Nestled between the Alps and Jura mountain ranges, the Swiss city of Geneva is awash with colourful parklands and sparkling blue waters, making it one of the most picturesque places in Europe. Add to the mix a medley of medieval squares, historic sites of interest and a vibrant cultural programme, and it is easy to see why so many people travel there.

Known as the Peace Capital, Geneva boasts a huge range of museums, art galleries and attractions to enjoy, as well as an unparalleled range of parks and gardens to explore. Located at the crossroads of Lake Geneva and the Rhône River, the walking opportunities are a definite highlight, as is the magnificent Jet d’Eau Fountain and the English Garden’s Flower Clock.

In addition to the numerous sights to discover, Geneva also plays host to an exciting array of annual events, meaning that whenever you choose to visit the city, you are guaranteed to find something to tickle your cultural taste buds.

Perfect for the family, the Circus Knie is a great event to attend. The country’s main circus, and one of the most famous in the world, it sets up camp in Geneva for three weeks every summer. Offering up a wealth of different acts, including some unique animal performances, the circus has been run for over 200 years by various members of the Knie family. Bursting with entertainment and excitement, it is not to be missed.

Equally enjoyable is the Fete des Vendanges Russin. Located approximately 20 minutes from Geneva, in the quaint wine-making village of Russin, this annual two day event is the perfect place to indulge the senses. In addition to tasting the local wines and food specialities on offer, you can also soak up the live guggenmusik music and frolic on the fairground attractions! Established in 1963, it has steadily increased in popularity, with more than 15,000 visitors attending each year.

Back in Geneva, the La Batie Festival is another event well worth attending. Attracting both local and international performers to the city, it offers up a packed programme of music, theatre and dance acts, as well as a number of art installations. Spread across 20 venues, and with a host of special bars opened up for the festival, the event is as popular with the locals as it is with visitors.

There is a huge range of other events taking place throughout the year, which combined with the plethora of tasty eateries and lively bars, makes the Peace Capital a must-see city. So, if you are searching for that perfect European break, complete with idyllic backdrops, world-renowned attractions and filled with culture, look forward to the wide range of Geneva flights and hotels to accommodate you on your trip to Switzerland.

Related posts:

1. Long Beach Events: Plan Your Vacation Around a Local Festival or Special Event
2. Phoenix Events Serves Up a Potpourri of Cultures
3. Summer events in Venice

Hundreds of thousands of learners are casualties of ineffective, inaccessible, under-funded, and poorly managed educational systems. Although idealistic and controversial educators and learners are already tackling educational challenges in amazing ways, much more constructive action is required.

This article is about the education of learners of all ages to become what they aspire to be through whatever means made available. What are our aspirations for education? The following points are meant to get us thinking, talking, creating solutions and taking action – envision this:

Taking up the challenge: Communities are taking on the educational challenge and are making a big difference in their own communities and as far as they can reach, assisting learners in creative, innovative, collaborative ways and sharing their insights with other communities worldwide.

Ignited: In communities,  there is a strong desire to thrive and prosper, for social awareness, tolerance, change, self-reliance, sustainability, environmental consciousness, synergetic collaborations, efficiency and achievement of common, as well as individual goals.

Inspiration: Educators are thinking outside the box, are in touch with the real world, and are inspiring their students beyond what is considered typical – enabling learners to make their mark in the world.

Making a difference: Entire communities are making a difference. They are bringing great achievements, and create opportunities for members of the community who aspire to educate themselves further.

Media coverage: Media coverage is highlighting the positive impact of community education achieve all around the globe. Extensive, well structured and concise information about community education solutions are freely available on the internet. Long discussions are summarized – focused onto pivotal points.

A great future: Learners are aware that the ‘education system’  has a great future in mind for each one of them, providing them with real world knowledge and individual attention where needed.

Empowering: We are making incredible progress by empowering and developing learners and educators and every member of the community and are determined to continue providing them with what they need to grow and develop into life-long self-educators.

Can-do approach: Motivated learners are able to learn no matter what their academic backgrounds are or where they come from and educators and peers are helping them believe that anything is possible.

Imagine: What impact will we have on educational systems if we demanded that our elected leaders send their children to those institutions? It would demand radical improvements and it will inspire them to spend money on and focus on activities that will be in the best interest of themselves and their followers too!

Self-reliance: Learners focus on being transformed into independent learners as soon as possible, and take personal responsibility for their education, by seeking out more opportunities for themselves and others. Self-education is encouraged and rewarded.

Activities: Communities and individuals are investing the time, money, and effort to improve educational systems and are achieving compound benefits. Communities and individuals are changing or improving any conditions that doesn’t have the desired impact.

Resources: The required resources – time and money – are made available by leaders, commercial sponsorships and philanthropists to educate learners efficiently and help them become independent learners – self-educators and educators.

Encouragement: Individuals are encouraged to persevere with their education and become what they aspire to be by educators, and the community at large and have many channels for finding assistance with their learning where needed.

Making a Difference: Educators are set on changing or improving the attitudes and lives of learners for the better.

Facilities: Communities are setting up learning centers and sports facilities and investigate how to utilize any underutilized facilities more efficiently.

Independent: Independent learning solutions are providing opportunities to learners and are improved on all the time through input from learners and educators.

Connecting: Educators love what they do and are interacting with learners in a engaging ways, challenging them, making learning fun and relent – teaching them only what they need to know.

Inspiration: Educators inspire learners through their own passions and willingness to learn and explore new possibilities and points of view, which makes learners want to learn more and work harder and be more open minded.

Coaching skills: Learners are taught to actively coach each other within the learning environment, which greatly improve efficiency of education.

Life skills: Learners are able to express their outlook on and expectations from various aspects of life in open discussions, and are provided with constructive input from educators. Life skills activities include developing goal setting, assertiveness, communication skills, negotiation skills, anger and stress management, sexuality, health, safety, cultural awareness, people skills and more…

Mentoring: Members of the community are motivated to provide short-term mentorship interventions to put learners on the fast track towards achieving their goals.

Understanding: Educators ensure that they have a good understanding of each learner’s aspirations and expectations, and what life looks like through their eyes. Educators ensure that they understand the backgrounds, challenges and survival strategies of learners.

Critical insights: Learners learn to value their own insights, to challenge their own assumptions, to critically analyse ideas they encounter and to become aware of a multitude of points of view.

Difficulties: Educators assist one another to find ways to get through to learners who have learning difficulties, who have been in trouble with the law or have other circumstances which makes learning difficult.

Counseling: Learners are assisted to overcome any debilitating fears, to come to terms any blows life has dealt them, to build up their self-esteem and belief in their abilities, and are assisted to find answers to their questions about the future and how to achieve their goals. Learners are educated about their behavior and how to improve it.

Open mind: Learners are keeping an open mind to a viewpoint and belief that everyone has the capacity achieve their goals through persistence, learning and practice.

Transform: Educators transform learners through interpersonal activities. Educators empower learners by providing them with knowledge and  assignments which give them a voice, enhance their confidence, and help them to be upstanding citizens in the community.

Excellence: Educators encourage excellence and exceptional performance in students and students model their behavior on the expectations of the educators and the community. Learners are respected by educators and they are respected in return.

Community: A sense of community, prosperity, support, wholeness and culture is enhanced and each learner has access to a support network in their community and via the Internet.

Volunteering: Volunteers and funders assist in planning, producing and delivering learning programmes. They teach basic  fundamental education at informal group workshops or one-on-one. When learning basic literacy – reading, writing and communication skills – learners of all ages are hosted in the same room and are able to assist/coach one another to grasp new concepts.

Solutions: Creative research is done, bringing thoughtful conclusions, and results in setting up accessible, inspirational learning environments and support systems that work.

Unconventional methods: Educators and learners work towards creating their own educational opportunities, by developing unconventional methods for providing education.

Taskforce: The entire community is tasked in finding ways to reach, retain, motivate and educate learners.

Skills required: Life skills, academic subjects, appreciation for and practice of art, culture and literature, behavioral sciences, media, writing and editing, dancing, martial arts, yoga, sport and more…

Learning-culture: Life-long learning became a culture and ever member of the community is participating, collaborating and reaping the benefits.

Challenges

At present, the education-futures of many learners are looking very bleak and there are no quick and easy answers… It takes time and energy to challenge the norms and taking on the challenges. Let’s find out what all the challenges are and how we can face up to them:

Coping or not?: Educational-wise we have to cope with challenges such as:- poor funding and buy-in from leaders, unsupportive and blatantly destructive media, illiteracy, unemployment, poverty, dysfunctional family situations, neglected children, abuse, violence, drugs, school drop-out rates, intractable bureaucracy, cultural issues, gangs, peer pressure, hygiene, safety, environmental challenges, intimidation and aggression towards educators and/or learners.

Underperforming: School systems are deteriorating and unsupportive and are impeding the educational process of hundreds of thousands of learners to crisis proportions. Many are providing inadequate basic skills levels, very low mastery of subjects and are producing more drop-outs than graduates.

Survival mode: Many learners are left to their own devices once they drop out or graduate with inadequate skill levels, and despite the odds actually manage to find ways to survive anyway without a solid education. They are forgotten by a system which failed them, but deserve an opportunity to gain further education made relevant to their needs.

Uninterested: Learners often become disinterested in furthering their education, as in some cases they are skeptical about what an education can do for them if it is not in touch with reality. Some individuals working in low-income jobs, believe that they will never gain another opportunity to learn and do not aspire to gain further education and improve their income.

Street life: Once off the streets, learners might still experience strong peer pressure to fall back into the street life, street gangs, alcohol or drug habits.

Knowledge gaps: Often learners and even educators have extensive gaps in their general knowledge which hamper their progress and effectiveness.

Training educators: There is a growing need for ways to effectively develop educators – educators also need to learn how to question their own assumptions and be more present to the specifics in a situation.

Liberating educators: Many education systems limit the educator, which results in lack of enthusiasm, passion and energy for the task at hand.

Undermining: New educational solutions are often systematically undermined and used as corporate/political pawns instead of focusing on making a difference for as many learners as possible.

Unresponsive: Some learners cannot or do not want to respond to the solutions provided, and there aren’t any alternatives available for them – they are difficult to reach.

Bureaucracy: Caring, well-meaning educators are often frustrated by existing systems in their efforts to teach or nurture learners. Educators find it difficult to go against the institution when their job depends on maintaining the status quo.

Now, we know a lot about learning, the challenges involved and what a brighter future will look like. Are we doing the best we can or are we just coping? What is the next action we can take?

From world-wide evidence, it looks like we (communities) will have to be the change that we want to see – and non-profit organization structures are ideal vehicles. Let’s get involved and get much more great things to happen for learners! Let’s take on the challenges of our educational revolution in full force!

Do you perhaps have a list of non-profit organizations working in the field of education which you could send to me? Please send me your insights on this subject.

http://www.earthchildproject.org/

Related posts:

1. The Glades Arts and Crafts Community of Gatlinburg, Tennessee
2. The Sad Case of Humans Not Learning The Lessons of History – Dutch Tulip Craze and South African Milk Culture Type Ponzi Schemes Are Still With Us
3. Artisan Community Events

A cowboy is no “boy” as it sounds but according to the Webster’s dictionary, a cowboy is “somebody who is hired to take care of the cattle, performing duties on a horseback, particularly in the western United States”. Although the culture has been popularized by many western movies in the past, the cowboy culture still exists despite the decline in themed movie-making.

Many cowboys still live across the US although the mode of their transport has modernized from a horse to four wheelers or pickup trucks. Tennessee cowboys are no different and have also gone modern themselves over time. Although the clothing like cowboy boots, the western gun holster and transport modes have changed, the Tennessee cowboys still follow the same rules, code of conduct and standards that were set by the cowboys of the earlier generations.

Changing times have changes the perception of a cowboy somewhat. This change has been partly because of the western movies and partly due to the changing technology and times.

Tennessee Cowboys

The original cowboys of Tennessee were soldiers form the American civil war that had lost their homes and did not know where to return to and hence drifted west generally since at that time the west was a wide open and barren country and men only carried what they could on horsebacks. These lost men were then often hired by ranch owners to look after their livestock in order to tend to them and round up the wilder variety from their midst. When the cattle were ready to be slaughtered, the cowboys were responsible to round them up and herd them to the markets that were miles away.

This era lasted for almost three decades during which the Tennessee cowboys who also herded cattle became folklore and made a lasting impression on the American history. A cowboy is not necessarily the one who sports a wrangler and boots, along with wide-brimmed hats that carried guns. As the Tennessee cowboy folklore is more about a way of life and it defined living life with utmost passion and to its fullest, even in movies we have generally seen a cowboy as the one who was free to go anywhere on the prairies with nothing or no one to stop him. This depicts the freedom that life has to offer to anyone who is willing to take it.

The cowboy culture is what every American hangs on to, even today. Although the Wranglers, boots and hats will never go out of fashion and the country music will always sound as sweet, collecting the cowboy relics and cherishing them everyone in America immense pleasure. To adopt this, we do not need to wear a pair of Wranglers or hang on to boots and hats, having a great passion and living life to the fullest is what matters as far as the Tennessee cowboy culture goes.

If you want to have a feel of this western way of life and want your kids to know more about their history, there can be nothing better than a family trip to Tennessee. Let your kids have a look at the cowboy lifestyle by visiting a ranch and participating in the activities there.

Related posts:

1. How Egyptian Artwork Represents Real Presentation of Human Actions
2. The Glades Arts and Crafts Community of Gatlinburg, Tennessee
3. Understanding the Culture of an Organization ( Organizational Culture)

Lynn Visson makes the following statements in her book, ‘Wedded Strangers’:

“The body language of Russians and Americans are different. Russians stand closer than Americans. They look directly and unwaveringly into your eyes.”

“Russians are long winded. Americans are short and to the point. Russians think that giving a short answer is impolite, as if they had not given the matter enough consideration. Americans think a long answer is impolite, as if they are boring the other person and wasting their time.”

At our wedding, my wife wanted me to give a long-winded toast to her parents. I was to tell them of the story of how we met. I was to thank her parents and her ancestors for bringing life to her. I was to make a toast to all of her relatives and friends.

We were married in America. Her parents, friends, and relatives were not in attendance. I explained to my wife that in America, the custom was that other people made toasts to the wedding couple. They did not toast each other.

We had some Russian friends in attendance who made toasts in Russian to us. My best man tried to make a toast in Russian that no one understood. The Americans didn’t understand the Russian. And his Russian pronunciation was so bad that the Russians didn’t understand him either.

However, none of that satisfied my wife who would accept no substitute to a long-winded toast to her from me.

Related posts:

1. Cross Cultural Communication Web Tools – Company Hierarchy
2. Small Business Outsourcing and Cultural Differences
3. There Are Sharp Cultural Differences Between Christian and Non Christian Peoples

How To Start Making ($100) (Per Day) Or More Quickly and Easily With Your (Blog). CLICK HERE NOW!

Yes Virginia, There is an Allegorical, Metaphorical, and Culturally Neutered Santa Claus

By Jack Deal

As a tyke I remember Santa Claus and the big to do at Christmas. Maybe it was more important back then…today the affluence and indifference of our modern angst has probably diminished both Christmas’ and Santa’s influence.

If marketers in fact invented Santa then they did one heckuva job. From the earliest times I could remember ‘what is Santa bringing you this year’ or ‘did you write Santa a letter yet? ‘Have you been a good little boy this year?’ My relationship with Mr. Claus was certainly not atypical of my time and space; all the other kids bought into the same argument. I also understood that Santa’s gig was unconditional and even if I had done a few naughty things he would most likely overlook them. Ho, Ho, Ho…which if we are to understand, means something totally different now.

As I got a little more world wise and got out and about, especially starting to play with other kids and go into their homes and see whole new families, I began to wonder. Some of the kids said Santa was a fairy tale and others said their parents didn’t believe in Santa so they didn’t either. Others said it was stupid to write a letter to Santa because parents buy the gifts anyway.

Not believe in Santa? Not write the obligatory wish list? My God! As a four year old it was hard to imagine how anyone could not like the guy…what was there not to like? But there were always those smart aleck kids that would say things like ‘we don’t have a chimney here in Florida, is Santa going to leave us out?’

Of course not I would reply defending his scruples, Santa didn’t leave anybody out. Santa was an equal opportunity distributor. But there was something fishy as the evidence slowly came in that it was in fact ma and pa who went to the store and bought the gifts; not Santa making them up at the North Pole with a bunch of elves and delivering them in an anti-gravity delivery sleigh.

Then, like millions of other baby boomer kiddies, I came to the stark and unbelievably cruel conclusion that Santa did not exist. Upset and shattered, I cried to ma that it looks like my man Santa was a cruel hoax hoisted on me by those that thought it funny to tell little boys lies. Oh, cruel world!

Thank goodness for ma. Had it not been for her I would have lost all faith in humanity for ever right then and there and become a hardened cynic. Creating something like Santa and then taking him back, especially from four year olds, just did not seem like the American thing to do. It wasn’t fair play.

It was clear to me back then that little babies came into the world not knowing anything and pretty much everything they know is taught to them by their loving families. Why would these loving families tell them such a lie?

Ma finally confirmed the news that Santa did not come down the heater vent. In fact, Santa did not bring any of my presents. People invented Santa because they needed him and needed to believe in something like Santa. It was a nice story in the old days and we keep telling it today; sort of make believe to make us feel good.

Whew. Thank goodness for ma setting Santa straight for me. I was beginning to wonder if I was wrapped right which is a bit much for a four year old that has just started to get out into the world.

Things changed with my son. By the time he came along everything was hip and cool and Santa was becoming even more popular. But my son never came and asked was Santa real. He knew the answer already.

Sure the concept of Santa has changed over the years. The sheer amount of commercialism has made even Santa a bit trying at times. Santa as a concept sort of faded into the background as I raised a family and traveled the world.

A Santa concept. Hmmm…

The latest brain research lends great credence that concepts created by the mind can in fact become the mind’s reality. Hmm… Does that mean that if the concept is accepted by the mind it in fact becomes reality? Depending on which cognitive behavioral expert you ask, the answer is a ‘probably so’.

So at this point, Virginia, we can say that Santa probably exists, at least in some people’s psyches. That is a big step up from sheer myth and fantasy. If people way back created Santa because they needed him maybe we can do the same. And maybe we need to.

So here Virginia I have evolved full circle from total belief, shocked disbelief, reality assessment, and on to conceptual integration and assimilation. Or something like that.

Maybe it’s the crazy idea of some gone cat unconditionally handing out toys to every kid in the whole wide world. Maybe it’s the hope that someone like Santa could do such deeds and not have a hidden agenda or secret business plan.

Yes Virginia, Santa exists in the frontal lobes and cerebrum of every child that lets him go there. So don’t forget to write your letter to Santa and hang your stocking near the heater vent. And don’t feel badly when your insensitive intellectual friends make fun of you for believing in fairy tales.

Just tell them fairy tales are culture and culture is us. Rest assured that our dear friend Santa Claus will always exist as long as we need him to.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Jack D. Deal still believes in Santa and is the owner of Deal Business Consulting. Related articlesmay be found at http://www.jddeal.com and http://www.freeandinquiringmind.typepad.com

Related posts:

1. Wildlife Artists of Maryland and Virginia
2. Facts About Santa Fe
3. Thoughts on ART Santa Fe

Inulin Plants that Limit the Intestinal Absorption of Carbohydrates: yacon, Jerusalem

Food plants contain different types of polysaccharides. Starches are very common, they are carbohydrates of which the basic molecule is glucose (glucose polymer). The human digestive system is able to digest (depolymerize) starches, and easily absorb all the glucose. In Fructan as inulin, the basic molecule is fructose. This type of polymer-based fructose is not absorbed by the digestive system because the digestive enzymes can not degrade it.

Only our colonic bacteria can transform some of the equivalent Fructan molecules. Dieticians are now interested in inulin plants (Fructan) because they provide few calories while inducing satiety effect (an appetite suppresser). In addition they maintain the intestinal flora diverse and active which facilitates transit and keeps the colon in “good health” (a probiotic).

What are the plants Fructan (inulin)? The root of chicory and dandelion, the rhizomes of quackgrass or asparagus, tubers of Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) and yacon (Polymnia Smallanthus sonchifolius = sonchifolia).

The Jerusalem artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus, is a plant in North America, highly resistant and adaptable to many very poor lands. It was introduced in France prior to potatoes but was less successful despite the easiness of its culture. We can eat the underground tubers raw or cooked.

The yacon (Polymnia Smallanthus sonchifolia sonchifolius =) originates from the Andean region of South America, it contains more inulin than Jerusalem. It is almost unknown in Europe even though it grows in most temperate countries. You can eat the tubers raw or cooked. Some studies have shown that consumption of yacon allows, in addition, controlling moderate diabetes type 2. It is possible to find extracts from yacon on the international market (dried root powder or strips)

Sweetening Plants without Sugar: Stevia, Rubus suavissimus.

The attractiveness of humans to sugary foods is clear and universal. Yet the sugar is a relatively recent food, related to the development of plantations of sugar cane and beet sugar. The ubiquity of sugar (sucrose or other sugar industry) in the modern diet is partly responsible for the increase in obesity, tooth decay and diabetes type 2.

Why not replace these sugars through natural foods, producing the sweet sensation, but without calories or cariogenic risk?

We know at least two sweeteners plants: Stevia, Stevia rebaudiana, or sweet herb of Paraguay, and China sweet bramble, Rubus suavissimus. Asian countries that produce little sugar have adopted them such as (Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Malaysia), but the West does not know them because the lobbies of sugar and aspartame (sweetener sweetness) are powerful.

The leaves of these plants contain glycosides (stevioside for Stevia) having a great sweetening power (about two hundred times the effect of sugar). We use tea leaves or extracts of leaves in the diet (in Asia it is even the coca Stevia). The interest of these plants is not limited to their sweetening power which allows them to replace the sugar in a diet or slimming, they have other medicinal properties: anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, anti-allergic, anti-hypertensive. Both plants can be grown in Europe.

Plants that Increase Hepatic Activity, Purifying Plants:

dandelion, artichoke, rosemary, Mary thistle, turmeric, hercampuri (gentianella)

The liver is a very important gland in the regulation of glucose metabolism and blood lipids. Those overweight or obese have often an exhausted or malfunctioning liver when it is not steatosic in the manner of a goose liver that is stuffed. Thus we must stimulate the liver and its biliary excretion to accompany dieting. Hercampuri is a plant of South America mainly used in Peru.

Related posts:

1. Why Foot Care Treatments Need not Stop During the Wintertime
2. Greek Cuisine: the Olympian Gold Standard
3. A Mediterranean Diet Means Healthy And Tasteful Weight Loss

Motivation

Human beings, as individuals, are very complex in their psychological make-up. When they interact with one another in groups and in large organizations, the complexities are multiplied. In this effort to guide and direct others, the manager must first of all acquire an understanding of why people act as they do. Why is one employee sparkling and cheerful, whereas another is downcast and sullen? Initially it’s important to know that all human behavior has a cause. There is a reason for a person behaving as he does. The successful leader is a one who can uncover these causes and take steps to correct them. Bawling out an uncooperative worker doesn’t get at the cause. This constitutes treating the symptom only.

Motives are the mainsprings of action in people. The term “motive” implies action to satisfy a need. Motivation is an inner strivings of individuals that direct behavior; it’s a willingness to expand energy to achieve a goal or a reward.

The motivation process centers on needs, which produce motives that lead to the accomplishment of objectives. Needs are caused by deficiencies or imbalances. Motives, or stimuli, produce an action taken to satisfy the need. In the motivation process, the achievement of the objective satisfies the need and reduces the motive. When the objective is reached, balance is restored; of course, other needs then arise. The motivation process then must satisfy these new needs.

The types of rewards that an organization offers its employees play a critical role in determining the level of motivation. In addition, rewards have an impact on the quality and quantity of personnel that the organization is able to recruit, hire, and retain. Organizational rewards include both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.

Traditional theory of motivation is based on the assumption that money is a primary motivator – employees will produce more for greater financial gain. It evolves from the work of Frederick W. Taylor and others in the scientific management movement.

In “The human Side of Enterprise” Douglas McGregor outlined two opposing theories of work and motivation. Theory X is the traditional approach to workers and working which assumes that people are lazy and dislike work, and they have to be both threatened and rewarded. It assumes that most people are incapable of taking responsibility for them and have to be looked after. Theory Y, on the contrary, assumes that people have a psychological need to work and want achievement and responsibility.

Later theorists argued that Theory Y makes such greater demands on both workers and managers than McGregor realized. Abraham Maslow, for example, spent a year studying a Californian company that used Theory Y and concluded that its demands for responsibility and achievement are excessive for many people. Even strong and healthy people need the security in order and discretion. Managers can’t simply substitute Theory Y for Theory X. They have to replace the security provided by Theory X with a different structure of security and certainty.

Abraham Maslow (in his book entitled “Motivation and personality) put forward the need hierarchy theory. In his theory, h identified certain basic human needs and classified them in an ascending order of importance. The needs of an individual are said to exist in a hierarchy as follows:

Physiological needs (these were things required to sustain life like food, water, air, sleep etc…) Security needs (these are the needs to be from danger, physical pain and loss of job, they include the needs for clothing and shelter) Social needs (a human being need to belong to a group, to be liked and loved) Esteem needs (people want to have self-respect and to be esteemed by others. They have a need for power, status, respect and self-confidence) Self-actualisation needs (these are the highest needs, according to Maslow. They are the desire to develop, to maximize potential and to achieve one’s goals).

Maslow said that people satisfied their needs in a systematic way. When a need had been met, it stopped being a motivating factor. Research into Maslow’s theory hasn’t been very conclusive. Studies have tended to show that needs vary greatly among individuals. At the higher levels in a company, self-actualisation needs may be very strong whereas at lower levels, social and security needs may be dominant.

It’s logical to suppose that things like good labour relations, good working conditions, good wages and benefits, and job security motivate workers. But in Work and the Nature of Man, Frederick Herzberg argued that such conditions don’t motivate workers. His hypothesis is referred to by several names: motivation-maintenance, dual factor, or motivation hygiene theory. The conditions aforesaid are merely “satisfiers” or, more importantly, “dissatisfiers” where they don’t exist. “Motivators”, on the contrary, include things such as having a challenging and interesting job, recognition and responsibility, promotion and so on. It’s worth nothing that the hygiene factors refer to the context of the job and the condition of work while the motivators refer to job content. By the hygiene factors Herzberg meant company policy and administration, salary and fringe benefits, quality and supervision, relationship with colleagues, job security, status and work conditions. Herzberg maintains that motivation comes from within the individual, not from the manager. Herzberg’s motivation-maintenance theory is closely related to the need hierarchy theory of motivation; thus, it is subject for many of the same criticisms. If his theory is true, it means that managers must pay great attention to job content. They must find ways of making jobs more challenging and interesting.

As a result managers in the USA and elsewhere have recently been showing great interest in job enrichment programs.  The increasing the content of individual jobs is proposed to increase worker satisfaction and the meaningfulness of work. Job enlargement, job enrichment and job rotation are three basic approaches to defining job content.

Job enlargement is an attempt to reduce boredom and increase the meaning of work by increasing the number of operations in a process performed by a single worker. The theory behind job enlargement is that combining tasks reduce boredom, increasing task variety and strengthening the worker’s identification with his or her job.

Job enrichment is an attempt to give workers more control over their tasks and more responsibility for design, execution, and output. The worker assumes some of the functions previously carried out by his or her immediate supervisor or by other staff.

Job rotation is a practice whereby each employee learns several operations in manufacturing process and rotates through each in a set period.

The idea of such programs is to make jobs more challenging and to give the worker a sense of achievement.

The preference-expectancy theory implies that motivation depends on the preferences and expectations of an individual. This theory emphasized the need for organizations to relate rewards directly to performance and to be sure that recipients desire the rewards.

The reinforcement theory of motivation by B. F. Skinner is based on the idea that reinforced behavior will be repeated and behavior that is not reinforced ill not be repeated. The theory assumes that the consequences of an individual’s behavior determine his or her level of motivation.

Equity theory is based on the belief that employees will take whatever actions are necessary to produce feelings of equity with respect to their jobs. An important point regarding equity theory is that an individual’s feelings of equity are based on his or her perceptions of inputs versus outcomes.

However, even with the development of computers and robotics, there are and always will be plenty of boring and repetitive and mechanical jobs in all three sectors of the economy, and lots of unskilled workers who have to do them.

So how do managers motivate people in such jobs? One solution is to give them some responsibilities, not as individuals but as part of the team. Other employers ensure that people in repetitive jobs change them every couple of hours, as doing four different repetitive jobs a day is better than doing only one. Many people now talk about the importance of a company’s shared values or corporate culture, with which all the staff can identify: for example, being the best hotel chain, or hamburger restaurant chain, or airline, or making the best, the safest, the most user-friendly, the most ecological or the most reliable products in a particular field. Such values are more likely to motivate workers than financial targets, which ultimately only concern a few people. Unfortunately, there is only a limited number of such goals to go round, and by definition, not all the competing companies in an industry can seriously claim to be the best.

Cultural diversity

Managing a truly global multinational company would obviously be much simpler if it required only one set of corporate objectives, goals, policies, practices, products and services. But local differences often make this impossible. To be true multinational an organization should operate in at least 6 countries and have no less than 20% of its sales or assets in those countries. And it also should think internationally/ It means that management should have a global perspective. It should see the world as inter-related and inter-depended.

A fairly obvious cultural divide that has been much studied is the one between, on the one hand, the countries of North America and North-West Europe, where management is largely based on analysis, rationality, logic and systems, and, on the other, the Latin cultures of southern Europe and South America, where personal relations, intuition, emotion and sensitivity are of much greater importance. There are some examples of what happens when manages do not take foreign conditions into account in a book entitled International Business Blunders.

Managers working abroad need various skills. Of cause, it is a great advantage if they know the language of the country they are working in. But this is not the most important requirement. They need above all human relations skills, an understanding of the other culture and the ability to adapt.

In some countries such as Canada, the USA, Britain, Germany and other are essentially individualist. In such countries status has to be achieved. A young , dynamic, aggressive manager can quickly rise in the hierarchy. While in most Latin and Asian cultures status is automatically accorded to the boss, who is more likely to be in his 50s or 60s than in his 30s.

In northern cultures, the principle of pay-for-performance often successfully motivates sales people. The more you sale, the more you get paid. But the principle might well be resisted in more collectivist cultures, and in countries where rewards and promotion are expected to come with age and experience.

So, differences in cultures are very important when a manager is negotiating in a foreign country. Those who working abroad  must remember that a deal is not always a deal. In some countries, a person may say yes to proposal simply to be polite.

Related posts:

1. Managing Cultural Diversity – A Key to Organizational Success
2. Cultural Diversity in the Classroom Equals Language Success!
3. Road Trip to Cultural Diversity: A Map for Language Learning

Why is culture a key concept here?

Culture originally was agricultural in perspective. Webster’s definition said:

“1. The act of tilling and preparing the earth for crops; cultivation; the application of labor or other means of improvement.

2. The application of labor or other means to improve good qualities in, or growth; as the culture of the mind; the culture of virtue.”

Originally it was the earth which was in need of manipulation through the work of culture. In the social sense it related to the need for applying improvement to man. For man, the body and the senses need to be cultivated and improved.

What part of man needs improvement?

Man needs cultivation of the culture of his mind. Secondly he needs cultivation with regard to virtue training.

Why is there a problem with the culture of man anyway? The mind was deadened because of sin. The effect of a corrupt mind is the absence of or perverting of God intended virtues. The naturalist sense of culture is man’s attempt at social structuring to overcome or excuse this corruptive aspect. But because of the deadness of the mind, long term efforts based upon natural resources are without effect, strength and durability. The nature of man is destructively perverse.

Originally man did not need cultural cultivation.

Originally God created the heavens and the earth and God declared his creation “good”. (Genesis 1:25) When the creation of man was mention God declared that it all was even “very good.” (Genesis 1:31) That means that in his original state, man was not in need of cultivating.

Why do we need cultivation today?

We learn in Genesis chapter three, that a major change took place. Things ceased to be “very good.” Man chose to disobey Gods direct command. By doing so we learn that he chose to try to become as God rather than to enjoy Him and enjoy what had been prepared for man. This was a direct act of rebellious insurrection. The penalty, about which man was warned of ahead of time, was death. Spiritual death came immediately. This spiritual death is evidenced in that man discovered himself to be naked. Man was no longer comfortable to enter into the presence of a holy God. Innocence was gone. Physical death eventually followed.

The Bible records that mankind desperately needed cultural cultivation from that time forward.

The corrupted culture of man almost immediately included murder, and all kinds of wickedness. During the next nearly two thousand years, the ways of man became so bad that it was observed in the following passages:

Genesis 6:5  “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Genesis 6:6  “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”

God determined  “Genesis 6:7  And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”

Genesis 6:8  “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”

1 Peter 3:20  “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”

There are apparent limits to man’s ability to develop culturally.

God then destroyed the world with a great universal flood. The evidence of this is in every nation and land. Of mankind, Noah only and his three sons and their wives were saved from this terrible judgment in a huge ship which they built. But after the flood, we see that the nature of wickedness continued in mankind. This characteristic was seen in deadness and separation from God. Selfish interests began to flourish again.

Was there need of cultivation in man then? Is there need of cultivation in man today? History is replete with every manner of story and example.

Man did no better even after the flood.

At Babel, mankind gathered and rebelled against God. They refused God’s command to disperse around the world and to repopulate the world. God dispersed them by dividing them into people groups by language. They had no means to unify and so they dispersed. In the following years they still sinned when they continued to live in their nations according to what was right in their own eyes.

Then God called Abraham to live separated from the world. He was picked to develop a new culture. Abraham was to become a great nation of peoples who were to show forth the glories of God. They, as they walked in obedience, would be protected and cared for by God. The rest of the world was to learn from them. They were to demonstrate by their work and the life style what was necessary to enjoy the blessings of God.

As we read the history of Israel, the nation, we begin to learn that they had a body of commandments in the Scriptures. They were motivated by blessing and chastisement.  Yet, they repeatedly sinned against God. Eventually the nation ceased to be a viable entity even though they received eternal promises. Over time they failed the test. When Messiah came to set up His kingdom, they rejected Him, and God dispersed the nation under Titus the Roman general. They would have to wait for another time. Personal responsibility under this plan of culturization failed.

In summary, living according to conscience failed. Family influence failed. Human government failed. Having a separate nation living according to theocratic rule failed. Having a nation living under the rule of a human king failed. Even living under the captivity of a foreign nation did not correct them.

Then began the Christian era.

Israel was set aside as a nation but not forsaken. Christ came and died for man’s sin as a substitute in punishment. He extended to those who turned to Him for new life an opportunity to live with the Holy Spirit in them.  Upon His resurrection from the dead and then ascension unto God the Father, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to gather out a people who were to be born again. They were not to be a nation among nations. They were to become a part of the heavenly kingdom, yet they were to be but pilgrims and sojourners here in this world. They were to call out those who would hear and receive the Gospel of salvation from sin and the sin nature, to become a part of the kingdom of heaven.

What were the options for the called ones?

Those who were the called out were no longer citizens of this world but citizens of heaven. They were to have their own culture. This culture would be one of holiness, even as God is holy. This holiness came by a new means. The Holy Spirit of God would now dwell in them and fill them with His nature. But to enjoy promised blessings, they must willingly yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit. They must allow their lives to be filled with His presence. But such opportunities could be lacking if they were to grieve the Holy Spirit or quench His ways in them.

The cultural development of the Christians is possible if Christians will follow but two commandments.

Mark 12:30  “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

Mark 12:31  “And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

The world’s rule for life is contrasted.

These two commandments in every way set apart the Christian from the rest of the world. The world follows this rule:

Isaiah 22:13  “And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.”

They follow this rule even during times of impending judgment. God will not always be long suffering with days of wickedness. Such a philosophy of personal indulgence shall not continue indefinitely. The world calls this “hedonism.” Hedonism is the doctrine that “pleasure is the chief end of life.” (Winston-Universal Dictionary, 1944)

Self pleasure is inward. It is selfish. It leads to abuse of others, even their death. Hedonism is declared by some to be a prime motivation of Generation X. Some deny this by saying that they do public works. But look at the total of their motivations and activities, and it is easily recognizable. But it is also recognizable in other generations too. Each generation exercises their corrupt cultural traits by pampering themselves according to their selfish interests.

Conclusion

A Christian is to act like a Christian. A Christian is to live according to a different culture. He is to live with all his attentions focused upon his God. His actions are not to be selfishly motivated. His motivations should be directed to caring for his brother, his neighbor, and even his enemy. All of this is to be God glorifying, and purposeful according to the scriptures.

There are two basic cultural trends in this world. One shows obedience to our Creator; the other is according to disobedience to our Creator. One is to glorify man according to his selfish imaginations. The other is to bring glory to God our Creator. Anything that does not please or glorify God is the way of death. While the world is involved in a cross-cultural frenzy, no cross-cultural intermixing is allowed for the Christian.

Related posts:

1. Small Business Outsourcing and Cultural Differences
2. Cultural Differences in Communication
3. visit to Peoples Republic of China

Here is another web tool for you to use in your cross cultural communication.

Company Hierarchy

Some cultures expect you to pay more attention to a company hierarchy than others. They need to be able to identify the leaders. They might only want to speak to the person with the right title or who is at an appropriate level for them. Very often cultures will only work on a peer to peer level.

There are some cultures that respond better with stronger communication on company hierarchy. These are cultures with a strong belief in authority and hierarchy.

Cultural barriers will pop up if you don’t work towards these needs in your foreign culture.

As you get to know your foreign markets, pay attention to their needs in being informed of your company hierarchy. You may not need to change what you already have on your website.

Do some online market research in your target country to see how other local websites present their company’s hierarchy.

You might want to:

highlight your executive team a little differently

present your company’s executives in a different way.

include other members of your staff.

be careful how you translate job functions

Determine what your foreign market needs and give it to them.

The Right Touch

Remember…

These web tools are not sure solutions to barriers that will pop up in your cross cultural communication. You will need to find the right mix of tools to communicate effectively with your particular markets.

Different things drive the different cultures. Everyone has their own communication style, and needs. It is seldom a simple mix, you have to work to make sure you are actually doing the right things.

This is not about whether to put any reference to company hierarchy on your website or not. You need to test:

the most appropriate place to display information on your website

how your website is viewed in your target countries

There are other tools you will need to highlight as well. Luckily it is easy to test results with online marketing. As we go through this series of cross cultural communication web tools, use the knowledge you have on your foreign markets, do a little foreign market research and test your own mix of these tools.

Related posts:

1. Basic Outline for Cross Cultural Online Marketing
2. The Natural Cross Cultural Vision of a Third Culture Kid Can Power International Business Expansion
3. Cultural Differences in Communication

When you are looking for graduation party ideas there are lots of possible themes and ways to set up the party. There may be some natural reasons that you should pick a particular theme and set up. You may live beside a wonderful beach, you may have a venue such as a skating arena available or you may have a open house party in mind, for example. There are lots of reasons for choosing a particular theme and a particular party set up.

The party arrangements can make a lot of sense depending on the circumstances. The Project Graduation idea is excellent. The totally safe lock in environment does seem to have a lot of support. The focus on safety, responsibility and enjoyment is quite excellent. Taking over a shopping mall for example is a big undertaking in terms of budget, decorations, catering, games and entertainment. If the party is at you home then there are man great themes you can use. If the party is at a beach, park or school gym then you would want to think about how to get the best party.

The theme ideas can be fairly standard. We may well all have been to 1970s, Mexican, Mardi Gras, Luau or sports theme parties, for example. Each theme can work well in most venues. However sometimes it is useful  to take a different view as to what would work best for your party. It may be that last year some of the standard themes were used, it may be that this year they are already taken or there may be some competition between parties so you need something different. Another view could be that you have a particular group of guests, or even your own family, who have a national background such as English, French or Brazilian, for example. The party could fit in with that country. Another way of thinking about the best theme is to consider the graduate’s interests and passions. For example, a sporting passion can make a great theme for a party.

One graduation party idea I do like is a London theme party. London is a vibrant city with a huge amount of history, theatre, arts, music and great people. The way that London is portrayed is as a trendy city that at times has been a cultural capital. The city has lots of amazing images like the Thames river running through it, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, red buses, black cabs and the Queen’s Horseguards. You could decorate a party using a lot of posters and photos of the mages you wish to use. You could have balloons, streamers and bunting just like a London street party. You can have travel brochures and London newspapers. Guests can dress as trendy Londoners or even Pearly Kings and Queens. The food can be ‘fish n chips’. The games can be all about London with charades and trivia being excellent choices.  The favors and game prizes can be toy red buses and black cabs. There are lots of other great things you can do at the party including play the current UK top ten music list.

I hope you take the chance to consider good graduation party ideas.

Related posts:

1. Bathroom Decorating Ideas – Ideas For Everyones Budget
2. Theme Ideas for Your College Dorm Room
3. Baby Nursery Decorating Ideas