Middle Eastern Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Middle Eastern Studies - Essay Example It is important to understand how the countries came to be and what the balance of power has been. But things are changing rapidly. By looking at the following three media sources, we can get a sense of what is happening and how modern people from the Middle East view the world. Haaratz is a liberal Israel newspaper. One of the main issues in Israel these days is the problems in Iran. Israeli government officials are plotting a potential attack on Iran. Haaretz, as a liberal voice, can sometimes be critical of this idea. There is clearly an emphasis on politics over other issues. The paper is not concerned with oil (as Israel has none) or youth issues. Much of the discussion is existential: how should Israelis live, how should they treat the Palestinians, etc. There is much opinion and much discussion in this newspaper, and many ideas are generated by it. It is a great example of Israel’s free press. There is no censorship of the materials—and the paper is frequently cr itical of the government. Tehran Times appears to be strongly influenced by government censors. The stories present the president of Iran in a favourable light. The paper also pushes a paranoid line, suggesting that Iran is surrounded by enemies which wish to do it harm. There is an article about Iranian prisoners who may be executed in Saudi Arabia. The attitude appears to be negative. The oil sanctions are clearly affecting the Iranian economy, and there are stories about this. Youth unemployment is high. Iran is suffering from the kind of huge demographic change which Richards talks about in his chapter. The old order is fading, but not fast enough. The old order still has enough power to put down uprisings, as they did in 2009, but this will last forever. One day they will fall and the consequences of this will be unforeseeable. Reading the Tehran times, it is clear that there is kind of siege mentality the people of Iran are suffering from. All of this is evident from the paper . It appears to be a sad country. The United States is considered to be an enemy, according to this paper. We can see how Iran is trying to build alliances with other misfit countries in the region. Overall, this is a depressing newspaper for a depressing country. Al Jazeera is like the CNN of the Middle East. It is based out of Qatar and provides regional coverage in a less biased manner than other local media. The headlines are often outward looking and focus on the international scene, but from the point of view of all people in the Middle East. The tone is a unifying and quite liberal one. It is clear that Al Jazeera is not the organ of any dictator or tyrant. They have done a lot to inspire the revolutions that have occurred over the last few years. They appear to support democracy and even women’s rights—ideas which are alien to many Arabs in the region. There is even some objectivity shown towards Israel. There is an emphasis on oil news as this the main commodi ty traded in the Middle East and the source of much wealth. Overall, the news is a bit soft-ball but it is clearly not censored by any government. The Middle East is a rapidly changing area of the world. Every month brings something new. All of last year the world focused on Libya. Now, with Gaddafi dead, the world has turned to watch the civil war unfolding in Syria. Only a few years ago, we all watched Iraq

Leadership and Organizational Behavior in Action Essay

Leadership and Organizational Behavior in Action - Essay Example The firm that is analyzed in the paper is General Electric (GE), a multifarious company, setup by Thomas Alva Edison in the year 1890 by the name Edison General Electric. The company is currently headquartered at Fairfield, Connecticut in the United States and has made several breakthroughs in segments of Energy, Capital Finance, technology, power generation to name a few. Some of the benchmark innovations of GE include the mars observer, launching of CNBC news channel for business reporting in real time, GE Money which provides customers with facilities of a general credit card and at the same time the facilities of a store card with discounts and promotional offers. Such innovations have helped GE scale the position that it holds today. GE has been continuously emerging as a champion when it comes to innovation. Its businesses related to infrastructure have proven to be another step towards building a better future. GE is currently operating across many regions of all the inhabited continents of the world. GE has been a pioneer for the past 130 years and strived hard towards innovation. Since the invention of first light bulb to the present jet engines the company has come a long way in making the world a better place to live. The company which is an equal opportunity employer has a strong presence in many countries and proudly supports a diverse workforce. The company believes in fair treatment policy and has formed various forums to nurture people with differences in age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation etc. (GE, â€Å"Our Company†). This project report deals with organizational challenge of workforce diversity. Maintaining a large workforce brings along challenges and people from different background may not be able to adjust well with each other. Objectives As GE supports a diverse workforce, managers will be faced with the challenges of combating discrimination within the workforce and at the same time promoting alliances and inclusiveness i n the group. Negative attitudes and behaviors may influence decision making and might also result in a loss of productivity as well as personnel. If negative behavior or prejudices creeps up within the workplace it will affect the company’s image and may also lead to litigation. The same is the case with multiculturalism. Multiculturalism may be defined as the process whereby people from different cultural background are motivated to work as a unit and also motivated to achieve the common goals of the organisation. The objectives of this report are to make careful assessment of the situation. The report will identify the desired course of action for GE which will help them to overcome the situation. This would require the involvement of all the groups. Managers will have to work on removing personal bias and should also create ways for engaging in personal dialogues with teammates. Managers need to clearly understand that the recipe for success is teamwork and the approach sh ould be unique to the organization for resolving the dispute. Secondary resources have been used for doing the analysis and collecting evidences. Literature review Multiculturalism is the apprehension which epitomizes a new way of acclimatizing to the future world. It is the process of recognizing and respecting different diversified groups with different cultural background in an organization. The people with divergent socio-cultural class are addressed and motivated and are eventually accredited for bringing stability within the organization (Rosado 1-4). Multiculturalism has long been a sensitive issue, a never ending debate, measure of its efficacy in an organization or in the society has come under scanner. These questions or issues have been creeping over time and again to understand the need of multiculturalism, its