War in Afghanistan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

War in Afghanistan - Research Paper Example That is what the point of this research is: to find out how relevant the war really is today. II. Subjects for Study According to Hersh (2004), "A report for the United Nations Development Program...stated that the nation was in danger of once again becoming 'a terrorist breeding ground' [if they did not receive more development aid]" (p. 145). This paper will basically focus upon 30 individuals. The number thirty is chosen because that is a statistically significant number. The subjects which are most likely to be chosen will probably be a mixture. People will be from different ethnic backgrounds. People to be surveyed will be from different races. They will be, most likely, from the city and the suburbs. People to be surveyed will be married, single, and divorced. Ages of survey participants will range from 18 years to 80 years, on average. No one younger than 18 will be surveyed due to ethical considerations, which will be discussed more in the next section. Additionally, it is probably highly likely that no one over age 80 will be surveyed due to the fact that there might not that many older people to survey. Basically, people are going to be asked those three questions. A survey will be given. The results will be tallied. The research will be presented in the form of graphs. III. Ethical Considerations The ethical considerations of the research are many. The interviewer will have to make sure that it is okay with the people being interviewed to be asked these opinions. Additionally, people might feel frustrated with the war. According to Schroen (2005), "The debate continued over the fate of Kabul and how to deal with... According to Hersh (2004), "A report for the United Nations Development Program...stated that the nation was in danger of once again becoming 'a terrorist breeding ground' [if they did not receive more development aid]" (p. 145). No one younger than 18 will be surveyed due to ethical considerations, which will be discussed more in the next section. Additionally, it is probably highly likely that no one over age 80 will be surveyed due to the fact that there might not that many older people to survey. Additionally, people might feel frustrated with the war. According to Schroen (2005), "The debate continued over the fate of Kabul and how to deal with the Northern Alliance. The lack of focus in [the main] bombing campaign was of concern, becauseefforts to date seemed to be having little impact on the Taliban forces and their willingness and ability to fight" (p. 302). The way the Taliban came to power is a complex issue. According to Rashid (2000), "between 1994 and the capture of Kabul in 1996, the Taliban's decision-making process was to change and become highly centralized, secretive, dictatorial, and inaccessibleMoreover after 1996, the Taliban made known their desire to become the sole rulers of Afghanistan without the participation of other groups" (p. 95). According to Fiscus (2004), "America's greatest problem was finding targets in Afghanistan.

To determine the concentration of limewater Essay Example for Free

To determine the concentration of limewater Essay The aim of my experiment is to find the concentration of limewater solution provided. To do this I am provided with the following chemicals. Limewater: 250cm (1g dm ) Hydrochloric acid at concentration of 2 mol dm As you can see the hydrochloric acid is too concentrated for titration (i.e. one drop could change the colour of the solution.) therefore this acid will need to be diluted. Background knowledge: Limewater can be made by dissolved slacked lime in water to get a solution of calcium hydroxide (Ca (OH) 2 ) Quicklime + water slaked lime CaO (s) + H2O (l) CaCl2 (aq) + 2H2O (l) In this reaction it shows the calcium oxide reacts with water to produce calcium hydroxide. After adding more water to calcium hydroxide, it produces the saturated aqueous solution known as limewater. My experiment will be based on this neutralisation reaction between the limewater and hydrochloric acid. Ca(OH) 2(aq) + HCl (aq) CaCl2 (aq) + 2H2O (l) ï ¼Ë†back ground knowledge of limewater provided by AS chemistry 1 page†¦Ã¯ ¼â€° Diluting hydrochloric acid: My first task for this experiment is to dilute the hydrochloric acid. To do this I first needed to work out how many moles I wanted for hydrochloric acid. For this part of my calculation I choose to use text book Calculations for chemistry to help me. Page†¦.. Ca(OH) 2(aq) + HCl (aq) CaCl2 (aq) + 2H2O (l) 1gdm of Ca(OH) 2 Number of moles of limewater Mr of lime water= 40.1 + (16 x 2) + (1 x 2) = 74.1 Mass of lime water=1g Moles of lime water =mass(g)/Mr So 1/74.1=0.13 mol dm-3 Molarities of limewater solution: Morality = no. moles of limewater / volume = 0.013 / 1 = 0.013 mol dm So there is 0.013 mole of Ca(OH) 2 per every 1000cm3 of solution. Therefore 25cm should contain 3.2510-4 moles of Ca(OH) 2. 0.013/40=3.2510-4 mole Ratio of limewater: Hydrochloric acid = 1: 2 = 3.25 x 10 : 6.5 x 10 The hydrochloric acid is 2M which is 2 moles HCl in 1dm of solution. I need 6.5 x 10 moles of acid. Now I need to work out the volume of hydrochloric acid like this: Volume = no. moles x 1000 / concentration = 6.5 x 10 x 1000 / 2 = 0.325cm I want a 25cm titre that contains 6.5 x 10 mol dm Now I need to work out the concentration of hydrochloric acid. Concentration = no. moles x 1000 / volume = 6.5 x 10 x 1000 / 25 = 0.026 mol dm I now know that I want 0.026-mol dm of hydrochloric acid for the reaction to work. But I have been supplied with 2.00-mol solution. I want 250cm of dilute hydrochloric acid at 0.026-mol dm. The total no. moles in 250cm is unknown. 250 cm of the solution should be enough to repeat the experiment. Total number of moles of HCL: No. moles = concentration x volume / 1000 This equation is rearranged to make: Volume = no. moles x 1000 / concentration So 1000cm contains 0.026 moles therefore 250cm contains 0.0065 moles Volume of hydrochloric acid I need : Volume = no. moles x 1000 / concentration = 0.0065 x 1000 / 2 =3.25cm Apparatus Pipette25ml Burette50ml Conical flask 250cm Volumetric flask 250cm Graduated pipette Clamp + stand White paper Distilled water Squeezing pump Safety: Concentrated HCL must be handled with extreme caution due to its corrosive property. Goggle and lab coat must be worn all the way through the experiment. Rubber gloves must be worn when handling concentrated HCL. Hazard sheet must be filled before the experiment. Chemicals used for my titration: Chemical in burette: hydrochloric acid( 0.026mol dm ) Chemical in conical flask: lime water Indicator: methyl orange Method: Here is how I am going to carry out my experiment: Part 1: diluting acid. Add the 3.25cm of hydrochloric acid to the volumetric flask using the graduated pipette to get the exact amount of hydrochloric acid. Fill the same volumetric flask with distilled water until is reaches 250ml. This should now make my dilute hydrochloric acid with 0.0065 -mol dm. Now the hydrochloric acid is ready. Part 2: the titration. Wash burette with tap water, then distilled water and finally with hydrochloric acid. Wash the conical flask with tap water, then distilled water and finally with limewater Set up titration apparatus. Fill the burette with 50cm of the dilute hydrochloric acid making sure the bottom of the meniscus is reading at 50 on the burette. Using a funnel to put the dilute hydrochloric acid in the burette increases safety against spillage. Fill the conical flask with 25cm of limewater using the squeezing pump and pipette. Add three drops of methyl orange to the limewater and mix until it turns a light yellow depending on the concentration of the methyl orange. Place the conical flask containing limewater onto a white paper. Start to run the dilute hydrochloric acid steadily, starting of constantly when a you see a localised colour change, then start to add small drops, finally into drop by drop. shake the conical flask after every drop of HCL is added. This will make sure you will use the exact amount of hydrochloric acid when the colour changes. This improves accuracy and reliability. Repeat all the tests at least three times (Time dependent) so that an average can be obtained. Repeating the experiments several times will help to produce better and more accurate results, as any inaccuracies in one experiment should be compensated for by the other experiments. Note all the results in a table. One thing I have to decide is what indicator I want to use. The indicators methyl orange and phenolphthalein are pretty much one-three drops change and a clear change. The pink/colourless change for phenolphthalein is very definite, the yellow/pink change for methyl orange is clear too. Because these are clear it means I can tell when the reaction has finished easier than using other indicators. Limewater, which is calcium hydroxide, is a strong alkali, even though it is only sparing soluble. Its pH is 14. Hydrochloric acid is a strong acid. This means that even if you have quite a weak concentration it completely dissociates in water into H3O+ ions and OH- ions giving a pH of 1 (The pH is a measure of how many hydrogen ions are present in solution). For the reaction of Calcium hydroxide and Hydrochloric acid I would use methyl orange. It changes colour at around pH 4.4 and will change from yellow in acid to pink in alkali by the addition of limewater. To make this experiment as accurate as possible, the pipette, burette and volumetric flask only have a percentage error of + or – 0.1%. This is only a small error. Also making sure the hydrochloric acid is poured into the burette carefully using a funnel will prevent the hydrochloric acid pouring down the side of the burette.

What Drives Conflict Fragile States Greed Or Creed Politics Essay

What Drives Conflict Fragile States Greed Or Creed Politics Essay Under what conditions if any can Greed, Grievance and Creed be said to steer conflict in fragile states? The concept of fragile states has become very noticeable and that it is being related first and foremost to the United States national security doctrine of September 2002 and the assumed right to intervene preemptively as in Iraq has rightly turned many into skeptics toward this new consensus. It must be said, however, that while there are considerable reasons for that concern, the issues it raises are real. Greed, Grievance and Creed are concepts that seem to be basic in todays conflict. With the end of Cold War bipolarity this is a question that has become of significant importance, prompted by the increasingly visible self-financing nature of rebel movements within intrastate conflicts (Ballentine Sherman, 2003) State failure presents a genuine threat to the international system of globalization, partly, because the system derives its existence based on states and partly, because state failure is the primary cause of armed conflict, civil war, and the everyday threats to the security of people living within the territory of such states. Recent arguments and evidence suggest that fragile states are rooted in causes that reflect a combination of greed and grievance (Collier, 2000). The more widely accepted explanations generally focus on the grievance dimension, which assumes some form of resource or political deprivation (eg. Gurr, 1970; 2000). The greed explanation on the other hand assumes that rebels act in pursuit of self-interest material gain. Oil, diamonds, timber, precious stones and other primary commodities form the basis of the contestable resources over which rebels fight their governments. The term greed, moreover, serves as a convenient appellation to describe self-interested be haviour and the resources available to pay selective benefits. In effect, a strong resource base serves as a mechanism for mobilization Grievance-based issues are at the core of the process that leads to civil conflict in fragile states, but greed becomes salient when the rebel leadership begins to face a difficult task of motivating soldiers. In effect, grievance leads to collective behaviour, but defection is always a problem so rebel leaders resort to selective benefits that tap into self-interested behaviour. That is, since preferences of the leadership and soldiers generally differ, the leaders must pay selective benefits to keep rebel soldiers from defecting. This is made easier when extractable resources are contested and controlled by rebel forces. The most visible instances currently involve Sub-Saharan African countries trading in easily extractable diamonds, but the opiate trade in Asia and South America also reflects this role of exploitable resources as one mechanism fo r fuelling conflict. My argument proceeds as follows. First, I would ground this discussion in a general body of literature, for which the greed explanation provides a small but influential component. Next, present a theoretical framework from which to think about the role of self interested versus collective behaviour in conflict of fragile states and also showing other mechanisms affecting greed. I would also discuss the theories of greed and grievance and their effects on fragile states. Greed theorists (Collier 2000; Giuliano 2006) contend that grievances do not affect the probability of conflict as grievances are a constant factor in ethnic conflicts and thus have no explanatory power. So, although this essay offers no direct support of the greed hypothesis they do, indirectly challenge their contention that grievances can be ignored as a contributing factor in explaining the decision of ethnic groups to move to violence to achieve their political goals. GRIEVE VERSUS GRIEVIANCE The greed versus grievance dichotomy is a useful entry point into the debate about the causes of conflict in fragile states. In certain instances, where there are substantial quantities of capturable natural resource and wealth present such as alluvial diamonds, oil or drugs, greed may be the dominant factor prolonging conflict, but without group formation (for which some historical grievances are important) violent collective action cannot take place. In short, grievances can be present without greed, but it is difficult to sustain greedy motives without some grievances. Although greed and grievance are regarded as competing views, they may be complementary, as greed may lead to grievances and vice versa. The greed or grievance explanations (or some hybrid form of both) may be necessary for the outbreak of civil war, but arguably they are not sufficient. This is because the causes contribute to the risk of conflict, yet some societies despite having conditions pre-disposing them to civil war, such as horizontal inequality, polarisation and natural resource rents, do not descend into conflict. I argue that for the forces behind either greed or grievance to take the form of large-scale violence there must be other factors at work. GRIEVIANCES AND CREED AS CONFLICT DRIVERS Greed generates grievances and rebellion, legitimising further greed (Keen 2008: 32) Grievance borne of deprivation is an individual concern that manifests itself collectively. In the context of conflict or rebellion, grievance is sometimes described as a justice-seeking motivation. The discussion in this section on grievances begins with grievance based theories of conflict before moving on to measurement issues. THE THEORY OF GRIEVIANCE The grievance approach contends that the probability that an ethnic group will resort to violence can be explained by the level of aggravation/relative deprivation they feel toward their wider society. There are two components to grievance; underlying and proximate. Underlying grievance level is a function of several contextual factors including level of autonomy; conditions compared to those under the previous regime; ability to express anger or dissatisfaction; and satisfaction on other issues. Proximate grievance is a function of the issue triggering the current crisis. Issues that threaten a groups ability to freely express their identity are theorized to generate greater frustration and thus aggression than issues that are less central, or salient. Central to grievances are identity and group formation. An individuals utility may be related to his identity, specifically the relative position of the group he identifies with in the social pecking order; see Akerlof and Kranton (2000). An individual may derive utility from certain normative forms of behaviour appropriate to his identity but considered deviant by other groups, and may even face sanctions from like-minded group members if he deviates from them. This type of behavioural paradigm may be related to solving the collective action problems (Olson, 1965), without which organised large-scale violence is impossible, even if we believe conflict is primarily motivated by greed. As noted earlier, some appropriate definition of ethnicity may be a superior basis for group formation compared to social class in an ethnically homogenous society. This essay classifies theories of grievance into relative deprivation, polarization and horizontal inequality but focuses on relative deprivation. While it is important to differentiate them, some overlap amongst the three definitions is inevitable. RELATIVE DEPRIVATION The notion of relative deprivation dates back to the work of Ted Gurr (1970) who defines it as the discrepancy between what people think they deserve, and what they actually believe they can get; in short the disparity between aspirations and achievements. Thus, educational achievements may raise the aspirations of young people, but they will become frustrated if unemployed, occasionally venting their feelings in mass political violence. Gurr puts forward the following hypothesis, the potential for collective violence varies strongly with the intensity and scope of relative deprivation among members of a collectivity (p.24). This lays down the notion of relative deprivation as the micro-foundation for conflict. Relative deprivation is considered to be a major cause of internal conflicts, civil wars as well as sectarian and routine violence. The applications vary across ethno-communal lines, regional boundaries, societal class, or just the feeling of being relatively deprived vis-à   -vis the general situation. In the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku, the traditionally privileged Christians group felt relatively deprived against the rising Muslim community economically and politically, which resulted in the bloodiest Muslim-Christian conflict in the countrys history (Tadjoeddin, 2003). Similar statements centring on unemployment could be made about the Catholic-Protestant cleavage in Northern Ireland. In Nepal, the lack of development in remote rural districts of the country fuelled the Maoist insurgency (Murshed and Gates, 2005). Another type of violence can be described as routine. Tadjoeddin and Murshed (2007) examine the socio-economic origins of this type of violence in Java, Indonesia. It is centred on vigilante violence/popular justice and inter-group/neighbourhood brawls. Routine violence covers group or collective violence, and it is different from individual violence, domestic violence, or homicide-which can simply be labelled as crime. The theoretical underpinnings for routine violence are similar to those utilised to explain mass political violence short of internal war in Hibbs (1973). Using panel data analysis of count data, Tadjoeddin and Murshed (2007) examine the relationship between routine violence on one hand, and growth, poverty, and level of development (including education) on the other hand. The relationships between violence and the levels of education and income are non-linear in the form of inverted-U-shape curves. The reason for this is as follows: starting from low levels of averag e income and educational attainment, when this rise slightly there is much to compete over and quarrel about; this tendency, however, declines with further increases in income and education, as there is much more to lose from violence and as such, grievance begins to build up. Another explanation is the feeling of being relatively deprived since rising education is not automatically followed by rising income. The roots of revolution, conflict and civil war is the misdistribution of resources within society that affects disproportionately particular communities of people. In effect, deprivation writ large borders on a necessary condition for conflict, though deprivation is not a sufficient condition. Lichbach (1994:389) captures this notion of individual motivation by articulating what scholars see as several truths of peasant upheavals: 1) Peasants are unconcerned with broad purposes, philosophical systems, political theories, and the likes; 2) Peasant grievances are specific and well defined, limited and local; 3) Peasant actions are designed to satisfy material self interest, and therefore; 4) Peasants willà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ participate in collective action when they stand to gain particularistic benefits. The rebel elite, on the other hand, are willing to risk more, but also portend to gain more if they are successful even if success entails a compromise outcome. That is, their motivation for leading a rebellion will be more in line with altering the material and political resources of a collective people over self interested accumulation. In effect, in pursuit of this broad goal the rebel elite will organize those for whom the deprivation is personal, and when necessary pay selective benefit to keep rebel soldiers in the fold. Put differently, grievances are not socially constructed by rebel entrepreneurs (Collier, 2000), but instead lie at the core of the motivation to organize in response to the maldistribution of resources, such as land (Midlarsky, 1988) income (eg. Muller and Seligison, 1987), or political access. Initially, such involvement brings with it very little cost. However, as the state begins to respond to what it perceives as a threat, costs will be incurred at the individual level (Regan and Henderson, 2002; Gartner and Regan, 1996). As the cost of protest or rebellion increase a rational individual will look to defect from the movement, unless the rebel leader can find a way to counterbalance the costs by way of selective benefits. As the opposition movement germinates the requirements of the selective benefits can be rather low, but as the threat to the state increases, so does the level of repression and subsequently the demands by rebel soldiers for selective side payments. That is, there is a distinction between the onset of protest and the onset of higher levels of civil conflict. Mobilization may be a necessary condition for civil conflict but non-violent protest and violent rebellion are distinct. This is evident in the data on Minorit ies at Risk (Gurr, 2000). Because initial mobilization may carry minimal cost, grievances may well be sufficient to motivate the disaffected to participate in protest activities. In economic terms the cost of rebel labour is low because the size of the potential labour pool is large. However, the costs associated with full scale conflict or civil war are such that only the provision of selected benefits that outweigh the costs imposed by the state for participation can spur an individual to remain committed to the cause, and protection may be the most important side payment (eg. Heath et al,2000). Mason (1996; and with Heath et al, 2000) poses the question of when the non-elite will support the rebels or the government. Presumably each individual has the option of whether to lend support to one side or both sides, or neither sides, and that choice is predicted on maximizing their utility for a given level of effort. Three factors usually influence the conditions under which non-elite support a rebel movement: anticipated benefits, costs, and estimates of the likelihood that support for one group would be detected by the other. In the latter instance the costs are incurred when participation is detected. Using a maximization model analogy to the choice between paying or evading taxes, Mason demonstrates that when there are public benefits from rebel participation (ie, non-excludable), then rebel support will be largely a function of the fear of punishment if their support is detected (1996:70). When fear of detection is high the rebel leadership must resort to paying selective benefits (excludable). However, when the rebels control a specific region and rebel soldiers can be adequately protected, selective benefits can be reduced in proportion to the amount of protection offered by the rebels. Protection comes primarily in the form of shielding participants from the political repression meted out by the state, such that as the state increases repression more people will mobilize around the rebel cause in order to avoid the abuse at the hands of the state. The general arguments present a picture of a group that seeks redress from its absolute or relative level of deprivation, most often a result of formal or informal government policies to channel resources in particular patterns. This distribution of resources or maldistribution increases the incentives for the non-elite to support the elite who are organizing an armed challenge to state authority. But rebel soldiers act rationally and only support a movement when they expect to gain materially from participation. Absent a strong philosophical attraction to the rebel movement the soldiers will be motivated most directly by the provision of both excludable and non-excludable benefits. Both the state and the rebel- elite campaign for the support of the masses by providing a mix of protection, punishment and benefits. My argument suggests that the importance of economic incentives, or at the extreme, greed, depends on two factors: the level of repression a state administers toward suspected rebels, and the amount of protection the rebel movement can provide the individual. When repression is high the individual will be more concerned with protection, thereby decreasing the importance of economic concerns. In effect the excludable good provided by the rebel elite is protection against acts of violence perpetrated by the state. However, as coercion by the government decreases, concerns over protection gives way to those of income with the result that the individual participant must be paid for by means of some other excludable good, which we might think about in terms of income paid for their labour. The escalation from political protest to civil violence, conflict or war is a function of the actions and reactions of the rebels and the state, and I can argue that, it follows an identifiable sequence (Moore, 2000; 1998). As grievances lead to opposition against state policies, political entrepreneurs begin to mobilize opposition supporters. The state response is to try to minimize mobilization through efforts at coercion or concession (Bayan, 2002; Regan and Henderson, 2002). As the state gets more coercive the rebel entrepreneurs have a greater opportunity to provide protection to potential supporters, possibly in spite of not being able to offer economic incentives comparable to those offered by the state (Heath et al 2000). Initially the opposition may adopt non-violent means, but as the opposition grows it will press for greater demands or concessions from the state, in part because their ability to do so has increased, but also because their constituency will reflect a wider spectrum. As the state responds with increasing repression the level of violence moves from protest to rebellion, and possibly to civil war (Gurr, 2000). From this framework we articulate a series of testable premises: 1: The greater the level of inequality the higher will be the probability of observing the onset of protest, rebellion, and conflict in fragile states. Since the ability to provide excludable or non-excludable benefits sufficient to secure the support of the masses will be partially a function of the level of discontent at the status quo position, the lower the level of absolute or relative level of penury political or material the greater the marginal utility of each increment of a public or private benefit. Therefore potential rebels can be mobilized more easily when the pre-conflict status quo position provides for a rather low level of utility. This would be reflected in the wealth of the country that is distributable (per capita GDP) and the degree to which it is distributed equitably (GINI). 2: Higher levels of political repression will decrease the likelihood of the onset of protest, but increase rebellion and civil war. Conflicts in fragile states do not emerge wholly from the wellspring of discontent, but rather move from lower levels of unrest toward large-scale violence and war. Recruitment and mobilization are critical. The ability to recruit and organize rebel soldiers will be a function of the degree of protection that can be provided in return for support, or conversely, the level of random punishment meted out by the government. Initially repression will help to dissuade potential protesters from participation, but people involved in violent forms of rebellion will respond differently to government repression. When the opposition engages in violence high levels of state repression will lead potential rebel supporters to conclude that the probability of punishment is high and approaching certainty. Under these conditions potential supporters will join the moveme nt in pursuit of protection from random punishment by the state. 3: However, given the lower cost for participation in protest activity extractable resources will have no effect on the onset of protest. The ability to pay private selective benefits only to those who participate in the rebel movement is vitally important to a movements viability. In general the government will have greater access to resources with which to pay selective benefits, even though they may choose to attempt to stifle participation through repression. In order for the rebel elite to compete with the state in providing private benefits they must obtain access to resources. Localized and easily extractable resources provide the most efficient means to generate income. Once or if they acquire access to exploitable resources these can be converted into private benefits that increase the incentives for the soldiers to maintain loyalty. The greater the ability to pay these selective benefits the more loyal the rebel soldiers and the more difficult is the task facing the state in trying to offer its own array of private benefits. The abundance of resources is only one factor highlighted by Collier and Hoeffler. The ability of a rebellion to recruit soldiers also plays a key role in making a conflict a feasible undertaking: other things equal, we might expect that the proportion of young men in a societyaged between 15-24 would be a factor influencing the feasibility of rebellion: the greater the proportion of young men, the easier it would be to recruit rebels (Collier 1999: 3). Colliers later work also emphasised the feasibility or opportunity argument over rebel motivations (or grievances), insofar that insurgent movements can only emerge and be sustained when resources are available to finance them (Aspinall 2007). Critics of Collier have argued that his position goes some way to reinforcing the World Banks mandate (Collier was employed by the World Bank at the time). As Mark Duffield (2001: 132-134) emphasises, usefully the only grievance of any relevance is rapid economic decline: in other words, poor economic management. CREED AS A CONFLICT DRIVER Soysa (2001) noted that Creed-related conflicts seem to be more prevalent in highly homogenous religious settings, particularly within largely Islamic and Catholic countries. If there is a clash of civilizations, it is much likely that it is politics rather than civilization. Zartman (2000) sees Creed itself as a need whereby everyone wants to feel some level of identity, through identifying with strong views and/or belief systems. Such needs vary according to the entity and environment, the latter being a social trend of greater significance to the current argument than the former. Individuals have a superior need to know who they are in some circumstances than in others. Three such conditions have a predominantly significant impact on the need for identity: rapid or profound change, breakdown of other identities, and discrimination. Zartman(2000) also notes that when deprivation sets in, it results in identity based conflict as collective needs for identity turns deprivation into discrimination. In addition to this insecurity sets in and eventually breeds grievance in the group. In other words, Creed is an extension of Grievance. It can be argued that creed-based rebellions may be circumvented by when governments channel resources wealth in such a way as to guarantee equitable distribution of resources or wealth. THE THEORY OF GREED Greed in this study is, defined as the predatory aspiration of rebels to grasp material wealth through illegal means short of subjective perceptions of relative deprivation. The greed motivation behind conflict has been popularised by empirical work on the causes of conflicts and war where a cross-section of conflicts in different nations is analyzed together econometrically, and greed is understudied by the availability or abundance of capturable natural resource rents. In Collier and Hoeffler (2004) conflicts stem from the greedy behaviour of a rebel group in organising an insurgency against the government. Greed is about opportunities faced by the rebel group. The opportunities can be disaggregated into three components: financing, recruitment and geography. The most common sources of rebel finance are the appropriation of natural resources, donations from sympathetic Diasporas residing abroad, contributions from foreign states (hostile to the government) or multinational companie s interested in the region. Natural resource wealth is the chief among the three in terms of its relative importance. Recruitment is about the opportunity to induct fighting manpower; something made easier when there is a high proportion of young unemployed males in population, in a setting of endemic poverty and poor education. Geographical situations favourable to rebel groups are mountainous terrain and other safe havens for insurgents. In short, greed simply means the economic opportunity to fight, and should be distinguished from socio-political grievances. Collier and Hoefflers (2004) empirical findings conclude that the set of variables representing rebel opportunity or greed akin to loot-seeking are the main reasons for civil war. By implication, the alternative hypothesis of grievance (justice-seeking) focusing on ethnic religious divisions, political repression and horizontal inequality is dismissed, although its invalidity is not formally tested for. Natural resource rents constitute booty and this f act has been used to emphasise the greed or criminal motivation for conflict in fragile states. Central to the Collier and Hoefflers empirical testing for the greed hypothesis is the role of primary commodities in the economic structure. They measure the dependence on natural resources by the share of primary commodity exports in GDP, and the validity of this metric as well as the statistical robustness of the relationship between resource rents and the risk of conflict has been called into question. Be that as it may, the combined Collier and Hoeffler greed and Fearon and Laitin (2003) messages about greed and state failure causing rebellion, conflict or civil war has had an immense influence in the media and the donor policy communitys thinking about conflict. Therefore, any theorising about greed must be based on the economic motivations for violence and criminality. Belligerents in the wars of natural-resource rich countries could be acting in ways close to what Olson (1996) referred to as roving bandits who have no encompassing interest in preserving the state or its people but are simply intent on loot-than to stationary bandits who take control of the state and seek to maximise their own profit by encouraging stability and growth in their new domain. Conflict in Fragile States motivated by the desire to control natural resource rents could also mirror warlord competition, a term that owes its origins to the violent competition between leaders attempting to control economic resources in the context of medieval Europe. Skaperdas (2002) In a nutshell, a proper greed-based theory of conflict must relate to the trade-off between production and predation in making a living, where we may view war as theft writ large. Violence is one means of appropriating the resources of others. Note, that armed conflict implies the absence of contractual interaction (Edgeworth, 1881), and is in stark contrast to the alternative method of benefiting from the endowments of others via peaceful and voluntary exchange (trade) between economic agents, groups or nations. This implies that we also need to specify the conditions under which violence becomes a viable or more attractive option relative to other alternatives. A variety of game theoretic models describing the non-cooperative and conflictive interaction between groups exist, where the object is to capture the rivals endowment by force. One such model is due to Hirshleifer (1995), where each group has a fixed resource endowment, which can be used to either produce goods for consumption or armaments to fight the other group. Groups exist in a state of non-contractual anarchy vis-à  -vis each other; this also implies the absence of enforceable property rights. The object of fighting is to capture some of the rivals endowment. Success in war is uncertain, and the probability of victory is given by a Tullock (1980) contest success function, where the probability of victory for any group is given by their own military expenditure relative to the total fighting outlay made by all protagonists. Additionally, there is a military effectiveness parameter (akin to what is known as a force multiplier in military establishments); something that raises t he effectiveness of each unit of fighting effort. In the absence of increasing returns to scale in military effectiveness, and if a minimum subsistence income is present there will be a Nash non-cooperative equilibrium associated with some fighting. In other words, in the equilibrium both (or all) parties will be engaged in some fighting with each other, as well as some productive activities; unless one side manages to conquer others due to its individual military superiority. Hirshleifer (1995) describes this as a state of anarchy -something akin to primitive tribal warfare. Note, no possibility of trade is permitted between groups. Skaperdas (1992) outlines a model that is similar because it has a fixed resource endowment which can be devoted to either production or armament. The probability of success in war also depends on a similar contest success function. Both these models, however, neglect the destructiveness of war (collateral damage), and its capacity to ravage productive capacity, additional to direct military expenditure. These models employ intermediate inputs, and not factors of production, which can be shifted between fighting and production at no cost. Secondly, there is no growth in these models, something which would raise the opportunity costs of war. A similar effect could arise from complementarities in production between groups and/or economies of scale, which would make mergers between groups or cooperation in each groups self-interest. Thirdly, the possibilities of peaceful exchange need to be limited (absent in Hirshleifer, 1995) in order to rationalise conflict. Wars can also reflect the absence of institutions which facilitate negotiation and peaceful exchange. Despite these limitations, there is much in these models that can explain the greedy behaviour as analyzed by the empirical exponents of the greed hypothesis. The presence of readily capturable natural resource based rents may make conflict more attractive when compared to peaceful production, as can a shortage of intermediate inputs due to population pressure. These resources are best regarded as a nonproduced prize such as oil or diamonds (which apart from extraction costs are like manna from heaven), whose ownership is violently contested. Secondly, contributions from a sympathetic diaspora (or aid from a super-power in the cold war era) can raise the probability of victory of a potential rebel group against the state. Also, the inability of the state to act as a Stackelberg leader in a potentially divided nation may raise the chances of war between groups in a manner similar to t he weak state capacity mechanism favoured by some political scientists (like James Fearon). For example, in the Hirshleifer (1995) model where different groups are in a state of anarchy vis-à  -vis one another, the ability of one group to behave as a Stackelberg leader reduces equilibrium fighting levels and raises each sides per-capita income. The leader, however, gains relatively less compared to followers, creating an incentive for each side to be a follower. If one group is strong and militarily more effective it will dominate other groups, and there will be no fighting in the equilibrium. This may lead to state formation, which may or

The Tower Pig Essay -- essays research papers

What happens when in spite of all odds, foe becomes friend? What happens, when an infinite and unending chasm between individuals is filled, and a void of mistrust, hatred and prejudice is replaced with more noble values, such as understanding and a sense of mutual respect? These are among the themes in the American short story, â€Å"The Tower Pig.† The story is set behind, and outside, the walls of the Thomaston Penitentiary in present day America. The story essentially revolves around a young man who suffers the hardships of imprisonment in an American correctional facility. The protagonist is throughout the tale addressed only by his surname, Caine. Caine expresses incomprehensible anger he feels for one of the wardens, an outcast despised by colleagues and inmates alike, and who is commonly known as â€Å"The Tower Pig† by all the prisoners at the facility. â€Å"Pain, joy, worry, are shielded away until the cell doors slam and we’re alone in our solitude. For ten days in the hole, I had nothing to do but hate Strazinsky, the Tower Pig, for putting me there, and to mourn my grandmother, finally to sick to visit.† When we are first introduced to Caine, he has just come out of â€Å"The Hole.† The Hole is presumably a slang expression for a non-corporal punishment, which implies the use of isolation for the involved offender. This sort of punishment is usually deployed as a reaction to a disciplinary offense; this is also the case with Caine. Caine put in the hole because of a verbal fight with Strazinsky. While Caine undoubtedly finds Strazinsky to be responsible for his punishment, it seems, looking back in retrospective, that he is fully aware that he himself was to blame; yet all Caine’s inner turmoil and anger is channelled into his hate for Strazinsky, and the fury towards his arch-enemy continues to blaze. Imprisonment tends to have a debilitating effect on both mind and body alike. Therefore in order to counter a mental breaking, one must deploy facades, facades that show strength and vitality, since any behaviour expressing the slightest trait of weakness will be preyed upon by both inmates and wardens. Caine seems fully aware of this, and prudently manages to keep all his fears and doubts to himself. Caine is greatly disturbed upon learning about the death of his beloved grandmother, the one person who, despite him being imprisoned, still managed to show him both... ... desired intimacy of mind is what we call friendship. But sadly, in this present world ruled by the divisive spirit of greed and corruption, it is not possible to achieve this intimacy of mind to any worth-while depth with just anyone. The minds of potential friends must from the outset already possess a mutual sense of affinity, not based on anything but an inexplicable sense of compatibillity. Although Strazinsky and Caine hardly fit the common definition of friendship, it seems that the two share more thoughts than either would care to admit, honest exposure of the inner self to another is not easy, yet this is exactly what Strazinsky does. Strazinsky opens himself in a sincere manner to a man, whom he knows despises him with all of his heart. This courageous act initially only serves to confuse Caine. It is, however, my impression that Caine, although reluctant to start a conversation with Strazinsky, suddenly begins to look at the warden in a different way. The gap between p risoner and warden is as self-evident as can be; nonetheless, it is my distinct belief that the chances of a friendship arising from the ashes of a past enmity, could in this case be very realistic indeed.

Kudler’s Strategic Plan Essay

The mission statement should be a clear and succinct representation of the enterprise’s purpose for existence (BRS Center for Business Planning, 2010). Kudler Fine Foods mission statement is to supply the finest assortment of their wines and foods with a knowledgeable support staff. Vision Kudler Fine Foods vision highlights their image for the future and their motivation. The gourmet grocery store’s vision is to sustain superior and quality foods, at competitive prices, with friendly service. Values Statements The values statement provides boundaries on how such success will be achieved and establishes a covenant you ask all stakeholders to accept by answering the question: â€Å"How will we behave as we pursue success?† (Magus Consulting, 2010). The value statement of Kudler Fine Foods focuses on employee’s dedication, high standards, and cleanliness. Their employees and customers are priority and Kudler provides the means to inspire employees, which in maintain long-term relationships with customers. Environmental scan Kudler Fine Foods performed an SWOT analysis scan to determine the company’s new strategies. To conduct the analysis, the company conducts SWOT analysis to establish its current conditions. Strengths Kudler Fine Foods is small, customer-oriented organization in which the owner, Kathy Kudler, interacts with staff members weekly. The company offerings include a wide variety of quality fruits, vegetables, wines, and cheeses. In addition, the stores are in excellent economic regions where customers can afford the prices. Furthermore, the firm has repeat customers, which demonstrates that the company has an impeccable reputation and high customer satisfaction (Apollo Group, Inc., 2007). Weaknesses Kudler Fine Foods sells mostly perishable foods, and about 12% of the stock is removed from the shelves to ensure freshness, which also results in waste and lost profits. In addition, the stores have high payrolls associated with specialty positions and small management that makes managing, ordering, and maintaining inventory difficult for the owner. Kathy is managing all the stores, ordering supplies, and maintaining inventory. A management model in which Kathy performs all major activities limits growth and represents a risk because if she became ill, she would not have a replacement, which would have a negative impact on store operations (Apollo Group, Inc., 2007). Kudler’s Fine Foods External Analysis Opportunities Kudler Fine Foods has the opportunity to fulfill other market needs by including additional gourmet products to their offer such as coffee and tea, a fish counter, a deli counter, among others. This horizontal expansion of the business will attract new customers and increase the share of wallet from current customers. Other expansion opportunities for Kudler Fine Foods include the consolidation and growth of the catering business and the entrance to the e-market by offering delivery of gourmet products and ordering of catering services. The Internet is usually a lower cost channel given that fewer employees are needed to maintain it and to drive an increase of the customer base. Finally, the most obvious growth opportunity for the company relies in geographic expansion. Opening more stores in the California area and in other states is a possibility for Kudler Fine Foods if they can increase their management capabilities. (Apollo Group, Inc., 2007). Threats Kudler Fine Foods, like other businesses, faces threats relative to the economic conditions of the region in which it operates. The market for gourmet products is very sensitive to economic downturn because consumption of such items usually responds to desire rather than necessity. Current unstable weather conditions and natural disasters (like earthquakes) due to global warming also pose a threat of increased costs of produce if it affects local producers that supply Kudler Fine Foods. Other threats come from direct and indirect competition. If competitors choose to expand geographically or to extend their product lines to include the products Kudler Fine Foods today provides, this expansion could have a negative impact on the company’s bottom line. Another threat could be that traditional supermarkets are expanding their offers to include organic products and some gourmet items. Traditional supermarkets usually have higher bargaining power, which allows them to offer lower prices, and they have the advantage of covering a wide rage of needs in a same location. (Apollo Group, Inc., 2007). Review of the individual strategies from Week Four and a recommendation for the best strategy for Kudler see strategies below (in pink) and choose best strategy Strategic Plan Kudler’s strategic plan involves increasing efficiency of their management and employees. Firms that implement the strategy of operational excellence typically restructure their delivery processes to focus on efficiency and reliability, and use state-of-the art information systems that emphasize integration and low-cost transactions (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). Kudler Fine Foods requires exceptional customer service because the store is a customer-oriented. Companies excelling in customer intimacy combine detailed customer knowledge with operational flexibility. They respond quickly to almost any need, from customizing a product to fulfilling special requests to create customer loyalty (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). Therefore, their strategic plan will include ways to retain their customers, as customers are the most important to their bottom-line. Concentrated Growth Strategy Kudler Fine Foods should consider the concentrated growth strategy. According to Pearce and Robinson (2009), the concentrated growth strategy is the least risky grand strategy. Successful implementation of a concentrated growth strategy would increase KFF’s market penetration. Smaller companies such as Kudler Fine Foods with limited resources can increase market position with a concentrated growth strategy. In addition, this strategy can help KFF to increase the number of repeat customers and their usage rates (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). However, this strategy does entail some risks. These risks include changes in the economy, possible slow market growth, vulnerability to high opportunity cost related to alternative strategic approaches, and the probability of financial losses by KFF related to poor forecasts (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). Product development focused on new products Kudler could develop Product development is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a business or enterprise to its customers. A product can be any item from a book, musical composition, or information service. The task of developing outstanding new products is difficult, time-consuming, and costly. However, quality products are not simply designed, but instead they evolve over time through hours of research, analysis, design studies, engineering and prototyping efforts, and finally, testing, modifying, and re-testing until the design has been perfected (Riley, 2009). Kudler Fine Foods is already a supplier of gourmet food and adding coffee products to the company’s selection would put them another step ahead of the competition. â€Å"Demand for both coffee and coffee â€Å"drinks† is so high that recent surveys estimate that coffeehouses alone sold $8.3 billion in coffees and coffee drinks and that amount is expected to reach almost $19 billion by 2011, according the Specialty Coffee Association of America. It reports that the United States coffee industry has grown almost 50% from $7.76 billion in 2000 to more than $11 billion in 2005 and the figures keep climbing† (Rosen, n.d., p.1). The type of coffee products that Kudler Fine Foods could market is gourmet coffee, flavored coffee, and decaf coffee. Differentiation and customer responsiveness Another alternative strategy that Kudler Fine Foods may consider to realize growth would be â€Å"differentiation.† Differentiation is â€Å"designed to appeal to customers with a special sensitivity for a particular product attribute† (Pearce & Robinson, 2009, p. 204). † Differentiation assists in building loyalty with customers as well as it enables an organization to charge a â€Å"premium† for its products and services (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). Differentiation helps separate a brand from others and build a reputation for â€Å"excellence† (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). Kudler may use differentiation to separate itself from competitors and help build its reputation, which would result in increased customer loyalty and would appeal to those customers seeking for specific attributes. Kudler may couple this strategy with â€Å"customer intimacy,† which tailoring products and services that fit customers (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). â€Å"Customer intimacy† assumes certain degree of knowledge about customers and the flexibility to make necessary adjustments. This long-term approach is designed to satisfy customers. Because Kudler is a relatively small operation with centralized management, it has the flexibility and the resources to grow to know its customers and build the kind of relationships that will result in lifetime customers. Market development by adding a sales channel Kudler Fine Foods has been successful in marketing its products through several stores where customers can choose and buy gourmet products. As revealed in the company’s SWOT analysis, the superior selection of a variety of products has been a critical strength to support such growth. According to Pearce and Robinson (2009), â€Å"market development allows firms to leverage some of their traditional strengths.† In this proposed strategic alternative Kudler Fine Foods can use its excellent selection of products to appeal to an even larger base of customers by selling its products through the Internet. Online sales have presented two digit growth rates in the past four years (Greene, 2009). Internet can be considered a cheaper channel to drive growth given that it requires less capital investment than opening a new location and it reaches a larger base of customers. Advertising in other media Other strategic option includes advertising with newspapers, a local radio station or television advertisement. Placing a weekly ad in a local newspaper, KFF will become a known brand for fine gourmet in the Del Mar area. Because the advertisement will be in a local paper, it pinpoints the target market and reduces costs. Kathy should advertise on the radio during peak hours her free cheese samples and wine meetings. If the cheese, dairy, and wine areas are in the front of the store, Kathy should consider placing it near the back. The goal is to compel consumers to walk around the KFF store to see their products before arriving at the cheese and wine area. Another way to market Kudler is through television. Because Kudler is selling locally, expensive commercials will work against them. By using a local advertiser, the intended message will be seen by consumers in that particular demographic area. Costs will be minimal because advertising in local newspapers, radio, and television will be done locally. Implementation Plan: Create a WBS and Gantt chart for the new strategy. Include objectives, functional tactics, action items, milestones, tasks, resource allocation, and a deadline. In addition, analyze the key success factors for plan implementation. Include cash budget for the implementation plan and forecasted financials for Kudler. I did this last week, but I was not sure if I did this correctly. See excel spreadsheet Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Incorporating a work breakdown structure will assist KFF in their efforts to assign responsibilities and manage time. Currently Kathy is responsible for each department and which takes away her time from other managerial duties. The WBS has four sections, planning and supervision, inventory management, staff management, and marketing. Planning and supervision refers to how Kathy will operate Kudler Fine Foods. Kathy will make plans, verify the budgets, and meet with shift-supervisors for each department. Inventory management is crucial for a gourmet grocery store. Forecasting sales will help reduce chances of ordering too much food. A customer count can be incorporated by issuing savings cards so customers can attach to his or her key ring. This device not only tracks what customers are purchasing but also their geographic location. Food count will let shift-supervisors know how much food should be ordered every two days. Food management must be accurate because KFF offers the freshest foods and ordering too much food will cost the company. Kathy has to manage her staff so that she is not over or understaffed. Because there are six sections to KFF, there should be at least three employees in each department. Employees should strategically be placed in their area of strength. For example, an employee with excellent math skills, they should be placed on the register. In addition, the employees should be cross-trained in the event of someone taking leave. Shift-supervisors are also responsible for coordinating employee’s schedules. Marketing for a gourmet store is chief to earning sales. Kathy has to study the local businesses, schools, stores, and understand who the competitors are. This understanding will assist in becoming more profitable and peaking customer’s interests. Once Kathy is aware of the other factors, it is easier to strategize. In addition, considering holidays and vacations will alert Kathy of when to expect crowds and order more inventory. To continue to attract customers, Kathy should continue to offer free samples on Saturdays. Once a potential customer is interested, he or she has a higher chance of coming into the store and spending. A guest check average will assist with ordering inventory because the average calculates the number of customers divided by the money spent in the store.

Case Study of a Cross-Cultural Organization

Organizational Behavior Final: Clayton J. Ollarvia [email  protected] com Organizational Behavior October 4, 2012 Looking into Nestle S. A and its disconnect with Cross-cultural communication and decisions Nestle SA is a Swiss Company engaged in the nutrition, health and wellness sectors. It is the holding company of the Nestle Group, which comprises subsidiaries, associated companies and joint ventures throughout the world. It has such business units as Food and Beverage, Nestle Waters and Nestle Nutrition. It is also active in the pharmaceutical sector.It divides its products into Powdered and liquid beverages, Water, Milk products and Ice cream, Nutrition, Prepared dishes and cooking aids, Confectionery, PetCare and Pharmaceutical products. The Nestle Group is managed by geographies (Zones Europe, Americas and Asia/Oceania/Africa) for most of the food and beverage  business, with the exceptions of Nestle Waters, Nestle Nutrition, Nestle Purina Petcare, Nespresso, Nestle Profes sional and Nestle Health Science which are managed on a global basis – these we call the Globally Managed Businesses. We also have joint ventures such as Cereal Partners Worldwide and Beverage Partners Worldwide.In regards to the operations elsewhere, Nestle USA caters to cravings on this side-of-the-Atlantic, from a child's sweet tooth to a grown-up's caffeine fix. The company is a major subsidiary of Swiss food  giant  Nestle S. A. Nestle USA  produces hundreds of well-known food brands, including frozen pizza (Tombstone, DiGiorno), chocolate and candies (Baby Ruth, Goobers), beverages (Nestea, Taster's Choice,  Nesquick), juices (Juicy Juice), canned milk (Carnation), ice cream (Edy's, Haagan-Dazs), baking goods (Nestle Toll House, Libby's), and prepared  meals (Stouffer's, Lean Cuisine). http://www. hoovers. com/company/Nestl%E9_USA_Inc/cysfyi-1. html Specifically where I see Nestle could benefit from understanding some of the Organizational Behavior practices i s in the realm of (cross-cultural) decision making and in Personality Traits. Nestle needs to recognize how to make decisions based upon more than just sales goals. A common definition of  decision-making  is the process of choosing a course of action for dealing with a problem or an opportunity. Schermerhorn, John R. (11/2011).Organizational Behavior, 12th Edition [1] (VitalSource Bookshelf), Retrieved from http://online. vitalsource. com/books/9781118426319/id/L9-1-1 One of the biggest problems with Nestle is that it is indeed a global company. A majority of the Presidents and Vice-Presidents and senior staff all reside in Switzerland and travel inconsistently to other countries and regions. This traveling issue makes it hard for management to be able to effectively know how to 1. Communicate with others in other countries and 2. Understand the differences in cultural mores from country to country.Moreover things that affect the economy in the Eastern countries does not effect the west. However, more than likely they expect things to work in similar if not the same ways from culture to culture and economy to economy. What this problem lends itself to is a lack of cross cultural management and ability to understand the proper ways to address other cultures. Although those of the Swiss culture tend to be very manner-able and well liked, often times we would find them somewhat unrelenting and slightly rude on conference calls and communications.A large faction of what I saw was miscues from managers not being able to communicate across different ethnic and cultural lines. This was even more evident with regional managers having to disseminate information to retail operations across the border and into other geographies. After going through all of our upcoming TCO’s I would like to investigate how given an understanding of the communication process and given specific incidents of cross-cultural communication problems, I plan to develop a strategy for improving organizational performance through the improvement of cross cultural management process. Nestle should first look at adopting a very extensive guide to cross cultural awareness * All managers should be privy to cross cultural communication programs to ensure compliance with cultural guidelines At the beginning of every cross-cultural management process is an encounter between two or more members of different cultures. In this encounter both participants communicate, watch, and react to  each other’s behavior. This behavior and communication is often not interpreted in the correct way, but according to the cultural program of the observer.Because it is dif? cult to understand the other’s thinking, interpretation is often wrong and does not allow insights into the attitudes and values of  the communicators or interactions. Culture can best be described through three main concepts: values, attitudes, and behavior. All three signify culture and allow us to di fferentiate from other cultures. A survey of current literature consistently indicates that the contemporary business context is globally interdependent and interconnected.It further demonstrates that corporate leaders should provide opportunities for their managers in international assignments to learn cross-cultural business etiquette in order that they will excel in their interpersonal relationship overseas. (Sizoo, 2007, p. 84) Being that Nestle has so many plants, locations and does business in over 100 countries worldwide, one could argue that it would be essential to have multi cultural norms and ethics guidelines. Throughout my tenure, the main focus of the organization was to produce sales based upon projections from Head Quarters.This can be problematic seeing as expectations for sales is not weighted based upon the social economy. Cross-cultural misunderstandings often have some seemingly deep roots. Even if we speak with people in English and communicate directly what we intend to say, the message comes across differently than anticipated. Recognizing the need for a Nestle cultural program would be a dif? cult task. Most people are born and bred in a very particular cultural environment, they can only perceive and understand the world, their deeds, and counterparts’ reactions through their very own cultural perspective.This perspective is a strong ? lter through which most people understand, interpret, and process information in a particular way. And in most cases, these same people do not recognize this ? lter. Our own culture and way of doing business seems sovereignly logical and â€Å"normal† that we can hardly think of a better or different way of doing things and managing in ? rms. I would argue that this view is also true for managers who grew up on the other side of the world; they have their own (very logical and often very successful) ideas about how to do business.A good portion of cross cultural misunderstandings come from how people think and feel about other cultures, which I would argue is made up generally of stereotypes. Stereotypes are generalisations help us to simplify, classify and in general attempt to make sense of the world. They occur when we infer qualities about a person based on evidence of a single characteristic. For example, we may assume that because someone is Hindu that they work in the IT department. This assumption is likely to be based on our previous experience of people with Hindu people or from information we have gathered from the media or other people.The problem is of course that stereotypes do not always apply. It is certainly not the case that all Hindu people work in information technology. We are most likely to hold stereotypes about groups of people who we do not perceive to be like us and of whom we have limited experience. It is essential for a company the size and with as much reach as Nestle to be able to understand the negative aspects of both behaviors of cro ss-cultural misunderstandings and avoid stereotypes and learn how to cross-culturally manage both organizationally and or on the institutional level.I would argue that this means having enough awareness of both their host culture and their home culture to be able to make correct managerial decisions regarding its organization’s work force, its commercial markets, the community in which it operates, and the country, which is its host. A good example of Nestle’s non-understanding of cross cultural awareness is the all but forgotten Nestle Infant Nutrition scandal of the 1970’s. Here Nestle sent several of its work-force into third world countries in order to push their infant nutrition.Now at the time the formula was doing well in countless other countries and was practically flying off the shelves. However, one of the KEY necessities for the formula was for it to be added to water. Being that at the time no one in Switzerland chose to know enough about these thir d world locations to see that the water that they had access to was wildly polluted and all but poisonous to small children. If Nestle had taken steps in preparing managers for multinational assignments, they would have been abreast of cultural sensitivity, understanding the importance of maintaining business relationships, and impression management.They should be informed about the complexities in international cultures and human resources management The way people communicate varies widely between, and even within, cultures. One aspect of communication style is language usage. Across cultures, some words and phrases are used in different ways. For example, even in countries that share the English language, the meaning of â€Å"yes† varies from â€Å"maybe, I'll consider it† to â€Å"definitely so,† with many shades in between. (http://www. pbs. org/ampu/crosscult. html) This theory alone is what makes having a viable and understandable guidelines for multi-cul tural communication.We will admit that the difficulty in crafting such a document would be not only time consuming but also, extremely tiring as in order to create such guidelines one would have to familiarize themselves with hundreds of different cultures at any given time, however I would argue that a successful guidelines would not just solely be based on the specific interactions of each country but instead be focused on a general understanding of how managers and ALL employees should seek to treat each other across local, national and especially international lines.The critical process of making decisions, reaching mutual agreements, and building consensus has taken a new dimension because of differences in business etiquette and ethical practices. Cross-cultural awareness skills and interpersonal negotiation competence are a pre-requisite to effective management of a multination workforce. (Okoro, 2012, p. 132) Cross-cultural awareness encourages the recognition of cultural di fferences while also noting similarities through which communication, understanding and relationships can be forged. The following points reflect the value of gaining a stronger sense of cross-cultural awareness:Reduces misunderstandings and enhances trust †¢ Understanding and trust can be deepened when each government is more aware of how its and the other government’s cultural background influence their perceptions, values and decisions. Aids in planning, setting goals and problem solving †¢ Each organization can plan and problem solve more effectively as they will be more attentive to what is important to them and the other party Communication, though variously defined, generally describes a process by which information is exchanged among two or more people in a given context.Ultimately, this process of exchanging information is bound by a purpose: that is, to reduce uncertainty and develop a common understanding among the participants (Kawar, 2012). Cross Cultur al communication is another area that I believe Nestle could greatly benefit from on a global scale. Not all too dissimilar to that of awareness communication allows you to take what you know via that of awareness and be able to translate those things into how you speak and interact with you clients worldwide.Success or failure in managing a diverse or multicultural workforce largely depends on the ability of managers to communicate effectively with people from different backgrounds and nationalities. International business is the outgrowth of globalization, which is driven primarily by economic interdependency and advances in technology, but the success in global business ventures will be affected by the inability of international managers to understand appropriate business etiquette, customs, and values needed to conduct business among nations of the world. (Okoro, 2012, p. 132)Okoro assesses that management and communication scholars have consistently argued that the success of m anagers on international assignments depends largely on effective cross-cultural communication. Because of its importance, a number of high-growth organizations competing globally make a conscious effort to hire multi-lingual people from varied cultural backgrounds and nationalities. Here in particular is a place of great opportunity for Nestle to grow fundamentally. Having a manager in play that is already familiar with the customs and languages of the area is vitally important to the success and overall outcome of the business.Now the issue comes into play is that while Nestle does have staff all around the world in numerous countries that are indigenous to those specific areas, they still have a strong expectation and in some ways an imposing will on those people. How does that affect the communication process? Well If in any given country it is impolite to wags one finger as they speck yet that practice is customary in Switzerland, that in and about itself makes for very difficu lt deliberations. Cross- cultural communications problems may occur if all individuals within a team do not use the same language, nor norms.In these situations, for ease of communication, the team often chooses a common language that they can use for group communications. Communication differences between individuals can occur on several different levels but for the sake of consistency I will use the finger example I used in the previous paragraph: Gestures form a significant part of methods of communication. However, there are few if any universal gestures. Non-verbal behaviours or ‘body language' vary considerably from one culture to another.For example, a high level of eye contact is considered a sign of attentiveness in some cultures and a sign of rudeness in others. In some cultures individuals are encouraged to express their emotions openly, while in others openly demonstrating feelings is discouraged. These differences in body language can lead to misunderstandings bet ween people of different cultural backgrounds. Norms are culturally defined rules for determining acceptable and appropriate behavior (Okoro) They include those that govern social situations and conversational routines such as greetings, making requests, and expressing various emotions.In intercultural communication interlocutors may be tempted to transfer their cultural norms to contexts that are not appropriate In conjunction with this Sizoo states that, while some organizations recognize the importance of international business, training and development programs often deal inadequately with the potential conflicts that result from cross-cultural interactions. Too often this training addresses only the cognitive level–focusing on the dos and don’ts. When managers pursue careers in international business they must prepare for a life in a foreign cognitive, affective, and behavior context.That preparation must include learning cross-cultural considerations intellectual ly, emotionally, and experientially. I believe that Sizoo’s outline for effective communication training is as outlined. I. Cross Cultural Interview II. Handling a Cross Cultural Event With Cross Cultural interviews the gist of it is each participant interviews one foreigner who is from a culture different from his or her own, and whom he or she has never met before. This exercise provides experience and builds skills at the first two levels of cross-cultural management, self and interpersonal.This orientation into cultural norms will help management better decipher different cultures and how to break the ice. I have seen the contrary of this especially within Nestle in the early stages of my career. In two distinctly different interactions with management I was told, once that my manager had never worked with an African American man and that he needed to adjust how he communicated since there may be a barrier between us. In a different interaction another manager, while spea king with an Asian coworker said hey I love Chinese food, can you make any by yourself.Having to initiate and manage an interaction with foreign stranger addresses the emotional challenges of developing cross-cultural expertise. With handling cross-cultural events Sizoo states that, each cultural incident describes a realistic cross-cultural misunderstanding, four plausible explanations for the misunderstanding, and an evaluation of each explanation. In this activity trainees discuss and demonstrate the cross-cultural incidents. The emphasis is on having participants project themselves into the scenario so they â€Å"experience† the cultural conflict motionally as well as intellectually. This type of training could be paramount in helping managers overcome communication problems that may arise while dealing with a cross-cultural organization. I use the example of the formula debacle once again here. I would argue that although no one could have readily predicted that such a t ragedy would have occurred, if managers were trained on how to defuse problems culturally then I would argue that the explosion of public opinion would not have happened.Being amply prepared to deal with cultures is one of the key fundamental necessities of any successful business. Now while Nestle was able to eventually recover if people had been trained in this process a bit earlier than, again perhaps things would not have escalated to the points that they did. Through this process managers would learn how to accept the virtual inevitability of making some cross-cultural errors, but not to accept repeating the errors. They would also learn that errors in appropriate behavior are far worse than mere inability to speak the host country language.The participants further learn to strategically recover in such situations and soon afterwards seek out explanation of their cross-cultural error from a member of the host culture. The key take away with this exercise is that management lear ns how to develop and over time eventually master communicating cross-culturally in hostile environments. Within the cross-cultural news portion of the exercise, managers would be required to find a newspaper or magazine article that describes an American work organization adapting, or having difficulty in adapting, to the culture of a foreign country.Participants present an analysis of the cross-cultural differences to the group as a whole and explain why the American organization was successful or unsuccessful in resolving its cross-cultural differences. This allows for managers to get firsthand experience of a similar company to Nestle (ideally) and analyze some of the struggles that they are currently experiencing. This first hand ensures that managers will be able to not only potentially defuse similar situations in the future but even potentially understand the communication process in order to better facilitate a smoother transition to other cultures.In cross-cultural communi cation, anxiety and uncertainty are heightened by cultural variability. If the differences between cultures are profound, anxiety and uncertainty would increase when members of the different cultural groups engage in cross-cultural communication. In the same way that theories such as The Theory of Communicative Competence (as described by T. A. McCarthy) suggests that cross-cultural norms practices etc should be taught in schools, is the same was one could argue that cross-cultural communication should be taught by all those organizations, similar to Nestle that have offices all other across the globe.With both of these initiatives I would think that Nestle would be able to propel itself by leaps and bounds over cross-cultural boundaries. And yes to be honest Nestle has moved to rectify SOME of the issues outlined in this expose, however again I do believe that there does still exist some behavior and speech that is not conducive to the cross-cultural atmosphere. 1. Schermerhorn, Jo hn R. (11/2011). Organizational Behavior, 12th Edition [1] (VitalSource Bookshelf), Retrieved from http://online. vitalsource. com/books/9781118426319 2. Sizoo, S. , Serrie, H. & Shapero, M. (2007). Revisiting a Theory-Supported Approach to Teaching Cross-Cultural Management Skills. Journal Of Teaching In International Business,18(2/3), 83-99. doi:10. 1300/J066v18n02_0 3. Okoro, E. (2012). Cross-Cultural Etiquette and Communication in Global Business: Toward a Strategic Framework for Managing Corporate Expansion. International Journal Of Business & Management,  7(16), 130-138. doi:10. 5539/ijbm. v7n16p130 4. Kawar, T. (2012). Cross-cultural Differences in Management. International Journal Of Business & Social Science,  3(6), 105-111.