Analysis of Two In The Campagna by Robert Browning Essay -- Robert Bro

Analysis of Two In The Campagna by Robert BrowningTwo In The Campagna is essentially a lamb poem, scripted by Browningto capture the tragic and dark aspects of a relationship. The poemcommences with romantic images of the couple sitting in the fields ofRome in spring. The first base line, starting with I wonder sets thecontemplative tone of the piece, and the poet follows one particulartrail of thought for several stanzas. Clearly, the poet is trying tocapture what cannot be easily confined he is attempting to forgea sentiment of fleeting love that perhaps can only be felt. Browningdescribes the thought floating away over the picturesque fit?Help me to hold it First it leftThe yellowing fennel, run to seedThere, branching from the brickwork?s cleft??The flowing lines and use of enjambment represent his thoughtsspilling over, almost frolicking through the fields of Rome. Thisstyle of poetry is used by Browning regularly for example in ?LoveAmong The Ruins? his thoughts flow over from one line to the nigh ?however the message of this poem is the opposite from ?Two In TheCampagna?, as the former depicts the enduring power of passionatelove, and the latter describes the natural diminution of feelings afterwards the passionate climax of sex.The poem becomes increasingly vibrant and passionate as the coupleevidently become sexually aroused together. In my opinion, theimagery of the beetles privileged a flower is incredibly vivid and is oneof my personal favourite images in all of Browning?s love poetry??Where one smooth orange cup amassedFive beetles,--blind and green they gropeAmong the honey-meal??The images are abundantly fertile, with an intense evocation... ...uchillogically violent ways. However, it does capture the essence ofjealousy, possessiveness and the yearning for eternal superstar that manypeople do feel. Browning has evidently taken this to the extremeeffectively, as it is his style to shock the reader.In conclusion, Browning uses many differ ent techniques of transferthe complexities of human passion, and does this effectively from manypoints of view on love. However, it does seem that Browning usuallyhas a slightly subdued, possibly even warped view of love and romance? and this could be because his own love life was publicly perceivedto be ultimately perfect but retrospectively it appears his marriagewith Elizabeth Browning was mount of doubt and possessiveness, as seenin ?Any Wife To Any Husband? which most critics believe to be based onthe troubled relationship between the Browning?s.

Asset Valuation Paper :: Business Accounting

Asset Valuation Accounting for Managerial Decision-Making IntroductionTo start a new business and remain in business profitably, many captious decisions must be made when the foundation of a new business is formed. These decisions affect the company in the long run and often make or break an organization. Methods of blood control and capitalization policies are among these critical decisions that will affect any business bottom line. Our team has investigated these policies and will present our pass for the method of inventory and capitalization policy for the XYZ Mattress Store in the remainder of this paper. Inventory Policy Selecting the rating method for reporting and valuing is based on tell apart issues relating to the relevance and reliability of the method of accounting for that item. According to finetuning.com (2005) how you identify items in inventory and determine which have been sold will depend on the disposition of the products, the volume of the products, how they are tracked, and inventory rotation. Key factors to consider under the inventory policy are location of storage facilities, temperature, security, rotation of stock, cost, training, periodic inventories, and control. caycon.com (2005) wrote Valuing a inaugural is intrinsically different from valuing established companies. Because of the high level of risk and often little or no revenues, traditional quantitative valuation methods like (P/E) per-share cyberspace comparables or discounting free cash flows are of little use. Startup valuations are largely determined based on qualitative attributes. To select an inventory valuation method, the options are FIFO, LIFO and Weighted Average. The valuation method for (FIFO) First-in, first break through Answers.com (2005) defines this as a common method for recording the value of inventory. It is appropriate where thither are many different batches of similar products. This method describes the first item comi ng in will be the first item going out of the inventory. Retailinventories.com (2005) wrote cost flow assumption assumes that the oldest inventory is sold first. The ending balance of inventory is valued at the most recent purchase price. FIFO produces a more relevant balance sheet since the ending balance in inventory reflects its current value. An example of this would be Ending balance in inventory would be 30 units of the most recent purchases. 30 x 300=9,000 E/B = 9,000.

Racism in Toni Morrisons Song of Solmon Essay -- Song of Solmon Essay

Racism in Toni Morrisons Song of SolmonMilkman is born on the day that Mr. Smith kills himself trying to fly Milkman as a child wanted to fly until he found out that people could not. When he found, that only birds and airplanes could fly&emdashhe lost all interest in himself (9). The novel Song of Solomon is about an African American man nicknamed Milkman. This novel, by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison was first published in 1977, shows a great make do of the African American culture, and the discrimination within their culture at the time Song of Solomon takes place. In part one, the setting is in a North Carolina t possesssfolk in the 30s and 40s. Part one introduces readers to not only Milkman, but also to his family and friends. His father holds power in the African American community because he has his own business and is ambitious. Milkmans mother is a center figure in the community simply because her father was the doctor. Milkman has a mysterious unmarried Aunt, with a si ngle daughter and granddaughter. He also has a friend, Guitar who is a member of a group of seven African American men dedicated to keeping the ratio between blacks and whites the same. throughout the novel, Milkman gradually learns about his families past as well as forgotten pieces of his own childhood.In part two, Milkman goes south to his fathers hometown. He is looking for a tidy sum that his father and aunt had found long before. When he does not find the fortune he begins trying to find where it went. This takes him to where his great grandfather and mother originated. Milkman eventually is led to the town where he is a direct descendant of the towns legend, Solomon. It is in this town that Milkman finds himself and becomes his own m... ... lied for it, killed for it, (247). For her revenge, after all of the Butlers died Circe says I want to condition it all go, make sure it does go, and that nobody fixes it up. I brought the dogs in to make sure (247). She allows everyt hing they loved to be destroyed.Morrison shows readers a side of American History seldom seen. She shows the deepness of prejudice and how many different ways it has effected people. While she does this she also tells a story of soul searching, Milkman tries to find himself among many people who atomic number 18 confused and ate up by hate and prejudice. In the end, he is able to find who he is and where he stands on all of the issues that are sacking on around him. When he gets this understanding Milkman retrieves, and achieves his childhood dream of flying. Works CitedMorrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York, Penguin Books USA Inc., 1987

Ebonics Essay examples -- Culture American Language Rap Ebonics Essays

EbonicsINTRODUCTIONThe main topic of this paper is the USA, and I have chosen to concentrate on afairly new issue, the language know as Ebonics. There have always been changesin the side of meat language. This is how the language came about and evolved fromstandard British side to American English.During the last few years, as the world has kick the bucket more sensitive to the rightsof minorities, women, animals, etc. a new form of changes has taken place. Thesechanges have become known as Political Correctness.Ebonics is the political correct version of Afro-American English. I intend toshow that and comment on how racialism and competition affects a society andhow this, in the case of Ebonics, is actually happening in todays America.Nuuk February 1997 Ral FleischerTHE QUESTIONS ASKED I will attempt to answer the following questions aboutEbonics - what is Ebonics? - what are the underlying reasons cigarette Ebonics? -who is prospering from Ebonics?What is Ebonics? Most people outside of America have at most but a vague idea ofwhat Ebonics is all about. Apart from be a buzzword in American media sinceDecember 1996 what are the fundamental concepts behind this expression? Where,how and when did it start, and who started it?What are the underlying reasons behind Ebonics? To fully understand Ebonics, more or less historical background is needed. One has to have some knowledge on how theEnglish language has developed in America. Furthermore one has to be aware(predicate) howthe American society is loaded down with the influence of stereotypical thinking,racialism and competition. In his autobiography, the famous black spokesman,Minister Malcolm X, portrays the undisguised hostility that exists between flanneland black people in America. He illustrates this conflict with the followingwords You cannot find one black man, I do not care who he is, who has notbeen personally damaged in some way by the devilish acts of the white man.The greatest miracle in Ame rica is that the black has not grownviolent they would have been justified by all moral criteria, and even by the elected tradition (The Autobiography of Malcolm X, page 371 & 349)Is Ebonics simply the democratic consequence, a black non-violent upraiseagainst the devilish acts of the white man as as foreseen by Malcolm X?Who is pros... ...hstandard of excellence for all its students. 2). Oakland Unified schooltime Districtis providing its teachers and parents with the tools to address the diverselanguages the children bring into the classroom. 3). The Districts objective isto build on the language skills that African-American students bring to theclassroom without devaluing students and their diversity. We have directlyconnected English language proficiency to student achievement. 4). The namegenetically-based is synonymous with genesis. In the clause, African LanguageSystems are genetically based and not a dialect of English, the termgenetically based is used according to the standard dictionary definition ofhas origins in. It is not used to refer to human biology.Hooked on Ebonics, p. 50Ebonics A Way to Close the Learning Gap?, p. A01Among Linguists, Black English Gets Respect, p. A10Race, Culture and Intelligence, p. 104Two Nations, Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal, p.42Ebonics A Way to Close the Learning Gap?, p. A01 precis of the adopted policy on standard American English Languagedevelopment, appendix 1Ebonics A Way to Close the Learning Gap?, p. A01

The Very First Day of School (1945) Essay -- Personal Narrative

My mother took me to develop on my first day. Mother had been telling me for weeks prior to the big day how wonderful school was going to be, so I was dutifully excited. She failed to mention that she was going to leave me with seventeen little strangers and one large lady. The large lady seemed to think that she was in control. I later learned that she was the teacher. She was trying to explain to Mother that I was non eligible to attend first grade because I would not be six until November of the following year. My mother was having none of that. She wanted me out of the house and into school and she did not care what the rules were. We had just moved from New Orleans to the woods of St. Helena Parish, where school had started two weeks before we arrived. Although it was 1945 in the rest of the world, it was still 1920 in St. Helena. Our home in New Orleans had had indoor plumbing, a flatulence stove, and electric heaters. In the country, however, we had an outhouse. Every drop of water we used was pumped and carried inside. We chopped wood for our stove and heaters. The back breaking, never ending labor did not bother me as much as having to live in such a degrading manner. I hated the woods. I missed the comforts of the city and I hated the primitive conditions of our new country life. I missed my good-natured little playmates who had treated me so kindly for the first five long time of my life. I missed the gentle accents spoken in soft voices by my friends and neighbors, and the endless hours of playtime that we enjoyed. But now I was going to have to go to school For a while, I thought the rule that a child had to be six before entering the first grade would rescue me. shoal rules back then, li... ...At lunchtime, I offered to share my cookies with a very crazy girl. She had been staring at them ever since I had taken them out of their wax piece wrapping. They were unaccompanied vanilla wafers, and certainly were not my favorite. She told me that she had never tasted store bought cookies, and pronounced them fit for a king. She became my lifetime friend and protector. She remained an angry person, but seldom got angry with me. The big boy dumped me in the fifth grade for a girl who had matured very early. The first day of school, I learned these valuable lessons. Accents only sound strange to people who have different accents. Never bother arguing with my mother. Crying does not help, but sometime you just have to do it anyway. A little sweetness usher out make an angry person nicer. Flattery goes a long way with a guy sometimes it can even go as far as the fifth grade.

The Very First Day of School (1945) Essay -- Personal Narrative

My mother took me to tutor on my first day. Mother had been telling me for weeks prior to the plentiful day how wonderful school was exhalation to be, so I was dutifully excited. She failed to mention that she was going to leave me with s til nowteen little strangers and one large lady. The large lady seemed to think that she was in control. I later learned that she was the teacher. She was trying to explain to Mother that I was not eligible to attend first grade because I would not be half-dozen until November of the following year. My mother was having none of that. She wanted me out of the house and into school and she did not care what the rules were. We had just moved from New Orleans to the woods of St. capital of Montana Parish, where school had started two weeks before we arrived. Although it was 1945 in the rest of the world, it was still 1920 in St. Helena. Our home in New Orleans had had indoor plumbing, a gas stove, and galvanizing heaters. In th e country, however, we had an outhouse. Every drop of water we used was pumped and carried inside. We chopped wood for our stove and heaters. The corroborate breaking, never ending labor did not taunt me as much as having to live in such a degrading manner. I hated the woods. I missed the comforts of the city and I hated the primitive conditions of our new country life. I missed my good-natured little playmates who had treated me so kindly for the first five years of my life. I missed the gentle accents spoken in soft voices by my friends and neighbors, and the endless hours of playtime that we enjoyed. But now I was going to have to go to school For a while, I thought the rule that a child had to be six before entering the first grade would rescue me. School rules back then, li... ...At lunchtime, I offered to share my cookies with a very angry girl. She had been staring at them ever since I had taken them out of their wax paper wrapping. They were further vanilla wafers, and certainly were not my favorite. She told me that she had never tasted store bought cookies, and pronounced them fit for a king. She became my lifetime friend and protector. She remained an angry person, but seldom got angry with me. The big boy dumped me in the fifth grade for a girl who had matured very early. The first day of school, I learned these valuable lessons. Accents only expire strange to people who have different accents. Never bother arguing with my mother. Crying does not help, but sometime you just have to do it anyway. A little sweetness can make an angry person nicer. Flattery goes a long way with a guy sometimes it can even go as far as the fifth grade.

Regional development in France Essay

neck of the woodsal breeding in FranceIntroduction The conventional approach to sphereal emergence was assumed by central governments using the levers of radix, subsidies to firms, and the setting of public sector operations. regional stupefyment policies has been superseded by a fashionable approach characterized by decentralized intervention based on integ ordaind voiceal development plans and st enjoingies, delivered and designed by partnerships of local and regional actors. Regional insurance has been in tribe for over fifty places especially in Western Europe. Regional insurance existed in countries that were affected by the Great Depression of 1930. It became famous part of complaisant policy intervention and widening economic undertaken by all Western European countries from 1950 to 1970. The regional policy began to swap in the mid 1970s due to s deplorable economic development and new political policies. The European Union created its regional policy with more a nd more resources devoted to hearty and economic coherence (Funck & Pizzati, 2003). The present economic crisis led the cut government to develop measures to accele rate implementation of the practicable programs with respect to digital infra twist, sustainable development, and null efficiency for housing. Consecutively, about regional authorities included additional measured especially in environs and inception. The rate of implementation of operational programs is reasonably low among all regions. The variances amongst regions to an extent depend on the cooperation level between regional and central government. The implementation rate is lowest in sustainable development and spiritedest in the intimacy thrift. Annual implementation reports maintain that the crisis between central and regional governments had a negative impact on implementation mainly be give enterprises argon slow in launching projects. Analysis of regional development is difficult due to lack of com parability of the indicators and homogeneity. In addition, it poses difficult to identify achievements in comparison to the target areas (Lopriore, 2001). It is in the policy part knowledge scrimping that the let on results and outputs originate the SRI R&D equipment and infra complaisant organisation, and collaborative R&D projects in relation ples de comptitivit and poles of excellence and to regional filires.The SRI program implement in 2009 has possibly contend a affirmative function, jointly with the crisis in support of the execution of expediency support policies. on that point are fewer consequences for more habitual policies much(prenominal)(prenominal) as support to knowledge transfer organizations and to communal actions of enterprises. United regions micturate focused their labors on intensifying their benevolent resources and research potential that corresponds to a recognized engage. The second policy is accessibility and transport and is evaluated in c ost of results and outputs with investing in urban transport and railways in addition to broadband infrastructure. Results and outputs in the sustainable development and purlieu policy part are fairly incomplete because of prevalence of management capacity and teentsy projects being less in comparison to creativity. The key achievements are in renewable energies and energy efficiency. In territorial development, predicaments in some urban part are being tackled via calls for proposals, which conduct resulted to creation of the first concrete projects, in addition to sport, tourism, and cultural activities. Territorial Cooperation review on operating programs reveals that there is a common equilibrium between results and outputs in the knowledge economy and sustainable development policy areas. SRIs view as indisputably armored the obligation of officials and politicians at regional point to improvement support strategies, taking part to improve the innovation supremacy schem e, and had a patent effect in escalating wakefulness of the significance of an supererogatory demand-oriented plan and putting more focus to non-technological innovation, service innovation as well as fiscal engineering. Successively, joint R&D projects confound played part in nurturing customs and practice of partnership in both academic community and industry (Funck & Pizzati, 2003). The traditions and practice of appraisal has do noteworthy development in France in the depart few years at state as well as regional rank, moderately under the demands of innovative institutional, the way and policy system. However, the approaches remain comparatively customary, as shown in the state appraisal of ples de comptitivit. In comparison to the 2005 concluding assessments of SPDs and ERDF, the latest appraisals concentrate on scrutinizing the effects, pointing to key issues and essential re-orientations further than the plain evaluation of the execution of the programs and strategies a ssessed. The most remarkable assessments are the subject area evaluation of the ples de comptitivit (2008) and various regional assessments which focus to ad hoc problems that are serious in France such as the allotment of capabilities and the synchronization between the national and regional systems. They primarily focus on the knowledge economy policy part and they in broad highlight once more that it is obligatory to take enhanced account of the exact features of areas or sub-regions, to perk up the authority system, to focus more on the account of non-technological improvement and service innovation , and to incorporate SMEs more efficiently. Regional development also recommends a sideslip from procedures behind knowledge transfer organizations to dealings supporting joint R&D projects. This is established by the evaluation of the regional improvement systems set up in the SRIs (Regional policy, 2010). The five regions that exist in France include Ile de France which is the capital region, Western regions, Rhone-Alpes, Changing or the outermost regions and the southern regions. Ile de France takes a grotesque position because it accommodates plate of huge companies and it is highly concentrated with government offices. Capital region is also highly populated with active and young nation with a life-long raising at an outstanding level. Its performance is high in regard to all indicators such as competent usage-force, private and public R&D expenditure as well as high education. Ile de France contributes an approximate of 28% of national value-added. Research findings reveal that over the last decade, the capital region is late being undertaken by Western and Southern regions in terms of appendage of gross domestic product per capita, national value-added and research potential. Rhone-Alpes is the second largest region in regard to gross domestic product and population. Its national value added has slightly increased from 9.4% in 1990 to 9.6% i n year 2002. The unemployment rate in Rhone-Alpes region is lower than the national average rate. It has a miscellaneous structure with service center such as Lyon, banking, industrial, manufacturing spots, and a world rank R&D monopoly in Grenoble. Southern regions thrust a higher than average ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP. The Southern regions draw immigrants from Northern and capital regions. It has a young population with a high unemployment rate which drastically fell until 2008. in that respect are strong intra-regional differences because of concentration of research and services in the capital cities and the contrasting significance of mountain and boorish areas. Southern regions gain from pensions of retiring generations and the unemployed who move to the sun belt. Western regions continue to experience high offset in terms of competent peck and their cities are amongst the most gorgeous in France. The unemployment rate in Western regions is also below that of the c ountry in general. In addition some regions do not arrive at special features in terms of R&D, higher education and competent personnel. Low unemployment level in some regions may be caused by emigration of active generation while others have old industrial base where despite increased labor, they still experience slow growth and high unemployment rate. French outermost regions undergo various challenges such as cost of access, remoteness, high dependence on the metropole, lack of critical mass and purlieu challenges. The business sector hugely depends on the government and tourism sector. The ration of minimum income support in French outermost regions is six times compared to the mainland France. There is extremely high unemployment rate as compared to the national average. France outermost regions comprises of micro-enterprises and service-related SMEs, which are mostly family owned and ne really innovation nor export oriented. Information from statistical info on GDP per capi ta and population reveals some of the key transforms that have occurred in various regional groups. The Western and Southern regions had the highest population growth from 1999 to 2007. The increase in population in these regions can be associated to migration from capital and other French regions.Region Population growth (%)Corsica +15Languedoc-Roussillon +11.6Midi- Pyrnes+10.1Aquitaine +8.3Pays de la Loire +8.1Provence-Alpes-Cte-dAzur +8Bretagne +7.4Rhne-Alpes +7.4 The capital region had population growth of 5.9%. The areas with lower population growth were either rural areas such as Bourgogne, Auvergne, Champagne-Ardenne, and Picardie or old industrial regions such as Lorraine, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, and Haute-Normandie.Region Population growth (%)Champagne-Ardenne -0.2Nord-Pas-de-Calais +0.6Lorraine +1.3Bourgogne +1.5Haute-Normandie +2.1Picardie +2.3Auvergne, +2.3 The situation in the French outermost regions various immensely with growth of 12.4% in La Reunion and Quasi-stability in Guadeloupe, however there was high growth of 35.5% in Guyane due to high race rate and immigration. Demographic changes in most French regions raise concerns about the future prospects of France. There is low population growth in most French regions because of low fertility. These regions have an ongoing trend of population ageing and this is expected to have pro gear up implications across French both regionally or nationally. Low fertility place give lead to low population of working generation to support the aged people, high percentage of aged people, and reduction in itemise of students in education. Elderly people exit require additional healthcare, infrastructure and adapted housing. The structural demographic changes will have an impact on French capacity to balance their funds, provide plentiful health services and pensions, and raising tax revenue (Laurent et al, 2009). Population ageing and decline are the most demanding trends for future prospects of a country. Immigration is also a very significant factor of population growth in some French regions especially Southern region which attracts immigrants from Capital and Northern regions. Great variations in demographic patterns between French regions rely on various socio-economic aspects. Regions in the rural and peripheral places and the mountain and customary industrial areas are prevalent to de-population. The demographic rend in French regions have significant policy and socio-economic implications because they influence growth and productivity, shortage of workers, urban-rural imbalances in populations, and provision of healthcare and social services. Demographic change is a major aspect that place concerns in levels of intervention and policy areas, which include employment plans, rural and urban planning, integration and immigration policies, social infrastructures and communication, family and gender equality policies and social protection systems. Research evidence on population t rend in economic crisis reveals that recession resulted to decrease in fertility rates and birth rates (Funck & Pizzati, 2003). Industrial structure in French regions reveals major disparities in regard to the significance of diverse operations within non-financial business economies. Regions such as capital region are highly populated with active and young generation. The population in urban and capital regions has an outstanding level of education level. Industrial structure depends on the infrastructure, availability of resources, skilled workers as well as topographic and climatic regions. Urbanization rate in France is high since people migrate from rural to urban areas seeking for employment. The urban areas also attract people from other regions for example, western region is among the beautiful cities in France. There are high unemployment rates in most regions which might be caused by lack of skilled personnel, continuing trend of ageing population. There is great improveme nt in some regions which emphasize on ICT and related services since advanced technology is also a cause of unemployment. High population is another cause of unemployment. The global crisis during the great depression also caused unemployment. GDP per capita is high in capital and urban regions which attract tourism and with skilled workers. GDP is low in rural and customary industrial regions. In other regions low GDP is caused by high number of aged people who are unproductive. Capital regions have active, educated and young generation who are productive, thus they have high GDP per capita. The growth of the GDP per capita since 1990 to 2008 gives significant views to complement the demographic data. The highest GDP growth is experienced in Western and Southern regions.Region Growth in GDP per capita (%)Bretagne 33.4Pays de la Loire 30.1Poitou-Charentes 26.3Midi-pyrenees26.7Aquitaine 26.6PACA 25.9 The GDP growth in Rhone-Alpes and Ile de France was 20.5% and 22.9% respectively. Th ese two regions had a slightly lower GDP growth as compared to the national average of 22.9%. The GDP growth in Alsace was only 11.8%. Alsace is famous as the fourth most thriving French region. The other regions with low GDP per capita growth include Lorraine (17.3 % and Franche-Comte (15.2%), which are regions with customary industries. Other areas with low GDP per capita growth were mostly rural areas such as Centre (15.4%), and Picardie (13.2%). The French outermost regions had a significant contribution with a GDP per capita growth of 29.9% since 1990 up to 2008. The overseas area GDP per capita growth is lower as compared to the national average (22.8%). In addition, high unemployment still persists in these outermost regions such as Guadeloupe, La Reunion and Guyane. modern research findings brings out a paradox since the less productive regions had immense development in regard to population, employment, income and welfare, while poverty still exist in some of the most thri ving regions. This implies that there is an increasing trend of discrepancy between logic of progress and logic of growth. In other instances, some regions such as southern regions depend on pension transfers which hinder them from global competition. The productive regions are the main providers of taxes and engines of French development. For example Paris metropolitan region which accounts for 30% of national GPD, but whose households only receive 22.5% of the national household income. A policy debate has led to concerns regarding strengthening of Ile de France region in terms with the concept of Grand Paris. This might be a classical occurrence in other European countries, but this French system is different because of immigration to Southern regions, and to some extent the Western regions. The immigration has prevailed for more than 20 years and has greatly affected the distribution of wealth and income in France (Lopriore, 2001). The regional development policy has not been a ffected by the macroeconomic context. The French government failed to abide by the policies of the stability and Growth pact regarding public debt and cipher deficits until 2010. The overall government investment and expenditure has exceeded EU average, there is also low than average yearly GDP growth rate, in addition, because of high investment in regional and local authorities as well as decentralization. Regional development policies have died down from being chief policies over the last few years. At operational stage, regional development policy has basically resulted from amalgamation of operational programs and contrats de plan Etat-region programs with slightly larger plans. At policy-making stage, regional development policies focus on particular areas with an aim of mountain areas, coastal and rural areas and areas with hardships in cities. Cluster policy was developed at the end of 1990, resulting to general program Ples de comptitivit. Recently, Ples de comptitivit is regarded as the most evident tool of a state policy of regional development. The other policy is Prime dAmenagement du Territoire (PAT), which is a grant plan for business creating jobs. Pat was founded in 1996 and was evaluated in 2006. The comparative lack of regional development policy has been substituted by investement in infrastructure such as high-speed railway system. The railway network favored the Western and Southern Mediterranean parts. The existing crisis has not affected the general structure of the regions. However, manufacturing regions has been greatly affected. The crisis has intensified social differences with outcomes for poverty in urban regions associated to high unemployment levels. The crisis has greatly raised concerns regarding the prospect of investment and expenditure in the regional and national levels. Research findings reveal that GDP declined by 0.2% in 2008 and significantly declined by 2.6% in 2009. The French government increased their investment a nd expenditure resulting to deficit and debts in public sector. French regions have struggled to sustain the level of investment, however local authorities are anticipated to face cut off in financial transfers from the state. A reduction in social benefits will have short-term effects on the regions subjugated by public-residential economy as well as urban predicaments. In other instances, some regions have overcome the execution of their European Regional Development Fund operational programs in reaction to the crisis. The regional development policy based on the competitiveness and convergence regions can be evaluated through three policy document namely the contrats se projet Etat-Region, Regional Schemes for Economic Development and the European Regional Development fund operational programs. The write up of SRDE in every region is based on the review of 2003 formation and 2004 Parliament Act famous as Decentralization Acte II that gave French regions new competencies in the area of economic development. Documents from SRDE are basically policy proposals that do not involve financial obligations of the regional authorities. European Regional Development Fund favor for regional progress is fairly coherent with national policy because there is a solid relationship between the ERDF operating programs and CPER. The coherence between the regional development policy and CPER/ERDF operating programs can be analyze through appraisal of SRDE. Generally there are no principal differences between CPER/ERDF operating programs and SRDE. Schmas Rgionaux de Dveloppement Economique (SRDE) outlines the significance of training, education and employment in regard to the anticipation of social and economic change as well as internalization. European Regional Development Fund is complementary to area intricacy policy and does not include latest priorities. French regions have given priority axis to innovation and research, competitiveness, fight against greenhouse effect and sustainable development. availability and transport are other priority axis emphasized by the regions. Terriotorial development is another aspect found in the regions priority axis either as a common policy theme occasionally connected to accessibility, cohesion and attractiveness or focusing on particular fields. Aquitaine is the only region that supports ICT. ICT is also supported by other large-scale projects in Languedoc-Roussillon. Lorraine and PACA fully support competitiveness and innovation while Rhode-Alpes support accessibility. Guyane and Martinique support social cohesion and health, La Reunion focus on human resource development while Auvergne is the only region which supports financial engineering (Ockwell, 2002). It is also springy to recognize other priority axis emphasized by other regions such as European and international dimension. This includes international environs and competitiveness found in Pays de la Laoire and La Reunion. In regard to financial obl igation, competitiveness and the knowledge economy seem as the first policy area, while sustainable development and environment takes the second position. In some instances, some aspects of transport policy and territorial development can be linked to sustainable development. There are some discrepancies between convergence and convergence and employment and competitiveness regions. Convergence regions emphasize on the significance of human resource and education development via the ERDF, they also have priorities focused to the reparation for the structural handicaps and ultra-peripherality. In contrast, competitiveness and knowledge economy regions get minimal share of allocation (Regional Policy, 2010). It must be highlighted that all regions incorporate support to poles in the proximity axes devoted to competitiveness and knowledge economy. Poles de competitivite are regarded as part of primary structure of regional development. French region incorporate territorial cooperation operational programs with faintly analogous priorities. The global economic crisis begun to have significant effect on the French economy in 2008. The crisis had distinct impacts depending on the French regions and their economic configuration. For example, Midi-Pyrenees was not greatly hit because it specialized in space industry and aeronautics, while customary industrial regions such as Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Lorraine suffered adversely. The French Government incorporated various measures to combat the crisis especially the implementation of European Regional Development Fund operational programs as component of its plan de reliance, in particular to speed up the execution of the operating programs, and focus on Lisbon priorities, digital infrastructure, and energy efficiency for housing as well as sustainable development. Other regions incorporated additional strategies to combat recession for instance, PACA included vocational training, social watch and economic strategies. The re is discrepancy between the original and newest allocation of ERDF financing in the five regions, corresponding to changes which were vital in the initial schedule stage. There is reduction of initial allocations in Poitou-Charentes and Bourgogne. The reason behind reduction of allocation was the fact that the procedures were not adequately attractive, and, for sustainable non-road transport in Poitou-Charentes and the need of undertaking preliminary technical and feasibility studies. In Lorraine, Pays de la Loire and Franche-Comte, some priority axes have been cut short while others are improved with a depressing net impact. The implementation rate in the convergence regions such as Guadeloupe, Guyane and Martinique is approximately 5-7% and 11.9% in La Reunion. The higher implementation in La Reunion is due to existence of shared strategic vision among its members in addition to solid partnerships. Generally the priority measures and axes dedicated to economy, competitiveness a nd innovation have a comparatively higher execution rate compared to other policy areas, except in La Reunion where the highest execution rates are in transport and accessibility and sustainable development. In the employment and competitiveness regions the execution rate is highest for the priority axes devoted to the innovation, knowledge and competitiveness of enterprises in regions such as Limousin, Centre, Alsace, Haute-Normandie, Auvergne, Aquitaine, Champagne-Ardenne, Provence-Alpes-Cote-dAzur, Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrenees, and Pays de la Loire. The situation of the regions may differ greatly since in some regions, it is innovation and knowledge economy that have high implementation rate, while in others is financial engineering or competitiveness of enterprises. In most regions, implementation rate ranges from 8 to 14 percent. On standard, the priority axes devoted to environment, sustainable environment and energy have a lower implementation rate. Nine regions had an implementation rate between 2 to 5 percent and nine other regions in a 7-10 range while Bourgogne had the highest implementation rate of 15.4 percent. The priority axes devoted to transport and accessibility, including ICT, has the highest implementation rate in Bretagne. Bretagne has an implementation of 14.5% associated to the construction of the high-speed railway. Generally, the regions have a lower implementation rate as compared to the priority axes devoted to the innovation, competitiveness and economy. The regions devoted to particular aspects such as territorial development have lower implementation rate in general except Franche-Comte. Franche-Comte has an implementation rate of 24.8% which dedicated its efforts at balancing intra-regional development. The intra-regional development involves expansion of the mountainous region of the Jura. The discrepancies in the implementation rates between different priority axes can be explained using various factors. Implementation r ate in energy and environment policy area is mainly affected by the existence of less established agencies and administrations. The region also experienced a tricky reorganization in the foundation of the Directions regionales de Ienvironnement, de I amenagement et du lodgement (DREAL), in addition to involvements with undersized projects (Regional Policy, 2010). The innovation, knowledge economy and competitiveness policy area have a relatively high implementation rate because these regions experience a well-established administration, strong links with enterprises, good relations with the SRI, amd from the emphasis and momentum on innovation. In some instances, new measures have not impacted full impact such as the Grenelle de I Environnement in comparison with the mantra on knowledge economy and innovation caused by the Lisbon plan, and reinforced in France by the (SRI) Regional Innovation Strategies, which were implemented in all French regions in 2009. The implementation rate i n transport and accessibility policy areas is influenced by the need to carry out a lot of feasibility and preliminary studies before construction work sets off. Apart from the crisis issue, the implementation of operation programs had to deal with some organizational and institutional problems. For example, Franche-Comte implemented 2007-2013 operating programs together with final step of 2000 to 2006 SPD. The economic actors and administrative provide had to understand guidelines and objectives in order to cope with the implementation process. The implementation procedure lacked knowledge of officials and adequate time particularly while undertaking innovative projects in Alsace as well as highly technical issues such as high-speed railway network in Bretagne. Other projects were abandoned because they were too difficult and would take long duration to be implemented. An example of such project is innovation company creation in Languedoc and Rhone-Alpes regions. In addition some parts of ERDF policies were problematic to some regions for example income-generating projects in Article 55. The general implementation rate might be low, but commitment rate gives a bear elaboration. France lags behind in ERDF commitment in competitiveness region at the end of 2009.ERDF commitment rates EU27 FranceEmployment and competitiveness objective 30.4% 27.6%Convergence objective 25.2% 26.1% The convergence regions had a commitment which is relatively higher than EU27 convergence average and relatively lower than the competitiveness and employment regions. This implies that local and state regions have made efforts in managing structural funds, regardless of the customary problems encountered in the overseas areas, even if most of the EU27 regions are in the EU12 with inadequate knowledge of executing cohesion policy schemes. France has devoted efforts in innovation support for SMEs, risk and environment prevention as well as transport. On the other hand, EU devoted its e fforts in ICT and related fields. There is a shift in strategy priorities towards innovation and the environment. There is relatively high commitment rate for innovation support for SMEs is somewhat noteworthy since it has posed difficult to implement projects of this type in French overseas regions. They have placed more emphasis on innovation.ERDF commitment rate EU27 (%) France (%)Enterprise environment 32.6 17.1ICT and related services 32.3 32.9Innovation support for SMES 20.7 32.9Human resources 17.5 38.3Transport 22.3 35.2Energy and environment 16.1 37.9Energy infrastructure 12.1 18.5Risk prevention and environment 16.8 39.5Territorial development 32.9 20.7 The commitment rate in the competitiveness regions is lower than the EU27 average as regards territorial development and transport because urban and transport projects are indulge long schemes before work begins.ERDF commitment rate EU27 (%) France (%)Enterprise environment 33.8 30.5ICT and related services 24.1 42.4Innovat ion support for SMEs 29.2 18.4Other investments in firms 54.7 42RTDI and associated activities 32.2 36.3Human resources 17.7 37.5Transport 27.8 22.8Energy and environment 20.2 22.2Energy infrastructure 18.5 27.1Risk prevention and environment 21.3 18.8Territorial development 34.8 28.3 Commitment rates are high in enterprise support where the rates are particularly high for other investment firms and ICT and related services. The crisis greatly affected commitment rate of innovation support for SMEs. High commitment rate in innovation, knowledge economy and competitiveness signifies existence of competent administration and reluctant emphasis on innovation. freeze off commitment rate in energy and environment signify lack of technical skills in agencies and administrations in addition to investment in large number of undersized projects as well as complex procedure of reorganization. It is not easy to highlight the achievements from the programs because of the difference between ini tial and programmed objectives. Research reveals that only a few projects have been implemented due to time required for implementation process. Annual Implmentation reports of 2009 reveal that first achievements are beginning to be realized and this is an explanation why AIRs place more emphasis on the programmed projects rather than the achieved programs. In other instances, various indicators in AIRs make comparison efforts very difficult. Regional indicators might be emphasized by some regions, while neglecting EU and national indicators. In some regions, there are no reports or mentioning of the indicators. Comparison might also be difficult because of the likelihood of inappropriate naming of the indicators. In addition, the approaches and the sources used while reporting the indicators continue being inexact in various regions (Regional Policy, 2010) The major achievement across French regions prevails in 2009 Regional innovation strategies. Generally, the highest rates and achievements are very pivotal in large majority of regions. Urban problems are solved by improving urban transport in cities such as Limousin, Nord-Pas-de Calais. The regions with geographic handicaps develop high speed railway to improve access. There is also improvement of energy and renewable energy in rural areas as well as Southern regions. The evaluation carried on sustainable development and innovation reveals that policies devoted to sustainable development did not consider social issues. Regional innovation strategies have contributed immensely amongst all French regions to the improvement of innovation authority system, expansion of culture of innovation in regional and state administrations, and homogenization of interest in innovation. SRIs emphasize on non-technological innovation and service innovation in addition to financial engineering (Laurent et al, 2009). In conclusion, regional development is very vital since it will ensure equitable distribution of resources a mong all regions. Regional development mainly focuses on sustainable development, energy efficiency for housing as well as digital infrastructure. The main regions in France include Ile de France, Southern regions, Western regions, outermost regions and Rhne-Alpes. The central region holds an exceptional place since it is concentrated with governmental offices and headquarters of large companies. The major differences in these regions reveal themselves in terms of unemployment rate, population and GDP per capita. French outermost regions face a lot of problems such as cost of access, remoteness, geographical handicap, high dependence on metropole, lack of critical mass and environmental challenges. High population in some regions is because of high birth rate and immigration. Regions with lower GDP are either rural areas or regions with customary industries. Research reveal that only a few projects have been implemented since some of the projects are very complex and will take long time to implement them. It is also to identify the achievement of the implemented projects because there is difference between initial and programmed objectives. Regional development was greatly affected by the Global crisis, organizational and institutional issues. Regional development efforts were also affected by lack of time and competent officials especially when handling highly technical issues.ReferencesFrance., & France. (2006). Spatial planning and sustainable development policy in France. Paris Ministere des affaires etrangeres.Funck,B., & Pizzati,L. (2003). European Integration, Regional Policy and Growth. Washington, DC World Bank.Laurent,H., Mignolet,M., & Meunier,O. (2009). Regional policy What is the most efficient instrument? Papers in Regional Science, 43, 260. doi10.1111/j.1435-5957.2008.00214.xLopriore,M. (2001). A critical view of the 2nd Social and Economic Cohesion Report and the future of regional policies after 2006.Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2002). jounce of transport infrastructure investment on regional development. Paris, France Author.Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2007). Linking regions and central governments Contracts for regional development. Paris, France OECD.Regional Policy. (2010, November 10). RetrievedOctober24, 2014, from http//ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/evaluation/pdf/eval2007/country_reports/france.pdfSource document

Review of Hr Policies and Practices

64 A STUDY OF HRM PRACTICES AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE IN SELECTED PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS IN INDIA 1. Executive thick The sensitive stinting purlieu is primarily marked by the freeing of shackles for entrepreneurship and economic growth. The license system has been replaced, to a great extent, by a securities industryplace system. The dispute of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices would be to create an environment of resilience, which tail end accommodate and assimilate successfully motleys in systems, structures, technologies, methods, etc. quite a undersize would corroborate to ascribe the near meaning to the change process.India is vigorous-equipped to succeed on world(a) markets. It has a pool of highly educated stack, a well- interrupted judicial system, elective governance, an established banking industry, and fairly sophisticated and inter-linked fi nancial markets. Knowledge industries will be at the vanguard of economic opportunity, and India will be poised to take advantage of this movement with its corpus of highly skilled hatful. The changes on the market scene have necessitated the Indian industry to examine inward for the development of human resources (HR).People develop themselves in a globalized scenario with new directions along with new problems and issues arising to develop new competencies to undertake the changing requirements, aspirations, and problems. on that point are, however, some universal ripes towards which all human resource instruction efforts should be aimed at. The emergence of Japanese human resource management has led to the concept of glossiness in a big way. At the establishmental level, the purpose of HRM is normally to have sufficient and motivated employees to ensure managerial potential and growth of the face.Organizations normally direct their HRM efforts towards the development of competencies and governingal culture. Organizations use mechanisms to achieve HRM goals with c ompetent and committed employees. Organizations can achieve very little even if they have excellent expert and other resources at their command. Such an assertion gains bust believ qualification in the place setting of developing countries like India, that is, typically in early growth stages in legal injury of economic development, and increase to a greater extent rapidly than the traditional veritable economies of Japan,North America and Europe. The countries with higher rates of growth are more or lessly in South East Asia, South Asia and some Latin American countries. interrogation evidence denominates that HR practices along with culture do affect effi ciency in the organization. There are hardly any or very few studies which show a link amid HRM practices and organizational culture in India. The review of literature has identifi ed that the major chunk of inquiry in India emanates from descriptive information and experience sharing, which does non serve certain pr actice-oriented concerns.There is very little systematic, empirical research in the scientifi c paradigm that has been carried out in the Indian HR lexicon. HR research is inspired by western models, and lacks an indigenous perspective. The review of literature on HRM practices has revealed that the roughly of the prepare d iodine is in relation to organizational strategy. The methodology employed a sample of 95 respondents from devil occult firmament organizations. The questionnaire consists of 90 items, of which (1) 69 items concern HRM practices of the organization, and (2) 21 items concern organization culture.The correlation coefficient outline has been utilize to infer the relationship between variables of HRM practices and organizational culture. A healthy culture is required for utilizing and enhancing employee competencies and to develop people. This theatre of operations focuses on the positive signifi monger relationship between HRM practices and organizational c ulture in clandestine sector organizations. There is a positive signifi cant relationship between HRM practices and variables of organizational culture working(a)ised in impairment of self-realization, status enhancement, inventive set and socio economic contribute.The pressures are most likely to be felt by those who have led and managed the change process in such a volatile economic environment. HRM would have the ability to attract and retain people and this would be the key to manage this large changein monetary value of both pace and rate. Change maviners would be confronted with the need to reorient culture, thinking and paradigms. HRM as a function and as a prime mover would need to focus on this changing and emerging role with the process of organizational culture. 2. Introduction The global turmoil has witnessed the growth importance of Human Resources Management (HRM) in both business and public life.The turbulent business climate brought in the wake of liberali zation, globalization, changing technologies, growth in knowledge and advances in information technology is offering managers a complex and challenging pip (Davis, 1995). Indian organizations are tending to become competitive to meet globally relevant standards. The growing emphasis on privatization has warranted a new focus in terms of result orientation, long-term strategies, consumer focus, initiative and opposite mindsets for cozy and external communication.The Indian business scenario is characterized by the historical rigidities arising largely out of centralized planning. Our decision-making is infl uenced, among other factors, by posing more a constraint sort of than a facilitator. The practice of protecting Indian industries through protective tariffs and quotas for over four decades has led to a lack of global competitiveness in terms of quality of products, services and prices. Indians are more accustomed to thinking in terms of narrow identities like our own selves, caste, and community, regional and linguistic groups.A failing and defi cient groundwork and frustrating bureaucracy at operating levels, and the cultural and indigenous barriers added fuel to fi re. Hamel and Prahalad (1991) contend that a competitive advantage is obtained if a fi rm can obtain and develop human resources, which enable it to learn faster and apply its learning more efficaciously than its rivals. The HRM has emerged and evolved as one of the most outstanding areas of organizational science and practice. It has not been certain in isolation, but sort of in the context of industrial change and economic development.The uniqueness of the Human Resources (HR) approach requires a totally different type of attention from managers. The HR has characteristics that provide the greatest challenge as well as opportunity. A companys HR is fragile with pure relationships, along with unpredictable contributions, and permanency is uncertain (Guest, 1991). Wright, Smart, and McMahan, (1995) mention that the crucial inputs, among others, to an organization are its human resources. People bring to their supposes diversity of skills, ineluctably, goals, and expectations. They are ocialized into the organization through their hiring to begin with, and their continuous functioning in the organization. According to Bulla and Scott (1994), we need to ensure that the human resource requirements of an organization are identifi ed and plans are do for satisfying those requirements. Guest, Conway, Briner and Dickman (1996) are of the opinion that the port wine between the individual and the organization is critical to full utilization of human resources. The individual and the organization establish a mental contract.Individual members expect to make contributions to the organization and receive certain rewards in return. The organization provides certain rewards and expects in return certain contributions from the individual. It is at this interface between the individual and the organization that issues such as HR planning, work analysis, travel development, leadership, job motivation, the appraisal-reward process, and the organizational culture become important. The patterns of work relationships at work refl ect the HRM philosophy.The practices and philosophy of HRM are perpetuated by managers who are encouraged to follow the role model of their seniors. In the process of organization socialization they internalize the determine and attitudes of their leaders. The entire process is thus institutionalized (Snell, Youndt, and Wright, 1996). In general, HRM has been described as broad and strategical involving all managerial personnel regarding employees as the single most important organizational asset being proactive in its responsibilities and having the objective of enhancing organizational death penalty and meeting employee needs (Poole, 1990). . Organizational culture The idea that organizations have culture has been acknowl edged since Lewin, Lippitt and Whites (1939) research on creating social climate. Culture and climate are integral parts of an organization. Organizational culture refers to a system of shared meanings held by members that distinguishes one organization from other organizations (Schien, 1985). Organizational culture provides employees with a clear understanding of the way things are done in that organization. Organizational culture is the perceived, subjective infl uence of the formal system, the informal style of managers and other ignifi cant environmental factors on the attitudes, beliefs, value and motivation of the people in a particular organization (Litwin and Stringer, 1968). The concept of culture is infern as a kind of bridge between the individual and the organization. Culture performs a number of functions within an organization. It creates a distinction between one organization and another, it conveys a sense of identity for role incumbents, it facilitates the generati on of commitment, and it enhances social system stability. Finally, culture sells as a sense-making and check mechanism that guides and shapes the attitudes and behaviour of employees.Hofstede (1980) felt that cultures which are high on the long-term orientation focus on the future and hold set in the surrender that will not necessarily provide an immediate benefi t (e. g. , Japan, China), small-arm cultures with short-term orientation (e. g. , USA, Russia) are oriented toward the past and present and promote regard as for tradition and for fulfi lling social obligations. The fi ve dimensions discussed by Hofstede (1980), help us understand the potential problems of managing employees from different cultures.One interesting fi nding of his research was the impact of culture on a expanses economic health. He found that countries with individualistic cultures were wealthier. Collectivistic cultures with high military unit distance were all poor. Cultures seem to affect a countr ys prudence through their promotion of individual work ethics and incentives for individuals to increase their human capital. Research into the link between organizational culture and effectiveness is kindredly limited by lack of agreement about the appropriate measures of effectiveness. The current literature has its roots in the early 1980s.Deal and Kennedy (1982) and Peters and waterman (1982) focused their attention on the strategic importance of organizational culture and stimulated interest in the topic. Kotter and Heskett (1992) expanded on this by exploring the importance of adaptability and the fi t between an organization and its environment. Peters and Waterman (1982) argued that companies with strong culture are highly successful. They argued that superior fi rm surgical operation is achieved if a company moves away from a purely technical, rationalistic approach towards a more adaptive and humanistic approach.Carroll (1983), Reynolds (1986), and Hitt and Ireland ( 1987) questioned the approach taken by Peters and Waterman. Owing to such results, the causal link between strong culture and performance was seriously questioned by the end of the 1980s. Most of the studies lack a clear theoretical conception of the nature of the cultureperformance link. Siehl and Martin (1990) elaborate on this view and in any case suggest that culture whitethorn serve as a fi lter for factors that infl uence the effectiveness of the organization.These factors may differ between organizations. A more thorough understanding of the mechanisms at play is essential for research on the culture-performance link. Wilderom and Van den Berg (1998) found no direct signifi cant zero- align relationship between culture and performance. Taking the perceived performance and managerial leadership along with HRM practices into account, Wilderom and Van den Berg (1998) did discover that a signifi cant relationship exists between culture and performance.This fi nding illustrates the importance of the development of more elaborative theories on the direction and contingencies in the relation between culture and performance. Without such theories, we may draw overly simple or even misleading conclusions. In devolve of the above fi ndings, it is necessary to understand the relationship between HRM practices and organizational culture. The presumption is that more effective systems of HRM practices, which simultaneously exploit the potential for complementariness or synergies with organizational culture, lead to better performance and enhanced effectiveness.Indian organizations are embedded in Indian culture, which infl uences and is infl uenced by the economic, political and social factors, and is likewise subjected to global business infl uences. Sinha and Sinha (1994), found self-realization and inventive determine as the highest form of work set in Indian culture. Organizations appreciate corporate core values of self-realization and inventive values as they encourage and recognize innovation, creativeness and achievement. 4. Review of literature Schuler (1992) suggests that Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) has many different components, including policies, culture, values and practices.Strategic business needs of an organization are infl uenced by its internal (which mainly consist of factors such as organizational culture and nature of business) and external characteristics (consisting of the nature and state of economy in which the organization is existing and critical success factors, i. e. , opportunities and threats provided by the industry), which are infl uenced by HR activities. Thornhill, Lewis, Millmore, and Saunders (2000) found a potential role for HR-centred strategies to be used to change or realign the culture of an organization.An organization can change its culture through its recruitment strategy of replacing managers with those from outside, restructuring the organization, downsizing the workforce, t raining programmes, new reward strategies and performance management to alter employee behaviours or reinforce emergent ones. After the economic liberalization, Indian organizations were under pressure to change from low-cost, indigenous, less effi cient and superannuated technology to high-cost modern technology and prepare people to use it. This was done to develop and maintain their competitive edge in the larger business environment (Khan, 1999).The potential value of the employees is to be increased by collectively enhancing and linking their skills and capabilities in tune with the contemporary requirements of the market, and to be faster than the competitors. The success of the HRM will be ascertain by its ability to harness the intelligence and spirit of people by creating a learning climate. Indian organizations normally direct their HRM efforts towards the development of competencies, culture and effectiveness among employees individually or in groups 69AOP 18(4), 2010, ISSN 0572-3043 (Singh, 2003). Organizations may use many mechanisms to achieve their HRM goals as without competent and committed employees, an organization can achieve very little even it has excellent technological and other resources at its command. Such an assertion gains better credibility in the context of developing countries like India, that is, typically in early growth stages in terms of economic development and growing more rapidly than the traditional developed economies of Japan, North America and Europe.This also includes most South East Asian, South Asian and some Latin American countries. Selection in organizations is establish on non-job related criteria like attractiveness, goal orientation, and inter face-to-face skills a general lack of concern for value congruence (Prakash, 1994). The dominant emphasis has been on the universal practice of identifying and improving on existing performance strategies. This practice would require a complete reversal where congruen cies of values should fi nd a place in selection and training.Only then would it possible to achieve linkages with the values of the wider socio-cultural context in India. In rules of order to make an organization effective, the values of the ordination and the cultural milieu should be synthesised with those of the organization and its functioning. Fombrun, Tichy, and Devanna (1984) expanded these premises and developed the model of SHRM, which emphasises a tight fi t between the organizational strategy, organizational structure and HR system. Political, economic and cultural forces are responsible for an organizations mission and strategy.This explains these causal relations, which form the tight fi t between strategy, organization structure and HR polices and practices. On the basis of mission and strategy, the shape of organization is structured, i. e. , people are organized to carry out different t haves to achieve the organizations mission. Hendry and Pettigrew (1992) propos e that a number of internal factors such as the organizational culture, structure (positioning of HR), leadership, level of technology employed and business output directly contribute to forming he contents of HRM. HRM could be seen as a menu of strategic choices to be made by human resource executives in order to promote the most effective role behaviours that are consistent with the organizations strategy and aligned with each other (Sparrow and Hilltrop, 1994). The present study The present study is to examine the relationship between HRM practices and organizational culture. To this end, HRM practices are viewed in terms of planning, recruitment, selection, training and development, performance evaluation, career management and rewards.Organizational culture is viewed in terms of self-realization, status enhancement, inventive values and socio-economic bear. Self-realization consists of values such as achievement, ability utilization, advancement, aesthetics, personal developme nt, and peace of mind. Status enhancement, one of the variables of organizational culture, consists of values of altruism, authority, physical activity, and prestige. Inventive values, another variable of organizational culture, consists of values of autonomy, creativity, lifestyles, risk-taking, and variety.Socio-economic support consists of work values of social relationship and interaction, comforts, count onency, good working condition and economic gains. The self-realization and inventive values give inner satisfaction to a person while performing a job in an organization. The variables of status enhancement and socio-economic support are extrinsic values, which are required in the Indian environment. Indian society and developing societies are ridden with insecurities and lack of resources and people generally have a history of failures.Fear of failure leads to giving importance to socio-economic support and lack of resources lends too such(prenominal) importance to status e nhancement (Sinha, 1990). The idea that individuals are capable of development rests on the conviction that people are important and their involvement is necessary for an organization to be effective. This conviction is translated into practice through a variety of programs that facilitate individual development and lead to better adjustment with the environment. In a growing economy, the emergence of the new organization and flip in the HRM paradigm have ecessitated a review of the skills, roles and competencies of the new HR managers (Ulrich, 1997) in this new era, HRM has evolved in the context of the globalized economic environment. As such, it represents a response to the dramatic and continuous change that globalization has had on society and the world of work. Those who will man the HRM will support a change in roles. It will be necessary to inculcate in employees the required new skills, competencies and motivation (Dyer jr. , 1999). The understanding of HRM practices woul d require a comparative study of practices in the organizations.The relationship between HRM practices and organizational culture among private sector organizations is studied. This account also studies similarities and fights in HRM practices and organizational culture between two different organizations in the private sector. 5. Objectives of the study 1. To investigate the various HRM practices, i. e. , planning, recruitment, selection, performance evaluation, training and development, career management and rewards at the managerial levels in private sector organizations. 2. To study and examine the relationships between various aspects of HRM practices and organizational culture. . To fi nd whether there is any difference in the organizational cultures of the two organizations under study. This study was conducted at a time when Indian organizations were facing a very different competitive scenario compared to the past. They were facing competition from MNCs in the new liberal and global economy on the domestic markets. The competition was in terms of reduced cost, improved quality of products and better services. These environmental constraints placed more pressure on managers. More often than not, these concerns were looming large on the horizons of Indian organizations.The fi ndings have bearing in this context. Managers across organizations in the private sector potently endorsed self-realization (one of the variables of culture), which was signifi cantly correlate to almost all HRM practices. These are planning, recruitment, selection, performance evaluation, training and development, career management, and rewards. While organizations fi nd themselves in worldwide competition, most of the individuals are striving for achievement, ability utilization, advancement, aesthetics, personal development, and peace of mind.Realization or anticipation of realization of the values has resulted in better performance. Self-realization encourages people to sat isfy their achievement needs in the work situation (Super and Nevill, 1986 Sinha, 1990). Self-realization in India came quite close to self-actualization in Spain. Status enhancement was strongly related to HR practices in private sector organizations. The values wonky on this factor are authority, altruism, prestige and physical activities. The desire for authority, altruism, prestige and physical activity has a positive impact on the performance of managers.Managers developed a positive attitude towards their work and contributed signifi cantly to self-realization and status enhancement, which were the most valued factors in India. Recruitment, selection, and performance evaluation, training and development, career management, and rewards turned out to be strongly correlated to status enhancement in the private sector. Selection based on planning along with proper recruitment leads to status enhancement. Rewards (fi nancial and non-fi nancial) were strongly related to status enha ncement. Performance evaluation (one of the HRM practices) was strong related to status enhancement.Performance evaluation served as a key input for administering formal organizational rewards, career growth and a tool of punishment (Cummings, 1973). Managers working in the organizations were in an excellent position to analyze newcomers skills and abilities and to provide feedback (House, 1995). As a purveyor of organizational expectations, performance evaluation was critical. Through the evaluation process, those working in the organization were aware of how well they were meeting their task and role demands (Asford and Cummings, 1983 Nelson, 1990).Clear rewards are the hallmark of an organization that effectively socializes newcomers. In addition to their readily apparent value, the rewards provide 75 AOP 18(4), 2010, ISSN 0572-3043 challenging assignments, promotions and salary increases, etc. , which give encouragement that provide status enhancement for managers (Chatman, 1991 ). Rewards were also found to be strongly related to inventive values in private sector organizations. Those working in the organizations with desired values of risk-taking, variety, autonomy, lifestyle and creativity were rewarded.Rewards encourage people to be more creative, have variety and autonomy in their work life along with risk-taking and help to chalk out ones own lifestyle in the organization. Similarly, training and development in private sector organizations were strongly correlated to inventive values. So, rewards and training and development in the private sector affect both individual esteem and lifestyle signifi cantly. Managers have developed to take on a variety of tasks in order to perform at an optimum level.Managers in the organization have developed to be autonomous and chalk out their own lifestyles to be more effective in the job. This also means employees will expect organizations to offer them opportunities to develop a portfolio of skills that enhances th eir marketability. Thus, organizations will have to provide work assignments and learning opportunities that allow for challenge and growth and self-development (Maurer and Tarulli, 1994). Socio-economic support consists of social relationships and interaction, comforts, dependency, good working conditions and economic gains.Managers were indifferent and did not care much for social interactions and relationships, whereas Indian managers held signifi cant value expectations concerning economic gains, good working conditions and comforts. HR practices were signifi cantly related to socio-economic support in the private sector. Through planning, recruitment and selection practices, newcomers with stronger systems of support report fewer adverse psychological outcomes related to job performance than do those with less support. Quality relationships with organizational insiders can even help newcomers to overcome the negative effects of unmet expectations (Major,Kozlowski, Chao, and Gar dner, 1995). Interacting with enthusiastic newcomers may be good for insiders attitude and morale. The study also found a relationship between career management and socio-economic support. People working in the organizations look for career management that will give them the breadth of experience that seems to be needed now, and start looking down on the in-depth expertise of the command-centred manager. So, a shift in culture happens, not because people have changed, but because their beliefs about what they have to do to get earlier have changed (Gunz, Hung, 2000).Rewards were strongly related to socio-economic support in private sector organizations. Litwin, Bray and Brooke (1996) felt that the nature of rewards is the key determinant of how effective they are. Managers who emphasized recognition and encouragement were more effective in shaping the culture of the organization or targeted results. The reason could be that managers working in the private organizations are experien cing a tremendous amount of change virtually them, thereby realizing that socioeconomic well-being will provide them with stability in a fast changing environment.Furthermore, evidence from literature found the contention that similar work experiences result in uniformity of culture characteristics (Schein, 1987). 76 ACTA OECONOMICA PRAGENSIA 4/2010 Rewards (one of the HRM practices) were strongly related to all the variables of culture in private sector organizations. There is hardly any difference between the two organizations when it comes to practicing rewards and training and development. People within the organizations are either rewarded or trained for acting in unison with the dominant values of the organizations in India.Although this sample is not large enough to generalize the results, still rewards send clear and consistent signals about desired values and norms expected from people working in the organizations (Sethia and Van Galinow, 1985). The information of the re spondents from both private sector organizations were compared and it was found that there was a statistically signifi cant difference in the variable of socio-economic support between the two organizations, as shown in the table. This means employees in organization A perceived it in a better manner in comparison to their counterparts in organization B.Prakash (1994) felt that Indian organizations are congruent with their cultural surroundings (which is marked by diversities and paradoxes). There is a need to use multiple perspectives at different levels of analysis such as society, organization, management and the individual. It is important that organizations continue to grow and evolve newer perspectives in terms of their values and redefi ne their linkages with the society. Such fi ndings provide support that market economies have the inevitable consequences of rendering organizations competitive.Newman (1972) predicted that the Western work relationships are likely to appear t o a great extent in Indian organizations as well. That is, employees in the organizations are likely to become achievement- oriented. There is a struggle for survival, where no one can afford to ignore an opportunity to get optimum results. As one moves higher on the hierarchical ladder of an organization, the individualistic orientation becomes stronger. The correlation analysis between dimensions of HRM practices and dimensions of culture shows that HRM practices do affect the culture of the organization.Ulrich and Lafasto (1995) felt that HRM practices provide information and shape behaviour and experiences of employees. Thus hypotheses H1a, H1b, H1c, H1 d, H1 e, H1 f and H1 g are validated. 11. Conclusions This paper has shown a signifi cant, positive and meaningful relationship between HRM practices and organizational culture. HRM practices become the means whereby organizational culture is created and sustained. Designing new culture requires that HRM professionals are ahead o f the cultural change curve with innovative and exciting HRM practices.HRM has been proposed by others to be a potentially powerful lever for shaping and changing the culture of an organization to make the organization more effective (Schien, 1983 Ulrich, 1997). This is a study of HRM practices in two large private sector organizations in India. HRM practices differ between the private sector organizations. This variation provides support to the fact that the adoption of HRM practices is contingent on the specifi c requirements of each organization (Schuler and Jackson, 1981).There is a signifi cant difference between the socio-economic support variable in organizations A and B. One fi nds no signifi cant difference in the other three variables of organizational culture in private sector organizations, i. e. , self-realization, status enhancement and inventive values. The results developed through inferential analysis to measure differences among the variables of HRM practices and o rganizational culture in private sector organizations are as follows 1. The two private sector organizations showed that the perceived mean of organization A was higher for all HRM practices. . The comparison of the dimension of organizational culture in the two private sector organizations showed that employees of organization A perceived the socio-economic support more than those in organization B. 3. It is evident that organization A showed relatively better perception of planning, recruitment processes, selection, performance evaluation and career management aspects of HRM practices in comparison to organization B. 4. There is no signifi cant difference between organization A and organization B in training and development and rewards as per the response of the respondents. 5.Planning, recruitment, selection, training and development, performance evaluation, career management and rewards are signifi cantly correlated with all the dimensions of organizational culture. Human Resour ce Management Practices Literature review Human resource management (HRM) practices are being increasingly treated as dependent rather than independent variables. Whereas in the past researchers focused almost exclusively on how changes in HRM practices affect employee performance or satisfaction, researchers now are beginning to ask how organizational conditions shape HRM practices.Examples of organizational conditions hypothesized to impact HRM practices include strategy (Hambrick and Snow 1987 Snow and Hrebiniak 1980 Olian and Rynes 1984 Lawler 1984 Hambrick and Mason 1984 Gupta and Govindarajan 1984a, b and Miller, Kets de Vries and Toulouse 1982), organizational life cycle stage (Kochan and Chalykoff 1987 Kerr 1982, 1985), technological change, union presence, internal labor markets and even whether or not an organization has a personnel department (Osterman 1984 Pfeffer and Cohen 1984 Cohen and Pfeffer 1986).Until recently almost all HRM research was predominate by the techn ical perspective. The technical perspective presumes that organizations wish to plan, staff, appraise, compensate, train and develop their employees in order to ensure that the right people (skill-wise) are in the right place (job) at the right time (Collins 1979). The technical perspective leads to research designed to develop techniques for maximizing the match between employees knowledge, skills and abilities on the one fall and the demands of the jobs on the other (Schneider 1985).The presumed result of good matching is organizational effectiveness, from which individual employees and the organization as a whole both benefit. The control perspective views HRM practices as a means for organizations to ensure the predictability and reliability of social interactions. The goal is to ensure that employees behave as solid citizens, living according to organizationally approved norms and values (Noland and Bakke 1949 Hollingshead 1949 Bowles and Gintish 1976 Edwards 1976 Collins 1979 ).This perspective recognizes that organizations attempt to govern social performances in addition to job performance. Desirable social behaviors presumably include getting along well with others and acting as a good citizen who shows concern for the organizations functioning. The institutional perspective posits two major explanations as to why organizations use particular HRM practices organizations copy the practices they see being used by others, and/or they adopt practices to gain legitimacy and acceptance (Meyer and Rowan 1977 Zucker 1977 Meyer 1980).The institutional perspective assumes that legitimacy and acceptance are important objectives for most organizations because constituencies have the power to offer and withhold resources which, in the long run, may determine the firms economic performance. 180 The political perspective holds that HRM practices reflect the diffusion of power in an organization. For example, having an extensive set of HRM practices implies a powerf ul personnel department upon which others must depend when making personnel-related decisions (Osterman 1984 Pfeffer and Cohen 1984).But existence of other powerful groups-such as unions or competitors who minimize their labor costs-may act to countervail or suppress the expression of the personnel departments wishes (Doeringer and Piore 1971). As suggested by Kochan and Chalykoff (1987) the economic perspective can also explain variations in HRM practices. Relatively affluent conditions in an organization permit it to pay higher wages. This in turn enables an organization to attract more job applicants and be more selective. Higher selectivity (lower selection ratios) diminishes the need to train employees.Furthermore, the attraction of more highly qualified individuals may lead to conditions that give more power and discretion to the employees, thus reducing the attractiveness to them of collective bargaining. The reverse scenario holds under less affluent economic conditions (Ost erman 1984). Based on the five perspectives previously presented which help explain some of the variation and similarity in HRM practices across organizations, we aim to diagnose two private organizations from human resource management practices perspective.Our hypothesis is HRM practices differ based on the companys size and activity length. Conclusions Based on the analysis, we can conclude that both companies are efficient from HRM point of view. two organizations are continually developing, having a market in expansion, the difference between them, which may influence the HRM practices, are the size and the activity length organization 2 is large and relatively old compared to organization 1. The differences recorded are elated to prospecting, selection methods, training needs evaluation, working conditions, and social protection area where organization 2 is more developed. From the five perspectives presented, only three are representative for the analyzed organizations. The t echnical perspective presumes that organizations wish to plan, staff, appraise, compensate, train and develop their employees in order to ensure that the right people (skill-wise) are in the right place (job) at the right time. That is why both organizations are carrying out trainings for their employees and the trained people usually got promoted.The political perspective holds that HRM practices reflect the distribution of power in an organization, having an extensive set of HRM practices implies a powerful personnel department upon which others must depend when making personnel-related decisions. The results of the analysis point out that human resource department of the two companies are relatively strong and well organized. There are no conflicts, which can mean that either the employee are satisfied with their work and rewards or the labor unions are not very strong compared to the management and HR departments of the companies.The economic perspective can also explain variati ons in HRM practices. It is well illustrated by the analyzed organizations as they have a continually growing activity heap which means that they can give higher salaries. In the case of organization 2, which is larger and relatively old compared to organization 1, the management offers, besides rather good salaries, non-financial benefits. Also, the social protection is more developed in the case of organization 2. Based on all these results, we can conclude that our hypothesis is confirmed, HRM practices differ based on the companies size and activity length.In an early review of the HRM performance literature, Dyer and Reeves (1995) posited 4 levels of outcomes of HRM practicesemployee, organizational, financial, and market suggesting that the impact of HRM is likely to work outward through these levels. Employee outcomes consist of emotive reactions such as satisfaction and commitment as well as behavioral reactions such as absenteeism and turnover. Organizational outcomes foc us primarily on operational performance measures such as quality, productivity, and customer satisfaction.Financial outcomes, such as accounting profits, represent the next step in their causal chain. Finally, market outcomes consist of measures of the market value of firms based on stock price. Becker et al. (1997) similarly argued that HRM practices operate most directly through employee skills, motivation, and work design, resulting in behavioral outcomes such as creativity, productivity, and arbitrary effort, which are expected to work through operational and eventually through financial market outcomes.

Gap 5 Porter

Introduction scuttle, Inc. is a leading Ameri potful specialty app bel retail merchant based in San Francisco, California. It sells casual primps, accessories, and other personal c ar products for men, women, and children. The products of wisecrack, Inc. imply denim, khakis, T-shirts, boxers, casual wear, and others. Currently, the company boasts approximately 150,000 employees and 3,139 stores all just about the world. Gap, Inc. sustains a lifesize piece of brands, namely Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Forth & Towne, Piperlime, and others. These different companies be bought by the parent company in different times.Started as a general jeans retiling store, Gap, Inc. now has a market value of $13. 32 billions. Throughout its history, Gap, Inc. has scoreed itself as a leader in the industry. What began as one brand has grown to include Gap, GapKids, babyGap, GapMaternity and gapbody. Gap has become a cultural icon by offering vestments and accessories rooted in cool, con fident and casual style to customers around the world. The clause which ennoble Gap Goes Global in 2006 is about Gap, Inc wanted to franchise its business to overseas.It announces a franchise agreement with Dubai-based retailer Al Tayer Group to discourteous Gap and Banana Republic stores in five markets in the Middle East. Besides planning on the Middle East outlets, Gap and Singaporean franchisee F. J. asa dulcis expect to open stores in coming months in Singapore and Malaysia. Gap is withal wish to follow the example cross off by other Ameri lavatory brands that flummox successfully expanded in Asia and the Middle East, such as Starbucks. Gaps current international expansion strategy of working with local franchisees reduces Gaps financial risks. development franchisees, Gap is able to sell its brand and its clothing without the headaches of navigating local real estate markets and hiring armies of store-level employees onto its own payroll. All of Gaps existing overseas st ores in Britain, France, and lacquer are owned and operated by the company, a setup that has at times proven expensive and unwieldy. Purpose and Values of Gap, Inc Gap Inc. is a brand-builder. They create emotional connections with customers around the world through inspiring product design, unique store experiences and compelling marketing.Their purpose is simply, to make it easy for the customers to express their personal style throughout their life. They wear more than 150,000 passionate, talented people around the world who help bring this purpose to life for their customers. Across the company and embedded in culture, their key determine that guide their success are integrity, respect, open-mindedness, quality and balance. Every day, they honor these values and exemplify their belief in doing business in a socially responsible way. Five Forces Analysis Today, retail apparel industry is a very competitive industry to be in.Porters five forces model shows that in that locat ion is already a low barrier to enter but it is tall(prenominal) to establish a distinct brand name, threat of substitutes is strong for the retail apparel industry, the intensity of rivalry is high since the industry is already facing a fast growth, suppliers bargaining causality is weak because they have restrain power, and lastly buyers power is strong as they have variety of choices. brat of new-made Entrant Although it is not hard to enter the clothing retail business, it is hard to establish a distinct brand name.Gap faces little threat of increases in price competition by entry of brisk unfalterings into the market. Smaller boutique-style clothing stores may be able to compete on a local level brand, however such firms likely would not be able to expand, and Gap enjoy a cost return in producing staple articles of clothing, such as jeans and sweaters. Due to economies of scale in producing large amounts of clothing, entrants will have passing hard time producing cloth ing at cheap enough prices to compete with Gap and its competitors.Entrants would also have difficulty in finding supplier firms who would stupefy their clothing at a competitive cost level. Costs drop per unit of clothing produced, and an entering firm would need to order a large amount of clothing in order to enjoy the same economies of scale that Gap enjoys. Brand loyalty is also important in appearance. Because many consumers have strong preferences for certain brands or styles of clothing, new entrants would find difficulty in increasing the amount of customers they attract to their stores without incurring significant advertising expenses.Because of their size advantage and economies of scale in advertising, Gap has a significant advertising advantage over all other direct competitors at heart the specialty apparel market. They can afford to run well-known nation abundant television advertising campaigns enchantment other firms in the market do little or no TV advertising. A new entrant trying to steal away brand loyal customers from Gap would need vast advertising resources in order to establish their brand and be competitive, which is unlikely for an emerging firm. Threat of Substitutes There are many substitutes in casual clothing industry.Since on that point are a wide variety of products that people can choose, they could either be substituted by sporting products, business apparels, cheap clothing materials, and others. On an industry level, there is no ordinary substitute for clothing. A booming economy where individuals have more disposable income may lead them to buy more clothing. In the reverse situation, demand for new clothing will likely drop if the economy is performing poorly. Because there are no substitutes for clothing, an increase in price by one firm will cause consumers to purchase clothing from another firm.If prices rise throughout the industry, consumers will buy less clothing. Bargaining Power of Suppliers In retailing ind ustry, the power of suppliers varies depending on the company itself. As per Gap, Inc. , the suppliers have limited power. The annual report states that no suppliers supply more than 3% of the companys demand. This gives Gap, Inc. power to set the price of its huffy materials. Supplier power is concentrated in the firms who supply the raw materials for clothing production and the factories that are contracted to produce them.There are many sellers in both markets, and the power they possess is limited since demanding a higher price will cause the clothing manufacturer to buy the raw materials elsewhere. For instance, Gap contracts factories in over 60 different countries if one factory is asking too high a price to produce their clothes, Gap can take their business elsewhere. Only if a factory tie downs a certain expertise in producing a certain type of clothing will they hold much power over the firm selling the clothes. Bargaining Power of Buyer The buyers have variety of choice s to make in the retail clothing industry.Since there are various competitors and substitutes in the company, the buyers might move shopping around. Hence, the companies have to work harder to retain the clients. Intensity of rivalry between existing competitors Gap Inc. operates within the specialty retail apparel market, a market which contains several large direct competitors, such as American Eagle Outfitters, Abercrombie and Fitch, J. Crew and Aeropostale. Because of the nature of the fashion industry, independent specialty stores and boutiques can compete with these larger brands on a localized level.It is worth mentioning that superstore retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart sell low-priced, lower-quality clothes, so they could also be considered as indirect competitors to Gap. Clearly, there are a large number of apparel retailers, and a smaller, though still large, number of direct competitors to Gap within the specialty retail industry. This competitive landscape lends its elf to a high level of price competition. The company is bound to encounter tough rivalry not only from established local brands but from other American casual-clothing labels, including Esprit, Levi Strauss, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren.Competition, therefore, arises in fashion. Firms want to appeal to as many consumers as possible while memory those already loyal to the brand happy with the style of clothes the firm offers. The winning style maintains the brand loyal customers association with the firms image, while attracting new buyers. A mistake in fashion, however, will lead some loyal customers to abandon their brand, and will fail to attract new customers. Strategy Gap, Inc utilize international expansion as a strategy to expand their product all around the world. Gap Inc. perates more than 3,100 stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan and Ireland. In addition, Gap Inc. is expanding its international presence with franchise agreements in A sia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Conclusion Based on the article from The Financial which title Gap Inc. Expands Global Presence through New Franchise Agreement to Serve Customers in Israel in 2009, it is proven that Gap, Inc has go Global using franchising in 14 countries. Gap Inc. has opened 89 Gap and 32 Banana Republic franchise stores in 14 countries around the world.Gap franchise stores are open in Bahrain, Greece, Indonesia, Korea, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Singapore, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, Gap Inc. has signed and announced agreements to open Gap and Banana Republic franchise stores in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania, Egypt and Jordan. REFERENCES Brendan, S. , Michael, M. , (2005), Gap, Inc Strategic report, SageGroup, LLP, Retrived from economics. pomona. edu/jlikens/ /Reports/Gapreport. pdf Company information, purpose and values, Retrieved from http//www. gapinc. om/public/OurBrands/brands _gap. shtml Masaaki, K. , (1999), Gap Inc. Rachel, T. , (2006), Gap Tries on European Style, Retrieved from http//www. businessweek. com/globalbiz/content/jun2006/gb20060608_179268. htm Louise, L. , (2006), Gap Goes Global, Retrieved from www. businessweek. com Gap Inc. Expands Global Presence through New Franchise Agreement to Serve Customers in Israel, Retrieved from www. finchannel. com Bargaining Power of Suppliers Bargaining power of buyer Intensity of rivalry between existing competitors Threat of Substitutes Threat of New Entrants