ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction It has been more than a decade since IKEA came up with the idea to provide affordable low-cost housing which incorporates functionality, space, and high-quality housing all at low costs (Davies, 2005). Thus the age of flat-pack houses commonly known as Bokloks began and this idea which began as a way to solve housing problems in Sweden is now making its way into other countries such as Britain (Davies, 2005). In addition to being low priced compared to the price of building a house or dealing with mortgages, the homes come in a ready-built manner with fitted kitchen furniture and wooden floors and all the home buyers need to do is to assemble it by following instructions (Davies, 2005). Discussion With the concept applied in providing low-cost homes, I believe that the same concept can be used to provide housing for charitable organizations such as UNICEF or Red Cross that are engaged in charitable duties which take them to different countries at any time. Flatpack housing is a model of housing for the workforce engaged in charitable activities is the best choice for a number of reasons. The innovation to have flat pack homes for charitable organizations should bear in mind some important factors. These factors include and are not limited to making sure that the homes are easy to put up compared to the normal flat pack homes. Normally flat pack homes made by IKEA are made of timber because they are supposed to be durable for a long time (Fisk, 2009). However, timber can prove to be quite heavy to lug around especially when an urgent response to a disaster is required. Another thing is that the timber flat-pack house may take time to put up and time is always limited when responding to disasters. Therefore, in creating flat-pack homes for charitable organizations, IKEA should come up with an innovative flat pack home made of material that is easy to transport such as timber that is lighter than that used in normal homes. Also, included in these homes are shelves and convertible furniture which can be easily be converted into examining tables and beds for both the aid workers and those seeking medical assistance. The main idea for this innovation is to make it easier for the aid workers to set up camp, provide and distribute medical assistance in the shortest time possible in addition to saving costs and time incurred searching for accommodation (Fisk, 2009). This new innovation will enhance the life of the aid workers in a number of ways. One of the benefits will be saving on time (Davies, 2005). Time will be saved on looking for accommodation for the aid workers which in most cases may be found in areas far from the disaster sites. By having flat-pack homes, aid workers can easily set up camps close to the disaster areas. Another area that time will be saved will be on settling down as the flat-pack homes will be easy to put up and distribution of supplies can be done at the site of the disaster. Saving on cost is another be
How can we prevent ourselves from facing work/ family problems? Work-life conflicts give rise to significant negative effects and it is therefore important to try reducing this conflicts. One way through which we can reduce work-family conflict is by setting boundaries. Such a strategy will involve a person taking steps to reduce the forces that interfere with their plans at home and at work. For example, one could set boundaries as to how much time should be spent at work. Any thing which interferes with this boundary should be identified and appropriate measures taken to stop it. However, this strategy will require the support of the organization where a person works since without the support of the organization, the boundaries set by the employee will not be respected and the whole strategy will fail. Another approach for reducing work-family conflict is by talking about family issues with fellow employees. While it would seem that isolating home issues from work is the best approach, the fact is that people spend significant amount of their time at work and they form good relationships with their work mates. Discussing family situations with co-workers will therefore be beneficial for a person since these colleagues will be able to empathize and assist a person to achieve work goals especially when the family responsibilities are great. Since most work-family conflicts are caused by rigid working hours, adopting flexible working hours can lower the conflicts. This is because flexible working hours give a person a sense of control and they are able to schedule their lives such that balance is achieved between family and work. In addition to this, flexible working hours increase the level of job satisfaction and reduce the amount of stress experienced by the worker therefore reducing work-family conflict. To reduce burnout, the worker should avoid putting in too many hours at work especially when it is not mandatory. Most people work overtime so that they can make more money or in order to gain promotions. Others put in more time since there is a common misconception that the person who spends a lot of time in the workplace is more committed to the organization. However, this is not true and the amount of time spend at work is not an indication of commitment or employee productivity. By ensuring that you do not overwork yourself, you will avoid burnout and reduce work-family conflict. The organization can assist in reducing burnout by providing enough resources to the staff. Assigning work fairly and equitably to the employees so that there is no work overload will fulfill this goal and therefore prevent work-family problems. Consequences of work/ family conflict Conflicts between work and family responsibilities have a number of adverse consequences for the individual and the place he works. To begin with, these conflicts result in an increase in stress and burnout by the employee. As organizations seek to get the most from their workers, they are constantly expecting employees to put in more work hours. This is normally at the expense of time which would be used for non-work related issues. This ca
Karen Jennison (2004) claims that alcohol consumption patterns in college have a significant influence on a person’s future life pattern. Here, the author provides both short term and long-term effects by stating that, heavy drinkers in college are likely to experience alcohol-related problems in college, unlike their non-drinking counterparts. In addition, those who drink a lot in college are more likely to experience long-term life problems such as college dropout, poor performance in academic work, and limited opportunities in the labor market. Moreover, the author tries to establish whether people who engage in binge drinking in college tend to continue with the same habit after completing college and even in later years of their life. This is in light of suggestions by some researchers that those who drink heavily in college tend to change their drinking patterns after completing college and becoming moderate or non-drinkers (Jennison, 2004). This study has also sought to establish linkages between college drinking, occupation, labor market, and alcohol abuse or dependence later in life. The hypothesis of the study is that alcohol consumption in college predisposes risk factors or alcohol-related problems that are likely to continue later in life. Here, Jennison (2004) hypothesizes that alcohol consumption patterns ten years after college would be dependent on the alcohol consumption patterns exhibited in college, including associated risk factors such as college dropout, education attainment, marriage, and career path. The independent variable in this study is the degree of alcohol consumption in college and its associated short-term effects on academic performance, marriage, and career. The independent variable is also more refined to include gender, race, and age. On the other hand, the dependent variable is the alcohol consumption pattern exhibited ten years after college by people who used to binge or drink alcohol in college (Jennison, 2004). The study used secondary data collection method, which focused on data collected by National Longitudinal Survey of Youth in 1984 and 1994 on college students with the intention of establishing alcohol-drinking patterns during and after college (Jennison, 2004). In this method, data contained in National Longitudinal Survey of Youth records were sampled based on where the student lived (for example, hostel, another rented dwelling, or parental homestead) as well as on marriage status (for example, whether, single, married, or cohabiting in the above-mentioned dwellings). Moreover, Sampling was done based on gender, race, and age, with the latter taking into consideration, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduates in order to have an all-inclusive representation. In order to adhere to ethical standards of research, all information was treated with confidentiality except the information extracted from public domains; the identity of all participants was also restricted. The study used both qualitative and quantitative data whereby, the former included drinking patterns, lifestyle, labor status, occupation, and demographics, while the latter probed the quantity
The restructuring of Adidas was primarily aimed at eroding the market share of Nike. This plan involved the acquisition of companies whose products could be aligned with those sporting goods that were offered by Adidas. However, this approach did not achieve the synergy among businesses because Adidas could not raise its effectiveness or improve the quality of products. To a great extent, this plan failed to differentiate the products of Adidas. One may examine the differences in performance between various business units of Adidas in order to elaborate this response. Overall, the management of Adidas was extremely concerned about the growing market share of Nike that clearly became the leader of the sporting goods industry. In response, Adidas attempted to diversify its products and acquired such companies as Solomon and Reebok. However, the new divisions did not consistently display good financial results. For instance, many consumers were disappointed with Reebok’s failure to improve quality and styling of its products. As a result, its revenues declined during the period between 2007 and 2008. The main problem is that these acquisitions did not add much value Adidas. More likely, they made the company more vulnerable, especially at the time of the global economic recession. In this case, much attention should be paid to the process of differentiation. The management of Adidas had to show that their company could offer products which were superior to those ones of Nike in terms of quality or price. However, they did not pay much attention to this issue. This is why Adidas failed to become more competitive than Nike and their restructuring plan did not make the company more efficient.
Introduction Enron Corporation was a trading company in services, energy, and commodities. Before its downfall, Enron was one of the largest companies in the United States, and its share price was among the highest in the market. Financial statements showed that the company was doing relatively well. As a public traded company, it was considered a good investment, and many investors were buying its shares daily. The employees were also among the best paid in the country, and many graduates wanted to join it. However, the company’s success was short-lived (Sterling, 2002). Trouble began when the company changed its organizational structure. The company employed many new people at managerial levels and gave them autonomy in making crucial decisions, which affected the company. With the change in organizational structure, the company reward system was changed such that high performing employees were given hefty bonuses and stock options. The new reward system was controlled by an internal authority, but this turned out to be a bad system. The people who carried out the reviews and those who were reviewed worked on the same level, and they, therefore, started forming alliances. Employees were ‘looking out’ for each other, and the results of the reviews were skewed to the advantage of the employees. Everyone received a good review, and this created a culture of dishonesty that ultimately led to the company’s failure (Dharan & Rapoport, 2004). On December 2, 2001, the company filed for bankruptcy, and this led to one of the most cited corporate litigation processes. The case revealed the accounting fraud employed by the company and demonstrated how organizational structures in a company could be a major cause of downfall. This paper will look at company management, processes, and individual responsibility that led to Enron’s failure. It will further recommend the various things the company would have done to avert the downfall. Discussion Analysis of the company management, processes, and individual responsibility in causing the downfall The company’s earlier organizational structure was based on constructivism. This organizational structure encouraged the employees to work hard and achieve more. The adoption of a new system, however, gave too much authority and power to the new managers. The new managers were in no way related to the company and, therefore, they used the new powers bestowed on them to enrich themselves (Dharan & Rapoport, 2004). They were unaware of the company’s values and norms, and this made them abuse many of the powers they had been given. The new managers did not give sound guidance to the employees, and this caused the company to run into losses. Because the new organizational structure rewarded top performers, many young managers employed dubious methods to get the bonuses. This led to a culture of individualism and perfectionism in the company, which resulted in its downfall (Sterling, 2002). According to Kirk Hanson during an interview with Nakayama: There are ma
The motivation for staying in the current employment position My motivation to stay at the current employment is intrinsic. This is a motivation that is not based on material benefits or rewards, but on a person’s passion, desire, and interest in something (Thompson, 2003). My intrinsic motivation is the happiness I derive from serving others who are in need. I believe that man was created to serve humankind, which motivates me to serve others irrespective of the quality and quantity of the material gains. My workplace management recognizes that employees are motivated by other things apart from payment. In this regard, it provides grants to those employees who are interested in advancing their education in various fields. It also rewards the hard-working employees with promotions, which come with pay increment and fame among those promoted, which makes them stay longer in the organization. The management process that terminates an employee In the organization where I work, employees can leave their work either through their wish or through termination by the management. The termination process is depended on the employee’s productivity. When an employee is employed, they are given a grace period of three months, referred to as a probation period. During this period, the employee is paid a constant amount every month as they are oriented in the job. After this period, the management introduces variable pay (Zaccaro, 2001). The employee is paid depending on how many customers they bring to the organization to get a loan. If the employee fails to bring any customer for two consecutive months, his or her contract is terminated without notice. This is not fair because these employees usually use their resources moving up and down to get the customers, but instead of being acknowledged for that, they get sacked. This makes them feel embarrassed and stressed. If I were in charge, I would ensure that employees get basic payment regardless of whether they have performed or not, plus a certain commission based on how many customers they bring to the organization to get a loan. Incorrect behavior at the workplace caused by the stress of the situation One of the things which cause stress to employees is organizational change (Towers, 2008). In the organization where I work, such a situation happened when the organization was undergoing structural changes at the advent of the global economic crisis of 2008-2009. The changes caused the laying off of some staff, which meant that their roles were to be performed by others who were retained. One of the human resource managers was laid off, and his duties were supposed to be performed by the administration department’s head. On ass
Whether a company should produce any product for which there is a demand can be seen as equally relevant to organizational management and business ethics. To discuss this statement, one would need to consider the two essential sides of the conversation: feasibility & efficiency and social responsibility. Consecutively, this paper aims to analyze both the profitability-concerned and the morality-concerned sides of the titular question before achieving a conclusion. From the profitability point of view, the existence of demand does not always justify the production process initiation. Production establishment is a costly process, requiring a massive amount of investment from the company. Even at the very first stage, before the company can adequately analyze whether it is successful in attracting consumers, it needs to fund the market research and product development costs. Marketing expenditure, start-up navigation, and general uncertainty of the first few phases of the product life cycle are challenging and demanding for every firm. Furthermore, regardless of the demand for a product, market conditions might be unwelcoming to newcomers in a particular industry. Certain businesses possess higher financial barriers to entry than others, which is always a factor in making production-related decisions. Substantial equipment costs and established price ceilings that a start-up would have a hard time competing against must be considered by the firm’s executives (Asl-Najafi & Yaghoubi, 2021). The fast-food industry can be used as an illustrative example of the counterarguments outlined above. Despite the consistently high demand, establishing a new brand in this market would be a complicated process due to its oversaturation and oligopolistic structure. Certain industries are inherently competitive, and any new entrant would need to attract consumers who have already been using the existing services. Although the prompt specifies the existence of the demand as a requirement, it does not provide a detailed explanation of which levels of demand and market saturation are acceptable. Therefore, a company should not produce anything there is a demand for in the market without considering its resources and risks. Additionally, the ethical and moral sides of business production, and the firm’s corporate social responsibility might be at stake if one was to agree with the titular claim. Namely, the market demand and potential to monetize the goods exist within a wide variety of restricted or illegal objects (He & Harris, 2020). Such activities as drug trafficking and illegal alcohol turnover illustrate the existence of demand for goods that, for one reason or another, were not legally purchased by the consumer. As Proverbs state, “wine is a mocker” (James, 2013, 20:1), and a case can be made against its production in general. From this point of view, companies are not encouraged to participate in any illegal activities, even if there is, hypo
Abstract The psychological community has studied the concept of choice for many years. The earlier studies indicated that individuals were more satisfied with having a greater selection of choices than those with no choice. As the number of choices that individuals make increases, this earlier research was no longer sufficient to understand the issues facing the average individual. Later studies on choice were done that compared the satisfaction level of a small number of choices with a larger amount. The study indicated that the individuals were more satisfied with the choices made when they had a smaller selection to choose from. This is consistent with the current psychological research on choice. Introduction In Too Much Choice Barry Schwartz explores the dilemma that faces the average consumer as they navigate a grocery store. The number of choices that a consumer has to make going through a grocery store is astounding. The choices do not stop at the grocery store either, in every facet of an individual’s life they are forced to make choices from what company health care plan to choose, where to invest their retirement money along with the other choices of daily life such as what to wear and where to work (Schwartz, 2006). The studies done by psychologists over the years have indicated to companies and marketers that consumers want more choices. Many companies have taken those studies and continued to create new products to appeal to the consumer’s desire for choice. While the majority of companies are continuing to increase the number of items they produce and sell some companies are experimenting with offering consumers less choice. Google the internet search agent offers consumers less choice on their web page but consistently out pre-form Yahoo and MSN (Schwartz, 2006). Companies who opt out of increasing the number of choices a consumer has to make are selling more of their products. According to Barry Schwartz consumers are now facing choice overload and have developed a good coping mechanism to allow them to exist in a world with too many choices (Schwartz, 2006). They focus on the bands and products they know and ignore the rest. Barry Schwartz’s research is similar to the research done by Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper. In the article When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing by Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper; the researchers examine a well-researched concept in psychology from a new perspective. The option of choice has been well researched over the past 30 years. These studies have indicated that when an individual is given multiple choices they experience greater satisfaction with life and an increased perception of the amount of control they have over their actions. In this article, they examine research that they conducted where the participants were offered a multitude of choices. This increased amount of choices represents the participant’s daily life choosing between items that are very similar and often offer little or no advantage to the consumer when