Mirror for Man: Actions and Thoughts Follow Culture :: Mirror for Man Essays

In a world where everyone has experienced "the same poignant life experiences, such as birth, helplessness, illness, old age, and death," it is incredible to think of the number of ways that peoples can go through these events in life. It is most common that their attitudes and responses are influenced by their environment and society. As Clyde Kluckhohn had explained in "Mirror for Man", the best explanation for any human action is the "concept of culture." One cannot clearly define this idea, but through the comparison of two different groups of people hopefully one can better understand the meaning of culture. By comparing Vietnam and the United States, two very contrasting nations, one can see the force behind the concept of culture in shaping people's lives. In terms of education, the similarities between the two countries are few. Both aim at improving their people's lives, and yet the method in which this is achieved differs greatly. Vietnam, a small country with a large population, has to make do with the lack of technology. It stresses hard work rather than the use of machines. Children are encouraged to do math mentally rather than depend on calculators. As a result, the Vietnamese people do not consider it a sacrifice that they should lead a hard life. Also, their education emphasizes morality rather than independent thinking. Therefore, most Vietnamese children would never think of leaving their families before marriage, unlike the Americans, who would leave for college right after high school or move out of their parents' house to live with friends. The Americans would also prefer to make their lives as easy as possible, which means that rather than adding mentally, they would turn to an adding machine or a computer. Their two wa ys of thinking differ as a result of different education methods. One can also see how culture causes people to be different in their dress styles. In Vietnam, it is acceptable to wear clothes similar to pyjamas out in the street. Yet in America, one cannot do this. One has to dress properly, which means that pyjamas is worn at night and to bed only. However, it is incomprehensible to the Vietnamese why the Americans have to dress so well to go to sleep, why they have to wear nightgowns or pyjamas with fancy designs. They do not understand why it is important to put on a robe when one eats breakfast.

People Attend College for Many Different Reasons Essay

Although people attend college or school for many different reasons, one of the most common reason for people to attend a college is for a career preparation. Although we have new experiences and also gain knowledge by attending a college or university, those are not the primary reasons for people attending a college because we can also get new experiences wherever new we go and whatever new we do. We will surely have new experiences if we attend a college but we do not attend a college for new experiences. Second, we do not just attend a college only for increased knowledge. If increasing the knowledge is the only motivation for the person, then we have many other sources like textbooks, journals, internet and many other sources which can help us to gain knowledge. We need not attend a college if gaining knowledge is the only reason. However, we gain knowledge if we attend a college but gaining knowledge is not the only impetus to attend a college or university. For example, if a university offers a very splendid environment and it can impart knowledge to the students better than any other university but if it does not offer any degree and does not show any job opportunities, I am pretty sure that few people will prefer to join it. Similarly, if a university is not so good at infrastructure and research work but if it still able to provide a better placement and career growth, it is no surprise that many people will be ready to join that university compared to the latter. So, from the reasons and examples stated above I think there are many factors that influences a person to join a college or university, career preparation is the most important of all.

Essay on Strategic Appraisal of Bmw - 3159 Words

Napier University Edinburgh | Strategic Appraisal Assessment | 08002676 | Word Count: 20/4/2010 | Strategic Appraisal BMW Case Study Introduction Bayerische Motoren Werke AG now known as BMW was founded in Germany in 1916. The BMW group began as a manufacturer of engines. In the present day now also manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, software and offers financial services. The case study ‘Exploring Corporate Strategy’ prominently deals with the automobile side of The BMW Group. Within this market BMW trade under three different brands BWM, MINI and Rolls Royce. BMW experienced a failure to gain and grow market share in the early twenty first century the group then embraced an imperative strategy of organic†¦show more content†¦The organisation claimed that this drop was due to changes in the legislation for tax provision. These changes meant that the organisation had to abide by the new taxation amounts and at this time the taxation rates had increased implicating higher out goings for The BMW Group. This change in legislation has consequently had a huge impact on the organisation causing its profits to decline. As changes like this often happen within legislation BMW have to ensure that they are aware of these so they do not face any further issues. Political issues also have to be taken into account on a regular basis within The BMW Group due to the company trading globally. Trade barriers and restriction can cause problems for this organisation so thought has to be given to where and how they can trade. BMW then have to consider the tax policies which are in place as it will affect their pricing strategy. If taxes are high then the prices of their automobiles will rise in accordance if they aim to meet the same profit margins. Porter’s Five Force Model in relation to The BMW Group Michael Porter established this model as a way of ‘assessing the attractiveness (profit potential) of different industries.’ (Johnson, 2008) Relating this to the BMW Group it will outline issues that will aid in securing competitive advantage and gain an understanding of theShow MoreRelatedHr Policies and Implementation of Hr Policies in a Global Company and Its Subsidiaries3305 Words   |  14 Pages1. Introduction In this report we are going to discuss about the people management, the strategic human resource management in relation to the standardization of. Presently there are many HRM models implemented in many of the companies. In this study we take the Jaguar Land Rover Company as an example, whose policies are implemented globally and standardizing some of them, for all of its subsidiaries. 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Greer Copyright  © 2001, 1995 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. A Pearson Education Company Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Compilation Copyright  © 2003 by Pearson Custom Publishing All rights reserved. This copyright covers material written expressly for this volume by the editor/s as well as the compilation itself. It does not cover the individual selections herein thatRead MoreExplain the Role of Proximity and Globality in Effectiveness6320 Words   |  26 Pagesmust ask themselves How can we be the best in the world? (Bateman Snell 5th edition 2002:8) 3. Strategic Process In order to improve the effectiveness of the organization the organization needs to do Strategic planning. The following diagram serves as a guideline for organizations embarking on a strategic planning process. (Ref: Total Strategy by R. Sondhi) 3.1 Strategic planning Strategic planning is the continuous long-term planning process of especially top and middle management to continuously