To Be Or Not To Be A Criminal: A View On Young Offenders And Young Victims Of Crimes

Everyday we hear about news on crimes committed almost everywhere in the world. What is not anymore surprising to hear is that most of the persistent offenders and victims of crimes are young people. No matter how not surprising it can be, it has been a growing public concern. This work aims to understand why these young people are the most common offenders and victims of crimes, the factors which pushed them to commit crimes, and gender differences of the offenders and victims. Furthermore, a view on the reasons why the Black youth has the greater tendency of committing and being victimized by crimes will also be discussed. An individual who is 17 years old or younger is classified as a young offender or victim of crime. It has been observed that the presence of certain risk factors in a young individual’s life most likely increases his vulnerability in committing crimes. Such particular factors include personal, family, social, educational and mental health factors. When we speak of personal factors, these involve alienation and lack of social commitment. Family factors are poor parental supervision and discipline, low family income or social isolation, family conflict and parental criminality. Social factors are hanging around in public places, availability of illegal drugs, opportunity for crime and peer involvement in problem behavior. Educational factors include lack of commitment to school, disruptive behavior, low achievement and school disorganization. In regard to mental health factors, these are aggressive and anti-social behavior, emotional disorders and severe mental illnesses. You can read also King v Cogdon Additionally, it was also studied that young people in care are the most disadvantaged and socially excluded population. Hence, their low educational attainment increases their chances of being unemployed, becoming homeless and more likely to engage in anti-social behavior and crime. Furthermore, the young people have the greater tendency of committing and becoming offenders of crimes should there be proof of evidence of the availability of multiple risk factors in their lives. As much as young people commit crime disproportionately, they also suffer from it. Analysis on the experiences of young people showed that they are generally at greater risk of all types of violence than older people. Violent offences are predominantly committed against young people, and more often against men than women. It has been observed that males are more delinquent and victimized than females. Such difference in gender and youth crime is affected by the seriousness of the crime being committed. A study by Carrington and Moyer (1998) states that females are less likely to commit crimes involving the use of weapon which most of the time result to major injury or death to the victim. Furthermore, females are much less inclined in targeting a private residence to commit crimes probably because males are more likely to be involved in break and enter offences. The males, having the greater chances of being violent, are therefore more delinquent in committing crimes. Hence, such tendency also pushes them to commit crimes against male victims whom they think will have the lesser opportunity of fighting back, or should they fight back, such offenders will take the risk in placing great injury or killing their victims. Young chronic offenders may be defined as a group of individual who are responsible for the most severe crimes and are most likely to continue such criminal activity until they reached adulthood. Family and environment play vital role whether or not youth become chronic offenders. Chronic juvenile delinquents display a huge amount of anti-social behavior whether or not they belong to the same social class or racial group. Hence, the vulnerability of youth in committing crimes does not depend solely in a particular class or racial or ethnic group. As long as the same factors exist in the youth’s life, the greater the tendency of them becoming juvenile delinquents. It has been learned that these young chronic offenders have history of lying, stealing, or doing poorly in school when they are still of tender age. Such behavior patterns will not be outgrown as easily as it may appear. In regard to the issue why there are more black youth offenders in the society as well as juvenile delinquents from the lower class who commit crimes, it is fair to note that racial and social status should not only be the determining factor why these people have been tagged as chronic crime offenders. Geographical factors as well as the number of population of blacks and other races in a particular place are vital elements in the determination of the weight of crimes being committed. It would be too racist to establish the black youth as chronic crime offenders. Economic deprivation may be an issue in committing crimes but belonging in the lower class does not necessarily mean that most youth belonging in this social bracket have the most tendency of becoming offenders.

The Impact Of Employee Involvement And Participation On Organization Performance

Abstract The following research paper seeks to explore the correlation between employee involvement in decision-making processes within the organization and organization’s performance. The main focus remains to evaluate the existing academic literature to demonstrate evidence that employee involvement and participation initiatives produce tangible advantages for organizations. Hence, the research considers theoretical approaches towards the impact of employee participation on organization’s performance and examines empirical studies conducted on the subject stated above. The results of the following study are mixed. While chosen empirical cases show that direct forms of employee participation contribute to improved organization’s performance, such evidences have not been observed in reference to representative form of employee involvement. Introduction Over the past decades work reforms were implemented in order to guarantee humanistic patterns of work and to improve the quality of working life. As the global business environment started to become more competitive in the 1980s, major focus shifted towards the productivity and economic performance of the organizations. The organizations sought new avenues to gain competitive advantages over rival companies. According to the studies conducted in the 1980s by Gallup Organization, employees engaged in the company’s decision-making were more productive, customer-focused, profitable and more willing to stay and develop within the organization (Dicke, 2006). Hence, human capital started to be perceived as the company’s most important asset (Belanger, 2000). Currently a range of organizations including corporations, government agencies, schools and other non-profit organizations believe that employee involvement and participation are crucial to the good economic performance ( Boxal & Purcell 2011). Employee participation contributes to the organization’s efficiency in two ways. First, it increases employee’s productivity. Second, it increases the company’s capacity to react quickly to changing business environment. Therefore, employee involvement as a part of Human Resources Management (HRM) practices became a subject of numerous academic researches over the last decades. The scholars from various fields in industrial relations developed various approaches and models in order to provide new evidences on the linkage between HRM and business performance (Gonzales, 2009). The following research project examines the impact of employee involvement and participation on organization’s performance. First, the project defines a term ‘employment involvement and participation’ and demonstrates two concepts of measuring employee involvement. Further, the project discusses theoretical developments on the linkage between employee participation and organization’s performance. Finally, the project analyses empirical evidences of such relationships. The empirical study include the cases of direct and representative forms of employee participation. Employee involvement – definition Employee involvement, called also worker’s participation can be perceived as â€Å"a variety of processes and structures which enable, and at times encourage employees to directly and indirectly contribute to and influence decision-making in the firm and in the wider society† (Gonzales, 2009, p.8). The following definition indicates that there are various activities through which the employees can influence decision-making processes within the company. Generally, employee involvement can have a direct or indirect form. Direct involvement means that employees have an immediate influence on the decision-making processes within the company. Typical forms of direct involvement are employee surveys, team briefings, autonomous working groups or suggestion schemes (rewards for meeting company’s goals). Indirect involvement (representative involvement) means that a specific group which represents all employees is involved in the decision-making processes within the comp any. Common forms of indirect involvement are board representations, work councils or task forces (Eurofund, 2009). In turn, Gonzales (2009) classified employee involvement into three groups. These are informative, consultative and delegative participation. Informative participation refers to downwards communication within the organization. Employees have been given information top-down about the organization and its competitors, their own department or their individual performance. Information sharing includes open communication processes as well as information disclosure. Consultative participation regards various schemes developed by the management team to gain opinion of its employees and can have a form of individual meetings, team briefings and employees’ surveys. Delegative participation concerns various programmes which give employees capacity to make decisions on a particular set of issues and includes the forms such as problem-solving groups and semi-autonomous gro ups. Finally, Forth and Millward (2001) demonstrated three types of practices in reference to employee participation. These forms are individual supports (i.e. extensive information disclosure or specific training); task practices (i.e. quality circles or team work) and organizational supports (i.e. job security or employee share ownership). A number of models measuring employee involvement and participation have been developed over the past decades. One of the most important seems to be a model presented by Marchington (2005). He identified four core aspects of employee participation within the company: The degree of involvement: – this indicates the extent of involvement to which employees, either directly or through their representatives, may exert some form of influence on management decisions. Scope: – the scope of management decisions that are open to influence by subordinate employees may differ depending on the subject matter and may range from trivial to strategic decisions. The level: – the level at which the subordinates may be involved in management decisions varies substantially and can range from departmental level, through to division and headquarter level. Forms of participation: – participation may be direct or indirect. Direct participation refers to the face-to-face involvement while, indirect participation occurs when workers are represented by trade unions in workers’ council or high-level consultation committees and through collective bargaining. Another interesting model has been developed by Cox et.al. (2006). This model identified two dimensions of employee involvement, breadth and depth. Breadth regards a number of various employee involvement’s practices and programmes implemented in a work place. Using diversified but complementary schemes of employee participation leads to stronger impact on the company through mutual reinforcement. It also indicates that the management team aims to maximise the profits of employee participation. In turn, depth concerns the quality of employee involvement’s practices within the company. This measure indicates how embedded the employee participation’s practices are within the company. Both breadth and depth are important as they are strongly linked with organizational commitment and job satisfaction (Hayman & Mason 1995). That is, if employees’ views are taken into consideration and acted upon by the management, then they are more likely to demonstrate their commitment to the organization and indicate their satisfaction with their work. A major weakness of this measure is that the embeddedness of employee participation within the organization has often been assessed through management eyes rather than by analysing employee views on employee participation. Employee participation and company’s performance – theoretical approach The idea of employee participation as a part of Human Resources Management practices has been researched by a number of scholars who underlined significant benefits of employee involvement schemes on the company’s performance. Kanter (1982) postulated that participatory character of the decision-making processes within the organization brings more positive outcomes than bureaucratic structure, as it involves knowledge sharing between workers and managers. Workers seem to be better informed than their managers with regard to the products and services, processes and work tasks, as they are directly involved in these activities. Hence, their views and suggestions might be very valuable in developing company’s strategy and achieving enhanced performance. In turn, Lawler (1990) listed a number of various benefits of employee involvement within the company. He pointed out that employee participation leads to more efficient and innovative methods and procedures in a workplace and improves communication within the organization (between managers and workers as well as across work departments). Greater employee involvement results in higher job satisfaction and lower staff turnovers. Further, as employee participation concerns training and team work, it also leads to greater staff flexibility and higher job motivation. Additionally, high work motivation and better work methods determine increased rate of outputs and hence, contribute to the better quality of the products and services offered by the company. Finally, better communication and improved worker-management relations reduce a number of disputes and conflicts within the organization and help to resolve existing conflicts in the most effective way. All these factors contribute to i mproved performance of the organization. It is also important to add that Lawler identified various negative consequences associated with employee involvement. One of them are expectations created amongst the employees. These expectations usually concern organizational changes, personal self-development and career advancement opportunities. If the organization fails to meet these expectations, it will lead to dissatisfaction amongst workers. Employee participation causes also additional costs. Developing new skills is associated with additional costly trainings. In turn, accepting new responsibilities by the employee automatically requires an increased in salary of such an employee. Participatory character of decision-making is also slower than traditional style of leadership as it involves a significant number of people that have to accept the decision (Lawler, 1990). Markowitz (1996) underlines higher morale of the employees and their greater commitment to performed job as a consequence of increased participation in the decision-making processes. As employees have a decision-making power, they fulfill their duties more accurately. Higher productivity of the employees contributes to higher profits of the organization and greater stability within the industry (Jones, 2006). More recently, the effects of employee involvement were analysed by Appelbaum et.al (2000). Similarly like Lawler, the researchers emphasized the importance of information on the production (service) processes possessed by employees. The organization should aim to gain such knowledge from its employees in order to stay profitable. However, three conditions have to be met by the company to gain such knowledge. Employees need to be involved in substantive decisions. They are required to have specific skills and they need to be given appropriate work incentives. This approach indicated that employees cannot provide valuable information to the organization’s management if these conditions are not met. Additionally, employees are not willing to provide such information if they are not given appropriate incentives. Hence, this approach underlines the important of coherent and accurate HRM practices within the company (Jones, et.al., 2006). Grimsrud and Kvinge (2010) postulate that employee participation is associated with the features such as responsibility, control rights, rights on revenue and risk taking. The companies are characterized by the areas of joint interests of employers and employees as well as by the areas where the conflicting interests appear. In particular, the author focuses on two conflict areas. These are principle-agent problem and free-rider problem. Principle-agent issue concerns different approach of the organization (owners and management team) and employees towards the inputs of work and distribution of created outputs. While the organization aims to achieve higher labour productivity and higher value added and keep fixed salaries at the same time, employees intend to share higher profits. Free rider issue refers to the situation when the organization cannot monitor individual contribution of its employees to the organization’s development and hence, individual rewards of employees dep end on joint efforts. Hence, the organization tends to implement practices that will improve the productivity of employees, while employees seek to take advantage of such situation and gain additional benefits (i.e. higher return rights) in exchange of improved productivity. Employee participation and company’s performance – empirical evidences A number of scholars sought empirical evidences of the positive correlation between employee participation and organization’s performance. Some scholars based their analysis on the examples of a single organization (i.e. Jones, 2006) or selected industry (i.e. Sesil, 1999), while others examined the various businesses across the country (i.e. Guerrero and Barraud-Didier). Some researchers decided on a wider cross-country study (i.e. Gonzales, 2009; Grimsrud and Kvinge, 2010). Due to the scope of the following project, only key findings of selected empirical researches will be presented. At the individual company level, Bartel (2004) conducted research on HRM practices amongst the branches of large bank. He proved that recognition system and performance feedback were of key significance for employees of this bank. Implementing these particular HRM practices contributed to the increasd sales of loans (Gonzales, 2009). In turn, Jones et.al. (2006) examined the influence of innovative HRM practices on performance of a Finnish company in the retail services sector. They proved that employees who have been given opportunities to participate in decision-making process within the company, to receive solid information and to gain rewards were willing to increase their productivity. It is crucial to note that these HRM practices were implemented in settings where employee were characterized by low skills and were assigned relatively simple tasks. At the industry level, Sesil (1999) analysed the impact of employee participation and group incentives on the company’s performance in high technology industry in the UK. The research included 118 companies, primarily in electronics and engineering and concerned various aspects of employee participation such as quality involvement, presence of union, multi-skilling of employees, communication between employees and management, strategic planning and establishment plan. Additionally, the researcher examined the bonuses for employee as a form of group incentives. The research revealed that bonuses, quality involvement and multi-skilling had large positive effects on company’s outcomes, while other variables showed no impact on performance. Hence, these results indicated that there is strong correlation employee participation and the company’s performance. This effect is even stronger if the employee involvement is combined with group incentives. At the country level, Guerrero and Barraud-Didier (2004) focused on high-involvement practices and their impact on French firms. The research was based on the questionnaire conducted amongst 180 large companies in France. 57% of these companies originated in the industrial sector, while remaining 43% – in the services sector. The study concerned four major HRM practices, namely empowerment, compensation, communication as well as training and skills development. The following study revealed that empowerment was a key determinant of improved company’s performance, while communication and training had a minor effect on organizational results. In turn, compensation showed no influence on company’s outputs. The following study underlined that the company should ensure enriched and challenging activities in order to manage employee participation. Further, the study postulated that the companies should promote open communication and power sharing amongst management and employees in order to develop participatory style of leadership as this style contributes to better HRM within the company and improved company’s performance. In the cross-country context, Grimsrud and Kvinge (2010) conducted research on the economic impact of representative participation in eight countries[1]. The research took form of perception studies which means that â€Å"the respondents are asked to indicate whether different participation initiatives are believed to have an impact on different output measure† (Grimsrud and Kvinge, 2010, p. 149) and investigated various forms of representative participation such as work councils, trade unions or joint management – union committees. The following study showed very mixed results. Most of the analysis demonstrated that there was no correlation between employee participation and company’s productivity or such correlation was negative, while only several studies reported small positive productivity gains of employee participation. For instance, the study conducted on work councils amongst the German companies revealed that these councils had a positive impact on labo ur productivity while they influenced negatively company’s profitability. Similarly, the analysis of the Japanese companies showed a positive correlation between trade unions and labour productivity and negative correlation between trade unions and company’s benefits. Finally, the research amongst the British companies demonstrated that trade unions had a negative impact on productivity growth as well as on climate of relations between managers and employees at the workplace. Conclusions To sum up employee participation became a subject of theoretical debate and empirical analysis amongst the scholars. A number of researchers underlined positive correlation between employee involvement and organization’s performance. Precisely, employee participation (either direct or indirect) brings a valuable knowledge of products and services delivered by the organization and hence, contribute to the organization’s performance. Additionally, employee participation leads to higher job satisfaction and increased labour productivity as well as to lower staff rotation. These factors also determine organization’s success. On the other hand, some scholars stress various conflict areas within an organization (principle-agent issue; free rider problem) that might have a negative influence on the organization’s outputs. Three empirical cases presented in the following paper revealed that direct employee involvement in decision-making processes within an organization contributed to its better performance. Employee empowerment and information sharing as well as financial rewards seemed to be mainly responsible for this improved performance. Employees must thus be sought for ideas on how organizational performance and quality of product or service can be improved. There is the need for management to ensure existence of employment participation programmes and initiatives that contribute to employee involvement in decision-making processes. Not only should the emphasis be placed on the existence of such initiatives but also on the embeddedness of such initiatives within the organization. The evidence on strong correlation between employee participation and organization’s performance has not been found in reference to indirect forms of employee involvement. Although the following paper examined only one case of representative participation, this case included analysis across various countries and industries. This study revealed that employee participation had only minor positive impact on labour productivity while no effects (or negative effects) on overall company’s performance have been observed. Reference Belanger, J. (2000). The influence of employee involvement on productivity: a review of research. Hull: Human Resources Development Canada. Boxall, P. and J. Purcell (2011). Strategy and Human Resource Management. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Cox, A., S. Zagelmeyer and M. Marchington (2006). â€Å"Embedding employee involvement and participation at work†. In: Human Resource Management Journal, 16 (3), pp.250–267. Dicke, C. (2006). Employee engagement and change management. New York: CAHRS. Eurofund, (2009). Employee involvement [online] Available from: (Accessed on 14.05.2012). Forth, J. and Millward, N. (2001). â€Å"The impact of unions on pay levels in lower-skilled jobs†. National Institute Economic Review. 176, pp. 76-90. Gonzales, M. (2009). Worker’s involvement at the workplace and job quality in Europe. Edinburgh: RECWOWE Publications. Grimsrud, B, and Kvinge, T. (2010). Productivity Puzzles – should employee participation be an issueNordic Journal of Political Economy, 36, pp. 139-167. Guerro, S. and Barraud-Didier, V. (2004). High-involvement practices and performance f French firms. International Journal of Human Resources Management. 15(8). pp.1408-1423. Hyman, J & B. Mason (1995). Managing Employee Involvement and Participation. London: Sage. Jones, D., Kalmi, P. and Kauhanen, A. (2006). How does employee involvement stack upThe effects of Human Resources Management policies on performance in retail firm. New York: Cornell University ILR School. Kanter, R. (1982). Dilemma of Managing Participation. Organizational Dynamics. (summer). pp. 5-27. Lawler, E. (1990). High Involvement Management. Participative Strategies for Improving Organizational Performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Marchington, M. (2005). ‘Employee involvement: Patterns and explanations’. In: (ed.) Harley, B., J. Hyman and P. Thompson Participation and democracy at work. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Sesil, J. (1999). The impact of employee involvement and group incentives on performance in UK high technology establishments. New Jersey: School of Management and Labour Relations.

Google Business Analysis Research Paper

Google Business Analysis Research Paper Free Online Research Papers The ability to create quality strategy forms the basis of every organizational success. Strategic creation and implementation shapes management and corporate successes with effectively formulated strategies being the essence of organizational profitability. Although scholars agree that the right strategy is not all that is needed for success (implementation is also important), it is nonetheless imperative and forms the foundation of the effective management process. The strategy must, therefore, be well understood by every stakeholder in an organization since in most cases; an organization operates and is aligned around its strategies. With the complexity of the global search industry, an in-depth study of Google.com Company’s formulation process offers a conclusive understanding of the organizational strategy creation process due to its multifaceted approach of wide-ranging theoretical prescriptions. Proper analysis of Google’s strategy creation offers by extension imp ortant insights on the denominators and underlying dynamics behind the contemporary global IT industry. Starting with a company summary, this paper critically assesses the strategic creation process for Google.com. Classified as one of the five most popular sites on the internet, Google.com was visited by a unique user base of over 380 million visitors in May 2008. The company was started simply as a research project by two Stanford graduate students Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page in 1996. The two sought to develop a search engine that produced a better display for search results. The domain name, Google.com, was registered in 1997 and Google Inc. incorporated on September 1998. As the world’s leading search engine and one of the fastest and largest growing technology companies in the world, furthermore, it faces massive competition from companies such as Yahoo and MSN hence an analysis of how it formulates its strategies would offer further insights on what market is successful. Google earned an estimated $3.64 billion from the United States online ad revenue, an estimated 69% of all paid search-related advertising. Its market cap has overtaken that of IBM and even Chevron with an estimated value of $132 billion. It has a surplus of over $7.6 billion all of which are lacking any defined usage, has its stock is predicted to reach $600 billion by the end of this year (2008) and is one of the top 10 web brands in the United States. The above summary is an indication of a model company, its success of which is attributed to its management, wide line of product, market domination, favorable financial position, favorable business strategy, strong competitive advantage, excellent organizational control, and innovative research and development strategies. How such a company formulates its strategies, in relation to the existing theoretical framework is a matter of natural interpretation. How Strategy is created in Google Google.com implements strategic planning as a deliberate process in which with the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders, top executives periodically formulate the firm’s strategy. Its strategic planning process is guided by its mission that in turn prescribes its objectives. Based on the objectives, the existing situation is analyzed leading to the strategy formulation, Battelle, (2005, p. 162). Based on a field review of its strategic creation process using Mintzberg’s Ten Schools of Thought, the configuration school, the only one classified under the integrative category, best describes its strategic creation process for Google.com. This is because the company’s strategy formation process over the years has been a transformative one. A transformative one as it has integrated the claims of other schools but at different processes in the organization, hence with a closer analysis of Google’s strategy creation process, elements of different schools o f thought can be identified at different stages. The situational analysis also forms a critical foundation of Google.com’s organizational strategy. The Environmental school is observable in this situation as Google has over the years implemented a cross-section of its strategies in reaction to prevailing environmental conditions. Google analyzes its external and internal environments thereby describing its strengths, weaknesses in addition to existing opportunities and threats. It is through the situational analysis that large amounts of information on the company are gathered and which forms the basis of strategy formulation. It is based on the formulated strategies that the implementation process occurs. Strategic Ideas, tools and Techniques Research by Kostrzewa, (2003, pp. 62) indicates that a closer analysis of the Google strategy creation process was in line with Mintzberg’s second category or the process-oriented schools. The school with the most evident correlation with Google’s strategy was the cognitive school. Google’s strategy is formulated around the basic strategic concept of quality, customer satisfaction, and growth and has over the years served to organize the framework for the management system of the company. It has further integrated performance management system which is considered important in the alignment of its operation around its strategy. These systems have been designed during strategy design processes in an attempt to promote Google’s products as unique. Google, therefore, tries to create cognitive maps in which individuals have a global perspective of a Google world, a world exceptionally different from that created by other related companies similar products. As listed on the company’s website, Google’s operations have been guided by the philosophy of not settling for the best, Google, (2008. p. 1). Google’s mission is to be a world leader in information provision. This is to make information accessible and useful. It has displayed continued innovativeness with the introduction of multiple products into the markets. Certain products, such as Google Ad Sense, were without a doubt, a success for the company, advertisers and web owners in general, Lohr, (2007). All this is based on a strategy aimed at creating in potential client’s minds, an aspect of real or virtual reality. The company has managed to remain competitive through multiple acquisitions of popular competitors. To the present, the company has acquired more than 30 companies since its inceptions, a strategic step interpreted as creating a competitive bias towards the cultural school since most of the acquisitions have been largely popular websites on the cultural domain thereby. This is advantageous to the company as it gives it a more culturally inclusive appearance. Some of the acquisitions that have been instrumental to the growth of the company include the 2003 acquisition of Applied Semantics Inc. which enabled them to develop an advertising campaign that has earned them billions of dollars in advertising revenue to the present. The 2006 acquisition of Writely, an online processing firm led to the development of Google docs which since its inception in 2006, has seen a rise in its revenue. Google further acquired YouTube, in 2006 for a record $1.6 billion which has seen it dominate the online video industry. All the listed acquisitions in addition to its renowned status as a world leading free provider of search engine have provided Google with a platform for creating an impression of a collective and cooperative organization, hence the support of the cultural school in its strategy formulation. Although individual approaches can be identified in Google’s strategy creation processes, a rather integrative approach, combining several approaches have been Googles key success secrets as it has managed to constantly transform it by subscribing to ideal strategic and timely changes. The Company has made efforts to acquire competitors in a bid to remain competitive in the global IT market. An example is the 2007 acquisition of DoubleClick, an advertising competitor for a record $3.1 billion. It also acquired Tonic Systems which enabled it to acquire the capacity to convert Microsoft PowerPoint files into HTML and PDF documents. This boosted its competition with Microsoft which had gained a considerable market base based on its Microsoft Office product. Furthermore, this integrative and constantly changing approach can be viewed in Google ability to offer a wide range of products a reflection of its technologically sound and alert team of innovators. Continuous intensive rese arch is undertaken in the Google laboratories, online text locations or in the Google.com website itself. Products are generally of high quality and utility. Google strategic priority is the integration of desktop and internet search yet its biggest competitor is Yahoo followed by Microsoft, Ask.com and American Online respectively though on the variety of Google’s products and services, it is difficult to exactly determine its competitors. Yahoo provides similar products such as e-mail services, maps, financial analysis, advertising, search and yahoo toolbar but still, its products are not similar in many ways to those of Google. Google’s strategy to provide unique services thereby attracting specific clique of individuals has largely paid off. For example, comparing Microsoft to Google, Microsoft offers to search and other few online services similar to those offered by Google through its main line of business is the design and sale of software and operating systems. Competition comes into focus due to the recent launch of Google Docs Spreadsheets and Google Gears, presentation software that challenges the dominance of Microsoft Windows. In terms of Sales, Products and Geographical distribution, Google accounts for over 50% (Estimated 58.4%) to be exact of market share in nearly all its products. By market share, Google beats its competitors by far. With the stated estimated market share of 50%, Yahoo, Microsoft, Ask.com and AOL each have an estimated market share of 28.5%, 10%, 5%, and 4% respectively, Khaki-Sedigh, Roudaki, (2003). Elements of the entrepreneurial school are also observable on Google’s organizational strategy. A considerable proportion of the company’s control has also been governed by the solid executive control with the focus being given to chief managers led by the company’s top executives. There has been the rewarding of the well-performing management team since 2002 with the managers who are underperforming being demoted or reshuffled hence a general focus on management. The organization has also adopted the clan control mechanism. Although Google’s employees have many things in common the company has continuously emphasized visionary leadership. They share many values, expectations and goals hence tend to work in harmony with one another; a harmony created by the aspect of strong visionary leadership. This has been displayed in the less formal approach in which the Google team approaches issues. The intergraded approach used by Google has ensured greater cost savings, increased efficiency, better product quality, enhanced customer service and a happier cohesive workforce who work in harmony to produce positive results; hence although its strategy is based on the cognitive school, the entrepreneurial school is certainly considerably evident on its strategy formulation process. The company has had a rather integrated approach to achieving in its strategy formulation process; applying both bureaucratic, market and clan control mechanisms. Google has a board of governors and a core management team together with specialized well-documented rules and regulations implemented through a formal authority that serve to guide employee performances. This bureaucratic type of approach has been applied mildly and has served to regulate Google employee’s behavior thereby leading to better results, limited budgets, better performances as displayed in statistical reports and employee performance records. Google was ranked as the best company to work for in the 2006 survey by the Fortune magazine in 2007, Fortune, (2007, p. 1). The assertion of power school is therefore evident in Google’s strategic formulation as the company has managed to properly manage its employees. It has succeeded in creating a generally good working environment for all its employees through some critics see this as making them lose a considerable proportion of daily tasks. It has been characterized by offering its employees a large degree of freedom thereby tapping their creativity towards the improvement of both its products and services. Hence the assertions of the power school are evident in its strategy formulation. According to Battelle, (2006, p. 99), Google’s strategies have been guided by its desire to increase profitability through the increment of sales while maintaining or reducing the cost of goods sold. Estimates show that Google’s net income grew from $100 million in 2002 to $ 3.077 billion in 2005. Its cost of goods sold was generally constant being maintained at approximately 40% of sales. On common base analysis, Google had a 2,412% increase in sales in the five year period between 2002 and 2006 with a net income increment of over 3,088% within the same period, Battelle, (2006, p. 99). This effective strategy formulation process has resulted in considerable cash surplus resulting from balances in short and long-term investments. Google has neither short nor long-term debt through the IPO offered an increase in capital surplus in 2004. With the continued rise in its share prices, Google’s capital surplus has continued to rise over the years furthermore being a service-oriented company, Google has no looming inventory. On the basis of ratio analysis, Google’s sales increased from 1.2 in 2002 to 29.05 in 2006. Over the past five years, Google has had more money at hand than they know what to do with, an attribute that has been seen on its rather many strategic acquisitions furthermore Google’s profit margin fluctuated between 2002 and 2003 but increased steadily to an estimated 60.2% in 2006, an aspect attributable to its effective strategy formulation process, (Johnson, Scholes, Whittington, (2008, p. 4). Driven by large revenues from advertisement, Google.com has invested massively in its Research and Development Budget. Its research findings are a critical component of its strategic formulation process. Varied sections of Google have had different approaches to attaining solutions to various world problems such as new technological advancement, pharmaceutical research, and online advertisements, Pringle, Allison Dowe, (1998, p. 379). Google has invested massively in research and development though it was not classified under the top ten RD spenders until 2007. This followed from massive increments in the company’s spending on Research and Development when spending increased by over 73% to a record-breaking $2.1 billion in the year 2007 compared to the budget in 2006. Since 2007, it is estimated that Google’s RD spending has stayed above 13% of its total revenue which is a representation of more than double the amount spent prior to the year 2002. Massive research is b eing undertaken on how Google can enter into other business projects such as Android, TV Ads, and other projects to further boost its growth. Summary and Conclusion As a result of its advanced strategy formulation process, its better display of search results, the simple approach that was incorporated in the searching process, Google has grown in popularity and acceptance the world over. Presently, the company employees are in excess of 10,000 people from all the continents of the world. It is the largest company offering Search-related advertising yet Search Related advertisement is the fastest growing of all the online ad businesses with an estimated annual growth rate at 41%, Pringle, Allison Dowe, (1998, p. 378) Although Google’s strategy creation results from consultation of wide-ranging stakeholders in the organization, stringent rules aimed at protecting some of its products and services are still prescribed by its top management. For example, in 2005 the top management introduced a trend that required all Ad Sense members to sign a gagging clause. The clause has restricted web owners from unfairly benefiting from the proceeds gained from advertising. Google has been continuously innovative, being innovative and the first to implement its strategies. For example, it was the first company to implement the Ad Relevancy strategy, a strategy that ensured it provided broad matching on all search terms. It further went ahead to set a system in which a single price was set on all ads, Moran, Hunt, (2006, p 22). Conclusively, although the execution is more important, good vision evident in the creation of effective strategies are the primary essentials to management success. The strategy should be understood and interpreted in terms that are understandable and that can be acted upon. With a strong reputation and familiarity, good speed in its search procedures, user-friendliness in its product output, relevance in ranking of its search results together with technologically advanced additional services which are multidisciplinary in nature, available multiple opportunities seen in the ever-increasing online advertisement, higher usage volubility as it gains more customer base across the global domain, and the introduction of new products, Google will surely continue to dominate the market for certain undefined periods of time. Definitely, Google Inc. has been a role model to technological businesses and still has great potential as a company. Work Cited Battelle, J. 2005. ‘The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture.’ Portfolio Hardcover. Brin, S. Page, L. 1996. ‘The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hyper textual Web Search Engine.’ Paper presented to the Computer Science Department, Stanford University. Google, 2008. ‘Corporate Information: Quick Profile.’ Available at: google.com/corporate/facts.html Johnson, G., Scholes, K., Whittington, R. 2008. ‘Exploring Corporate Strategy, Text Cases’, 8th edition, prentice-Hall. Kaplan, S. R. and David P. N. 2001. Building a Strategy-Focused organization. Ivey Business Journal. Available at: iveybusinessjournal.com/view_article.asp?intArticle_ID=286 Khaki-Sedigh, A., Roudaki, M. 2003. ‘Identification of the dynamics of the Google ranking Algorithm’, paper presented at the 13th IFAC Symposium On System Identification, available at: www.iranseo.com/ studies/google_ranking_algorithm.pdf Kostrzewa, T. 2003. ‘The Evolving Search Industry: Will the Big 3 of MSN, Yahoo and Google Lock Hold the Future of the Sector? A Strategy Perspective.’ Available at: http://allyallez.co.uk/MscThesisKostrewaBig3.pdf Lohr, S. 2007. ‘Google Deal Said to bring U.S. Scrutiny’ New York Times, May 29, 2007, Available at: nytimes.com/2007/05/29/technology/29antitrust.html?ex=1181880000en=c3dae549fa6381adei=5070 Moran, M., Hunt, B. (2006), Search Engine Marketing, Inc. – Driving Search Traffic to your Companys Web Site, IBM Press, Armonk, NY, Mintzberg, H, Ahlstarnd, B, Lampel, J. 1998. ‘The Strategy Safari’ Prentice Hall, Harlow, U.K. Pringle, G., Allison, L., and Dowe, D.L. 1998, ‘What is a tall poppy among web Pages?’ Proceedings of the 7th International World Wide Web Conference, Brisbane, April, pp. 369-377 Tregoe, B. and Zimmerman, J. 1980, ‘Top Management Strategy,’ Simon and Schuster. Research Papers on Google Research PaperDigital Marketing Mix Google EssayGene One the Transition from Private to PublicInternational PaperGap Analysis: Lester ElectronicsDeveloping Branding StrategiesConflict Resolution TacticsWhat are Stock OptionsDr. Edward Deming EssayA Marketing Analysis of the Fast-Food RestaurantDistance Learning Survival Guide

What is Stanford Business School Essay Essays

What is Stanford Business School Essay Essays What is Stanford Business School Essay Paper What is Stanford Business School Essay Paper Essay Topic: The Wild Duck Stanford Business School is one of the most prestigious and desirable school to study in. It is one of the seven professional schools of Stanford University. The school offers programs MBA, MSc (for people with work experience), Ph.D., as well as joint programs with schools of science, education, engineering, law, and medicine. Among the graduates of the school are CEO of General Motors Company - Mary Barra, billionaire Sid Bass, Time Warner president Jeffrey Bewkes, President and CEO of eBay - John Donoghue, founder of Nike - Phil Knight, co-founder of Capital One - Richard Fairbank and founder of Victorias Secret - Roy Raymond. At Stanford Graduate School of Business studied, but did not finish, US President John Kennedy. Thousands of applicants every year submit documents to the Stanford business school selection committee. However, obviously, not all of them will succeed. How to bypass competitors and become noticed in the whirlpool of applications? First of all, you should set up your goals. You should clearly understand what you are doing and why. Try to make a self-examination to comprehend your actual purposes. Most people do not achieve anything, because they have nothing to achieve. Have you noticed that hunters don’t go to the forest just to hunt? In a few days in advance, they clearly know who they want to shoot. Whether a bear, or a duck, or some other wild beast. To do this, they pick up special rifles, cartridges, choose the best place that will increase their chances of success. We need to apply the same strategy in business. Try to imagine the opportunities you will get applying Stanford, visualize your future, try to envision what will happen after earning your MBA. Think about your future business marketing plan. All these things will help you to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So, get to work - start writing. How to make a successful essay in 2018 Question one is how to begin. The best way to start a Stanford MBA essay is to sit, abstract and start working. Don’t be nervous, anxiety and fear will only prevent you from impressive essays. Leave the worries to someone else. Try to use the essay as a deep self-examination to explain your decision and show your future plans. Try to tell your story, include things that matter exactly to you. Your essay can genuinely illustrate your ambitions and plans. Why do I need Stanford gsb MBA? You should primarily answer this question. Clear goals will convince the selection committee that you are ready to enter Stanford Business School. Young people usually have a tendency to idealize things around them. They have huge ambitions and quite often see the world through rose-tinted glasses. Use it as your power. Don’t be afraid of your own opinions, so many men, so many minds. Conversely, try to be fresh and new, show all your potential, express yourself. Don’t focus on someone’s else thoughts, develop your own ideas and critical thinking. Under no circumstances copy your essays! The most impressive essays are the most authentic. Resist the urge to put yourself into what you think Stanford wants to hear. Doing so will only keep the selection committee from understanding who you really are and what you hope to accomplish, it will hinder them to get to know you. Nowadays reality dictates the rules - novelty is in fashion. Business essay step by step The beginning of each essay plays a crucial role in a selection committee verdict. Inappropriate start of your Stanford essay will result to the denial of your application. First of all, think carefully, what you will be writing about. You have to answer 2 questions: â€Å"What matters most to you, and why?† and â€Å"Why Stanford?†. The first part of Stanfords essay is unique. No other business school will ask you this type of question. It is more like an application for a program on philosophy than an MBA. Here are some tips on how to answer it properly: 1.Do some deep self-examination, so you can genuinely illustrate who you are and how you came to be the person you are. Share the insights, experiences, and lessons that shaped your perspectives, rather than focusing merely on what you’ve done or accomplished. Write from the heart, and illustrate how a person, situation, or event has influenced you. Focus on the â€Å"why† rather than the â€Å"what.† The second question requires: Explain your decision to pursue graduate education in management. Explain the distinctive opportunities you will pursue at Stanford. If you are applying to both the MBA and MSx programs, use this part of the essay to address your interest in both programs. The properly structured essay can illustrate how well a person organized is and emphasize only positive sides of the applicant. The next step is to find a simple answer to essay questions. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Try to sound like a confident person; self-doubt will only reveal that you feel like a fish out of water. Include your professional accomplishments, show yourself from the best side, avoid hesitance and doubts. Focusing merely on what you’ve already done will help you to move on. Don’t give up! Show what goals you will pursue and try to be precise and clear. Rather than focusing on your drawbacks, try to accentuate the advantages of your personality, academic and professional achievements. Stick to the suggested word count; there is no need to write too much; it will only distract the selection committee and make them bored. Preview the uploaded documents. As it is said, score twice before you cut once. Do not be lazy to check everything twice, be aware that this one document will determine your future. Stick to the application deadlines; you will need to be attentive and understand that you will need much time to prepare. For sure save a copy of your Stanford essays. In case of failure, you will have an opportunity to work on your mistakes and realize what exactly was done wrong. Then it will help you in building a business plan. When everything is behind, you will need to be patient and wait for your results. Why do we need a perfect essay Stanford MBA application can become the most important step towards a successful future. On this tipping point, you should put yourself together and begin to work. Stanford MBA program is really complicated and challenging. Consider whether you are ready? Ask your friends to help you to realize if you are capable of doing this. It will enable to avoid self-delusion. Nevertheless, believe in yourself! Friends and family should become reliable support, but don’t allow them to edit or give feedback to your essays, entrust this part to the professionals. We will help you to realize, how to succeed and tell you everything that you need to know. Visit paperap.com or help and advice, and we will do our job at the highest level.

Biography of Sir Arthur Currie

Biography of Sir Arthur Currie Sir Arthur Currie was the first Canadian-appointed commander of the Canadian Corps in World War I. Arthur Currie participated in all major actions of the Canadian forces in World War I, including the planning and execution of the assault on Vimy Ridge. Arthur Currie is best known for his leadership during the last 100 Days of World War I and as a successful advocate of keeping Canadians together as a unified fighting force. Birth December 5, 1875, in Napperton, Ontario Death November 30, 1933, in Montreal, Quebec Professions Teacher, real estate salesman, soldier and university administrator Career of Sir Arthur Currie Arthur Currie served in the Canadian Militia before World War I. He was sent to Europe at the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Arthur Currie was appointed the commander of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade in 1914. He became commander of the 1st Canadian Division in 1915. In 1917 he was made commander of the Canadian Corps and later that year was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. After the war, Sir Arthur Currie served as Inspector General of the Militia forces from 1919 to 1920. Currie was principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University from 1920 to 1933. Honors Received by Sir Arthur Currie Commander of the BathLegion of HonourKnight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. GeorgeCroix de GuerreU.S. Distinguished Service Medal

Vietnam (during WW2 Ho Chi Minh rescued pilots) Anti communist...etc Assignment

Vietnam (during WW2 Ho Chi Minh rescued pilots) Anti communist...etc - Assignment Example United States of America Intelligence departments use various principles that aid them to determine what the adversaries are thinking and what is their next plan. The therefore should be able to collect all the information that the enemies have pertaining the planned attack. Intelligence services use various principles as far as intelligence activities are concerned; prioritization, which involves ensuring that the most pressing issues are sort out first and the available resources should be applied to those tasks; excellence, intelligence participants should strive to obtain the best results always; prediction, a process that involves future outcomes of the intelligence activities; agility, which is the principle that involves shifting from one activity instantaneously but still solving the past issues; Collaboration, which is a principle that involves consulting with other analysts and fusion, which is a principle of intelligence that involves the process of collecting and examining resources from all the available sources. In the recent bombing that occurred in New York on September 11, 2001 was a very open example of how some intelligence principles discussed above were not fully applied. It is believed that the attack was conducted by Islamic terrorists but more and more intelligence services are bringing forth contradicting information regarding that attack. It killed many people and this sent an alarming security weakening among the US intelligence services. The principle that was overlooked was the collaboration principle since all departments didn’t collaborate to share the intelligence information which caught them

Perestroika and Glasnost Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Perestroika and Glasnost - Essay Example : The major factors of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc are interconnected because internal conflict and the reformatory policies (say, Perestroika and Glasnost) of the later leaders hindered the full-fledged development of communism. One can see that internal conflict (say, ideological) and economic burden accelerated the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Within this context, political policies adopted by Joseph Stalin were totally against the people. Besides, the war in Afghanistan proved to be an economic burden to Soviet Union. The communist policies like control over media and single party system resulted in the totalitarian control of communist party over the mainstream society. Moreover, the arms race during the Cold War era affected the economic backbone of Soviet Union. Industrialization helped the military in Soviet Union to be the most powerful tool of the state. The lack of productivity resulted in the economic collapse of Soviet Union in 1980s. The measures adopted by Mikhail Gorbachev, like Perestroika and Glasnost, did not help Soviet Union to save itself from its ultimate collapse. In short, internal conflicts originated from political and economic factors accelerated the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the origin of Russia. The most important factor behind the collapse of the Eastern Bloc was the collapse of Stalinism in Soviet Union. Earlier, the fall of German imperialism at the end of the WWII was exploited by the communist leaders in Soviet Union to spread communist ideology in Europe. Perry, Berg and Krukones (2009), state that â€Å"Meanwhile, the Soviet Union created international mechanisms to oversee and exploit the region’s economic production and military resources, so that the phrase â€Å" Eastern Bloc† became entirely fitting† (p.311). For instance, the European nations like Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia etc were under the control of Soviet Union, especially Stalinism.