Human resources manager in international expansion

Human resources manager in international expansion ABSTRACT The worldwide dimension of Human Resources work may not have high influence in some businesses. But in some business it does posses a lot of influence. Some organizations that have world wide activities, needs to be staffed but with some different comparisons in the terms and conditions of employment. This is where the importance of international human resource management and the role of international human resource manager arise. International human resource manager must be responsible for framing new Human resources policies and strategies that gets in line with the locations ethical and religious issues for which managers need to posses both explicit and tacit knowledge. This research highlights the importance of this knowledge and its transfer from the parent country to the host country in line with the other objectives of this research. INTRODUCTION The growth of significance in International Human Resource Management originates from the augment of globalization. This substantial growth can be seen very obviously over the past half century. This term explains the propagation of international trading relations, foreign direct speculation, worldwide mergers and acquisitions, quicker and affordable transport and swift technological revolution. Amalgamation of markets multi-nationally was involved by globalization and the involvement was done on a regional level as well which is enthused by the rise of potential and authoritative markets in china, India and Eastern and Central Europe. Multinational companies are yet other visible manifestations of globalization. As companies expand domestically to a certain level they then try and expand internationally. This is when the role of International Human Resource Management comes into action. The objective of this research is to 1. Identify the role of International HR Manager. 2. To provide justification for the chosen geographical area. 3. To discuss the role of IHRM in relation to companys global involvement. The chosen geographical location for this research is India, for which the justification would be revealed during the course of the research. LITERATURE REVIEW International HRM can be defined as ‘the set of distinct activities, functions and processes that are directed at attracting and maintaining an MNCs human resources. It is thus the aggregate of the various HRM systems used to manage people in the MNC, both at home and overseas. Taylor, Beechler and Napier, 1996, pg: 960. There are various models that best explain the International Human Resource Management. These models have been put forward to illustrate how the HR function is configured. The Schuler et al. (1993) model explains us the integrative frame work of international HRM. This is a conceptual frame work that tried to record HRM activity to the diverse strategic requirements for integration and local responsiveness. Schuler et al. (1993) defines strategic international HRM as ‘Human Resource Management issues, functions, policies, practices that result from the strategic activities of multinational enterprises and that impact the international concerns and goals of the enterprise. â€Å"International Human Resource Management can also be referred to as a scrupulous type of devolution activity and spreading out of HR role. As and when an organization starts to develop its international activities, the organization inexorably sets up the degree of decentralization, but internationalization is not just a form of decentralization. This is considered to be one of the most complex forms of the same and involves different types of language, culture, economic and political systems, legislative frame works, management styles and conventions and diversification that stay within those national boundaries.† (Torrington, Hall and Taylor, 2005, pg: 695). Perlmutter (1969) proposed a model that was purely network based, illustrating the globalization of companies. This model was initially implemented in the international human resource management prose, rather than the international business field from where it originated. Kobrin (1994) ‘identified the classification in human resource management issues such as training, recruiting, selecting people and resources as the prime reason why international Human resource theorists adopt the Perlmutters model widely. Perlmutter (1969) initially defined three organizational types based on managements mindsets. They are ethnocentric, polycentric and geocentric organizations. Later he came with the fourth type of organization which is called the regiocentric organization. â€Å"THE ETHNOCENTRIC MINDSET reflects a spotlight on home country values and methods of operating. The consequence is the key positions are filled by the parent country nationals which give them a high degree of direct control over the subsidiaries. THE POLYCENTRIC MINDSET focuses on host country values and methods of operating. The key positions are filled by local employees and the parent company is less interested in homogenizing the organizational culture. THE GEOCENTRIC MINDSET focuses on global operation methods and values. These values are not nationally specific but transcend national boundaries and become almost multi-cultural. This approach involves best people for the job and the selection is done from all over the global organization. THE REGIOCENTRIC MINDSET recognizes regional operational methods and values. The organization is normally structured along regional geographic lines (e.g.: Europe, America, Asia Pacific Rim) and employees are transferred within these regions allowing certain degree of integration and recognizing regional diversity.† Perlmutter (1969). ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER The primary role of the human resources manager of a company that is expanding internationally for the first time is to formulate new HR strategies and policies based on the organizations business policy. They must keep in mind the issues in the geographical location where the company is going to operate. Those issues may be varied starting from political issues, labor issues, religious issues and diversity issues. The next important role would be the transfer of knowledge. ‘Knowledge is defined in terms of its explicit and tacit qualities (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). Polyani (1962) states that ‘tacit knowledge is the one that can be articulated and explicit knowledge is something that cannot be articulated. Both these knowledge has different methods of acquisition and accumulation purposes. Lam (2000) argues ‘that explicit knowledge is mostly generated through reckoning and inference and can be acquired through learning, training reading and listening and tacit knowledge is acquired through exposure in different environments, face to face communications. Close interaction plays a critical role in diffusion of this knowledge. As per the above argument by Lam (2000), we can say that it is mandatory for an international human resources manager to posses both explicit and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge will help the manager in framing international HR policies and strategies based on organizational objectives. This can also be addressed to as the internal factors in international expansion. Where as the external factors include the political issues, the opportunities and threats which they might experience. This requires the manager to posses abundant tacit knowledge which is acquired through experience. To be more specific on the roles we can consider the work of Tregaskis, Glover and Ferner (2005). They examined the role of international HR networks in 13 different Multi-national companies and outlined the role of the HR manager. These include â€Å"1. Global policy development. 2. Global HR policy accomplishment. 3. Best practice conception and allocation. 4. Utilization of the distributed HR expertise. 5. Creating buy-in to policy initiatives. 6. Information Exchange. 7. Socialization of the HR community.† These roles are self explanatory and it underpins the relevant knowledge requirement of the person involved in the international setting. JUSTIFICATION OF THE CHOSEN AREA This research will proceed further based on the assumption that the UK based organization is planning to expand its operations in India. India is one of the largest democracies in the southern Asia. India draws a high level of international attention with a GDP of growth rate of 8.1 percent in the first quarter of the financial year 2005-2006. This increased from 1.9 percent in 1995 to 3.4 percent in 2004. Major growth rate can be found in the industrial and the services sector with a growth rate of 8 percent in 2005. There are quite a few challenges that the organization might have to face during its expansion in India. This is outlined by Beardwell and Claydon (2007, pg: 626). â€Å"INFRASTRUCTURE: The combination of weak authoritarian mechanisms and the improper flow of FDI which is found more in non core sectors have restricted the flow in core sectors and Energy. Wider skill up gradation seems to be essential in India for e.g., more manpower is required in the information and the communication Industry. CORRUPTION: This is another challenge that could be faced by the organization. This is the reason that the FDI flow in china is comparatively higher. The government of India has implemented the Rights to Information Act in 2005. Setting up of the vigilance commission is also an important step taken by the government. GROWTH WITH EQUITY: Despite the fact that there are more jobs being created, these jobs are in the unorganized sector with poor wages and benefits and there is less job security. But the government is taking necessary steps to improve job opportunities and enhance skills development by ensuring education for all. Beardwell and Claydon (2007, pg: 627), outlines the advantages an organization that enjoy despite the arousing the challenges. They are LANGUAGE: Advantage of wide knowledge in English language is evident in most graduates who come from across a million universities in India which makes recruiting quality candidates very easy. SKILLS: Highly skilled people from the field of software and information technology are one of Indias competitive advantages. India though highly recognized for unskilled cheap labor produces a number of graduates from the field of mathematics and science from a number of colleges. DEMOCRACY: The egalitarian nature of the Indian state provides a sustainable distribution of resources with an equitable distribution of resources and opportunities. This may help India address the challenges of poverty, inequality, low equality and per-capita income. DIVERSITY: The key to understanding the Indian context is its diversity. Managers with an experience in a diverse organization are regularly equipped to adjust as well as respond to the increasingly diverse international work place. PROSPECTS: India on description of its competitive advantage continues to gain employment within global division of MNC. The probability of this change happening is high with a projected growth of 9-10 percent which was predicted by the World Bank.† DISCUSSION AND EXAMPLES IHRM and Companys Global Involvement This discussion will mainly focus on role of IHRM in companys global involvement followed by examples of two organizations. Vernons (1996) stage model of organizational change and the steps are listed below PHASE 1. DOMESTIC: Focus is on the market, with unique products and services. ‘There are no requirements of cultural diversity and the HR needs are not demanding in international terms. I.e. expatriate assignments cross-cultural (Dunbar, ET. Al., 1989). PHASE 2. INTERNATIONAL: There is an increase in competition and international markets gain significance for profit. The HR now performs vital role in attaining control of local operations. PHASE 3. MULTINATIONAL: The product/ service reaches maturity, there is a rise in competition and a fall in price. The best people are chosen for international postings for increasing profits and the recruitment of international manager would be from those with the knowledge of parent culture. PHASE 4. GLOBAL: The previous three stages were based on hierarchical structures. This phase functions on the postulation that the business unit will need to operate in all the three phases continuously. ‘It is in this stage the demarcation between the expatriate and local managers disappears and management of dual demands of integration and local responsiveness takes place in the organization. (Doz and Prahalad, 1986). Phase I Domestic Phase II International Phase III Multinational Phase IV Global Primary Orientation Product or Service Marketing Price Strategy Strategy Domestic Multi Domestic Multi National Global World Wide Strategy Allow Foreign Clients To buy Product/service Increase market Internationally, Transfer technology abroad. Source, Produce and Market Internationally Gain global strategic competitive advantage Staffing Expatriates None (Few) Many Some Many Why sent? Junket To sell control or transfer technology Control Coordination and Integration Whom Sent? ‘ok performers, salespeople Very good performers High- potential Managers and top executives Purpose Reward Project ‘to get Job done Project and career development Career and organizational development Career Impact Negative Bad for domestic career Important for global career Essential for executive suite Professional Re- entry Somewhat difficult Extremely difficult Less difficult Professionally easy Training and Development None Limited Longer Continuous throughout career For Whom No one Expatriates Expatriates Managers Performance Appraisal Corporate bottom line Subsidiary bottom line Corporate bottom line Strategic positioning Motivation Assumption Money motivates Money and adventure Challenge and opportunity Challenge, opportunity, advancement Rewarding Extra money to compensate for foreign hardship ______________ Less generous, global packages ____________ Career ‘Fast Track Domestic Domestic Token international Global Executive Passport Home country Home country Home country, token foreigners Multinational Necessary Skills Technical and managerial Plus cultural adaptation Plus recognizing cultural differences Plus cross- cultural interaction, influence and synergy Source: Adler and Ghadar, 1990 cited on Beardwell and Claydon 2007. The table illustrated above was proposed by Adler and Ghadar, (1990), which illustrated the IHRM in relation to the companys global environment relating various aspects with Vernons model of organizational change. Examples The two organizations that will be considered as examples in this research are Barclays bank and British airways. â€Å"Barclays is a UK based organization which is expanding globally at a considerable rate. Barclays bank has been operating in India for just a span of two years. Within a short span of time they have gained the title as the most respected foreign banks of the country. This bank is led by Mark Jones, who is the Managing Director in Asia. The company has its own corporate social responsibilities. In 2008 52.2 million pounds was invested in community projects and over 57, 361 employees in over 50 countries was involved in one of them.† www.barclays.in (2009). Theoretically speaking Barclays in now on PHASE 3. THE MULTINATIONAL STAGE, as illustrated by Vernon (1996). The organization employed a director who has the knowledge of the parent culture. They have five branches across India and currently have their efforts focused on financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, and education and Helping people into Employment. The ethnocentric and polycentric mindsets of Perlmutters (1969) model best suits the companys International HR management practices because; Barclays key positions are filled by parent country nationals as well as nationals from the host country. â€Å"When considering the case of British Airways, they are slightly different from Barclays. This difference occurred because British airways are a huge organization with over 80 years of history. Though they have their hubs only in London, they have their operations in six continents and in over 69 countries and India is one of them. They serve to more than 36 million passengers every year. They believe in offering diversity, more development, better training than their competitors.† www.britishairways.com (2009). This organizations international HRM strategy can be compared in contrast with the permutters (1969) geocentric and regiocentric mindsets of the people because; they involve best people from all over the globe and at crucial stages employees are transferred within a particular region. British airways is currently in the PHASE 4 which is the GLOBAL PHASE as they are operating on all the prior three stages. CONCLUSION This research analyzed the international human resource management using a range of academic models and theories. The role of human resource manager during a first international expansion was clearly related to the knowledge transfer and the organizational strategies and policies. This research can be a useful tool for a domestic company whose future plan is to expand their business globally. After analyzing the advantages and challenges in India it gives the organization a clear picture as to what are the issues that can be expected, both internally and externally. Advantages are those which the organization must be prepared to utilize, and the challenges are something which they must be ready to face. Keeping in mind the role of the IHRM in organizations global involvement, the stages for organizational change, and the advantages and challenges they might face in the host country, the organization can really make an excellent start in their proposed geographical location. REFERENCES 1. All about British Airways, available at http://www.britishairwaysjobs.com/baweb1/?newms=info1 accessed on 24 August 2009. 2. About Barclays (2009), available at http://www.barclays.in/about/about_us.htm accessed on 24 August 2009. 3. Adler, N. and Ghadar, F. (1990) ‘strategic human resource management: A global perspective, in Pieper, R. Human Resource management: An International Comparison. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. 4. Beardwell, J. and Claydon, T. (2007), ‘International Human Resource management, HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: a Contemporary Approach, Edition 5, PP: 562-664. 5. Doz, Y.L. and Prahalad, C.K. (1986) ‘Controlled variety: A Challenge for Human Resource Management in the MNC Human Resource Management, 25, Edition 1, PP: 55-72. 6. Kobrin, S.J. (1994) ‘Is there a relationship between a geocentric mindset and multinational strategy? Journal of International Business Studies, third quarter: 493-511. 7. Lam, A. (2000) ‘tacit knowledge, organizational learning and societal institutions: an integrated frame work. Organization Studies, 21, Edition 3, PP: 487-513. 8. Dunbar, E., Mendenhall, M. and Oddou, G. (1989) ‘Expatriate selection, training and career pathing: a review and critique, Human Resource Management, 26, fall: 331-345. 9. Nonaka, I and Takeuchi, H. (1995) the knowledge creating company. New York: Oxford University Press. 10. Perlmutter, H.V. (1969) ‘the tortous evolution of the multinational corporation, International Organization, 51, Edition 1, PP: 1-30. 11. Polyani, M. (1962), Personal Knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 12. Schuler, R., Dowling, P. and De Ceiri, H. (1993), ‘An international framework strategic international human resource management, Journal of Management, 19, 2: 419-459. 13. Taylor, S., Beechler, S. and Napier, N. (1996) ‘Toward an integrative model of strategic international human resource management, Academy of Management Review, 21, Edition 4, PP: 959-985. 14. Torrington, D., Hall, L., Taylor, S. (2005), Human Resource Management, Prentice hall, Edition 6; PP: 693- 778. 15. Vernon, R. (1996) ‘international investment and international trade in the product cycle. Quarterly Journal of Economics May.

Difference Between Plutarchs And Shakespeares Caesar :: essays research papers

Difference Between Plutarch's and Shakespeare's Caesar Julius Caesar was in a precarious situation. It could be interpreted that he deserved the fate that pursued him for ambition or some other reason, or that it was a cold murder for which he did not deserve. Both Shakespeare and Plutarch wrote about Julius Caesar. Each tells the story a little differently. Plutarchs version is more sympathetic to Caear's situation. Shakespeare shows him to be an insensitive and conceited person thinking only of himself. This is shown by his reaction to Calpurnia's dream. After her description of her dream he says, "Caesar shall forth. The things that threatened me Ne'er looked but on my back; when they shall see the face of Caesar, they are vanished." This attitude to a warning implying that he was given fair warning and his death was partially due to his over confidence. On the other hand Plutarch gives him a more sensitive reaction to the dream in saying, "Caesar himself, it seems was affected and by no means easy in his mind." Moreover, Plutarch's writings show the long string of coincidences almost as Fate were deeming it necessary for him to die, and that he had no control over it. "...the scene of the final struggle and of the assassination made it perfectly clear that some heavenly power was involved...directing that it" (the assassination) "should take place just here. For here stood a statue of Pompey..." This stating that Caesar's murder was the deceased Pompey's revenge for he was killed by Caesar. Whereas, Shakespeare does not say anything about the statue and shows the same coincidences in the play as warnings to him that out of his own stupidity he did not take. Lastly, after Caesar's death the Romans were enraged to revenge him at

The Birth Of Venus

The Birth of Venus is a painting familiar especially to those who know about mythology. Sandra Poetical wanted to show the birth of Venus one of the Greek gods in his own point of view. He demonstrates this by how he painted Venus and whom he painted in the drawing with Venus. He also shows it by the type of media he used and what he painted it on. For this painting, he had used tempera on canvas. His inspiration for painting Venus came about during the Renaissance era. It is one of the first non-biblical female nudes in Italian art (Birth of Venus). Poetical was influenced to paint Venus from reading Homer's Scripts.In particular, one of homer's scripts was about how Crocus had clashed with his father Uranus. During the clash, Crocus emasculates Uranus and because he had done Venus is born. In this work, he shows Venus coming of a shell nude covering her body in a modest way. It would signify not only her birth to a new world but also show humanism. The background of the painting sh ows the ocean which is how she was able to be born in the first place (Botulism's Birth of Venus). Also, he includes Zephyr's, the god of the wind and he is shown holding on to a nymph named Colorist.The wind signifies a guidance so it would make sense to why Zephyr's is in the painting since he leading Venus. Furthermore, he also includes Pomona the goddess of the spring she awaits Venus with a mantle which is blowing in the wind from Zephyr's. It shows how Pomona is welcoming the new goddess. Moreover, he painted Venus in such a beautiful way that it shows that he had studied the subject of the painting. It demonstrates that Poetical had thoroughly thought over about how he would want to present Venus. Thus, Poetical had shown many symbols in his painting that corresponds to Homer's work. The Birth of Venus The Birth of Venus by Sandra Botanical Visual Elements * Line * The main type of lines that are used in the Birth of Venus are mostly actual lines. The way they are used by the artist is to form specific shapes to tell a story about the goddess Venus. There are a few implied lines are used to create the ocean as to which Venus emerges from, as well as the waves in her hair to show that it has movement. The actual lines are used to create the shapes of the nature and the angels and mother figure that surround Venus. Shape * Mass * Space * Time and Motion Botanical implies time and motion have occurred with the way the figures are slightly angled towards each other. Venus' hair is drawn so that it looks like it is blowing in the wind as she has emerged from the water, while the woman that is standing on land waiting for her is leaning towards her as to cover her with the cloth that she is holding and her feet are positioned so it shows that she is walking.The Angels are drawn to show t hat they are flying towards the goddess as if to welcome her. * Light * Color * The colors that are used were used to create a calming sensation when you coked at the painting. Botanical used mostly blues and greens which create calming nature of the artwork. He painted the ocean a blue green which is more muted than the bright blues you may see in other paintings when it comes to corners.Venus' hair is a golden color which reflects the light that is used in the painting which makes it a brighter color than the sky in the background which is darker. * Texture Principles of Design * Unity and Vanity * Balance * Emphasis and Subordination * Directional Forces * Contrast * Repetition and Rhythm * Scale and Proportion

Philosophical and Theoretical Analysis of “Terrorism and the Politics of Fear” by David L. Altheide The WritePass Journal

Philosophical and Theoretical Analysis of â€Å"Terrorism and the Politics of Fear† by David L. Altheide Philosophical and Theoretical Analysis of â€Å"Terrorism and the Politics of Fear† by David L. Altheide (a) Identify the philosophical or theoretical perspective underlying the research. The events of September 11th 2001 caused terrorism to become central to the social landscape of the contemporary world. It was not only terrorism in itself that became an important issue, but also the changing rhetoric and ideas involving terrorism around the globe. In his content analysis of US newspapers, Altheide focused on the ongoing dialogue characterising terrorism as something to be feared by the American people. The main hypothesis is summarised by Altheide as follows:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The terms crime, victim and fear are joined with news reports about terrorism to construct public discourse that reflects symbolic relationships about order, danger, and threat that may be exploited by political decision makers.† (Altheide 2006: pp. 416). The inference here is that the three terms at hand represent fairly negative social concepts which are familiar to the US audience at large. Altheide posits that associating these concepts with terrorism was politically beneficial for a government who were trying to justify a ‘war on terror’ in the Middle East in that it defined the idea of terrorism in very immediate, negative terms. Considering social realignment and redefinition of fundamental concepts in this way is a very subjectivist mode of study (Benton Craib 2001). The idea that social concepts like terrorism are innately subjective and relative can be traced back to the roots of subjective sociological study: Durkheim posited that such concepts are defined and redefined by their relationship to other concepts and should be studied and viewed in terms of these relationships (1982 [1895]). The aim of this mode of comparative study is that subjective facts could be studied in comparison to each-other rather than in comparison to the bias of the researcher, this arguably allows for an objective scientific study of highly subjective social concepts (Collins 1975). Such an approach is evident in Altheide’s study of the social concept of terror. The concepts at hand are studied in the context of their presentation by the mass media in order to reach a conclusion regarding the way in which the press act to build consent for interventionist political ends. This conclusion makes comparisons with Herman and Chomsky’s (1988) propaganda mode of political economy almost unavoidable. The early Marxian model of ruling classes and ruling ideas in the German ideology (1932) is also relevant to the conclusion. Both of these models see distinctive elites subjectively redefining concepts and presenting them as banal and objective truths to be accepted by the masses in a model of elitist social constructionism (Berger Luckman 1967).   This subjective, constructionist perspective seems to be very much the theoretical basis of Alheide’s work as evidenced below. (b) Show how the philosophical or theoretical perspective informs the research design and conclusions. Altheide states his methodology as a qualitative content analysis of media coverage of terrorism: He attempts to track and situate the discourse around it in relation to the words fear, crime and victim, and how they are â€Å"joined with news reports about terrorism to construct public discourse which reflects symbolic relationships about order, danger, and threat that may be exploited by political decision makers.† (Altheide 2006, pp. 422). This illustrates the critical link between Durkheim’s (1982) situated subjective concepts and the terms being qualitatively assessed. It also illustrates the constructionist view of the pursuits of ‘political decision makers’ taken by Altheide.   Further to this Altheide acknowledges the dynamic nature of the subjective concepts he handles by deciding to compare the newspapers’ discourse in the eighteen months preceding September 11th to the discourse in the 18 months immediately following it in order to track the change in consideration of terrorism as a concept. Social constructionism holds that society is built, defined, rebuilt and redefined to a greater or lesser degree by all of the actors and agencies which constitute it based on definition and situation of concepts.   Recently more and more consideration has been given to the powerful elites in society and their relatively greater contribution to these concepts and how they work in society, politics and the media are two such elites (Wanda 2003). In Altheide’s case the study leads him to conclude that American society has been redefined as a group of victims on a large scale. Further to this he posits that this new definition leads to increased reliance on American institutions and decreased criticism of them. The eventual effect of this is that security institutions can overstep previous boundaries and justify the kind of mission creep that would have been unacceptable before 9/11. This conclusion reads soundly with Herman and Chomsky’s (1988) model of media based political economy. The fact that the focus is on the newspapers’ handling of the issues rather than the discourse of the politicians themselves indicates that the as well as the conclusion research is informed by Herman and Chomsky’s model rather than a more directly government-focused idea which might have had more immediate but less incisive results. Chomsky has already applied this rhetorical position to the context of 9/11 albeit loosely (Chomsky 2001) he concludes similarly to Altheide: â€Å"In short, the crime is a gift to the hard jingoist right, those who hope to use force to control their domains†. In other text he has called for and supported the work of others in applying his and Herman’s model to this context (e.g. Herring and Robinson 2003), whether Altheide heeded this call in designing his research or whether it was a happy coincidence is unknown. Wha t is known is that the conclusions support Chomsky’s earlier reading, but to what degree is the research theoretically effective? This is considered below. (c) Critically assess the adequacy of the research in terms of its philosophical or theoretical perspective.    The selection of qualitative content analysis over quantitative methods is an obvious choice for a researcher looking to subjectively analyse a concept in terms of how it relates to other ideas, this is because by its very nature qualitative content analysis considers the context of words in a text (Krippendorf 2004 Ch2: Conceptual Foundation). This research methodology is inherently relative and subjective; by contrast it would be very challenging to construct an essentialist qualitative content analysis. If terrorism is to be considered from a subjective point of view, tracking the discourse relating to it comparatively before and after a major definitive terrorist event allows solid insight into the changing definition of the concept. The hypothesis that the definition of the concepts at hand has changed can only be proved through a comparative, long term analysis identifying the concept’s relation to other ideas. Just as comparison of two media sources will reveal differences in their handling and definition of a subject, so comparison of two time periods will reveal changes in definition and handling of subjects over time (Riffe et al. 2008). The same newspapers and magazines were used throughout, a basic step which ensures representative constancy throughout the time period in question allowing firmly based comment on the changes in approach. The selection of these newspapers and magazines to provide a definitive, representative cross section of the US press is important to Altheide’s theoretical stance and is acknowledged as such in the study methodology (pp. 422). Altheide’s hypothesis that press and media elites were constructing ‘rhetorics of fear’ for the American public in general requires consideration of a representative portion of the media in question read by a representative portion of the American public, to achieve this a range of large scale sources with large readerships were the focus of the research. This ensures that the sources in question have the descriptive power which Herman and Chomsky saw as central to their role in the political economy (1988), as well as providing a numerically representative audience. The search policies and protocols used by Altheide are based on the words fear, victim, crime and terrorism. These words are not simply searched for in terms of their occurrence in isolation, instead articles with these words â€Å"in various relationships or within several words of each-other† (pp. 422) were selected and analysed in context with particular attention to the relationships themselves. This is important from the theoretical standpoint of sociological subjectivism and constructionism as it provides a socially defined context for the concept of terrorism in terms of relevance to other social concepts. The identification of the major newspapers as definers, their large audiences as receivers and the politicians as profiteers provides a very solid basis for Altheide to create an account of the socially constructed political economy being considered. Questions have been raised about the limits of qualitative inquiry where subjective definitions are concerned (Krippend orf 2004), however these remain unanswered. Although not perfect, Altheide’s work is a representative and rational example of subjective, constructionist research into media politics. (d) Offer an alternative interpretation of the research findings and/or an alternative research design based on a different philosophical or theoretical perspective. In his conclusion Altheide reads the situation in a way which follows rationally from his results, but in a way which is very focused on the press as a creator of concepts, he makes a number of important critical statements: Firstly that the media is at least partly responsible for defining social concepts which affect the views and actions of the American public. Secondly that this was done by linking concepts to create definitions where there were none before. Thirdly that the political elite profited from this in that it helped them gain public compliance. And lastly that this relationship was, to some degree at least, consciously created â€Å"by a compliant press [who] stressed fear of terrorism† (pp. 425). This reading is based on the evidence that after 9/11 press coverage of terrorism changed to create a rhetoric of a crime against the united states, which had identifiable perpetrators (terrorists) and identifiable victims (the US public) and which the government could prevent in future.   This is an unavoidably partisan view, the government are characterised by the press as a white knight and the terrorists as the evil enemy. As Chomsky (2001) commented this is not an objective truth but a subjective illustration and Altheide analyses it as such. However the subjective illustration does not necessarily have to be considered in terms of its origin from a social construction of subjective ideas. It can equally be seen as a reaction to real events, based on empirically defined human nature. This reading can be summarized in four comparative critical statements which contrast with the summary of Altheide’s laid out above. Firstly the media are a fundamental means of reacting to events in coordination or contention with others, a social product of human nature (Kueter 2005: Ch 9). Secondly that the concepts with which they deal, such as fear and will to power are equally natural and equally innate in the human condition, they are not socially constructed, their application is the only thing that is defined by their context. On the third point there is some agreement, the political elite did profit by virtue of being able to control the context in which the ideas were applied, they did not control the ideas themselves. Ironi cally, Noam Chomsky’s critical redefinition of 9/11 (2001) can be used as proof of this theory in opposition to his own, if the government and the media had had definitive control over the concept of terrorism Chomsky would have been unable to define it separately as a rational reaction. His redefinition arguably shows that there is an essential definition of terrorism outside of what the media creates.   Lastly, it is natural that any kind of human interaction is defined by its support of or opposition to the status quo, agreement and disagreement are the basis of all critique (Kueter 2005). That the US press and government are in support of each-other is unsurprising given that they both represent the public of the country which suffered a very public attack. In this way the conclusion becomes one of natural constants such as group solidarity and Nietzsche’s will to power, rather than of subjective manipulation and relativity. Conclusion    Bibliography Altheide, D. L. (2006) ‘Terrorism and the Politics of Fear’ Critical Methodologies 6 (4) pp. 415-439 Benton, T. and Craib, I. (2001) Philosophy of Social Science. Basingstoke: Palgrave Berger, P. L. Luckmann, T. (1967) The Social Construction of Reality New York: Anchor Chomsky, N. (2001) On the Bombings [viewed online 20/12/2011] Zmag [available from:] nodo50.org/csca/agenda2001/ny_11-09-01/chomski-eng.html Collins, R. (1975). Conflict Sociology: Toward an Explanatory Science. New York: Academic Press Durkheim, E Halls, W. D. (Ed) (1982 [1895]) Rules of the Sociological Method   New York: Free Press Herman, E. S. Chomsky (1988) Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media New York: Pantheon Books Herring, E Robinson, P (2003) â€Å"Too Polemical or Too Critical? Chomsky on the study of the news media and US foreign policy† Review of International Studies 29 pp. 553-568 Kueter, R (2005) â€Å"Politics, Business and the Media† in. The State of Human Nature Lincoln: IUniverse Krippendorf, K. (2004) Content Analysis: An introduction to its methodology Thousand Oaks: Sage Marx, Karl (1932) ‘Ruling class and ruling ideas’ in The German Ideology, pp. 64-68. Wanda, R.E. (2003)   The Contributions of Social Consructivism to Political Science [viewed online 29/12/2011] Analyst network [available from:] analyst-network.com/articles/190/ThecontributionsofSocialConstructivisminPoliticalScience.pdf

Beatles memorabilia essays

Beatles memorabilia essays No rock n roll group had more influence on a generation and the world as did The Beatles. They single handedly changed the period known as the Sixties and their influence is still being felt today. Music, culture, lifestyles, hairstyles, clothing styles and attitudes all changed because of this remarkable band that emerged out of Liverpool England in the early 1960s. The Beatles were George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney as pictured above. The Beatles themselves were greatly influenced by the early rock n roll stars from America such as Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent and others. During the bands infancy they spent a considerable amount of time listening and copying the styles of these great 1950s rock n roll heroes. Its fair to say that the music style adopted by the Beatles has in roots in 1950s American rock n roll. The Beatles dawned on the music scene in the very early 1960s and by 1963 had established themselves as the premiere rock n roll band in all of England. Frenzied crowds greeted the Beatles wherever they appeared throughout all of England. Beatlemania was born. The America music scene had all but ignored what was transpiring in England. But by January 1964, after the release of the Beatles second album in England, America could not longer resist the onslaught of these four loveable guys with mop-top haircuts. They stormed onto the American music scene in February 1964 with their historic performances in Washington DC, Carnegie Hall and Shea Stadium. Their music, coupled with their first class humor and personalities, firmly established them as the rock n roll kings for an entire generation. Their popularity, both yesterday and today, still remains unequaled by any other rock n roll artist. The memorabilia licensed by The Beatles is vast and seemingly...

Outline Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

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Marketing Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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