Juno film Essay

Juno The film I have chosen for this paper is the drama-comedy Juno directed by Jason Reirman. It is a domestic comedy with anarchic elements. In the film, you get to follow Juno MacGuff, a 16-years-old girl, as her life changes when she finds out that she is pregnant. It’s a realistic film told from Juno’s point of view. The film touches several controversial, populist themes, but manages to do so without being clichà ©. The most obvious being the teen pregnancy, but other topics such as the curiosity of sex among teenagers, the constant questioning of whether abortion is okay or not comes along with it. A big part of the film takes place in Juno’s home, which is typical for a domestic comedy. The main plot of the movie touches themes common to family life. There is the â€Å"modern family† core with stepmothers and half-siblings, the complicity in being a teenager as well as raising one. The more or less ordinary family life is displayed with a lot of humor. The questioning of stereotypes and prejudices play a big role in this film, as do contrasts. Instead of the cheerleader getting pregnant with the quarterback, as many would expect, it is the tomboy and the geeky runner who end up in that situation. As most teens portrayed in films, Juno has a close girlfriend. The odd thing in this case is that it is not a girl considered stranger than Juno herself in terms of norms, it is the cheerleader. In many other of these teen films, usually the cheerleader bugs the â€Å"odd girl†, as for example in â€Å"Mean Girls†. The most prominent contrast in the film is the home of the MacGuffs VS. the home of the adoptive parents Mark and Vanessa Loring. The two homes are set like two different worlds. In the MacGuff house, it s eems like it is impossible to have too many lamps, ornamental dogs or photo frames. The color scale goes in earthy brown tones. Meanwhile, the Loring house does not seem to ever be perfect enough. As Vanessa and Mark are introduced to the story, Vanessa is putting the photo frames in order and arranging the flowers until they are perfect. The dominant colors in the Loring house are clean bright colors as beige and white. The houses become symbols for how different the two families are. The easygoing, messy MacGuffs, and the uptight, stiff Lorings. For the opening scene of the film, there is a long shot of Juno standing in front of an armchair. The armchair is going to be a symbol throughout the movie. The camera cuts to a close up of Junos face and her empty eyes staring at the chair, delivering a message of frustration and hopelessness. She has a monolog where she tells the viewer about the chair, that it was in a chair everything started, where she got pregnant. A â€Å"film inside the film† of Junos memories from that moment is shown for the viewer. A dog barks and the camera makes a quick cut back to reality, Juno and the chair. She leaves the chair behind and the camera follows her as she goes to the local corner shop to get a pregnancy test, the third for the day. She is dressed in a red hood and blue jeans, the red symbolizes her strong, colorful personality. Red is also a symbol for life and vitality, a color symbolism very suitable for the scene. She takes the pregnancy test in the store’s narrow restroom, which has a dim low-key lightning. The setting reinforces the feeling of Juno being â€Å"painted into a corner†. As she takes the test, the camera cuts between close-ups of Junos legs as she sits down, the pregnancy test and her face. These close-ups make the relationship between Juno and the viewer intimate and one gets to feel sympathy for her. It is important to anchor the sympathy for Juno in the beginning of the film since the viewer will get to follow her during her journey. Juno leaves the store and walks home, the camera follows her from behind. Darkness has fallen and Juno has put the hood over her head as a way to alienate herself from the surrounding world. As she walks, a group of guys from her school comes running towards her. They are out of focus and run by her on both sides, creating like a tunnel for Juno to walk through. To me the runners are a metaphor for the thoughts running through Juno’s head and the difficult repressed situation in which she has ended up. Juno is portrayed as a stubborn, cocky girl who takes her own way in life. She has dark hair that she wears in a ponytail and her clothes are far from what typically are considered â€Å"girl clothes†. She wears loose fitted jeans, t-shirts, pullovers and hoods. Her best friend, Leah, on the other hand is a cheerleader with long blond hair who dresses in skirts and is much of a â€Å"girly-girl†. As the Leah is introduced to the audience, the contrasting personalities between the two friends are shown trough the mise-en-scene. When Juno calls Leah to tell her about the pregnancy, the camera cuts between the two girls and their bedrooms. Junos room has a shoebox feeling to it. There are photos of her friends, posters and dif ferent paintings all over the walls as well as the ceiling. She has plectrums laying all over her desk and a miniature electric guitar that  gives away her interest for music. The dominating colors are earthy tones of brown, red and orange. Leah’s room on the other hand is dominated by light colors such as pink, white, yellow and dim blue. She has stuffed animals on a shelf and big windows with thin, light curtains. Juno decides that the way to tell the baby’s father, Bleeker, about the pregnancy is to set up a living room setting in his yard where she can break the news. When darkness falls, Leah is helping to move everything that is needed. They help each other to lift a heavy armchair into the trunk of Junos car. In this scene, the armchair is a symbol for the pregnancy, something that only the girls know of so far. It is still a complex, heavy secret kept in the dark, just like the chair. Reirman uses color values in a broad way through the film, especially when it comes to the characters clothes. In the loading of the armchair scene, Juno wears a red hood while Leah wears a blue. This highlights the different personalities of the two young girls even more. As the pregnancy progresses the color of Juno s clothes changes from the bright red hood to earthier, duller colors in green and brown shades. This color change reinforces Junos situation and the effect the pregnancy has on her life. Another example of color value being used is when Vanessa gets to see her son for the first time. She is then wearing a yellow sweater, symbolizing the joy she feels after finally becoming a mother. A task she feels she has been born to. During a visit to the prospective adoptive parents Juno finds out that Mark is going to divorce Vanessa, sad and frustrated she heads back home. The camera is shooting from the backseat as Juno is driving; she is placed to the left of the frame and the long, empty road ahead of her to the right. This creates a movement from left to right, giving the viewer a feeling of optimism and that everything will work out for the best. The camera cuts to a panning shot as Juno parks the car by the side of the road. A cut to a low angle is made, showing a close up of Juno as she cries. The gray seat, ceiling and the steering wheel creates a tight frame around Juno. There is a claustrophobic feeling through the setting, which emphasizes the fragile state Juno finds herself in. Juno decides that if Vanessa is still willing to be a mom, Juno is willing to give her the baby. The majority of the film is shot in high key lightning, typical for comedy movies. This goes for the scene at the hospital when the baby is born as well. However, in the next scene this will change. The camera shows a  close up of Mr. MacGuff as he pats the head of his daughter who just gave birth. The lightning has gotten softer, giving the yellow color of the walls a warm soothing glow. There is calm and a balance over the scene, giving the feeling that everything is going to be okay from now on. The camera then cuts to a shot from Junos point of view showing Bleeker standing in the door opening. The walls behind Bleeker are blue and contrasting to the goldish colors in Junos hospital room. The colors and the separating walls become a metaphor for the â€Å"cold† reality Bleeker is just coming from, and the warm future that he is about to step into with Juno. A reality more suitable for two 16-year-old kids, where they do not have to be parents. Juno is a realistic film anchored in reality, there are several references to modern culture to underline this. Films and â€Å"hobbits† are mentioned, but the main thing is the music. Music is a big part of Junos life and her personality. It also becomes a key element when Juno and Mark are bounding. They burn CD’s to each other and discuss music by Sonic Youth, Iggy Pop and Patti Smith among others. To convey that the film is told from Junos point of view, Reirman uses her voice over as rapid cuts are made of what she is talking about. This technique is used when Juno introduces her family. As she talks about her mother, who is living in Arizona, the camera cuts to long shot of a desert house in the middle of a beige field. The tone of Juno’s voice says that the mother’s absence does not bother her that much, as to the dullness of the colors in the shot. The camera then cuts to extreme close-ups of the smiles of her mother’s new family, the husband and their three â€Å"replacement kids†. To show the viewer that the mother has been out of the picture for a long time the camera cuts to a close up of numerous cactuses in a window. Juno’s voice over is explaining that her mother sends her one cactus every valentine’s day. In Juno, the mise-en-scene is frequently used to strengthen the message of the film. By using color values, lightning keys and symbolism Reirman captures the contrasts of the story. I do not know if I would call Juno my favorite film, but it is definitely one of my favorite â€Å"feel-good† films. No matter what mood I am in, I always feel much happier and more positive after watching this film. I love the sarcasm in the film and I can see much of myself when I was 16 in Juno. I like how the film takes up such a controversial and taboo topic with as much humor as it does. To me it mak es the film appealing instead of  feeling as a â€Å"moral message to teenagers†.

Economic Crisis and a Shift to the Right Essay

In 1867, after battling invaders for nearly a millennium, Hungary became an autonomous state within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This expansive empire had its northern border in present day Poland, its southern border in present day Serbia, and was bordered on the east and west by the Black and Mediterranean Seas, respectively. The empire was eventually defeated in World War I and through the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 the monarchy was disbanded, and after a period of turmoil, an independent kingdom was established under the authoritarian rule of Admiral Miklos Horthy. Due to the terms of the treaty and the redrawing of many European borders, Hungary’s size was reduced by two-thirds, leaving more than 5 million native Hungarians outside of the country’s borders. These effects remain a sensitive issue for many today and still complicate relations between Hungary and its neighbors. In the events that led to World War II, Hungary joined forces with Nazi Germany by joining the Anti-Comintern Pact and withdrawing from the League of Nations. These measures were taken in an effort to regain its lost territory from the World War I aftermath. At the start of World War II, Hungary remained neutral, however with pressure from Germany, Hungary entered the war in 1941 by invading both Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. After several early battle losses, Hungary began secretly negotiating with the Allies. Hearing of these negotiations, Germany invaded Hungary and installed a puppet government. This new government began eliminating the Hungarian Jewish and Roma populations until Soviet forces in Budapest drove it out in 1945. In the wake of these events, the capital and much of the country was left in ruins. The Soviet Era (1945-1989) After World War II, Communists held power in Hungary with the support of the Soviet Union. A new land reform bill was passed that redistributed land from large estate owners to peasants. Additionally, during this time, industries became nationalized and collective agriculture was instituted. Hungary joined the Warsaw Pact aligning itself with the Soviet Union. The Hungarian population, however, was dissatisfied with this government, and in an effort to appease the people, the government instituted reforms such as withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact and becoming a neutral power. These concessions on the part of the government allowed the Hungarians to realize their power and they demanded further reform and removal of Soviet domination. As a result, Hungarians revolted against the Soviet domination of Hungary. Although the Soviet Army defeated the Hungarians, killing more than 2,500 citizens and forcing more than 200,000 to flee, a new government was instituted. This government, led by Janos Kadar, was still Soviet-friendly, but recognized the need for reform and began to become gradually more liberalized through the 1960’s. The Path to the European Union (1989-2006) In 1989, Hungary was the first country to breach the â€Å"Iron Curtain†. Soon thereafter, Hungary transitioned from Communism to a multiparty parliamentary democracy that welcomed foreign investment. Initially, the result was a dramatic decline in economic activity and living standards. However, within four years of the collapse of communism, nearly half of the country’s economic enterprises had been transferred to the private sector, and by 1998 Hungary was attracting nearly half of all foreign direct investment in Central Europe. In 1994, as a backlash to its rapid liberalization, Hungarians voted the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) into power. The MSZP was a center-left party and the unofficial successor of the Communists. This government supported and funded social programs while also continuing with economic reform by selling off government owned enterprises and implementing targeted austerity measures. Soon, the country’s newfound growth and stability allowed it to receive an invitation to join NATO. Despite its solid economic performance, the MSZP was affected by allegations of corruption, which led to its defeat in 1998 by a Fidesz led coalition who selected Viktor Orban as prime minister. Orban’s government created centralized control and refused to meet with opposite party leaders for months. They then adopted the â€Å"Status Law†, an effort to reach out to the displaced Hungarian natives. The â€Å"Status Law† offered native Hungarians living in neighboring countries benefits such as health, education, and employment rights in Hungary. Despite Western criticism of his policies, Fidesz did choose to continue the MSZP’s policy of satisfying the Copenhagen criteria to enter the European Union. In 2002, an MSZP coalition regained government control after Fidesz’s administration became the subject of scandals. The new Prime Minister, Ferenc Gyurscany, was able to complete the process and formally join the EU along with nine other states in 2004. After joining, Hungary began to pursue the more difficult challenge of joining the Eurozone by completing the Maastricht criteria. The Hungarian government predicted that this task could be completed by the end of the decade. Hungary’s Entrance to the Eurozone ; Failed Attempts to Join Eurozone In the late eighties, Hungary made progressive steps to position themselves for entry into the European Union. Hungary was the first country to breach the forty-year â€Å"Iron Curtain† surrounding the Eastern European countries. The â€Å"Iron Curtain† was the political, military, ideological barrier created by the Soviet Union after World War II to separate eastern and central Communist European allies from the Western noncommunist countries. In 1989, Hungary peacefully replaced their communist political party with a multi-party parliamentary democracy. As reported by the New York Times, a sweeping majority of Hungarian Communist Party voted for the radical transformation of legislation. The main motivation for the shift was due to a stagnant economy and oppressed religion under communist rule. A need for reform and free open trade with Western countries aided the Hungarian Communist Party in their decision. Before making the final vote, Hungary already began permitting the assembly and association of the non-communist parties. In 1991 Hungary completely withdrew from the Warsaw Pact, appointing the country’s first Parliament President elect. The political restructuring was aided by a shift to a free market-based economy. Liberal economic policies and ideals such as foreign investment, asset management, entrepreneurship and integrating Hungary into the world economy were adopted by the new rule. A shift from an authoritarian economic science to a democratic capitalist system was projected to be a fairly smooth process. However, despite high hopes of a prosperous economy there was a dramatic decline of economic activity and living standards. High interest and inflation rates, unemployment amounting to 12%, and the conspicuous consumption of the new elite of entrepreneurs elicited widespread dissatisfaction among Hungarians. Some economists argue that the idea of capitalism in combination with the new practice of democracy will fail if introduced simultaneously. This is what occurred in 1991 as the ambitious measures of the new parliamentary party began to fail. Life became very difficult for many Hungarians as they struggled during the severe recession exacerbated by the fiscal austerity necessary to reduce inflation and stimulate investment. After rising backlash caused by the poor state of the economy, Hungarians voted into power the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) overthrowing the conservative Hungarian Democratic Forum. The MSZP was the center-left unofficial successor of the communist party. Since the MSZP was founded on traditional communist ideals, the MSZP gained majority support based on the belief that â€Å"things were better in the old days† when there were more jobs and economic security. The MSZP supported popular social programs while still progressively pursuing reform, selling state owned enterprises and implementing targeted austerity measures. For about 4 years, the reign of the MSZP was successful as there was a surge of stability and growth. Hungary also received an invitation to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization during this time. Despite the success of the MSZP’s role in Hungary’s four-year economic stimulation, corruption plagued the party. In 1998, the MSZP lost control as the Fidesz-led coalition gained majority vote. In 1998 negotiations for Hungary’s entrance into the EU also began. Viktor Orban, the prime minister, was criticized after the implementation of controversial laws such as the â€Å"Status Law†. This law granted health, education and employment rights to native Hungarians residing in other countries. This law violated principles of the European Union. This was a horrible direction to take if Hungary had motives of joining the EU. Corruption scandals and bribery surrounding Orban’s government proved to be detrimental just as they had been for the MSZP in 1998. There was a flip flop in parties as the MSZP regained control in 2002. Picking up where Fidesz and the party left off in 1998, Prime Minister Gyurcsany implemented the final required reforms and joined the 15 country EU in 2004 along with Cyrus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. After this success, Hungary began pursuing the strict requirements for membership into the euro zone, also known as the Maastricht criteria. The criteria outlined the terms regarding inflation, public debt and the public deficit, exchange rate stability and the convergence of interest rates. The MSZP had high hopes that the terms of these criteria would be reached by the end of the decade. As exhibited by similar events in Hungary’s past, the ambitious attempts didn’t quite live up to expectations. The MSZP maintained control in the election of 2006. Before this election there was a ballooning budget deficit of over 9% of GDP. This issue was overlooked, while the party promised more spending and lower taxes. In 2006, as more controversy unraveled, Prime Minister Gyurcsany admitted that his party had lied about the economic condition of the country for two years. While protests plagued the country, Gyurcsany introduced austerity measures, which included tax increases and spending cuts to trim the budget deficit to 3. 2% of GDP. According to the Maastricht Treaty, the government deficit could not exceed 3% of annual GDP. Citizens revolted and the electorate denounced the new fees, causing a major defeat for Gyurcsany’s austerity measures. A global credit crisis overshadowed Hungary’s economy in 2008 and 2009 and the efforts to meet the Maastricht criteria for the Eurozone failed. Fixed vs. Floating: What Should Hungary Have Done with the Forint Hungary lost all hopes of reaching the Eurozone as the 2008-2009 financial crisis descended upon economies. Due to falling consumer spending, Hungary suffered a trade collapse and there was a loss of confidence in forint-denominated assets among investors. In February 2008, Hungary chose to float the forint after facing substantial pressure for devaluation. By midyear, the forint began a steep depreciation, which had the effect of making Hungarian exports more attractive. This had the potential to raise Hungary’s GDP, as an increase in net exports, all other things remaining equal, will raise GDP according to the equation in Chapter 5 of the textbook Y=C+I+G+NX, where NX=NX (? ). This was not the case, however, as from 2008 to 2009, Hungary saw a 6. 7% decrease in GDP. Other aspects of the economy were at work simultaneously which led to the decrease in GDP. The depreciation of the forint also meant that Hungarian households with foreign denominated currencies saw their payments increase dramatically in terms of the domestic currency. As many Hungarians had taken on loans in foreign currencies, specifically the Swiss franc, due to low interest rates, this proved a problem for several households. These loans were of little risk when the forint was pegged to the euro, however with the currency’s recent decline, many of these loans faced default. In October 2008, Hungary’s central bank raised interest rates to 11. 5%, a 3% increase. This was an effort to equilibrate saving and investment. According to the text, increases in the interest rate serve to increase the supply of loanable funds and decrease their demand. Because Chapter 5 states that an increase in investment demand leads to a trade deficit, we can see that the Hungarian government is trying to increase its net exports to combat the financial crisis. The switch to floating the forint was intended to free Hungary to pursue economic policy independent of the Eurozone, however fears of a Hungarian default on sovereign debt forced their government to request international financial assistance. Hungary received $25. 1 billion from the IMF, World Bank, and EU, making it the first nation to receive a bailout led by the IMF. This bailout came with promises to implement austerity measures to reduce public sector pay, increase some taxes, and decrease spending on social programs. By the first quarter of 2009, Hungary saw a decrease in GDP, an increase in unemployment, and the forint became Europe’s worst performing currency. During the financial crisis, four of the eight EU countries located in Central and Eastern Europe chose to float their currencies, and only Hungary was seeing such financial and political complications. The other countries that did not float their currencies took a different strategy and defended their pre-crisis exchange rates with the Euro during the global recession. In order to remain competitive, they slashed their deficits and curbed inflation. These countries, however, were some of the worst performing in 2009. In the decision as to whether or not Hungary should have chosen to float their currency or remain pegged to the euro, it is important to compare the features of each option. A country may choose to follow hard exchange rate pegs, soft exchange rate pegs, or floating currency. Hard exchange rate pegs usually lead to sound fiscal and structural policies and low inflation. They tend to be longstanding, allowing for certainty when pricing transactions. Downsides include that the central bank has no independent monetary policy because it cannot adjust exchange rates and interest rates are tied to those of the anchor country. Another option is soft exchange rate pegs. With soft pegs, countries maintain a stable value against an anchor currency/currencies, which can be pegged within a narrow ( ±1%) or wide ( ± 30%) range. Soft pegs remain a nominal anchor to settle inflation expectations and they allow for limited monetary policy to deal with shocks. Soft pegs are vulnerable, however, to financial crises, which can lead to large devaluations and even abandonment of the peg. The third option is floating exchange rate. This rate is mainly determined by the market and central banks intervene mostly through purchases or sales of foreign currencies in exchange for local currency in order to limit short-term rate fluctuations. Depending upon the country, the central bank may be particularly involved, or not involved at all. An advantage of floating regimes is that countries have the advantage of maintaining an independent monetary policy. Measures however must be taken to ensure success. First, the foreign exchange and financial markets must be able to absorb shocks without large exchange rate changes. Also, instruments must be available to hedge risks posed by the floating exchange rate. Hungary should not have remained pegged to the Euro during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Had Hungary remained pegged, it would have likely faced worse fates than it saw during this time period. Since the other countries who remained pegged found themselves among the worst performing nations in the region, Hungary would have likely found itself in a similar situation to Latvia who even found their IMF bailout insufficient. Since none of these nations fared well, it would have been an unwise decision for the forint to remain pegged to the Euro. In contrast, the others that decided to float their currencies during this time had mixed effects. Poland actually saw a 1. 7% increase in GDP from 2008-2009, while Romania’s GDP dropped 7.1% during the same time period. Since there was some success achieved by floating currencies during this crisis, it could be concluded that there was a difference in monetary policy that could account for the success or failure of these economies. Hungary’s decision to float the forint was a wise one, however the execution of the policies surrounding this decision should have been modified. The advantage of full control of monetary poli cy was an advantage to floating currency, although it could also be a disadvantage if the policies do not promote thecurrency’s success. Hungary should have implemented some austerity measures and set up policies to try to cushion some of the inevitable blow that would be brought on by the financial crisis and the new currency in the market. If those things had been done, Hungary may have seen less of a decline during this period and may have even prospered as Poland did. Exchange Rate of Hungarian Forint vs. USD, Euro and Swiss Franc Based off of the graphs you will be able to see what the forint was worth compared to the dollar, euro and Swiss franc. Looking at the first graph, forint and dollar comparison, the forint currency was worth around 200 to 240 dollars. The biggest difference in the currency was between 2008 and 2009, which is when they decided to float the forint. Looking at the second graph, forint and euro comparison, the forint currency was worth around 260 euros until they floated. After 2009 the value of the forint decreased making their value around 300 euros. Looking at third graph, forint and Swiss francs comparison, the forint currency was worth around 180 Swiss francs until they floated. Then in 2009 the forint value decreased making their value compared to Swiss francs around 200 to 240. Hungary decided to peg the euro and Swiss francs for different reasons. They decided to peg the euro because they ultimately wanted to adopt the euro and show some relative stability in their currency. They had a target date but it was abandoned due to their debt, high budget deficit and inflation. Hungary pegged the Swiss francs because nearly 80 percent Hungarians had foreign currency loans and 55 percent of mortgages in Swiss francs. These loans had low interest and presented little risk to borrowers. The unopposed legislation of Fidesz and Orban and its economic impact The Fidesz and Orban parliamentary election in 2010 caused some controversy with other countries but continued to unite the Hungarian nation. One of the first actions that occurred was passing a bill for dual citizenship for Hungarians living abroad to offset the negative effects of Trianon Treaty. Neighboring countries, such as Slovakia, Romania and Slovenia were frustrated with this bill, but Hungarians were very supportive because many thought the treaty was unfair. Another feud was with the IMF. Orban promised to fulfill their campaign promise and stand his ground on the loan repayment. He felt that Hungary didn’t need to repay these loans because these decisions were due to the previous MSZP-led government. International investors reacted negatively to his actions, but domestic reactions were more positive. Fidesz sought out meeting EU deficit goals through raising new taxes on the banking, telecom, energy, retains, and pharmaceutical sectors. Hungarian populations supported Fidesz while multinationals continued to lose profit. In late 2010, the government made another change to support its fiscal situation by bringing private pension assets under state control. This upset private pension fund industries and The National Confederation of Hungarian Trade Unions but increased the trust in the government from Hungarian population. They believed that the assets from pensions would help balance the budget. Lastly, the Hungarian government decided to take over the country’s rate setting Monetary Policy Council by amending a law that gave parliament the right to nominate all four external members. Despite the changes that Fidesz and Orban made, Hungary was still strong in investments. Some advantages were in fact foreign direct investments, which totaled more than $2. 5 billion. They also have been able to the meet the demands of EU since becoming a member in 2004, showing their political stability. The location of Hungary has attracted many firms by being able to connect Western Europe to other Eastern European countries. Hungary also continued to interest major multinational companies by having strong human capital. Outsiders, other foreign countries, and credit rating agencies may not have agreed with the decisions of the parliament, but it had no effect on their growth as a nation. Hungary continued their reform and growth. Is it wise to invest in Hungary? There are factors that the case touches on which suggest that Hungary is not the safest investment; however, from looking at Hungary in its totality it is undeniable that Hungary should be a European market to invest in. Location Examining Hungary’s location and its relative proximity to its neighboring European countries, helps justify why investors would want to consider investing in the country. Hungary is situated in the heart of Europe bordering seven countries with one of Europe’s largest waterways, the Danube, running through Budapest. This favorable location coupled with the major land routes and waterways that span across Hungary make the country an optimal place for manufacturing, trade, services, and logistics. This prime location, accessible within a few hours of all European countries, makes Hungary an ideal launch point for investors who plan to develop their growing businesses while capitalizing on key European markets. The central European country is known for their excellent infrastructure, their prime business parks and industrial sites. Considered a landlocked port city, Hungary is key in connecting Western and Eastern Europe. Stability and the EU As a long-standing member of the European Union, one of the major factors that also lends to the possibility of Hungary being a safe investment, is Hungary’s relative political stability. It is considered the most developed of the Eastern European countries and its highly developed infrastructure along with its stable government makes Hungary even more appealing. Hungary offers access to a market of over 250 million people within its borders as well as a European Union common market exceeding a half of a billion people. Di Tella, Weinzierl and Kuipers aptly highlight Hungary’s stability, by pointing out that since emerging from communism in 1989, Hungary had held no interim elections and the federal government was never forced to dissolve – two things most other countries in Central and Eastern Europe could not claim. The authors then continue in saying that, in addition, regardless of the political party in power, Hungary had honored the demands of the EU since becoming a member, including regulations on transparency , auditing, and budgets. Human Capital, Labor Costs and Economic Policy Other factors that help make Hungary an attractive investment are its labor costs, an investment friendly economic policy and its strong human capital. Hungary has a highly educated workforce where more than 85% of persons between the ages of 25-34 have completed secondary school; with 70% of those individuals are enrolled in some form of higher education. More impressive still are the wages that these highly educated individuals work for. The authors make mention of these low labor costs by saying: moreover, Hungary’s labor force worked for a fraction of their counterparts in the EU – in 2007, real wages in Hungary were 40 percent of the EU average. Essentially those companies willing to invest in Hungary’s human capital would be receiving a talented workforce, capable of achieving first-rate outcomes, at a discount rate. Frido Diepeveen, an operation manager at Randstad was quoted saying, â€Å"While the characteristics of a Hungarian workforce make Budapest an ideal choice of location for multinational companies, Hungarians also find the dynamic and multicultural atmosphere of corporate giants appealing, creating the right recipe for a mutually satisfying and long-lasting match between employer and employee. Young Hungarians are educated at a high level, satisfying your need for well qualified fresh graduates. † In addition to the affordable labor costs, Hungary’s economic policy welcomes foreign investment; and prior to its full absorption into the EU Hungary experienced some of the most aggressive foreign investment of any Eastern European country. Contrarily, it is true that there are some drawbacks to investing in Hungary, and one should be mindful of them before investing. The most obvious of these risks or drawbacks is the increasing rate of inflation. Hungary’s high inflation rate (of almost 8%) was the chief reason behind the country not being allowed in the Euro currency group – which had standards in place ensuring that inflation must be lower than 3% for a country to join. Hungary’s high rate of inflation coupled with their lingering government debt has prevented them from adopting the Euro as their chief currency and has left them with the much weaker forint. This has in turn led to higher taxes on businesses in an effort to counterbalance the large deficits and high rate of inflation. With companies being taxed at a much higher rate, companies are subsequently forced to either accept a lower profit margin or cut costs. Even after considering this major drawback to investing in Hungary, it is hard to overlook those key factors, which make Hungary a very appealing country to invest in. Bibliography

Karaoke Television

The word â€Å"KTV† stands for Karaoke Television. It is a form of interactive entertainment where amateurs sing along recorded music using a microphone and public address system with a screen of displayed lyrics. There are over 100 KTV establishments in Singapore. Party World KTV is an established karaoke entertainment in Singapore, boasting 12 outlets throughout the island. Equipped with the latest in entertainment technology, user-friendly systems and comfortable spacious rooms, patrons are ensured utmost pleasure and comfort. Party World KTV strives to enrich patron’s experience in singing quality and ‘beyond singing’ experience. Various segments have been identified as possible segments that Party World KTV could target and choose to focus on. Possible segments include but are not limited to: students, corporate, families and senior citizens. The possible segments allows Party World to be an all-rounder KTV entertainment provider, providing from young to old, private to corporate. However, instead of competing in a mass market with broad segments, in adopting a narrower focus, the company ideally focuses on their specialized needs, thus better tailoring the marketing mix accordingly. The chosen segments to focus are students and corporate. Students and corporate segments are important source of customer base. Corporate functions are on regular basis where organizers are willing to spend generously. Students, on the other hand are cost conscious. Singapore’s KTV entertainment industry has grown rapidly over the years. Party World KTV has significance market shares in the industry, nevertheless, not without strong competitors like K Box, Good Luck KTV and Top One KTV. The targeted markets consist of working class (corporate) and non-working class (students). There are huge pools of customers readily available in these two segments. Offering specialize services aimed at corporate functions could set Part World’s positioning at a higher level. Students, on the other hand are customers who enjoy KTV entertainment due to many reasons such as, fans who imitate idols, singing as hobby and friends hangout. In targeting these segments, Party World KTV sets its positioning in customer’s mind uniquely different from other common KTVs. Setting a prestige standard for official functions while not neglecting the needs of the young and non-working customers. An overview of the marketing mix, place, price, products (service) and promotion are as followed. * Place – Exclusive, multiple locations strategically located (12 branches). Rooms are comfortable and spacious. VIPs room exclusively only available in 5 branches with prior bookings needed. All branches are located island wide, convenient for all. * Price – Different pricing strategy. Higher prices targeted to high end customers (corporate functions). Affordable prices for middle income or non-working customers (students). With 2 major segments targeted, pricing have to be set accordingly, suiting customer’s need. Moreover, customers are charges at per room (not per pax), this allows customers to bring more friends. * Products and/or (Services) – High-end service, well-trained staffs and well equip facilities (includes internet, pool table, board games, DVD player and Playstation 3. Exclusive service provided for corporate / private functions. Staffs are well-trained and experience in KTV related services. Party World KTV goes the extra mile to make customers feel more relax with available gaming electronics and free snacks and drinks (for members only). * Promotions – Wide variety of promotions for the targeted segments. Promotional tools currently used by Party World to attract and retain customers are as followed. Before any promotional steps are taken, there must first be a retention strategy to retain current customers before attracting new potential customers. Membership is one way of retaining and attracting customers. Members enjoy lifetime member privileges, moreover, given a birthday voucher on the birthday month. Points redemption / accumulation entitles members to be rewarded for every dollar they spent. Points are redeemable for food and beverages, longer usage of facilities and special gifts. With points redemption, customers are more enticed to spend more and remain loyal to Party World KTV than switching to others. (Spend in Party World and get rewarded!) A singing contest is held monthly to promote singing. It is considered as a friendly and leisure contest to promote singing. Most of the participants are students eagerly waiting for their chance to sing on stage. Thus, this promotional tool is appropriate in attracting the student amateur singers. â€Å"Happy Hour Promotion† applicable from Mondays to Fridays (2pm – 7pm), customers are given a special rate which includes free snacks and non-alcohol drinks. Members are able to enjoy an additional 10% discount. â€Å"3 bottles package† Customers are able to choose any 3 bottles of alcohol with free 6 bottles of mixers at only $598. Nevertheless, the promotions are insufficient to attract customers. We recommend for an â€Å"Epic Theme Nights† which covers from Monday to Thursdays and Sunday where Party World KTV has least customers. Selling points: Now you can even produce and design your own MTV album (with your own vocals and video) with Party World KTV's professional studio and recording system! find their favorite croons and save favorite songs in a playlist for easy retrieval on the next visit. All you have to do is to register through the KTV system using your mobile number as login ID and start saving your favorite KTV songs in your playlist! Your comfort and pleasure is met with our spacious rooms which are lined with comfortable leather seats and massage chairs and in-room foot massage machines. Message: For wannabe Singapore Idols, Party World is the obvious place to hone your singing skills. Affordable room rentals and a hefty bilingual song catalogue should ensure hours of crooning entertainment, not to mention various discounts available to NTUC cardholders. With 11 branches spread across the island, Party World has become quite a karaoke institution.

Outline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Outline - Essay Example This statement to a great extent brings out the basic idea of the service learning and also highlights the basic foundation of service learning. Hence this will be the attention getting statement of the speech. The main aim of the research is to identify companies in the local area of Denver Colorado which support service learning. The research will focus on the companies that support and implement service learning. The statement for preview will be the explanation by Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction: â€Å"Service-learning is a teaching and learning methodology which fosters civic responsibility and applies classroom learning through meaningful service to the community. The strongest service-learning experiences occur when the service is meaningfully immersed in ongoing learning and is a natural part of the curriculum that extends into the community† (Public Instruction). The main reason this has been chosen is that it provides an excellent foundation and explanation of the concept of service learning. In conclusion, it is essential to note that there are a number of companies that adopt and support service learning to a great extent. It is also essential to understand that service learning helps in better interaction with others and also helps in spreading the knowledge in a more effective manner. Denver, Colorado has in fact become a hub of service learning and more companies each day adapt service learning or also support it. The success rate of service learning within this area is high and effective. Thank you, now my friend XXXXXX will continue with the

Analysing Fashion Consumer Motivations for Shopping Online-data Essay

Analysing Fashion Consumer Motivations for Shopping Online-data analysis - Essay Example The paper "Analysing Fashion Consumer Motivations for Shopping Online-data analysis" investigates the motivations of the fashion consumer in the online shopping. This would therefore be quite ideal as it would stimulate he consumer demand by motivating them to go and make purchase concerning the products. The business entity would so realize better sales and hence optimize on the profit margins. Bearing in mind that the marketing is done online, it is important to reiterate that a large geographical coverage will be covered and this will therefore be quite beneficial to the firm as its products will be globally recognized and accessed by the various consumers. This will as well possibly stimulate the business to involve itself in globalization to enable all the consumers to enjoy the products without any shortage or failure. It is important to note that demography is a very broad classification that encompasses a lot within it. The variables that form the demographics include things to with the age of the customers, their sex or gender and any other component or category that make up a given population. These could be levels of education as well as the category of individuals in a given population based on status, religious believes status as well as the races of different individuals. In the paper, it can be clearly noted that the minimum age that was in the marketing exercise that to mean whose products are sold was the age if 15 years of age with the maximum age being over 55 years.

Are connectionist models and symbolic models competing or Essay

Are connectionist models and symbolic models competing or complementary appraoaches to artificial intelligence - Essay Example Both these approaches have their supporters who have used them to show the various benefits which can be derived from taking different viewpoint to AI (Minsky, 1991). At the same time, there are those who have said that the approaches are complimentary and do not compete with each other. To justify these statements it is necessary to take a look at each approach to see how it works. The symbolic approach is based on the creation of AI models that work with symbol manipulation. Computation is based on the fact that a symbol or a group of symbols can be arranged in a manner to represent information. Once the order or position of symbols is changed, the information can also be updated to reflect the changing environment. It must be noted that in this approach a symbol can represent any type or nature of information and the symbols can be modified if required (Bader & Hitzler, 2005). Thus a symbol here represents an idea which has certain basic premises but which can be modified by the machine based on experience or intelligent action. This process of symbol manipulation can be very successful if the AI process is being applied to well-structured problems. That means if the symbols are predefined for the AI system, it can modify the associated parameters based on its own experience and manipulation of the symbols (Bader & Hitzler, 2005). This method seeks to replicate the higher order thinking processes of the human mind which has the same ability to modify and learn from experiences as they are collected in a person’s memory. However, this approach has certain failings as well since it is difficult to grasp commonsense reality with this approach. On the other hand, the connectionist models for AI are based on the idea of using a large number of relatively simple units which can handle extremely difficult and

Suggested specific researchable PhD topics Essay

Suggested specific researchable PhD topics - Essay Example 5. The influence of Islam on global English: Islam is the world’s most prevalent religion and thus has greatly influenced a myriad of world cultures and languages, how specifically has English, particularly global English, been influenced? 7. Arabic in certain parts of the Middle East can be assimilated to Latin in the United States or other English speaking parts of the world: What influence does Arabic have in non Arabic speaking Middle Eastern countries? 8. The history semiotics in Arabic as compared to that of the English language. English has evolved over time as a compilation of many languages as well as semiotic influence. How does this compare to that of Arabic’s history? How the differences in the languages would necessitate different interpretations of the same sign, with respect to semiotics. 12. The threat of global English being a hold over from white colonization in other countries and how it adds to a Euro-centric, white normalized ideal of the â€Å"norm†. Is the spread of English as a global language contributing to the overall white, Euro-centric ideology of global â€Å"normalizationâ€Å"? 14. Alphabet and writing systems of Middle Eastern language and the English language, specifically as integrated in the Middle East. An example of this is signs displayed in the Middle East which may show both an Arabic and an English description of

How can motivation affected by appraisal system Thesis Proposal

How can motivation affected by appraisal system - Thesis Proposal Example Some of the main benefits that are usually associated with increasing employee motivation include improved organizational development, employee commitment, resource integration, and improvement in business processes. When employees feel valued by their companies and their motivation level is on a high end, they show more commitment and dedication to their job activities, which consequently improves their individual and organizational performances. As far as performance appraisal is concerned, companies have been using it has a way to know employees’ performances in order to bring required improvements in their performances. Appraisal is a continuous process of identifying, measuring, and developing the performance of employees in order to align those performances with the strategic goals of the organization. Without an effective appraisal system in practice, it becomes difficult to know whether there is a need to enhance personal development or to build a sense of value employees. This is the reason why managers make use of the most suitable appraisal methods to assess and evaluate performances. This study will be about the way performance appraisals can be used to improve employees’ motivation level. The primary objective of the research will be to know whether motivation is affected by performance appraisals or not. The research will be new in a sense that it will focus the effects of performance appraisals in multinational organizations of the United Kingdom. Not much research has been done on this in the past which provides a base for the researcher to explore the effects of appraisals on the working and motivation of employees. The researcher aims to know how and in which ways appraisals can be used to improve employees’ performances. This research will be very helpful in that it will provide a good amount of knowledge in this field of research. This research will also be focused on knowing the methods of

How in the World Did THAT Get into my Home Essay

How in the World Did THAT Get into my Home - Essay Example (Ayers 45) Raw materials, this is the primary source in bread production. It mainly concerns natural wealth and pulling out of raw materials and working with farmers to grow wheat that is required to make bread. Other raw material is water, this obtained from taps. Manufacture, the bread is manufactured in one of the leading bakeries in U.S.A. Process of making bread commence with gathering all the necessary ingredients and storing them. Each ingredient has its own place waiting the time of becoming component of batter. All the process of manufacturing is automated and monitored as is it a continuous transition from one stage to another. Bread is baked in a tunnel-shaped oven and must be provided with a lot of vapor at the beginning. This heat the bread much faster so as to increase its size and to provide its softness nature. Packaging, bread is packaged in a flexible manner that provides high quality, attractive presentation and conserving breads natural freshness. Also bread is packed in various forms so to accommodate different consumer needs. So the appearance and quality of packaging in very important, this provides the standard that consumer want. Also quality ensures that bakeries bake the best each and every time. Packaging is also done properly for shipping so as to ensure that bread arrives safely. Improper packed breads can be easily damaged thus losing its consumer choice and value (Ayers 110) Display, the bread in the whole sale was displayed in a way that is visually attractive from the consumers’ perspective. For instance using a Bakery display case to tell consumers varieties present. This kind of display provides for bake products to be easily sold as they are highly perishable. Display stand was also among the better tool for displaying in some part of the whole sale, this stand is taller than other items thus displaying more of the baked bread inside the whole sale. Scene of

Culture affects Essay Example for Free

Culture affects Essay This essay will be focussed on comparing two scenes from two different plays, the main characters and their personalities, and how their culture affects them.  The two plays in question are Arthur Millers The Crucible and Blackrock by Nick Enright.  Arthur Miller was an American playwright who was born in 1915. He grew up in New York to a Jewish family. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1938 where he began to distinguish himself as a playwright. His play The Crucible was written in 1953 and later adapted to a film starring Daniel Day Lewis and Winnona Rider in 1996. The Crucible inspired by the Salem Witch Trials. A group of innocent girls are caught dancing and chanting in the forest around a fire. (Puritan England where all forms of dancing and enjoyment would be strictly forbidden) To save themselves from being punished, they cry witchcraft and within days the whole town goes mad searching for the presence of the Devil and his witches. The few honest and true people who do not lie to save themselves from hanging are coldly murdered, including John Proctor the main male role. Nick Enright was born in Maitland in New South Wales. He started his career in the theatre as a teenager and wrote Blackrock in 19 and later on in 1997 was adapted to a film. Blackrock about a teens idyllic surfer lifestyle is shattered when a young girl is brutally murdered after a beach party and the investigation comes close to his circle of friends. The young man Jared, must deal with his conscience and his sense of loyalty to his friends.  Both the plays Blackrock and The Crucible although set in different time periods, both have a main character faced with some sort of personal moral dilemma. The decision between right and wrong, and having the courage to put yourself at risk on behalf of others. Act 4 of The Crucible The scene changes from the Vestry in the Courthouse to Salem jail.  Marshall Herrick enters and wakes up Goody Good and Tituba so that they can be moved to a different cell.  Tituba tells Herrick that they await the Devil, who will fly them to Barbados.  The Reverend Hale arrives and tells the prisoners that they must confess to being witches in order to thwart the ridiculous Court and avoid being hanged. Reverend Parris discovers that Abigail and Mercy Lewis have disappeared after robbing Parris and he suspects they may have boarded a ship. Parris delays telling Danforth this news because he fears that there will be a rebellion in Salem similar to the recent uprising in Andover. There they threw out the Court, as the people were unhappy with the proceedings.  When Danforth learns about the disappearance of Abigail he still considers that the evidence stands and will not postpone the executions for it would be a sign of weakness. Hale pleads with him to reconsider or at least give him time to persuade the prisoners to confess. Reverend Hale is having difficulties in persuading the seven condemned to death to confess, and he pleads again with Danforth for more time. He senses that Proctor is considering confessing, so he asks Elizabeth to talk to her husband stressing the future in store for their children if he is hanged. Elizabeth feels responsible for Proctors situation because she lied in Court. She also feels guilty for being suspicious about her husband after the affair with Abigail. She tells Proctor that she totally forgives him for the affair. Proctor hopes that if he makes an oral confession in Court, that will be sufficient for his Judges, but they require it in writing and it will be posted on the Church door. He cannot face this and, therefore, retracts his confession. He would rather die, and preserve his good name.

Reflective Leadership And Definitions Of Leading Management Essay

Reflective Leadership And Definitions Of Leading Management Essay Leadership, Wow, I cant say that I have ever studied about a word with so much meaning and diversity. Considering that there are many definitions of leadership and no one in particular is right or wrong. I want to explain what I believe is the key theories of leadership success within profit and non-profit organizations, which are the contingency theories of Situational Leadership and Transformational Leadership. As with all leadership theories, the behaviors and attributes of the leader will directly influence the satisfaction and performance of subordinates, therefore it is essential that we discuss what makes these two theories most effective in terms of leadership success. The way I came to this realization about these two theories is really quite simple, they both relate to the needs of the subordinate in reference to their ability to effectively carry out task. I have seen first-hand how each theory is used to influence team members and in an attempt to reflect back on what I think effective leadership is, I want to start with the situational leadership theory and how it relates to the situational variables of everyday life. Basically not everyone shares the same heredity in terms of natural traits and tendencies, nor the same upbringing, community, or life experiences. Heritable tendencies, including different learning styles, mixed with life experiences, form an inner core on which all future experiences are built layer by layer (Belasen Frank, 2008). For instance, with situational leadership, comes the need for appropriate types of leadership behaviors required for different levels of subordinate maturity in relation to the work being performed. For example as stated in our text, a high-maturity subordinate has both the ability and confidence to do a task, whereas a low-maturity subordinate lacks ability and self-confidence ( Yukl, Dec 31, 2008, p. 235). Whether at home, at church or just about anywhere you go, you will notice different levels of maturity, while some levels of maturity are high and some low, if a leader knows what to look for in a subordinate it can prove to be most effective in terms of leadership success. For example, consider an individual with a low level of maturity, the leader should use substantial task-oriented behavior and directive defining roles, clarifying standards and procedures, and monitoring progress on attainment of objectives ( Yukl, Dec 31, 2008). However, quite the opposite is true for a subordinate with high-maturity level. In this case the leader should use a low level of task-oriented and relations-oriented behaviors because of the subordinates ability to do the work without much dir ection or monitoring by the leader, and the confidence to work without much supportive behavior by the leader ( Yukl, Dec 31, 2008). I might add that when dealing with the different levels of maturity, it is important to remember that as maturity levels increase and decrease, so does the need for an increase or decrease in the amount of task-oriented behaviors. Therefore, requiring the leader to provide more relations-oriented behaviors based on the different levels of subordinate maturity. Either way, when dealing with the maturity levels of subordinates, the leader should build a relationship based on understanding and trust by being supportive and consulting with peers on their concerns, while providing praise and attention. Furthermore, the most important aspect to remember that the key to successful managerial leadership is not just to recognize the opposing pressures placed on the managerial job, but knowing how to navigate across the roles to balance contradictory demands from diverse constituencies (Belasen Frank, 2008). Therefore, if a relations-oriented behavior involves building relationships with peers, it can be considered one of the most effective attributes a leader needs influence followers and successfully move an organization forward. Relationships and trust are inherent concerns for many organizations because they are valuable attributes that directly affect leadership effectiveness and organizational success. Understanding this accusation is being a ware as technology increases and organizations grow more complex, so does the quality of trust and relationships, therefore making these elements critical to the success of the organization. As discussed above, being supportive and consulting with subordinates about their concerns, while providing praise and attention means actively communicating through group or one on one meetings to address concerns. Personal or organizational strengths, challenges, weaknesses and liabilities are a few concerns. This strategic move can only be achieved through the use of structured questions to discuss the areas that needed to be improved or changed. Note that relationships and trust are always two sided which means not only can this relations-oriented behavior prove effective for the leader, it gives the subordinate the opportunity to express concerns related to the leaders abilities. For example, if leadership abilities are questionable because of the complexity of the task, and there are stron g relations-oriented behaviors based on trust and relationships across all levels of an organization, the issue of leadership abilities can be addressed openly. However, if leaderships abilities are left unaddressed it can have a negative influence that could cause defiant behaviors among subordinates; therefore the use of Transformational Leadership Theory comes into play. While Transformational Leadership begins with an awareness of our own beliefs and feelings, and how these beliefs and feelings affect the actions of the leader. As a leaders awareness grows, they begin to see an inner motivating force that drives the passions and values that affect the thoughts, feelings and actions of others. Basically as a leaders awareness increases, so does their perception. Perception allows them to choose actions openly meeting the needs of the situation and people around us, which is more powerful than a Situational Leadership style. Transformational Leadership inspires wholeness of being, so that a leaders thoughts, feelings and actions are consistent. Transformational leadership is about leading with honesty and legitimacy that inspires others to follow and eventually become leaders themselves. This stylish approach to leadership, guides its leaders from a competitive nature among individuals, teams or nations. The approach leads an association in understand ing the whole situation, and leadership for the good of all. For example, this style of leadership directs leaders from making a transaction at any cost. It forms lasting relationships and seeks reasonable outcomes; such as realizing a supportable vision that contributes to the welfare of everyone involved, not just the ones with the power and control. Much like the Situational Theory objectives of task and relations-oriented behaviors, the Transformational Leadership Theory focuses on developing a mutual trust among leaders and followers, while nurturing the leadership capabilities of others. First introduced by James MacGregor Burns during his study of political leadership, the term Transformational Leadership is now used in organizational psychology as well. Burns described it not as a set of specific behaviors, but rather an ongoing process by which leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation, Transformational leaders offer a purpose that transcends short-term goals and focuses on higher order intrinsic needs (Covey, 2007). The Transformational Leadership Theory identifies four behaviors/processes needed to achieve leadership effectiveness, which include charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, as well as consideration. These behaviors or processes attempt to support the claims su rrounding this Transformational style of leadership. This theory states, that if a leader exhibits these qualities they will motivate subordinates to be high achievers and put the long-term interest of the organization ahead of their own short-term interest. I will discuss these four concepts more in depth. First looking at the component of charisma which is the degree in which a leader performs his or her duties in commendable ways that causes peers to identify with the leaders values and beliefs. For instance, charismatic leaders may display beliefs, take stands and appeal to peers on an emotional levels based on the values or beliefs they establish. Not only will a charismatic leader demonstrate these values and beliefs in their actions, they will use them as a way to become a positive role model for their followers. As with the trust that must be built between leaders and followers, it needs to be built on a moral and ethical foundation that prompts inspirational motivation. This is another Transformational component in which a leader expresses a vision that is both appealing and inspiring to followers. Leaders that use the component of inspirational motivation, challenge followers by setting high standards, communicate positivity about future goals, and provide a sense of significance for the task at hand. Considering that this Transformational component requires the followers to maintain a sense of perseverance if they are to be motivated. It is inherently important that this idealistic aspect of leadership be supported with communication skills that aids in the expression of his or her vision. If one uses precision, power and persuasion, it will trigger yet another component, intellectual stimulation. With intellectual stimulation or the amount to which the leader challenges follower expectations, takes risks and solicits their ideas by stimulating and encouraging follower creativity. As a result of follower support in a leaders vision, it provides a foundation for followers to manage how they relate to the leader, organization and the goals set forth by the organization. Once this foundation is set, the follower can creatively overcome any difficulties in the way of the mission. As with many large organizations, the need for Individualized consideration or individualized attention arises as a component of the Transformational style of leadership requires the leader to attend follower needs on an individual bases. During this individualization process the leader acts as a mentor and listens to the concerns and needs of the followers. This act of individual attention also involves the need for the leader to respect and celebrate the individual contributions made by each peer to achieve team success. A leader that harnesses this type of leadership trait and uses it effectively adds diversity to the team and gives it power. This approach not only educates the next cohort of leaders, but fulfills the individual needs for self-actualization, fulfillment. This naturally propels followers to further success and growth. When  analyzing these leadership theories and how they are affected by group culture, personal values, globalization and performance results, we have to consider the leadership behaviors that have a positive effect on the followers performance. We often hear that true leaders are born and not made, however once groups are formed, there always seems to be one individual that emerges from the group and takes on the role of leadership, which is a very good indication that the roles and behaviors of leadership vary from one situation to the next. For instance, situational leaders are able to adapt their leadership style to fit their followers and situations in which they are working by making conscious choices between the use of directive behavior or supportive behavior ( Erven, 2001, p. 1). For a leader to use a directive behavior, they must rely on providing structure, control and close supervision of the followers, whereas with a supportive behavior, the leader relies on praise, two -way communication, and supporting the work of the individual or group. Characterized as the most popular approach to understanding leadership effectiveness, Transformational leadership theory rests on the claim that certain leader behaviors can arouse followers to a higher level of thinking. Much like the supportive behavior found in the situational leadership theory, Transformational leadership effectiveness depends on the four dimensions of leader behavior mentioned earlier. Idealized influence, Inspirational motivation, Intellectual stimulation and Individualized consideration all build a positive relationship between leader and follower. With all of the leadership theories and the behaviors that coincide with each theory, there is still the question of whether or not there is such a thing as a born leader. While I am convinced that there are individuals who are born with leadership skills there are those that are taught the leadership skills required to become effective leaders. Furthermore, after studying about all of the possible leadership scenarios and leadership skills available to man, it is imperative for effective leadership that they be taught and implement in our daily lives. In conclusion, I wrote about my views of effective leadership, which all involved trust and relationships, problems and solutions. Using the theories and characteristics described here along with my reflections on what leadership should consist of, I have a few commitments that define my leadership ability and serves as controlling ideologies for my future growth and development as an effective leader. Much like the characteristics of a situational and transformational leader, my obligations are as follows: building trust; maintaining a moral purpose; building meaningful relationships with peers while sharing the responsibility of decision making processes; accepting change as a process and not just a power move; reveling success on an individual and group basis; provide meaning and joy in the work; mentoring others in a professional way while maintaining a balance between work and family demands. Therefore, as I continue to progress as a leader, I anticipate that my experiences, bel iefs, and ideas may actually influence my own perceptions of what it takes to be an effective leader. In the final analysis, it is difficult to briefly define leadership because effective leadership in theory and practice is difficult and multidimensional. Therefore, with all of the different leadership theories and characteristics, it is imperative that leaders do not limit themselves to just a select few, because as we all know, as situations change so does the need for a different leadership approach. To me thats what determines the effectiveness of leadership. Furthermore, true leaders have a responsibility to the organization to work jointly and willingly with peers, in finding solutions that provide an effective leadership foundation.

Business Environments And Companies

Business Environments And Companies The relationship between business environment and companies is very significant. The companies could be affected by external and internal environment. When the current economy is in bloom, how a company grabs the chance and stands on leadership. Contrarily, what if the economy is fading, how companies can survive from it, even make higher profits than before. Although the good economy situation can inspire companies to be successful easier, but it is not the only factor to operate business, it is more rather to take integrated strategies and analysis. For examples, five forces model and balanced scorecard are useful for companies to deal with the unexpected change of business environment to improve the business performance. In this Study, researcher will discuss the critical points of how companies deal with the economy both bloom and crisis. In addition, selected companies will be the major to discuss. External and Internal Environment External environment has effect on companies performance. Companies must develop the skills required on to identify opportunities and threats existing in external environment. It is challenging and complex. There are three major parts in external environment: The general environment has six segments: demographic, economic, political/legal, sociocultural, technological, and global. In terms of economic segment, according to Hoskisson, the economic environment refers to the nature and direction of the economy in which a firm competes or may compete ( Hoskisson, 2005) There are five aspects could be affected by Economic factor, which are income, inflation, recession, interest rate, exchange rate, moreover, there are also four major elements that affect business environment. The elements are economic growth, the business cycle, employment and unemployment. However, economic factors are the main elements that affect financial matters of a business like interest rates, tax and stock markets. While the economy is growing, it could be a critical effect for companys success, but it not the only reason for company to succeed. The marketing department of a company is doing market research, market analysis, market strategy, and sales. It should focus on the economic situation whether the demand, prices and sales are going to be affected or not in current and future. Analyzing economic plays a very important role in determining actions a firm should take. So growth economy is good for companies success. In the time of economic growth when demand and sales increase, unemployment falls, and production goes up. Companies would consider how to accommodate these changes and adjust production and sales strategy as well as prices accordingly. For example, if peoples income increase, customer are willing to buy products. The total demand from customers rises. Then the companies will increase its production .This will lead an increase number of the sales of companies. Companies earn mor e profit. But on the other side, during the economic growing time, because of the increase of peoples income, the unemployment decrease and firms are in need of more workers. Trying to find employees become more difficult. Companies should provide develop and foster programs aimed at increasing employee satisfaction retain its workers. Then companies have to make additional efforts in recruitment in order to get labor. The taxation can affect the business because companies have to pay tax to the government on the energy they are using or have to pay some profit that they make to the government as tax. Interest rates are charged on every loan that a business takes from the bank. This can affect a business because if they keep on borrowing the loan they would have to pay extra money back to the bank this can affect a business in making profit. So the growth economic has double influence for success of business. When economic growth is becoming slow or inflation, the demand and sales are falling. Company will try to cut production and selling costs. When unemployment rate is rising, companies must deal with issues associated with lying off firms employees. The human resource department of companies should take necessary actions to make this process less painful and less problematic as possible for both the company and its employees. In difficult times, for examples, GFC, wars, terrorism and government instability are the main elements in influencing on business. Business may have more threats if there is a war. It is a warming sign if companies receive threat realized. It could make companies to be unable to pay full salaries, which means employees would default on mortgage and debit payments, triggering a meltdown in the lending and retail sectors and ripples out into wider economic disruption. Terrorism affects can be far reaching into commerce and trade, reaching businesses like communica tion systems, the Internet, medical systems like hospitals, as well as trade and transportation.It does not seem entirely farfetched to imagine that in some instances, barriers meant to safeguard populations from terrorism would actually amplify the risk: poor countries that might have to slow exports because of the cost of security measures are at risk, because of the effects of poverty, of political destabilization and rad.The party in government has a large say in what happens in the economy. If they put up taxes, then the disposable incomes of people tends to go down. With a reduction in income, people tend to be more cautious about how they spend their money. Industries are populated with different strategic groups and industry environment has direct effect on the firms strategic actions. Its competitive actions and competitive responses: the threat of new entrants, the power of suppliers, the power of buyers, the threat of product substitutes and the intensity of rivalry among competitors. This is Porters five forces of competition model. In total the interactions among these five forces determine an industry where an industrys profit potential. The greater a firms capacity to favorably influence its industry environment, the greater is the likelihood that the firm will earn above-average returns. The last part of the external environment is competitor environment. Competitor analysis focuses on each company against which a firm directly competes. Crucial to an effective competitor analysis is gathering data and information that can help the firm understand its competitors intentions and the strategic implications resulting from them. It informs the firm about the future objectives, current strategies , assumptions, and capabilities of the companies with whom it compete directly. Internal environment The final step of the Environmental Analysis is internal environment. It consists of identifying resources and capabilities (in the form of the value chain), finding competencies, and determining what competitive advantages (hopefully sustainable) the organization has. The internal environmental assessment, along with the external evaluation (macro and micro environment) already completed will provide all the information needed for the final SWOT Analysis.Resources, capabilities, and competencies should be evaluated with respect to goals, strategy, and the vision statement of the organization. RESOURCES Resources can simply divide into two parts, tangible and intangible. For example: tangible resources: financial, organizational, physical, and technological resources; intangible resources: human, innovation, and reputational resources. CAPABILITIES Capabilities are the firms capacity to deploy resources that have been purposely integrated to achieve a desired end state. There is a method to evaluate the firms capabilities. (figure is below)INBOUND LOGISTICS Inbound logistics covers everything that has to do with the obtaining, purchasing, storing, distributing (internally), and managing raw inputs, components, materials, and services. OPERATIONS Operations consist of all the processes, assets, and costs of turning raw materials into a final product or service. Facilities (and maintenance), workers, designers, quality assurance, environmental protection, equipment, and assembly processes would be included in the evaluation of Operations OUTBOUND LOGISTICS Outbound logistics encompasses all of the resources, capabilities, and processes required to distribute the final product or service. Examples of outbound logistic items are warehousing, packaging, shipping, delivery vehicles (and maintenance), order picking, finished goods inventory control, distributor and customer supply chain management (CRM customer relationship management). SALES AND MARKETING Sales and Marketing is considered everything associated with marketing the product or service. The sales force, personal selling, advertising, promotion, market research, web site, and dealer or distributor support are a few examples of Sales and Marketing. SERVICE Service is associated with providing assistance to the customer. Some Service examples are installation, warranty work, maintenance, complaints, questions, repair, and technical assistance. COMPETENCIES Competencies are accomplished by evaluating the organizations resources and capabilities and benchmarking. Benchmarking may be done on several levels: industry, primary competition, and prior performance. Although the book focuses primarily on cost, benchmarking may also be accessed through efficiency and effectiveness. Some examples of efficiency benchmarking might be number of defective widgets produced; hours of downtime for machine X; or number of days from sale to delivery. Efficiency types of measures should be used in conjunction with standard financial measures of benchmarking such as days in inventory or asset turnover ratios. Finally, compare the organizations RCCs (especially the competencies) to the competition or industry. Make a note of those competencies in which the organization has an advantage over the industry or competition these are most likely the core competencies and competitive advantage. Cases analysis ( DELL, Apple and Intel ) DELL- The Five Forces Models The five forces model is developed by Michael Porter whom is a Harvard professor and called the godfather of contemporary strategic management. The five forces model is a strategic analysis tool, and the five forces which are following: bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes and rivalry among competitors. The way to apply the five forces model on a retail business is easy, simply considering each one of these five forces individually as they exist in the external environment. In terms of Dell, Dell Computer Corporation, established in October 1987, and it is defined as a computer systems company and a provider of computing products and services. Dells primary product provides enterprise systems, desktop computers and laptop computer systems. Dell also markets and sells Dell/EMC storage products under a long-term strategic relationship with EMC Corporation The Company provides targeted services for consulting, deployment and support, as well as an extensive selection of peripheral hardware, including hand-held products, and computing software. The Company conducts operations worldwide through wholly owned subsidiaries. Sales outside the United States accounted for approximately 35% of the Companys revenues during the fiscal year ended February 1, 2002 (fiscal 2002). Bargaining power of suppliers Large number of suppliers for components like hardware, keyboards, etc. But two major inputs are monopolized Microsoft standard for all PCs Intel standard for most PCs .High switching costs. Dell known for low cost and best quality computer, laptop and server manufacturer in the industry. The key behind dell success is maintaining better relationship and collaboration with the supplier of computer hardware and software Bargaining power of buyers Highly price sensitive. Reliability and customer service become important factors. Dells products are very reliable and customer service is outstanding. These two factors help Dell to create certain brand royalty. But thats given the fact that the Company set the prices very low. If the prices are raised too high, customers will not hesitate to switch. Threat of new entrants The level of threat of new entrants of Dell is moderate. And the reasons for Dell are low capital investment for independent stores, and low product differentiation, brand name may be a barrier to entry, low economies of scale, no legal or governmental barriers, and decreasing profitability indicates that there is a threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes In U.S.A, computer is a main device in daily life, it is almost one computer for every three people there. And the only substitute for PC is Apple Computer. However, the higher price and lack of software support prevent people from switching to Apple system. Competitive rivalry within an industry the main points of the competitive environment within this industry are high concentration price war, low margin, decreasing profitability, and Low differentiation. For example, Dell.com offers computers and laptops of high quality at low prices as compared to the competitors. EBay.com is a place where people like to go to purchase products online at low price However, in the midst of sever competition, Dell can still grow his market share in this campaign. That is a proof of Dells business strategies has been successful. Apple- The Five Forces Models Apple Inc. (previously Apple Computer, Inc.) is an American corporation that designs and markets personal computers, computer software, computer system, and personal eletronic device. The most popular products of Apple Inc. include Mac personal computers, iPod, iPhone and iPad. Apple software includes the Mac OS X operating system. August 2010, the company operates 301 retail stores within ten countries, and an online store where hardware and software products are sold. As of May 2010, Apple is one of the largest companies in the world and the most valuable technology company in the world, even having surpassed Microsoft. In terms of five forces model, there are 2 main points need to be discuss Threats of substitutes Apples entertainment products have face the threats of substitutes. For examples, satellite radio for music (XM, Sirius), entertainment media, media and music (XBOX, PS2), alternative means to acquire music (Music CDs, DVDs), alternative sources for videos (Cable, Broadcast, Theatres) Competitive rivalry within an industry Apples main products are in an extremely competitive war. For example, Windows OS and media player for playing music and video ( Microsoft), the Linux also treat Mac OS X as his main Competitor, alternate sources of computer hardware (Dell, HP, Lenovo), small stylish MP3 players (Creative, Samsung, Sony), and online music stores similar to itunes stores (Napster) However, the products Apple sells and the services Apple offers are not the best in this industry, but they are always standing on the first place. The main reason for Apple could be Marketing, Apple always knows how to get customers, even their products and services in technological aspect are not the best, but they know what customers want and need, and focus on it. Intel -Balanced Scorecard analysis The balanced scorecard is a strategic planning and management system that is utilized in organization, government, and nonprofit organizations worldwide to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization, in order to improve internal and external communications, and monitor business performance against strategic goals. It was developed by Drs. Robert Kaplan (Harvard Business School) and David Norton.The balanced scorecard has evolved from its early utilise as a simple performance measurement framework to a full strategic planning and In terms of Intel, Intel Corporation is an US global technology company and the worlds largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. Intel was founded on July 18, 1968, as Integrated Electronics Corporation.It is the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in most personal computers. The company is located in Santa Clara,California, USA. Intel also makes flash memory, network motherboard chipsets and graphic chips, and other devices related to communications and computing. Financial perspective A technology company that excels in many operational disciplines can still struggle if its product development decisions are flawed. Product management decisions within technology companies need to be based in part on the estimated and measured return on product development expense. A clear, consistent practice for analyzing RoI and applying it in decision making must be driven vertically and horizontally throughout the organization. Such a practice is an inherent requirement to realizing consistent decision making and communicating product investment decisions Customer perspective Technology customers will typically have strong belief systems underpinning what supplier they do business with and what products/services they purchase. They require the ability to interact with the suppliers organization, and will grade the supplier on how successful those interactions are. Its of strategic importance that customer facing personnel, and those in support roles, place a priority on that customer interaction consistently being a positive one Internal business process Assessing, re-assessing and re-re-assessing market demand is imperative. The trend for increasing rate of change in technology markets has no end in sight. A technology company cannot rely on one market assessment at one point in time to guide project priorities. Market assessment needs to be continuous. Learning and growth As stated earlier, the path to marketplace disruption begins with the introduction of enabling technologies. There are many paths to obtaining such enabling technologies, which do not require the risk and expense of basic research and development. Yet, for the technology company to be a leader, its of strategic importance to continually lead in the identification and application of technologies that enable use models and workflows in the marketplace. Conclusion To sum up, the economy is unexpected changeable, while the economy is in good time plus company continuously takes the right strategies, it could be easier for company to succeed in their own business adventure. What if the economy is falling? Companies still need to have the correct strategies operating in their business to avoid the failure, even take the critical time to gain more market share in order to make more profits. According to the examples and cases which are all above in previous chapters, Researcher would like to say that take better strategies can always make companies running on the right track, even shrink the loss in bad economy time.

America :: essays research papers

America as we know it includes a vast network of representative governments. During the colonial period of early America, Virginia was the first to introduce a representative assembly. This first glimpse of democracy influenced the shape of America today. It eventually caused the colonies to drift away from monarchial England, and to establish a democratic government. Ironically, from this government, slavery and racism sprouted. In an attempt to make Virginia a more pleasant place to live, the governor was instructed to create an assembly with the power to make laws. The assembly included two members from each plantation to serve as burgesses, or representatives. Convening in 1619 it became the first colonial, representative body (p.13). This was a significant step in the formation of America. A group of men representing the residents of a particular land would make laws that were meant for them. This was democracy at its earliest stage in America. Everywhere one goes today in America, there is democracy. Whether a church council, school club or the state general assembly, a representative group is always present. Democracy shapes America. One could view the first democratic group responsible for today's freedom. This was the assembly formed by George Yeardly (p.13). Perhaps, if the Virginia Company had not instructed the governor to establish an assembly, the idea of democracy might not have instilled into the minds of the colonists. Surely, without this first appearance, it is questionable that an idea suppressed for centuries under the English monarchy would surface anywhere else. Moreover, it led the way for other settlements to adopt a similar code. Another way the representative body shaped America was slavery. Most representatives approved slavery and practiced it. The early burgesses of the Virginian assembly received land as their pay wages (p.14). They needed people to work their newly acquired lands. Therefore, indentured servants were common on their plantations. The whole idea of indentured servants and their later inadequacy eventually led to the flood of black slaves to America. Because these representatives owned servants and slaves themselves, slavery was easily passed into law.

Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown †Poverty in the Tale and Author’s Lif

â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† – Poverty in the Tale and Author’s Life  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Roy Harvey Pearce in â€Å"Twice-Told Tales: A Blend of Stories† makes reference to the widely-known poverty of the aspiring writer,Nathaniel Hawthorne: â€Å"True enough, Hawthorne planned more than once to write groups of tales and sketches somehow linked into a whole; but he could not get a publisher for them. When he did get a publisher in 1837, it had to be through the help of the hack-editor, Samuel Goodrich. . . .† (107) Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† includes traits of the modest lifestyle which the author was forced to endure in his personal life. Besides this, there was also an artisitc-resources impoverishment because of the tiny town in which he lived.    Henry Seidel Canby in â€Å"A Skeptic Incompatible with His Time and His Past† mentions of Hawthorne that â€Å"human failures and their causes were more interesting to him than prophecies of success, one might truly say than success itself. †¦He was not, I think, really interested in escape, except in moods of financial discouragement. . . . (57). Such moods of financial discouragement were to plague the author for nearly his entire lifetime.    Hawthorne’s financial impoverishment probably began with the untimely death of his father, and continued for most of his life. Gloria C. Erlich in â€Å"The Divided Artist and His Uncles† states that â€Å"Robert Manning made the essential decisions in the lives of the Hawthorne children and is well known as the uncle who sent Hawthorne to college† (35). After graduation from Bowdoin College, Hawthorne spent twelve years in his room at home in an intense effort to make something of himself literarily. The Norton Anthology: American Literature state... ...6.    Hawthorne, Nathaniel. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown.† 1835. http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~daniel/amlit/goodman/goodmantext.html    James, Henry. Hawthorne. http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/nh/nhhj1.html    Lewis, R. W. B. â€Å"The Return into Time: Hawthorne.† In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.      Ã¢â‚¬Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† The Norton Anthology: American Literature, edited by Baym et al.   New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1995.    Pearce, Roy Harvey. â€Å"Twice-Told Tales: A Blend of Stories.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Swisher, Clarice. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.         

The Importance of Drug Testing in Workplaces

As widespread drug use is on the rise, many employers have begun to worry about the performance of their employees. Absenteeism, injuries, loss of productivity, employee morale, theft and fatalities are just some of the causes of drug use in the workplace. The idea of drug testing among workers has developed from society's concern over a perceived increase in the use of drugs and the relation between drug use and impairment, with resultant risks to the worker, fellow workers and the public. As early as 1987, 21% of employers had instituted drug-testing programs. Employers have begun to think that mass drug tests are the answer to their problems. What many of these employers don't know is that there are many problems that surround drug testing at work. One of the biggest of these problems is whether or not it is constitutional to conduct drug tests on the employees. Employers fail to educate themselves with established or recent laws about drug testing in the workplace and about human rights. Also, mass, low-cost screening tests may not be reliable or valid. Alcohol testing does not differentiate casual drinking from alcohol dependence or alcoholism. Drug tests can create an untrustworthy environment for the employees. There are better ways to address substance abuse. Drug testing in the workplace is an important issue for all of Canada's labour force, regardless if it's you're first job or if you've had a steady job for 30 years. Many employees, who have had to subjugate themselves to degrading and demeaning drug tests, feel that these tests violate their constitutional rights. It is an infringement on their privacy. In order for the tests to make sure there is no specimen tampering there must be an administrator present to oversee every action the employee makes during their drug test. For tests such as hair and breath testing this does present a major problem, but for urine tests men and women alike are disturbed by the direct observation of their urine collection. Unfortunately, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies only to the laws and actions of the federal and provincial governments and their agencies. It does not apply to the policies and actions of private employers. The Charter therefore does not protect private sector employees from unreasonable drug testing. It is necessary to state that currently an employer can terminate an employee's job if the employee has been using illegal drugs and alcohol, but only if such use is not considered a disability. Alcohol or drug addiction can be viewed as a physical and/or mental disability. In Ontario, the Ontario Human Rights, Citizenship, and Multiculturalism Act prohibit employment discrimination based on disability. Employers have a responsibility to accommodate employees who are disabled. Drug testing has not been proven to be against the Canadian Human Rights Commission. In order to institute a drug testing policy into a company which complies with human rights legislation, an employer must be able to demonstrate that the testing is related to job performance, and not just substance abuse. † Many employees feel that drug testing is a way of discriminating against people who might have a drug and/or alcohol disability. An example of such discrimination is found in Entrop v. Imperial Oil Ltd. The Ontario Board of Inquiry found that Imperial Oil Limited discriminated against Martin Entrop, a senior operator at the Sarnia Refinery, because of a disability. The Board of Inquiry found that â€Å"under a new Alcohol and Drug Policy introduce in 1992, Imperial Oil employees in â€Å"safety-sensitive† positions were required to notify management if they currently had or had previously had a substance abuse problem. † After Mr. Entrop heard that this policy was coming into effect he informed his employer that he had had an alcohol problem about ten years earlier, that he had attended Alcoholics Anonymous, and that he had abstained from using alcohol since 1984. Mr. Entrop had been an employee for seventeen years and he had had no problems at work that were related to substance abuse, but Imperial Oil's policy required that Mr. Entrop be immediately removed form his current position. This example clearly shows that it is discriminatory to terminate a person's job because of a past or present disability and that there are constitutional matters involved with drug testing in the workplace. The lab procedure is a second invasion of privacy. Urinalysis reveals not only the presence of illegal drugs, but also the existence of many other physical and medical conditions including pregnancy. Drug testing is an invasion of privacy that is to be abhorred and it is clearly against our constitutional rights. Drug testing is designed to detect and punish conduct that is usually engaged in off-duty and off employer's premises, in other words, in private. There is much confusion about the accuracy of drug tests. In fact claims of billions of dollars lost in employee productivity are based on guesswork, not real evidence. Urine tests cannot test for drugs directly. They test for traces of substances taken before the test which are no longer active in your system but can still be detected. The most accurate methods of urine analysis are time-consuming and expensive, and even then can be wrong at least 10% of the time. Even though these drug tests are the most accurate, more often then not employers opt for a less accurate drug test because the more accurate ones are too much of an expense for the company. These cheaper drug tests often have an error rate of 30%, which means that 30% of all people that take these drugs tests are falsely accused and may be fired from their jobs. Also, traces of legal medicines, such as cough syrups, nasal sprays and eardrops can be confused with those of illegal drugs. Even the poppy seeds found in baked goods can produce a positive result for heroin. Furthermore, drug tests are not work-related because they do not measure impairment that occurs during work hours. A positive drug test only shows that a drug was taken at some time in the past. Also, the drug test does not distinguish between occasional and habitual use, the same is also true with alcohol testing. Another reason that drug testing isn't very reliable is the fact that drug testing does not even detect all drug users. This is true because most stronger drugs such as cocaine do not last in the user's blood stream as long as someone who has used marijuana for example. This means that the weekend user of cocaine is much more likely than the weekend user of marijuana to pass a weekday drug test. Also drug tests may not reveal very recent drug use. For example, a worker who does not smoke marijuana regularly decides to smoke marijuana in the middle of the work day, a drug test may come back negative because mot enough time has passed for drug metabolites to appear in the urine. With all these factors working against the accuracy of drug tests, not to mention the occasional error of the people who process the specimens at the lab and the false-negatives that occur when an employee deliberately decides to sabotage a drug test, it is hardly worth it for an employer to go through with the trouble of a drug tests when the true drug users, the ones that are harmful to the company, are not pointed out anyways. There are better ways to address substance abuse in the workplace then to rely on the very unreliable method of drug and alcohol testing. These ways are more cost-effective, time-effective and have a much better impact in the workplace; also they do not raise the same privacy issues that drug tests do. An effective alternative to drug testing is to train supervisors to confront, and refer impaired employees to Employee Assistance Programs or other intervention programs. This strategy leads to increased employee acceptance of treatment and a subsequent improvement in overall job performance.