Analysing Malaysian Students Attitude Towards Fast Food...

Analysing Malaysian Students Attitude Towards Fast Food Health Essay Malaysians were first introduced to fast foods during 1963 when Aamp;W firstly started their restaurant. Consumers’ acceptance of fast foods has been increasing. For the past ten years, there are more and more fast food outlets are coming into Malaysia. There are rapid expanding development of diverse eating habits and tastes among consumers for convenience foods, such as fast foods. Nowadays, many Malaysian are becoming increasingly more westernized and pursuing greater convenience when eating out. In fact, the main customer group of fast food restaurants is students. Several dietary factors inherent in fast food may cause a variety of negative health effects, including†¦show more content†¦Chapter 3 presents the research framework and the involved variables, Chapter 4 presents conducting method, design of sample, the sources of data collection, instrumentations use and method of analysis also the limitation and resources. End of Chapter present the collection of reference. LITERATURE REVIEW This research paper is not undertaking as a substantial survey either of brand building or of consumer experience. Nor is it seeking the perception of student to fast food. Brands enhance human daily life. Consumer’s experience of using their familiar brands is more comfortable. This is because the essence of branded eating in fast food restaurants, albeit inflected culturally in different direction. Students consume the same brand as they friends did. This had brought out the trend among students which fast food restaurant is a place to hang out. According to Schlosser (2001) with increased mobility and the sprawling of urban areas people spent more time commuting to work. This was coupled with an increasing presence of women in the workplace thus leading to less time allocated for food preparation at home. At that stage, some three quarters of the family food budget was initially spent on fast food meals. Quick to capture the changing nature of the business, the fast food industry has also changed the face of the food chain in the last decades. Changes in food presentation and preparation were derived from technological improvements that facilitated the preservationShow MoreRelatedMedical Tourism22177 Words   |  89 Pagestourism industry and the hospital. I also extend my gratitude towards Ms. Wendy and Mr. Zahirin without whom traveling would have been a nightmare in Malaysia. At Imperial College London, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Timothy Heymann, first for awarding the studentship project and second for helping to target my efforts. I would even like to thank Mr. Ebrahim Mohamed and Mr. Simon Stockley for their moral support towards the write-up of this project. Finally, special thanks to myRead MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pagesglobalizing forces on commercial aVairs, shifts in notions of eVective knowledge management, governance, and ethics, and technological advances, including the rise of broadband, have all impacted management accounting endeavours. The Weld is today, as fast-changing as it has ever been. This book captures key facets of current thoughts, concerns, and issues in management accounting. The book consists of eighteen chapters written by distinguished scholars in the Weld. The topic areas covered in some chapters

Legacy of the Cold War - 736 Words

Legacy of the Cold War The origins of the Cold War can be traced to the end of World War II. The global devastation wreaked upon several European nations during this martial conflict left only two superpowers in the world the United States and Russia. In many ways, these two countries although allied together during the Cold War were ideologically opposed to one another, for the simple fact that Russia was communist and the U.S. favored a capitalist economic system. This divergent ideology was responsible for the polarization of many of the other countries left in the world, as Russia (and its surrounding territories which became the Soviet Union) attempted to extend its Iron Curtain to gain communist allies, and the United States attempted to impede these measures by keeping as much of the free world capitalist as it possibly could. The fostering of nuclear weapons on the part of both sides which initially began towards the end of World War II (Smith 39), and several armed and near-armed conflicts (such a s the Korean War, Vietnam, and the Cuban Missile Crisis) provided the political background for the struggle between these two superpowers regarding the spread of Communism. There were a number of specific threats that American citizens had to endure during the prolonged Cold War, which lasted for the better part of 40 years. One of the most eminent of these threats was the fact that during much of this historical epoch U.S. citizens believed that the Soviet Union couldShow MoreRelatedThe Legacy of the Cold War1083 Words   |  5 Pages The legacy of the cold war and the struggle between the USSR and the United States continued to flourish in large portions in developing countries. The two world powers had different ideologies and were in a battle for supremacy. 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He brings attention to the fact that men are drafted into the war and put into a terrifying environment; they return home to a country that has seemingly abandoned them. â€Å"Leaving The Cold,† which has an estimated publication dateRead MoreIn Elaine Taylor May’S Article, Security Against Democracy:1684 Words   |  7 PagesIn Elaine Taylor May’s article, Security against Democracy: The Legacy of the Cold War at Home, wri tten in 2011, she argued that people were willing to forgo personal freedoms for national security. She provided the example of during the nuclear age of the cold war; Americans were more interested in protection rather than concern for the common good. However, as the cold war continued and domestic issues formed, the tight knit social order that was created in the early years was falling apartRead MoreThe War Of The Vietnam War778 Words   |  4 Pagesthe one worst modern day presidents would be his failure in the Vietnam War. 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Basic Entrepreneurship Can Improve Economic Lives Of The Poor

Question: Discuss about the Whether Basic Entrepreneurship Can Improve Economic Lives Of The Poor. Answer: Case as a Researchable problem The above case is researchable since poverty is an issue that affects many countries globally. A number of countries really struggle to reduce the number of people that are living below the poverty line. In line with this, it would be interesting to do a research on whether basic entrepreneurship can help countries to uplift the poor and eventually enable them to lead better lives. This is a research that can be used as a reference point by many countries since the types of basic entrepreneurship that the poor can engage in will be analysed (MacNair, 2014). The problem may be caused by many factors including poor attitudes and lack of enough focus on how to assist the poor. Another issue may be resources and many other underlying problems that affect the poor hence also having an effect on them doing basic entrepreneurship. Kind of Research I Will Be Doing The type of research I will do will be quantitative research. Since the research is trying to explore whether basic entrepreneurship has a positive effect on improving the lives of the post, it is important that populations be studied (Bryman, 2015). The study will involve having a sample, observing the basic businesses that have been set up and whether the economic lives of the people being studied actually improve. There will definitely be a literature review so that past studies can be analysed and any research gaps identified. It will also help to give further insight into the topic. Research Strategies I Would Use In order to carry out the research in an effective manner, I will ensure that I get the populations and sample size right. Getting deep information will mean combining data collection methods like doing observations and having focus groups (Denscombe, 2014). This is because some people may hold information when a questionnaire is used. I will ensure that i create a rapport with community leaders in whatever communities will be studied so that it makes it easier to collect data. I will further refine my research by analysing any existing studies that have been done and making sure that my study covers the research gaps that have been found in these studies. The data capture will be analysed using statistical methods like SPSS so that a thorough analysis can be done (Walliman, 2015). This will ensure that the results are relevant and factual since findings will be represented in numbers. References Bryman, A. (2015).Social research methods. London,Oxford university press. Denscombe, M. (2014).The good research guide: for small-scale social research projects. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). MacNair, R. H. (2014).Research strategies for community practice. Routledge. Walliman, N. (2015).Social research methods: The essentials. Sage.

Mobilink Essay Example

Mobilink Essay Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION3 ?INTRODUCTION:3 ?HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT AT MOBILINK5 ?STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AT MOBILINK:6 Chapter 2: HR POLICIES IN GENERAL (MOBILINK):7 ?POLICIES IN GENERAL:7 1. Working hours:7 2. Protection of company assets people policy:8 3. Dress code policy:8 4. Security and safety policy:10 5. Company publications policy:10 6. Attendance policy11 ?PRACTICES AGAINST THE POLICIES IN GENERAL:12 1)Working Hours:12 2)Protection of Company Assets:12 3)Dress Code:12 4)Security Safety Policy:12 5)Company Publications:13 ?CRITICAL REVIEW ON HR POLICIES OF MOBILINK IN GENERAL:13 Chapter 4: RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS:14 ?MOBILINK POLICIES FOR RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION:14 Recruitment policy14 Policy guidelines:14 General conditions for recruitment:15 Application:16 Conditions for selection:16 ?PRACTICES AT MOBILINK REGARDING RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION:18 ? CRITICAL REVIEW ON RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS:18 Chapter 5: TRAINING19 ?TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENT POLICY AT MOBILINK:19 ?FOREIGN TRAINING POLICY:20 Objective:20 Policy Guidelines:20 Conditions for Overseas Training:20 Surety for Mutual Benefit:20 ?TRAINING: PRACTICES AT MOBILINK21 Types of Training in Mobilink:21 Mobilinks Training programmes:22 ?CRITICAL REVIEW ON TRAINING AT MOBILINK:24 Chapter 6: PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM:25 ?POLICIES AT MOBILINK FOR PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL:25 Frequency of the Performance Review:25 Policy guidelines:26 Performance Appraisal Forms:26 ?PRACTICES AT MOBILINK FOR PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM:27 ? CRITICAL REVIEW ON PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL:27 Chapter 7: CAREER PLANNING DEVELOPMENT:28 ?CRITICAL REVIEW:28 Chapter 8: Rewards System:29 ?POLICIES ON REWARD SYSTEM AT MOBILINK:29 Salary29 ?PRACTICES ON REWARD SYSTEMS AT MOBILINK:32 CRITICAL REVIEW:32 Chapter 8: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES:33 HOW WELL THESE POLICIES AND PRACTICES ARE ACHIEVING THE ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS? 33 CONCLUSION: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 34 RECOMMENDATIONS:34 BIBLIOGRAPHY:35 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION Introduction: Orascom Telecom Holding S. A. E. (Orascom Telecom) or (OTH) was established in 1998 and has grown to become a major player in the telecommunication market in the world. OTH is considered among the largest and most diversified network operator in the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan. We will write a custom essay sample on Mobilink specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Mobilink specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Mobilink specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Mobilink GSM (PMCL), a subsidiary of Orascom Telecom, was awarded a license in July, 1992 and started its operations in 1994, and has become the market leader both in terms of growth as well as having the largest customer subscriber base in, Pakistan a base of over 24 million and growing. Mobilink provides the most extensive network coverage footprint across Pakistan through an integrated technology infrastructure in more than 5,000 cities, towns, villages, and countless remote destinations, including International Roaming in 110 countries through 300 partner operators. There are about 5000 employees currently working in Mobilink of which 4500 are working on permanent basis and 500 on temporary basis, with average of more than 800 employees hired every month. Among them approximately 5% are managers and operatives are 40%, rest are either contractual or not directly related to core business. In April 2001, when the OTH (Orascom Telecom Holding) took over management control of the company, the market share was only 40% but as of March, 2006; Mobilink served over 14 million subscribers, representing a market share of approximately 56. % of total mobile subscribers in Pakistan. However, during the past two years the market share of Mobilink has gone down to 41% (As of March, 2007). The head office of Mobilink is located at KULSUM Plaza, blue area, Islamabad. Its branch offices are located in Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, Peshwar, Quetta, Swat, and Kohat. Moblink has three main contact centers in three regions of Pakistan. As for the customers centers there are about 2000-2500 customers service centers all over Pakistan. Principal area in which Mobilink Telecommunication is working is that it provides its customers, a wide range of postpaid (Indigo) and prepaid (Jazz) solutions. Keeping in the mind their customer convenience they have also bundled mobile handsets, sold either independently or bundled in Set so Go Get Pack. Competition faced by the company is from al the operators in telecom that includes all the face SGM (Global System of mobile) operators, CDMA operators and LDI operators and land line operators. All these telecom companies Human Resource Departments are in constant need of new employees. So there is stiff competition in the telecom market for Mobilink. Comparison with competitors in the market is shown as in the table. Mobilink is using high IT based technology for operations. Mobilink uses Motorola’s infrastructure mostly at radio based stations, but now it has been exceedingly using Alchatel equipment too. Switching equipment is of Siemens and Alchatel, billing system from Telesens KSCL and Ericsson, Intelligent network from Siemens, Microwave equipement DMC. The GSM (Global System of Mobile communication) band that is used by Mobilink is in 900/1800 MHz. The number of subscribes of Mobilink has been fast increasing since year 2000,the number of subscribes of Mobilink has almost doubled in the last one year from 5 million approx to 10 million approx this figure has almost increased by 50 times as it was in year 2000. This in fact is a milestone for Mobilink. Currently the company has a customer base of over 24 million and its growing. HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT AT MOBILINK There are about 44 HR professionals currently working at Mobilink of which 10 are managers. Mobilink has a very well defined and structured department and its various policies of keeping each employee productive part of the organization are intoned with the corporate worlds requirement. Employees in the company are largely committed to their organization and have shown progress in the company. Employees are satisfied with the HR department of Mobilink GSM Company. There are several functions performed by HR department which are given below: 6 Planning 6 Recruitment 6 Selection †¢ Formal Interview †¢ Intelligence tests 6 Research and Development Training 6 Compensation 6 Occupational Health and Safety measures 6 Career Planning and Development 6 Performance Appraisal System In order to make its human resource productive and efficient, Mobilink aggressively work in developing its human resource capital through international and local trainings as well as structured employee ‘well-being’ programs, making it one of the most sought after companies to work for in Pakistan. Mobilink conducts several training program in order to improve the competencies and skills of employees. STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AT MOBILINK: Humans are the basic tool for having competitive edge in the market for most of the organizations and Mobilink is one of these. Mobilink has one of the best HR systems in Pakistan that gives it an edge over its competitors. HR strategy refers to the specific human resource management course of actions that a company pursues to achieve its objectives. But how these strategies/policies/practices are formulated and implemented at Mobilink. There is a whole process behind this. Like most big organizations, this process is also done in accordance with company’s mission. First, Strategic planners analyze what actually is he prevalent culture of the organization, what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT analysis) of business and its market, and on the basis of all the above analysis, company’s strategic plan is established. In the end HR strategies are formulated in accordance with this overall business’/companies’ strategic plans. Based on these HR strategies, HR policies and practices are also formed and implemented. Any abrupt change in the market requires the organization to follow this analysis in order to be successful. That why organizations continuously keeps on updating their strategies and policies. Whole system for development of HR strategies/policies/practices is as below: [pic] Chapter 2: HR POLICIES IN GENERAL (MOBILINK): Policies in General: WORKING HOURS: Purpose: Hours of work are scheduled to meet the production and work requirements of the Company, and are in conformance with all applicable local laws and practices. Working Hours: The Company shall determine the hours of work: Office Hours: Monday through Friday (09:00 am. – 6:00 pm. ) 9 am to 8 p. m. (Shops operating on one window operation concept) Saturday: The shops timings will be determined by the Customer Service Management keeping in view the customer needs. Sixty (60) minutes meal breaks each day from Monday through Thursday. Ninety (90) minutes meal / prayer break for Friday. Shift work: Employees working in shifts will follow the shift roasters prepared by the line management. Exceptions: Employees may be requested to work on any of the holidays or regularly scheduled day of rest including Saturday/Sunday, if the Company’s business so requires. Breach: Any employee not abiding by the working hours Policy will initially be counselled by his /her immediate supervisor / office manager. Any repeated act will be reported to the Human Resources in writing who will refer the discipline policy for further proceedings. PROTECTION OF COMPANY ASSETS PEOPLE POLICY: Purpose: Mobilink’s continued success depends on the protection as well as the development of technology. Each employee is responsible for preventing the unauthorized use or disclosure of the Company’s sensitive and proprietary information. By following security policies and procedures, employees will protect themselves as well as the physical, proprietary and intellectual assets of the Company. Procedure: Employees to identify themselves to the security guards by showing Company issued Identity Cards. Employees will sign confidentiality and proprietary agreement at the time of leaving the Company stating that no information will be passed on to any other person / organization. Human Resources is responsible for signing of the agreement by the employee leaving the Company before handing over a full and final settlement cheque to the concerned employee. DRESS CODE POLICY: Purpose: Following are the main purposes for this policy. A)To provide all employees with the reasons for suitable attire, acceptability of appearance and enforcement procedures. B)For the benefit of the employee and all other employees in the working area. The employees clothing, hairstyle and jewelry shall not be of the type, which may interfere with the appropriate performance of his/her duties. C)Employees whose duties involve Customer contact must maintain a suitable appearance, as customers judge the Company not only by the quality of product and services the Company provides, but also by the appearance of the people with whom they deal. D)Employees who deal with the general public must maintain a suitable appearance as their dress and actions reflect upon Company Corporate image. Procedure: †¢ All female employees shall observe the following dress code: Shalwar Kameez Sari / Blouse Dress Pants / Blouse or Shirt with Jacket or Waist Coat Skirts / Blouse or Shirt with Jacket or Waist Coat (No minis / long slits) Light makeup Light jewelry No Low Necks †¢ All male employees shall follow the following dress code: Dress shirt / pants / Tie with Jacket or Coat or Sweater Dress shoes and socks Well trimmed moustache, hair and beard / â€Å"shaved face† Hair length should not go below the shirt collar †¢ Employees who work on Saturdays, where they have customer contact will wear Business casual. Business casual is defined as follows: Dress shirt / pants Dress shirt / pants /coat Dress shirt / pants / sweater Dress shoes and socks No joggers No jeans Dress code for female employees will remain unchanged on Saturdays. All Officers / Department Heads shall be responsible for the implementation of the dress code for their employees. Any employee not abiding by the Dress Code under this Policy will initially be counseled by his /her immediate supervisor / office manager. Any repeated act will be reported to the Human Resources Department in writing. SECURITY AND SAFETY POLICY: Purpose: The safety of employees is everyone’s responsibility. Accidents, precaution and efficient work go hand in hand. All levels of employees have a primary responsibility for the safety and well being of all of us. Therefore, interest in practicing safety prevention must be encouraged by: a) Setting good examples. b) Acting upon safety records. c) Reviewing safety programs. d) Holding personal interviews or group conferences. e) Starting activities that will stimulate and maintain employee’s interests. No phase of operation of administration is of greater importance than accident prevention. It is the policy of the Company to provide and maintain safe and healthy working conditions and to follow operating practices that safeguard all employees and result in safe working conditions and efficient operations. Proper First Aid Kit will be available at all Mobilink Offices including remote locations. COMPANY PUBLICATIONS POLICY: Purpose: To provide a means of communicating Mobilink’s policies, objectives, plans programs and development of all employees. †¢ To report on all Mobilink activities. †¢ To provide an outlet for employees to express themselves in their literary and artistic talents. Policy Guidelines: The Company publishes booklets, news articles and newsletters for the benefit of the employees. The Company maintains the rights to change, discontinue, reverse or edit the content of any publication issued by the Company. Only brochures, pamphlets, newsletters, handbills or posters approved by the Company may be issued or distributed on Company premises. The President and the VP Human Resources Administration must approve all publications intended for all employees. ATTENDANCE POLICY Purpose: To prevent unauthorized absence of employees, this creates serious problems for normal and efficient operations and could result in disciplinary action including termination. Guidelines: In case of any absence continuing for more than 24 hours must be reported to concerned department, in case of illness, a medical statement concerning the illness must be submitted to Mobilink within 24 hours from the time by which the employee was to be on duty. The Company may request an examination by a doctor designated by the Company. Practices against the Policies in General: Following are the main practices that we observed against the general Policies as mentioned earlier. 1) Working Hours: Mobilink is a big organization with quite a load of work. So, though there are policies regarding working hours, we found most of people working more than the limits defined in the policies. As for example, for most executives office timings are from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm but actually they work till 8:00 in most cases. However, with more burdens there are also more rewards. So, if Mobilink takes much out of its employees then it also compensates them well. 2) Protection of Company Assets: At Mobilink, policies regarding the protection of company secrets, important information, assets etc. are followed strictly. We would like to quote our own experience. When we approached Mobilinkers for Organization’s policies, their first response was we need to ask our HR department and we were not able to have the policies that way. Employees really do care for such policies and are pretty loyal to Organization. 3) Dress Code: Dress code is strictly followed at Mobilink, especially by men. Women also dress well but they do go against some policies which, I think, are unjust according to them. For example use of light make-up, light-jewelry etc. As far as the dressing for meeting is concerned, Mobilinkers are as good as George Colony. ) Security Safety Policy: Security at Moilink is of utmost interest for the management and everyone working at Mobilink. To accomplish the above policy, a Safety Committee is set-up as follows: 1. VP HR/Admin 2. Head of Security 3. Member 4. Member The functions of the Safety Committee are: 1. Development of policy recommendations. 2. Encouraging safety efforts. 3. Proper enforcement of safety needs. 4. Fran k and constructive discussion on safety programs. 5. Cooperation with other Companies. 6. Training regarding safety. ) Company Publications: Employee / Company related information for Newsletter and Notice Board is sent to the Local Human Resources Department. Approval of Information / Articles sent by employees is processed by the Human Resources Department before its publication. The Company reserves the right to publish any articles in the Newsletter or any other publications. Any information regarding Company activities or Customer Related information must be sent to the Marketing Department for approval. Marketing must get approval from the President or his / her nominee to place article in Newspaper or Customers Newsletter. Management has the right to change or withhold any information pertaining to Company or other issues. Critical Review on HR policies of Mobilink in General: Most of the General HR policies are well practices at Mobilink with a few discrepancies. This indicates that the organization does have a strong HR system with an effective HR strategy. We may also see this thing as the predictor of good Telecom level policies in Pakistan. The reason being that the general policies, as mentioned above, are more or less the same for all telecom companies. Most of these policies are formulated by the PTA (Pakistan Telecom Authority). So reviewing the success of these policies at Mobilink shows good strategy formulation by PTA as well as Mobilink. Moreover, these policies are not only practiced and observed in telecom sector only. We see such dress code policy, asset protection policy and like in many other business organization. So these policies have a general tendency of being followed. Employees seem to have a stable type of approach towards these general HR policies. They do not seem to show any disagreements over these policies and are pretty contented with what is imposed in such policies. Chapter 4: RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS: Mobilink Policies for Recruitment and Selection: Policies for Recruitment and Selection as experienced at Mobilink are: Recruitment policy Objectives: The policy is meant to ensure an effective and efficient method of recruitment and selection. It is aimed at hiring without any discrimination based on race, colour, sex, nationality, ancestry, religion or disability. Policy guidelines: The recruitment policy must comply with regulations set out by the Government of Pakistan. The Sources of recruitment for different job vacancies in PMCL shall include: Internal Advertisement. Databank. Advertising. Head hunters/executive search organizations. Walk in candidates. Colleges and Universities a) External Recruitment: i. No candidate under the age of eighteen will be considered. ii. To avoid conflict of interest, hiring of close relations (brothers, sisters, spouses, first cousins, brothers/sisters in law) will not be encouraged. However candidates falling in this category who have exceptionally good credentials may be considered. Hiring supervisors will need to explain in their assessment of the candidate their qualities that justify hiring. A final decision will rest with the concerned Divisional Head who will need to ensure that there is no conflict of interest. iii. Human Resources will advise Department Heads on salary ranges to be offered to the applicant keeping internal and external equity in perspective. iv. Minimum qualifications must be a Bachelor degree or equivalent. A-Level or equivalent may be considered for call centre/support staff however will require approval of the VP Human Resources Administration. This criteria does not apply to technicians/riggers and ancillary staff. ) Internal Recruitment i. Internal candidates must be confirmed employees of Mobilink who have completed one year of service. However exceptionally good candidates may be considered. ii. Selected candidates will join the new job/position after getting clearance from existing line manager. iii. Spouse of an existing employee will not work for direct competition and either one will have to resign from service. Prospective candidates who se spouses work for competition will not be considered for hiring. iv. Hiring from vendors, franchises, and clients is not encouraged. Exceptionally where offers are made to employees of these entities their prior consent must be obtained. General conditions for recruitment: All recruitment will be done through the Human Resources Department in consultation with the Officers and Heads of the concerned Department. An applicant’s knowledge, skill and aptitude related to the position shall be judged according to a range of factors including: a) Education (Academic / Professional). b) Experience. c) Profile and Psychometric Tests d) Interviews. e) References. Application: Applicants may apply online by registering with the web based recruitment portal. However, when considered for a specific position, they will be required to fill the standard application form of the Company. All applications will be kept on HR database for a period of 6 months only. Conditions for selection: Departments must submit Hiring Request and / or Transfer Request Form to the HR Department and duly signed. Information regarding qualifications and job description should be forwarded for identification of suitable candidates. Lead-time of at least ten working days should be given for selection of candidates. The Human Resources Department would place internal advertisements and / or shortlist suitable candidates from the databank. If no suitable candidate is found, advertisements will be placed in media. The Human Resources Department shall, upon the department’s request, provide screened CVs. The department will do another sift if necessary and conduct interviews with the immediate Supervisor / Department / Divisional Head or his / her nominee and any job related selection tests. Short Listed Candidates will be invited for a final interview with the HR department. The Human Resources Department may conduct Profile and Psychometric Tests for the selected candidate in order to evaluate the suitability of the candidate. Two Reference checks will be completed for the selected candidate either before hiring or during the probationary period. Appointment will be subject to satisfactory references being received. On Selection the following information will be forwarded to HR to be kept in the Employees Personal File: |Interview Evaluation form | | |Passport size Photos. | |Any other special clause. | | |References. | | |Copy of N. I. C. | | |Copies of degree(s): Bachelors and above only and copies of experience certificates. | |Duly filled application form | | In the Case of Consultants the Company will sign a contract with the Consultant for a duration ranging from 3 months to 1 year. The Human Resources Department shall prepare and deliver the Employment Letter to the Employee and obtain signatures on a copy. These were the practices but what actually are the practices for Recruitment and selection at Mobilink. Let’s explore. Practices at Mobilink regarding Recruitment and Selection: Practices regarding the recruitment and selection are in accordance with the policies formulated by the HR department. According to employees following were the recruitment practices. Two types of Recruitments: Internal and External. Sources of Internal Recruitment |Sources of External Recruitment | |Employee referrals |Job fairs | |Internal advertising |University Hunts | | |Advertising | | |Emplacement Agencies | | |Walk in candidates | All recruitment and selection process is handled by the Human resource department. Applications for jobs are mostly made via internet. Selection criteria are totally based on merit. A series of interviews are conducted followed by a panel interview and a group discussion. Only deserving from a lot of applicants are considered Critical Review on Recruitment and selection process: It goes without saying that reference for job works. So it’s surely a flaw in the recruitment and selection process of Mobilink. We know a number of people who get job in Mobilink on reference basis. However, saying all that, getting a job at Mobilink and retaining that job at Mobilink for a time are two different things. One thing was interesting studying the Mobilink Recruitment and Selection process. Company entertains online applications more than mailed ones. To us, reason is twofold. First, it reduces burden during the recruitment process. Secondly, by using online system, company can keep its image as innovative and latest the eyes of its consumers. Chapter 5: TRAINING Training needs assessment Policy at Mobilink: Objective: Identifying the most appropriate solutions to performance problems Procedures: All Company Heads should differentiate between problems that require training and problems that require coaching or other solutions. Usually, only about 20% of performance problems require â€Å"training† solutions. The other 80% are best dealt with by looking at the quality of supervision or by factors in the work environment (rewarding good performance, punishing poor performance, and removing obstacles to good performance). Developing a Company – Wide Management Training Plan Objective: Select/identify the needs, by management level, for the total Company. The Company wills also Facilitate Employees with Short Management Courses from time to time. Procedures: The HR Department will develop the TNA according to the recommendations made by their Supervisors in the performance appraisal form. The HR Department shall coordinate all the tasks until a total Company-training plan is finalized, then follow-up with Department Heads on its implementation. The plan is the result of focusing on the individual discipline needs into one schedule designed to meet the training needs of the total Company. The trainer should be under the headcount of HR so that adequate training sessions can be planned and conducted nationwide. The training requirements of the employees will be picked from the recommendations made by their supervisors in the appraisal forms. The training requirement could also be forwarded by the supervisor if it is not mentioned in the performance appraisal. Foreign training policy: Objective: The purpose of this policy is to enhance skills and knowledge of Mobilink employees and build their capacities to enable them to perform their jobs more effectively and to develop them for future growth. Policy Guidelines: The Company shall pay all Training Expenses, Round Trip Airfare, living Allowance, and Local Transportation in accordance with Company regulations in this regard. Conditions for Overseas Training: Employees who are nominated for enrolment in an overseas training program should meet the following conditions: Should meet the prerequisites of the intended training. Being knowledgeable of the language in which the training program will be conducted. In case an expatriate / contract employee needs to attend a foreign training, he/ she has to be on a one year and above contract, with a duration of 6 months of service to perform at PMCL – Mobilink from the date of starting the training. If the expatriate / contract employee being sent on the training does not meet the above conditions, a waiver could be made on the recommendation of the concerned Chief/ VP and the approval of the president/ CEO. Surety for Mutual Benefit: To ensure that both, PMCL – Mobilink and the employees mutually benefit from overseas professional training provided to employees. The employees returning from training should continue to be in the employment of the Company for following minimum periods as mentioned in Para (4. 2) depending on the training days. Failing of which employees will be liable to pay the PMCL MOBILINK expenses incurred by the PMCL MOBILINK on their training including travel and accommodation expenses. In the event of an employee wishing to leave the employment of the Company he/she will reimburse the Company the expenses incurred by the PMCL- Mobilink on providing the training. PMCL- Mobilink will make appropriate deductions from the employee final settlement including Provident fund. And remaining amount will be deposited by the employee in the Company account. In case an employee doesn’t pay back the due amount to the company, HR will issue notice to the concerned employee mentioning that he/she has to pay back the amount to the company, otherwise, company reserve the right to take legal action. If the employee is terminated for cause he will be absolved from any deductions/ recovery of Training cost. Employee Surety Period and Cost Number of Days of Overseas Training |Duration of Surety |Cost to be recovered | |Up to 6 Days |6 Months |Full | |Between 7 and 10 Days |1 Year |Full | |Between 11 and 15 Days |1 ? Year |Prorated after One Year | |More than 15 Days |2 Years | Prorated after One Year | Cost of Training will be determined by finance in consultation with Technical for Technical Training and Human Resources. Training: Practices at Mobilink On contacting personnel in the Mobilink office it was found out that Mobilink mostly trains its employees by On Job Training which means that the employees are trained as they perform their jobs and along with their duties. The manager or supervisor guides them how to perform their jobs and guides them to efficiency in the work. Internees are trained in various departments and then mostly hired by Mobilink itself and their training is basically teaching them the ropes and the basics of everything. Types of Training in Mobilink: On a general basis the training done in Mobilink can be divided into two categories: †¢Soft skill training Technical Training Soft Skill Training: Helping your employees develop a stronger base of knowledge on topics that affect their personal lives can make them more productive and less distracted in their jobs. Soft skill development courses in areas like personal finance and childcare can help your team better manage the most important areas in their personal lives. This may include the following things for e. g. †¢Conflict management training †¢People management training †¢Communication skills †¢Anger management †¢Time management training †¢Teamwork training etc Technical Training: This type of training has direct effect on the job of the employee. Specific skills are focused and developed accordingly. The engineering trainings of Mobilink are also included with this along with †¢Customer Services training †¢Sales related training †¢Marketing and technology training etc. All these types of training are done to enhance the employees job skills at the level he is at. Mobilinks Training programmes: Mobilink with its large workforce invests aggressively in developing its human capital through international and local trainings as well as a structured employee ‘well-being’ programs, making it one of the most sought after companies to work for in Pakistan. Graham Burke, the President PMCL Mobilink, said Mobilink will provide proper training programmes to its employees in order to make them more aware of their responsibilities† Mobilink, the Pakistan based subsidiary of the global telecommunication giant, Orascom Group, in a strategic move, has outsourced its leadership training and development of abou t 100, of its senior and fast track managers and supervisors, to the regions well established consultancy firm, Global Management Consultants, who will be responsible for the design and delivery of over 5 months training initiative. Their training methods maintain interest throughout; put emphasis on the practical aspects; and ensure that delegates understand the knowledge gained so that they can immediately and effectively apply it within their own organizations. All training sessions are delivered in a highly participative style, introducing topics in a challenging and thought-provoking way. Practical examples, exercises and case studies are used to illustrate the topics covered and show delegates how they can relate the techniques introduced during the course to their own work situation. Programmes can be tailored to meet the required goal. The various training programmes of mobilink focus on specific skills for e. g. the annual or monthly reports of performance are evaluated by the manager and the weak areas are considered and the respective training is taken up. Mobilink trains its employees in the following fields’ aswell: 1. Customer service training: The employees are trained in communication skills, negotiating skills in order to serve the customers whether in the call centre or customers services centre. They are taught on how to talk appropriately to the customers, how to recognize their problems, solve their problems and how to deal with them. 2. Supervisors training: Leading a department or an organization is a very difficult job and the person at this level must be properly skilled. The supervisor training programme helps those people who are at this post to develop the right skills required and asked for at this job. 3. Leadership workshop: Becoming a Leader Good leaders are made, not necessarily born. You can become an effective leader by developing yourself through a never-ending process of self-study, education, training experience. To inspire your people to higher levels of teamwork there are certain things you must be, know do. Leadership makes people want to achieve challenging goals objectives. This workshop is for managers who have the desire to ‘make things happen’ have a team who need to be inspired into action! Mobilink offers this workshop for is specific employees. 4. Conflict management training: We are living in times where chaos and conflict are on the rise. Lack of conflict can be as damaging for any organization, as having conflicts that go out of hand. In fact conflict is the very source of creativity, without which innovation is not possible. Usually these conflicts are resolved, but occasionally they grow to hinder ones job performance. This program is designed to increase a supervisors ability to prevent conflicts from reaching a crisis stage and how to resolve it when a necessary conflict occurs. A framework for tackling conflict is also provided that helps managers who find dealing with conflict an unpleasant experience. 5. Development of oratory skills: With fit, healthy and active minds perform faster and more accurately with minimal stress. How people speak indicates their state of mind. Nervousness in making public appearance is often the result of not knowing WHAT to do and HOW to do it! Learn to control your nervousness and feel the confident professional image many seek! This workshop will provide hands-on approach to polish oratory skills, use projected media, and present like a pro. 6. Motivating, Coaching Delegating Any approach to develop management skills must involve a heavy dose of practical application. At the same time, practice without the necessary conceptual knowledge is sterile and ignores the need for flexibility and adaptation to different situations. They will also discover ways to manage performance of individuals and teams in order to achieve departmental/ organizational goals and objectives. All these programmes are aiming at developing specific skills in specific people for specified purposes. 7. It is believed that leadership skills and business goals are achieved through the training and development of the employees. To make it more motivating the participants of the training programme are awarded a course completion certificate at a graduation ceremony which is held after the completion of the training programme. Critical Review on Training at Mobilink: A lot of effort is put by Mobilink in Training its human resource. Organization has clear policies regarding training needs assessment and procedure for each type of training offered. Training is compulsory for some people in the organization; however, it is on offer for everyone working at Mobilink. A person in the finance department is always welcomed by HR department for Customer service training. A number of training methods are practiced at Mobilink like conflict management training, supervisory skills training etc. with the help of best in the business. Saying all that training basically seems to be for the managers and supervisors but not for the lower level employees. There seems to be a need to increase training efforts focused to this group. Chapter 6: PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM: Policies at Mobilink for Performance Appraisal: Objectives: The purpose of this policy is to provide a formal review program to evaluate work performance and to promote communication and discussion of job performance. The intent of these discussions should be to review current job performance and responsibilities, set goals, and discuss future opportunities with reference to past performance at Mobilink. The Objectives of the Performance Review Program are: o To measure work performance o To motivate and assist employees in improving their performance and achieving their personal/professional career goals o To identify employees with high potential for advancement o To provide objective information for making decisions on salary increases, promotions, bonus and transfers. o To identify employees training and development o To provide a solid path for career planning for each individual Frequency of the Performance Review: Informal performance discussions should be conducted frequently as and when the need arises. These discussions will provide the basis for an objective summarization of performance during formal Performance Reviews and allow more time for discussing future plans and organizational as well as personal objectives. The supervisor is encouraged to make notes on pertinent points discussed and to place those notes in the employee’s personnel file. Formal written performance reviews will be conducted with all employees annually. Notification along with Performance Evaluation Forms will be sent from the Human Resources Department in advance with the scheduled performance evaluation date. All employees will be reviewed at least once at confirmation. Therefore, Performance Reviews will be held on an annual basis from the date of hiring or more often if desirable to do so. The supervisor will receive notification of the scheduled review period from the Human Resources Department. Policy guidelines: The performance appraisal is done on an annual / basis (from January 1st to December 31st). Every employee should know what is expected from him / her through direct supervisors. He / She should participate in agree with the goals objectives set by himself / herself in accordance with the Company’s business plans objective goals. Everyone should have the opportunity to perform develop according to the set objectives agreed upon duties. He / she should also expect self-assessment and take actions to develop his / her competency level increase his / her participation in the achievement of the Company’s objectives. To ensure openness, consistency objectivity, the agreed competency framework covering all aspects of the job should be used as the basis for performance planning appraisals. Accordingly, it should be well known clear for both the Employee and the Manager covered. Department Heads Managers involved in performance appraisals should be well trained familiar with the applied performance appraisal system the appraisal interviewing techniques. The performance evaluation program requires that an annual meeting be held with each employee; however, Coaching, Counselling and Guidance must be an on-going process for the desired improvement and development to be achieved. To give a chance to Subordinates to evaluate their seniors a 360 Degree Evaluation will be conducted at the time of the Performance Evaluation. Performance Appraisal Forms: The performance appraisal forms will be filled once in a year to get a clear picture of the employee performance. Practices at Mobilink for Performance Appraisal System: Mobilink conducts performance appraisal in order to evaluate their employee’s current performance or past performance relative to company’s performance standards. Mobilink try to adapt the performance appraisal in which their employees understood what his or her performance standards were and that the supervisor also provides the employee with feed back, development, and incentives required to help the person eliminate performance deficiencies or to continue to perform above par. There are many performance appraisal methods. Mobilink uses the computerized performance appraisal method. In Mobilink the performance appraisal of employees is conducted in December. The Mobilink HR department has developed a performance appraisal sheet and has downloaded it on the intranet of Mobilink so that the supervisor performs the evaluation of the employees. When the supervisor completes the evaluation, he will send the performance appraisal sheet to the employee for the affirmation with the ideas of the supervisor if the employee does not agree with the supervisor he will not sign the PA sheet. When the last date of submission of PA sheet is passed then the HR department asks the supervisor and the employee about the problem and resolves the problem. Critical Review on Performance Appraisal: Online 360 degree approach of performance appraisal is adopted at Mobilink for evaluating employee performance. In the past only 180 Degree approach for performance appraisal was adopted but now 360 Degree is also in action. This is a very supportive strategy by the organization because if an employee is not happy with the evaluation by his supervisor then he has the authority to challenge. There are a number of rewards that are tied to performance appraisals. So, tool applied for performance appraisal justifies itself. Chapter 7: CAREER PLANNING DEVELOPMENT: Mobilink faces much competition in the telecom industry so now they are focusing on career Management of their employees in which they enable the employees to better understand and develop their career skills and interests and to use these skills and interests most effectively both within the company and after they leave the firm. Career planning is the deliberate process through which someone becomes aware of personal skills, interests knowledge, motivation, and other characteristics; acquires information about other opportunities and choices; identifies career related goals and establishes action plans to attain specific goals. Career development is the lifelong series of activities (such as workshops) that contributes to a person career exploration, establishment, and success ad fulfillment. Mobilink gives promotion of their employees on the performance basis. The Mobilink HR department develops the employee’s career development plans in which the HR department predicts the next logical step for their employees within five years. Critical Review: Importance of Career planning in today’s competitive world is as important as any other HR function. Retaining your valuable Human resource today is one of the biggest challenges that organizations are facing. So, HR needs to come up with new strategies. Career planning and development is one of the basic tool and strategy organizations are using for retaining their employees. This function actually makes employees feel that they are important to the organization and Mobilink wants them to be at the top in their careers. However, at Mobilink this function is not fully performed or we should say this function is not performed satisfactorily. There are some policies on these but those are not recognized that well. One point of policy is found along with the compensation other with the recruitment. There should have been separate head for these policies. As far as the practices are concerned, all the employees were reluctant to talk about this during our interview. However, what we analyzed is that career development is practiced but not that openly. Specially, in case if some employee is considering of joining the competitor’s firm. If such is a case then organization has discipline policies for that even. Chapter 8: Rewards System: Policies on Reward system at Mobilink: There is a list of policies regarding the reward system at Mobilink. It offers both kinds of rewards: Intrinsic and Extrinsic. Following are the main reward related policies: SALARY Objectives: The purpose of this policy is to have salaries subject for review in January of each calendar year in the light of merit and inflation. An employee, who is employed on a job with title and specifications, will receive compensation that is relevant to field experience matching with approved salary structure of his / her position. Policy Guidelines: The Company will pay salaries of the employees and all other amounts due to them during office hours and on the job site as follows: All New Employees have to open bank accounts in specified banks prescribed by the Company so that their salary will be credited at the end of each month. Upon termination of service (end of service), the employee will receive his / her salary within 15 working days up to the time of date of his / her last working day. Upon resignation, the employee will be paid his / her dues during a maximum period of 15 working days from the date he / she left the job. Salary Administration Program: Salary Objective: The salary administration program is designed to meet the following objectives: 1. Attract retain the services of competent qualified employees. 2. Provide fair and equitable compensation to each employee and to ensure that the value of each job relative to all other jobs within the Company is established and maintained on a fair and equitable basis. 3. Provide annual performance appraisal for employees to improve their job performance and to encourage them to aspire for promotions to jobs with greater responsibilities i. e. fairly compensate employees based on individual accomplishments and annual performance appraisals. 4. Ensure that salaries are competitive and in line with salary levels that prevail in the industry. 5. Instill employee confidence in the Company’s compensation policies and practices. Salary Outline: The â€Å"Basics† of the salary administration program can be summarized in the following manner; o The VP Human Resources Administration and the concerned Department Head will analyze each job classification. o The HR Department determines an appropriate salary range in relation to similar jobs at other well respected companies (salary survey). o The HR Department will analyze each job and assign a job code, hire rate, minimum, mid and maximum point rate. (Salary Structure) o The HR Department will prepare the salary structure to be reviewed and approved by the Director VP HR. Salary Scale: Each job is assigned a minimum salary, established according to the salary survey results, which specifies the minimum salary that may be paid to incumbents in each job. Minimum through maximum scales is built on a system of mathematical calculations to allow for overlapping between levels as a result of salary, merit or promotional increase. Setting Starting Salaries: Objective: To ensure that each employee is given the starting salary of the title level in which his / her position and experience fall. Also to ensure that consideration is given to past experience and qualifications when setting starting salaries Factors to be put into consideration for setting salaries within the range determined by the departmental Head the HR department The starting salary offered to new candidates by Mobilink will be dependent on two factors: †¢ The particular job level for which the job offer is being made. †¢ The candidate’s education, experience, qualifications as compared to the minimum qualifications required by the job specification and prevailing industry rates. Salary Administration Procedures: †¢ Human Resource Department: Prepare all documentations and their summary affecting salaries, and forward payroll section for processing that includes: o Recruits, transferees o Promotion and increments o Allowances, bonuses and incentives o Discipline o Review the all documents affecting salaries. o Entry of all salaries based on Salary, allowances, deductions and commissions. Besides there are other intrinsic and extrinsic awards that leads towards one objective only and that is: To compensate employee sufficiently so that he may be motivated and constitutes an integral part of Human resource of organization. Other intrinsic and extrinsic rewards include: Medical care Life insurance Vacations Relocation Credit advance policyprovident policy/advance against provident fund and acapping of gratuity EOI Recreation Club Policy Travel Education assistance policy Mobile phone Business mobile phone policy Official Balckberry Poicy Practices on Reward systems at Mobilink: Policies regarding the reward systems are practiced quite strictly at mobilink. Employees are paid when they are supposed to pay. Other rewards are also fast but they are mostly tenure based rather than performance based. In policies it is mentioned that the rewards are totally performance based. However, this policy is not that much followed strictly. Rewards are mostly determined by the organizational membership and seniority rather then by performance. Promotion is given on the basis of performance, as well as tenure. Critical Review: Reward system at Mobilink is quite complicate. The reason for this is that there are many intrinsic and extrinsic, direct and indirect, compensating and non-compensating rewards. There is even a department that looks after the motivational aspect of the employees. How motivation level of employees can be kept to a level so that they can be more productive. PMO (Project management office) introduces many club memberships, game shows, lunch arrangement and many more for employee to be motivated. Similarly, there are special achievement awards at each individual level. Then there are even team awards, department awards and division awards. One thing to mention is criteria for rewards. As mentioned earlier in policies, rewards are performance based. But this is true only in case of achievement awards, group awards etc. If we observe basic pays and increments then those are not performance based. Those are more of tenure based. Mobilink does say that all rewards are performance based. However, it is not the case in practice. Chapter 8: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY MEASURES: There is no need for such measures at Mobilink as maximum jobs do not expose you to the health hazards and are not such that require safety measures. However, there is a tendency of being safe in every human and that shows when you visit some Mobilink officer to meet someone of a high designation level. You need to fulfill various safety measures. HOW WELL THESE POLICIES AND PRACTICES ARE ACHIEVING THE ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS? Well the answer is simple. Policies are going pretty well. Numerically, I can say more than 90%. How? Well because these are being practices in the same manner as was expected during the policy formulation time. Moreover, see the results. Mobilink is considered to have the best HR in Pakistan and they have retained this edge. So, it’s so obvious that all overall policies are good and they are also being followed exactly the same way as required to achieve organizational goals. CONCLUSION: To conclude Mobilink has a strong HR system. That is the reason we didn’t found much discrepancies in what management says, what policies state and what employees say. 90 % of the times they were same. There are some minor discrepancies but they are adjustable with little effort. RECOMMENDATIONS: Mobilink has a strong HR system. That is the reason we didn’t found much discrepancies in what management says, what policies state and what employees say. 90 % of the times they were same. However, there were some discrepancies that need attention and their adjustment can make this HR system best in Pakistan. Following are some of the recommendations based on those discrepancies: 1. Human resource department is not fully authorized to take all the decisions. Though HR department claims to have the overall management of the company but that actually is not the case. There are many HR decisions that are taken by the other department. So, there should be a clear delegation of authority regarding decision making for HR department. 2. One thing we observed during our project was that employees were not aware of the in depth policies. The main reason that we have understood for this is their lack of knowledge about policies formulation. Employees are not encouraged to give suggestions in policy formulation. So, our suggestion is that employees should be consulted while policy formulation stage. 3. Benefits and rewards are too complicated for anyone to understand. Though there are many of these but most of employees even have not information as to for what benefit they can go for. So, Mobilink should simplify its reward system for its employees to understand well. 4. The decision making is delegated to managers with goals set for each term promotion, hiring and firing is virtually in the immediate boss’s hand. This practice can cause disharmony among employees for power. Team based structure (like the one at PMO) should be preferred in all departments 5. Mobilink pursues Zero-tolerance policy for disciplinary actions. This is good but not in all cases. Mobilink should look towards its discipline polices and try to be a bit more lenient. 6. Mobilink HR lacks in terms of career planning and development. This important function of HR does not have recognition in Policies’ statement. Mobilink should have a look at this. 7. Mobilink uses only policy specified sources for recruitment which are only 5. In this way it can loose some potential applicants that can be asset to organizations, just because they were not well communicated. So, Mobilink should increase its recruitment sources. During an HR specialist interview, we posed the same question and the answer was â€Å"that’s what policy says; on ground level we do use as many sources as possible†. If this is the case then our recommendation is that Mobilink should adjust its policy accordingly. Formulation of HR policies Company’s HR strategies Formulation of HR practices Company’s Strategic Plan Organizational Performance Company’s Internal Strengths and Weaknesses Company’s Strategic Situation Mobilink’s Competitive Environment Economic, Political, Demographic, Competitive and Technological Trends

Biography of Napoleon Bonaparte, Military Commander

Biography of Napoleon Bonaparte, Military Commander Napoleon Bonaparte (August 15, 1769–May 5, 1821), one of the greatest military commanders in history, was the twice-emperor of France whose military endeavors and sheer personality dominated Europe for a decade. In military affairs, legal issues, economics, politics, technology, culture, and society in general, his actions influenced the course of European history for over a century, and some argue, to this very day. Fast Facts: Napoleon Bonaparte Known For: Emperor of France, conqueror of much of EuropeAlso Known As: Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon 1st of France, The Little Corporal, The CorsicanBorn: August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio, CorsicaParents: Carlo Buonaparte, Letizia RamolinoDied: May 5, 1821 on Saint Helena, United KingdomPublished Works: Le souper de Beaucaire (Supper at Beaucaire), a pro-republican pamphlet (1793); the Napoleonic Code, the French civil code (1804); authorized the publication of Description de lÉgypte, a multivolume work authored by dozens of scholars detailing Egypts archeology, topography, and natural history (1809-1821)Awards and Honors: Founder and grand master of the Legion of Honor (1802), the Order of the Iron Crown (1805), the Order of the Reunion (1811)Spouse(s): Josephine de Beauharnais (m. March 8, 1796–Jan. 10, 1810), Marie-Louise (m. April 2, 1810–May 5, 1821)Children: Napoleon IINotable Quote: Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it m ay perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them. Early Life Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, on August 15, 1769, to Carlo Buonaparte, a lawyer and political opportunist, and his wife Marie-Letizia. The Buonapartes were a wealthy family from the Corsican nobility, although when compared to the great aristocracies of France, Napoleons kin were poor. Napoleon entered the military academy at Brienne in 1779. He moved to the Parisian École Royale Militaire in 1784 and graduated a year later as a second lieutenant in the artillery. Spurred on by his fathers death in February 1785, the future emperor had completed in one year a course that often took three. Early Career Despite being posted on the French mainland, Napoleon was able to spend much of the next eight years in Corsica thanks to his ferocious letter writing and rule-bending, as well as the effects of the French Revolution (which led to the French Revolutionary Wars) and sheer good luck. There he played an active part in political and military matters, initially supporting the Corsican rebel Pasquale Paoli, a former patron of Carlo Buonaparte. Military promotion also followed, but Napoleon became opposed to Paoli and when civil war erupted in 1793 the Buonapartes fled to France, where they adopted the French version of their name: Bonaparte. The French Revolution had decimated the republics officer class and favored individuals could achieve swift promotion, but Napoleons fortunes rose and fell as one set of patrons came and went. By December 1793, Napoleon was the hero of Toulon, a general and favorite of Augustin Robespierre; shortly after the wheel of revolution turned and Napoleon was arrested for treason. Tremendous political flexibility saved him and the patronage of Vicomte Paul de Barras, soon to be one of Frances three Directors, followed. Napoleon became a hero again in 1795, defending the government from angry counter-revolutionary forces; Baras rewarded Napoleon by promoting him to high military office, a position with access to the political spine of France. Napoleon swiftly grew into one of the countrys most respected military authorities, largely by never keeping his opinions to himself, and he married Josephine de Beauharnais in 1796. Rise to Power In 1796, France attacked Austria. Napoleon was given command of the Army of Italy, whereupon he welded a young, starving and disgruntled army into a force which won victory after victory against theoretically stronger Austrian opponents. Napoleon returned to France in 1797 as the nations brightest star, having fully emerged from the need for a patron. Ever a great self-publicist, he maintained the profile of a political independent, thanks partly to the newspapers he now ran. In May 1798, Napoleon left for a campaign in Egypt and Syria, prompted by his desire for fresh victories, the French need to threaten Britains empire in India and the Directorys concerns that their famous general might seize power. The Egyptian campaign was a military failure (although it had a great cultural impact) and a change of government in France caused Bonaparte to leave- some might say abandon- his army and return in the August 1799. Shortly after he took part in the Brumaire coup of November 1799, finishing as a member of the Consulate, Frances new ruling triumvirate. First Consul The transfer of power might not have been smooth, owing much to luck and apathy, but Napoleons great political skill was clear; by February 1800, he was established as the First Consul, a practical dictatorship with a constitution wrapped firmly around him. However, France was still at war with her fellows in Europe and Napoleon set out to beat them. He did so within a year, although the key triumph, the Battle of Marengo, fought in June 1800, was won by the French General Desaix. From Reformer to Emperor Having concluded treaties that left Europe at peace, Bonaparte began working on France, reforming the economy, legal system (the famous and enduring Code Napoleon), church, military, education, and government. He studied and commented on minute details, often while traveling with the army, and the reforms continued for most of his rule. Bonaparte exhibited skill as both legislator and statesmen. Napoleons popularity remained high, helped by his mastery of propaganda but also genuine national support, and he was elected Consulate for life by the French people in 1802 and Emperor of France in 1804, a title which he worked hard to maintain and glorify. Initiatives like the Concordat with the Church and the Code helped secure his status. Return to War Europe was not at peace for long. Napoleons fame, ambitions, and character were based on conquest, making it almost inevitable that his reorganized Grande Armà ©e would fight further wars. However, other European countries also sought conflict, for not only did they distrust and fear Napoleon, but they also retained their hostility toward revolutionary France. For the next eight years, Napoleon dominated Europe, fighting and defeating a range of alliances involving combinations of Austria, Britain, Russia, and Prussia. Sometimes his victories were crushing- such as Austerlitz in 1805, often cited as the greatest military victory ever- and at other times, he was either very lucky, fought almost to a standstill, or both. Napoleon forged new states in Europe, including the German Confederation- built from the ruins of the Holy Roman Empire- and the Duchy of Warsaw, while also installing his family and favorites in positions of great power. The reforms continued and Napoleon had an ever-increasing effect on culture and technology, becoming a patron of both the arts and sciences while stimulating creative responses across Europe. Disaster in Russia The Napoleonic Empire may have shown signs of decline by 1811, including a downturn in diplomatic fortunes and continuing failure in Spain, but such matters were overshadowed by what happened next. In  1812 Napoleon went to war with Russia, assembling a force of over 400,000 soldiers, accompanied by the same number of followers and support. Such an army was almost impossible to feed or adequately control and the Russians repeatedly retreated, destroying the local resources and separating Napoleons army from its supplies. Napoleon continually dithered, eventually reaching Moscow on Sept. 8, 1812, after the Battle of Borodino, a bludgeoning conflict where over 80,000 soldiers died. However, the Russians refused to surrender, instead torching Moscow and forcing Napoleon into a long retreat back to friendly territory. The Grande Armà ©e was assailed by starvation, extremes of weather and terrifying Russian partisans throughout, and by the end of 1812 only 10,000 soldiers were able to fight. Many of the rest had died in horrible conditions, with the camps followers faring even worse. A coup had been attempted in Napoleons absence from France and his enemies in Europe were reinvigorated, forming a grand alliance intent on removing him. Vast numbers of enemy soldiers advanced across Europe toward France, overturning the states Bonaparte had created. The combined forces of Russia, Prussia, Austria, and others just used a simple plan, retreating from the emperor himself and advancing again when he moved to face the next threat. Abdication Throughout 1813 and into 1814 the pressure grew on Napoleon; not only were his enemies grinding his forces down and approaching Paris, but the British had fought out of Spain and into France, the Grande Armà ©es Marshalls were underperforming and Bonaparte had lost the French publics support. Nevertheless, for the first half of 1814 Napoleon exhibited the military genius of his youth, but it was a war he couldnt win alone. On March 30, 1814, Paris surrendered to allied forces without a fight and, facing massive betrayal and impossible military odds, Napoleon abdicated as Emperor of France; he was exiled to the Island of Elba. Second Exile and Death Napoleon made a sensational  return to power in 1815. Traveling to France in secret, he attracted vast support and reclaimed his imperial throne, as well as reorganizing the army and government. After a series of initial engagements, Napoleon was narrowly defeated in one of historys greatest battles: Waterloo. This final adventure had occurred in less than 100 days, closing with Napoleons second abdication on June 25, 1815, whereupon British forces forced him into further exile. Housed on St. Helena, a small rocky island well away from Europe in the South Atlantic Ocean, Napoleons health and character fluctuated; he died within six years, on May 5, 1821, at age 51. Legacy Napoleon helped perpetuate a state of European-wide warfare that lasted for 20 years. Few individuals have ever had such a huge effect on the world, on economics, politics, technology, culture, and society. Napoleon may not have been a general of utter genius, but he was very good; he may not have been the best politician of his age, but he was often superb; he may not have been a perfect legislator, but his contributions were hugely important. Napoleon used his talents- through luck, talent, or force of will- to rise from chaos and then build, lead, and spectacularly destroy an empire before doing it all again in a tiny microcosm one year later. Whether a hero or tyrant, the reverberations were felt across Europe for a century. Sources I, Napoleon. â€Å"Description of Egypt. Second Edition. Antiquities, Volume One (Plates).†Ã‚  WDL RSS, Detroit Publishing Company, 1 Jan. 1970.â€Å"16 Most Remarkable Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes.†Ã‚  Goalcast, Goalcast, 6 Dec. 2018.Editors, History.com. â€Å"Napoleon Bonaparte.†Ã‚  History.com, AE Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009.

Ritual Objects of Ancient Taino

Ritual Objects of Ancient Taino A zemà ­ (also zemi, zeme or cemi) is a collective term in the Caribbean Taà ­no (Arawak) culture for sacred thing, a spirit symbol or personal effigy. The Taà ­no were the people met by Christopher Columbus when he first set foot on the island of Hispaniola in the West Indies. To the Taà ­no, zemà ­ was/is an abstract symbol, a concept imbued with the power to alter circumstances and social relations. Zemis are rooted in ancestor worship, and although they are not always physical objects, those that have a concrete existence have a multitude of forms. The simplest and earliest recognized zemis were roughly carved objects in the form of an isosceles triangle (three-pointed zemis); but zemis can also be quite elaborate, highly detailed human or animal effigies embroidered from cotton or carved from sacred wood. Christopher Columbuss Ethnographer Elaborate zemà ­s were incorporated into ceremonial belts and clothing; they often had long names and titles, according to Ramà ³n Panà ©. Panà © was a friar of the Order of Jerome, who was hired by Columbus to live in Hispaniola between 1494 and 1498 and make a study of Taà ­no belief systems. Panà ©s published work is called Relacià ³n acerca de las antigà ¼edades de los indios, and it makes Panà © one of the earliest ethnographers of the new world. As reported by Panà ©, some  zemà ­s included bones or bone fragments of ancestors; some zemà ­s were said to speak to their owners, some made things grow, some made it rain, and some made the winds blow. Some of them were reliquaries, kept in gourds or baskets suspended from the rafters of communal houses. Zemis were guarded, venerated and regularly fed. Arieto ceremonies were held every year during which zemà ­s were draped with cotton clothing and offered baked cassava bread, and zemi origins, histories, and power were recited through songs and music. Three Pointed Zemà ­s Three-pointed zemà ­s, like the one illustrating this article, are commonly found in Taà ­no archaeological sites, as early as the Saladoid period of Caribbean history (500 BC-1 BC). These mimic a mountain silhouette, with the tips decorated with human faces, animals, and other mythical beings. Three-pointed zemà ­s are sometimes randomly dotted with circles or circular depressions. Some scholars suggest that three-pointed zemis imitate the shape of cassava tubers: cassava, also known as manioc, was an essential food staple and also an important symbolic element of Taà ­no life. The three-pointed zemis were sometimes buried in the soil of a garden. They were said, according to Panà ©, to help with the growth of the plants. The circles on the three-pointed zemà ­s may represent tuber eyes, germination points which may or may not develop into suckers or new tubers. Zemi Construction Artifacts representing zemà ­s were made from a wide range of materials: wood, stone, shell, coral, cotton, gold, clay and human bones. Among the most preferred material to make zemà ­s was wood of specific trees such as mahogany (caoba), cedar, blue mahoe, the lignum vitae or guyacan, which is also referred to as holy wood or wood of life. The silk cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) was also important to Taà ­no culture, and tree trunks themselves were often recognized as zemà ­s. Wooden anthropomorphic zemà ­s have been found all over the Greater Antilles, especially Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. These figures often bear gold or shell inlays within the eye-inlets. Zemà ­ images were also carved on rocks and cave walls, and these images could also transfer supernatural power to landscape elements. Role of Zemis in Taino Society Possession of the elaborated zemà ­s by Taino leaders (caciques) was a sign of his/her privileged relations with the supernatural world, but zemis werent restricted to leaders or shamans. According to Father Panà ©, most of the Taà ­no people living on Hispaniola owned one or more zemà ­s. Zemis represented not the power of the person who owned them, but the allies the person could consult and venerate. In this way, zemis provided contact for every Taino person with the spiritual world. Sources Atkinson L-G. 2006. The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaica Taà ­no, University of the West Indies Press, Jamaica. de Hostos A. 1923. Three-pointed stone zemà ­ or idols from the West Indies: an interpretation. American Anthropologist 25(1):56-71. Hofman CL, and Hoogland MLP. 1999. Expansion of the Taà ­no cacicazgos towards the Lesser Antilles. Journal de la Socià ©tà © des Amà ©ricanistes 85:93-113. doi: 10.3406/jsa.1999.1731 Moorsink J. 2011. Social Continuity in the Caribbean Past: A Mai son-Perspective on Cultural Continuity. Caribbean Connections 1(2):1-12. Ostapkowicz J. 2013. ‘Made †¦ With Admirable Artistry’: The Context, Manufacture, and History of a Taà ­no Belt. The Antiquaries Journal 93:287-317. doi: 10.1017/S0003581513000188 Ostapkowicz J, and Newsom L. 2012. â€Å"Gods †¦ Adorned with the Embroiderers Needle†: The Materials, Making and Meaning of a Taà ­no Cotton Reliquary. Latin American Antiquity 23(3):300-326. doi: 10.7183/1045-6635.23.3.300 Saunders NJ. 2005. The Peoples of the Caribbean. An Encyclopedia of Archaeology and Traditional Culture. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, California. Saunders NJ, and Gray D. 1996. Zemà ­s, trees, and symbolic landscapes: three Taà ­no carvings from Jamaica. Antiquity 70(270):801-812. doi: :10.1017/S0003598X00084076

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 129

Summary - Essay Example f a student’s integration into social communities of the college and also the greater the level of subsequent of the initial commitment to the institution, the greater the likelihood of the student persistence in college. The second factor is the role played by the college classrooms. Pinto (1997) contends that if social integration is to occur, then it must take place in the classrooms. This is due to the fact that the classrooms function as the gateway for the student involvement in the academic, and social communities in college. Thirdly, more often active learning is confused with academic integration. Academic integration reflects a student’s experience with academic systems and academic communities. Such experiences finds expression in a student’s sense of normative congruence and affiliation. Lastly is the art of active learning. According to American College Personnel Association (1994), active learning enhances a student’s knowledge and understanding of course content. Students who frequently encounter active learning in their course perceive themselves gaining knowledge and understanding from their course work, thus resulting to such students viewing their collegiate experience as personally rewarding which further triggers their investment of psychological energy needed to establish membership in the social communities of their college or

Side Effects of Marijuana Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Side Effects of Marijuana - Assignment Example An overdose of the drug may lead to hallucination and the loss of self identity, overdose occurs when the drug is eaten because the user can take in a larger dose at once, The use of the drug is also addictive which is evident whereby the individual experiences an uncontrollable crave for the drug, marijuana addiction cycle is very powerful whereby the individuals find it impossible to stop the habit. The chemical compound of the drug also disrupts the proper function of the brain. The use of the drug causes chemical imbalances in the brain, as a result, the individual experiences difficulties in learning, difficulties in remembering, and the lack to quickly respond. The drug use also causes pain and individuals are required to take up more other drugs to stop the pain as a result the drug may lead to depression. When the drug is smoked it is absorbed into the bloodstream and enters the brain, the chemical compound delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol interact with brain receptors... art rate and the breathing rate, as a result, the individual is more prone to heart attacks and other heart problem, this effect is caused by the chemicals in the drug which causes an increase in body processes, as a result, the drug taxes the body more and therefore speeding up the aging process.

Alcoholic abuse Essay Example for Free

Alcoholic abuse Essay The cause of alcohol abuse occurs when one becomes stressed, depressed, or peer pressured. Alcohol abuse is very common in today’s society. Most abusers are blinded to the fact that they are abusing. Abusers take a big risk with their lives when addicted to alcohol. Stress can lead to being an alcohol abuser; when people become stress, they tend to want an addiction to help them. Most people think alcohol is the key for relieving stress. One will want alcohol when being stress over work, family issues, and life. Work is a very stressful environment; one will feel overwhelmed, when dealing with co-workers. People need to settle their differences aside when working together. One will also become stress, when over worked to many hours. The economy today is very low; people now work more than one job, which can be very stressful. Family issues in today’s society have become a struggle in life. Everyone has family issues some have it worse, which can lead to drinking. One will become stress when arguing with a family member. One may also have a genetic gene in alcoholism. One may have grown up with an alcohol abuser. Life in general is stressful, which can lead to alcohol addiction. Most alcohol abusers start drinking little amount each day, which will lead to becoming an alcoholic. One will be stress with school, while holding a job. That will make some people very stress, and vulnerable in drinking alcohol. Depression is a very strong cause of becoming an alcoholic. People become depressed when dealing with relationships, bullying, and financial problems. Relationships will make one very depress. When one cheats on their spouse will lead people to alcohol. When one gets a divorce or splits up that will cause alcohol abusers. Bullying in today’s society has become very brutal. Most teens are being bullied, which will cause depression. Most teens being depress will cause drugs, and alcohol abuse. Being bullied can also lead to death. Financial problems are another common cause to become depress. People in today’s society have become broke, due to the economy. One may become depress by spending money on alcohol, and then one will have no money for other things. Alcohol abusers will become depress, when they have no money for more alcohol. One may become an alcohol abuser, by being peered pressured. In today’s society young teens will get addicted to alcohol. One will get peered pressure at school, parties, and wrong crowd. One may be peered pressure at school to drink alcohol. Teens today are bringing alcohol to school and skipping class and getting drunk. One may also skip school to go and drink alcohol. One may be peered pressure at parties. Most teens go to parties every weekend, and get drunk, which will make one become an alcohol abuser. Students in college in today’s society are looked as a party school. College students have phrat parties and one may become addicted to alcohol, or even worse dead. One may be hanging with the wrong crowds, which can make one have an addiction. People get influence by peers to make bad decisions. One will feel peered pressure by their friends thinking it is ok to drink. Most young teens don’t understand that drinking is dangerous. Alcohol abuse is really bad when a pregnant woman is addicted to alcohol. One may kill their unborn child, or the child can come out with medical problems. Studies have also showed that most people with ADHD will become alcohol abusers. Alcohol is a very serious addiction; one may feel like alcohol is helping them to recover. Alcohol abusers need help, before it gets too late. One needs to realize that there are better ways of coping stress, depression, peered pressure, etc. Alcohol abusers will need support with their family and friends, to overcome their addiction.

Foreign Language Essay -- Language

Only 9% of the U.S. population is bilingual, and less than 8% of college students enroll in foreign language courses (Baron). The United States has not put enough emphasis on the importance of foreign language education. People are not aware of the price this country pays due to a lack of language professionals. Its national security and diplomacy are lagging behind. American companies are becoming less prevalent in the international economy. Americans are isolated from culture that thrives in their communities. However, the future generations can be salvaged from this weak state with foreign language education. The teaching of foreign language in American public schools will help shape a culturally-nourished nation ready to advance into international political, economic, and social affairs. The national security and diplomatic affairs in the United States has suffered and will continue to if foreign language education is not rectified and strengthened. Perhaps the most severe tragedy on American soil, 9/11, exposed the language-related weaknesses of the U.S. government and intelligence agencies. After 9/11, the intelligence community revealed that it was only 30% prepared in languages crucial to national security (Holt). Although the government, had 123,000 hours of Arabic language recordings following the attacks, there weren’t enough linguistic professionals to analyze the information (Holt). In 2006 the FBI reported that only 33 FBI employees had limited skills in Arabic (Holt). However, they weren’t even in departments in which their skills could be used towards counterterrorism (Holt). The breach in national security is widening when intelligence agencies can only offer agents with â€Å"limited† language skills. There are intel... ...gn-language-educ_b_127588.html>. Lowery, George. "Cornell Chronicle: U.S. Should Emphasize Foreign Language Education." Cornell Chronicle Online. 24 Oct. 2007. Web. 03 Jan. 2012. . Osborn, Terry A. The Future of Foreign Language Education in the United States. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, 2002. Print. Pufahl, Ingrid, Nancy C. Rhodes, and Donna Christian. "CAL: Digests: What We Can Learn From Foreign Language Teaching In Other Countries." Center for Applied Linguistics. Sept. 2001. Web. 02 Jan. 2012. . Ramzy, Austin. "Get Ahead, Learn Mandarin - TIME." TIME World. Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. 26 June 2006. Web. 02 Jan. 2012. .

Cross Cultural Communication- Royal Dutch Shell’s Approach Essay

Shell has over 100 different nationalities in its employee population. In a global organization like Shell, people need to constantly work with people from other nationalities as part of expatriate assignments. We had a candid interaction with company’s global learning head Manojit Sen. We are elucidating few interesting points from the discussion. Global organisations like Royal Dutch Shell face the constant challenge of cross cultural communication both when dealing with external customer as well as in dealing with colleagues internally. Some of these are: Failure to Bond: Experience over years shows that customers like doing business who are like them. Equally Sales staff unconsciously look to do business with people they like and stay away from those they don’t like and bond with. The more pronounced the differences between two people, the slower the bonding process may be, especially if nothing is done to bridge the gap such as teaching people to communicate like à ¢â‚¬Ëœone of them’. Hence the fate of multi billion dollar deals in oil majors such as Shell may often be tested on the strength of the ‘liking’ factor. Stereotyping: Even with the best education, almost everyone consciously or unconsciously holds onto some unfair generalizations about a given group. Recognizing and overcoming negative beliefs that we may have had since childhood can be challenging. These generalizations come in the way of truly listening to views and building on the best of ideas which have the potential to take the organization forward. Assuming the same values: We all assume everyone shares the same values we do. This leads to judgments of what is right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable. When the values are not actually the same, actions one party takes does not meet the expectations of the other leading to frustration, attribution of intent and breakdown of trust. â€Å"Token† syndrome: In big multinationals where consciously the numbers of different minority groups have been increased over the years, people from underrepresented groups may sometimes feel that they are in the spotlight due to their low numbers. Since their difference tends to make them stand out, they may believe that they receive unfair scrutiny. As a result, they may fear making mistakes or being perceived as receiving special treatment. â€Å"Protective Hesitation†: The cultural differences between a staff and his customer or colleagues from another  culture may lead both parties to view their relationship as less solid than other relationships with people from the same culture. To overcome this, people may tend to overcompensate and then fear that the response may appear to be ‘too cosy’ and subject to criticism. Making mistakes: Whether or not staff have had a lot of experience working with people from the customer’s or colleague demographic if it from a different culture, he may inadvertently say or do something that the customer or colleague finds offensive. It’s a lot easier to get past mistakes if both parties believe that the two have the same values and mindset. Cases where these type of issues have resulted in problems and ways in which these were handled include: 1. A Dutch project manager used to straight talking posted in UK’s North Sea Joint Venture upstream project upset the staff by telling them off on a few occasions to the point that the JV agreement was getting close to being called off. The Dutch manager had to be replaced despite his strong technical credentials and subsequent appointees were put through cultural awareness training before being sent off to this and similar JVs. 2. An Australian posted in India’s new retail operations to set up the Health, Safety, Security and Environment department was so frustrated by vendors promising to do everything and not meeting quality and timeline issues that he started to call them ‘liars’ on the face, alienating himself from the few vendors who were able to meet the quality specs of Shell. This disrespectful behavior and loss of face resulted in vendors refusing to work for Shell and consequent delays in commissioning of retail stations by over a couple of months, a stalemate that had to be broken by skillful negotiations by local managers. 3. In a virtual cross country project team working on implementation of a Retail network project months in China that had to deliver its implementation plan within 3 months, would have its team meeting every week. From the start the Chinese staff on the team were quiet. The Americans spoke the most. They believed they were contributing and the Chinese were not. It emerged after 8 weeks when a milestone was missed that the Chinese could not understand a lot of what the Americans were saying, let alone their jokes. The team lead was prompt to realize this  was a sign of impending disaster and promptly made official rules on talking time at each meeting so that everyone had his time, including time to ask clarifications and to recap what each understood. 4. A Danish IT staff was on a global SAP implementation project. Since she was reporting to a Singaporean manager, she would have to take calls early her morning. Sometimes she would have to join calls with US colleagues working on implementation issues. With work life balance being a very important aspect of the Nordic culture, she was direct about how she felt on a number of occasions. The manager had given her the flexibility to take time off during the day to make up for this but somehow this did not help and the Danish lady started missing calls and issues did not get addressed in time. She also did not check emails or even phone messages during the weekends. Issues started to get escalated and reached the point where the vendors implementing the ERP charged Shell for delayed decisions leading to having to rework project plans and consequent costs and delays. This became a performance issue that required the staff to be replaced by someone who was much more flexible – something that was needed during this critical stretch period. 5. The Shell team negotiating a significant gas deal in Middle East included only Europeans. The local Middle East team felt more comfortable with the American- Saudi Aramco team as it had more Middle Easteners. This was recognized in time and Shell’s team was revamped to include a few ‘local’ faces who could help break the ice and guage the local sentiments. With issues such as these multinational organisations need to work on many cross cultural issues which impact communication internally and externally. The are typically managed via the Diversity and Inclusion agenda. In Shell, the D&I agenda includes:   D&I education offerings.   Communication processes in the profiling of success stories and the sharing of good practices. Recruitment and retention efforts that focus on tapping into the top talent across diverse constituency groups. Development and mentoring of diverse staff from across the world. Building supportive/inclusive work environments. D&I  education: Shell has over 100 different nationalities in its employee population. In a global organization like Shell, people need to constantly work with people from other nationalities as part of expatriate assignments, or as part of x-country projects or as part of one’s role which may be global or regional in scope. Hence educating staff on nationality related cross cultural issues is an ongoing activity in Shell. Staff who get posted as expatriates to a foreign country are taken through cultural awareness sessions on the new country culture. They are also sponsored to learn the local language to help assimilate better. Staff put on x-country assignments are also helped with cultural awareness sessions so that they can understand what colleagues from other countries mean by what they say and by what they don’t. Supervisors who have from different countries are also encouraged to understand the cultural differences of countries of these staff. The Crossing Cultures course in Shell is designed to help people value differences and improve team working skills. The course aims to enable business and function staff to develop their cross cultural skills and to work more effectively, with virtual and multi cultural teams. Participants are expected to: Improve their sensitivity to others’ different needs and behaviours and adjusts own behaviours and communication style accordingly. Invites, respects and incorporates others’ different perspectives. Demonstrates a non-judgemental acceptance of different perspectives, behaviours and ways of working. Utilises cultural differences to improve outcomes. Actively supports efforts to build a more diverse and inclusive organisation. This course consists of a structured program of face-to-face and virtual learning, combined with workplace assignments and activities, knowledge sharing and networking. The course totals 16 hours; 8 hours virtual over 4 weeks and with a 1 day face to face in week 6 of the program.