American History Research Paper (Tobacco) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American History (Tobacco) - Research Paper Example obacco growing would be embraced by so many people in Virginia that it became one of the most important cash crop and export from Virginia, and eventually becoming a dominant force in the economical and social structure in the region (Davies, 2015). Robert Adams, Captain of the Elizabeth transported Rolfe’s tobacco samples to England on 20th of July 1613.Even though Rolfe’s initial tobacco was regarded by the British to be of â€Å"excellent quality† all the same, it was not as good as the Spanish one. However, Rolfe was of the opinion that its quality would improve after some more expense and try all in the curing, it would definitely be comparable to the best product West Indies could offer. Rolfe was proved right when 20,000 pounds of tobacco from Virginia were shipped in 1617 to England with that quantity doubling in 1618 (Wertenbaker, 2009). It is these tobacco experiments performed successfully by Rolfe that inspired others to start planting tobacco in the vacant land in Jamestown as well as settlements alongside River James. General planting initially started at West as well as Shirley hundreds; moving eastwards to Point Comfort alongside a one hundred and forty mile stretch of River James. In spite of the 1622 Indian uprising that led to the killing of around 350 colonists together with the destruction of numerous plantations, the crop of the settlers produced sixty thousand pounds. The British afterwards in the 1620s took control over of cleared Indian plantations and spread tobacco growing even more by making use of the headright system, whereby farmers paid to ferry people across the Atlantic for 50 acres of land. By 1629, cultivation of the Accomac peninsula started in earnest when a sum of two thousand acres of tobacco was cultivated there (Wertenbaker, 2009). At around the same period, the uneconomical practice of cultivating 3 to 4 tobacco crops within the same field started to exhaust the soil nutrients around and within Jamestown. In 1632, a

Review of Three Ethical Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Review of Three Ethical Theories - Essay Example According to this theory, individuals are seen as rational and utility maximizing entities. Several business decisions today are based on this principle; that is, the correct business decision is one that maximizes the net benefit to the society. Thus, the decision which is in the best interests of the society is one that maximizes the net benefit to the society. The founder of traditional Utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham, argued that best and most valuable judgments are those that are based on objective considerations (Scarre, 1996). Thus, the benefits and costs of each public policy should be weighed and then the policy should be executed only if the benefits outweigh the costs. The theory inherently assumes that the costs and benefits can be measured (Scarre, 1996). Thus, the value of the costs can be subtracted from the value of benefits. The theory does not aim at maximizing an individual’s utility. It aims at maximizing the net benefits to the society. The provision of pub lic and merit goods is based on this theory. It is consistent with morality since it takes into account ‘everyone’s’ interests in equal amount. ... According to him, each individual have a moral right to this and that this moral right of individuals translates into duties for other individuals. The first foundation of this imperative is based on the principles of universibility and reversibility (Butler, 2008). Thus, individuals must ask themselves how they would feel if other treated them the same way and how would they feel if everyone did the same. Thus, according to Kant, the immoral decisions and actions were those that one wouldn’t want for oneself (Butler, 2008). The second imperative states that individuals ought not to be treated merely as means; that is, their capacity to choose freely for themselves must also be developed. This clearly demonstrates that while the Utilitarians imply an ‘economically rational’ justification for actions, Rights Ethics correctly captures the human values and goes beyond the traditional cost-benefit analysis. Thus, according to Utilitarians, individuals could be deprive d of their right to liberty simply because the net benefit isn’t maximized (Jeurissen, 2007). Hence, Rights Ethics takes a step forward by respecting not only the positive but also the negative rights of individuals ( that is, the freedom from coercion). Thus, the Rights Ethics many of the flaws associated with the Utilitarian view. Firstly, the utilitarian view simplistically assumes that all the consequences of an action can be quantitatively measured (Smart & Williams, 1973). This is not always the case. For instance, how could one assign a value to one’s life? Secondly, it deals insufficiently with rights, morals and justice (Smart & Williams, 1973). As outlined in the following

Prostitution as a Social Problem Research Paper

Prostitution as a Social Problem - Research Paper Example This discussion stresses that  there are three classes of prostitutes.   Those who belong to the top layer are the discreet call-girls for the affluent.   Those in the middle class are the prostitutes who work in strip clubs and massage parlors and who offer backroom services.   Those in the lowest layer are the street walkers which include the harlots, hookers and nightwalkers.   The prostitutes in the lowest layer are the ones beset by most problems.   Because they are not under any supervision, they are prone to violence and at a high healthcare risk due to unsafe sexual contact with unscreened clients.   These are the prostitutes who are in need of much help.This paper discusses that prostitution involves a lot of personalities.   Foremost among the group are the prostitutes.   In the U.S., the average age of entry into prostitution is 14 . This group which takes on the roles of prostitutes includes children or teens, or adults who entered into systems of prosti tution as children or teens.   A vast majority also includes the Third World women and children.   They are the ones who are often targets of traffickers.   These women and children are enslaved and coerced and brought to western nations for use in brothels and massage parlors, or as mail order brides.   In some Third World countries, â€Å"sex tourism† is very rampant because it offers cheap prostitution. The second group involved in prostitution are the pimps.   About 80-90% of prostitution involves a pimp.... Foremost among the group are the prostitutes. In the U.S., the average age of entry into prostitution is 14 (SAGE, n.d.). This group which takes on the roles of prostitutes includes children or teens, or adults who entered into systems of prostitution as children or teens. A vast majority also includes the Third World women and children. They are the ones who are often targets of traffickers. These women and children are enslaved and coerced and brought to western nations for use in brothels and massage parlors, or as mail order brides. In some Third World countries, â€Å"sex tourism† is very rampant because it offers cheap prostitution. The second group involved in prostitution are the pimps. About 80-90% of prostitution involves a pimp. They are either male or female with different ethnic backgrounds and social status. Pimps â€Å"control the people in prostitution through coercion, force, drug addiction, or the exploitation of economic, physical or emotional vulnerability † (SAGE, n.d.). A major group that is involved in the system of prostitution is the â€Å"demand† side, meaning the â€Å"johns†, â€Å"tricks†, customers and child sexual abusers. These are the people who are into pornography and who go to strip clubs. The other groups who are victims of the system of prostitution are the transgender, lesbian, bisexual and gay youth. Because of the discrimination that they experience from their families and communities, they are often the targets of pimps. Since some societies still find this group unacceptable, prostitution becomes their option for economic survival. Law enforcement agencies and legislators have a role to play too in prostitution. They are the group who can control, eradicate or contribute to the problem of prostitution in the

The US Sugar Quotas Essay Example for Free

The US Sugar Quotas Essay In the bid to regulate the amount of sugar imported into the United States, the federal Government imposed a quota that gave limited exclusive rights of export to a few countries. These countries range from Brazil, Philippines, Peru and Colombia among others. The logic behind this move was to protect the United States infant sugar industry from the competition from foreign farmers that enjoy more conducive environment for surplus production. It was also in the bid to appease farmers from Louisiana territory. This was in spite of the fact that experts had warned that sugar growing in the United States would be impeded by the harsh environment. Others argued that the tariffs by the 1820s had to be maintained so as to maintain a high demand and the value of slaves. The imposition of sugar tariffs and quotas is supposed to help in subsidizing sugar growing. These sugar quotas continue to have negative impacts. It has to be understood that this is a costly system to the consumers and the taxpayers. The United States has maintained a very high price for its sugar, higher above the international price in sixth fold. James Bovard notes that â€Å"each 1-cent increase in the price of sugar adds between $ 250 and $ 300 million to consumers’ food bills.† He continues to note that a study conducted by one commerce department found out that â€Å"sugar program was costing American consumers more than $3 billion a year† (1998). The quota after its imposition single-handedly handed blows to other types of businesses. Brazil in a retaliatory stance reduced significantly its consumption of the American grain. Other countries that were relying on sugar exports to America resorted to wheat and corn, stiffening the competition that exists between the American and other countries. Candy producers have also been hit the worst. Initially, candy firms were circumventing the sugar quota by importing products high in sugar and then sifting the sugar, the federal government made a crackdown on this. Now, these firms are being forced to compete with their foreign counterparts who apparently have access to cheap sugar and hence cheap chocolate has increased, hurting the local industries. A number of people in the United States have lost jobs due to the sugar quotas. This number is higher than the number of farmers that the quota purports to protect. According to James Bovard, a commerce department had it that â€Å"the high price of sugar destroyed almost 9,000 US jobs in food manufacturing since 1981.† An example is given of one Branch Candy Company that relocated to Canada terminating over three thousand workers contracts. It remains the opinion of the majority that the sugar quota is not only hurting the multilateral tie that the United States has enjoys with the neighboring countries, it is also exploitative to the consumers. It is the high time that these quotas were abolished and the sugar plantations converted to other viable crops.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The taking over the mantle of power in the house by the Republicans in the mid 1990s had given false signs that the sugar quota would finally cease to exist. A bill co-sponsored to end the program lost narrowly as the house voted to stay the sugar quota system. Immense lobbying took place in the house before the voting. This indicates how volatile the debate is and how it is influenced by politics and the fear of backlash from the sugar growing Districts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An analysis of the history and recent trends of the United States sugar quota reveals it has always been at the centre of American politics especially on its relations with the immediate neighbors such as Cuba and Mexico. The Clinton administration for example had to grapple with the sugar politics as the congress was being required to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). One specific aim of NAFTA was to remove the quotas and the tariffs that existed between the United States and other countries such as Mexico and Canada.   The removal of the stringent controls with Mexico could have the net result of opening up the United States market to the unlimited imports of sugar thus threatening the high sugar prices existing (Roberts, P., 1999). Right from the early 1800, politics have dominated and completely dictated the implementation of the sugar quotas. Former congressmen have been enjoying lucrative contracts as lobbyists for the industry or for the foreign sugar producers wishing to be a part of the exclusive list. It is to be noted that the number of farmers set to profit in the United States sugar quotas fall way below fifty thousand, but due to the sensitivity of the matter and the amount of money involved, they have been able to influence the sugar importation policies in the excuse that it is in the bid to protect an infant industry. The sugar industry in the United States has become lucrative solely because of the subsidies it receives. The taxes imposed on sugar extend far beyond the price and its cost. The protectionist and the loan program on sugar mean that the farmers are in a win-win situation. They have enough funds to cater for cost of growing and producing and are slated to sell at a high price. All this is a done in the wake of sharp criticm that has reigned in sugar politics especially from the affected neighbors. In the bid to respond to the criticism on the infringement of the free market and enterprise spirit, the Reagan administration for example formed the foreign aimed Program aimed at providing the affected countries with food. The fears by the producers that imports will lead to reduced sugar prices and the loss of revenue and subsidies has led to the immense lobbying especially by the districts producing sugar, this has prompted favorable policies and bills in the congress. References Roberts, Paul. Nov. 1, 1999. The Sweet Hereafter: Our Craving for Sugar Starves the Everglades and Fattens the Politicians. Harpers. James Bovard, April 1998. The Great Sugar Shaft. The Future of Freedom Foundation. Retrieved on 12th may 2008 from http://www.fff.org/freedom/0498d.asp

An Overview of Reggae Music Essay -- Music

Reggae is a genre of music that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. It is known for the heavy and strong emphasis on the bass within the background beat. Reggae was perceived as a kind of music used to express feelings about the social, political, and economic hardships in Jamaica during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was performed by musicians from black ghettos who used unhurried beats to make a style of music of their own. Reggae became an important part of the lifestyle of many Caribbean islanders; expressing a sense of pride of their Caribbean culture. Reggae was developed from ska and rocky steady. Ska consists of elements of Caribbean and mento, calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat. Rocky steady uses musical elements such as jazz, R&B, African and Latin drumming and other genres. It is noticeable by the counted off beats with a slow tempo. A reggae beat is most distinguishable by having a slow tempo, bass beat within the background with an up-tempo beat over it. If you count 1 2 3 4 to the beats, the instrument’s accent is played on the off beats; giving it a relaxed sound. Reggae music consists of a relatively small variety of instruments because of its distinct sound. Bass drums, drum symbols, and guitars are the most common instruments used to play reggae songs. Bongos are used to play broken patterns with the usage of African style rhythms. An important factor to understanding Reggae music is having knowledge about the history of Jamaica. In 1962, Jamaica gained its independence from the British. Around that time, reggae music began to become prominent within the music industry. The most important form of reggae w... ...ic is an important aspect of the many cultures in and outside of the Caribbean. It instills different moods into people and comes in various styles. It has been used to express oppression and joy. No matter how people make or hear reggae music; it will be a distinct sound that lures one’s feelings towards the unique culture. Works Cited Bays, Barry, P. Renee Foster, and Stephen King. Reggae, Rastafari, and the Rhetoric of Social Control. University Press of Mississippi. United States of America. 2002. Chang, Kevin O' Brian, and Wayne Chen. Reggae Routes. Temple University Press. Philadelphia.1998 Jahn, Brian and Tom Weber. Reggae Island. Da Capo Press, Inc. New York. 1998 Latin Pulse Music, Inc. n.p. 2006-2011. Web. 2 April 2012. Sarno, Alberto, Sarno, Marcello. Reggaeton in Cuba. 2007. Sprachcaffe Sprachreisen.Web. 10 March 2012.

Literary Devices in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Essay

In Hell we imagine it to be torturous, horrid, and filled with pain and suffering. In the story, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, it thoroughly explains what Hell would be like. Literary devices are used to emphasize how horrific Hell would be for sinners, and it scares you into being a Christian. The first literary device used is personification. An example from the text of personification is, â€Å"Justice bends the arrow at your heart.† This is showing if you don’t worship God and constantly sin, God will send you to Hell where you belong. This scares me and should put fear into everybody who wants to go to Heaven. The next way the author uses literary devices in the story is imagery. An example of imagery is, â€Å"The devil is waiting for them, Hell is gasping for them, the flames gather and flash about them.† This example creates an image in my head of standing over Hell and looking down at the tortured, burning souls. It makes me want to be a better Christian and to convince others to be Christians too. The last way the author uses literary devices is by similes. â€Å"His wrath towards you burns like fire.† This makes me think about how angry God becomes whenever we sin. It drills into my mind about how badly His hatred and disappointment towards sin really are, and how He will punish you if you do not ask for forgiveness. As you can see, the author describes Hell as a very awful place and is not a place you want to find yourself. He used literary devices in the story to emphasize how horrific Hell would be for sinners through personification, imagery, and similes. This is a significant reminder to me of my faith and encourages me to tell others about Christianity.

Managing Across Culture

{draw:rect} {draw:rect} 000579613; 000573398; 000573202; 000583118;000527971 {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} Managing Across Cultures- Group Report on Case Study Analysis of Alcatel-Lucent BY TEAM: Meenak*shi Mukherjee* 000579613 Carlos Andres Serna 000583118 Quasirat Hasnat 000573202 Sangeet Premkumar 000573398 Imran Shahzad 000527971 Executive Summary This paper examines a case study sprouting mergers of two firms Alcatel and Lucent technologies. This paper provides an insight into the French and American cultures taking into consideration the parent company cultural imbroglio. Alcatel, an American company, was previously owned by the technological giant, the AT&T group. However in the year 1996, the company parted ways from the group of AT &T and merged with the French company, Alcatel. Alcatel, headquartered in France, provides hardware-software services to the telecommunications sector involving service providers and enterprises. On the 1st December, 2006, Alcatel- Lucent merged to explore greater productivity by utilizing jointly owned resources, products and services. Cross-cultural barriers hindered Alcatel-Lucent’s strategic advantageover its competitors. In this paper, the Alcatel- Lucent merger will be critically analysed with help reference frameworks and cultural tools such as Hofstede’s dimensions, Trompenaar’s theories on culture and related articles from newspapers. In the recent years, companies have been adopting the strategy to expand their markets globally with different strategies such as mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, licensing etc. However, companies trying to achieve synergetic benefits often fail in their process of expansion due to the cultural problems revolving between the host and home countries. Introduction Alcatel-Lucent, headquartered in Paris, France, is the Telecom giant with over 77,000 employees in its payroll a with annual revenue generated as reported in the financial report standing at a staggering 16. 98 billion Euros. The merger of parent companies Alcatel and Lucent was anticipated to be the ‘shining star’ of mergers and was aptly phrased as a merger of equals (Sutherland, 2006). This paper discusses the importance of cultural differences and indicates the problems that can be create when different cultural interaction occurs between different strata’s of organizations. Short Brief about different cultures Culture can be considered to be a vast word having no unified idea that can summarize the true essence of it. Some scholars and researchers define Culture as a part of our environmental conditioning, usually distributed among members of similar nations, regions and areas (_Sorensen_, 1984). This case study is used to communicate the study of cross culture and its related problems. In regards to job environment, the French Culture believes in providing security for the members of the society. The Culture is competitive yet assertive but however is risk averse and consumes too much time to take decisions to deal with a situation. On the contrary, the American Culture is easy going and flexible. Americans believe in quick decision making with a â€Å"win-lose† approach and as a result accept uncertainties in a positive manner. In a recent article, Holstein (2007) stated, that the two parent companies addressed the issue of crisis taking measures differently. In times of crisis, the Americans believe in reducing costs through scaling down job opportunities whereas the French have a supportive approach towards their employees with the government acting as the back bone to resolve such issues making the process of decision slow but unaffected by the crisis piling on the company with additional operational costs. The inclination of the American Culture is towards achieving short term goals such as profit making, however, the French culture denotes a negative aspect of doing business with haste. The French decision making processes are long and tend to measure each step taking important aspects into consideration. Literature review The Dutch anthropologist, Trompenaars , conducted a research over 10 years and eventually publishing his work in 1994. Expatriates in an organisation can benefit from his dimensions by having knowledge on the managing tasks in different cultures (Trompeenars et. al. , 1997). Universalism Vs Particularism: According to Trompenaars , Universalism and Particularism are terms used to denote a culture which is governed by rules and relationships. In the words of French (2007), rules are flexible in particularistic societies and relationships are given more importance than rules. Trompenaar’s classifies of USA as aUniversalistic society bound by rules. Hence, Lucent as a company believes in developing rules, codes and standards that can be applicable to everyone in every situation without any modification. In USA, negotiation takes place in written agreements, shows that a formal procedure is to be followed to do business. However in a particularistic culture, the type of relationship determines the business. Whereas the French culture is average in Universalism indicating Alcatel, the French company is neither too particularistic nor too universalistic and rationally develop inter personal relationship and trust bearing in mind the expected standards (Gesteland, 2005). Affective/ Emotional Vs Neutral: Affective and Neutral are terms used to represent emotions with in a culture. In affective cultures individuals tend to show their emotions explicitly in public like the American culture. However Neutral cultures believe in implicit behaviour towards their emotions. According to French (2007), different cultures exhibit different behaviours when it comes to emotions. American people tend to deliver their disgust spot-on using verbal communication where as the French do so with sign language such as frowning and smirks. The US and French cultures are both alignedvery close to each other in terms of how emotional or neutral they are. Both of them are moderately average, which means people working in Lucent as well as Alcatel neither express their feelings too enthusiastically nor do they try to hide their feelings (Gesteland, 2005). Specificity Vs Diffuseness: According to Hampden (1998), Specificity is a term used to represent cultures where difference between work life and personalised life are applicable. In diffused cultures, the society is non- segregated as work and personalised life are closely interlinked. According to Guirdham (1999), the French are diffused in their cultural believes hence personal and professional life is considered to be a part of the culture whereas the Americans believe in keeping the two separate. Achievement Vs Ascription: Trompenaar describes cultures which believe in achieving status through performance with a generic belief that status can be gained and lost if performances are not measured accordingly. Ascribed status is where people believe that status is gained through inherent right and not according to what they perform in everyday life(French,2007). Achievement oriented societies formed by individuals who believe in achieving goals independently. For example the reigning President of the United States of America, Barrack Obama is an individual who became the president with his qualities and perseverance. In Ascribed societies, people believe in the status and the background of individuals. This juxtaposes the idea that in France one can participate in politics only if their family has been inclined politically in the past. The American culture is achievement oriented thus at Lucent, social status or position of an employee is derived from his/her achievements. The employees in Alcatel could grow only if their business links with the superiors are concrete (Guirdham, 1999). Sequential Time vs. Synchronisation: The word, sequence, is used to describe time where events follow one another whereas in synchronised time, events are arranged at a parallel basis. Multi-tasking is the main feature of synchronisation. Lucent being a North American company follows monochromic time that is tangible and divisible. They view time as a narrow spectrum of distinct, consecutive segments. Hence they perform only one activity at a time with greater focus, keeping a strict schedule of appointments and showing a strong resistance from deviating their plans (Gesteland, 2005). Whereas Alcatel being a Mediterranean country follows Polychromic time, for them time is indivisible and flexible. Time is viewed as a norm and people perform multiple activities simultaneously which makes them distracted very easily. For them appointments are approximate and can be changed at any point of time, schedules are not as important as relationships are. Future Vs Past Orientation: Lucent focuses more on the present and the immediate future than what has happened in the past. They concentrate on achieving result within a short span of time. In Alcatel, the present and future are valued by looking at events that occurred previously. Any given situation is compared to the previous happenings. Time orientation does matter a lot when companies operate in different cultures. It creates chaos specially in taking long term decisions. High Vs Low context cultures: Lucent (USA)- as a company possesses the attributes of a low context culture where it relies on information explicitly provided, detailed communication and even higher detailed instruction at workplace. However at Alcatel (France), employees practice moderate levels of cultural context interms of communication, information and even instruction at workplace. Alcatel being a French company practices very high power distance, which means a wide gap exists between leaders, subordinates and management decisions are made at the top level only without the consent of fellow employees. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Dutch Anthropologist, Geert Hofstede defines culture as â€Å"The collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another† (Hofstede, 2001). Using his survey at the IBM involving employees from world over, he formulated the cultural dimensional framework. High Vs Low Power Distance: Power distance is related to a society which is divided into classes and ranks. In USA, ranks are least important to individuals as they believe in Equality. Organisational ranks often make employees feel uncomfortable and are not practiced widely. In France such distinction between classes and ranks are acceptable. Though high organisational ranked employees believe in respecting employees of lower ranks but make sure that the distinction is clear. In such countries it is wise for a subordinate to use terms such as ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’. Whereas, at Lucent- a US based company, power distance is relatively low. The gap between superior and subordinate is minimal likewise salary and decisions are made consulting with everyone, though organizational hierarchy exists but for convenience. High Vs Low Uncertainty Avoidance: The term Uncertainty denotes societies that are risk averse and risk takers. In US, the culture believes in taking risks and with France, risk taking is not a wise decision and is often followed with monotonous long-term decision making. The French are known for high uncertainty avoidance. Hence at Alcatel people prefer not to take risks unnecessarily, they usually are loyal to their employers and have long work records. The organization is structured with explicit rules and regulations with the employee (French, 2007). Therefore, Lucent as an organization is not well structured and people are eager to take risk, thus being flexible that makes them not loyal enough and are clear indicators of short term employees. As France is extremely cautious about uncertainty decisions, thus employees at Alcatel are extremely concerned about job losses. In a recent article Sutherland (2006) stated that: â€Å"About 10 percent, or 8,800 employees, will be laid-off. Lucent could not answer which percentage of the job losses will be borne by the U. S. Company, but French laws tightly control when employers can fire workers† (Cited in, Sutherland, 2006). Individualism Vs Collectivism: In Individualistic societies, individuals tend to look after their family and themselves. Organisational goals are based on individualistic performance and not on the group effort. Team works are performed with individual rewarding system. Collectivist countries believe that the essence of good performance is based on team work. Individuals must sacrifice their personal interest for the benefit of the team. Rewards and bonuses are according to the team’s performance on activities. The French and American individualistic characteristics are common, causing a clash of cultures while working in conglomerate companies such as Alcatel-lucent. Individualism evolved when the two companies merged because the people started thinking of their own self interests instead of considering the company on the whole. This leads to chaotic asynchronous processes that are disruptive for productivity (French, 2007). Masculinity Vs Femininity: Masculinity and femininity are characterized by behaviours such as assertiveness, competitiveness, caring and loving. Masculinity is a composition of tough values whereas Femininity shows tender traits. Both the nations are masculine in nature but the roles of women in the two societies are very different. In USA, Women can reach the top layers of the organisation whereas in the France it is the other way round and men are given more precedence as the society male dominant. In an article Holstein (2007) stated that: â€Å"One is that there is confusion about who’s in charge. Russo became CEO of the combined entity and Tchuruk became chairman. In American cultural terms, that means Russo runs the company. After all, she’s the CEO. But in a European context, and particularly a French setting, the chairman is the boss. Confusion at the top is deadly† (Cited by, Holstein, 2007). Masculinity is relatively high in Alcatel compared to Lucent. At Alcatel, people believe in competition, performance and male dominance. Whereas at Lucent ,people seek equal opportunity, better quality of work, solidarity over other factors including competitive behaviour. Patricia Russo, a successful business entrepreneur from the USA is an example of a Masculine dominant society where women scale the height of opportunities. According to Verwaayen (2008), decisions making in Alcatel-Lucent remains a crucial factor as the two companies have different reporting standards. In Alcatel the Chairman is the head who takes the final decisions relating to a company and in Lucent the CEO is the person who delegates decisions. The two different distinct approaches have clearly confused the role of employees in both the companies. Verwaayen (2008) also stated that in mergers, long distances usually creates trauma as processes cannot be co-ordinated hence provides freehand edge to competitors. According Gubbins (2007), it is important for the government to have a top- bottom flat structured system so as to make the operations of the company smooth and efficient to survive the competitive environment. Cultural clashes were so evident that Patricia Russo, the chief executive decided to leave the company and stakeholders expected changes after his reign. This can be analysed from the newsfeed of Alcatel-Lucent (2009) stating that: â€Å"We hope that a new CEO will be able to bridge the cultural divide between the Americans and the French and get all sides pulling together† (Cited in, Windsor, 2008). Analysis of Opportunities, *Challenges,* Considerations Opportunities Alcatel-Lucent partners a project phrased as the â€Å"Cercle Passeport Telecoms†,in France, which is a business program for corporate mentoring of multicultural students from humble backgrounds in their pursuit for higher academic opportunities (Alcatel-Lucent,2008). As a part of the recruitment opportunities, Alcatel Lucent revamped its business training programs into sessions that integrated technical training with hands-on experience on security products and data transmission . Further emphasis on sales methodologies, reaching out to partners to engage with the end-users and to carve out solutions to address their needs. In order to convert innovative ideas into reality products or services, Alcatel-Lucent launched the Entrepreneurial Boot Camp housed in Belgium in the spring of 2006. Aimed at a constructive build of a global knowledge base where creativity blossoms, a business foundation like the Boot Camp is a grooming factory for all the budding business developers of the next generation. Alcatel-Lucent’s strategic security partnership with renowned financial sector reseller Abraxas Partners paves wave for new job opportunities showering prosperity in the near future (Alcatel-Lucent, 2008). Considerations The primary objective of a merger is the integration of skills, resources, and business networks and their harmonic implementation. Taking into account Cultural differences, mergers are drafted, and contingency plans are prepared in order to tackle such differences. When cultural differences arise at higher level of the organizational hierarchy, the execution of these pre planned contingencies become haphazard(Turner & Trompenaars, 2000). The analysis of this uber-merger case study has given us a clear insight in to the detrimental situations aroused by unsuccessful execution of mergers. The cultural differences seem irrelevant considering the fallacies involved with it are not redundant while assessing shifts in fiscal trends. The persistent pressure enforced a moral obligation, convincing the American chief executive, Patricia Russo and the French Chairman, Serge Tchuruk to step down. (Ruitenberg,2008). The ignorance of demographic and geographic interests might have had a negative impact on the merger. Previous acquisitions and mergers may have misunderstood the merger as a change in organizational goals. According to Jolly (2008) ,Alcatel-Lucent’s current vision can be quoted as â€Å"CSR is about being a value driven company, where values are not words on pieces of paper but things we do automatically . It’s about being a company that is inclusive and has respect for the individuals, respect for differences and respect for cultures â€Å". Challenges Mergers and Acquisitions have a tendency to confront various issues and involve constant reframing of policies. Differences can be resolved at the nascent stages of the Merger or Acquisition only. Alcatel-Lucent faces a challenge in restoring their longstanding relation with their previous collaborators like Bell Labs, Packet Engines and Xylan who might have experienced difficulties while the management underwent changes, so that they may continue providing and developing their services. They also face the challenge of retaining existing customers especially those who might have endured inept services while the organization resolved its differences. The merger of the parent companies has taken a toll of time and the company has experienced positive development in turnovers, cultural integration thus reoccupying the held market share and brand goodwill. Internal Organization Alcatel-Lucent’s design and consultancy service convolutes the vital processes necessary to ensure an integration of cost-effective, flexible network infrastructure. Business Consulting, Operations Consulting, Applications Consulting, Security Consulting, Network Consulting & Design, Network & Service Optimization are Business units and processes that constitute this esteemed organization (Alcatel-Lucent,2008). Conclusion and Recommendation Complications usually occur when two companies from two different countries merge to benefit synergetic effects. In terms of Alcatel- lucent, the two parent companies follow an individualistic approach which motivates employees to work towards individualistic goals and often the objective of the company is not taken into mere consideration. The essence of good successful business is to adopt a collectivistic approach giving the goal and the mission of the company at the top priority. Team work will motivate employees of Alcatel- Lucent to take decision jointly (Alcatel-Lucent, 2008). To bridge the gap between America and the France, it is important to reduce the distance by sending employees of each company onto expatriate missions. To understand a culture, it is important to stand in the threshold of the other. Managers in expatriate missions will gain better understanding of the French and the American cultures thus adjusting to the new inter-cross culture. Leadership should be vested in hands of one and not many, therefore confusion at the top should be avoided by integrating processes with clear objectives. Employees should be made to report to only one superior. It is important for the company, Alcatel- Lucent, to use new technologies such as video conferencing to reduce communication barriers between the employees of the two countries. In this time of financial crisis, it is important to cut costs to sustain in the global business market. Top heavy structures in the company with higher pay packs to the employees could create operational loss. In the reduction of financial position, the competitors would benefit by reaping advantage of the situation and overlapping it by way of acquisition. As the French are more protective about the job loss scenario, the company should take effective measures such as putting employee rolls stagnant thereby reducing its financial cost. References French, R. 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R(2008), â€Å"Alcatel-Lucent confronts its cross-cultural challenges† BBC News[Online] available at: http://leaderswedeserve. wordpress. com/2008/07/31/alcatel-lucent-confronts-its -cross-cultural-challenges (Accessed on 5th Nov. 2009). Managing across Cultures, INDU 1033 – Team Reflection – Questions to guide the Team Presentation and Written Report Draw on your experiences: how would you qualify the teamwork in terms of {text:list-item} Keeping in mind the scarcity of information available in journals and online web content a strategic plan was devised to search online material using key trigger words that would facilitate in text referencing. The presentation time being short was a challenge for me in my role( Meenakshi Mukherjee) as group leader to define specific roles to my team mates to quantify the case study of Alcatel –Lucent keeping in mind the cultural heritage both companies’ native countries share. A well defined work with ample support from team members in way of skills and research makes me happy and feel good as a budding manager graduating from this esteemed university. {text:list-item} I would like to reflect on the fact that our team being truly multicultural, representing various nations of the world knit as family segregating this task into sections of expertise . Taking the reference frame work set forth by the respected lecturer and tutors, each subtopic in the case study was carefully classified and analysed. Disputes about the content were usually friendly group discussions in a professional manner. How much could difficulties be related to national variations in approaches to group work ? Multicultural teams like ours have different rational thinking capabilities . Innovative ideas streamlined. But the pipeline for these ideas was the standards we must set . Work can be left to interpretation. A consensus of the group eradicated doubt and hesitant notions. What elements of the process would you do differently next time. NB various approaches may exist among the different members of the team The data collection was done in large qualities from various limited resources. The case of Alcatel Lucent is primarily neglected in the business world. Careful selection of the company of reference could have been more articulate and the constrains of time and word limited was a real burden . Optimum utilization of resources can be improvide in future. The following members of the team declare to have fulfilled a