Genocide in Rwanda Essay Example For Students

Genocide in Rwanda Essay The definition of genocide as given in the Websters College Dictionary is The deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group. This definition depicts the situation in 1994 of Rwanda, a small, poor, central African country. The Rwandan genocide was the systematic extermination of over eight hundred thousand Tutsi, an ethnic group in Rwanda, by the Hutu, another ethnic group in Rwanda. In this essay I will briefly describe the history of the conflict of the Hutu and Tutsi, the 100 days of genocide in 1994, and the affects of the massacre on the economy and the people of Rwanda. To fully understand why this slaughter occurred, we must first look at the history of the Hutu and the Tutsi. In the early 1900s, the Tutsi were placed in positions of power by Belgium, because they looked whiter. Governed by Belgiums racist way of thought, ethnic identity cards were introduced. The Catholic Church supported the Tutsi and the new social order and educated the Tutsi and imposed their religion on them. Though the population of Rwanda was ninety percent Hutu, they were denied land ownership, education, and positions of power. In the 1950s, the end of the colonial period, the Hutu overthrew the Tutsi government. The Hutu maintained the practices of ethnic division, and the Tutsi were forcibly removed from positions of power. Many Tutsi fled from Rwanda and were not allowed to return. Many Tutsi that stayed in Rwanda were killed. Supported by Uganda, the Tutsi formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a rebel army. The rebel army was anxious to regain citizenship and their homes in Rwanda, and began a civil war that lasted four years. The world wide coffee market crashed, and coffee being the main export of Rwanda, led to unemployment and hunger of many Rwandans. This, along with pressure from Belgium forced the Hutu to agree to share power with the Tutsi. This was a hoax, for the Hutu government was secretly planning revenge on the Tutsi. The revenge being planned was the extinction of the Tutsi. With help from Hutu extremists, hate propaganda, sub-humanization of Tutsi, firearms, and machetes were distributed among the Hutu citizens. The extremists assassinated the president for fear of giving in to the Rwandan Patriotic Fronts demands. Through these elements necessary for genocide, the killing began on April 6, 1994. Checkpoints were set up, covering the major routes and borders around Rwanda. These checkpoints consisted of Hutu military checking ethnic identity cards, if they were Hutu they lived, if they were Tutsi they were killed immediately. Many of the Tutsi gathered in churches, which were considered sacred, but they turned into slaughterhouses where many were massacred. The killing lasted for one hundred days. More than eight hundred thousand people were massacred, one third of the Tutsi population being wiped out. During this time there was no outside help from the United States or any other country. The UNAMIR (United nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda) were given orders to stay on stand by and were not allowed to intervene because they would breach their monitoring mandate. Eventually, though, the Rwandan Patriotic Front defeated the militias and the Rwandan army, and the genocide ended. Although the genocide is over, disease and war still plagues this small, poor country. Many Tutsi, trying to regain their lives in Rwanda, are still tortured and harassed by the Hutu. This is because there are many witnesses to the brutal crimes of the Hutu, and many have not been put on trial yet. Painstakingly lengthy trials have prevented many of the accused murderers from ever being put on trial. The Rwandan economy remains dependant on coffee and tea exports and foreign aid, and the economy suffers greatly from the failure to maintain the infrastructure, looting, and neglect of important cash crops and lack of health care facilities. Recycling Essay In conclusion, the 1994 massacre in Rwanda deserves attention. Many will argue that use of the term genocide is incorrect in describing the war of 1994. They argue that there were only two, true genocides in the twentieth century, of the Armenians, and of the Jews. This is only a matter of opinion. As the Websters College dictionary defines .

Prc Social Security Scheme Essays - Economy, Money, Finance

Prc Social Security Scheme PRC Social Security Scheme Major Characteristic of PRC Social Security Scheme - Only applicable to Chinese local employees - Local requirements may vary from locality to locality. Structure of Social Security Scheme - Pension - Unemployment Insurance - Medical Insurance - Housing National Requirement - Pension ?Decisions of the State Council Concerning the Establishment of a Unified System of Basic Old-age Insurance for Staff and Workers of Enterprises?(July 16, 1997) Structure of the Basic Pension Scheme - Requires mandatory participation by enterprises and employees; - Comprises 2 elements: a. Basic Pension Pooling Account b. Basic Pension Individual Account Enterprise Contribution - Maximum contribution of 20% of the total wages of the enterprises in general unless approved by Labour Bureau and Ministry of Finance. - For a foreign investment enterprise, the total wages only cover Chinese local employees' wages. - Among the 20% contribution: a. start at 7% of employee salary in 1997, to be gradually reduced to 3%, for contribution into the Basic Pension Individual Account b. 13% to 17% goes to Basic Pension Pooling Account Employee Contribution - Start at 4% of employee salary in 1997, to be gradually increased to 8% - Contribution goes to Basic Pension Individual Account National Requirement ? Unemployment Insurance ?Unemployment Insurance Regulation ? issued by State Council on January 22, 1999. Mandatory participants - Requires mandatory participation by enterprises and employees; - ?Enterprise? refers to ?Urban enterprises and institutions?, including: a. State-owned enterprises; b. Urban collective enterprises; c. Foreign investment enterprises; d. Urban private enterprises; and e. Other urban enteprises - ?Employee? refers to ?Staff and workers of urban enterprises and institution? Contribution - Employer contribution - 2% of the total wages of the enterprises; - Employee contribution - 1% of the employee's wage National Requirement ? Medical Insurance ?Decisions of the State Council Concerning the Establishment of a Basic Medical Insurance System for Urban Staff and Workers ? issued by State Council Mandatory participants - Requires mandatory participation by enterprises and employees; - ?Enterprises? refers to ?all urban enterprises?, including: a. State-owned enterprises; b. Urban collective enterprises; c. Foreign investment enterprises; d. Urban private enterprises; e. Government organizations, institutions; f. Social organizations; and g. Non-governmental non-enterprise units. - ?Employees? refers to ?employees of the above-mentioned enterprises? Contribution - Employer contribution ? approximately 6% of the total wages of the enterprises; - Employee contribution - 2% of the employee's wage National Requirement ? Housing ?Administrative Regulation on Housing ? issued by the State Council on April 3, 1999. Mandatory participants - Requires mandatory participation by enterprises and employees; - ?Enterprises? refers to ?all urban enterprises?, including: a. Government organizations, institutions; b. State-owned enterprises; c. Urban collective enterprises; d. Foreign investment enterprises; e. Urban private enterprises; and f. Other Urban enterprises. - ?Employees? refers to ?employees of the above-mentioned enterprises? Contribution - Employer contribution ? minimum contribution 5% of the total wages of the enterprises; - Employee contribution ? minimum contribution 5% of the employee's wage Local Requirements Local requirements regarding contribution ratios may be different from national requirements, which vary from locality to locality based on the relevant regulations stipulated by local governments. A Summary of contribution rations (expressed as a percentage of the employee gross wages) to social security funds in the following cities (as of July 1999) Social Issues

Free Essays on Mental Retardation Today

The AAMR also states that: People with mental retardation should not be eligible for the death penalty. This is not to suggest that people with mental retardation should not be punished when they break the law, nor does it suggest that people with mental retardation are not responsible for their actions. It suggests that people with mental retardation cannot be held culpable for crimes to the extent that the death penalty would be considered an appropriate punishment. There are several possibilities for miscommunication when a person with mental retardation comes in contact with a person in authority. The Arc has put together a list of some common responses that may affect a person with mental retardation's ability to protect their rights during police contact. The person may: not want disability to be recognized (and try to cover it up) not understand rights (but pretend to understand) not understand commands be overwhelmed by police presence act upset at being detained and/or run away say what he or she thinks others want to hear have difficulty describing facts or details of offense be the first to leave the scene of the crime, and the first to get caught be confused about who is responsible for the crime and "confess" even though innocent Up to day, 35 inmates suffering from Mental Retardation and other brain damage have been executed... Free Essays on Mental Retardation Today Free Essays on Mental Retardation Today The AAMR also states that: People with mental retardation should not be eligible for the death penalty. This is not to suggest that people with mental retardation should not be punished when they break the law, nor does it suggest that people with mental retardation are not responsible for their actions. It suggests that people with mental retardation cannot be held culpable for crimes to the extent that the death penalty would be considered an appropriate punishment. There are several possibilities for miscommunication when a person with mental retardation comes in contact with a person in authority. The Arc has put together a list of some common responses that may affect a person with mental retardation's ability to protect their rights during police contact. The person may: not want disability to be recognized (and try to cover it up) not understand rights (but pretend to understand) not understand commands be overwhelmed by police presence act upset at being detained and/or run away say what he or she thinks others want to hear have difficulty describing facts or details of offense be the first to leave the scene of the crime, and the first to get caught be confused about who is responsible for the crime and "confess" even though innocent Up to day, 35 inmates suffering from Mental Retardation and other brain damage have been executed...

Business Model and Strategic Plan Essay Example for Free (#3)

Business Model and Strategic Plan Essay Coffee (372) , Starbucks (158) , Strategic Plan (66) , Business model (48) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints Why do businesses need innovation is simple, the world is changing at a rapid speed and no one can predict what is coming in the future. Organizations are facing many new types of vulnerabilities everyday. Innovation helps to determinate the strategic management within an organization and prepares organizations for the unforeseeable change and to make the change. Although very organization have different priorities, or balance the unique issues of their own, ignoring the innovation, or implementing the strategic plan inefficiently can bring risks of losing key employees, inefficiency of the operation, and lose competitive advantages to the competitors. This paper will create a new division for Starbucks Coffee Co. Using this division as an example to explain the importance of the innovation in company’s vision, mission, and values, and how it related to strategic management. Starbucks Corporation, doing business as Starbucks Coffee, is an American global coffee company and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Today, with more than 21,000 stores in 65 countries, Starbucks is the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. And with every cup, the company strives to bring both their heritage and an exceptional experience to life. (Starbucks.com) Since the first Starbucks opened in 1971, the company has a goal to share great coffee with friends and help make the world a little better place. (Starbucks.com) To better server Starbucks Coffee’s customers, and provide quick and easy coffee for the people who have to fight the morning or anytime traffic, Starbucks coffee co. has purposed a new business model of Self Severed Coffee Machine. This new Machine will be located outside of Starbucks stores, shopping centers, and large office buildings to better server the consumers who does not have time to wait in line and get their favorite cup of coffee. In this tough economic climate, Starbucks needs to compete smart, this means to stay a step head on ensuring the best response to customers’ need and demand. It is often to see a line of customers either inside the store or in the drive through. While we appreciate the their patience to wait in line, we also share their frustration. It is our intention to ensure everyone loves his or her coffee. While we are proud that every cup is made to earn our customers’ satisfaction, we are also spending a considerable amount of time on making them. The Self Served Starbucks machine has an ability of produce majority flavors of the coffee, which our customer likes. Simply pay the cash, wipe the credit card, or scan the mobile Starbucks App on your smartphone, the machine will make a fresh brew cup of coffee in just 45 seconds. With this machine outside of store or mall, our customer can save time on waiting in line. Even more convenient, the machines outside of the office building not only can save our customer a trip to the coffee shop in the morning, also be able to enjoy a hot fresh coffee when they sat down by their desk. This new machine can ensure the competitive advantage by its product differentiation, more focused group on customer service, and operational efficiency. Starbucks’ mission is a reason for the company’s existence. With the unique style of combining both, our vision and mission statement is â€Å"to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.† (Starbucks.com) To align with this mission statement, our new division’s mission statement is to † bring the best quality coffee and convenience to our customers on the go, one machine at the time† This mission statement reflected the company value and beliefs to show our costumers that we care, it will also guide our employees on understand and establish what the company truly does. A good mission statement inspires employees and provides a focus and direction for strategic planning. While mission statements vary from organization to organization and represent the distinctness of each one, they all share similar components. (Mission and Vision Statements, 2010) The new division’s mission statemen ts include descriptions of Starbucks’ target market, the geographic domain, and concern for survival, growth, and profitability. Being the giant leader of the coffee and snacks industry, Starbuck coffee company needs to develop a strong strategic plan through the analysis of SWOTT. SWOTT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and trends. A SWOTT analysis identifies strengths and weaknesses within a company, and outside opportunities and threats. The most important parts of a SWOT analysis specify the actions that correspond to the elements the company identify. By using the results of the analysis to improve the situation of the new division, we can reduce the likelihood of developments that negatively affect the business while improving performance. (Smallbusiness.Chron.com) Starbuck is currently in the retail coffee and snacks industry. The  self-serve coffee machine will be able to satisfy customers not just a cup of coffee but also tea, water and juice, which Starbuck currently provide in the store. The loyal based reward programs provide customers with convenience, giving presents, and increasing frequency of the machine visit. Although there will not be any customer service involved, but the efficiency of leveraging technology with the capability of mobile App will still attract customers. The machine will provide extra ideas on the screen related to recycling and reducing waste; this is a great way to communicate with people about the social responsibility initiatives of the company. Due to the economic crush in 2008, this industry has experiencing a major downfall in sales. Because of the sensitivities to the macroeconomic factors, most of industry consumers have to give up extra expenses such as over priced drinks, snacks, and food. However, with economy slowly recover, consumers will start feeling the relaxation of the financial situation, it is safe to say, this industry will has a considerable amount of growth in the near future. With Starbuck having the most of market share in the industry, they have a monopolistic competition. By far the biggest threat the company face is the mature stage of the industry. Dunkin donuts, McDonalds, or Pete’s coffee are all the main pressure on Starbucks. Starbucks brand recognition and the convenience of the self-severed machines differentiates itself, the brand and the machine will draw more customers’ attention, gain competitive advantages for the company. The self-served Starbucks coffee machine will be located in some of the most prime and strategic location across the city such as universities, office buildings, and grocery stores. They will primarily targeting mid-income individuals and students. This strategy will gain competence due to the customer convince factor. The Starbuck coffee-pricing factor does pose a weakness to some targeted consumers; however, the self-severed machine will be 5% cheap because there are no labor costs involved. Expansion into a global market is an opportunity for these machines. Starbucks has a great growth potential in further expanding into the emerging and developing  markets. The company can leverage their size, experience, financial prowess and efficiencies to make new market share. (Forbes.com) Starbuck has putting significant amount of time and money on training their employees. Their employees are known for highly knowledge and experienced. They are the main assets of the company and they are provided with great benefits like stock option, retirement accounts and a healthy culture. This effective human capital management translates into great customer services. It was rated 91st in the 100 best places to work for by Fortune Magazine. (CNN.com) The internal threat for Starbucks currently is the change of life style and taste choices of consumers. More and more customers are shifting towards healthy foods and drinks; this treading can hurt the coffee culture of the company, even to industry in the future. The Balanced scorecard is a management system that enables organizations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action. It also provides an organization with feedback of both the internal business processes and external outcomes, which allows for continuous improvement of strategic performance and results. Develop the strategic objectives for the new division of the Starbuck in the balanced scorecard format in the context of key trends, assumptions, and risks. The strategic objectives are measures of attaining the new vision and mission. Below are the three strategic objectives for each of the four balanced scorecard areas identified (Financial, Customer, Process, Learning and Growth). How to gain the market share is the objective in financial perspective. This is aggressive strategy the new division can use to power our organization and weaken the competitors. The new † Self served coffee machine† can gain market shares by: One: New technology. This market has always been a high growth market, and high growth markets has less competitors, it means they will not fight our  efforts as fiercely. Two: Innovation. This new machine is absolutely a breakthrough innovative idea once it is release into the market. Innovation can help the new division obtain large market share. Three: Strategic Alliance. The new machine can advertise other products, which is great choice when drinking coffee. If the alliance company can help with founding, we can lower our coffee price. This is efficient way to lure customers from competitors. How do we create value for our customers are the objective for the customer perspective? Customers are the key factor to an organization success. Creating value for our customers in three ways: One: New Value. This is the most challenging way to impress customers. By setting new machines by the office buildings or school parking lots will be most convenience for people do not have time to stop for coffee in the morning, or anytime during the day. Two: More value. The machine will provide the same product as in a Starbucks coffee store, but cheaper. Three: Better Value. To expend on the existing value, the customer will be able to purchase snake from the machine. The addition product provided will simply delivering more powerful impact to consumers. PROCESS OR INTERNAL OPERATIONS PERSPECTIVE How we measure the new division performance? The new division will have its own survey attached to the machine. Customers are the top choice for us to know what does the new division do to make them come back for more. Also, customers can leave feedbacks and advice via Facebook, Yelp, or preferred  social Media. Our new division will make huge impact on the organization, because it will release the busy traffic in the morning for the store location. LEARNING AND GROWTH (EMPLOYEE) PERSPECTIVE There is no employees’ turn over or retention involved with the â€Å"Self served machine† However, the mechanics are needed for the daily maintenance and refill. The new technology will notify the mechanic department if the machine needs any attention or checkups. While having a strategic plan, mission and vision Statement is crucial for the new division, but crafting and developing this plan is only the half of the battle. To have a communication plan is one of the most important factors after the plan and analysis is finalized. Although the new division will not have any human operating the machine, there are still the needs of new policies and procedures to be carried out. The effective of these policies and procedures are most likely effect the success of the plan. For example, machines maintenance schedule, or refill of the machine. Failure to take communication plan into account can cause disastrous. Our new business plan is a comprehensive document that outlines key elements of how we going to operate this new division. The plan typically includes an assessment of the market and the competition, operating budget breakdown, and short and long-term business goals. (smallbusiness.chron.com) There are three suggest way to monitor and control our new plan: Any new business plans within an organization needs to be reviewed on a regular basis, especially the expectancy of the busy traffic with the new  self-served machine. The new division management needs to set a date, this can be quarterly or annually, to review the long-term and short-term goals. Conducting the comparative analysis will help to ensure the strategic plan is on the right path. The management team of new division needs to develop a new tracking system to assess how the sales are doing regularly. For example, if the target sales goal is 5000 cups per month, then track the sales weekly or twice a month to monitor and control the process. Monitor key elements frequently. Key elements of the business plan include research on the market and competition as well as revenue projections. Each of these elements is subject to rapid change, and the management team should remain aware of where you stand with regard to these issues. (Smallbusiness.chorn.com) COORDINATE BUSINESS AND MARKING PLANS Our new division will have both business and marketing plans. Sometimes, they overlap in several ways. For example, if the Marketing plans calls for a major launching campaign with the media, but the business plan’s revenue prediction rejects that plan, then the managers needs to revise the plan to stay on track. Ethical behaviors and organization social responsibility is one of the key factors to bring large benefits for the business. With the new self-served coffee machine, it attracts customers with Starbucks signature products, thereby to boosting sales and revenue. It will create more jobs, therefor, help with unemployment. It will also attract more investors and keep the company’s share price high, therefor, protecting the business and employees’ benefits. The fact is brutally simple: the accelerated change within the business world is unavoidable. Evidence shows in current business world, customers are changing their needs and interest each day, markets are relentlessly unstable, and competitors are more aggressively capture any chance possible at new ideas. With technology advances faster and faster, and modifying the traditional strategic management that it touches, Innovation has become what shapes the current strategic management trends, and the right strategic management is the key to business success. http://www.starbucks.com/about-us/our-heritage Mission and Vision Statements. r Business Plan. We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

Big 4 Writing Sample Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Big 4 Writing Sample - Personal Statement Example Upon obtaining the sources, I had to paraphrase each to avoid the most heinous academic crime of plagiarism. Thereafter, the most dragging and tiring parts emerged after the research process that I have conducted. The writing process of the paper was one of the most tiring stages of the whole project. Factors such as the coherence of the sentences and the paragraphs, the direct statement of arguments and the supporting statements that should always follow and the most basic grammar and usage that gives the academic paper its definitive quality were all taken into proper consideration. It took me the entire week to revise and edit the chapter that I have prepared for the dissertation. Writing in such a way that any layman could understand your publication is one of the most daunting challenges in the fields of academic discourse. One must always remember that being too verbose and being over academic in a particular research will not merit the writer good for he risks himself of being misunderstood by the general audience who will read and inevitably, criticize his work. Although those two weeks of my life seemed to be stressful and tiresome, the experience of it as a whole was a fruitful one for me.

Nature of Work Groups in respect to organizational behavior Essay

Nature of Work Groups in respect to organizational behavior - Essay Example The current business practices involve better management and handling of organizational projects. At present, we are seeing that training within organizations is transforming along with knowledge management projects, in hopes of enhancing corporate profitability. The enhancement of the business and corporate culture depends on the establishment and improvement of the workgroups. Organizations often pay less attention to individuals playing key roles in business and are more interested in how particular workgroups can effectively enhance performance, with a view toward establishing a better corporate culture. This outline establishes how this can be accomplished. This paper will present a comprehensive analysis of the work groups with respect to organizational behavior via an assessment of the role and contribution of work groups and a thorough analysis of their operational structure. This paper will also assess the diverse structure of work groups within business organizations. Most work groups share external and internal information, exchange data and expertise, discuss current trends, and provide information and feedback to organizational experts, customers, and others outside of the group. A structurally diverse work group is one in which the group members, through virtue of their dissimilar organizational roles, affiliations or positions, can elevate the group beyond the norm to serve as an exceptional sources of business knowledge. It is assumed that if group members of structurally different work groups connect in outside knowledge sharing, their expertise will be enhanced because of this dynamic sharing of information (Cummings-2, 20 01). Groups always play an important role in the development of an organization. However they have recently increased in significance as an essential component of organizational structure. In an effort to become accustomed to quickly varying environments, many work organizations have granted teams augmented independence

Abb Essay Example for Free

Abb Essay As a result the front-line profit center managers’ performance is getting affected. * The conflict between long-term technical development and short-term profits is making the situation worse. As per the Business Area’s concern, the COMSYS project should be given priority over other activities as this project, if successfully implemented, would enhance the operations and efficiency of our relays business across the world. However, the development of the project is affecting the daily activities of the company. The problem spilled-over to the regional transmission performance and thus allocation of funds to the project COMSYS (in this case investing in RD) rises as an important issue to be discussed. * Such an issue increases the difficulty in reaching to a decision. The more time we take in reaching to a conclusion; more will the performance of the company get affected. First of all, we need to ensure that the development of project COMSYS doesn’t affect the operations and performance of the company. Second, we need to allocate suitable resources like funds, workforce etc. or project COMSYS separately. Moreover, from the short-term perspective we need to implement the project as soon as possible as the resources allocated to the project would then be available for daily operations, and from the long-term perspective we would be able to eliminate the compartmentalized framework of the profit centers and thus form a common base of software and hardware. * In the current situation it would be difficult to achieve this goal as the priorities within the organization doesn’t coincide. Project COMSYS is important for long-term development of the organization and, thus, needs sufficient resources for its implementation. I would, therefore, request the committee to take the afore-mentioned points into consideration and carry this discussion forward and helps us to reach to a decision. 2. ABB’s Global Matrix: As mentioned in its annual reports for the year 1988 and 1989, the Chairman(s) has(ve) clearly mentioned about the strategy of â€Å"think global, act local†. Since the merger the ABB group has been following the philosophy of decentralization; its aim to be close to the customer, to have short-lines of communication and decision-making and clearly defined accountability, all are reflected in its matrix structure. The matrix structure was proposed by a 10-person top management so that it enables the group to achieve a balance between its global business focus through its 58 business areas with the market created by the 1300 local companies under the umbrella of several country-based holding companies. The structure focuses on the principles of decentralization and individual accountability with clearly defined responsibilities from business areas heads to regional and front-line profit center managers. The business areas were responsible for carving out strategies while the local companies were responsible for implementing the strategies and achieving the objectives. All the business area heads had additional responsibilities of their national company’s operations. Thus, the overall goal of the top management was to develop managers who can take leadership roles as a result of which â€Å"a self-driven, self-renewing organization† would be formed. One of the main reasons for the success of the matrix structure in ABB was proper communication of the philosophy by the top management to every single employee of the organization. Communicating values to the managers was given priority based on the belief that managers are loyal to values rather than to the company or a particular boss. The core values included quality not only in products but also in the organizational processes and relationships. The management emphasized on dedication to productivity and performance at all levels of the organization. The structure implemented was well in line with the overall strategy of the organization. With rapid acquisitions after the merger ABB grew bigger, spreading its operations throughout the world. The matrix structure, therefore, provided a platform for ABB to absorb the acquired companies and made implementation of its strategies in them easier. One of the important initiatives taken by the top management was to translate the company’s philosophy to specific task requirements for managers at all levels. Throughout the internal restructuring process it was ensured that the organization was not distracted from the market place. Important issues were delegated to teams consisting of front-line managers. The company also had a unique philosophy of resolving of problems wherein the problem, if escalated to the higher level manager, was pushed back to the team to resolve and to reach to a conclusion. This process enabled and enhanced the problem solving capabilities of the managers. In order to implement individual accountability, a transparent reporting system named ABACUS was developed to collect performance data for all the 4500 profit centers in dollar denomination. The business area heads did not stop with just crafting strategies, rather they were personally involved up to some extent in implementing the strategies and policies. The top management, also, was well informed of the daily activities as well as the performance of all its companies. In case any business underperformed, the top management would step in and demand explanation and offer help if needed, thus, giving proper attention to all its businesses. All the above mentioned points explain why ABB was successful with the matrix structures while many could not. Having explained the advantages of the matrix structure, I would like to mention few disadvantages which were prevailing in ABB too. 1. The complex structure with dual hierarchy sometimes leads to confusion and conflicts within the organization resulting in decreased productivity as is visible in case of the COMSYS challenge faced by Don Jans in ABB. . It is sometimes time consuming and delay in taking decision may affect the organization’s performance largely. 3. In such a structure it is difficult to ascertain accountability. The larger the organization, the complex the structure, thus, more difficult is individual accountability. 3. Management roles and responsibilities in ABB and Don Jansâ€℠¢s performance in ABB The management of ABB has been playing a vital role in the post-merger restructuring of ABB. The structure evolved as a pathway for the management to achieve its goal of operating in a global scale. It provides managers the flexibility and autonomy in taking decisions. The management was driven by policies made by the CEO, Percy Barnevik. The frameworks set by Barnevik were well implemented throughout the hierarchy, for example, Barnevik implemented â€Å"7-3 formula† which says that it is better to decide quickly and be right 7 out of 10 times than delaying action in search of a perfect solution. This policy was driven by the principle that the only unacceptable behavior is not doing anything. Under his leadership, the company grew rapidly with numerous acquisitions across the world. Nevertheless, the same philosophy, values were implemented in each of its companies. The matrix structure of ABB defined responsibilities for business area heads to work on the strategy whereas the front-line managers were held responsible for the daily operations of the local company. The managers were provided autonomy to the extent that they had control over their company’s balance sheet such that they inherited their results year to year and, thus, the top management had no say in the decisions regarding their company’s operations. This particular autonomy motivated many managers to perform better and better. As ABB was acquiring companies, it became important for ABB to ensure that the acquired companies imbibed the culture and values of ABB. The management took this as a challenge and ensured this by communicating the strategies and goals of the organization to managers from corporate level to business area heads to country level managers. One such regional manager for the relays division in the Coral Springs, Don Jans, who became part of ABB after the acquisition of Westinghouse in early 1989, had well-received the communication from the head of the ABB’s power transmission segment, Goran Lindahl, where he emphasized on the responsibilities of the local companies to implement the plans and achieving positive results. It was not an easy task for Don Jans and his team from Westinghouse to adapt to the culture of ABB, however, he found the management of ABB much supportive and involved as compared to that by Westinghouse’s. When first exposed to the philosophies of ABB, Don Jans found it to be much different than Westinghouse, where the decisions were taken by the top management, unlike ABB where he had the autonomy of taking the decisions. He found ABB to be much more flexible as the decisions were very much delegated and the organization was result oriented, i. e. he top management continuously monitored results of each of its companies, and would interfere only when the results were not satisfactory. Proper communication of the organization’s strategies to the managers was given importance as they were the ones who were responsible for achieving results. For Don Jans this experience was exhilarating, as he mentions once in a meeting where the corporate managers(for relays business) were presenting to his team â€Å"about how the industry was developing, where ABB wanted to be, how it was going to get there, and so on. †. Such meetings were received in a positive manner as they educated his team about the organization. Moreover, the meeting did not end there, the proposals for investing in relays business by his team were given proper attention, which further encouraged Don Jans to provide better performance. The matrix structure provided Don Jans with the flexibility of operations and taking decisions. Due to which the performance of relays business (of which Don Jans was in charge) had improved. With clear communication from the top management, he was aware of what was required to deliver. He used his experience in the industry to invest in a small-scale in microprocessor relays technologies as he had financial resources at his disposal. He used his freedom to improve the product lines of the relays division by broadening the microprocessor technologies experiment to solid state devices, and thus gave ABB a competitive advantage in the market where other players were taking advantage of the technology. Thus, Don Jans tried to improve the performance of the relays division by leaps and bounds by regular investment in newer and better technologies.