Child Abuse

 Essay

Many children suffer child abuse everyday at the hands of adults and it is often their own parents who are the ones to do this. They are beaten, kicked, thrown into walls, or burned with cigarettes. They have their heads held under the water of toilet bowls, are scalded by hot water or they are forced to stand in freezing or scalding showers until they pass out. A child could be stuffed into running washing machines or sexually molested and beaten so bad that they are unable to move. Some suffer from neglect in the forms of starvation and lack of medical attention, and still go unnoticed by outsiders such as child protective services or perhaps even their pediatricians. It is not unheard of that children die every day in the U.S. alone from one form of child abuse or another. It is a sickening practice that has no set standard of rules to finish off the persisting problem. Different states have different methods and agencies to help prevent abuse in the home, some work quite well while others bomb – a dangerous gamble when it comes to the life or mental state of a child. †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The precise number of deaths each year is not known because of the extent of most fatality investigations that could be suspected as child abuse but are seen as open and shut death cases. A report from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, however, depicts more than three million reports of alleged child maltreatment practices in the year of 1995 alone. Many more children are living with abuse rather than dying from it, too. So what steps are being taken to protect our nation’s children? All states have a Child Protective Services (or CPS) system. This is the governmental system responsible for investigating reports of child abuse or neglect. In state after state, the CPS agency lacks the resources to respond adequately to the overwhelming number of reports it is legislatively mandated to investigate. All fifty states have child abuse reporting laws requiring reports of suspected abuse to be made by specified professionals and others whose work brings them into regular contact with children. Any citizen may report suspected abuse as state laws provide for reports to be made to the CPS agency or its equivalent, or to a law enforcement agency. In most states, investigations are conducted by CPS personnel, although law enforcement officers may also be involved.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The basic concern of child welfare workers is for the safety of the child. Assessment of the risks involved in leaving a child with its family must be made quickly because children cannot be removed from their families arbitrarily. Once a child has been removed, the goal of child welfare agencies is to return the child to the family. Ideally, caseworkers develop a plan to provide parents with the education of the care that children need, free from abuse or neglect.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨This plan is not always carried out to its full intention. No state has the financial resources to provide all the services to the children and families who need them. A problem is that in state after state, CPS workers have excessive caseloads, are paid low salaries, and lack adequate training for the sensitive work involved in investigating abuse reports, and participating in decisions to remove children from their families then placing them in foster care. The turnover rate among child welfare workers is exceptionally high. A report done by the United States Department of Health and Human Services showed the rate of 30 percent to be the norm, annually.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Whatever the reason – inadequate funding, unavailable services for children and families, high turnover rates, lack of training, overwhelming numbers of reports – questions are being raised about the CPS system. The system is based on the assumption that removal from a troubled family, followed by a return to the family when that can be done safely, is best for the child. A different approach to the problems created by child abuse involves Family Preservation Services (FPS). Removal of the risk, rather than the child, is the goal of Family Preservation Services. FPS programs seek to modify the home environment or behavior of other family members so that it is at least as safe for the child to remain in the household as to be removed. Family preservation is based on the assumption that out of home care hurts children, and on the recognition that most families referred to Child Protective Service can and want to learn new ways of coping with stress. Rather than breaking families apart in order to treat them, intensive family preservation services seek to protect children and heal families by keeping them whole.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Specifically, FPS provides intensive services in the home to all the members of a troubled family for a relatively short time – four to six weeks. Professional staffs are usually assigned two, but no more than four, families at a time. Caseworkers are available to families twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. A worker can stay as long as necessary to stabilize the household, whether that means six, ten, or twelve hours. Ten states have initiated FPS programs by legislation including: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Homebuilders, an FPS program based in Tacoma, Washington, provides the longest running assessment of the effectiveness of family preservation services. From 1981 to 1994, Homebuilders saw 3,497 children. Evaluation data indicted that three months after completing the program, an average of 94 percent of the families had avoided out of home placement. Twelve-month follow up data showed that placement had been averted in 88 percent of the cases. Furthermore, the cost for Homebuilders’ family services was only $3000 per case while the costs for an average foster family home placement in the state was $7586.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨There is a down side to the Family Preservation Service, though. The track record of FPS seems impressive, but a closer look at another side reveals it’s not doing such a great job. According to the Clarke Foundation, there has never been a case of parental abuse or neglect causing serious injury or the death of a child while receiving family preservation services. But since the FPS provides services for a relatively short period of just a few weeks, there is no way of accurately predicting if after that short amount of observation that the parents are suddenly fit to care for a child. A worker only stays in the house for a maximum of twelve hours – that is not long enough to assess whether the child is in danger and the true nature of the parents. Of course no one is going to kill or seriously injure a child in front of a human services official. No studies are available that show whether the abuse reoccurred after the Family Preservation Service’s four to six weeks with the family was finished. †¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The Division of Family Services takes another approach to preventing child abuse. The staff is divided into units, working a variety of shif ts and functions to best provide the services needed by the children and families. The response unit is responsible for receiving all reports of child abuse, neglect, and dependency. They determine the nature of the allegations and the appropriate response time for initiating investigation of the allegations. Once abuse or neglect is found or significant risk of its occurrence is identified, cases are transferred to the treatment unit. Workers in these units are responsible for assessing family needs and connecting the family with appropriate resources and services to address those identified areas. They are also responsible for monitoring the family’s success at utilizing the available services, and communicating with various service providers to assess the ongoing safety of the children and the progress of the family. They close cases when significant progress has been achieved to eliminate or minimize the ongoing risk of abuse to the children. The Statewide Unification Unit is responsible for providing intensive reunification services for children who can potentially return home within six months. Staff work closely with the children, their natural family, and the care provider to facilitate smooth transitions and successful reunification. When the goal of returning children to their natural families is no longer appropriate, the social workers write Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) petitions, which, once approved by Family Court, allow children to become free for adoption. They develop long term foster care plans for those children whose parental rights have been terminated, but for whom adoption or returning them to the home is not an appropriate goal. They are also responsible for providing assistance throughout the adoption process to support successful adoptive placements.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨It has been shown that through most personal accounts, that parents never really learn to take care of their children without usin g abuse. Because of this, it seems quite logical to make the main focus on protecting the child, then if returning them to their family is assessed as being completely logical, that is the way to go. I propose that a system of â€Å"three strikes-your out† be implemented. With this, the parent will lose rights to the child for a short time while they go through training and counseling. If they are deemed not insane, then they may care for the child again with the warning of what will happen to them. They will have a sort of parole officer that will check up on the family annually. On the second offense, there will be further counseling, jail time, and other means of reform. If they are granted custody again, they will be checked on frequently and unscheduled. If they can not handle the child without abuse from there, the child will be put up for adoption. There are very long waiting lists for parents who would love to adopt a child and will provide a loving family that should be utilized. The state would let the new parents take care of the child financially, but would pay for counseling of that child and training for the rest of the family on how to love on the abused. If in later years, the parent has redeemed him/herself, then they will be allowed to visit and take the child on trips and be allowed to be a friend. After the child has reached the age of eight-teen the will be allowed to decide who they would like to stay with.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨No system for child protection is going to be full-proof. There are steps that can be taken to improve them. Any system is only as good as the people who implement it. Representative Kaye Steinmetz of Missouri is proposing legislation to require additional training for Child Protective Services workers, establish a state team to assist with investigations of difficult cases, and provide for statewide protocols to ensure proper investigations. Representative Debbie Stabenow of Michigan advocates early identification of parents at risk of becoming abusers. Michigan Perinatal Coaching project is an example of this. Developed by the state’s Children’s Trust Fund, the project matches parent volunteers with parents of newborns. Through the child’s first year, the volunteer provides support to the parents, whether that involves advice about discipline or other areas that new parents may find difficult. A similar program called Family Skill-Builder is offered in the state of Massachusetts. It offers an in home case management series for families who are at risk of abusing and neglecting their children. It’s designed to prevent child abuse and neglect and to help families function independently.†¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Deborah Daro, director of research for the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, has several suggestions for legislators to consider. She maintains that states need to provide more services for victims of abuse, especially therapeutic, remedial and support services. She says, â€Å"States also need to look at the quality of foster care. Foster care ought to be more than just giving a child a place to live.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¨The goal in preventing child abuse should be permanency and stability for the child, whether that means a return to the family or, in some cases, termination of parental rights and adoption. The sooner that can be achieved the better. This can be accomplished by setting up time tables for review of foster care cases, and by establishing specific criteria for permanency planning and termination of parental rights. Another key in preventing child abuse is evaluating each situation case by case. Placing a child in foster care may be the best decision for that particular case, while intensive family preservation services might be best for another. The best answer may lie in a combination of the ideas of different organizations. Individual attention to each case would personalize a plan to get each family on the road to a good, stable, and loving family life in less time.

Is racism still in football?

A lot of people would argue that racism is still around, no matter how much we try to kick it out and especially in Football. Kick it out is a campaign designated purely to stamp out racism in Football. It works throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge discrimination and encourage inclusive practices and work for positive change. However after recent events going back a few years racism is still a main part of the football world although most people try to hide the fact that this is happening a lot of others are disappointed and frustrated that this still goes on. â€Å"To any governing body that turns a blind eye, I want to tell you that your attitude only magnifies the fact you are out of touch with the modern game† a strong statement made by Sepp Blatter president of FIFA (The International Federation of Association Football) to suggest that people must speak up, otherwise this problem may never be solved. On speaking about recent events that have caught eye of the public audience’s I’m going to speak on two talented footballers who are generally known around the world; Luis Suarez Captain of Uruguay and an extremely talented footballer who wears the number 7 jersey for Liverpool FC and John Terry, previous England captain and captain for Chelsea FC, both have been in the limelight regarding racial allegations. After being found guilty for misconduct regarding using insulting and potentially racist words towards Patrice Evra of Manchester United, Luis Suarez was banned for eight games and fined ?40,000. The allegations on October 15th during a fixture between Liverpool and Manchester United, during which Evra claimed that Suarez racially abused him â€Å"more than 10 times† (Guardian, 2011) Recently, incidents of racism have been blown out of proportion. Main man for Chelsea and England leader John Terry has been in the public eye following an occurrence that took place December of 2011 between himself and Anton Ferdinand, brother of England’s Rio Ferdinand. John Terry has been accused of racial abuse and has been found guilty on the 27th of July 2012. â€Å"The verdict released by the FA said: â€Å"The Football Association charged Mr Terry on Friday 27 July 2012 with using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards Queens Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand and which included a reference to colour and/or race contrary to FA Rule E3 [2] in relation to the Queens Park Rangers FC versus Chelsea FC fixture at Loftus Road on 23 October 2011. (BBC Sport, September, 2012) Sky Sports are one of the most sports oriented television channels in the UK and I will be assigning my media interest about how they reflect on the racism in the football world, more so in the United Kingdom. For my second week I had to identify, justify and develop an answerable research question Because I decided to focus my media interest on how sky sports deal with the issue that has affected a lot of people in football, this issue being racism, it’s no surprise that my research question will be of the same topic. To begin with I had to do some research to see if the question I’m asking would be suitable and answered by the right audience. However before I reached that stage I needed to find the correct people I’m aiming this question to. So I went and rushed to the nearest shopping centre and asked a lot of local men, there ages ranging 18-24. 17 out of 20 young males identified themselves as regular Football viewers and also check Sky Sports to catch up on the latest. Research Question: How do Sky Sports report racism in Football? Object of Study: In this subject I will be discussing how exactly Sky Sports report the racism that has been going on in recent events going back a few months to the Euro Cup where football players stated ‘if someone throws a banana at me I will go to jail, because I will kill them’ (Mario Balotelli, Sky Sports news) Sky Sports, like any other News Industry contain a lot of facts and gossip. In order to get information from my ‘object of study’ I have decided that I would visit Birmingham City Football club and speak to two young men who play for the clubs reserve squad, I asked them How Sky Sports reports racism and how the audience may respond to them? 8 year old Nathan told me that he had gone through some racial abuse early on in his career ‘I would never get picked for teams, players would never pass me the ball and most likely hear some racial abuse from fans but I believe it made me a better player now’ and 19 year old Jermain told me ‘whether Sky S ports sponge the racism issue these days to get more viewers or not, at least there putting the issue out there more so everybody can see what goes on. However I still needed to ground my question and make it more local, I could only come to a conclusion and make it based more in the UK, ‘How do Sky Sports report football racism in the UK?. Sky Sports covers most of England NI and Wales this could already suggest that all there reports covers only the United Kingdom. In my third week, for my third assignment I’ve had to amend my question and look at something that in my eyes had all the possible attributes to fit that week’s task. I have decided to use the new Guinness advert to show how rhetorical and also semiological analysis are both being used. Directed by Peter Thwaites from Gorgeous, the film was shot on location in South Africa in both Johannesburg and along the Durban coastline. The advert conveys the metaphor amazing things can happen when we challenge ourselves. (Creative report, 2012) The advert in the viewer’s judgments if never seen before can leave them guessing what it is leading to as it did me the first time I watched it. However, I looked back at it a few times and came across a number of key factors that actually do make sense and can relate to the pint of Guinness they are so discreetly advertising. ‘A cloud came from the sea’ the idea here, this could suggest, is that the cloud represents the typical Guinness drinker – someone who has broken away from the masses to find their own path. In a way using a cloud to represent liquid refreshment is very clever and in its own way. â€Å"The cloud came from the sea. He was not like other clouds. The wind could not come on him. The more he saw, the more he did. And the more he did, the more he became. You see he wasn’t just a cloud. He was a cloud made of more† the dialogue is very intriguing and it’s what draws us closer to the advertisement. As the film progresses, the cloud engages with people, places and objects below, seeing itself reflected in a mirrored skyscraper, darkening as it approaches the scene of a fierce industrial fire before the dramatic climax. The cloud then gently drifts back, ocean-bound, and gradually merges into a swirling pint of Guinness, before resolving with the new pint; Guinness. Made of More. Speaking more about the fire scene, in actual essence the cloud does represent a lot more. I believe that the fire represents a man’s rage and the cloud puts out the fire suggesting that if you have a pint of Guinness you’ll be relaxed and cooler. After reviewing this advert I’ve come to a conclusion, it’s just a major metaphor to show the amazing things that can happen when we challenge ourselves to make the most of who we are. Do we settle for the way things are or do we take the bold choice to step up and be made of more? Do we settle for an ordinary drink or do we choose one that is made of more? † Now for my fourth week I decided to focus my task on a new topic, purely because I needed a diverse audience there’s not much diversity in Football between Male and Females. How do audiences get entertainment from watching music videos on YouTube? YouTube provides a venue for sharing videos among friends and family as well as a showcase for new and experienced videographers. Featuring videos it considers entertaining, YouTube has become a destination for ambitious videographers, as well as amateurs who fancy making a statement of some kind. In addition, YouTube emerged as a major venue for excerpts from political speeches (PC Magazine) To find out a suitable answer for my question I had to obviously ask some people and see what their response on the subject is. The 3 people I decided to interview were: 21 year old musician Jamal, 23 year old Producer Michael and 19 year old dancer Emma. All of these people where happy for me to ask them anything as long as it suited the subject. Jamal told me he watched YouTube at least three times a day just too see if he can find inspiration and sometimes check out the competition. ‘YouTube is a massive platform for everybody to show off their skills, I have to see what everyone is bringing to the table to know what kind of stuff I want to bring out, and sometimes find some inspiration’. Michael however wasn’t so bitter and loves watching other musicians and producers on YouTube. ‘I love YouTube, I love everything about it. It’s like travelling the world to see what talents others have but you can do it all in your room if you know what I mean. I watch YouTube every night, sometimes because I’m bored but most of the time for entertainments, it’s like how can anybody get bored of YouTube’. I asked him if he’s ever uploaded anything on YouTube and how that’s affected him ‘Yes, I upload my beats and samples and most of the times I get people messaging me and asking me to make them an instrumental, so it does take most of my time’. To conclude my interview I went over to speak to 19 year old dancer Emma, she told me that if it had not been for YouTube maybe she would have been a nurse. I was studying health and social care in secondary school till I got all obsessed with dancing, so literally every night after school id rush home to watch some magnificent dancers on YouTube. It was like a form of relaxation, I loved it, there were some nights I wouldn’t sleep id just be up all night watching amazing dancers. This was the main factor which made me change my mind in becoming a dancer. As far as entertainment goes, I believe YouTube is the main entertainment site to date for anyone. McQuail – ‘duality of audiences’ is largely used when I was interviewing each one of these people because it gave them sense of equality the way they so passionately spoke about the subject. By reading Stuarts Halls encoding and decoding essay ive come to realise that The terms encoding and decoding are often used in reference to the processes of analog-to-digital conversion and digital-to-analog conversion. In this sense, these terms can apply to any form of data, including text, images, audio, video, multimedia, computer programs, or signals in sensors, telemetry, and control systems. Encoding should not be confused with encryption, a process in which data is deliberately altered so as to conceal its content. Encryption can be done without changing the particular code that the content is in, and encoding can be done without deliberately concealing the content. (Search network, encoding decoding, Stuart Hall) Hall himself referred to several ‘linked but distinctive moments – production, circulation, distribution/consumption, reproduction' (Hall 1980, 128)

CRM & SharePoint Tools In Management Research Paper

CRM & SharePoint Tools In Management - Research Paper Example In the light of using a combination of or relying solely on the work of management and Information Technology (IT) there is much to be offered about the operations of both. For the most part IT is being established as a necessity of management, but also non-functional without the contributions of management. In connection with the outcome expectancy of either management processes or IT is can be established that the operators of IT would be considered the IT itself and that whatever innovations of IT are made are contributions of the IT personnel. That being said, Rockart establishes the relationship to be â€Å"in an effective relationship, IT professionals and line managers work together to understand business opportunities, determine needed functionality, choose among technology options, and decide when urgent business needs demand sacrificing technical excellence for immediate, albeit incomplete, solutions†¦.These relationships demand that both IT and line managers accept a ccountability for systems projects, which is achievable only when both parties share their unique expertise† (p. 47). CRM is an implementation that allows the organization to synchronize and mechanize all business processes. It utilizes customer support, sales techniques and marketing processes to integrate the companies entire disparate system of operations. It is defined by William, Daniel, and McDonald as â€Å"processes and technologies that support the planning, execution, and monitoring of coordinated customer, distributor and influencer interactions through all channels† (p. 5).... 5). The following is a chart illustrating the ultimate structure implemented by a CRM (CRM, p. 1) In order to justify the orientation of CRM previous factors on success measures must be available. Clarifying the need of the specific technology widens the range of CRM scope and possibilities. For the purposes of this analysis a direct citing of views is provided by William, Daniel, and McDonald below of their views on CRM successful strategy implementations (p. 8): 1. Determine intent: As with other IT applications, top management sponsorship and the presence of a champion to drive the intervention are widely recognized as important. The potentially far-reaching effects of e-commerce lead Dutta (2000) to take the tough position that the Internet should be â€Å"a top strategic priority for your CEO†. If the project’s aim is to add to customer value, this needs to be complemented by a customer or market orientation, or at least by the perception of the need for it (Wilson and McDonald 1996), in which case the project’s scope should aim to increase it. 2. Assess context: The IT context of a project includes the existing set of systems. Leverick et al (1998) emphasize the need for â€Å"compatibility and integration with other marketing IT projects†. Ryals et al (2000) go beyond this to the need for a plan for customer-facing systems to converge so as to give a single view of the customer or competitors. The wider organization also needs to be aligned around the customer, either through the organizational structure (McDonald 1996) or through cross-functional teams (Ryals 2000; Wilson and McDonald 1996). A further element of the

Introduction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Introduction - Essay Example With this the signal is converted into a form which is compatible with the system. For analog form, A/D converter is used for the transmission of the signal, and for digital form, such a block is not required if data already exists in the digital form (Bagad and Dhotre, 2009, p.4-26). PCM – PCM or pulse-code modulation is a method based on digital encoding and are effectively used in optical fibre communications. The baseband video signal in the system is quantified and sampled. There is a series of bits that encodes the sample. The light is put on and off using binary signals. The bandwidth is required to be enhanced over the baseband method for its use. This is a good choice for optical communications, particularly when laser diode has to be utilized owing to presence of inherent nonlinearity in the source of the optics (Bandyopadhyay, 2014, p.314). PPM – PPM or pulse position modulation is used for optical communications where the code scheme involves a bit time divided into two slots. Data can either be 1 or 0. If it is 1, the pulse gets transmitted in the first bit time slot. If the data is 0, then the pulse gets generated in the second slot of the bit time. Expansion of PPM is also possible and proves to be efficient for optical communications (Alexander, 1997, p.228). Digital PPM – PPM can also be used digital transmission of information based on optical communications. It is also referred to as differential pulse position modulation. It is a variation of the PPM coding, which can transmit data irrespective of the presence of time. If delays occur in the transmission, they take reference from falling edge of the pulse that was earlier transmitted (Lazaridis, 2011). Multiple PPM and Dicode PPM – Dicode PPM and Multiple PPM are considered as the most efficient bandwidths for optical communications. The best forms of sensitivities are offered by these PPM without causing the large bandwidth of the system to increase.

Theories of Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Theories of Development - Essay Example Jacques Derrida can be considered as the most influential person in relation to poststructuralist theory. The poststructuralist theory revolves around the concept of decentralization of language (Crain, 2005). According to poststructuralist theory, language has no center. It is without any center. Saussure looked at language as a structure but Derrida emphasized that all structures are required to have centers while language has no center. Derrida claims that there is no present moment (Crain, 2005). As soon as we talk about a present moment or think about it, it is already past. Poststructuralist can be related to deconstruction that considers that there is no fixed meaning (Escobar, 1995). Language is considered in the same frame. There is no central meaning for any word in language (Crain, 2005). According to Derrida, language is a free play of meaning (Crain, 2005). Poststructuralist theory challenges the existence of each and every thing in the world whether living or nonliving (Escobar, 1995). After analyzing the points discussed in poststructuralist theory, the theory seems most compelling as all the aspects raised in the theory are persuasive and influential. Not only one critic but many critics and theorists are involved in the evaluation of poststructuralist theory. Postcolonial and postmodern theories are also persuasive but as compared to poststructuralist theory, they appear somehow weak. Post-colonial theorists are unable to regard themselves as fully post-colonial (Escobar, 1995). According to them, they are still under the control of colonial powers. Postcolonial theorists regard nationality, language and regionalism as most important aspects that an individual should have (Crain, 2005). Like poststructuralist theory, postmodern theory is also a response to modern theory. This also deals with a set of perspectives related to society,

Managing Work and people( research report) Paper

Managing Work and people( report) - Research Paper Example The leaders have long been considered as the ruling personality in the business and working environment. However, the theories of leadership provide different grounds to leadership styles. Leadership is now believed to be a more flexible and dynamic approach to lead a team than ever. This paper aims to provide a more logical and less rigid perspective of leadership in the context of business environment. The theories related to leadership involving charismatic leadership, contingency perspective and path-goal theory are discussed in this paper. The paper also provides an account on the challenges that leaders face these days due to modern concepts like globalization, technological advancements and diversity. This paper also provides a personal reflection on the practical application of leadership styles and forms a conclusion based on the discussions on different topics related to leadership. The leadership approach that is being supported in this paper is ‘the contingency lead ership approach’. Leadership: The Concepts and Issues The Conceptual Definition of Leadership The concept of leadership is no longer a mystery. ... This paper analyzes the perspectives and styles of leadership and aims to form a conclusion based on the research on authoritative and participative leadership styles. Traits of an Effective Leader A leader is the person who puts forward the plan, explains success, and confirms the capability of success. It is clear that a leader who assures these things will be more competent than other leader who desires to put the idea but refuses to accept any work in the managerial part (Clark, Clark & Albright, 1990). Hence, effective leader is the one who have power over people and whose decisions are binding on others. Everyone possesses leadership potential. Effective Leadership can, & normally does, emerge from the inside. Effective leadership requires the leader to take the whole group along. It is not necessary to involve the whole group in decisions regarding the group’s success however; the members of group are ‘helpers’. These ‘helpers’, if motivated an d encouraged to work together, may quicken the process of success. This is what my experience led me to realize. The first experience as a night shift manager of a small hotel was the most difficult phase of my life. I hardly knew how to handle the staff and motivate them to work speedily and accurately. Leaders in the service industry need to be more attentive since the customers and workers are in a direct contact. The motivational theories helped a lot in running the business successfully from the very beginning of my professional career. Challenges to the Organizational Leaders: The five challenges as described by Yukl (2001) involve the challenges in achieving ethical leadership, gender

Explore the benifits and chalenges o conducting multi-paradiam Essay

Explore the benifits and chalenges o conducting multi-paradiam research - Essay Example Thomas Kuhn, who is known for the discussing of meaning ‘paradigm’ in his famous book  The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, characterized paradigm as â€Å"an integrated cluster of substantive concepts, variables and problems attached with corresponding methodological approaches and tools†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚  (p.43).  Kuhn also specified the questions, which should be clarified within a paradigm to consider it as a valid base for a scientific research. A paradigm has to define what should be studied, what question and how should be asked, and also, which rules the researcher should follow to interpret obtained results. The notion of paradigm considers as the broadest unit of consensus, which serves to differentiate one scientific community from another. It appears to be a set of principles and axioms that relates to research process on the stage of assessment of a problem up to its solution.  Paradigms define and correlate theories, methods and instruments, accept ed within a scientific research. Analyzing the main paradigms, dominating in modern science, such as positivism, post positivism, critical theory, and constructivism, Guba and Lincoln (1994), represented their opinion about the role of paradigms, their assumptions, and the implications of those assumptions for research. â€Å"Paradigms define for the [researcher] what it is they are about, and what falls within and outside the limits of legitimate [research]† (Guba and Lincoln, 1994, p. 108). The authors states that the basic beliefs that define a particular research paradigm may be summarized by the responses given to three fundamental questions: the ontological question (what is the form and nature of reality), the epistemological question (what is the nature of the relationship between a researcher and the object of research), and the methodological question (how can the inquirer go about finding out whatever he/ she believes can be known)  (pp. 105-117). From this aspec t, we will analyze some of the well- known paradigms such as positivism and critical theory. Positivism. French philosopher August Comte (1798–1857) was the initiator of positivist paradigm, based on the philosophical ideas of observation and reasoning as the main ways of understanding reality and human behavior. According to August Comte, true knowledge is based on experience of senses and can be obtained by observation and experiment. Positivistic thinkers adopted his scientific method for knowledge generation. The main postulates of the positivist paradigm consist in understanding of nature as an objective, true reality, which is governed by unchangeable natural laws. Nature has its stable, pre-existing patterns and order that can be discovered. Positivism considers human nature to be described from the behaviorist approach, asserting the external factors play the main role in the formation of the similar specific behavior of everyone, who has been influenced the same obje ctive factors. Accurate and certain, knowledge should be described in a systematic way, and verify hypotheses that can be regarded as facts or laws. The role of research is uncovering the natural laws of reality, scientifically explaining, predicting and controlling phenomena. A researcher have to be objective, independent from influencing the subject of research, and eliminate any bias or subjective values within research. The main methods of research are empirical and experimental, structured observation, quantification or measurement. The results of research consider true, if

Design, Drawing and Practical Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Design, Drawing and Practical Skills - Essay Example This it does by providing the describing the conceptual structure and empirical design. The document further applies the knowledge and skills for executing or developing product effectively and efficiently. Effective design specification gives a clear understanding of the objective of the project and helps identify the constraints involved. It further assists the design concept by allocating the required tools and resources for the whole project. It can help in installing checkpoints and regulations and ensuring the quality of the product by tracking progress (Landa 2011, p78). The required tools for the multi design include design requirement description and the work plan or the enterprise framework of the design, which carries the principles, policies and the regulation guiding the processes. It is vital for the team members of the design team have the guide that enables them get solution to their queries. The design specification document assists in the identification of the risks projected and ways of minimizing their chances of occurrence. Effective Project management in a multi-disciplinary design team is essential as it guides the activities in the project, in line with the available time and resources. Without a systematic project management framework, it is possible that the some tasks will take unnecessarily longer durations to complete, or may consume more resources. There are many project management tools as presented in the list below, Each of the tools is applicable in different project environments and specific nature of projects. Activity network for example applies in projects where the calculation of the critical path is required. Gantt chart is necessary where the sequence of activities, resources consumed and the time spent in each task is required. It also presents a graphical representation of the project activities. Work schedule is very simple as it contains the timing of each task

Incentives and Disincentives for Corporations entering the Texan Research Paper

Incentives and Disincentives for Corporations entering the Texan financial industry compared to other U.S. states in general - Research Paper Example The outstanding leadership of Governor Rick Perry has promoted the growth of the Texas State and eventual recognition of the Texas model for economic development. The no income tax policy, minimal government interference, and maintaining fiscal discipline has promoted an increase in population and newly created jobs. Texas State has been so successful that Governor Perry has been flaunting the Texas economic benefits and openly luring businesses from California, Maryland and other states to â€Å"think Texas† and relocate to the Lone Star State. Introduction In the  United States of America, Texas State  is the  second largest  and has the second highest number of inhabitants out of all the  50 states.   (Hess and Sauter, 2013) observe that the 2012 US national economy grew, and Texas and California, some of its largest state economies grew more rapidly. California has the largest state economy, closely followed by Texas. According to the International Monetary Fun d 2011 rankings, Texas has a GDP of $1.2 trillion, that is, 8 percent of the total U.S. GDP. It is further recorded that the 2012 Texan GDP went up by almost twice the 2.5% of the total U.S. GDP. ... compared to other states, it leads in the agriculture , space and biomedical sciences, computers  and  computer electronics, energy and petrochemical firms. The mining industry, the largest in the U.S. that consists of oil and gas extraction has energy firms such as ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil is based there. American Airlines is based in Fort Worth while Southwest Airlines is based in Dallas. The Lone Star state is the pillar of the U.S. Air Force and lots of others all over the world as it makes its own fighter jets and has massive quantities of weapons-grade plutonium near Amarillo. The NASA Johnson Space Center, an aerospace center, the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans football teams, the  Texas Rangers  and the  Houston Astros baseball teams and the  Houston Rockets, the  San Antonio Spurs, and the  Dallas Mavericks basketball teams and the Dallas Stars hockey team are all based in Texas State.   Population growth and energy manufacture in Texas have incre ased the Texan GDP rate by 4.8%. In 2012, population grew by about 1.7% and the energy industry accounted for $123.3 billion of the nation's $285.2 billion output (Hess and Sauter, 2013). Just like Florida, Nevada, South Dakota and Washington, Texas is a no income tax state (Wood, 2013). Among the 50 states, Texas ranks relatively low in terms of tax burdens and taxation on consumption. Texas  Governor Rick Perry has always been enticing Americans to relocate to Texas using the â€Å"no state income tax† tag line and pointing out the benefits of residing in the Lone Star State. The Texas’ economy is entirely diversified and not reliant on any one industry. As countless states are still tussling to develop their finances, Texas not only has all it needs for its critical roles, but also upholds a fiscally

Doubt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Doubt - Essay Example The play has utilized many symbols to represent certain elements which either constitute or supplement the core theme of the play. The title of the play itself is ideally framed to contain the key theme that the play intends to communicate. The subtitle ‘parable’ communicates to the audience that it has an inner symbolic message to convey. The whole play is casted in the background of the Catholicism. The play starts with Father Flynn delivering the holy sermon. The pulpit which is set on the stage, ideally serves as a symbol of Catholicism, which is the foundation of the play. However, two very important identifiable symbols used in the play are the rigid and strict approach of Sister Aloysius and one another symbol is the unconventional behavior of Father Flynn as a priest. Quite often in the play Sister Aloysius is found arguing or stating a point strongly. In either case she is found with her fists closed. This is a symbol to represent how closed the existing system was. It is notable throughout the play that Sister Aloysius is very dedicated towards the students. She is portrayed as a very strict principal who is very rigid on each and everything which happens in the school and with the students. Authoritativeness is her norm of teaching. She is a symbol of a system which works on set norms and does not divert from those.

BOSCH GmbH- Human Resource Management Essay Example for Free

BOSCH GmbH- Human Resource Management Essay In our work the foreign dispatch process is examined, how far the global requirements on the resource staff are met by Bosch. The measures, Bosch developed for the choice, preparation, moving and reintegration of its employees has been examined and set against the common practice of other enterprises. The work starts with a representation of the enterprise Bosch. The main part is a detailed representation of the measures of Bosch with respect to the four phases of the foreign dispatch. These are judged with the theory from technical literature and compared with the common practice of other enterprises. Subsequently the question is followed whether the expansion plans in the direction of the China require a customization of the staff management. Finally we draw a conclusion whether the measures of Bosch are suitable to fulfill the requirements or must be changed. 2. Bosch2.1 Historical developmentThe enterprise Bosch was set up under the name workshop for precision engineering and electrical engineering in Stuttgart in the year 1886 by the engineer Robert Bosch. The international orientation already started early. In 1898 they founded the first branch office in England (London). One year later they opened a dependance in France (Paris). The first branch office followed in the USA in 1906. The international development has continued until today. In 2003 75% of the manufacturing sites are outside Germany. With daughter and associated companies Bosch is present in more than 50 countries worldwide. Bosch is one of the biggest industrial enterprises in Germany today and is a global player especially in the automobile industry. Bosch has convinced with its innovations since their foundation and has a high position in the market. In 1897 Bosch developed the first low voltage magneto ignition which firstly made the use of internal combustion engines possible. The innovation strength has remained until today; so Bosch was the first component supplier bringing innovations like ESP the anti-lock braking system anti-lock braking system, the navigation system under the names Travelpilot and the electronic stability system on the market. Bosch recognized the significance of its employees for the innovation and market success early, too. In 1906 Bosch introduced the eight hour day when celebrating the delivery of the 100,000 sten magnet igniter. With the delivery of the 500,000 sten igniter they introduced work free Saturday afternoons. 2.2 The Bosch, group todayToday enterprise Bosch consists of the motor vehicle technology, industry technology and use and goods technology. Their core competence and most important unit is still the vehicle technology. This can be proved by regarding the sales volume. The share of this division was 65.4% in the year 2003. The sales development and its foreign share is displayed in graphic 1. Bosch doubled the sales volume within only 10 years, from approx. 16 billion  to 36 billion euros. However, the foreign share of the sales volume increased proportionally faster. From 49% in 1993 it rose up to 71% in 2003. These data underline again the strong international orientation of the company. According to this Bosch has employees all over the world. In 2003 Bosch employed 230,000 people worldwide with a share of 54% outside of Germany. 2.3 The corporate cultureThe idea of the corporate culture is interpreted differently in the literature. Berthel defines corporate culture as follows: Corporate culture is the sum of the moral concepts, carried a business together of the employees norms and behavior patterns this one has taken shape in the course of the time. The philosophy of Robert Bosch stamps the corporate culture since the foundation. So he wrote in 1919: It has always been an unbearable thought to me that someone could inspect one of my products and find it inferior . I have therefore always tried to ensure that only look for work goes out that is superior into all respects . In the year 2001 this culture was strengthened by the new model Be Better Be Bosch and the values were formulated in a written form for the first time. They initiated a modernization project called Be QIK. This model functions as action framework for the after stored aims and strategies:†¢Be QIK, Quality, innovation and Customer oriented†¢Be Better improve against previous years and gain the competitive edge,†¢Be Bosch, committed to our vision, our tradition and of the spirit of a the company and the legacy of our founder Robert Bosch. The enterprise therefore tries to create a global behaviorial framework, which takes over the orientation function, identification function, coordination and integration function and helps to manage the challenges of the future. 3. Foreign dispatch process at Bosch3.1 Aims of the foreign dispatchBy the assignment of highly qualified employees Bosch aims at a compensation of a lack of know-how in the respective host country. Furthermore Bosch wants to rise the cross culturel skills of their executives in order to improve the  cooperation with foreign departments. Additionally it is possible for the ambitious employees to request for a dispatch in order to enhance their motivation. An important aim of foreign dispatches is finally the implementation of a worldwide corporate culture through which the communication and cooperation within the Bosch group is made easier. 3.2 Dispatch formsBosch distinguishes three dispatch forms. The business trip, the delegation as well as the transfer. The business trip with a duration of up to three months serves to establish contacts or also to conclude business on the spot. With the delegation Bosch distinguishes between the dispatch for the fulfillment of a project task or the dispatch in the context of trainee programs. The expatriate is abroad for a duration between three months and a year. If it is necessary to cover a lack of manpower a transfer is carried out. In this case the duration of the stay abroad is between one and five years. Bosch averagely dispatches their employees for three years. 3.3 Foreign dispatch processA carefully structured dispatch process is very important for Bosch to ensure the success of the foreign dispatch. To this, at first the occupation order is prepared which contains the necessary qualifications of the employee with regard to the vacant job. The choice of a suitable candidate, the dispatch conversation and the information journey to the possible country are the next steps of the process. After this journey the employee finally decides whether he accepts the position abroad. If he agrees, the employee is prepared comprehensively for the stay abroad. Then the moving to the foreign country takes place. After the job completion the employee is reintegrated. The individual phases of the foreign dispatch process are explained in the following more precisely. 3.3.1 Choice3.3.1.1 Theoretical bases and enterprise practiceThe best liability for a success of foreign dispatch can still be seen in the right choice of the employees to be sent. This should include technical criteria, behavior-related criteria, intercultural environment-related criteria as  well as personal criteria. When choosing a suitable dispatch candidate enterprises often orientate at technical performances. However, empirical examinations show, that competences or-related behavior and-related intercultural environment abilities for the cultural customization have a greater influence on the success of the foreign activity. Other surveys from the 1990s confirm that individual performance features are in the foreground at the choice. In addition, they show that the family is hardly co-included in the decision. An interview under Expatriates points, that the well-being plays the family an important role for the professional success. 3.3.1.2 Choice at BoschBosch has recognized the importance of extra-technical criteria for the choice of a suitable dispatch candidate. Besides the career potential, which are investigated by the employee development instruments (see chapter 2.2), features like team and communication ability or representation of the Bosch culture are co-included in the decision. The latter has a great importance for the support of the implementation of a worldwide corporate culture, one of the aims of the foreign dispatch. 3.3.2 Preparation3.3.2.1 Theoretical bases and enterprise practiceInstitutes specialized in further education and intercultural management distinguish between a country specific and country general as well as intellectual and experience obtained preparation. The respective confrontation of these preparation methods shows the following classifications:†¢Intellectual country specific preparationPrimarily general information about the host country is mediated and language courses carried out here. Culture games are, such as the cultural assimilator training. †¢Experience-related country specific preparationThe political, economic and socio-cultural conditions of the host country shall be given to the expatriate a better understanding. With the help of case studies and role plays as well as information journeys the expatriates are prepared for country and culture specifics. †¢Intellectual preparationThe cultural self awareness model plays an important  role in this preparation class. It assumes that it is important to remind the participant of his own stereotyped and behaviors in order to develop a sensibility for the foreign maybe strange looking cultural aspects. †¢Experience-related country general preparationThis preparation method which shall enlarge the intercultural competence of the expatriates (on The job by Outdoor training, intercultural simulation games) consists of the cooperation on international teams as well as of an intercultural action training. Source of the success of foreign dispatches is the degree to which an expat is able to establish contacts and manages to overcome culture barriers and to find the way in the strange culture. The chief attention of the preparation in German and American companies lies in the technical education, the execution of a language training as well as the arrangement of general country information, though. An experience-related preparation seldom takes place. The external execution of the preparation measures is in general preferred opposite the internal one. The family moreover is only seldomly included in the preparations although family problems belong to the most frequent reasons for the failure of foreign dispatches. After a study of the auditing company PriceWaterhouseCoopers 40% of all Expatriates return home ahead of schedule. 96% of these on impulses of the family which often doesnt cope with the surroundings. The final conclusion is that the size of the preparation is very small in the entrepreneurial practice. 3.3.2.2 Preparation at BoschBosch practices comprehensive preparations for both its employees and their families to ensure the success of their foreign dispatch. At the beginning of the preparation Bosch offers a information journey which is designed for employees who go abroad for longer than 12 months. Before the definite decision, Bosch gives its employees the  opportunity to go to the host country with the companion of their partner. The stay lasts for two to three days, within Europe outside Europes approximately one week. By this look and sea trip the employee and his companions can get a better idea of the future place of residence. That shall prevent them from forming unrealistic expectations. If the employee decides to accept the job offered abroad, the real preparation starts. The central HR department is responsible for the execution of the preparation transfers (ZM2). It builds a preparation plan with measures which are coordinated with the needs of the respective employee. The aim of the preparation with Bosch is the arrangement of intercultural competence. This consists of country specific knowledge, linguistic proficiency as well as cultural sensibility of the three elements together. Country specific knowledgeThe arrangement of country specific knowledge contains information about the framework conditions of the host country. Formalities which are connected with a stay abroad are given to the Expatriates and their companions traveling along in a so-called Bosch foreign preparation seminar. So-called mentors, employees already returned home, convey information e.g. to the contract of employment or for tax regulations. By the use of mentors Bosch guarantees that experiences collected abroad are passed on and therefore used for new dispatches effectively. Linguistic proficiencyThe knowledge of the respective national language is prerequisite for a dispatch, because it is very important for an integration in private and in working life. Bosch employees have to learn the foreign language until they reach a level that enables them to come along in working life without any problems. If they want to learn more, they also have the possibility of attaining comprehensive knowledge. The family is tied to ensure that it can find the way in daily life. The language education takes place externally and Bosch takes on the costs both for the employee and for the family. The company attaches importance to the fact that the education starts early so that the required knowledge is reached before the dispatch. Cultural sensibilityThe cultural sensibility of the employees shall be promoted by two measures: the intercultural preparation training as well as the intercultural management training. The intercultural preparation training has the aim of sensitizing the employee to the think and behavior patterns of the host country to make the integration into the strange cultural environment easier for him. If the training is carried out internally, so-called country teams are responsible for it. These teams consist of employees who have made experiences in the respective host country or even are from this country themselves. This five-day intercultural preparation training is offered both for the employee and for the family since this is confronted with the same integration or understanding difficulties concerning the strange culture. This has particularly to be taken into account when thinking of the growing importance of multicultural cooperations, e.g. in the context of joint ventures or international project work. 3.3.3 MovingAt Bosch receives the Expatriate supports for the carrying out of the necessary formalities by the so-called Bosch foreign preparation seminar. When the employee finally starts his stay abroad he usually feels like on holiday. Everything is new to him and he is fascinated by his new task at the company and the new country itself. But this positive feeling often changes after a few months when the first serious problems occur. He feels helpless because he can not manage the situation in the new surrounding. This is called cultural shock. To keep the cultural shock as low as possible, Bosch looks after his employees during their stay and helps them when problems appear. The cultural shock can never completely prevented especially if the difference between the cultures is very large. Nevertheless Bosch tries to prepare their employees by showing general culture differences so that they can deal with problems easyierly. Furthermore Bosch offers his expatriate an intensive coaching. The employee has a mentor in the native country who is two hierarchical orders higher than himself. They meet at least once a year to talk about problems abroad or about further plans of the employee after his return to germany. In addition, a strengths-/ weaknesses analysis is carried out to be able to comprehend the development of the employee and not lose the summary of the knowledge and abilities. An examination of Schroll-Machl shows that the support of the Expatriates is often insufficient in the practice. Many Expatriates have the impression that their enterprise leaves them alone and it doesnt support at problems. They must manage various difficulties at the same time. Family problems moreover arent taken into account in the context of the support in the practice. However, wife and children are especially confronted with greater customization difficulties than the staff member because they have more frequent contacts to the strange culture. 3.3.4. Reintegration3.3.4.1 Theoretical bases and enterprise practiceAfter the expiry of the delegation period the Expatriate returns back to the parent company. A successful reintegration of the employee is both of high entrepreneurial and financial importance. A negative signal starts out from a failed reintegration for other parent company members. The readiness to accept an offer for a foreign activity sinks. Furthermore the financial dimension of the complete dispatch process including the return has to be taken into account. American studies value the total costs of the foreign assignment of an employee at up to 1 millions $. In connection with this, it is surprising that only few enterprises care for the repatriation of their employees professionally. A KPMG examination from the year 2000 showed that 67% of all interviewed people who were delegated abroad said that there is need for improvement at the reintegration process of their enterprise. This criticism has to be taken  seriously since problems with the reintegration have serious consequences for the Expatriate and the enterprise like e.g. a low work motivation or even the cancellation and the change to another enterprise. According to an examination of Black (1992) the share of the returnees who cancel their job within one year after their return due to integration problems is about 25%. The causes of these reintegration diffic ulties are multilayered. You can subdivide them into operational and private difficulties. Operational levelThe search for a suitable position often turns out to be difficult since the HR departments can assess hardly the qualification development of the returnee during his stay abroad. In addition returnees often have exaggerated expectations and therefore are disappointed of the offered job in their home company. They often have the impression that their new skills especially about the country they spent a lot of time in are not appreciated. A study of Wirth from the year 1992 has shown that merely 30% of all enterprises evaluate the experiences of its employees after a stay abroad. Another aspect of the reintegration is the cessation of foreign raises and other privileges. Private LevelProblems frequently appear also in the private area of the Expatriates. During their stay abroad the often only keep the positive aspects of their life in Germany in mind, the negative everyday problems appear only after the return and the first euphoria. The culture of ones own seems alienated and it comes to the double cultural shock. Particularly the children have to suffer from the new surroundings and from the change since they have accepted the strange culture more strongly, had to leave friends and dont cope with the German school system any more. For the expatriates and their partners it is difficult to abstain from grown fond privileges like e.g. chauffeur, domestics for themselves or a swimming pool. 3.3.4.2 Reintegration with BoschAs a company with strong international orientation Bosch has recognized the meaning of a successful reintegration of returnees and supports the reintegration of its employees with numerous measures at an operational and private level to put a positive and encouraging signal for future dispatches. 3.3.4.2.1 Measures of the operational reintegrationBosch offers a very comprehensive and strategic personnel policy which takes into account the personal ambitions of the dispatched employees and the future need for highly qualified managers. This prevents Bosch from the problem frequently appearing that no adequate place can be offered to the returnee. Due to its size Bosch is moreover able to offer alternatives in the case of an abrupted dispatch process, like e.g. early return or dissatisfaction with the return position. As already explained different studies have shown that exaggerated experiences on the part of the returnees is the main reason for dissatisfaction with the position after the reintegration. To counteract this, Bosch regularly looks after the expatriate by a hierarchy higher mentor of the parent company. By this he keeps informed about all important developments in the company and furthermore he has contact person for career questions. Due to this permanent communication Bosch is able to get an exact idea about the situation and processes in the foreign business. Another important aspect which fundamentally contributes to the satisfaction of the returning employee is the appreciation and the use of the abroad acquired knowledge. Bosch evaluates the foreign experiences of its expatriates very comprehensively and endeavours suggestions for improvement. Furthermore the HR department tries to find a position in which the returnee can use his new won abilities optimally. This could be e.g. a position in the sales department of the region in which the expatriate was active. Furthermore the returnees have the opportunity to study further in order to work as an expert for the country they stayed in and prepare other employees for future dispatches. The BeQIK corporate culture, introduced in 2001, plays an important role for a successful reintegration. Since all subsidiary firm shall work according to the given behavioral framework, the cultural distance turns out a little bit smaller between host country and native country. Since the practical putting into action of the behavior guidelines is always subject to cultural influences, the degree of the relief should be assessed rather carefully. 3.3.4.2.2 Measures of the private reintegrationTo make the reintegration  easier for the returning expatriate and his family, Bosch offers comprehensive help. They support their employees when they search for an apartment and takes on arising extra tuition costs for the children to make the integration into the German school system easier. Furthermore other Bosch employees who returned from stays abroad in the past can give advice in so called returnee seminars where other persons affected talk about its experiences. 4. Asia, challenge and chanceRapidly arising markets in the Far East and Bosch takes part This statement of Bosch Bohr, the chairman of the area of motor vehicle technology, shows the meaning of company leaders, which will be attached to Asian and especially to the Chinese market. After a turnover growth obtained already 2003 in China of over 20%, Bosch wants to improve his presence further in the empire of the middle. In the following sections will be analysed, which changes or requirements to the Bosch foreign dispatch will bring the future in the Asian market. 4.2 requirements on German executives in China4.2.1 The intercultural difficultiesThe clashing of different cultures, values and particularly the different styles of management and philosophies leads very frequently to difficulties in the subsidiary firms. To notice which one is the most frequent and greatest problem that the Chinese executives have in the cooperation with German executives and vice versa, the results of a study from the year 1999 shall be illustrated, which Chinese and German manager were working in German enterprises in China. Among the problems, which the Chinese managers have with the colleges from abroad, the most important are the communication problems, like is described in the chart above. The culture, communication, mutual understanding and language are connected closely with each other belong to this category: due to the different culture and the language barrier no satisfactory communication takes place  and therefore it doesnt come to a mutual understanding. In this connection the bad English knowledge of German managers and their lack of understanding of the Chinese culture will be especially found fault by Chinese colleges. 10% of the mentioning are allotted to problems of the human relations. It disturbs the Chinese executives most, that they are treated differently in comparison with the Expatriates and they dont have much confidence in Chinese colleges. This is the reason in their opinion that it doesnt come to friendships between foreign and Chinese executives who are very welcome on a Chinese. The arrogance and haughtiness of the foreigners are also criticized and the lack of interest in the Chinese population. The professional requirements are high: inside the Chinese employees are hungrily to learn the new specialized knowledge of the foreign executive and they notice very fast, weather the German executives arent not ready or capable in the expected scale, to give this knowledge further. In connection with this, it is criticized that German executives prefer to work alone, they arent cooperative. In the Chinese working world one comes upon, however, the Explanation the Help and Assistance to each other. By the cessation of the in the past (before the open-door policy of China) usual lifelong job in the same enterprise and the fact that one can be discontinued because of a bad performance a considerable pressure is triggered to do well the work and this can have discouraging influence on the employees. There is the high burden of work which lets few leisure time as well as time for the own family. General Manager have variously and very far scattered breadth of the answers without the number of the mentioning being different from each other fundamentally on the part of the foreign ones. Any problem is emerging as  dominate. Problems are most frequently mentioned are in the areas of communication, labour organization, qualification and management. The general managers from abroad find some problems with their Chinese executives not only in the area of the communication. For example they dont seem to be able to solve their problems with a better communication. However the understanding stands for the Chinese executives, at first place and the lack of communication is also becoming responsibly for many difficulties in the company. 4.2.2 Cultural distinction and integrationThe culture isnt reflected only in politics and in the everyday life, (i.e. in the social and consume behaviour) but it also influences the business methods, the management behaviour and the relations of employees and employers. In the following section are discussed certain general Asian culture features and their implications for the staff management . Group identity versus individual identityTian xia Wei gong: Everything serves the community under the sky. So there is a Chinese proverb from the old days which has validity today certainly too. The individual never was in the foreground but always, the community within the particular represents a tiny member. This specific and deeply rooted feature has important implications for the staff management: So the individual recognition (punishment) should be carried out in private, the teams recognition should be carried out barefaced. Conflict avoidanceMost cultures of Asia avoid systematically the open conflict holding. The avoidance of open conflicts is in a close connection with the Confucianism. Straight criticism and open contradiction are accompanied by the danger to lose face and fall to the social trifle. Keeping faceMost Asian societies are settled by the principle of the disgrace (the public humiliation) not by the principle of guiltiness (feeling of individual responsibility, conscience). The concept of the saving face is comprehensively valid, characterizes every human relation and is very important for the staff management since it forbids the public humiliation of employees. Respect opposite to higher-ranking and oldRespect, restraint and modesty are part of the etiquette in the Asian culture room generally. Hierarchies have a more important role (often according to old, rank and sex) than in Germany. The formal authority isnt called into question; this is part of the harmony commandment. However, one shouldnt put the Asian respect before the authority absolutely. A bad supervisor is also criticized in Asia and will be corrected though indirect: by pressure on third party, anonymous letters, passive behaviour and resistance, which are disguised with excuses or by frequent illness or really irrational behaviours, like panic bouts. The re-registration is frequently encoded. So the western manager must learn how indirect signals of the discontent should be decoded or interpreted. The respect of the age is one of the basic concepts of a Confucian intellect. The Age doesnt make only wise but gives a natural authority. Seniority and hierarchy thinking still established tightly in the heads of the Chinese managers. Foreign companies are smitten with the distinguishing between respect of certain hierarchies and the necessity of the support managers who render the corresponding service but dont have the right age yet. In order to be accepted a younger manager must be more competent than an old one. GuanxiGuanxi has to be translated by the following expression personal relations and connections. It plays a large role in China in all areas of the life; it works as sesame-open you when required because clear and codified jurisdiction doesnt have any tradition, relations are solution key  for all problems. Western Managers should pay more attention to Guanxi if they want to succeed in china. 4.2.3 Recruitment and motivation of local workersThe recruitment of highly qualified staff and the tie of won workers with the enterprise are a big problem area with which many foreign businesses are confronted in China. These phenomena shall be represented here only briefly since a detailed description would blow up the frame of this work. Recruitment of local workersThe absence of qualified personal is responsibly for the high fluctuation. More and more enterprises try to find Chinese university graduates who are trained in Germany for the business in china. Motivation of local workersIf one has found local executives, one must be able to keep it because the high fluctuation is connected to high costs. Different instruments can contribute to soothe or to overcome the staff bottleneck. These are e.g. the image-building (charitable events), the training (further education possibilities have a high place value) as well as a solid and long-term career promotion strategy. For young highly qualified stuff, a good salary and promotion chances are decisive for staying in the enterprise. 4.3 Optimization/customization of the dispatch process for/to ChinaIf one carries now out an optimization of the foreign dispatch process with Bosch to the employee-employer relationships in China against the background of the executed Asian culture features and criticisms of the Chinese Manager of their German colleagues and colleagues, then the following implications are the result:As a rule, an intercultural preparation takes place. No reason is seen for preparations for the Chinese executives in most enterprises. It will hold the assumption that the Chinese executives must adapt to the western behaviour patterns and methods of working. A common intercultural training is, however, absolutely essential in China for the following reasons:The great difficulties which arise from the lack of mutual understanding, are in a close connection with the knowledge about the respecting other culture, the action sample and moral concepts, but also its enterprise philosophies and styles of management. An intercultural seminar can make considerably, behind certain behaviour which explanations and which roots suit to an executive. It doesnt prevent the appearance of problems but it offers to possibilities of reacting specifically and developing common action strategies. Furthermore a Chinese executive can for example be made familiar with the German culture as follows: by consignments to the German parent company, international stays, participation in international management courses of Chinese universities or in business Schools. Also for partner and children problems arise in the context of a longer stay abroad. Acceptable solutions must therefore be found also for the family. It is often impossible just in the pacific space to solve the language problems satisfactorily what a far-reaching isolation of the marriage partner and the children can cause with negative family consequences. Therefore the language standard should correspond to that one of the Expatriate which enjoys an education on the standard of the easy communication in the work everyday life. Despite good preparations for marriage partner and if necessary children problems often arise of the cultural integration and problems at school. For the better integration contacts to partners of other Expatriates should be organized. The possibility of working abroad is very important for the partner who accompanies the Expatriate abroad. An intensive cooperation with other enterprises on the spot would be necessary to realize the professional way of expatriates wife in China. If no place can be found, the possibility  should be offered for a further training for the meaningful use of the timeout such as a master course of studies. 4.4 Bosch measures for ChinaAll preparatory training is evacuated to the IFIM, the institute for intercultural management in Bad Honnef, since Bosch internal country speakers are specialized in European countries till now. The information journey which shall convey an impression to the Expatriate over its potential future place of work can be extended by max. two days. Another prolongation isnt granted since the employees/inside activities are used at home and every longer stay also more costs for Bosch meant for hers. The language education is carried out in a 5-week language course at the national language institute NRW in Bochum for which the future Expatriate is put by its work activity completely freely. In the 2 annual cycle the personnel officer the ZM2 accompanies a potential Expatriate on an information journey and this one checks life and employee-employer relationships on the spot. Although Bosch mediates e.g. alone for the partner, however give up many arrangements, not at the job search because of the language requirements. As a rule, Bosch can arrange a job for 5% of the partners. To subsume it, this yields no big changes in the dispatch process especially for China. Professional external help is used regarding the training, one otherwise orientates himself at the worldwide valid dispatch process. 5. ConclusionThe Bosch group is a worldwide active enterprise that on the international markets, special it would like to be present on the Asian market in future. This strategy makes high demands on the staff since intercultural understanding is increasingly important besides technical qualities. International employee use represents a central instrument of the staff development. According to the high importance the dispatch process is organized very professionally by Bosch in all four phases (choice,  preparation, moving, and repatriation). This enormous effort beats itself in very low withdrawal rate, these are only 1-2 % in Bosch and lie under the reference values of other enterprises thus considerably. A possible disadvantage of the time intensive preparatory phase which lasts for at least 10 weeks is the lack of flexibility. Short-term manpower requirements due to problems, like e.g. demolition of a stay abroad or illness of a manager cannot be covered with the usual staff practice in Bosch. The preparation measures of Bosch seem very well suitable also for the dispatch to China, a stronger focus on the language education of the family and the social should be put as well as professional integration of the partner. In order to make an improved cooperation possible of the Expatriates on the spot, a common intercultural training is advisable with the Chinese colleagues. Bibliography Bosch (2004A:) The Objectives and Principles of Employee Development, order enterprise booklet at at all Boschs personnel departments as well as Central division employee development and executives (ZM3). Bosch (2004 B): Bosch Australia regional corner clays of The Bosch Group orders: www.bosch.com.au/downloads/Home/RBAU.pdf (12.04.2004). Bosch (2003A): Business report 2003, order:www.bosch.com/de/download/GB2003_DE.pdf (11.04.2004). Bosch (2003B): Bosch today, order on:www.bosch.com/de/download/Boschheute2003_DE.pdf (10.04.2004). Bosch (2003/2004 ): Worldwide responsibility environmental report 2003/2004 ,order: www.bosch.com/de/download/UWB_de.pdf (01.05.2004.)Kuan, Y.-C./Hà ¤ring-Kuan, P. (2001): Journey guest in China, 1st edition, Dormagen. Nickut, J. (2003:) Subject and leadership potential recognize and systematicpromotes to order under : www.mwteam.de/products/Perspek/archives/01-2003/interview HrNickut-RobertBosch.pdf (01.05.2004). Nickut, J./Loose, H., (2000): A step to the global player international choice- AC of Robert Bosch GmbH . In: Staff, exercise book 7/2000, S.360, 363. Redding, dear/Ng, M. (1982): The Role of Face in The Organizational Perceptions of Chinese manager, in: Organization study, 3rd year, no. 3, S.201-219. Welge, K.-M./Holtbrà ¼gge, D. (2003): International management, 3rd edition, Stuttgart. List of the Internet sources:http://www.boschrexroth.com/corporate/de/jobs_und_karriere/personalpolitik/index.jsp (14.05.2004). http://www.bosch-career.de/de/company/aims.htm (14.05.2004). http://www.relojournal.com/nov2000/kpmgsurvey.htm (13.05.2004)http://www.workforce.com/section/09/23/26/42/index.html (13.05.2004)

Market Entry Plan of South Beauty Essay Example for Free

Market Entry Plan of South Beauty Essay 1. Executive Summary South Beauty has setup 70 restaurants within 18 cities around China currently, all the units are profitable, that will accelerating the company expansion at mainland and exploring overseas markets. According to the South Beauty plan, the mainland operation keep for profit, but the exploration of international markets is mainly for branding. The company also creates a new brand called Steam to setup fast-food restaurants. Meanwhile, at the preparatory stage of cooking, the South Beauty plans to strengthen its efforts in standardizing processes to control the costs and quickening expansion. This article makes the market entry plan for South Beauty expansion to Singapore Market. 1. First part, understand the background of South Beauty Restaurant of China. 2. Second part, understands the market environment of Singapore, and bases the SWOT to analysis South Beauty Restaurant for market entry strategies selection. 3. Last part, built a market entry plan with Simulation data of marketing budget for South Beauty Restaurant entry to Singapore market. 2. Introduction 2.1 Objective The international market expansion is an important decision for every enterprise development. At present, Chinese catering enterprise are backward phenomenons at international expansion. As the first brand of South Beauty in Chinese catering industry, has a strong development potential lead by chairwomen Ms.Zhang Lan. With the development of the enterprise, The South Beauty expansion to foreign market has become inevitable. In order to realize the expansion strategy better, make Chinese famous catering enterprises entering Singapore which is the target market, this paper introduced The South Beauty background and history, understand the Singapore market environment, through the SWOT method, Analysis and budgeting the South Beauty enter the Singapore market. If The South Beauty can smoothly enter the Singapore market, become a crucial step of the Chinese catering enterprises to towards to internationalization development, also is the key measure of national economic development. At th e same time, also promote the unique Chinese Food to the people of all ethnic groups in the world. 2.2 Background of South Beauty Restaurant The South　Beauty　Restaurant (Chinese named: Qiao Jiang Nan) was founded on May of 2000 by Ms Zhang Lan, She opened the first restaurant of South Beauty in CBD international trade center of Beijing. In 2002, the first exotic restaurant launched in Times Square of Huaihai Road in Shanghai, that is South Beauty expanded beyond Beijing since then chain restaurant begins. At the end of September 2012, South Beauty Restaurants has founded 70 restaurants throughout 18 cities within 15 provinces of China. With many years’ experience and development to possessing nearly 70 restaurants, make it becoming the chain enterprise leader of Chinese style dinner. The South Beauty Restaurant Built â€Å"Fashion, classical, grade, reverence† as corporate business philosophy to show their unique enterprise spirit. Propagate culinary culture of the five thousand years traditional culture of china, to devote the South Beauty Restaurant to a world-class Chinese dinner brand as th e pursuit of business objectives. The founder of South Beauty keeps the corporate social responsibility (CSR) into their enterprise culture. They announced was â€Å"CSR is not only the key constituent part of South Beauty for developmental strategy, but also the key constituent part of South Beauty’s enterprise culture†. And separate the CSR to 4 parts as below: 1. For Investor: The Board devotes South Beauty to healthy food, keeps the profit margin for the enterprise, and makes shareholders get optimistic prospect and lasting for their investment. 2. For Society: According to the Government Law, the enterprise pays the tax, performs the civic duty, and creates more employment opportunity, become pillar enterprise in catering field. 3. For Consumer: Provides the high quality foods, healthy dishes to the consumers with more professional service. Make customers satisfaction. 4. For Staff: Creates a platform for employees to perform their abilities. Offer study and promotion opportunities, make the staff pleasure, positive and has the sense of responsibility in work. 2.3 Food features of South Beauty Restaurant Szechuan Cuisine is the one of Chinese eight cuisines series which has broad and profound cultural connotation. With different dishes, there are different delicacy feelings and all dishes are exquisite, it has red-hot tastes and strong delicacy famous in domestic and abroad. South Beauty is the leader brand in Chinese catering industry which has propagates the spirit and inherits of the culture of Sichuan cuisine. Based on the features of Chengdu and Chongqing cuisine, creates the real spirit which reaches to boutique Szechuan cuisine in South Beauty. In order to guarantee orthodox taste, the delicious ingredients including seasoning which come from the globe and local of Szechuan ware selected by South Beauty. It is good at variation such as makes the color, aroma and taste expressed fully, also makes flavor suit the corresponding dish. All of these have presented a real boutique Szechuan cuisine South Beauty features are aims at creation, health and fashion, based on Chinese traditional Szechuan cuisine, assisted by elements of Cantonese cuisine and Tan cuisine, to digest the classical culinary culture, break through tradition and pursue perfection. Create the model of â€Å"Chinese food eaten with western method† and â€Å"combine catering with art† in China firstly. South Beauty wins the worldwide praise depend on creative management idea and fashion, healthy, delicious boutique dishes. South Beauty to promote the Chinese food culture over the years, advocating a healthy life style as their responsibility, spare no effort from the traditional culture of the deep foundation to absorb nutrients, committed to innovation and improvement, to create another legendary food myths. The South Beauty dishes are different from others; the ordinary charm relies in the quality of raw materials carefully selected, on the inheritance and innovation of traditional cuisine methods, and rigid guarantee of dishes nutrition and worthy pursuit to the visual effect. The South Beauty Boutique food dishes Depend on strictly requirements are fully expression to modern culinary art. 2.4 History of South Beauty Restaurant †¢ On 20th May 2000 South Beauty’s first brand restaurant was launched in Guo Mao of Beijing and which marks South Beauty march formally into Chinese style dinner market. †¢ On 16th Jan 2002 South Beauty shop located in Times Square of Shanghai was launched which marks South Beauty’s cross-regional business begins. †¢ On Mar 2007, South Beauty becomes formally catering service provider for the eight competition stadiums of Beijing Olympic Games of 2008. †¢ On Apr 2007, South Beauty joins Air France and Air Netherlands to launch new Chinese style service on airplane. †¢ On Nov 2007, South Beauty is formally awarded â€Å"Chinese famous trademark† and obtains the sole protected trademark by international law in China. †¢ On Apr 2009, South Beauty formally signs contract with Shanghai World Expo, the content is to provide Food Service for Chinese and foreign guests. †¢ On Jul 2010, South Beauty changes its name for South Beauty Lim ited Liability Company. †¢ On Jan 2012, South Beauty sets up the first sub-branch in Taiwan. 3. Market environment analysis 3.1 Culture and Environment of Singapore Singapore has been established by Thomas Stamford Raffles on 1819, as a trading post, the small sea town attracted migrants and merchants from the world especially the China, the Malay Peninsula, the Indonesia, the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East. The country’s geographical location and commercial success make Singapore have the one of the most remarkable aspectsthe truly cosmopolitan nature of her population. The better prospect has attracted immigrants from all over the world which they brought their own culture, language, customs and festivals, through intermarriage and integrated formed a multicultural society, giving Singapore is full of vitality and diversified cultural heritage, also became one of most cosmopolitan cities in Asia. The main ethnic groups in Singapore are Chinese, Malays, Indians, Peranakans and Eurasians. The ethnic Chinese form 74.2%, the Malays 13.4%, the Indians 9.2%, The Eurasians, Peranakans and others combined 3.2%. Singapore near 20% expatriates of non-resident such as blue collar workers and white collar workers. In Singapore’s constitution, has adopted representative language from four main ethnic or â€Å"racial† groups. The official languages are English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. For recognition of the status of the Malay people as the indigenous community, the National language of Singapore is Bahasa Melayu or The Malay Language. The varieties of language have obviously influenced on the English that in Singapore, especially apparent in informal English, and English-based Creole that commonly known as Singlish. The hybrid form of the language which includes words from Malay, Chinese, or Indian are representing an identity for many Singaporeans. The English and Mandarin are the commonly used languages in Singapore. Most of Children growths up bilingual from infancy even many people speaking three or four. They also learn own mother tongues to ensure that stay in touch with traditional roots, such as different Chinese dialects includes Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka, Hainanese and Foochow. The various cultural precincts and religious landmarks around the island ensure to catch a glimpse of a multicultural society of Singapore which includes the impressive history, cultural diversity and lifestyles. 3.2 Food Beverage Industry in Singapore Singapore serves the rich flavors and foods with its Multi-national culture, find out the local cuisines on the menu which reflection multicultural of Singapore. In diverse neighborhoods are available in food centers and restaurants across Singapore, a variety of flavors cuisines such as Halal Malay, South Indian Vegetarian Thali, North Indian Naans and Briyani, Cantonese Dim Sum, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Peking duck, Hokkien Mee and Popiah (The Spring rolls). The Main gastronomic representative in Singapore is Chinese cuisine, and the Chinese believe the combining food ingredients to enhance the harmony and used for symbolic. For example, the noodles for longevity, the oysters for good fortune and the fishes for prosperity. The Singapore offers an opportunity to trial the dishes from the different parts of China, the Cantonese dim sum, the Spicy dishes of Szechuan, Hainan Chicken rice, the Bean curd of Hakka, noodles of Hokkien and seafood porridge of Teochew, especially have local Chinese favorites such as chili crab, Bak Kut The, Fish head curry or Rojak. A lot of Indian foods in Singapore, whether from southern or northern of India sub-continent, the Vegetarian Thosai, fiery curries enriched with coconut milk. Tandoori, fluffy naan breads and creamy yogurt based dishes. The Indian cuisines are infuses with flavored spices such as cardamom, cloves, cumin, coriander and chilies. Try the local Indian-Muslim dishes, a taste of popular in Singapore, such as Roti Pratas, Murtabak, Nasi briyani and saffron rice dish. All the dishes go well with the absolutely satisfying creamy and frothy milk teaTek Tarik. The Malay cuisine always savor an array of spices and herbs, the ginger, turmeric, galangal, and lemon grass, curry leaves, pungent Belachan (shrimp paste) and chilies. The cuisine put the spicy but without unbearably hot. Peanut sauce occupies a pride of place in dishes of Malay, like Gado Gado, fried bean curd. From the unique Peranakans offers a blend of Chinese, Malay, Indonesian flavors called Nonya food, the famous Nonya dish mix rice vermicelli, coconut milk and garnished with seafood or chicken, combines the spices and aromatic herb such as lemongrass, chilies, tamarind paste, shrimp past, create rich cuisine of braised dishes. Singapore also offers a wide range of international cuisines such as Thai, Korean, Vietnamese and Mongolian food. Whether the Japanese Sushi, the Italian Meal and Casual French bistro. All can find all in the city state. 3.3 SWOT analysis of South Beauty Restaurant 4. Market entry Plan 4.1 Objective of market entry plan Singapore is an open economy country and strongly committed to maintaining the free trade market, pay more attention to public sector service quality, support every investors development positively. Analyze the Singapore market entry of The South Beauty with SWOT method, understand the South Beauty weaknesses and threats when enter the Singapore market, through their own advantages into market opportunities. Market entry plan to use the results of SWOT analysis, establish market entry strategies, and planning necessary budget of market entry, Support the management team to make marketing decision with these references. 4.2 Market entry strategies It is recommended that South Beauty consider the following marketing strategies and issues before entering the Singapore market: 1. Management Localization: whether the local Management team or the local agent, Better to understand the local market and consumer habits, will support the product promotion and market development, improves the competitive advantages of South Beauty. 2. Language Support: even the English is the main Language of Singapore, but Singapore ethnic characteristics, most of people speaking English but miscellaneous various national Language, multilingual services to meet different customer needs, but positive guarantee clarity Westernized understanding of English is also important. 3. Official Endorsement: Singapore government authentications marks are the symbol of accept by Singapore consumers, to reach these standards for the authentication is the requisite of the market development. 4. Social effect: public figures in Singapore has great influence, celebrity effect to participation actively of market compaign,positive to participating the public topic, to bring more restaurant visibility and customer flow. 5. Product Control: Singaporeanvery attention on food safety and quality of service, the products ensure to safety, and continue to improve the service quality, will be affect the business successful. 3. Marketing Strategies How a product is marketed and promoted will have a major impact on its success in Singapore. For the South Beauty expansion the market into Singapore, the Marketing mix is comprised of four approaches as following as (1) Products and services, (2) Advertising and promotion, (3) Distribution, and (4) Pricing. 1) Products and Service: The quality and taste is most important things for catering business, a lot of Chinese food in Singapore and South Beauty must be offers the unique Chinese cuisines with his special materials and cooking methods. Another most of important thing is to get the Hearth Authority from the Government to make consumer’s trust. Also the exceptional customer service very important to making the customers’ satisfaction and the business successful. 2) Advertising and Promotion: For the new coming restaurant in Singapore will select several different ways for their advertising and promotion campaign, attracting the consumers focus and trial. To keep some of the customer’s royalty. The methods of advertising are News paper; Television, Ratio, MRT Post, but the internet is a new type of method for the advertising. All the advertising can be using the star effect such as Ms Hsu from Taiwan. The promotions have some ways for the South Beauty. For example, Credit card payment promotion, new launch cuisines voucher, members discount or Free offers etc. 3) Distribution: The restaurant distributions are base on internal of operation. When the customer sit into the restaurant, the menu clean to View, the order convenient, the serving velocity, and easy payment, finally clean up fast. The others are materials and catalogues enough and fresh, keep the customers satisfaction. 4) Pricing: The pricing scheme is designed base on costs w ith fair margin, but must to be competitive, accord with consumption level. . Marketing Budget Plan 6. Conclusion Singapore is an important part for any enterprise can be used as a springboard into the international market. And the multicultural market is good adptive process for the internatinal development strategy of The South Beauty. Based on the analysis of the The South Beauty, we can clearly found that Singapore is not only a good market, at the same time to the first brand of Chinese catering enterprise; it is also a rare experience. Singapore’s government management and social culture if big different with China, but a large extent reflects the overseas Chinese and westerners to Chinese food attitude. With The South Beauty enter Singapore market, can from higher taste to understand and familiar with the Chinese food culture for Singapore residents, and promote the diversified food culture in Singapore. 7. List of References Fighting off Sars to make a business of Sichuan cuisine (11.2011), BBC News, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15670333 Restaurant chain South Beauty may relaunch IPO next year, (12.2011), China Business, http://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/ South Beauty’s ugly side exposed, (09.2011), People’s Daily http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/7587516.html Food Beverage in Singapore, (07.2011), New Zealand Exporter Guide Kristie Lorette, Marketing Strategies for Food Brands, (2011) Demand Media Singapore Food and Beverages Industry Comparative Analysis and Companies Ranking, (2011), Market Publishers, http://www.marketpublishers.com/