Diversity is defined as “real or perceived differences among people in race, ethnicity, sex, age, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, religion, work and family status, weight and appearance, and other identity-based attributes that affect their interactions and relationships”(Bell, 2011, p.5).
I am a left handed person. As I went about my day, only being able to function with my right hand, it was very difficult trying to do things such as open a can of soup with a can opener, tie my own shoestrings, and even taking a shower was very difficult to get used to. It allowed me to see how very hard it is to be in an environment where things are designed for right handed people and “lefties” have to learn to adapt. In addition, it is just as difficult to learn to adapt in a workplace setting with which you are unfamiliar. Workplace diversity is the variety of differences between people in an organization.
It is very important for professionals and managers to understand the importance of diversity in the workplace because it encompasses cultural, ethnic, and gender differences that can lead to positive outcomes for businesses. Cultural diversity in the workplace refers to the values, norms, and traditions that affect the way a member of a group normally perceives, thinks, interacts, and makes decisions. Cultural differences in the workplace affect communication and team building. I am a registered nurse who works on an adult psychiatric unit and also on a child-adolescent psychiatric unit. We have a Nigerian medical doctor that comes to the unit to see the patients for any medical issues. Many staff members complain that he is rude and very difficult to understand especially over the phone. In addition, many staff members complain about not liking him very much.
The Essay on Workplace Diversity
Needs, values and priorities of employees and employers have changed dramatically over the last decade. On all rungs of the corporate ladder, men and women are seeking new ways to manage the time they spend working so they can spend more time living. In the boardrooms, executives are seeking ways to attract - and retain - the best employees so they can continue to survive and thrive in a highly ...
One evening he came to the unit around 9:30pm. He was very pleasant. He stayed for approximately two hours and saw each patient that was on the medical board. He was extremely thorough and even joked with staff. It is evident to me that many times because of cultural diversity, we often prejudge people before we get to either know them or get the opportunity to be around them. As I listened to him, I did notice that it was a little difficult to understand him but I also know that it was frustrating for him to have to repeat himself over and over. I think managers and businesses should have cultural seminars to educate staff on different cultures because in regards to this Nigerian doctor, staff disliked him because of a communication barrier. In the workplace if we would be sensitive to each other and be educated on the cultures we encounter, it would be a more pleasant environment for everyone. “Ethnicity refers to a shared national origin or a shared cultural heritage.”(Bell, 2011).
There was an adult Hispanic patient on the adult unit who didn’t speak English. Furthermore, she was the only Spanish patient on the unit and there were no Spanish speaking staff on the unit. An interpreter was made available to her from 7:00am until 9:00pm which was the only timeframe an interpreter was available to our unit. One night while the patient was on the unit, she wanted to use the phone and make a call. It was almost 9:00pm and the interpreter was about to leave. Before the interpreter left, she assisted the patient with making the phone call. Once the patient reached the person she was trying to speak with, the interpreter left. While the patient was on the phone, she began to get very agitated. Suddenly she slammed the phone down and started kicking the wall. There was no one on the unit who spoke or understood Spanish.
The patient had to be put in locked door seclusion. The next day staff discussed the situation with the manager and it was decided to have a 24 hour interpreter on the unit for patients who didn’t speak English. As a nurse, I am always advocating for patients and their safety. The manager heard the staffs’ concern and immediately responded in a positive way. It was a great decision because now we will have more patients that do not speak English admitted to the unit. Bell (2011) proposes that gender represents perceptions of how men and women should behave, rather than demonstrating natural differences between them that might initiate them to perform differently (p. 5) Something as simple as moving a bed from one place to another is typical of how society perceives men and how they should behave versus women. We had to transport a bed on the psychiatric unit from one room to the quiet room. There was one male counselor and two female counselors.
The Essay on Equality And Shows Further That Women Men Husband Divorce
Women's role in society has changes much throughout history all over the world. In Korea, during the Koryo Period, it had not been uncommon for an upper class man to have several wives. Talented women were to be concubines, or kisaeng, who could make intelligent conversation, recite and even compose poetry, sing, dance and even play musical instruments. On the other hand, main wives had been there ...
The charge nurse who was a female went to the male counselor and asked him to move the bed. He accommodated her with no issues. It would seem logical to have had the two female counselors move the bed since there were two of them but because we have perceptions of how men and women should behave; the female charge nurse went to the male counselor. Men are perceived to be the ones that take out the trash, mow the lawn, fix the car, build a house, and pick up substantially weighty objects. However there are women who are capable of doing the same duties. “Gender role socialization is the process by which social institutions including-families, friends, and the media-form and shape expectation of acceptable behaviors for men and women.
It affects women’s treatment in organizations (by managers and peers), career “choices” and paths, and women’s responsibilities outside of work (which are related to organizational progress and success” (Bell, 2011, p. 294).
This could also be perceived as one of the reasons to give men higher salaries than women. Finally, understanding the importance of cultural, ethnic and gender differences in the workplace can increase morale, enhance communication, improve relationships with staff and patients, decrease staff complaints, improve staff turnover, provide a safer environment for all patients, and allow for excellence in creativity and performance from all staff members.
References
Bell, M.P. (2011).
Diversity in Organizations. (2nd ed.).
[Vitalsource bookshelf version]. Retreived from http://www.online.vitalsource.com/books/9781285700878/id/L2-2-4
The Business plan on Indian Pharmaceutical Industry Companies Market India
The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry... INTRODUCTION The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry today is in the front rank of India's science-based industries with wide ranging capabilities in the complex field of drug manufacture and technology. A highly organized sector, the Indian Pharma Industry is estimated to be worth $ 4. 5 billion, growing at about 8 to 9 percent annually. It ranks very high in the ...
1. Background:
With the rapid evolution of telephony in the past few years, many wireless chipset manufacturing plants have confronted challenges adapting to the emerging market trends. In 2009, MediaTek took the fabless semiconductor market by surprise, capitalizing on roughly a third of the sales of the entire market. Although, as the marketplace evolved, so did technological innovation in the field, leaving Mr. Tsai, the CEO of MediaTek, with a great dilemma. Tsai confronts great challenges in attracting tier-one companies (I.E Nokia, Motorola, or Samsung) to purchase MediaTek’s product, due to major competitors in the industry. Currently, MediaTek is indirectly a mass supplier of chipsets to the Shanzhai (counterfeit) market. Tsai is sceptical of the company’s future in this market segment due to its uncertain characteristics and unforeseeable evolution, and is thus contemplating shifting to the more rigid market segment; tier-one brands.
2. External Analysis:
1. General Environment
Technological: In the past three decades, a major shift in technology has prevailed in the mobile handset industry. Through innovation and technological advances, the market shifted from analog transmissions (1G), to digital mobile communications in 1992 (also known as 2G), and ultimately to the Wideband Data Communications network (3G).
With rapid changes in this dynamic marketplace only the most well-funded and well-managed companies have managed to emerge from generation to generation, whilst others have been unsuccessful.
Sociocultural: In the past thirty years, the evolution of the cellular mobile device market has had a vast impact on the interactional behaviour within society. With mass availability and affordability of wireless telecommunication devices, they have become widely accepted throughout the world. This phenomenon has resulted in great economic growth within the market.
Economic: With an increased demand of widely available wireless telecommunication devices, the handset market grew from a high-end niche market into the most widespread electronic device in the world. Estimates suggest that between 1.2 billion and 1.4 billion units were produced, and shipped in 2009 alone, categorizing it as the world’s most prevalent electronic device.
The Essay on Lancôme Cosmetic Market Analysis, Company Profile
Rich Experience in cosmetics industryLancôme has been established in cosmetics market since 1935. Lancôme products have great varieties. Its products include skincare, makeup and fragrance products. In this way, Lancôme's experience of producing many different kinds of cosmetics products has been accumulated for 66 years. This remarkable achievement can make the customers more confident of its ...
Global: With evolving technological innovation, globalization has prevailed in the passed decades. With free-trade agreements, and extensive transportation networks, the reachability of new market places has grown immensely. Thus, demand for both brand-name cellphones as well as “White Box” cellular devices has significantly increased, resulting in a vast demand of wireless chipsets.
2. Industry Environment
Porter’s Five Forces:
Barriers of Entry: Due to low labour costs, low production costs, a relatively low selling point (exhibit 5), and the widely available schematics of the wireless chipset, which can be found online, it can be argued that the barrier of entry to this market is quite low.
Buyer Power: Due to the mass increase in demand of cheap, innovative, and easily programmable chipsets, MediaTek’s chipset sales have sky-rocketed by 25% in the span of four months (from 80 million units in the second quarter to 100 million units in the third quarter).
Resulting in demand levels the company was not able to supply, and has thus chosen to focus only on their top 20-30 customers, leading to low buyer power.
Supplier Power: Although not much information was given from a supplier view-point, one can argue that MediaTek has been capable of supplying a basic chipset (2.5G-2.75G) for a relatively low price, thus suggesting the raw materials supplier does not have much bargaining power.
Intensity of Competition: Although not many suppliers of fabless semiconductors exist, the intensity of competition is relatively high due to vigorous technological innovation. In order to differentiate itself, MediaTek develops 100-200 new features on a yearly basis. The main field of competition, which sets companies apart, is their ability to offer a third generation chipset modules. The major players in the fabless semiconductor industry include Infineon, Marvell, Freescale, and Qualcomm.
The Term Paper on Motor Company Ford Web Product
INTRODUCTION The Twentieth Century was profoundly affected by the innovations of Henry Ford. The invention of the automobile gave opportunities to multitudes of people. These opportunities were not just in transportation, but in occupation as well. Today, no matter where a Ford is produced, the consumer knows that they are receiving a high quality product. The reason for this is that the majority ...
Threat of Substitutes: In this case analysis no threats of substitutes were mentioned.
Trends: With the rapid evolution of technology, the cellular phone industry has become one of the worlds most lucrative technological markets. It has changed the way in which humans interact with one another, and will continuously do so with technological advances. Industry Size: The fabless semiconductor industry entails approximately ten major players, and a very few smaller companies. Although is has been said that approximately 10,000 cellphone component manufacturing companies operate within the Shenzhen area. Growth: The industry growth rates have drastically grown in the late 90’s, and even more so in the decade to follow. In 2009, MediaTek’s sales rose from 80 million chipset units in the second quarter of the year, while the projections for the next fiscal quarter assumed sales of 100 million units, ultimately reaching 350 million units at the years end, acquiring approximately a 25% market share. 3. Opportunities:
In this fast-evolving, technologically inclined market, MediaTek is in a position where they have capitalized on some aspects of scope, yet are still in the process of developing a network to exploit the full scale spectrum of the immense market in which they operate. Opportunities surround the company in both fields, which can be directly related. If MediaTek decides to update their designs and evolve into a 3G broadband fable chipset manufacturer, tier-one companies would be inclined to use their product. Due to the great customer services they offer, added value, continuous innovation, and relatively low price-point; MediaTek has gained a competitive advantage.
4. Threats:
In an industry where continuous innovation occurs on a daily basis, MediaTek faces vulnerabilities in regards to their strategy. While offering a “tier-one performance” product, the company supplies 95% of its chipsets to local Chinese “white-box” manufacturers. In turn, tier-one companies do not view MediaTek as an adequate supplier due to their involvement in the grey Shanzhai market. This market segment is unreliable, and with a change in regulatory practices, can be abolished. Resulting in a tremendous loss of sales to the MediaTek Company. 5. Conclusion:
The Essay on International Market Products Chinese Companies
1. INTRODUCTION There is no doubt that England acts an important role in the world! s market system, especially in Europe. But it seems that English products have little effects on Chinese market. To research the influence of English companies and products in China, I make a hypothesis that is! ^0 there is just a few Chinese consumers realize that English companies and products are famous in ...
In order to remain successful in the fable semiconductor industry, MediaTek should continue to differentiate themselves from competitors. They can do so by offering high quality products, with great customer services while continuously revolutionizing and developing a dynamic product to satisfy its clienteles demands while remaining cost leaders in their market segment. 3. Internal Analysis:
Strengths: MediaTek’s main strengths stem from their incredible value added to customers through various methods such as customer services ranging from chipset integration seminars to the available chipset schematics online, continuous research & development to stimulate innovation, and a very versatile product at a relatively low price-point. Weaknesses: By developing a “tier-one performance” chipset, rather than an actual tier-one module, MediaTek has cornered itself by limiting its selling opportunities. Due to the mass demand of these chipsets in the Chinese, grey Shanzhai, “White-Box” market, MediaTek has focused all their resources to produce 2.5G-2.75G products and have therefore missed out on significant ventures to become a contracted wholesale supplier to tier-one companies.
Value chain analysis: The user-friendly aspect of MediaTek’s online schematics enables customers to customize their chipset modules to differentiate the product. The constant stream of new features, aided by shorter production cycles (3 months), creates an innovative brand, adding on to the “tier-one performance” of the semiconductor. This positions MediaTek at an advantageous position within the marketplace. Sources of Competitive advantage: The company’s competitive advantage stems from its ability to produce a versatile chipset component backed up by intensive research and development procedures which result in an affordable, adaptable, customizable module. Conclusion: MediaTek’s strategy has ensured the company a leading position within the competitive market. Their great customer services, along with sizeable R&D investments has ensured customer satisfaction at a relatively low price point, which has differentiated them from their competitors and given the product a great added value. Due to tremendous growth in demand for the product, MediaTek’s comfortable position in the market has enabled them to concentrate production to its top 20-30 clients.
4. Current strategy evaluation:
Business-level: MediaTek has adopted an integrated strategy and is thus competing on both cost leadership as well as a differentiated product stratagem, through constant innovation and customer service. As a result, the company is a leader in the Shanzhai market. Corporate-level: MediaTek has capitalized on certain economies of scope aspects by producing two partially related products (DVD players, Fable Semiconductors), although they could go a step further and fully capitalize on scope by related diversification in the field of chipsets and produce a 3G product to satisfy further market demands. 5. Recommendation:
Tsai’s main dilemma regards the company strategy. He is unsure whether the company should pursue tier-one brands to supply with their chipsets, or if the company should remain in its current position and sell their product to the Shanzhai “White-Box” market. Although becoming a wholesaler to the tier-one market would immensely increase MediaTeks ability to capitalize on economies of scale, it would imply very rigid measures to be undertaken in order to satisfy the demands of the brand name cellphone manufacturers. I would advise Tsai to remain in his current business position and keep supplying the Shanzhai market with the company’s fable semiconductor, whilst horizontally expanding his operation. This could be done by creating a subsidiary within the brand to transform its reputation from an Original Equipment Manufacturing company (OEM) to an Original Brand Manufacturing company (OBM), in order to sell its product to tier-one buyers, and thus capitalizing on both economies of scale and scope.