...The cultural web - IKEA Ikea – Hybrid strategy: “Ikea recognised that it could achieve a high standard product, but at a low cost, whilst concentrating on building differentiation on the basis of its marketing, range, logistics and store operations” (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2005, p.249). Power structures The leadership beliefs in an inverted organisational pyramid, where the customer is at the top followed by staff, with top management at the bottom (Sancovich, 2002). The customer is put on top as they have the real power of what Ikea can and should sell. No one in Ikea flies first class is another aspect of the power culture within Ikea (Sancovich, 2002). This is part of the core beliefs of the leadership, as everyone in the organisation should be treated the same regarding of position. In general, Ikea uses an egalitarian leadership style, hence emphasise of getting rid of status and conventions. Even though Ingvar Kamprad is retired, he is still involved in the organisation he founded in 1943 (Allen, 2005). Hence, it is difficult to change the culture in the organisation as he is still pulling the strings. As all the employees is taught and trained the IKEA way, the desire and need for a cultural change is another unanswered question. How is power distributed in the organisation? What are the core beliefs of the leadership? How strongly held are these beliefs (idealists or pragmatists)? What are the main blockages to change? Organisational...
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...The cultural web - IKEA Ikea – Hybrid strategy: “Ikea recognised that it could achieve a high standard product, but at a low cost, whilst concentrating on building differentiation on the basis of its marketing, range, logistics and store operations” (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2005, p.249). Power structures The leadership beliefs in an inverted organisational pyramid, where the customer is at the top followed by staff, with top management at the bottom (Sancovich, 2002). The customer is put on top as they have the real power of what Ikea can and should sell. No one in Ikea flies first class is another aspect of the power culture within Ikea (Sancovich, 2002). This is part of the core beliefs of the leadership, as everyone in the organisation should be treated the same regarding of position. In general, Ikea uses an egalitarian leadership style, hence emphasise of getting rid of status and conventions. Even though Ingvar Kamprad is retired, he is still involved in the organisation he founded in 1943 (Allen, 2005). Hence, it is difficult to change the culture in the organisation as he is still pulling the strings. As all the employees is taught and trained the IKEA way, the desire and need for a cultural change is another unanswered question. How is power distributed in the organisation? What are the core beliefs of the leadership? How strongly held are these beliefs (idealists or pragmatists)? What are the main blockages to change? Organisational...
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...2013 Cultural Imperialism and Globalization in Pepsi Marketing by Justin Grandinetti The increased speed and flow of information brought about by technology has influenced a massive global culture shift. Two consequences of this increased information exchange are cultural imperialism and globalization. Cultural imperialism is a heavily debated concept that “refers to how an ideology, a politics, or a way of life is exported into other territories through the export of cultural products” (Struken and Cartwright 397). The related concept of globalization “describes the progression of forces that have accelerated the interdependence of peoples to the point at which we can speak of a true world community” (Struken and Cartwright 405). A driving force of both cultural imperialism and globalization are major corporations, many of which are based in the United States. Brands like Pepsi are now known worldwide and not simply confined to one particular country or the western sphere. These global brands can be viewed “as homogenizing forces, selling the same tastes and styles throughout diverse cultures” (Stuken and Cartwright 402). Conversely, viewers in other countries are free to “appropriate what they see to make new meanings, meanings that may be not just different from but even oppositional to the ideologies” of these global advertising campaigns. By analyzing three recent aspects of Pepsi’s “Live for Now” global campaign, I will examine their relationship to cultural imperialism...
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...Cultural Differences Amongst Social Interaction Throughout this semester, I have found myself quite interested in the multitude of topics and theories that we have discussed up to this point. From the way a child grows and changes physically, mentally, and socially, to the basic research methods that allow scientists to make these discoveries, the subject of the developing life is simply mesmerizing. There are countless factors, both major and minor, that go into the recipe of who we are as individuals and it is within this mixture of the elements of our being that I find my topic of most appeal: culture. Culture is, at least in my own opinion, what transforms the basic, generic human being into the actual “person”. If the basic functioning process of the body and mind are the core of life, then culture is its framework and it determines who we are and how we interact with the diverse world around us. Culture is properly defined as the set of ideas, behaviors, attitudes, and traditions that exist within large groups of people. Within this definition of culture, and especially in the real world, these fundamentals interact with each other to create endless combinations of cultural influence. For example, a child who grows up in an environment that emphasizes dedication to the family may have a completely different set of beliefs, attitudes, and traditions than a child who grows up in a family that does not consider the strength of family relationships to be most important....
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...The Challenge of Cultural Relativism Cultural Relativism is what seems right and wrong from culture to culture. Every society has their own set of values and moral codes. It breaks down to a matter of opinion. When you grow up in a certain society you learn what is accepted as right and wrong. Not every culture is going to agree on what’s morally right because there is no set standard. Every culture could be objectionable to another’s set of moral codes. In some cultures its common practice to kill newborns if they are females as other cultures find this to be terrible. In other cultures some eat the flesh of the dead while other cultures would see this as a sickening act. In areas around Arabia women are looked down upon and viewed as property. Even here in America other countries disagree with how our society runs. Even a lot of the people here in the same country disagree too. Some values that are shared through all cultures would be like protecting one’s family, being honest, and murder is bad. Cultural Relativism may seem appealing when first introduced especially as children because it’s how we first learn to behave in society. We’re not open minded to seeing other view points and get to get a glimpse inside other culture’s. It’s what we learn as what’s right and what’s wrong with not much middle ground. Cultural Relativism can’t be true because in different cultures there are different sets of moral codes, so there is no truth in morality, it’s all different opinions...
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...With five Grammy Awards, two Diamond certified albums and selling over 60million albums in the U.S., Mariah Carey has demonstrated an undeniably strong appeal within the western world. The popularity of many vocalists extinguishes within several years, suffering from the changing tastes of the public which are deeply influenced by the dynamics of the “cultural industry”. However, unlike many talented performers, her fame lasted for more than 20 years. Mariah possesses talent; that is an irrefutable fact. As simplified answers like “talent” would be suffice to reveal why she is popular, it is necessary to ask questions that are more focused in defining the relationship Mariah had with the “cultural industry” as coined by Adorno and Horkheimer. To what extent was her work influenced by the culturally industrial views of record companies and as a consequence, how did she deal with the resulting conflict between self-expression and the industrial production of identity? The presence of a dynamic conflict between record companies and mainstream artists has long been acknowledged. Mariah was no exception to this problem. Issues had already arisen in her first album, Mariah Carey (1990). Prior to signing, Mariah had originally written 14 songs and intended her first CD to be produced without any editing of her tracks (Nickson 20). However, her record company insisted on transforming the songs before they were publically released; including her first Number 1 single “Vision of...
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...Diversity in the Workplace Diversity in the workplace means celebrating the differences between us and everyone else we work with in our place of employment. Diversity is represented in a number of characteristics such as ethnicity, sexual preference, age, religious affiliation, learning styles, education and life experiences. It's important to understand how these differences affect motivation, performance, our interactions with others, and professional achievements. (Scott, n.d.) Diversity not only affects how people perceive themselves, but also in large part how they perceive others. Those perceptions affect all the interactions they will have with one another. Human resource personnel need to affectively deal with multiple types of issues such as communication, adaptability and change in order for a diverse group of employees to function as an organization. Over the next several years, diversity within organizations will continue to increase. Successful organizations currently recognize the need to immediately respond to this need and are willing to put their money where their mouth is. These organizations are ahead of the game and are ready and willing to invest what is required of them to manage diversity in the workplace now. Communicating Diversity Diversity training and education is an imperative part of supporting the customer service efforts of an organization. Organizations who implement diversity training will have a better understanding of what barriers...
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...From 1949-2012, China has undergone many reforms. It has been a socialist, communist, and a weird combination of market economy/communist. These reforms are essential in explaining how China has become a major world power. China turned to socialism in 1949, because it seemed like the only answer to the numerous problems China had to face after nearly 20 years of fighting. This is the first step down the road to economic prosperity. In October 1949, Mao declared the People’s Republic of China at the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing. He now faced very large problems. China had been fighting a civil war since the 1920’s and a full-scale war with the Japanese since 1937 to 1945. After nearly 20 years of fighting, China (Mao) had many problems to deal with. The country had little industry since what had existed had been destroyed after so many years of war. Money was valueless. The towns had high unemployment. The countryside was experiencing food shortages; and if the countryside was not producing food, then the cities were bound to be short of food as well. China’s population was increasing by millions a year, which would only make all shortages worse. Mao was Chairman of the People’s Republic while Zhou Enlai was the nation’s prime minister. Though Mao claimed to lead a coalition government (there were 14 separate political parties in the government), the country was run by the Communist Party. Officials from the Communist Party were put in charge of society at every different...
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...Cody Gut Dr. T. Nulty Philosophy 215 Introduction to Ethics April 12, 2012 Infanticide of Disabled Newborns Infanticide of a disabled newborn is the killing of a newborn baby who has been diagnosed with a disability. With the new technology that has been discovered in recent years newborns with disabilities can be kept alive through extraordinary lifesaving techniques. An example of this is newborns born with chronic cardiopulmonary disease which, “…is a disease that affects the normal functions of the heart and lungs that could disturb the complete physical, mental and social well being of individual”. (Violeta) Newborns born with this would not survive more then a few days without the extreme help of doctors and machines to keep the baby alive. Now what could happen is the newborn could be left alone and would die but not before sufficient suffering. Or the baby could be kept alive with machines that the doctors have, but the baby would also suffer and only be kept alive because of the machines. The third option is the baby could be killed quickly and painlessly, which would relieve suffering. The ethical issues that are involved in this case that are brought up by people are. 1. Nobody has the right to decide whether ones life is worth less than another’s. Thus meaning that one person cannot decide whether someone should live or die. 2. Everyone should be given a fighting chance to live. This means that maybe something miraculous happens and the baby pulls...
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...Some companies hold diversity workshops. Some hold retreats. Some offer surveys or accept anonymous suggestions on how to improve cultural diversity. Some create diversity task forces. Some offer mentorships. It seems to be consistent across the board that diversity training programs must have goals that come from within the organization and for the right reasons, not because the company is solely concerned about protecting its corporate back. When diversity programs are rammed down employees’ throats, they are not effective. When the ivory tower of corporate management institutes a diversity training program and mandates that all attend, employees can become resentful. Mandatory diversity training can even cause biases to deepen. If a company believes that a one-day training workshop will eradicate a lifetime of prejudice and biased beliefs, it is wrong. The goal of diversity training is to create awareness of the differences among co-workers and teach that working together cooperatively produces a win-win outcome for the employee as well as the company. Corporate diversity also ensures that employees of various cultural backgrounds and gender be included not only in leadership positions, but are also provided a level playing field for opportunity within the company. Creating awareness must happen over time and by employing many different methods. Take the example of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The program created awareness of the dangers of drunk driving...
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... Research Methods Sociology and Cultural anthropology both rely on data to analyze their research. Their investigational approaches differ in many ways. This paper will explore the research methods used in sociology and the research methods used in cultural anthropology and also discuss the philosophical justification for these research methods. Sociology explores an individual’s behavior and how those behaviors are shaped and affected by the societies they take part in. Sociologist use research methods such as participant observation and surveys to collect their data. In participant observation the researcher spends an extended amount of time in the research location, this is also known as field work (sociology.com, 2013). While at the location the researcher’s gathers information while directly interacting with the participants being observed. They immerse themselves into the culture to better understand the participants being studied. Surveys are another method used for social research. Surveys can gather a large amount of information from various types of sources to research a certain subject. Surveys can come in the form of questions or interviews. The ability of a survey to gather information, quickly, and without manipulation to the subject makes it philosophically justified. Today’s internet technology helps surveys reach even a broader audience to collect data. The World Wide Web allows the ability to take a survey anonymously; this perpetuates...
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...different questions to light, with its clever plot of flash back on flash back and the clear illustration of themes and morals in the novel. The novel is said to be the best of the author, Buchi Emecheta’s collection. Nnu ego, the main character of the novel shows us the unfamiliar side where the relationship of females to motherhood, and how our cultural norms provide basics for judgement by humans. The novel rejects the feminist codes normally associated with motherhood. In the world we live in, we come across different societal cultures and norms, in this very essay we discuss the negative aspects of women adhering to societal norms and how women all round the world are likely to end up like Nnu Ego. Nigeria is a larger country with different cultures where some believe the first born child must be a girl, while others also believe in sending off their female children as soon as their ready for marriage. Such actives have been responsible for many societal problems faced in Nigeria. The novel by Buchi Emecheta shows us the violence that our culture causes makes people to develop some kind of violence against people who do not follow cultural norms, a good example was when it was time for Agunwa to be buried, Nwokocha Agbadis eldest wife who is said to have died due to the unpleasant scene of her husband and Ona. It’s a culture in their land that the personal slaves of Agunwa be buried with her as she will need them in her afterlife, they have a belief that good slaves will jump...
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...Joseph Moore Professor Krystyna Michael Comparative Literature 102W December 6, 2011 Cultural Change in Nervous Conditions Related to the Functions of Eating and Ingestion Nervous Conditions is a novel that explores the dichotomy of both the English and Shona cultures. Tambu Siguake, is the central character and narrator who is preoccupied in this identity crisis. Tambu observes the polarizing effects of these intertwining cultures on the people around her, which in turn raise questions about the nature of colonialism. Tambu’ slow progression through assimilation is documented throughout the novel using food related metaphors. The interesting aspect of this novel is the correlation of food metaphors associated with Nyasha who has her own identity crisis of her own which culminates in her anorexia and bulemia. Dangarembga uses these metaphors, which relate to food, to expose the effects of cultural change. In doing so, she makes the reader question the effects of colonialism and assimilation on the Siguake family, particularly Tambu and Nyasha, and the Shona society as a whole. The novel begins with Nhamo, Siguake’s brother, going to school at the mission in which his uncle, Babumukuru, is the headmaster. The household which he originally lived in is typical of the Shona culture in comparison to the Anglicized mission. Upon his return to the household, Siguake observes his changes, many of which are attributed to his stay at the mission. Siguake mentions several...
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...Wade Davis defines the ethnosphere as a cultural web of life which contains all thoughts, dreams, myths, ideas, and inspirations. Davis talks about the ethnosphere as something that is fueled by human imagination as well as humanity’s great legacy. The ethnosphere represents all that humanity is and all that humanity can be as a whole. Ethnocentrism is the idea that one’s own culture is the main standard by which other cultures may be measured. People make comparisons between cultures and judge other cultures based on their own. This allows a divide to form between cultures because it doesn’t allow for an ethnocentrist to accept or understand another culture because they will always think of their own cultures as normal while any other culture is not normal....
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