Starbucks - International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Starbucks - International Business - Essay Example Although, previous researchers like Roby (2011) conducted research on international expansion strategy of Starbucks but these researcher focused more on marketing aspects of international expansion strategy of iconic coffee retailer but strategic dimensions of Starbuck’s international expansion remain scarcely discussed by scholars. In order to fulfil scarcity of research regarding strategic dimensions of Starbucks international expansion, this essay will try to shed light on pertinent issues regarding international expansion of Starbucks. Key objective of this paper will be to answer three questions, 1- how internal resources capabilities are supporting Starbucks to achieve success internationally, 2- how Starbucks has addressed challenges during international expansion and 3- what are the strategic initiatives that are taken by Starbucks to achieve success while expanding business internationally. In such context, business background Starbucks will be discussed in order to d evelop background for strategic analysis. Back Ground Analysis: Business Matrix of Starbucks Starbucks Corporation was established by Zev Siegl, Gordon Bowker and Jerry Baldwin during the year 1971 and the company is headquartered at Seattle, Washington, U.S (Starbucks, 2012). The company started its operation through opening single store in Pike Place Market of Seattle while in the next 42 years; Starbucks Corporation has expanded its operation over 61 countries (Starbucks, 2012). According to annual report published by Starbucks Corporation for the financial year ended 31st December, 2012, the company maintains distribution channel containing more than 10,000 stores (including licensed and owned stores) within USA and more than 20,000 stores across the world (including licensed and owned stores). Starbucks Corporation specializes in offering various coffee drinks, beverages, different types of hot drinks, side dishes, salads etc (Starbucks, 2012). Market capitalization Starbucks c lose to US$38 billion while sales revenue of the company hovering over US$ 12 billion. Starbucks Corporation faces competition from not only same segment players but also from competitors who offer cross segment products. For example, Starbucks offer similar kind of offering as Dunkin' Brands, Green mountain coffee while in domestic and international market; Starbucks Corporation faces intense competition from cross segment players like Nestle, McDonalds, Kraft Food and Wendy's International. Why Starbucks has been so successful to penetrate in distant markets while its competitors are gasping for maintain margin product differentiation equilibrium? Lee (2010) pointed out that competitive advantage for Starbucks lies on its ability to customize its product portfolio and service mix in accordance with the macro environmental requirements. Lee (2010) identified three strategic moves that have helped Starbucks Corporation to achieve success in international market such as, 1- establish ing licensing and partnership with distribution partners that can reduce dimensions of risks and contingency factors associated with expansion in international context, 2- differentiating in terms of product portfolio and service customization as per socio-cultural divergence in international countries and 3- customizing its integrated marketing communication as per socio-cultural divergence in international countries. In such context, Boston Matrix of Starbucks product portfolio

Limitations of ERP

Limitations of ERP ERP systems have emerged as one of the latest that organizations are using to meet the needs of a global market. Many companies hope that these systems will help leapfrog to the next level but ERP systems are fraught with limitations that can prove difficult to manage. This paper tries to analyze some of the limitations and provides directions that will help overcome the same Introduction In todays increasingly competitive world where the world is converging into a single market place, organizations are looking for ways to become globally competitive. Companies must be able to meet customer requirements in the shortest possible time faster than competition and this requires extensive production planning and close coordination between the company and its suppliers and customers. MRP (Materials Requirement Planning) was one of the most widely used systems for production planning but its main focus was only on managing the production requirements in an organization. MRP systems helped in time phase release of production orders and aggregating planning for material requirements. With time, companies realized that there needed to be an integration of all the functions in an organization and this lead to the development of ERP (Enterprise resource planning) systems. Dr. Suresh Subramoniam et.al [1] defines ERP as ERP is an Enterprise wide system that facilitates integrated and real-time planning, production and customer response. ERP has multilingual capability, multi-currency handling ability, and can recognize legal and tax reporting needs of various nations across the world. Traditionally, each department of an organization uses a software application of its own and the interaction between these systems is very limited. Thus there is no way of generating consolidated information that is accessible to the entire company. ERP systems were created to address this issue by treating the entire organization as a single enterprise and making information available to all the departments as and when needed. Many companies across the world have either implemented or are in the process of implementing ERP systems across their organizations with the intention of making their businesses globally competitive. Despite their best intentions, there are widespread instances where ERP systems have failed to live up to their expectations and have even lead to the demise of companies. Some companies have been able to absorb these losses (Hersheys, Whirlpool, Nestle, IBM, Apple, etc.) but most havent. Even those companies that have successfully implemented ERP have found it difficult to realize the true potential of the system. A few findings as reported by Panorama consulting in their 2010 ERP Report are as follows: Close to 57% of the ERP implementations take longer than expected About 54% of ERP implementations cost more than expected Most ERP implementations under-deliver business value (Fig 1) Companies do not effectively manage the organizational changes of ERP Limitations of ERP Limited to the four walls of the company ERP is an evolution of MRP which was solely focused on manufacturing and materials planning. ERP systems were designed to manage more functions of enterprises thus integrating all business management functions, including planning, inventory and materials management, engineering, order processing, manufacturing, purchasing, accounting and finance, human resources, etc. Though considered as a revolution during its time, ERP did not take into account any of the external relationships that a company had as enterprises were run as independent entities during those times. Within an organization the system was able to support all functions but was unable to handle the various interactions that the enterprise had with its suppliers and customers. Conventional ERP helped automate individual departments but did not integrate its back-office benefits into the front-office to help businesses manage people, workloads and supply-chain issues; it could not establish consistent control of all the processes of the business Even within the organization, some of the difficulties faced by managers were Only the current status could be accessed, such as open orders. But managers often need to look beyond the current status to find trends and patterns for better decision-making. The data in the ERP application was not integrated with other enterprise systems and did not include external intelligence. ERP systems could not meet all of the analytical and reporting needs of organizations. ERP systems are generally very expensive to install. They call for voluminous and exorbitant investments in terms of time and money without guaranteeing the said benefits. The time taken for an organization to migrate to an ERP system is quite substantial. Extensive training has to be provided at the expense of existing working hours which can also result in a loss of business during the transition period. Apart from the installation costs, companies also charge annual maintenance and renewal costs. These costs put together may not justify the implementation of ERP systems especially for companies that are smaller in scale Since each business has different needs there has to be a level of customization to ensure that the all the factors relevant to the industry are considered. This may call for changing the ERP software structure to match the business workflow which is generally not allowed by the software vendors. ERP systems are built as per industry standards and when company wants to implement the system, it may have to change its way of functioning to match these standards. This can either be beneficial or can lead to the business loosing its competitive advantage Some companies have relatively simple operations and the use of ERP may complicate the existing setup thus leading to an over-engineering as compared to customers needs The biggest advantage of ERP is its ability to provide an information across the organization. There are instances where departments are unwilling to share information due to reasons best known to them thus reducing the effectiveness of the ERP system Many companies run on legacy systems and implementing ERP results in compatibility problems across departments. Conversion of these legacy systems into modern ones in itself results in huge cost overruns The easy availability of information also raises the question of security and privacy. Access to the various functionalities has to be carefully regulated to prevent unauthorized access and information theft. The time frame to realize the full benefits of a successful ERP implementation is longer that most companies would have initially expected. There would be a dip in the performance immediately after it goes live as employees take time to adjust to the new systems. With time, there will be changes in the requirements of the organization. Since the ERP system would be customized during the installation phase, there would be a limit to which the system can be scalable. Like for example, if a company wishes to add more fields to a data recording system there may be a pre set limits for the same. In order to overcome this, companies would have to pay the vendor an extra fee for such future upgrades Ongoing support After the implementation, companies would require constant support. The technical support provided by the software vendors maybe insufficient if the ERP systems encounter some major issue Overcoming the Limitations ERP as discussed before is a very comprehensive when it comes to handling the transactions within an enterprise but fails when there is an interaction with systems external to the organization. To overcome this, the concept of ERP II has been developed which integrates the ERP systems of an enterprise with that of the suppliers and event the customers. Using Enabling Technologies ERP can be considered as the backbone of an enterprises applications, but successfully handling the complexities of modern business will depend on a companys ability to share information promptly, securely, and effectively with customers, partners and suppliers. Organizations must seamlessly integrate their supply and value chains. The figure below shows the enabling technologies that will help organizations achieve the same Companies should constantly work towards integrating new technologies with their existing ERP systems. ERP systems are expensive to implement, but if they are not constantly updated they tend to get obsolete and may result in lost opportunities in terms of meeting customer needs. ERP is the central or the core component around which the various technologies are integrated, and these combine to enable an organization automate most of its processes. The technologies that will enable companies to do business at Internet speed when integrated with the ERP system are Business Intelligence (BI), Data Warehousing, Data Mining, On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). A case in point is AM machines which is a world leader in the design manufacture, and support of automobile engines and power systems. The market demand for this industry is to develop high performance components at lowest cost. AM was one of the first organizations to use an ERP system to improve the efficiency of its manufacturing process systems. The ERP systems so developed were used across various functions such as finance, quality management, plant maintenance, materials management, controlling, program management, logistics, accounting, and sales and distribution transactions. Even though the ERP solution replaced a number of disparate legacy systems and provided a common ground to pull a lot of business functions together, the manual processes for managing large volumes of unstructured content (information such as digital photos, scanned images, and CAD drawings, not easily managed by any ERP system) still remained. To overcome this difficulty, AM realized that it needed to complement its ERP solution with a Product Data Management (PDM) solution. PDM is the use of software or other tools to track and control data related to a particular product. The data tracked usually involves the technical specifications of the product, specifications for manufacture and development, and the types of materials that will be required to produce goods. The PDM system integrated the document repository and ERP applications, empowering ERP users to collect, securely store, find, link, and easily retrieve the required documents. Retaining Customers Traditional ERP packages generally include functions that are required for Sales Force Automation (SFA) and other call center operations but not on personalizing customers experiences. In todays times the focus of companies is retaining customers and after a given point, ERP systems fail in contributing to this objective. ERP implementations leave many companies saddled with massive, isolated systems containing vital customer, product, or service data. These systems lack the functionality needed to optimize customer-facing operations. The solution is to integrate a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system with the ERP system. CRM is not just a software application or a database that is used to store customer information, it is an effort taken by the company to continuously improve the relationship it has with its customers. Automated CRM processes are used to generate personalized marketing and customer care based on the customer information stored in the system. Integrating the CRM and ERP systems makes customer information available across the organization. One of the immediate benefits would be in improving the ability of companies to deliver personalized services to their customers based on information that has been stored previously. CRM systems also help companies in launching targeted promotional campaigns and also in informing customers about new product launches based on their previous usage patterns. The call center operations are also improved as preferential treatment can be provided using past data. Understanding the importance of information When companies are competing for one another more or less in the same markets, just having information from within the organization would not be sufficient. Organizations must thus have information from the external environment to modify their business decisions accordingly. Knowing the external factors such as changes in the business environment, customer preferences and trends, new rules and regulations, competitor strategy, market trends, etc. are more important. This information is critical for survival and is more difficult to get when compared to the internal information. Another important factor is the manner in which companies manage historical information. As companies grow older, they collect a gold mine of information that can provide valuable insights regarding demand, customer demographics, customer preferences, etc. The challenge faced by enterprises today is to avoid information overload by intelligently selecting available data and presenting it in a way that is intuitively meaningful. Business and Competitive Intelligence Business Intelligence was term coined by the Gartner group in a report as early as 1996. It can be said that Business intelligence (BI) is a broad category of applications and technologies for gathering, storing, analyzing, and providing access to data to help enterprise users make better business decisions. BI applications include the activities ofÂÂ  decision support systems, query and reporting, online analytical processing (OLAP), statistical analysis, forecasting, andÂÂ  data mining. Using the existing data warehouses as a foundation and then building upon them using BI helps organizations predict the future in terms of trends, preferences and market variations. A data warehouse organizes ERP data so that it is easily accessible for online analysis. Business intelligence systems improve business competitiveness by providing reporting and analysis tools to the desktop, enabling communication with the entire supply chain via the Web thus automating alerts and actions. Competitive intelligence (CI) is a branch of BI which deals with managing the hyper-competitive environments that are a part and parcel of todays markets. CI gathers information that helps organizations formulate strategies to beat competition and assists decision-makers predict future trends and take smart decisions. Arik R. Johnson Managing Director of the CI consultancy Aurora WDC, describes CI as CI is the purposeful and coordinatedÂÂ  monitoringÂÂ  of your competitor(s), wherever and whoever they may be, within a specificÂÂ  marketplace Your competitors are those firms which you considerÂÂ  rivalsÂÂ  in business, and with whom you compete forÂÂ  market share. CI also has to do with determining what your business rivals WILL DOÂÂ  beforeÂÂ  they do it. Strategically, there is a need to gainÂÂ  fore knowledgeÂÂ  of your competitors plans and to plan your business strategy to countervail their plans. This will involve many methods at the tacticalÂÂ  collectionÂÂ  level, but it will also requireÂÂ  integrationÂÂ  into your existing information infrastructure,ÂÂ  analysisÂÂ  andÂÂ  distributionÂÂ  of the information, and finally, the calculation of business decisionsÂÂ  on the grounds of that information and the analysis of same. This is the intelligence part of the formula. Valuable in its own right, ERP information becomes even more valuable when it is combined with information from other sources. A BI system allows this. For example, a marketing manager might want to combine sales information from the ERP system with consumer demographics from A. C. Nielsen or business demographics from Dun Bradstreet. With this information, the company can better segment its customers and improve customer relationship management. An automobile manufacturer for instance, can combine its internal ERP data with external databases to identify customers likely to be receptive to advertisements for a sports car, sedan, van or sports vehicle. Similarly the purchasing department of a computer manufacturer might combine its ERP data with external data about sales forecasts for microprocessors. With this information, the purchase department can react to rising demand by consolidating all purchases stored in memory to obtain a better price from a single supplier Businesses can thus optimize their investment in ERP systems by closing the loop between the BI system and the ERP system. The loop begins when the company discovers valuable business information from the ERP system; it closes when the company feeds those discoveries back into the ERP system to continually improve business processes. The reports generated by traditional ERP systems provide only a fraction of the useful information in the system. Using data warehousing and BI overcomes this limitation and unlocks the true potential of an ERP system. Leveraging on the Internet The true value of an ERP investment results from integrating the ERP system not only with a business intelligence front end, but also with the Internet. When a Web-based interface is provided to the information in the business intelligence system, the Internet becomes an enterprise information utility for employees, partners, suppliers and customers. An early application for integrating ERP business intelligence with the Internet is supply chain management. All participants like engineering and product design, vendors and suppliers, production, marketing, distributors and customers can get the information at real time, from wherever they want it, like they want it over the internet. This enables for example, the marketing people to provide customers with the latest product details and pricing information. Inventory management can be done based on real-time information, production can be fine tuned so that the right quantities are produced, as and when required. The suppliers and partners in turn, can share the information with their suppliers. Product designers, both for manufacturing and service companies, can capture customer information in real-time, refining their products for greater market appeal or customizing them for key customers. By adding a Web-based interface to the ERP business intelligence, the supply chain can be integrated thus speeding time to market and gaining manufacturing efficiencies. Role of CIO The CIO plays a pivotal role in the implementation of an ERP system in an organization. In most cases the CIO is appointed as the process owner for the implementation as the CEO would be in charge of the core operations of the business. The CEO and upper management would be involved in the pre implementation phase and would play a major role in the selection of the ERP vendor, external consultants and the implementation team members. The CIO would be in charge of the implementation and in ensuring that the project is on schedule as per the requirements agreed upon. Apart from the implementation, the CIO should also ensure that all the end users are provided with sufficient training and education to ensure that the full benefit of the system is exploited. Most of the employees are generally apprehensive of ERP systems fearing the change it brings about and the impact it will have on their jobs. The CIO should put to rest such fears through effective communication, constant updates and sharing details of the future plans after ERP implementation. The CIO should ensure that knowledge transfer happens from the external consultants and ERP vendor representatives to the employees before they leave. There should be enough trained employees within the company who are capable of handling the system to ensure its smooth functioning. The CIO thus plays an important role in successfully managing the transition to ERP systems and ensuring that the full potential of the ERP system is utilized after implementation. Conclusion World class competition, modern business environment and the availability of the Internet are the premises which stress the need for ERP. These systems are effective in integrating the different functions across an organization but should not be used in isolation especially during current times. Many ERP implementations end up as failures and the ones successfully implemented face limitations of their own as mentioned. This should not dissuade companies from implementing ERP systems as the benefits of a successful implementation outweigh the limitations. Organizations should now graduate to the next level of ERP systems that are termed as ERP II which integrate the organization and the members across the value chain with the help of enabling technologies. A sound management with clear focus, long term vision and well defined achievable targets set from ERP systems will help overcome the limitations of these systems

The Great Gatsby: The Decline of The American Dream Essay -- The Great

The pursuit of the American Dream has been alive for generations. People from nations all over the world come to America for the chance to achieve this legendary dream of freedom, opportunity, and the â€Å"all American family†. However, in the 1920’s this dream began to take a different form. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, unfolds what the American Dream really meant during the roaring 20’s. The Great Gatsby tells a story of the affluent Jay Gatsby and his dream of attaining the love of the married Daisy Buchanan. In this novel, Gatsby’s dream of love is unmasked and reviled as a dream of materialistic things. Fitzgerald shows that each character truly glorifies only money, power, and social stature. During the 1920’s, these things were the only thing people dreamt about. The symbolism in The Great Gatsby illustrates how the American Dream became corrupt in the 1920’s. Fitzgerald has an amazing talent to create symbols for things that could be overlooked by any reader such as colors. Every color mentioned has a meaning even if it may not seem it. White and green are the main colors mentioned in the novel. White can often be portrayed as wholesome and innocent. However, in this novel white actually represents the false purity or decency in some of these characters. Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, a friend of Daisy’s, are always seen wearing something white. Daisy and Jordan both seem as if they are sweet and innocent at first, but deep down you see it is only and act and they are truly careless and selfish. Gatsby also wore white on his first meeting with Daisy after five years so that he would appear to be good and pure. The 1920’s also had this way of deception. The fads such as jazz, fashion and art all made the 1920’... ... Gatsby’s dream of winning Daisy embodied the American Dream in the 20’s. Gatsby, as well as everyone in the 20’s, only dreamt of the materialistic in life and it didn’t matter how it was achieved. When talking about Gatsby, Nick says, â€Å"If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream.† (Fitzgerald 161). This quote explains that it’s sad that one man only had one dream that he paid high prices for and never got it. Fitzgerald shows that in the 1920’s people only had one dream of power no matter what it took, and in the end it was never attained because of the selfishness of their dream. Through Fitzgerald’s symbolism, it is shown that the American Dream in the 1920’s was corrupt and fell apart. Work Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.

Smog City 2 from Particle Pollution

Name: Date: Save Smog City 2 from Particle Pollution Student Worksheet 1. Access the Smog City 2 web site at www. smogcity2. org. 2. Select â€Å"Save Smog City 2 from Particle Pollution. † 3. Once Smog City 2 loads to your computer, take note of the areas of Smog City, including Weather Conditions, Emissions Levels and Population. All areas have â€Å"clickable† choices. Mouse-over or click on the choices. †¢ NOTE: in the information box at the bottom of the screen, there is information about each choice. 4. Notice how each of the choices are pre-set to a certain level. These are called the default settings. You can use the reset button at any time to return to the default settings. In the chart below, circle or highlight the default setting for each choice. The first setting, Sunlight, has already been completed for you. Weather ConditionsChoices Included in the Area: Sunlight : Inversion Layer: Wind Speed: Maximum Daily Temperature: Clear -Partly Cloudy – Cloudy No inversion – Low inversion – High inversion Calm – Light Breeze – Breezy – Windy 30? F – 40 ? F – 50? F – 80? F – 90? F – 100 ? F – 110 ? F EmissionChoices Included in the Area: Energy Sources – Cars and Trucks – Off Road Vehicles – Consumer Products- Industry – Some energy sources produce more smog-producing emissions than others. (level 1 is cleaner sources like a wind or solar technology, level 3 produces more smog like a coal-fired power plant) Levels: 1 2 3 This includes Passenger vehicles (all sizes), large and medium trucks, motorcycles Levels: 1 2 3 4 5 This includes airplanes, trains, power boats, earth movers, tractors, harvesters, forklifts, bulldozers, backhoes Levels: 1 2 3 4 5 This includes paint thinner, charcoal lighter fluid, glue or other adhesives, gasoline Levels: 1 2 3 4 5 This includes manufacturing facilities, power plants, oil refineries/storage/distribution centers, food and agricultural processing Levels: 1 2 3 4 5 Area Name:Choices Included in the Area: Population – Population in Smog City 2 affects air quality. Changing population, as shown by the â€Å"total emissions† chart and the emission sources n the cityscape, affects VOCs, NOx and SO2. The compounds react to form ground-level ozone and particle pollution. When temperatures are cool, changing population also changes the usage of wood-burning stoves, which emit particle pollutionIn Smog City 2, you can increase the population from near-zero to about two million people. Levels: 1 2 3 4 5 5. Observe the AQI (Air Quality Index) box inside the bla ck box. The default settings, which are circled above, result in a â€Å"red†, or â€Å"Unhealthy† AQI for particle pollution. The health message is: â€Å"Active children and adults, and people with respiratory disease, such as asthma, should avoid prolonged outdoor exertion; everyone else, especially children, should limit prolonged outdoor exertion. † Scenario 1: Emission Sources 1. Minimize the â€Å"Save Smog City 2 from Particle Pollution! † instructions at the top of the screen. 2. Turn only Cars and Trucks control to 1. Leave all other choices at the default settings. Record what happens on the Student Worksheet in the table below. Uses the reset button to return the Cars and Trucks control to 3, so all controls are in default position. . Turn only Off Road down to 1. Leave all other settings alone. Record what happens on the Student Worksheet. Use the reset button to return the Off Road control to the middle setting, so all controls are in default position. Student Worksheet Energy SourcesCars &TrucksOff RoadConsumer ProductsIndustryAir Quality Index (AQI) ColorMessageValue DefaultRedU nhealthy157 21333YellowModerate80 23133RedUnhealthy158 4. Using the worksheet below, adjust each of the remaining controls noted in red and record the result in the worksheet. Student Worksheet Energy SourcesCars &TrucksOff RoadConsumer ProductsIndustryAir Quality Index (AQI) ColorMessageValue 23313RedUnhealthy175 23331RedUnhealthy152 13333Red Unhealthy173 5. Move all Emission controls to level 1. What is the AQI? Why? The AQI is green and healthy. The emissions are the main reason for the poor air quality. 6. Using the reset button, return all Emission controls to the middle setting and turn the Population control to level 1. What is the AQI? Why? (Hint: Read â€Å"WHAT IS THIS† in the information box) The AQI is green again. The reason for this is because when there are less people, there are less emissions as well as less particle pollutions from wood burning fireplaces (when the weather drops below 50 degrees. ) Scenario 2: Weather 1. Using the reset button, return all Emission and Population controls to the middle setting. What is the AQI level? Unhealthy for sensitive groups is the AQI when emissions and population controls are in the middle. 2. Set the Temperature to 80 degrees F. Check the black sign in the cityscape for the temperature. How does this affect particle pollution? Why? Heat increases the chemical conversion of emissions to ozone and particle pollution. 3. Move the Inversion control to low-altitude (the far right). How does this affect particle pollution levels? Why? Temperature inversions create a warm layer of air above the ground-level ozone that traps pollution. The lower the altitude, the closer to the ground the lid traps the pollution. Questions Based on all the data collected, answer the following questions 1. Was there any one variable that seemed to have a greater increase in particle pollution than others tested? Which one? Population made the most impact in either direction quicker than any other factor. 2. What steps could be taken to control emissions levels? Choose energy sources that are not produced with fossil fuels, telecommute (shop online) instead of taking trips to the mall, recycle, etc. 3. Can you think of ways to reduce particle pollution levels? Keep fire burning to a minimum or use a gas burning fireplace instead, ride a bike, take public transportation, walk, keep â€Å"off road† trips to a minimum, avoid revving engines for longer than 30 seconds when driving, etc.

Literature Review: Foreign Maid

The problem of maid abuse has been around for a long time, and is no longer new to us. There have been several cases of extreme maid abuse shown in the news through the years. The debate has been further sparked up by the case of Ng Hua Chye, a 47-year-old male tour guide, who was sentenced to more than 18 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane for manslaughter after his Indonesian maid died following nine months of beatings which left more than 200 injuries. However, these are cases are only a few out of the many that have yet to be uncovered. Are there better ways to improve the working standards of maids? This review aims to look into this problem through the comparison and analysis of several sources that we have managed to get our hands on. This review aims to identify the problems faced by foreign domestic workers in Singapore, whether maid abuse is indeed widespread, and finally what are the possible measures that can be taken to curb these problems effectively. Is maid abuse a widespread problem in Singapore? Cases of maid abuse are hard to track. ‘Given their isolation in private homes, it is difficult to ascertain the exact proportion of migrant domestic workers who face abuse. (Human Rights Watch) However, an independent poll by SIngapore Press Holdings in Dec 2003, revealed that ‘over 80% of FDWs were happy to work in Singapore. ’ (Getforme) This leaves us with a question: Are the statistics given by the government accurate in evaluating the problem of maid abuse? It can be further argued that the results of the polls are not representative of the whole for eign domestic workers population at large. Moreover, most foreign domestic workers who are abused would not be outside answering interviews by the government. Thus, the results of the polls are not accurate in showing the problem of maid abuse in Singapore. Of course, abuse is definitely not confined to serious physical abuse only. ‘â€Å"We only know about the extreme cases of abuse,† [TWC2 member Constance Singam] said, citing everyday practices like getting maids to wash the car, work long hours and wake up to feed someone coming home late. Employers also keep passports and withhold wages. ’ This goes to show that mundane forms of maid abuse and general ill treatment of maids are left unnoticed. As quoted by TWC2 (The Working Committee 2) member Constance Singam, â€Å"Physical abuse was only the tip of the iceberg, with the mundane problems of the domestic workers largely ignored. † This statement is further supported by reports which show stunning statistics. ‘Out of 147 cases of abuse [The Working Committee 2] studied, 68 percent involved physical injuries. ’ Physical abuse is rampant amongst cases of maid abuse, while there is also a large portion of foreign domestics workers in Singapore that suffer other ‘mundane types of abuse’. Thus, we can conclude from the evidence given above that maid abuse is indeed a widespread problem in the Singapore society. Problems that foreign domestic workers (FDWs) face Maids in Singapore face many problems, as asserted by the HRW. Women migrant domestic workers in Singapore suffer grave abuses ‘including physical and sexual violence, food deprivation, and confinement in the workplace. ’, ‘Migrant domestic workers earn half the wages of Singaporean workers in similar occupations, such as cleaners or gardeners. Unpaid wages is a growing complaint. And that ‘authorities have excluded domestic workers from the country's main labor laws. ’ (HRW) However, Getforme disagrees by saying, ‘Foreign domestic workers receive full protection under Singapore’s laws, including the Employment of Foreign Workers Act. All employers must provide adequate rest and meals and ensure work safety, proper housing and prompt salary payment. ’ (Getform e) Although it is evident that the Singapore government has tried to protect the welfare of foreign domestic workers, whether employers and employment agencies will follow suit is a different case. Studies conducted by the Human Rights Watch have shown that foreign domestic workers have more problems that do not meet our eyes. As quoted by the HRW, ‘key labor conditions, such as wages, hours of work, and salary deductions are left to employers and agencies, while domestic workers have little or no bargaining power. ’ Foreign domestic workers in Singapore also suffer from economic problems. Apart from physical abuse by their employers, many of them have to pay huge debts to the employment agencies. HRW shows this problem in its article, ‘Many domestic workers labor without pay for months to settle debts to employment agencies,’ Second, many of these FDWs lost their freedom as they were ‘confined to their workplace’, claimed HRW. Some employers prevent domestic workers from having weekly rest days, forbid them from talking to neighbors, and sometimes lock them in the workplace to prevent them from running away or having boyfriends. All these facts disagree with the Ministry of Manpower, which states that all employers must provide adequate rest and meals and ensure work safety, proper housing and prompt salary payment. Ultimately, it does not matter what the government does, as the people who have actual contact with the FDWs are the employers and the employment agencies, who are often the ones to make lives difficult for FDWs. Therefore, we do not believe it wrong to say that the problems that domestic workers face are indeed very serious. Solutions to curb maid abuse So, what are ways that can curb the problem of maid abuse more efficiently and improve the standards of working maids? There are some resolutions stated in our sources, while there are conflicting views at the same time. The HRW proposes that Singapore follow the example of Hong Kong in terms of their treatment of FDWs, ‘where the law stipulates a minimum wage and at least one rest day a week, the Singapore government does not provide a standard contract for maids. ’ (TWC2) However the Ministry disagrees with this arrangement as it is impractical to lay down minimum standards of working conditions due to the FDWs’ ‘unique nature of employment’ in households. Moreover, the introduction of such a standard will ‘inconvenience many households’, for example households with the elderly and need constant care from the domestic workers. However, the MOM has indeed taken several measures to protect the welfare of domestic workers. These include creating mandatory orientation programs for employers and domestic workers, prosecuting cases of unpaid wages and physical abuse, as well as introducing an accreditation program for employment agencies. The MOM has paid particular attention to the rosecution of cases involving unpaid wages and physical abuse. Employers who breach work permit conditions can be punished with a fine of up to $5,000 and a jail term of up to 6 months as quoted by the MOM. Also, employment agencies are to ensure that employers are to have at least 8 years of education such that they understand ‘[FDW’s] rights and protection provided under Singapore law. ’ Therefore, it will be very wrong to say t hat the Singapore government has not provided with measures to curb the problem of maid abuse. However, are these measures enough to curb maid abuse? Although, the cases of maid abuse have been decreasing, the cases have become more serious. The Ng Hua Chye case happened after the Singapore government enforced stricter penalties. Moreover, there is no way to be sure that the employers and employment agencies do know if households are going by the law. A ministry spokesman said that as domestic workers ‘work in a home environment, which varies from household to household, it would be difficult to enforce any coverage under the Employment Act. ’ Thus, it is clear to us that prosecution is not enough to solve the problem. Certain governmental policies which pertain to FDW and their employers, act as double-edged swords. They could be changed or abolished for the better lives of maids in Singapore. A fine example of such a policy would be the S$5,000 security bond imposed on employers who hire migrant workers. Purposed to control illegal immigration as well as to ensure employers have sufficient money to pay their maids their due salaries during their employment period, this policy directly led to employer’s restricting their migrant workers’ movements, as they will have to forfeit S$5,000 if their maids run away. Some employers even go to the extent to give their maids no weekly rest days and limited freedom of movement (e. g. locking them up at home). Other policies such as the monthly levy of approximately S$200-295 which employers of domestic workers have to pay also directly or indirectly result in the deprivation of the rights of migrant workers. In this case, not a cent from the money collected by the Singapore government in a stated attempt to regulate unskilled labor migration is used to provide better services for the migrant workers. Thus, modifying governmental policies for the benefit of FDW can also serve as a potential solution. Conclusion In conclusion, the problem of maid abuse is widespread in our society, as domestic workers in Singapore suffer from a variety of abuses and problem, ranging from physical abuse to financial problems. However, governmental policies are not effective enough to curb the problem of maid abuse, as it is difficult to enforce the law in every household. Moreover, laws are to protect the interests of victims, not just to punish those who broke the law. Thus, more actions has to be done to solve the problem as it has been proved that deterrence is not exactly effective enough to protect the welfare of domestic workers. Therefore, we believe that the problem of maid abuse is serious, that domestic workers do face many problems, and that governmental policies are effective in solving these problems only to a small extent. References 1. http://www.thinkcentre.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=2721 2. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/12/07/singap12125.htm 3.http://www.getformesingapore.com/previous2005/061205_manpowerministryrespondstohrwsreportonmaidsinsingapore.htm 4. http://www.littlespeck.com/informed/2002/CInformed-020728.htm 5. http://www.singapore-window.org/sw03/030727af.htm 6. http://hrw.org/reports/2005/singapore1205/singapore1205web.pdf

Free Essays on Felix Ziems Painting Evaluation

Evaluation of Quai de Esclaron’s/La Promenade Felix Ziem painted this painting some time in the 1840s-1860s. #Felix Ziem studied architecture in Dijon while painting landscapes with water colors even then in his youth. Then from 1841-1843, he lived in Russia and painted sights from the Bosphorus, and was influenced by Cort and Rousseau; also, he began to use mostly oil paint. He then traveled a lot and painted much of Venice and Turkey. This painting comes from his many impressionistic (even though he was pre-impressionist) paintings from Venice. #The title refers to the two protruding stone Esclaron piers visible in the foreground. The painting is painted with receding perspective lines in the near edge of the canvas protruding thoroughly balanced towards the left center. The subject is at first the obviously wealthy group beginning to embark on a leisurely trip down the Grand Canal. One woman is dressed in purplewealthy color another is in yellow, a darkened figure in blue must be a servant. Someone who looks to be a soldier in red is preparing the boat. A dark big brown figure is approaching the group with a flower arrangement. He seems to be poor and taking advantage of the chance to get some spare change for his counterparts in the closer foreground who are preparing the arrangements. #Behind this colorfully contrasting group is the awesome Doges palace. So these people are probably the Dukes family or friends; or perhaps other higher aristocracy. The palace and the building next to it are decorated with beauti ful architecture and notably a big sculpture of a nude woman reaching into the heavens. This leads the eye to the sky with few clouds and the not visible sun seems to be in the mid-low northwest. One must notice the many little arch bridges of the small canal walkways. The architecture designers of these old buildings had their work cut-out for them. It would be exciting to go out on a canal ride... Free Essays on Felix Ziem's Painting Evaluation Free Essays on Felix Ziem's Painting Evaluation Evaluation of Quai de Esclaron’s/La Promenade Felix Ziem painted this painting some time in the 1840s-1860s. #Felix Ziem studied architecture in Dijon while painting landscapes with water colors even then in his youth. Then from 1841-1843, he lived in Russia and painted sights from the Bosphorus, and was influenced by Cort and Rousseau; also, he began to use mostly oil paint. He then traveled a lot and painted much of Venice and Turkey. This painting comes from his many impressionistic (even though he was pre-impressionist) paintings from Venice. #The title refers to the two protruding stone Esclaron piers visible in the foreground. The painting is painted with receding perspective lines in the near edge of the canvas protruding thoroughly balanced towards the left center. The subject is at first the obviously wealthy group beginning to embark on a leisurely trip down the Grand Canal. One woman is dressed in purplewealthy color another is in yellow, a darkened figure in blue must be a servant. Someone who looks to be a soldier in red is preparing the boat. A dark big brown figure is approaching the group with a flower arrangement. He seems to be poor and taking advantage of the chance to get some spare change for his counterparts in the closer foreground who are preparing the arrangements. #Behind this colorfully contrasting group is the awesome Doges palace. So these people are probably the Dukes family or friends; or perhaps other higher aristocracy. The palace and the building next to it are decorated with beauti ful architecture and notably a big sculpture of a nude woman reaching into the heavens. This leads the eye to the sky with few clouds and the not visible sun seems to be in the mid-low northwest. One must notice the many little arch bridges of the small canal walkways. The architecture designers of these old buildings had their work cut-out for them. It would be exciting to go out on a canal ride...

Photo essays

Photo essays When you are young, giving gifts for Christmas is something your parents, grandparents and relatives, appreciate because you are young and they can be proud of you. So, as you get older you also want the gifts that you give to have an extra meaning and you want to be appreciated for doing something nice. A few years ago, in December, a few weeks before Christmas, I was debating on a gift for the whole family (because I hate shopping for different gifts for everyone, especially at the last minute). I decided that I would get a family picture taken, not only because I loved photography and was going to school for it, but also because I assumed it would be a nice gesture on my part because I would be leaving at the end of the school year. I paired up with my sister on this because I needed her to help with the expenses and I needed her to coordinate outfits. Well, I brought all my brothers together, except for Nathan, who was living in Georgia at the time, and told them what we were going to do (I think that Jimmy, especially, thought this was a cool idea because he would have some extra money for himself). As we made preparations for the night, when we would go to Sears to get the photographs taken, everything started to go wrong. Jimmy, who thought of himself as a new age punk rocker, had made plans to go out that night, with his friends to jam. After Erin and I, the dominant females of the family, had threatened and bribed him into complying with our plans, he didnt want to wear the outfit that we had arranged for him to wear. As soon as Jimmy was through complaining about the outfit, Trevor started making a fuss, too, about the outfit we had picked out for him. Altogether, it took about an hour and a half to get them situated. By the time we left for the portrait studio, Jimmy and Trevor were so worked up that they simply didnt care about what we were doing, and sitting through a ...