How Are Women Treated As Unequals For Men - 1277 Words

Ashley Ho Ms. King English 1A P6 17 September 2015 How Are Women Treated as Unequals to Men? â€Å"You throw like a girl.† â€Å"You run like a girl.† â€Å"You look like a girl.† It’s common sense that these phrases are not at all compliments but rather gender-based insults. Since when did the physical capacities of a young girl stacked up against a boy turn into an insult and a limitation? Is being a female individual something derogatory, something to be shameful about? Young girls are taught to be weak, fragile and soft-spoken while it’s openly accepted and even encouraged for boys to have hard opinions, to be strong and tough and exert power. They’re constantly put into a place of doubt by the media, parents and their social community. As longs as humans have existed, women have been oppressed. Men were generally seen as the breadwinner, the man in the relationship, the man of the house. This theory, or belief further lead to what was known as the retro-era. The retro-era, around the 1950’s, was the epitome of gender-based stereotypes, where women were only valuable to household skills such as cooking, cleaning and housework. In more modern times, women gradually received more rights to pursue careers men would stereotypically take over. Pursuing â€Å"manly† careers, which include lawyers, actors, politicians and anything that requires exceeding cognitive function, as a woman elicits criticism. It’s clear to see women have much more limitations, restrictions and expectations thanShow MoreRelatedFeminism and the Sociology Theories behind It1190 Words   |  5 Pagessociological theory that analyzes the roles that women and men play in society. Feminism can be defined as the belief of unequal r ights between men and women. Women are not always treated equally and this sparks many concerns in our society. There are 2 different theories that will be focused on in this paper, gender-inequality theory and gender oppression. The differences between these two still lead up to the way women are treated in a community or the way men have acted towards them throughout historyRead MoreThe Second Sex By Simone De Beauvoir Analysis1619 Words   |  7 Pagesideologies, and movements toward advocating for sex and gender equality for women. There has been a sense of inequality between men and women dating back to the beginning of time and it is still prevalent in society today. Women are constantly being treated unequally, whether it is unequal pay for women in the workforce, violence such as rape against women, or women constantly being sexualized. Along with the mistreatment, women are also wrongly categorized. This had lead many philosophers and writersRead MoreGender Inequality8 63 Words   |  4 Pagesfound are in the family and in the workplace. Gender inequality, in my definition, is the unequal and biased treatment between the two sexes. I strongly believe that the unequal treatment of women is something that should have stayed in original times. We are in the present now and we are far more advanced than we ever were and yet we are old school in our thinking of how men and women should be treated. I can strongly identify with gender inequality because many of my closest friends have facedRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1263 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout hundreds of years, women have experienced inequalities by society and by the law. Mostly, women were treated differently from men. The women in America during the late 1800’s were treated unequally to men because they couldn’t vote, they had no job opportunities, and they were controlled in marriage. In the beginning, only men had the privilege to vote on any law that they desired which is a reason why women were treated unequally to men. Unlike women who didn’t have the birthrightRead MoreComparison Of Aristotle And Galen s Theory Of Gender Inequality882 Words   |  4 Pagesinequality means unequal treatment and understanding based on their gender, or biological differences. The biological differences between man and women is that men born differently that women, and men have different sexual organs than women. Gender inequality includes treated women roughly, and have a picture that females are minimum that males. There are concepts in seventeenth century, Aristotle and Galen made many theory about gender. Aristotle’s theories described women are deformed men, and they areRead MoreFInal Paper1429 Words   |  6 Pagesconformed our minds to view gender based on one’s role in society. This labels the person as a man or a woman and then classifies them based on the â€Å"roles† that society has assigned for each. Gender inequality is caused by the unequal perceptions or even the way someone is treated, based on them being a man or woman. It tends to be the result of what is seen as socially constructed differences of the typical gender roles. This is a social problem I find compelling due to the impact it has on societyRead MoreWomen and Gender Studies: the Yellow Wallpaper1032 Words   |  5 Pageslimits placed on women that prevent them from living complete lives. This demeans women and does not give them the same rights and privileges as men. The Yellow Wallpaper demonst rates the attitudes during the nineteenth century that concern female mental and psychical health. Whereas A Room of One’s Own explores whether women are capable of writing great literature and the obstacles that they are faced. Each story demonstrates an common idea that women are viewed as unequal to men and that they mustRead MoreGender Inequality Is The Unequal Treatment Of Someone Based Off Their Gender961 Words   |  4 Pagesinequality is the unequal treatment of someone based off their gender rather than their varying skills, abilities, and characteristics. In our society gender equality can be hard to notice sometimes but in other cases it is very obvious such as pay scale for jobs. Many efforts have been taken in the past to get rid of this unequal gap between genders especially in the modern workplace. It is difficulty for many of us to think about gender inequality especially considering how many women are in positionsRead MoreGender Inequality815 Words   |   4 Pagesof gender inequality stems from the vast issue of unequal pay between men and women. According to Excite Education, â€Å"Gender inequality is a form of sex discrimination which results in a particular individual being treated disadvantageously because of their gender.† (Excite, 2001) In the workplace, women have been treated differently when it comes to their roles and their pay. In a recent article by The New Times, actress Emma Stone discusses how her â€Å"Male co-stars have cut their own salaries toRead MoreGender Inequality : Women And Women1242 Words   |  5 Pagesathlete world is gender inequality, women are not shown equal as men. They are discriminated in many ways such as pay, employment opportunities, value of women s sport, media coverage etc. Despite the federal law passed called Title IX that â€Å"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discriminatio n. there is still gender inequality women are considered less than men. No matter what happens people will

People and Culture Affected by Management of Change †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Impact Of These Forces On An Organisations' Workforce And Management And How Managers Can Best Work With These. Answer: Introduction: Change inmanagement is regarded as a response to some significant opportunity and threat arising inside or outside the organization. Organization can experience planned and unplanned change and this may be attributable to both internal and external factors. Changemanagement is regarded as approach, which involves shifting of team, organization to a desired state. Managing change is the form ofmanagement control involving application of systematicmanagement interventions with the help of people for achieving desired future state having a defined performance outcome (Aier, 2014). The change is done in line with the organizational strategy. It is depicted from this definition that there is an inextricable and strong link between performance, organizational change and strategy. For managing change, an organization can employ several change models focusing on aspects of modifications. Change model tend to center around planned change and this will determine in itself various characteristics for comparison (Alvesson Sveningsson, 2015). However, if an organization is experiencing external change, then it is driven by external factors having significant soft change elements. It is essential for the management to consider change at all levels along with considering the change causes and the things needing change. Changes arising from internal context is attributable and relates to philosophy of management, culture, system of power control and structure. Changes in the external context is attributable to changes in technology level, expectations of customers, changes in market place, standards and quality, changes in economy, political and legislation changes. Discussion: Barriers to change Processes of change involves potentialities of conflict and this is accompanied by risk of resistance development. There is no change without resistance. Internal resistance of organization is the main barrier to successful change in any organization. Lack of information and non-familiarity of employees results in creating knowledge barriers. People in the organizations managing change needs to be aware of nature of resistance faced by workers as well as managers. The cause can be traced back to various difficulties experienced by organizations that is a power centers, culture and its structure. It is quite possible that the organization managing change would defend status quo and become stubborn. Credibility of any change proposals might require to be aggressively challenge (Barbera, 2014). Some of the barriers to change can be listed down below: Complexity of organization- Complexity in any organization comprise of complex system, products and processes. These complexities are a significant contributor to change, as sometimes organization members do not understand them. If the organization does not have the maturity of handling any complex change, implementing the change becomes certainly difficult. Lack of effective communication strategy- One of the silliest way of introducing any change in organization is the forceful resistance to change. It happens when there is no effective communication strategy. It is assumed by some top leaders that after announcing the change, people are ready to adjust and start with new development. It is essential for employees to make themselves acquainted with the affect that change would have on them and adapting to such change (Bartlett, 2014). Lacking involvement of employees- One of the most common barrier to change management is lack of involvement of employees. Unless employees are involved in the process of change, they have fear of getting adapted to change. Resistance to change might come from highest level of loyal and trustworthy employees. Failure of organization to make them involve in process of change is one of the common mistake. Such thing spikes a fear of unknown and lack of desire to embrace new culture and eventually leading to complete barrier to change (Belias Koustelios, 2014). Lacking current state idea- Organization faces difficulty in adapting to change if they lack the idea of current state. Some of the entities introduce and implement the change without conducting the assessment and understanding of blue print of organization. It is not analyzed by such companies that current blue print of organization would act as barrier to change (Bhatt et al., 2016). Staff receptivity and resistance- It is by human nature that push people towards resistance in order to maintain status quo. When change is regarded as threat to professional practice of workers, then they resist changing. The connection between psychological aspect of work environment and resistance to change calls for shifting in the framing and naming of emotions affecting self-esteem at work. Readiness of employees to accept change is also regarded as major factor in determining whether an innovation would be effectively sustained and implemented (Brocke Rosemann, 2014). Readiness of employees can be better evaluated if the change has potential for implementation. Organization relies on employees for adapting to change and members reaction to change varies depending upon transformation of character and value that people place on satisfying different needs of individual. Groups and individual can react to changes very differently. They can passively resist it, advocates its silence, refuse to engage in solving problems jointly, aggressively undermining the decision and refusing to seek common ground. Resistance to change is regarded as customary and it is mentioned in management literature consequently that is inevitable and is listed among the most crucial inertial forces against any transformation (Cameron Green, 2015). People are generally not motivated to change unless there are some compelling reasons to do so. There might be the existence of credibility gap between the philosophy of management, practices, values and its actual behavior. If the organization makes improper use of internal and external consultant which can lead to over depe ndence. Changes impacting the organizational culture: Organizational culture is designed as the system of values, norms, assumption that is manifested through symbols, which the organization has developed and adopted through mutual experience. Culture of an organization impact the way in which they change. The efficiency of process of change is influenced by aligning the change strategy and organizational culture. Selection of adequate change management in organization is impacted by organizational culture. The way managers and employees understand the need for change in any organization is determined by values and cultural assumptions shared by members. Whether the changes are comprehensive or partial, radical or incremental and focused on soft or hard component of organization depends upon how the managers and staffs view suitability and functioning as an effective way making changes (Choo, 2013). It is because of this reason that organizational change process in different organizations differs in different organizational culture. If the value of flexibility dominates the culture of organization, it is indicative of the fact that member would consider the change something useful and good. On the other hand, if the organizational culture contain the value of conservatism and stability, then the change would be considered as harmful by management. Specific type of organizational culture would have specific organizational change management strategies. However, literature does not deal with operationalization relationship between organizational change strategy and organizational culture (Cummings Worley, 2014). Organizational culture can inhibit or facilitate change in an organization and sometime entities attempt to change the culture of organization if the current culture hinder the attainment of corporate goals. Relationship between organizational culture and organizational change shows a high correspondence between several criteria used to differentiate between them. In hierarchal culture where unequal distribution of power prevails, the strategies of change management are directed from top down (Eaton Kilby, 2015). Concerning this, the member of organization would view the suitable way of managing the change as different role of management and employees in process of change. This is because of they view unequal distribution of power as natural order. Such culture would have the leader that would have leader and associates expecting to articulate and plan changes. In such culture, the only element if change is leader. Change activities in such organization are unilateral from the top d own. Change process in such organizations involve passive role of its members (Fullan, 2014). Contrary to this, in the egalitarian culture assuming more equal distribution of power, the effective change management strategies are directed from bottom up. In such culture, members of organization expects to play an active role in changes and everyday functioning. Management and leaders direct changes in such organizations by providing necessary resources. They expect all the members of organization to have an active role in changing process and provide space for participation (Gimenez et al., 2013). Agents of change are in the entire organization having such culture. Organization having culture of goal achieving and problem solving and the accomplishment if same is done through formal structure. Here, the efficient and probable change management strategies are based on fundamental change tools and work structure. It can be expected that organization having such culture have the fundamental tool of work task for leading the change. An organization having culture of Eiffel tower indicates the implementation of rational empirical strategy for organizational change. This culture assumes that goal achievement is done by organization, which is a rational instrument, and it underlies empirical change strategy. Changes in such organization are achieved through a rational process (Giorgi et., 2015). Organization having a guided missile and task culture directs employees and managers as a means of problem solving and task accomplishment. Organization member in such type of culture creativity, results and highly individual accomplishment. Such culture requires a creative strategy of organizational change and this implies that every members of organization are key agent of change. Change in this regard is accomplished through activities directed from bottom up and multilateral information flows (Girma, 2016). A plan of change may be hard to implement if the transformation is regarded as contrary to culture of organization. Changing behavior of people is one if the biggest challenge faced by organization when implementing change. It is evident from the findings of literature that relationship between organizational culture and organizational change strategy assist in identifying which is used to assess the challenges faced by organization in adapting to change. Impact of changes on workforce and management of organizations and the way managers can work with these: Managing change at workplace affects management and workforce in several ways. Managers can easily gauge readiness of employees embraced by change by viewing them as one of the key dimension of behavior. Change management affects the workforce and management in many ways. An organization attempting to change might affects the workforce as they morale may suffer as sometimes it is not possible for management to overcome this barrier. Change might lead the failure of management style for meeting the needs of workers. Culture of organization and change strategy adopted through its influence on behavior of workforce contributes in shaping other components of management. Management of organizational change is one of the important component of management (Martin, 2014). Impact of change and the organizational culture on employees depends upon the number of factors. Some of the change efforts taken by organization fails because of underestimating the importance of change-by-change agents. Positive attitude of employees toward change is crucial for the achievement of success of initiatives taken for organizational change. Attitude of workforce toward change is influenced by several factors such as gender, tenure, social system and educational attainment. Level of workforce for acceptance and resistance to change fluctuate during the change initiatives (Haslam et al., 2014). From the experience of authors, it is viewed that when agents of change fail to introduce new factors to workforce acceptance to change. Intensity of workforce toward change acceptance dwindles and they began resistance to change. Reaction and impact of change on workforce and never stagnant and are consistently fluctuating. It is very crucial for organization to assess the reactio n of management and workforce toward change, as it would help them diagnose the negative and positive cause of their reaction. However, in an organization, resistance and acceptance are mutually exclusive and both are exhibited by organization (Hornstein, 2015). In todays competitive market, organizational change is necessary for business to remain competitive. Understanding the role of workforce and management by change agent for successfully implementing change. Degree of acceptance or resistance of change is an important factor that needs to be examined. Managing change and culture of an organization requires that the manager should recognize certain skills and capability for creating effective and diverse workforce. Mangers need to understand that the consequence of resistance to change would prevail in the organization. Own managers should recognize cultural preferences. They must view that values, perception of workforce varies, and they should be supported in unique way. In addition to this, managers must be ready to change the culture of organization when the need arise. They should also learn to effectively manage the workforce in order to successfully implement the change. When creating successful change strategy, managers needs to focus on personal awareness and outline personal prejudices of workforce (Rothaermel, 2015). Managers should recognize that change occurs at slower pace and they need to encourage change. Managers needs knowledge about cultural behavior for successfully managing the cultural workforce. They need to carefully implement and plan system of organization for managing workforce so that the consequences of change are maximized. Mindset of employees towards change needs to be understood by managers. Caution needs to be exercised by managers when explaining change to workforce and they should be clear and open about the consequence of change if it has (Glisson, 2015). Conclusion and recommendations: The purpose of the report prepared to examine how the culture of organization influences the likelihood of success of change strategies and providing the necessary tool to apply within the organizations. It is suggested by evidence that member of organization are more willing to embrace change when the culture of organization is aligned with their mission and goal. Understanding the culture of an organization can significant in two ways. First, insight of culture provides awareness of extent to which member of organization are willing to accept to change. Secondly, assessment of culture is likely to determine root cause of issues impeding stronger performance. Success of organizational change initiatives depend upon the workforce reaction. Therefore, it is crucial for management to communicate employee information positively about change in order to have positive influence of their reaction. Successful management if change is critical factor for achieving degree of lasting success an d long term sustainability of strategy for managing change. Organization enabling change to succeed, it is required that human aspect of change should be addressed for avoiding any resistance to change. Implementing change often involves period of organizational tension as it leads to known from unknown and therefore risky and complex. However, implementation of change can be effective if the organization has participative style of management such as employee training. During implementation of change, training of employees would give those skills, knowledge and expertise needed during process of change. This would foster quick and smooth implementation of change. However, it is required by managers to demonstrate strong leadership throughout the organization. It can be done by spreading decision-making and leadership responsibilities for motivating and inspiring workforce to improve their contribution and performance. References: Aier, S. (2014). The role of organizational culture for grounding, management, guidance and effectiveness of enterprise architecture principles.Information Systems and e-Business Management,12(1), 43-70. Alvesson, M., Sveningsson, S. (2015).Changing organizational culture: Cultural change work in progress. Routledge. Barbera, K. M. (2014).The Oxford handbook of organizational climate and culture. Oxford University Press. Bartlett, J. A. (2014). Thats How We Do Things Here: Organizational Culture in Libraries.Library Leadership Management,28(3), 1. Belias, D., Koustelios, A. (2014). The impact of leadership and change management strategy on organizational culture.European scientific journal,10(7). Bhatt, M., van Riel, C. B., Baumann, M. (2016). Planned Organizational Identity Change.The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Identity, 436. Brocke, J. V., Rosemann, M. (2014).Handbook on Business Process Management 2: Strategic Alignment, Governance, People and Culture. Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated. Cameron, E., Green, M. (2015).Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers. Choo, C. W. (2013). Information culture and organizational effectiveness.International Journal of Information Management,33(5), 775-779. Cummings, T. G., Worley, C. G. (2014).Organization development and change. Cengage learning. Eaton, D., Kilby, G. (2015). Does Your Organizational Culture Support Your Business Strategy?.Journal for Quality and Participation,37(4). Fullan, M. (2014).Leading in a culture of change personal action guide and workbook. John Wiley Sons. Gimenez-Espin, J. A., Jimnez-Jimnez, D., Martnez-Costa, M. (2013). Organizational culture for total quality management.Total Quality Management Business Excellence,24(5-6), 678-692. Giorgi, S., Lockwood, C., Glynn, M. A. (2015). The many faces of culture: Making sense of 30 years of research on culture in organization studies.The academy of management annals,9(1), 1-54. Girma, S. (2016). The relationship between leadership style, job satisfaction and culture of the organization.IJAR,2(4), 35-45. Glisson, C. (2015). The role of organizational culture and climate in innovation and effectiveness.Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership Governance,39(4), 245-250. Haslam, S. A., van Knippenberg, D., Platow, M. J., Ellemers, N. (Eds.). (2014).Social identity at work: Developing theory for organizational practice. Psychology Press. Hornstein, H. A. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity.International Journal of Project Management,33(2), 291-298. Martin, J. (2014). Organizational Culture and Leadership.Leadership in Academic Libraries Today: Connecting Theory to Practice, 143. Rothaermel, F. T. (2015).Strategic management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

New Public Management Essay Example

New Public Management Essay New public management 1-NPM history and evolution A-Performance measures in historical perspective It might seem that debates on the effectiveness of techniques associated with NPM have at best a very limited historical dimension as most academic commentators have taken the view that NPM, as a programme of public-sector reform, dates from the early 1980s. However, this does not mean that techniques identified with NPM and debates around such techniques do not predate NPM as a reform programme. To illustrate the operation of public management before NPM three examples are used. The following selection criteria are deployed: that performance measures linked to a policy goal and mechanisms designed to improve performance in terms of the indicators are used; and that the public-sector programme in which the performance management techniques are applied has substantial population coverage, i. e. these are examples of substantial public-service programmes. The examples used are: the attempt to manage performance standards in elementary education following the Revised Code of 1862 till the de facto abandonment of the policy in the mid-1890s; the crusade against out relief under the Poor Law in England and Wales between circa 1870 and the early 1890s; and attempts to encourage higher acute hospital throughput in the National Health Service (NHS) in the 1950s. The term elementary education was used in nineteenth-century Britain to refer to the formal education provided for the working class. We will write a custom essay sample on New Public Management specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on New Public Management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on New Public Management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer At the point at which the Revised Code was introduced the state provided subsidies to voluntary provision of elementary education (in the two decades preceding the introduction of the Code, central government expenditure on education had quadrupled). Over the period during which the policy operated (to 1895) the number of children in state-regulated elementary schools in Great Britain increased almost fivefold from just fewer than 1 million to 4. million (the total population increased from 23. 7 to 34. 6 million over the same period). Grants were regulated by codes and the Revised Code, which was introduced in English schools in 1863, was designed to deal with a perceived deficiency in elementary education. It was argued that teachers devoted excessive time to teaching older children and consequently neglected the instruction of younger pupils in what would be currently called basic skills. The performance management policy introduced by the Code was to link grant payments to schools with the success of children in examinations in elementary reading, writing and arithmetic, where failure in any of these subject areas, in an examination administered by a government inspector, would result in loss of a substantial portion of the grant. Over the three decades of its operation the policy went through a series of complex modifications. By the mid-1890s a diverse set of objections to the original concept of linking grant to pupil examination performance engendered a shift to a pattern of inspection which removed the obligatory annual examination and allowed inspectors to base their reports on observation of work in schools. The crusade against out relief was a policy which sought radically to reduce numbers on outdoor relief under the locally-administered Poor Law in England and Wales from circa 1870 to the early 1890s. In this period the Poor Law constituted the de facto social security system. At the point at which the policy was initiated there were just over 1 million paupers in England and Wales: around 4. 5 per cent of the population. Most poor relief was given outdoors, i. e. without requiring the recipient of support to enter a workhouse, and at the beginning of the crusade well over 80 per cent of paupers received outdoor relief. The policy was premised on the assumption that outdoor relief was being given indiscriminately, creating dependence on the state. The appropriate response, it was argued, was to manage outdoor relief by applying highly-restrictive rules following the precepts of various strict Poor Law Unions. The key performance indicator was the outdoor pauperism rate (outdoor paupers as a per cent of the population). The overseeing government department, the Local Government Board (henceforth LGB) sought to diffuse best practice by publishing ‘data compares the performance of unions with respect to this indicator and this was designed to show the gap between strict unions and their lax counterparts. Such demonstrations were reinforced by LGB circulars and the power of LGB inspectors to attend meetings of Poor Law Guardians. Initially the policy had a powerful impact and numbers on outdoor relief in England and Wales fell by nearly 40 per cent between 1871 and 1878. Further major reductions were, however, not achieved and numbers on outdoor relief fluctuated around roughly 10 per cent plus or minus the 1878 level for the duration of the policy. The end of the policy is frequently dated at 1893. This date is elected because the Local Government Act of 1894 rendered the Poor Law franchise more democratic and LGB policy, in part reflecting collectivist criticism of the basis of the crusade, became more relaxed, thus 1893 was the final year of radical dispauperisation. The creation of the NHS in 1948 involved a radical shift in population coverage leading to problems in predicting the cost of the Service. This was contributory to major cost over-runs in its first two fiscal years wit h expenditure exceeding the estimate by 39 per cent in 1948-9. While this had a number of effects, pressure for control over expenditure was particularly marked with respect to capital investment. It was generally estimated that capital expenditure on NHS hospitals was running at around one-third of the level of the end of the inter-war period in the early 1950s. Universal access created increased demand for hospital care but restraint on capital expenditure meant that the scope for increasing capacity by adding hospital beds was very limited. This tension generated interest within the Ministry of Health in more intensive use of hospital beds. This interest was exemplified in a detailed discussion in the Chief Medical Officers report for 1952. Hospital throughput (officially defined as the numbers discharged from, or died in, hospital per available bed) was conceptualised as a key performance indicator. The report included data contrasting throughput rates in NHS hospitals and also advanced various suggestions for managing throughput. These included proposals related to the impact of professional practice on throughput and it were suggested that encouraging patients to be ambulant at an earlier stage would allow for earlier discharge. As with the Poor Law crusade, the aim was to construct a standard of best practice. Thus throughput rates achieved in other jurisdictions (Canada and the United States) were treated as objectives to be aimed at, and recommended practices such as early ambulation played an equivalent role to strict rules on outdoor relief. There was a substantial increase in throughput in NHS hospitals in the 1950s. Thus between 1949 and 1960 while available beds increased by 5. 5 per cent the numbers of patients discharged/died increased by 40 per cent. There was no abandonment of an interest in increasing acute hospital throughput but, by the early 1960s, there was a major contextual change. As was indicated above, the emphasis on throughput in the 1950s was strongly related to very low levels of capital investment. In contrast the 1962 Hospital Plan, while arguably delivering a lot less than it promised, did create a commitment to a much larger long-term capital programme B-New public management definition New public management is a management philosophy used by governments since the 1980s to modernize the public sector. New public management is a broad and very complex term used to describe the wave of public sector reforms throughout the world since the 1980s. The main hypothesis in the NPM-reform wave is that more market orientation in the public sector will lead to greater cost-efficiency for governments, without having negative side effects on other objectives and considerations. NPM is represents a new paradigm or not, its attempt to transform the public sector through organizational reforms that focus on results in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of service appears to fit nicely into the larger, political theory of governance. NPM is: An important aspect of the New Labour legacy a decade after the election of the first Blair administration has been the commitment to reforming public services using managerial techniques associated with New Public Management (NPM). Also this commitment has been embodied in institutional changes such as the creation of the Prime Ministers Delivery Unit and the creation, under the aegis of the Treasury of Public Service Agreements designed to link public funding with explicit performance targets. NPM is the â€Å"shift in public management styles† (or public management reform) â€Å"consists of deliberate changes to the structures and processes of public sector organizations with the objective of getting them (in some sense) to run better†. 2-Key mechanism of NPM People (political leaders and civil servants) are those who manage public resources by issuing and implementing policies, strategies, programs, projects. People (civil society) are those who benefit from the results as well. That is why people are viewed as the key mechanism of the NPM: people for people. The NPM needs competent and committed managers, which implement policies and provide services to the public in ways that are: †¢ Low cost – economical; †¢ Maximizing outputs within budgets through good work practice – efficient; †¢ Satisfying clients/customers with quality – effective; †¢ Seen as friendly, fair and honest – ethical; Open, keeping the public well informed – accountable (to end users). †¢ Consultative, taking into account priorities of clients (including those of the disadvantaged categories) – responsive. †¢ Adaptable, selecting what appears to generate positive outcomes and giving up what is harmful for the economy, for the society, for the environment – eclectic. 3-NPM changes in structural (hierarchical) changes: 1- Decision making is decentralized, made at the location close to where the business activity is taking place 2-Structures evolve from hierarchical to flat networked -All the elements of the society are connected, 4-communicate with one another Structural change includes: †¢ Retrenchment or downsizing the public sector organizations †¢ Merging or splitting the departments, in order to improve coordination or to sharpen focus and encourage specialization †¢ Privatization †¢ Decentralization †¢ Corporatization or agentification NPM changes 🙠 processes changes): †¢ New financial management procedures †¢ New performance management procedures †¢ Explicit standards and measures of performance †¢ Output controls †¢ Parsimony in resource use Competition †¢ Incentivization †¢ Public value management and public value pragmatism generated by: networked governance or collaborative government or public-private partnerships or joined-up government †¢ Fostering dialogue with civil society i. e. information, consultation, active participation as a result of Building open government and a citizen-centered governance i. e. accountability, transparency, openness. Developing a comprehensive legislative or regulatory framework for enha ncing transparency and accountability of lobbying. While process change includes †¢ Hands-on professional management †¢ Private sector styles of management practice but moderation in †¢Running government like a business †¢ Flexibilization of previous practices in personnel, IT, public procurement and other functions, generated by the disaggregation †¢ The use of market-type mechanisms †¢ Liberalization †¢ Modernization of services delivery mechanisms (e. g. introduction of the government. 4-Core of new public management: Core of â€Å"New Public Management† Not what government ought to do. But how to do it better†¢ Sometimes advanced as the best solution to†¢ government’s key problems–Builds on principal-agent models and new institution economic 5- Basic elements of new public management strategies: 1-Strategic Planning From incremental to comprehensive look at Government activities How: devise a plan for future Goal: produce consensus of government’s direction 2-Incentives †¢ From authority and control to markets and results How: – Create semi-autonomous agencies – Write contracts to structure government work †¢ Goal: replace top-down control with bottom-up focus on results 3- Flexibility From rule based to results based accountability †¢ How: employee empowerment, market based incentives †¢ Goal: free employees to do what they know is right Results †¢ From focus on inputs to results †¢ Defining results but how? – Outputs: government activity- service delivery – Outcome: impact of government activity †¢ How: measure, reward results †¢ Goal: fundamentally transform government’s operations 4-Results †¢ From focus on inputs to results †¢ Defining results but how? – Outputs: government activity- service delivery – Outcome: impact of government activity †¢ How: measure, reward results Goal: fundamentally transform Government’s operati ons 6-civil service paradigm under resulted oriented management 5. 5 Modernisation of Civil Service Management Systems Computerized System of Integrated Personnel and Payroll Management ( known as â€Å"Postes Budgetaires†), Under the new personnel management system, as laid down in the Standing Orders, the post has become the central point in management, around which incumbents and salaries revolve. Following this innovation, the Government will put in place a computerized system of integrated personnel-payroll management. This system is designed to establish a local and country-wide network covering the entire civil service. Its centre will be within the Ministry of Civil Service and Labour, from where it will be connected to the different Ministries, Government institutions and all provinces in the country. This computerized system will help achieve the following: †¢Day-to-day control of personnel movements; †¢Efficient control of payrolls and monitoring of posts to be filled; †¢Forecasting and planning personnel requirements; Adapting better the personnel in place to approved posts, on the one hand, and the same personnel to available budget appropriations, on the other hand. †¢Getting prompt access to data on civil servants †¢The way forward †¢Installing the computerized system of integrated civil service resource management; †¢Preparing the training programme and training sessions for users of the above system in Ministries and Provinces †¢Extending the comp uterized system to the entire public sector 7- NPM benefits and weaknesses: Benefits of new public management: To quote Hughes, I comment that NPM is based on: a belief in the Primacy of economics, the usefulness of private management methods, and a desire to reduce bureaucracy. It has a more flexible labour market and Emphasize on customer driven change. It is for this reason that NPM can make the Allocation of resource more effective. To borrow Hughes phase, NPM is a Change from an administration and professional bureaucracy to a more managerial and Market-based system after pointing out those words, he goes on to Say, those changes in the machinery of government as the move from policy Administration to policy management. This clearly shows that NPM is the attempt to implement management ideas from business and private sector into the public service. In Britain the traditional techniques of social administration have been practiced over The past decade and a half its trait is bureaucracy , routinization , focused upon procedures rather than outcomes , and run for the producers rather than for the final consumers . the traditional techniques of social administration have their own problem and on account of the new right thinking . NPM started to be practiced in the public sector. What are the benefits of NPM? The Strategy of NPM can make public sector practice efficiency and solve the old problems. The features of new public management are the difference between traditional public administration . NPM wants the reduction of bureaucracy and to make organization flexible ,so at the same time it can attain with the three Es : economy ,effectiveness and efficiency . NPM attaches importance to the three Es : ,and achievement measurement and rational strategic disciplines . NPM also puts emphasis on devolution of responsibility and letting the market handle itself ,accordingly to a focus on competition and market testing makes it clear that NPM has more in common with a dynamic business . is customer –or market-driven ,and is more concerned with managing services and recourses then providing policy advice for ministers . That is to say . NPM pays much attention to monetary incentives , demand led and customer driven ideas . From this view point ,one may say that the devolved system of financial accountability should help focus resource allocation and decision –making, These results lead us to the conclusion that the NPM increases elements of accountability in the policy process and a more confident and authoritative directive ,for public agencies. It also makes more realistic strategic short- and medium- Term planning in the public sector. The emphasis is to make Governments smaller and more efficient by making greater use of markets, Competition, contracting out, and setting performance targets. The NPM reveals that government’s . oth local and central are urged to provide a satisfactory service to customers. All in all . NPM maybe can help public sector reform and discover the new way to practice. Weakness of NPM New public management (NPM) is one of the most striking international trends in Public administration in the 1980s ,even though there are many different kinds Of definition for NPM , I draw a conclusion to collect the thought in this article. There are four main ideas associated with NPM: first, it is transforming bureaucratic democratically and passive policy into efficient and effective policy, . econd, it brings the business market methods from private sectors into public, in order to make them quasi-markets and based on customer –demands. Third, it manages the increasing expenditure to make the government more economical fourth, it makes the public sectors steer the private sectors. In recent years . NPM trend has sustained influence all over the world and the best known cases are united-kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. I would like to confer the united-kingdom Case of example and try to find weaknesses of the NPM in this article. Over the past few decades’ . considerable number of studies have been conducted on that NPM is good for our government, however larbi (1999) found out that there are some problems with the NPM in united-kingd om. These include the following: †¢ Most of the civil service resistance the decentralized control, even if the Government wants them to do the NPM, they are reluctance with it. †¢They wants to keep the traditional practice and not to change to another framework, but they also know that NPM is trend †¢The technical systems do not work very well, sometimes they can manipulate by management. Then he pointed out that united-kingdom experience with management devolution just changed the exterior to seem like decentralized but the core of the system still Centralized. For example: some of the ministers or top bureaucrats at the central do not like their power to be expropriated. That is say they do not like to be decentralized At all, they just do things perfunctory to let others seem like they are changed. Through some of people do not have good impressions with NPM; we still have to spread the NPM ideas to let more people understand it and can try to find the best way to do with the NPM. In my opinion, I also find out two problems with the NPM, they are not only with the United-kingdom but also with NPM trend counties. one is about the NPM system: NPM is an effective and efficiency policy and we need to evaluate its work, but now we do not have a complete system to evaluate However if just put our emphasis on its but come rather than its presses, maybe we might have blind sport in it . the other problem I find is about the quasi-market and The customer demands: if the government just gives the things to the needy people that they want, it probably cost a lot of expenditure. And that will be against the NPMs economic idea. So far, we have seen some defects with the NPM. Occasionally it is not a perfect idea and still has room for improvement. If we can find out ways to straighten out its problems, maybe NPM can become more mature and suitable for all countries. List of References †¢Boston, J. Martin, J. Pallot, and P. Walsh, Public Management: The New Zealand Model. Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1996 †¢Kelly, R. M. 1998. â€Å"An Inclusive Democratic Polity, Representative Bureaucracies, and the New Public Management. Public Administration Review, Vol. 58, No. 3: 201-207. †¢bill coxall, Lynton robins and Robert leach (2003) contemaporary british Politics new york ; palgrave macmillan †¢MINISTRY OF CIVIL SERVICE B. P. 403 KIGALIB. P. 403 KIGALI †¢Agranoff, R. , McGuire, M. (2003), Collaborative public management: New strategies for local governments. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press †¢unpan1. un. org/intrado c/groups/public/documents/un-dpadm/unpan040197. pdf †¢Dunleavy, P. Hood, C. (1994), From Old Public Administration to New Public Management.

Free Essays on Freedom Of Choice And Bilingual Education

Freedom of Choice and Bilingual Education Bilingual education is a hot topic in California. With the swelling tide of Spanish speaking immigrants comes the question of whether to adopt bilingual education or to stick with English-only education. Numerous arguments are present on each side, but the real question - the true bottom line - seems to be culture and the cost of its preservation to society: Spanish-speaking immigrants don’t want to lose their culture in the process of assimilation, and Americans feel they shouldn’t be forced to cater their society to immigrants. Where should the responsibility of culture preservation rest? Should Americans be forced to cater their society to Spanish-speaking immigrants? I believe it is not the responsibility of Americans or the American government to provide bilingual education for immigrants; immigrants make the choice to immigrate. Before my views on bilingual education can be discussed in depth, some of the common opposing points of view regarding bilingual educati on deserve an explanation. Richard Rodriguez, somewhat ironically, is an advocate of English-only education. For his views, he has received much criticism from the Spanish-speaking American community. Rodriguez grew up as a bilingual American and, from his experience, feels that bilingual education prolongs the process of assimilation that immigrants must go through to become a part of American society. Furthermore, he feels that bilingual education hinders the realization of a student’s public identity – an identity which allows one to achieve full public individuality. Rodriguez grew up feeling that Spanish was a private language and English a public one, and he asserts that learning the English language is not only an obligation but also a right: a right of immigrants to â€Å"speak the public language of los gringos† (757). Bilingualists, according to Rodriguez, â€Å"scorn the value and necessity of assimilation†... Free Essays on Freedom Of Choice And Bilingual Education Free Essays on Freedom Of Choice And Bilingual Education Freedom of Choice and Bilingual Education Bilingual education is a hot topic in California. With the swelling tide of Spanish speaking immigrants comes the question of whether to adopt bilingual education or to stick with English-only education. Numerous arguments are present on each side, but the real question - the true bottom line - seems to be culture and the cost of its preservation to society: Spanish-speaking immigrants don’t want to lose their culture in the process of assimilation, and Americans feel they shouldn’t be forced to cater their society to immigrants. Where should the responsibility of culture preservation rest? Should Americans be forced to cater their society to Spanish-speaking immigrants? I believe it is not the responsibility of Americans or the American government to provide bilingual education for immigrants; immigrants make the choice to immigrate. Before my views on bilingual education can be discussed in depth, some of the common opposing points of view regarding bilingual educati on deserve an explanation. Richard Rodriguez, somewhat ironically, is an advocate of English-only education. For his views, he has received much criticism from the Spanish-speaking American community. Rodriguez grew up as a bilingual American and, from his experience, feels that bilingual education prolongs the process of assimilation that immigrants must go through to become a part of American society. Furthermore, he feels that bilingual education hinders the realization of a student’s public identity – an identity which allows one to achieve full public individuality. Rodriguez grew up feeling that Spanish was a private language and English a public one, and he asserts that learning the English language is not only an obligation but also a right: a right of immigrants to â€Å"speak the public language of los gringos† (757). Bilingualists, according to Rodriguez, â€Å"scorn the value and necessity of assimilation†...

Henri MatisseAnd Fauvism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Henri MatisseAnd Fauvism - Essay Example The essay "Henri Matisse And Fauvism" analyzes Henri Matisse's art and Fauvism. Matisse describes his drawings based on his vision of expressionism and the idea of passion that is â€Å"mirrored on the human face, or betrayed by a violent gesture†. The section was the resulting text, in which Matisse focused on his past works and present works, as he thought that he could never go back and change a painting that he had done. Matisse demonstrates his value and appreciation towards the â€Å"old masters†, such as Signac, Denis and Blanche. He synthesized their works with his own examinations of nature, as he claims in his own book, Matisse on Art: â€Å"to absorb the lessons of the masters and then to ‘forget’ them in order to arrive at a means of personal expression†. Matisse further discusses the creation of space with regards to the objects that constitute them and their different planes in space, as he states: â€Å"in perspective, but in a perspe ctive of feeling, in suggested perspective.† The idea of a radiant space is parallel to intangible space that can be seen in his paintings also, corresponding to Fauvism’s use of space. Matisse claims: â€Å"a drawing must have a power of expansion which can bring to life the space which surrounds it.† Similarly, human emotions were critical to paintings, according to Matisse, as he suggests: â€Å"My line drawing is the purest and most direct translation of my emotion. â€Å"Harmonies and dissonance of color can produce very pleasurable effects.†

Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Finance - Essay Example This is because when an employee cannot be understood, making good use of that employee will be hard (Arthur, pg 15). From my own perspective, communication skills play a very important role in moving the organization forward. It is through this quality that issues such as conflict, stress in the organization, and also good relationship between senior and junior employee can be managed. From the point of a new employee, it may be different. This is because individuals come from different background and what say to be a good communication skill may be different from their perspective. Problem solving skills, most employers currently are looking for employees who are motivated to handle challenges arising in the work place with little direction being offered to them. Such kind of people are able to know what kind of actions they are suppose to take when there are challenges or problems. For instance, employer don’t expect to tell their employees what to do when there is fire bre ak out but rather they expect employees to know that they need to take action to rescue the situation (Arthur, pg 24). In my own opinion, I think that having skills to solve problems is very important because it helps one to handle certain issues on their own. An advantage of this is that it helps an individual to think on solutions to the given problem. Loyalty, this is a key quality most employers do look for when hiring new employees. The issue of trust between employer and employee has to exist. Employers do not require employees who cannot be trusted while representing the organization. From the point of an employee, it may be challenging to be loyal due to conflict of interest. An employee may realize later on that the employer is dealing in illegal business such as drugs and so it may be hard on the part of the employee to be loyal (Arthur, pg 26). Competency, some occupations require skills in order to perform a task e.g. in accounting, and legal fields. When looking for a n ew employee, the employer must consider the job in offer and the level of competency of the new employee. For example if the job on offer is accounting job then the new employee must possess accounting knowledge from college, university. With this the new employee stands a chance in getting the job (Arthur, pg 30). This is a quality that must be considered in my own opinion. This is because when you hire a person who has a background of what he is expected to do, then I believe that the output of that employee will be high. Team player, most employers consider this quality because it plays a very important role in increasing productivity of the organization. This quality enhances the ability of people to work together towards achieving the organizations goal. From my perspective, team building is a factor that should not be overlooked while hiring a new employee. The aspect of having individuals working as a team normally increases their productivity and hence helps in working towar ds the organizations goal (Arthur, pg 34). To the new hiree, this will help him or her to get along with fellow employees in the organization. I think it should not be emphasized so much especially where we have a big company since other employees will take advantage over other fellow and they will not give all their input in the realization of the

The Cola Wars Essay Example for Free

The Cola Wars Essay There are two well known beverage companies, Coco-Cola and Pepsi. They have competed considerably and distributed the beverage market profit for several decades. In the open market, it is difficult to exactly tell which one is the winner within the perfect competition, since both companies use different style of promotion and product to expend their markets. The competitive environment of the carbonated soft drinks started about three decades ago. In the beginning of 1960 Coco Cola was dominating the market but this dominance was significantly challenged by Pepsi- Cola. This challenge by Pepsi was declared as Cola Wars. During this competitive war a variety of products were introduced from both sides. Lot of $ amount was spent on celebrity advertising and even coke changed its formula. The strategic changes occur due to Pepsis challenge to the dominance of Coca Cola. In spite of the fact that Pepsi Cola attacked on the dominance of Coca Cola in bottled soft drink, both Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola have benefited from this battle due to stimulated continuous growth of the industry. During this Cola war both the companies faced lot of problems which we shall discuss in the light of the case study on Cola wars. Brief History of Coca-Cola John Pemberton invented the original formula of Coca-Cola way back in 1885. By 1888, three versions of Coca-Cola were introduced. Candler incorporated the Coca-Cola and started its marketing. Coke achieved the status of national drink in USA. Coca cola bottles sale started in 1984 and in 1955 sale of cans was started. Chattanooga became the first site for Coca-Cola bottling company in 1899. In 1985 Coca-Cola attempted to introduce new formula. Most of the consumers liked the taste but so many ceased the purchasing because of certain reasons , therefore company switched back the new product and gave it the name of Classic Cola. In the 21st century coca cola history achieved another milestone and introduced Diet coke in 2005 and latter introduced Coca-Cola Zero. During this the company faced may ups and downs in the international market, particularly faced tough competition given by PepsiCo and the competition of both companies was give the name of Cola wars . Brief History of Pepsi-Co la Like Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola also started in the late 1800. In 1883 Caleb Bradham a pharmacist invented Brads Drink which was latter known as Pepsi-Cola. In 1904 the availability of Pepsi was in the six ounce bottles. The initial growth was not significant compared to Coke. In 1950 when Pepsi was near to bankruptcy, Alfred joined as CEO and a real challenge to coke started, Alfred made the goal to beat Coke. In 1963 the company introduced 16 ounce Cola. Pepsi-Cola competed, Coca-Cola through (sirpepsi.com) increased franchise bottling network after 1932 and expended its products range. Pepsi makes an advertising history when it introduced first advertising jingle broadcasted nationwide. The jingle Nickel, Nickel became a hit and was translated in 55 languages. In 1964 Pepsi Diet was introduced. Pepsi has increased its product range over the years and the range includes Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Sierra Mist, Aquafina and Starbucks etc. Pepsi has also taken over Gatorade from Quaker Oats in 2000, which is its part of diversification of business.(ezinearticles.com) Pepsi has competed Coke in many countries and gave Coke a tough time to retain its market share. Now Pepsi Cola stands No.2 in the soft drink market after Coca-Cola and in some of the countries it stands No.1. The Coca-Cola Companys Resources and Capabilities Coca-Colas differentiation and competitive advantage are mainly due to its numerous valuable resources and capabilities. Intangible Resources Coca-Colas greatest strengths reside in its intangible resources. It is mainly thanks to its reputation and brand equity, that it can differentiate itself from its competitors. In fact, in 2006, Coca-Cola was the worlds most valuable brand, worth $67.5 billion, according to research by Interbrand (Grant,2008, p. 134). Its name and products are well known and appreciated in nearly every single country in the world and its availability enables Coca-Cola to nearly always be at ones reach if desired or needed, just as it promises to do in its mission. It relies heavily on product innovation, marketing and developed distribution systems in its differentiation strategy. This has enabled it to be the market leader since many decades and to maintain this position, even catching PepsiCo up in the race for the 2nd most sold soft drink (Alani, 2011). It has gained great loyalty over the years, of consumers who would not drink anything else but Coca-Cola products. In fact, s ome have become so loyal that when Coca-Cola introduced New Coke with a new recipe, it was a tremendous failure, underlining that authenticity is more important to consumers (Greenwald, 2005). Human Capital The Coca-Cola Company has about 139,600 employees globally, working and living in over 100 different countries. As attracting and retaining talent all over the world is one of Coca-Colas most important goal, the company takes pride in its leadership and innovation programs, empowering its employees and wanting to create an inspirational workplace. Creativity and passion are some of the core values that are shared across the company worldwide. (The Coca-Cola Company, 2012). Tangible Assets The Coca-Cola Company can count on sound, substantial tangible assets that have even been growing in the past few years. Some figures include the firms cash level: $12.803 billion in 2011 (increased from $8.517 billion in 2010), total current assets: $25.497 billion in 2011 ($21.579 billion in 2010) and plant and equipment: $14.939 billion in 2011 (compared to $14.727 billion in 2010 and $9.561 billion in 2009). (Yahoo! Finance, 2012). All these figures show that Coca-Cola can count on vast tangible resources to finance its operations, acquisitions and other activities such as marketing and corporate social sustainability. Coca-Colas Capabilities Coca-Cola has great tangible and intangible resources. Its products, factories, bottling partners and financials are resources that enable Coca-Cola to ensure quality, flexibility and responsiveness. One can count on the firms consistency and worldwide presence and continuous supply. Also, the companys human capital and brand equity are other resources that create long-term value, loyalty and performance. These are really the firms core assets, on which it has built its sustainable competitive advantage. All these assets enable Coca-Cola to outperform its competitors consistently by being globally available, coherent, and innovative. Future Considerations The companys history, brand equity, people and partners are assets that are difficult to imitate while being extremely valuable. Also, Coca-Colas most traditional itself is not replicable, as its recipe has always been kept a secret and it has been able to appropriate its resources (through secrecy, increasing bargaining power and embeddedness). Its strategy and competitive advantage have been so sustainable mainly thanks to these resources and the durability of its product. Coca-Cola is constantly working on maintaining these advantages in order to remain the market leader. Its acquisitions (both up and downstream the value chain and horizontally, of diversified products) and its persistent marketing efforts prove the firm’s intention to remain on top of the industry and tackle all challenges early and innovatively. It takes many of the opportunities it sees, including entering the healthier products market (100 of the latest 800 products it introduced w ere low calorie or low sugar) and increasing its sustainability and corporate social responsibility efforts (consuming water in a more sustainable manner, helping causes all around the world, etc). The Coca-Cola Companys strategy and competitive advantage are extremely sustainable, although some threats do lie ahead. Increasing competition and lack of resources (or government regulations on these resources) are main issues that the firm will face. Competition from cheaper brands, from more local products, or from healthier, niche brands is really increasing and could decrease Coca-Cola’s market share considerably in the future. They will need to differentiate themselves even more and focus on their core competencies and assets, which are the most sustainable. The company’s new emphasis on environmental and social measures is a great start to increasing the preservation of the planets limited natural resources and increasing its brand equity and awareness. PepsiCos Resources and Capabilities Intangible Resources Similar to The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCos strategy is mainly based on establishing a differentiation advantage. Its strong intangible resources enable it to be a strong competitor. In fact, its brand equity and other intangibles such as its reputation, strategic relationships with suppliers, bottling partners and distribution centers result in customer loyalty. The performance- and family-oriented culture (especially visible amongst executives is another asset that leads to firms long-term success, as developed by Morris (2008). The overall awareness and availability of Pepsi products increase the value of this brand equity. Human Capital PepsiCo is a massive company in terms of its sheer size alone, with a workforce of nearly 300,000 employees. Performance is strongly rewarded and employees enjoy generous benefits. Communication and collaboration between teams and divisions are facilitated through general openness and support for the upper management and executives. Its workforce is well trained and selected for its motivation and skills. (PepsiCo, Values and Philosophy, 2012) In the light of its executives recent decision to reformulate Pepsis strategy and restructure the firm accordingly, the CEO announced in February 2012 that 8,700 employees would be laid off, spanning over a range of thirty countries, representing about three percent of its current workforce (Huffington Post, 2012). This should lead to reduced costs, increased efficiencies and larger investments in marketing and research and development. Tangible Resources One of the main differences between Pepsi and Coca-Cola is that PepsiCo is diversified and has a strong global presence in the convenience food industry too. This enables PepsiCo to have even larger global sales and outreach, with more economic stability and mitigation of risks as a result of all its product diversification. Even when carbonated soft drink sales started to drop a couple of years ago, PepsiCo still had strong revenues and performance in other sectors, such as its Frito-Lay snacks. PepsiCos tangible resources can be summarized with some figures. Its cash levels were $4.067 billion in 2011 ($3.943 billion in 2009), its total current assets were $72.882 billion in 2011 and $12.571 billion in 2009) and its plant and equipment amounted to $19.698 billion in 2011 (compared to $19.058 billion and $12.671 billion in 2010 and 2009 respectively). These are lower than Coca-Colas and PepsiCo assets were overall better in 2010 than in 2009 and 2011, maybe due to recent strong investments in Pepsi NEXT and other global acquisitions. (Morningstar, 2011). PepsiCos Capabilities Overall, PepsiCos diversified tangible resources, skilled and intensively trained workforce and strong brand equity lead to its financial control capability and exemplary strategic management of multiple businesses. These enable PepsiCo to successfully manage its large portfolio and stronger diversification which in turn leads to larger sales and revenue, but also economies of scale and synergies mainly in its research and development, distribution and marketing functions (Grant, 2008). Also, its culture and structure lead to responsiveness and innovation. PepsiCo is capable of ensuring the quality and constant availability of its products in thousands of locations across the world. Moreover, the fact that PepsiCo is involved in different businesses has also enabled it to build on its healthy new image in many areas which creates even more coherence and credibility, as it can combine owning more nutritious and healthy drinks now with the production and sales of low calorie and low fat snacks or meals. Future Considerations PepsiCo has been growing and innovating successfully for decades, despite the recent slower growth challenges it has faced. PepsiCos extremely large and diversified portfolio, sales in over 200 countries and its long-term efforts for employee empowerment and satisfaction and strategic relationships with partners are some of the main reasons why PepsiCos competitive advantage is sustainable. Its brand names and global presence are so significant that it would be tough to lose its advantage to competitors, new entrants or substitutes, especially as it is still extremely innovative and investing a lot in its future growth plans with its strong RD, new healthy products following or leading global trends and emphasis on doing good to the planet and its inhabitants and to its all its stakeholders as a whole (PepsiCo, 10-K Report, 2011). PepsiCos performance and future could be rather optimistic. PepsiCo is successfully taking advantage of its opportunities (sustainability and healthy product diversification) while responding to its threats (ensuring the sustainability of natural resources such as water and potato fields) through several of its new programs and adaptation to global consumers tastes and needs with innovation and speed-to-market (PepsiCo, Purpose, 2012). All these should be positive signs for the future, although not everything is as simple given PepsiCos recent challenges exhibited in its financial performance and shareholders dissatisfaction. Also, nothing guarantees that investments and innovation will pay off, with the launch of Pepsi NEXT that could be yet another failure in the industry. PepsiCo will have to prolong its efforts in its corporate social responsibility measures, in ensuring quality franchises (with its bottling partners mainly) and in developing and marketing successful new products, starting with Pepsi NEXT. It is thus refocusing its resources and capabilities on these new opportunities that Coca-Cola is also exploiting fully.