Green Transportation System For Sustainable Campus Environmental Sciences Essay

Green conveyance or sustainable conveyance refers to the any transit which does non affect non-renewable energy and produces less harmful impact to the environment. For case, walking and cycling, green vehicles, auto pooling, theodolite oriented development, human-powered conveyance, renewable energy transit or alternate transit, and other signifiers of protecting conveyance system that are less fuel consume, infinite efficiency, low cost, and advance healthy life style. The term green conveyance came into usage as the society is turning involvement in the constructs of sustainable development that aims to â€Å" run into the demands of the present without compromising the ability of future coevalss to run into their ain needs. † ( DESA,1999 ) . It used to depict manners of conveyance, and systems of conveyance planning, which are more focal point on environmental concerns. Besides, there are many definitions of green conveyance, and some related term such as sustainable mobility. One such definition, from the European Union Council of Ministers of Transport, sustainable transit mean: â€Å" Allows the basic entree and development demands of persons, companies and society to be met safely and in a mode consistent with human and ecosystem wellness, and promotes equity within and between consecutive coevalss. Is Low-cost, operates reasonably and expeditiously, offers a pick of conveyance manner, and supports a competitory economic system, every bit good as balanced regional development. Limits emanations and waste within the planet ‘s ability to absorb them, uses renewable resources at or below their rates of coevals, and uses non-renewable resources at or below the rates of development of renewable replacements, while minimising the impact on the usage of land and the coevals of noise. † ( 2001: 8 ) The constructs of green conveyance were developed before the phrase was invented. The first type of conveyance is walking and which besides is the most sustainable. After the innovation of public coach by Blaise Pascal in 1662, the public conveyance day of the months back. ( Alfred, 2008 ) . Continue with the increased wealth during the station war old ages which brought a demand for greater mobility for human and goods. However, public investing in walking and bicycling declined dramatically in the Great Britain, United States, and Australasia although this did non happen to the same extent in mainland Europe or Canada. ( Pucher, J. & A ; Dijkstra, L. ,2003 ) ; ( Transportation Research Board, 2001 ) . When the crisis of oil and energy during 1973 and 1979, focal point on the sustainability of this attack became widespread. The restriction and increasing monetary value of fuels led to a revival of involvement in options to individual tenancy vehicle travel. A survey by the United States Federal Highway Administration ( 2004 ) which release in 2004 concluded that an of import constituent of overall national conveyance scheme need a more proactive attack to transit demand. A sustainable conveyance system exists to supply economic connexion and societal, and people hurry pick up the chances by increased mobility. The increased mobility is good, but we need to weigh its advantages from the facet of societal, economic cost, and environmental that conveyance system poses. Transportation system has high environmental impact, accounting for between 20 % and 25 % of universe energy ingestion and C dioxide emanations. ( World Energy Council, 2007 ) . Harmonizing to the research, the gas emanations from conveyance which contribute to the nursery consequence are increasing at a faster rate comparison to other energy utilizing sector ( U.S Environmental Protection Agency, 2002 ) . Therefore, a proper conveyance planning is needed. A sustainable transit system must supply handiness and mobility to society in environmental friendly manner of conveyance. This is a hard undertaking when the demands and demands of people with different income are frequently conflicting. For illustration, if most people are non attempt to hold their ain vehicle or non attempt to utilize public conveyance, they have to either walk or sit bike to work. Construct another safe substructure for walkers and bicyclers may necessitate the separation of route infinite from motorized traffic or cut down the velocities of vehicles. Both steps could ensue in curtailing mobility of auto users. Similarly, steps to cut down air pollution at the same clip may conflict with those needed for decrease in route accidents. For case, increases the mean velocities of vehicle may cut down the emanations gas but may ensue in increasing the accident rates. Furthermore, most of the authorities policy paperss and public treatments on transit are more concern about the air pollution. Peoples look upon the wellness job owing to pollution are as worthy of public action whereas those due to accidents job as owing to single errors. As a consequence, most of the policy paperss covering with sustainable development ever include options for pollution decrease. In pattern green conveyance is more fuel efficient, but merely in comparing with some standard vehicles. It still will lend to traffic congestion and route clangs. Although there have a batch of conveyance picks with really low environmental impact such as human-powered vehicles and other animate being powered conveyance, but the most common conveyance picks with the least environmental impact are cycling and walking. By taking to walk or bicycle, it help to cut down nursery gas emanations, increased wellness benefits from a more active life style, and a decrease in the happening of respiratory complaints associated with hapless air quality. ( The City of Chicago ‘s Official Tourism site, 2010 )1.2 Problem StatementPresents, progress logistics is a critical nexus in the conveyance system. They have increased the efficiency, cost, and dependability facets of our facets of our bringing system consist of terminal supply concatenation. However, the environmental impact that cause b y the visual aspect of transit toward the high fuel ingestion, noise pollution, gradual alteration from the motion of quiver, and the accident is now at the serious degree of the sustainability issue have been identified to come into â€Å" harmony terdepan † argument globally. Many people believe in the theory of peak oil, which mean that there is a certain point in clip when our oil production will top out, and so fall into sudden diminution. But clocking that extremum is hard at the best. Some experts believe that gasolene and Diesel fuels will still play a major function by twelvemonth 2050 ( World Energy Councils, 2007 ) , but their biofuel part will be important and we are now at the â€Å" Twilight old ages † of fossil fuels production. Other experts we might hold every bit many as hundred old ages before peak oil occurs. Whether we are traveling to run out of oil or non is non the chief issue. As we know, fossil fuel is non renewable and we are traveling to run out in someday. Do we necessitate to travel to more alien energy transition engineering ( fuel cell vehicles? ) , or can bettering fuel belongingss further let us to go on utilizing burning engines to power our vehicles? Besides taking S, should at that place be less aromatic in fuels? Should aromatics be eliminated? What fuel belongingss can still be improved in gasolene and Diesel? Is there a function for oxygenates in gasolene and Diesel? Can we and should we cut down our dependence on rough oil for transit energy? Does intermixing oxygenates in fuels help or impede in accomplishing the environmental ends? To worsen the state of affairs, i know that around 250,000 new conveyance enter Malaysian roads manually, and the public conveyance is nil to shout approximately. This figure had increased the traffic jam job in Malaysia. The traffic jams can impact the socio-economy of the state. Every twenty-four hours, traffic jam cost the state in term of clip, environmental pollution, and wasted energy. Other than that, it causes emphasiss which indirectly increase the unwellnesss of our society.1.3 Research aimThe purposes of this research are to: Explore the sustainable conveyance which is safe, economically feasible, socially acceptable to people, topographic points, goods and services in campus. Study / analysis current transit system of University Malaya. Recommend the usage of cycling / walking as a feasible Green conveyance in University Malaya.1.4 Research QuestionBased on my research survey, I will be able to reply the inquiries as followers: What is green transit system? What are the policies that should be integrate to accomplish sustainability in campus? What is the most suited conveyance for a pupil? Why pupils ne'er consider to walk or bicycle in campus? Who should responsible to the environmental impact of the transit? Who are involved in carry out the green conveyance? Why green transit systems play a important function in campus?1.5 Literature reappraisalIt is progressively apparent that modern life styles in flush societies, and the mobility behaviour associated with such life styles, are non consistent with the protection of environmental quality, the efficient usage of resources, and the publicity of societal coherence and merely distributions of chances and costs of utilizing transport systems. ( Donaghy, Rudinger, Poppelreuter, 2004 ) . There is now wide understanding in the universe that present tendencies in conveyance are non sustainable. Many bookmans have concluded that cardinal alterations in engineering, design, operation, and funding are needed. The construct of sustainability every bit good as the environmental impacts, energy ingestion and equity issues caused by conveyance are discussed. Many metropoliss confronting such common jobs as traffic jam, traffic pollution on environment, and low efficiency of using traffic resources. From Lu, Wang, and Shen ( 2003 ) sentiments, it is a necessary pick and ultimate aim to build the urban sustainable transit system. Hence, the intension and the manner to build the sustainable transit system, the system of policy and steps to recognize the aim are scantly analyzed. But their paper merely bases on this job, discusses the construct of the sustainable development, the sustainable development of conveyance, the impact factors of the sustainable transit system, the manner, policy and steps to recognize the nonsubjective, and so on. Liu ( 2003 ) and Song ( 2006 ) define green conveyance as the key to construct healthy and sustainable conveyance system. Likewise, Batterbury ( 2004 ) reference that a cardinal component of sustainable development in metropoliss is the execution of more effectual, less polluting, and just transit. The nucleus of green conveyance is expansibility of resource, environment and system. We should understand the dealingss among conveyance system development, resource and environment from strategically positions. Harmonizing by Liu ( 2003 ) , green conveyance means non merely internal conveyance system optimisation and exterior harmoniousness, but besides high and sustainable efficiency. As the universe ‘s population additions and its resources remain changeless, there is a demand to turn to the sustainability of transit systems. Linda and Robert ( 2004 ) see the go oning addition in the usage and denseness of cars ( more vehicles with fewer people in them going greater distances over proportionately shorter roads ) in relation to transit sustainability and quality of life. Barbara ( 1999 ) defined a sustainable transit system as one in which fuel ingestion, vehicle emanations, safety, congestion, and societal and economic entree are of such degrees that they can be sustained into the indefinite hereafter without doing great or irreparable injury to future coevalss of people throughout the universe. On the other manus, Litman ( 2007 ) defined that sustainable transit system is one which allows the basic entree demands of persons and societies to be met safely and in a mode consistent with human and ecosystem wellness, and with equity within and between coevalss. Based on Yin and Li ( 2009 ) research, in order to construct a friendly environment and salvage resources, therefore to supply a transit system that is sensible in travel distance, sustainable in average construction, and effectual in services is needed. Ge, Wang, Deng ( 2004 ) , Jiang, Guo ( 2009 ) , and Lu, Gao ( 1999 ) stated that twenty-first century is an environment protection century and environmental issues top all the jobs of metropolis development in the new epoch, so metropolis transit development must lodge to the rule of environment protection, and see developing pollution-free ‘green transit ‘ as its basic policy and end. In their documents, both of them had discussed the of import of green transit and it relationship with sustainable development. A research worker, Song ( 2006 ) found that there are many failing in nowadays traffic scheduling, we should convey up new ideas for traffic planning and concept a harmonious society with the features that take peopleaˆ?s involvements into first consideration, harmonizing to new construct of green conveyance planning. Wang, Jiang, and Lan ( 2000 ) besides agree with Song, they think that the old transit planning attack is no longer suited for sustainable development of transit system nowadays when urban environment is acquiring even worse. Clearly, the demand and chances for extra research, learning and service acquisition on transit system are infinite. They are bounded merely by our creativeness and willingness to take hazards and better our manner of life. The overruling issue is the manner of thought and the demand to alter everyday determinations, degrees of committedness and one ‘s ain behaviour. In my sentiment, those old researches are excessively focus on the execution of green transit system in urban country. They forgot about that college campuses are distinguishable communities, in the words of Creighton ( 1998 ) ‘microcosms of society ‘ , and that they have varied and often-large environmental impacts. Campuss are clearly ‘de-marketing car transposing ‘ ( Wright and Egan, 2000 ) and actively advancing alternate transit manners particularly walking and cycling. Biking or walking is healthy and salvage money. That is the decision of an increasing figure of scientific surveies measuring the impacts of bicycling and walking on degrees of physical activity, fleshiness rates, cardiovascular wellness, and morbidity. ( Anderson, et Al. 2000 ) , ( Bassett, et Al. 2008 ) , ( Bauman, et al 2008 ) , ( BMA, 1992 ) , ( Cavill, et al 2006 ) , ( Dora and Phillips, 2000 ) , ( Gordon-Larsen, et al 2009 ) , ( Hamer and Chida, 2008 ) , ( Hillman,1993 ) , ( Huy, et al 2008 ) , ( Matthews, et al 2007 ) , ( Roberts, et al 1996 ) and ( Shephard, 2008 ) . Biking and walking conveyance behaviours depend on the natural, substructure, socioeconomic, and environment of a topographic point. Harmonizing to Zahran, et Al. ( 2008 ) , statistical relationships study can supply utile information to the conveyance and wellness contrivers which aim to promote green transit behaviour. â€Å" Even though the turning scholarly involvement on biking and walking as feasible transit options, but small empirical research has been conducted on the determiners of non-motorized transit pick. † Zahran, et Al. ( 2008:462 ) . Many of the surveies merely investigate walking and bicycling conveyance behaviours at the vicinity graduated table for limited infinite, and with little sets of forecasters. A study by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies ( 2005 ) reference that more research is needed on the â€Å" consequence of the built environment on physical activity † particularly in campus. By taking to walk or bicycle alternatively of driving, pupils can assist to cut down nursery gas emanations in campus. If campus can get down to advance walking and bicycling as a merriment, healthy, safe and environmentally-conscious manner of acquiring to analyze, the campus sure will hold the possible be a bike-friendly campus. In the last decennary, many campus contrivers have been fighting to supply entree and mobility without destructing campus qualities as distinguishable communities. So, my research is to reflect on how college campuses have encouraged a average displacement from autos to other manners, and in peculiar to biking and walking. Due to their pro-active educational background, I guarantee that campus is the possible topographic point to pass on sustainable and to assist reshape society ‘s transit forms. Harmonizing to Orr ( 1992a ) , colleges and universities non merely must larn to be responsibly in their self-interest but it is besides the right to be responsible. This self-interest had been realized since 1990 sign language of the ‘Talloires Declaration ‘ by the Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future. â€Å" The Talloires Declaration spells out cardinal actions that establishments of higher instruction must take to make a more sustainable hereafter. † ( Carlos, 2003 ) Now there was more than 275 university leaders and international experts in over 40 states worldwide have subscribed its sustainable rules. On campus evidences sustainable transit planning can be seen as supplying basic substructures which can promote pupils to bicycle or walk and associating transit planning to set down usage planning. Many campus contrivers ever agree that college ‘s possible to impact the transit behaviour of the campus. Not merely that, in the hereafter pupils besides can develop their transit wonts and environmental consciousness, as â€Å" they will come on to busy influential functions in authorities, companies or other organisations † ( Tolley, 1996 ) However, many research workers largely undertake the research on the usage of environmentally friendly alternate energy beginnings or the invention of new green conveyance to cut down the environment impacts. They forgot that a basic constituent to successfully following a hereafter sustainable conveyance must get down from a good practise of our immature coevalss.1.6 Research MethodologiesResearch methodological analysis is a system of method of process in research or survey. It is an of import tool to add value on the research by utilizing aggregation, assemblage and analyzing information. The usage of the methodological analysis is of import to empirical consequence for research. In this research, I will utilize two chief qualitative research and one quantitative research methodological analysiss to holding a consequence from theoretical facet and from the existent universe facet. Interview is the 1 of the methodological analysiss utilizing in this research to roll up the information from specific parties. An unstructured attack of interview study will be chose to understanding more recent issues and roll up the sentiments of the interviewers towards the research subject. There will be an interview session with the selected offices such as HEP and JPPHB to acquire the remarks or possible positions related to green transit system. Other than that, the professors or lectors who are more concern about the rejuvenation of campus will be interview to hold their sentiment on the sustainable conveyance and the pattern of cycling plan in campus. The 2nd methodological analysis which used in this research is library research. From library research can be defined as the systematic survey and probe of some facet of library and information scientific discipline in which decisions are based on the statistical analysis of informations collected in conformity with pre-established research design and methodological analysis. The analysis stuffs and readings on the research subject will be used to roll up more comprehensive thought on the research subject. The online seeking besides will be one of the methods to roll up the necessary information which may be non possible to seek in the library or through interview. Third, I will inquire some subjective inquiries related to the sustainable campus in a study signifier and distribute to around 200 pupils to garner the informations about their idea and behaviours. The study signifier will give out via electronic mail or station on facebook with the conditions merely for UM pupils.1.7 Research RestrictionIn my ain research there were several restrictions I came across, including: Uncontrollable Test Group- Because every homo is different, so it is hard for me to happen a group of people who have precisely same thought. This means that I had to study as many people as possible so that merely can account for differences. Size and specificity in trial groups- So far my research merely had a really little trial group which contained 200 pupils from different modules, and often in my survey the topics will all be taken from merely one constitution such as merely in University Malaya. As a consequence, most of the studied has a really similar category group or environment and their consequences may non so be used to pull the whole decisions. Personal Perception- To acquire some utile sentiment, I will inquire some subjective inquiry in the signifier of a study such as â€Å" what is the most suited conveyance for a pupil to come to school? † However, many studies have shown that a individual ‘s perceptual experience of themselves is different and their descriptions of their ain suited conveyance non necessary suitable for others. Facebook- In order to acquire as many people as possible, I plan to open a study on Facebook, but this means that for those who answer the study must had a Facebook history. Therefore my informations is focus on pupils who have easy and consistent entree to a computing machine and internet service. Changes over Time- Everything is altering over the clip. The policies, ordinances, even the conditions will maintain on altering every twenty-four hours. This alteration mean any research done may be invalidated in the hereafter as find of a new conveyance that may do new or different effects. Research on green conveyance system is hence will behind the curve.

Business Report of Lenovo Essay

Introduction Lenovo was found in 1984 in Beijing and it is the world’s second-largest PC vendor. According to the last official statistic, Lenovo consolidated turnover of 146.6 billion Yuan and Lenovo employs nearly 40,000 people. Lenovo is a well-known national brand in China and Lenovo is serving customers in more than 160 countries. In order to expand overseas business and access to world-class brand, Lenovo carried out an acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division in 2005. IBM was founded in 1911 in the United States and it is the largest information technology and business solutions company in the world, currently has more than 30 million employees in the world, with operations in over 160 countries and regions. The problems experienced by Lenovo concerns the construction of cross-cultural teams. Most of the merger and acquisition fail in the post-merger cultural integration. Lenovo set up work teams for designing the future of IBM and developing the new view after acquisition. The results had been shown it uneasy and can lead to the failure of the Lenovo’s acquisition strategy. At the beginning of the acquisition, cultural differences had not been enough anticipated in the acquisition process. And Lenovo wants to remedy the problem as soon as possible to make IBM acquisition profitable in the next strategy. The report part of the business plan Summary This report is intended to identify, describe and propose some solutions to Lenovo to solve the problems about teams and groups in the acquisition of the IBM. This report will describe problems associated with team building, provides some possible solutions and evaluates each of these. And, this report will describe the impact of cultural differences on the establishment of work groups. Actually, Lenovo had taken some measures, but it with little success. According to the current state of Lenovo, this report will give some suggestions and solutions to overcome or avoid the conflict caused by cultural differences and set up effective cross-cultural teams. Especially, these solutions are based on literature on the issue. It concludes that it is necessary for the company to establish effective and appropriate measures to eliminate the barriers in cross-cultural teams, as absence of this may threaten the company’s long-term development. To overcome the problem, Lenovo should take the follow action for IBM survival: * Obtain the core values between Chinese employees and American employees through an internal survey. * Design an international training program for all the employees and especially for managers. * Incorporate both corporate cultures of Lenovo and IBM to create a new corporate culture. * Every cross-culture team should organise monthly meeting or weekly meeting to evaluate the progress of communications and work. * Organise some internally non-working activities to create more opportunities for the communication among employees with different cultural context. * Set up the special teams to deal with the problem caused by cultural difference in every cross-cultural team. Introduction This section of business plan will introduce the problems caused by cultural differences in cross-cultural teams and give some suggestions to overcome the problems. In the acquisition of IBM, Lenovo accepted more than 10,000 employees and it also means that Lenovo accepted a very different culture. Lenovo is not only facing the differences between western and eastern culture, but also Lenovo facing the problems of how to integrate the teams with different organisationally cultural context. In this report, the recommendations to overcome the problems in cross-cultural teams and groups are based on the literature on team building and cross-cultural team management. Body At the beginning of the acquisition of IBM, Lenovo had taken some measures. For example, in order to both sides can communicate better, the new Lenovo use the international common language – English as the official language of the company. But cultural integration is a long-term process, which requires companies to devote their time and patience and the communication, compromise between both of high level, and staff in the acquisition. It must not be too hasty. Base on the fact of Lenovo, there are three aspects should be noticed and improved. Firstly, IBM has a long history and IBM has very high brand awareness. In addition to the brand, employees can get the respect for personal values ​​and a comfortable working environment can be provided for employees by the human resources services and the improvement of the system. In contrast, Lenovo has a big gap no matter the position in IT industry and the strength of themselves. If some team members uphold the cultural superiority or group superiority that their own cultural value system better than those members from other cultures or groups, their behavior maybe resulting in the failure of team building because they will be possible to take hate and boycott from other members, even lead to conflict. Because the conflicts caused by cultural differences between team members and individual differences under thus influence, analysis and identification of cultural differences is necessary. Secondly, communication is the process of exchange and transmission of information among people or groups. Because of the multi-cultural background, language and non-language barrier, people lack of understanding of each other’s political, economic, legal, social and cultural environment, and the understanding of the customs, values, etc. are different. They are often based on their own perspective to make an analysis and judgment on each other’s information, and thus the misunderstanding and conflict are often obtained. Because of these, design a multi-cultural training and hold a monthly meeting or weekly meeting is necessary. Thirdly, a company has an acquisition of another company means an integration of two different corporate cultures. When the employees of a cross-cultural group are conscious of the different of personal cultural awareness with others, it will be cause the group lost their purpose. Based on the possibility, establish a common business concept and corporate culture is a good solution to this problem. Establish a new joint management concept and a strong culture based on the environmental requirements and the principle of the company’s strategic development, so that reducing cultural conflict and that each employee’s thinking and behavior can combine with the company’s operations and purpose. Adopting these recommendations and the actions in summary can make internal and external combination of the teams more closely, establish a good reputation in the international market and enhance multinational cultural adaptability. This is the ultimate goal of why Lenovo needs solve the cross-cultural issues of teams and group in the acquisition of IBM. (1077 words) Section 2 1. What the literature says â€Å"teams and groups† The importance of teams and groups for an organisation In modern society, one person’s power, information and resources are limited. Most time people need cooperate with others no matter working or others as Handy (1993) said â€Å"On average, managers spend 50% of their working day in one sort of group or other. Senior managers can spend 80%†. Although there is no clear and single definition of a â€Å"teams and groups†, there is a basic limited definition by Bennett (1991) â€Å"a collection of two or more people who possess a common purpose†. The formation of an organisation groups in order to achieve the purpose of work more efficiently. An organisation can produce some different kinds of groups, for example: formal and informal, LOCO, HICO, teams, etc. An organisation needs to be aware of their differences and use them as efficiently as possible. There are a lot satisfying reasons why an organisation should create work groups. For example, organising effective groups can have some uses for the distribution of work, the management and control of work, problem-solving and decision-making, information processing, information and idea collection, testing and ratifying decisions, co-ordination and liaison, increased commitment and involvement, negotiation and conflict resolution, inquest or inquiry into the past. (Handy, 1993) No matter what kind of a group there is a bottom line is â€Å"A strong group is †¦ usually more powerful than a strong individual and can have a considerable effect on organizational policy and practice.†(Thomson, 2002) This literature review will pay attention on teams mainly. In a team, everyone plays different role and they have specific function and they working with an important principle â€Å"voluntarily co-ordinate their work in order to achieve group objectives†(Bennett, 1991). Building a team People hope they can define their identity through their membership of certain groups like people belong to local political and pressure groups, for example, because they experience a shared set of values with the other people in the group which reinforces their own values. But, according to Thomson (1997), one reason why people belong to group is â€Å"social needs†. As Thomson & Mabey said â€Å"some †¦ groups will be family or friendship groups, which are formed to meet a diverse range of needs such as affection, security, support, belonging or identity. Some may be committees, where members usually represent different interest groups who come together to discuss their differing perspectives on matters of interest†, people should build a team for the work that is highly complex problems, need for consensus decisions and there is uncertainty when a broad range of competences are required. A company is a big group of a lot of people working together, so the managers are responsible to build effective teams or workgroups. After collecting more individual talents, building a team has the ability to use the talents on a united effort and success is very important (Woodcock, 1979). Consequently, the managers should know how to effectively build a team. In general, the managers must have the knowledge about the five development stages (forming, storming, norming, performing and mourning) in a team or workgroup and they should have an appropriate leading method for themselves (Thomson & Mabey, 1994). Of course, this is not enough for managing a team. The managers need realise everyone’s advantages and dis advantages in the team and especially the differences of their culture context. Teams and cross-cultural context In modern society, business environment developed quickly international. Different cultural members mixed in a team so that the team has powerful ability to solve complex problem. But, individuals from different cultural context must show a different behavior and values in the team. This is because the people’s cognition, thinking, needs, values, code of conduct, customs, etc. are formed in the years of life, work and education. The individual differences caused by cultural differences led to the conflict of the team in the cross-cultural context (Sun, 2012). So, how to make a cross-cultural team working effective is the main responsibility of managers. In a cross-cultural team, there is an important factor is a clear understanding of every one culture and values, and a process of acculturation. The acculturation process is a mutual exchange of cultural pattern (Olie, 1995). Related to the case of Lenovo, the best recommendation for acculturation is integration. It different with one culture dominate the others, integration is a process of acculturation (Nahavandi & Malekzadeh, 1995). Interest for Lenovo In the case of Lenovo, Chinese and American must accept each other for working effectively. But the main problem in the cross-cultural groups is communication. The managers of Lenovo must make everyone in the group understands and adapt to the different culture with some training or actions. And more important is design a politic cooperatively cultural pattern. 2. What does the literature say about different cultural contexts and its influence on teams and groups What are culture and its importance According to Hofstede(2003), culture is â€Å"the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another†. It related to a group. With a large-scale research study of IBM branches around the world by Geert Hofstede, the culture is considered a compositive project. Geert Hofstede creates a new way to describe culture through five variables: power distance, individualism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation. All theories have limitations. Although this method created by Geert Hofstede is not absolutely right, it does not affect the theory of Hofstede can analyse one country’s culture as a valuable tool. Contract with the case of Lenovo, the most important effect by culture is â€Å"Currently only 25% of international mergers and acquisitions in Europe are successful. The price of failure is high. Cultural misunderstanding lead to loss of face, loss of money and, in extreme case, even loss of life† (Gibson cited in Naysmith, 2006). If managers do not pay enough attention on the culture, it possibly can cause the failure of the acquisition of IBM. Organisational culture Culture is not only exists in the countries, but also culture exists in any organisation constituted by people. Based on Handy (1993) said, â€Å"The role organisation will succeed as long as it can operate in a stable environment†. A steady cultural environment is necessary for an organization get success. At the same time, organisational culture is manageable and it can affects the approach of management, the accepted goals and customer of the society determine and influence that what managers strive for and the rule observed by managers (Stewart cited in Naysmith, 2006). So, the organisation also based on the cultural context of the country. The organisational culture can also measured by the five variables created by Hofstede.(Geert Hofstede, 2001) Influence of culture on â€Å"teams and groups† If a company formed by people comes from different cultural country, this company will own a special energy. It is a competitive advantage from a cross-cultural context. But, exerting the competitive advantage effectively is the most important challenge for the cross-cultural group. Because in a cross-cultural group the members have different working purpose and processes will be revealed. (Maznevski & Peterson, 1997) The effectiveness of work group will be decreased by the ethnocentrism, stereotypes, different expectations and difference in values. And these negative emotions will produce the anxiety and misunderstanding in-group, even diminishing the workers dedication to the company and destroying the group ardor. Interenst for Lenovo Cross-border mergers and acquisitions not only include the corporate cultural differences of both sides, but also include the cultural differences between the countries of the two sides. Organise some activities or cultural training to make more opportunities for every understanding different culture can eliminate the negative affects effectively. 3. Conclusion This literature review introduces some keys briefly for understanding teams and groups in a cross-cultural context. Firstly, teams and groups are particular important for an organisation. But there are some problems should be solved in a cross-cultural group. The managers is not only should know everyone’s skill and talent, but also they should know their difference caused by different cultural context. And some actions can make a good communication between each other for understanding the differences are necessary. Secondly, based on enough knowledge to understand the importance of culture, the managers should eliminate the negative affects of cross-cultural context through some activities or training. And the most important is creating an appropriate organisational culture. It can give the cross-cultural group an approach, so the cross-cultural group can exerts the competitive advantages completely. Bibliography Bennett, R., (1991), Organisational Behavior, London: M&E/Pitman, pp.145, 154. Geert Hofstede, (2001), Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations, Second Edition, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications Geert Hofstede, (2003), Cultures and Organisations, Intercultural Cooperation and Its Importance for Survival, Soft ware of the Mind, London: Profile Books Ltd. Handy, C, (1993), Understanding Organisations (4th ed.), London: Penguin, pp.150-2. Maznevski, M. & Peterson, M.F., (1997), Societal Values, Social Interpretation, and Multinational Teams. In C. Skromme Granrose & S. Oskamp (Eds.), Cross-Cultural Work Groups, pp. 61-89, London: Sage Publications Ltd. Nahavandi, A. & Malekzadeh, A.R., (1995), Acculturation in mergers and acquisitions, In Jackson (Ed.), Cross-Cultural Management, pp. 328-341, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Olie, R., (1995), Culture and integration problem in international mergers and acquisitions, In T. Jackson (Ed.), Cross-Cultural Management, pp. 308-325, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Sun Ziwen, (2012, April 13), Case analysis of the cultural integration in cross-border mergers and acquisitions of Chinese enterprises, People’s Forum, 356(2), 7. Thomson, R., (2002), Managing people (3rd ed.), Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, pp.92, 95. Thomson, R. & Mabey, C., (1994), Developing Human Resources, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann in association with the Institute of Management, pp.177. Woodcock, M., (1979), Team Development Manual, Aldershot: Gower Press Teakfield Limited, pp.177.

Civil Engineering Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 11250 words

Civil Engineering - Dissertation Example According to the report findings transit service works best when it is considered as an integral part of roadway design, development, and urban revitalization. The success of the transit service is directly tied to accomodation of the pedestrian. Pedestrian phases at busy intersections provide additional protection. Separate bicycle stop lines at intersections increase visibility and give cyclists a chance to pull away ahead of turning vehicles. As the paper stresses cities should take into account when investing money into roads that address the diversity of the population that is going to use those roads such as poor people, and households that do not own cars. Hence high and low road designs must â€Å"meet multiple objectives which are as follows: improving highways for their traffic movement, linking transporation investments to land use planning. In designing high and low roads then it must be essentially a factor as to what sorts of people it would benefit by using these roads -some people who are regulars who are using these roads to go to work, and kids riding the school bus to get to class everyday as opposed to someone who is a tourist and is more likely to frequent the use of the road much less. In the low road scenario, the role of any central organization is to ensure the integrity of the internal data definitions and networking standards and to provide full access. Indeed, aside from a process for establishin g a minimal set of data definitions and a means for data exchange, there may be no centrally controlled organization at all. The role of standards in the low road scenario is an important but limited one. Standards ensure the integrity of the internal data exchange process. The low road philosophy view most corporate technology standards as impediments to progress. They demand to use the latest technology, the best of new development tools, and the most appropriate software for their particular application (Azad,nd. p.1)." I would like to address this last point that my research included to use as a fundamental

A Theory of Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

A Theory of Art - Essay Example Art is an important part of the life experience as it evokes feelings and emotions that attach themselves to the work in question and portrays the meaning of our culture. Yet, society continues to struggle with the definition of art. Art defies description; we may know it when we see it, but we can not define it as it is too complex, varied, and prone to individual subjectivity. To define art, it is first necessary to define where the art is at. The art may be the act of its production, the end result, or the sensation that the viewer experiences from the encounter. To be considered art, all three components must be consciously involved in its production. As an example, if a paint can inadvertently spills onto a canvas, it is not art even if it is beautiful. There was no action on the part of the artist that would elevate an accidental spill to the level of art. Likewise, if the art produces no sensation in the viewer, such as a bottle of urine, then the art has no artistic content no matter how much time and effort the artist spent. Allowing a work to be labelled 'art' that does not meet these requirements results in the flood of mediocrity, and worse, that has recently come to the attention of the popular media. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres described these types of works in the 18th century as, "banality, which is a public scourge, which afflicts taste a nd burdens the administration, fruitlessly absorbing resources, it would be best to abandon exhibitions; to declare boldly that only monumental painting be encouraged" (cited in Harrison, Wood, & Gaiger, 1998, p.469). Ignoring this important aspect of art has been responsible for inappropriate bodily fluids being labelled and accepted as mainstream art. The standard definition of art includes the traditional view that artwork is characterized by the possession of representational properties, expressive properties, or formal properties (Adajian, 2007). This definition also would include many items that are not art and were never intended to be art. A shopping list would not be considered art, yet may qualify under this generic definition. This simplistic set of requirements is not complete enough and is too broad to be of any value. While it may describe some objects and acts that are not art, it stops far short of defining what art is. To accommodate and update this traditional definition, recent decades have seen a surge of theories and movements designed to justify new and unusual art forms.Any theory or movement that adequately defines art and aestheticism would be necessarily narrow and exclusionary. While some schools of art, such as the Dada movement believes that anything can be art, other movements, such as minimalism, belie ve that nothing is art. These extreme positions, in regards to the definition of art, only serve to include every worldly endeavour as artistically worthwhile, but do little to help define art. In fact, these broad, nihilistic, and inclusive movements dilute art's purpose, meaning, and cultural value. Art needs to be defined within a set of boundaries that are acceptable by cognitive recognition and reflect a sense of values. This does not imply that the values need to adhere to any preconceived framework of acceptability. While racism may be an unacceptable human value, its portrayal could serve

Armenian Genocide Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Armenian Genocide - Annotated Bibliography Example He tells how he was able to evade all the killing and the many times he meet with death. The film is entertaining and full of Turkish information on genocide which is ideal for watching to college students who are interested with information on Turkish political nature during the time. This is a well written and researched historical account of all whole series of persecutions and massacres that made up of the Armenian genocide. This is a non fiction book which is ideal for those people who like being informed and have the facts of the Turkish massacre. The author of the book is lecturer in twentieth-century history. He addresses the origins, developments and the aftermath of the Armenian genocide in a more wide range which is based on secondary and primary sources from the parties which were involved in the genocide. Particular interest is paid to the international context of ethnic polarization that was far culminated in the massive life and property destruction of 1912-1923 in Turkey, and obliteration of Armenian. Additionally, the book finds its interpretation of the Armenian genocide in the interaction with the Ottoman Empire in its period of terminal decline. Nevertheless, if finds out that the self-interested policies of the existing European imperial powers and the agenda of Armenian nationalists and beyond ottoman victory. The books is a good source of information of the twentieth century history in Europe and more specifically Armenia it can be used from high school studies all the way to college level The author of the book was a survivor of the Armenian genocide. According to him, Talaat who was a minister of interior and the main mastermind of the genocide fled fro turkey to seek refuge in Germany where he carried on and also laboured for pan-Turkism. Talaat was tried in absentia by Turkish authorities and was also

Starbucks strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Starbucks strategy - Essay Example Finally or fourth, the business strategy must define the broad terms that will put the business on a secured foothold in its area of business. Each distinct business endeavour must have its own business strategy so that if a business covers several business areas then it must have several business strategies (MacMillan and Tampoe 2000, p. 171). Although there is a tendency for a business strategy to be lengthy, a business strategy document must be short enough so that the document can be read and understood in one sitting (MacMillan and Tampoe 2000, p. 17). The content of business strategy can cover strategic intent, the principal findings of a strategic assessment, the strategic choices that have been made and the supporting rationale, a statement of goals and objectives, and an outline of the strategic initiatives (Macmillan and Tampoe 2000, p. 17). There are several business strategy formulation frameworks that businesses use in their business practice as well as employ in articul ating their business strategy. Based on the preponderance in the literature, it seems that two of the most popular ones are Michael Porter’s Five Forces Strategy Formulation System and the Blue Ocean Strategy Formulation System of W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. Both approaches have a sizeable following and appear to be a contrast of strategy formulation framework for business. ... 1). Kim and Mauborgne (2005, p. 106) describes the blue ocean strategy as the strategy that seeks a market where there are no competitors known as â€Å"blue oceans†. According to Kim and Mauborgne (2005, p. 106), a blue ocean strategy implies being uncontested in the market, irrelevance of competition, creation and capture of new demand, value for money, and aligning firm attention towards a focus on differentiation and lower costs. The Kim and Mauborgne perspective utilize the analogy of a blue ocean that is calm and without competition that can make the blue ocean very bloody or red. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis and Kim and Mauborgne’s blue ocean strategy do not exhaust the possible variations of available business strategy formulation frameworks but the two business strategy formulation frameworks probably state the spectrum on which the various business strategy formulation frameworks can be found. II. Starbucks through time and today We trace the history o f growth of Starbucks Corporation based on its postings through its official website at www.starbucks.com and official reports that the corporation gave to government agencies. Starbucks Corporation started from a single narrow-front store selling coffee beans in Seattle’s Pike Place Market (Starbucks Corporation 2010a). The corporate name originated from the Moby Dick novel and was intended to evoke the romance of the high seas and the early coffee traders (Starbucks Corporation 2010a). The current Starbucks Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer had walked into a Starbucks store in 1981, fell in love with Starbucks coffee, and joined the company a year after. However, in 1983, Howard Schultz travelled to Italy, was exposed to Italian coffee bars, and has been described

Argument by Authority Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Argument by Authority - Essay Example It is premised on the assumption that the game (obviously an NBA game), the guys and Bacardi Gold always go together. It supported this thesis by stressing at the game, guys and friendship is made â€Å"golden† by Bacardi. Therefore, its audience should get drunk with Bacardi Gold to enjoy friendship while viewing a game (youtube 2010). In this commercial, it is not only the arguments (if it is even considered as one) that is dubious, but the elements as well. First, alcohol and a wholesome game such as basketball do not mix. Second, it is hard to enjoy a game when a person is sober. The maker of this commercial did not make a research that alcohol is a downer and a game raises one’s adrenaline, so how could one enjoy both? Above all, an alcohol company is never an authority about friendship; of what constitutes it and of how to qualify it. What Bacardi is suggesting is an alcohol binge between friends so that its product will be patronized. Friendship in the first place is not founded on alcohol. Bacardi can however defy logic by claiming to be an authority of friendship and a game. After all, it delivers the subtle message that it is an authority by mentioning that it is an official marketing partner of NBA so it must know what it is talking