McDonald’s vs Burger King: Which is Healthier Essay

The United States has the largest fast food industry in the world, and American fast food restaurants are in over 100 countries. That alone tells you that millions of consumers partake in fast food. By definition, fast food is food that can be prepared and served very quickly. A typical fast food meal in the United States includes a hamburger, French fries, and a soft drink. Out of all of the fast food restaurants in the United States, there are two companies that comes to mind that are the biggest chains in the country. Those two fast food chains are Burger King and McDonald’s. These two companies own more than half of the fast food market in the U. S. With that said, in the past couple of years there has been concern over the obesity rate in the United States. People believe that fast food is a factor because of how easy it is to get it and the price range of it. Because of the perceptions of fast food, every one is looking to the biggest fast food chains to set the example and make their menus healthier. McDonald’s and Burger King are the two fast food chains trying to convert their menu to provide healthier foods, each in their own way. Before looking at the menus of both fast food chains, one has to understand the history. What made them who they are today? How was it created? When did it go public? The first restaurant is McDonald’s. In 1937, Patrick McDonald opened â€Å"The Airdome†, which was a food stand in Monrovia, California. Hamburgers were ten cents and all you can drink. In 1940, his two sons, Maurice and Richard, brought the food stand from their father and moved the entire operation 40 miles and changed the name to â€Å"McDonald’s Bar-B-Q† and served 25 barbecued items on their menu. In October 1948, the brothers realized that most of their profits came from selling hamburgers so they closed down the establishment. On December 12, 1948, the restaurant’s name was once again changed to â€Å"McDonald’s† and went to a menu of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, French fries, shakes, soft drinks, and apple pie. After 5 years of growing popularity and success the brothers decided to start franchising the restaurant. One year later, Ray Kroc, who sold Multi-mixer milkshakes machines, learned that one of the McDonald’s restaurants were using eight of his machines and he decided to take a look for himself. After meeting with the McDonald brothers, Kroc thought that they could franchise the restaurants throughout the country. The brothers did not think the same way so Kroc decided to take it upon himself to do so. By 1959, Kroc had 102 successful restaurants in the United States and by 1961 Kroc brought the business rights from the McDonald brothers for about three million dollars. Like McDonald’s, Burger King also has a long and rich history. It was founded in 1953 in Jacksonville, Florida as Insta-Burger King. Inspired by the McDonald brother’s original store location in San Bernardino, California, the founders and owners, Keith J. Kramer and his wife’s uncle Matthew Burns, began searching for a concept to open a new restaurant around. After purchasing the rights to two pieces of equipment called â€Å"Insta† machines, the two opened their first stores around a cooking device known as the Insta-Broiler. The Insta-Broiler over proved to be so successful at cooking burgers; they required all of their franchises to carry the device. With their new success in the way they cooked burgers, the company had rapidly expanded throughout the state of Florida until its operations totaled more than 40 locations in 1955. By 1961, Insta-Burger King ran into financial difficulties and the pair of McLamore and Edgarton purchased the national rights to the chain. It was rechristened as Burger King of Miami. The company would eventually become the Burger King Corporation and began selling territorial franchise licenses to private owners across the United States by 1961. As I stated in the beginning of my essay, I wanted to compare the two menus between Burger King and McDonald’s. Even though both restaurants are into selling hamburgers, how they are cooked and presented separate these two companies tremendously. For McDonald’s, they have added other items to their menu since the original restaurants opened back in 1948. They added a breakfast menu back in 1972 in which they sold certain breakfast sandwiches such as the McMuffin, which came in certain amounts of variations. There are also types of biscuits and breakfast burritos. Additional breakfast items include hotcakes, several breakfast platters with eggs, hash browns, and meats or breads. As you know, for lunch, McDonald’s serves many sandwich options such as the Quarter Pounder, the McDouble, which is the double cheeseburger, and chicken sandwiches, which they call a McChicken. The trademark sandwich for McDonald’s is called a Big Mac. It was introduced nationwide in 1968. It consists of two 100 percent beef patties, American cheese, â€Å"special sauce†, which is based off a Thousand Island dressing, iceberg lettuce, pickles, onions, and served in a three-part sesame seed bun. Other items on the menu consist of Chicken McNuggets, Chicken Selects, which is the McDonald’s version of chicken strips, Filet-O-Fish, and a McRib, the McDonald’s Rib Sandwich. Burger King’s menu predominantly consisted of hamburgers, French fries, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. In 1978, the company introduced the first iteration of its breakfast menu. The breakfast menu remained almost identical to the McDonald’s offerings until 1983 when Burger King introduced its Croissan’Wich, which comes in many variations like the McDonald’s counterpart, McMuffin sandwich. For the lunch menu, there is little difference between the Burger King and McDonald’s Menu. The counterpart of McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets is called the BK Chicken Tenders, which made its debut in 1985. For Burger King, they have two trademark sandwiches. The first one is the counterpart of the McChicken, which Burger King calls the BK Original Chicken Sandwich. It made its debut in 1978. The other sandwich is called the Whopper. Introduced in 1957, it is one of the best known sandwiches in the fast food industry. The Whopper consists of a flame grilled quarter-pound beef patty, sesame seed bun, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and sliced onion. Now we get to the meat of the conversation. Both companies have been trying to add healthier choices to their menu for years now. For example, McDonald’s had to battle its public image as a purveyor of fatty, unhealthy food. Consumers began filling lawsuits contending that years of eating at McDonald’s had made them overweight. So in 2003, McDonald’s introduced a low calorie menu of low-calorie items and they also switched to more healthful cooking oil for the French fries. Burger king is no different to the criticism of their food. Since the 1980s, several parties, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the British Heart Foundation and the City of New York argued that Burger King has contributed to obesity and unhealthy eating behaviors in Western nations by producing products that contain large amounts of salt, fat, trans-fat, and calories. With that said, it is common knowledge that neither McDonald’s nor Burger King is the healthiest option if you are trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Let’s examine at the major items that both of these fast food chains provide and see which one is healthier. Starting with the French fries, a medium order from Burger King will make the customer consume 400 calories, 20 grams of fat, 43 grams of carbohydrates and 5 grams of protein. The same amount for McDonald’s will provide 20 calories, 7 grams of fat, 19 grams of carbohydrates, and 3 grams of protein less than Burger King’s French fries. So apparently McDonald’s wins in French Fries, for cheeseburgers, McDonald’s are not only lower in calories versus Burger King at 300 to 360, but also in fat and carbohydrates as well. They are also significantly higher in protein. Now for the main event, the Big Mac versus the Whopper, both of these burgers are the most popular menu item for both of these respected fast food chains. Which one is healthier? The Big Mac contains 540 calories, 29 grams of fat, 45 grams of carbohydrates and 25 grams of protein. The Whopper, on the other hand, contains 670 calories, 39 grams of fat, 51 grams of carbohydrates, and 27 grams of protein. So in other words, the Big Mac is Healthier. After looking at the other items that Burger King and McDonald’s provides head to head, Burger King has the edge in terms of its chicken products. Now the big question is who has the healthiest menu? To be honest, it depends on the menu item you choose to buy from either one of these food chains. If you want a good burger that will not do that much damage to your diet then McDonald’s is the way to go. If you are looking to eat a Chicken Sandwich, it looks like the Burger King should change their name. In conclusion, when asking the question of which fast food chain is healthier it is safe to say that there is no clear-cut answer. Even through McDonald’s, when looking at the nutritional stats of each item compared to Burger King, wins in the Burger section. We as consumers have to realize that â€Å"fast food† is not healthy in the first place. These two fast food chains have rich and interesting histories that contributed to how and what they sell to their customers. Each menu has been tweaked in order to fulfill the needs of the consumer over the years. Every consumer prefer to have their own method of buying items, so the best advice I can give is to do your own research beforehand. It is also important to show that you should limit the amount of fast food you eat on a regular basis in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Development of Multinational Personnel Selection

S w 9B07C041 Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTINATIONAL PERSONNEL SELECTION SYSTEM Professors Diana E. Krause and Reiner Piske wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality.Ivey Management Services prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmittal without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Management Services, c/o Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail [email  protected] uwo. ca. Copyright  © 2007, Ivey Management Services Version: (A) 2007-12-11On Monday morning at 8:30 a. m. , Dr. Thomas Koch was leaving his luxury condominium on the 28th floor of a building specifically constructed for expatriates and Hong Kong’s wealthier citizens. He was going down to Causeway Bay, towards his office in Hong Kong’s central business district. On the way, Koch listened to the voice mail messages on his cell phone, one of which was from the assistant of the firm’s owner, Peter Koenig. The message stated that Koch was expected to call back before his meeting with the human resources (HR) team that he was leading.The human resources team meeting was scheduled in order to bring together German and Chinese human resource experts to form a crossfunctional project team. In the context of global restructuring, the company, ComInTec AG & Co (ComInTec), had introduced a new region al management level. As a result, 25 middle management positions were expected to be filled in the Asian-Pacific-region (APAC) (e. g. regional head of purchasing, regional head of supply chain management, national chief executive officers (CEOs), national head of finance and accounting, and national head of operations).A new personnel selection system was expected to fill these positions with qualified employees. ComInTec’s own recruitment channels, as well as â€Å"head hunters,† would be hired for the recruitment process. The overall responsibility for implementing the new personnel selection process was the responsibility of the project team. According to the company’s inhouse global localization policy, 90 per cent of the new management positions were filled by individuals who originated from the country they would be working in.The affected areas included sales and marketing, purchasing, supply chain management, and finance and accounting, at locations in H ong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta, Melbourne, Sydney and Shanghai. The managers’ annual salary ranges between â‚ ¬40,000 and â‚ ¬150,000, depending on the location. The new personnel selection system for APAC was part of the company’s new objective to standardize all human resource instruments for selection purposes around the globe. This new personnel selection system had to be developed internally. Page 2 9B07C041 BACKGROUNDFor several years now, Koch had been finding faults in the design of the individual assessment centres. According to Koch’s opinion, there was only very limited opportunity to influence possible modifications because the individual assessment centres were conducted by external consulting firms. Additionally, Koch questioned the validity of the information obtained from the centres, as well as the personnel selection system as a whole. ComInTec had little interest in empirically evaluating the validity of the assessment centres and statistically analyzing the outcomes of such personnel selection procedures.Koch also felt the need to improve the contents of the structured interviews that were based on the candidate’s current situation, as opposed to the candidate’s previous work experience. Koch firmly believed that what happened in the past was likely to be repeated in the future, and therefore had very little appreciation for selective interviews that did not consider the candidate’s past. Overall, efforts to improve the current selection systems had only rarely been undertaken due to limited time and the budget allotted for personnel affairs — a memorable fact that Koch had already pointed out to the management several times.The development of a new multinational personnel selection system now posed a huge challenge for Koch and his project team. There was one fact, however, which he noticed with relief: there were no expatriates in the new selection system because the selecte d managers were required to be living in APAC. Currently, ComIncTec simply sent those candidates abroad that had the necessary technical skills and experience, regardless of intercultural competencies.Koch remembered how difficult it was at times to find someone willing to move his or her centre of life, including family, to a different country. He also knew from his own emigration experience that no training (e. g. language or cultural norms) was offered to prepare him. With this in mind, he hired staff for his project team that would globally represent the countries involved: a Chinese research assistant who completed a bachelor in HR management, another trainee from China, and a German intern who had completed four semesters in psychology.The team, which also included additional HR managers from the headquarters office, had already been working on the development of the new personnel selection system for four months. Over the past few weeks numerous meetings had been held, yet no significant progress had been made. One reason could be attributed to the fact that there was obvious heterogeneity between the German and Asian team members’ opinions regarding the new personnel selection system. This created an ambiance that was tense and dissent with respect to sharing the workload.For today’s meeting, the goal was to come to a consensus on several important issues: (1) what individual modules the new personnel selection system should contain, (2) whether country-specific adaptations were necessary and feasible for each module, and (3) the implementation process of the new personnel instrument at each APAC location. The APAC-situated plants were the company’s top-selling ones; therefore, any wrong decisions with respect to HR (e. g. personnel selection) were extremely cost-Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. When Ko ch first heard about the above changes, it immediately occurred to him that this would not be easy. He knew that personnel selection procedures currently varied significantly between countries. He also knew that the existing selection instruments were by no means flawless in any specific country. After the application documents were analyzed, structured interviews with the candidates were conducted by a department representative and an HR specialist.If both interviewers came to a positive conclusion on the candidates’ qualifications, the top candidate completed an individual assessment centre in order to point out his/her interpersonal competences rather than his/her professional competencies. The individual assessment centres consisted of biographical questions, case studies on leadership in an international context and participation in a leaderless group discussion. Ultimately, additional references were obtained for each candidate, although different procedures existed in different countries.For example, references gathered in Asia only confirmed a candidate’s previous function and duration of employment according to common employment law. After reference checks were completed, each candidate received written feedback and a report was generated and added to the successful candidate’s personnel file. Page 3 9B07C041 intense. The personnel selection system in APAC, as a whole, would have large-scale consequences affecting the entire company. As Koch was walking in the crowded Causeway Bay area he was not paying much attention.To Koch, who could not distinguish between Asians, it seemed as if they were crawling across the streets like ants, all busy on their phones. As usual, it was a very hot day. For Koch, now 48 years old, this was intolerable. He took off his light-coloured linen jacket and placed his tie, threatening to strangle him, in his brief case. He had returned from a business trip in Sydney the previous Saturday and was still feeling the effects of the lengthy flight. The next business trip was scheduled for the upcoming Thursday — off to Jakarta for a week, Shanghai, then Munich for a meeting of the Global Steering Committee Human Resources.He checked his schedule and remembered the phone call he received earlier from Koenig’s assistant. Koch would be arriving at his office within 10 minutes, which allowed him time to return Koenig’s phone call before the scheduled meeting. It had been 17 years now that Koch had been working in the HR department for ComInTec and three years in the regional headquarters in Hong Kong. After working many years for ComInTec he was currently the HR director, thanks to his determination, networking skills, ability to be highly adaptable to new situations, and his talent to be at the right place at the right time.He was in charge of all HR decisions within ComInTec in APAC. ComInTec was a worldwide leading industrial company with administration, plants, an d sales offices in Central Europe, Eastern and Western Europe, APAC, Central and South America, and North America. Like many other companies, ComInTec was forced to establish downsizing procedures between 2003 and 2006. Worldwide, 900 jobs were cut. Koch was actively involved in the staff cutbacks that had taken place. He had visited the plants, equipped with PowerPoint presentations that had been verified by the executive board to be politically correct.He spoke to the workers and praised ComInTec’s ethics and corporate philosophy, despite the cutbacks. He communicated the cutbacks to the workers as a temporary crisis, pointing out that it was mainly due to natural fluctuations and that it was part-time employees who were cut, with the affected workers being offered fair compensation packages. In consequence of the general economic situation in the years of 2003 to 2006, ComInTec unfortunately had no other option. He additionally thanked the staff for their loyalty and appre ciation with personal gifts and reports in the company’s internal newsletter.Since then, the company had recovered from the crisis. ComInTec employed 23,000 employees worldwide and made more than â‚ ¬5. 8 billion in sales. Koch arrived at the elevator to his office. He was surrounded by Asian colleagues in the best mood, all in uniformly grey suits, greeting each other as they waited for the elevator. When he got off the elevator, there were two of the three Chinese secretaries serving tea and fruits. His appearance always caused a general haste among the secretaries. They all confirmed his daily appointments, signifying that his work day had officially commenced.Koch called on a secretary, who came running on the double, accompanied by a â€Å"Yes, sir! † and a big smile, yet she avoided eye-contact by looking down to the floor. She reminded him that Koenig was waiting for him to return his call. Without being able to name a cause for it, this secretary’s be haviour triggered uncertainty in Koch. All her gestures appeared submissive as she perpetually nodded her head — regardless of praise or dispraise — always understanding and friendly. Koch picked up the telephone and Koenig instantly began speaking: Mr.Koch, you know how much I appreciate your dedication to the company, but I have concerns about the current international selection procedures. We need something that is going to work, and work immediately! And don’t you dare try to offer me this empirical or validity stuff. I don’t give a damn. You have a whole department with highly qualified people. I assume you are capable of filling these vacant management positions. We also need a selection system that works everywhere. We cannot afford to apply differentLicensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 4 9B07C041 procedures in every c ountry. What we need are consistent procedures, something applicable cross-nationally and cross-regionally. You, as a cosmopolitan, should know exactly what I mean. I also expect everything to be documented to a tee. Although Koch shared Koenig’s enthusiasm for an improved personnel selection system, there were many complications that could arise of which Koenig seemed obviously unaware.As sensitively as possible and with all due respect, Koch tried to inform Koenig about possible problems. First, Koch argued that although a multinational personnel selection system could have its advantages, these advantages may become costly when they are not easily implemented in each region. Each country had its own unique economic and education situations, which would undoubtedly become problematic when creating a universal personnel selection system. Koenig should only think of Thailand, for example, where it is more difficult than anywhere else to find qualified managers.With respect to cultural differences, Koch argued that a standardized personnel selection system would also most likely ignore cultural differences and culture-specific circumstances. This would not only affect the individual modules of the system, but also the basic job requirements, the adaptation of modules to specific countries, and the use of specific personnel selection methods. Koch also expressed his concern with Koenig’s lack of interest in testing the validity of the new selection procedures: Mr. Koenig, something that is expected to work should be tested thoroughly.This is the only way to be certain that it will actually work. We will need to test and then evaluate each and every single module in each country. This process will provide a basis on which we will be able to improve the original procedures. Due to all the possible problems that may arise with the new system, it is imperative that we invest in developing it properly. Of course, that wasn’t exactly what Koenig w anted to hear: Don’t tell me about problems, I want solutions, and you should not forget that this is what I pay you and your team to do. You have until the end of this week to deliver final and written conclusions of this matter.If not, I will reduce your team in Hong Kong by half, and I will delegate the development of this new system to global headquarters. â€Å"Mr. Koenig,† Koch replied, â€Å"please keep in mind that my team has been working on this assignment for months, including weekends. † Nevertheless, Koenig underlined Koch’s point of view with the commanding tone typical of him: â€Å"Either you will come up with something useful by the end of this week, or central headquarters will do the job. End of discussion. † Koch responded: Mr. Koenig, we have known each other for 17 years now and you know that I always do what’s best for this company.I strongly believe that as your HR manager, it is my responsibility and duty to inform y ou about possible risks and problems that may exist with an ad hoc-developed and unevaluated multinational personnel selection system. Koch advised Koenig again that his demands could lead to severe difficulties. Koch also added: Mr. Koenig, please remember the problems we experienced a few years ago with respect to staffing cutbacks. You wanted to send employees, who had been working for the Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13.Page 5 9B07C041 company for many years, home without any kind of termination pay. Everything was to be done by us, without any kind of external consulting. I assume you remember that I told you in advance how risky such a staff reduction can be. I am certain that you will also remember that I informed you that the legal process would create a high financial risk to the company with employees with legal action seeking claims for damage s and compensation. At the time you had underestimated the situation, and as a result our legal department had to deal with all the consequences.We were lucky that our lawyers were able to win most of the cases. Koenig was listening to these remarks with irritation and responded: Dr. Koch, I am at the end of my tether with you. You need to stop focusing on the past. It’s all water under the bridge. We are now looking at 25 people we want to hire. This is my company and not yours. I will be participating in today’s meeting via video conference. I expect you to prepare everything at once so that the video conference will be working. And don’t forget that I have put you in charge of the entire new personnel selection system.Koch would need to accept the fact that all of his objections to Koenig’s instructions fell on deaf ears. He knew Koenig well enough to understand exactly what he wanted and that he would not change his mind. For Koenig, endless loyalty t o the company, endurance, a hands-on mentality, and assertiveness were most important. He was known for his strong control orientation not only by the members of the global steering group, but also by the plants’ employees. Two weeks prior, he went to Malaysia unannounced and snuck into one of the plants in order to see the night shift’s work with his own eyes.In addition, every executive knew that Koenig had established staff employees, so called key functionaries, in every country. The task of these key functionaries, or spies as Koch liked to call them, was to report to Koenig about everything that was happening on site in detail, particularly any wrong doing of management. But Koenig did not trust these key functionaries either, with his motto being â€Å"Trust is good, control is better. † Only if there was 100 per cent agreement between headquarters and the key functionaries was he willing to attribute a certain degree of credibility to the situation.Koch could therefore understand the tactics of Koenig because they somewhat resembled his own tactics. Koch, nevertheless, had difficulties with Koenig’s control procedures because they directly affected him and his team. In response to these procedures, Koch had established in APAC that each meeting and each decision that was to be made must be recorded by three individuals. Piles of paper were accumulating in his office as a result, and even special storage rooms were needed to store the paper masses.Furthermore, Koch remembered the intention coming from the central HR department, to standardize all personnel selection procedures including all criteria and approaches around the globe. This matter ended in talk due to conflicts regarding this question. With all this in the back of his mind, and the increasing pressure on his shoulders, Koch remarked to Koenig at the end of the phone call that the meeting would possibly take several hours, and that he assumed Koenig would not like to spend his precious time listening to every single detail regarding APAC’s selection system.Koenig agreed that attending the meeting via video conference would not be in his best interest with respect to time, but instead insisted even more that he receive the final draft of their decisions and the meeting minutes by Friday. Koch was proud to have successfully appeased Koenig’s concerns for the moment, and he next turned his focus to the scheduled meeting. He was horrified when he glanced at his watch and realized that it was already 9:30 a. m. He jumped up abruptly from his desk and left for the conference room.When he arrived, his whole team and an unknown staff employee from global headquarters, probably a key functionary, Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 6 9B07C041 Well, I ask today that you all present results from the past few months of hard work. I am only interested in the results and would like to avoid any long discussions concerning details. Mr. Koenig expects our final decisions in writing this upcoming Friday.In the case that he does not approve our recommendations, this project will possibly be passed on to global headquarters. As a result, we will lose team members. You now know the importance of our meeting today. We need to legitimize our right to exist. The Chinese colleagues agreed by nodding their heads uniformly. Koch noticed that this behaviour was always to be expected when there was an order from a member with higher hierarchical status. From Koch’s perspective, this was a phenomenon reflecting cross-cultural differences (see Exhibits 1 and 2).He often asked himself why his Chinese colleagues seemed to forget all priorities regarding time and content as soon as there was an order coming from someone higher in the hierarchy. How often did he observe his Chinese colleagues change t heir work completely and without any objection according to the orders of someone with higher status? Koch quite often got the impression that his Asian colleagues and co-workers followed the principle â€Å"Seniority is king. † Yue Yu, a Chinese HR employee, rose to speak. In her concise way, she stated: One crucial question concerns the definition of the job requirements and their profiles.After several discussions we have come to the conclusion that the positions to be filled differ in their content. Hence, we plead to define the job requirements specifically for each position, and to allow flexibility of the job requirements for other positions. More precisely, we want to diagnose 15 dimensions: five components that test the candidate’s professional competencies, and 10 dimensions that evaluate social competencies. Andreas Mueller, the German economist who possessed extensive experience in HR management, countered Yue Yu: â€Å"You must be joking.The inclusion of 15 dimensions is not what our team has decided on. That is your opinion, which is not shared with anybody here. I told you many times that the acquisition of 15 dimensions is simply impossible. † â€Å"Yes, that’s what you said earlier,† answered Yue Yu, â€Å"but I find we should establish as many dimensions as possible. † â€Å"Well, I disagree,† Mueller continued, who could not stand being interrupted, â€Å"It is important to define clearly distinguishable job requirements that are measurable, describable, and that are equally relevant in all countries of APAC. Yue Yu, intimidated by her German colleague’s manner, blushed and looked down towards the floor, signaling that she did not dare to say anything further. Yue Yu often found it difficult to cope with negative feedback, particularly when it occurred in front of her colleagues. There had been several times already that she could not stand up to Mueller, which seemed to affect her mor e and more each time. She had once spoken to Koch about her difficulties communicating with Mueller; however, Koch was quickly irritated by the complaint and asked her to wait and hope for an improvement of the situation. Koch assumed the confrontation betweenLicensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. were already waiting impatiently. In order to keep the meeting attendees occupied while they waited, the thoughtful secretary was serving coffee and snacks, resulting in a second breakfast for many of them. Koch welcomed everyone, apologized for being late, and began the meeting, â€Å"We are here today to decide about the future personnel selection system for APAC, which, when complete, will influence the complete international employee selection system within ComIntTec considerably. After these introductory words, he asked the German intern Sarah Goldmann and her Chinese HR assistant Dai Wei to record the meeting minutes. Koch continued, â€Å"I need everything we discuss here today to be recorded in detail. The records must happen with the precision of a surgeon! † The German team members threw disfavouring looks at each other; however, the Asian team members approved of the instructions by nodding their heads. Koch started: Page 7 9B07C041 he two colleagues was generally just a misinterpretation due to cultural differences (see Exhibits 1 and 2), and told her to bring the matter to his attention again only if it was absolutely necessary. Yue Yu never discussed the situation with Koch again. The German, in-house psychologist Sabine Weitmann, who was known for her differentiating thinking, decided to join the discussion: In my point of view, the question regarding the number of dimensions is only secondary. It is important that we first establish the contents of the job requirements. I suggest we replace the term job requirements with the more modern term competencies.In my opinion, a multinational requirement profile should contain competencies such as technical and vocational skills, social competencies, leadership competencies, communicative competencies, flexibility, and adaptability. â€Å"Why these skills and not others? † interjected Dai Wei, the Chinese HR assistant, who was not satisfied with Weitmann’s selection of skills. â€Å"Well, during my studies at the Strategic Human Resource Management Institute in Hong Kong, where I completed my MBA, I learned and experienced that a multitude of skills are inessential in personnel selection.I think we should therefore consider additional skills. For example, stress tolerance, resilience, cooperation skills, willingness to learn, ambiguity tolerance, goal-orientation, problem-solving skills, decision-making skills, and intercultural competencies. † â€Å"But Dai Wei,† contradicted Mueller, â€Å"It is totally obvious that this kind of proposition will encounter problems. That is simply not doable. Besides, the intention to establish more than six job requirements turned out to be problematic in the past.Did you ever think about the difference between intercultural competence and social competence? † Dai Wei was obviously irritated by the criticisms he received in front of the team and was in the process of losing his temper, which was easily detected by looking at his face, which had become flushed. These well-known signs alerted Weitmann, who tried to calm the situation with her objection and who cherished the illusion of having salvaged this precarious situation: â€Å"We should not waste anymore time debating this topic, which we’ve already discussed many times before.Let’s stay focused. † Clearing his throat, Mueller stated, â€Å"It is pointless to discuss the skills and job requirements. We are under time pressure and I therefore suggest that we bring about a majority vote wi th respect to the skills. † â€Å"No,† said the Chinese trainee, who participated in a communication training course last weekend and had been therefore sensitized to group dynamic processes, â€Å"A majority vote is not the solution. It may lead to good decisions not succeeding because certain team members follow the uniform opinion of the majority.We should try to reach a consensus on this issue. † While the Asian colleagues began to nod their heads in agreement, Mueller, who did not like to leave anything to chance, responded, â€Å"Well, I believe there should be six dimensions, namely planning/organization, initiative, adaptability, conflict management, decisionmaking/goal-orientation, and leadership. These dimensions are not only important for a manager’s success in APAC, but on a worldwide scale. † â€Å"Andreas,† countered Weitmann, â€Å"what are your conclusions based on? We need dimensions that have been empirically verified.Altho ugh it is great that you have your opinion, what we need are empirically validated dimensions. † â€Å"Well, I would like to settle this dispute,† replied Bettina Carter, a German lawyer who had lived in California for many years, and who was now ready to explore the world of APAC with her American husband. The always down-to-earth Carter opined, â€Å"Clearly, this is easy. We simply use the German dimensions and adapt them to the management positions in APAC. I am certain that everybody here knows that these are the dimensions mentioned by Mueller earlier. Koch, who was already feeling mentally exhausted from listening to the discussion, said: Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 8 9B07C041 I neither have the time nor the energy to be debating these arguments. Our hands are full and even though we’re going in the right direction, it is only a first step to come up with dimensions. I am in charge of everything here and I would like to avoid losing my head over these debates. Let’s vote. Who agrees with the dimensions suggested by Sabine?Silence took over the room. â€Å"Who will support the dimensions outlined by Andreas? † The vote was suddenly interrupted by a cellular phone ringing in the tone of an alarm system. â€Å"Sorry, sorry about that,† apologized the Chinese trainee, who was no longer writing the meeting minutes, but instead trying to control his cell phone. Koch concluded: There you go! It is official and we agree. I hereby announce that the job requirements for the selection of managers be assessed on six dimensions: planning/organizing, initiative, adaptability, conflict management, decision-making/goal-orientation, and leadership.These dimensions will be used for managers in all departments (e. g. sales and marketing, purchasing, supply chain management, finance, and accou nting) and all locations (e. g. Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta, Melbourne, Sydney and Shanghai). We will also incorporate vocational competencies. All recorders please write down that statement. Eventually Goldmann, the German intern, remarked with satisfaction that she could finally score with her boss: â€Å"It appears to me that the definition of the job requirements should not be done separately from the new personnel selection system module definitions.I learned in university to define certain requirements for module X and the requirements that will then be tested in another module Y. † Everybody in the room was surprised at this, and even Weitmann and Mueller complimented Goldmann for her suggestion. â€Å"Yes, this is a very good proposition, indeed,† Weitmann said. Mueller, who saw his chance to get back to the topic, added, â€Å"We should continue with a systematic approach. Let’s decide on the modules, and then we can substantiate the job requirements per module. Sabine, surely you will agree with me on this. After the long-lasting debate, which still wasn’t very productive, Koch was now only following the discussion half-heartedly. Similarly, the Chinese trainee was on the verge of falling into a deep trance. Koch decided he would no longer intervene on the discussions, â€Å"Now I am just going to sit in on this meeting,† he thought to himself. These people are beating around the bush and are trying to profile themselves at my cost. I am under Mr. Koenig’s pressure, being spied on by the headquarters’ staff employees, in a city that is still strange to me, and without any hope for improvement.With a loud voice he blurted out, â€Å"What shall it be,† and everybody in the room looked at him in an alienated fashion. â€Å"Is everything OK? † the German intern Goldmann, who found this behaviour extremely strange, asked with worry. She remembered an introductory course of clini cal psychology and believed that this behaviour could be an indication of a pathological disorder. However, Koch replied, â€Å"Yes, of course, everything is perfectly fine,† which temporarily reassured Goldmann.It was now Koch’s intention to fulfill his leading role by trying to motivate his team members to move on to the next important issue: the definition of the modules and the job requirements for each module. Dai Wei responded, We have been working on this question for a very long time, and after several modifications and discussions, we finally agreed. We think as a team that a multinational Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 9 9B07C041 Yes, Dai Wei,† replied Yue Yu, who was always intent to maintain harmony. Weitmann, who was still a bit annoyed because her suggestion regarding the competencies was rejected, stated: Dai Wei , you forgot an important module. When I attended an international conference in Philadelphia, I had the opportunity to meet an internationally-known scientist. Like me, the professor considers it essential to use standardized testing procedures. The professor has shown empirical evidence that validity of personnel selection increases if psychometric testing procedures are used in addition to other modules.For that reason, I advocate for intelligence tests and personality tests to be added to the personnel selection system. We have discussed this before and my suggestion was received positively. Replied Mueller: Sabine, your test knowledge is impressive, but unfortunately such procedures will lead us into a dead-end street. As you know, standardized tests have several disadvantages. They are not generally highly accepted and cultural problems exist. Are you aware of any intelligence or personality tests that can be applied equally worldwide and for which there are test theoretical i ndices available?Weitmann, getting worked up about the topic, responded, â€Å"Well, these are minor problems, and if we need to we can ask our interns, trainees or HR assistants to develop such standardized tests. Or we could assign an external consulting firm to the task. † Carter, who in the meantime was scrolling through her voluminous labour law book, jumped into the conversation: I don’t think we should debate this issue any further. We have already decided several weeks ago to include testing procedures in the selection process. Just to be sure, I will confirm that the testing procedures coincide with the labour laws.We should now concentrate on how the individual modules will look and what skills should be covered in which module. â€Å"That is a good suggestion,† agreed Dai Wei. Increasingly gripped by this trend-setting suggestion, Mueller now cleared his throat and offered to summarize the contents of the modules: After due consideration, we have come to the conclusion that the first step of this multinational personnel selection system will be conducted in a similar manner at all Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. election system for APAC should be two-tiered. The first tier consists of three modules: a viewing of the candidates’ application documents, a telephone conference with the applicants that should be conducted in an unstructured manner, and the obtaining of three references from former employers. Unlike the current procedures, references should not only be used to verify past employment and the duration of employment, but also include a statement regarding the candidate’s personality. Four modules will follow in the second tier.Specifically, a panel interview, a biography-oriented in-depth interview, a simulated group exercise, and testing procedures. Does everybody still agree on these modules and the two-tiered system? Page 10 9B07C041 Koch stepped in, â€Å"Thanks, Andreas for your summary. Dai, could you please illustrate the second tier modules in an equally precise fashion? † â€Å"I will try,† taking a deep breath, Dai Wei said: The second level of the selection process will consist of — as already mentioned — a panel interview, a biography-oriented in-depth interview, a simulated group exercise, and a test.The purpose of the panel interview is to obtain detailed information about the candidate with respect to the required skills Andreas just summarized. That means that the competencies will be evaluated in this module of the selection process. The panel interview is a standardized exercise based on the critical-incident-technique. The candidate describes one critical situation and his or her behaviour in each situation for each of the six job requirements. Instructions and questions for the candidates have already been p repared.I will give you an example for the dimension â€Å"planning/organization. † The instructions will read: â€Å"An efficient manager has to be capable of organizing his or her agenda well in order to achieve specific goals. This includes, but is not limited to, prioritizing competing tasks well and delegating tasks to other employees in a timely fashion. Discuss a time last year when you had to keep a tight and challenging schedule. Also include methods you usually apply for time management. This introductory instruction will be followed by five open-ended questions that have to be answered by each candidate. An example for the dimension â€Å"planning/organization† is as follows: â€Å"Think about an event in which you showed previously discussed skills. Explain the circumstances. Describe precisely what you have done in order to manage this situation. What was the outcome? Who will be able to verify what you have described here? † The candidate will rec eive similar questions for the remaining five dimensions. Each candidate will be given an hour to prepare his or her answers.Afterwards, they will be given 30 minutes to present the results, with panel members given the opportunity for queries. Each candidate will then receive a score for each dimension (e. g. 5 being outstanding, 3 being acceptable, and 1 being unacceptable). The scores will then be Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. locations. Module one, a viewing of the candidates’ application documents, shall be conducted by applying the â€Å"6-eye-method. That is, three persons will be analyzing the applicant’s documents regarding his or her suitability for the targeted position. The result of this analysis is a preliminary selection of candidates. Individual telephone conferences with the remaining candidates will follow. The confere nces will be attended by the candidate and two members of our team: the supervisor at the site in APAC and one person from the German headquarters. The conference shall be conducted in an unstructured manner with everyone having the opportunity to ask the candidate questions.The goal of the conference will be to verify the candidate’s suitability for the position, his or her motivation for the position, and to obtain a general, overall impression of the candidate. If a consensus is reached that the candidate is suitable for the considered position three references from former employers or colleagues will next be obtained. As you all know, the reference system has paid off well in Europe, especially because it enabled us to identify all those cheaters and impostors. This will likely be doable in Asia as well.In the case that the references are predominantly positive, the first level of the selection process is completed. Subsequently, the candidate will have to pass the module s of the second tier. Dai Wei, would you like to illustrate the modules of the second tier in detail? Page 11 9B07C041 â€Å"Let’s move forward to the second module in the second tier: the in-depth biography-oriented interview. † Dai Wei continued: At this stage we verify a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, but the primary objective is to gain insights into the candidate’s private and professional past.The in-depth biography-oriented interview shall be conducted by a psychologist. We are especially interested in the candidate’s expectations, how parents and other family members have influenced him or her, how cultural background affects his or her decisions, and possible untreated conflicts the candidate may have to face. The interview shall not be oriented towards job requirements, but instead consider the candidate’s complete life span and be of a general nature. Following this in-depth biography-oriented interview, a psychological opi nion shall be furnished.This opinion will be filed in our documents, without the candidate having the right to view it. It is important that the interviewer and the candidate have the same cultural background in order to prevent any possible misunderstanding during the interview (e. g. a candidate for a position in China shall be interviewed by a Chinese psychologist). Although this requirement may create additional expenses, we find it justifiable and needed to ensure an accurate expert opinion on the candidate’s qualifications is obtained. â€Å"Dr. Koch,† Dai Wei said, â€Å"What do you think about this approach? â€Å"I am not quite sure at the moment,† Koch responded, â€Å"I think it is very likely that a few of the suggestions just are not feasible given the high costs involved. For now, I am not able to say anything definite. We will have to wait. † Exhausted by the long-lasting discussions, it was becoming more and more difficult for Koch to sta y focused and absorb the arguments. He noticed that Yue Yu had not spoken out on anything, including the rivalry between Weitmann and Mueller Koch was convinced, as he could see in many different situations that a leader should stay out of these issues. One could not change things anyway. Change,† it crossed Koch’s mind, â€Å"Can one change a situation, in one’s life? No, people never change. Neither do circumstances in life. You get thrown in and there is no way out, and it would be a hopeless undertaking to try it. † Koch tried to take control over the situation again: â€Å"Well, let’s move on to the two last modules of the selection system. Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. summarized, forming the basis for the decision as to the panel’s level of recommendation.We discussed for a lengthy time whether we shoul d inform the candidates in advance about the dimensions (e. g. the meaning of each). In order to guarantee transparency for the candidate, we decided to inform them of all dimensions a priori. It is our hope that this will increase a candidate’s acceptance and understanding of the module’s purpose. Furthermore, we discussed whether the critical incidents should be presented in English, or whether they should also be available in other languages. We discussed the pros and cons thoroughly. From my own experience, it is difficult at times to communicate to someone in a second language.We decided it would be best to give the candidates the option of answering the questions in their language of choice. The instructions and questions will therefore be translated by professional translators from English into the particular language. In order to guarantee accuracy in the translation, the instructions and questions will be translated into English again (i. e. the back translati on technique). Although this extra translation step may appear as more work, it is warranted to ensure the translation is indeed reflective of its original content.These extra expenses can offer a tremendous advantage, especially for the Shanghai location. We are certain that we can effectively cover relevant dimensions that are cross-culturally important with this method. A separate pre-test is not designated. Page 12 9B07C041 Sabine, please explain modules three and four. How do they look? What competencies do they include? Are there any culture-specific adaptations that need to be dealt with? † Weitmann eagerly began to inform her colleagues about the modules: I can certainly do that.We are looking at a simulated group exercise and the adoption of standardized test procedures. The group exercise has been integrated in order to acquire typical dimensions, which are usually diagnosed in assessment centres, in a similar way. The assignment of an assessment centre for one or tw o days and the culture-specific adaptations would mean increased expenses. For these reasons, we have excluded this option, and alternatively will be using simulated group discussions. The candidate and three professional role players will participate in the leaderless group discussions. The role layers have to complete a two-day-long training session, after which they will receive an internal certificate stating that they can act as professional role players. Prior to the group discussions, the role players will receive specific instructions containing standardized roles. The role players include the â€Å"devil’s advocate,† whose task is to contradict the candidate’s opinion, the â€Å"supporter,† who is always on the candidate’s side, and the â€Å"viewless one,† who does not participate in the argument, but who will propose opinions that don’t have anything to do with the topic at all.Prior to the discussion, each participant will be informed about the topic. The chosen topic should deal with issues that contribute to the development of the employees in their own department. The topic shall be identical APAC-wide. We have deliberately chosen a topic away from specific skills in order to allow each candidate equal chances for the completion of this task. Naturally, candidates with strong leadership skills will have advantages over those who have only been in a leading position for a short time.The candidate will not be informed that the discussants are role players with specific assignments. The dimensions that will be evaluated in the group discussions include communication, cooperation, stress tolerance/resilience, assertiveness, and ambiguity tolerance. The roles and individual instructions will only be available in English in order to standardize the exercises cross-nationally. The group discussions shall also be carried out in English. The candidate will be given 15 minutes to prepare for the discussion after the topic has been revealed.The whole discussion will be video-taped. This recording will then be made available to three independent observers, who will ideally come from different countries. It is their task to observe the candidates’ behaviour during the discussion, and to assess the candidates’ behaviour with respect to all relevant dimensions and in compliance to the behavioural scale available to the observers. Additionally, each observer has the opportunity to write down his observations qualitatively.The observations of all observers will then be collected and statistically converted into a final score for each candidate. It is important to mention that every observer, who can be recruited from any hierarchical level, must pass an observer training course that teaches the basics of behavioural observation, the meaning and importance of such exercises, the dimensions, behavioural indicators for each dimension, as well as the role players’ assignment s of their specific roles. That concludes all the information we have gathered on the simulated group discussion.Goldmann, interrupted: Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 13 9B07C041 I don’t want to be rude, but isn’t it important to take the candidate’s perspective into consideration, as well? I mean, if the candidate has no clue about the situation in which he or she is in, he or she deserves clarification as well as extensive feedback once the group discussion is completed. I think that extensive feedback, in both oral and written form, must absolutely follow the module. It is nice that you think that,† Mueller countered: Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. But unfortunately nobody cares about th e candidate’s perspective. We are interested in choosing the right person, certainly not in satisfying the applicants. What horseplay — these never-ending discussions on fairness and acceptance. Reality differs significantly from the ideal procedures we are taught in university, my dear.It is really annoying the kind of stuff that is being taught at our renowned universities, and most likely by professors that have not seen much outside of their institutes, let alone in a company. Goldmann, who only wanted to contribute with a suggestion, was obviously upset about the comment. She could barely hold back her tears as she marched out of the conference room. The Chinese trainee followed her with the intention of calming her down, losing the handouts he had prepared for the meeting and that he was supposed to distribute beforehand.Finally, Yue Yu ran out of the room and into the female washroom, where she found Goldmann looking miserable, in tears and close to a nervous br eakdown. â€Å"Dr. Koch,† Carter, who saw herself responsible to demonstrate her judicial knowledge, advised: I think that this argument has merit to it. Candidate feedback is important. Just imagine the consequences and damaging results of not providing feedback. Feedback should not be underestimated. I am particularly thinking about rejected candidates. ComInTec cannot afford these kinds of mistakes. † Koch agreed only partly and replied: Mrs.Carter, now you have subscribed to this view, too. Do you have any precedent? As you know, all candidates receive feedback in writing regarding their overall impression. As you should know further, this feedback does not cover any specific dimension or module, but it offers a very good general conclusion. Should candidates be interested in the impression they made, they simply need to read the report. That should be sufficient. I do not agree that we should focus on unpleasant feedback, or would you like to conduct all of those c onversations yourself, Mrs. Carter?Now the psychologist jumped into the discussion, acting as a mediator. She pointed out the following: The question regarding the feedback should not be our priority. We still need to discuss module four. I am talking about the testing procedures that have to be included in the selection system. As I have mentioned before, it is essential to use psychometric testing procedures. Insofar, module four consists of an intelligence test and a personality test that every candidate has to complete. That gives us indicators for â€Å"general intelligence† as well as for the â€Å"big five. The specific test procedures will be used still have to be specified for each country of course. But I am convinced that we will be able to manage that. Page 14 9B07C041 With the Goldmann still in the bathroom crying, there was only one recorder left, which resulted in much of the meeting no longer being documented. Dai Wei, who had returned to the meeting and was trained in presentation techniques, felt obligated to conclude the points that were most important with the use of a flip chart: If I may conclude, we have decided that the ersonnel selection system consists of two tiers that include several modules. We have specified these modules in content and procedures. Hence, we have achieved the first step of our meeting. We intended furthermore to specify the adaptations for each target country and how to implement those modules. We need to next reach a consensus on the second and third goal of this meeting. Koch commented: Dai Wei, what are you thinking? It is already 1:30 p. m. and that means that the time for our meeting is more than up. We won’t be able to decide on the remaining points today.I expect that the recorders will make a flawless and written report available by 9:00 Wednesday morning. Please pass this on to Sarah and Yue Yu. This will give me time to review all the meeting minutes and finalize any unresolved issues. You should expect a final copy of the resolutions on the multinational selection system to be available by Friday at 9 a. m. With respect to the issues that were not resolved today, I will make the decisions myself and include them in the report. This resolution shall also deal with the questions that we could not look into, due to the lack of time today.I don’t care how you will do it – just do it. Thank you for your attendance at this meeting, Dai Wei, Sabine, Mrs. Carter, Andreas, and honourable sir of staff. † With these words, Koch terminated the meeting. Due to the lengthy meeting, there was no lunch break. This particularly bothered the Chinese team members, but it was not voiced. Koch believed that Asians set a high value on lunch breaks because they highly value food and money. Unfortunately, Koch could not be bothered to worry about it — according to him, food and money were the lower motivators on the Maslow Pyramid of needs.He muttered under his b reath: Those Asians, it’s always just about food, money, and shopping, and they are continuously on the phone — what do they have to tell each other all the time? How often do I see them yelling at each other in Chinese, hard and ruthlessly, whereas they always show me a smile? You never know what they really think, and when I ask them they tell me something positive anyways. Negative remarks in front of the boss are obviously a big taboo, and the word ‘no’ does not seem to exist in their vocabulary.Right after the meeting, Koch went straight to his office and did not come out again for the rest of the afternoon. Koch received the meeting minutes on Wednesday and wrote his final report for Koenig. Koch later received a short notice sent by Koenig via e-mail on Friday afternoon. Koenig informed him that important basic conditions and necessary adaptations had not been taken into consideration sufficiently in the new multinational personnel selection system; therefore, he had handed the case over to global headquarters.In addition, the e-mail stated that there would be staff-related consequences for his department in Hong Kong. In response, Koch sat down to write a long letter to Koenig’s attention. Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 15 9B07C041 Exhibit 1 DIMENSIONS AND INDICATORS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES (HOFSTEDE) Power Distance: Degree to which society members accept an unequal distribution of power.Characteristics of large power distance: Inequalities among people are expected and desired. Less powerful people should depend on the more powerful authoritarian values Organizational hierarchy reflects inequality between higher-ups and lower-downs Centralization is popular Subordinates expect to be told what to do Wide salary range between top and bottom of organization The ideal boss is a benevole nt autocrat or good father Privileges and status symbols are popular Uncertainty Avoidance: Degree to which society members feel uncomfortable by uncertain or unknown situations.Characteristics of strong uncertainty avoidance: Uncertainty is felt as threat, feeling of anxiety Fear of ambiguous situations What is different, is dangerous Suppression of deviant ideas Resistance to innovation Motivation by security Masculinity/Femininity: Masculinity pertains to societies in which social gender roles are clearly distinct (i. e. men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success whereas women are supposed to be more modest, tender and concerned with the quality of life); femininity pertains to societies in which social gender roles overlap (i. e. both men and women are supposed to be modest, ender, and concerned with the quality of life). (pp. 82-83). Characteristics of masculine societies: Dominant values are material objects and success Money and things are import ant Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Men are supposed to be assertive, ambitious, and tough Women are supposed to be tender and take care of relationships Girls cry, boys don’t Live in order to work Stress on equity, competition among colleagues, and performance Resolution of conflicts by fighting them outPage 16 9B07C041 Exhibit 1 (continued) Characteristics of feminine societies: Dominant values are caring for others and maintenance of relationships People and warm relationships are important Men and women are both supposed to be tender and take care of relationships Work in order to live Stress on equality, solidarity and quality of work life Resolution of conflicts by compromise and negotiation Individualism/Collectivism: â€Å"Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look af ter himself or herself and his or her immediate family.Collectivism as its opposite pertains to societies in which people from birth on are integrated into strong, cohesive ingroups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyality. † (p. 51).Characteristics of individualist societies: Individual interests prevail over collective interests Identity is based on the individual Employer-employee relationship is a contract that is supposed to be based on mutual advantages Hiring and promotion decisions are supposed to be based on skills and rules only Management is management of individuals Task prevails over relationship Characterisitcs of collectivist societies: Loyalty for the ingroup (family) Identity is based on the social network to which one elongs Harmony should always be maintained and direct confrontations should be avoided Employer-employee relationship is perceived in moral terms, like a family link Hiring and pr omotion decisions take employees’ ingroups into account Management is management of groups Relationship prevails over task Source: Geert Hofstede, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, London, 1991.Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 17 9B07C041 Exhibit 2 ASPECTS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: ANGLO VERSUS ASIAN Asian Collectivism: â€Å"related self† Group identity, group achievement & rewards, group loyalty, â€Å"guanxi† High power distance (hierarchy) Low power distance (equality) – Work allocation based on competence, rather – Age/seniority is King! Formal interactions than age – Do without asking – Partnership is encouraged – Empowerment regarded as a threat – Informal interactions – Empowerment is the key to growth Control Harmony – Individuals take control â€⠀œ Be in harmony with others rather than show – Free expressions initiative or take charge – Disagreements and differences are not a threat – Emphasis on politeness, respect and emotional restraint – Difference maintains harmony; equality upsets harmony Secular Religious/spiritual – Keep your religion to yourself – In Muslim countries, workplace, ethics, codes of behavior and dress are guided by Muslim religious teachings – Time off during working hours for prayers for Muslims Circular thinking (high context) Linear thinking (low context) – Circling around the topic – Speech and argument patterns are linear – Colorful and flowery language in India – Ideas backed by explanations and examples – Concise – Hate waffling Shame/Lose Face Guilt – Governed by own conscience and internal – â€Å"What will others say? – Group pressure to maintain group reputation sense of right and wrong – â€Å"Give face† — don’t question your leader – â€Å"Lose face† — look bad when publicly challenged – â€Å"Save face† — don’t own up your own mistakes – â€Å"Gain face† — look good when praised in public – â€Å"Thick face† — no shame, don’t care – â€Å"Show face† — manager visits your home – â€Å"Got face† — speech, behavior, dress reflect status in a family, business, or community – Anglo Individualism: â€Å"separated self† Unique, personal space, goals, achievements Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13.

Dueling Computers

1. Do you think Apples comparison advertising between Mac and PC works? Why or why not? From a personal perspective, it almost seems as thought that everything that Apple does turns to gold in some sort, including their advertising campaign. This campaign better known, as â€Å"Get a Mac† appears to require thought at first glance due to the uncommon nature of comparing two objects, but is truly straightforward. Apples uncharacteristic way for comparison, I believe is the true reason for its success. This advertising ploy is somewhat comical but also gives life to two competitive computer operating systems, which in any case could be uninteresting. With this being said I absolutely think that apples comparison advertising between Mac and PC works, myself being proof. When this advertising campaign began I really did not know much about a Mac mostly due to the computers that I have owned were a PC. When I first saw this campaign the first thing that caught my eye was that PC’s were much more vulnerable to viruses as to Mac’s. Apple did a great job at showing this by simulating two actors as if they were computers. I believe this also caught the eye of the computer illiterate nation as well. These comparison commercials were easy to follow and made a very complicated product easy to understand. 2. How important do you think each of these elements of the commercial is to the campaign’s success: music, actors, dialog, setting, and tone? Although all of these elements work great in creating a successful commercial collectively in other campaigns, but I find some of them are not relevant to the success of Apple. For instance, I myself had to go to YouTube and research the elements of the commercials due to some not as appealing as other were. Music- Generally I think music is a key aspect in commercials and sets the mood for its entirety, but the music in Apple’s advertising campaign was somewhat vague and forgettable. While the music was somewhat dull it did allow for the understanding of the actors dialogue. Actors- Although these actors were not exceptionally well known as a superstar athlete or a movie star, they did appear in some other types of television. This I believe gives the television audience some sort of familiarity with the two actors. The actors did however work well together in showing the differences between the PC and Mac. Dialogue- This commercial used dialogue that a computer illiterate was able to understand. In my life experiences simple and to the point was always the best way of putting things, especially in a business type atmosphere. Setting- The setting of these commercials was a blank background. This I believe is a metaphor for the simplicity and user-friendly Apple products. Tone- The tone of the advertisement was somewhat vague but worked perfectly for Apple and its appearance. I do not think that this was a great element for this advertisement. 3. What audience that is Apple trying to reach with these ads? I believe the simplicity of these adds and Apples products are more focused toward the more technical handicapped individual, especially those of which that still use and own a PC. Their commercials look down on PC’s and give examples of why the apple product is better than others. Apple appears to keep much of their advertising extremely simple and easy to follow.

Uncontrollable randomness in life Research Paper

Uncontrollable randomness in life - Research Paper Example ‘The Birds’ a movie is set in Great Britain where humans are unexpectedly attacked by birds. The government of Great Britain fails to protect its citizens from the attacking birds. This movie depicts a situation where nature has turned against the human race and causes massive deaths (Bishop 135). Humans are unable to control nature which is represented here by the birds. Christopher D. Morris argued that the birds in Hitchcock’s film are more of a contribution to the gothic drama industry they an interpretation of natural phenomenon (Bishop 136). The presence of the birds can be understood as a method Hitchcock uses to bring out his favorite theme: destructive force of the patriarchy (Bishop 145). In the movie, Mitch tries to nail boards across the door but the birds still manage to break these defenses (Bishop 138). Patriarchy in the movie posed a greater threat to Melanie than the birds (Bishop 139) Some things happen in life that are random and beyond the human control. Birds attacking people in the Hitchcock’s movie is an example of such events. However, some critics argue that birds in Hitchcock’s movie should be interpreted as a method to bring out the theme. This paper concludes that Hitchcock used birds to depict uncontrolled situations in life as well as build on gothic

Preliminary Questions for the Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Preliminary Questions for the - Research Paper Example In addition, it has led to reliability because people from any part of the world are able to access the information passed. Seeing as this mode of communication has only come into existence in the last approximately two decades, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding it. As with any new introduction, it has garnered both support and opposition. Those that support it cite the immense benefits and the heavy impact that it has drawn upon communication since its onset. Those that do not support it assert that the establishment of its relevance is quite hard and that it is merely a passing phase. This paper‘s focal point is to illustrate that mobile communication has had an observable and immense impact on the field of communication. The paper’s main subject is to indicate that whether negatively or positively, mobile communication has changed the face and direction of advertising on a long-term basis. One of the most popular means of mobile communication is the use of the social media platform. According to e-marketer, an online statistical site, the number of people subscribed to social media networks in the world totaled down to 1.73 billion as of 2013. This means that social media act as a means of mobile communication as it reaches about 26% of the world population. This is exclusive of other mobile communication means such as mobile texting. This illustrates that mobile communication is one of the only means of advertisement that in actuality affects over a quarter and nearly half of the world’s population. In the same site, they estimated that by 2015, 2.55 billion people would have to social media accounts. Statistically, this indicates that the growth rate for social media subscription stands at 18% annually. This statistic lays out just how relevant mobile communication is on the human populace. Eric Clemmons, an Information professor at the University of Pennsylvania, states that advertising

Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution in 18th Century Europe Essay

Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution in 18th Century Europe - Essay Example The Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution period in Europe provided a concise account that evoked a change of the mindset in many aspects of life. The revolution provided a new thinking that increasingly became the future people were anticipating. This made people disintegrate itself with the past in the endeavor to foster forward thinking that gave them more hope for the future. The impact of this revolution was that literacy increased in the form of science, philosophy, and art spread throughout Europe. This prompted people in Europe to react against paranormal, spiritual, and mystical thinking. Another impact was that the revolution enabled people to overcome the holy systems and medieval politics that ruled authoritative throughout Europe (Outram 56). The spread of literacy enabled European intellectualism that saw the merchant class rise and new systems of ruling formed. Therefore, the revolution gave rise to new economic and political systems that were further away from the G od-centered world Europe was before the 18th century. During this time, people were empowered to express strongly their beliefs that were against the traditional religion (Mokyr 9). This included notions that nature could be mastered and controlled by human beings not only by God. This further deepened the theme of secular progress in enlightenment and how it was shaping the culture and politics of the people in Europe. The emergence of political theories of the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution was a global occurrence.

Interpersonal Communication and Movies Research Paper

Interpersonal Communication and Movies - Research Paper Example In some interpersonal dealings, communication may develop complications due to a host of factors such as in the movie â€Å"A Few Good Men†. This paper shall attempt to dissect the elements of verbal communication especially in taking orders from a superior, the value of truth and honesty and gender differences in military work depicted in the movie. Lefebvre (2008) advises that when speaking, one must also be aware of body language and tone and inflection of voice. She notes that different ideas may be conveyed by simply emphasizing different parts of the statement. Being an active listener helps one understand the message being relayed to him. As the listener, one should hold his response until the speaker is done, and keenly observe nonverbal cues expressed. It must always be remembered that communication is a give and take process. One must learn to wait his turn to be the speaker and the listener (Lefebvre, 2008). This is especially important in courtrooms where cases are tried in order to find the truth, and if ever there is a crime proven, that the perpetrator should be punished and the victim be served the justice they deserve. This has been manifested in the movie â€Å"A Few Good Men† which showed several courtroom scenes in analyzing an alleged misdemeanor by two marines that eventually killed another marine within the confines of the marine base. The court scenes were played very well, giving each party a chance to express him or herself while on trial. However, there are times when both speaker and listener talk at the same time, trying to prove their point and talk over each other. Richmond & McCroskey (2005) contend that interpersonal communication in organizations can either go horizontally, or across co-workers who are considered equals in terms of position in the organization, and vertically, indicating a hierarchy in position that either goes upward towards higher management or downward, towards rank and file. Downward communica tion from management to the employees usually involves job instruction, rationale, ideology, information and feedback. This is most common in the military, where messages are often given as orders from someone from a higher position and is expected to be followed. In the movie, the two marines who allegedly killed a colleague were presumed to be doing so under orders from their superiors. Job instruction includes directions mandated by management such as direct orders, written memos, workshops on how to do the job, and so on. An example is how a marine should behave when there is an officer approaching. Rationale is the rationalization or explanation of a duty or assignment and how it is compatible with what the personnel are already doing. An example of this is explaining why one is posted in an area during his shift. Ideology is the philosophy of the organization that managers expect their employees to share. If they do believe in the same views, then communication would flow much easier within the organization. An example is that in the military, obeying orders from superiors is a must. Information is concerned with acquainting people with general knowledge that they need to know, such as regulations, changes in benefits, and general policies. Feedback is the superior's way of giving his subordinates information about how they are doing. This is usually expressed as praise, recognition,

The problems of Cyprus Airways during the recent years Essay

The problems of Cyprus Airways during the recent years - Essay Example It flies to many destinations in Europe, the Middle East and the Gulf region through its scheduled operations. Its main operational base was the Nicosia International Airport, which had to be abandoned in 1974 subsequent to the Turkish invasion of the Turkish areas of Cyprus. It now uses the Larnaca International Airport as its main hub and also has a hub at Paphos International Airport. It was on September 24, 1947 that Cyprus Airways came into being as a joint business venture consisting of the Cypriot government, British European Airways and private investors. Commercial operations started on April 18, 1948 through a Douglas DC – 3 aircraft flying on regional routes out of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. On the basis of a charter agreement use of British European Vickers Viscount airliners commenced five years later on April 18, 1953. Another five years down the line British European Airways took over the operational aspects of all Cyprus Airways services from January 26, 1958. Expansions to the business activities of Cyprus Airways took place through the establishment of a wholly-owned charter subsidiary in 1992, as a means to tap the growing IT charter market in and out of Cyprus. A decade down the line it founded Hellas Jet in Athens, Greece, in 2002 with a seventy-five percent share in the carrier. These were the days of prosperity for Cyprus Airways. The current ownership of the Cyprus is more than sixty-nine percent with the Government of Cyprus and the rest with private shareholders making it a more of a public sector undertaking. It has tried to incorporate quality as strategy in its business model with its Business class and Economy class offering upgraded in-flight service that goes well in comparison with the quality conscious international airlines. (1). In May 2004, Cyprus joined the European Union and by August 2004, Cyprus Airways was fighting for its survival (2). In 2004 Cyprus Airways reported a net loss of CYP 39.4 million,

FILM FORM IN WORLD CINEMA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

FILM FORM IN WORLD CINEMA - Essay Example The cinema in the 1950s represented the true spirit of Africans; it was at the same time that the West believed that Africa was a country with no history. Most of their histories were locked up in small museums in the Western World itself. Something of the same kind is going on today in countries like India, Iran and Iraq. The cinema that emerged in Africa was not just movies made out of passion but was culturally a strong factor to bring the entire history of Africa under one roof.in fact, Frantz Fanon’s work, On National Consciousness, includes the work a poem called ‘African Dawn’, that was later made into a film called ‘Camp D’Thiarove’, by Ousmane Sembe`ne. Then came ‘The Battle of Algiers’, which was made in 1965 which was a highly influential movie by an Italian Director, Gillo Pontecorvo, This was basically a movie about the Algerians who fought against the French in the attempt to break away from the Colonial Yolk in the 1 950’s to 1962. African Movies were at the time influenced by both Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism since almost all art forms including Poetry, Paintings, Art Works and Songs were influenced by the indigenous culture. For once, art was influenced by the nationalistic spirit and it real function instead of mere western aesthetics. The cinema in Africa was known to be ‘militant fighting cinema’, and worked in opposing the dominant imperialistic rule. The Cinema in Africa represents largely the definition of ‘Towards Third Cinema’, they represent their distinct style and form in almost all their works. It is quite a cinema of opposition as counterpoised to the lavish cinema of the First World. As mentioned earlier, the Third World Cinema has thus earned the name ‘An Imperfect Cinema’ (Roy Ames, 1987). Among the Latin American film makers, Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino; both Argentinean film-makers, were the key authors of creating the manifesto of ‘Towards a Third Cinema’ with their Cinema Liberacio`n movement.with time the growth of the manifesto was incredible. The talented duo then went on to make a three part, four hours documentary called, ‘'La Hora de los Hornos' [Hour of the Furnaces]. A lot of films got into severe censorship issues since Argentina was under the military dictatorship (M. T. Martin, 1997). This film exhibited major politico activities which exhibited many militant work that dominated the Latin American Scene. The manifesto majorly saw certain anti-colonial struggles of the third world people. These ideas were heavily borrowed by thinkers such as Marx, Fanon and Mao and were all connected to the populist leader of Argentina, General Per`on (Martin M. T. 1997). Moving back to the Cinema’s of Africa, the threads are quite similar to that of

Fast Food and Natural Food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fast Food and Natural Food - Essay Example Sometimes processed vegetarian in packaged form is not good for well-being as they have many harmful chemical which is difficult to digest. Schlosser correctly finds that obesity rate is highest in USA than any other nation among first world. Around fifty percent of grown up Americans and about twenty five percent of American kids are in the category of either obese or overweight. This proportion has grown very rapidly in last ten years as it is almost twice the obesity rate in comparison to last part of 1970s. Steffen(2008) said in "Burgers, fries, diet soda: metabolic syndrome blue-plate special" published by American Heart Association rapid access journal report , "Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors including elevated waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or "good") cholesterol and high fasting glucose levels. The presence of three or more of the factors increases a person's risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

International Fashion Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

International Fashion Marketing - Assignment Example The paper "International Fashion Marketing" analyzes the International Marketing in the fashion industry. Due to its nature these emerging markets are also witnessing a surge in new areas of business like fashion and other luxury items. There are many factors to be considered by a company in the case of international expansion. The political atmosphere, the economic growth, local work and social culture, the level of competition that exists, the legal factors, foreign trade policies of the intended market, and many other related factors are to be understood and analyzed in order to decide which market to enter. Understanding of these factors is also essential to compete and be successful in such markets. This paper is a study of the entry factors for the multinational fashion house Ralph Lauren into the Indian or Russian markets. The market and the company will be analyzed using factors like SWOT analysis, Porter’s five forces model, PEST analysis, TOWS matrix, pull and push s trategy etc. Culture of a country is also an important factor when entering into international markets. This is especially relevant here since the culture that exists in the home country of Ralph Lauren and India is different. Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation is a leader in the design, marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in four categories: apparel, home, accessories and fragrances. For more than 35 years, Polo’s reputation and distinctive image have been consistently developed across an expanding number. of products, brands and international markets. Ralph Lauren is developing at a rapid rate than when founder Ralph Lauren first entered the arena 40 years ago. With powerful brands such as Polo by Ralph Lauren, RRL, Rugby, and Club Monaco, the company designs and markets apparel and accessories, home furnishings, and fragrances. Its collections are available at some 10,800 locations worldwide, including many upscale and mid-tier department stores. The compan y also operates about 315 Ralph Lauren, Club Monaco, and Rugby retail stores worldwide as well as the e-commerce sites RalphLauren.com and Polo.com. Ralph Lauren began with a collection of ties, has grown into an entire world-redefining American style. Polo is known for providing quality products and creating worlds that invite people to take part in our dream. They position themselves as the innovators of lifestyle advertisements that encourage customers to participate in that lifestyle. (Industry centre -textile- apparel clothing 2009). Emerging markets: Many companies are now looking towards emerging markets as a part of their expansion strategies. Such markets are those "Developing foreign markets, involving greater volatility and higher risk than established markets." (Basic investment terminology). The term developing is of importance since it is possible to grow in such circumstances even though emerging markets tend to be more volatile and risky than established ones. The two emerging markets that are to be studied for entry by Ralph Lauren are India and Russia. Even though both are promising market destinations, there are vast differences in policies, politics, economy, social structure, technology and other factors between these two countries. Russia is a very young political entity and was formed only after the collapse of the erstwhile Soviet Union. The communist system of governance that has been in existence since the revolution during the early part of this century has now been replaced with a democratic system of governa

Physics project Maglev Trains Essay Example for Free

Physics project Maglev Trains Essay Maglev trains are the means of transport clear – cut for the rapid and modernised society of the 21st century. With top speeds of 500 km/h the maglev trains can travel as fast as passenger aircrafts for a lower cost and with minimal impact to the environment. They are in fact possibly one of the best discoveries and one of the most promising sector in the future travel industry. The Laws of Physics The Maglev train is based on – 1. Magnetism – When two sets of magnets, one on the guide way and the other on the train have like poles facing each other repulsion takes place. It is this repulsive force that drives the train forward. 1. Electromagnetism – The magnets used are no ordinary magnets – they are electromagnets. A solenoid is made using wires and an aluminium core. When current flows through the wires the magnet is magnetised. The speed of the train can be controlled by the amount of current being supplied to the electromagnets. How is magnetic levitation achieved? There are two ways to levitate the train – 1. Electromagnetic suspension where electromagnets on the train body get attracted to the iron rails. After this, constantly switching the electromagnets on and off at a fast rate allows the train to levitate 2. Electro-dynamic suspension where the magnetised coil running along the guide way repels the magnets on the undercarriage of the train. Both these techniques allow the train to levitate 1 to 10 cm above the ground and give the feeling it is floating in air. How are Maglev trains propelled? Once the train has got levitated power is supplied to the coils in the guide way walls to create a unique system of magnetic fields that pull and push the train. The current supplied is AC, alternating current, and thus it keeps alternating to change the polarity of the magnetised coils. This ensures that any one time the magnets behind the carriage are repelling it to push it forward while the coils in front are attracting it, pulling it forward. This push and pull occurs simultaneously. The Newest Technology Maglev trains regularly reach speeds of 500 km/h since they do not need to resist friction. The only resistance is air resistance. This too can be overcome by building vacuum tubes through which these trains would travel and theoretically speaking such trains could even reach speeds such as 3500 km/h making inter – continental travel possible. Performance Comparison Maglev trains are much more efficient than common trains which run on fuel. Firstly, they are faster since they do not deal with friction. Secondly, they are cheaper since no fuel is burnt during the propulsion and minimal electricity is used since only certain parts of the track need to be energised at one point. Thirdly, it is safer since there is no chance of collision or derailment or at least a very minute chance compared to common trains. Lastly, these trains are much more environmentally friendly since they do not pollute the environment by releasing any toxic gases unlike common trains which do so. Bibliography Information Source The Guide Way and the Undercarriages http://science. howstuffworks. com/transport/engines-equipment/maglev-train. htm Future of Maglev Trains http://www. bbc. com/future/story/20120504-the-floating-future-of-trains How do Maglev Trains Levitate? http://www. lanl.gov/orgs/mpa/stc/train. shtml History and Introduction to Maglev Trains http://www. 21stcenturysciencetech. com/articles/Summer03/maglev2. html Magnetic Propulsion http://ffden-2. phys. uaf. edu/211_fall2002. web. dir/Adam_Caswell/page%201. htm Image Pg No. Source Maglev.

Mona Lisa By Leonardo Da Vinci English Literature Essay

Mona Lisa By Leonardo Da Vinci English Literature Essay This essay is devoted to a masterpiece by the hand of one of the greatest artist this world has seen, The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci. The intent is to address the story behind this painting, trying to unveil some of the mysteries that lie behind her smile or at least the reason of the commission to begin with. The artistic methods and especially the more specific description of the uniqueness of the Mona Lisa will be a focal point of the text. The portrait was painted in a theme, well known in the early sixteenth century, the differences however, both prominent and subtle; make this artwork, in the opinion of many, the Magnum Opus of Leonardo Da Vinci. My choice of subject lies in my personal encounter with her when visiting Paris, France. The expectations I had were of course very high, la piece du resistance of the Louvre must have something very special to offer. Still I told myself that the hype around this painting must have been more important in reaching her current status than the actual beauty of the painting. To my great astonishing I must confess that even from the distance visitors have to keep from the painting, she was amazing. It is difficult to imagine that such an ordinary portrait to the lay mans eye, can still captivate and inspire it. After about ten minutes of staring at the painting, being surrounded by Japanese tourists, I left inebriated with the Mona Lisa and finally understood the publicity surrounding her. Therefore I have written this essay. b) Context In first appearance it seems quite remarkable and perhaps even odd, that Leonardo Da Vinci did not want to work for the margravine of Mantua, even though he was allowed to choose the setting in which the portrait would take place, as well as the delivery date. Apparently Leonardo lived off of the savings he had transferred to his account in Florence before leaving Milan. He seemed to prefer the scientific studies that did not generate any income and which were frowned upon by the people who lived in his age. In the light of this event it is even more remarkable that Leonardo decided to work per order of Francesco Del Giocondo (1460-1539) in the spring of 1503, to make a portrait of his wife Lisa Gherardini (1479-after 1551?). This portrait would later be known by the name of the Mona Lisa. The reason for this remarkable decision by Leonardo could be that he had a personal relationship with the Giocondo family. The family Giocondo belonged to the same social class as Leonardo and his father Ser Piero. Da Vinci knew people who had close relationships with Francesco Del Giocondo. Even more so, was the family-chapel of the Giocondo family located in the SS. Annunziata in Florence, the church for which Leonardo started with his cardboard with the Annaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The circumstances in which the Mona Lisa was created are relatively well known. Lisa del Giocondo was born in 1479 as the daughter of Antonmaria Gherardini and was married on the fifth of march 1495to Francesco Del Giocondo, born in 1460 and a son of the prospering Florentine family of silk merchants. It is safe to assume that this man, in contradiction to the margavine of Matua, not ordered this painting in the spur of the moment if you will, but usually had clear motives to make such an investment. This also holds for the Mona Lisa. Francesco Del Giocondo had bought a new home for its young family, in the spring of 1503. Lisa had given birth to her second son Andrea only several months before that, this was considered a good reason to order a portrait in the Florence of the fifteenth and sixteenth century A.D., even more so because the birth of their son Andrea must have had a very important significance, since the child mortality rates were frighteningly high in that period. Lisa Gherardini was the third woman to be wedded to Francesco Del Giocondo, after the tragic deaths of both his first and second wife. Both losses were due to child birth, either during the delivery itself or shortly after. Lisa had given birth to their son Piero in 1496, and apparently she got through pregnancy and births relatively care free. The unfortunate event of losing a daughter during birth in 1499 caused a major blow to the Giocondo family. It is therefore understandable that Francesco had even more motivation to eternalize his spouse than the average well off business man, when taking his previous experiences into account that caused a lot of hardship. The peculiar fact of the matter is that the portrait actually never reached its destination, since several years later around 1510, Leonardo Da Vinci was no longer residing in the city of Firenze as the Italians call it. c) Content Leonardo based his formal composition of the portrait of Lisa Giocondo in first instance on the examples of Florentine portraits of the late fourteen hundreds. The woman is pictured turning her upper body for approximately two-third to the spectator. Another feature often recognizable for portraits of this region and period are the pillars between the back-country is visible which creates a greater sense of depth and distance; this however is not used by Leonardo Da Vinci in this particular painting. The figure portrayed in the Mona Lisa is positioned more to the front of the frame than Flemish examples of the same period. The smaller distance between the viewer and the woman portrayed creates an intensified impression, while the landscape on the background creates a large sense of depth, the lack of pillars or a window through which the spectator looks seems a daring decision of Leonardo, the result simply astonishing. Below an example illustrates the difference between a portrait of the same period and the different style that is recognizable in Da Vincis work. Rafaà «l Leonardo Da Vincihttp://www.timealone.com/webstuff/CWIA/the-women-thumbnails/raphael/files/blocks_image_4_1.pnghttp://bartoszweglarczyk.blox.pl/resource/monalisa.jpg Lady with a unicorn Mona Lisa 1504 1503 Mountains and canyons fade away as they get closer to the horizon into a blue-green sky. In the pale landscape there is a road on the left and a dried-up riverbed on the right can be detected once observing closely. The water reserve or lake on the left side of the painting, around the height of her chin does not seem to be connected to the riverbed, one would expect there to be some sort of dried up reserve on the upper right beyond the limits of the painting. The separate elements of the dry landscape can be traced back to the religious paintings often portraying the Virgin Mary, the similarities between those pieces of art and the Mona Lisa are striking in several ways, most likely intentional. It was common in for woman of good descent to be depicted as a virtuous and beautiful, what better way than to depict one in a similar matter as the most virtuous and beautiful of all. The positioning of the hands are a symbol of a virtuous and morally upright lifestyle, such as described i n books written in that period. This message hidden in the details by the artist does not end here: a very delicate veil covers the loosely draped hair; the dark dress is enriched by the embroideries and vertical folds in the fabric; the dark yellow colored sleeves have a light glistening quality makes it look more beautiful, these details enrich the delicate character of the painting, associated with the example of a virtues woman. The face and hands in particular are made more tangible by the use of lighting and shades, the light that shines from the back onto the woman makes her stand out even more. d) Artistic nature http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=4112dict=CALDtopic=the-visual-arts-in-general The first tread towards the disclosure of the artistic nature of the Mona Lisa, the careful analysis of the noun art should be conducted in order to elucidate the basis of the argumentation. The Cambridge dictionary defines art as The making of objects, images, etc. that are beautiful or that express feelings. The immediate hurdle one finds when analyzing this sentence is the fundamental question which is: what is beauty?Before stepping foot in this exceptionally complicated matter I will take into account a number of theories that have been formulated on the matter. Marie-Henri Beyle was a writer who lived in nineteenth century France, he is better known by his pseudonym Stendhal. The following translated quotation taken from his work De LAmour of 1822 gives an interesting take on the matter of beauty: Beauty is nothing other than the promise of happiness. The French original states: La beautà © nest que la promesse du Bonheur. (De LAmour, 1822, pg. 34) The context in which this sentence is placed is important in order to fully appreciate the message of Stendhal, for he mentions the differences in the standards different nationals have, concerning attractiveness of woman, therefore beauty. The words by Marie-Henri Beyle could make a person wonder whether a certain work of art indeed promises happiness of some kind, for instance the Mona Lisa. The fascination people have for this painting, mere observers and even her creator himself, shows the level of interest or even intoxication the painting has on people. If the human kind is constantly trying to improve its life, in other words; trying to find happiness, than the fascination so many people have for the Mona Lisa should be counted as evidence of her beauty. Therefore the sentence Beauty is nothing other than the promise of happiness seems applicable to the Mona Lisa. The Analysis of Beauty by William Hogarth draws different conclusions concerning beauty than Beyle; the scientific approach used by the former is especially significant, because it is the first scientific and empirical research on the subject of beauty. The subtitle describes the aim of the author With a view of fixing the fluctuating ideas of taste. William Hogarth used the picture portrayed below and asked his subjects to tell him which corset of one up to and including seven, they perceived as the most beautiful corset. Before conducting the research he states that he is sure that most of the subjects will choose one of the middle three corsets, his personal favorite is number four, the one in the middle. The reason he gives is that the numbers higher than four are too curved and the numbers lower are too rigid or straight. Similar questions are asked when using different examples such as noses and even table legs. The results show that indeed the middle option is chosen most often by his subjects, confirming his earlier belief. The reason why one chooses for the middle option, according to Hogarth, is that the most beautiful picture in all cases consists of light curved lines. These lines can be found in nature, for instance if one would take a ribbon and start from the back of a womans neck and end at the lowest part of the corset, the fabric would draw a light curved line. The more this perfect line is approached in curviness the more beautiful it becomes, the farther away from it she goes, the l ess beautiful it becomes. His theory as to why this phenomenon occurs is psychological; he believed that the human mind has developed in such a way that it likes variation. Human beings like change because it stimulates them, too much or too rapid change however is confusing and exhausting. As a reaction to this, people look for regularity as a form of relief, but too much uniformity becomes tiresome an obnoxious. That is the reason why most pleasant things both reward our longing for variation and our need for uniformity, the beauty is in the balance. The curved line drawn on the cover of his book is exactly that balance, according to Hogarth. The line that has the perfect variety, as portrayed above inside of the pyramid, has been implemented by me in order to see whether or not the Mona Lisa of Leonardo Da Vinci has the perfect curve that would explain the beauty of the painting, or vice versa; prove the painting to be beautiful according to Hogarth. The line starts at her right wrist, following the natural position f her arm. The slight curve starts a bit above her elbow and it straightens out, near the ending of her right breast, seeing as one follows the red line from bottom to top. The second curve is inspired by the shadow that the artist has added to her face, serving as a boundary if you will. The cheekbone is quite prominent at the left side of her face, therefore strengthening the motive to draw the line there. The last part simply follows the shape of her head, of course taking into account that her hair increases the volume quite a bit. http://www.cichw.net/monananch/analysish.JPG The making of objects, images, music, etc. that are beautiful or that express feelings, The activity of painting, drawing and making sculpture, Paintings, drawings and sculptures, An activity through which people express particular ideas. It might seem like an odd way of determining the artistic nature of a painting: using the formal definition of the word art as a starting point. Nevertheless, in order to establish a solid argumentation I find it of vital importance to use an unyielding basis to reflect on such an elusive subject. The painting of Lisa Giocondo is, by definition, art. The most important issue that needs to be addressed however is not whether or not this painting can be defined in such a way. This piece of art is such a global icon, for in some, perhaps indescribable manner, it inspires and captivates people. When one thinks of art, an image that is not unlikely to appear is that of this very woman, therefore the following bold statement could be made that: the Mona Lisa is not only a magnificent piece of art, or can be defined in such a way: it has defined art itself.