Analysing The Performance Of Aegon Group Business Essay

Analysing The Performance Of Aegon Group Business Essay AEGON Group is world leader in financial services business which provides life insurance, pensions, long term savings funds and investment services and products. AEGON Group has 30000 employees and serving over 40 million customers globally. AEGON Group provides services and products over twenty five countries globally United States, United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. By 1994 AEGON started relationship with Scottish Equitable, which was very popular and well known name in the United Kingdom as a financial service industry. Scottish Equitable founded in 1831. By 1998 AEGON had taken complete control of Scottish Equitable and Scottish Equitable was rebranded as AEGON Scottish Equitable in 2006. After two years the Group extended its businesses in the United Kingdom and bought life insurance operations of Guardian Royal Exchange. AEGON main customers are United States, United Kingdom and Netherland. AEGON withdrew some business from Belgium and Greece, also general insurance from the Unit ed Kingdom market and healthcare sector from Netherland. The Group also sold its stake in FGH Bank and merchant bank Labouchere. The result was a more efficient and better concentrated organization. AEGON playing very important role in its markets just not in United Sates, Netherlands and United Kingdom but also in new markets of Asia, and central part of the Eastern Europe as well. AEGON is listed on the stock exchanges of Amsterdam, London, New York and Tokyo. Task -1: Explore the background to change affecting the current organization. P -1.1 Discuss the background to change that exists in today economy. Change is a powerful force or an engine that drives many segments of our economy. Mostly forces of change provide us as contractors with new projects to build and older buildings to modify or amend. Changing is truly the lifeblood of our businesses and our economy. The forces of change are also more subtle and pervasive as its affect our economy, our businesses, our jobs and even our daily lives as well. We might easily recognize changes as progress in physical world of production, but maybe we fail to recognize other forces in our economy, our businesses, our jobs and even our personal lives. Failure to recognize force of change can only lead in downward spiral to lower efficiency, lower profitability, lower productivity and lower personal in-effectiveness. Change is continuous adoption of organization strategies and structures to changing external environment. Today change is ongoing process in our economies, our businesses, and our lives. Change that exists in todays economy The competitive pressure forced the changes bring into our economy. There are several major forces for changes that exist in today economy and financial sectors. These forces are: Bureaucracy Environment changes Climate change Economics changes Political changes Technological changes Personal behaviours changes Changes in turn started the industry globalization We can see incidents in past changes the businesses and economic environment which is responsible for changes exist in current economy. Bureaucracy effect in our organization and economy because management were use resources to person needs rather than organization goals. Max Weber saw bureaucracy as the most rational and effective mode of organizing the activities of large numbers of people because it ensured decision-making according to general rules rather than the whims of officials, cultivated trained experts, and reduced the possibilities of corruption and nepotism. Weber, M., (1979): Economy and Society, in: Journal of an Outline of Interpretive Sociology, Volume 2 The global economic crisis that started in the US in 2007 and spread around the world in 2008 was preceded by large imbalances in global capital flows. The economic crisis has changed world economy during the past year alone, slowdowns economic growth. The IMF says this represents By far the deepest post-World War II recession with an actual decline in output in countries making up 75% of the world economy BBC News. (April22, 2009): (Online). Available at: www.bcc.co.uk The evidence shows that ignoring climate change will eventually damage economic growth. Our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century. And it will be difficult or impossible to reverse these changes. Tackling climate change is the pro-growth strategy for the longer term, and it can be done in a way that does not cap the aspirations for growth of rich or poor countries. The earlier effective action is taken, the less costly it will be. NICHOLAS STERN, STERN REVIEW: THE ECONOMICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE LONG EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ii (2006) Economy growth slowdown, unemployment is up, house price fall down and these changes, changed people mindsets and their spending habits in order to survive this difficult time. Managers across the UK, meanwhile, have accepted their own redundancy as inevitable, according to the Chartered Management Institute. Those factors are cause to a lot of stress for us all our society and individually. There also In near past the world economy was not good even before September 11.Synchronized growth slowdowns and in the case of recession in Japan were already under Way in the US, Europe and Japan, while developing countries were facing weaker export demand and increasingly difficult financing conditions. After the shock of September 11 have changed the picture, increasing the already significant downside risks to world growth Fischer, S., October 18, 2001: International Monetary Fund. 32nd IAFEI World Congress, Cancun, Mexico The Changes in the political environment is also one factor to change in today economy. It is difficult to say that these changes are simply short-term reactions to a major shock or amount to new and worrisome trends. At the very least, the balance between political and economic forces has been significantly altered. Because political support for globalization was at best shallow while the global economy was in a buoyant state, this suggests the pendulum is now swinging in the opposite direction. Against this background, two lessons from history are worth keeping in mind. One, dismantling protections takes time. It took several decades for many of the trade barriers erected during the interwar period to be brought down. Second, even if a important part of the progress in liberalizing trade in recent times has been institutionalized and strong reversals à   la 1930s are not likely, the downward spiral of protectionism acts fast. Ferry.P.J Santos.I, (March2009). FD: Volume46, Number1 The technology is posing major challenge to todays economy that is information technology. The information technology of the computer and internet services has and will continue to changes the economy. In the world of economics, globalization is reflected in the increasing the acceptance of free markets and private enterprise as the principal mechanisms for promoting economic activities. Its growing importance is captured in such indices as trade in goods and services, private capital flows in different forms, foreign investment, information technology transfers, operations of transnational enterprises, business travel and communication, and migration and remittances Dunning, J. H. (1993): The Globalisation of Business. Routledge, London. As Labovitz Rosansky point out personal behaviour Psychologists have long recognized that human beings like people who are like themselves and tend to reject people who are different from them. So far organizations continue to create changes between people interest of efficiency. Line versus staff, management versus labour, field versus corporate, internal versus domestic, East versus West, accounting versus sales- the list goes on. No wonder it so hard to focus people around familiar goals when they are so different from each other simply by virtue of what they do and where they do it. Specialization and knowledge can be a wedge that drives people future apart and makes it difficult for them to work together Price, A., (2007): Human Resource Management. 3rd Ed, p281 Several commentators have drawn attention to the analogy with the effects of natural disasters like the Kobe earthquake in Japan that barely show up in the national accounts. It is the indirect effects that will matter most, in particular, in the short-term much depends on the effects on consumer and investor confidence and spending, which were already under strain and have been strained further by the attacks Fischer, S., October 18, 2001: IMF, 32nd IAFEI World Congress, Mexico. AEGON UK chief executive Otto Thoresen says The economic environment is challenging but we have a strong team to take us forward through the next phase of our development Many changes affected the AEGON, UK environment in recent years. These are few changes; External factors In the UK, life expectancy has increased in recent years hence people can expect to be retired for longer. In many cases, individuals have not planned properly for retirement and there may be a shortfall in the amount of money available. AEGON UK have introduced new less expensive pension schemes or insisted on employee pension contributions where they did not in the past. In an economy closed to external equity investors, such as the UK before 1979, the decline of defined benefit pensions would have been a disaster. The cost and availability of equity capital would have reflected the reduced flow of funds into the equity market. This potential concern became irrelevant as a consequence of the lifting of exchange controls and the globalisation of capital flows, which made the market more efficient while putting downward pressure on the cost of capital. Plender, J., (2010): The pensions shake-up heralds equity demand change. The Financial Times Private pensions The government pensions were very small and also government want to decrease the dependency on the state in old age. The government also have introduced private pension schemes to deceased the dependency on the state. Pension funds are increasingly being asked by politicians, non-governmental organizations, campaigners, and pressure groups to mobilize their financial clout more actively and to take their responsibilities as corporate owners more seriously. The chances are it could change from being asked to being required. Fraser, I., (2010): Pension funds search for climate change risks and opportunities Falling vales of shares The current economic downturn situation affected the company shares values, which reduce the returns on the customers investment. Customers getting less than they were expected for their investment, also people had a negative impact on pensions as well. Competition AEGON is in competition with other organisations which are selling directly to customers and those competitors also well known in United Kingdom. Also AEGON has had very poor reputation in the insurance and pensions industry in recent years. P -1.2 Evaluate the strengths and weakness of the organization. Strengths The strengths of an organization are those things that it does particularly well, especially when viewed against the operations of its competitors and also its weakness areas in which it is less strong than the competition.  ¨ AEGON had historically been successful AEGON had historically been successful but government imposed price controls had reduced profitability. Compared to its competitors, AEGON was not well known by consumers. It had developed good products and services and had a good reputation with distributors, particularly in the area of pensions which were a key strength of Scottish Equitable.  ¨ Developed good products/services AEGON developed a range of products and services to individuals, corporations and institutions. Most of these products and services fall into one of the following three categories: Life insurance Pensions Long-term savings and investments products  ¨ Good reputation with distributors Compared to its competitors, AEGON is well known and had a good reputation with distributors, particularly in the area of pensions which were a key strength of Scottish Equitable.  ¨ Customer focused organisation AEGON UK is a customer focused organization as AEGON CEO (Otto Thoresen, 2009) pointed out that We work to help keep customers needs /wants at the heart of all developments and to make sure that financial service industry works with customers to give them what they want/need and we offer the best products and services from their point of view.  ¨ Reflecting local knowledge and global power Scottish Equitable is now AEGON Scottish Equitable reflecting both local knowledge and global power. All the brands now bring a new common look which is refreshing and different.  ¨ AEGON provide the levels of return promised AEGON UK Ltd is also providing the levels of return promised and being responsible for any risks associated with doing so.  ¨ Provide products/services different levels of income for the consumers AEGON Ltd have contractual measures in place to help those customers who find themselves on low incomes and, often through no fault of their own, are unable to maintain premium payments. These measures include introducing lower premium payments, grace periods and loans or, in some cases, reducing the coverage offered by a particular policy. Weaknesses The weaknesses of the organisation are matched to the opportunities and threats that may affect the organisation and which come from the external environment.  ¨ Not well known by consumers in the UK AEGON was not well known by consumers. It had developed good products and services and had a good reputation with distributors, particularly in the area of pensions but not well known directly by consumers.  ¨ Had poor reputation in life insurance and pensions industry The insurance and pensions industry, in which AEGON operates, has had very poor reputation in recent years.  ¨ Not providing consumers with best products for their needs The AEGON Ltd is not providing the products and services in a way that genuinely meets consumer needs/wants, and also not regulator by government.  ¨ Difficult to understand financial services products Financial services/products are hardly to understand. People do not always feel which range of financial products/services they need and also are not sure where to seek support and advice.  ¨ Wide problems to remain competitive The insurance and pensions industry have been characterised by intense competition. AEGON is in competition with other organisations which are selling directly to consumers and which are also better known in the UK.  ¨ Not selling directly to customers AEGON Ltd not sells product direct to consumers, they sells products/services via salesmen, agents or brokers which sometime involves mis-selling of its products/services. P -1.3 Compare alternative forms of organizational development. When we promote the idea of making consumer aware of the organizational change, it becomes organizational development. Generally, the organizational development is considered as a method of arrangement, suitable with the contemporary requirements of the organization and also being able to fulfil the future requirements that cannot be distinguish. After reading the case study of the AEGON Ltd, The plan appears to be the organizational efficiency and effectiveness from top to bottom level. The company led by its new CEO has new objectives such as: Defining the view of where company stand. Defining how the company will stand in the future. Defining the policies and standards to reach the future goals and objectives. The purpose of the company was self analysis by defining goals, targets and objectives, how to reach them and what the management is doing to achieve these goals and objectives. AEGON took a brand audit to find out the answers of these questions and the result of the audit reveals two steps How was the company positioned? How was the competitor of the company positioned? By the audit, the new CEO came to know that there is a need for formation of the new approach (play in the market). The staffs were adopted with the innovation and well organized communication system. Additionally, self analysis has helped new CEO to position a fresh plan to craft progress. The new plans resulted for the organization to involve in the following strategy steps: Simplify financial service and provide more focus. It was important that consumers understood more precisely what they were buying as well as the benefits and services they received. By making products and services clear to the consumers, to many of goal organization achieved and too many very important stakeholders introduced to the change. Both of the stakeholders (government and consumers) are aware and happy, because of services provided by AEGON, these steps were taken for the customer to make them aware and solve problems. Develop the workforce. The objective was to develop the skills, needed within the business and to involve the stakeholders in process of change, by providing them training and skills. Therefore, AEGON also created new opportunities for stakeholder to progress from one job to another job by developing and promoting the careers of work force. This helps AEGON to attract more customers and have competition. Organizational culture may include such things as, confidence to innovation, decisions and trust for production and quality. The model, implemented by new CEO of the AEGON, brought positive change in the organization and gave new direction to the company. Fundamentally, representation of simplify system with regard to the AEGON can be evaluated as follows; Analysing the factor affect the organization Organizational performance and future plans are constantly affected by the external and internal environmental factors. For success in the present world, one need to consider not only the internal environment of the organization consisting of its resources and employees, but needs to consider the external factors as well. These facts cannot be stopped but can adjust accordingly as per the changes in the political, economical or social pressures. These are the external aspects which consist of: Competitors or Opponents The change in the economic structure The Impact of the society/culture Financial agreements Political or Legal system Impact of the environment Analysing the weakness and strength of the organization A range of organization functions which determine an organization strength and weaknesses include production function, management function, Research and Development, marketing function, sales function, HR function, procurement function, logistics function, and various other departments within the organization. For example, organization strength can be derived from the excellence human resource in the organization which might not be present in some of the competitors in the insurance and pensions industry. One more example includes marketing function i.e. if an organization is not effective in marketing efforts, competitors may take advantage of the firms weakness. So AEGON Ltd need highly competent in achieving competences in all these areas of business in order to be successful in the business environment. Determine the goals and objectives of the organization It aims to boost organizational performance by aligning goals and objectives throughout the organization. Ideally, employees get key input to identify their objectives, time lines for completion etc. Management by objectives to be effective, individual managers must understand the specific objectives of their job and how those objectives fit in with the overall organizational objectives set by the board of directors. Involving the stakeholder to process of change Involving the stakeholder, how well does the organization Involve stakeholders in problem solving? Keep stakeholders informed of status towards organizational objectives? Act on feedback from stakeholders? Mobilize the right resources at the right time to adopt the implementation initiative? Create a critical mass of effort by impacted groups to propel the change? Strength Risk Dr. Baba, M., (2005): Change Management. The Defence Logistics Enterprise. Transforming Organizations in the Information Era. Enterprise Integration Group Creating new culture in organization Changing culture in organization helps to improvement organizational objects. Changing culture involves changing the basic values, beliefs, norms, etc., with the individuals of the organization in order to improve overall organization performance. Whether or not it is possible to fully manage change, we believe that being very clear about what changes are required and being very intentional about building a culture that supports the new mission, goals, strategies and practices increases the probability of success exponentially. This necessarily involves a large cross section of the organization in assessing the current system of norms and beliefs, determining what changes are needed, and designing an implementation plan ( Shorb, J.K and Jones, M.D. 2009 ). The result of the change was increase in the efficiency and effectiveness, the company improve its strengths and over comes its weaknesses, the pattern of the behaviours and business culture was developed in the organization and base of the organization to learn from its experiences was forms. Task -2 Develop systems for understanding and involving others in the process of change. P-2.1 Identify systems to involved appropriate stakeholders in the introduction of change. Stakeholder is someone who has some stake or interest in the changes and development of the organization, such as share holders, employees, government and customers. The new CEO consulted with different stakeholders of the company and then formulates a plan of action which includes following aspects: Simplify to financial services and customer focus It was important that consumers understood more specifically what they were buying, as well as the benefits and services they received. The new CEO make understandable to customers, what were company services and products, and what we going to invest and also what will possible to investment returns. Both of the stakeholders and government were unhappy because services and products were not good but after this step taken by new CEO to clarify methods and they become more aware to this regard and problem has been solved. Developing the workforce The purpose was to develop the  skills  needed within the company to help it change. AEGON also created opportunities for progression from one job to another job and usually one service to another service. Creating a distinct market place for the organization Create a more different presence within the marketplace. This involved refreshing the AEGON  brand in a means that made it more distinctive from its competitors and more attractive to his  consumers. The new CEO has taken some steps in following ways. External promotional: External promotional campaigns emphasised the relationship between Scottish Equitable and AEGON. This helped to support the local familiarity and the global power of the Organization in UK. The CEO talked to media: The new CEO talked to media about the refreshing of the brand internally and externally resulted in strong positive response. AEGON has launched new and innovative products: AEGON has launched new product e.g. the five for life pension has helped to change the way in which consumers can look at their retirement income. AEGON provide more certainty about the levels of income for customer, with providing the levels of return promised. P-2.2 Analyse and evaluate these systems. The change in the system of the organization brought positive influence internally and externally. The big challenge was to convince the stakeholders, the importance of the change in the organization. For the achievement of this objective, new CEO manoeuvre from improving skills of the workforce, he linked this growth to certain behaviours: These eight behaviours are; Think customer Embrace change Encourage excellence Act with integrity Decisive action Work together Learn and grow Relate and communicate Customers less awareness is one another reason of the change in the organization, this was also reason of the government increased tax impositions. As result of this, the company was losing customers. Knowledge of the service and product was made available through AEGON information system. Training and retraining of the employees was another aspect of the change. Finally, the company has to regain its reputation and built a brand name for its stakeholders, and the CEO responded to this challenge by bringing well known brand shares which recognise AEGON in front of its stakeholders. Furthermore, AEGON moreover revive its brand name to hold its market position though merger with Scottish Equitable (now known as AEGON Scottish Equitable), which gave company a new look. Task- 3 What were the models implemented for ensuring ongoing change. P-3.1 Adapt an appropriate model for change. The model, implemented by new CEO, brought positive and contrastive change and gave company new direction. The CEO already mentioned the performance of company through reforms in culture. As mentioned previously, both of the stakeholders (government and consumers) are aware and happy because of services provided by AEGON. These steps were taken for the customer to make them aware and solve problems. With regard to AEGON model, implementation will bring some changes which can be categorised: Analysing the factor affecting the organization. Analysing the weaknesses and strengths of the organization. Determine the goals and objectives of the organization. Involving the stakeholder to process of change. Creating new culture in organization. As Kotter, (1995) describe in Leading Change helpful model outlines an eight step process with suggestions to help organizations transform. Kotter model is useful in understanding that the change process takes time and is not something that happens immediately. It is important for program leaders and communications staff to understand that the steps needed to support any transformation plan takes place during all stages of project. Each step acknowledges a key principle identified and people can see changes, feel the changes. These eight steps: Increase Urgency AEGON pensions provider has suggested that the issue of the government helping public to put money away for retirement is of greater urgency now than it ever has been. (AEGON UK chief executive Otto Thoresen. 2010) Build the Guiding Team Get the guiding team to create the right vision and strategies to guide action in all of the remaining stages of change. This is a difficult and increasingly complex market in which AEGON Ltd is committed to offering adviser partners the ongoing help they require. We are confident that we have developed an investment proposition that meets the needs of advisers and their clients now and in a post RDR world. (Andy Marchant., 2009. Life and Pensions Marketing Director at AEGON) Get the Vision Right A shared sense of urgency for change may push people into action, but it is the vision that taking them in the right direction. A good vision offers a compelling, motivating the picture of the future and serves several important purposes. Communicate for Buy In Communicate changing vision and strategies to create understanding and buy-in Keeping communication uncomplicated and heartfelt not complex and technical Know what your individuals are feeling Speak to anxieties, confusion, anger, fear Empower Action Empower action mean is a deal effectively with obstacles that block action, especially disempowering bosses, the wrong performance measurement and reward systems, lack of information, and lack of self confidence. Create Short Term wins A short term win boosts employees confidence in the process, helping to make their efforts seem worthwhile, and gives the people responsible a chance to relax and enjoy their achievements and also link achievements back to the original vision, quieten the cynics and resisters and strengthen support from organization. Consolidating achievements and progressing Continuing with wave after wave of change, not stopping until the clear vision is a reality no matter how big the obstacles. Make Change Stick Change simply sticks when the people it affects are involved. All change is either rejected or embraced by the employees who have to live with its outcome. So its always better to involve those people in the process of change and pay close attention to their hopes and fears. P -3.2 How was the plan implemented, its process and outcomes. For successfully manage change processes, it is required to analyze the phases of the process. Managers want to know in which phase they have to anticipate and what types of problems. Most successful organizations are able to adjust themselves to new conditions quickly. This needs to learn planning processes that lead to improved organizational values. Consumers were confused before the model implemented what AEGON was. The outcome of model implement for change was extremely positive and successful. It helps to recognise the company strength and weakness and its also shows that global scale was important and local brand expertise as well. AEGON brand was not promoted alongside the Scottish Equitable and not well known in financial service industry. With a new Chief Executive of UK in place 2005 of AEGON put a new plan (model). The purpose of this model implement was to meet the CEO objectives and goals. Before implement to change AEGON was unknown in the United Kingdom, much less popular in consumers and product or services offer by the company not good enough. But after the implementation of changes AEGON became very popular brand in the United Kingdom and business started growing as well. Now the alliance with AEGON is much stronger. E.g. Scottish Equitable is now AEGON Scottish Equitable thus reflecting local knowledge and also global power. In order

Frankenstein Being More Human than Monster Essay example -- Frankenste

Frankenstein Being More Human than Monster Society is inevitable. It will always be there as a pleasure and a burden. Society puts labels on everything such as good or bad, rich or poor, normal or aberrant. Although some of these stamps are accurate, most are misconceptions. In Mary Shelley's, Frankenstein, this act of erring by society is extremely evident. Two of the most inaccurate assumptions of society revolve around the central characters, Dr. Frankenstein and the monster. Society's labels for these two extremely different characters are on the exact opposite side of the scale of what they truly are. Dr. Frankenstein is more of a monster while the monster is more humane. Dr. Frankenstein, the so labeled decent, no-fault man, is actually irresponsible, stubborn, and extreme in his actions throughout the novel. From the very first encounter with Victor Frankenstein we get a hint if his insaneness when he asks R. Walton, "Do you share my madness?". That is the first thing that he says when he recovers from his illness. Right from the start we know that something is awry with Victor. Dr. Frankenstein's irresponsibility shows through many times in his feelings toward his creation. While he was in the process of shaping his creation, Frankenstein gets so caught up in his work and his yearning to be remembered for all time that he does not consider what will happen after life is breathed into his creation. He is so consumed by his work he does not sleep for days on end, go outside, eat meals, or write to his family. Frankenstein even admits that he could not control his obsession with his work, "For this I had deprived myself of rest and health". What san e person puts his work before his own health? After his cre... ... human he has known or loved has rejected the creature he decides to isolate himself. But as he retreats to his desolation he saves a girl from drowning in river. This concern for human life in addition to his love toward the family is evidence to his humanity. Dr. Frankenstein is a man that cares only of himself and accepts no responsibility for his actions and his creation on the other hand is compassionate and helpful to the humans who despise him. Society has the most influence in a person's point of view on any given point. Mostly society causes misconceptions about people based on appearance and the unknown. This is especially evident in the novel Frankenstein, where labels are placed on the main characters by society are skewed. Dr. Frankenstein turns out to be more of a monster than his creation while his creation is more humane than Dr. Frankenstein is.

Japanese and American Business Behavior

Management sciences have long identified that there are many forms of business behaviors. Different organizations from different cultures tend to run their business in different manners, this include decision making activities, problem solving, future forecasting, and other issues within a business.The differences do not stop on the organizational level, managers of different cultures generally has their own personal style of managing their subordinates. These differences are interesting to study because of the increasing phenomena of globalization.II. Research BackgroundII. 1. The Need to Study Business StylesDifferent companies within different cultures previously have no need compare their business styles with those of foreign companies. However, with the rising of globalization and international competition, corporations are derived to take account of business cultures from all over the world. This is necessary in time where they have to make connections with foreign business in order to grow or survive. Furthermore, some business behaviors might be better suited in their local environment but contributes poorly within the global environment.There are times where changes of culture from local to global culture are necessities. Thus, to compare one business style to another is almost a common activity for economist and businessmen today.II. 2 Why Study Japanese CultureAsian economy has always been a matter of intense discussion among American scholars. There are predictions from many economist and observers that Asia will be the center of economic growth once the world has entered the new millennium. Although these predictions have not come through as expected, the rapid development of Asian economy is still an important event in the history of world’s economy.Let us take Japan as a representation of the strength of Asian economy. Japan produces some of the most innovative and highest quality products in the world. Since 1970’s, Japanese automa kers have been intensely competing with US automakers. Some even believed that they have exceeded the US automakers in some respects. The British motorcycle industry, which once considered as the one who brought the’ golden age’ on motorcycle industries has been wiped-out almost entirely by the presence of Japan’s futuristic motorcycles in their local soil.In fact, today, we have seen that Japanese culture is everywhere in the world. Many Americans today are fans of Japanese products since they were children. Japanese products have undeniably infiltrate US social and economic life in the most significant way. The popularity of Kill Bill, Iron Chef, Power Rangers, Hello Kitty, and Anime describes the strong presence of Japanese culture in the United States. Furthermore, American businessmen are today learning Japanese business style, more than just to communicate with their Japanese partners, but also to enhance their efficiency in doing business.The acknowledgem ent given to Japanese culture and their influence is overwhelming in many parts of the world (Palmeri, 2004). The popularity of Japanese culture in most parts of the world brought upon an interesting question for American business people. What are actually the differences between Japanese business behaviors and American business behaviors? Furthermore, the ability of Japanese businessmen to do what Americans cannot bring increasing interest in studying the popular culture. Within this paper, I am comparing two of the world’s most popular business styles, the American style and the Japanese style.There will be discussion on differences, similarities and some comparison of which has the advantage over certain situations.III. Research QuestionAs mentioned above, the strength of Japanese culture astonished economist from all over the world. With the increasing case studies where Japanese businessmen outperform others in international market, there is an interesting question of wh ether Japanese culture could have exceeded the dominating culture of the world (Americans). The implied research questions in the elaboration above are:‘With respect to its Strengths and Weaknesses, is Japanese business culture more suitable for business advancement and development than the American business culture? ’ In order to answer this question, a sufficient elaboration regarding both business cultures is required. The elaboration should lead to a comparative analysis regarding both business cultures. Based on book, journals and articles on Japanese and American business culture, I will divide the comparative analysis into several chapters focusing on different ways to compare the two business cultures.A concluding statement will be made to summarize the comparative analysis in the end of the paper. IV. Organizational Management StylesIV. 1 Roles and DecisionMaking In terms of managerial styles, American companies tend to be financially oriented and value autonom y. In a typical American company, the role of each employee is clearly defined and the employee is fully responsible for the activities assigned to him/her. Decisions generally come from individual authority, and the company usually makes clear definition of who is entitle for making what kinds of decisions (Engel, 2000).The Japanese style of management however, has a rather contrast approach. Japan companies (or Japanese style companies) has a more intuitive approach to management. Most of the employees have undefined roles and they are most likely to be assigned as teams to work together for group goals. Decisions do not come from a single person, but rather as a collective process involving many voices. However, when it comes to managing overseas, Japan companies seem to be more centralized that US corporations.For instance, if a Japanese company has an affiliate in US soil, their necessities focus on detailed communication across the Pacific. Generally, such communication is dom inated by Japanese employees, excluding many of the American employees from the managerial process. Furthermore, the US affiliate will most likely diminish in its ability to act independently. These issues created significant concern for American employees working for Japanese companies.IV. 2 Strategic PlanningIn strategic planning, Japanese companies seem to have a considerably different approach to Americans.For instance, while formulating a strategy, Americans are more-top-driven in their approach. They prefer to design changes and speed up evolution. This is in contrast with the Japanese who prefer to allow things to evolve from the bottom (Fiedler, 1965). American business people tend to finalize strategies quickly, sometimes without taking account of several issues and factors. They generally prefer to spend more time correcting the strategy in the implementation stage. The Japanese, on the other hand, tends to hold more careful discussion of what might go wrong and find their solutions.It is not until an all round agreement is achieved would the strategy be implemented. Many believe that the Japanese take more time to execute a plan and that is simply unacceptable. On the other hand, there are those who believed that the Japanese way is better, because they do not force the process. They allow everything to be in place, and when it does, they implement it quickly. Another argument in awe of the Japanese business culture is the fact that most Japanese managers prefer to look into the roots of the problem before making decisions, judgments and strategies.The American straightforward approach often result casualties of innocent workers being fired because management cannot see the root of the problem. This judgmental behavior is efficient, but not effective. Decisions are delivered in faster amount of time but less accuracy and depth of analysis. Japanese managers prefer to solve the problem first before looking for someone to blame. This culture evolves i n a manner that allows employees to feel shame even before they were even accused of misconduct. Mutual understanding and commitment to corporate goal is what fueled the Japanese strategy-machine to work.IV. 3 Employment and Personnel ManagementIn terms of employment, many writers indicated that Japan companies have distinctly unique system of ‘lifetime employment. Japanese companies are given credit by many for their ability in fostering loyalty and encouragement of their employees. Nevertheless, this is domestic in nature, and the system generally turns weak, once the companies enter international realm. Most of the modern nations found the Japanese employment system demands things that little (except Japanese people) would tolerate.Analysts indicated that these demands come from the lack of external labor market. There is not much choice for Japanese labor and employees in terms of employment. Thus, they tend to go along with every terms of the company, once they have signe d their contracts (Hersey, 1972). In foreign lands, Japanese companies who find that their system of employment is large unacceptable by non-Japanese, generally come up with an unfortunate solution. They would decide that the non-Japanese is to be hired under separate employment categories with little advancement opportunity or job security.IV. 4 Thickness of CultureOpening to new culture has been recognized as one of the popular traits of American business style. Corporations generally have a strong statement of their culture, but with a sense of flexibility and openness for new people and subsidiaries. Many writers consider this as advancement over other developing business cultures around the world. The Japanese on the other hand, develop a very ‘thick’ sense of corporate culture in each of their working generations. This strong sense of culture evolves from the fact that most Japanese employees work together for as long as a lifetime.Even a Japanese new entry would have difficulties in tuning-in to the corporate culture if they join in mid-career. Because of this tendency to form a strong bond among Japanese employees, Americans working within these companies generally experience numerous frictions and frustrations because they fail to understand the ongoing culture in the company (Kopp, n. d).V. Personal Leadership StylesV. 1 Types of LeadershipWithin this chapter, I will elaborate several types of leadership styles. Within each style there is an assessment of how Americans or Japanese favor the style. The types of leadership are: ? Directive LeadershipCompanies whose managers are accustomed to stress direction to subordinates are those of the directive leadership style. This style became famous in the United States, but it is now declining in frequency. Many stated that this style is currently most dominant is Asian countries. However, the Japanese seemed to be excluded in this particular category.Participative LeadershipThis style pursues c lose teamwork as a path to success. The Japanese are the symbol of this particular leadership style. Americans very seldom practice this type of leadership.Empowering LeadershipThis type of leadership is a brand new trend in America.It stresses on delegating responsibilities to subordinates and retain their passion in doing the best for the company. American Giants today are proclaiming themselves to be practicing this type of leadership. However, many Japanese multinationals (like Sony Corp. ) have this type of leadership style within their corporate philosophy. ? Charismatic Leadership Many CEO of multinationals have what is called human magnetism. It is the ability to gain trust from others to do what is needed for the company. These leaders usually exist within national boundaries. Their charismatic power seldom breaks through the limits of their culture.This type of leadership was dominated by Americans; however, their numbers are significantly reduced by as many of US companie s go global. More of them exist within the Japanese local culture now. (Cotter, 2001)V. 2 Family Succession LeadershipAccording to HBS (Harvard Business School) professor, D. Quinn Mills (2005), Japanese and other Asian companies are noted to pass down their line of leadership to family members. This is similar to the conduct of some of the largest American companies. However, it is more popular in American business culture that firms are run by professional managers and replaced by another professional manager.In American business culture, better companies generally have advance programs for developing executives within the firm. The next CEO will be chosen among them. There are also American companies who hire external CEOs without any familiarities of the company. This behavior is generally derived from the need to excel in growth or recovery. Despite the fact that several Japanese companies exceeded the Americans in terms of efficiency and profitability, many scholars still beli eve that the Japanese business style is only a stage of development which will finally lead to the American business style.These scholars argued using the leadership succession styles. They mentioned that the family succession culture was once a common practice among US companies. However, it was then replaced by the professional management succession line which is considered the latest piece of the evolutionary line. These scholars mentioned that it is possible that Asian firms will follow this evolutionary path in the future.V. 3 Political ConnectionsIn Japan and other Asian countries, it is more apparent that the success of a company depends to the intensity of its relations to political and social leaders of the environment.Japan and other Asian countries have developed a belief that connections to important people are crucial for the survival of their business. Quite contrast, the CEOs in America often have no direct connections to top politicians. The government only has autho rity at an arm’s length and business affairs are done by business people. Nevertheless, this does not include exceptions where older and powerful American companies take advantage of their political connections to enhance their success. The percentage of these companies is very low compared with Asian companies (Kopp, n. d).VI. Communication PatternsJapanese and Americans share some of their traits in terms of communication. Both of them are superpowers who held high their own culture. Americans and Japanese are known for their lack of knowledge over other languages. Few Americans speak and read foreign language enough to do business with people who do not understand English very well. Similarly, Japanese businessmen tend to be uncomfortable in detailed business discussion using English and English-language documents. Some other traits they share are their lack of experience in dealing with foreign people.Most of them lack the skills necessary to overcome cross-cultural chall enges (Kenna & Sondra, 1994). Japanese and American communication also has significant differences in their communication patterns. American business people tend to be more direct opened and values discussion. The Japanese style is on the other hand, more vague and roundabout. Much of the meaning is stated in nonverbal cues and subtle nuances of toning and wording. Different from Americans who viewed debate and challenging discussion as a positive trait, the Japanese tend to avoid them and viewed them negatively (Kenna & Sondra, 1994).VII ConclusionThe comparative analysis points out to several conclusions. The Japanese business culture is apparently very strong around its people. However, when their business expands to foreign lands, the power of their culture is either reduced, causing the lost of certain competitive advantages, or tightened, causing lack of collaboration to the surrounding environment. One of the reasons of Japanese rapid expansion into the international world is its unique managerial style. Successful Japanese companies have the ability to generate powerful motivation among its employees, thus, increasing corporate profitability, creativity and quality management.In this respect, the Japanese business culture has a significant advantage compare to the American business culture. The American seems to have superior business philosophy compare to the Japanese. Its ‘opened’ communication pattern and the lack of need for political connections and family ties provide high level of flexibility which supported expansion and business evolution. However, the quick decision making processes, the top-down evolution methods, and the impersonal relationship of its employees created a lack of strength in American managerial structure.Because of these, there are more strategies in the American culture that do not reach their goals, and more employees become left behind by the quick evolutionary stages. In this respect, the Japanese culture al so presents a favorable behavior for business evolvement. As a final conclusion, despite the fact that each business culture has their own strengths and weaknesses, this paper reveals a strong agreement that Japanese business culture has a significant advantage over the American business culture.A further study however, needed to be done over each and every aspects mentioned above in order to provide a more detailed explanation of how each culture excels or diminish within those respects.BibliographyCotter, Colleen. 2001. Lonely Planet USA Phrasebook: Understanding Americans and Their Culture Engel, Dean. 2000.Passport USA: Your Pocket Guide to American Business, Customs & Etiquette Fiedler, Fred E. 1965.Engineer the Job to Fit the Manager. Harvard Business Review. Vol. 43 Hersey, Paul. Blanchard, Kenneth H. 1972.Management of Organization Behavior. New Jersey: Prentic- Hall Inc. Kenna, Peggy. Sondra, Lacy. 1994.Business Japan: A Practical Guide to Understanding Japanese Business Cu lture. McGraw-Hill Kopp, Rochelle. N. d. ‘The Rice Paper Ceiling’. ISBN 1-880656-51-5. Stone Bridge Press. Mills, D. Quinn. ‘Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique? ’. Harvard Business School. Retrieved June 2, 2006.Available at http://hbswk. hbs. edu/item. jhtml? id=4869&t=leadership Palmeri, Christopher. 2004.‘Is Japanese Style Taking Over the World? ’. Business Week Online. Retrieved June 2, 2006. Available at: http://www. businessweek. com/magazine/content/04_30/b3893091. htm,

Spanish Place Names in the U.S.

Much of the United States was once part of Mexico, and Spanish explorers were among the first non-indigenous people to explore much of what is now the U.S. So wed expect that an abundance of places would have names coming from Spanish — and indeed thats the case. There are too many Spanish place names to list here, but here are some of the most well-known: U.S. State Names from Spanish California — The original California was a fictional place in the 16th-century book Las sergas de Esplandià ¡n by Garci Rodrà ­guez Ordà ³Ãƒ ±ez de Montalvo. Colorado — This is the past participle of colorar, which means to give something color, such as by dyeing. The participle, however, specifically refers to red, such as red earth. Florida — Probably a shortened form of pascua florida, literally meaning flowered holy day, referring to Easter. Montana — The name is an anglicized version of montaà ±a, the word for mountain. The word probably comes from the days when mining was a leading industry in the region, as the states motto is Oro y plata, meaning Gold and silver. Its too bad the à ± of the spelling wasnt retained; it would have been cool to have a state name with a letter not in the English  alphabet. New Mexico  Ã¢â‚¬â€ The Spanish  Mà ©xico  or  Mà ©jico  came from the name of an Aztec god. Texas — The Spanish borrowed this word, spelled Tejas in Spanish, from indigenous residents of the area. It relates to the idea of friendship. Tejas, although not used that way here, also can refer to roof tiles. Key Takeaways: Spanish Language Place Names Spanish-language place names abound in the United States in part because its history includes Spanish colonization and exploration.Many of the Spanish place names in the U.S. have been anglicized, such as by changing à ± to n and by dropping the accent marks from accented vowels.Many of the Spanish names are derived from the names of Roman Catholic saints and beliefs. Other U.S. Place Names From Spanish Alcatraz (California) — From alcatraces, meaning gannets (birds similar to pelicans). Arroyo Grande (California) — An arroyo is a stream. Boca Raton (Florida) — The literal meaning of boca ratà ³n is mouses mouth, a term applied to a sea inlet. Cape Canaveral (Florida) — From caà ±averal, a place where canes grow. Conejos River (Colorado) — Conejos means rabbits. District of Columbia; Columbia River (Oregon and Washington) — These and many other place names honor Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colà ³n in Spanish), the Italian-Spanish explorer. El Paso (Texas) — A mountain pass is a paso; the city is on a historically major route through the Rocky Mountains. Fresno (California) — Spanish for ash tree. Galveston (Texas) — Named after Bernardo de Gà ¡lvez, a Spanish general. Grand Canyon (and other canyons) — The English canyon comes from the Spanish caà ±Ãƒ ³n. The Spanish word can also mean cannon, pipe or tube, but only its geological meaning became part of English. Key West (Florida) — This may not look like a Spanish name, but it is in fact an anglicized version of the original Spanish name, Cayo Hueso, meaning Bone Key. A key or cayo is a reef or low island; that word originally came from Taino, an indigenous Caribbean language. Spanish speakers and maps still refer to the city and key as Cayo Hueso. Las Cruces (New Mexico) — Meaning the crosses, named for a burial site. Las Vegas — Means the meadows. Los Angeles — Spanish for the angels. Los Gatos (California) — Meaning the cats, for the cats that once roamed in the region. Madre de Dios Island (Alaska) — The Spanish means mother of God. The island, which is in Trocadero (meaning trader) Bay, was named by Galician explorer Francisco Antonio Mourelle de la Rà ºa. Merced (California) — The Spanish word for mercy. Mesa (Arizona) — Mesa, Spanish for table, came to be applied to a type of flat-topped geological formation. Nevada — A past participle meaning covered with snow, from nevar, meaning to snow. The word is also used for the name of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. A sierra is a saw, and the name came to be applied to a jagged range of mountains. Nogales (Arizona) — It means walnut trees. Rio Grande (Texas) — Rà ­o grande means large river. Sacramento — Spanish for sacrament, a type of ceremony practised in Catholic (and many other Christian) churches. Sangre de Cristo Mountains — The Spanish means blood of Christ; the name is said to come from blood-red glow of the setting sun. San _____ and Santa _____ (California and elsewhere) — Almost all the city names beginning with San or Santa — among them San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Antonio, San Luis Obispo, San Jose, Santa Fe and Santa Cruz — come from Spanish. Both words are shortened forms of  santo,  the word for saint or holy. Sonoran Desert (California and Arizona) — Sonora is possibly a corruption of seà ±ora, referring to a woman. Strait of Juan de Fuca (Washington state) — Named after the Spanish version of Greek explorer Ioannis Phokass name. Phokas was part of a Spanish expedition. Toledo (Ohio) — Possibly named after the city in Spain.