British newspapers Essay Example for Free

British newspapers Essay On Friday 25th October 2002, all British newspapers reported on the outcome of the trial of Alastair Irvine, the son of the Lord Chancellor, Derry Irvine. Alastair Irvine, 25 was sentenced to 16 months in prison after pleading guilty to six stalking, vandalism and gun charges arsing from his pursuit of a 19-year-old woman. By comparing the coverage of this story in four national newspapers, we can reach conclusions about their general approach, their choice of content, range of presentation and many aspects of life. It is important to choose a wide spread of newspapers so that all different viewpoints on the story are represented. The newspapers I have chosen are: The Daily Mail, The Daily Star, The Independent, The Guardian and The Times. Both The Daily Mail and The Daily Star are tabloids whilst the rest are all broadsheets. The newspaper that donates the most coverage to the story was The Daily Mail. The first thing you notice with the Mail article is the amount of space devoted to it. The single article takes up a whole page, save a small rather ironic advert entitled Autumn Delights. The actual column space is a huge fifty-five and a half centimetres, three times more than most of the other papers. Another main feature of the article is the very large picture of Alastair Irvine, which takes up much of the central part of the page. It is a very selectively taken photo, which portrays Alastair Irvine as being mentally insane. The other picture on the page is one of Lord Irvine, Alastairs father. This is again a photograph chosen specifically to influence the reader. The picture is slanted so that Lord Irvines eyes are staring directly into his sons. In addition, Lord Irvine has a very amused expression set on his face, giving the reader the impression that he is pleased to see his son go to prison. Also, Lord Irvine is dressed in his judges gown and some irony that a judges son be put in prison. One important thing to note is the Mails own view on politics. It is commonly known that The Daily Mail is opposed to New Labour and Mails own relationship with the Lord Chancellor. The Lord Chancellor, being a member of the Labour cabinet is likely to be given bad press. However, he has also had a dispute with the Daily Mails sister paper, The Mail on Sunday. Lord Irvine criticised The Mail on Sunday after it printed a story about his sons drug addiction, amongst other things criticizing Lord Irvines views on the legalization of cannabis; Lord Irvine took the matter to the press complaints commission. It is obvious that the paper and the Lord Chancellor do not have a very good relationship and why the Daily Mail is taking such a strong opinion on this one particular article. Another thing to note is the power with which the Daily Mail uses the headline. The headline draws immediately to the fact that the writers and most probably the readers are more interested in Lord Irvine rather than Alastair. The headline also uses very emotive words, used to influence the readers views. Amongst many other words used in the article, terrorising and young lovers are used in the headline. The idea that he has terrorised young lovers is a very strong and horrific thought and very strong language. This is used to make us feel that he Alastair Irvine is evil, reinforced by the striking photograph of Alastair Irvine. The strap-line also contains emotive words. Alastair Irvine is described as a drug addict and his actions shamed his family. The idea of Alastair shaming his family is supported by the smile of his father, Lord Irvine. It is also important to concentrate on the actual text used in the article. Usually in a newspaper the first paragraph should briefly summarize the story, however, the Daily Mail article concentrates on the fact that Alastair Irvine is Lord Irvines son and that he terrorised young lovers. The use of more words that are emotive and the focusing on the fact that he is the Chancellors son shows quite clearly how the Mail feel about this particular article. The second paragraph also shows the Mails own views on the story: Alastair Irvine, 25, pleaded guilty in return for a lenient sentence. The idea that the sentence given was lenient implies that the paper thought he deserved more and that the crime he committed was very serious compared to the punishment given. There are many examples throughout the Mail article of emotive words and personal feeling. The whole of the next paragraph is used as an example of the writer influencing the readers by the quality of language. All emotive words in this paragraph have been specifically placed here for this reason. The stating of the fact that he could have faced up to 18 years in jail. Shows again that the Mail think Alastair deserved more than his lenient sentence. The Mail also states that Alastair showed no emotion as he was led away. This again influences us into believing that Alastair was not repentant at all. However, many of us would believe that someone who has just pleaded guilty to a crime may feel repentant and somebody who is likely to face six months in jail would feel emotional. The Daily Mail article continues with words such as obsessed and hassle being used throughout the rest of the article. It is clear that the purpose of this article is not, as it should be, to provide news, but to deter from the facts and promote Alastair Irvine and therefore Lord Irvine as a bad person. It is important to study other aspects of the article. The page number this article is on does not reflect the true amount of importance that the Mail intended to place upon it, it being on a mere page seven. Granted other newspapers have had the article on earlier pages but the sheer size and effort put into the article reflect how much the Mail cares about this specific article. The language used in the article is not as simple as it could be however, it is not very complicated and this probably appeals to the readers of the Daily Mail. Overall, it is clear to see how this article has been written in a certain way to influence the reader and to not report the news but to change to news to serve its own purpose needed. This is a classic example of the media affecting the news in a specific way for a specific purpose. The next paper to be studied is The Daily Star. The Daily Star is too a tabloid newspaper. The Daily star article although not as large as the Mail version is still as biased and emotive. The first thing to notice is the Daily Star is the only newspaper present that does not include the words Lord Irvine or anything referring to the Lord in the headline. However, the Daily Star headline is much more vague and strong: Stalker son is jailed At first glance, this may give us the impression that a son of a stalker has been imprisoned rather than a stalking son has been jailed. The picture shows Alastair looking remarkably depressed with the situation unlike the Daily Mail article. However, the caption under picture bares a likeness to the Mails. The word caged is used whilst in the Mail article the word Manacled was used, both of these words are strong and give the impression that Alastair Irvine is some sort of trapped animal. The first paragraph, now, does describe who Alastair Irvine is. The words Lord Chancellor naturally arrive. The emotive word used in this paragraph is the use of the word love rival. This gives us the impression of some sort of battle occurring between Alastair and his love rival. This again is quite an unnecessary word which is used to bring sympathy to the stalked love rival. The language used in the Star article is a lot simpler, than the language used in the Daily Mail, this again appeals to the readers of The Daily Star, who are not expected to have a vast vocabulary. The only cross heading used in the article is a very striking one, Threats this gives the reader an impression of the article before they have actually read it and prepares the reader for the severity of the article. However, the content of the article is generally quite good, most of the information quite relevant, save Lord Irvine, a senior member of Government and a close friend of Toney Blair. The article is dotted with the odd emotive word however, nowhere as near as many as the Mail. The column length of the article in the Star is a mere fifteen centimetres, which is far below the average of all the other articles. Overall, apart from the misleading headline, the occasional unnecessary paragraph and the simple use of language The Daily Star provides an informative yet easily understood version of the story. The next paper is not a tabloid but a broadsheet, meant to report the news rather that influence the readers. The Independent does just that. The simple headline gives all the relevant knowledge needed. It tells us why the story is important, mentioning Lord Irvine, how long Alastair has been imprisoned for, and for what reason. The actual font size of the headline is very small compared to the previously discussed articles. The first paragraph is very informative. It tells us of the nature of his plea and of his crime. The giving of his age, followed by the nine-teen year old girl may be regarded as a ploy to influence the reader, however, I do not regard it as so. The Independents article is the most informative and goes into more detail that reported by any other newspaper. There are very few emotive words included however; the occasional one does turn up. The Independent also reports that the sentence received by Irvine was much lower than he deserved however it does not say it as bluntly as both the Mail and the Star. The Independent talks about his drug problem in detail. It mentions the fact that he actually travelled to California to undergo rehabilitation for his crack-cocaine addiction. It also goes into more detail than the other articles about the nature of his attacks and his threats. The independent talks about the psychological state that Alastair was in and also talks about the importance of this story politically, all with great measures taken to be unbiased and fact providing. The page number of the article shows the relative importance of the article, I personally feel it is a bit too high also the column length of the article at twenty-nine centimetres seams reasonable. The language used in the article is frivolous in places but overall, not too much more complicated that the Star article. This article has one sole purpose alone and that is to report the news and to provide as much information that is possible and relevant. Overall, out of the all the articles The Independent has the most informative article. It is impartial and provides a good insight into the news story. The final newspaper to be discussed is the Guardian. The first thing noticed of the article is the sheer size. It is only a little smaller than the Daily Mail. Noticeable too, however, is the very large picture of a handcuffed Alastair Irvine looking very depressed. The huge headline is simple and similar to the other broadsheets, referring to Lord Irvine and the crime committed. The strap-line however, is less impartial and divulges more into the thoughts of Lord Irvine who wished not to comment. We also note the photograph of Lord Irvine who is looking rather gleeful and again dressed in his judges gown. The caption also tells us that the Chancellor is happy that the case has been resolved, implying somewhat that he is happy to see his son go to prison. The actual content of The Guardians article is quite impressive also, it divulges into past confrontations between Lord Irvine and The Sunday Mail, and also in Alastairs drug problem. It mentions the charges and also a speech from the lawyer of Alastair Irvine who states the gratefulness of Alastair on getting off so lightly and the fact that he could not be guaranteed a win by his own lawyer. The article also mentions some politics and shows the gratefulness of the deputy district attorney at the lack of interference by Lord Irvine. This article again has no purpose but to inform the reader of the story with as much impartiality as possible. The story is only on page eight which is quite far back but the grand size of it makes up for its importance. The article is well structured with points interlinking from one to the other and the material covered is excellent with a wide range of points included that were not in other articles. The language is of a reasonable complexity and this also reflects the audience, which it is targeted at. Overall, the article is excellent apart from the few emotive words present, the strap-lines severity and the unnecessary size of the picture. In this essay, the void between tabloids and broadsheets has clearly been identified. From the extreme tabloid, which provides little useful information but much opinion of The Daily Mail to the extremes of broadsheet with a huge picture and lots of valuable information of The Guardian the progressive change of the articles has been highlighted. By personal favourite article is the Independents, being not only informative but also not excessive. Its size is enough for a quick but in-depth guide to the article and does not detract from it with the suggestion of being a difficult read. However, each article has its own niche market, and I, cannot speak for the variety of people who belong to the readers of any of the newspapers. That is someway creates a sense of impartiality, however, being me alone it is all I can offer. In summate, if a variety of people from different cultures were to write this essay the result may be different, not in quality but in content.

Impact of Teleworking on Innovation

Impact of Teleworking on Innovation This study seeks to explore the relationship between high-tech firms, innovation, and the teleworking trend. Specifically, an examination of the high-technology sector in the UK is provided, followed by explanations of teleworking, innovation, and high-tech firms as they relate to the scope and focus of this study.   The above is based on published findings of empirical research and published reports.   This study then considers how teleworking has impacted innovation at the Intel Corporation, a leading manufacturer of semiconductors who allows employees in certain positions to telework part or all of their workweek.   Innovation and impact are considered at an overall corporate level, rather than at an individual level. Findings of this research indicate that teleworking one to two dayseach week has no discernibly negative impact on innovation, and mayactually enhance innovation, provided systems to encourage andfacilitate innovation are in place.   Implications for organisationsentering the teleworking arena and the sector as a whole are followed by recommendations for high-tech companies and for future research. Teleworking is a cultural trend in much of Europe and the Americas.   While it provides many plusses and a few minuses to theindividual teleworkers, its impact on organisations and particularlyinnovation at those organisations has not been sufficiently explored.  This study seeks to consider the impact teleworking has onorganisations, specifically high-technology organisations, and theirability to generate, initiate, and implement innovative products,processes and administrative ideas. A review of previously published findings related to teleworking,innovation, and high-technology is provided, covering these topics ingeneral.   The focus of the study then narrows, addressing organisationsthat both use and produce high-tech products or services, and finallyconcentrating on innovation in the computer hardware and softwaresector.   Ideas and conclusions from these studies are then combinedwith information from Intel Corporation, a leading manufacturer ofsemi-conductors and similar computer products, to analyse the specificimpact of teleworking at Intel.   It is hoped the conclusions drawn from Intel’s experiences will beuseful to other high-tech firms practicing or considering teleworking,as well as encourage others to pursue related research. High-technology has evolved in the past thirty years from something outof a science fiction novel to part of the average Britain’s everydaylife.   The UK contributes over 5% of the world’s research anddevelopment, although it has less than one percent of the world’spopulation.  Ã‚   The UK additionally has the larges software and computerservices sector in the EU, and a significant semiconductor industry(Anon 2005).   From Bristol, at the end of the M4 hi-tech corridor, toSheffield, where software has replaced steel, to the hi-tech centres inCambridge and Hertfordshire, high-tech is replacing and revitalisingthe declining UK industrial sector. It is important to note that the high-tech sector differs in severaldistinct ways from other sectors of the economy.   First, the speed atwhich technology changes is simply unmatched in other productionsectors.   This requires not only constant innovation in product, butconstant innovation in the process and administrative arenas as well(Edquist 2003).   Property rights considerations have starkly differentapplications in high-tech organisations.   If companies wait until theirnew ideas were licensed or patented before progressing into production,the market will likely pass by them and their product before it evenmoves into sale (Cohan 1997).   High-tech organisations are also morelikely to share information and partner on products, particularly intheir non-core technologies, and share the profits with another firmrather than miss a market entirely (Edquist 2003). The local high-technology sector differs in some ways from that inother countries.   The UK has historically lagged behind the UnitedStates and Japan in its ability to move a product from idea toproduction in the high-tech arena.   UK firms, unless part of aninternational company who mandates certain practices, have not made asmuch effort to design intra-organisational systems to encourageinnovation (Surrey 2004).   In a study by the University of Surrey,Ellie Runcie stated that after studying UK and U.S. high-tech firms,she found UK organisations have â€Å"often no discussion at all is made ofthe role of user research in innovation† (Surrey 2004).   This is aconcern regarding the UK high-tech sector that needs to be considered. The UK also has a lower per-capital computer literacy and computer use,particularly in the home sector, than most other high-tech nations.   Ona more positive note, the UK government has launched a campaign toincrease computer literacy and home computer use.   Intel, BT, andMicrosoft are the three major organisations working with the OeE, DTIand DfES on this campaign (Intel 2004). One of these leaders from the high-technology sector, the IntelCorporation, will be considered in greater detail.   Although aU.S.-headquartered firm, Intel has facilities in several places in theUK, as well as worldwide.   Intel is a major manufacturer ofsemi-conductors and computer processors, and will be used as an examplein this research of how teleworking can contribute to innovation in thehigh-tech environment. As this study considers the topics of teleworking, innovation, andhigh-technology, it was felt necessary to define and set parameters foreach.   The following literature is considered in the scope of thisresearch, with specific delineations of the three main study componentsoutlined in detail.   We have recently entered an important new phase in the ongoinginformation technology revolution. It is difficult to pick up abusiness magazine or newspaper today without reading about anorganisation offering teleworking and virtual offices for remoteworkers. There has been fair media coverage in how companies haveembraced the idea of teleworking, including the likes of ATT,Ernst and Young and IBM.   A monthly magazine is even devoted toâ€Å"today’s flexible workplace,† Telecommute, published by the nationaltrade organisation, the International Telecommuting Advisory Council(ITAC). Part of a general trend towards remote work, teleworking is a naturalresult of the information revolution, fuelled by the growth ofknowledge work and the rapid advance in technology.   The trend isconsistent with predictions made by futurist Alvin Toffler in his 1980book The Third Wave, that the location of work would outgrow typicalsites such as offices or factories, and begin to take place in alllocations. Teleworking is especially becoming popular in high-technologyorganisations.   During my work placement at Intel Corporation, I wasalso exposed to various team members teleworking from home one to twodays per week. While this trend is popular with employees, it behovestoday’s high-technology company to consider the impact of teleworkingon innovation.   This sector of the business environment is particularlydependent on innovation to remain viable, and it is important,therefore, that the initiation and implementation of innovation not besacrificed to worker preference. Examination of various sources reveals a lack of consensus as to thedefinition of teleworking, or as it is sometimes called,telecommuting.   ‘Teleworking’ is more common in European literature,while ‘telecommuting’ is more common in but not limited to Americanliterature.   Unfortunately, this lack of a universally accepteddefinition of teleworking causes problems academically; as either termcan be used to mean ‘home-working’, ‘working-at-a-distance’, ‘off-siteworkers’, or ‘remote-workers,’ it hinders the ability to comparefindings from different sources. Therefore, it is necessary to chooseand define a single term before proceeding. The term ‘telework’ is generally preferred on this side of theAtlantic, and will be used here.   Huws, Korte, and Robinson (1990)define telework as work â€Å"which is independent of the location of theemployer or contractor and can be changed according to the wishes ofthe individual teleworkers and/or the organisation for which he or sheis working† (10).   Olson (1988) argues, â€Å"the term telework is used torefer to organisational work performed outside of the normalorganisational confines of space and time, augmented by computer andcommunications technology. The work is not necessarily performed in thehome (77).   The EU holds that ‘telework’ â€Å"covers a range of new ways ofworking, using the telecommunications as a tool and, for at least partof the time, outside a traditional office environment (EuropeanCommission, 1996, 11).   Jack Nilles defined telecommuting as â€Å"an arrangement that entailsworking outside the conventional w orkplace and communication by way oftelecommunications or computer-based technology (Bailey and Kurkland,2000).   According to The American Telecommuting Association, 2002,telecommuting is â€Å" replacing or supplementing physical travel to theoffice by using modern telecommunications equipment to bring officeresources to the employee. While computers serve to augmenttelecommuting, it is possible to telecommute with only paper, penciland telephone.† Distilling the above into a workable definition, important elements of telework for the purpose of this study include: à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ «Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the person doing the telework is an employee of the organisation for which she or he works à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ «Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   computers and communication technology are used à ¢Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚ «Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   it is not necessarily performed in the home, but does occur outside a traditional office environment Telework is therefore defined as any substantial part of an employee’swork performed by employees that is physically separated from thelocation of their employer using information technology (IT) foroperation and communication.  Ã‚   Three groups are affected by teleworking:   the employers ororganisations, the individual teleworkers, and society as a whole.  Benefits and drawbacks to individual teleworkers vary greatly fromperson to person, and are difficult to evaluate.   Benefits to societyare primarily environmental, as reduced commuting decreases pollutionand reduces transportation-related injury.   This study will thereforefocus on the affect of teleworking on the employer or organisation.  Areas of benefit include increased productivity and financialadvantages.   Drawbacks security concerns, management issues, andreduction in interaction and exchanged of ideas.   Each of thesebenefits and drawbacks will have impact on innovation inhigh-technology environments. INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY According to The American Telecommuting Association, various surveyshave documented teleworking employees’ productivity gains of up to 60%(1992).   They claim that extra productivity is consistently clocked at10-15% in nearly every study in the past two decades.   The SocialMarket Foundation (2004) argues that teleworking can increaseproductivity by up to 30%. They further claim that the more than twomillion UK workers now regularly telecommute with employees use thetime saved from commuting and meetings for extra work.   Huws (1992),Salmon and Shamir (1985), Caudron (1992), and Metzger and Von Glinow(1998) all report indications of improved productivity, reliability andwork quality among teleworkers. The increase in employee productivity resulted from teleworking isalso supported by G. E. Gordon, who claims there are a variety ofreasons for increased productivity in employees who telework.   Theseinclude decreased time spent commuting to work, fewer distractions inthe workplace, and giving telecommuters the opportunity to better matchtheir work times with their peak productive periods.   He notes thatproductivity gains ranging from 15-30% are common with such programs(Gordon 1986). Employee motivation is another cited reason for improved productivity.  Employees perceive being the ability to telework as an indication thattheir employers have sufficient trust and faith in them to workindependently.   It could also be argued that teleworkers in fact workharder than non-teleworking employees as they feel the need to prove totheir office peers that they are not indolent as a result of working athome without supervision. Teleworkers may also feel the need to workharder to achieve promotions (). However, various theorists argue that some employees find that becausethey have their work resources at home, they tend to work more. Thiscould interfere with family life.   In addition, telework can be viewedas an intrusion of the workplace in the home. The office at home is aconstant reminder of work.   There is the real problem of definingconcrete working hours when the distraction of home life is a constantpresence.   Working hours and social versus home time can becomeblurred.   Another form of intrusion is when family members or socialinterruptions constantly disrupt teleworkers from completing work.  This may add extra pressures and stress.   Teleworking employees whoexperience such disruption and time management issues may actually havedecreased motivation and productivity due to these outside factors.  Therefore, it is important that employees exercising their option totelework draw strong boundaries that will enable them to workeffectively.   Guidance from t he organisation and possiblity sometraining in effective teleworking should be included by an organisationemploying teleworkers. Smith (1997) suggests telecommuting reduces absenteeism amongstemployees.   For example, employees who may feel too ill to complete afull day and commute, may be well enough to work a partial day.  Individuals are more likely to continue working even when feelingunwell due to being in a more comfortable and relaxed work environment,i.e. their home.   Smith counters that teleworkers often havedifficulty, especially at first, with separating home and work time.  This increases if children are in the teleworking location, most likelythe home.   However, adjustments are usually successful in the long term. Further, the Bureau of Labour Statistics reports that businessproductivity, the measure or output per work hour, has risen 2.8% since1998.   This correlates positively and directly with an increase inteleworking. Teleworking has been perhaps, therefore, most effective inincreasing productivity. Clearly, these human resource managers are very satisfied with theirprograms a nd believe their telecommuters are satisfied as well.   Ifhalf of the firms included in the above research are reporting morework done at a better quality in comparison to the traditional workforce, there must be considerable merit to teleworking increasingproductivity. FINANCIAL SAVINGS Teleworking can also save firms money in a number of ways.   It providesthe employer with an expanded pool of potential employees. The skillsof employees with commuting difficulties, childcare conflict,disabilities and geographical barriers employees are all made availableto the employer who adopts the telecommuting practice.   Smith (1997)supports this, claiming teleworking offers attractive workingconditions, which aid in the recruitment and retention of skilledemployees and help to reduce voluntary separation of key employees.  This represents considerable savings to the employer in terms ofreduced hiring and training costs. Reduced overhead is another financial benefit.   Teleworking reducestime and travel costs for meetings, conferences and training thusminimising organisational overheads.   Individual teleworkers alsobenefit from reduced costs in transportation, clothing, childcare, andreduced absenteeism.   Teleworking can also help firms remain in the same location and avoidfuture relocation to larger premises.   This particular cost saving ishighly remunerative due to the increasing real estate prices in urbanareas today and the substantial cost savings in office space.   Peoplewho telework do not use office space and do not create overheads.   Evenin case of part-time teleworking space savings are generated.   This isevident at IBM, who is expected to save between 15 to 20 percent inspace requirements by taking away the desks of more than five thousandof its employees and telling them to work at home, in their car, or attheir clients’ offices (Swinton 2002). The claim that teleworking reduces organisational overheads is alsosupported by BT who introduced its â€Å"Workstyle 2000 flexible working†programme ten years ago.   The claim that the programme has saved them134m as a result of teleworking practices.   This includes reducing thenumber of employee desks in London from 10,000 to 3,000, saving  £6,000per desk per year.   There has also been a five% reduction in companycar mileage, resulting in fuel savings of  £9.7m this year alone.   BTalso reports a 20% increase in productivity and that 75% of alltelephone conferences are replacements of face-to-face meetings. Opponents of teleworking argue there are often some initial increasedcosts due to outfitting the teleworkers and making adjustments tocompany computers to accommodate them.   Ford (1995) claims thattelecommuting programs lead to extra costs. He claims that extra coststypically involve additional equipment requirements and funding theprovision of human reso urce services, training, fringe benefits, andrelocating. He continued to argue that the question of cost alsoincludes the equipment and space costs associated with telecommutingprogram and that telephones and electronic equipment cost more fortelecommuters than for traditional workers. It is important that hardware and software provided to teleworkersstarts out and remains uniform because this simplifies supportimmensely.   The required initial investment and length of time forpayback will vary sharply from company to company, however, with themost technologically advanced incurring the least upfront costs.   Giventhat high-tech firms are those under consideration in this study andthey have the most access to the latest and most efficient technology,it then follows that these expenditures do not detract from the savingsfor high-tech firms adopting or practicing teleworking. Additionally, many companies report current pressures on their supportdesk and according to Classe (2000) this will intensify by theintroduction of a remote workforce.   As teleworkers usually worknon-standards hours, longer hours of support cover may be required,which will confer additional associated costs to the employer.   Thecost factor for such support spread across a larger high-t ech companywill have little impact; the same costs spread across a smaller companymay be significant and should be considered a potential drain onresources that could support innovation implementation. SECURITY Security is a major concern for high-tech companies with teleworkingemployees.   Confidential information must be accessible to theteleworkers remotely, information that may range from a product indevelopment to a change in production methods to sensitive profiles offuture customer bases.   This makes the same information more accessibleto hackers and competitors; it is highly unlikely a company couldafford or an employee would want equal security measures on theirprofessional facilities and residences.   In addition, information used and generated by teleworkers willtypically be uploaded to a server for accessibility.   Others within thecompany then have increased chance of access, compromisingintra-company security. Eric von Hippel, however, in his study of knowledge location andinnovation solving, noted â€Å"conducting innovation-related problemsolving at remote sites need not compromise an innovator’s ability toprotect commercially important secrets† (1994).   While greaterpotential for security breaches exist, this in no way indicatessecurity need be compromised by teleworkers. MANAGEMENT One of the biggest problems for managers and staff involved withtelework is measuring and monitoring the work done by employees.Management recognise that it is easier to monitor the level of workdone by employees when they are in the office and managers often worrythat their staff will not work as hard from home.   Teleworking presentspotential issues with the ability to discipline telecommutingemployees, provide a career path, and provide promotionalopportunities.   Those in supervisory positions often see difficultiesin relation to mangers’ human resource management responsibilities(Werdigier and Neibuhr 2002). Ford (1995) also raisies the issue of the telecommutting impact on thesupervisors span of control.   Due to the workers being so spread out,Ford claims that many companies will be forced to reduce the averagespan of supervisory and will not have sufficent control to accommodatethe unique problems of telecommuters.   Ford suggests that another majoraspect of th e supervisory issue is the ability of the manager tocontrol distractions in the work setting and to ensure that theemployee does not become displaced from the informal help and adviceavailable through interaction with a work group. Clearly, managers of such programs need to be trained in remotesupervision.   In addition, they should recognise the possibility thattheir teleworking employees may not have adequate access to training,career and promotional opportunities.   More importantly, theseemployees may miss the informal information sharing that occurs in atraditional work environment.   This will be shown to have a significantimpact on innovation.    REDUCED SOCIAL INTERACTION AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE Social isolation seems to be mostly acknowledged by scholars as themost significant potential or actual drawback of teleworking.  Ã‚   Whilesome employees welcome the new freedom that comes with lesssupervision, others say they miss the camaraderie and socialinteraction that comes with face-to-face office operations.   However,this usually depends on the professional level of the employee.   Smith(1997) argues that the higher the level, then the more electroniccontacts and networks; hence, less social isolation is experienced. Video conferencing could help ease the psychological trauma that comeswith social isolation, allowing multiple numbers of people to converseand perform work together in an electronic version of face-to-facecommunication.   This may allow teleworkers to increase the humanemotion and communicational flexibility often lacking in electroniccommunication.   Social isolation also implies that for teleworkersthere is minimal peer availability for informal work relateddiscussions as one might get, for example, in a staff cafeteria atlunch times. In addition, teleworkers may lack the political connections and cloutto get innovations approved or funded.   With reduced opportunities tobuild relationships on the job, they are forced to propose or supportinnovation solely on the merits of the proposal (Werdigier and Neibuhr2002).   While this theoretically could be a positive result ofteleworking, in practice it reduces the chance of innovative input fromteleworkers being initiated or implemented. DECREASED KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE It could similarly be argued that the largest detraction of teleworkingon innovation in high-technology organisations is the reduction ofknowledge exchange from employee interaction.   Informal and proximitylearning is an ongoing opportunity for training in the traditionaloffice environment not available to teleworkers.   If both are in thesame location, an inexperienced worker can observe another moreexperienced worker and learn from this observation.   This is asignificant training tool for office-based or facility-based workersand one of the main ways knowledge is acquired and exchanged in anorganisation (Classe 2000). CASE STUDY BT The various benefits of telecommuting to the employer can be supportedby the findings of a study conducted amongst 2000 BT employees (2002).  The study revealed that enabling staff to work from home resulted inincreased company productivity and better employee health and qualityof life.   BT claimed that telecommuting saved them  £35m a year inaccommodation, recruitment costs and absenteeism and that teleworkerswere four times less likely to take sick days, averaging three days offa year compared with twelve for office-based staff. The study also revealed that almost 80% of teleworkers claimed to bemore productive thanks to reduced disruption, commuting time andstress, and greater flexibility about when and where to work.  According to Alison Garner, marketing manager for social responsibilityat BT making staff feel part of the BT community was key to theschemes success. Although a small number of teleworkers complain about increased workinghours, four out of five survey respondents claimed that teleworking isimportant or very important for their quality of life.   Almostthree-quarters described their work/life balance as good or verygood.   BT also maintained that its teleworking policies paid off interms of staff recruitment and retention. CASE STUDY – THE SUSTEL PROJECT The Sustel Project, created in 2002 by the EUs Information SocietyTechnologies programme, found that telework increases businessresilience since it allows work to be done when building operations aredisrupted by factors such as the weather. The Project also showed that the influence of telework on human capitaldevelopment, the personal competencies and skills needed to createwealth, was mostly positive.   Seven of the studies found that teleworkhad a significantly positive effect on internal communication andknowledge sharing, often due to the conscious implementation oftechnological tools during telework program deployment.   At theindividual level, the main financial benefit of telework was reducedcommuting costs, which almost all respondents saw as being greater thanthe increased cost of energy in their home. BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS – CONCLUSION At the present time there is a lot of controversy in both academic andpractitioner literatures with respect to how telecommuting affectsorganisation employees.   At one extreme, telecommuting is considered aflexible work arrangement that will solve a multitude of problems.   Atthe other extreme, authors have implicated telecommuting causing anumber of negative consequences including loneliness, isolation,exploitation and increased stress.   While there are a legitimate numberof potentially negative effects of telework, these effects can beminimized by proper program management. A balanced view is presented from Baruch and Nicholson (1997) andGoodrich (1990) who claim that the best output from telecommuting isachieved if it is conducted on a part-time basis. They argue,teleworking on a part-time basis can prevent or significantly reducethe social isolation of teleworkers. There are a number of benefits and drawbacks that should be consideredspecifically by high-tech organisations implementing teleworkprogrammes.   From a broad organisational perspective, the positives ofsuch a programme seem to outweigh the negatives.   However, the twodrawbacks of teleworking with legitimate effect on innovation in thehigh-technology sector are reduced political influence, and knowledgeavailability and exchange.   As these have been identified as ofgreatest impact, these areas will be focused on in this study.   As with teleworking, there are a number of different proposeddefinitions of innovation.   One of the most complete is offered byDamanpour (1996), who defines innovation as â€Å"the adoption of an idea orbehaviour new to the adopting organisation,† which usually occurs as â€Å"aresponse to changes in the external environment or as a pre-emptiveaction to influence the environment† (694).   Innovation is â€Å"departingfrom existing norms and practices,† and â€Å"requires risk taking†(Damanpour 1996, 698).   Edquist (2003) defines innovation as â€Å"newcreations of economic significance, primarily carried out by firms†(2).   Depending on the researcher, innovation is held to require either twoor four steps to implementation.   In the four-step model, theinnovative idea is first discovered or created.   This usually happenswith one individual or a small number of individuals working as ateam.   The idea is then presented to and accept ed by a decision-makingleader or body.   Initial adoption of the innovative idea by theorganisation is the next step, with the company allocating someresources to the development of the idea, such as pilots or testcases.   Implementation occurs when the innovative idea reaches broadacceptance within the organisation and becomes part of its regularproduct, process, or routine (Styles and Goddard 2004).   The two-stepcombines the first three steps of the four-step model under oneheading, initiation (Damanpour 1996). There are three types of innovation:   product innovation, processinnovation and administrative innovation (Edquist 2003).   Allcompanies, and small firms in particular, are more likely to innovatein the product arena, where results are tangible and measurable.  Larger firms will also innovate in process areas.   However, processinnovation is more difficult to implement than product, as it requireschange across multiple systems.   Administration innovation occurs mostfrequently in large, structurally complex companies, as it requires themost widespread changes to the organisation (Damanpour 1996).  Ã‚   Innovation within these three areas can be radical or incremental.  Radical innovation â€Å"produces fundamental changes in the activities ofthe organisation and represent a large departure from existingpractices† (Damanpour 1996, 699).   Radial innovation requires a largerknowledge base and free resources.   Incremental innovation is adoptedmore slowly, and produces less pronounced changes to organisationalsystems and activities. Innovation, therefore, is defined in this study as a change in theproduct, process or administration of an organisation; a new idea thatdeparts from existing norms and practices to respond to the firm’scurrent or future environment.   Innovation implementation requires knowledge, creativity, politicalsupport (within the organisation), and adequate resources.   Increasingany of the above or making the systems that control them moreeffective, therefore, has a positive effect on innovation.   Asinnovation requires both change and risk, companies will only undertakeinnovation if it is perceived as necessary to their survival or can beshown to have financial incentives.   Recognizing the forces driving the organisation to innovate isimportant.   For example, environmental uncertainty and environmentalcomplexity both contribute to increased innovation.   Uncertainty aboutthe future leads directly to a concerted effort to increase knowledgebase and exchange.   This influx of information then leads to increasedinnovation (Damanpour 1996).   This is especially evident inhigh-technology firms, where a market leader product today may becompletely obsolete by next year.   Definite, articulated identificationof the need for and support of innovation within the organisationgreatly enhances the chance of implementation of an innovative idea. Similarly, development or adjusting organisational systems to encourageand support innovation increases the chance of innovative success.  Damanpour found that â€Å"large organisations can facilitate theimplementation of innovations by adopting more flexible structures andorganising themselves into smaller units† (1996, 700).   Creation ofinnovative ideas is more likely in complex organizations, where thereis a larger knowledge base and an increase in knowledge exchange(Damanpour 1996).  Ã‚   However, larger organisations are less likely tomove innovative ideas to implementation as they are typically moreformalized, with lower managerial incentive to innovation (Hitt,Hoskisson and Ireland 1990).   An example of this is IBM, which made a sy

Implications of Migration for Pro-poor Agricultural Growth :: essays research papers

differences etc. all of which influence migration patterns and remittance utilisation. Methods musttherefore be broadened to include more qualitative techniques and case studies. 2. Integrate migration and commuting into PRSPs, CASs, National Plans At present most key policy documents related to rural development, agriculture and povertyreduction pay little or no attention to migration. These should be reviewed where possible to integrate migration and commuting concerns. There needs to be a greater recognition of thecontribution of current and future mobility to development and poverty reduction. 3. Identify the conditions which stimulate the productive use of remittances Examples of productive investment of remittances should be studied to understand where and how this has occurred by giving special attention to: • Labour availability and household labour allocation decisions, how gender roles and cultural factors influences these decisions and the impacts of labour depletion on the household and local economy• The skills base of migrants and how/if this has changed through migration and whatcontribution that has made to developing/enhancing agriculture or enterprise in the source village• Existing constraints faced by the poor in key agricultural markets such as credit and labour and how remittances are used in situations of persistent debt crea ted byinterlocked markets – do remittances help the poor in escaping from thesearrangements?• Availability of key natural resources – water and land are probably the mostimportant. Are remittances invested in buying more land and is this used for production soon, later or never? Does the availability of water affect this pattern?The information from such studies can be used to identify appropriate complementary interventions The obvious ones are education and health – i.e. more educated and healthier farmers are morelikely to spend on better farm inputs and technologies etc. 4. Identify locations/situations where it would make more sense to facilitate the movement of people This would need to be decided on a case by case basis, say at the district level in order toaccommodate location specific historical, agro-ecological factors as well rates of urbanisation and agricultural development. The Chinese example is informative because mobility is being encouraged to reduce rural poverty and sustain the rural economy.5. Design transport services to suit poor migrants and commuters A number of research projects on transport conducted under by ITDG and through the DFID Knowledge and Research (KaR) projects have noted transport constraints, and their impact on rurallivelihoods and service provision are of a high priority for the rural poor.

Polar Bears :: essays papers

Polar Bears â€Å"Saving the White Beast† The Polar Bear males can measure up to nine feet long, and can weigh 770-1430 lbs. The fur of the Polar Bear covers their entire body except their nose and pads of their feet. The Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) is the largest living carnivore on the planet earth. (National Parks Service). The polar bear lives in a small place on the top of the globe called the Arctic Circle. At an average the polar bears have about five million square miles of living space. The Polar ears have gotten close to 150 ft. from the North Pole. (WWF 1). These white creatures do not hibernate in the winter like other bears, instead they hunt. The bears main diet is the ringed and bearded seal. These bears have a great sense of smell. They can smell seals kilometers away, and detect one under three feet of snow. This helps them find the food they need during winter months when the seals migrate south to get warm. The bears are patient when it comes to food. They need two kilograms of fat a day to survive. A seal can provide five days worth of food. If the bears are starving they eat the whole seal; otherwise, they just eat the blubber and entrails for protein (National Parks Service). The bears live in Canada or above. They rarely go below Canada since it is too warm there. The giant bears have thick white fur, which helps the bear survive the cold, and it has a thick layer of blubber all around its body where it stores up food when needed. They can go with out food for 2 weeks if necessary (Larsen 7). Their fur is what helps retain the heat inside their bodies. The fur looks white but it is actually clear colored. The sun shines through the clear fur to the bear’s black skin, which absorbs the heat and retains it. Actually it does such a good job that the bears have to jump in icy water, and even roll in the snow to cool off. Fredtjoj Nansen gives this description of the polar bear, â€Å"Elegant body, big neck, small head, and short ears give it a ferocious look† (6). When its time for the bears to reproduce, the male approaches the female. The males have many mates in their lifetime. When the females are pregnant, they dig a den in which they stay until after pregnancy for a while with the bears can survive the cold.

Discuss the Minority Presence in Contemporary British Art Essay

Minority Presence in Contemporary British Art "Highly visible yet evasively mute." Art critic Kobena Mercer, comments on the current position of African and Asian artists in Contemporary British Art, when he suggests that minority artists are seen and not heard. This oxymoronic position derives from a long historical legacy of European colonization and the emphasis on 'racial inferiority' and 'otherness.' On the one hand, British art is progressive, allowing some minority art in the general art world. Yet on the other hand minority art is still marginalized by the preferential treatment given to white artists. There is a strong degree of accuracy in Mercer's statement because while minority art can now be 'seen,' the 'voice' is suppressed when the 'ethnic element' is too strong. Subordination comes in many forms. Not only do minority artists have a limited gallery presence in major galleries, but finding information on them can be utterly impossible when the current focus of British art revolves around what it means to be British. The only minority artists that are visible are artists who either play up white stereotypes or allude to a Western artistic tradition. An examination of these artists and the current art climate, indicate that the visible presence of minority artists is controlled by preconceived traditions and perceptions. The difficulties facing minority artists in Britain today relate to the current climate of the art world. A quiet tug-o-war exists between the effort to globalize the British art and return to white dominance. Multiculturalism is everywhere; however, it often plays an artificial role in that its purpose is to fulfill a quota. The predominately white yBa movement defines the current art worl... ...the boat' too much. African/Asian artists must allude to either white stereotypes or traditions, to survive in an art world that continues to be dominated by the majority. Works Cited Chambers, Eddie interview with Petrine Archer Straw. From Annotations 5: Run through the jungle selected writings by Eddie Chambers. Edited by GilaneTawdrows and Victoria Clarke. London: inIva, 1999, pp 21-31 King, Catherine. Views of Difference: Different Views of Art. Yale University Press: London, 1999. Mercer, Kobena, 'Ethnicity and Internationality: New British Art and Diaspora-Based Blackness', Third Text, Winter 1999-2000, p 55 Robinson, Hilary. Visibly Female. 1986 from an interview with Yasmin Kureshi. Reworking Myths: Sutapa Biswas Stallabrass, Julian. High Art Light. Verso: London, 1999. from Ofili, interview with Marco Spinelli, 'Brilliant' pg. 7

Are British Prime Ministers as powerful as sometimes claimed? Essay

It can be argued that Prime ministers are almost omnipotent in the political system in the UK, this is due to the shear variety of powers in-which the prime minister holds, and the prerogatives that are taken advantage by the prime minister. However, checks on powers in the UK means that the prime minister is not as power as they appear, moreover, they are not separable from the UK political system, henceforth, they are controlled and limited within the system they are part of, thus, more often than not, prime ministers are less powerful then sometimes claimed.However, prime ministers are as powerful as they appear due to the multiple sources of power they control within the UK. Mainly, the prime minister has a vast amount of power as they are part of both the executive branch of government and the legislature, due to the fusion of powers in the UK political system, this means that they can create law and then use their representation in the legislature to force through the law. More over, prime ministers have many prerogatives that were granted to the queen as the head of state. This was seen in 2003 when Tony Blair used his prime ministerial powers to declare war on Afghanistan. Hence, due to the extensive variation in their powers, prime ministers are as powerful as they claim, as all parts of the government are open to their control, though prime ministers are not always able to exploit all these powers, but the power is there for prime ministers to take. Hence, in the sense of variety, prime ministers are as powerful as they seem. Contrastingly, prime ministers powers are very dependable, and in many cases, the extent to a prime ministers powers depends on the size of their party’s majority in government. This was portrayed by the weak prime ministerial control of Harold Wilson in 1974, when his minority Labour Party took government for all of seven months and achieved nothing. Thus, a prime ministers power is little if their party is not in a powerful position in government. This has been observed more recently with Cameron’s proposed reforms of the NHS, however, with only a 76 seat majority (provided by the coalition with the liberal Democrats), there has been incredibly slow progress, even with Cameron’s constant campaigning and push for the implement of the reforms. Hence, prime ministers are not as powerful as  sometimes claimed as they have little control over proceedings of government by themselves, it is only when they are accompanied by a strong position in parliament by their r epresented party that their objectives can be achieved. Thus, the power of a majority party on government is sometimes mistaken and thought of as a prime ministers power, thus making them appear more powerful than they are, Nevertheless, prime ministers are powerful in the sense they dominate political agenda within government. Since Thatcher’s domination of the political agenda of the privatisation of public businesses in the 1980’s other prime ministers have displayed their power in the same way. Cameron has dominated the political agendas since 2010 with his policy of the Big Society, which has been the centre piece for his leadership, thus it is constantly referee to throughout both the government and the media. In this case, prime ministers are as powerful as they claim, as they are the leaders in government, hence the political agenda is fully controlled by what they as leader wish to tackle most in government. Prime ministers set the tone for their leadership, they have the ultimate decision on the political agenda country and thus have a powerful image and position as all those in government, to some extent, must follow their lead; even if they wish to debate against the political agenda, thus they cast power over all those involved in government and parliament. On-the-other-hand prime ministers, like all people are confined by the events that take place around them, this they are not that powerful as these events define the extent to which they can achieve their aims. For instance, Brown’s power became very limited over the countries economics after the credit crunch of 2008, meaning that prime ministers are not as powerful as sometimes claimed because it is the events in-which impact their reign that control the extent of their power. Even when times were good during Blair’s leadership, and the economic boom of the 2000’s, Blair was only able to invest heavily in education and public services due to the fact times were economically good, not due to the fact he had power as a prime minister. Thus, a prime ministers power is dependable and elastic throughout their reign. Prime ministers do not have a set power, and cannot be as powerful as  sometimes claimed unless all the factors within government are in their favour, thus prime ministers are not as powerful as sometimes claimed. However, in the aspects in which a prime ministers have power over, such as cabinet, they do dominate and are as powerful as they appear. Both Thatcher and Blair dominated their cabinets during their time as prime ministers. Blair called cabinet meetings when he saw fit and developed the idea of â€Å"kitchen cabinet† in which he would select small groups of advisors, and even then it was mostly to inform them of his ideas on a policy, and to inform the members what was needed of them to achieve these ideas. Moreover, Thatcher dominated cabinet with such strength that it lead to the resignation of Geoffrey Howe in 1990, as he felt she dominated cabinet too much, or in other words, was too powerful for the good of the government. Hence, prime ministers are incredibly powerful in the sense that they can completely control the aspects of government in which they have some form of power in, and therefore in these aspects, much like cabinet, prime ministers are as powerful as somet imes claimed, if not more powerful. Contrastingly, power is these aspects of government are limited as they are still parts of government, hence this power can be weakened or even nullified by these aspects of government. It is these aspects that lead to the removal of Thatcher by her own party, and cabinet especially, in 1990. Blair also suffered a similar fate in 2007 as he was removed from power by his Labour Party. Therefore, though prime ministers do have these powers in government, it is the government which checks these powers and limits them massively. Thus, though prime ministers may appear to have limitless power in aspects of government, this power is hard to attain and sustain throughout their time as leaders. The powers are very often constructed by opposition parties in government and disagreements in cabinets. Hence a prime minster is not as powerful as sometimes claimed as their power is forever limited by factors outside of their control, mainly those also involved in government. Therefore to conclude, though prime ministers have a large variety of power, and in some cases can exert incredible amounts of power to dominate these  aspect, as a whole prime ministers are not as powerful as they appear. It is the checks and balances on these powers that make sure that the facade of a prime ministers power remain as such. The UK democratic system was created to prevent tyranny by a monarch, thus it also stops the over exertion of power by a prime minster; to prevent the same tyranny. Additionally, regardless of how much power one prime minster has, their power is an elastic model throughout their reign, reaching points of omnipotence and weakness, depending on factors that are mostly out of a prime ministers control. Moreover, a prime minster remains the first among equals, but these combined equals in cabinet and parliament have the closer to nullify a prime ministers power, it is for these reasons that prime ministers are not as powerful as sometimes claimed.

Cnpc and Petro China

Strategy – search for above normal performance 2. What strategy supports growth? Sustained CA- Not easily duplicated, or cost of duplication is higher than the returns Temporary CA- creates value, rare, but easily imitable. 3. Core competency- basic corporate principle around which all your resources are aligned, which builds your CA and differentiates you from your competitor. * Creates value, very few of your competitors can do, and grants you sustained competitive advantage. 4. Sources of Core competency= sources of sustained CA. . Sources of competitive parity, relatively normal, to get the risk adjusted return. 6. Goal of corporate – create CA that create more value than overhead involved (cost of corporates) 7. Business Unit strategy – bring standalone business units together into one corporate entity towards a common corporate goal. 8. Corporate Strategy a. Business units – tactics- how they help me achieve my corporate goal i. Differentiation ii. C ost leadership b. Different business units for different elements of corporate strategy 9.When your competition for customers is in different business segments, UWO and Ivey. 10. Unrelated corporate strategy c. Difficult to transfer core competencies and CA 11. Related corporate strategy- diversification d. Can transfer competencies, activities- distribution channel 12. Three types of corporate strategy e. Limited diversification iii. Single Business – risky portfolio. iv. Dominant business f. Related diversification v. Related constrained- net benefit and sharing. Cost synergies. Increase revenue synergies. Economies of scale.Transfer core competency for net benefit. g. Unrelated diversification- lack of ability to share activities. Best performance you can achieve is normal performance. h. Related constrained 13. Resources which are sources of Comparative parity, not core competency. i. Transfer when core competence creates net benefit for the corporate as a whole 14. Risks j. Systemic Risk or Beta- related to the market (external) vi. Very difficult to diversify it away k. Total risk = systemic risk +specific risk (unsystematic risk) l. Unsystematic risk = internal risk . Return per unit of risk = performance 15. How do you define sustained CA n. Competitor cannot compete it away, but can be destroyed by shocks to the systems by exogenous agents. o. Defined by the ability of the competitor to compete CNPC and Petro China 1. Down-scoping 2. Getting rid of social services business units (non-core businesses) that are not related to oil exploration and oil services. 3. PetroChina- own 88 to 90 % 4. Going from related linked related constrained strategy 5. Re- Strategizing 6. Successful IPO listing 7. Still struggling