Assignment 1
Introduction
Australian culture in the final decade of the twentieth century struggled to deal with massive forces of global change as well as the challenges of a racial divide and multiculturalism. The Labor and Liberal governments of the 1990s attempted to satisfy constituencies that were often at odds: the urban globalizing forces of business and cosmopolitan values and the largely working-class and rural constituencies that were uncomfortable with economic and social change that threatened the hegemony of Old Australia ( 2002). Aboriginal population struggling with entrenched mining and agricultural companies required some very fast footwork from national politicians. The conservative forces sponsored the uprooting changes of globalize as well as the more traditional values of the old xenophobic Australia; the left forces favored social pluralism and social democratic safety nets while still embracing the same disruptive economic policies as the conservatives. For the culture at large, the process was confusing and disorienting; the appeal to extremes grew as social dislocation increased (2002). A part of the culture of Australia is its film industry. The film industry has made various works that contribute to the uniqueness of the country. To protect and maintain the products of the Australian film industry the government created the National Film and Sound Archives. This institution collects works created in the late nineteenth century when the recorded sound and film industries were in their infancy, it still collects works up to the present. This paper intends to analyze the website of Australia’s National Film and Sound Archives.
Main Body
Initially, Websites were read-only information sites, and the only interaction supported on Websites was navigation to other parts of a site or to other sites. In addition, tools for developing Websites were limited to providing ways to define content; presentation of content was mostly outside the control of individual Website authors and under the control partly of browser applications and partly of users through the browser. Tools now exist to support the development of interactive Websites that are almost indistinguishable from traditional types of interactive software and to provide extensive support for design and presentation to Web authors ( 2003). Even when designing simple, informational, read-only Websites, designers can draw on usability principles from the field of traditional software usability engineering. Much traditional software user interface (UI) design involves effective presentation of information and the design of effective navigational aids and methods. These issues are common to both traditional software application and traditional Website design. As Websites become more interactive and new tools and technologies provide more design options to developers, the principles, guidelines, and methods of software usability engineering become even more directly applicable (2003).
A random tour around the world wide web shows that the knowledge and wisdom collected in the field of software usability engineering over the last 20 years is generally not being applied to Website design. In most cases, at least when designing public Websites or applications, ease of learning and remembering goals will be more important than ease-of-use goals, due to the infrequency of use. Most users do not visit a given Website daily, and many often visit a site only once ( 2004). Ease of navigation and maintaining context will usually be very important qualitative goals for Websites and applications. In general, Web designers need to be aware that if they take full advantage of all the latest Web capabilities, many users will find their Website or application unusable. Care needs to be taken to provide alternative interfaces for users with lower end platforms. User feedback can be solicited directly from a Website or application. This can be done by providing a link on the site taking users to a structured feedback page, or by offering direct e-mail from the site and asking users to provide free-form feedback. One can even have survey questions pop up, triggered by specific usage events. An advantage of this kind of solicited feedback is that it collects feedback while the experience is fresh in the user's mind. Website browsing is one entity for the user, and the other is the interaction of the Website within the browser ( 2001).
The website of National Film and Sound Archives (NFSA) aim to give information on what does the institution do and how it intends to achieve its goals. The website of NFSA has a sleek but simple design. It has readable fonts. The website made use of various colors that give emphasis to important information and links. The page layout of NFSA’s website is simple yet informative wherein all the needed information and related information can be a few clicks away. NFSA’s website has managed to put various aspects of the web in appropriate places that can easily be noticed by those viewing the website. It makes use of graphics and pictures that gives assistance to the user on what to click if they need certain information. The arrangement of each segment of the website is not complicated thus users can easily know what to click if they are looking for certain information. The website features a support and help section which can guide the user in navigating the website. The navigation of the website is easy to find. Users can easily find the information they want without viewing the page entirely. NFSA’s website has obvious section names wherein the user doesn’t have to use a dictionary to know what a certain section means. NFSA’s website is successful in giving information to all those who will visit it. It was able to attract attention and provide the needed data for members of the film industry and other people interested in Australia’s culture.
Conclusion
The website of National Film and Sound Archives (NFSA) aim to give information on what does the institution do and how it intends to achieve its goals. Through the website’s sleek but simple design, readable fonts and proper arrangement of segments and information the website was able to achieve its goal. It helped in explaining the why the NFSA was created and how does it make sure that the culture of Australia is preserved. The website of NFSA serves as an online reminder of how beautiful is the culture of Australia. The government needs to make sure that it would continue to maintain such website.
Assignment 2 Report
Executive Summary
Sustainability is one concept that has become popular in the business world. To coincide with the rise of the idea of sustainability, a proposal on a networking and fundraising function or event will be made. The proposal intends to discuss why there is a need for a fundraising event and who will be the one that will benefit. The proposal will try to provide an opportunity for internal clients and community members to create a network at the same time raise money for a worthy cause.
Overview
The concept of sustainability emerged in the early 1980s. Since then the ideas of a sustainable society and sustainable development have played a key role in policy statements by national governments and the United Nations. Despite this widespread attention there is still no agreed definition of the concept, and perhaps more critically, little progress towards translating the idea of sustainability into clear policy targets (Ekins 2000). The scope of institutions in the context of sustainability has its range from groups like national governments, local governments, private companies and individuals (Banister 1998 Sustainability is said to be the act of maintaining supplies for future generations. Supplies do have its own limitation; it will run out of stock eventually. Through the use of sustainability companies can make sure that there can be supplies for the present and the future. The planned event is a concert for a cause. This would bond members of the organization, the clients and other members of the community. The proceeds of the concert would go to Greenpeace.
Preliminary details of the event
The event would feature a concert that would feature known bands and artists from the country. It would be held in a local stadium that can occupy around 1,000 people that consist of employees, clients, community members and other guests. The event would be titled “Concert for a cause” The show would start at 8 in the evening and will last up to 10 o’clock. Ticket prices would range from about -80.
Beneficiary for the event
Greenpeace has been managed by a number of individuals who were successful business entrepreneurs prior to joining Greenpeace. Its aims are different from those of ordinary businesses in that it does not generate profit for shareholders. But many of the methods the organization uses may be compared with other multinationals. As with many multinationals, Greenpeace perceives the rich countries as markets where its messages and consequent income streams have reached maximum penetration ( 2000). The main beneficiary for the event is Greenpeace. This group takes care of the environment. Greenpeace has a worldwide presence with national and regional offices in over 40 different countries. This organization receives its income through the individual contributions of an estimated 3 million financial supporters. Greenpeace was chosen because they are one of the leading agencies in maintaining sustainability and the balance of nature.
Funding for the event
The event would make sure that it will not use company funds. The ticket sales would be the main funding for the event. The performers would be informed about the low budget for the event thus they will be asked to lower or remove their fees. The expenses for the other aspects of the event would be taken from the initial ticket sales. Donations from clients and members of the organization would be accepted and will be used to pay for some expenses that cannot be covered by the initial ticket sales.
The benefits of the event to the organization
Ethics and Corporate social responsibility provides a better relationship between companies and other people in its environment. Ethics and corporate social responsibility contributes to the success or failure of a firm. International organizations need to have corporate social responsibility that will help them develop a good relationship with their clients and other people in their surroundings. The Corporate social responsibility strategies of the company focus on using the issues of economy and technology to determine what activity can be done to point out that they have corporate social responsibility. The event will help the company show that it has corporate responsibility. The event will show that the company supports the need for sustainability. This will improve the image of the company to the clients and the community. The event will give the company’s personnel some time to relax. This in turn will show that even towards their personnel the company shows that they are responsible.
Conclusion
The planned event is a concert for a cause. This would bond members of the organization, the clients and other members of the community. The proceeds of the event would go to Greenpeace. The event will show that the company supports the need for sustainability. It will show that the company has responsibility towards its environment. The event will give the company’s personnel some time to relax. This in turn will show that even towards their personnel the company shows that they are responsible.
Assignment 2 Justification
Introduction
All too often professional managers and their advisers have been tempted to see the resources of public companies as their own property without the sense of stewardship that owner-managers once had. The balance can only be struck by combining professionalism with transparency. The international nature of the operations of business in trade, investment, and production brings a more complex dimension to business ethics and corporate responsibility in both the cultural aspect of doing business in environments with different norms and values, and in diversity of employees and stakeholders (1996). This is not without dilemmas in operating in different cultures, not least where preference is given to relationships along family, tribal, ethnic, and community lines. One of the fundamental problems of addressing ethics and corporate responsibility in an international setting is the existence of many governments that lack the capacity for proper market regulation, let alone the many states which are weak, corrupt, and in a few cases failed states engaged in internal conflict and civil war. Companies engaged in such locations have a compelling reason to engage in collective efforts to promote an enabling environment for corporate citizenship ( 1996). Social responsibility is one of the main reasons for the creation of the report. It was the driving force that created the need to report and proposes something different. This part tries to look at how social responsibility contributed to the creation of the report and the proposal included in it. This part intends to discuss why the report was made in such particular way.
Main body
Businesses are like mobiles in a windstorm being blown about by continuously changing gusts of wind. The mobiles' weights have gone awry and the mobiles shake for a period of time before they can settle into their original positions. When a gust of wind rips off one of the weights, the mobile again shakes and then settles into a new position. In this turbulent windstorm all of the entities that have been shaken about have not yet settled into their new configurations. People are not sure what things will look like or if they will settle down in this lifetime (1994). What people do know is that new forces are at work. Employers and employees will have to be alert in order not to be swept away by the winds. There are different types of winds, crossing and mingling, making the mobiles dance and leaving employees looking for work. These winds constitute the business trends that dictate the new careerism. The increasing globalization of business has resulted in a windstorm of competition, causing companies to try to pare down and revitalize their bloated operations to be faster on their feet. The automatic-elevator, the modern telecommunication systems, and the automatic teller machine (ATM) are examples of how technology has replaced workers (1994).
Gone some time ago were the friendly elevator operators. Gone are the switchboard operators. And gone, too, are bankers' hours and many of the helpful bank tellers. Another wind that has been picking up is the notion of customer service and high speed management. Another wind affecting businesses is often referred to as Total Quality Management (TQM). TQM is shorthand for a number of changes in ways leaders can manage in order to respond to customer needs and improve the quality of the service or product for which the business is responsible. These changes include everything from empowering lower level employees to become involved in problem solving, decision making, and quality control to the introduction of advanced statistical process control strategies that can measure output, waste, rejects, and cycle time (1999).Another wind upsetting the mobiles of business is the force brought about by experience-based learning. It is not an ill wind. It is the kind of fresh breeze any industry welcomes, but it does disrupt the status quo. To keep pace with the changes, it is helpful to have a perspective on the whole range of industries and occupations. Businesses also have available to them the opportunity to learn new ideas and perspectives, as international communication increases and free trade brings increased interchange among national groups. New industries and occupations are blown in by the winds, and industries and occupations with which people have become familiar are blown aside. Recently the terms sunset and sunrise have been used to remind us that while some industries are downsizing or vanishing altogether, others are starting up or growing ( 1999).
There are various business trends ranging from economic in nature, technological in nature or personnel related. One trend is the use of business ethics and social responsibility. Ethics is an important part of the company since it is the one that creates a good and lasting relationship between clients and the company. Ethics helps the company stand out in the competitive environment. With proper knowledge of ethical ideas the company can solve various problems that cannot be easily solved by simple strategies. The proper use of ethical ideas can help the company create products and services that will satisfy the needs of the people without causing problems to the natural environment. The report concentrated on showing how the firm treats the personnel, the client and the environment. It made sure that in its every aspect the responsibility and etiquette of the business will be clearly shown. The report was based from the changing environment wherein the focus has shifted from being self centered to being environment conscious. The report was written in a simple way so that those who need to understand how the company demonstrates corporate responsibility will achieve little difficulty in achieving their goal.
Conclusion
Social responsibility is one of the main reasons for the creation of the report. It was the driving force that created the need to report and proposes something different. . There are various business trends ranging from economic in nature, technological in nature or personnel related. One trend is the use of business ethics and social responsibility. The report concentrated on showing how the firm treats the personnel, the client and the environment. It made sure that in its every aspect the responsibility and etiquette of the business will be clearly shown.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment