly defined by its uniform cultural or ethnic values. On the other hand, the civic definition of political identity involves with the identification of an individual mostly in form of citizenry with a political structure, which includes political institutions, rights, duties and rules (Bruter, 2004: 26). Therefore, a cultural European identity implies a reference to Europe as a continent, a civilization and a cultural entity whereas a civic European identity implies a reference to the political and institutional aspects of European Union identity largely in the form of EU citizenship. Europe has always been more of a mental construct than a geographical or social entity (Lowenthal, 2000: 314). Europe has no natural frontiers both in geographic and sociological terms. Therefore it had never been easy to acquire a singular definition of European identity because the borders of Europe had always been dynamic, and no one knew where Europe started and Europe ended (Pagden, 2002). A European identity is an abstraction and a fiction without essential proportions (Strath, 2002: 387). The concept of a European identity is an idea expressing artificial notions of unity rather than an identity of equality. In this sense, the concept of European identity is inscribed in a long history of political reflection on the concept of Europe. From the perspective of history, Europe has been united as a singular entity in various settings for a number of times in its past such as the Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Napoleonic Empire, and arguably the Nazi Third Reich. Identity was only conceptualized as a macro-level collective phenomenon by the intellectual elites of Europe; on the other hand, for the rural masses of Europe, identity was a local term associated with the micro-level, rarely the nation and never an incident as large as the continent of Europe (Pagden, 2002). In different period of history, a common European identity had been defined on different basis. In the Middle Ages, Christianity was the main defining characteristic of European identity, whereas in modern times, the emergence of the nation state, periods of nationalism and afterwards democracy and secularism has been the common characteristic of the Europeans. Meanwhile, Christianity lost its dominance yet it arguably remained as one of the important components of European identity. Today, the European Union similar to the continent of Europe can be characterized by overlapping and unclear boundaries. From a geographical perspective, the EU has fuzzy boundaries due to the ongoing enlargement processes since the 1970s (Risse, 2003: 490). Although the geographical borders of Europe are not objectively defined particularly in the east, a state without a geographical relevance to the European continent cannot become a part of the European Union, even if it shares the EUs collective values and norms. Moreover what adds to the uncertainty of Europes borders is that boundaries of the EU may change according to different policy fields such as the Schengen includes the non EU member Norway but at the same time it does not include the EU member state the United Kingdom. Therefore, first of all the lack of solid geographical boundaries weakens efforts of the EU to be seen as a singular entity by its own people (Castano, 2004). On the contrary, diversity shall be the main c haracteristic of European identity from a cultural point of view. Religious and cultural heritages including Roman law, political democracy, parliamentary institutions, Renaissance humanism, rationalism, romanticism characterize the common identity of the Europeans (Smith, 1992). On the other hand, there are undeniable socioeconomic, cultural, national and ethnic differences among the member states of the European Union. Nevertheless, this reality is reflected in the motto of the Union which is unity in diversity from a positive point of view. A collective political culture is an important feature of the common European identity. The Greeks gave Europe the science and philosophy and the Romans gave it the idea of single continent and unity which created Europes strong cultural and political origins. The diverse and multiple cultures of the ancient Europe shared a single identity as they were brought together under a common system of Roman law. The people of Europe also shared a common language, Latin, and after Europe slowly converted to Christianity they acquired a common religion. Christianity has been a crucial part of the European identity and it played a key role to create its internal cohesion and to designate its relationship with the rest of the world. Further references are made to Europes identity besides its heritage of classical Graeco-Roman civilization and Christianity; such as the ideas of the Enlightenment, Science, Reason, Progress, Industrialization, Democracy and Individualization as the core elements of this claimed European legacy (Wintle, 1996: 13-16). Hellenism, Romanticism, welfare society and cross-fertilization of diversity can be added to this list (Garcias, 1993: 7-9), while one may argue that Europes core values include its commitments to an undivided continent, to individual freedom, and to the universalism of humanity (Havel, 1996). However, this unity never reached to the point of sharing a common European culture. A single body of citizenry or a common cultural identity could not be reached even in the peak of Europes history of unity. When the differences within Europe are emphasized, they are often in the form of unity in diversity; religious differences such as Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christianity, and linguistic differences including Romance, Germanic and Slavic languages are obvious; yet they are seen as correlated, Catholic–Romance, Protestant–Germanic, Orthodox–Slavic, and essentially are underlying the major ethnic cleavages and conflicts in the history of Europe. Anthony Smith is among the scholars who are skeptical of the possibility of a common European identity because they could not find a common culture across the European continent, and even more critically they claim that Europe lacks of a shared set of myths, experience and symbols; these elements which they find crucial to create post-national identity (Smith, 1992: 72-73). Furthermore, Europe lacks of a shared historical and cultural content as which is the largest source of division among Europeans. Other obstacles to a common European identity include linguistic diversity and its tripartite religious division. In fact, a major difference among EU countries is the persistence of linguistic diversity, even though in practical level English has become the dominant language in Europe. Language does not only have an instrumental but also an emotional dimension and peoples sense of nationality is often tied up with their mother tongue (Guibernau, 2001: 192). On the other side of the debate, scholars such as Michael Wintle are more optimistic on the possibility of creating a European identity. Indeed, the existence of the EU identity in the form of converging education standards, educational exchanges, and the organization of a European civil society is already established in most parts of Europe. Wintle argues that a European identity was previously already created during the high Middle Age (Wintle, 1996: 19-22), and it can be easily established today considering the forces of globalization. For now, the major success of the EU in fostering its identity has been limited with the increasing free movement of people across European borders, which has accelerated since the 1985 and formalized in 1990 Schengen accords parallelly correlated with the rising impact of globalization. Increased interaction among peoples of Europe would also encourage cultural exchanges and this could foster a stronger sense of a shared community. Education and hi gh culture shall play a key role in European Unions cultural policy, because these two factors have an important effect on the creation of the EU identity. Education is obviously one of the crucial dimensions in any attempt to develop the future identity of the EU or at least more understanding and convergence among Europeans; high culture unites Europeans against the low culture which separates them. After all, the development of the EU identity will be the outcome of a long process in which bottom-up as well as top-down initiatives are likely to be employed (Guibernau, 2001: 183-184). The idea of Europe as well as the identity of Europeans are constructed over time with processes of contention and bargaining. Gerard Delanty argues that a European Culture is not an entity with cohesion and fixed boundaries, but a floppy concept, with no clear borders and with internal opposition and contradictions, discursively shaped in contentious social bargaining processes (Delanty, 1995; 1999). In other words, the images of Europe do not exist as a natural phenomenon but are discursively shaped by internal as well as external forces (Strath, 2002). A basic step in the process of creating a collective identity is to defining itself in relation to the other. Central to ones identifications are images of others. Likewise any identity, European identity necessarily contains a demarcation from the non-European. This is natural to all distinctions, and they are both inclusive and exclusive. The boundaries of Europe can only be drawn and the identity of Europe can only be realized in the mirror of others. Indeed, Europe does not exist without non-Europe and that non-Europe does not exist without Europe. Many centuries ago, the Europeans defined people living in the north as uncivilized and people living in the south as oriental (Pagden, 2002). Furthermore, the Greeks labeled the non-Greek speaking people as barbarians, even if that word would surely have a different meaning by that time. In nearer times, although the Russians shared many features with a European society including the same religion, it could not reach the formal limits of a Romanized civilization thus perceived as a barbaric empire or the orient, depending on the time. Moreover, European belief of its superiority relied on the common features of European societies such as science and liberal arts. Thus the rest of the world could only be portrayed as actors in relation to Europe, in other words always remained as the other. According to Delanty, Europe has been always invented and reinvented on the basis of division and strategy for the construction of difference from the other starting from Christian identity against Islam in the Middle-Ages, after that in the colonial politics to the New World, and to the ethnic minorities in the contemporary European Union (Delanty, 1995). Therefore, historical experience suggests that the new European identity may be constructed on the other which may be the United States, the East, Islam or the European past itself. Samuel Huntington has argued that religion provides the best common means of historically distinguishing between Europeans and the other, especially in terms of the confrontation between the Judeo-Christian tradition and Islam (Huntington, 1996). However, at the same time, the separation between Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Western variations of Christianity has, for a long time, been crucial in establishing a division between Western and Eastern E urope; partially reinforced in the Cold War, divisions between Catholicism and Protestantism and separation between North and South (Guibernau, 2001). Today, the European Union is frequently argued to be a fortress for the other and the EU is often referred to as a Christian Club, because historically all states on the continent of Europe had Christian societies. The Ottoman Empire was the greatest enemy of European states as well as Christianity in the Middle Ages; which made Islam the primary charactersitic of the other for Europeans from the perspective of history. Today, the accession dialogues of Turkey into the European Union raise wide public opposition in Europe while the European Union officials make constant efforts to prove their allegiance to non-religious, non-ethnic but solely liberal and non discriminatory Copenhagen Criteria independent from historical aspects of the other which has actually been extensively used to define the European identity. Finally, Europe is unique because it has possessed an identity as a cultural space which gave birth to political unions throughout its history. However, it has never succeed ed to constitute a single nation-state or a unified ethnic group. Although the European Union with its single currency and supranational political and legal institutions changed these historical facts to an extent, it is only possible with the means of a common European identity which will carry Europe to the next stage of integration which it always aimed but failed to achieve during its long history. Nevertheless, history has already proved that it will surely be hard to overcome uncertainties of a common European identity at the level of the masses. Over the past millennium, the advancements of European civilization gave rise to the elites living on the continent of Europe who feel increasingly attached to Europe as a whole and shared dreams of a united continent. However, Europe as a realm sharing a common history as well as a common destiny has been largely abandoned by fixed prejudices on often nationalistic and ethnic grounds. National interests and biases at local, national, and global levels have prevented the masses of European people from viewing themselves collectively (Lowenthal, 2000: 315). However, today, forces of globalization, advancements in communications technologies and media transmission of everyday popular culture now promotes the sense of being European among larger segments of society other than the European elites. Although a truly trans-European society is still in its infancy, many of its essential elements are already in place this time largely due to the forces of globalization. Most European states a re increasingly democratic in reality; their economies are for the most part market driven; their popular culture grows more homogeneous as communication technologies expand under the forces of globalization in the 21st Century (Waterman, 1999: 23). Therefore, Europe is at the stage of defining its identity today; however which criteria are being deployed to define Europe, Europeans, Europeanness and their respective boundaries is critically important. A common European identity must be constructed by defining and understanding the historical roots of outstanding features of the European society in relation to the notion of citizenship, which will be discussed in depth in the following parts; developed in the past over the land of Europe. For sure, Europe is being redefined as a result of a complex set of processes, but an important question is what sort of Europe is emerging from them? There is certainly a structured symmetry in the perception of the European Union as the coincidence of a homogenized socio-political space, a unified regulatory space of an EU super-state, a singular European civil society surpassing existing national and regional differences in culture and identity (Hudson, 2000). In some respects there has been progress towards such an ideal of European civil society. For example, the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights have had an important role in defining acceptable standards across Europe. The issue of European identity and the criteria used to denote Europeans is clearly a critical one for the political and social integrity for the European Union. Europe will exist as an unquestionable political community only when European identity permeates peoples lives and daily existence (Demos 1998). Identity is a key issue which is continuously changing and thats the reason why it is so hard to define especially in a world of f ast changes in the 21st Centurys globalization. The member states of todays enlarged EU have become multi-ethnic and multi-cultural societies with various structural phenomenon ranging from the immigrant community of France to Post-Communist yet ethnic communities of the Central and Eastern European states. As the EU expanded eastwards in the last two rounds of enlargements, the issue of defining a European identity became even more critical for sake of integrity and stability of the Union. One conception of a singular European identity would see it constructed through a process similar to that involved in the creation of national identities in the 19th and the 20th Centuries. Ironically, while the aim was to create those national identities in the past, the challenge that Europeans face today would be to transcend them for the creation of Europeannes. However, the current trends at local European level are quite different from the interests of Europeanists at the supranational level. There are pressures from nation states and their citizens to resist any further transfer of national sovereignty as well as erosion of national identity (Hudson, 2000). In fact, the success of extreme right wing political parties in important European countries such as Austria and France may be seen as a sign of the reappearance of dangerous nationalist and racist ambitions which the peoples of Europe have most probably experienced more than any other continent in the world history. Eric Hobsbawm has proclaimed that nationalism is dead (Hobsbawm, 1990). On the contrary, Llobera argues that national identities are certainly not eternal, but the time of their demise has not yet arrived (Llobera, 2003). In fact, national identities are still dominant in Europe. Recent surveys show that, people in Europe prefer maintaining their national identity and sovereignty, but increasing number of people have accepted European identity in addition to their national identities. Therefore, European nationalism is another important component of a common European identity and it has been a major ideological tool for unifying nation states as well as the Europeans as a whole throughout Europes history. To start with, the European Union, with its both intergovernmental and supranational characteristics represents a far different type of state-organization than a classical nation state. The main distinguishing characteristics of the EU from the nation-state are the absence of a shar ed language, a uniform media, common education system and a central state structure (Shore, 2000: 64). Furthermore, the powers of the EU rely on the sharing of sovereignty of its member states. European unification is a progressive method of limiting individual nation states to practice any kind of harmful nationalism and this is makes up an important part of the European identity. At this point, nationalist Euroskeptics may argue that building a common Europe and an identity for it means destroying nations. However, a general feeling of Europeanness and loyalty to Europe in a cultural sense, does not need to conflict with national identities (Andreani, 1999). A successful construct of European identity must include the concrete and symbolic realities created within time. The European states have not always been nationalist through Europes long history. The definition of nationalism counts on the idea of nation and territory; while the definition of a European nationalism depends on the historical and ideological evolution of the European nation states and aspirations for a post-national Europe. In fact, the aspirations that underlie in the roots of the foundation of the European Union are parallel to European cosmopolitanism in the 18th and the 19th centuries. From the Enlightenment to the beginning of the ECSC after the Second World War; European nationalism found two separate meanings: one as an antinational Pan-European idea of a new united Europe that limits the sovereignty of the nation states, and the other as a pro-national ideology to create or legitimate new nation states (DAppollonia, 2002). Historically, cosmopolitanism reflected intentions for a European unity, and gave rise to anti-national European nationalism. European nationalism was characterized by the will to protect the European interests and its supremacy from non-Europeans as well as protecting Europe from itself by creating a federation. It can be argued that economic development, commercial prosperity, intellectual-supremacy and military power were the factors making Europe homogeneous and created a united European identity beyond national borders to an extent. Some intellectuals as well as economists believe that the nation state is an outdated political and economic entity, and nationalism is merely an expression of old prejudiced and narrow-minded ideas. European nationalism defined itself similar to the nation state through common identity and culture, territory, historical memory building, and economic and political objectives to defend self-interests. The defensive conception of European nationalism o n the other hand had always been a driving factor, yet the pro-nationalist ideologies had been the major cause underlying the wars of modern times. As Europe was divided into aggressive nation states, the idea of Europe had increasingly converged. Although the wars were dividing factors themselves, their interpretations by the Europeanists became powerful unifying factors for Europe. The irony of European nationalism is that it depends on the memory of events that divided rather than united the continent (DAppollonia, 2002). Although it used the same definitions of nation and Europe with the anti-national European nationalism from time to time, it remained limited to the strict logic of the national framework. Transnational solidarities were necessity to establish European unity under either a supranational or an intergovernmental structure. For some intellectuals, European nationalism was the only way to protect the autonomy of nations and the liberty of the individuals. Conceptualizing of the European Union citizenship and creation of the Committee of the Regions in the EU were seen as efforts of the Pro-national European nationalists. These forms of European nationalism rejected the form of narrow nationalism while it showed ambitions to reinforce the intermediary actions between state and individual, between the individual, the market the centralizati

General Motors Inc. Essay -- Business, Entrepreneurship, Innovation

General Motors incorporates entrepreneurship and innovation into its business objectives. This is evident in General Motors Vision statement which states that its goal is to â€Å"lead in advanced technologies and quality by creating the world’s best vehicles†. (1) For instance General Motors has an extensive R & D, Design, and Engineering department that oversees the creativity, innovation, and invention of its strategic technologies and innovation programs which are aligned with its corporate vision. In order to lead in advanced technologies of the world’s best vehicles General Motors incorporates entrepreneurship and innovation concepts, which are essential to competing in the global market place.(2) In the spirit of entrepreneurship, which is the process of discovering new ways of combining resources,(5) General Motors is a majority shareholder in GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Company of South Korea, and has product, powertrain and purchasing collaborations wit h Suzuki Motor Corporation in Japan.(3) These associations allow General Motors to maneuver into specific customer markets and broaden its product base. Being an innovative organization also requires General Motors to establish advanced technology collaborations, which it has with Daimler AG and BMW AG of Germany and Toyota Motor Corp. of Japan (3) as well as promoting competitiveness and deferring the cost of the research and development. (2) One example of innovation, which is the process of devising a new idea or thing, or improving an existing idea (5), is the two-mode hybrid system being used today on GM’s hybrid pickups and SUV’s. This was a result of the partnership between BMW and GM in which both manufacturers benefited. BMW benefited from GM’s battery, extended ran... ...nd meet their quality targets. Your most important customer will be able to pick and choose any type of options that they want on their Cruze, when they want it. Competition – Our scissor lifts were bought in a package deal for our paint shop and three others. Not installing this new lock retaining nut will leave us susceptible to thousands of units being lost along with idling hundreds of people. Not to mention the increase in the cost per vehicle because we did not meet or production targets. In conclusion, innovation and the need for it will never diminish no matter how big or small. For me, my company, and my country innovation is the key to our success and our very existence. With that being said, you better not have a great idea and have no one to sell it to. The customer will always be first, second, and third for that matter, if we are to succeed.

Describe The Remedies Available For Breach of Contract Essay

When signing a contract not only are you agreeing to the terms of this contract you are agreeing to the consequences if breach the contract. There are many remedies available if one of the party’s breaches the contract and if the party who breached the contract doesn’t agree to the consequences then the matter will be taken to court. A breach of contract can be defined as a party failing to perform, precisely and exactly, his obligations under the contract. However a party can only treat the contract as discharged in three situations: -Renunciation Renunciation is where a party refuses to perform his obligations under the contract. -Breach of Condition The second breach occurs where the party has committed a breach of condition. -Fundamental Breach The third breach is where the party in breach has committed a serious breach of a term in the contract or totally fails to perform the contract. In most cases a breach of contract will result in damages being paid. The point of damages is to put the injured party in the same financial position he would have been in had the contract been properly performed. Damages are not always a suitable remedy so sometimes other remedies are put into place e.g. Injunction. -Damages In order for the innocent party to actually get awarded damages they must be able to prove they suffered a loss from the contract not being fulfilled properly. The court has to think about two things when deciding to award someone damages and they are: -Remoteness For what consequences of the breach is the defendant legally responsible? -The measure of damages The principles upon which the loss or damage is evaluated or quantified in monetary terms. This can only be determined after the first. If paying damages isn’t sufficient enough then obviously they have to look at other remedies, which include: -Specific Performance -Injunction Specific Performance Specific performance is where the court orders a positive contractual obligation. There are many circumstances where specific performance is not available: -Damages provide an adequate remedy. -Where the order could cause undue hardship. -Where the contract is of such a nature that constant supervision by the court would be required. -Where an order of specific performance would be possible against one party to the contract, but not the other. – Where the party seeking the order has acted unfairly or unconscionably. He is barred by the maxim ‘He who comes to Equity must come with clean hands’. -Where the order is not sought promptly the claimant will be barred by the maxims ‘Delay defeats the Equities’ and ‘Equity assists the vigilant but not the indolent’. In general the court will only grant specific performance where it would be just and equitable to do so. Injunction An injunction is an order of the court requiring a person to perform a negative obligation. Injunctions fall into two broad categories: -Prohibitory injunction, which is an order that something must not be done. -Mandatory injunction, which is an order that something must be done, for example to pull down a wall which has been erected in breach of contract. Like specific performance it is an equitable remedy and the court exercises its discretion according to the same principles as with specific performance,

Human Resource Planning Assignment Essay

Define and explain the significance of the term ‘derived demand’ as it applies to Strategic Human Resources Planning. (5 marks) A demand for a commodity, service, etc. which is a consequence of the demand for something else. In respect to Strategic Human Resource Planning, derived demand applies specifically to labor. The demand for labor is derived from the demand for the goods and services that labor is used to produce. The demand for labor is also influenced by the level of economic activity and the relative cost of labor compared to capital. An organization will try to plan for vacancies and market fluctuations but derived demand can be difficult to plan for if you have a product or service that has very little discernible difference from your competitors. For example when the Canadian dollar is lower Canadian transport companies are much busier, delivering more exports to the US market which become cheaper for them to purchase. 2. Explain ‘derived demand’ as it applies specifically to Stonewall Industries. (5 marks) Stonewall Industries produces a commodity item (there is very little discernible difference between their product and their competitors). The demand for that item is directly affected by interest rates and housing starts. As interest rates fall more people can afford to borrow money to build and therefore new building is more appealing. As interest rates rise less people are able to afford borrowing to build and therefore the number of new housing starts fall. The HR department at Stonewall Industries can monitor these factors so that they can act proactively as opposed to reactively. They can monitor interest rates (by checking Bank of Canada updates) 3. The Senior Executive Team at Stonewall has to consider a number of environmental factors that impact on its Human Resources Planning activities. Describe these environmental factors and explain their impact. (10 marks) There are many environmental factors that have an impact on the HR Planning activities at Stonewall. Firstly, there is a significant discrepancy in wages amongst the plants. It would likely be difficult to align wages at all of the plants due to differing unions and union climates in each province but the difference in wages could cause poor morale in a plant that discovers they are making significantly less than another plant that produces the same product. (Also, aligning wages to the highest current level may not be possible. Another environmental factor that would impact Stonewall’s HR planning is the state of the current Vancouver plant. It is  the oldest and smallest plant and there is no room to expand on the current property. (This property is also very desirable real estate next to the ocean but closing the plant and terminating the employees would come at a high cost. A cost that would need to be calculated to see if the short term costs would produce a medium term benefit. Offering these very experienced employees promotions to other plants may be possibilities as they have a lot of knowledge that would leave with them and would help reduce the layoff or termination costs that are going to be high with this group of employees.) The state of the labour unions in British Columbia and Quebec are factors that will affect Stonewall’s HR Planning. Stonewall will have to ensure they walk the tight line between ensuring they are fiscally responsible while maintaining a good relationship with these unions. This is not only important for future relations but because of the importance that is placed on public relations and ultimately the image of the company in the public’s eyes. This may pose an even greater challenge in Quebec where the labour unions are opposed to English owned companies. Although this is one of the plants with the lowest Total Compensation Rate it may be one of the biggest challenges as far as labour relations. As recently mentioned previously, image and public relations are very important to Stonewall (and in a commodity market in general). In any industry layoffs are view critically buy the public. The company is viewed to be insensitive and public relations tend to take a hit. In mentioning layoffs, another environmental factor that will impact planning is that of an internal nature. Internal employees that are questioning the future of the company are likely to seek other employment. As mentioned by Belcourt et al., the high performers are the ones that are likely to find new employment and if the company was only looking to downsize they will be left with the average or underperformers. 4.Identify and explain the various techniques for forecasting labour supply and labour demand. What can organizations do in the short run when they recognize a gap in which supply far exceeds demand. What could Stonewall do in this situation? (20 marks) Time-series models †¢Data simply is projected forward based on an established formula †¢Predicts what will happen based on what has happed historically †¢Uses chronologically arranged data to arrive at forecasting †¢Can account for seasonal differences in demand Cause and Effect Models †¢Assumes that an activity (ie implementation of a new piece of machinery) determines an outcome (higher productivity). Judgement Models †¢No historical data to pull from †¢Example for Stonewall would have been forecasting demand for their vinyl siding branch before its implementation. When an organization recognizes a gap in which supply far exceed demand an organization can seek out contract or freelance employees or contact retired employees in the short term. Until a longer term solution can be realized. An organization can also do some planning for short term gaps by cross training employees. When these short term gaps are identified the labour force can be shifted and adjusted to compensate. This would not necessarily work for Stonewall as their employee’s skills are very specific to certain areas. I would think a possibility for Stonewall is to take employees from their smaller, less efficient plant in British Columbia and use them to fill in gaps at some of the other plants. The British Columbia plant cannot take on any more capacity and other plants can. This may be a short term plan to fill a gap or it may become a longer term solution if they can discuss more permanent moves with the BC employees as a result of the condition of the building and the need for workers at the other plants. This would reduce the costs of termination the BC employees (as well as smoothing over some potential public relations issues).

How to Make a Cloud in a Bottle

How to Make a Cloud in a Bottle In the real world, clouds form when warm, moist air is cooled and condenses into tiny water droplets, which collectively make up clouds. You can mimic this process (on a much smaller scale, of course!) by using everyday items found in your home or school. What Youll Need: A clear bottle, mason jar, or another see-through container with a lidA dark-colored piece of paperHot waterIceMatches Warning:  Due to the use of hot water, glass, and matches, young children are cautioned not to do this experiment without adult supervision. Getting Started First, rinse your glass to make sure it is clean. (Do not use soap and do not dry the inside.)Add hot water to the jar until it covers the bottom by 1 deep. Then swirl the water around so that it warms up the sides of the jar. (If you dont do this, condensation may immediately occur.) Youve just added one of the key ingredients for cloud formation: water.Take the lid, turn it upside-down (so that it acts as a small dish), and place several ice cubes in it. Place the lid on top of the jar. (After doing this, you may see some condensation, but notice theres no cloud yet.) The ice adds another ingredient needed for clouds to form: the cooling of warm, moist air. Carefully light a match and blow it out. Drop the smoking match into the jar and quickly replace the lid of ice. The smoke adds the final ingredient for cloud formation: condensation nuclei for the cooled water droplets to condense onto.Now look for wisps of cloud swirling inside! To see them better, hold up your dark colored pa per behind the jar. Congratulations, youve just made a cloud! After youve and named it, lift the lid and let it flow out so that you can touch it! Tips and Alternatives For younger children: If you prefer not to use matches, you can substitute air freshener spray in step # 4. Lift the lid of ice, spritz a small amount into the jar, then quickly replace the lid.Advanced: Use a bicycle pump to change the pressure and see even more clouds.  Going further: Try using other sizes of dust particles. Design an experiment to determine the best size of dust particles to use. You could also test different water temperatures. Now that youve learned some basic principles of how clouds form, its time to up your knowledge. Study these cloud photos to learn the ten basic types of clouds and what weather they forecast. Or explore what the many storm clouds look like and mean.         Updated by Tiffany Means

aging population essays

aging population essays Ageing population is a worldwide pattern. The population is getting older this has social, political and economic impact on all societies. New Zealands ageing population is a consequence of many factors. It raises many issues with the policies of New Zealand. The factors that contribute to New Zealands increase in elderly are clear. High fertility rates, low mortality rates and the ageing of the immigrants that came to New Zealand in the first two decades of the century. This demographic change is putting increasing demand on New Zealands social services. Higher fertility rates occurred during the early nineteen hundreds. This is when most of todays elderly were born. This period is referred to as the Baby boomers. This is where an extra large cohort of people were born between 1946 1962. (Easton, 1980 p 71). Fertility now is on the decline and women are having on average one child less than in the 1950s. This is causing a generation gap, between the youth, working-age and the elderly. Variation in fertility is usually regarded as the predominant cause of change in age structure. (Heenan, 1993). Census forms taken every five years in New Zealand are the current source of research, and these may predict that generational inequality can occur. The second factor contributing to New Zealands Ageing population is Immigration. Historically immigration has always been important, and for a long period it to also regarded as the predominant, cause of population ageing in New Zealand. (Heenan, 1993). Immigration affects the elderly more than the younger age groups. Foreign born represent a large share of elderly New Zealanders. Census forms have been used to find out the number of immigrants in New Zealand. I question the validity of the testing and the results. Consequently ageing immigrants also brought about the change from a male dominant population to a f ...