Gender Inequality Essay Example for Free

Gender Inequality Essay I have chosen to make my presentation about inequalities between genders after having seen a video last week . I don’t know if someone has seen the speech of Emma Watson at the United Nation about that but if you don’t , the actress gave an impassioned speech on feminism and gender at the U.N. headquarters in New York this weekend to launch the â€Å"HeForShe† campaign which aims to galvanize one billion men and boys as advocates for ending the inequalities that women and girls face globally. â€Å"I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Apparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and, unattractive. Why is the word such an uncomfortable one? I am from Britain and think it is right that as a woman I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decision-making of my country. I think it is right that socially I am afforded the same respect as men. But sadly I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to receive these rights.† No society treats its women as well as its men. Thats the conclusion from the United Nations Development Programme, as written in its 1997 Human Development Report. Almost 50 years earlier, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly had adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which specified that everyone, regardless of sex, was entitled to the same rights and freedoms. The 1997 Human Development Report, as well as every Human Development Report that followed, has highlighted that each country falls short of achieving that goal.. In this presentation, well take a trip around the world to examine 10 examples of gender inequality 10: Professional Obstacles Women fought for decades to take their place in the workplace alongside men, but that fight isnt over yet. According to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Census, women earn just 77 percent of what men earn for the same amount of work]. In addition to this gender wage gap, women often face a glass ceiling when it comes to promotions, which is evident when you survey the lack of women in leadership positions at major companies. Women who have  children often find themselves penalized for taking time off; if theyre not dismissed, they may face discrimination and outdated ideas of what a woman can accomplish if shes pregnant or a mother.. 9: Limited Mobility Saudi Arabia provides the most extreme example of limited mobility for women: In that country, women are not allowed to drive a car or ride a bicycle on public roads. The strict Islamic law in the country prohibits women from leaving the home without a mans permission, and if they do leave the home, they cant drive a car . While Saudi Arabia is the only country that prohibits women from driving a car, other countries restrict womens overseas travels by limiting their access to passports, and even women in developed countries may complain of limited mobility. While these women may have the legal right to drive cars and ride planes, they may elect not to go out by themselves at night due to the threat of rape or attack. 8: Violence In 2008, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported that one in every three women is likely to be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime .In both the developed and the developing world, violence against women in the form of rape, spousal abuse, child abuse or spousal killing is such routine behavior that it rarely even makes the news anymore. In conflict zones, rape of women and children is increasingly used as a weapon of war 7: Feticide and Infanticide Youll often hear expectant parents say that they dont care if they have a boy or a girl, as long as the baby is healthy. In some countries, such as China and India, a male child is more valuable than a female child, and this gender bias causes parents to care very much if they have a boy or a girl. Thanks to advances in genetic testing, parents can find out if theyre having a boy or a girl, and they may elect to end a pregnancy that would yield a female child Chinas one child policy may have led to many sex-selective abortions. 6. Restricted Land Ownership In some countries, such as Chile and Lesotho, women lack the right to own  land. All deeds must include the name of a man, be it the womans husband or father. If one of those men were to die, the woman has no legal claim to land that she may have lived on or worked all her life. And some women remain in abusive marriages so that they wont lose a place to live. Such restricted rights can be particularly frustrating in rural areas where agriculture is dominant. 5: Feminization of Poverty Women in some countries have no right to own the land on which they live or work. Not only can such a state trap women in abusive marriages, it also contributes to a phenomenon that economists have deemed the feminization of poverty. More than 1.5 billion people in the world live on less than one dollar a day, and the majority of those people are women . The United Nations often cites the statistic that women do two-thirds of the worlds work, receive 10 percent of the worlds income and own 1 percent of the means of production Many female entrepreneurs have been foiled and left to dwell in poverty because of restricted access to basic legal rights. 4: Access to Health Care In many countries, a pregnant woman in labor can head to any hospital, confident that she will receive assistance in delivery. That seems like a luxury to women in developing countries, however. According to the World Health Organization, one woman dies in childbirth every minute of every day. Thats more than 500,000 deaths every year, many of which could have been prevented if the woman had been allowed to leave her home to receive treatment, or if shed had a skilled attendant by her side. Childbirth is but one example of how women receive unequal access to health care services. 3: Freedom to Marry and Divorce In the United States, love (and the lack of it) is a subject for romantic comedies and conversation over cocktails. In other countries, love may not enter the discussion at all when it comes to marriage. In many countries, young girls are forced to marry men two or three times their age. According to UNICEF, more than one-third of women aged 20 to 24 were married before they turned 18, which is considered the minimum legal age of marriage in most countries When a woman wants out of a loveless marriage, her options are limited in many countries. In some places, courts automatically grant custody of children to the husband, and women often have no chance of receiving any measure of financial support. In other places, such as Egypt, women dont even have access to a court. While men are allowed a divorce after an oral renunciation registered with the court, women face years of obstacles to get in front of a judge. For this reason, many women around the world are trapped in abusive marriages. 1: Education Attainment Of the children that arent in school right now, the majority of them are girls.]. When it comes to education, girls worldwide get the short end of the stick. Girls may be kept out of school to help with household chores, they may be pulled from school if their father deems its time for them to marry, or there may only be enough money to educate one child from the family and the boy assumes the responsibility. This gap in educational attainment becomes particularly maddening when you consider the numerous studies that have been done which show that educating girls is a key factor in eliminating poverty and aiding development. Girls who complete school are less likely to marry young, more likely to have smaller families and exhibit better health outcomes in relation to maternal mortality and HIV/AIDS. These women also go on to earn higher salaries, which they then invest in their own families, thus ensuring that future generations of girls get to go on to school. Indeed, its addressin g the inequalities in education that may solve many of the other problems on this list. 2: Political Participation Analysts often posit that many of the issues on this list could be solved if women had higher levels of political participation. Despite making up half the global population, women hold only 15.6 percent of elected parliamentary seats in the world. Theyre missing from all levels of government local, regional and national. Why is it important that women take part in politics? A study that examined women in leadership in Bolivia, Cameroon and Malaysia found that when women could take part in shaping spending priorities, they were more likely to invest in family and community resources, health, education and the eradication of poverty than the men, who were more likely to invest in the military [source: Some countries have experimented with quoBy No society treats its women as well as its men. Thats the conclusion from the United Nations Development Programme, as written in its 1997 Human Development Report [source: UNDP]. Almost 50 years earlier, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly had adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which specified that everyone, regardless of sex, was entitled to the same rights and freedoms. The 1997 Human Development Report, as well as every Human Development Report that followed, has highlighted that each country falls short of achieving that goal. The severity of the shortfall varies by country; Nordic countries such as Sweden, Norway and Iceland, for example, are routinely hailed as having the smallest gender gaps. In the developing world, however, women face unfairness that can be hard to fathom. In this article, well take a trip around the world to examine 10 examples of gender inequality.

Nuclear Power- Should it be Banned?

Nuclear Power- Should it be Banned? The title question of my case study is: Should Nuclear Power be Banned?. I have chosen this question as I believe it is a key topic at this present moment in life, with a lot of information about it in the media, such as on the news and in the papers each day. Also it is something that will affect the life in which we live in the future. So because of these reasons it is something that people need to be aware of and need to actually understand what nuclear power is and how it is affecting us or is going to affect us in the years to come. One major problem that could occur with nuclear power is that there is always the risk that there could be a leakage of radioactive fluids, which will have a massive impact on the environment and its surroundings. These radioactive fluids that may leak from the power stations can cause cancers and very harmful illnesses in humans. So for this reason people will believe that yes, nuclear power should be banned, especially those people living around or near a nuclear power station, or those that have close relatives that may be affected if something like this were to happen. A reason against banning Nuclear power is that it provides a lot of our energy sources, and can be used to generate electricity and to power ships, so therefore we need nuclear power to continue doing these things, and if we were to get rid of it then we would only have to resort to finding another way of providing this energy, which is only going to cost even more money, on top of what wed already be paying to get rid of the nuclear power plants that exist at this moment in time.. Without the use of the ships that are powered by the nuclear power, we would have a lot of difficulty in transporting goods such as food and material from one place to another. It is in the Nuclear fission where the Uranium is used, this starts off the process for nuclear power to be generated. Nuclear fission is the process of atoms splitting, so when a heavy nucleus such as Uranium splits into two smaller, lighter nuclei. In this reaction, the strong nuclear force which is the attractive force, is acting on the electrostatic force which is the repulsive force, these can be knocked out of balance on each other when they gain the energy from either a photon or a neutron. The two forces are affected by the gain of this other element and will try to act on each other to regain the state in which they were in, but in nuclear fission the electrostatic force will gain more power than the nuclear force, therefore causing it to repel and for the nucleus to split apart, also releasing energy as it does so. To make this slightly easier to understand, imagine a load of marbles in a rough circle shape on a flat tabletop (this is going to be representing the original atoms nucleus, where all the forcing are acting the same on one another and are equal, so all the marbles/atoms are stable). What if I were to then throw or roll another marble into this group of stable marbles? All the marbles would spread apart and move out into the space around them, this marble that is being rolled into them is acting as the photon or neutron that is being gained in the nucleus. This is unbalancing the forces and causing the atoms to all move around as they react to the change that is taking place, but seeing as all the marbles move out, and away from each other shows to us that the repelling force has gained more control, as the attractive force wasnt able to keep them all together, and this is exactly what happens in nuclear fission. Saying that, although there isnt much waste being produced, that that is produced is extremely dangerous and would have to be stored, sealed up and buried for thousands of years to allow the radioactivity to die away. During this time it has to be kept far away from any potential natural disasters such as Earthquakes, Volcanic eruptions, flooding and terrorist attacks. This can be very difficult at times. The worlds worst nuclear accident occurred after an explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It released radiation over much of Europe. Thirty-one people died in the immediate aftermath of the explosion. Hundreds of thousands of residents were moved from the area and a similar number are believed to have suffered from the effects of radiation exposure. As you can see already from this 31 innocent people died from a nuclear power accident, thats hundreds of people left without a family member, and what if this was to happen again, but this time it could be even worse, and possibly even more people killed. Also from this event, thousands and thousands of people were once again exposed to the radiation which can cause cancerous cells in our bodies, which could lead to a number of deaths years down the line, all from this one accident that happened because of nuclear power. -This website is a university website, which is very factual and all its points appear to be logical and true, also the fact that its scientists writing the points and information only gives us more reason to believe its true and reliable. Many risks are taken when using nuclear power, there is always the risk of a meltdown occurring, or even a leakage of radioactive waste. There is also a risk to the workers safety and well-being as storing waste from nuclear reactors can be a problem in some cases. A nuclear meltdown is when the cooling systems fail, and the nuclear reactors reach such a temperature that they melt straight through the reactor or damage the reactor wall. With this melting, then allows the spread of radioactivity, which as before can cause great damage in the human body. There is also the chance of contamination within the environment if there was to be a leakage of radioactive waste in that area. Radioactive waste, if gotten into the workers at a nuclear power plant, can also poison them, which furthermore, would take their life. Against Nuclear Power Banning On the other hand, there are also many reasons as to why people believe that nuclear power shouldnt be banned, some of which are listed below; Nuclear power generation does emit relatively low amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). The emissions of green house gases and therefore the contribution of nuclear power plants to global warming is therefore relatively little. This technology is readily available; it does not have to be developed first. It is possible to generate a high amount of electrical energy in one single plant. -I think that this is a reliable website to get information from as it is based on the pros and cons of nuclear power, and what needs to be done to make a change, and what needs to stay the same. It cannot be edited or changed by anyone other than the creators, and the creators are have done a lot of research to make the website to the high standard of what it is now. In 2005, approximately 6.3% of the earths energy supply relied on nuclear power, and gradually over the years, this has increased slightly to 14% in 2009. It also provided 15% of the worlds electricity in 2005 and again in 2009. If we were to ban nuclear power then there would have to be other ways in which this supply of electricity was formed, and therefore more money is going to have to be spent out in order for this supply of electricity. As you can see from the statements above, it clearly states that nuclear power can generate a lot of electrical energy in just one single plant, and with there being 440 plants across the world; this would cost an awful lot of money to get rid of and then replace the energy and electricity in which it supplies us with. Nuclear power also provides for ships and submarines, which we need to transport food and goods from country to country, without these ships we would have to find another way of transporting the items, say if we were to use a plane for example, then this would only be adding to global warming which is another issue known world-wide. -I believe this graph to be a reliable source of evidence as it is from a website specifically focused on the use of nuclear power all over the world, in various different countries. Also it is not biased in any way, and it completely based on facts and figures rather than opinions, so therefore this is a reliable piece of information to be used in this case study. As you can see from the graph above, most of the large MEDC (More Economically Developed) countries reply on nuclear power as a source of energy and electricity. Although there are other ways of them getting their energy supply, with the loss of nuclear power, they would only have to increase one or more of their other supplies in order to make up for what they have lost from the lack of nuclear power. Conclusion SHOULD NUCLEAR POWER BE BANNED? Taking into account both sides of the argument, we can see that there are many reasons for nuclear power being banned, just as well as reasons for nuclear power to not be banned. The main reason that people believe nuclear power should be banned is that there is always the risk of a spillage of nuclear gases, or a leak in the power stations, which would have a great impact on humans health. The main reason as too why nuclear power shouldnt be banned is that it provides a huge amount of the worlds energy and electricity source. As you can see from the for and against arguments on the previous pages, I think that overall the benefit of nuclear power outweighs the risk so therefore nuclear power SHOULDNT be banned, and I think this becauseto get rid of all the nuclear power stations over the world would cost an awful lot of money for the governments and thats money that could be put to a better use elsewhere. Also after paying out to get rid of the nuclear power plants throughout the earth, we would then also have to pay for other methods of providing the electricity and energy resources that these plants provided, it would be easier and more efficient to just spend the money into finding more ways in which we can prevent a leakage at a power plant and how we would handle such a situation, if another one were to occur. Nuclear power plays too big a role in everyday life, we just take it for granted and dont actually realise how much we do rely on it. Furthermore, as for the number of deaths that have occurred from nuclear power accidents; there are so many things nowadays that could kill people, we just try not to look at them in that way, for instance there could be a massive pile-up on a motorway and kill a numerous amount of drivers, passengers and general citizens, but that doesnt mean that people are going to stop driving does it? So why should nuclear power be banned because of the risk of there being a fault that could cause deaths among humans? The workers in nuclear power plants, are fully aware of the risks they take every day and the risks of the radiation, but safety measures are in place to protect these workers from getting harmed, and they are trained of what to do in the case of emergency, so therefore its entirely down to them to do the job or not, at no point are they being forced to work under such conditions that are putting themselves at risk.

Affirmative Action is Harmful to Society Essay -- Synthesis Essays, Ar

     Ã‚  Ã‚   In the controversial realms of affirmative action, the largest issue staunchly fought over is whether minorities should be given preferential treatment in the workplace and in the schools. One side declares that those in the minority group need and deserve governmental aid so that they will be on equal footing with the majority group. Opponents of affirmative action point out that setting apart groups based on their race or ethnicity is purely racism and can lead to reverse discrimination. I am against affirmative action for the aforementioned reasons, and would not consider such racism as necessary for creating a healthy society, as proponents would insist. It is my belief that affirmative action today is out of date and is inherently harmful to society. Affirmative action supporter Stephen Steinberg, in his essay The Affirmative Action Debate, argued that equality in society is not possible without governmental intervention and aid. He asserts "the problem is stated falsely when it is suggested that we must choose between merit or preference, or between the rights of individuals and the rights of groups, or between a color-blind or color-conscious society" (363). Yet while he said that, he supported the very issues he is adamant against by favoring affirmative action. Earlier in his essay he describes the history of affirmative action in the workplace from equal rights for all, to reaching out to select certain minority groups for employment, and to preferential treatment of minorities (360). Of these three, the only one I can fully and strongly support is the first. When I look at all the aspects of this issue I wonder if we have failed to focus on the correct issue. Affirmative action's purpose claims to be t... ...Society." Ed. Bryan J. Grapes. San Diego: Greenhaven. 2000. 38-46. Gelles, Richard J., and Ann Levine. Sociology: An Introduction. San Francisco: McGraw-Hill College, 1999. Kristol, Irving. "The Tragic Error of Affirmative Action." Wall Street Journal 1 Aug. 1994. Rpt. in Interracial America: Opposing Viewpoints as "Affirmative Action is Reverse Discrimination." Ed. Bonnie Szumski. San Diego: Greenhaven. 1996. 144-48. Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends. San Francisco: Harper, 1974. Steele, Shelby. "Social Evils." The New York Times 13 Mar. 1994. Rpt. in Interracial America: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. Bonnie Szumski. San Diego: Greenhaven. 1996. 175. Steinberg, Stephen. "The Affirmative Action Debate." The UNESCO Courier Mar. 1996. Rpt. in Essays from Contemporary Culture. 4th ed. Ed. Katherine Anne Ackley. San Diego: Harcourt. 2001. 359-63.

Mental Training-sports Essay -- essays research papers fc

Motivate Yourself! Metal preparedness is almost as important as physical training. To be mentally trained most closely means to be psychologically ready for the physical act of. Mental training includes several steps which include aquainting ones self with the event, setting a goal, finding out secret techniques or discovering the â€Å"trade secrets†, harnessing your inner psyche (Id) by having time set aside to discover it, monitor performance, visualize ones self in competition correcting all errors, and then combining all steps to make one the best athlete possible. Why is it that those of us who are out of a sport, and on our own to train can sometimes motivate ourselves to find the time to train and maintain a training schedule, and other times not? Sometimes we can get into the exercise habit and other times not? How can we make training part of our schedule? To be motivated to do something means to be persuaded that there is something to gain in it for one. Presumably, one should convince ones self that there is something to gain for one in pole-vaulting. Motivating one self is, however, somewhat paradoxical — a â€Å"catch 22†. What if you have to motivate ones self to motivate ones self? So, it is worth talking it over with another person. A person who does not find physical pleasure in pole-vaulting will not continue pole-vaulting for long. What motivates a pole-vaulter? Money? No. Love of their sport, maybe? Feeling good about being good at what they are doing? Pure enjoyment, exhilaration? Being on a team? Gaining position and power and influence? Being admired and appreciated by others? Yes! Is this enough to get you out on the mats regularly? Think over what you have to sacrifice to have the time to train. A movie, dinner with friends, late night TV, time with your family? One author suggested â€Å"mainly give up work. It’s impossible to keep up†. Visualize ones-self accomplishing the goal and feel that satisfaction that comes from success. Now how will a person remember that state of motivation that the person will want to have the next time they are deciding whether or not to row?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once the person gets on the runway, it is important to make the experience pleasurable so one will want to come back. For most people, this means a few drills as they push off the dock to remind their nervous system of what is expected. Vaulti... ...ple Press. Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic structures. The Hague: Mouton. 2. Erickson, M. H., & Rossi, E. L. (1979). Hypnotherapy: An exploratory casebook. New York: Irvington. 3. Gallwey, Timothy. (1974). The inner game of tennis. New York: Random House. Grinder, J. & Bandler, R. (1976). The structure of magic. II. Palo Alto: Science and Behavior. 4. Ingalls, J. S. (1988). Cognition and athletic behavior: An investigation of the NLP theory of congruence. (Doctoral dissertation, Teachers College Columbia University, 1987). Dissertation Abstracts International, 48, (7). p. 2090-8. DA 8721125. 5. Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (Eds.). (1980). Autopoiesis and cognition: The realization of the living. Boston: Reidel. 6. Miller, G., Galanter, E., & Pribram, K. H. (1960). Plans and the structure of behavior. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 7. Varela, F. J., Thompson, E. & Rosch, E. (1993). The embodied mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. von Bertalanffy, L. (1968). General systems theory: Foundations, development, applications. New York: George Braziller. 8. Watzlawick, P., Bavelas, J., & Jackson, D. (1967). Pragmatics of human communication. New York: Norton.

Leadership Examples in IT industry in India Essay

Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian business tycoon and philanthropist who is the chairman of Wipro Limited, guiding the company through four decades of diversification and growth to emerge as one of the Indian leaders in the software industry. After the demise of his father, Azim Premji took charge of WIPRO when he was 21 instead of taking up a high paid job. He believes in the concept of come easy go easy. A money earned was of far more value to him instead of five found. He never let success overwhelm him and constantly learnt from his failures and built an empire which does not need an introduction. He never stopped leaning and is the best example of humility in the software industry. He always strived to find better ways to innovate and treated excellence as journey rather than destiny. He evaluates with calm mind and does whatever is the most appropriate. At an age when most of the businessmen would retire and live a peaceful life away from stress, he is still active and inspires his employees to not only work but also enjoy the entire process. He is an idol for today’s generation and an epitome who shows us on how to live life without compromising on our core values. His desire to stretch and achieve which seem beyond one’s grasp is the most inspiring characteristic. His down to earth nature is visible from his charities. Nandan Nilekani is considered among the most successful business leaders from India. He has several accolades and awards to his name which are proofs of his tremendously rich leadership in fostering Infosys first and now the UIDAI. Nandan Nilekani was born in Bangalore, Karnataka on June 2, 1955 as the younger son of Durga and Mohan Rao Nilekani. He grew up as a typical  middle class child high on traditional and moral values. As a child, Nilekani was extremely brilliant and had good leadership skills. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai and joined the Mumbai based software firm Patni Computers where he came into acquaintance with Mr. N R Narayan Murthy who later founded Infosys Technologies with Nandan and his associates. Nilekani was known for his bold leadership style and risk taking behaviour. He co-founded Infosys Technologies with his colleagues and a starting capital of $250 after three years with Patni. Despite having considerably less experience, he moved to the US in 1981 handling the marketing and development effort for Infosys. In 1987, he came back to India and in March 2002, he took over as the Chief Executive Officer of Infosys Technologies. Nilekani stressed in bringing about an excellence in execution within Infosys. He transformed the business at Infosys by division into verticals such as financial services, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, etc. emphasizing on values such as timely completion of projects on budget, hiring of high quality employees, excellent training programmes and high client and employee satisfaction. It was under his leadership that the global delivery model emerged as it is known today. Nilekani recognised the global nature of Infosys as it was emerging with a high number of employees and huge bio-diversity. Under his leadership, Infosys was awarded several awards such as â€Å"Best Company to Work for† and â€Å"India’s Best Managed Company Award†. His entrepreneurial skills inspire the present generation to take all responsibilities head on and increase the hunger of success. AZIM PREMJI 1. Explain the personality of the leaders based on Big 5 model. Cite instances to support your view. Big Five Model states that five basic dimensions underlie all others and encompass most of the significant variation in human personality. The following are the Big Five factors on which the personality of Azim Premji is evaluated against: The Big 5 personality traits are: (OCEAN) 1. Openness to experience: (Openness to new ideas) Azim Premji has been very open to ideas and experiences. After the death of his Father in 1966, the 22-year old scion to the hydrogenated-oil manufacturing firm returned to manage the business and diversified the company into other areas such as lightning products, soaps, etc. Also, the coming-up of Wipro as the leading IT Company was foreseen by Azim Premji. 2. Conscientiousness: (Show self-discipline and aim for achievement against expectations) In the span of 50 years, Wipro has transformed to one of the leading R & D service providers of the world. One of the popular Azim Premji anecdotes was when he attended his first annual general meeting. A shareholder doubted Premji’s ability to handle business at such a young age and publicly advised him to sell his shareholding and give it to a more mature management. This spurred Azim Premji and made him all the more determined to make Wipro a success story. His conscientiousness can also be seen in the focused efforts the CSR initiatives that the â€Å"Azim Premji Foundation† undertakes. 3. Extraversion: (Energy creation from external means; gregariousness) Azim Premji is considered to be an introvert. He maintains a measured engagement with the media. This can also be discerned from the relatively less number of news articles on Azim Premji (about 3000). 4. Agreeableness: One of the most famous quotes by Azim Premji is â€Å"We must have faith in our own ideas even if everyone tells us that we are wrong.† Also, he was one of the few corporate leaders in India who spoke out against the populist CSR measures taken by the Government of India. 5. Neuroticism: (Tendency to experience negative emotions) Azim Premji’s ability to manage the business in the face of difficult situations is a proof of his emotional stability. Time and again, he has shown dedication to his work and duties; even when faced with a grave personal loss (death of his Father). 2. What are the values of the organization or group the leaders represent? What are their personal values? Substantiate your claims by evidence. Wipro had 3 Values as stated on its Website (Popularly known as SPIRIT OF WIPRO): Intensity To Win: For Wipro It is not about winning at all costs, neither is it about winning every time, nor about winning at the expense of others. It is about working together to create a synergy; realizing that I win when my team wins, my team wins when Wipro wins, and Wipro wins when its customers win and when its stakeholders win. It is about innovating all the time. It is a continuous endeavor to do better than the last time. It is the Spirit of fortitude, the Spirit of never letting go†¦ ever. This is evident from the product extension of Wipro in various fields possible from its flagship product of vegetable oil to lightning products, from Computer software to FMCG product like soap. For this spirit of Play to win made Wipro achieve following: Wipro ranks 11th in the first edition of Interbrand’s ‘Best Indian Brands’ study, 2013. Global Telecoms Business recognizes Wipro with the ‘Wholesale Service Innovation Award 2013†² for their unique IT R&D Partnership Project. Wipro cited as a Leader in Sustainable Technology Services by Independent Analyst Firm. Act with Sensitivity: At its highest vision, respect for the individual is unqualified. The core of this sensitivity lies in understanding that every being, however different, is equal. The spirit of democracy underlies our notion of sensitivity. It believes in true respect meaning creating conditions in which every individual grows to realize his/her promise and potential. As quoted on its website â€Å"We are responsible for, and have an obligation to live in harmony  with, our ecological environment. We should actively act to preserve nature, and refrain from any action that harms ecology.† This Act with Sensitivity led them to bag the following awards: Wipro is the highest ranked gadget maker in Greenpeace’s latest green guide to electronics 2012. Ranked 2nd in the Workplace Diversity & Inclusivity category in India’s Best Places to Work For Study -2012 conducted by Great Places to Work Institute. Unyielding Integrity: Integrity is a commitment to searching for and acting on the truth. â€Å"Truth† is a word with many manifestations – it means keeping one’s word; it also means understanding and realizing the highest vision of oneself. As quoted on website â€Å"I am the litmus test of my integrity. For integrity is the manifestation of conscience.† Wipro’s code of conduct for employees says it all: Don’t do anything that you’re unwilling to have published in tomorrow’s newspaper with your photograph next to it. It’s that kind of Integrity that has catapulted Premji and Wipro to unprecedented heights. Personal Values: Azim Premji, the businessman, practices what he preaches. When it comes to upholding personal values, there’s no margin for error. He followed 2 principles throughout his life. They are: Value For Money: If ‘value for money’ was a guiding principle of Premji’s life, so was his practical nature. Although Wipro was well regarded, stories current in Bangalore at that time about Azim Premji related to his ‘careful about money’ habits. Azim Premji flew economy class and there was this tale about him taking an auto from the airport after disembarking from a flight and not finding his car. Everybody in Bangalore knew that he was a rich guy who was extremely simple and would do things such as borrowing magazines from the staff periodical pool with the promise of returning them later. It was not unusual for Premji to land up at the premises of customers for a sales pitch for his computers. If a good order could be bagged — and this could be anywhere in India — Premji disregarded his high status and became a salesman. Integrity: This was the value which he admires the most. One of the incident for which this principle is found to be evident in Premji is when Wipro managers speak in awe of the time they received a terse message that their chairman was flying down to Bangalore for a meeting. It was clear that something major was in the offing. Premji came straight to the point. A senior general manager of the company had been given marching orders because he had inflated a travel bill. The man’s contribution to the company was significant; the bill’s amount was not. Yet he had to go for this solitary lapse. It was, Premji stressed, a matter of principles. 3. What are some of the major conflicts that these leaders have confronted? Who were the stakeholders? How did they resolve the conflict? Were they able to live up to the expectations of all stakeholders? Conflict of Wipro:- In 2000 Wipro came out with an IPO of American Depository Shares (ADS) in the United States. Wipro offered a commonly utilized and Securities and Exchange Commission approved Directed Share Program (DSP) that allowed employees and clients of Wipro to purchase ADSs at the IPO market price. Their clients also included the World Bank staff to whom Wipro allowed to purchase shares at market price. The Program’s objective was to involve employees and customers with the public offering to expand recognition and brand of Wipro, but the World Bank in June 2007 determined that this was a conflict of interest. The World Bank deemed the IT firm ineligible to bid for direct contracts from IT sector for the period 2007-2011. The multilateral lender banned Wipro in June 2007 from doing business with the group under its corporate procurement program. Effects of ban on Wipro by World Bank:- The ban came to light in January 2009. Shares of Wipro were down by more than 10% when news came out after two years of ban. Employees of Wipro were under fear after what happened in Satyam. They were worried about future of their career as well as the future of the company. Leadership of the Chairman of the company – Mr. Azim Premji:- At this time, Mr. Azim Premji led Wipro from the front. He wrote a letter to 1,00,000 employees of Wipro. He denied allegations of providing improper benefits to Bank staff. He gave assurance to employees that all participants in the program signed a conflict of interest statement and their purchase did not violate any ethics or conflict of interest policies of their company. He said business ethics is their top priority while dealings with all stakeholders of Wipro. According to his letter, Wipro’s success over the decades has been built on the foundation of its values. Mr. Azim Premji was able to gain confidence from employees of Wipro. Wipro passed that difficult phase and continued their success story. World Bank lifted the ban on Wipro in 2011. It is now the fourth largest IT Company in India. Azim premji has shown us what effective leadership can do. 2. What are the CSR initiatives that these leaders support? Give examples. CSR Initiatives taken by Azim Premji: Azim Premji has already given 25% of his wealth to charity. Azim Premji has become the first Indian to sign up for the â€Å"Giving Pledge†, an undertaking by large-hearted billionaires to dedicate a majority of their wealth to philanthropy. Azim Premji’s biggest CSR initiative has been the establishment of â€Å"Azim Premji Foundation.† Azim Premji Foundation: Azim Premji Foundation was established in 2001 with a vision to contribute to education that facilitates a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society. Their approach has been to focus all their resources and efforts on systemic change and improvement in quality of education in the government schools. The foundation has focussed on following areas while working with the government: Teacher Education Azim Premji Foundation’s teacher education programs have sought to build capacity in the existing education functionaries in terms of their  perspectives, subject matter knowledge, competencies and motivation levels. Since inception, they have worked with over 50,000 government school teachers across 8 states. Education Leadership and Management Azim Premji Foundation has developed about 3500 education functionaries in the state of Karnataka, including principals of schools in a unique effort involving training of master development facilitators for extended periods of time through classroom training and field projects. Examination Reforms Following Azim Premji Foundation’s work in the area, about 8 districts in 5 states have changed the way they conduct examinations for students up to 5th standard and the state of Karnataka has introduced external competency based evaluation. Technology in Education The Foundation initiated the Computer Aided Learning programme in the year 2002 to harness the potential of computer technology for education. The objectives of the programme were to make learning enjoyable and assessment fun, for all students. To this end, the Foundation created syllabus-based bi/trilingual multimedia content. It is probably the largest developer of Digital Learning Resources that address curricular issues of children from classes 3 to 8 in 18 languages (including four tribal languages). 2.5 million Children in 20,000 schools have used these resources across 16 states. Other Initiatives by Wipro: Wipro Care: â€Å"Wipro Cares† engages with communities in our proximate locations. The primary objectives of Wipro Cares are to support the developmental needs of marginalized communities in cities and towns where Wipro has a large presence. They have four core areas of work – education, health care, environment and disaster rehabilitation. Wipro Cares is currently engaged in 12 projects across India. Through its five health care projects in three states of India, Wipro Cares is providing more than 50,000 people access to primary health care. More than 70,000 children benefit from the six  education projects in five Indian cities and one Indian village. Their project in social forestry has helped plant more than 50,000 trees and has at the same time provided livelihood to around 40 farmers. Employee engagement is an integral part of Wipro Cares where they encourage employees to volunteer with our partners, acting thus as catalysts in bringing about positive change. Apart from these core areas, as part of the long term process that is typically involved in the rehabilitation of communities affected by natural calamities, Wipro offers its employees the opportunity to engage meaningfully with the affected communities. Mission 10X: Mission10X is a not-for-profit trust of Wipro, launched on September 5, 2007, with an aim to enhance the employability skills of engineering graduates in India. It aims to achieve this by collaborating with academicians & leading educational institutions across the country. The Mission10X Learning Approach empowers engineering faculty with innovative teaching techniques using which they can help learners in imbibing higher level of understanding of subjects, application of concepts learned and development of key behavioural skills. Since its launch, Mission10X has gained tremendous recognition and momentum in the field of engineering education. Mission10X has reached out to over 1,200 engineering colleges across 25 States in India and has empowered over 23,000 engineering faculty members. Eco–Eye: The core of Wipro’s social and community initiatives is focused on responsible and deep engagement with all stakeholders – present and future generations. Eco-eye is the way they see themselves and their engagement with stakeholders – on the journey to more sustainable business practices. The initiative focuses on reducing ecological footprint of their business operations, engagement with employees and supply chain, partners and customers to create a more sustainable society, and transparent reporting/disclosures. The ecological dimensions of their operations are focused on energy efficiency, water efficiency, waste/pollution management and recently enhancing biodiversity–they have set stretch targets for each of them. Moving beyond mere compliance with laws and regulations, engagement  with employees focuses on health and safety, people development, and increasing diversity and inclusivity at workplace are their important considerations. Close collaboration with suppliers to reduce their own ecological footprint and help meet and exceed labour and human rights norms is a key focus area. NANDAN NILEKANI 1. Explain the personality of the leaders based on Big 5 model. Cite instances to support your view. Big Five Model states that five basic dimensions underlie all others and encompass most of the significant variation in human personality. The following are the Big Five factors on which the personality of Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and ex- CEO & ex-MD of Infosys is evaluated against: The Big 5 personality traits are: (OCEAN) 1. Openness to experience. Nandan Nilekani’s career graph shows him to be a risk taker. He started his career in an IT firm as an engineer which he later quit to start his own business with his five other colleagues. Then, from an entrepreneur, he became a technocrat in the government in charge of transformational projects. Now, speculations are rife about his joining government by contesting elections from Bangalore constituency. He has also authored a book on ideas that have made India titled ‘Imagining India’. In his own words he describes his journey so far as from being an ideator to a change initiator. 2. Conscientiousness The biggest trait of a highly conscientious person is that he is reliable and responsible. Nandan Nilekani scores high on this parameter. Only a person who is deemed responsible and dependable can be made the chief of the biggest initiative by government. Other than that, he has also served as a member of the National Knowledge Commission, formed by the prime minister to reform higher education in India. In his stint at Infosys, its revenues grew fivefold. This shows the immense trust that the shareholders have on his leadership capability. He is well organized and persistent in his efforts.  He has managed to issue 380 million AADHAR cards so far which is consistent with his target of 400 million AADHAR cards by 2013. 3. Extraversion Nandan Nilekani is an extravert because he exudes gregariousness, is assertive and sociable. In 1981, Nandan Nilekani along with Narayan Murthy and five others co-founded Infosys. If he wouldn’t have been an extravert then probably he would have still remained as an employee of â€Å"Patni Computers† where he worked initially with the other co-founders of Infosys. Also, on his last day at Infosys, he made a speech that brought his assertive nature to the fore. It read â€Å"I am generally very articulate but this is not the day or place where I can be articulate. I’ve been wrapped up in Infosys for 28 years. My only identity is Infosys. I will be going to lead a programme to give identity to every Indian. But today I am losing my identity†¦But, in my new role, I’m supposed to work with 600 government departments knowing fully well that no two government departments get along with one other.† Also people close to him and the employees who have worked under him know him as a good orator and communicator. 4. Agreeableness Nandan Nilekani ranks high on the agreeableness dimension. He is known to be cooperative, warm and trusting. Mohandas Pai, co-founder of Infosys and a close aide of Nilekani says that he listens to all stakeholders, but has the capacity to take decisions. Also when he left Infosys to join UIDAI as its chief, many of his employees too left Infosys to join him in UIDAI. Even in UIDAI, he willingly subscribes to its rules, but at the same time also constantly looks for openings to subtly sell his ideas. 5. Neuroticism Nandan Nilekani is a positively stable person. The desire and urgency to serve a larger good has seen Nilekani and his wife, Rohini, give away hundreds of crores of their personal wealth—which Forbes estimates at $1.3 billion (about Rs. 9,000 crore), as of March 2013, largely from their Infosys shareholding—to educational institutions, and organisations that work to address some of the basic human needs. Some of this thinking is influenced by Nilekani’s father, Mohan Rao, a manager in a textile company  and a Nehruvian. Nilekani is considered the Bill Gates of our very own silicon valley for his benevolence and Samaritan acts. 2. What are the values of the organization or group the leaders represent? What are their personal values? Substantiate your claims by evidence. Hard work & sacrifice: I learned the value of give and take. I learned that there is the need to sacrifice your own wants in favour of someone else. I also believe in the popular saying: Let all living beings prosper. Another feature that this leader represents is the quest for knowledge. He stresses that success depends on continual learning. He also believes in the fact that ultimately hard work pays. He says that value system is very important as it acts as a guiding light in times of darkness, confusion and self-doubt, and when faced with moral dilemma. Leadership by example: Nandan Nilekani believes that transferring the values and beliefs of the organization to the next generation leaders is one of the most important functions. He is actively involved in the company’s leadership development workshops and mentoring activities. He believes that future leaders need to learn how to set direction, to create a shared vision, encourage execution excellence, embrace inclusive meritocracy. Ethics: The company recognizes the importance of nurturing relationships that reflect our culture of unwavering ethics and mutual respect. The company behaves ethically and honestly in all its interactions – with the clients, partners and employees. Right of Liberty: The company has unwritten rules. Everybody knows that if we want to work as a team we have to be transaction based. We start every transaction on a zero base. It is perfectly feasible for us to disagree on a transaction but we start the next transaction without any bias. Only an argument that has merit wins; it has nothing to do with hierarchy. Disagreeing is in the nature of  things. When you bring a set of people who have respect for each other’s competence in certain areas and you’re transaction-oriented then it can work as it has in our case. In Infosys, we have consciously brought about a respect and dignity for every individual. Pursuit of Excellence: We at Infosys take a long-term view of our business and life. We remember that success is, generally ephemeral. We remember that we are only as good as the results of our last quarter. Infosys has always placed a premium upon recruiting people with a high learnability quotient. Personal Values: Excerpts from an interview with the Indian Express â€Å"When I address new hires, the main thing I talk to them about is the value system. I tell them that even in the fiercest competitive situation they must never talk ill of customers. For heaven’s sake don’t short change anybody. Never ever violate any law of the land. It is better to lose a billion dollars than a good night’s sleep. It is a true meritocracy.† Once Nandan Nilekani was having lunch with Mihir S Sharma. They ordered something to eat and Nandan waited patiently for the food to arrive. The steward finally arrives. He received an education in how Important People are treated in restaurants. He’d rather be unimportant: mainly because it is assumed Important People are Too Busy to Order. The steward asks them if they want vegetables, chicken or meat, and tells them he’ll do the rest. Before he can interpose a panicked reply, Nilekani says: â€Å"dim sum.† The steward rushes off, and brings them a random selection. They’re terrible: undercooked and flavourless. Nilekani calls the steward over, and asks for the restaurant’s hottest sauce. The steward points to one on the table. Nilekani Smiles and picks up the sauce on his own. He understands that even the steward is a busy man and can get frustrated by his job. This clearly indicates the degree to which Nilkeni understands human behaviour and respects others. One, stay a technocrat, as he has been since 2009, when he was handpicked by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to lead a project to issue unique identity numbers to every Indian. Two, come in as a member of the Rajya Sabha, which does not require a mandate from the people, and be a minister like Jairam Ramesh or even Manmohan Singh. Three, in what will be the most challenging personally and professionally for Nilekani, a member of the Lok Sabha, elected by the people. This indicates value of excellence in Mr. Nilekani. Former Infosys chief and chairman of Unique Identification Development Authority of India Nandan Nilekani and his wife Rohini have announced Rs. 50 crore philanthropic grants to the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) to fund the establishment of a School of Environment and Sustainability. This indicates the generous nature of Mr. Nilekani. The principle of building and implementing great ideas that drive progress for clients and enhance lives through enterprise solutions. Mr. Nilekani has constantly endeavoured in bringing to life great ideas and enterprise solutions. His efforts in developing a unique identification project which aims at issuing identity to all Indian residents is commendable. 4. What are some of the major conflicts that these leaders have confronted? Who were the stakeholders? How did they resolve the conflict? Were they able to live up to the expectations of all stakeholders? Nandan Nilekani’s life seems like a smooth ride if you have a look at it. He has handled the conflicts in his personal or professional life so properly that you will feel like they weren’t even there. But, there were some brickwalls which he had to overcome. The two biggest conflicts in his life were: ‘To take care of newly started Infosys’s interests in US’ and of course, ‘the UID or Aadhar card project implementation’. To take care of newly started Infosys’s interests in US: After walking out of Patni with Narayan Murthy and co-founding the Infosys with him, Nandan Nilekani moved to US to take care of Infosys’s interest there. He was the face of the Infosys in US and did a brilliant job  in expanding its business. This part doesn’t necessarily seem as a big conflict but this was a really important phase for Infosys before it went public in 1993. Even when Infosys went public in 1993, no one picked up the stock. Among the first people Nandan Nilekani tried to sell the Infy stock before the Initial Public Offering was his IIT Bombay senior by one year, and now Union minister, Jairam Ramesh. So, I think the answer to this conflict in question is more related to his personality and his ability to give his team or co-workers a direction towards improvement through simple and logical questions that would properly analyse their work as well as its efficiency. Mr. Nandan Nilekani has a quick mind but at the same time he is very patient and a superb listener. He is quick in doing 360 degree analysis about any problems and is quick to ask the questions on exact points too. With these qualities he expanded the number of Infosys’ clients as well as provided them work the quality they needed. Even though, he makes it look effortless, it’s his experience, his quizzical & quick mind and his innovative thinking that makes this possible. With all these traits, he contributed to Infosys immensely and became its CEO in 2002. It was Nilekani who put Infosys on the global map and coined the phrase â€Å"flat world†, which inspired Thomas Friedman to title his book ‘The World is Flat’. The UID or Aadhar card project implementation: When Nandan Nilekani began working on providing a unique identification number to half of India’s billion-plus people four years ago, he ran into a wall of problems. The main criticism was that 120bn rupees ( £1.72bn; $1.89bn) project was also the world’s biggest biometric exercise. Not surprisingly Mr Nilekani, info-tech whizz turned head of the Unique Identification Authority of India, faced tough questions over access and misuse of personal information, surveillance, profiling, securing of confidential information by the government and threats of budget cuts. A parliamentary panel even trashed the idea, saying it would be â€Å"misused†. When all these were cleared the whole project was called directionless. The major stakeholders in this case were: He himself, Government, Opposition, Indian population and UIDAI. Nandan Nilekani persevered really hard, day and night to answer these questions and handled each one of them professionally and answering them with his actions. As his wife said in one of the  interview, â€Å"For 30 years Infosys consumed him and now it is UIDAI.† That’s how much he is involved. When the certain journalists went for the interview at his house, Nandan and Rohini Nilekani had just returned from a workshop at the National Law School in Bangalore where he had brainstormed with a group of legal experts on how to create the legal framework for the UIDAI. A week before that he was in Bihar where he had had a 90-minute lunch meeting at chief minister Nitish Kumar’s house. The day after the interview, Nilekani was flying off to Mumbai to meet the Maharashtra chief minister. In the four months before the interview took place, he had met 12 CMs to explain to them the intricacies of the UID project and ask for their support in enrolling people into the program. When he was interviewed about all this and why did he take up a project that was risky and that might face such a huge criticism, he said it was mainly because he was restless. He mentioned, â€Å"I thrive on challenges and new intellectual issues. I had to show that I could execute something outside my normal world. So there was that desire to prove myself again.† There was one more reason – the feeling that he needed to give something back to the country. Nilekani was aware that he came to this job with a certain â€Å"brand perception†. He was famous and wealthy and while these two attributes can help in opening many doors, there were people inside the government who did not believe that he understood the problems and issues of the poor. That is why he launched what he called an â€Å"outreach programme† where he made the first move in reaching out to various organizations and departments inside the government and public sector. Nilekani has been able to successfully complete the UID project and it has shown far reaching benefits. It has improved the delivery of social welfare programs, lead to more inclusion of the underprivileged, brought down the government’s transaction costs and plugged leaks and fraud in welfare schemes. But the implications of Nilekani’s role go far beyond the UID. He was one of the most high profile hires made by the Manmohan Singh government in the project. There were two implications – if he succeeds, a lot more people from the private sector and academic world will step forward to work with the government but if he fails that movement could slow down, which is why so many people across the country were watching this move so closely. Mr Nilekani was well-aware of the risks. As he himself says, â€Å"In the private sector, nine out of 10 start-ups usually fail and the UID too is like a  start-up.† He knew that his prior success didn’t guarantee success in this world and if he didn’t deliver the consequences would be large and four years on, Mr Nilekani – the famous co-founder of Infosys, the $7bn Indian info-tech behemoth – believes he has been able to allay fears. One of his biggest strengths at Infosys was building consensus and breaking down a complex problem and get people to identify the specific parts where they could not agree. The other was his supreme networking skills. And he put both of them to good use in UIDAI. He certainly silenced the critics with superb execution of the project, cleared all the doubts of the stakeholders and Indian people and even grass root politicians and provided people with Aadhar Card – their UID. 5. What are the CSR initiatives that these leaders support? Give examples. Nandan Nilekani himself is not an organisation or is not heading any profit making organisation so it is not mandatory upon him to devote 2% of his earnings towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. In fact he has right now devoted his complete time towards society by spearheading the UIDAI project. He is the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIADAI). This project is aimed at creating a complete database of the Indian population in order for the government to reach out to the masses in a more effective manner. Besides this Mr. Nandan Nilekani’s wife Rohini Nilekani has been involving herself into a lot of social work which could be indirectly termed that she has been doing on his behalf. Recently Mrs Rohini Nilekani raised about Rs 163.58 crore by selling 5.77 lakh of her shares of the IT services company for philanthropic work. Mrs Rohini Nilekani recently stated that she has taken philanthropic initiatives in multiple sectors such as education, water, environment and governance among others. The proceeds of the sale of shares, post tax, are being deployed towards these and other philanthropic contributions. This was just a one-off social task undertaken by them. Besides this on a full time basis they have a non-profit organisation named Arghyam. Arghyam grants funds to organisations, which implement and manage groundwater and sanitation projects in India. Arghyam has made grants to recipients in 22 states of India since 2005, the year of its founding. Arghyam, a foundation she set up with a private endowment, to  work on water and sanitation issues in India. Apart from this Mrs Rohini Nilekani is also Founder-Chairperson of Pratham Books, a charitable trust which seeks to put â€Å"A book in every child’s hand.† All these initiatives it could be assumed are being undertaken by her but it cannot be denied that the source of income or the free movement of all projects undertaken by her have a bearing signature of her husband which can be easily noticed. When Mr. Nandan Nilekani was asked the reason for his leaving Infosys it was found out that he had a feeling that he needed to give something back to the country. It was feeling that lead him to develop the country’s first unique identification scheme that hopes to cover all of India in phases and give a unique number as exists in all other developed countries. Mr. Nandan Nilekani like his wife does not believe in philanthropy is the way to alleviate poverty and inequality. He rather believes that social work for the country can only be carried out by working with the government. He has also been trying to enter into politics and has a belief that if one academically successful man is able to enter politics and is able to help India there would be more who would get into it. A person who is working for the government in a selfless manner is the most apt example for social responsibility being carried out and Nandan Nilekani is doing that thing in the best possible manner there could be. REFERENCES ‘Value for money’ – an article on Azim Premji in Times Of India (03 December 2010) http://www.azimpremji.org.in/biography.htm http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/focus-clear-purpose-must-for-successful-csr-azim-premji/article5170761.ece http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-26/news/42426952_1_azim-premji-foundation-mandatory-csr-csr-committee http://www.careers360.com/news/3778–Take-charge-of-your-career-destiny http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org http://www.wipro.com/india http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2009-01-13/news/28480654_1_azim-premji-ethics-or-conflict-conflict-of-interest-statement http://m.indianexpress.com/news/world-banks-4yr-ban-on-wipro-ends/811019/ http://www.indiacsr.in/en/?tag=nandan-nilekani View as multi-pages

Coca Cola Internal Analysis Essay

Executive Summary Coca-cola Company is leading manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of non alcoholic drinks in the United States of America and all over the world. It is a multinational Giant company that has market presence in almost all countries of the world. The company has also diversified from its initial soft drinks to manufacture fruit juices and other non-soda drinks. Its objective has been to maintain its global leadership in supply of beverages and other non-soda drinks through maintaining high quality production methods that ensure the name and products remain a household brand. Introduction Resource based view approach has been a method most managements have used to formulate their companies’ strategies (Barney, 1991). This is because Resource Based View regards a company’s internal environment rather than the external environment. The advantage of using internal environment as a source of strategy formulation is that the company is able to consider factors which are within its controls; which constitute its strengths and weaknesses (Connely, 2010). This paper presents an internal analysis of Coca cola Company with specific regard to the Economic value of the company, its resources and capabilities that make it distinct from other companies giving it competition through provision of similar soft drinks. Economic value Added In 2010, The Coca Cola Company posted an increase in revenues as compared to the previous year. The profits came to $6.48 billion. The cost of capital for Coca cola Company is estimated to be 8.7% and the capital totaled $72.929 billion. Ensuing is the EVA calculation for the company. Net Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT) – (capital * cost of capital) = 4.08 â₠¬â€œ (72.929*.087) billion. This comes to $0.2 billion. The company’s EVA comes to $0.2 billion. Coca cola Company Resources Being a global leader in production of beverages and soft drinks, Coca Cola Company has various resources that play a major role in every production stage to ensure that the production and delivery of its various product and subsequent client services are of high standards. The company has both tangible and intangible resources that help it in the various production stages and subsequent delivery of the products to the targeted consumers. Tangible resources The tangible resources include physical, human and Financial Resources. Coca Cola Company has many physical resources it possesses and manages. These physical resources include buildings and equipment. Coca cola has managed to construct buildings in almost all regions. The presence of self owned production plant means that the cost of production is maintained low. This enables the company to offer high quality products at low prices. The presence of self owned equipment ensures that the company does not lease or rent any equipment and thus managing to cost of production low. The company’s strong financial position ensures that it has stable financial resources to carry out the production process without major problems in terms of cash shortages. The positive cash flows usually ensure that a company has cash available for any activity that needs cash (Lawton, 2006). This position enables it to avoid unnecessary debt financing. The company also maintains a motivated work force. This has been a major force in driving its products into shelves and subsequently into the shopping lists of consumers. The company has highly invested in employee training and development as this is an important factor in ensuring that the workers involved in the production deliver a high quality work, and those that are concerned with marketing ensure that the products are bought by consumers. This has come through realization that the coca cola products do not fall under the necessity class but rather fall under impulse products. Intangible Resources The Company’s intangible resources include the technical resources, intellectual and goodwill. Coca cola company has for a long time enjoyed technical resources that have helped the company has technical expertise in production of some products that have been of great use fostering the company’s goals. The company has been able to come up with numerous flavors in their soft drinks such as such as , Orange flavor, Pineapple, black currant, lemon, Ginger and so on. These productions are a clear indication that the company has great expertise knowledge that it uses as an advantage of other companies offering similar products, the company also enjoys intellectual property of the brands that they provide. This is because once a company does research and development and comes up with a product, it has the option of p atenting that particular product thus maintaining the exclusive rights to supply that particular product (Edvinsson & Malone, 1997). The company has also enjoyed a goodwill and customer loyalty over a long period of time this has been an internal strength that it has used to its advantage since the coca Cola brand and its products have enjoyed an undying loyalty from consumers. The brand visibility of the company has also ensured that many people access the products really in time. Distinctive capabilities Coca Cola Company enjoys distinctive capabilities that enable it to carry out productions in a manner that is superior to other competitors. Distinctive capabilities that Coca Cola Company has are Innovation, reputation, and architecture. The company has been able to introduce new products into the market. This has been a major competitive edge over the competitors since they lack the innovation capability to come up varied new products. Its production methods and the ingredients mixture have remained a strong contributor to the unique and high quality products that have enabled the products enjoy a superior status over the competitors’. The company has also managed to command strong reputation in relation to its competitors. This reputation has earned it goodwill and ensured that it remains a favorite brand among the consumers. The company’s architecture plans ensure that the company daily running is congruent with the objectives. The company has instituted a structure system where it outsources product distribution from individual distributors and this has enabled it to manage its operations without dealing with many market dynamics. Conclusion An analysis of the Coca Cola Company’s internal analysis through considering the Resource based View provides insightful knowledge on the company’s management practices with regard to strategy formulation using the internal environment approach. The company should therefore keenly look into the areas of internal environment as this is where much strategy formulation ought to originate. The company will continue to be a global leader in supply of non-alcoholic beverages because it has successfully employed the use of its internal analysis to formulate successful strategy. It will however have to improve on its sluggish performance in northern America which is its major market. The internal resources and capabilities of Coca-cola Company will continue to provide a secure foundation for formulation of long term strategy and ensure it maintains a strong reputation. Rerences Barney, J. B. (1991). Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management , 99-120. Comeford, R., & Callaghan, d. (2011). Environmental, industry, and internal analysis. London: Prentice Hall. Connely, D. (2010). Strategy for Internal Environment. Power point presentation. Edvinsson, L., & Malone, S. (1997). Intellectual Capital:Realizing Your Company’s True Value by Finding its Hidden Brainpower. New York: Harper Business. Henry, A. (2007). The Internal Environment of an Organization. London: Oxford University Press. Lawton, K. (2006). Swot analysis: A management Strategic Success Tool. New York: Cambridge. Szulanski, G. (1996). Exploring Internal Stickiness:Impediments to the Transfer of Best Practices within the Firm. Strategic Management Journal , 27-44. Zahorsky, D. (2009). A business owner’s Secret Weapon: Swot analysis. New Jersey: Mc Graw Hill.

Comment on how Baz Luhrmann uses video Essay

â€Å"Romeo and Juliet,† is a play written by William Shakespeare in the late sixteenth century â€Å"in fair Verona. † This is an ultimate love story between the only children of two powerful enemies â€Å", both alike in dignity†¦ † These two households bear an â€Å"ancient grudge. † Within this hate â€Å"Romeo and Juliet’s† love cannot survive, and they are driven by this hate to death. From this 1595 classic play, Baz Luhrmann got the job of wielding it in to a twentieth centaury blockbuster. He did this by using many different techniques, and even though he keeps the original dialogue, he changes many classic features of the play to give this modern feel to it. Such as horses to cars, Swords to guns and villages to cities are several examples. As the film starts, the opening shot is of a modern day television. It is shown speaking as a newsreader, speaking as a chorus would on stage, giving background knowledge to the audience watching. This television reflects Luhrmann’s modern setting, showing how the film will be set, rather than the one in which the written play was set. The TV represents the media, as our main source of information. Just as the chorus would be, stood on stage, addressing the audience, giving them required information. The headline upon the TV reads â€Å", Star-crossed lovers,† and above a picture of a ring split in two, showing both the themes of love and hate. How the pair had love enough to marry, though within their families there was hate enough to drive the couple to take their lives. Their love was doomed to die, the ring shows how they could not be together as reflected in one of the chorus’ lines â€Å", death marked love. † One extremely short though effective camera shot, zooms down the middle of a main street, with many high raised buildings, until focusing upon a large statue of Christ. Showing that religion will play some part within the play/film. Here loud dramatic music kicks in. This music tells us that the play is going to be very powerful and dramatic. The chorus’s first line appears white upon black, â€Å"in fair Verona. † White and black are usually associated with good and bad. Showing two main features of the film. Again the image of Christ’s face appears, a close up camera shot, recoiling to show two large skyscrapers dominating the skyline. Each bearing separate names, Montague and Capulet, showing the large gap between them, they are different. The sheer size of the buildings tells us they are wealthy families, but separate. The statue of Christ is stood in the middle, showing again the religious society in which the film is set. Still with the dramatic music playing building up aura, images of police vehicles- cars and helicopters burn across the screen. Quick images. Images of conflict, linking the families with violence and ultimately the law. The music quietens, though still strong and menacing, as a voice over man speaks the same lines as already spoken by the ‘chorus. ‘ Now the images are shown slower, â€Å"two households both alike in dignity†¦ † showing the two families, again separated by Jesus, sour looks upon the head’s faces; hate and malcontent, though smiles upon the children’s; happy, contented faces, with no worries. Leading on to images of flames, representing hell, hatred and death. Headlines of newspapers flash upon the screen, linking again with the theme of the media and the modern setting. Showing there must be public interest in the growing feud between the two families, and again highlighting the conflict between the two families. Extremely short images are shown of police helping civilians escape the troubles caused by this abhorrence between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s. The music had died down up until the point of â€Å"take their life,† where it picks up again adding atmosphere and letting the audience know there is great tragedy within the film. Another modern technique is then used. Just as characters on television programs are introduced or how western wanted posters are displayed, some of the main characters are initiated. These images build great suspense though shows a building power within the play/film. Two important images from later on in the film flash upon the screen, though they are very insignificant at this point, just adding suspense and wonder at this early stage. The music reaches a peek as the now familiar words of the prologue flash upon the screen. The words white on black, suspense, power, the words showing love, lust, hatred and tragedy. Followed by random images shooting across the screen, fireworks, choir boys singing in a loud wild fashion. Guns, characters, light and dark images showing good and evil. Loud bangs of gunshots, police helicopters, blood, raging images demonstrating excitement and apprehension to the audience. Now with the music at a climax, the words in bold print of â€Å"Romeo + Juliet† linger upon the screen. The â€Å"+† in blood red symbolising bloodshed and conflict, it is also shaped like a cross, to continue the religious theme of the film. The words are white upon black, illustrating good and evil. Here the music changes and a bouncier, more funky, modern tune kicks in as â€Å"the boys† come on to the screen. These three wear brightly coloured shirts- reds and lime greens, indicating good and ‘to me’ fun. Though with the first line spoken you realise the Montague boys hate the Capulet’s. â€Å"The boys† are presented whizzing down a highway in an expensive looking yellow convertible, again suggesting warmth and fun. They are cool, with open shirts, brightly coloured hair, shades on heads and tattoos over their bodies. They are excitable, casual and looking at them they would not pose any threat. The car has a personalised number plate, â€Å"Mon-005, Verona beach† again showing wealth. The camera shot is at the front of the car as it comes in to the gas station, here there is a sound of screeching tyres, the piping of horns and basically excitable boyish behaviour. â€Å"Benvolio- Romeos cousin† does not come across as uncompromising, he tries to detach himself from the quarrel between the two families â€Å"masters. † Where as the other two â€Å"Montague boys† are very eager and want to be involved this is sown in their faces as a face close up is shown. Here Benvolio turns and another facial close up is shown, his face twisted almost looking in disgust as he turns and walks away. Here the camera turns moving across to another pump as an expensive looking blue car pulls calmly in to the station. Blue suggesting coldness and the slow speed suggests that the driver is not excitable like the Montague boys but serious. The music suddenly changes from hip to a western style tune as another personalised number plate is shown † Cap-005, Verona beach. † The camera is swung around with a whooping sound and rests upon a close up of the bottom of the car door opening and a pair of western style cowboy boots stepping from the car. Here the frame freezes on the boot touching the ground, Cooley and calmly and in this freeze frame he displays the words â€Å"The Capulet boys† with western style music playing to continue the western style theme. The boots walk away through a door the sound of spurs following, tension building as the camera shot moves again from the western boots to shoes and tights and the giggling of little girls over the western music. Leading back to more dark cowboy boots with spurs. The shoes belong to a Nun with a class of children and each side of their people carries resides a car of each of the two families. The two families torment the nun and her party in a very cocky sort of manor, exceptionally intimidating. So as the nun and her party speeds away to escape further torment, the two families are revealed to each other for the first time. The fun and idiocy of the Montague’s turns to fear, as â€Å"Abra-Capulet† is revealed. Here another facial close-up is shown. Abra wears dark menacing colours (oranges, blacks and reds- colours associated with hell. ) He has a goatee beard an earring and a silver chain with cross hanging around his neck. He has the look of a typical gunslinger, someone who could be extremely dangerous. The music is now changed, as a more electric tune plays more menacing and threatening than before, highlighting the danger of this man. Fear is shown in the Montague’s faces, shocked by the appearance of a known enemy. This man alarms them and with this abrupt entrance one of the boys makes a quick movement to reveal the butt of his pistol. A fast frightened movement, followed by the facial shot of a frightened face and the sound of a reluctant gasp, signifying the fear and tension between the two families. Here there is a shot of the face of Abra moving down his body and showing the slow movements of his hands to reveal the butt of his own pistol, engraved with the word Capulet, just as the Montague’s gun was engraved with the word Montague, reflecting wealth yet again. The movements are menacingly slow, so calm and cool. Then suddenly a loud hissing sound like a serpent as Abra snarls revealing the word sin engraved on a silver plaque on his teeth. The camera is at a straight close up angle. The shot is both threatening and frightening. Here all the sounds stop as the Montague’s sink back in to the car relieved that no harm has come to them. Though the Capulet’s are amused by the impression they have made upon the Montague’s and laugh profusely showing they do not feel threatened at all by their presence but take them more as a joke than any thing else. The Montague’s took this wind up a little too lightly and decide to make a second move. Here one of the Montague’s bites their thumb at the Capulet’s. This is shown as a close up with a silly sound coming from the mouth of the offending Montague. Now there is anger and hate starting to show as the montages reverse the car, with the noise of screeching tyres, and the sound of a quick furious sounding, loud blast of music showing anger. The caplets sling loud though slow angry words at the Montages who return fast frightened words trying to calm the situation. Though as the camera shot goes to the toilet door, the quick shocking music picks up again and Benvolio appears-an image of a peace maker leading to a close up of Benvolio’s gun with a change back to western music. Here with gun drawn, a close up of Benvolio’s apprehensive face fills the screen and silence falls. Here only the sound of an old creaky sign is heard blowing in the wind, un-nerving Benvolio further and continuing the western theme. The camera swizzles around to an image of a close up cigar being lit and a match being dropped to the ground by â€Å"Tybalt-the prince of cats. Juliet’s cousin† Landing close to his feet, though still burning. The music playing slowly and quietly, adding tension and atmosphere. Now there is a major close up of tybalts face. He has the look of the devil, slick black hair with tiny matching beard. He has pointed teeth that only a close up would enable us to see properly. He wears the colours of the devil, Reds and blacks showing hate, fire, torment and death. Also his face shows no fear, no feelings but pure untamed hate. He is just so slick and calm and as he speaks, there is a close up on his eyes. These ooze confidence and hold great hate and rage towards the Montague’s. The camera then focuses on Benvolio’s eyes, which are the complete opposite to Tybalt’s. His eyes show a great fear of the other man, apprehension. All adding tension to the opening scene. On a half of body shot, Benvolio is seen putting away his sword (which in this 1997 film s actually a gun,) and in an effort tries to avoid conflict by stating â€Å"I do only to keep the peace put up my sword. † His voice shaky in the eerie silence. Then another facial close up on Tybalt, as he says, â€Å"Peace, peace, I hate the word. As I hate hell. All Montague’s. And thee. † With no quivers only confidence and raw hate. The burning match is finally stamped out with the sound of the metal healed boots grinding at the concrete ground. This long gap between lighting the match and putting it out shows a great danger. This man means something; he alone stands for power and danger. Now a small boy, symbolising innocent bystanders at the market place, interrupts the silence. The boy just playing, shouting â€Å"bang, bang† triggering the attack. Tybalt draws, the music screeching. The shot looking up the barrel of tybalt’s gun as the word â€Å"bang† is said again. Showing he is willing to harm fellow citizens if need be. Now there is a range of many different camera shots, with electric music playing in the background. Tybalt does a lot of flamenco style movements, flowing, professional movements, as though he was fluent and skilled in the art. Very dramatic and serious movements, with no fear of being harmed. The Montague’s begin to try to fight back, though not really succeeding. They are frightened; you can see it in their eyes. Tybalt moves almost fashionably, where as the Montague’s don’t really know what to do. They shoot, showing no passion or drive. Unlike Tybalt who shows both. Tybalt is calling the shots, and in a swift movement he throws down his coat and fits an aiming device. Kissing his gun with a loving passion. People are running, frightened. The Montague’s flee, leaving Benvolio and Tybalt in the petrol station. Music still flaring giving added depth to the scene, petrol covering the ground. Tybalt zooms on to one of the fleeing Montague’s, taking the shot, and injuring him. The camera looking down the guns barrel as the shot is fired, pointing into Tybalts eyes. With a flickering smile he drops the cigar from his mouth, landing in a pool of petrol and igniting it immediately, which during the whole scene showed how contented he was with conflict. Here Benvolio flees with Tybalt in pursuit. The flames escalate, symbolising the devastation to come. The flames show hate and anger. Every body around is affected by the fighting as symbolised by the flames. Affecting people’s livelihoods, every body is effected by these civil brawls. There is very dramatic music playing now, escalating the feeling of hate and friction between the two families. A poster is shown burning, once stating â€Å"Montague’s and Capulet’s 2nd civil brawl. † This shows that it is over; hate has ended that, and born a third brawl, more powerful than the previous ones. A sign is also shown burning, â€Å"Add more fuel to your fire. † Showing that the public are affected, and that hate is the road to all evil’s, symbolising the devil and hell. The camera follows the flames upwards showing things will get worse, still with the music blasting. It moves up and through the smoke screen, the two houses can be seen dominating the skyline, with the image of Jesus between them. Still looking extravagant and wealthy after the brawl. Nothings really changed. The fire is burning as strong as their hate, causing public panic and confusion. Now short images are shown of police helicopters and vehicles flying between and around the towers and statue. The music still blearing. Shots are shown from alternate angles showing news reporters reporting the third civil brawl, again linking with the media. Ted Montague (the father-head of the house) rushes to the scene in his limo with registration plate being â€Å"Montague, Verona beach. † Again representing wealth and power. Once more fast flickering shots are shown of the fleeing public, panic stricken, confused. Police swarming to the scene in different kinds of vehicles now, and here with the music breaching a climax the shots slow down and return to facial close-ups. Tybalt and Benvolio are screaming at each other hate in their eyes, with no more fear left in Benvolio’s body only hate. Cars spread upon the road, utter havoc breached by the two feuding enemies. Guns are pointed at the couple from air and ground. They have no choice but to both walk forward and admit defeat, dropping their weapons to the ground. There is no music now just a loud ‘boom’ as the weapons fall. Adrenalin at an ultimate climax for anybody watching. The range of shots along with the series of different sounds and music create an unforgettable opening, showing many of the different themes and aspects of the play/film to anybody watching.