Effective Communication in Organizations Essay

Communication is the primary manner in which we humans interact or cooperate. From an organizational perspective, communication serves as the foundation for planning and organizing, stimulating motivation, shifting individual’s attitudes and in socialization. Regardless of the industry, communication is one of the most relevant factors to consider in regard to the success of an organization. There are many different types of communication and methods in which they are utilized within an organization or group. Within a standard company, communication can take the form of internal, external, formal and informal, upward and downward, lateral and diagonal, small group and nonverbal (Rawes, 2013). In this report, the pertinence of effective communication within an organization will be discussed along with the different types of communication, both verbal and non-verbal. I will cover how effective communication and leadership correlate, as well as the possible pitfalls of operating within an organizational environment where effective communication is deficient. What are some real-world examples that pertain to the different modes of communication? How can communication or the lack thereof, effect the success of an organization? What are the differences in particular forms of communication compared to the other? The Importance of Effective Communication Effective communication is extremely important to the success of an organization. Studies have shown that communication correlates positively with many organizational outputs, such as organizational commitment, performance, organizational citizenship behaviors, and overall job satisfaction (Husain, 2013). In contrast, the failure of communication may lead to detested results like stress, job  dissatisfaction, low trust, the decrease in organizational commitment, severance intention, and absence (Zhang & Agarwal, 2009). Present day technologies and organizations have transformed communications access which can create difficulty when attempting to master the concept of communication within an organization. It is safe to state; however, that when all areas of an organization or group communicate effectively, the overall workflow, productivity and in some cases, the moral of the group or organization are greatly improved. For effective communications, there must be a correlation of thinking between the sender and receiver of a message that is being communicated. Regardless of the type of communication, whether verbal or non-verbal, communication must remain consistent. Communication can be defined as the exchange of information, thought and emotion between individuals of groups, in other words, communication plays a fundamental role in balancing individual and organizational objectives (BOYACI, 1996, p. 3-5). Internal Communication Internal communication is that which occurs inside of the workplace. This type of communication can be achieved via any medium, such as email, phone, fax, face to face, website, etc. For example, some organizations have websites that are used to communicate with â€Å"customers† outside of the organization via the internet; however, the same organization may have an intranet that is used within the organization and can only be seen by employees on that particular network, internally. The intranet website at my particular organization, for example, communicates all sorts of information pertaining to the organization and its employees, from birthdays to information regarding benefits enrollment, employee self- service, and more. The practice of internal communication has evolved over time since its implementation in the 1800’s, due to the importance of the survival and success of organizations. The motive of internal communication is creating a dialogue with employees and giving them the opportunity to have an impact on the business through the sharing of ideas and involvement (Takenouchi, 2011) Organizations in the 21st Century have begun to recognize the importance of employee engagement and the contribution employees make toward the success of the organization. There is research that has proven that keeping employees informed and provided with a voice leads to higher levels  of employee engagement. Yearly, within the organization I work for, there are surveys taken by employees. These surveys allow employees to voice their concerns, likes or dislikes about the organization. Today there are many techniques and technologies used to communicate within an organization. Some of those techniques are as follows: †¢One-on-one meetings †¢Staff/team meetings †¢Emails †¢Voice mails †¢Video broadcasts †¢Intranets †¢Audio files †¢Staff-to-staff newsletters †¢Corporate newsletters †¢Annual Reports †¢Quarterly Reports A large number of studies by both professional management groups and professional communications bodies consistently find that ‘communicating with employees’ is a useful and powerful way of engendering greater ‘engagement’ – the propensity of the employee to want to come to work and want to contribute to the success of the company (Hopkins, 2006). External Communication Talking to a customer, sending an email to a potential client or making a phone call to vendors or someone outside of the company you work for is an example of communicating externally or external communication. Although it is challenging to gauge the effectiveness of all the strategies, tactics and tools that are part of today’s external communication options, organizations have a need to continuously adjust to a communication environment that is constantly changing (Newswire, 2011). Traditionally, the method of external communication was print, which is still common, but of course modern technology has changed all of that. Obviously, the internet has become a resource much more frequently utilized in reaching new customers. As with intranet websites are used by organizations to reach members of an organization internally, so are many organizations also utilizing websites  to inform people and/or communities outside of the organization about upcoming products and services. The external form of communication is indeed an effective way to reach outside of an organization but considering how the impression of the organization is judged by the public, it is vital that those driving the external communication procedures be aware of the image and/or message being conveyed. Consider a message sent via email. I happen to communicate often with patients through my place of employment regarding their medical records, lab results and other information we provide externally via a website we maintain called Health eLink. There are times when patients get information misconstrued and respond in an irate manner due to being uninformed. There is practically an art to responding to someone whom is irate, because communications verbally or even through email can sometimes be misconstrued as well. The mission of an organization is to be considered at all times; not the personal feelings of the individual doing the external communicating. This approach correlates to the s uccess of the organization and the patient experience, in this particular situation. Formal and Informal Communication There are distinct differences between formal and informal forms of communication. Simply put, formal communication is any correspondence that pertains to or promotes the organizations objective. It can also be defined as the degree to which information about a job is transmitted by an organization to its member and among the members of an organization (Kandlousi & Abdollahi, 2010). It is formal communication within an organization that relates to productivity, job satisfaction, costs, reduction of conflict, trust reinforcement and overall satisfaction. Informal communication is the exact opposite. Informal communication topics do not pertain to work and are harmless, in most cases. The conversations that employees may have at lunch or after a meeting about things that have nothing to do with work are informal and take place at various times throughout the day. Although informal communication is not related to work or the organization, it can very well have an effect on the success of a group or environment within the organization. Considering the serious problems that may arise due to rumors, gossip and/or crude jokes, it is important to keep the topics of informal communication into perspective when  in an organizational environment. Upward and Downward Communication Upward and downward communication refers to the flow of communication at different levels within an organization. Upward communication flows up to the higher levels of the organization. An example of this would be an employee report back to his or her supervisor whom reports back to their manager who reports to the director and so forth. Subordinates of an organization may use upward communication to convey problems or provide feedback to their superiors. Downward communication flows down. When we consider the superior in a chain of command, the colonel in the military for example, speaking with a subordinate, such as a sergeant, we are recognizing downward communication. Downward communication is necessary in order for subordinates to know and understand what is expected of them from management. Important elements in information flow are factors that affect the level of downward communication, such as the relationship between superior and subordinate (Anderson & Level, 1980). Lateral and Diagonal Lateral and diagonal communication is straight forward as well. Lateral communication in an organization is the communication that takes place between employees on the same level. The communication one may have with a coworker in regard to job objectives would be an example of such a flow of communication. Diagonal communication is much like downward communication, but at an angle. A manager from a different department of an organization may request information from a lower level subordinate in the same organization, this would be an example of diagonal communication. It is any interaction 2 or more hierarchical levels apart or one hierarchical level apart but to an organizational member outside the individual’s direct chain of command. (Wilson, 1992) Small Group Communication Two trends have revolutionized the workplace: the increased use of work teams and computers. Organizations are becoming increasingly team based, and work that was once accomplished by individuals is now delegated to teams (Goldstein, 1995). In an organization with many employees, small groups can often give individuals a sense of belonging; however, communication within  these groups must be effective in order for the group to be successful at accomplishing job objectives. Small group communication is pretty self-explanatory; it is the communication that takes place within the small group. Its function is to group together and utilize different skill sets, job objectives, knowledge and expertise for the purpose of nurturing creativity and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of operations within an organization. Individuals within a group whom are unable to communicate effectively, will not be able to share ideas, brainstorm, or discuss direction or project solutions without running into problems. A group with lack of communication skills with likely fail, or have difficulty reaching its goal or completing the objective. Non-verbal Communication Non-verbal communication is a type of communication that is just as important as the other types that have been considered thus far. It has often been stated that it is not just what you say, but how you say it as well. This is never more obvious in informal communication, when gestures and movements are more prevalent. Non-verbal communication takes posture, eye movement, body language and even your appearance into account when exchanging communication. Gestures such as eye contact, expressions or attire and personal space can be powerful non-verbal cues. In my place of business, we have the freedom of wearing casual clothing. Some years back, after my military service, I started getting tattooed and some of those were placed on my neck and forearm. Knowing that this tends to communicate different things to different people, I choose to wear a shirt and tie to work, in an effort to escape whatever may be negatively communicated with the exposure of tattoos on my neck and arms. They do not necessarily show anything offense, but they are there, and not necessarily presentable for a professional environment. The same thing can be said for attire, when considering wearing a t-shirt with a particular logo, an individual should be concerned with what that logo may communicate to the individual perceiving it. Lack of Communication in Organizations The lack of communication in a group or organization can be extremely detrimental for that group or organization. From the highest peak of upward communication downward, laterally, diagonally, in groups, verbal,  non-verbal, formal or informal, effective communication is paramount when considering an organizations culture. In Organizational Behavior, discussions have been held regarding the differences individuals offer that have an effect on the communication techniques we use on a daily basis. Often times we are not even thinking about instances where something is being communicated, whether it’s a shrug of the shoulders or complete silence when verbal affirmation and/or awareness is expected. Poor communication can have an effect on the â€Å"bottom-line† within an organization, relevant to time and money, which prevents goals and objectives from being reached. A lot of employment applications will have good interpersonal skills listed as one of the job requirements and employers expect these skills to show on the job. We as employees or subordinates often times expect upper management to have great communication skills, as we communicate back and forth, receiving tasks and objectives. It is possible that overtime, adequate communications have broken down and need â€Å"maintenance†. There are a lot of objectives that are ongoing in day to day business and it is important that the lines of communication remain â€Å"free flowing†. It is also possible that an organization or group is full of good communicators, but the objectives are just not being communicated effectively. Some of the symptoms of poor communication are as follows: * Conflicting Goals and Objectives * Negative Attitudes * Measurable Financial Loss * Low Morale and Lack of Enthusiasm Leaderships Role in Communication As I stated previously in my article review â€Å"Leadership in Organizations†, Leadership in an organization is very important in the achievement of organizational goals. It is a practice by which management may direct, monitor, and impact the behavior and work of others towards accomplishing these goals. Effective communication should pulse in all directions through an organization like a heartbeat. But it doesn’t just happen. Nor is it solely the responsibility of communication functions. To achieve this level of permeation, responsibility for the communication process must rest with management at all levels across the organization (Facey, 2013). Effective communication utilizes skill sets such as nonverbal communication, listening, stress management, understanding and more. Being an effective communicator is a learned skill set that will adjust over time. Within an organization, communicating successfully is a collective effort on the part of the individuals within the organization. Communicating effectively in all types or forms of communication will benefit the individual, the group and the organization steering toward success. Works Cited Anderson, J., & Level, D. A. (1980). The impact of certain types of downward communication on job performance. The Journal of Business Communication, 17(4), 51. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/195700094?accountid=27313 Boyaci, C., (1996), â€Å"Turistik Ä °Ã…Ÿletmelerde HaberleÅŸme Teknikleri†, Akdeniz ÃÅ"niveritesi BasÄ ±mevi, Antalya. Facey, J., (2013) Effective Communication: Skills that make leaders stand out from the crowd. Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Retrieved August 17th, 2013 from http://www.ceoforum.com.au/article-detail.cfm?cid=6128&t=/JoAnne-Facey-Mercer-Human-Resource-Consulting/Effective-communication-skills-that-make-leaders-stand-out-from-the-crowd Goldstein, I. L., Guzzo, R. A., Salas, E., & , (1995). Team effectiveness and decision-making in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Hopkins, L., (2006). What is internal communication? Better Communication Results. Retrieved August 14th, 2013 from http://www.leehopkins.net/ Husain, Z., (2013). Effective communication brings successful organizational change. Paper presented at the, 3(2) 43-50. Retrieved frm http://search.proquest.com/docview/1330861392 Internal and external communication insights: Effective approaches for reaching clients and co-workers. (2011, Nov 03). PR Newswire. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/901880619?accountid=27313 Kandlousi, N. S. A. E., Ali, A. J., & Abdollahi, A. (2010). Organizational citizenship behavior in concern of communication satisfaction: The role of the formal and informal communication. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(10), 51-61. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/821297357?accountid=27313 Rawes, E., (2013). Types of Communication in the Workplace. eHow Contributor. Retrieved August 14th, 2013 from http://www.ehow.com/info_7742528_types-communication-workplace.html#ixzz2c9CfHrc3 Takenouchi, S. (2011). The evolution of the internal communications practice and its importance to the survival of organizations. (Order No. 1497025, University of Southern California). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses., 92. Retrieved August 14th, 2013 from http://search.proquest.com/doc view/ Wilson, D. O. (1992). Diagonal communication links within organizations. The Journal of Business Communication, 29(2), 129. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/195713934?accountid=27313 Zhang, H., & N. C. Agarwal (2009). The mediating roles of organizational justice on the Relationships between HR practices and workplace outcomes: An investigation in China. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(3), 676-693.

Letter of Application Essay

I would like to apply for the BTEC Level 3 Health and Social Care course. There are many reasons why I think this would be beneficial to me, some personal and some career related. Personally, studying Health and Social would help me in my life to understand myself as well as better my relationships with peers, friends and family. By gaining a greater understanding of what is involved in the Health and Social Care sector I can improve my ability to work with or alongside others and respect and meet their needs, as well as my own. However the main reason is that I aspire to become an Occupational Therapist in the future and I’ve been passionate about this for many years. Having set my goals and looked into my university courses, I believe Health and Social would put me in good stead for my application for university and enable me to have a better knowledge and understanding prior to beginning an OT course in university. Through my own life I have developed a fairly large amount of knowledge on Health and Social Care. Throughout my school time I have been a part of the schools Peer Mentoring team, working with younger students to overcome difficulties. Incorporated into this was a whole host of different training sessions and it has also gained me a qualification through the organisations BulliesOut and ASDAN. I am very proud to have been given this opportunity, and this really helped me to decide that a job in the Health and Social Care sector would definitely suit me best. Now as a year 12 student I’m taking part in the schools Better Learning Partnership programme to help younger students with either their Numeracy or Literacy to allow them to reach their full  potential. Also, in my own life at home I’ve had experiences with Health and Social care workers such as therapists, nurses, social workers and more. This has allowed me to watch them in their work and gain first hand experi ences about how they work effectively, and also the things that I’ve found have been less effective. However, I have more experience with the Social Care side of things than the Health Care side, so I think this is a slight weakness and an area I would like to further my knowledge in whilst studying this course. Also, working with the elderly is something I’m yet to gain experience in, which this course will give me the opportunity to get. I feel my Communication skills are relatively good because I am a good listener, I can easily find information from texts or reports, I know how to use my verbal language and body language effectively and I am also good at communicating with adults and on a one-to-one basis. This course will enable me to practice and gain more confidence in myself, which is something that could hinder me in Health and Social Care. Also, I’m not as confident and successful in group communication or creating reports and references of my work, even though I do find that sometimes I can be a compulsive note taker. This course I hope will provide me with the skills and confidence to overcome and manage these problems and better my communication skills on the whole so I become equally good in all areas. When I am working with others, I definitely know how I can use my skills best and what would be a good job for me to do and the things that others would be able to do better. I also enjoy helping others in groups to develop their skills and build upon their strengths. This is because I find real satisfaction from helping others to grow and reach their full potential. I also feel I’m fairly good at evaluating group work and interactions with others to help me in the future. However, communicating with peers is definitely one of my weaknesses in this area as I am not a very confident person and often worry about how others will perceive me and also, if I detect or not an aspect of group communication that isn’t as effective as it could be, I’m very hesitant to point it out, again as a result of my lack of confidence. I hope that through the Work Experience I will gain on the Health and Social Care course that I will be able to build on my confidence and believe in myself more as I gain more knowledge and practical experience. Generally, I think my skills with technology are sufficient. I enjoy using both power point and  excel to support my work and I’m always fairly organised and have everything filed appropriately. I also have other skills in things such as music and swimming which I am proud of. However I’m not overly confident in using computerised technology to create reports or organise tasks, schedules and deadline, I prefer to work on paper than on computer. Through my assignments in this course I think I will be able to better my use of computers to organise myself as email systems are commonly used to set deadlines and tasks, and also they will force me to be organised with deadlines and be good with time management, as well as the course giving me opportunities to furth er my personal skills and interests. The biggest threat facing me with my technological skills is that I strongly prefer to work on paper and by hand than using computers! I find that I learn fairly well from observing the work of others in practice and I’m confident in using both computers and books to research and further my knowledge and understanding as well as to analyse data. The Work Experience on this course will enable me to further develop my research skills through observation and participation and my assignments will allow me to practice other skills such as referencing. However I find that I sometimes find it hard to concentrate and stay focused when conducting independent research, especially if I am struggling to find the information I need. I am quite proud of my personal hygiene and sense of how to dress and present myself appropriately. I am also always relatively organised in my work and keep to my deadlines which is a very important skill to have to avoid added stress and consequences. My assignments during the course will give me further opportunities to work on these skills and on any other weaknesses, such as struggling to understand terminology used in assignment briefs and rarely ask for help if I don’t understand the work I have to do. My biggest threat is probably that my personal life and difficulties can sometimes get in the way of my deadlines and ability to focus, however I rarely tell tutors about these things due to feeling embarrassed and the fear of being judged. I am fairly confident in my ability to work professionally and have a vague understanding of the Care Value Base, limitations and responsibilities through my Peer Mentoring work within school. Through the Health and Social Care course I will be able to deepen my knowledge and understanding of things such as the Care Value Base and legislations which will be key to successful work in the Health and  Social Care sector. However I always want to do the best and help as much as I physically can, so sticking to the limitations will be something I find hard to do and potentially upsetting. I have very strong personal values and beliefs which I will always use to guide me in my own life and in my work. They also support the way in which I work and treat other people. The course can help me learn about where my values and beliefs can be used in Health and Social Car. However I feel extremely strongly about certain things so I need to ensure I don’t go against the Care Value Base in my work because my values and beliefs may not quite fit. Also, I sometimes struggle to keep my opinions to myself if I take offence by something or I consider something wrong, so I need to work on this whilst I complete the Health and Social Care course. I know the difference between legislation, policies and codes of conduct. I am also aware that there are certain things that you can’t do related to Health and So cial Care if you are under the age of 18. Also, I’m very familiar with the Data Protection Act 1998 and also about the Health and Safety Act 1974. The course will give me the opportunity to get to grips with the Codes of Conduct in various settings through my Work Experience Placements and get a deeper understanding of legislations. My only worry is that Legislations and Codes of Conduct change for different work environments and I may struggle to know the differences without extended practise. I know what I am good at and what my limitations are. Attending a Mindfulness course has helped me to gain understanding of myself and my limitations. I have already had a fair amount of experience with managing responsibilities and I am aware of how important meeting them can be for success. The Health and Social Care course will allow me to grow as a person and further my understanding of my personal abilities and tackle any problems that I may face, such as mental health, emotional and social aspects that could cause me an issue. I do have some experience with informal care however I could definitely benefit from further experience in certain areas. In conclusion, I feel this course would be paramount for my success in Occupational Therapy. My main strengths are that I have a strong passion for helping other people and that I have had personal experiences with professionals from the Health and Social Care sector. I believe that my passion and determination to succeed will be what carries me through this course and allows me to achieve my full potential. However my main  weaknesses are lack of confidence and also that I always want to help people as best as I possibly can, but sometimes that may be further than policies, codes of practice and legislations allow.

Discuss the benfits ,limitations and methodology of population Essay

Discuss the benfits ,limitations and methodology of population screening for breast cancer - Essay Example 371). The abnormality is too distinct in the sense that instead of the aged cell to die, they continue piling up in number and this generates emergence of tissue comprising of cancer cells. These cells are as a result of the damage occurring in the setting of the DNA. This is the condition of multiplication of malignant cells that starts forming in the breast tissues and spread to some other areas in the body. Research has showed that these malignant cells range from noninvasive state to invasive state of carnicoma and thus early screening facilitates in lowering the level of attacks (Kosters & Gotzsche, 2008, p. 6). A female breast comprise of lobules which are milk-producing glands, ducts composed of capillaries that carries milk to the nipples, and stroma which are rich in fatty tissue, connective tissues and blood vessels. It was set up after high concern about the possibilities of the attack of the women by this trauma. It was realized to be common with both American and Australian women. The statics indicated that 1 out of every 10 women would fall victims of it in course of their lifetime. The likelihood of death after the attack of the disease is 3% but this figure has been declining after the awareness to the society. Breast screening is widely encouraged since it facilitates detecting the malignant cell and thus lowering the levels of spread. This is critical as it reduces the mortality rate. Experts have weighed the benefits of screening to the demerits of it and this has been accomplished through evaluating date and other information from oral means or written form (Kosters & Gotzsche, 2008, p. 8). The main need for screening in advance assists in progressing the time for diagnostic measures. Research indicated that earlier diagnosis increases the living span for any human being and thus it is very critical (Fong et al, 2009, p. 126). However

Movie review anthropology Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Anthropology - Movie Review Example The weapons that the human and humanoid tribes used during their battle distinctly identify their differences. This film by James Cameron demonstrates the two faces of the Earth’s inhabitants. The movie Avatar depicts both the modern and conventional societies that are greedy and selfless, respectively. Each community tries to live up to what the society they live in requires of them, even if it could lead to the demise of a large group of human beings. The movie presents a number of ideas that relate to human social and cultural nature that are very significant in understanding them. People and society are often depicted in movies, and Avatar, although a science-fiction movie, is no different. Having a better life is what every human being desires to have. Man is indeed forced to do something he does not intend to because of this need. At the beginning of the movie, it has been established that Jake, the main character in the movie was obliged to replace his deceased brother since he needed money for the treatment of his leg that was injured when he was on duty in the marine. Like any human being, who does not have the capacity to pay for his own treatment, Jake submitted himself to project Pandora since he contains the genetic make-up of his twin brother necessary to make the avatar intended for him to work. Inasmuch as a person tries to avoid being subjected to a situation he does not like, his financial needs lead him to do so. Every human being has a freedom of choice. This is true. However, the society provides him with very limited choices. Although others may say they only want to live a simple life, this simplicity does not always come easy for everyone. Just as Jake wanted himself to live a normal life, he does not have the necessary amount of money to bring himself to the hospital and get the surgery that his legs needed. The desire of having a better life brought him to submit to the demands of people who could provide him his needs even thou gh he did not exactly like it. How much a human could tolerate other people’s demands was clearly illustrated in the movie when Jake could no longer perform his tasks after being subjected to the Omaticayan tribe. His video logs documents how his perspective has changed about the two different worlds he had been able to experience. Man is unable to see the other side of the world when he is deprived of the chance to see it. No comparison will be made when one does not see any point of comparison. Rich people may think being rich does not gain any advantage from the others when they do not see how poor people live their lives. When Jake was exposed to the life of the Na’vis, he could not help but compare the world he used to live in and the new world he has learned to live in Pandora. The world of humans, with all the advanced sciences and technologies that it offers, is nothing but a â€Å"dream† to him. The â€Å"real world† is the world with the Omatica ya tribe, deprived of the advanced weaponry and the machines that were brought about by modern science. Although Jake is naturally not a Na’vi, it is with them that he finds the sense of belonging, when he is treated a real human being. This shift in the main character’s perspective is instrumental as this shows that it is normal for human beings to take a turn when

The influence of cultural disversity on employees workplace Essay

The influence of cultural disversity on employees workplace performance in transnational corporations in algeria - Essay Example issues are considered to be very important and are expected to be even more important in the near future due to the increasing differences in the Algerian population. Companies should put their focus on diversity and look for ways to become totally inclusive organizations since diversity has got the potential to yield greater productivity and competitive advantages (Shachaf, 2012, P.32) Given the significant transformations in cultural diversity over the past half-century in Algeria, Both the academia and the media have developed more interest in a better understanding of the social and economic impacts of cultural diversity, ethnicity and multiculturalism in organizations (Watson, Kumar & Michaelsen,2013,P.23). There has been enough research to establish facts on how cultural diversity can improve the performance and productivity of the employees as opposed to a homogeneous cultural workforce, thus this research contributes to the existing body knowledge. This research seeks to find out the possible benefits that come with cultural diversity in an organization and how they can contribute positively influence employees workplace performance (Cox & Blake, 2004, P.32).Managing and valuing diversity is a vital component in effective management of employees and can improve workplace productivity (Newman & Nollen 2013) To achieve this objective, I plan to use interviews as my as my data collection tools .I will use both structured and unstructured type of interviews. Bogdan & Biklen (2013) says that the use of interviews as research tools is based on the knowledge that is being generated between two parties often experienced through a well-focused conversation. Interviews are done to allow both the interviewer and interviewee to exchange information on certain phenomenal issues and then give personal perspective interpretations. The interviews will be conducted using a sample of five of the senior managers of the organizations including the human resource managers

The problems of the management of Kodak Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

The problems of the management of Kodak - Essay Example This is so because success is based on an organisation's ability to create, rather than predict the future by developing those products that will literally transform the way the world thinks and view it self and the needs (Kanter 1995:71). Within the context of today's global competition, businesses and firms no-longer compete as individual companies but try to corporate with other businesses in their activities (Wu & Chien 2007:2). These researchers went further to argue that, this strategy has become quite common in many businesses including the retail clothing chain stores. The conventional vertical integrated company based business model is gradually being replaced by collaborative relationship between many fragmented, but complementary and specialized value stars and constellation (Wu & Chien:1). An alternative approach towards organisational success, one which is becoming increasing prominent and has attracted the sustained attention of both domestic and international business scholars are core competences, capabilities and resources (e.g. Madhok 1998, Prahalad & Hamel1990, Hamel & Prahalad1994 ). In today's global business environment it is no longer sufficient simply to meet customers demand as time quality and cost have become increasingly important in the phase of increasing competition (Petts 1997:551). 1.1 Capability and Competence of Eastman Kodak Client Focus and Problem Solving and Judgement Staffs are highly motivated, and the number of customers per employee ratio is high, the workforce is unionised. The company has access to financial market, which is not so easy to other competitors. The leverage ratio is very high (Debt to Equity ratio). As one of the organisations objective, to establish long term relationship with it customers through reliable and efficient services. The company is so effective in after sales and repairs services. Competencies provide a means of looking at those behaviours that differentiate the "best from the rest" and a common language for talking about critical on-the-job behaviours. Innovation and Strategic Thinking Being a pace setter in the industry with the ultimate vision to be a world leader in photographic equipments, Eastman Kodak capabilities include, continuous innovation and strategic thinking in different markets, Because of the higher level of motivation, and self-management encouraged in the workforce, employees are able to come up with new features, and suggestions to management to developed new equipments. The company brand identity, it salient features associated with quality and general brand awareness in the market. The company's reputation for film quality was (as it still is) regarded as one of the company's key assets Leadership and Results Orientation The management style and culture of the organisation are more family oriented. This has been responsible for the high level of profit being experienced by the company from creation, until the slump. With the leadership and technical know how of it founders and subsequent executives, the company developed it competences in innovation, product line extension and differentiation. The company was able to develop it core products and capabilities which included high end copiers, single use cameras, .In addition, the company had a

Sixth Sense Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sixth Sense - Essay Example Humans have been fantasizing about the touch screens being displayed on walls and touching them to talk to a friend with his picture or video. This fantasy is soon going to become real after the development of sixth sense technology. Sixth sense is a device which you can wear and it is highly portable. Physical world, around us, is enhanced by the digital world with the help of this technology. Sixth sense technology is a perfect combination of the digital and physical world. It can help you to find out the data about any physical object which is present in the digital world. If you have to find out some information about anything in a shopping mall e.g. you are purchasing a toilet paper and you want to know that which toilet paper company is more responsible toward an environment, sixth sense technology will help you to find out everything. A green, orange or red circle will appear on the object to tell you that whether you should buy this or not. You can also see videos of certain happenings if you are reading a newspaper. You can checkout a person’s information in just one look. All the information present on the internet about any person will be displayed and this includes his/her interests, education and other history. It is a real integration of digital and physical world. Sixth sense technology is a blend of many other existing technologies and they all integrate to perform a lot of functions. In the device of sixth sense technology, there is image capturing, gesture recognition, processing and manipulation. You can capture an image by single, natural hand gesture and this image will be stored in your device. This image can be displayed on any flat surface and then you can edit these images and even resize them. This function involves image capturing, gesture recognition and processing. When you meet some person or look at anything in a market, information about those things will be displayed in front of you

Critically evaluate the role of e-Business adoption models to assess Essay

Critically evaluate the role of e-Business adoption models to assess exisiting eBusiness capabilities of SMEs and make recommendations for future strategy and investment - Essay Example In the olden stages of business, the manufacturer used traditional methods of marketing with advertising in the print and electronic media (Shima & Varfan 2008). And traditional methods uses different channels of distribution such as â€Å"wholesalers and retailers† (Bernard et al. 2010). Thus it involves a huge cost of distribution. The functioning of the business based on the â€Å"Internet and web based technology† is termed as E-business (Andam 2003, p. 5). As the technology advances day by day, it is better to adopt these changes to be successful in the business sector in terms of production and marketing. E-business helps in marketing through reducing the advertisement cost by reaching out to the people â€Å"globally† through the internet by search engines such as Yahoo, Google etc (Chapter 1: Introduction to E-business and e-Commerce n.d.). Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have low man-power and low capital compared to large scale companies. Usually SMEs face difficulties at their initial stage of establishment. Since SMEs play a major role in the economic development of the country, a special â€Å"priority† has to be provided (The New SME Definition User Guide and Model Declaration 2005). Hence a study has to be made on the E-business model and the best among them can be adopted for the enhancement of SMEs. The cost of production and distribution is applicable to both large scale and small scale organizations. But the â€Å"SMEs† face more difficulties in raising funds as their amount of investment is very low (Promoting Entrepreneurship and Innovative SMEs in a Global Economy: Towards a More Responsible and Inclusive Globalisation 2004). At present the big and branded companies use â€Å"online marketing† as a selling method, which reduces their huge marketing cost (Eriksen & Hemmingsen n.d.). This technique can be also used by the SMEs. It involves the â€Å"electronic transactions† between a company and the third party (Myers, Fletcher & Gordon

Destination presentation reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Destination presentation reflection - Essay Example We started the research by firstly strategizing on how the tasks will be accomplished and breaking the complex task into small, simple tasks that would easily be handled by members. Every member of the group handled particular parts (s), which were allocated basing on the individual’s interest, accessibility to research materials, expertise in research among other considerations as posited by Burke and Barron (2014). For instance, a member would handle the background to the Cornwall AONB Management Plan while another would handle the challenges faced by Cornwall AONB whereas someone else would research on possible solutions to the challenges and the steps that have so far been undertaken towards the circumvention of dire problems. We would then meet to discuss the findings, a factor that helped us to refine understanding through explanation and discussion, before finally combining the work and writing a presentation speech. In writing the presentation speech, each member would contribute the most important ideas that would bolster the quality and eminence of the speech, making it more precise, accurate, while at the same time, very informative. We had to discuss the speech various times. In the discussions, some parts were ironed out, words replaced, while some other aspects were added, just to ensure that it effectively portrays the group diversity as well as meet our objectives of informing the audience about various pertinent issues regarding the Cornwall AONB management plan. I handled the section which sought to establish the coverage and the factors that prompted the need for Cornwall AONB management plan. Apparently, the need for the Cornwall AONB management plan was triggered by changes in land management practices, up surging pollution levels, and the need to promote localism by having the surrounding community participating in making important decisions affecting Cornwall (Prideaux, 2009). I also found out that the

The Impact of Technology on Society Research Paper

The Impact of Technology on Society - Research Paper Example Thus, even the microlithic flint tools used by the  early  man was just as much technological advanced as robots may be in a few centuries to modern man, that is, allowing for the chronological differentiation. This paper will seek to  establish impacts of technology on  humanity  through discussing some of the effects, and some negative effects. If technology needed a face,  communication  would be the most  suitable  since it is one thing all human beings have in common. In addition, it has been the main beneficiary of the technological  development, which  has taken place over time. The most significant aspect of this is evident in the new means by which communication occurs, in the past communicating with someone in a different  town  would take weeks as one waited for the postman. This  has been drastically changed with mobile telephony, internet and other wireless means of communication, since through video conferencing one can easily  hold  a fa ce-to-face meeting with someone in different continents. ... This way, technology is its own  vehicle  since, through it; information can be communicated and shared  rapidly. Humans today are privy to more information that any time in the past when governments and the church would  control  what one could  know  or not. The internet does not  recognize  e political boundaries and this  way  there is a free flow of information. Evidences of this can be found in the recent uprisings in Egypt and Libya. In Egypt, the internet  was used to  rally  the citizens to  rise  against tyrannical  leadership  by using Facebook pages for strategizing since mainstream media  were controlled by the state (Crovtiz  1). This gives new meaning to the  adage  information  is power, because, in those cases, it was  literal  power. That the world is becoming a global village, is no longer just cliche used by pro technologists but a reality that requires little imagination to  appreciate. As a result of  develop ment  in mechanical and aeronautical engineering, humans can now  travel  from any place to the other at speeds that would have seemed  supernatural  in the not so distant past. Consequently, jets and other airplanes  enable  the distance between continents to be covered in a matter of hours. Many of these  are automated  and are travelling in them is  significantly  safe this also applies to cars, and trains. In fact, many of these automated planes are self-flown and even when they have pilots, they do not have to  man  them all the time (Peter 1). This has exponentially reduced the importance and role of distance. Today, the distance between say Europe and America can be covered in about 3 hours. This way people in far off

It strategy vs business strategy Essay Example for Free

It strategy vs business strategy Essay In most organizations IT expenditure is considered as one of the larger if not the largest contributor to capital investment and expenditure. Technology has a significant effect on the business landscape of most organizations and the market place they operate in. The goal of IT as such should be directed toward the alignment of IT strategy with an organizations overall business strategy (Mulcay, 2001). It is argued though that the inability to successfully derive value from IT investment is, for the most part due to a lack of alignment between IT and business strategies. Johnson and Scholes cited by Riley (2012) define strategy as follows Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfill stakeholder expectations. In unpacking the definition, simply the business strategy that the business has decided to follow needs accurate configuration of resource human resource, technology resource, financial resource etc., so as to gain competitive advantage, meet objectives and stakeholder expectation. Henderson Venkatraman (1999) argue that there is no IT application or system, regardless of how cutting edge or sophisticated it maybe, that will build and sustain a competitive advantage for an organization for a sustained period of time. Organizations, in order to sustain competitive advantage should continuously endeavor to exploit its IT functionality and resource to maintain an advantage. In my opinion this is achieved by out of the box, evolutionary thinking by both business and IT leaders. Furthermore, both business and IT leaders need to understand fully the role that IT can support and re-shape business strategy decisions and improve IT effectiveness and ultimately improve business performance. SHOULD A COMPANYS IT STRATEGY FOLLOW ITS BUSINESS STRATEGY OR SHOULD IT LEAD ITS BUSINESS STRATEGY? WHY In my opinion IT is vary rarely the core business unless of course we mention Microsoft or Google and the like where technology is the primary focus area  but it must noted that the actual business process for each is different and intellectual property is what is regarded most valuable. Hence, I agree with (Abate 2009, Henderson Venkatraman 1999, Skriletz 2013) and many other researchers and commentators, that ITs role should be regarded as the enabler or driver of the business strategy. ITs strategy, investment; architecture even projects all need be dictated by overall business strategy, but should be part of process that helps the formation of the overall strategy. IT leaders need to possess the knowledge of new enabling technologies and how these technologies can be integrated into the business. Very often the business strategy is formed and developed in isolation and IT is seen as a support function only, rather than as function that can contribute to forming the strategy itself. IT leaders need to be part of the process that delivers the direction the business chooses to follow. Luftman Brier (1999) echo this sentiment in that just as HR and marketing are important parts of strategy so to should IT. Venkatraman and Henderson (2000) assert that business strategists cannot be seen to take the leading role whilst the IT strategist is seen as a support role. It is imperative both take the lead in designing the business platform. Business and IT strategists working together to shape new business; IT is not subordinate to business strategy but an extricate part of it. FACTORS TO CONSIDER Technology is seen as one of key elements that drive change and transformation. Intelligent use of technology can deliver a competitive advantage, streamline processes create cost efficiencies and optimization for most organizations and as organizations strive for these competitive advantages and efficiencies it would really not be prudent to exclude the technology people from the process of strategy development as those organizations that do include them, will certainly claim the competitive edge and advantage. Regardless of what industry youre in, its hard to think about a business  that couldnt exploit IT for competitive advantage if they chose to, says Barbara Gomolski, an analyst at Gartner cited in an article by Moore (2011). The industries that have seen growth by aligning IT and business strategy and have used it as a driver and an enabler include the airline industry that has leveraged IT and now allows customers to book directly with carriers rather than involving third party agents. The banking industry has really embraced technology with the likes of online banking and transactions, which show true alignment and involvement of IT in business strategy and goal setting. Technology drives their growth. The sentiment shared and one that I agree with is that by including IT in the formulation of business strategy will certainly assist the organization in achieving its goals. The exploitation of technology as a means is key and if you dont necessarily feel that, then I guarantee IT is treated as being outside of the core business strategy and as a result the organization is not deriving value from one of its most if not the most valuable resources. References Venkatraman N Henderson JC. 2000: Business platforms for the 21st Century, in Mastering Information Management, edited by DA Marchand, TH Davenport T Dickson. Great Britain: Prentice Hall: 283-289 Mulcay K. 2001: The IT Dilemma. World Trade, 14(4): 48-48. Henderson JC Venkatraman N. 1999: Strategic Alignment: Leveraging information technology for transforming organisations. IBM Systems Journal, 38(23): 472-484. Luftman J Brier T. 1999: Achieving and Sustaining Business-IT alignment. California Management Review, 42(1): 109-122. Abate R, (2008) IT should be an enabler to business [Available online at] http://www.information-managem e nt.com/blogs/IT_business-10015571-1.html (Accessed 18 June 2014) Skriletz R (2013) How to make IT a business enabler [Available online at] http://www.b-eye-network.com/view/16788 (Accessed 18 June 2014) Moore J (2011) Make It part of your Business Strategy [Available online at ] http://www.cnbc.com/id/44818677 (Accessed 18 June 2014) Riley J, (2012) What is strategy [Available online at] http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/what_is_strategy.htm (Accessed 18 June 2014)

Prostitution Legalisation Sexual Offences

Prostitution Legalisation Sexual Offences Prostitution is defined as participating in sexual activity in exchange for money. Its often referred to as the oldest profession and is a highly emotive topic nestled within the tangled web of sexuality and morality. The legal status of prostitution has constantly fluctuated over centuries and even millennia as well as in different countries where it can be punishable by death or completely legal. The historical legislation on prostitution is as vast and as changeable as English law itself is. As long as laws have existed there have been many varying degrees of legalisation and illegalisation of prostitution. In 1161 King Henry II allowed the regulation of Londons brothels. (Evans, 1979) and in 1546 Henry VIIIs ended Englands toleration of prostitution. (Roberts, 1993) During the 19th Century the Victorians ideas of ‘morality and ‘social purity influenced legislation concerning sexuality and sexual offences. (Walkowitz, 1980) The first law was made with the reference to the term ‘common prostitute was the Vagrancy Act of 1824. In Subsection 3 of this Act stated that any common prostitute behaving in a riotous or indecent manner in a public place or thoroughfare was liable to a fine or imprisonment. (Laite [online]) Further legislation was built up over this period including ‘solicitation laws brought about in England in 1847 made it an illegal offence t o loiter or solicit people for the purpose of prostitution. These offences were arrestable and punished by fines which could be increased upon subsequent convictions. In 1885 parliament passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act (Walkowitz, 1980) which was resultant response to both the publication of an investigative report in the Pall Mall Gazette (Laite) witch uncovered an organised child prostitution ring. The act addressed the issue of Age of consent raising it to 16 and created laws outlawing the forcible detainment and procuring of women for purposes of prostitution. It also addressed laws on brothels, but due to lack of definition of the word brothel it was used everything from what we understand as brothels to a residence of two or more prostitutes. This lead to heavy arrest figures of many prostitutes particularly poor ones as they would often rent premises together so that the cost could be shared and since they had no money to pay legal cost they could find themselves with hefty fines or three months imprisonment. Some of the next significant changes in prostitution Legislation came about in the 1950s. A report was published in 1954 called the Wolfenden report as a response to public concern of the rise of the number of women involved in prostitution. (Phoenix, 2005) The report had far reaching effect and the recommendations made went on to form the basis of the Street Offences Act 1959. The report consolidated the official discourse on prostitution and created a ‘new framework for the regulation of prostitution. The Acts most significant parts pertaining to prostitution included making it illegal for a prostitute to loiter and solicit in a public place and it introduced a system where prostitutes were first cautioned for offences and after repeat offences a punishment such as a fines would be introduced and if the offending progressed further the offender could be imprisoned for up to three months. (Scrambler, 1997) Other legislation in the Sexual Offences Act 1956 updated the laws on t he offence of keeping a brothel, the offence of procuring a woman into prostitution by any means of force or under duress. Additionally it was an offence for a man to live off of the earnings of prostitution (i.e.: pimping). Legislation dealing with prostitution was not an issue in contention again until the 1980s. In the 1970s and 1980s a number of groups linked with feminist groups emerged in Europe and America promoting the rights of prostitutes (E.g.: COYOTE (call off your old tired ethics) and the ECP (English collective of prostitutes)) and called for the decriminalisation and normalisation of prostitution. (Matthews, 2008) they argued that the laws directed at prostitutes were discriminatory and counterproductive. In addition to that there were increasing concerns about the levels of ‘kerb-crawling and it was agreed that a new law was needed to address the issue. These problems were addressed in the 1985 Sexual Offences Act (Scrambler, 1997) which included the criminalization of ‘Kerb Crawling. Such measures see a shift of focus on who is the ‘problem which can be seen as answering the critics who argued against the ‘double standards of punishing prostitutes who were nearly always women and often vulnerable and probably poor. However an argument against the ‘Kerb crawling law was that it would lead to an increased lack of safety for sex workers on the streets as they have to identify and go with a client quickly to avoid detection and arrest. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 makes amendments to these previous laws, strengthening them and updating them to include both male and female sex workers and extending the punishment for keeping a brothel to up to 7 years in prison. (OPSI, 2003) Additionally it can be noted that the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which saw the introduction of Anti-social behaviour orders were used against persistent offenders and street prostitutes were a primary recipient of these in certain English counties, (Sanders, 2005) A study conducted on the matter in Birmingham found during the study that nineteen prostitutes had been served ASBOs for persistent solicitation and two women were sent to prison for breaching their orders. (Jones Sager, 2001) All of this past legislation has culminated in the current UK law on Prostitution which is that whilst it is legal to be a prostitute (take money in return for sex), the laws make all other surrounding areas of prostitution illegal, such as streetwalking, pimping, soliciting (advertising sexual services), kerb crawling and keeping brothels are illegal. Critics argue that the current laws make, providing sex in exchange for money difficult and dangerous. Additionally we have seen that there have been changes in the ideas of prostitution being a victimless crime, to being a crime which victimises women and children. These shifts in the perceptions of prostitution are informing new calls for a change in policy with claims that the current laws are out-of-date and furthermore they are ‘biased against providers of sex and lenient on those who organise, buy and control and coerce women (Edwards in Sanders, 2005) What appears to be coming clear is that many would prefer to see clear cut laws on prostitution that are either in favour of abolitionism (in the sense that prostitution is prohibited) or legalisation. But in addition to that others look towards legislation which centers on either decriminalisation or regulation. Petitioners for reform look towards examples of other countries and their legislation on prostitution. Most notably those in favour of decriminalization look towards the examples such as the Netherlands, Australia, Germany and Sweden. Sweden is a prime example of Decriminalisation. In Sweden they hold the view that prostitutes are exploited by their clients and it should be the clients which are held responsible. In 1998 the â€Å"Security for Women† bill was introduced in Sweden which included the criminalisation of the purchasers of sexual services, with penalties ranging from a fine to 6 month imprisonment. A key component of the legislation was specific funding for exit strategies for women wishing to leave prostitution, including specific benefits, specialist drug and alcohol services and accommodation. At the time of implementation it was estimated that there were 2,500 prostituted women in Sweden with approximately 600 working in street prostitution, which has now been reduced by 80%. Over 500 men have been charged under the act and the law has an 80% approval rating from the public five years after implementation. (McAlpine, 2006) The Netherlands has changed over the past century it once outlawed brothels and pimping, however in the later half of the 20th Century prostitution was tolerated and regulated within certain areas. (Matthews, 2008) Over the last decade there has been a new shift, as pimping became legalised and brothels decriminalised. The idea for allowing brothels was too shift prostitution from the streets and help make prostitution safer for the prostitutes. The result in this change in policy is that the sex industry has reportedly expanded by 25% and the sex industry now accounts for 5% of the Dutch economy. (McAlpine, 2006) There has however been some criticism of this policy system. Its been argued that the prostitutes are still losing out as they lose control of the ability to choose customers; the prices charged the hours they work and the services they offer. (Safer London Committee, 2005) This is often put down to the influx of women from the Eastern Block, South East Asia and Africa many of who are trafficked by criminal gangs and as a result damage the industry by pushing down prices and not following codes of conduct. (Bindel, 2004) Additionally in the Netherlands during the 1990s they initiated a project in an effort to manage and control Street prostitution by introducing tolerance zones called ‘tipple zones in a number of their cities where street prostitution was a problem. The function of these zones was to be an area outside of major population areas where street workers would be tolerated to operate; drug dealers and pimps were not tolerated within the area. Charitable agencies also provided help within these areas offering counselling, clean needles, and panic alarm buttons. However while to begin with tipple zones reduced the level of nuisance associated with street prostitution it was seen to be a failure in the long run and eventually all of the zones were closed down. (Matthews, 2007) Certain States in Australia are prime examples of Legalisation. In Victoria, Australia there were 40 legal brothels in Victoria in 1989, in 1999 there were 94 along with 84 escort agencies following the legalisation of the industry in addition to many illegal venues. Legalisation is argued to have normalised the industry with the pimps being considered legitimate businessmen and sitting together with the police and lawyers on the Prostitution Control Board. (McAlpine, 2006) But it isnt all positive as there are still a significant amount of brothels that are unregistered and many prostitutes do not want to register as prostitutes because they do not want to be stigmatised. (Bindel, 2004) Legalising prostitution seems to be far more complex than it initially appears and moreover, evidence in other countries shown can display that it does not solve the problems of prostitution. In countries where prostitution is legalised such as the Netherlands and Germany there are still significant problems with Street Prostitutes and there are also significant problems with the levels of trafficked sex workers. In return to ideas for reform of UK Legislation it would appear that the overall critique of the UK laws is that the legislation is failing in combating prostitution. Furthermore like most prostitution policy approaches Bindel (2004) argues that they â€Å"Lack a coherent philosophical underpinning, from which specific short and longer term aims and objectives could be drawn. The most coherent approach in terms of philosophy and implementation is that adopted by Sweden, and interestingly it is the only one where no one who sells sex is subject to the criminal law. Many argue, that a lot of money is still spent on law enforcement efforts to catch prostitutes and their customers. When prosecuted, the justice system has to process them through expensive systems. The end results appear to be that there is little impact on prostitution. Prostitutes pay the penalty fines and are back on the streets again in what becomes a revolving door process. (Sanders, 2005) In terms of the most successful form of policy for the management of street Prostitutes it appears that Swedens approach looks to be the most successful. Their laws make use of the notion that prostitutes are victims of male violence, and so the purchaser of sex is the criminal and the seller of sex the victim. It can be argued that the reasons for these ideas working are that it is the perfect deterrence. A typical male who visits a prostitute isnt the stereotypical view of an older lonely man but it can be anyone. (Spurrell, 2006) Because of this it is likely that many men would be deterred from using prostitutes if it is made far more unfavourable. If UK prostitution legislation were to be reformed it would be important to make it more fitting to todays attitudes. It has been established that whilst prostitution in the UK is legal majority of the acts surrounding it are not. The reasons for this are within the basis of past legislation, which sought to protect women from abuse and victimisation. And additionally to push it to the margins of society, presumably in the hope that it would go away. Realistically however it is unlikely that it will go away, so there is the need to address ways to manage prostitution so that it can function without criminalising prostitutes or creating victims and that prostitutes are free to work in as safe and healthy environment as possible. To do this prostitution needs to be decriminalised and regulated. It needs to be recognised that prostitutes will always be out on the streets in some shape or form and so any attempts to move prostitution solely into the indoor sphere is unlikely to work. With that said legislation needs to address both indoor and outdoor prostitution. As with the Netherlands, brothels should be the promoted alternative with brothels being regulated and only state licensed ones should be tolerated. Prostitutes should be registered but allowed to operate with a degree of anonymity if they choose. The Laws against Pimping and forced prostitution should still stand and heavy laws should be imposed for hose who traffic women and force them to work as prostitutes. As for street prostitution we should look towards the Swedish model which criminalises the buyer rather than the prostitute. Additionally there needs to be a geographical equality to the implementation of prostitution laws. At the moment differ ent areas in the UK operate very different implementations of the current law. Some areas of the UK operate a Zero Tolerance policy yet others are unofficial red light districts. (Matthews, 2007) So to conclude it can be argued that laws have not changed all that much in the past century; the main changes in the law have mostly been about encompassing new offences. All that appears to have resulted in these new laws are that prostitutes have been driven out onto the streets. The nature of there job and the illegal status of it, creates high risk circumstances. And because their actions are unlawful they have to conceal what they are doing and cannot be protected by the services.There are talks about a draft Bill for new legislation on prostitution. But whole sale changes to the laws appear to not be on the agenda yet again. We can look towards policies in other countries such Sweden which favours the decriminalisation of the prostitute and to the Netherlands which has legalised and regulated brothels with a certain degree of success. What can be agreed is that there needs to be a wider debate upon the criminalisation or decriminalisation of prostitution, which looks at the needs and safety of those people who are sex workers. Bibliography Books: Evans, H. (1979) Harlots, Whores Hookers: A History of Prostitution, New York: Taplinger Matthews, R. (2008) Prostitution, Politics and Policy, Oxen: Routledge-Cavendish Pheonix, J. Oerton, S. (2005) Illicit and Illegal: Sex, regulation and social control, Devon, Willan. Roberts, N. (1993) Whores in History: Prostitution in Western Society, London: Harper Collins. Sanders, T. (2005) Sex Work: A risky business, Devon, Willan Scrambler, G. Scrambler, A. (1997) Rethinking Prostitution, London: Routledge. Thomas, T. (2005) Sex Crime: Sex offending and society 2nd Edition, Devon: Willan Walkowitz, J (1980) Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class and the State, Cambridge: University Press. Websites: Bindel, J. (2004) ‘Streets Apart in The Guardian [online] Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1215900,00.html [Accessed 2 April 2008] Home Office, (2003) ‘Sexual Offences Act 2003 in Office of Public Sector Information [online] Available from: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/ukpga_20030042_en_1 [Accessed 31 March 2008] Laite, J. (no date) ‘Paying the price again: prostitution policy in historical perspective in History and Policy [online] Available from: http://www.historyandpolicy.org/papers/policy-paper-46.html [Accessed 31 March 2008] McAlpine, M. (2006) ‘Prostitution: A contribution to the debate by the Scottish Socialist Party [online] Available from: http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/pdfs/pamphlet1_1_final.pdf [Accessed 31 March 2008] Safer London Committee, (2005) ‘Street Prostitution in London by the London Assembly [Online] Available from: http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/pubserv/prostitution.pdf [Accessed 1 April 2008] Spurrell, C. (2006) ‘Who pays for sex? Youd be surprised in The Times [online] Available from : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article627388.ece [Accessed 2 April 2008] Journals: Jones, H. Sager, T. (2001) ‘Crime and Disorder Act 1998: Prostitution and the Anti Social Behaviour Order. Criminal Law Review, Nov: 873-885.

Sainsburys Company Analysis

Sainsburys Company Analysis The food retailing Industry is a huge and fast growing industry in UK .It is a complex and diverse market dominated by various big companies such as Tesco, ASDA, J Sainsburys. Price and quality of goods are the two key elements which the companies keep in mind to increase their sales and defend their position in this competitive market. In the year 2009, food retailing recorded sales figures of GBP 297,478.9 million, along with providing employment to 11.6% of the workforce in UK (Euro monitor). It is forecasted, by the year 2014 the sales would cross GBP 350,000 million. (Euro monitor) This assignment focuses on the third largest food retailer store in UK, i.e. J Sainsbury. Sainsbury is a super market which will operates its business in retail sector from the year 1869. Sainsbury is started by James and Mary Ann Sainsburys. Sainsbury today operates a total of 827 stores comprising 537 supermarkets and 335 convenience stores(J Sainsbury 2010) .With their presence in various other markets such as financial services and Property management, grocery retailing remains their core business. In an industry which employs over 3,335,000 people and with sales figure of GBP 137,590 million (Euro Monitor), Sainsbury enjoys a market share of 16% and serving 19 million customers weekly with a product offering of 30,000. (J Sainsbury 2010) QUESTION-1 Using suitable models identify the customer perceived value for the customers for a product/division/company of your choice. ANSWER- PART 1 Customer value Difference between what a  customers  gets from a  product, and what he or she has to give in  order  to get it. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/customer-value.html#ixzz16OyFiRFr Customer value proposition A  business  or marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should  buy a product or use a service. This statement should convince a potential consumer that  one particular  product or service will add more  value or better solve a problem than other similar offerings. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/valueproposition.asp Types of CVP 1. All Benefits- benefits that an organization brings to its target customers. It tends to suffer from a lack of credibility when the value proposition is not distinguished from competitors or focused precisely on the unique needs of the customer. 2. Favourable Points of Differentiation- it mainly emphasizes the key differences between a firms offerings and those of competitors at the customer interface. It takes into account the notion that the buyer has substitutes. Like the all benefits value proposition it lacks specificity relative to the buyer. 3. Resonating Focus- Resonating focus highlights one or two critical differences between the firms offerings and those of competitors with the forethought that these differences represent those areas that are most vital in the mind of the customer. While most effective, this value proposition takes considerable time to develop as it is strongly rooted in a deep understanding of customer needs. http://www.edbarrows.com/Resources/briefs/valueProposition.pdf IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER VALUE   A good customer value proposition is a technique why a customer should buy a product and also distinguish your product from competitors. Gaining a customers attention will help in growing sales faster and more profitable, as well as increasing its market share. Understanding customer needs is important because it helps promote the product. A brand is the perception of a product or service that is designed to stay in the minds of targeted consumers. It is desirable to build a strong and positive brand association with your offering. Three key dimensions: Extrinsic vs. intrinsic value Self-orientated vs. other-orientated value Active vs. reactive value PART 2 VALUE PROPOSITION FOR SAINSBURY Sainsbury maintain high quality of its services by keeping up high quality product at a fair price, through well-kept rooms with an attractive appearance to fast service and a friendly staff. Sainsbury ensures that all suppliers have been evaluated by Quality Attribute System (QAS) in order to provide quality product to the customer. It has different prices which are suited to different kinds of customer. Through the execution of high quality product Sainsbury has high price. However to adjust to the needs of less wealthy clients it also offers a wide selection of basic product at a low price. Sainsbury speed is moderately-high. Sainsbury team is trying to reduce queues through recent introduction of basket tills, self-checkouts as well as introduction of newest scan and pack system. Sainsbury also offers home delivery which can be obtained the very next day. Dependability is keeping a word to customers. Sainsbury provides customers quality product at a fair prices, fulfilling custom er expectation for fresh, safe, healthy and tasty food. Sainsbury respects environment by using environmentally friendly packaging. Queuing time is reasonable and deliveries are on time. Online Shopping at Sainsburys is also a great advantage. All the above provide a  high level of dependability  and are the reason why the Sainsburys brand remains on the market for 141 years, and this makes the Sainsbury differs from its competitors. Sainsbury started a new range taste the difference that aims to provide consumers desire to treat themselves at home, rather than spending money in buying expensive takeaways or eating outside. Sainsburys continuously investing in their clothing and home decor items to accelerate the growth in non-food sector so that they can reach to more customers so as to increase its market share and sales. (Euro monitor) Sainsburys continued launching innovate products, 1% fat milk was launched which was consumed by 2.5 million households due to which its sales for basics were up by 60%. (Euro monitor) QUESTION 2 Critically evaluating value proposition of Sainsburys VALUE PROPOSITION Sainsbury supermarkets follow the mission of being the customers first choice by its service and quality. Through the method of working simpler, together and faster it delivers an outstanding good service and quality. Sainsbury accelerating its growth in non-food sector so as to reach more customers. Online facility provides its customers to shop online for non-food items also. The company has a solid brand value although discriminating competitive advantage is clearly missing. It is difficult to slot them in a particular category from a customer point of view. The company is not able to create a good market which will make them distinguish from other supermarkets with concerns to price, quality, customer service and access to variety or inventory. Sainsburys was critised by the city for allowing Tesco in getting ahead in the market in terms of customer service, loyalty and price competitiveness. Sainsburys was also criminated for not promoting itself up to its standards and also running the same type of initiatives which was running by Tesco. So the Sainsbury has failed to promote its products and services. In the process to reconstruct its mission, company has changed its marketing strategy and sold successfully the home based products in the chain of UK market and its business in Egypt. This changes the company to focus on food retailing and related activities. Sainsbury maintains 100% service level as the online business is growing rapidly. Even so, there are some issue that need to be developed for example; delivering orders in full and on time. The online business is developing at a rapid speed gaining growth in overall market. During hectic periods picking large orders from stores could become an issue. (http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/analystreports/corporate/ovum-sainsbury-cs-170835.pdf) MARKETING MIX The marketing mix used by Sainsbury to gain its competitive advantage in its retailing sector -. Product Sainsburys mainly focused in developing new product and its food quality which will be healthier to the customers. It provides more than 350 variety range of foods product which is produced to protect its natural flavour and taste of the product. Currently it has achieved to developed more than 600 organic lines to provide best range of food and major growth in groceries, bakery, and frozen foods. It has also launched a product called Blue carrot Calf known for the clear labelling of kid products which mention clear details of the products. The Sainsburys continuously concentrating on development of its product by launching a new programme every year. Price Price is the important component of the marketing mix for Sainsburys. Now a day Sainsburys is presenting its customers in UK the value for money. A lot of investment is made in improving quality and productivity in order to reduce the overall cost. For the customers in UK Sainsbury is offering, exceptional value for the money and the aim of the company is to lead the quality and become the favoured in term for the customers all through the market. If the price is cut it is not easy to get back again to the previous level without dissatisfying the customer. This is not decent for the business. Hence in short term price gain the store will be less affected where as in long term it would gain less positive. Sainsbury implemented a new strategy value for money after realising its price war in the market. A lot of investment is made in improving quality and productivity what it provides and efficiency of its activity in order to reduce the overall cost. The purpose of implementing a new s trategy is to achieve trust and value from the customer and continue its leadership. Promotion -   Sainsbury gain to build up its solid brand image among the customers through various promotions. It mainly focuses on its own brand rather than the promoting other brands which they sell in the stores to form the greater wealth by its overall retail brand. Sainsbury uses different media for its promotion whereas TV, radio and advertising in cinemas to grow the company image. Sales promotions, merchandising and packing are also the key element for the promotion of the Sainsbury. Sainsbury launched Nectar Card as a main weapon for its promotion. This card is free for customers and gives discount points if customer used it in store at the time of shopping. Many other retailers are also using same type of promotions by issuing the card to customers and giving them free points for their money as these free points can be used automatically for discounts. Sainsbury store staff wears named T-shirt of the supermarket to defer as a worker to serve people. Place As per the Sainsbury it has 872 stores across UK whereas 837 super markets and 335 convenience stores. Various set up of stores are established across the country according to the needs and satisfaction of the customers and area. Sum stores are opened 24 hours a day for the satisfaction of the customers. Sainsbury is making large chain stores in different locations to create a world class distribution of groceries and work more effectively. Sainsburys uses marketing mix to improve and implement its plans by using market mix. It fulfils the needs of customers by improving its strategies which will satisfy customer. Sainsburys study on the market to the customer needs who will buy the products. It continues to implement the market division to progress its business strategies which shows the progress of a business. To increase its overall sales Sainsburys uses the market segmentation to display various varieties of products and sells it to different group of people. It offers a large number of products in a supermarket or convenience store and opens the store for long hours. It also offers easy cash option through debit or credit card and cash back facility to customers on their purchases. http://katamaneni12.blogspot.com/2010/09/macro-environment-and-marketing-mix.html Competitor Analysis TESCO- Competitor Company Profile Tesco is started by Jack Cohen in 1919. Tesco is biggest food retailer in the world, having 2318 stores and giving employment to more than 470000 people who serve millions of customer around the world. Tesco has a largest market in UK, where it operates under signs of Extra, Superstore, Metro and Express. Tesco offers more than 40000 products to customers including clothing and other non-food lines. Tesco vs. Sainsburys TESCO MISSION TESCO is to provide superior technical representation and to add value to a focused group of leading-edge, corporations by offering synergistic, valuable and highly innovate solutions for our customer design, procurement and manufacturing needs with continuous improvement of our quality, service and productivity to a completive advantage. TESCO VISSION What sets TESCO apart from other distributors is our commitment to customers success, by bringing an in-depth knowledge of their technology and the value added services needed to truly support the customer. The result is cost-efficient, rapidly delivered technical superior products that the customers take pride in. (http://www.tescoinc.co.kr/tesco/ecompany1.php) MISSION STATEMENT Sainsburys mission statement Our mission is to be the consumers first choice for food, delivering products of outstanding quality and great service at a competitive cost through working faster, simpler and together. Source: Sainsbury Web site Sainsburys companys vision for growth Sainsbury plcs present focus is to improve the performance of the core UK supermarket chain. Whilst doing so we will continue to explore and develop growth opportunities in other markets. Through implementing Managing for Value we will stretch our ambitions and challenge the conventional wisdom within the Company, thereby unlocking our potential and delivering value. Source: Sainsbury Web site DIFFERENCE STRATEGIES SAINSBURY STRATEGY: Sainsbury aims to provide quality products and good service at a competitive price through working faster, simpler, together and aimed to be the consumer first choice for food. Through a balance in sales growth, reduction cost and on-going margin improvements, Sainsbury look forward to progress growth. The company is dedicated to achieving industry leading margins within a dynamic, competitive market and to delivering strong double digit necessary profit growth in each year of its business programme. TESCO STRATEGY: Tesco has made a good progress with its strategy which consists of five elements reflecting its four established areas of motivation and Tescos long term promises on environment and community. The ideas of the strategy are: To be a successful international retailer To develop the core UK business To be as strong in non-food as in food. To develop retailing services such as Tesco Personal Finance, Telecoms and Tesco.com To put community at the heart of what we do. The market share of Tesco is 31.6% in the retail market and they also capture 50% of the grocery market share while Sainsbury has 16% and 22% of the market share respectively. Tesco sells massive products range and buy in big volume and sell it in cheap while Sainsbury buys product that are popular and their own branded product. 1/3 of the retail market is acquired by Tesco but Sainsbury is enabling to have this power. Tesco achieved its success by selling varieties of products; it is located within UK as well as overseas, they target every people. With this strategy Sainsburys have a difficult to keep up with Tesco. Sainsburys generally attract the middle class people with low class prices whereas Tesco attract all kind of people from all classes. Sainsburys is more concerned about the quality of the food they provide their customers while Tesco is concerned about reducing prices to attract their customers. Tescos main advertising approach is money saving Every little help and Sainsburys Taste the difference however during the crisis time they are one of the same. Sainsburys slip its second position in 2008, losing to Asda. Leader Tesco enlarged its market share in the year, moving ahead of Sainsburys. Sainsburys has less variety of non-food items as compared to Tesco. At the end of the evaluation period, non-food items were the reason for growth for the major supermarkets. ( http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/analystreports/corporate/ovum-sainsbury-cs-170835.pdf) MANAGEMENT Sainsbury CEO Justin king has done a great job in strengthening the brand, improved turnover at a rate of 5.5% a year and profit increases by 6.7%. king main focus was on UK store expansion rather than overseas and total number of store has been increased from 583 in 2004 to 827 today. Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy has different approach as compare to Sainsburys CEO Justin King. In his fourteen year term he has heavily invested in overseas expansion. In 1999, within UK Tesco generated 90% of its turnover and now its less than 70%. GROWTH POTENTIAL Tesco has its setups in 14 countries but that doesnt mean Sainsburys lack growth opportunities. Sainsburys results in past years in the proof of this and continuing achieving high growth rate without international expansions. To exist in this competitive market Sainsburys has done well by opening new stores across UK, adding new non-food products and banking services to existing stores. Tesco on the other hand, have more growth opportunities in Asia and other countries. Tesco is a big player than Sainsburys, for example: if we compare past twelve months results Tesco has  £56.9 billion turnover versus Sainsburys  £19.9 billion. (http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/company-comment/2010/07/16/a-foolish-fracas-sainsbury-vs-tesco.aspx) CUSTOMER OUTCOME AND EXPECTATION Brand image and relationship building in a business to company market depends on how well company satisfies its customers. Sainsbury keep high quality of its services by providing high quality products to customers at a fair price. It has different prices which are suited to different kinds of customer. It provide basic product at low price to customer with low income. Sainsbury want to make it easier for customer to shop ethically and sustainably so they making every effort to live up to their expectations. Therefore from the above model, which explains between the company service and quality Sainsbury can be placed into high quality as well as service offered by the company and received by customers. Question 3 http://www.universityessays.com/example-essays/global-markets-sainsburys.php Mission statement serves a dual purpose by helping employees to remain dedicated on jobs as well as boosting them to find innovative ways of achieving company objectives so that productivity can be increased. It is common that large companies spend years and millions of dollars developing and refining their mission statement. NEW MISSION STATEMENT OF SAINSBURYS To become the UK best retailer company and earn customer lifetime reliability. NEW VISSION STATEMENT OF SAINSBURYS NEW VALUE PROPOSITION Source: Barnes, C. et. al., 2009 Creating and Delivering your value proposition p 31 Market: Sainsbury already caters to the middle class customers by providing products at affordable prices, but since Sainsbury maintains high quality amongst its products, the cost somewhat becomes high (in a comparative sense to its competitors). Sainsbury needs to provide these products at a more reasonable price to cater to the working class as well and thereby expand its existing customer base. Value experience: Benefits should include high quality at reasonable price. To reduce the travel costs Sainsbury needs to focus on locations of its stores so that they are effortlessly within the reach of its customers. Online sales should also be made easy. Complaints should be minimised by providing a good after sales service and monitoring customer feedback. Offerings: Place should include a focus on central locations. Product should include highest possible quality at affordable prices, new and innovative products could also be introduced to increase sales. Since the financial downturn of 2008 had drastic effects on the economy, consumers are trying to save as much as possible hence Sainsbury needs to keep the prices of its products as low as possible. Promotion should involve promotion of sales through discount vouchers or limited offers (e.g. buy 2 get 1 free) and continuous advertising through all available media types. Benefits: products need to be provided at the lowest possible price maintaining high quality. Constant customer feedback should be facilitated in order to keep track of its customers satisfaction. Alternatives and differentiation: Since Sainsbury focuses on quality more than the price of its products. The quality of Sainsburys products is higher than most of its competitors, but this phenomenon is not the same when it comes to price. Sainsbury needs to balance between its price and quality since its competitors such as Tesco are providing products at a lower price that is offered by Sainsbury. Proof: IMPLEMENTATION PLAN By using Ansoff Matrix tool for strategic marketing planning help to improve the position of J. Sainsbury. It accelerate to do best strategic direction depending upon the need/desire to penetrate existing or new markets with existing or new products. (http://www.emp.ac.uk/linspdfs/marketi2.pdf) If Sainsbury need to reconstruct their values, strengths and beliefs they need to split up their position in the existing market. They facing extreme competition in the real market they must modernize and create in new markets with their present product offering. Partnership is a necessity in the domestic market since this is the basis of the business and its primary values. It will help the Sainsbury to rebuild its image and the connection with existing customer by confirming them the best quality, best product offers at competitive pricing. Sainsburys need to improve in its Information Technology system so that information can be processed faster and stocks can be reloaded at a faster pace. The shelfs are always stocked well and the customers keep getting informed about the available varieties. All these hard work make the shopping experience enjoyable and satisfying for the customers. As the world faced recession almost globally, Sainsbury should avoid price related conflicts and must follow specific price strategy. Since customer will not be willing to pay high prices even for the best quality products hence low pricing should be planned for the quality product. Identify problems and in time solving them as quickly as possible so that they build strong communication at every step of the channel. To introduce some products this will give a comparative advantage over their rivals. Sainsbury should open local stores in the city rather than on the outskirts of the city. Customer generally chooses to purchase in local shop rather than supermarkets to save time and money. Introduction of pay point or post office to the store would be a good idea to attract customers. The customer immediately after purchase can pay their bills without wasting time to reach these places elsewhere in the city. Sainsburys need to increase its online shopping service in non-food items, so that customer can shop online more comfortably. I would recommend Sainsburys to deliver every little helps to make it a healthier place for shop. Use simple processes so that shopping is better for customers, simpler for staff and cheaper for Sainsburys.

Pro Immigration in the United States Essay -- Pros of Immigration, Immi

One of our nation's biggest problems if you would call it a problem is Immigration. I am writing this to inform my readers or in this case reader why immigration should be legal. I have based my research on three things, economy, Social Security, and freedom of life. I hope this essay will help you see a different perspective of immigration and what it can do for our country. Immigration has been going on in America since the seventeenth century when the English established settlements on Plymouth and Jamestown, which were originally the Native Americans. Notice where I?m going with this? No, ok, read on. Most of the Immigrants were European, until the passage of the Immigration Act was abolished in1965. Approximately one million Immigrants enter the US each year, and about 500,000 come in illegally. (Duignan). Lawmakers have attempted to revise immigration policies and crack down on illegal immigration in order to increase national security ever since 9/11. In 2007, President Bush decided that the best way to stop illegal immigration was to build a wall in-between the US, Mexico boarder. (Mankiller). 1798, a series of four laws passed by a Federalist-controlled Congress in anticipation of war with France during the administration of John Adams. Designed to restrict the pro-French and antiwar activities of the Jeffersonian Republicans, three of the laws d ealt with alien foreigners and one with sedition criticism of government officials and policy. Under the Alien Enemies Act (never repealed but amended) the president was authorized to imprison or deport citizens of enemy nations. The Alien Friends Act never enforced and expired in 1800 permitted deportation of citizens of friendly nations. The Naturalization Act repealed i... ...eing what can they do they have to get help fast but they don?t have money, well they need to get it some where. As a result they come to America, fast and they don?t get a green card, so we blame them for coming in to the country illegally. Just one of the reasons why immigration should be legal. I hope that this essay has taught you that Immigration isn?t awful, but that is good on the economy and some people?s wallets too. As I said in my opening paragraph if you don?t like immigration then remember this never I mean, never go on a trip to Mexico, Europe, Asia and so on because you would be the biggest hypocrites alive. Don?t say no to immigration because if you do they will keep coming, and coming, and coming, just kidding but I beg you remember Immigrants are just like you and me just with a different skin color (maybe) and a diverse language.

Falling Water by Frank Lloyd Wright :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Falling Water’s plans all came about when the architect, Frank Lloyd Wright was born, Jun 8, 1867. Frank was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin. Wright designed Fallingwater in 1935. At his death in 1959, he had built more than 400 buildings. Wright’s most famous house was designed and built for the Pittsburgh Kaufman family, for a weekend retreat.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The natural wonder Fallingwater is recognized as architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s most acclaimed and famous works. In 1991, a poll of members of the American Institute of Architects voted Wright’s Fallinwater the best all-time work of American Architecture. Fallingwater opened a new chapter in American architecture and Wright became the first and foremost architect of houses. Fallingwater is known for its simplicity. This is not a skyscraper, it is a home situated in a remote section of Western Pennsylvania, in Ohiopyle, (or called Bear Run). In a talk to the Tallies Fellowship Frank Lloyd Wright said of the house; â€Å"Fallingwater is a great blessing - one of the great blessings to be experienced here on earth. I think nothing yet ever equaled the coordination, sympathetic expression of the great principle of repose where forest and stream and rock and all the elements of structure are combined so quietly that really you listen not to any noise wha tsoever although the music of the stream is there. But you listen to Fallingwater the way you listen to the quiet country.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wright designed Fallingwater in 1935. The design of the house promotes a harmony between man and nature, so that the buildings, walls and structures within the house are extensions of the exterior world. Fallingwater was designed for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh; the founders of a prominent department store in the city called Kaufmann’s. Construction on the project began in 1936 and was completed in 1939. Wright concentrated in on the Bear Run location because he knew of a waterfall in the area that the family loved to go visit all the time. In designing the house, Wright mimicked the natural pattern of rock ledges over the waterfall and cantilevered the house over the falls in a series of concrete ledges, anchored to masonry walls made of the same sandstone as the rock ledges. This view just described, is perhaps the most famous of all. The house hovers right over the rushing mountain stream in perfect harmony. The house extends 30 feet in he ight above the ledges, although strong horizontal lines and low ceilings help maintain an overall sheltering feeling.