Making references to at least two of the operas that we have studied, Essay

Making references to at least two of the operas that we have studied, write on the main features of opera as an art form - Essay Example The ma8in features of opera as an art form are historicism and social reflections, a strong impact on feelings and sensation and authentic nature. Opera is a form of art reflecting historical or social events, criticism and observation of the epoch. For instance, Prelude and Liebestod from "Tristan and Isolda" by wagner show that opera becomes a matter for critical attention in the light of this nostalgia for power it can give its listeners (especially this most famous listener), a nostalgia that works even now as a high-class aestheticist cult and longing for and pursuit of a pure experience. Opera is a phenomenon whose time has come, even if the form is practically speaking dead in terms of new writing and performance of the new. "But within a society which was a structural unity the knowledge of certain types of material could always be relied on, so that the author of a music-drama was always in the closest contact with his audience" (Wellesz and Kean 89). Prelude and Liebestod break up the order of the singing contest by praising sensuality and emotions. These forces, heard in the orchestra, are those of the prelude, whos e music momentarily reappears (Zuckermann 32). Similar to other forms of art, opera has a strong impact on feelings and sensation of the listeners. ... What is more, the emotional listener "fiercely resists all attempts to make him listen structurally -- more fiercely, perhaps, than the culture consumer who for culture's sake might put up even with that." ().In short, emotional listeners display a troubling anti-intellectualism and use music predominantly as an excuse for extramusical emoting. These are people who vigorously reject the romanticized excess of emotional listening. But rather than attempting to move beyond it, into the kind of critical awareness engendered by authentically modern music, they naively retreat to the music of periods which they believe (wrongly) to be safe havens from the forces of reification and the predominantly commodity character of music. Purity and simplicity are highly desirable attributes of music destined for paidela, lest its effects become diluted, mistaken, or confused. Instruments capable of panharmonic playing were therefore particularly troublesome. For instance, in Mozart's Overture from "Don Giovanni" the unique feature is extraordinary expression of desire and emotions in music. What emerges from Prelude and Liebestod from "Tristan and Isolda" is a "sense of Wagner as a way station, revolutionary in the sacralization of art and pursuit of synaesthesia, but still too confined to produce a completely 'pure' experience" (Zuckermann 37). It was not merely a matter of draining off specificity to achieve heightened mystery and a reformulation of the Subject, but also of problematizing the relationship between word and tone (Zuckermann 39). Following Wellesz and Kean (1950) 'the very complicated laws' that govern musical discourse; these lead to two independent spheres that, fused though they may appear to be,

Strategy for organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Strategy for organizations - Essay Example These retail stores can be called convenience stores, supermarkets, superstores etc. These retail outlets are often part of large multiple chains and they have their shops all over the country. In UK such stores are quite successful. People trust their brands and prefer them to other brands. Sainsbury's is a symbolic name in British retail market. There are various reasons that make it great, its strong brands, passion for food, its history of innovation and a trusted moral approach to business. All these things make it the household name of UK. J Sainsburys plc operates multiple types of businesses. Their operations range from Sainsbury's supermarkets, convenience stores, a home shopping service and Sainsbury's Bank. In this paper the external and internal environment, strengths and weaknesses of this great company will by analyzed by employing various models and techniques. Various models and techniques are used for analyzing the external environment of any organization. PESTEL model will be used here for analyzing external factor affecting the performance of the company. PESTEL is actually abbreviation of Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal factor analysis. By analyzing all these very important external factors that affect the performance of any organization a clear picture can be obtained for evolving correct and effective strategy. This analysis gives an outline of the different factors that the company has to take into consideration. For a comprehensive PESTEL analysis it is important to consider some minor sub factors that are dominant factors for a particular industry. These dominant factors for a company like Sainsbury's plc are market size, scope of competitive rivalry, market growth rate, number of rivals and their relative sizes, etc. Knowledge of these external factors is important because of the implications they have for the evolving effective strategy. Sainsbury's plc is one of the largest and trusted name in Britain. It has extensive chain of stores all over the country and according to recent reports the company gets more than 10% of market share. There are some other big names like Morrisons, Safeway and Asda. These are Britain's best-known companies and Sainsbury's has to compete with them in the expanding supermarket of Britain. The company was under pressure for last few years and even suffered the first loss in its 135-year history. Some of the main causes of weaker performances are given below. Political and Economic factors Globalization had great impact on its performance. Global companies like Wal-Mart entered the British Market and affected the sales of company. Sainsbury's offers over 30,000 products in its supermarkets; about 50% of them are their own brands. Because of poor economic policies it was difficult for them to maintain quality and price parity favorably. Oversees losses as in Egypt also affected their overall performance. Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal factors There was lack of appeal to customers in comparison to other competitors. The

An Overview Of Territoriality Sociology Essay

An Overview Of Territoriality Sociology Essay Creating territories and physical boundaries within buildings and public spaces, is termed as hierarchy of a defensible space. The conversion from private to public space is important and demands efficient management. Through the sub division of zones (private to public), the character of ones own territory is defined and thereby managed. Private space An area under total control of the occupant, and not physically connected to the public Semi private space An area under the control of the occupant, but visually and physically accessible by the public Semi public space An area accessible to the public, and under the control of a specific group of occupants. Public space An area for the public Territoriality therefore defines the hierarchy of the space, and develops the idea of having ones own territory. This discourages outsiders from entering into private zones and reduces the risk of anonymity. This can be achieved if the following design features are implemented in the planning process (Colquhoun, 2003, 41) All the spaces inside as well as outside the building should be under natural surveillance by the residents and under their influence. All the external spaces should be seen as public spaces and should be clearly demarcated from the internal spaces with the help of symbolic barriers like gates, fences, walls, levels, steps, gateways etc. If the housing density is high, separate staircase entrances should be designed per building block so that there should be no confusion in recognizing a stranger. External communal areas such as parks, green open spaces should be in the vicinity of the building and where ever possible should be entered from the private zone. Surveillance Positioning and locating the windows and doors such that it increases surveillance to the outside surrounding. Opportunity to commit crime is potentially reduced when the offender senses that he/she is under constant surveillance from the adjoining buildings. Surveillance helps to create a feeling of security by providing the residents with their own territory and defending it through the overlooking windows, doors and entrances to the outside surroundings. Windows should be positioned such that it suits the internal plan of the house as well as provides surveillance to the outside surrounding. Front entrances of the buildings should be designed from the main road, main streets and pedestrian areas so that the passerbys can notice anything strange which helps in reducing the risk of anonymity. The communal areas of the buildings such as staircases, elevators etc should be designed where they can be visually connected to the outside surrounding. The rooms which are used more frequently like the kitchen and living rooms should be designed with their windows facing the public domain while bedrooms and toilets should be designed facing the private domain. Image This idea explains the proper use of materials and architectural design which reduces the feeling of being stigmatised, which creates a sense of isolation increasing the vulnerability of crime risk. To avoid building forms and layouts which completely stand out from the rest of the neighbourhood, makes it vulnerable by increasing the footfall of strangers by attracting them. Keeping the high rise and high density blocks away from the low income houses, as a mix of both can lead to criminal activities Encouraging the use of robust and attractive finishes to the building surfaces, preventing them from being vandalised. Milieu The juxtapostioning of residential areas with other facilities which helps in improving security and provides means for natural surveillance. Housing facilities should be mixed with social and commercial facilities to improve natural surveillance through increased footfall. Parks, playgrounds and open spaces should be designed around residential areas thereby offering constant natural surveillance.

Don DeLillos White Noise :: Free Essay Writer

Don DeLillo's White Noise WHITE NOISE is probably Don DeLillo's most popular novel, largely because most readers see it as DeLillo's warmest and most human book. In this story, the ideas that seem to captivate DeLillo are fleshed out in real life in a way that none of his other books quite achieves. Of course, there are a few stubborn souls (like me) who still feel THE NAMES, or one of his other books is better. But I think everyone agrees, WHITE NOISE is a winner. It won DeLillo the National Book Award in 1985, and it also won a larger reading audience for a great American writer. DeLillo has said that Ernest Becker's THE DENIAL OF DEATH was a book that influenced him at the time he wrote WHITE NOISE. There's certainly no denying that death, and the many things we do to avoid facing it, is a major focus of DeLillo's novel. Becker's book, which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1974, has as it's thesis the assertion that "the idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity---activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man." Becker's point is that this is *the* driving force in the human psyche today...which I think is overstating the matter a bit...but it certainly is a reality that all of us face in some way, sooner or later. As I looked through Becker's book last month, I was surprised to discover that it's actually an exposition of the work of Otto Rank. Rank was the third of the three famous defectors from Freud's inner psychoanalytic circle early this century (the others being Alder and Jung), and he's known in the literary world to a certain extent because of his intimate involvement with Anais Nin. Like Jung, Rank developed a psychology of mythology and religion...and, in particular, Rank's emphasis was "The Hero" motif. This is what Jung called "the puer aeternus" (or the female "puella")---the eternal youth...who never ages...who never dies...to whom death is nothing. In psychology, this idea is linked closely with that of narcissism, which is considered prevalent in society today. Just look at all the things we do to avoid the appearance of aging! Jack Gladney is, at best, an unlikely Hero, I think.

The Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimension Business Essay Essay

This chapter is divided into two sections. The first section defines culture, its importance in international business and the various cultural dimensions for working globally. The next section describes the culture of India and U.K. and reviews the impact of culture on the working of Hilton Hotel Group in both the countries. Finally, it ends with a brief summary. CULTURE Hofstede (2003) defines culture as â€Å"the collective programming of mind that distinguishes the members of one human group from another.† It is evident that people from diverse environment can misunderstand each other. When two people interact in an organization, culture characterizes their behavior and attitude towards others. When a company plans to start a business in abroad, employees with good communication skills and with the ability to adapt into new environment are chosen to travel and interact with people of various cultures and nationalities. (Mead, 1992) This table shows the division of world’s population according to Region, Language and Religion which are the major aspects of determining ones culture. Taylor (1870) defines culture as â€Å"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society†. Culture plays a very important role in business. All civilizations have its own cultural elements like language, religion, values, attitude, customs, education, aesthetics and social institutions. (Czinkota, 2007) Culture passes from one generation to the other, however it can vary from one group to the other. Every society has its own point of view and opinion about various situations; however, it acts as a barrier to communication. (Daniels, Lee and Sullivan, 2004) CULTURAL DIMENSIONS Geert Hofstede, a much known professor carried out the study of impact of culture on individuals at a workplace. It took him six years to complete this study as it consists of interviews of more than 100,000 employees from 70 countries. According to Hofstede 2004, â€Å"the UK has 35 points in power distance, 89 in individualism, 66in masculinity, 35 in uncertainty avoidance and 25 in long term orientation†. Power Distance – According to Hofstede, 2004, â€Å"Inequality exists in every culture; however the extent to which less  powerful members of the society agree to the inequality differs from one culture to the other. Power distance is related to the different solutions to the basic problem of human inequality† High power creates less communication amongst the bosses and employees whereas when the power is low, employees communicate more with their superiors for the decision making purposes. Individualism vs. collectivism- Individualism is defines as the cap ability of a human being to only take care of himself or his family where as collectivism describes a group of people who look after each and every member of that group. (Hofstede, 2004) These two dimensions describe the individualist or collectivist culture of a human being. Masculinity vs. Femininity – The third dimension is one of the most dominating factors of a culture. Countries where men are considered to be more strong and tough and women are considered to be more delicate and soft follow masculine culture where as countries where men and women are considered equal in terms of strength and tenderness follow feminine culture. (Hofstede, 2004) Uncertainty Avoidance – It is the level to which an individual can accept sudden changes and situations. Companies which have the tendency to admit unpredicted circumstances and dislike uncertainty have high uncertainty avoidance score culture whereas countries which take things as they come and are prepared for any change at any point of time have low uncertainty avoidance score culture. (Hofstede, 2004) Long term vs. short term orientation – The fifth dimension known as the Long term vs. short term orientation was discovered quite later by Hofstede with the help of a survey intended by Chinese scholars. According to Hofstede (2004), â€Å"long-term orientation means focusing to the future whereas short term orientation is focusing on the present and past. In long term oriented societies, pragmatism, perseverance is valued more; in short term oriented societies, respect for tradition and return favours is valued more†. HOME CULTURE VERSUS FOREIGN CULTURE Tayeb (1998) says that the decision to become involved in international business depends, among others, on the size of the company’s domestic market, its production capacity and capability, and the financial and other resources that the foreign market requires. In that way, firms can be placed on an internationalisation scale ranging from domestic single nation to  totally globalise. The extent to which national culture becomes relevant to a firm can be shown in the following table. The company’ own home country culture is of high relevance, though the managers and other employees may not be aware of its influence. The relevance of other people’s culture becomes greater for a firm as it spreads its activities and products past its national boundaries to reach foreigners with different value systems and tastes (Tayeb 1998). IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Understanding culture and its impact on international business is very important for the firm and its employees. Organizations differ not only on the basis of international culture but national culture as well. According to Ball et al. (1996), doing business with another culture is not an easy task and to be successful, every foreign company should be aware and follow some rules that make their business activity more compatible. They state that there are six rules of thumb for doing business in another culture. Even if these can be important when doing business in the home country, they become more crucial when going abroad. Johansson (2000) states that it should be kept in mind that even if adaptation to the foreign culture is good when it comes to future negotiations and co-operations, there is a limit for how far a manager should go to try to accommodate this foreign culture. Mistrust from the other part can be created if for example a manager is trying to adapt to the foreign cul ture and is doing this superficial and with lack of deeper meaning. This can lead to misinterpretation and seen as matter of insincerity. When a company begins to work outside its national country, it encounters various environmental and cultural changes which is not the case in own country. If one does not understand these cultural differences, then he might to face barriers in the success of the organization globally. (Lane et al, 2001). More international operations lead to more interaction and communication with people and companies working in different culture. Therefore, in order to operate productively, it is a basic need to understand or have knowledge of different cultural attributes and contrast. (Adler 1983). Ferner and Quintanilla (1998), state that â€Å"companies need to operate as one organisation which face global environment although they are consisted of different subunits which carry the characteristics of the local environment  they operate in and the companies also bring the cultural elements of the home countries which they o riginated in† Since the study of national and international cultures has become of the most acknowledged topic, therefore, it is important to learn culture, its importance and impacts in international business. IMPACT OF CULTURE ON INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS According to the article on Cultural impact on international Business, 2011, Culture influences international business in many ways. When culture and business interrelate with each other, it directs to the growth of fascinating circumstances or situation. When diverse cultures come together at an ordinary point with business as the podium, the spar is bound to happen. But most significantly, such circumstances assist us in becoming accustomed to demanding situations. Various societies or nations around the globe pursue different gestures and manners. The technique to see a difficulty might vary from country to country in the world. The global business culture, altogether, is an assembly of a variety of industry tradition, cultural power and the consideration development followed in different countries. Below are discussed the impacts of culture on an international business on the basis of body language, communication, time etc. Body Language Every country follows a different culture, which can be clearly found or seen in the behaviour and body language of its people. In order to work internationally, accepting the facts about underneath gesture or motion becomes essential. There is likelihood that people can get the wrong impression about the actions of different cultures. Thus, it calls for an accomplished planner to handle tricky state of affairs for the duration of conference. (Moran et al,2011) Communication Communication is another aspect of culture that affects the international business. Different countries have different ways of communication. The words and vocabulary used by a few people might sound unkind to others. The pronunciation of some words could have a different impact on the cultural ways of communicating in the commercial sector. This can also act as an obstacle in the progression of business communication. (Moran et al, 2011) Time The first thing that comes to mind when we talk about time in business in Punctuality. Britishers and Germans are very punctual and follow a time-bound schedule. The various ‘time-cultures’ could be one of the major factors for creating differences amongst people from miscellaneous ethnicity. Multinational Companies follow a schedule for meetings while doing a business and the way in which meetings are handles could also be the cause of having different point of views. (Moran et al, 2011) â€Å"It is necessary for corporate houses to understand the social conditions of different countries, to successfully tap the respective markets. Being sensitive to the values and beliefs of different cultures of the world is necessary†. (Leung 2005) The marketing executives sent abroad to operate business out of the country go through various problems and difficulties in trading with the commercial tradition and customs of that country. To target the international market and customers is not an easy task. It requires qualified experts who are trained and talented to deliver the best of their capability to the clients. CULTURE OF INDIA India is a vast country which houses diverse cultures, ethnic groups and races. The immense population of more than a billion people has resulted from invasions, relocations and inter-marriages that took place over the centuries. According to an article published in the Inter science Management Review (2012), the various customs and traditions followed by people reflects in the business mores of India. With the advent of technology, the companies have now started to venture out into international markets. It has thus helped the human resources and the organizations to get exposed to diverse working environments across nations. India has greatly benefited by this turn of events as the gap in the work culture of India and other nations has thus decreased to some extent. INDIAN WORK CULTURE First and foremost, the Indian etiquette calls for Namaste being a fundamental mode of greeting or saying goodbye. Recently though, education has brought about a reform in this practice as men and women now prefer to shake hands. Due to their politeness and respect towards their guests,  Indian people have trouble saying no. This aspect of their nature may act as a hurdle in sealing of contracts or doing negotiations. Paramount respect, courtesy and generosity is showered upon guests in India. It is a utopia for the international travellers. (Rai and Neelankavil, 2009) Rai and Neelankavil, 2009 also state that one of the major drawbacks of the Indian work culture is that there is no management of time. Indians don’t score too well in terms of punctuality; long delays in meetings, cancellation or rescheduling of the same are a common sight. This has found its roots in the basic mindset of people and the Indian culture. Another major failing of the Indian work system is the general slack of work in the Government offices which leads to delays in meting out results, excess of the red tape baggage that leads people not to have confidence in the system. Therefore, any transactions in India call for a huge amount of patience to be able to meet with the results. The article published in Inter Science Management Review, 2012 also states that Despite other shortcomings, Indians fare well in matters of the English language. The adeptness of the average middle class over the language is laudable. There is absolutely no hitch in sending and receiving of official letters, emails or faxes. The office environment in India is usually very formal and there are no personal relationship between the bosses and the subordinates. The decision making in almost all of the private companies is from top to bottom, which may take a long time for the decision to be made and implemented. This accounts for the general lack of management inside the working sector. Most of the Indians carry their work pressure home. They put in extra hours at work hence losing the work-life balance. This creates more pressure on them as the workplace demands are entirely different from that of the family. All this is done in an effort to earn monetary benefits and climb higher on the ladder of hierarchy of the workplace. Indians generally don’t make good mentors, they are soft critics and don’t stand up against something wrong as much as they should. This is thought to be because of the process of appraisal, the appraiser demands positive feedback despite the gaping holes in management and work. The lack of dexterity of the appraiser is usually the main reason behind lack of the much needed critical review. Indians have a hard time coping with changes of any sort, be it changes in management or work timings. A lot of time and energy is required for Indians to bring the change to practice. IMPACT OF  CULTURE ON HILTON HOTEL, INDIA One such new path is the concern with national culture. Whereas traditional IB research has been concerned with economic/legal issues and organizational forms and structures, the importance of national culture – broadly defined as values, beliefs, norms, and behavioural patterns of a national group – has become increasingly important in the last two decades, largely as a result of the classic work of Hofstede (1980). National culture has been shown to impact on major business activities, from capital structure to group performance Gibson (2002). Cross-cultural experimental literature examining the influence of individual characteristics has evolved, yielding greater sophistication and specification to our understanding of culture’s influence. Much early cross-cultural work tested only for the main effects of culture – often using national culture as a proxy variable for a given cultural orientation. That work, exploring the influence of the presence (a main effect) of a given cultural orientation, laid the groundwork for more complex experiments to follow, which test how differences in the levels (a moderating influence) of a cultural orientation (even a primed, temporary one) influence behaviours or perceptions. The research of Gelfand et al. (2002) examined both the main effects and the moderating effects of individual characteristics on the Hilton Hotel in India. Using national culture as proxy for cultural orientation, their results support robust findings of self-serving biases in individualist cultures (Thompson and Lowenstein, 1992), where ‘the self is served by enhancing one’s positive attributes to stand out and be better than others’, but find relatively less bias in a collectivistic culture, in which ‘the self is served by focusing on one’s weaknesses to blend in and maintain interdependence with others’. However, they also measured individual self-construal, and demonstrate that independent self-construal are higher in India and are positively related to self-serving biases. Thus, not only is a main effect of culture on the working of Hilton Hotel in India, but the examination of individual self-construal helps to explain why such an effect exists. Research of this type is especially valuable given that much of the theory underlying business research has been developed and tested exclusively in Western contexts. Diversity: Most organizations in the India, particularly large  ones, strive for consistency, standardization, and agreement, largely from the misleading assumption that the elimination of divergence/diversity automatically results in efficiency and success. This traditional view of organizational structure assumes that contradictions are to be first prioritized, and then eliminated, so that everything will run smoothly. We have all known managers and executives who need their subordinates to agree with their decisions, tell them they are doing a terrific job, and avoid challenging their authority. While this may be organizationally neat and psychologically comforting, it is stifling, stagnating, and, over the long haul, counterproductive. Experimental research focusing on the moderating influence of individual characteristics contributes to this literature because it directly tests whether these processes, biases, and behaviours are indeed universal phenomena, or whether they are specific to Western populations. As Oyserman et al. (2002b) point out in their Meta-analysis of research on collectivism/individualism, cultural priming is one of the most promising areas of cross-cultural research. The theoretical underpinnings of priming stem from social cognition research, which shows that accessible knowledge influences behaviour, and that temporarily accessible and chronically salient knowledge produce equivalent effects in the laboratory. Thus, priming techniques ‘create an experimental analogue of chronic differences between cultural groups by temporarily focusing participants’ attention on different cultural content or values’. (Hong et al., 2000) Examples of this research would be the study mentioned in an earlier section, as well as which primed participants with cues that were or were not congruent with their cultural orientation (e.g., using pronouns such as ‘I’ and ‘me’ for an independence priming or ‘we’ and ‘our’ for an interdependent priming) and examined the influence on factors such as cognitive speed and accuracy, memory, and attitudes. Results across all the experiments indicate the existence of a chronic cultural orientation, and one that is more malleable in the face of a primed orientation. CULTURE OF U.K There are about 3.7 million businesses in the U.K which includes 75% of jobs in service industry like hotels, restaurants, travelling, shopping, computers and finance. This sector consists of more than 20 million  employees and 22 percent of British workers work more than 48 hours a week. (Pryce, 2007) According to the Central Intelligence Agency (2007), the United Kingdom is one of the most developed countries in the world and being a leader in trade as well as the leader as the financial centre. It is seen as one of the largest five economies in Europe, with banking, insurance and other business services being an integral part of it. As the United Kingdom is a part of the EU, most of the institutions and policies are in accordance with the regulations laid out by the EU. As the UK has a monarchical constitution, the government rarely gets involved in the matters of economy, its main concern is with improving public services like education and health (The Economist, 2007). A large number of international and global enterprises find home in the United Kingdom (Ferner and Varul, 2000). Due to diverse work environments provided by these global enterprises, the British companies get to experience the work culture provided by the international markets and manage it efficiently. An argument provided by Ferner and Varul (2000) states that the British enterprises have a niche above other companies in terms of development of customer friendly policies and structures. Also, these enterprises play an integral role in globalization of industries, thus placing UK in the top realm to play the role of international operations armed with international companies. Hence, the UK could be expected to be the place with the most number of globalized companies with leading role of international operations. KEY CONCEPT AND VALUES OF BRITISH CULTURE According to an article on International Business Negotiations 2005, United Kingdom consists of a blend of four cultural and ethnic backgrounds named as England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Such a multicultural country persists to bring together its rich culture and modern attitude. The understanding of the basic principled business standards of the United Kingdom is very important for any company that wishes to operate business in such an inherited and reputable country. Indirectness – The most important aspect of British culture is its way of approach and communication. In the U.K, people are known well for their graciousness and good manners like courtesy, politeness and civility. While undertaking business in the UK, it is seen that straight questions obtain indistinct answers and the exchange  of dialogues takes place in detail. In order to understand what one really means to say, it is necessary to take note of the nature of voice and facial expressions. (Whi ttaker, 2009) ‘Stiff upper lip’ – â€Å"The term ‘stiff upper lip’ is often used to describe the traditionally British portrayal of reserve and restraint when faced with difficult situations†. All business meetings and deals are done with entire regulations and customs. Any positive or negative form of emotion should be neglected in the british work environment. (Whittaker, 2009) Humour – A vital element in all aspects of British life and culture is the renowned British sense of humour. The importance of humour in all situations, including business contexts, cannot be overestimated. Humour is frequently used as a defence mechanism, often in the form of self depreciation or irony. It can be highly implicit and in this sense is related to the British indirect communication style. (Whittaker, 2009) The United Kingdom is renowned for its colourful history and strong sense of tradition that has been shaped by a colonial empire, both civil and European war and a constitutional monarchy. The fourth largest trading nation, the UK is fast becoming Europe’s leading business centre. Supported by a long-established system of government and economic stability, the UK is a n attractive base for overseas business, offering skills in areas such as research, development and technology. However, in order to operate successfully in the UK business environment, there are a number of important issues to take into consideration both before and during your time there. (Kenna and Lacy, 1995) IMPACT OF CULTURE ON HILTON HOTEL, U.K. There are quite a few Hilton Hotels in the U.K. The most important cultural factors that affect the business of Hilton Hotel in U.K. are as follows: – PRICING Price plays a key role in creating customer value and building customer relationship, as well is one of the four elements of the marketing mix and an indicator that affects buyer choice. Many companies today compete with each other with different prices in both the domestic and the international market. Price is the only element in the marketing mix that produces revenue; all other elements represent cost (Kotler et al. 2007). Pricing is one of the most complicated decision areas encountered by Hilton Hotel, U.K.  Market prices at the customer level are much more difficult to control in international markets than in domestic market. The pricing of the Hilton Hotels in the U.K. in general is more complex and critical than those located in India. According to Chee et al. (1998), the price is critical because it affects the firm’s ability to stay in the market. The price is also complex, because of the diversity of markets, with their different environment such as, political, l egal, social, technological, consumer characteristics, etc. Thereby, price is an issue that can affect the international business and the company’s co-operations in the foreign country NEGOTIATIONS According to Tayeb (1998) language is one of the major issues when it comes to negotiations with trade partners from other cultures. Although it is not always indispensable to know the partner’s language, several studies shows that a link exists between successful company performance in winning new business in foreign markets, and the ability of the company to conduct its business in the language of the customer. Tayeb (1998) also states that there are some aspects of culture that manifest themselves in a negotiation situation. Foreign partners not only speak languages other than one’s own, but also have a tendency, for cultural reasons, to think in different ways and have different priorities in the way in which they do business. For example, some people prefer to do their business meetings with foreigners in a formal way, and would be offended to be addressed by their first name; some might believe that the use of an informal style and first name would signal to the p artners that they are trusted. Two partners from these different cultural backgrounds could easily misunderstand each other if they negotiate without a previous knowledge of one another’s assumptions and values. SUMMARY In today’s time of globalisation, international business is getting bigger and escalating for both multinational as well as local companies. Due to this, cross cultural matter have gained a lot of importance. In this literature review, the main focus has been to discuss culture, its importance and impact on Hilton Group of Hotel in India and U.K. This chapter has been presented to help the reader understand the basic  theoretical concepts which helps in the findings of the case study and answering the research question. This part of the thesis helped us in understanding the relationship between culture and international business. Development in the fields of technology and communication etc, companies from various cultures have started working together, thus making culture an important subject of discussion in International Business. This chapter discussed the Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions named Individualism, Power distance, Uncertainty, Masculinity and Long-Te rm orientation. It also explains the working culture of India and U.K and the impact of culture on the business of Hilton Hotel, India and Hilton Hotel, U.K. In international business negotiations, it is important to learn about the counterparts‟ culture and thus ameliorate the problems that can arise in the course of the negotiations. From this study, we can see that there are marked differences in the Indian and British negotiation styles which stem from cultural differences among the two countries. Knowledge of these differences will enable negotiators understand the negotiation behaviour of their counterparts with a view to making negotiations proceed with more ease. However, it is also important not to allow cultural stereotypes to determine the relationships with the potential business partners. This is because individuals may have their own distinct culture which does not always mirror the country’s perceived culture.

Religion: God and Moral Standards Essay

The topic that I have chosen to discuss for my final argumentative paper is â€Å"Religion†. I chose this topic because it plays a major role in my everyday life. During this paper I will discuss the most important part about religion, God. I will discuss whether the proof of the existence of God is necessary. I will then talk about the argument for the existence of God that I feel is the strongest and why I feel that it is. Then I will discuss the foundations of the Universe and where it emerged from. Another topic that I discuss is whether or not one can be moral and not believe in God. Next I will discuss whether or not science and religion are in conflict. God’s omniscience and human free will is another topic that will be covered during this paper. The last important topic that I will discuss during this paper is whether or not there is a rational argument for atheism. I believe that this paper will be interesting for me to write. I believe that God will always be real in my heart, whether or not any physical proof is ever found of him. Reading about the various proofs of the existence of God was very interesting for me. I say this because I am a firm believer in God and to think about how some people rationalize his non-existence to them is hard for me to understand. The argument that seems to be the best to me is the â€Å"Cosmological argument†. The argument states that â€Å"if something exists something else had to bring it into existence†. It goes on to talk about how things that exist do so because something else caused it to exist. It calls the something that brought I into existence â€Å"a first cause†. The only thing or being that could qualify as the first cause is God. Therefore, God would be the originating source of the universe, which I truly believe. I believe that philosopher’s have always sought proof of God’s existence because it was hard for them to believe that the world just happen one day. I think that they have always questioned the complexity of the world and knew there had to be some type of designer. I agree with this because the world is just too amazing and complex to just appear one day. Even if you believe in evolution, you still would have to question where the first being or animal came from. Everything has an origin and I believe that God is the origin of the universe. So the next topic to be discussed is the foundation of the universe and from where did the universe emerge. It has been said many times that â€Å"scientists believe that our universe began with one enormous explosion of energy and light, which is called the Big Bang†. This is considered to be the start of space and of time itself. However, it is believed that something that is outside of space, time and matter that caused this to come into existence. This theory was proven by astronomer Edwin Hubble in the late 1920’s. The way that the Big Bang theory is described parallels what the bible says about the beginning of life. The bible states â€Å"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth†¦and God said ‘let there be light and there was light†. I believe that this could be considered proof regarding the existence of God. I know that some scientists disagree and want to say that the universe came from the laws of physics, but none of these things existed before the initial blast. Another part of religion is being a moral person. So a question that has been asked is â€Å"can one be moral and not believe in God†? There are some people in today’s society that believe that you don’t need God to be moral, but I don’t necessarily believe that. They believe that people can set their own rules for life, and have their own personal values. I don’t believe that this would be a good idea considering the fact that everyone’s values are different, so there would be no standard for us to live by. In order for us to judge whether or not something moral or good then we should have a set of certain values that you would judge them by. It is said that to believe in God means that you believe in moral standards. Philosopher Immanuel Kant pointed out â€Å"we need an omnipotent God to enforce moral standards to make sure that everyone is properly rewarded and punished†. He stated this because he believed that â€Å"moral standards without moral sanctions don’t mean much†. I believe that people live a more meaningful life when they believe in the morals created by God and not by man. I say this because I believe that man will come up with moral standards that will only benefit him, but God comes up with morals that will benefit everyone. However, I don’t think this means that everyone that does not believe in God is immoral. There are some that still do good and behave responsibly without believing in him. I think that it just depends on the person and how they chose to live their lives. We will now go on to discuss whether or not science and religion are in conflict. It is said that most of the time science and religion are not in conflict, and that they only conflict on certain topics. One example of their conflict would be whether or not the Earth is the center of the universe, or the sun the center of the universe. The church teaches that the Earth is the center and that the Sun, Moon and other planets revolve around it. However, some scientists have taught that the Sun is the center of the universe and that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun. Another example of conflict between science and religion is regarding the creation of man and Earth and evolution. Cosmologists believe that the universe is about 13. 7 billion years old, but the Earth is only 4. 5 billion years old. So this would mean that the universe was here long before the Earth, so therefore the universe could not revolve around the Earth. I still don’t fully understand how they came up with their calculation, so I don’t believe them. I still believe that God created the Earth and the universe at the same time. It has been stated that the conflict exist because â€Å"science is based on observation of nature†, and religion is â€Å"largely based on faith†. I am more of a faith based person, so that is why I believe the God created the universe. We will now discuss whether or not God’s omniscience and human free will can be reconciled. Personally I don’t think they can be reconciled. Free will is defined as â€Å"the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one’s own discretion†. It was said that because God’s foreknowledge determines all human choice and activity, then God’s omniscience conflicts with human free will. I am a believer in human free will, but I also believe in God’s omniscience. I believe that God does predetermine how he wants our lives to be, but he also gives us choices that will decide which path our lives will take. I have always believed that God has put certain people in our lives for a reason, and we are also sometimes put into certain situations for a reason. I believe that this is done in order to teach us a lesson and so we can learn to make better decisions on our own. So I believe that ultimately the two can work together perfectly. The final topic I will discuss is whether or not there is a rational argument for Atheism. Personally I don’t agree with atheism, but I do understand that everyone has right to their own beliefs. It has been stated that people believe in atheism for a number of reasons. One example that is given is that they get tired of â€Å"watching the multitude of bad things happening to good people in the world†. As far as this statement goes, I was taught in church that â€Å"it rains on the just (good), just like it rains on the unjust (bad), so you should not use this as an excuse to not believe in God. Another example is the people will say â€Å"look at how some â€Å"so-called† Christians live and behave. I lead a better life than most of them do†. However, just because a person is a Christian and believes in God doesn’t mean they will do no wrong. I was taught that there is no big sin or little sin, but as long as you repent and ask for forgiveness then you will be saved by the grace of God. I simply just don’t believe that there is a rational argument for atheism, because I have been blessed too many times without a rational explanation for me not to believe in God. I say this because about fifteen years ago I was told by a doctor that I had a mass on my brain that looked like a tumor and that I would need to see a specialist in see if it was cancer. I went home upset and crying, but I pray all night. I went to church that Sunday and asked for prayer, the congregation prayed for me. I went to see the specialist the next week, who stated that there was not mass and that it was just part of my brain and there was no cancer. So I know personally what prayer can do, and nobody can make me feel different. In conclusion, I would like to rein irate how important religion is in my life. I actually enjoyed writing this paper because it made me realize why I truly believe in God. There is no scientist or atheist that can make me stop believing in God. I never realized how much Philosophy deals with God until I took this course. It was interesting to read about the different Philosophers, and how they try to prove that existence and non-existence of God. I hope that after reading this paper you can get a better understanding of my position on religion, and why I am a firm believer in God.