Joint Venture in the Construction Industry in Spain

Joint Venture in the Construction Industry in Spain An estimated 20,000 joint ventures have been formed worlwide over the past two years. Such strategic alliances can provide business owners with long-term security, new revenue channels, and , often, the anchor needed to maintain stability in otherwise turbulent waters. A successful joint venture can open the door to a wold of future partnership opportunities (Robert L.Wallace 2004) Factors now at play in our economy make it more feasible and more critical than ever for small business owners to leverage the power of joint venturing. These factors include: The emergence of the customer economy Advances in technology that have neutralized time and space contraints Change brougt on by shifting demographics More entrepreneur- and more oportunities- as a result of downsizing In the midst of these world-changing trends, what is often missing from a succesffull business strategy are the critical alliances and strategic partnerships that will help leverage the strenghts and minimise weaknesses. Forging joint ventures and strategic alliances will allow business to win millions contracts as the partner with large companies to offer with, breadth, and depth demanded in the marketplace. Done well, joint ventures provide both participating businesses with a chance to learn and benefit from each other, and to achieve results neither could achive alone. In this dissertation will be explained- how to enter into joint ventures well so a company can prosper in ways it never could by doing it alone CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF FIGURES vi INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Introduction 2 1.2 Objectives of Dissertation 2 Contents 3 JOINT VENTURE EXPLAINED 2.1 Joint Ventures Explained 2.2 The Rationale of Joint Venture Formation 2.3 Joint Venture Formation 2.4 Management and Implementation LITERATURE REVIEW 3.1 Forms of Joint Venture 3.2 Motives of forming a Joint Venture 3.3 Selection of Partners 3.4 Preliminary Agreement and Negotiation Research Methodology 4.1 Research Approach 40 4.2 Research Ethics 41 4.3 Interviews 42 4.4 Survey 46 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 5.1 Basic Conflicting Interests 5.2 Loss of Autonomy and Control 5.3 Findings CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES Chapter One Introduction and Objectives of Dissertation Introduction Business once grew by one of two ways: grass roots up, or by acquisition. Today business grow through alliances- all kinds of dangerous alliance, joint ventures, and customer partnerign, which by the way, very few people understandà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Peter F.Drucker 2007) Experiences of joint venture management in the construction industry traced back to the early 60 ´s. It appears that characteristics of this industry favor the proposition of joint ventures formation. Although statistics are not available, this is obviously true in relation to the infrastructure development of Spain at the present moment The determination of the . 1.1 Objectives of Dissertation This paper attempts to review the existing literatures on management of joint ventures its merits and problems, particular issues arisen and suggested management techniques to cope with such obstacles in operating a joint venture. Interviews were conducted with two senior staffs of one of the partners of a joint venture formed by four construction firms. The joint venture is currently undertaking one of the Train Station Core Projects to be completed before July 2011. It is hoped that hand-on experiences of these senior staffs, at the level of Management Committee of the joint venture, as well as the operational level of the joint venture, would provide us valuable insight and opinion on the art of joint venture management, as a reflection and complement to the general review of the literatures. The key objectives are: To critically appraise the existing literature to Corporative alliances issues and the role of International Strategy in applying these issues. To establish the importance Strategic alliances with competitors in the international market. To evaluate the purposes of strategic alliances as well as to what extent might be successful a company. To determine other factors that influences companies in seeking Joint Ventures. To assess the sources of value creation. To study possible pitfalls in doing a Strategic Alliance. To draw conclusions upon a joint venture in a case study. 1.2 Contents In Chapter 2, the organization of interest is described in detail along with an explanation of its forms. In Chapter 3 the literature in relation to joint venture and strategic alliances in general and its application within the company is critically reviewed. Chapter 4 describes and justifies the research methods employed and includes a section on the ethical considerations of the project. In Chapter 5 the findings of the one-to-one interviews, In Chapter 6 the findings are analyzed and evaluated in relation to the published research literature. In Chapter 7 a joint venture framework for the SMART Services is presented along with a plan for its implementation. Finally, in Chapter 8 conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made for future work. A list of references is provided and the appendices contain pertinent information, documents (including, the survey questionnaire) and collated data. Chapter Two Joint Venture Explained 2. Joint Venture Explained A joint venture is the coming together of two (or more) independent business for the sole purpose of achieving a specific outcome that would not have been achievable by one of the firms alone. (Source: Wallace 2004) 2.1 The Rationale of Joint Venture Formation The form of joint venture provides benefits and a skeleton, based on which the management philosophy of the joint venture builds up. . (See Figure 1) Figure 1: Joint Venture. Business Benefit Source: Trendsetter Barometer, PWC In respect of share of management, there are dominant parent ventures, share management ventures and independent ventures. Degree of involvement of parents in these types of joint ventures differs, and in turn these joint ventures face different types of nature and management problems. At operational level, there are approaches of integrated structure and non-integrated structure. The nature of the business and the share of responsibilities in various aspects of the business will be the determination factors of choice Generally speaking, the choice of form of joint venture should be made in accordance to what contributions are required of the parents in order to achieve the purpose of forming the joint venture. Companies forming joint ventures basically intend to develop markets and products. Common reasons are: to suit government policies, pooling resources, risk sharing, building business relation and to reduce competition. The first step to form a joint venture, after realizing that such tactics is desirable, is to select a partner. Consideration on selection of partners concentrates on three major themes: shared objectives, mutual trust and co-operation, and abilities of the potential partners. Appropriate partners should be compatible in their objectives of forming the joint venture and their expertise/Knowledge on the business. Right partners also should possess similar management styles normally. Lastly it is important that potential partnerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s real intention is realizes, to avoid future major disagreements. 2.2 Joint Venture Formation When the partners have reached initial agreement to form a joint venture, often a preliminary agreement is signed. It forms a basis for the drafting of the detailed agreement, and provide framework for the partners to work together and proceed to more detailed planning works. But subsequent negotiations following for the preliminary agreement often provide good chances for the partners to understand more thoroughly the expectation of potential partners. It is not uncommon that a final agreement cannot be reached because major conflicts are revealed in the process of subsequent negotiations after preliminary agreement. It is always intended to write agreements to cover all contingencies. But some managers consider that it is not so practically possible in view of the rapidly changing environments nowadays. Instead, emphasis should be placed on building up mutual trust and thus it is important to incorporate a sense of fairness into the joint venture agreement. Generally defined, well understood mutually, and respectful to each other ´s rights in return to their contributions committed. It is suggested that the best solutions should be an agreement covering all possible contingencies, together with the design of a flexible mechanism allowing changes to be agreed between efficiently while promoting cooperation and mutual trust. A very important aspect in drafting the joint venture agreement is the design of reward system for the partners. Pay-off in the form of product flow between the parents and the joint venture is often the source of major management problems and conflicts. Such product flow diverts attention of the parents from the joint venture ´s benefits. Again, fairness and willingness to co-operate are the keys to resolving such problems. If at all possible, market comparison is a useful guide to fix the transfer price in a fair sense. The primary concern of a partner in forming a joint venture is probably the degree of control over the business. In respect of split of ownership, majority-minority shares are sometimes preferred, as the majority of partner can act as leader for the joint venture and thus gives direction in a less ambiguous manner for the operation of the joint venture. On the other hand, come companies prefer equal shares to ensure willingness of all partners to contribute efforts as required and they may also feel more comfortable that all partners have equal statusà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? in the joint venture. Ownership distribution is less important than how operation control is actually apportioned. There is no rule on thumb on allocating operation control. General guidelines are that each parent should be motivated to make necessary commitments continuously in accordance to their abilities, and that each parent should be protected in its interests. To enhance long term co-operation, exploitation of other partner ´s interests must not be attempted. It must be emphasized that full equality in operating control requires much more efforts from all partner, and the joint venture would have to be operated in day-to-day on-going negotiations and compromise among the partners. 2.3 Management and Implementation Standard joint venture organization consist of two components the management board and operation organization. The management board is the highest authority of the joint venture. The composition of the board and jurisdiction of the board determine largely the share of power among the partners. To build an effective board, board members should be delegated enough and necessary authority by their own companies in making decisions and vote in the board. They should endeavor to maintain mutual trusts among the partners, to sustain the common goal and objectives of the partners and to the exercise effective control over the joint venture. This is better to clearly separate the operation organization independently from the management board, to avoid biases or perceived biases towards one particular partner. As mentioned earlier, staffing is a possible and often effective way of controlling the joint venture operations. But overact may generate resentment from other partners. It will be extremely difficult to build up cohesiveness of the operation organization from all the partners. The organization will possibly segregate into groups of their own companies. Theoretically, secondly is desirable only if considered necessary for the needs of the joint venture. Otherwise recruitment from outside can more easily maintain the independence of the operation organization. The joint venture manager is an important role, as the leader for the operation organization, the bridge between the child and the parents, and sometimes as the mediatorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? for the parents if disputes arose among them. He has to possess negotiation skills, people skills, and selling skills to bring together mutual co-operation form all parties concerned. He is often found to be involved in ambiguous relationship, with his sub-ordinates and supervisors, and wit the parent companies. In order to achieve his task of pleasing everybody and avoiding conflicts and tension between the parties concerned, he has to be highly tolerant and ambiguity. The joint venture manager should be loyal only to the joint venture, not to any of the parents. He has to be perceived as neutral, otherwise his opinions will never be convincing to other people. Biased loyalty of the joint venture manager will arouse other parents taking harmful measure against smooth operations of the joint venture. Being neutral is an important qualification of the joint venture manager in order to gain autonomy and trust, which in turn makes the joint venture more likely to succeed. The joint venture agreement implied an independent operation organization separated from the parents to be fully responsible for daily management of the business and that the operation organization enjoyed a high degree of autonomy. In practice, the independence and autonomy were granted to the operation organization, only if all parents, in particular the joint venture manager, will act truly neutral. Without such belief, parents were able to exercise disruptive negative measures to hinder the normal implementation of management for the joint venture operations. The case also supported that the quality if the joint venture manager in negotiation skills and human relations, and its relationship with the parents was a paramount importance of the success of the joint venture. A strong leader might be harmful for a joint venture, but a practical and flexible manager surely is very useful. Chapter Three Literature Review 3.1 Forms of Joint Venture 3.3.1 Share of management The fundamental question in management of joint ventures is the degree of involvement of partners in decision making processes on major policies as well as day-to-day operations of the joint ventures. In this respect, joint ventures are often categorized into three types: (Stephen I. Glover and Craig M. Wasserman 2003) Dominant parent ventures: in which management decisions are dominated by one parent, either formally by majority voting rights in all major aspects or informally by management settings to control key decisions makings without significant involvement from the other party. Shared management ventures: in which management of joint venture operations are shared between the parents, either shared by each providing resources in certain functional areas or shared by pooling resources at most levels of the joint venture operations. Characteristics of this type of joint venture are the necessity of frequent negotiation and agreement between the partners at most all levels and aspects of the business management. Independent ventures: in which parent ´s involvements in the management of the joint venture is very little, as it is left almost entirely to an independent group of personnel employed under the joint venture. The roles of parents are not too much different from shareholders, except that they may be providing other distinct types of resources as well as capital and there are only a few shareholders. Dominant parent ventures and independent ventures are thought to be more trouble free, as they require less interaction and thus less potential conflicts between the parents. However, there are no concrete evidence to suggest that these two types of ventures will be more likely to succeed than shared management ventures. Obviously the choice of joint ventures types is dependent on the situation and nature of the business and the parentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s  ´characteristics. Circumstances often call for shared management but no other choices, simply because joint efforts are required to achieve what is intended. Pooling of resources, and thus a mixed input of management efforts from both parents, may be the fundamental desire of forming the joint venture. In such cases, dominance of one parent certainly cannot fulfil the purpose of the strategic alliance and the question is to overcome the difficulties of shared management on joint ventures operations. Legal Form In terms of the legal form of the joint venture, there can be three choices: (Dennis Campbell and Antonida Netzer 2009) Consortium: it refers to a grouping, formed on a one-off basis, which is governed by a contractual agreement. The contractual agreement is made to define clearly the position of each of the parents, including a specification of the authority, responsibility, liability and power of each party. Parnership: it can take a form of formal partnership. The parties are then effectively recognised in law as partners. The joint venture is considered as a business entity on its own, in legal terms, separated from the individual parties. As partners, each of the parties is legally liable for any debt or default committed by other partners on behalf of the joint venture, which may not be the case if formed as a consortium depending on details of the contractual agreement of constituting the consortium. Incorpotation: joint ventures which are intended to be a permanent business are usually constituted as an incorporate entity. This would enable the parties being insulated from the risks of the business of the joint venture, as a limited company. The major disadvantage is that the profit and loss sustained by the joint venture as incorporation cannot be set off against that of the parent companies for tax purpose. 3.1.3 Operational Structure The two extreme categories of operational structure of a joint venture are integrated joint venture and non integrated joint venture (Dennis Campbell and Antonida Netzer 2009) Integrated Structure: the parties agree on a certain proportion of capital and resources investment and a prescribed profit or loss sharing formula, and they both participate on every level of execution of the joint venture business. Non-integrated Structure: in such case, the joint venture usually provides for general management machinery, which looks after overall administrative and coordinative roles for the joint venture business. The whole business is then divided into packages or portions which are assigned to the parents to execute and operate such packages or portions as designated in the joint venture agreement (Appendix A) In practice joint ventures are usually a mixture of these two approaches. The question is the degree of integration to be adopted for the given set of circumstances faced by the joint venture. For that joint venture business that can be divided into clear cut portions and such divided portions will suit the capability and resources of different partners, non-integrated approach will usually be adopted. While the joint venture business is complex and it requires a centralised management of all aspects of the business, the management will be integrated. Integrated approach is more difficult to manage. Conflicting interests and ideas between the partners can arise more often than non-integrated approach. But it is often unavoidable as the nature of the joint venture business mar not is possible to be divided neatly into portions. On the other hand, for non-integrated approach, complicated contractual argument can arise between partners. In case of joint venture agreement in a basis of joint and several responsibilities, it is not uncommon that the partners lodge contractual claims against each other on non-performance or default of the other parties in executing their portion of the joint venture business resulting loss to the whole joint venture from third party claims. The Case Study The parents attempted to adopt a mixture of shared and independent management for the joint venture under study, as implied in the conditions of the joint venture agreement. The management committee of the joint venture, which was the highest level of decision making and policy setting, were composed of one representative each partner. In respect of operational structure, a mixture of integrated and non-integrated approach was adopted. While a separate joint venture organization supposedly independent from the partners managed and operated the whole joint venture business integrally, the project was divided into portions and packages which were then subcontracted back to the partners under the joint venture 3.2 Motives of forming a Joint Venture Companies forming joint ventures basically intended to develop markets and products i.e. to strength the firmsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ existing business, to take the firms existing products to new market, to obtain new products that can be sold in the firm ´s existing markets, and to diversify into new businesses (Mark de Rond 2003) These objectives can be achieved through various ways, as shown in figure 1.1 But why choose a joint venture to try to achieve these objectives? Common reasons are: (Das y Teng 2000) Government Policies: because of licensing requirements of the government for undertaking a certain type of business in a country, e.g. for construction works in Spain many foreign companies may wish to form joint ventures with local companies who have the required licenses at hand in order to enter the market first, while they at the same time apply for the necessary licenses which may take months or even years in some cases. Many governments, who attempt to protect the development of certain industry of their countries, establish regulations that prohibit foreign companies to set up wholly owned subsidiaries. If foreign companies wish to explore the market of those countries, they have no choice to form joint ventures with local companies. Risk Sharing: in very large and risky projects that companies feel uncomfortable to bear but unwilling to give up the business opportunity, several companies share the risk by undertaking the project jointly. These risk may be commercial risks (finance, source of materials, technical uncertainties, etc) or political risks (change un government policies, unstable political status of the country, etc) Figure 1: Motives for joint venture formation New Markets Existing Makets To Take Existing Products To Foreign Markets Open Markets Closed Markets To Diversify into New Business Learning from your partner Learning with your partner To Strengthen the Existing Business Achieving economies of scale Acquiring technology Reducing financial risk To Bring Foreign Products To Local Markets Marketing and distribution Screwdriver assembly Developing local technology Technology flow back to parent Existing Products New Products Source: (Das y Teng 2000) Pooling of resources: companies often join to develop business that requires a combination of different resources (finance, technology, market access, local experience, etc) that none of these companies possess all of them, e.g. a combination of market access by one company and technical knowledge of a product by another, combination of different technical skills that are necessary to develop a product, or a combination of several companies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"resources to achieve economies of scale. Building business relation: some companies form joint ventures with in order to build up wide business relations among the industry. They believe that this will enable them to widen their networks of business and that it may be helpful for their further business developments in long term. Reduce competition: joining with your competitor automatically reduce the degree of competition. This is particularly useful if there are only a few potential competitors only. It is not uncommon to find in certain industry that formations of joint ventures effectively create monopolistic or oligopolistic conditions. The Case Study In the construction industry inherent risks involved in the projects are the major concern of a company ´s business strategy. Sharing of commercial risks (financial burdens on the company, source of raw materials, technical uncertainty involved with the works) for large scaled projects is the major reason of forming joint ventures. Because of the huge amount of resources involved and the multi-disciplinary nature of the projects, pooling if resources from several companies is necessary to gain sufficient competence in order to tender for the works. Not a single company may have all the necessary skills and sufficient amount of resources that are required for those Train Station Core Projects. Formations of joint ventures become the most common tactics for the construction firms to undertake those projects. Political risk is also a major concern especially for foreign firms who are not familiar with the policies. Most foreign firms conceive that formation of joint ventures is an effective way of securing the safety of the business, particularly when undertaking infrastructure development projects of payment terms. Large construction firms (both local and international firms that were interested and had potential to undertake these large projects) gradually formed into groups of consortium to tender for these jobs. As a result, the industry transformed into competing allied groups, instead of competing among individual firms. Although such transformation might be unintentional at the time these companies first formed joint ventures, they now became aware of such advantage and might use this again as one of the useful tools in future when considering the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s strategy competitions in the industry. 3.3 Selection of Partners 3.3.1The Criteria of Choosing a Partner Considerations on selection of partners concentrate on three majors themes: (Lynn Krieger 1991) Shared objectives Mutual trust and willingness to co-operate and Having necessary skills/resources The task is to find a compatible partner in respect of these three major themes. The right pair or group of partners often implies an asymmetry of partners, i.e. the right partners often have different quality and characteristics so that they will complement with each others on the need of the business. Basic consideration is whether the potential partner can provide what you need and the confidence of the potential partner ´s willingness to co-operate. They may not have the same objective but their co-operation should fulfill each other ´s objectives. They may not have the expertise on the same area, and they should possess different knowledge so that when combined together their competence will be strengthened. In fact two partners having expertise on the same area often is the source of conflicts as both will consider their own approach is superior without due respect on the other partner ´s expertise on the field. But right partners should desirably have similar management styles and outlooks so that their overall business strategy would go along the same direction. Otherwise, conflict on major business policy that is originated from the incompatibility of the partners expectation on what the joint venture should achieve eventually arise someday Lyn Krieger put forward two prepositions: The more similar the culture of firms forming a shared management joint venture, the easier the venture will be to manage. The more similar in size are the parents of a shared management venture, the easier the venture will be to manage. A significant size mismatch between a venture ´s parents can create a lot of problems for the venture. Culture here refers to both corporate culture and the culture of the country from which the firms are based. These propositions are based on the principle that managers, to be effectively working together, need to be able to evaluate each other ´s judgment and the way of working before they can build up a cohesive team. The second proposition is an extension of the first one as size of the company can contribute to difference in corporate culture. One should also be alert on any hidden agenda of your potential partner (Kathryn Rudie 2003). Confidence on the observation of your potential partner ´s real intention and objective to form the joint venture is a pre-requisite condition before a decision can be made on the choice of partners. The classic tragic case of Beijing Jeep is a good example of hidden agenda. Both partners did not spell out clearly their real intention of what was to be achieved, and both partners did not understand thoroughly the other partner ´s real intention before signing the joint venture agreement. Unreasonable conflicts arose not long after formation of the joint venture, when both parties realized that they were expecting something beyond the wishes of the other party. The tragedy ought to be avoidable if both parties made clear of their expectations before signing on the joint venture agreement. 3.3.2 The Process Selection It is suggested that a step-by-step approach should be adopted to develop relationship with potential partners (Kathryn Rudie 2003): Prepare a checklist desirable quality of the partner Searching out for potential partners based on the checklist Prepare proposals and issues to study and negotiate with the potential partner If possible, try out a joint venture of small scale before committing long term and large scaled joint venture business Theatrically, this process enables the partners to develop faith and mutual trust and allows better mutual understanding before placing large financial stakes on joint ventures with unfamiliar partners. Obviously, this takes a long time and in practice the ever changing business environment often does not wait for such long process of partner selection. Business opportunities simply slip away before the good partner relationship can evolve in this way. In real life, it is often founded that good joint venture partner relationship is assumed at the time of signing the joint venture agreement, and the assumption is often based on personal relationship between the CEOs of the companies. The Case Study Major consideration in selection of partners was what resources the partner could bring in to supplement his shortages and strengthen the competence of the company to successfully tender for the job. Reputation and track record in the international construction industry was the first item to check on, particularly as the potential partner was new-comers to Spain. It was admitted that the other partnerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s intention of choosing the company was not fully known at the time of forming the joint venture. At that time, it was only understood that the company was chosen by other partners because of its local experiences in Spain and the feeling of political security that the firm could provide as a whole owned company. It was now gradually revealed that

Summary and Analysis of The Monks Tale :: Canterbury Tales The Monks Tale Essays

Summary and Analysis of The Monk's Tale (The Canterbury Tales) Prologue to the Monk's Tale: When the tale of Melibee ended, the Host said that he'd give up a barrel of ale to have his wife hear the tale of Prudence and her patience, for she is an ill-tempered woman. The Host asks the narrator his name, and attempts to guess his profession  ­ perhaps a sexton or other such officer, or a wily governor. The Monk will tell the next tale, a series of tragedies. Analysis Chaucer uses the prologue to the Monk's Tale as one more opportunity for satiric, self-referential comedy. Within the story he is a necessarily opaque character. Significantly, the Host assumes that Chaucer is, at best, a mid-ranking government official and not an artist capable of constructing a landmark piece of literature such as the Canterbury Tales. The Monk's Tale: The Monk's Tale is not a strict narrative tale as are most of the other Canterbury Tales. Instead, it chronicles various historical characters who experience a fall from grace. The first of these is Lucifer, the fair angel who fell from heaven to hell. Next is Adam, the one man who was not born of original sin, but lost Paradise for all humanity. Samson fell from grace when he admitted his secret to his wife, who betrayed it to his enemies and then took another lover. Samson slew one thousand men with an ass's jawbone, then prayed for God to quench his thirst. From the jawbone's tooth sprung a well. He would have conquered the world if he had not told Delilah that his strength came from his refusal to cut his hair. Without this strength his enemies cut out Samson's eyes and imprisoned him. In the temple where Samson was kept he knocked down two of the pillars, killing himself and everyone else in the temple. The next tale is of Hercules, whose strength was unparalleled. He was finall y defeated when Deianera sent Hercules a poisoned shirt made by Nessus. The Monk then tells the tale of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon who had twice defeated Israel. The proud king constructed a large gold statue to which all must pray, or else be cast into a pit of flames. Yet when Daniel disobeyed the king, Nebuchadnezzar lost all dignity, acting like a great beast until God relieved him of his insanity. The next, Balthasar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, also worshipped false idols, but fortune cast him down.

Planning and Enabling Learning †Pel Essay

Wilson (2008:01) asserts that – â€Å"A learner can be aged from 14 upwards and learning can occur in any suitable environment. Learners in the sector may be funded by government bodies, by their employers, by funding councils or by their own finances. Some are supported by student loans, bursaries or scholarships. In a nutshell, lifelong learning covers everything that is not compulsory education. † Theory – Initial assessment Initial assessment happens at the time of a learner’s transition into a new learning programme. It is a holistic process, during which a teacher/ trainer starts to build up a picture of an individual’s achievements, skills, interests, previous learning experiences and goals, and the learning needs associated with those goals. This information is used as a basis for negotiating a course or programme. TASK 1 – (i)b: Which services are available for learners who need extra help and support? Venue evaluation case study The College welcomes students with additional learning needs on to its courses and seeks to ensure that whenever possible those needs are met. The selection criteria and procedures are kept under review to ensure that all applicants and students are treated fairly. Students are selected and treated on the basis of their relevant merits and abilities. TASK 1 – (ii). Evaluate ways of planning, negotiating and recording appropriate learning goals with learners Theory – Planning and negotiating learning goals â€Å"If you don’t know where you are going, it is difficult to select a suitable means for getting there†, Mager (1955). A learning goal is what a learner wants to achieve, by attending a relevant programme of learning with his/ her teacher/ tutor. The learning programme will be determined by the qualification content, published by an Awarding or Examining Body. The teacher/ tutor need to know what he/ she is going to teach, and their learners need to know what they are going to learn. These should be formally negotiated and agreed. A supportive and respectful relationship between the learners and the teacher/ tutor will ensure realistic goals and targets are agreed, along with how the learning progress will be assessed and recorded. Recording learning goals A teacher/ tutor should encourage his/ her learners to take ownership of the process of planning their learning journey. To help promote them to be independent learners, the teacher/ tutor will need to negotiate and agree their goals and targets, and assess their progress along the way. It is important that all targets are recorded whether they are hard targets, i. e. directly based on the curriculum or soft targets, i. e. personal and social goals. If the teacher/ tutor is teaching a programme, which does not lead to a formal qualification, he/ she will still need to record learner progress. This is known as recognising and recording progress and achievement in non-accredited learning (RARPA). TASK 2 – SCHEME OF WORK TASK 2 – (i). Devise a scheme of work in your own specialist area for a minimum of 4 weeks or eight sessions, ensuring that it includes all the information indicated on the Performa on p21 Theory – Scheme of Work Every teacher/ tutor has a scheme of work, but it may exist only inside her head, and it may be incomplete. Just as the curriculum is the answer to the learner’s question, â€Å"Why do we have to learn this? † the scheme of work is the answer to the teacher’s question, â€Å"What am I going to do? †. It is the teacher’s equivalent of the builder’s plan and the engineer’s blueprint. Scheme of Work is a working document. It is not immutable, just as building plans can be changed up to a point. It is made to be messed with, to be annotated and scrawled all over. It is the most useful evaluation tool you can have, because given that most of us repeat courses year on year, reference to last year’s well-worn Scheme (and the year before’s) is the best guide to how to change things for this year (particularly if the teacher/ tutor are conscientious enough to enter in the findings from your evaluation exercises). TASK 2 – (iii)a. Justification – The selection and sequencing of topics, and, when relevant, how this met curriculum/ syllabus requirements Theory – Brief introduction to Marketing and Marketing mix Marketing is at the heart of every organisation’s activity. Its importance is also growing in the non-commercial, public and voluntary sectors. Also, at the heart of marketing is the customer. This unit will introduce learners to some of the tools and techniques all types of organisations use to achieve their objectives. â€Å"Marketing refers to the social and managerial processes by which products, services and value are exchanged in order to fulfil individuals’ or group’s needs and wants. These processes include, but are not limited to, advertising, promotion, distribution, and sales. The marketing mix is a broad concept, which includes several aspects of marketing which all, inquires to obtain a similar goal of creating awareness and customer loyalty. The marketing mix is not only an important concept, but a guideline to reference back to when implementing the price, promotion, product, and distribution†, (wikipedia. com). Justification – Selection and sequencing of topics, and, when relevant The selection and sequencing of the topics is based upon the learning aims, purpose and objectives that the unit involves. The aim and purpose of this unit is to give learners an understanding of how marketing, research and planning and the marketing mix are used by all organisations. The five units delivered in the five weekly sessions enable the tutor to cover the unit of ‘Marketing mix’, which is part of the module ‘principles of marketing’, besides covering the focused subject area, the other significant advantage is that it can also be used as a basis for further study of specialist marketing units depending on interest and availability of the unit as specialist subject area. The ‘Marketing mix’ unit is a mandatory syllabus requirement, delivered through the 5 weeks classroom sessions providing a comprehensive understanding of the practical issues involved in Marketing using 4Ps tool of marketing mix. From this unit, Firstly, learners will explore how different types of organisations use marketing principles to meet the needs of their customers and achieve their objectives. The constraints under which organisations operate are important and learners will study the legal requirements and voluntary codes that affect marketing. Secondly, Learners will examine how a marketing mix is developed to meet the needs and aspirations of a targeted group of prospective customers, before going on to develop a marketing mix for a new product or service. How the tutor’s scheme of work plan met curriculum/ syllabus requirements: †¢Selected and adapted, a range of inclusive learning activities to enthuse and motivate learners, ensuring that curriculum requirements are met. Analysed the strengths and limitations of a range of resources, including new and emerging technologies, showing how these resources can be used to promote equality, support diversity and contribute to effective learning. †¢Identified literacy, language, numeracy and ICT skills, which are integral to own specialist area, reviewing how they support learner achievement. TASK 2 – (iii)b. Justification – The use of resources and how they promoted inclusive learning Theory – Inclusive learning Inclusive teaching means re cognising, accommodating and meeting the learning needs of all the students. It means acknowledging that the students have a range of individual learning needs and are members of diverse communities: a student with a disabling medical condition may also have English as an additional language and be a single parent. Inclusive teaching avoids pigeonholing students into specific groups with predictable and fixed approaches to learning. TASK 2 – (iii)c. Justification – Differentiation Theory – Differentiation in practice in the curriculum â€Å"The key to the differentiated curriculum is the flexible use by teachers of a wide range of activities and lesson organisations†, Janet Spillman (1991). Differentiation is about teaching and learning styles and teachers should be using all three types of differentiation in order to have a variety of teaching approaches to accommodate the different learning styles in the classroom. Teachers who only organise in the ‘ability group’ way are limiting the learning of many pupils in their classes, particularly those with special educational needs. All pupils should experience all three types of differentiation in order for teachers and pupils to maximise the teaching and learning that occurs in the classroom. Accelerated Coverage of Material promote interactive methodology for learner tutor involvement, Supplementary Materials provided as the course subject material for developing understanding and highlighting key issues, Graphic diagrams provided for visual assessment and absorption by the learners of the concepts and theory, Group and independent Study held for working cooperation and discussion of diverse views from the mass participation, Recommendation of relevant Books from various expert in the field – it is important to read specialised book from a pool of books available from the same subject area which is not easy for the learners to identify. TASK 2 – (iii)d. Justification – How the minimum core (literacy, language, numeracy and ICT) supported learning Theory – Minimum Core Since September 2000 it has been expected that initial teacher education programmes should equip all trainee teachers to develop inclusive approaches to addressing the language, literacy and numeracy needs of their learners’. The requirement for all trainee teachers to meet the minimum core of literacy, language, numeracy in all post-16 teacher initial teacher education (ITE) programmes was first defined by FENTO in 2004. Coverage of the minimum core is intended to provide a teacher with the minimum level of skills in language, literacy, numeracy and ICT that are essential to teachers who work in the lifelong learning sector. Justification – Minimum core (literacy, language) supported learning Speaking and listening – Learners make a range of contributions to classroom discussions and make effective presentations in a wide range of contexts by carrying out individual and/ or group work investigating organisations and their marketing working with others in investigating businesses (employees, olleagues, teachers, class mates). Reading – Learners are able to compare, select, read and understand texts and use them to gather information, ideas, arguments and opinions reading about organis ations and their marketing reading about organisations to obtain data to compare businesses marketing activities Writing – Learners are able to write documents, including extended writing pieces, communicating information, ideas and opinions, effectively and persuasively writing materials to provide information about organisations marketing activities producing labelled charts and diagrams. Justification – Minimum core (numeracy and ICT) supported learning By introducing various ways of interaction with and using ICT and Web ICT systems independently, learners can research organisations and their marketing activities, enabling them to understand approaches to complex classroom task needs. Calculation techniques, formulas and tabulating information about organisations allow learners to use numerical methods of learning and assessment. Exploration, investigation and evaluate of the relevant marketing topics from the provided information and case studies, and data from the from websites about business organisations and their marketing activities help the learner get involved with the key issues of the subject area. TASK 3 – LESSON PLANNING TASK 3 – (i). Design and include a lesson plan on the Greenwich proforma (p 19-20), which you would use in your specialist area, completing all aspects of this proforma (150 words limit) â€Å"To fail to plan is to plan to fail†, (Petty, 2004:422, cited by Wilson, 2008). According to a definition at Wikipedia. com, a ‘lesson plan’ is a teacher’s detailed description of the course of instruction for one class. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class instruction. Details will vary depending on the preference of the teacher, subject being covered, and the need and/or curiosity of children. TASK 3 – (v). Discuss the reasons for the inclusion of aspects of the minimum core (literacy, numeracy and ICT) in this lesson plan (150 words limit) Justification – Minimum core (literacy, language) supported learning Speaking and listening – Learners make a range of contributions to classroom discussions and make effective presentations in a wide range of contexts by carrying out individual and/ or group work investigating organisations and their marketing working with others in investigating businesses (employees, colleagues, teachers, class mates). Reading – Learners are able to compare, select, read and understand texts and use them to gather information, ideas, arguments and opinions reading about organisations and their marketing reading about organisations to obtain data to compare businesses marketing activities Writing – Learners are able to write documents, including extended writing pieces, communicating information, ideas and opinions, effectively and persuasively writing materials to provide information about organisations marketing activities producing labelled charts and diagrams.

Free Essays on Magical Death

â€Å"Magical Death† is just one of anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon and ethnographic filmmaker Timothy Asch’s collaborative projects that document the lives and culture of an indigenous Lowland South American society in Venezuela. Their more than forty films resulted in making the Yanomami of this particular village are one of the most visually well-represented aboriginal peoples in 20th century anthropological studies. According to Tiffany and Adams (1996), the films made by Chagnon and Asch throughout the 1970s: â€Å". . . made over a quarter of a century ago, provide vivid - frequently startling - scenarios of an aggressively masculine world of club fights, chest-pounding duels, treacherous feasts, sorcery, drug-ingesting, misogynist origin myths, and derogations of women as drudges and trouble-makers. These visual representations are reinforced by the ‘Fierce People’ designation in Chagnon’s [1968] widely-read ethnography† (pp. 169). Focus on the Yanomami Many of the films made by Chagnon and Asch focus on the day-to-day life of the Yanomami and have titles such as Weeding the Garden, A Man and His Wife Make a Hammock, and Firewood. Magical Death, made in 1973, portrays Yanomami shamans causing a trance through taking psycho-active drug â€Å"ebene.† They do this in order to be able to contact their spirit helpers or â€Å"hekura† for assistance and guidance in times of sickness or adversity. In a review of the movie for American Anthropologist in 1975, Eric Almquist noted that Magical Death â€Å"is a testing ground for cultural tolerance, a test which most of us would have to admit failing† and refers to its â€Å"visual brutality† (pp. 179). Almquist also noted his certainty that the film was designed to shock and revolt the viewers from the 20th century Western world. He adds: â€Å"The impact of the entire film on American student audiences is brutal, and in some cases even nauseating. In an age when students are either exp... Free Essays on Magical Death Free Essays on Magical Death â€Å"Magical Death† is just one of anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon and ethnographic filmmaker Timothy Asch’s collaborative projects that document the lives and culture of an indigenous Lowland South American society in Venezuela. Their more than forty films resulted in making the Yanomami of this particular village are one of the most visually well-represented aboriginal peoples in 20th century anthropological studies. According to Tiffany and Adams (1996), the films made by Chagnon and Asch throughout the 1970s: â€Å". . . made over a quarter of a century ago, provide vivid - frequently startling - scenarios of an aggressively masculine world of club fights, chest-pounding duels, treacherous feasts, sorcery, drug-ingesting, misogynist origin myths, and derogations of women as drudges and trouble-makers. These visual representations are reinforced by the ‘Fierce People’ designation in Chagnon’s [1968] widely-read ethnography† (pp. 169). Focus on the Yanomami Many of the films made by Chagnon and Asch focus on the day-to-day life of the Yanomami and have titles such as Weeding the Garden, A Man and His Wife Make a Hammock, and Firewood. Magical Death, made in 1973, portrays Yanomami shamans causing a trance through taking psycho-active drug â€Å"ebene.† They do this in order to be able to contact their spirit helpers or â€Å"hekura† for assistance and guidance in times of sickness or adversity. In a review of the movie for American Anthropologist in 1975, Eric Almquist noted that Magical Death â€Å"is a testing ground for cultural tolerance, a test which most of us would have to admit failing† and refers to its â€Å"visual brutality† (pp. 179). Almquist also noted his certainty that the film was designed to shock and revolt the viewers from the 20th century Western world. He adds: â€Å"The impact of the entire film on American student audiences is brutal, and in some cases even nauseating. In an age when students are either exp...

The Naked Ape Essays - Human Behavior, Behavior, Abnormal Psychology

The Naked Ape Essays - Human Behavior, Behavior, Abnormal Psychology The Naked Ape In The Naked Ape, Desmond Morris provides an alternative explanation of the causative factors underlying various human behavior patterns and societal and cultural activities. He develops his theme around such human activities as feeding, grooming, sleeping, fighting, mating and care of the young. He compares human traits and behaviors with those exhibited by animals, mainly the primates, in like activities. His point is that understanding the evolutionary source of many behaviors can throw new light on understanding the complex nature of the human species. Morris begins by examining the evolution of the mammals, from the earliest insectivores to the latest carnivores, detailing the survival characteristics which led to the success of some species over others. He provides great detail on the development of the nearly naked carnivorous 'hunting ape' from the fruit eating primate group. He presents a thorough discussion of sexual behavior, stressing the similarities between human 'rituals' and primate behaviors. Tracing the three characteristic sexual phases of pair formation, pre-copulatory activity, and copulation, the evolutionary process which lies at the root of modern human sexual behavior is clearly laid out. Similarly, he examines human child-rearing, and provides interesting insights into non-verbal communication and body language between mother and child. The role of exploratory behavior in the basic survival patterns of feeding, fighting, and mating, as well as its importance to an individual's social adjustment, is detailed. Morris analyzes thoroughly our human aggressive urges, as always providing examples of animal behaviors which serve as an objective base upon which to understand why we act as we do. In addition to territorial and social dominance aggressive behaviors, he describes the actual mechanics of aggression, both physiologically and behaviorally. Both displacement activity and appeasement activity are explored in detail. He concludes by examining human feeding and comfort behaviors and mankind's relationships with animals. Throughout the book he stresses that as a species, man is a simple biological phenomenon subject to all the basic laws of animal behavior. He feels that it is important to the survival of the human species to understand itself and the limitations implicit in being a 'naked ape'. Morris admits that he perhaps over-stresses the biological/zoological slant of his thesis, but even so his concepts are capably and logically developed. I found it easy and fascinating to recognize myself (and others) in almost every behavioral situation he describes. One very important point to keep in mind about Morris' book is that he is exploring 'normal' social behavior, not abnormal behavior. He has taken almost every aspect of man's everyday life and shown, acceptably and believably in my opinion, that in many cases human behavior can be understood in terms of our evolutionary roots.

Source Discussion Forum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Source Discussion Forum - Essay Example The source from MEDLINE Plus written by Dr. Cindy Haines entitled A Few Too Many presented a brief indication that current statistics revealed that increasing number of Americans are into binge drinking. The CDC, likewise disclosed that â€Å"binge drinking is reported by one in six U.S. adults, and those who binge drink tend to do so frequently and with high intensity† (1). The sources are both authoritative on the subject and the applicability of the contents are high due to the currency of the publication dates (both in 2012). Both articles provided recommendations that include sticking to moderate drinking and contacting health providers, as needed. Evaluating sources of information are crucial in one’s research because the more credible and verifiable the resources, the higher the reliability and validity of the research. Using Wikipedia or About.com are sources that do not acknowledge veracity of the information since authors are authorities in the field of expertise and anyone can just present opinions without validating the

Cross-Cultural Enterprise Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Cross-Cultural Enterprise Management - Essay Example Focus of the paper will be towards emphasizing the importance of effective cross cultural management in an enterprise and to what extent this affects the survival of the enterprise. Cross-cultural management is particularly important for the operation of an enterprise to gain the requisite advantage in the fiercely competitive world. If the problem of cultural conflict in an enterprise is not handled well, it might influence the entire working environment of the enterprise and make the task of management more complex and the decision-making and implementation of multinational operation more difficult. Such problems might restrict the selection of human resources from native or overseas market, products and services. The impact of cultural conflict on the transnational business happens to be quite comprehensive, systematic affecting the entire process. This study will center on the cross-cultural enterprise management to analyze the problems in enterprise cultural management and prese nt possible solutions which are of a certain guiding significance to some of the UK companies On the basis of successful and unsuccessful case analyses of overseas investments by some of the UK companies or by some MNCs in UK, the study tries to put forward general theories in such a manner that the study proves to be of some help in future research work. Background Cross-cultural management in essence means managing different cultures with effective coordination amongst the cultural groups and management teams of different cultures with its impact on organizational behavior, effective communication with people who come from different countries and cultural backgrounds. (Li,C & Lu,C, 2000) Along with the rapid development in the economic field and globalization and integration of economies, the role of corporate culture is becoming increasingly significant in upgrading enterprise competitiveness. Different culture backgrounds, values, enterprise management modes, politics, beliefs and cultures as well as racism and communication misunderstanding will give rise to corporate cultural conflicts. Cultural conflicts will in turn affect the relationship between multinational management and local employees and may lead to a loss in market opportunity and organizational efficiency, thus hampering the implementation plans of global strategies of multinat ionals. The so called "cultural conflict" refers to the process of confrontation and repulsion between different cultures or cultural elements, which not only includes the conflict arising from cultural difference between multinationals and countries where multinationals operate but also the conflict among internal employees from different cultural