Odyssey/Siren Song Essay

Homer’s epic poem Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus’ encounter with the Sirens and their deadly song which is shown in Margaret Atwood’s poem â€Å"Siren Song.† When comparing each text, it is found that the Sirens are portrayed as temptresses that trap you with their beautiful, â€Å"honeyed voices.† The tone in the epic poem is bright in the beginning when Homer writes â€Å"Helios’ burning rays† and â€Å"the sun at high noon.† As the poem progresses, it takes on an ominous tone that shows Odysseus’ self-control as he â€Å"stop[s] the ears of [his] comrades one by one† with beeswax. He also has his men â€Å"[bind him] hand and foot in the tight ship†¦lashed by ropes to the mast.† These two examples show Odysseus fighting against his desire to listen to the Siren’s song. When Homer writes â€Å"and the heart inside me throbbed to listen longer† it shows how very hard it is for Odysseus to ignore the Siren’s call. In Margaret Atwood’s poem, the tone that is set is one of bereavement. The three Sirens understand that they are beautiful and that their call is tempting to every man but they consider the song as a â€Å"cry for help.† The Siren that is speaking in â€Å"Siren Song† refers to her trio as â€Å"fatal and valuable.† Imagery is used in both of the texts to portray the Sirens as beautiful women. For example, from Homer’s first-person point of view, they have â€Å"honeyed [and] ravishing voices,† and from Atwood’s first-person point of view, the Siren speaks of the trio as â€Å"picturesque† and â€Å"mythical.† The Siren that is speaking in Atwood’s poem refers to her trip as â€Å"feathery maniacs.† The imagery in this poem makes you pick up a subtle tone that the Sirens are like temptresses. They reel in the men with their gorgeous, tricky call even though the men can see the â€Å"beached skull† which symbolizes their fate of death. Their song may be â€Å"boring† but, in the Siren’s words, â€Å"it works every time.†

Mary Rowlandson vs. Mary Jemison’s Essay

Mary Rowlandson was a Puritan women living in Lancaster, Massachusetts with her husband Joseph, and their three children, when the Indians captured them. The Indians killed Rowlandson’s sister and her youngest child. In 1758, fifteen year old Mary Jemison was captured by a Shawnee and French raiding party that attacked her farm. She was adopted and incorporated into the Senecas, she became very close to her Seneca sisters. Mary refused the opportunity to return home, finding life in Indian society more rewarding, then going back to the British colonial culture. These two women had very similar interpretations of the Indians and how they treated them. Mary Rowlandson’s view of the Indians that captured her, is harsher compared to Mrs. Jemison’s. Mrs. Rowlandson saw them burn and destroy homes, knock people on the head, and kill the ones she loved and knew. I can see why she referred to them as â€Å"barbarous creatures†, â€Å"murderous wretches†, â€Å"heathen,† â€Å"ravenous beasts,† and â€Å"hell-hounds†. A women of her stature, who was a puritan and thought of these people to be of the wilderness, was not used to their way of life. She and her children were dragged through the wilderness, trying their best to survive. She began to adapt to the living conditions by finding her own food, making her own clothes, and tolerating the Indians. She relied on God and scriptures to uplift her spirit as she traveled with her capturers; which I believe helped her not only survive, but helped her learn that the Indians are Gods creation too, and should be forgiven just as the Lord has forgiven us of our sins, even if they did do horrible things to her and the people she knew. Mary Jemison on the other hand did not go through such a horrifying experience when the Indians captured her and her family. She heard that there had been conflict in the Indian and French War and there could be no doubt that they might get involved in the turmoil. When she came of age she  married a Delaware man named Sheninjee and had a child with him, whom she called Thomas after her father. Mrs. Jemison stated that they were captured by six Indians and four Frenchman, who immediately commenced plundering and took what they considered most valuable, which consisted of bread, meal, and meat. On that same day as they were marching, she said an Indian went behind us with a whip, with which he frequently lashed the children to make them keep up; we traveled till dark without a mouthful of food or a drop of water. She also states that when the children cried for water at night they were made to drink urine . The Indians took her and a little boy, after they put moccasins on their feet, and led them to another path leaving the others behind. Jemison stated that â€Å"early the next morning the Indians and Frenchmen that we had left the night before, came to us; but our friends were left behind. It is impossible for anyone to form a correct idea of what my feelings were at the sight of those savages , whom I supposed had murdered my parents and brothers, sisters, and friends, and left them in the swamp to be devoured by wild beasts!†(pg. 137). Jemison probably hated them at this moment but who wouldn’t they left her family to be murdered, but while she traveled on this long journey with them she began to watch the customs the natives were used to and did; like getting rid of their tracks left behind them and making sure everything they touched was put back into place so they would not be followed. She recalls that even though she was there prisoner they supplied her with a meal, new Indian clothes, they undressed and dressed her and washed her clean. After the Indians had did these things for her, they relieved there cries and howling at a ceremony for a deceased relative; Mrs. Jemison goes on to say â€Å"in the course of that ceremony, from mourning they became serene—joy sparkled in their countenances, and they seemed to rejoice over me as over a long-lost child. I was made welcome amongst them as a sister to the two squaws mentioned before, and was called Dickewamis; which being interpreted, signifies a pretty girl, a handsome girl, or a pleasant, good thing. That is the name by which I have ever since been called by the Indians. It was my happy lot to be accepted for adoption: and at the time of the ceremony I was received by the two squaws, to supply tile place of their mother in the family; and I was ever considered and treated by them as a real sister, the same as though I had been horn of their mother. During my adoption, I sat motionless,  nearly terrified to death at the appearance and actions of the company, expecting every moment to feel their vengeance, and suffer death on the spot. I was, however, happily disappointed, when at the close of the ceremony the company retired, and my sisters went about employing every means for my consolation and comfort. Being now settled and provided with a home, I was employed in nursing the children, and doing light work about the house. Occasionally I was sent out with the Indian hunters, when they went but a short distance, to help them carry their game. My situation was easy; I had no particular hardships to endure. But still, the recollection of my parents, my brothers and sisters, my home, and my own captivity, destroyed my happiness, and made me constantly solitary, lonesome and gloomy.†(p. 142-143). The Indians took Mrs. Jemison in and made her one of their own, and even though they did this she still feels remorse for her family, but doesn’t have hatred towards them, but learns their ways and becomes accustomed to their lifestyle. In the end she becomes a part of their life and them a part of hers, which she most likely didn’t think would happen. The difference between Mary Rowlandson and Mary Jemison is that Mrs. Rowlandson went through a much more disastrous and awful experience with the Indians, they didn’t show her as much mercy as the Indians did during the Indian and French War. Rowlandson also clings closer and relies on God for hope and comfort compared to Mary Jemison; even though Jemison did pray and try to stay tied to her roots, she eventually ended up conforming to the Indian lifestyle, unlike Mrs. Rowlandson. The time difference between the two women is also a factor that plays a role in how they were treated and how they perceived the Indians. These two women were strong and ended up becoming famous for their captivity novels, which hopefully they are proud of for sharing their history on this matter.

Attitudes in Jesse Pope and Dulce Et Decorum Est

Compare the poets attitude to war in ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ by Wilfred Owen and ‘Who’s for the game? ’ by Jesse Pope In this essay I will be comparing the poets attitudes to war in ‘Dulce et decorum est’ by Wilfred Owen and ‘Who’s for the game? by Jesse Pope. ‘Dulce et decorum est’ is about the unglamorous reality of trench life, while ‘Who’s for the game? ’ is a propaganda poem published in the Daily Mail encouraging young men to join the army. Both have different views and attitudes to war and there poems are quite different. Wilfred Owen’s poem is positive, whilst Jesse Pope’s is positive.Although both poems are about war they have vastly different attitude to war. Pope’s ‘Who’s for the game? ’ encourages young men to join, promotes the positives and makes those who don’t join feel like outsiders. For example the ‘who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid? ’, which is implying that those who don’t join the war are afraid of the war. This is very effective because they use emasculation to make a man feel like less of a man. Furthermore their family would feel embarrassed and pressured by others who have joined the army.Young men ,during that war, also thought that joining the army would be like an adventure and that they would have a blast. Many people also underestimated the war and assumed that it would all be over by Christmas. On the other hand ‘Dulce et decorum est’ focuses on the negatives aspects like death, war and the harshness of it. In the very first line Owen writes ‘Bent double, like beggars under sacks’ as soon as the reader starts the poem they already know that Owen is strongly denying the concept: ‘Dulce et Decorum est’- that it is sweet and honourable to die for your country.By using that it sets the theme for the rest of the poem, which is about the untold story of trench life. While ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is a poem about the reality of war, Pope’s ‘Who’s for the game? ’ is promoting the war and portrays it as a game. She uses word and phrases usually used in sports such as: ‘grip’; ‘tackle’; ‘Signal to Go! ’ and ‘toe the line’. Using these words she makes the comparison between war and game more effective. On the other hand Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decdorum est’ is the hard reality of going to fight for your country.Therefore he focuses on describing the soldiers’ vunerable and poor situation as already seen ‘Bent double, like beggar under sacks’. Instantly this sets the subject matter for the poem, by comparing soldiers, who are thought to be of as strong and healthy, to beggars. This comparison is effective because beggars are thought of as weak, dirty and vunerable, which is what he is trying to get the reader to imagine. Although the Pope’s poem is about war she had never experience the war first hand, compared to Owen who was a soldier and had actually joined the army.Jesse Pope was a writer and journalist and her work was often described as being very patriotic as can be seen in ‘Who’s for the game? ’. Her attitude was that war was a game, and that young men should take part in the war. Pope was also part of the propaganda pro-war poets, who encouraged and pressured young men to join. Unlike today woman, during that time, were not allowed to join the army. The fact that a woman wrote this poem was also very significant, because men felt that they couldn’t refuse a woman and that their pride and honour was very important.Whereas Wilfred Owen was a soldier and had joined the army, been injured, but still came back. Sadly Owen, who was against the war, died in action one week before the end of the war. The tone in the poem reflects the poets different attitudes. Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ tone sounds betrayed, angry and upset. One line that reflects the betrayal is ‘The old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori’. This line is also the title and the betrayal he feels towards the propaganda is clear, because his discusses the negatives of war throughout his poem and does not mention anything positive about the war.On the other hand Pope’s ‘Who’s for the game? ’ is more excited and upbeat and she uses words like ‘Come along, lads’ to suggest it’s a game and that all are welcome to play. I think both poems had alot of poetic techniques both use rhyme. Pope uses words that rhyme like ‘tight’ and ‘fight’, and Owen used word like ‘sludge’ and ‘trudge’ . I think both poets used rhyme (a sound device) so that the poem could be appreciated when read aloud. Especially words like ‘sl udge’ and ‘trudge’ really exaggerate the soldiers movement and how hard it was for them to walk.Pope also uses a extended metaphor comparing war to a game throughout the poem. This comparison is very effective because she tempts the reader by saying have fun and join us or watch and be part of the audience, which is made apparent when she writes ‘who wants a turn to himself in the show, and who wants a seat in the stand. She also uses repetition with the word ‘who’ll’ on the beginning of several lines and also uses collective personal pronouns like ‘you’ll, your and you’ as if she is speaking directly to the reader. On the other hand Owen uses the same technique (repetition) but for a different purpose.This can be seen when he writes ‘I saw him drowning†¦ He plunges at me guttering, choking, drowning’. He repeats these words to emphasize the shock and harshness that someone is dying and he canâ€℠¢t do anything about it, and the soldiers death is still haunting him after all this time. Likewise he repeats the words face ‘white eyes writhing in his face, his hanging face’ to really emphasize what he is seeing. Owen also uses personification, metaphors and similes in his poem. For instance ‘haunting flares’, ‘drunk with fatigue’ and ‘like hags’ to paint a picture of what the soldiers and their surroundings look like.This is effective because the reader can empathise with the soldiers just from the description. Pope also uses personification by comparing the country to a woman she writes, ‘Your country is up to her neck in a fight’. This use of personification is effective because men feel they need to protect woman and so they feel responsible for their country. Both poets use poetic techniques such as: personification; repetition and rhyme to express their different views and attitudes towards war. So whilst the y may have used the same techniques they used it for different purpose.I think that their attitudes towards war are very different. Wilfred Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum est’ is what he thought and had personally experienced, while Jesse Pope’s ‘Who’s for the game? ’ was propaganda poem encouraging young men that the war was a game. Even though I don’t agree with Pope’s approach, I think it’s very effective and shows how her attitude towards war is very patriotic. I think Pope’s poem is very effective and I can understand why so many men felt they needed to join the army. They have different views and attitudes to war and express their personal views through their poems.

An Analysis of Hong Kong Property Trend Dissertation - 1

An Analysis of Hong Kong Property Trend - Dissertation Example The first research method is the questionnaire method which was conducted on 498 subjects. The second research method was the interview method which was conducted on 16 subjects. The subjects of the research were investors and buyers of the Hong Kong property. With the research, the problem areas of this consistent price increase has been pointed out and the researcher has made plausible recommendations to resolve these issues. Government intervention has to be strengthened. Taxes, should be levied, supply of land has to be increased to meet the demand by auctioning government owned land, construction of compact and multi-storeyed buildings along with construction of reasonably priced accommodation schemes by the government in an attempt to control prices by satisfying demand. Moreover, property ownership laws should be stricter and resale of land should be time limited to help control the prices of Hong Kong property and to avoid a price bubble burst. Table of Contents Chapter1-Intr oduction 1.1 Chapter introduction 1 1.2 Introduction 1 1.3 Background 1 1.4 Problem Definition 2 1.5 Aims of the Research 3 1.6 Motivation of Author 4 1.7 fields of investigation 4 1.8 Hypotheses 6 1.9 Methodology and sources of the data in the research 6 1.10 Layout of the research report 7 1.11 Conclusion 8 Chapter 2-Literarture Review 9 2.1 Chapter Introduction 9 2.1.1 Residential market 9 2.1.2 Commercial real estate 10 2.2 PEST analysis 11 2.2.1 Political /Legal 11 2.2.2 Economic 12 2.2.3 Social factor 14 2.2.4 Technological factor 16 2.3 Porter Five Force analysis 18 2.3.1 Bargaining power of the buyers 18 2.3.2 Barging power of suppliers 19 2.3.3 Potential development of substitute products 20 2.3.4 Industry competitors (rivalry among competing firms) 20 2.3.5 Potential entry of new competition 21 2.4 BCG Matrix 22 2.5 SWOT analysis 23 2.5 1 Strengths 23 2.5.2 Weaknesses 24 2.5.3 Opportunities 25 2.5.4 Threats 25 2.6 Market analysis 27 2.6.1 Population increase 27 2.6.2 The M ainland Chinese buyers 28 2.6.3 Measures taken by the government 29 2.6.4 Other factors for price increase in the real estate 31 Chapter 3-Methodology 32 3.1 Chapter Introduction 32 3.2 Role of the Researcher 32 3.3 Methods 34 3.3.1 Subject description 34 3.4 Questionnaire Method 35 3.5 Questionnaire 38 3.6 Interview Method 39 3.7 Data collection and compilation 42 3.8 Trustworthiness of the method 44 3.8.1 Reliability 44 3.8.2 Validity 44 3.8.3 Ethical validity 45 3.8.4 Generalized validity 45 Chapter 4- Findings and result analysis 46 4.1 Introduction 46 4.2. Hypothesis 1- 46 4.3 Hypothesis 2- 52 4.4 Hypothesis 3- 57 4.5 Hypothesis 4- 62 Chapter 5- Conclusion and Recommendations 69 5.1 Chapter Introduction 69 5.2 Conclusion 69 5.3 Recommendations 75 5.3.1 Laws of reselling 75 5.3.2 Increase land supply 76 5.3.2.1 Auction government land 76 5.3.2.2 Multi-story buildings 76 5.3.2.3 Resolve property issues 77 5.3.3 Levy taxes on unused property 77 5.3.4 Decrease demand 77 5.3.4.1 Inc rease interest rate 77 5.3.4.2 Raise property ownership regulations 78 5.3.5 Limit on the amount of land owned 78 5.3.6 Appreciate property 78 5.3.7 Price ceiling 79 5.3.8 Undergoing more construction 79 5.3.9 Lack of market information 80 5.4 Limitations 80 Appendix 81 References 84 Chapter1-Introduction 1.1 Chapter introduction In this chapter, the introduction and the background of the research have been stated. The aims, objectives, hypothesis and an outline of the research h

The European Union Law Overview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The European Union Law Overview - Essay Example The essay "The European Union Law Overview" presents the analysis of the European Union structure and also its decision-making process. The Council of Ministers operates clandestinely and its functions, which are influenced by national and transnational parties, lack transparency and accountability. Decision-making is determined by qualified majority voting in the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers is the most powerful institution in the European Union and comprises of envoys from the Member States of the EU. The European Parliament and the Council of Ministers enact the EU’s legislation. The Council decides issues either by qualified majority voting or by unanimity. Its presidency has a rotating tenure of six months. Although it does not formally comprise a component of the EU system, it has emerged as the cardinal institution of the EU. It organizes meetings between the heads of state and the representatives of the European Commission. Unlike the Council, the European Parliament is a supranational institution. The Council of Ministers has been accorded the status of the principal legislative body by the Treaties of the EU. Its importance stems from the fact that it constitutes the final decision-making authority. In the process of making policies, the Council relies on other institutions for assistance and direction. The EU is a novel political institution, consisting of intergovernmental elements in some issues, supranational in administrative matters and transnational in most domains.

Building construction and fire services #2 Essay

Building construction and fire services #2 - Essay Example Lightweight wooden binds are assembled by 50 mm Ãâ€" 150 mm, 50 mm Ãâ€" 100 mm, or 50 mm Ãâ€" 75 mm (2 Ãâ€" 6, 2 Ãâ€" 4, or 2 Ãâ€" 3-inch) timber joined together by gusset plates (Malanga, 1995, p47). Just like every structural element, these trusses are debatably vulnerable to failure when expose to fire or extremely high temperatures. Wooden houses or ceilings are famous for quick fire spread and early disastrous failure in as small as 4 minutes of fire involvement (Malanga, 1995, p44). Unguarded lightweight wooden or even steel binds will stop working after 5 to 10 minutes of contact to fire or extremely high. Binds can fail from contact to heat alone exclusive of any flames. For wood trusses, 100 °F (53.8 °C) is the decisive temperature (Malanga, 1995, p46). Metal gusset plates in wooden binds, unless corner-nailed, can distort and fail extremely fast when exposed to high temperature. Even though, both wooden and steel trusses might be confined with fire-retardant treatments to develop their fire opposition, a majority of them lack this essential matter and; hence put the lives of people at

To What Extent Was the Advent of Renaissance Architecture in Britain a Essay

To What Extent Was the Advent of Renaissance Architecture in Britain a Result of the Stuart Court and Monarchy - Essay Example The renaissance took place at different times in different parts of the world. Whenever Renaissance is mentioned, it must be remembered that it has to do with the conscious revival of certain aspects of the cultures of ancient Greek and ancient Roman societies. In terms of timeframe and order of occurrence, renaissance architecture came after Gothic literature. Some of the distinguishing features of renaissance architecture (like classical architecture) include precision of measurement and proportion and symmetry. All these features also took place during the British Renaissance. Renaissance got to Britain during the reign of Elizabeth I. Its advent in Britain can be said to have been influenced by Stuart courts and Monarchy. One must not however fail to realize that although renaissance Britain was the rebirth of classical culture, the purposes of the architecture peculiar to both of them are for different reasons. One of the most memorable attributes of the Stuart monarchy is that they brought to Britain, during their reign, influences from all over Europe and even influences from outside Europe. The implication of this is that, when one wants to consider their influence on British Architecture, it means indirectly that one is to consider the influence of other cultures on British Architecture. When the Stuarts were ruling Britain, the country became a floodgate for the architectural designs that were started in other parts of the world. In actuality, renaissance was not to the British. The rebirth that took place in Britain was only the direct consequence of the events that had taken place and happened earlier in Italy and France. In the first place, if there was never the Greek or Roman civilization, there would never have been anything like Renaissance in any part of the world, let alone in Britain. 1 The essence of all that has been aforementioned is that if the Stuarts rulers had not been so friendly to the arts or if they had not welcomed the architectu ral designs from other parts of the world, the notion of renaissance Britain may not have been possible in the first instance. 3 Some of the influences that the Stuarts took on include those from the Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy. Then, the influence of other climes was so much that in a single building the building designs of more than one country can be combined. For example, the design of the French and the Italians may be combined in the British Renaissance Architecture design style and this is due to the fact that the Stuarts actually combined the designs of the French and the Italians in moulding the British Renaissance Architecture into what it became. The influence of the Stuart monarchy may be said to be most eminent during the Elizabethan period which marked the beginning of Renaissance in Britain. The round arch which was one of the ensigns of the architecture that emerged during the reign of the Stuart monarchy also resurfaced during the Elizabethan period.1 Yet it does not negate the fact that the Elizabethan period itself had features that were self-generated. One of the features of the architecture of the Elizabethans that shows that not all the architectural structures of the period were a direct influence of the Stuart monarchy is the fact that most windows and doors during the period were round-headed. On the other hand, as it was during

The Financial Times reported on 18 April 2005 that William Hill is in Essay

The Financial Times reported on 18 April 2005 that William Hill is in talks with Stanley - Essay Example On William Hill portfolio diligence, I will discuss the working capital management for acquisition of Stanley Leisure. In this report, I analyse the due diligence guidelines that are predisposed to assist William Hill in capital evaluation of Stanley Leisure, with statistical precision and performance reports. According to Horne and Wachowicz (2000), working capital management is an important component of corporate finance; it directly affects the liquidity and profitability of William Hill in acquisition of Stanley Leisure. Purpose, findings, and research questions that will guide the study are generated from the shareholders’ effects and the motives for acquisition. The data for this study will be the secondary data from Journal of Financial Economics. In the background study, I analyse the reasons for William Hill’s takeover and stipulate the post-takeover performance of the company. Motives for acquisition of Stanley Leisure and shareholders’ value are critiq ued in the following project. In this project, I have used the capital assets pricing model (CAPM) in methodological analysis and OLS Regression for data sources. I can resolve if William’s merger was worthwhile through liquidity-based explanations. Introduction Mergers and acquisitions involve the amalgamation of two or more firms or the purchase directed to current firm within the foreign country. This was established by Whiting (1976) that acquisitions are effected through capital transfer, use of marketing skills, and presence of skill for management to increase the efficiency of the companies concerned. The development of better information systems in the global trade can enable a company increase its level of performance and meet its customer needs better. I will discuss in detail the research questions that will assist William Hill in acquisition of Stanley Leisure; due diligence need by William Hill is to enable the shareholders with adequate concept of underlying Wil liam acquisition portfolio than the prevailing market allocation of betting services. This gives the company sufficient evidence and confidence to leverage the funding of the acquisition of Stanley Leisure. (Christen 2009). According to Robert (2009), due diligence gives a comprehensive analysis of appraisal techniques and interpretation of acquisition results for both the firms involved. William Hill has to identify the risks associated with acquisition portfolio and formulate dynamics to make up for the loss that might come along. Research Questions In this, research William Hill has to investigate various pieces of information and statistics. It has to: 1. Evaluate how working capital management will assist in the profitability of its firm. 2. Analyze how working capital management affects its profitability. 3. Find areas where investments activities need to be implemented. 4. Are the components of working capital of high importance in

Weekly ass. #7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Weekly ass. #7 - Essay Example After sending and deleting personal emails, employees think that they are safe and cannot be discovered. Employers have the right to access their employee’s emails, and put up backups, which can retrieve such emails even when deleted. According to Jennings, â€Å"Courts have ruled that email messages belong not to the employee but to the employer and are discoverable in litigation where upon they must be turned to the opposing party†, (Jennings, 2009,Pg. 180). This means that employees do not own the emails at their work place, and they can be sued for using them to pass personal messages. Blackberries are personal properties, which are owned by individuals. Such individuals have the right of usage of their property and they can therefore send personal emails to their friends. However, same kind of care is necessary since it is unethical to send messages via any platform using the employer’s time. Messages on Blackberries should only be sent during personal time. Additionally, Blackberries should not be used to set rogue access points on the company’s

Elusive Quest for Growth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Elusive Quest for Growth - Essay Example Development that leads to growth has been impossible, in the way done. It’s really an illusion thinking that a rich country claiming to financial aid to undeveloped countries would lead real financial growth in the long run, starting from the short run. Economists and Marketing Sciences have been trying to defend the idea of real financial aid and support of the rich countries of the world, and we see in terms of statistics that this has not been achieved. On the contrary the way and perspective of this kind of aid, have led to even more poverty, and lack of true growth. A number of economists throughout last decade had tried to defend the idea, that investment in machines and technology, surplus labor, education and environment resources, have led to opposite results and do not promote revenues of countries. First of all there are other major factors affecting the possibility of growth, such as general climate changes all over the planet, local climate of course in each count ry, geographic position, and structure of natures as well as infrastructure and raw materials existing in each country along with all environment resources. ... ll over the planet, local climate of course in each country, geographic position, and structure of natures as well as infrastructure and raw materials existing in each country along with all environment resources. He also defends the aspect that nor even control of population can lead to any results due quick demographic changes and that this may not always be controlled. Despite the financial aid given to countries, one would clearly see, that it is not a true financial aid, but it’s based on interests of most wealthy people of the world to raise capitals on behalf of them, a disparity of income all over the world, with children starving in poor countries, social inequalities between men and women and of course between rich and poor. Poor countries may be supported in the short run, but in the long run, they are found in big debt, not being able to pay out the huge loans, and by not also being supported essentially for growth, the gap between rich and poor people all over the world is getting more and more big. The financial support is just on behalf of the rich countries to become wealthier, as some standards of the poor countries, such as environment, infrastructures, in terms of raw materials and resources, are not taken into account. Then poor countries are supported just partially and this leads only to a financial release and not to real financial growth. Doing investments in local level, and increasing employment in countries that suffer inflation, may solve the problem to an extent. Okay, employment is increased, people have jobs, thus more is invested in education, but in the end, just more wealth is added to rich ones, as they’ll invest the money from surplus labor and the difference in terms of inflation of their own currency and local currency, in

The African-American Juvenile Offenders Essay Example for Free

The African-American Juvenile Offenders Essay The African-American juvenile offenders are those who are usually held responsible of any chaos in a society. The notion that they are bad elements of the society won’t stop long as there are instances that they are the ones who are involved. Media through science and technology have paved the way for any news to spread like a fire in every corner of the world. Most often than not, especially the issue United States is going through, these African-Americans are in their top list, thinking that they can never keep up with the native Americans. Before going into the main topic, let us define what juvenile delinquency is. It is the behavior of a minor or those who are under 18 years of age that is against the law – these â€Å"juvenile delinquents† had violated the welfare of people in general in a given society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When these African-American juvenile offenders had committed acts that are unlawful, most probably they will be punished according to the set law of a society depending on the degree of the crime they had committed. The society always dictates how to punish juvenile offenders so does those who are not considered juvenile. There are social reforms for children in lieu to the juvenile justice-state-sanction, this aim to tap and solve the problems of juvenile which resulted to their anti-social behavior. For example in the United States, there are two cities that have been crowded with African-American juvenile offenders. There had been studies to solve this problem and how to better treat these juvenile offenders. It shows that African-American juvenile offenders are punished according to the damage they have caused. Thus it will reflect on the upbringing of these juvenile offenders. It is known that they are one of the underprivileged groups in the society. It shows that they live based on their own means without the major help of their parents. Their numbers are growing because most of them lack the chance of going to school and not knowing the benefits of family planning. They also can not keep up with the fast changing world and the advancement of technology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These are the reasons why these juvenile offenders needed to have a thorough attention to address their problems that have caused them to be offenders themselves. Reference:   Span, Christopher M. (2002). Educational and Social Reforms for African-American Juvenile Delinquents in 19th Century New York City and Philadelphia Retrieved January 08, 2007, 2007   from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3626/is_200207/ai_n9085485  Ã‚  Springer, David. (2004). Factors Predicting Treatment Retention among High-Risk Mexican American and African American Juvenile Offenders Retrieved January 08, 2007, 2007, from http://www.utexas.edu/research/cswr/nida/springerPage1.html

Article Public Opinion of Police by Different Ethnic Group Essay Example for Free

Article Public Opinion of Police by Different Ethnic Group Essay Down though the years there has always been tension and an on and off relationship between the community they serve and law enforcement agencies. And as with any relationship between two people there are misunderstanding, break-up and disagreements and the same is with the relationship between the community and its law enforcement agencies but just with any relationship at day’s end both the community and law enforcement have and share common concerns such as justice and deterrence. With many of communities in America being incursion of immigrants within the last few decades; with this incursion of immigrants many communities are being bombard with so many new language and cultures diversity. Because of this wide range of ethnicity now living within many the walls of our communities and society on a whole now have different opinions and views of law enforcement. Now due to the various ethnicities flooding our communities the author will investigate how a few of these ethnicity groups like: African Americans, Asians and the Hispanics neighborhoods views racial profiling, discrimination and past experience with law enforcement agencies. Taking a look at the traumatized relationship and association between the two, as well as the interaction and reaction from the law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. Since the conception of the law enforcement agencies race has long since been a vital playing card in policing. Even with the knowledge, awareness and understanding of this there has been some improvement but not enough. Racial opus of law enforcement alongside the racial outline of arrest, the raise in the number of arrest of non- minority like â€Å"Caucasian† by non-white law enforcement officers, while there were lower numbers of arrest by the same officers on other ethnic groups. On the flip side of that coin, more. â€Å"Caucasian† officers had a boost in the number of non-white arrest in comparison to the number of arrest involving â€Å"Caucasians†. Race has been a polarizingelement the in the society of America for years. And this is every so prevalent within the criminal justice system. Clashes involving both the communities and law enforcement are the flashpoint for practically every current inner- city riot. Ethnic Groups The raise of culture variety and immigration has from time to time made interaction with law enforcement difficult. Hispanics and Asian neighborhoods are often apprehensive of law enforcement officers due to their past occurrence. Their past incidents vary from their motherland of origin that was overwhelmed by civil unrest and war. This included exploitation of power by those of authority as well as much dishonesty within law enforcement agencies of that country. For this cause many minorities groups have a apprehension and more often than not an aversion to law enforcement officers. Like within the Hispanic neighborhoods, they often feel that law enforcement agents differentiates them by racial profiling them all because of their nationality. In Arizona this is a very contentious SB 1070 unlawful migration bill that passed given law enforcement agents the power and authority to inquire of certain individual (Hispanic) of proof of documentation of legal right to be in America. This law is being adopted in other states as well like New Jersey and Texas, any where there is a high population of Hispanics. IthasbeenreportedbytwoethnicgroupsAfricanAmericansandHispanic/Latinos affirm subordinate levels of agreement concerning their relationship with police officers as compared to those of their counterpart â€Å"Caucasians†. African Americans and Hispanic/Latinos claims that there is less willingness to obey and to follow orders given by authorities especially of Caucasian origin. Racial profiling has consistently been one of the most confounding, divisive and controversial issues the police department confronts. A perception that police target members of specific ethnic or racial groups creates a deep divide between the police and the communities we serve. But as an officer who has spent a lot of time patrolling the citys streets, I just dont think the perception is accurate. (Dutta, 2010) True racial profiling, in which people are targeted solely because of race or ethnicity, is both illegal and immoral. It destroys public trust and reduces the effectiveness of the police. There is no place for it in law enforcement. And I firmly believe that most LAPD officers support that viewpoint. Even the reported statement of the officer that he couldnt do his job without racial profiling was most likely misinterpreted. (Dutta, 2010) Differentiation between minorities and Caucasians is how they relate and response to law enforcement agents and how fairly or unjustly he or she feels their treatment was. This is a how many African Americans and Hispanic/Latinos responded when asked by authorities regarding their relationship with law enforcement agencies this is less equality than when Caucasians reported.

Impacts of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Impacts of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) 1.0 Introduction This paper will labour to explicate the intricacies of enterprise resource planning (ERP), a concept that has long fascinated many in both academic and professional work environments, including the United Nations (UN). In fact, the UN has expressed the need to implement ERP. As part of their examination into this procedure, the UN has implemented ERP at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Pristine, Republic of Kosovo, and other agencies of the UN. As they look into the ramifications of ERP implementation, so does this case study. This study attempts to make predictions of the impact of ERP implementation on the business processes and organisational culture of the United Nations secretariat based on results from the UNDP. 1.1 Introduction to the Problem Since the late 1990s, businesses have flocked to implement enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, e.g., one study showed that more than sixty percent of Fortune 500 companies had adopted an ERP system (Stewart et al. 2000). The United Nations, as one of the largest organisations in the world, has lagged behind in adopting the transformation in the management of its resources. The United Nations has been seriously hampered in its ability to deliver results effectively and efficiently due to the lack of an integrated information system for managing its resources (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). According to Davis and Olsen (1985), ERP is an integrated system that provides information to support operation management and decision-making functions in an organisation. Therefore, the goal of implementing an ERP system is to build an integrated global information system that fully supports the needs of the United Nations, enables the effective management of human, financial and physical resources, and is based on streamlined processes and better practices (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). 1.2Background of the Study 1.2.1 Existing System Currently, the United Nations uses an in-house developed system—commonly referred to as Integrated Management Information System (IMIS)—for the management of human, financial and physical resources. The development of IMIS was a milestone in the use of information technology as a discipline that can beneficially affect many, if not all, areas of administration and management in any given organisation. IMIS was developed as a functionally integrated system, which combines all departments to support key processes such as human resources management, payroll, finance and accounting, requisitioning and funds control, budget execution and travel management. IMIS was introduced in conjunction with desktop, networked computing and office automation tools such as electronic mail in many offices. â€Å"If an organisation is not yet sure of the need for client-server networks, the state of the art in enterprise-wide computing, it has only to consider the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the United Nations,† (Rowe Davis, 1996, p. 122). The launching of IMIS was subsequently affected and conditioned by major developments in the technological market, and an accelerated shift of focus in the United Nations to field activities. In short, IMIS was designed and developed at a time when the context began to change rapidly and profoundly. Yet, only a few years after the implementation of IMIS, it has become evident that the system cannot take full advantage of the advancement in technology; e.g., even though IMIS is functionally integrated, it was deployed and managed locally at each geographical location, which makes reporting and global management very difficult. The implementation in the United Nations peacekeeping operation was partial, as it is a separate department in the UN, and was not able to support the supply chain and logistical management (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). â€Å"The IMIS was not an alternative communication technology to paper and telephones, but it involved the synchronization of multiple data sources and the linking of them to several mainframes,† (Rowe Davis, 1996, p. 122). An investment in tactical systems, which includes a stand-alone system and a modular integration into IMIS through interfaces, was able to address the functional gaps of IMIS. However, the organisation today faces challenges that demand profound transformation beyond the capabilities of IMIS and its ancillary legacy systems currently being used (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). 1.2.2 The need for change â€Å"The United Nations struggled to get everybody in their building to connect electronically. It soon realised that it was time to connect the world with a client-server network,† (Rowe Davis, 1996, p. 122). The need for the United Nations to take on the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) lead to the requirement of significant change in the accounting processes and systems in order to comply with the international public sector standard for accounting. The requisite changes, indeed, were so fundamental that it is fair to say that the life of IMIS had come to an end after fourteen years; moreover, the benefits that the staff and managers expected from the information system in day-to-day operations and decision-making no longer matched the cost of maintenance and ongoing support. This is because IMIS is no longer able to cope with the fast technological development, and the cost of maintenance and ongoing support has become very expensive (Report of th e Secretary-General, 2008). â€Å"The success of your organisations quality initiative depends upon your ability to communicate the need for change throughout the organization,† (Arcaro, 1997, p. 146). The United Nations as an organisation needs to improve the value and cost-efficiency of the services it provides. They report that the existing systems are not up to the standard, not integrated, duplicative, and are inefficient (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). According to the UN, the effective management, planning and decision-making have been hampered by the lack of integration and complete data on resources (ibid). As the organisation continues to grow in complexity in its activities, they are dissatisfied with the lack of integration and data-sharing between different departments as it has become a bigger problem, and the need for a new ICT global enterprise system for streamlining and simplifying processes has become more crucial as the nature of the organisation is changing itself (ibid). 1.2.3 Goals and objectives of implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning System The United Nations reports that the implementation of an ERP system will present the opportunity to fully combine resources and functions across the organisation by replacing the existing IMIS system (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). Minahan (1998) reports ERP to be a multifaceted system that integrates and automates the basic processes of a business such as finance and budget management, human resources management, supply chain management, central support services, and other corporate core functions. Most importantly, the main value of an ERP system is the opportunity to streamline and improve the operations of an entire organisation through process reengineering, sharing of common data, and implementation of best practices and standards, and perform as the inter-organisation information backbone for communication and collaboration (OLeary, 2004). According to reports from the United Nations (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008), the main objectives of the ERP project can be summarised as follows: To have a global operating system that precisely captures core resource data from each department and agency at the UN while linking them together to provide better decision-making. This will minimise the time required to perform administrative processes and enable easy access to necessary reports for each department, thus increasing the efficiency of the organisation and directing the focus to high priority situations. The main functionalities sought from the new ERP system are expected to encompass functions such as programme planning, budgeting, contributions and performance; human resources management and administration; payroll, including management of benefits and contribution to pension, medical and insurance schemes; supply chain management, including procurement; assets and facilities management; general accounting, travel and other administrative flows; reporting to management and stakeholders, and more (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008, p. 8). Specific United Nations peacekeeping operations functions such as logistics, transportation, fuel and rations systems need to be supported by the new ERP system, as these functions are not held in common with other organisations of the United Nations operations. 1.3Purpose and Significance of the Study The research done in this study will attempt to answer the following question: What will be the impact of ERP implementation on the business transformation and business culture of the United Nations? Specifically, this study will attempt to establish the relationship between the business process transformation and organisational culture change offered as the result of ERP. These questions and findings are expected to provide an increased ability in evaluating the performance and standardisation of the business processes within the United Nations, as well as an increased awareness of its effect on the business culture and productivity over time in the UN. In addition, answers to these questions will subsequently enable other researchers to gain more insight into ERP implementation and business process reengineering. It will also enable the management of the United Nations to see how ERP can be a better means of technological reform, thus providing the opportunity to re-evaluate the existing business processes. 1.4 Research Questions The question that constitutes the primary point of pivot for the paper is: What will be the probable future impact of ERP on the business process transformation and business culture of the UnitedNations? The three subsidiary questions of the present work are: > How will ERP implementation make the organisation better off in the foreseeable future? > What will be the effect on the reformed business culture in terms of productivity? > How does the organisation perceive the benefit of ERP on the standardisation of business processes? 1.5Structural Approach The rest of the dissertation has been structured as follows. Chapter 2 provides a review of relevant literature including ERP, business process reengineering, and their impact on organisational culture. Chapter 3 discusses the methodologies used for the case study and describes the data and the various proxies employed for analysing ERP implementation in the United Nations. Chapter 4 provides empirical findings on the relationship between ERP implementation and its effects on business processes and organisational culture. Chapter 5 analyses the research findings. Chapter 6 concludes the research by pointing out the key impacts of ERP on the UN. Chapter 7 makes various recommendations for policy direction and potentially fruitful areas of ERP systems for further research. Chapter 8 reflects on the study as a whole. CHAPTER II 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW The following Literature Review will focus on four main areas of evaluation regarding enterprise resource planning (ERP) on the business process transformation (BPR) in organisations, and more specifically, the United Nations. These are: 1. ERP: definition, evolution, implications 2. BPR: definition, evolution, implications 3. ERP and organisational culture 4. BPR and organisational change This review will analyse the abovementioned systems and related processes insofar as the available data in the literature will allow for a comparison of ERP and BPR and their effects on the United Nations and other large organisations. 2.1 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Definition, Evolution, and Implications Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are commonly described as commercial software packages that allow the assimilation of data and processes throughout an organisation (Markus Tanis, 2000, cited in Kim et al. 2005). ERP enables the flow of information among all business areas such as â€Å"finance, human resources, manufacturing, sales and marketing,† (Tan Theodorou, 2009, p. 52). Basically, it allows data from all departments to exist in one computer system (Pang, 2001), making the managerial dream of unification of all information systems into one computer system come true (Adam ODoherty, 2003, cited in Revia, 2007). This unification should offer many benefits to the UN and other large organisations. Large organisations may have a more difficult time relaying information from one sector to another as they have many different departments and even multiple locations. The combination of all departments in one system, presents benefits of relaying data in a timely mann er. Rather than sending files through inter-office mail or needing to track down one particular staff member, each employee will have access to the information required for their job by simply logging into the system. The researcher will attempt to discover whether this unification does indeed allow for more time-efficiency as well as making simple operations tasks easier to accomplish in the UN. The start of ERP systems came about in the 1960-1970s with the invention of Inventory Control (IC) and Materials Requirement Planning (MPR) systems, which managed inventory in manufacturing. In the 1980s, Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP II) systems came into use to manage both inventory and production requirements together. In 1973, the first ERP system was created with the goal of supporting all business needs. Since then, ERP systems have become much more popular. In fact, by the year 2000, enterprise resource planning systems were estimated to have serviced $23 billion USD in profits for the various organisations that have been implementing them (Pang, 2001). ERP systems are larger, more influential and faster growing than any other systems in the industry (Finney Corbett, 2007). This is probably why the UN has shown such interest in ERP. The increase in ERP implementation does not seem surprising as ERP allows corporations to update to a new integrated system cutting out the previous legacy systems known for their difficulties in maintenance, large size, and old age, as they are segregated systems (Martin, 1998; cited in Boudreau, 1999). This appears to be helpful for the UN as they reported difficulty with their current legacy system (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). It is likely that employees of the UN will be satisfied with the replacement of the legacy system due to the reported problems it has. However, there is a chance that employees may be intimidated by this change as they will have to learn an entirely new system. Advantages of ERP systems for organisations include overcoming fragmentation by streamlining activities and processes, which provides direct access to real-time information by supplying a group of software modules that encase all departments of a business (Koch, 2003, cited in Finney Corbett, 2007). This implies that all information accessed through the new system will be current as it is constantly being updated by various employees based on the tasks they complete. Rather than there being pieces of information in various places, all information regarding the same issue will be together implying that employees can look in one place and have all the information they need rather than searching through various documents or consulting multiple co-workers. However, it provokes the question as to how employees can be sure the information entered is accurate. This aspect of ERP systems will be investigated at the UNDP in Kosovo in order to determine whether this feature is beneficial. Furthermore, ERP systems are said to provide cost-reduction in addition to increased flexibility (Siriginidi, 2000 cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). Since the initial costs of implementation are so high, it doesnt seem like cost-reduction can be achieved anytime close to implementation. However, Rowe and Davis (1996) reported, the IMIS system which is the current system being used in many UN agencies does not cut down the amount of paper needed in order to do processes. Switching to an ERP system should reduce costs related to this amongst other things, as suggested by the literature. For the UN, this would mean more money to use for their peacekeeping missions or other operations. The reduction of costs and flexibility appear to be linked in some way as decreasing operation costs would imply having more flexibility to perform other processes. Then again, its possible for the availability of data to imply flexibility in making decisions, or flexibility could result from rearranging t he organisations processes and being better equipped to perform certain tasks. ERP systems have been reported to enhance business performance by accelerating the merger of organisational resources as well as strengthening the operational efficiency of the company through minimising human error (Shin Knapp, 2001, cited in Wang, 2006). The implication that ERP reduces human error seems to be correct as there is less opportunity to make a mistake for employees because there is generally only one time they need to input information for data-sharing as opposed to the multiple steps needed to take before but how can employees be sure that the initial information entered was accurate? One may argue that if multiple people are doing the same step there is increased accuracy as there are that many more people assessing the situation. Aside from that, it seems these benefits should assist the UN in accomplishing some of their proposed goals, such as linking all departments within one operations system, which decreases the time required for administrative processes. The UN hopes implementation will increase their operational efficiency by allowing valuable time to be spent focusing on high priority situations rather than simple operations tasks (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). More advertised benefits include improved information accuracy and decision-making capacity (Siriginidi, 2000 cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). The UN wants to make use of these proposed advantages (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). Decision-making is a large part of the UN as they have to make difficult decisions everyday that effect large numbers of people; making a bad decision is not necessarily easily corrected in this case. Furthermore, many situations the UN deals with are time-sensitive; if its easier to access data, and the accuracy of that data is improved, officials can rest assured that they are making decisions with proper knowledge. In implementing ERP, organisations no longer have to create their own applications that are then unique to their company. They now have standard software available for their business processes, referred to as Best Business Practices (BBPs), which came into existence around the same time as ERPs. BBPs are general guidelines to assist companies in the way of handling certain business processes, meaning that each company can now improve itself on the basis of the experience of other corporations that share similar functional processes (SAP, 2007, cited in Revia, 2007). It seems any organisation would be hesitant to implement a system that has not proved to benefit other large organisations as the risk of failure is not unlikely (Moon, 2007). However, each organisation is unique so BBPs may not work for every organisation. .Some of the disadvantages of ERP are that the implementation requires time, costs and risks (Boudreau, 1999), as they tend to be â€Å"large, complicated, and expensive† (Mabert et al. 2001, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008, p. 3). ERP implementation calls for serious time commitment from all involved as it is often the biggest project that an organisation will ever face (Moon, 2007). ERP execution requires new procedures, employee training and managerial and technical support (Shang Seddon, 2002, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008), which can be accomplished through good communication of the corporate strategy to all employees (Umble et al. 2003, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). Consequently, the biggest problem is not actually the implementation itself but the expectations of board members and senior staff as well as not having a clear plan or realistic projections (Somers Nelson 2004, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). However, the UN has already proposed clear goals and plans for t heir implementation. The question is whether or not they will be able to successfully translate these goals/plans to all employees of the organisation and whether or not they will be successful. Finally, the importance of selecting the appropriate ERP package is stressed. Corporations must make sure they select the appropriate ERP package that will match their organisation as well as its business processes (Chen, 2001, cited in Finney Corbett, 2007). This seems obvious as every organisation is different. Some corporations strategise around providing excellent customer service while others focus on decreasing costs to customers as a way to attract more business. However, there are studies that show that customising ERP packages beyond minimal adjustments is discouraged; these studies show that organisations should adjust their processes to fit the package rather than adjust the package to fit the processes (Murray Coffin, 2001 cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). 2.2 Business Process Transformation (BPR): Definition, Evolution, and Implications Business process reengineering (BPR) was not very popular until the release of the book Re-engineering the Corporation by Michael Hammer and James Champy (Barker, 1995). Hammer and Champy introduced the term â€Å"Business process reengineering† in 1990 and defined it as a â€Å"fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed† (Grover Kettinger, 2000, p. 151). Business process reengineering is also defined as a strategic redesign of important business processes, including the systems and policies that support them, in order to achieve maximum productivity of an organisation (Manganelli Klein, 1994). This would suggest a link between ERP and BPR as they are both structured around the redesign of core business processes. In fact, some goals of BPR are the reduction of cost, cycle-time, defects, and the increase of worker producti vity (Hales Savoie, 1994), very much the same as ERP. The aim of BPR is to change current business processes in order to make them more efficient overall, again mimicking ERP. In fact, Some researchers suggest that ERP systems â€Å"are the major tools for making business processes better, leaner and faster through associated business process reengineering,† (Shang Seddon, 2003, cited in Revia, 2007, p. 25). It is not yet known whether or not BPR will be performed at the UN. It is assumed that it will as it is so closely related to ERP. Additionally, reports have shown that ERP often causes BPR to occur due to its very nature (Seebacher Juszczyk, 2002). It seems that in order for ERP to be most successful, BPR should be performed (Sumner, 2000 cited in Law Ngai, 2007), otherwise the UN may not recognise exactly which processes are most important for their operations. Or, they may not be fully aware of the exact way in which ERP should be performed in relation to the core business processes, which is vital to understand for the selection of the proper ERP package. BPR has its origins in the private sectors as a management tool for companies to deal with change and reorganise their work to â€Å"improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors,† (Hamid, 2004, cited in Wang, 2006, p. 5). Generally, business process transformation takes business processes and allows them to be done routinely through a computer system. It incorporates peoples perspectives and input to make sure that the processes fit needs specific to each corporation (Wang, 2006). This suggests benefits for ERP implementation in any organisation as the systems are supposed to be designed around core processes specific to each company. It would be helpful for the UN to determine which processes are vital to their operations. Furthermore, cutting operational costs should prove to be very valuable for the UN as many of the services it provides are non-profit. Of course, whether or not this will be achieved is a question of interest. Here is a further look into what a core business process is: A core business process is one that gives value to the customers or stakeholders of the company. These are the most important processes within the organisation and are the ones that will set a company above their competitors if done well. In order to figure out what processes are core, one may ask the following questions. 1) Does the process make valued contributions to the customer? Does it improve customer service, increase response-time, decrease customers costs? 2) Is it important for the production/operation of the company? 3) Can it be used for other businesses? If the answer is yes to one of these questions, then the process under consideration can be considered core (McHugh et al. 1995). The UN may consider any process involving cash flow to be core as that is a huge component to many of the services they provide. Furthermore, any documentation of information from one department to another is probably considered core as this organisation relies on data-sharing for its decision-making capabilities. Therefore, it seems that these types of processes will be affected by ERP implementation and will most likely be reengineered. The three most basic strategies that increase a business success are lowering prices, offering more value in products, or focusing on less diversity in commodities and specialising in a certain area (Berrington Oblich, 1995). This suggests that BPR would be structured around these strategies when reorganising core business processes. If the UN is restructuring using BPR, they are likely to focus on a combination of strategies. As already mentioned, the cost of operations is a huge factor for the United Nations to consider as they provide aid to many countries without expecting any favours in return. This implies they would focus on reduction of costs. However, the main reason they are an organisation is to provide services to those in need. That would suggest they would reorganise their business processes around the strategy of offering more value in their services. In implementing BPR, organisations are asked to choose five or six of the processes that are central to the operation of the company and focus on those to see the ways in which they can make them more efficient (McHugh et al. 1995). Concentrating on making sure core processes are completed to the best of the companys ability only ensures the organisation will do better. In the case of the UN, focusing on data-sharing and managing cash flow suggests an increase in the organisations efficiency as those components are vital to their operation. These changes would suggest benefits for both the cost-reduction strategy as well as providing better service to â€Å"customers.† 2.3 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Organisational Culture Organisational culture is a set of core beliefs, values, and behaviours shared by all members of one company, thereby affecting the productivity of the business. It is often described as â€Å"a pattern of shared assumptions produced and manipulated by top management† (Schein, 1992 cited in Boersma Kingma, 2005, p. 131). Organisational culture is influenced through many aspects, including leadership, personal characteristics, interactions of members, as well as tradition. Culture has visible signs and hidden insinuations. Visible signs include behaviour while the hidden insinuations entail morals and beliefs (Rousseau, 1990 cited in Cooper, 1994). The culture of an organisation is even displayed in the way certain processes are done as well as the outcomes of these processes, which will be examined at the UNDP in Kosovo. Because ERP systems involve most departments in a company, they change many business processes and thereby affect the more deep-seated organisational culture of a corporation. Companies that focus on incorporating their cultures into organisational efforts are said to have an edge in accordance with their productivity. Organisations can focus on culture and work with the people to shape new values, morals and work ethics. If employees are happy to be working for the organisation, they will be more apt to want to work, implying there will be an increase in productivity (Farbrother Marc, 2003). Enterprise resource planning can lead to changes in organisational culture e.g., ERP is implemented in order to increase productivity by changing current business processes (Deal Kennedy, 1982 cited in Cooper, 1994). These changes are maximal and cannot be simply brushed aside. When a company implements ERP, if the organisational culture is ready for the changes it will bring, the employees can work with the system to increase productivity. Consequently, the culture within the business must be one that can be made amenable for change (Nah et al. 2001 cited in Finney Corbett, 2007). There is the belief that positive and supportive attitudes of those embarking on implementation of ERP will actually bring about a successful transition (Chatterjee et al. 2002 cited in Law Ngai, 2007). However, if the culture has not been made ready for change or the employees are unwilling to change, the system will be less likely to succeed. A system cannot work if there are no users. â€Å"System implementation represents a threat to users perceptions of control over their work and a period of transition during which users must cope with differences between old and new work systems,† (Sternad Bobek, 2006, p. 285). The social setting of a company and its technology most definitely shape each other; they are hardly independent of one another (Boersma Kingma, 2005). A mistake companies frequently make is to presume that people can change their habits easily when in actuality such changes are considerably taxing for many people. These companies underestimate the effect ERP implementation will have on their employees. Many employees panic when nothing looks the way it used to, nothing works the way it used to, and they can no longer go through their workday with the previously earned sense of familiarity and assurance (Koch, 2007 cited in Revia, 2007). One study showed that it took over two years for users of the new system to forget the process problems they found initially and to gain new knowledge of the system (Seddon Shang, 2003 cited in Revia, 2007). A Chief Information Officer from Nestle sums up this concept very well—she says, â€Å"‘No major software implementation is really about the software. Its about change management†¦You are changing the way people work[†¦]You are challenging their principles, their beliefs and the way they have done things for many, many years† (Boersma Kingma, 2005, p. 123). It seems the best way to ensure that employees are on board with proposed changes is to make them aware of these changes. It is important for them to feel that they are included in the decision to create new values and procedures for the company. Otherwise, they will be clinging to the old culture and ways of doing things. The change will be stressful and forced rather than welcomed with ease. They should feel that the change is happ Impacts of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Impacts of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) 1.0 Introduction This paper will labour to explicate the intricacies of enterprise resource planning (ERP), a concept that has long fascinated many in both academic and professional work environments, including the United Nations (UN). In fact, the UN has expressed the need to implement ERP. As part of their examination into this procedure, the UN has implemented ERP at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Pristine, Republic of Kosovo, and other agencies of the UN. As they look into the ramifications of ERP implementation, so does this case study. This study attempts to make predictions of the impact of ERP implementation on the business processes and organisational culture of the United Nations secretariat based on results from the UNDP. 1.1 Introduction to the Problem Since the late 1990s, businesses have flocked to implement enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, e.g., one study showed that more than sixty percent of Fortune 500 companies had adopted an ERP system (Stewart et al. 2000). The United Nations, as one of the largest organisations in the world, has lagged behind in adopting the transformation in the management of its resources. The United Nations has been seriously hampered in its ability to deliver results effectively and efficiently due to the lack of an integrated information system for managing its resources (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). According to Davis and Olsen (1985), ERP is an integrated system that provides information to support operation management and decision-making functions in an organisation. Therefore, the goal of implementing an ERP system is to build an integrated global information system that fully supports the needs of the United Nations, enables the effective management of human, financial and physical resources, and is based on streamlined processes and better practices (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). 1.2Background of the Study 1.2.1 Existing System Currently, the United Nations uses an in-house developed system—commonly referred to as Integrated Management Information System (IMIS)—for the management of human, financial and physical resources. The development of IMIS was a milestone in the use of information technology as a discipline that can beneficially affect many, if not all, areas of administration and management in any given organisation. IMIS was developed as a functionally integrated system, which combines all departments to support key processes such as human resources management, payroll, finance and accounting, requisitioning and funds control, budget execution and travel management. IMIS was introduced in conjunction with desktop, networked computing and office automation tools such as electronic mail in many offices. â€Å"If an organisation is not yet sure of the need for client-server networks, the state of the art in enterprise-wide computing, it has only to consider the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the United Nations,† (Rowe Davis, 1996, p. 122). The launching of IMIS was subsequently affected and conditioned by major developments in the technological market, and an accelerated shift of focus in the United Nations to field activities. In short, IMIS was designed and developed at a time when the context began to change rapidly and profoundly. Yet, only a few years after the implementation of IMIS, it has become evident that the system cannot take full advantage of the advancement in technology; e.g., even though IMIS is functionally integrated, it was deployed and managed locally at each geographical location, which makes reporting and global management very difficult. The implementation in the United Nations peacekeeping operation was partial, as it is a separate department in the UN, and was not able to support the supply chain and logistical management (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). â€Å"The IMIS was not an alternative communication technology to paper and telephones, but it involved the synchronization of multiple data sources and the linking of them to several mainframes,† (Rowe Davis, 1996, p. 122). An investment in tactical systems, which includes a stand-alone system and a modular integration into IMIS through interfaces, was able to address the functional gaps of IMIS. However, the organisation today faces challenges that demand profound transformation beyond the capabilities of IMIS and its ancillary legacy systems currently being used (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). 1.2.2 The need for change â€Å"The United Nations struggled to get everybody in their building to connect electronically. It soon realised that it was time to connect the world with a client-server network,† (Rowe Davis, 1996, p. 122). The need for the United Nations to take on the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) lead to the requirement of significant change in the accounting processes and systems in order to comply with the international public sector standard for accounting. The requisite changes, indeed, were so fundamental that it is fair to say that the life of IMIS had come to an end after fourteen years; moreover, the benefits that the staff and managers expected from the information system in day-to-day operations and decision-making no longer matched the cost of maintenance and ongoing support. This is because IMIS is no longer able to cope with the fast technological development, and the cost of maintenance and ongoing support has become very expensive (Report of th e Secretary-General, 2008). â€Å"The success of your organisations quality initiative depends upon your ability to communicate the need for change throughout the organization,† (Arcaro, 1997, p. 146). The United Nations as an organisation needs to improve the value and cost-efficiency of the services it provides. They report that the existing systems are not up to the standard, not integrated, duplicative, and are inefficient (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). According to the UN, the effective management, planning and decision-making have been hampered by the lack of integration and complete data on resources (ibid). As the organisation continues to grow in complexity in its activities, they are dissatisfied with the lack of integration and data-sharing between different departments as it has become a bigger problem, and the need for a new ICT global enterprise system for streamlining and simplifying processes has become more crucial as the nature of the organisation is changing itself (ibid). 1.2.3 Goals and objectives of implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning System The United Nations reports that the implementation of an ERP system will present the opportunity to fully combine resources and functions across the organisation by replacing the existing IMIS system (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). Minahan (1998) reports ERP to be a multifaceted system that integrates and automates the basic processes of a business such as finance and budget management, human resources management, supply chain management, central support services, and other corporate core functions. Most importantly, the main value of an ERP system is the opportunity to streamline and improve the operations of an entire organisation through process reengineering, sharing of common data, and implementation of best practices and standards, and perform as the inter-organisation information backbone for communication and collaboration (OLeary, 2004). According to reports from the United Nations (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008), the main objectives of the ERP project can be summarised as follows: To have a global operating system that precisely captures core resource data from each department and agency at the UN while linking them together to provide better decision-making. This will minimise the time required to perform administrative processes and enable easy access to necessary reports for each department, thus increasing the efficiency of the organisation and directing the focus to high priority situations. The main functionalities sought from the new ERP system are expected to encompass functions such as programme planning, budgeting, contributions and performance; human resources management and administration; payroll, including management of benefits and contribution to pension, medical and insurance schemes; supply chain management, including procurement; assets and facilities management; general accounting, travel and other administrative flows; reporting to management and stakeholders, and more (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008, p. 8). Specific United Nations peacekeeping operations functions such as logistics, transportation, fuel and rations systems need to be supported by the new ERP system, as these functions are not held in common with other organisations of the United Nations operations. 1.3Purpose and Significance of the Study The research done in this study will attempt to answer the following question: What will be the impact of ERP implementation on the business transformation and business culture of the United Nations? Specifically, this study will attempt to establish the relationship between the business process transformation and organisational culture change offered as the result of ERP. These questions and findings are expected to provide an increased ability in evaluating the performance and standardisation of the business processes within the United Nations, as well as an increased awareness of its effect on the business culture and productivity over time in the UN. In addition, answers to these questions will subsequently enable other researchers to gain more insight into ERP implementation and business process reengineering. It will also enable the management of the United Nations to see how ERP can be a better means of technological reform, thus providing the opportunity to re-evaluate the existing business processes. 1.4 Research Questions The question that constitutes the primary point of pivot for the paper is: What will be the probable future impact of ERP on the business process transformation and business culture of the UnitedNations? The three subsidiary questions of the present work are: > How will ERP implementation make the organisation better off in the foreseeable future? > What will be the effect on the reformed business culture in terms of productivity? > How does the organisation perceive the benefit of ERP on the standardisation of business processes? 1.5Structural Approach The rest of the dissertation has been structured as follows. Chapter 2 provides a review of relevant literature including ERP, business process reengineering, and their impact on organisational culture. Chapter 3 discusses the methodologies used for the case study and describes the data and the various proxies employed for analysing ERP implementation in the United Nations. Chapter 4 provides empirical findings on the relationship between ERP implementation and its effects on business processes and organisational culture. Chapter 5 analyses the research findings. Chapter 6 concludes the research by pointing out the key impacts of ERP on the UN. Chapter 7 makes various recommendations for policy direction and potentially fruitful areas of ERP systems for further research. Chapter 8 reflects on the study as a whole. CHAPTER II 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW The following Literature Review will focus on four main areas of evaluation regarding enterprise resource planning (ERP) on the business process transformation (BPR) in organisations, and more specifically, the United Nations. These are: 1. ERP: definition, evolution, implications 2. BPR: definition, evolution, implications 3. ERP and organisational culture 4. BPR and organisational change This review will analyse the abovementioned systems and related processes insofar as the available data in the literature will allow for a comparison of ERP and BPR and their effects on the United Nations and other large organisations. 2.1 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Definition, Evolution, and Implications Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are commonly described as commercial software packages that allow the assimilation of data and processes throughout an organisation (Markus Tanis, 2000, cited in Kim et al. 2005). ERP enables the flow of information among all business areas such as â€Å"finance, human resources, manufacturing, sales and marketing,† (Tan Theodorou, 2009, p. 52). Basically, it allows data from all departments to exist in one computer system (Pang, 2001), making the managerial dream of unification of all information systems into one computer system come true (Adam ODoherty, 2003, cited in Revia, 2007). This unification should offer many benefits to the UN and other large organisations. Large organisations may have a more difficult time relaying information from one sector to another as they have many different departments and even multiple locations. The combination of all departments in one system, presents benefits of relaying data in a timely mann er. Rather than sending files through inter-office mail or needing to track down one particular staff member, each employee will have access to the information required for their job by simply logging into the system. The researcher will attempt to discover whether this unification does indeed allow for more time-efficiency as well as making simple operations tasks easier to accomplish in the UN. The start of ERP systems came about in the 1960-1970s with the invention of Inventory Control (IC) and Materials Requirement Planning (MPR) systems, which managed inventory in manufacturing. In the 1980s, Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP II) systems came into use to manage both inventory and production requirements together. In 1973, the first ERP system was created with the goal of supporting all business needs. Since then, ERP systems have become much more popular. In fact, by the year 2000, enterprise resource planning systems were estimated to have serviced $23 billion USD in profits for the various organisations that have been implementing them (Pang, 2001). ERP systems are larger, more influential and faster growing than any other systems in the industry (Finney Corbett, 2007). This is probably why the UN has shown such interest in ERP. The increase in ERP implementation does not seem surprising as ERP allows corporations to update to a new integrated system cutting out the previous legacy systems known for their difficulties in maintenance, large size, and old age, as they are segregated systems (Martin, 1998; cited in Boudreau, 1999). This appears to be helpful for the UN as they reported difficulty with their current legacy system (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). It is likely that employees of the UN will be satisfied with the replacement of the legacy system due to the reported problems it has. However, there is a chance that employees may be intimidated by this change as they will have to learn an entirely new system. Advantages of ERP systems for organisations include overcoming fragmentation by streamlining activities and processes, which provides direct access to real-time information by supplying a group of software modules that encase all departments of a business (Koch, 2003, cited in Finney Corbett, 2007). This implies that all information accessed through the new system will be current as it is constantly being updated by various employees based on the tasks they complete. Rather than there being pieces of information in various places, all information regarding the same issue will be together implying that employees can look in one place and have all the information they need rather than searching through various documents or consulting multiple co-workers. However, it provokes the question as to how employees can be sure the information entered is accurate. This aspect of ERP systems will be investigated at the UNDP in Kosovo in order to determine whether this feature is beneficial. Furthermore, ERP systems are said to provide cost-reduction in addition to increased flexibility (Siriginidi, 2000 cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). Since the initial costs of implementation are so high, it doesnt seem like cost-reduction can be achieved anytime close to implementation. However, Rowe and Davis (1996) reported, the IMIS system which is the current system being used in many UN agencies does not cut down the amount of paper needed in order to do processes. Switching to an ERP system should reduce costs related to this amongst other things, as suggested by the literature. For the UN, this would mean more money to use for their peacekeeping missions or other operations. The reduction of costs and flexibility appear to be linked in some way as decreasing operation costs would imply having more flexibility to perform other processes. Then again, its possible for the availability of data to imply flexibility in making decisions, or flexibility could result from rearranging t he organisations processes and being better equipped to perform certain tasks. ERP systems have been reported to enhance business performance by accelerating the merger of organisational resources as well as strengthening the operational efficiency of the company through minimising human error (Shin Knapp, 2001, cited in Wang, 2006). The implication that ERP reduces human error seems to be correct as there is less opportunity to make a mistake for employees because there is generally only one time they need to input information for data-sharing as opposed to the multiple steps needed to take before but how can employees be sure that the initial information entered was accurate? One may argue that if multiple people are doing the same step there is increased accuracy as there are that many more people assessing the situation. Aside from that, it seems these benefits should assist the UN in accomplishing some of their proposed goals, such as linking all departments within one operations system, which decreases the time required for administrative processes. The UN hopes implementation will increase their operational efficiency by allowing valuable time to be spent focusing on high priority situations rather than simple operations tasks (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). More advertised benefits include improved information accuracy and decision-making capacity (Siriginidi, 2000 cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). The UN wants to make use of these proposed advantages (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). Decision-making is a large part of the UN as they have to make difficult decisions everyday that effect large numbers of people; making a bad decision is not necessarily easily corrected in this case. Furthermore, many situations the UN deals with are time-sensitive; if its easier to access data, and the accuracy of that data is improved, officials can rest assured that they are making decisions with proper knowledge. In implementing ERP, organisations no longer have to create their own applications that are then unique to their company. They now have standard software available for their business processes, referred to as Best Business Practices (BBPs), which came into existence around the same time as ERPs. BBPs are general guidelines to assist companies in the way of handling certain business processes, meaning that each company can now improve itself on the basis of the experience of other corporations that share similar functional processes (SAP, 2007, cited in Revia, 2007). It seems any organisation would be hesitant to implement a system that has not proved to benefit other large organisations as the risk of failure is not unlikely (Moon, 2007). However, each organisation is unique so BBPs may not work for every organisation. .Some of the disadvantages of ERP are that the implementation requires time, costs and risks (Boudreau, 1999), as they tend to be â€Å"large, complicated, and expensive† (Mabert et al. 2001, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008, p. 3). ERP implementation calls for serious time commitment from all involved as it is often the biggest project that an organisation will ever face (Moon, 2007). ERP execution requires new procedures, employee training and managerial and technical support (Shang Seddon, 2002, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008), which can be accomplished through good communication of the corporate strategy to all employees (Umble et al. 2003, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). Consequently, the biggest problem is not actually the implementation itself but the expectations of board members and senior staff as well as not having a clear plan or realistic projections (Somers Nelson 2004, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). However, the UN has already proposed clear goals and plans for t heir implementation. The question is whether or not they will be able to successfully translate these goals/plans to all employees of the organisation and whether or not they will be successful. Finally, the importance of selecting the appropriate ERP package is stressed. Corporations must make sure they select the appropriate ERP package that will match their organisation as well as its business processes (Chen, 2001, cited in Finney Corbett, 2007). This seems obvious as every organisation is different. Some corporations strategise around providing excellent customer service while others focus on decreasing costs to customers as a way to attract more business. However, there are studies that show that customising ERP packages beyond minimal adjustments is discouraged; these studies show that organisations should adjust their processes to fit the package rather than adjust the package to fit the processes (Murray Coffin, 2001 cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). 2.2 Business Process Transformation (BPR): Definition, Evolution, and Implications Business process reengineering (BPR) was not very popular until the release of the book Re-engineering the Corporation by Michael Hammer and James Champy (Barker, 1995). Hammer and Champy introduced the term â€Å"Business process reengineering† in 1990 and defined it as a â€Å"fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed† (Grover Kettinger, 2000, p. 151). Business process reengineering is also defined as a strategic redesign of important business processes, including the systems and policies that support them, in order to achieve maximum productivity of an organisation (Manganelli Klein, 1994). This would suggest a link between ERP and BPR as they are both structured around the redesign of core business processes. In fact, some goals of BPR are the reduction of cost, cycle-time, defects, and the increase of worker producti vity (Hales Savoie, 1994), very much the same as ERP. The aim of BPR is to change current business processes in order to make them more efficient overall, again mimicking ERP. In fact, Some researchers suggest that ERP systems â€Å"are the major tools for making business processes better, leaner and faster through associated business process reengineering,† (Shang Seddon, 2003, cited in Revia, 2007, p. 25). It is not yet known whether or not BPR will be performed at the UN. It is assumed that it will as it is so closely related to ERP. Additionally, reports have shown that ERP often causes BPR to occur due to its very nature (Seebacher Juszczyk, 2002). It seems that in order for ERP to be most successful, BPR should be performed (Sumner, 2000 cited in Law Ngai, 2007), otherwise the UN may not recognise exactly which processes are most important for their operations. Or, they may not be fully aware of the exact way in which ERP should be performed in relation to the core business processes, which is vital to understand for the selection of the proper ERP package. BPR has its origins in the private sectors as a management tool for companies to deal with change and reorganise their work to â€Å"improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors,† (Hamid, 2004, cited in Wang, 2006, p. 5). Generally, business process transformation takes business processes and allows them to be done routinely through a computer system. It incorporates peoples perspectives and input to make sure that the processes fit needs specific to each corporation (Wang, 2006). This suggests benefits for ERP implementation in any organisation as the systems are supposed to be designed around core processes specific to each company. It would be helpful for the UN to determine which processes are vital to their operations. Furthermore, cutting operational costs should prove to be very valuable for the UN as many of the services it provides are non-profit. Of course, whether or not this will be achieved is a question of interest. Here is a further look into what a core business process is: A core business process is one that gives value to the customers or stakeholders of the company. These are the most important processes within the organisation and are the ones that will set a company above their competitors if done well. In order to figure out what processes are core, one may ask the following questions. 1) Does the process make valued contributions to the customer? Does it improve customer service, increase response-time, decrease customers costs? 2) Is it important for the production/operation of the company? 3) Can it be used for other businesses? If the answer is yes to one of these questions, then the process under consideration can be considered core (McHugh et al. 1995). The UN may consider any process involving cash flow to be core as that is a huge component to many of the services they provide. Furthermore, any documentation of information from one department to another is probably considered core as this organisation relies on data-sharing for its decision-making capabilities. Therefore, it seems that these types of processes will be affected by ERP implementation and will most likely be reengineered. The three most basic strategies that increase a business success are lowering prices, offering more value in products, or focusing on less diversity in commodities and specialising in a certain area (Berrington Oblich, 1995). This suggests that BPR would be structured around these strategies when reorganising core business processes. If the UN is restructuring using BPR, they are likely to focus on a combination of strategies. As already mentioned, the cost of operations is a huge factor for the United Nations to consider as they provide aid to many countries without expecting any favours in return. This implies they would focus on reduction of costs. However, the main reason they are an organisation is to provide services to those in need. That would suggest they would reorganise their business processes around the strategy of offering more value in their services. In implementing BPR, organisations are asked to choose five or six of the processes that are central to the operation of the company and focus on those to see the ways in which they can make them more efficient (McHugh et al. 1995). Concentrating on making sure core processes are completed to the best of the companys ability only ensures the organisation will do better. In the case of the UN, focusing on data-sharing and managing cash flow suggests an increase in the organisations efficiency as those components are vital to their operation. These changes would suggest benefits for both the cost-reduction strategy as well as providing better service to â€Å"customers.† 2.3 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Organisational Culture Organisational culture is a set of core beliefs, values, and behaviours shared by all members of one company, thereby affecting the productivity of the business. It is often described as â€Å"a pattern of shared assumptions produced and manipulated by top management† (Schein, 1992 cited in Boersma Kingma, 2005, p. 131). Organisational culture is influenced through many aspects, including leadership, personal characteristics, interactions of members, as well as tradition. Culture has visible signs and hidden insinuations. Visible signs include behaviour while the hidden insinuations entail morals and beliefs (Rousseau, 1990 cited in Cooper, 1994). The culture of an organisation is even displayed in the way certain processes are done as well as the outcomes of these processes, which will be examined at the UNDP in Kosovo. Because ERP systems involve most departments in a company, they change many business processes and thereby affect the more deep-seated organisational culture of a corporation. Companies that focus on incorporating their cultures into organisational efforts are said to have an edge in accordance with their productivity. Organisations can focus on culture and work with the people to shape new values, morals and work ethics. If employees are happy to be working for the organisation, they will be more apt to want to work, implying there will be an increase in productivity (Farbrother Marc, 2003). Enterprise resource planning can lead to changes in organisational culture e.g., ERP is implemented in order to increase productivity by changing current business processes (Deal Kennedy, 1982 cited in Cooper, 1994). These changes are maximal and cannot be simply brushed aside. When a company implements ERP, if the organisational culture is ready for the changes it will bring, the employees can work with the system to increase productivity. Consequently, the culture within the business must be one that can be made amenable for change (Nah et al. 2001 cited in Finney Corbett, 2007). There is the belief that positive and supportive attitudes of those embarking on implementation of ERP will actually bring about a successful transition (Chatterjee et al. 2002 cited in Law Ngai, 2007). However, if the culture has not been made ready for change or the employees are unwilling to change, the system will be less likely to succeed. A system cannot work if there are no users. â€Å"System implementation represents a threat to users perceptions of control over their work and a period of transition during which users must cope with differences between old and new work systems,† (Sternad Bobek, 2006, p. 285). The social setting of a company and its technology most definitely shape each other; they are hardly independent of one another (Boersma Kingma, 2005). A mistake companies frequently make is to presume that people can change their habits easily when in actuality such changes are considerably taxing for many people. These companies underestimate the effect ERP implementation will have on their employees. Many employees panic when nothing looks the way it used to, nothing works the way it used to, and they can no longer go through their workday with the previously earned sense of familiarity and assurance (Koch, 2007 cited in Revia, 2007). One study showed that it took over two years for users of the new system to forget the process problems they found initially and to gain new knowledge of the system (Seddon Shang, 2003 cited in Revia, 2007). A Chief Information Officer from Nestle sums up this concept very well—she says, â€Å"‘No major software implementation is really about the software. Its about change management†¦You are changing the way people work[†¦]You are challenging their principles, their beliefs and the way they have done things for many, many years† (Boersma Kingma, 2005, p. 123). It seems the best way to ensure that employees are on board with proposed changes is to make them aware of these changes. It is important for them to feel that they are included in the decision to create new values and procedures for the company. Otherwise, they will be clinging to the old culture and ways of doing things. The change will be stressful and forced rather than welcomed with ease. They should feel that the change is happ