Thursday, December 26, 2019

A Brief History of the African Nation of Tunisia

Modern Tunisians are the descendants of indigenous Berbers and of people from numerous civilizations that have invaded, migrated to, and been assimilated into the population over the millennia. Recorded history in Tunisia begins with the arrival of Phoenicians, who founded Carthage and other North African settlements in the 8th century B.C. Carthage became a major sea power, clashing with Rome for control of the Mediterranean until it was defeated and captured by the Romans in 146 B.C. Muslim Conquest The Romans ruled and settled in North Africa until the 5th century, when the Roman Empire fell and Tunisia was invaded by European tribes, including the Vandals. The Muslim conquest in the 7th century transformed Tunisia and the make-up of its population, with subsequent waves of migration from around the Arab and Ottoman world, including significant numbers of Spanish Muslims and Jews at the end of the 15th century. From Arab Center to French Protectorate Tunisia became a center of Arab culture and learning and was assimilated into the Turkish Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. It was a French protectorate from 1881 until independence in 1956, and retains close political, economic, and cultural ties with France. Independence for Tunisia Tunisias independence from France in 1956 ended the protectorate established in 1881. President Habib Ali Bourguiba, who had been the leader of the independence movement, declared Tunisia a republic in 1957, ending the nominal rule of the Ottoman Beys. In June 1959, Tunisia adopted a constitution modeled on the French system, which established the basic outline of the highly centralized presidential system that continues today. The military was given a defined defensive role, which excluded participation in politics. A Strong and Healthy Beginning Starting from independence, President Bourguiba placed strong emphasis on economic and social development, especially education, the status of women, and the creation of jobs, policies that continued under Zine El Abidine Ben Alis administration. The result was strong social progress – high literacy and school attendance rates, low population growth rates, and relatively low poverty rates – and generally steady economic growth. These pragmatic policies have contributed to social and political stability. Bourguiba,  President for Life Progress toward full democracy has been slow. Over the years, President Bourguiba stood unopposed for re-election several times and was named President for Life in 1974 by a constitutional amendment. At the time of independence, the Neo-Destourian Party (later the Parti Socialiste Destourien, PSD or Socialist Destourian Party)—enjoying broad support because of its role at the forefront of the independence movement—became the sole legal party. Opposition parties were banned until 1981. Democratic change Under Ben Ali​ When President Ben Ali came to power in 1987, he promised greater democratic openness and respect for human rights, signing a national pact with opposition parties. He oversaw constitutional and legal changes, including abolishing the concept of President for life, the establishment of presidential term limits, and provision for greater opposition party participation in political life. But the ruling party renamed the Rassemblement Constitutionel Dà ©mocratique (RCD or Democratic Constitutional Rally), dominated the political scene due to its historic popularity and the advantage it enjoyed as the ruling party. Survival of a Strong Political Party Ben Ali ran for re-election unopposed in 1989 and 1994. In the multiparty era, he won 99.44% of the vote in 1999 and 94.49% of the vote in 2004. In both elections he faced weak opponents. The RCD won all seats in the Chamber of Deputies in 1989, and won all of the directly elected seats in the 1994, 1999, and 2004 elections. However, constitutional amendments provided for the distribution of additional seats to the opposition parties by 1999 and 2004. Effectively Becoming President for Life A May 2002 referendum approved constitutional changes proposed by Ben Ali that allowed him to run for a fourth term in 2004 (and a fifth, his final, because of age, in 2009), and provided judicial immunity during and after his presidency. The referendum also created a second parliamentary chamber, and provided for other changes. SourcePublic Domain material, US Department of State  Background Notes.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Teaching Objectivism On The Courtroom - 1509 Words

Teaching Objectivism to the courtroom, Rearden is attacking the Collectivist philosophy by accepting reality; that one must produce for their own self-interest in order to pursue their own happiness. This moral code he is condemning breaks the law of existence: â€Å"A is A (1038)†. If A is not A, a person’s sole motive to live is not for himself, rather, to live for others. This premise of self-sacrifice denies reality, reason, and logic in place of faith, charity, and force. When Rearden declares â€Å"The public good be damned, I will have no part of it!† he condemns this irrational value system that promotes using oneself as a sacrificial animal and its methods of gaining control: by debilitating the producers and general public. The producers, through their guilt and force; the public at large by draining their capacity to think. Even though he is preaching Objectivism, Rearden lives according to this philosophy only partially. An Objectivist believes a person’s highest moral purpose is to pursue happiness through their values. He obtains the virtues, but feels guilt and shame for them. As Francisco D’Anconia tries to make Hank realize this fault, he asks â€Å"Why don’t you hold to the purpose of your life as clearly and rigidly as you hold to the purpose of your mills? (451)†. Hank runs his vastly successful Steel company objectively, mastering the reality of matter, which makes him â€Å"one of the last moral men in the world (451)†, but the distinction between him and D’Anconia,

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Organizational Theory and Design Sports Industry

Question: Discuss about theOrganizational Theory and Design for Sports Industry. Answer: Introduction The main of the study is to shed light on the importance of the leadership and the strategies of a company. For this particular assignment, the Sports industry of Australia have been considered. Further to carry out a detailed study, the Pacific Sports Management company has been chosen. The study includes the structure of the business that the company follows. The leadership style of the company is further discussed that helps to understand the performance level of the company since effective leadership is one of the keys to ensure efficiency in the organisation. Being one of the renowned brands in the market of Australia, the company has been following certain strategies that help the company to perform its business in the home market as well as in the overseas market. Pacific Sports Management (PSM) is one of the leading sports company in Australia. The company is known to provide personalised and exclusive management to the clients both in Australia and in the international market. The objective of the company is maintaining the level of hard work and loyalty. The company offers elite corporate network exposure to its clients and customers, which supports the career and their post career. Structure of the Company The Pacific Sports Management Company follows a line and staff organisational structure within the organisation. The company has a direct and a vertical relationship with the various levels in the organisation. The organization has both line and staff departments where the staff department allows the line people with advice and assistance in areas that are specialise such as quality control advising production department. The company replaced the staff authority of functional authority organisational structure with the staff responsibility (Eden and Ackermann 2013). This helps the company not to violate the principle of unity of command. Pacific sports management has three types of specialized staffs such as the advising, service and the control. The staffs of the company perform either any one or two of the above-mentioned function or all the functions together. The line personnel use the expertise of staff specialist to make the organisational structure of the company effective. Th e capability and the span of the control of the line managers of PSM can be enhanced, as they are relieved of a number of the functions (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson 2012). The staff people perform these functions in order to assist the line. Figure 1: The organisational structure of Pacific Sports Management (Source: Hendriks and Karsten 2014) Pacific Sports Management uses the line and staff organisational structure for its company as the managers receive many benefits from this organisational structure. The structure offers a direct vertical relationship between the different levels of the organisation that allows higher flexibility and specialization. The higher authority of the company easily identifies the knowledge and the expertise of the specialist. As the organisational structure has three types of specialised staff, the work is divided effectively that improves the organisational performance (Rothaermel 2015). The advisory loos after the management information system of the company, operation research and quantitative techniques, industrial engineering and planning. The service staffs carries out the activities of maintenance, purchase, stores, financing and marketing (Kane and Patapan 2014). On the other hand, the staffs of the control department ensure quality control, cost control, auditing etcetera. However, as argued by Shafritz, Ott and Jang (2015), this organisational structure might create confects in between the line and the staffs. There are chances for the staff officer to resent their lack of authority that creates low efficiency of the company. Nevertheless, the line and staff organisational structure is further advantageous as the Company is able to increase the span of control, relieves the line authority from the task of specialized decision and routine. There is no need for all round executives that supports the business of Pacific Sports Management. Leadership Style of the Company The PSM team is a dedicated team of professionals that have individuals with diverse skills. The team aims to provide service to the unique clients from the sports and entertainment contract, film and television production, sponsorship, publishing etcetera. The company follows a democratic leadership style in which the members or the staffs of the team are allowed to actively participate in the decision-making process. The employees are allowed to participate and freely exchange their views and ideas. This helps to increase the motivation level within the employees of PSM. The managing director and the owner of PSM, Chris Orr had an experience of fifteen years in the sports marketing and management industry before he established his own company. As per his perception on order to increase the efficiency of the company, it is necessary for the company to increase the productivity of the staffs working for the company. The employee productivity can be increased by increasing their motivation level and job satisfaction (Mellahi and Frynas 2015). Therefore, Chris Orr intends to follow the democratic leadership style that allows the employees to participate in the organisational activities. Thus, the director of PSM acts as a democratic leader in achieving the organisational goals. The director of sport of the company, Gavin Orr plays the role of identifying the athletes company into the organization. The director of sports represents the day to day welfare issues of the athlete. The greatest athletes in the rugby game are recruited by the company to assist the clients of the company. In the democratic leadership the workers or the subordinates are able to participate in the decision making process that helps them to feel satisfied with the job. The workers in PSM are aware of the activities happening in the organization, which accelerates the employee production. The subordinates have full opportunity to utilise their individual capabilities (Daft 2015). However, the decision-making is delayed, as a number of individuals are included in the process. The decentralization of the authority restricts the use of less competent executive. Strategies of the Company within Australian Market The Pacific Sports Management company uses different strategies within the Australian market that helps the company to achieve higher revenue and profits. The company implements branding strategy that increases the brand image. The company uses the attitude branding and iconic banding strategies. The company intends to represent larger feelings that is not only connected with the product and consumption of the products (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014). The iconic branding of PSM represents having aspects that helps to contribute to the self-expression and personal identity of the customers. Moreover, the company uses pricing strategies that helps to reduce the price of the products by reducing the cost of the products. The low price of the products and the services offered by the company supports the company to attract more customers (Goethals et al. 2014). Thus, a higher demand increases the revenue and the profit earned by PSM. Pacific Sports Management sets up comprehensive plan that guides the athletic department to grow and develop in the future. The company uses the PESTLE analysis to carry out a market research of the present markets in Australia. The strategic management helps the managers to understand how the key analytical factors affect the business (Shapiro 2014). The company is further able to formulate missions and goals that help to increase the efficiency of the company. Moreover, the stakeholder valises, powers, interest and the expectation of the company can be increased with the help of the strategies. The company implements strategies that increase the satisfaction level of the employees and the customers (Marion and Gonzales 2013). In addition to these strategies, the PSM uses the resource-based strategies that help the company to use the resources effectively. The strategies used by PSM in the home market that is in Australia, helps the mangers to manage the changing issues in the sports and event industry. The risk faced by the company can be easily accessed by the various strategies used by the company (Slack 2015). The strategy further allows the managers to understand the benefits and the risk related to the leadership styles used by the organisation. Strategies of the Company with Overseas Market The Pacific Sports management considers international marketing strategies as the company deals with the overseas clients. The company not only operates in the market of Australia but also serves the customers in Asia, UK, USA and UAE. The company therefore needs to carry out proper market research of the international market so as to understand the rules and regulation of the market in which it operates (Van de Ven, Ganco, and Hinings 2013). The ethical issues of the economy have to be maintained by the company that supports smooth business of the PSM. In order to run business in the international market of India (Asia), the managers of PSM uses the cost effective strategies that helps the company to reduce the input cost and the manufacturing cost of the company. When the company is able to produce the products and services at a comparatively lower cost, the company achieves a competitive advantage. This allows exporting the products in the international market as the company has a comparative advantage in producing goods (Cummings and Worley 2014). Further, the company uses the advertising strategy that helps the company to attract more clients in the market of USA. The company further uses the merger and acquisition strategies in the UAE and UK market to increase the revenue and the profit. The company achieves significant financial benefits and in case of losses, the companies are able to share the loss. The cost of research and development can be decreased with the help of merger and acquisition. The finds and the valuable assets for new development can be accessed with the help of the merger and acquisition strategy (Lizardo and Pirkey 2014). The market share of the company can be increased as PSM receives wider customer base. Moreover, through marketing budgets, the purchasing power of the company increases while the overhead cost is reduced. When PSM buys up intellectual property, the products and services becomes cheaper. Thus, the company applies these above strategies in the international market that increase the effectiveness and the productivity of the company. Conclusion and Recommendation From the detailed analysis about the Pacific Sports Management it can be mentioned that the company has an effective organisational structure that allows the company to care out all the organisational activities in a systematic manner. The company considers the line and staff organisational structure within the organisation. The company uses the democratic leadership style that allows the company to increase the efficiency of the employees that in turn increases the productivity of the company. The company implements strategies in the market of Australia and in the international market that helps to increase the market share in both local and international market. The company mainly implements the pricing strategies and the branding strategies in the market of Australia. The cost effective strategy, the merger and acquisition strategy is used in the international market to achieve higher market share. However, the managers of Pacific Sports Management of the sports industry needs to uses tools such as PESTLE and SWOT analysis to understand the internal as well the external environment of the company. The proper knowledge about the market helps to establish marketing strategies that can effectively be used to achieve the organisational goals. On the other hand, it is necessary for the company to use the leadership style effectively such that the risk of the style can be easily minimised. The company is able to increase the productivity of the workers when the leaders are able to lead the team effectively. Therefore, Pacific Sports Management Company not only needs to effectively implement the leadership style but also maintain it. As the democratic leadership is time consuming it should be ensured that the managers are able to design a proper activity plan and abide by the plan. The leader of the company that is the owner, director and other higher authority has to guide the employ ee in such a manner that a proper effective teamwork is created. The teamwork establishment is necessary that increases the productivity, revenue, profit and the market position of the company in the market of Australia and in the overseas market. References Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G., 2014.Organization development and change. Cengage learning. Daft, R.L., 2015.Organization theory and design. Cengage Learning. Eden, C. and Ackermann, F., 2013.Making strategy: The journey of strategic management. Sage. Goethals, G., Allison, S., Kramer, R. and Messick, D. eds., 2014.Conceptions of leadership: Enduring ideas and emerging insights. Springer. Hendriks, F. and Karsten, N., 2014. Theory of democratic leadership.P.'t Hart R. Rhodes (Eds.), Oxford handbook of political leadership, pp.41-56. Hill, C.W., Jones, G.R. and Schilling, M.A., 2014.Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning. Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D. and Hoskisson, R.E., 2012.Strategic management cases: competitiveness and globalization. Cengage Learning. Kane, J. and Patapan, H. eds., 2014.Good democratic leadership: on prudence and judgment in modern democracies. OUP Oxford. Lizardo, O. and Pirkey, M.F., 2014. How organizational theory can help network theorizing: Linking structure and dynamics via cross-level analogies.Research in the Sociology of Organizations,40, pp.33-56. Mellahi, K. and Frynas, G., 2015.Global strategic management. Oxford University Press. Rothaermel, F.T., 2015.Strategic management. McGraw-Hill. Shafritz, J.M., Ott, J.S. and Jang, Y.S., 2015.Classics of organization theory. Cengage Learning. Marion, R. and Gonzales, L.D., 2013.Leadership in education: Organizational theory for the practitioner. Waveland Press. Shapiro, I., 2014. Judgment and democratic leadership.Good Democratic Leadership: On Prudence and Judgment in Modern Democracies, p.128. Slack, N., 2015.Operations strategy. John Wiley Sons, Ltd. Van de Ven, A.H., Ganco, M. and Hinings, C.R., 2013. Returning to the frontier of contingency theory of organizational and institutional designs.The Academy of Management Annals,7(1), pp.393-440.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Moll Flanders Stretegies of Economic Survival free essay sample

Moll and Robinson have the same goal- economic survival but there’s a significant difference in their strategies. The novel shows the tough and emotionally draining journey of Moll Flanders who is born in Newgate Prison and abandoned at about a year-and-a-half. She has several marriages and children that haven’t worked out the way they should, she gets into criminal lifestyle and finally fulfills her greatly desired dream- to gain fortune and economic success. Her vanity and greed are the main focus of characterization. Even as a young girl her desire is to become a gentlewoman which is almost impossible for a lower-class woman because of the rigid class lines in England in that period. In fact, that desire leads her into one misadventure after another throughout her life. According to her theory, a young girl in poor circumstances has the right to find support as best as she can and that motivates her strategies of economic survival. We will write a custom essay sample on Moll Flanders Stretegies of Economic Survival or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Money is the driving source in the book. It becomes more important than class, love, moral and everything else. Moll is determined to prosper without working and the best possible way is to marry a rich husband. She sees people as commodities and her relationship with them as business transaction: â€Å"[†¦] as for their common design, that I understood too well to be drawn into any more snares of that kind. The case was altered with me, I had money in my pocket, and had nothing to say to them. I had been tricked once by that cheat called Love, but the game was over. I was resolved now to be married or nothing, and to be well married or not at all. †(Defoe 52) For the heroine money is equivalent of freedom and men are the means of collecting it. She chooses husbands on the basis of their affluence or social class, takes money for prostitution, steals from children and from people in distress, and only when she is too old to do otherwise does she repent. In Moll Flanders vanity is the force that prevails over virtue. It is vanity that determines Moll’s behavior in the first part of the book. Moll’s vanity facilitates her seduction by the elder brother. It is also a strong motif which runs through Moll’s five marriages and numerous lovers. It is a factor which precipitates her decision to steal rather to remain poor and exist only by the honest labor of her needle. In fact, all her actions are in some way linked to her vanity. Moll’s strategies of economical survival are not to be admired upon as everything she has achieved is thanks to lying, cheating, hurting a lot of people and committing crimes. Robinson Crusoe, on the other hand, has completely different ways of surviving. He learns to manage on his own and everything he has accomplished is because of his courage, faith, abilities and amazing survival skills. Both characters are interested in accumulating wealth. That’s why Robinson embarks on his journey to take part in trade but in contrast to Moll, he depends only on himself. The heroine in Moll Flanders uses husbands for purely egoistical reasons. She lies about her fortune in order that they agree to be betrothed to her. She manipulates people and accomplishes her devious plan. When she’s left empty-handed after all of her victims she begins a career of artful thievery using her charm, beauty, wits, femininity, cold-heartedness and evil mind. Then it comes a time when she finally gets the financial security she has always sought but finds her punishment in the Newgate Prison where she gains repentance. Just like Robinson, who deserted on a lonely island finds redemption and a clearer idea of the meaning of life, Moll also changes her point of view and reunites with the one she has most affection for- her â€Å"Lancashire husband†. She finds a way to avoid the death sentence and lives freely and happily with her husband. But even finding redemption and re-gaining humanity doesn’t cover the significant difference between her and Robinson. After all the time on that desolate island he retains his pure soul and clear mind. He doesn’t regret anything he has done because he has lived with dignity. He gained prosperity on the island thanks to his strong hands and intelligent mind. That’s why Moll, aware of all her sins, can’t be completely happy at the end of the novel. After returning to England together with her husband she says that they are ready to live â€Å"in sincere penitence for the wicked lives we have lived. †(Defoe 296) Unlike Robinson they will spend the rest of their time together contemplating all the wrong paths they have chosen during their robbery days. On the whole, Moll Flanders may be seen as a female version of Robinson Crusoe. Like him, she is obsessed with economic survival and economic success. Unlike him, she prefers to sell her sexual favours or resort to crime- rather than work. The result of the acts she has performed to fulfill her intentions is the transformation of a beautiful innocent young girl into a hardened middle-aged criminal. By illustrating two characters with identical aim but completely different personalities and lifestyles, Defoe makes us think about what is right and what is wrong, how far we would go pursuing our goals and what price we are willing to pay for that.