This is a Cooperative Learning Community (CLC) assignment. The purpose of this assignment is to analyze different types of legal damages and equitable remedies for breach of contract For the Topic 4 a

Everything is there

Everything is there. Can you help me understand this Business question?

3 pages in total
Case Questions. It is about WalMart’s failure in Germany. After reading the case, please write a paper that answers the following three questions:
Q1. Why did Wal-Mart fail? Be as specific as you can be.
Q2. Hindsight has 20-20 vision. Write a ONE PAGE memo to Mike Duke, President & CEO, International Division, Wal-Mart, that summarizes what marketing insights Wal-Mart should have learned from its German misadventure. Duke was in charge of all Wal-Mart international operations in 2006 when Wal-Mart decided to leave Germany.
Q3. Find one other country in which Wal-Mart was once active but which they have now withdrawn from. Conduct some research to find the reason(s) why Wal-Mart withdrew. Analyze how these reasons for market withdraw from the country you chose compared to Wal-Mart’s withdraw in Germany. At the end of your analysis list all the sources used to develop your answer. Do NOT directly quote any of the articles you use. Summarize things in your own words.
write for me this assignment and be careful with the instruction and write it simply and clearly. Also, no outside source, just the one article I uploaded.
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Notions of Probability Intuitive in Young Students Discussion

essay writing help Notions of Probability Intuitive in Young Students Discussion.

Hello there, I need help answering these questions. The book called: Reconceptualizing Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers, Third Edition
(Sowder, Sowder, & Nickerson, 2012). The Prompt is below:Once you have read 27.4 Issues for Learning: Research on the Understanding of Probability and “Is Chance Fair? One Student’s Thoughts on Probability,” respond to the following questions in paragraph form.1. From the research, what notions of probability seem to be most intuitive to young students? Give a specific example. 2. Are there any concepts that, according to the readings, need to be more explicitly taught to young students? Name at least one and provide an example of how it can be incorporated in school curriculum.3. What is your initial reaction to the readings? Is there anything that struck out to you? Why? Be specific in your response. Let me know if you need any other info.Thank you.
Notions of Probability Intuitive in Young Students Discussion

Task Based Approach to Language Learning

The past decade has witnessed the advent of task-based instructional approaches in different names including problem-based learning, situated learning and case-based learning. Though varied in names, they all seem to have one thing in common; they get learners involved with tasks or problems as contrasted with more traditional topic-centered curriculum approaches. (Merrill, 2007). Proponents of task-based learning believe that learners involved with real-world problems form appropriate schema and mental models as they collaboratively solve problems and reflect on their experience. Task-based instructional approaches have been widely adopted across a wide variety of discipline areas including medical training, social work, design, and language learning. This paper will discuss the implication of the task-based approach to second language learning where the method has been increasingly adopted and tried in many language classrooms across the world in the recent past. In this paper, the impact of task-based language learning will be explored with special regard to adult learners whose distinctive characteristics make task-based approaches more plausible and beneficial. Task-based instruction is a small, yet fast growing, trend in contemporary second language teaching. To give an example, the ERIC database shows over 120 articles on this issue since the beginning of this millennium. In order to discuss task-based learning properly, it is important to understand what the term ‘task’ means. Task has been defined by various researchers including Nunan (2004) who wrote that “a task is a piece of classroom work that involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language” (p.9). Earlier than Nunan, Jane Willis (1996) defined task as “an activity where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome” (p.23). While definitions vary somewhat among scholars, they all emphasize that pedagogical task involves “communicative language use where users’ attention is focused on meaning rather than grammatical form” (Nunan, 2006, p.17). Stemming from the constructivist theory of learning, task-based instruction has emerged in response to the limitations of the traditional PPP (presentation, practice and performance) paradigm (Ellis, 2003). While the PPP approach is relatively straightforward and well-structured to be easily understood by both students and beginner teachers, it has also been criticized considerably for the characteristic that it is far too teacher-oriented and over controlled. Furthermore, the trend of globalization has urged educators and governments to improve communicative competence among second language learners, and the PPP approach has not been effective in fulfilling the mission. Short, Harste

Project On The Effects Of Absenteeism Management Essay

The differences in people (diversity) are very important as it strengthen the quality of the company (Gibson and Littlewoods, 2005). Poor management does not cause only absenteeism but a set of problems may surface. To control absenteeism, it has to be determined first. Measuring may range from clocking in clocking out system to office attendance register. When it comes to control, management are required to think outside the box. There are many control measures that can be put in place but their drawbacks should be known so that maximum benefits of each option used are reaped. Control measures for absenteeism range from incentives to punishment, but each method used should consider the environment in relation to benefits and costs associated. As absenteeism is a warning to hidden problems, management are fully responsible for investigation. However, a certain level of absenteeism may be necessary as some of the causes are beyond the employee’s control. Preamble Absenteeism is a form of organisational mischief. To consider it that way, a myopic approach will be taken and henceforth, stifles organisational performance. Why people absent themselves from work? Not all elements of organisational culture are more visible and readable although some are (Schein, 1985). Absenteeism is good! A good manager should welcome absenteeism as by itself is not a problem but a pointer to the problems that may fail the organisation to attain its goals and objectives. What sinks a ship isn’t what sailors can always see, but is what they cannot see (Hellriegal, Slocum and Woodman, 1998). Employees register their displeasure in the work environment through coming to work late, conflict, late submission of reports, formation of informal groups, unwilling to take extra responsibilities and absenteeism. Given the negative effects absenteeism may cause on the organisation, management should improvise best ways to mitigate its effects. A certain level of absenteeism is desirable as some causes of absenteeism are natural (Yorges, 1996). However, absenteeism, for the health of the organisation, it must be managed. Both employer and the employee must fulfil the demands of the psychological contract. Causes of absenteeism Causes of absenteeism can be classified as voluntary; being factors that can be avoided by the individual and involuntary; these are factors that are beyond the individual’s control. Relations conflict result in dysfunctional behaviour (Robbins, 2003) that may lead to absenteeism. Since conflict tend to keep people away and absenteeism is no exception to this. Low worker morale and poor working conditions affect attendance negatively. Other causes of absenteeism are: Transport problems Poor physical fitness Poorly structured job Poor supervision and inadequate supervision Personal problems like childcare , marital and substance abuse Work load imbalance ( work overload) Effects of absenteeism on organisational performance and work order Absenteeism has two-fold effects. Although Albensi in 2003 coined out that absenteeism is a major contributor to indirect costs (productivity and disruption of scheduled work), one can view it as a pointer to real problems (positive side of absenteeism). Following Albensi’s thinking and looking at the negative side of absenteeism, the following can be said. No matter whether absenteeism is voluntary or involuntary, the need for work reschedule has to be done. Work reschedule will entail two aspects which may: Hiring another person do the work while the job incumbent is away. The organisation will be obliged to pay for both (in the case of involuntary absenteeism) people and hence increasing the wage bill. Furthermore, administrative costs associated with job rescheduling and hiring of new personnel. Newly hired personnel will require training in order to copy up with the assigned task and to offer services according to the company’s guidelines. What will happen to productivity during training? Employee learning curve should also be considered since experience is developed over time. The second option will be to hand-over the work to existing employee. This option will result in work overload with possibilities of affecting quality negatively. Poor quality of goods/services will result in customer complaints and hence drive away business to the competitors. In addition, overtime will result since the work will be above the normal work load. Techniques to measure absenteeism Having analysed the causes and the possible impact of absenteeism on the organisation, it is now imperative to find how its presence or absence can be determined. Clocking system: As a way of measuring and knowing who is in and who is not in, employee clocking system can be used. To avoid abuse in some cases, special machines (biometric) may be used to detect each individual. People will need to be told beforehand the benefits of the system so that it gets acceptance. Analysis of wage bill: The analysis of wage bill and manpower requisition from departments (line managers) is also another valuable source of absenteeism measurement. The increase in wage bill of contract workers will be vouched back to departmental requisition, and this will tell whether the contract worker was replacing absent staff or not. However, it is a tedious work which may require extra time for those working in finance and /or human resources department. Percentage absence: In percentage terms, absenteeism may be measured as follows; Number of working days lost x 100 Average number of employees x number of workdays This measure will determine the total absence of all employees and it will be difficult to attribute such absence to individual employees. The measure provides the overall absenteeism percentage for the organisation. Call rate to switch board: Number of unanswered calls (bounced back to switchboard) when transferred to individual’s extension/desk. When an employee is absent from his/her desk, calls will bounce back to switchboard. When call analysis is made, it can be used to determine the absent rate of a certain individual at a particular time in moment. This measure may not give objective measure since it will even record absence although the office bearer may have visited the toilet at that time. When the system of measurement becomes subjective, it leads to low morale and to some extent conflicts. Frequencies of disruption of scheduled work: Absenteeism undermines order (Watson, 1999). The number of times the scheduled work is disrupted because of the need to reschedule as a result of employee absents. A work reschedule log book has to be opened to maintain a record of such work reschedule and their nature. Absence frequency: The Company can as well use the following method to ascertain the absence frequencies of their different employees over a certain period of time. The method works out the number of days lost per employee when is it multiplied by average duration of absence. Number of absence spells Week/month/year Daily attendance office register: The log in of staff when they report for duty and after work (log out) may be used to determine the absence and attendance rate of each individual worker. For the best outcome in measurement of absenteeism, at times, best results are obtained when a combination of two measures are used at once. Robust in measurement systems is of paramount importance to ensure objectivity. Management of absenteeism There is a point when absenteeism becomes undesirable (absenteeism above sector level), which hinders the attainment of company’s goals and objectives. To remain focused, management will be required to mitigate its effects without affecting staff morale negatively. Management in trying to solve the absenteeism issue should bear in mind that employees value both work and non- work factors and hence the two affect employee motivation. The main absenteeism management techniques may be broadly categorised as: Incentives and non incentive Punishment Incentives and non incentive Psychological model recognise employee attendance as a function of motivation and ability (Steers and Rhodes, 2005). As noted by Thorndike in 1911, there is a direct correlation between employee attendance and motivation, furthermore rewarded behaviour is more likely to be repeated. When employers are meeting both psychological and written contracts, attendance improves except for involuntary absence. When desirable behaviour is rewarded, employees will feel motivated (Skinner, 1953). From the above, one can conclude that rewards (cash, promotion, awards, and bonuses) play an important role in combating absenteeism as proved by both behaviour reinforcement theory and psychological model. Management must realise that a mere attendance must not be rewarded for, since it does not help the organisation to achieve its goals and objectives. Therefore, attendance and performance must be aligned together in coming up with a rewarding structure of the staff. Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) Problems that cause absenteeism emanate from work (harassment and violence) and home (illness/drugs and relationship problems). Management should therefore ‘fit in their employees’ shoes’. This can be done through offering free counselling and where possible in case of illness, medical bills may be met by the employer. Change in work place Changes in work environment may also cause employee absence. Behavioural modification (Lewin, 1940) may be used to change employee’s behaviour and attitudes. Employees need to be involved (Jenster and Hussy, 2005) in all processes of change that affect their working conditions. The reason why change is done and the impact on staff should be clearly elaborated. Acceptance of new working practices should also come with incentives so that it may be integrated within the existing system with fewer problems. The dominant culture will be discarded and the method may face a drawback if some spheres where staff are not ready for change and at the same time not willing to exchange change with incentives. Flexible work arrangements The flexible work arrangements may help in two ways which are increasing level of motivation and encourage individuals to attend. Flexible work arrangements will also help easy competition between work and non work factors of absenteeism. In 1973, Hewlett – Packard pioneered this idea and in 2004, most of the U.S companies had adopted it. The wide adoption of flexible work arrangements shows that it brings positive results in terms of staff performance and the organisation in totality. Management should also consider the cost associated by being flexible. Flexibility may require among other things, job share and a certain number of employees (above the normal), telecommunication, compressed work weeks and flexi time. Company should do cost benefit analysis since costs like training and development and pensions may not be ignored in implementing this work system. Good leadership and management style Poor leadership and management style that do not involve staff in decision making may result in absenteeism. A good leadership and management style that is people oriented gives ownership to staff and hence discourages staff absence. The success of Virgin Group’s Richard Branson and Apple’s Steve Jobs is based on their good understanding of staff which makes them to apply appropriate techniques in problem solving. Involvement of staff as a way to reduce absence, must be scrutinised as staff involvement entails twofold aspect; more time is required and staff are not used to decision making. According to the contingency theory on management, the appropriateness of a particular management skill will depend on the circumstances surrounding. Work redesign Redesign of work may improve staff attendance as in some cases, staff absent themselves from work because of boring work. Job design, management style and scheduling of work affect absenteeism (Bond, Flaxman and Bounce, 2008) and these should be evaluated from time to time whenever there is absenteeism issue. Work/job design will involve job enlargement and job enrichment. It also took a knowledgeable manager to realise that the cause of absenteeism is in job design. In practice, it’s difficult and will require some form of job evaluation and the affected person to reveal the cause. Team work and communication The empirical evidence shows that team work and effective communication can reduce staff absenteeism. There is direct relationship between communication and absenteeism. Management are required to make use that whenever there is something to be communicated to staff, appropriate channel and jargon are used. In addition to this, communication should not be one way but a two way so that feedback will be provided. For example, a manager may ask his /her subordinate to do something, but the subordinate is not given opportunity to respond whether he/she can do that. If in some cases, the subordinate sees it unfair, he /she may voluntarily avoid that by not coming to work. The team work bond play a crucial role in motivating staff and hence attendance. Clear goals and objectives Absenteeism may be alleviated by setting clear goals and objectives. Staff have to be involved and where necessary explanation be given to them. There are situation when goals and objectives are not clear resulting in conflicts. The success of Apple and Virgin Group is a clear testimony of clear goals set by Jobs and Branson respectively. Clear goals will put the staff in picture of what is expected from them in terms of working times, performance standards, leave days entitlement and sick leave system. When these are known the incidences of abuse due voluntary absenteeism may be avoided. Health promotion and wellness programmes Why companies run health and wellness programmes when they cost so much? Executives and management are focused, what is happening now does not really matter, but what matters to them is for how long (in the future) the situation will remain like it is now. As some of staff absence is caused by illness, provision of health and wellness services within the organisation can reduce absenteeism. The ability to combine work and play (Kets de Vries, 2007) remains a source of motivation and hence promotes staff attendance. Health promotions programmes may include education on smoking and drugs. The benefits that are likely to be derived include quitting of smoking and drug abuse by some of the staff leading to a health organisation. Companies like Netone and Econet in Zimbabwe has taken these initiatives and employee absence is on decline. Wellness programmes are the most favoured by most organisations as they reduce not only absenteeism but stress also. Such programmes are earmarked at lifestyle promotion and they include gyms. Johnson