Bmw’s Dream Factory and Culture Essay Example for Free

Bmw’s Dream Factory and Culture Essay The culture at BMW is an entrepreneurial culture which emphasizes creativity, risk taking and the bottom-up system of freewheeling ideas. The top-down management style is popular in Germany but not at the BMW. As soon as associates start working at the BMW, they will have the sense of the place, history and the mission of the company. BMW creates a working environment that promotes easier communications between leaders and employees. Every employee can contribute his or her ideas and creations via either formal or informal ways. For example, an employee sees his or her supervisor by chance on the way to lunch, he/she can tell this person of the idea which has just happened in his/her mind. More importantly, their voices and their ideas are heard, welcomed and brought into discussions and consideration. As a result, a car from BMW is often a production of thousands of impromptu brainstorming sessions. Furthermore, BMW cares for the benefits of its employees. It includes all employees in profit sharing. It has a plan that distributes as much as one and a half months’ extra pay at the end of the year to employees. The company also provides a high level of job security for its employees. Lastly, BMW also focuses on high-quality but practical products which meet the demand of consumers and are highly competitive with other auto producers. The company’s near-failure from producing impractical and expensive cars during the postwar time in 1959 was a big lesson for them. This near-failure is always retold and mentioned in all new orientations for the new associates. It helps to remind all employees at BMW of a lesson learned for the company in developing its plans in the future and ensuring that kind of mistake should never happen again. 2. Discuss the model of leadership illustrated at BMW. The model of leadership illustrated at BMW is the consideration model of leadership. The leaders at BMW have close relationships with subordinates that are based on mutual trust, two-way and open communications, and respect for employees’ ideas. The managers at BMW must stay humble and work closely with subordinates and their peers. The Leipzig factory, which looks like an art museum, is a very creative working environment that can make the communications between managers and employees easier. Managers at BMW are the ones who know to make the right questions to ask their subordinates, not the ones who have all the right answers. They also emphasize the satisfaction of their employees’ needs and provide as many benefits to their employees as possible. They are approachable and always willing to listen to their employees. They think if the employees are well motivated, better cars will be produced. . Discuss how the leadership model contributes to the culture. The leadership model at BMW shortens the distance between leaders and subordinates. The relationships between them are built on mutual trust. Employees can feel free to raise their innovative ideas to their managers anytime and anywhere. When the employees see that their voice is heard, they are more encouraged to talk. Moreover, the company cares for the employees’ benefits. In return, the employees are very flexible to contribute their best for the company. The employees do not mind working temporarily for months in another work location which requires them to be far away from their family. They are willing to work for extra hours without being concerned about overtime. In summary, the leadership model at BMW has made it such a culture that is quite distinct from other German companies. 4. Discuss why employees derive high job satisfaction at BMW. The employees of BMW derive high job satisfaction because their benefits are well cared of, their voice is heard and their hard work is highly appreciated. Also, their job security at BMW is high. Any employees, regardless of what grade they are, can contribute their ideas and their innovations to the company’s managers easily. There are no complicated, formal processes or procedures required to send their ideas to their management teams. Furthermore, when the company gets more profits, the employees will also be more benefited. Good working environment is developed and paid attention to. In conclusion, BMW’s employees are highly motivated so they are satisfied and willing to contribute more to the development of the company.

Women in the Military Essay examples -- Women in Military Essays

I am in favor of equality for women, just not when it comes to women in combat. There have been women in society doing heroic things since the Revolutionary war. There have been brave women in war posing as men so they could fight. There are a select few women who could handle war and combat. The negative aspects of women in combat outweigh the positive. Women should not participate in military combat. However they may join the military and served in traditional roles such as nurses and office staff. The difference between men and women is women are physically weaker, they have vital personal needs, and they attract male troops. Women are physically weaker. Their genetic structure is made differently than the males. Susan Brownmiller wrote in "Femininity" that "Men were straight-edged, sharply pronged and formidable, women were softly curved" (126). When I go to the weight room there are never any women lifting free weights. When they do, it is usually the bar only. Males generally lift at least forty-five pounds on each side of the bar. My friend was in the military for over thr...

Mother/Daughter Relationship in “I Stand Here Ironing”

There are numerous reasons why a child behaves in a certain way or why he or she grew up to be the person they are now.   Experts say that how a mother brings up her kid greatly affects the psychological thinking of her child.   Well, besides the other factors like race, environment, health, and education, they say that mothers have a great role in the nurturing of their child.   This is shown in the works, â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing† by Tillie Olsen and â€Å"Two Kinds† by Amy Tan.   However, it was mother-daughter relationship shown in these emotion-steering novels. In the first novel mentioned, â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing†, this featured a mother who let the so-called experts take care of her child.   She thinks that the experts know what is best for her child (http://litsum.com/i-stand-here-ironing/analysis001.php).   Although she does want to follow the rules of these experts but she was forced to do so because she does not have any other choice (http://litsum.com/i-stand-here-ironing/). However, the environment also plays a large role why she was forced to follow the experts in sending her child, Emily, to nursery at a very early age, and sending her to a recuperative home where she moves by numbers, where she was not free to do what she wants and Emily was not even allowed to have physical contact with her parents.   And during this time, America was experiencing the Great Depression.   It was hard for the mother to manage their home, take care of young Emily, and it was most difficult to work. And because she had to work, she did not have ample time to spend with Emily.   It even got to a point where she had to let her parents-in-law to take care of Emily.   It was also a huge adjustment when her mother remarried but things got worse when she had four younger siblings.   There was also a time when the mother was pregnant with her second daughter and Emily got measles.   She was not permitted to come close her mother for the safety of not only her mother but also the baby.   As for school, Emily performed not at all satisfactory. Having four siblings to take care of, she can only study at night when all of them are already asleep.   Not to mention that her brothers and sisters were the culprit for scribbles on important material and missing books.   Emily was not at all close to her mother no matter how her mother tried to be close to her.   Her mother was too busy doing other things that she had not been really in touch with her daughter. Emily was always left alone.   On the contrary, she had a knack for arts and comedy.   Though her childhood can be classified as bleak, she can be found shining through the art of comedy.   It is quite remarkable that Emily had made it through it all without the actual help and guidance of her mother.   Unexpectedly, she found her real self, what her passion was without the supervision of her mother. The latter novel, â€Å"Two Kinds†, was presented as a mother prompting her child to excel in all fields especially in the field where the mother thinks that the child has a lot of potential at.   It was a novel wherein the child was forced to follow what her mother wants her to be.   It was a novel wherein the mother takes control of the life of the child.   She will determine the future of the child.   And great depression and misery await if their wants are not obeyed.   It involves kids prodded to be stars and geniuses. Well, it is usual for mothers to want the best for their children.   Although, sometimes, it gets worse that the children are not allowed to make their own choices.   Why do mothers, not only mothers but the same goes for both parents, behave this way?   This may be due to competition with other parents that they have produced a genius.   Or it may be due to their wants as kids that they did not achieve, so they want their children to be what they want to be.   Sometimes, the child becomes a rebel due to this kind of bearing. The child rearing style of the two novels are not exactly correct but it was the best they can think of.   The first was too lenient while the latter, too strict.   Although both mothers idolize the famous Shirley Temple, the first mother let he child be what she wants to be, while the other wanted her child to be a star.   Furthermore, both daughters achieved what they want to be in the end, but in different ways.   One was hiding from her mother and the other, from rebellion.   It is queer enough to think that no matter how a mother brings up her child, it would be the child’s decision who she wants to be and how she is going to make it there. REFERENCES BookRags Student Essays on â€Å"Two Kinds† by Amy Tan. 2000-2006. http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2005/11/10/16231/007. I Stand Here Ironing Summary, Detailed Analysis. http://litsum.com/i-stand-here-ironing/analysis001.php I Stand Here Ironing Summary, Detailed Summary. http://litsum.com/i-stand-here-ironing/ http://www.angelfire.com/ma/MyGuardianangels/index9.html http://www.angelfire.com/ma/MyGuardianangels/index10.html http://www.angelfire.com/ma/MyGuardianangels/index11.html http://www.angelfire.com/ma/MyGuardianangels/index12.html      

The Is A Philosophical Theme Taught By Epicurus - 1306 Words

Epicureanism is a philosophical theme taught by Epicurus, this theme that stresses the goal of a joyful and a pleasurable life. In the Hellenistic Age, epicureanism was extremely influential. Epicurus, the founder of Epicureanism, is best known for his different personality, unlike all the other ancient philosophers, excluding Socrates (O Keefe). Epicurus accumulated a group of disciples and taught them, after that he became known as the â€Å"philosophy of the Garden.† The wisdom theory, epicureanism, is a form of the hedonism theory that describes different types of pleasure, different types of desires, the virtues, the importance of friendship, and death. Epicureanism is a philosophical theory that is a form of hedonism. Epicurus once said, â€Å"That the only thing that is intrinsically valuable is one s own pleasure; anything else that has value is valuable merely as a means to securing pleasure for oneself† (O Keefe). This quote from Epicurus shows that pleasure i s important to the value of happiness in life. But how is Epicureanism a type of hedonism? The answer is that, Epicureanism is a form of hedonism because they both believe that pleasure is what leads to happiness. Since they both believe that pleasure leads to happiness, the way to know the difference between the two is that hedonists believe that the people must find a way to increase their own pleasures, whatever they might include and Epicureanism is the belief that people must control their own pleasures basedShow MoreRelatedGreek Influence on Rome3191 Words   |  13 Pagessubjects into their everyday lives. One of the adopted subjects was philosophy. The Greeks had many great philosophical minds like Epicurus, Socrates, and Zenon. The two forms of philosophy that educated Romans were interested in, and supported, were Stoicism and Epicureanism [ (Shelton 421) ]. They gave Romans piece of mind and comfort, due to how relaxing the methods being taught were [ (Shelton 421 ) ]. In fact, Epicureanism had a lot to do with the idea that pleasure is nothing more than