ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Your company is in a dilemma; it needs to reduce payroll costs by ten percent in order to boost the firms’ cash position. Members of the executive committee have suggested a number of alternatives that the corporation can use to achieve this objective, but all of them have undesirable outcomes. The organization needs to choose a strategy that would cause the least amount of damage. None of the policy suggestions are perfect, but I believe Sushil Bathia’s submission would be the most effective. He suggested a 5% pay cut across the board. Astrigo holdings would benefit from pay cuts across the board due to the following reasons:   * It will neutralize prevailing tensions that were caused by the fear of layoffs.   * The company would also keep its new and old employees so that they can secure long-term success.   * Everyone will have a renewed sense of trust and respect for the firm because the pay cut affects all members of the company.   * This may inspire increased productivity and better profits. Company strategy and pay cuts across the board Astrigo is a home-improvement chain store; as a result, employees play a large role in delivering high-quality service. If the company lays off workers, then it could risk losing even more sales owing to diminished service levels. The organization’s founder, who was your deceased father, believes that great customer service is only possible through proper treatment of employees so layoffs would contravene this principle. Impact of pay cuts on the company and its stakeholders A 5% pay cut would not be as dramatic as a 100% salary reduction. Astrigo’s administrators need to explain to the employees why they are taking this cash position, and chances are that most of them will support the company. The corporation will create a sense of solidarity among workers who can then increase their input. People tend to prefer risk aversion to reward maximization. Taking a pay cut is a perfect example of risk aversion on the part of the employee while quitting a low-paying job for a high-paying one is a case of reward maximization. Staff members are likely to take a smaller pay hit rather than face the unpredictability of unemployment. Top managers and executives are expected to support this decision, since they are aware of the organization’s weak cash position. These are highly paid members of the organization, so a five-percent decrease will not affect their paychecks considerably. Customers will keep buying from the stores because service quality will be maintained. The company will minimize payroll costs and thus enhance its cash position. How the choice was made Any other approaches would be detrimental to the company; layoffs, should only be done as a last result. If Astrigo took on Morris’ position of getting rid of the ‘deadwood’, it could face age
Defining feminism and multiculturalism according to Okin’s article Is multiculturalism bad for women? This paper intends to clarify the issues that are raised due to feminism and multiculturalism and explore if multiculturalism is beneficial to the women. However, before we even go further we have to understand what is multiculturalism and feminism. Okin has the idea that women ought not to be disadvantaged by their sex in explaining feminism. She further explains that women should be treated equally with men when it comes to recognizing their human dignity and should receive equal opportunities to live freely just as the men do. In explaining multiculturalism, her main concern is the minority cultures that do not protect their member’s rights but rather let the special group rights protect them (Okin, 1999). Why certain minority cultures deserve special group rights according to Kymlicka Kymlicka argues that the minority groups should form large special groups because they will be reducing the chances of extinction. He further argues that the special groups that are formed will be easier to deal with the smaller cultures and their culture will not be lost in these special groups. He also says the formation of special groups gives harmony even in the modern democratic states. The harmony that these groups bring is important in keeping all the groups in contact with their culture. It is said Americans do not have a culture of their own. This may not be true because many people have migrated to the United States and they bring their
Introduction The emerging technologies have redefined the manner in which firms conduct their businesses in the market. One of the most important impacts that technology has had on business operations is business communication. The manner in which a firm communicates with its target market determines how successful it can be in expanding its market share within a given region. The emergence of websites is one of the technology-driven changes that have become very significant in modern-day business operations. At first, firms used websites to promote their brands by allowing the online community to understand the values, mission, and vision of the firm and identifying the factors that make the brand unique in the market. However, this has changed as firms try to find more ways of using their websites in their normal operations. Currently, most firms are using their websites to advertise their products and brands. Others have gone a step further and are now using their websites to sell their products. According to Amit and Zott (2001), whichever business activity that a firm decides to use its website on, it is important to ensure that the website is effective enough to deliver the desired service. An effective website must have specific characteristics that make it superior to that of its market rivals, especially those that share the same market. It should achieve the objective for which it was set-up, and it should be easy to navigate even by online visitors who know little about technology. An effective website can make a significant difference in enabling a firm to achieve the desired objectives within the set deadline. In this paper, the researcher seeks to critically evaluate the Cleveland Clinic website. Objectives When conducting research, it is important to clearly stipulate the objectives of the study. As Harder and Jordan (2013) state, conducting research takes a lot of resources and time, and as such, it is necessary to outline what it seeks to achieve before the actual process of collecting data. In this study, the researcher focused on analyzing the website of Cleveland Clinic. The following is the specific objective that the researcher seeks to achieve. To determine the effectiveness of Cleveland Clinic’s website in meeting the goals for which it was set up. To achieve this goal, it will be important to look at various aspects of the website in order to understand how relevant it is in achieving these goals. The following are the supportive objectives used in this study.  1. To clearly outline the purpose of the website of Cleveland Clinic.  2. To analyze the accessibility of the website using Webqual.  3. To evaluate e-commerce operations o
Review This piece was written by a very bold author who appears to be well informed about the photographic industry. He has not refrained from mentioning instances of bad taste in the history of photography but has also looked at magical moments as well. Perhaps the point of concern in this analysis should really be the theoretical basis for the author’s analysis. In other words, one must find out why the author said what he did in the article because every assertion has underlying principles that support it and carry it forward. Contemporary art criticism pieces have been written against a background of interpretations. Some carry with them political and sociological interpretations that have created more debate than consensus. In this article, it is clear to see that the author is mostly interested in the beauty or lack of it of photographic pieces. For example, in one case, the author explains that a photograph can capture what the naked eye would never be conscious of; when one wants to talk a walk, there are always plenty of movements involved in these actions. Most may not be discerned by the naked eye but the camera faithfully captures this thus leading to the discovery of the unconscious. He has explained these concepts of beauty against a historical background as well as a technical background. For instance, at one point he explains that the manner in which photos were processed eventually led to the creation of beautiful portraits. Also, the author is immensely aware of the cultural and social conditions that prevailed at the time of the creation of most photographic pieces. This is definitely laudable. When one looks at this piece of writing, one immediately realises that this author firmly opposes the commercialisation of art. In other words, the author explains that journalistic photos did not exist at the time when photos had initially been created. People did not associate photo taking with fame because the only form of mass media i.e. the newspaper was inaccessible to the common man. Furthermore, those newspapers never featured any photos. Consequently, people who took their photos were not preoccupied by the need to please others or the quest for fame. When businessmen got into portrait photography, most ruined this industry because they made the photos cheap and artificial. In fact, the author believes that artists can never really make portraits as good as those ones that existed in Hill’s time since photography and actuality had not interacted at the time. However, one can debate this point because there are still relatively unexposed societies around the world and certain photographers have made it a point to live among such native communities today and hence take photos of them as they go about their daily lives. These photographers are still able to capture that relative innocence that the author treasures in historic work. Another critical assertion that the author makes which ma
Introduction The 21st century governance and business practices have gone far; digital transformation is one of the most recent and ground-breaking phenomena in these sectors. The transformation provides countless opportunities for service delivery and trade, which is acknowledged by all shareholders and the majority of countries. The present paper will be focused on the role of leadership in digital transformation (specifically, e-government), the best practices and lessons learned from them, and apply it to the Emirati context. Background The history of e-transformation in the UAE began in February 2001, when the first payment tool eDirham was introduced by the Ministry of Finance. The purpose of the tool was to substitute for the conventional modes of charging for the services rendered by the government. The following year, the Committee in charge of the eGovernment Program was launched. The subsequent years can be characterized by a variety of plans and add-ons to the initial project which was to provide the individual users and businesses with access to government-delivered services. The role of the leadership in shifting to e-government is definitive. Indeed, the goals, the mission, and the vision of pursuing e-government are up to the leader to communicate. The leader should also be aware of all the limitations and potential difficulties in the pursuit of e-government. A CIO job description is currently featuring the necessity of jurisprudence expertise, awareness of the current trends in information technology and service delivery, data and partnership management skills, and, most importantly, IT project experience and security compliance. Thus, CIOs, in the modern understanding of the term, are basically business leaders (the powerful driving force of corporate processes) with experience in IT. An excessive focus on technology is practically as harmful for their project as gaps in expertise. Deciding to lead a shift to e-government, a CIO should primarily ask themselves whether:   * The reasons for and priorities of e-government pursuit are clear;   * The society is ready for this;   * The motivation to transform is present;   * The e-government projects are selected in the most optimal way;   * The resistance within the government can be overpowered;   * The progress can be measured;   * It is possible to build sustainable relationships with the private sector;   * E-government can enhance citizen’s participation and social feedback (The Working Group on E-Government in the Developing World 3-4). This roadmap was outlined back in 2001 when the implementation of e-government was still on the project stage, when the social media were rudimentary. The values of e-government implementation are most comprehensively enlisted in this Roadmap, which is why the leadership’s performance in implementation of e-government will be evaluated based on whether these concerns are considered. Research aims and rationale Many of the values behind e-government and digital transformation in general remain unchanged. Yet, the practices implemented by UAE and on the global scale are constantly developi
Introduction The purpose of undergraduate education has invariably changed over the cause of the last one century. Over the last one century, we have had a paradigm shift on the way education is conducted. Before, education was only provided by private schools that were solely owned by church organizations. These colleges used to run courses that normally run for four years. The subjects were exclusively traditional and were only meant to enhance the moral development of both boys and girls. Private schools back then were very few and they only collaborated with the then existing public schools to teach students who wanted to further their education. The schools strictly taught only practical subjects that were meant to further the student’s knowledge on the practical field. As time progressed, there came up schools that were geared toward teaching professional subjects. This soon gave way to a new form of school totally different from the old system. With the coming of the World War 1, people felt that they needed to progress. This led them to adopt a different philosophy on administration. To better achieve this, people needed to be taught some basics especially on how democracy was supposed to function. This led to the birth of social science as a subject. After World War II, great schools like Harvard adopted a new mode of learning. This new school of thought stipulated that undergraduate students needed more exposure to the Western culture. This was occasioned by the difference in character that existed between those people who had learned in the private and the church sponsored schools. The author of this article devotes so much of his essay toward the development of education in America. This is due to the fact that a large portion of the big colleges are in America. Students from all walks of life come to these colleges to study and it is therefore important that people understand how this schools evolved. This knowledge should also help the different stakeholders in this field to come up with modalities geared toward making education better in the U.S. This information is also important in making sure that students only learn the information beneficial to them and one that is geared toward making the world a
Characterize the Different Types of Buyer-Supplier Relationship Described in the Case The provided case describes 8 different types of buyer-supplier relationships. These are as follows:  1. Toyota: a federation of businesses dominated by a Toyota; the suppliers are partners, and the main company possesses partial ownership of these companies.  2. General Motors: produces most parts of vehicles itself; mostly has arm’s-length relationships with suppliers, and engage in deal-bidding. The relationships are characterized as “adversarial”.  3. Microsoft and PC makers: Microsoft was a large monopolist in the computer software market, and consistently pressured PC makers into collaboration, punishing them for the lack of cooperation.  4. Shipping lines in Hong Kong. Shipping lines served as suppliers of storage space in container terminals, and charged their buyers (shippers) high prices; operators probably engaged in price-rigging.  5. Hollywood. The movie producer had arm’s-length relationships with directors, actors, crew, etc. (e.g., with suppliers); each team was assembled for the sake of an individual movie, and no long-term loyalty existed.  6. Prato wool firms. Numerous localized and fragmented businesses were engaged in the production of woolen cloth; each firm completed only one or a few stages of production, thus simultaneously acting as buyers and suppliers. The firms cooperated as equals.  7. Airbus. The aircraft manufacturer built a vast network of relationships with suppliers, maintaining ties to over 1,500 supplier companies around the globe; apart from the main assembly line, it also had numerous departments which produced some aircraft parts in different locations.  8. Acer. At a certain point, the company spun off its manufacturers and established relationships with them in which these manufacturer
Sustaining traditional business models that provide jobs to local people is critical to economic growth and development. Public leaders with policy enactment obligations are encouraged to implement economic measures that improve profitability among organizations. This analysis presents vital conclusions and recommendations regarding Doronto’s new economic policy suggested to Mayor McNeill. The regulation aims at subsidizing hourly wage rates of food-cart business owners by $1 from $10. The city attracts many tourists during peak seasons, implying a steady market demand. Moreover, there are no entry barriers for individuals aiming at starting a food-cart business as the market depicts perfect competition attributes. Most importantly, the new economic policy suggested to Mayor McNeill requires strategic integration of control protocols to protect Doronto’s food-cart culture from the supply of substandard or low-quality food products. Fundamentally, the new economic policy meets the mayor’s leadership objectives for the city of Doronto. Improving the food-cart industry will be critical in sustaining traditional cuisines that attract a significant consumer base of tourists. The mayor has positive goals for the city but requires objectivity to ensure that the new economic policy maintains the food-cart culture by ensuring ease of doing business (Wiens, 2018). Hourly wage rate subsidy in the policy would help promote the industry as more individuals will be encouraged to start similar businesses, as evidenced in markets with perfect competition. Consequently, the economic policy will present job opportunities to locals aiming at benefiting through enhanced profitability. Most fundamentally, the policy could affect food-cart entrepreneurs’ profitability if new entrants in the market supply substandard or low-quality food-cart products. Moreover, the economic policy, which entails an hourly wage rate subsidy to food-cart businesses, should be guided by predicted scenarios if implemented. Social business attributes should influence economic policy enactment. Doronto, as earlier noted, has a food-cart culture that has sustained income earning sources for many local individuals. The industry has sustained its substantial market of tourists by ensuring quality and exciting cuisines. Therefore, an economic policy that would attract more entrants to the market can compromise consumers’ demand (Wiens, 2018). It implies that the hourly wage rate subsidy could result in uncontrolled food-cart businesses that affect profitability elements depicted in the perfect market industry. Mayor McNeill should be critical of the negative business impacts of an unregulated trade the products of which can affect consumers’ health among tourists visiting Doronto. Additionally, there are vital conclusions imminent if the mayor implements the new economic policy. The food-cart culture has existed for many years in the city, and locals understand the market dynamics. Subsequently, locals are considere
Abstract Marafiq Company is one of the leading water and power utility companies in Yanbu and Jubail. The firm has experienced impressive growth over the past years, but it has come a time when it is necessary to implement new systems based on emerging technologies. To improve the performance and level of satisfaction of employees, SAP ESS will be necessary. For the managers, SAP MSS will be needed. The systems will improve communication, eliminate misunderstandings, and ensure that individuals are assigned tasks as per their interests and capacities. In this paper, the researcher focused on describing employees’ vacation request process, from the first step of action by the employee until the final step by the HR department Introduction The business environment is getting increasingly dynamic, and players are forced to find ways of dealing with this dynamism. According to Rao (2011), technology plays an important role in defining this dynamism. The emerging technologies have transformed almost every aspect of the business, and only those firms with the capacity to manage these changes are able to remain competitive in the market. Business entities are now relying on these technologies to address various problems that may exist in various business processes. The researcher has been working at Marafiq Company as a supervisor. Three processes that the researcher has identified as being problematic is the slow pace at which employees can access their data, the complexity that the Human Capital Management faces when following up various processes in the process of managing employees, and set of actions that taking by employees and their management when they are applying for vacation. It was realized that employees struggle to update their data, follow-up various benefits, and many other services that were centralized. A lot of time was always wasted as they queued to get various details from the relevant offices. On the other hand, the Human Capital Management unit also wasted a lot of time and resources, making calls, and waiting for relevant data that was due to him from various offices. It was necessary to find a lasting solution to this problem. It is on this basis that the researcher considered using SAP ESS for the employees and SAP MSS for the managers to address the above problems. Literature Review As mentioned above, emerging technologies have redefined the approaches that business entities take to address various processes within their system. According to Laudon, Laudon, and Laudon (2010), SAP is one of the software that is gaining popularity among various organizations because of its unique solutions. In this paper, the researcher will look at the case study of the waste of time by the employees and managers at Marafiq Company because of the analog systems and how the use of SAP can help address this problem. Marafiq Company is a water and power utility firm that currently operates in Yanbu and Jubail. This company is very critical to the current population it serves, especially given the importance of power and water to the livelihood of the pop