Artist vs. Artisan

Artist vs. Artisan Artist vs. Artisan Artist vs. Artisan By Mark Nichol What’s the difference between an artist and an artisan? This unnecessarily sensitive question is equivalent to the issue of what constitutes art and what is designated as craft. In both cases, the former word essentially refers to the making of tangible or intangible products as an expression of creativity and imagination for purely aesthetic reasons. An artisan, meanwhile, though spurred by the same impulses, produces crafts, which, though they may be acquired only for decoration, are designed to be practical. Therefore, though some tension between artist and artisan between producers of art and designers of crafts may exist because of a perceived differential in their relative cultural status, the technical definitions are just that: precise distinctions not in quality or artistic achievement but in function. The word for the creator of art is the gender-neutral term artist. (The French form of the word, artiste, came to apply more broadly to creative professionals, especially performers, though it also has a pejorative sense of â€Å"pretentious artist.†) By extension, one talented in any endeavor even a con artist may earn the term. By contrast, makers of crafts have gender-specific labels craftsman and craftswoman but though craftsperson is the natural neutral term, many such practitioners prefer to be called artisans. (The Latin ancestor of this term is artire, which means â€Å"to instruct in the arts.†) Other words that ultimately derive from the Latin word ars (â€Å"art†) include artifact, which comes from the Italian word artifatto and ultimately from the Latin terms arte and factum (meaning â€Å"thing made†), originally having primarily an archaeological sense but now referring to anything left behind or remaining, and artifice, which originally meant workmanship but, from a secondary sense of â€Å"cunning,† came to refer to deceit or trickery. (However, artificer remains a synonym for artisan, although it can also refer to one who contrives or makes things or ideas.) Artificial, the adjectival form of artifice, broadly refers to anything not produced in nature. Artful once referred exclusively to artistic skill but later primarily came to mean â€Å"dexterous, wily†; in that sense, the term is best known in the moniker of the Artful Dodger, an adroit young pickpocket in Charles Dickens’s novel Oliver Twist. The antonym, artless, likewise was originally a reference to a lack of talent but now usually refers to clumsiness in word or deed. Arty and artsy both describe artists, but the terms have developed a pejorative sense of pretension, and artsy is hyphenated in combination with craftsy and, worse, fartsy, to refer to someone with such airs, or a creation of theirs. Art is used in combination with other terms to denote subgenres with serious artistic ambitions (â€Å"art film,† â€Å"art rock†) as well as artistic movements, as in â€Å"art deco,† a truncation of the French phrase art dà ©coratif (â€Å"decorative art†), and art nouveau (â€Å"new art†); the first letter of each word in these phrases is often capitalized, especially when associated with other initial-capped designations. Another movement, named arts and crafts, is usually initial-capped to distinguish it from generic references. The liberal arts are the academic subjects also known as the humanities. The term liberal stems from the idea that knowledge of these subjects and the attendant skills are necessary for free people to know in order to be productive members of society. From the phrase â€Å"liberal arts† comes the designations for mastery of coursework known as the bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees (truncated, alternatively as â€Å"bachelor’s degree,† or bachelor’s, and â€Å"master’s degree,† or master’s). These terms have no specific relation to art itself, though study and/or practice of art may be a component of the coursework. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:30 Religious Terms You Should KnowRunning Amok or Running Amuck?10 Humorous, Derisive, or Slang Synonyms for â€Å"Leader† or â€Å"Official†

De dagen van de bluegrass liefde essays

De dagen van de bluegrass liefde essays Titel: De dagen van de bluegrassliefde. B. Uitleg titel Tycho is een tiener die na zijn eindexamen niet weet wat hij moet doen. Hij besluit om een jaar lang op vakantie te gaan en daarna een jaar niet aan school te denken, lekker pauze nemen. Voor het eerst gaat hij alleen op vakantie, hij gaat naar Little World, een kamp voor kinderen die op vakantie gaan. Daar gaat hij naar toe als kamp leider. Op het vliegveld komt hij Oliver tegen een aardige Zweedse jongen, ook Oliver maakt straks deel uit van de kamp leiding. Vanaf het begin zijn ze eigenlijk al vrienden en ze maken veel plezier op het kamp. Tot dat Tycho's gevoel voor Oliver een andere draai krijgt. Tycho wordt verliefd op Oliver. Hij is bang dat Oliver hem voor gek verklaard en mijd de jongen. Donna, ook een leider, komt erachter en zegt dat Tycho ervoor moet gaan. Eigenlijk wil Tycho dat niet, maar op een nacht in hun kamertje, gaan ze ervoor. Sindsdien zijn ze verliefd. Mensen maken er problemen van en Oliver heeft geen zin om langer te blijven, hij verzint een plan om samen m et Tycho weg te kunnen. Ze besluiten samen naar Zweden te gaan. De moeder van Oliver is de komende weken toch weg. Tycho mag van Oliver niet naar buiten en het wordt al snel duidelijk dat hij niet wil dat zijn vrienden het weten. Langzaam groeien de jongens uit elkaar, tot ze uiteindelijk helemaal uit elkaar gaan en Tycho terug naar Nederland gaat. Ik kan de titel van het boek niet echt goed verklaren, want ik vind het een beetje een vage titel. Op een gegeven moment gaan alle leiders een weekend naar een dorpje, 's avonds is er een feest en dan komt er een band spelen, de bluegrass band. Bluegrass komt dus daar vandaan en de liefde heeft natuurlijk met de liefde tussen Oliver en ...

What is the current macroeconomic situation in the United States What Essay

What is the current macroeconomic situation in the United States What fiscal policies and monetary policies would be appropriate at this time - Essay Example This also applies for the U.S. economy, especially in regards to its current macroeconomic situation. In view of the unemployment trends in the U.S., the trends have shown a sharp decline since 2008. The employment rates have steadily risen, with present data from the Labor Department showing that over 140,000 jobs have been created in the economy. This has led to the rate of unemployment dropping to slightly over 7.5%. Furthermore, the Bureau of Labor Statistics places the current inflation rates of the U.S. at below 2.5%. This has been occasioned by the constantly improving economy, with the most significant categories for maintaining the inflation rates low being consumer price index based factors such as shelter and consumer products (Vietor & Weinzieri, 2012). The reduced inflation rates coupled with the low unemployment levels in the U.S. have resulted in an overall increase in the GDP of the country. Furthermore, this is aided further by the diversity of the American economy as shown by the technology, finance and the other sectors that collectively result in the average incr ease in the rate of GDP increasing gradually. Moreover, such industries such as mining, industrial, farming and construction industry are the chief drivers that are involved in the creation of jobs, hence elimination of poverty and reduction in inflation consequently leading to economic growth occasioned by the GDP levels. However, in order to constantly maintain a worthy economic environment and hold all factors at economically feasible levels, varieties of factors are considered by the Federal Reserve authority responsible with formulating fiscal and monetary policies for the economy. As such, the Federal Open Market Committee can consider structuring their policies to ensure further economic prosperity. In consideration of the present macroeconomic situation in the U.S., the committee could consider reducing cuts on public goods, as this could eventually

Impact of foreign exchange rate on stock returns Dissertation

Impact of foreign exchange rate on stock returns - Dissertation Example Table 1 reports the results of Augmented Dickey Fuller test of unit root for the stock indices and exchange rates of both the UK and Pakistan. The test has further been applied at different levels as well as in the first difference form. The findings will be reported in terms of each country starting with the UK first then Pakistan. Both the ADF and regression results will be presented for the country indices and then for each of the companies. This chapter is divided into several parts with the main parts comprising study findings for the UK (both ADF test and regression), study findings from Pakistan (ADF and regression), and finally the analysis section where these findings are discussed and analyzed. 5.2 Findings (UK) Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) Test Table 1 below presents ADF results for UK companies and GBP/USD rate. As is evident in the table, the results include the FTSE 100 index and ten major companies operating in the UK. Table 2 provides the findings of the ADF test for the national exchange rate (EX) of the GBP against the GBP. Table 1: Augmented Dickey Fuller test (UK companies and FTSE 100 Index) Augmented Dickey fuller (ADF) test (UK companies and FTSE 100 Index) Index + companies S= Index value/ stock price Critical values of 1%, 5%, 10% at Level ?S= 1st difference Critical values at 1%, 5%, 10% for ?S FTSE 100 -2.250374 -3.486064 -2.885863 -2.579818 -10.25769 -2.584707 -1.943563 -1.614927 Antofagasta -3.066955 -4.036983 -3.448021 -3.149135 -12.97182 -2.584707 -1.943563 -1.614927 Babdock -1.747700 -4.036983 -3.448021 -3.149135 -10.71888 -3.486551 -2.886074 -2.579931 HSBC Holdings -2.867695 -3.486064 -2.885863 -2.579818 -10.42942 -2.584707 -1.943563 -1.614927 Imperial tobacco -2.160689 -4.036983 -3.448021 -3.149135 -11.17921 -2.584707 -1.943563 -1.614927 Johnson matthey -2.543982 -4.036983 -3.448021 -3.149135 -10.41562 -2.584707 -1.943563 -1.614927 Meggit 0.828451 -2.584539 -1.943540 -1.614941 -11.56089 -2.584707 -1.943563 -1.614927 Morrison - 2.901854 -4.036983 -3.448021 -3.149135 -11.50647 -2.584707 -1.943563 -1.614927 Pearson plc -1.841245 -4.036983 -3.448021 -3.149135 -12.55195 -3.486551 -2.886074 -2.579931 Standard chartered bank -1.868623 -3.486064 -2.885863 -2.579818 -10.62130 -2.584707 -1.943563 -1.614927 Weir group -1.782673 -4.036983 -3.448021 -3.149135 -9.851895 -2.584707 -1.943563 -1.614927 Table 2: Augmented Dickey fuller (ADF) test (GBP/USD) Augmented Dickey fuller (ADF) test (GBP/USD) Currency X= Exchange rate Critical values of 1%, 5%, 10% at Level ?X= 1st difference Critical values at 1%, 5%, 10% for ?X GBP/USD -2.046301 -4.036983 -3.448021 -3.149135 -9.755815 -2.584707 -1.943563 -1.614927 According to the findings of the study, the ADF test results for the FTSE 100 index show that FTSE statistic value does not exceed the critical values at the 1%, 5%, and 10% critical levels. Therefore, the null hypothesis of the unit root for the index

Using relevant theories and examples, explain what the Hawthore Essay

Using relevant theories and examples, explain what the Hawthore Experiments demonstrated in relation to Group Norms, Motivations and Leadership - Essay Example Mayo found a general increase in production and in productivity per worker as well as of the group in general, completely independent of any of the changes he made in the experiments. His findings were not in accordance with the then prevalent theory of the worker as being motivated solely by self-interest. It did not make sense that productivity would continue to rise even when he cut out breaks and returned the workers to longer working hours. The segment of the Hawthorne experiments that emphasised the positive effects of benign supervision and concern for workers that made them feel like part of a team became known as the ‘Hawthorne Effect’. The studies were instrumental for the emergence of the human relations school of management and motivational and related theories of worker-behaviour, of participatory management, team building, etc. However, in a true sense the Hawthorne Effect is not just about "positive outcomes†, it is about the absence of any definite correlation (positive or negative) between productivity and the independent variables used in the experiments such as monetary incentive, rest pauses, etc While analyzing the â€Å"amazing† findings of his experiments, Mayo realised that the workers had exercised a freedom they did not have on the factory floor and which had created a social ambience that included the ‘supervisor’ also who tracked their productivity. ‘The talked, they joked, they began to meet socially outside of work’ It is as if Mayo had discovered a fundamental ‘fact’ that seems obvious today, that workplaces are ‘social environments’ and people there are motivated by much more than mere economic self-interest. He concluded that all features of that work environment had social value. This may be characterised as the ‘group dynamics’ of the experiment. When some workers were singled out from the rest of the factory workers, it raised their self-esteem; when they had a friendly

The good shepherd

The good shepherd Our lesson this morning from Johns gospel concerns this idea of integrity. The butcher in our story probably turned many different shades of red when the lady asked him for both of the chickens since he had only one. He wasnt being too honest with her, he wasnt being too nice, and now he was caught in his lack of honesty. Jesus is not talking about butchers this morning, but he is telling the people a parable about a good shepherd, a shepherd who was honest, caring, compassionate, and will to die to take care of his sheep. Jesus is telling us something about himself, as he is the good shepherd for our lives. He is telling us through this parable three things about himself as the good shepherd. Jesus uses this parable about shepherds because the people in his day knew the kind of life that a shepherd lived; it was a difficult life, a hard life. A shepherd felt he had a calling from a young age to tend sheep, so he spent his whole young life learning how to care for the sheep, then the rest of his adult life tending the sheep, fighting off the animals who would eat the sheep, and sometimes fighting off robbers who would steal the sheep. It was a lonely life, a difficult life, but if a shepherd did his job well everyone would know that he was a good shepherd. Jesus uses what the people would understand, a parable about shepherds to tell us something about himself, that he is the good shepherd of our lives. But before we see what is good about the good shepherd, we need to look at this word good In the Greek language, which was the language the New Testament was written. There are two words that can be translated into our English word good, the first agathose which implies a moral and efficient quality about a person. A person is good because they can perform their signed task well. But there is another word that also means good and. it is kalos, it not only means what the other did, but it adds the quality of loveliness, or attractiveness to it. It is the kind of goodness that makes us feel wanted and secure. Jesus as the good shepherd or as one translation puts it the model shepherd brings to the job the strength and courage of an earthly shepherd, but also the qualities of beauty and kindness which helps us to call him friend. Now that we have laid the foundation for Jesus being the Good shepherd of our lives, the model shepherd, we can see what is so good about him why he is the model shepherd. First Jesus says that the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A shepherd in Jesus day if he truly did his job with all of his being, and not just for the money would be willing and able to lay down his life for the sheep he was protecting. Jesus is telling us, he was willing to lay down his life for us, his sheep. He wasnt in it for the money or the glory, but Jesus would not flee when trouble came, he was willing to lay down his life, to sacrifice his life for us so that we night gain favour with the Father in heaven. There was a pastor who once visited a sheep ranch and saw a very strange lamb. It looked as though it had 2 heads and 8 feet. He asked the rancher about it. The rancher explained that one of their sheep had a baby but the mother died. They tried to give the orphan sheep to another mother-sheep but when she smelled it, she rejected it. Then they skinned the dead sheep and put the skin on the live lamb. Now the mother-sheep accepted the lamb as her own and cared for it, In a like manner, Jesus as the good shepherd died for us as the Lamb of God, and God accepts us because we are clothed with the Lambs robe of righteousness. Jesus was willing to lay down his life for us, so that we might have life, life with the Father and life for eternity. The good shepherd, who Jesus is, is willing to die for the sheep, so that the sheep can live. Jesus died for us freely so that we might life. Notice Jesus says that he laid down his life freely, no one takes his life, but he was willing to give his life for us. Jesus loves us enough, cares about us enough to die for us. He could have used his power to get out of dying for us, but he chose to struggle, to die, so that we might live. This is a powerful statement of the love, the mercy, the compassion, and the caring that Jesus our saviour has for each of us.Next Jesus says that the good shepherd knows his sheep. Knows his sheep by name. A young lady came to her pastors office trouble about this statement, How does Jesus know and is interest, in her personally. She asked, How can I believe that God is interested in what happens to me? The pastor replied, Look at your fingers. There are billions of finger tips in the world, but no others are like yours. Even your finger tips have had special attention from God. Yes, we are special; God does care for each of us. This morning when you come to the table to eat and to drink, you are receiving a special invitation from God to partake in this meal, in a personal and individual way we come in physical contact with Jesus through his body and blood. God knows that we need this special time, this physical relationship with him to reassure us, to convince us, that he does love us, that he does care for us, and that he is interested in us as individual people. We are collectively Gods children, we collectively are the sheep of Jesus fold, hut individually we are also Gods children, and individually the sheep of Jesus fold. And as individuals, he is concerned about us, he cares about us, he reaches his hand of grace individually into each of our lives. Each of us, all of us are unique people, who are special to God. We are special not because we are good, or righteous, or have somehow pleased God, but because God loves us as we are or in some ways in spite of what we are God still loves us. He showed us that by the sacrifice he had his son make on the cross for us. God is concerned about us from the hairs on our heads to the blisters on our toes. God through his good shepherd, Jesus Christ, loves us, cares about us, and wants his gracious will of love to be done in each of our lives. Finally as the good shepherd, Jesus tells us he gathers together his sheep into a fold. Jesus is telling us through his spirit he gathers us who belong to him. It is the work of the spirit to gather us together as the members of the body of Christ. It is the work of the spirit, to gather the body once a week to worship and praise God. Jesus knows this time we spend together once a week is very important for our spiritual lives. It is during this time that we hear again the promises that God has made for us, it is here that we relive the life that Jesus lived on this earth. It is here that we encounter again and again the great love that God has for us. It is important that we come here often to be refreshed, to be renewed, to hear again about our God and the great love he has for us. As the good shepherd, Jesus says that it is important for him to gather the sheep together into a fold, but notice he doesnt stop with just the sheep that are immediately at hand, no he says that other sheep must be brought into this fold. The fold of sheep, the church, is always changing, growing, adding and loosing members. The fold is not a constant place, but it is an alive place, a place where things happen, where changes are made, where people grow in faith, where people meet new people of faith, who help us to understand Gods love. The fold, or the church, is an ever changing, alive, growing place. It is the place where Jesus, through his spirit is alive. It is the place where we can encounter God through his spirit because he promises to be here with us as we gather in his name. God is here with us this morning, his spirit is here leading us in our worship of him. And as we leave to go back out to world Gods spirit will go with us, helping us with life, giving us direction giving us courage, giving us his peace to cope with all the brokenness of life. Yes, the good shepherd gathers his sheep together in a fold, in the church, ch, because here, we are cared for, here te are feed, here we can learn from each other about faith, here we can help one another as we face all the difficulties-of life. Being in the fold, the church is important for the members. NOTICE ONE OTHER THING Jesus says about being in the fold. He says that as he calls sheep to the fold they will heed his voice. They will listen to him. When we come to the fold, we come to listen to the voice of Jesus. We come to hear him, we come to encounter him. And notice Jesus says those of the fold will heed his voice. They will listen to him. Jesus is saying something here about responsibility, about our job as members of the fold, as members of the church. We are to listen to him. To obey what he says. Yes, Jesus is the good shepherd of our lives. He laid down his live freely for us, he knows each of us personally because we are important to him, and he gathers us together in his fold, the church, so that we might listen to him. Yes, Jesus is the good shepherd, the one who leads us down the pathway of life. He is our guide, he is our companion, he is the one who will take care of us. Jesus is our good shepherd; he is the one who loves us.

Reaching Understanding through Non-Verbal Communication in Timothy Find

Reaching Understanding through Non-Verbal Communication in Timothy Findley’s â€Å"War† and â€Å"About Effie† The two stories â€Å"War† and â€Å"About Effie† from Timothy Findley’s Dinner Along the Amazon are both told by the same child narrator, Neil. In each of the stories Neil attempts to make sense of a mystery of the adult world. In â€Å"War† Neil tries to understand the adult world of war, and explain why it seems that his father has betrayed him, and in â€Å"About Effie† Neil tries to understand the mystery of Effie’s strange need to wait for a man in a thunderstorm. Neil reaches an understanding of each of these mysteries in a similar way: through observation of non-verbal clues from adults. However, Neil’s own attempts to communicate non-verbally through his behaviour are unsuccessful. Taken as a whole, these two stories show how very important non-verbal communication is in child-adult relationships. In â€Å"About Effie† Neil’s most significant impression of Effie is created when she looks at him. Neil tells how when he first meets the new maid, she looks at him with such meaning that it scares him: â€Å". . .the way you’ll know her is this: she’ll look at you as if she thought you were someone she was waiting for, and it will probably scare you. It did me† (82). Neil describes the first time he meets Effie in terms of the way they look at each other, saying â€Å"The first time I saw her, she saw me first† (82). Neil is shocked by this new maid, not only because she gives him such a profound look, but also because she bursts into tears upon seeing him. Neil tries to make sense of why Effie would become so emotional upon seeing him, and tries to discover more about this mysterious person for whom she is waiting... ...her captures both Neil’s naivete at the time and the sadness of his father’s war obligation. Through looking at this photograph Neil realizes and accepts that the incident was truly not his father’s fault. The non-verbal image contained in the photograph provides the key to Neil’s understanding. In â€Å"War† Neil’s attempts to communicate non-verbally through his behaviour are ineffective. However, in both stories Neil reaches understanding through powers of observation, even when the adults are unable to communicate through words. In reaching understanding, Neil takes a step towards adulthood himself. Through the process of looking at Effie’s smiles and looking at his father’s wounded face in the photograph, Neil is able to decode the mystery of their actions. Works Cited Findley, Timothy. Dinner Along the Amazon. Toronto: Penguin Books, 1996.

Cultural Issues in National Problems Essay

* Based on your study on this module of cultural theories, international business ethics and the practice of managing across cultures, and assuming the role of a business consultant specialising in cross-cultural issues, write a cultural briefing for the Human Resources department of a real international business. Your briefing should cover a range of cultural issues, including the creation of cross-cultural teams, training employees for expatriate assignments, national negotiating styles and training employees for the challenges of cross-cultural management. This assignment may take the format of a report or a more creatively designed briefing document. Creation of cross-cultural teams Train employees for challenges of cross-cultural management National negotiating style The Chinese Negotiation http://www.globalnegotiationbook.com/John-Graham-research/negotiation-v1.pdf Negotiating in China: 10 rules for success http://www.forbes.com/sites/jackperkowski/2011/03/28/negotiating-in-china-10-rules-for-success/ pp. 163 note However, china is also a difficult and risky market for western business communities to operate in. the surprises, disappointment, and frustration on the part of western business people are not strange. China is a special challenge: it is the world’s largest emerging market, largest communist bureaucracy and oldest culture. These unique features make china a unique case in international business that calls for special academic and managerial attention. Now that china has reached and agreement with the European union and United States of America about its membership in the world trade organization (WTO), the importance of china as a trade partner is going to increase further. Question: * What are the meaningful stages of the Sino-western business negotiation process? * What are the main contentious issues in the formal negotiation sessions? * How can we understand chinese negotiating style observed in various stages from the chinese culture point of view? Ping-Pong model 1, pre-negotiation (lobbing, presentation, informal discussion, and trust building) 2, formal negotiation (task-related exchange of information, persuasion, concession and agreement) 3, post-negotiation (implementation and new rounds of negotiations) The Chinese show keen interests in getting to know the other party during these initial contacts. They try to ascertain whether or not the foreign firm has (1) the most advanced technology required for the project; (2) the willingness to sell or transfer it to the Chinese side by way of, for example, joint venture; and (3) the capacity of delivering the products on time. As one chinese negotiators explained: â€Å"our intention is to import the most advanced technology and to cooperate with large, world-famous foreign companies, because the life cycle of a technology is short. We pay even more attention to the supplier’s houjing(reserve strength) for continuous technological development lobbying: lobbing before the chinese government authorities is one of the most important marketing activities facing foreign firms that want to sell large industrial projects in chinese key industries like telecommunications. Foreign firms must convince the chinese that they have cutting-edge technologies that suit chinese government’s priorities, that they have long-term commitment to the chinese market, and that they are financially strong. They must present a highly reliable image before the chinese, making them feel safe to do business with them. The chinese said that they liked to do business with â€Å"big mountain† like Ericesson that they could trust and rely on in the long term. Presentation: giving attractive and reliable presentations to let potential chinese partners know the company, products and negotiating team members, is an important step toward formal negotiation sessions. Presentations aim to convince the chinese of the sincerity of the company in doing business ith china and show the chinese that the company’s products are and advanced technology with high quality and reasonable price. Foreign firms need to present themselves and their technologies to number of authorities. Very often one has to endlessly repeat the same things to different negotiators who may suddenly, without explanation, be replaced by another team. From chinese point of view, it is done to check the reliability and firmness of the supplier. Informal discussion: initial and informal discussions with chinese organizations often occur directly after the presentations Trust building: the chinese attach great importance to trust building in business negotiations. Formal negotiation * Equity share * Contribution of each party * Management control * Technology * Price * Persuasion * Concessions and agreement Post-negotiation * Managerial implications * Priority * Patience * People the PRC condition (guoqing) is a contemporary social and institutional factor influencing the PRC Introduction Hotel Chocolat is a famous luxury chocolate producer in the UK. It has 55 stores in the UK and 5 stores in the USA and the Europe. (Hotel Chocolat, 2012) The mainly product series are Giant Slabs, Selectors, Sleekster Selections, Liquid Chocolat, The Purist and Coco Juvenate Beauty Range. (Hotel Chocolat, 2012) Hotel Chocolat insists a high quality strategy so that their products are in luxury level, which attracting consumers come back again and again. Now Hotel Chocolat plan to expand the business and brand perception, managers think about enter Chinese market. In China, middle class improving their purchasing power in recent years, within urban residents has more disposable income (Farrell D, 2006). If manager decide to enter China market, human resource management (HRM) department needs to prepare three points, firstly is create cross-cultural team with Chinese employees, secondly is train the British employees for challenge of cross-cultural management, thirdly is negotiating st yle with Chinese. Creation of cross-cultural team and the challenges of cross-cultural management Cross-cultural team is necessary. Nowadays, the globe business activities are an important part of the worldwide economy. Many of different nationality works in one company or even in one group. In this case, Hotel Chocolat will be suggested to build a cross-cultural team within Chinese employees. This program can avoid some potential risk in Chinese market. Here will point out three directions. 1. Language In business group need to keep will communication to reduce the cost of information. Hotel Chocolat is British company so that the English is mainly language. But Chinese employee’s native language is mandarin and Cantonese, which make conversation maybe difficult. Fortunately, Chinese education department push English language teaching from primary school to college. Nowadays, the world’s most populous nation will become the world’s largest English-speaking country, account about two billion people are learning or have learned English (Clifford. C, 2009). Firstly, English level is an important testing standard when manager selects Chinese employees. Secondly, English employ which will work in China suggest to learn basic daily Mandarin. Of course, if possible, Hotel Chocolat should better choose the people who interested in China. 2. Build Virtual Team In the beginning, Hotel Chocolat should build a quickly communication tunnel between the UK and China department. For a high efficiency, Hotel Chocolat has to build Virtual Team. Virtual Team is basic on advanced information technology to link the geographical dispersion essential employees. It also downsizes the department in China and improves productivity.(Townsend, A, M., and Demarie, M, S and Hendrickson R, A., 2003) Why build a Virtual Team? Here point five factors: (Bettis, R and Hitt, M., 1995) * The flat organizational structure is becoming a good solution to increasing speed to communicate. * The competition and cooperation will be easy in globe economy environment. * Changes in workers expectation of organizational participation. * Adjustment the production of knowledge work environments. * Make trade and corporate activity easily. First of all, to build virtual team needs to pay attention to define the team’s function and organizational roles, build the technical systems to exchange the information. Define the team’s function and organizational roles are the most important thing. The UK and China have seven (DST.) or eight (GMT.) times difference, it make the working time harder. The manager in China who leads the virtual team should clear expectations about team’s performance and criteria. Because of the virtual team’s geographical dispersion, the manager can define the detail of daily report, working schedules and emergency solution. As a new market competitor, Hotel Chocolat will face many difficult, so the virtual team members in both side, the UK and China, have responds to meet online in a short time. In the same time, the virtual team in China needs to have individual ability to control and solve problems. A well communication system in virtual team is a strong support. The technical system should be designed basic on efficiency. One of the reasons is the virtual team members are in different place so that they cannot face to face. If people cannot face to face meeting, some serious and complicated issues will not solve well. In tradition way, the tools have online meeting (Skype), file upload and download (email). If possible, the technical system can use wide-angle camera to build a multiplayer video session, in the meantime, virtual team members can use â€Å"cloud system† to modify the same file in different place together. Within modern technical system, the virtual team becomes more reality and efficient. National negotiating styles When a company enters new market, an excellent negotiating skill will make their process more successfully. In business activities, communication is the key of make a good deal. Within a group of well training negotiating employees, the new market risks, not only China market, will be reduced. As the human resource department, they should make a plan to lead the negotiators’ mind set. Therefore, the â€Å" Ping-Pong† Model (Fang, 1999) is a good choice. (Fang, 1999) The â€Å"Ping-Pong† model is based on the international business negotiating style and Chinese business negotiating style (Fang, 1999; Frankenstein, 1986; Ghauri and Usunier, 1996; Graham and Lin 1987), fang tries to build a bridge between China and the world. In the â€Å"Ping-Pong† Model, there are two major parts. One is the stage of the Sino-Western business Negotiation process and the other one is the dimension of Chinese business culture. In 1996, Ghauri make a structure of the international negotiating style process. He divides the total negotiation into three parts: 1, Pre-Negotiation 2, Formal-Negotiation 3, Post-Negotiation And also Fang realized that in Chinese cultural situation, he also define three main thing: 1, The PRC Condition 2, Confucianism 3, Chinese stratagems Combine these two things, international negotiating style process and Chinese cultural situation, the â€Å"Ping-Pong† Model produced. Next part, it will analyze six factors of â€Å"Ping-Pong† Model. Pre-Negotiation It includes four processes, lobbing, presentation, informal discussion and trust building. In the beginning is lobbing, in China market the government is a powerful force to the market. So it is necessary to have a good conversation with government. Presentation and informal discussion is the base of trust building. In public ways, presentation can show company’s abilities to the company, in other ways, Informal discussion enhance mutual understanding between company and its potential partners. Formal Negotiation In formal negotiation stage, five major contentious issues needs to serious consideration: equity share, contribution of each party, management control, technology and price. For Hotel Chocolat, technology is the top secret so that the human resource department should focus on this part. Post-Negotiation After formal negotiation, the team should be prepared for Chinese trick. One Swedish negotiator recall that (Ghauri P. and Fang T. 2001) Chinese negotiator always take the old issue whatever and whenever, but these situation would not happened in European, Middle Eastern and African countries. Hotel Chocolat website, (2012), Store http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/Chocolate-Store-Locations-Achocolatestore/ (accessed: 8th Oct 2012). Hotel Chocolat website, (2012), Products http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/chocolates-CHC_PRODUCT/ (accessed: 8th Oct 2012). Farrell, D., Gersch, U. and Stephenson, E. (2006), The value of China’s emerging middle class, McKinsey Quarterly, pp69-69. Clifford Coonan, (2009) The largest English-speaking country? China, of course, The Irish Times, 6 June, available at: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2009/0620/1224249169396.html (accessed at 9th Oct 2012). Townsend, A.M., DeMarie, S.M., Hendrickson, A.R. (2003) ‘Virtual teams’ In Thomas, D.C. (ed) Reading and Cases in International Management: A Cross-cultural Perspective. London: SAGE, pp.269-281. Bettis, R. and Hitt, M. (1995) â€Å"The new competitive landscape†, Strategic management journal 16(S1), pp,7-19. Fang, T. (1999) â€Å"Chinese business negotiating style. Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA. Frankenstein, J. (1986). Trend in Chinese business practice: Change in the Beijing wind. California Management Review, 29(1): 148-160. Ghauri, P. N. and Usunier J. –C. (1996) International Business Negotiations. Oxford: Pergamon. Graham, J. L. and Lin, C. –Y. (1987) A comparison of marketing negotiations in the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the United States. In Cavusgil, T. (ed. Advanced in international marketing (Vol. 2, pp. 23-46). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. Ghauri P. and Fang T. (2001), Negotiating With the Chinese, Journal of World Business Vol. 36, pp. 303-325.

The Prodigal Son Essays

The Prodigal Son Essays The Prodigal Son Essay The Prodigal Son Essay In only a couple of weeks we come to Great Lent, the period of fasting, prayer, and preparation before Christ rises from the dead. In order to prepare for this great event, there are a few skills that we as Orthodox Christians must keep in mind. One of these is forgiveness. Jesus’ message about forgiveness is clearly given to us in the bible through the parable of the Prodigal Son. In this story, two brothers are promised large inheritances from their father. However, while the older brother patiently waits for his inheritance, the younger brother asks for his share right away. He ends up wasting all of his money on material items, and not saving any for food or shelter. The younger son returns to his father’s house, not expecting a warms welcome. However, the father is thrilled to see him, and even prepares a banquet for him. The older brother is upset that the father welcomed the younger brother back, but the father tells him that he should be happy, because â€Å"his brother who was once lost had been found†. We as Orthodox Christians can learn a lot about forgiveness from the parable of the Prodigal Son. A lot of times many of us feel like the older brother in the story. When somebody hurts our feelings, or does something bad to us, we don’t really want to forgive them for what they did. However, God’s message is very clear. Even though the younger son hurt his father by taking all of his money and wasting it, the father forgave him. We need to follow this example as well. If we can’t forgive other people for what they have done to us, then how can we expect God to forgive us for all of the things that we have done against him? If we all keep this idea in mind, and remember God’s message to forgive others, we will be able to come into Great Lent with a clean spirit, and will be much more prepared for Christ’s resurrection.

Why you should share your opinions out loudâ€not over email

Why you should share your opinions out loud- not over email Who among us hasn’t been in this situation: You receive an email or text from someone you know and wonder, â€Å"What did they mean by that?† â€Å"Are they mad at me- or maybe they were just in a rush† The truth is, although email has made it easier than ever before to send and receive messages with all of the people in our lives- from friends and family members to professional contacts and more- it can be argued that the ease and convenience we’ve gained from modern forms of conversing have been offset by an unfortunate increase in a more impersonal approach to communication, and more opportunities for the mistranslation of a message’s meaning and intent. For humans- and for all animals, really- things like context, body language, and emotion factor heavily into how messages are delivered and received, and when these things are taken out of the equation, which happens when communicating over email, trouble can ensue.According to a recent Psycholog y Today article, â€Å"Research by UCLA psychology professor emeritus Albert Mehrabian found that 7 percent of a message was derived from the words, 38 percent from the intonation, and 55 percent from the facial expression or  body language. In other words, the vast majority of communication is not carried by our words alone†¦Not surprisingly, research shows we communicate most effectively in real-life, real-time conversation.†Just think about it- if only 7% of our messages are derived from the actual words we use, that’s a whopping 93% that’s left to speculation, guesswork, and possible misinterpretation when we communicate over email without the helpful cues that face-to-face communication provides!This gets especially important when you’re talking with someone about a potentially controversial subject or have opposing views on a topic. According to a recent article on Ladders, when we’re facing someone with a point of view that’s i n opposition to our own, we respond more favorably and humanely when the conversations includes voice vs. words, which helps to keep discourse civil.The Ladders article suggests that vocal communication may be a better vehicle for controversial conversations because â€Å"those vocal tics of inflection, intonation, and normal pauses humanize us in ways that get lost over a text message where emotion is implied in emoji and punctuation, and tone is easy to miscommunicate†¦If you want your controversial take to be seen as more than mindless drivel, get off your keyboard and give the person a call.†This information can have a profound effect on how we operate at work. These days, so much of our work lives are spent alone at our desks, silently typing away a volley of email missives on our computers and phones all day. With the volume of email we send out, it would be quite a challenge to stop and think about how each and every message we send will be construed by every rece iver- that would be exhausting!Therefore, some general rules of thumb might be helpful here: use email when sending simple and straightforward messages that are free from emotion, critical evaluation, and potentially controversial opinions. If your messages do contain these items, consider stepping away from your keyboard and engaging in a face-to-face conversation- old-fashioned perhaps, but it just might save you from an uncomfortable, awkward, or embarrassing situation.

Conceptual Framework Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Conceptual Framework - Assignment Example The IASB want to ensure that equity has first priority to common stock insolvency or liquidation. This is because in business, liability is the duty of an entity that emerge from past or previous events or transactions, the settlement that may lead to the use or transfer of assets, service provision or any other yielding profits or benefits in the future. It is also significant to note that liability differs from equity in the sense that any kind of borrowing from banks or individuals for enhancing a personal income or business, which is payable during both the long and short-term period (Klemstine 2009, 41-43). IASB understands that liability entails a responsibility or use to others that involve settlement by future use or transfer of assets, service provision and any transaction connected with producing economic profits or benefits at a determined time or specified time on either demand or occurrence of a certain event. While on the other hand, it recognizes that equity is the rem aining interest or claim of the junior investors in a company’s assets following the pay out of all liabilities. However, IASB wants it to be clear that in case a liability is more than an asset, it results to a negative equity. In addition, owners’ equity comprises of the total assets of the entire entity. This makes the equity to appear on the balance sheet because net assets would be attained via division of the total assets and all liabilities (Walther 2011, 97). Conceptual framework identifies a notable difference between the quantity of liabilities and assets (equity) exist in terms of interest rates reorganized in a given range of time. The international finance books wants a bank with a similar amount of liabilities as the assets in a given period means that the changes in its interest rates will not change the net interest margin. Such a bank thus has a balanced gap position. On the other hand, if the amount in assets re-price is higher than the liability re-p rice, then such a bank is an asset sensitive one. In contrast, a bank with less amount of asset re-pricing that liability re-price, then it is liability sensitive (Walter & Janich 2011, 78). In the current conceptual framework, uncertain may seem to play a significant role in the definition of liabilities and assets. The conceptual framework holds that the current definitions of liabilities and assets incorporate the idea that the future or forthcoming economic benefits must be anticipated. In addition, the current recognition criteria give details that a liability or an asset is identified if it is possible that any forthcoming economic benefit connected with the product will flow to or from the unit or entity. Additionally, the conceptual framework recognizes that in some rare situations, it is not clear whether a unit or an entity has a liability or an asset exists. The common example applied to determine the existence of uncertainty in the economy is litigation which shows wheth er an entity committed certain act and if it did so, obliges the entity or body to pay fines or damages. Liabilities involves various sorts of debts such as car loans, mortgages, or credit card debts and packaging them as bonds, collateralized mortgage obligations, or as pass-through securities.

Proposing a Solution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Proposing a Solution - Essay Example This paper examines the problem known as depression widely encountered by the adult person. Further, it explores the causes of such problem and, eventually, proposes a solution to it. On Identification Depression is a disorder characterized by sadness or sheer unhappiness (Rey and Birhamer 4). The depressed mood is felt and experienced widely from adolescent years. But what is more depressing here is the fact that depression is difficult to be clearly identified especially to the adolescent people. In life, I believed, sadness is not uncommon. Being unhappy, at one point of one’s life, is perfectly human. Young ones as well those who are feeling young significantly encounter a certain feeling of unhappiness. Adolescent people, however, are more prone to depressed mood rather than the old folks. In fact, roughly 5 to 15 percent of adolescents experienced symptoms associated to clinical depression (Kaplan, Aguirre, and Rater 48). Kaplan, Aguirre, and Rater present a fascinating list of symptoms marked in adolescent depression. Now, I may not be a teenager but I am categorically a young adult. To my mind, real or imagine, I am still in my adolescent period. Borrowing from the list made by Kaplan, Aguirre, and Rater, below are two signs -- they call it warning signs, and that’s disturbing -- that I have encountered from the past few days: 1. Noticeable changes in eating and sleeping habits. 2. Difficulty concentrating or making decisions. Considering this sort of reality, I am wondering if whether or not I have a clinical depression. (Except for the term depression, I like the word clinical.) Sounds interesting. Thinking it more deeply, though, I doubt it if I have one. On Causes By nature, depressions either in adolescents or in non-adolescents are hereditary (Gullotta and Adams 206). Why young people have symptoms characterized in clinical depression is because such disorder, whether one likes it or not, is inherited from generation to generation. I n fact, roughly 50 percent of people possessing depressed mood are largely attributed to â€Å"genetic predispositions† (qtd. in Gullotta and Adams 206). Meaning to say, depression is unavoidable especially when one’s parents have this mood disorder. Like the inevitability of death, unfortunately, mood disorder is part of the human life. But there is a good news here. According to certain studies, there is ample evidence supporting the theory that depressive symptoms are, in fact, â€Å"less strong [in terms of] genetic association† (qtd. in Gullotta and Adams 206). That is to say, depression is affected by the social environment in which the person having a mood disorder is immersed into. Today, there are two major views concerning the cause of mood disorder: genetics and environment. On Solutions There are solutions to the problem inherent in the disorder called depression. In relation to hereditary as the cause of depressed mood, solution is barely available. It reminds me of one famous Darwinian biologist who proposes, although in jest, an extensive operation of persons who have genetic problems; for instance, a criminal convict can be a law-abiding citizen if his â€Å"bad† genes are replaced with â€Å"good† ones. That is not a bad ideal, is it? Well, what I am going to propose for a solution to the problem associated to depression in young people is greatly social in orientation. Depression can be lessened, if not prevented, especially when