Organization Diversification Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organization Diversification - Case Study Example Besix is one of the oldest construction companies and on the verge of completing its 100th year of operation as it was founded in 1909. Ever since then, it has through the above four factors impressively become the largest construction company of Belgium and diversified into almost every field related to construction projects nationally and world-wide. As a Group, Besix employs in excess of 12,000 people in its diversified operations and in the year 2005, its annual turnover was reported at an approximate figure of Euros 1 billion. With Besix's management's planning, organizing and controlling experience that it has gained through its years of construction related work, it has been able to internationally diversify primarily in construction, engineering and development of properties. The Group intends to become a leading player that will serve the Western and Central European markets from Belgium and the Middle East market from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates where it has expanded its construction business since 1967 and become among the region's top most contractors. Each of these subsidies is independently registered where they operate to meet the regulatory law of the countries where they carry out their business again independently but under a hierarchal order which eventually reports to t

Why is it so difficult to assess and evaluate the likelihood of Essay

Why is it so difficult to assess and evaluate the likelihood of terrorist attacks, both within the United States and throughout the world - Essay Example terrorist attacks in the United States made the government and counter-terrorist organizations realize the urgent and efficient need of counter-terrorist tactics and methodologies for the protection of their public, leadership and infrastructure. Governments of countries all across the world are emerging with modern and effectual strategies. However, certain hindrances are faced during the process of terrorist risk assessment and evaluation. The paper highlights such problems. Terrorists have used a variety of tactics over a period of time to bring about fear in the minds of general public or any particular group of people. Hence, it would be safe to say that terrorists aim to cause a psychological impact significantly. Common tactics employed by terrorists are bombings, biological and chemical attacks, environmental attacks such as hazardous waste disposal and other tactics such as hijacking, kidnapping, sabotage and arson (Duncan et al 313). International counterterrorism efforts include not only state-to-state co-operation but also multilateral co-ordination such as through Interpol. However, it has been observed that Interpol, international police agency, effectiveness has been restricted due to particular reasons. It is poorly funded and the quantity of staff is also not enough limiting its effectiveness. Moreover, Interpol is not allowed to involve in political issues (Duncan et al 315). The separation of Interpol from politics makes counterterroris m a difficult procedure as most of the terrorist attacks are related to political issues and circumstances. The European Union also developed a similarly acting agency called as Europol. Although Europol works effectively in controlling drugs and human trafficking, the counterterrorism efforts are still lagging behind. Europol requires political, technical and financial enhancement and development to tackle terrorist organizations or activities (Duncan et al 315). One of the major problems faced by the

Facebook and Privacy Essay Example for Free

Facebook and Privacy Essay Objective Summary: Ex-Apple Engineer, Peter Warden, has collected public fan page data from 215 million Facebook pages, revealing current trends, such as ‘God’ being the number one most popular fan page among Facebook users in the Southern U.S., whereas ‘Barack Obama’ featured heavily for San Francisco users, and ‘Starbucks’ was number one in Idaho. Warden plans to release this data to the academic community because he sees great potential in the data that can be extracted from these sites. This process is called data harvesting. The article suggests future academic work in this area is likely to occu impacting on peoples privacy. (FACTS 100 words) Response: The ETHICAL issue central to this article is privacy and control. On one hand, Warden claims his intentions are altruistic (helpful to others) and that the data he is making visible here is a matter of public discourse. However, the FACTS are that individual users who are generating this data have neither been consulted about the data collection nor have they given permission for Warden to use it. Clearly Warden does not VALUE others peoples privacy as much as he WANTS (emotion) to create the website. The argument could be made that once a user ‘becomes a fan’ of a page on Facebook or, indeed, publishes any content to the internet, that information becomes public. User who have deployed privacy settings to carefully maintain a strong sense of control over their profiles, however, might well feel very ANGRY about this use of their data. Facebook can harvest that data (and does, for targeted advertising purposes) because they have a commitment to those advertisers (emotion )and engineers like Warden can develop data-trawling engines to collect accessible information across a massive dataset. The LAW needs to be much clearer about the rights of consumers, companies and advertisers in these situations. As Facebook is presumably bound by its own set of critically considered ETHICAL guidelines, these are neverthess underpinned by commercial VALUES and a vested interest (emotion) in keeping the data of its users from competitors. Warden claims to be operating under his own set of ethics that privilege (value) the furthering of knowledge. The issue then shifts to the academic community. Warden contends that one of his central motivations for collecting this data was so that he could share it with the academic community. Although this claim may be true, most (if not, all) Universities have clear ETHICAL guidelines for research that explicitly VALUE and therefore require consent from participants. If none of the users gave consent for their data to be collected in this way, this in effect denies them a sense of AGENCY. Thus, academically, this data is tainted. While its implications are important the trends it makes visible are crucial to understanding the localised structures of social network sites like Facebook. Personally, I would believe people should be able to tick a box that gives consent for the use of their personal material. I do not believe, either, that it should be one of those boxes you are obliged to tick before being able to use a site: that removes my personal AGENCY and I VALUE this very much. It should be up to me to decide whether other people get my data. If this sort of system was in place, everyone would know the FACTS, everyone would understand what is going on and no one would feel (emotion) betrayed or exposed unfairly.

Ideological Messages in Film: The Blindside

Ideological Messages in Film: The Blindside Select a television drama or a film. Using relevant terms and concepts derived from genre analysis, narrative analysis, critical discourse analysis, semiotic analysis, or auteur analysis (you may use any or all of these methods), show how your chosen text constructs ideological messages. You must use secondary readings to support your analysis and include an APA bibliography at the end of your essay. Do not choose a television drama or a film covered in class. This essay will use a variety of different methods of analysis to show how the film The Blind Side constructs ideological messages. The film The Blind Side depicts the struggle of a Black American man to assimilate as part of a predominantly white American society. Michael Oher, the main protagonist presents the idea from the outset regarding how a black man experiences maltreatment and discriminative treatment from the white community, something that appears as a common trend in American mainstream ideologies. The film is hugely responsible for the deconstruction of the traditional perceptions, through the presentation of the Tuohy family creating alternative ideologies to dispel them. A persons ideology makes the culture more informed and therefore better adapted to make a judgement. Ideology differs from culture, in that it adds a political dimension to the discussion on culture. It suggests that relations of power shape the cultural and ideological landscape. (Storey, 2009). The Tuohys ideology is vastly different from the standard culture of the society. Because they play an influential role in the community, they have the audacity have to express their ideologies. It is hard in the beginning to show their different point of view, but they win the battle against their adversaries because Michael shows that he is different from the stereotypic character of a Black American. The ideology created here is formed mainly of concepts surrounding power, and this produces a platform for the prejudice to be dismissed. In this movie, the director shows how White Americans like the Tuohy family accept Michael for who he is. The ideological message portrayed is that he Is of an equal ability and have a right to the same right to the principles upheld by the family. The Tuohys become Michaels enduring guide as he makes a vast transformation, obtaining social acceptance, and involvement. From this sense, it can be perceived that Hancocks film depicts an ideology as it emphasizes the different issues of the society such as racism and cultural interaction, and how these are being dispelled by gracious acts from an unexpected source. Throughout the discussion of Michaels life, the film is depicted with flashbacks to contrast his past life from the current occurrences. In many cases such as the depiction of Michaels mother, these create ideological themes, enabling the audience to follow the wider story as it progresses. They are also vitally important details that help establish the main characters personality, through his protective and instinctive natures. The ideologies this creates are solely to gain and obtain an emotive engagement from the audience, giving context of the misfortunes he has undergone and the transformation he is now making. The film depicts the dilemma of Black Americans and integration into a White American family, and this ultimately provides this moral dilemma. Regardless of the magnitude of the gesture, the family are still going to be judged heavily for their kindness. The director, however, presents the the moral undertaking in a positive light throughout the film. Although negativity is presented, it is always eliminated. This ideological message portrays them as holding a hugely controversial moral standpoint. The large majority of the people actively looking to adopt in this country are white and for the most part they want white children, at least initially. (Bartholet, 1991) However, the ideology of repulsion is presented as a conflict of the film, within the Tuohys social surroundings. Since the socialite family are instrumental individuals, because of their wealth and notoriety people around them think that adopting Michael taints their good reputation. This is one of the major battles presented of the film as they choose between self-preservation and their controversial moral standpoint. Blacks are purposely portrayed in films with negative stereotypes that reinforced white supremacy over them. This has had a tremendous effect on our view of blacks since motion pictures have had more of an impact on the public mind than any other entertainment medium in the last ninety years. (Sampson, 1995) The contradictory theme in this, is that he is presented honourably, promoting his abilities rather than his skin colour. The further ideological messages of racism are made within the within the classroom. According to John Storey (2009), race and racism are not natural or inevitable phenomena; they have a history and are a result of human actions and interactions. He additionally is subject to discriminatory behaviour inside his classroom. His teacher demonstrates a recognition of his differences from the other more able students. It is a form of stereotype that the media continues to express towards its audience, in this case through subtle hints at his poor intellectual capacity. Another ideological construction that exists in this film is the socialites and the significance of their lifestyle in his transformation. This ideology shows the contrast of how a wealthy white woman is perceived in comparison to Michael and his inability to fend for himself due to his disadvantaged background. (Sorey, 2012) explains that the social construction of culture, and culture as a particular way of life, or expression of this particular way of living helps us to establish an understanding of the shared values of a group or class of people. Being a wealthy, successful independent woman she is perceived as being of a high social order and highly intellectual. She is described as a flawless and sophisticated character that has special abilities and an exceptional eye for taste when it comes to her personal needs. Culture also plays an important role in establishing ideologies in the film. People have different culture, but through cultural relativism, they become connected. There is no doubt that cultures differ in substantial ways, and that these differences have substantial psychological effects on the members of the culture. (Rozin, 2003) The Tuohys acknowledge Michaels cultural differences even though his social and family background seems improper because it contains imperfections. This message shows the Tuohys have a specific set of moral values. They believe that Black Americans are unacceptable within their community or surroundings because they are the root of negativities in the community. The Tuohys do not change this norm, but they create their own values by accepting Michael and believe in him and his capabilities as a person. Bibliography Bartholet, E. (1991) Where do black children belong? The politics of race matching in adoption, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 139(5), p. 1163. doi: 10.2307/3312364. Lam, E.R. and Szekely, K.S. (1987) Blacks in television: A selective, annotated bibliography, Journal of Popular Film and Television, 14(4), pp. 176-183. doi: 10.1080/01956051.1987.9944224. PORTRAYAL OF MINORITIES IN THE FILM, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES (1998) Available at: https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/portrayal.htm (Accessed: 24 February 2017). Rozin, P. (2003) Five potential principles for understanding cultural differences in relation to individual differences, Journal of Research in Personality, 37(4), pp. 273-283. doi: 10.1016/s0092-6566(02)00566-4. Sampson, H.T. (1995) Blacks in black and white: A source book on black films. 2nd edn. New York, NY, United States: The Scarecrow Press. Storey, J.W. (2009) Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction (5th edition). 5th edn. Harlow, England: Pearson Longman. Storey, J.W. (2012) Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction (6th edition). 6th edn. Harlow, England: Pearson.

Logic, Perception, and Enculturation Essay -- The Nature of Logic

Think about it. How important is thinking? Americans spend all of their day thinking and misthinking of multiple decisions and ideas. Thinking is a very important process of how our thoughts, when transferred verbally or written on paper, can produce a clearer understanding of our views. The nature of logic as it relates to critical thinking, and my perceptual process have been influenced through sources of enculturation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The nature of logic as understood is when you have a situation, belief, tradition, etc. that is examined and reviewed in great detail to discover the reasoning behind a behavior. Critical thinking as I understand it is when you view a situation in multiple ways to get a accurate answer or results. The nature of logic relates to critical thinking by examining the situation and thoughts to get a clearer decision of possible outcomes, or reasoning. For instance, before heading to work you watch the news and their morning traffic update for possible accidents and road closures because you have an hour commute. On this particular morning you hear the traffic reporter mention that your daily route to work has been closed due to a huge tractor-trailer accident. Logically, and using critical thinking you are able to come up with two alternate routes for getting to work on time. Using further logic and critical thinking you watch the news for further traffic details to mak e a final decision on one of two alternate choices. You hear that one of your choic...

Special Needs Education Essay -- Special Education, mentally retarded

One of the most controversial issues facing educators today is the topic of educating students with disabilities, specifically through the concept of inclusion. Inclusion is defined as having every student be a part of the classroom all working together no matter if the child has a learning disability or not (Farmer) (Inclusion: Where We’ve Been.., 2005, para. 5). The mentally retarded population has both a low IQ and the inability to perform everyday functions. Activities such as eating, dressing, walking, and in some cases, talking can be hopeless for a child with mental retardation. Schooling for the disabled requires a special environment—one that only a few teachers have the gift to care for. Instead of looking out for the child’s needs, the government is focused on passing test grades and social skills. Mentally retarded children require a highly trained special education teacher, patience for behavioral issues, and are also required to pass standardized tests; public education for these students move at a faster pace than they can comprehend and lack the personal focus that they would otherwise get in a special needs classroom. The first special education students included the deaf, blind, and later the mentally retarded. If a person was cursed with mental retardation, it was commonly believed to be a demonic possession (Farmer) (Inclusion: Where We’ve Been.., 2005, para. 2). . It wasn’t until the twentieth century that these students were being taught in an educational environment. Realizing that the mentally disabled needed a unique education, the government began taking action. In the 1990’s, the federal and supreme courts began taking an interest in improving special education. Laws began coming into effect almost ... ...c. 2000. 239-259. Washington University School of Law. 17 Mar 2011. Farmer, Marie S. â€Å"Inclusion: Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, Where We’re Going.† Mar 2005. Georgia College & State University. 17 Mar 2011. Harchik, Alan. â€Å"Including Children with Special Needs in Regular Classrooms: Pros and Cons† News for Parents. 2005. May Institute. 18 Mar 2011. Lazarus, Belinda D. â€Å"What is Inclusion?† Making Inclusion Work. Feb 2001. University of Michigan-Dearborn. 18 Mar 2011. Le Fave, Dominic. No Child Left Behind and Special Education Explained. 23 Aug 2010. Philosophographlux. 29 Mar 2011.

Why Should the Factor of Political Stability Be at the Very Top?

Why should the factor of political stability be at the very top of the list of criteria used to evaluate the attractiveness of potential foreign investments? There are several issues that should be considered when evaluating the attractiveness of a potential foreign investment. Among them we can stress three main groups of criteria: general market risks, commercial risks and political risks (the ones in focus in this essay).Political risks are caused by changes in a country’s political structure or policies and, according to Hollensen (2007) ownership, operating and transfer risks are the main types that a marketer can face. Restrictions in repatriation of profits, change of government party, civil strife, revolution and wars can threat the attractiveness of a certain market. J. Eli Margolis (Estimating State Instability 2012) tried to create a method that could help warning such problems as the ‘Arabic Spring’.As we know today, it is not merely cheap labor that F DI is constantly seeking: political considerations must join the economic ones so the investment has the chance to be succeeded. As an example, we can talk about the Solomon Islands: after serious civil turbulence, law and order were restored and political and economic situation started improving gradually. However, political instability remained a challenge and so, a key obstacle in attracting foreign direct investment into the country. Trade Policy review-WTO). Despite all this evidence we can always find different opinions. According to Peter D. Bennett and Robert T. Green (JMR 1972), political instability can be considered as a primary consideration in foreign investment decisions only within combined contexts of region and economic development and not as a general reason. Risk is not just about the possibility of losing market share or profits. Politic stability is extremely important.Taking the Irish case as an example, their aspiration to be free from British dependency resul ted in a policy of strong macroeconomic stability and honest bureaucracy. As a result, nowadays more than half of the Irish economy is foreign owned. There is political risk in every nation but also a wide range of procedures that countries can adopt to become more attractive to foreign investment ( E. g. Ease or resolve instability through humanitarian or government aid – S. Korean/ N.Korean 1999). In conclusion, I can say that terrorism and corruption are great threats for FI but there is always a way to face the situation and succeed. A detailed analyses of the host market and anticipation of certain risks is essential for the success of the investment and that is why the factor of political stability should be at the very top of the list of criteria used to evaluate the attractiveness of potential foreign investments. Filipa Florencio 26/03/2013