Computer Science Essay Example for Free

Computer Science Essay â€Å"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful†. My academic performance has been consistently above average, which was duly recognized by the College when I was presented the Good Result for my performance in the PUC. My Pre University(PU) course played a key role in laying a Accounting which enabled me to develop a puc courses oriented outlook and encouraged me to pursue Undergraduate education. I stressed on acquiring basic knowledge during my Pre University (PU) studies to strengthen my belief that a concrete foundation is essential for a prosperous career. I yearned to equip myself with cutting edge Business and Accounting concept in order to deal with enormous and multifaceted growth Business and Accounting. The mercurial growth in the communications has been fascinating me right from my pre university days. I always found it very interesting to untangle the complex web of communications, fiber optics. A career in communication is something that, I have always dreamt of. As it absolutely necessary for everyone to be acquainted with computers, I have earned the knowledge of ‘C’ and ‘C++’. My field of interest lies in communication, fiber optics. Though right now I am applying for the Undergraduate program, I would like to continue my study in this field to attain my goal in your esteemed university. In college, I have given seminars in my class on various topics. This experience convinced me that I have good communication skills. I have participated in youth festivals and college fetes which have enhanced my ability to effectively get into a team, but at the same time retain individuality. With this ambition I am confident that my academic capability and analytical skills coupled with my perseverance and single minded devotion will see me through to this goal. Given a chance, I am confident that my potential will be reflected in my Undergraduate studies and I will live up to high standards of your Undergraduate program. I am really interested in Chester University as it is one of the renowned Universities in UK. It offers excellent programmes bridging the gap between theory and practice. The opinion of its learned faculty on wide ranging topics is sought globally. Strong links and regular interaction with industry and business enables it to offer teaching latest global trends and needs. So I believe the confidence and exposure which I would acquire from my education in UK will help me to be more successful in today’s business world. Its simulating environment will provide me ample scope for over all developments and bring out the best in me.

Who Is Immigrant Entrepreneurs Business Essay

Who Is Immigrant Entrepreneurs Business Essay Many successful entrepreneurs story told us how an immigrant set up or developed a business successfully, such as Steve Jobs who was born in US, but He Was the Most Famous Arab in the World: The father of the innovative head of Apple was from Syria. (The lede, Ner York Times, October 6); Sergey Brin, one of googles co-founder, was born in Moscow, Russia and grew up in US (Forbes.com); Steven Wong, New Zealand crisps King was originally from China. He moved to New Zealand when he turned to an adult. Why do people name them as an immigrant entrepreneur even they were born or grew up in local? What have the immigrant entrepreneurs done for the world? What challenges and opportunities have they met or will they meet in the future? This research essay will focus on these questions. Literature review Who is immigrant entrepreneurs There is lack of consensus on the exact definition of the concept of the immigrant or ethnic entrepreneur. On reviewing the variety of studies that have addressed this topic, it can be seen that the expression of immigrant or ethnic entrepreneur crops up reasonably frequently, although it should be underlined that its use is somewhat disparate. The term often overlaps with or is substituted by other terms that refer to the condition of being an immigrant, to the condition of being an entrepreneur, or the condition of belonging to a minority group within the economic space under analysis. According to Chaganti and Greene (2002), the reasons that explain this overlapping of terms lies in the theoretical framework used as a reference, which conceives immigrant entrepreneurs as a group of minority business owners for reasons of race, ethnic background (Rinder, 1958). As Chaganti and Greene (2002) state, immigrant entrepreneurs are not always characterized by ethnic attributes, and not al l ethnic minority entrepreneurs are immigrants, as in the case of second or third generations. The term immigrant or ethnic entrepreneur is regarded from a broad perspective and has been used in the majority of studies on the topic (Cavalcanti, 2007), referring both to the immigrant population that create a new firm and to those that belong to ethnic minorities even when they are not immigrants, thus combining the different terms used in the literature. We use the term ethnic entrepreneur with the meaning given by Waldinger et al. (1990) or Ma Mung (1992), and adhere to the ideas of Chaganti and Greene (2002) on this collective, who highlight the importance of the entrepreneurs involvement with their ethnic community with regard to identifying their ethnicity and the lesser relevance of their place of birth or nationality in this sense. Role / Status of immigrant entrepreneurs Immigrant entrepreneurship is an important socio-economic phenomenon of the century. The main destinations of immigrants in the country like the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, migrant entrepreneurs play an important role in economic development. For instance, entrepreneurship is critical to sustaining Americas economic power. Immigrant entrepreneurs, like their predecessors, play a key role. Immigrants are credited with 24 percent of patents and founded or cofounded over 25 percent of engineering and technology companies in the U.S. between 1995 and 2005. Economic impact of migrants in the host country operators is aware, but its influence is not limited to economic aspects alone. It involves important non-economic effects such as the development of ethnic community spirit, social integration and recognition of immigrants, a spirit of entrepreneurship preserving, and providing a role model for immigrants (Chrysostome Lin, 2010), especially for unskilled workers resulting in increased entry of foreign labor. Contribution of migrant entrepreneurs of the country of destination cannot be denied. Ayda et. al (2010) concluded that the producers of these migrants contribute to the growth of various products and services, not only because they are skilled and competent, but because of social relations with local communities. In a study of Turkish immigrant entrepreneurs in Switzerland, Baycan-Levent Kundak (2009) found that the movement of a foreign employee to an entrepreneur is very common and easily among Turkish immigrants. Socio-cultural norms of factors, government policies and the educational system in the host country Switzerland to make people less inclined to become entrepreneurs. Mustafa Chen (2010) studied on how five entrepreneurs- can be the internationalization of business and the role of transnational family network. The results showed that the producers of these migrants have access to resources and using the relationship between transnational borders is through family and ki nship networks that allow them to simultaneously engage in social and business activities in both countries. The socio-cultural profile of the entrepreneur and firm creation Understanding the reasons that explain why particular individuals, groups, and less directly, regions and countries are more entrepreneurial than others has been one of the principal objectives of researchers in the field of firm creation, which has been shifted to the more specific area of ethnic entrepreneurship. In recent years, the increase in firms created by this collective, as well as differences shown by diverse ethnic groups within the same target society has once again placed the spotlight on cultural aspects that differentiate certain communities from others (Basu and Werbner, 2001). Culture is considered to be an ethnic resource whose use on the part of the entrepreneur endows the firms created, the process followed for their creation and the strategies adopted for their development with specific traits. Culture is associated with a set of values, beliefs, and norms shared by a group or community (Hofstede, 1991); manifested as a way of thinking, feeling or reacting (Kluc khohn, 1951) through which members of a particular group differentiate themselves from those that belong to others. Therefore, culture exists within the context of a social group or unit, and the cultural differences can reflect variations related to the country or region of origin, ethnic background, social class, religion, gender, or language. Within the cultural elements, values have been one of the factors that the literature has studied most (McGrath et al., 1992a, b). Rokeach (1972) explained that having values means maintaining a permanent belief in preferring one specific type of behaviour over, or a final state of existence in relation to others. Schwartz (1992) characterizes values as concepts or beliefs that are applied to final desired states or behaviours. For Hofstede (2001), values are learnt predispositions, in other words, learnt mechanisms that are used in actions or behaviours with a view to obtaining positive consequences and/or avoiding negative ones. In this sense, it should be stated that values can be held by individuals and by groups, and also by collectives (Kilby, 1993; Kluckhohn, 1951), although it is only on a collective level that values can become components of a culture. More specifically, in the field of firm creation, some researchers have demonstrated the existence of associations between business and certain values that form a part of a given culture upheld by individualism, achievement, independence, or masculinity (Hofstede, 1980; Lipset, 2000). Equally, certain cultures have less consistent value systems in which business activity is included, especially in cases in which the activity implies risk, innovation, growth, and reinvestment of profits (Light, 1972). In this sense, what is common to all studies carried out on this topic is that not all ethnic groups have neither the same entrepreneurial capacity nor show the same entrepreneurial behaviour. Thus, for example, according to the Office for National Statistics (2001) in the UK, the ratio of firm creation by west Europeans is 12 percent, as opposed to 15 percent among Indians, 18 percent amongst the Chinese population and 19 percent of Pakistanis. In the same vein, Asian and East African e ntrepreneurs have a long tradition in business, in many cases related to the restaurant sector (Basu and Altinay, 2002). Corkill (2001) states that African immigrants tendto concentrate on the building industry in Portugal and on agriculture in Spain, whilst Latin Americans and Asian women tend to work in domestic services and Polish, Lithuanian, and Rumanian immigrants tend towards the construction industry in Spain. Curran and Burrows (1988) point out that those from Southern Asia look more to the restaurant, general food trading, and clothing industries. The Chinese are to be found principally in retailing (Song, 1997), and Afro-Caribbeans in the construction sector (Curran and Blackburn, 1993). Relationship between immigrant entrepreneurs and the local market and international market The success of their own business is also assisted by the local people. The locals who are willing to partner with them and hire shops for foreign migrants somehow give them opportunities to start a business. Thanks to the efforts of this migrant entrepreneurs, eventually some of them can establish their own companies, whether small or large scale. There are also foreign workers who have managed to become entrepreneurs took the opportunity to improve their lives doing wrong in the law of this country. Companies may be owned by locals but foreign operators who manage most of the way companies operation and their employees who are employed are foreign workers. In addition, people normally choose foreign operators because the price offered is far cheaper than the local operators do. Many Chinese entrepreneurs are operating fresh food or fast food companies in US, Australia or New Zealand etc. They have achieved many success in a result of advantage of low price. According to Amit and Muller (1995), based on their motivation to engage in entrepreneurial activity, there are two types of entrepreneurs, namely, Push and Pull entrepreneurs. The former includes those who are pushed to start a business as they are dissatisfied with their current position in the labour market in terms of unemployment or underemployment. The latter are those who are attracted by their new venture idea and initiate venture activity. Amit and Muller (1995) also conclude that Pullentrepreneurs are more successful than the Pushones. Chavan and Agrawal (2002) found from their study, examining the changing role of ethnic small business in Australia by studying three generations over a period of time, that the first generation of ethnic entrepreneurs were associated with Push motivations and the second and third generations of entrepreneurs were associated with Pull motivations. As scholars (Basu, 2004; Chavan Agrawal, 2002) have found, immigrants are motivated to engage in entrepreneurial activity either derived from Pushor Pullfactors, or from both, as immigrant entrepreneurs can also be classified as either. There are a number of theories that appear to be relevant for immigrant entrepreneurship and the following paragraphs will examine them. Discussion Analysis Challenges of immigrant entrepreneurs According to Waldinger et al. (1990), immigrant entrepreneurs face various challenges in adapting to the host culture and establishing their own businesses. The main problems that ethnic business owners commonly face include: protecting themselves from political attacks; dealing with surviving competition; managing relations with customers and suppliers; obtaining financial and human resources; acquiring needed information and appropriate training and skills. These social and economic handicaps coupled with the disadvantages drive many immigrant entrepreneurs into small businesses. Indeed, immigrant entrepreneurship can pave the way to upward social mobility (Kloosterman, 2003). Nevertheless, business researchers have documented that the businesses many immigrants engage in are small businesses which are characterised by low entry cost, high levels of competition, limited profit margins, high rate of failure, and labour intensity (Fernandez Kim, 1998; Phizacklea Ram, 1995; Waldinger, 1989; Waldinger et al., 1990). The reasons for this situation can be best explained using opportunity structure theory. Opportunity Structure and Risk-taking Theories The opportunity structure theory states that ethnic entrepreneurs can only move into those niches that are underserved or abandoned by native entrepreneurs. These opportunities are mainly found in the industries where the risks of failure are high. They are characterised by low status, low rewards, heavy labour, high running costs, and limited profit margins (Waldinger, 1989; Kupferberg, 2003). Due to the evolution of the global economic system, the structure of opportunities is continually changing in modern business society. In addition, political factors might frequently hinder the working of business markets. Immigrant business owners have therefore found themselves facing various market conditions (Aldrich Waldinger, 1990). Waldinger et al. (1990) point out that demand for services provided is essential for a business to prosper. The primary market for immigrant entrepreneurs can be the members of their own ethnic community in which there are no language barriers. Within the sam e community, people intimately know each others needs and preferences. In this sense, ethnic entrepreneurs can develop niche customer bases. Kloosterman (2003) sees this as the pull factor on the demand side that creates the opportunities for immigrants to set up a shop within their own ethnic community. Immigrant businesses then do this to meet new comersneeds and facilitate them in solving their special problems caused by the strains of settlement and assimilation. Some businesses provide cultural products, such as newspapers, books, magazines, food and clothes. Others offer special services, for instance, law firms and accountants (Waldinger et al., 1990). Ethnic entrepreneurs thus enjoy an advantage over potential competitors outside the community since they can tap into the buying preferences of consumers in these groups (Hammarstedt, 2001). Massey (2005) claims that enterprise is a risky business as only a proportion of the businesses will survive. Entrepreneurs have to take a number of risks such as financial, emotional and social. This is because they put themselves on the line and thus, their social identities can suffer as well. Barbosa, Kickul and Liao-Troth (2007) claim that risk has always been at the centre of the definition of entrepreneur. Risk perception has been conceived as a determinant of risk behaviour and entrepreneurial decision making. One interprets the environment based on ones perceptions which include analysis, judgment, and intuition. In this sense, whether a situation is deemed of moderate or high risk depends on the perceivers. Different people can draw different conclusions. As Stearns and Hills (1996) note, successful entrepreneurs are good risk managers but not wild-eyed risk takers. They are able to calculate risks and whether the potential rewards are appropriate. Das and Teng (1997) also suggest that a successful entrepreneur is a professional risk-taker because one of the most distinctive features of entrepreneurial behaviour is risk taking. Indeed, risk-taking behaviour has been associated with entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs have been described as self-employed individuals who adjust themselves to risk (Gilmore et al., 2004). Entrepreneurs introduce new products or processes and they adjust themselves to risk where the return is uncertain (Palich Bagby, 1995). Starting a small business is seen t o be a particularly risky undertaking (Gilmore, Carson ODonnell, 2004). The risk that entrepreneurs face can be both financial and psychological since new actions and activities may put their self-images at risk. Failure may lead to the loss of their capital and of their self-image. Therefore, Das Teng (1997) assert that the entrepreneurs are inherently risk takers. They often underrate their chances of failure and they need to be aware of the risks involved and make appropriate financial decisions (Pinfold, 2005). Similarly, immigrants are also risk takers by nature because the process of leaving ones home to take up life in a new new country means accepting great changes (Waldinger et al., 1990). As Delores (1997) contends, immigrants face a number of emotional and cognitive adjustments to the reality of life in the host society. They experience the stresses of adapting to a new country and being upset by the loss of their own culture. Therefore, Waldinger et al. (1990) claim that people who enter the immigration stream tend to be able, better prepared and more inclined toward risk. There is no doubt that immigrant entrepreneurs must be prepared to take risks. According to Kupferberg (2003), the risk-taking theory emphasises that immigrants are prepared to take on a low status business when they perceive that there is a future in that business. These immigrant entrepreneurs will have strong motives to prove themselves and thus they tend to enter the business differently from a member of the n ative community. Aldrich and Waldinger (1990) claim that in almost all markets, small businesses continue to attract immigrants and many newcomers have set up small business enterprises. There are two possible explanations for this situation. One could be the low status and low rewards in running such businesses. The other might be that small businesses have a high rate of failure. These two factors may reduce the pool of native-born entrepreneurs. Immigrant entrepreneurs therefore can step in as vacancies arise (Waldinger, 1989). Since the structure and allocation of opportunities open to potential ethnic owners have high rates of failure and low status, immigrant entrepreneurs must have the ability to take risks in order to survive. In addition, they are able to quickly respond to the results that the business produces. Immigrant entrepreneurs will abandon those businesses that have limited prospects and stick to those businesses that bring good profits, regardless of whether the businesses might be risky. Based on this theory, immigrant entrepreneurs are seen to have great sensitivity to the market and this market-adapted behaviour enables them to seize any opportunities and attempt all types of businesses. Conclusions The process of globalization and the internationalization of economies and markets is provoking increasingly sizeable and intense international migration (Wauters and Lambrecht, 2007). Our study has analyzed the influence of demographic profile on the ethnic entrepreneur with regard to business activity, the main motivation for creating a new firm and the process followed in creating the firm. We have gone a step further than analyzing who has or has not created the firm and have focused on those that have been involved in firm creation. From the results of the research, the conclusions indicate the difficulty inherent in generalizing on the influence of all the factors of the dimensions analyzed. The area of origin of the entrepreneur is the only demographic factor that shows a significant relationship with the majority of the factors that make up the dimensions analyzed, and thus, this factor is the one that mainly influences the elements that characterize business activity, the mo tivation for starting up a business and the process followed in doing so.

Impact Of Culture On Negotiation Cultural Studies Essay

Impact Of Culture On Negotiation Cultural Studies Essay 12 Angry Men happens to be one of the most apt examples for understanding the cultural diversity of a particular group. Twelve men from totally diverse backgrounds come together to give their verdict on a case and it has to be a unanimous decision. In the end, they do reach a consensus. But what is interesting for our study is the process through which they pass to reach this consensus. The dialogue quoted above is one of the many clashes that occur between the jurors before casting the final vote. The process reflects the conflict between the cultures of the twelve jurors as clearly, culture of each juror did not match with the others. (Source!!) Introduction: Culture is an integral part of conflict resolution. The way each party in a dispute thinks, behaves, reacts in front of the other in the negotiation can be attributed to the culture that the party carries in itself. In certain cases, culture can be the deciding factor as to whether the conflict resolution will work or not. Amidst all issues connected with the international negotiations the one that has been attracting the most attention has been the influence of culture on negotiation. This essay makes an attempt to understand the meaning of culture, study the various factors surrounding and influencing it and then highlight the importance of the same in negotiation. The ultimate aim of this essay is to try and provide an insight into the aspects of cross-cultural negotiation thereby preventing the reader from underestimating the importance of culture in any negotiation. Meaning of Culture: To determine the meaning of culture, we first need to appreciate a few definitions which have been widely acknowledged and used to understand the various aspects of culture and then observe the characteristics of culture. A] Definitions: 1) Edward Tylor (1871): Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of the society. This is the foremost attempt made to define culture and was subsequently used as a model to rely upon and improvise the definition by several anthropologists and sociologists. The terms like knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, etc. demonstrate the wide ambit of culture through Tylors perspective. 2) Clyde Kluckhohn (1951): Culture consists in patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiments in artefacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically deprived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values. This definition is quite comprehensive as culture has been composed of both values and beliefs. Kluckhohn adds special importance to the aspect of traditional ideas and attached values which emphasize on the preserved behaviour of an individual which passes on from one generation to the other. 3) Geert Hofstede (1991): Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another. Hofstede suggests that patterns of thinking, feeling, and potential acting which were learnt throughout a lifetime of a person are mental programs, i.e. software of the mind and the customary term for such mental software is culture. Although it is not very evident from the definition, Hofstede gives a lot of importance to values while determining the meaning of culture which is addressed further in the essay. B] Characteristics: Michelle LeBaron in her article has mentioned certain complications in working with cultural dimensions of conflict, and the implications that flow from them. For our purpose, these complications can be treated as characteristics of culture as culture is a complex whole. They are: 1) Culture is multi-layered what you see on the surface may mask differences below the surface; 2) Culture is constantly in flux as conditions change, cultural groups adapt in dynamic and sometimes unpredictable ways; 3) Culture is elastic knowing the cultural norms of a given group does not predict the behaviour of a member of that group, who may not conform to norms for individual or contextual reasons; 4) Culture is largely below the surface, influencing identities and meaning-making, or who we believe ourselves to be and what we care about it is not easy to access these symbolic levels since they are largely outside our awareness; and 5) Cultural influences and identities become important depending on context. When an aspect of cultural identity is threatened or misunderstood, it may become relatively more important than other cultural identities and this fixed, narrow identity may become the focus of stereotyping, negative projection, and conflict. Culture is dynamic, not timeless or changeless. It is a starting point that orients us in particular ways and away from other directions. As quoted by Raymond Williams, Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language. Looking at the various dimensions which have been brought under the definitions mentioned above, we can comprehend that the term culture is inexhaustible. We can conclude by saying that every notion that the human mind emerges with can be ascertained as a part of culture. Whether that notion subsequently becomes an activity or simply remains a thought is irrelevant. It can be said that culture sets the pattern in which these notions materialize in an individuals mind. Factors surrounding and influencing culture: (Raymond Cohen, Robert janosik, hofstede?) Normally, the most instant thought that occurs in ones mind when he or she thinks of culture is the national identity. Horacio Falcao is of the opinion that people underestimate cross-cultural negotiation. They tend to only look at national culture when they go to international negotiations. There is also educational culture, race culture, gender culture, religious culture and these cultures also impact the way people behave, think and communicate. There are numerous other factors which form a part of the culture or invariably affect the way a cultural pattern is developed in a person. Although the pace of cultural change naturally varies from one group to another, cultures evolve in reaction to many factors, from trends such as urbanization, globalization, or modernization to specific historical experiences, including the influence of other cultures, and even, occasionally, government policies. Each individual has a culture. In fact, each individual has potentially several cultures. The culture groups may share race, ethnicity, or nationality. But they also arise from cleavages of generation, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, ability and disability, political and religious affiliation, language and gender to name only a few. The most widely recognised and discussed components of a cultural pattern are beliefs, values and norms. According to Myron W. Lustig and Jolene Koester, Culture is a learned set of shared interpretation about beliefs, values and norms, which affect the behaviours of a relatively large group of people. Norms are the outward manifestations of beliefs and values; they are evident through behaviours and can be readily observed. While beliefs tap on what is true, values tap on what is important. Shalom Schwartz conducted a survey Schwartz Value Inventory (SVI) by involving 60,000 people to identify the values which are commonly prioritised by people. Even Hofstede is of the opinion that mental programs can include a lot of things, from religious beliefs, food preferences, and aesthetic choices to attitudes toward authority. He has categorised these things under symbols, heroes, rituals and values in which symbols are the most specific and values are the most general components. He sugge sts that values are the innermost core of an individuals culture as symbols, heroes and rituals represent the layers of culture that are visible to outsiders. Cohen understands culture by addressing three key aspects which are widely quoted and recognised: 1) It is a societal and not an individualistic quality, 2) It is acquired and not genetic, and 3) Its attributes cover every area of social life. Hence, we can see that culture is not just surrounded by national identity or a certain geographical background but other more profound and intangible factors like values, beliefs, ideas also play a significant role in developing a culture. How Cultures affect Negotiation: Every negotiation is a cross-cultural exercise. Each of us belongs to multiple cultures that give us messages about what is normal, appropriate and expected. When others do not meet our expectations, it is often a cue that our cultural expectations are different. This is where the actual conflict arises. Several anthropologists and sociologists have written extensively about the effect that culture has on negotiation. We will look at the prominent work by a few of them. Robert Janosik has derived four distinct approaches to understand the impact of culture on negotiation. First, culture is a learned behaviour. It focuses on actions without giving much attention to the reasons behind those actions. Second, culture is a matter of shared basic values. This approach assumes that thinking precedes doing and that ones thinking patterns derive from his cultural context. Third, culture is shaped by the dialectic tension between paired, opposing values like individualism and collectivism, idealism and pragmatism, etc. And fourth, culture draws on a systems theory and offers multi-causal explanations of negotiation behaviour. Hoftsede and his five dimensions on which country cultures differ are discussed extensively in many subsequently published papers and books. According to him, these five dimensions reflect basic problems that any society has to cope with but for which solutions differ. These five dimensions are: 1) Power Distance: This dimension is explained by emphasizing on human inequality. The degree of acceptance of the unequal distribution of power can vary among different cultures. 2) Uncertainty Avoidance, 3) Individualism and Collectivism, 4) Masculinity and Feminity, and 5) Long-term and Short-term Orientation. Culture affects different varieties of negotiation differently depending on such factors as the particular objectives, the number of parties, and the extent to which the cultures clash or complement one another. The manner in which culture affects negotiation is further complicated since individuals differ in the extent to which they exhibit cultural influences. Since personalities, training and other variables independent of culture come into play, people reflect to varying degrees certain of the values, attitudes, and beliefs of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, profession, or occupation. The extent to which cultural factors are likely to pose additional obstacles for an international negotiation will depend upon the individuals involved as well as the cultures and circumstances at issue. Culture may deeply affect the dynamics within a negotiating team whether formal or informal, egalitarian or highly conscious of rank. It may affect the teams propensity to share information directly, avoid disclosing it, or reveal it only indirectly, for instance, through communicating multiple offers through which preferences and priorities might be inferred. Ethical norms associated with negotiation frequently vary among cultures, with lies and deception, bribery and bluffing viewed quite differently. Although the national culture and its elements have been mentioned above, the factor of language deserves to be noted separately. One function of language is to structure reality and to order experience. Therefore, the language of an individual significantly influences his or her perceptions and thinking. Certain ideas or concepts are linguistically culture-bound in that no equivalent exists in other languages. Literal translation of terms from one language to the other can lead to grave miscommunication and can affect the whole interaction between the negotiating parties deeply. For example: when Chevrolet introduced the Nova in South America, they were apparently unaware that in Spanish No va means It wont go. Thus, all the factors mentioned are not just important while dealing with international negotiations but domestic negotiations as well. Summary and Conclusions: Just like Hofstedes Onion where value lies at the extreme core of culture, culture happens to lie at the extreme core of negotiation. Even if we were to assume a perfect situation where just everything is right with the actual paperwork and the statistics of the deal on each side of the negotiation, but if the culture of the other party is not understood, then it would not turn to out to be a successful negotiation. To be successful in the international negotiation arena, negotiators need to develop high sensitivity to cultural factors, identify and pursue a culturally responsive strategy most appropriate in a given negotiation setting but at the same time acknowledge and consider also individual and structural aspects occurring in this setting. A person would be able to negotiate and persuade the other negotiating party better if he is aware of the cultural difference that both of them might have.

womenhod Gender in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays

Gender in Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness colludes with Western patriarchal gender prescriptions. Women are ominously absent from the bulk of the narrative, and when they do make an appearance they are identified through the powerful narrative viewpoint of the character Marlow, who constructs them in terms of the values of the dominant ideologies of the British gentleman. The contrast between Kurtz's Intended and his Mistress reveals to the contemporary reader this undeniable Victorian provenance - women are effectively marginalised from power and silenced by the text's endorsement of British values. "The women", Marlow declares, "are out of it". Indeed, the five women of Heart of Darkness make only brief appearances and are given only a passing mention in Marlow's narrative. His aunt, given a cameo role in the text, is supremely naà ¯ve and "out of touch with truth"; she reminds him to "wear flannel" when he is about to "set off for the centre of the earth". The knitters of black wool in the Company headquarters are defined by classical mythology, taking on a symbolic significance by "guarding the door of Darkness"; they are not characters in their own right. Kurtz's mistress is identified as a product of the wilderness, "like the wilderness itself", and is described in terms of natural processes, a "fecund and mysterious life". Kurtz's Intended, by contrast, lives in a place of death rather than of life, darkness rather than lightness, delusion rather than reality. A feminist reading identifies that females are silenced and cast as cultural archetypes in Heart of Darkness. The juxtaposition of the Intended with Kurtz's mistress highlights the traits of the culturally constructed Victorian woman. She has assembled for herself a tomb of darkness, where everything personifies the sterile and lifeless existence of her kind. The Victorian woman was expected to adhere to high standards of behavioral decency and to subscribe to the Puritan ideals of sexual and emotional restraint. Kurtz's mistress throws these characteristics into focus because she is vibrant, vital, and lives out her sexual urges. The sexual language used to describe the mistress emphasises that she is a social 'other' and foregrounds the dichotomy between women of Europe and Africa. While the Intended embodies the characteristics of a Victorian woman, her behaviour is also enormously hypocritical. She remains alive only by deceiving herself; her condition, as C.B. Cox suggests, "symbolizes that of Western Europe".

Nathaniel Hawthornes Puritan influences Essay -- good vs evil

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born into a family that possessed prominent Puritan ancestors, and the shame he experienced as a result of their actions, as well as his odd fascination with them, had a significant impact on his life and his writings. Though it would be an overstatement to say that Hawthorne's knowledge of the Puritan way of life was his only source of inspiration, this knowledge was certainly influential as it is often reflected in the majority of his work. Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804, Hawthorne was born in a town whose Puritan past is well-known as a result of the infamous Salem witch trials. Though he was born well after the time of the Puritans, growing up in a town so steeped in Puritan history is likely why his knowledge of Puritan life was so extensive (Means 1). The reason why Hawthorne was so interested in his Puritan ancestors of Salem was the fact that his great-great grandfather, John Hathorne, was a judge during the Salem witch trials. Also, his great-great-great grandfather was a member of the General Court of Massachusetts and Hawthorne did extensive research into the punishments that his great-great-great grandfather placed upon the sinners of Salem (Barna 2). Hawthorne was so repulsed by these connections that when he began publishing his work he changed his surname to Hawthorne in place of his original surname of Hathorne. While some may argue that Hawthorne was supportive of Puritan doctrine, because of the fact that he often discussed the folly of sin and was viewed as being fairly conservative for seeing sin as an inherent part of human nature, it is not true that he admired the ways of his Puritan ancestors. Hawthorne once stated that society should progress in a slower, calmer ma... ...ots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 20 July 2015. Barna, Mark Richard. "Nathaniel Hawthorne And The Unpardonable Sin."World & I 13.3 (1998): 324. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 8 July 2015. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. â€Å"The Minister's Black Veil.† Eldritch Press, n.d. Web. 20 July 2015. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print. Manheim, Daniel. â€Å"Pearl's Golden Chain in THE SCARLET LETTER.† Explicator 68.3 (2010): 177-180. Literary Reference Center. Web. 20 July 2015. Means, Richard. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† Nathaniel Hawthorne (2006): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 20 July 2015. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† PoemHunter.com. PoemHunter.com, n.d. Web. 20 July 2015. Trepanier, Lee. â€Å"The Need for Renewal: Nathaniel Hawthorne's Conservatism.† Modern Age 45.4 (2003): 315-323. Wold History Collection. Web. 20 July 2015.

A Midsummer Nights Dream Journal Essay

I am personally not a big fan of Shakespeare although by reviewing the play A Midsummer night’s dream, I’m starting to like Shakespeare’s different ideas and how most of his writing and plays involve falling in love and such. This play is mostly about four couples falling in love with the wrong person because they were potioned by a magic fairy in a forest. The setting of this play mostly took place at a forest and the time was night when the play reached its climax. In the beginning of the play, I felt like it was just one of those Shakespeare’s play where there are more dialogues than actions; but as the play keep progressing it started to get a little more intense and enjoyable to read more about the play to find out what might happen next. The part that i found to be really interesting is when the fairies put the magic potion on the wrong person’s eyelid’s and later on he woke up and fell in love with the first person he saw. That caused a lot of conflict where later in the play Hermia was jealous over helena due to the fact that both guy are going after her and challenges her to a fight. As the night progressed, Lysander who Hermia loved is chasing Helena because of the magic potion that was cast upon him and demeitrius. Later in the morning, the potion wore off but Demetrius kept his love for Helena. The production for this play is going to be epic in my opinion. I personally love plays that take plays in the nature such as the forest or somewhere in the wild. It gives the play a life of nature rather than the setting of the play being in a city or a suburb. The characters in this play are really interesting and due to their actions it seems that at a live production, they will give the audience what they are looking for. A midsummer Night’s dream is one of Shakespeare’s popular play which has been played in different cities and states with many different people who has a lot of experience with acting. In this play, some of the conversations were boring and unethical. I didn’t understand few of them and what the characters trying to say to each other until I looked them up on the internet. By reviewing this play, I believe the production would be really interesting to watch. The only thing I hate about Shakespeare’s play is the use of old English which many of us cannot understand. I don’t know for a fact if this play is going to be exciting but by reading the script I think it should be an interesting play to watch because of the setting. I like plays that take place at forests which brings in more adventure and excitement to the audience because they are expecting more from the environment and the characters.

Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget’s background Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was actually not a psychologist at first; he dedicated his time to mollusc research. In fact, by the time he was 21 he’d already published twenty scientific papers on them! He soon moved to Paris, and got a job interviewing mental patients. Before long, he was working for Alfred Binet, and refining Burt’s reasoning test. During his time working at Binet’s lab, he studied the way that children reasoned. After two years of working with children, Piaget finally realised what he wanted to investigate – children’s development!He noticed that children of a younger aged answered questions qualitatively different than those of an older age. This suggested to him that younger children were not less knowledgeable, but gave different answers because they thought differently. He spent over 10 years perfecting his theory, and it is widely acknowledged as one of the most valuable developmental theories – e specially of it’s time. It’s no lie that there are many new, possibly more valid theories now, but Piaget’s theory has had a lot of influence on schools, teaching and education all over the world.So, let’s begin exploring Piaget’s theory, the key concepts and the stages. Theories of cognitive development: Jean Piaget. September 5, 2010 at 4:00 pm 49 comments Our first years of life are an incredible, but dangerous journey. Thousands of sperm died trying to make us, and only one made it. From our journey as an embryo to a foetus – the size of a single cell to a fully sized baby – we develop more than we will our entire lives. From birth until we’re a few years old, our development is still incredibly rapid; we have so much to learn in such little time!It is advantageous to learn quickly, that way we’re more likely to survive in the cruel, unforgiving world. Piaget’s background Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was actually n ot a psychologist at first; he dedicated his time to mollusc research. In fact, by the time he was 21 he’d already published twenty scientific papers on them! He soon moved to Paris, and got a job interviewing mental patients. Before long, he was working for Alfred Binet, and refining Burt’s reasoning test. During his time working at Binet’s lab, he studied the way that children reasoned.After two years of working with children, Piaget finally realised what he wanted to investigate – children’s development! He noticed that children of a younger aged answered questions qualitatively different than those of an older age. This suggested to him that younger children were not less knowledgeable, but gave different answers because they thought differently. He spent over 10 years perfecting his theory, and it is widely acknowledged as one of the most valuable developmental theories – especially of it’s time.It’s no lie that there are many new, possibly more valid theories now, but Piaget’s theory has had a lot of influence on schools, teaching and education all over the world. So, let’s begin exploring Piaget’s theory, the key concepts and the stages. Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Background: Piaget’s theory is based on stages, whereby each stage represents a qualitatively different type of thinking. Children in stage one cannot think the same as children in stage 2, 3 or 4 etc. Transitions from one stage to another are generally very fast, and the stages always follow an invariant sequence.Another important characteristic of his stage theory is that they are universal; the stages will work for everyone in the world regardless of their differences (except their age, of course, which is what the stages are based on! ) Piaget acknowledged that there is an interaction between a child and the environment, and this is a focal point for his theory. He believed a chil d cannot learn unless they are constantly interacting with their environment, making mistakes and then learning from them. He defined children as â€Å"lone scientists†; he did not identify any need for teachers or adults in cognitive development.Children have all the cognitive mechanisms to learn on their own, and the interaction with their environment allows them to do so. To put this in perspective, another theory by Lev Vygotsky suggested that the interaction is not important at all; the child will learn when encouraged to with an adult’s assistance. The Key Concepts of Piaget’s theory: Before explaining the main part of Piaget’s theory (the four stages), it’s very important to look at some of the underlying principles behind it. †¢Schema (pl.Schemata, although some say â€Å"Schemas† for the plural) Possibly one of the most important concepts put forward by Piaget, Schemata help individuals understand the world they inhabit. They a re cognitive structures that represent a certain aspect of the world, and can be seen as categories which have certain pre-conceived ideas in them. For example, my schema for Christmas includes: Christmas trees, presents, giving, money, green, red, gold, winter, Santa Claus etc. Someone else may have an entirely different schema, such as Jesus, birth, Church, holiday, Christianity etc.Of course, there are schemata for all kinds of things – yourself (self schemata), other people (people schemata), events/situations (event schemata) and roles/occupations (role schemata). With regards to Piaget’s theory, a child might have a pre-conceived schema for a dog. If the household has a small West Highland White Terrier as a dog, the schema might be â€Å"small, furry, four legs, white†. When the child interacts with a new dog – perhaps a Labrador, it will change to incorporate the new information, such as â€Å"big, golden, smooth etc. † This is known as: â € ¢AssimilationSimply the process of incorporating new information into a pre-existing schema. So with the â€Å"dog† example, the child assimilated the Labrador’s information into the old dog schema. Assimilation is essentially fitting new information into schemata we already have in place. Unfortunately, this can lead to stereotyping. For example, if an old lady sees a teenager mug another person, she might assimilate â€Å"violence† or â€Å"crime† into her teenage schema. Next time she sees a teenager, her schema will be applied to them – and although they may be a kind person, she will probably show prejudice.Assimilation is normally a simple process, as new information already fits the pre-exisiting categories. †¢Accommodation When coming across a new object for the first time, a child will attempt to apply an old schema to the object. For consistency, let’s use the dog example again. The child may have â€Å"four legs, furryâ €  in their dog schema. When coming across another similar animal, such as a cat, they might say â€Å"Look, a dog! † – that’s assimilation. However, when told that it’s actually a cat – not a dog – they will accommodate the new information into another schema.They will now form a â€Å"cat† schema; â€Å"not all four legged furry animals are dogs – some are cats too! †. They have accommodated the new information. The process just mentioned – of assimilation then accommodation is known as – †¢Adaptation Assimilation and accommodation are the two parts of adaptation – which is simply what it says – adapting our schemata to make an accurate (enough) model of the world we live in. It is a form of learning, but an entirely different form to the kind you’d see in behaviourist psychology for example (such as operant/classical conditioning). †¢EquilibriumPiaget suggested that huma ns naturally strive to achieve a cognitive balance; there must be a balance between applying prior knowledge (assimilation) and changing schemata to account for new information (accommodation). Piaget suggested that when a child has a schema which doesn’t fit reality, there is tension in the mind. By balancing the use of assimilation and accommodation, this tension is reduced and we can proceed to higher levels of thought and learning (equilibration). The following stages form the bulk of Piaget’s theory: STAGE ONE: The Sensorimotor stage Occurs from birth to approx. years old. During this stage, information is received through all the senses. The child tries to make sense of the world during this stage, and as the name suggests, only senses and motor abilities are used to do so. The child utilizes innate behaviours to enhance this learning process, such as sucking, looking, grasping, crying and listening. To make this even more complex, there are 6 sub-stages of this one stage. To begin, the child uses only reflexes and innate behaviour. Towards the end of this stage, the child uses a range of complex sensorimotor skills. The sub-stages are as follows: 1.Reflexes (0-1 month): The child uses only innate reflexes. For example, if a nipple or dummy is put into a baby’s mouth, they will reflexively suck on it. If an object is placed in their palm, the hand will automatically grab it. These reflexes have the sole function of keeping the child alive. 2. Primary Circular Actions (1-4 months): The child now has a fixation with it’s own body with regards to behaviour(what Piaget refers to as primary behaviour); they will perform actions repeatedly on themselves (like sucking their own hand). They also begin to refine reflexes here to form more complex versions of them. 3.Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months): At around 4 months, the child begins to take an interest in their environment (their behaviour is secondary). They notice that th ey can actually influence events in their world, for example they can drop a teddy which bashes a ball on the floor. Although this occurs, the infant will not make conscious connections between what they do and the consequences, they merely observe that their actions have interesting effects. 4. Co-ordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (8-12 months): At this point, the child begins to engage in goal-directed behaviour; they begin to develop cause-effect relationships.So rather than crawl over to a teddy in a cart to pick it up, they might instead pull the cart over with the teddy in to acquire it. The child effectively knows that their behaviour will have a certain consequence. At this stage, object permanence is acquired – but I will explain this after these sub-stages. 5. Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months): At this stage, children like to use creativity and flexibility with their previous behaviours, and the result of their experimentation often leads to differ ent outcomes.So rather than grabbing a box, they might instead try to tilt or manipulate it. 6. Symbolic/Mental Representation (18-24 months): At this stage, the child develops symbolic thought and the ability to mentally represent objects in their head. Normally, the child would need to resort to trial-and-error to achieve a desired effect. Now, however, the child can ‘plan’ to some extent and mentally construct the consequences of an action in their head. Of course, predictions are not always accurate, but it is a step up from trial-and-error.There are two key examples of mental representation in children: object permanence and deferred imitation. Object permanence is when objects exist even when out of sight. In the first three sub-stages, children will not attempt to search for an object which is hidden from their view; in their mind, the object simply ceases to exist as they cannot see it. At sub-stage four, however, they show this characteristic of object permanen ce. If an object is hidden from them, they will attempt to find it, but will repeatedly look in the same place – even if the object is moved (the so called â€Å"A-not-B error†).However, by sub-stage 6, the child is able to mentally represent the object in their mind, leading to exploration for an object even if it is moved. They will continue to look for an object until they find it, as they understand objects exist regardless of where they are. Deferred imitation is simply the imitation of behaviour a child has seen before. As a child can mentally represent behaviour they have seen, they are able to enact it through playing and in other situations. So a child might ‘talk’ down a toy telephone or ‘steer’ a toy car around the room.STAGE TWO: The Pre-operational Stage Occurs from 2-7 years of age. The mental representation of the sensorimotor stage provides a smooth transition to semiotic functioning in the pre-operational stage. This essential ly means that a child can use one object to represent another (symbolically). For example, a child swinging their arms in a circular motion might represent the wheels on a train, or sticking their arms out and running might symbolise the movement of an aeroplane. This shows the relationships children can form between language, actions and objects at this stage.A major characteristic of this stage is egocentrism: perception of the world in relation to oneself only. Children struggle to perceive situations from another point of view or perspective, as shown by Piaget and Inhelder’s Three Mountains Task (1956). In this study, children were asked what can be perceived from certain positions on a 3D model. See the diagram below for a clearer idea. Piaget and Inhelder: Three Mountains Task (1956)†] [1 The child would have been asked, â€Å"What view does Piaget have? †. In the actual study though, they were shown around 8 cards of possible viewpoints rather than the th ree above.As you can imagine, the children struggled to decentralise and pick the correct picture. Another feature of this stage is conservation. Children struggle to understand the difference in quantity and measurements in different situations. For example, suppose a child is shown a short, fat beaker full of water. When that water is transferred entirely to a tall, thin beaker – we would know the level of water is identical – only the beaker has changed. However, a child in this stage will conclude there is more water in the tall beaker, just because the level of water looks higher.Children in this stage also lack the required cognition to apply reversibility to situations; they cannot imagine objects or numbers reversed to their previous form. This will be explored in the next stage (where reversibility IS present). When a child has the ability to decenter, they are said to progress to the next stage STAGE THREE: The Concrete Operational Stage Occurs from 7-11 year s of age. This stage sees another shift in children’s cognitive thinking. It is aptly named â€Å"concrete† because children struggle to apply concepts to anything which cannot physically be manipulated or seen.Nevertheless, the child continues to improve their conservation skills, and by the age of 11 they can conserve numbers, weight and volume (acquired in that order). The child can also understand principles of †class inclusion†; perspective tasks become much easier, and children begin to understand that other people actually have different views to themselves. Simple maths, such as addition/subtraction become much easier. However, as this stage is concrete, Piaget suggests children will struggle to apply any prior knowledge to abstract situations.For example, when asked seriation tasks such as â€Å"John is taller than Pete. John is shorter than Simon. Who is tallest? † , concrete children often fail to provide a correct answer as the situation is too abstract. However, when dolls are used to represent Pete, Simon and John, the children are able to answer – as the situation is bought back to a concrete one with physical representations. STAGE FOUR: The Formal Operational Stage. Occurs from age 11 onwards. Children at this stage acquire the ability to think hypothetically and â€Å"outside the box†.Logical conclusions can be inferred from verbal information, and â€Å"concrete†, physical objects are no longer necessary. When presented with a problem, children at this stage can consider solutions to the problem in a logical manner. The child becomes increasingly â€Å"adult-like† with regards to their cognitive abilities. Scientific reasoning is apparent in this stage, and is indicated by Piaget and Inhelder’s Pendulum Task (1958). When asked to determine the effect different weights and rope length have on the speed of a swinging pendulum, formal operational children came to consistent and logical conclusions.