Dominican Baseball - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1483 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/04/02 Category Sports Essay Level High school Tags: Baseball Essay Did you like this example? Globalization has been instrumental in the growth of sports. As everyone knows sports are global and are a part of many different cultures. This can be seen more with baseball than any other sport, especially Latin and American countries. The major league baseball (MLB) pulls many different players from around those countries but also all over the world ranging from Japan to Ireland. While many countries are represented in the MLB there is one place that is known as a talent pipeline for baseball players. That place is called the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean country beside Haiti. Alan Klein discusses the changes and relationship between the MLB and the Dominican Republic throughout his book Dominican Baseball: New Pride, Old Prejudice. Throughout the book, Klein discusses the differences and battles of the MLB and the Dominican baseball players. There is a power struggle between the power that the MLB holds and the poor Dominican baseball players. Klein does research on the MLB and Dominican players through personal knowledge, interviews and research on mass media. This book review will examine how the book portrays the MLB within the Dominican and how this is only one way to understand the relationship between the two. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Dominican Baseball" essay for you Create order Old Prejudice Klein uses a process called the global commodity chain (GCC), which exploits resources and produces them to consumers. He uses the process to show how the MLB exploits the Dominican players because they have nothing else on the Island. The MLB is exploiting these players because they can get them for cheap and get a higher rate of return on their investment. In the Dominican, guys either play baseball and get a way out or they start working in the cannery. Since the MLB knows this they can offer baseball as a way out and let them take the chance for themselves without being help responsible. The league can say that they are doing the country good by bringing in jobs and good to the community. Klein (2014) states the player is both the goal and means of production (p. 30), which again shows that baseball is their only way out. Each MLB team offers an academy for prospects to define their baseball skills and give them educational needs. Academies Throughout the book, Klein discusses the baseball academies and has proficient knowledge on the matter. He discusses not only the academies themselves but how they search for talent, how they benefit both the player and the team and how they are structured. Because of this, Klein has a strong argument on his understanding of the academies making it a strength of the book. The academies are there for the MLB to scout for new and rising players in the Dominican. They offer many resources to the adolescents that they would not have otherwise. The academies allow the players to continue playing baseball while still furthering their education. Klein goes into depth about the players and how the academies help their baseball future while also helping with their personal lives. These Dominican players see baseball as a way out and are willing to sacrifice everything to get there. The MLB sees these academies as a way to enhance their odds with the best talent out there (Klein, 2014, p. 38). One can see that through this book and through a documentary, Baseball: Pelotero. The players go through tremendous tryouts to make it onto an academy team. The relationship between the MLB and Dominican players is all about money and Klein starts to show a bias throughout the book. He shows a bias against the MLB and the corruption they are a part of. The Dominican players are using the MLB as labor migration, which gives the players economic factors and the desire and search for professional opportunities. Americans and the MLB see the academies and themselves as a good thing because it gives the players an opportunity to leave and capitalize on their talent. Klein sees it as exploitation because while being there and researching he saw the things that went on and difficulties these young players go through. The Buscones The buscones play a major role in the Dominican baseball players worlds. Klein discusses the relationship between the MLB and buscones right after he discusses the academies because they go hand in hand. One would think that since the buscones and MLB work closely together that they would like one another. That is completely not the case and is made clear in the book. In the book, Klein interviews many buscones to show the importance of them but still shows a bias towards the MLB. He states that the buscones are responsible for the players and how they play to the day they try out and sign professionally. The reason behind it all, of course money. Klein (2014) states that buscones had evolved into the multifaceted institution that finds players, contracts with them, develops them, houses and feeds them, secures tryouts, and plays a role in negotiations with teams (p. 73). Buscones pour more time and energy into these adolescents than anyone else. Baseball is usually the adolescents full time job and they are with the buscones for over forty hours a week. Klein discusses how the work that the buscones do should make them loved but that America sees them as evil and exploiters. He tries to state that the exploiters are in reality the MLB. The MLB uses the academies to exploit their adolescent players and offer them many things such as a potential offer and a further education. The odds are against the players making it professionally and if they do not sign with a team on July 2 by the time they are 16 and a half then their worth drops drastically. Also, if they do not sign with a team the academy can drop them and with that the player stops playing baseball and loses their education. With the buscones, they are responsible financially for the adolescent and in the book, looks like they have their best interests. Klein tries to make a point that buscones do make a profit off a player but only if they get a signing bonus or what the player and buscone had in agreement. Money The MLB, buscones and Dominican players are all after one thing, the biggest profit. The MLB uses the talent pipeline of baseball players in the Dominican Republic for their benefit. In the end, the MLB is a corporation and the job of a corporation is to make money. They see those adolescents as an investment with a high return on their money. The players are a vast majority in the MLB as the Latin country. Buscones are in it for the money as well. They take care of the prospect by coaching them, housing, feeding, and making sure they receive the attention they deserve. They do this as a benefit for the player but also themselves. They get a percentage of the signing bonus or some sort of cut that the player gets. They do it for a return on their investment as well. If a player does not make it then the buscone just does not make money. The player is in it for money as well. Making it professionally is the players way out of the Dominican Republic and with that comes money. They are able to be financially well off and usually in return help their family and give them what they deserve. Conclusion Throughout the book Klein discusses the relationship between the MLB and the Dominican Republic. With his knowledge, research and interviews he makes strong arguments that discuss how the MLB exploits the Dominican players. There is an overall bias tone towards the MLB which after reading the book and watching the documentary I understand. So many adolescents are putting their future into many hands and have no control over the outcomes. Seeing how the MLB acts makes me realize that the company does seem to exploit those adolescents. Watching the documentary was shocking and made me re-evaluate how things are handled just because they are a large company. I had always known that companies such as the MLB, NFL and NBA are all about money but I did not realize to what extent. I also never really paid attention to the amount of Dominican Republic players the MLB has. I do not pay that much attention to baseball other than going to games with friends for the entertainment part. It amazes me that people can feel good about themselves while still exploiting adolescents just because they are from a third-world country. Overall, I enjoyed this book because it brought attention to my eyes about corruption that happens. These large companies are backed by so many people and legal ways that they can get away with. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the MLB and all that goes into it.

Attachment, Antisocial, And Antisocial Behavior - 1716 Words

Attachment and Antisocial Behavior in Adolescents Secure early infant attachments are imperative to a person’s life because it assists in the development of empathy and emotional self-regulation. A healthy development of empathy and emotional self-regulation promotes prosocial behavior. Prosocial behavior is the deliberate action of helping and/or benefiting another person, group, or society in general without any thought of being rewarded. Securing an early infant attachment can develop an automatic response of prosocial behavior which can be applied throughout an individual’s life as he or she responds to immediate situations that may occur throughout a lifetime. Anti-social behavior is developed when a person lacks the ability to help someone because he or she fails to identify with the feelings or difficulties of someone else (Steele, Bate, Nikitiades, Buhl-Nielsen, 2015). Adolescents that display anti-social behavior are more likely to develop poor peer competence, have lower academic performance, become inv olved in adulthood criminality and are at a higher risk of developing adult mental health problems. Anti-social behavior in adolescents is expressed by the inability to respect the rights of others which leads to the violation of societal social norms. 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Reflection on Creativity and Innovation †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Reflection on Creativity and Innovation. Answer: Introduction: Through, studying creativity and innovation course, I have acquired better knowledge on how to effectively use my brain in doing various things efficiently. This has been necessitated by appropriately organizing my methods of thinking creatively and innovatively (Adams, 2005). I have come to understand how the brain works. I have also understood that what I think may not always be correct since how I perceive things in the world may not be the actual reality of those things. I have also realized that paradigms, mindsets, perceptions of a person will always tend to have an effect on their behaviors or destiny (Kwek, 2011). Although, it is certain that the situations a person experiences will always portray his/her destiny, but the decision making process while tackling these situations can determine his/her destiny. Apparently, it has also been said that a persons sitting place will affect how that person sees the world. This has caused people from different positions and cultural bac kgrounds have different interpretations on issues. I was also able to learn how to use my senses in enhancing creativity (Agbor, 2008). This course assisted me to understand that difficult situations a person faces helps him /her to think extremely hard. I also learnt different models or frameworks that assist in solving organizational issues or daily situations, such as CATWOE, Kipling approach, Is-Is not framework. Other approaches are Talk streaming technique and the Grow method that help in problem-solving (Halizah Awang, 2008). I also gained persuasive skills. In persuading people, I gained principles such as; consistency, authority, social proof and reciprocation. I also came to understand that innovativeness and creativeness of a person will help improve the performance of organizations, improve on profits, help solve problems and help in competing with other businesses. Thus, it is important to note that creativity and innovation are the main concepts to adhere to in my futu re endeavors. References Adams, K. (2005). The Sources of Innovation and Creativity. Retrieved from www.fpspi.org: https://www.fpspi.org/pdf/innovcreativity.pdf Agbor, E. (2008). Creativity and Innovation: The Leadership Dynamics. Retrieved from www.regent.edu: https://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/jsl/vol1iss1/JSL_Vol1iss1_Agbor.pdf Halizah Awang, I. R. (2008). Creative Thinking Skill Approach Through Problem-Based Learning: Pedagogy and Practice in the Engineering Classroom . International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering , 3-6. Kwek, S. H. (2011). Innovation in the Classroom:Design Thinking for 21st Century Learning. Retrieved from web.stanford.edu: https://web.stanford.edu/group/redlab/cgi-bin/materials/Kwek-Innovation%20In%20The%20Classroom.pdf

Macroenvironment Challenges Of Swatch Group Essay Example

Macroenvironment Challenges Of Swatch Group Paper Contemporary organizations face changes everyday, including structural change and management change (Bestial Jargon 2014). Gerber (2013) discussed that change in the workplace is unavoidable and it should be embraced by the managers to ensure the transition process is smooth. The change is sometimes attributed to the general environment which defined as a relatively distant environment and it consists of elements such as technological and demographic that influent an organization indirectly (Laureate Florin, 2012). Since the environmental forces impact the organization significantly, the structural and technical change cannot be obtained with closed system (Danish, Minor, Karakas, Jabber Unwary, 2014). Along With the changes of general environment, managers roles have been changed. According to Integer (1 975), managers roles can be distinguished into ten basic roles which mainly classified under interpersonal, informational and decision roles (SICKLINESS, 2007). Since there will be constant changes in the general environment, the managers should be able to perform more roles and being more flexible (Pence, 2001 cited in ICELINKS, 2007). Swatch Group Ltd is a worldwide organization active in watching industry. It consists of 18 well-known watch brands such as Omega and Swatch and nearly all the watch components required by the brands supplied by the Group (Lorena, 2014). Besides, most of the third- party watchmakers of the world demand for its watch movements and components. Its headquartered located in Bill, Switzerland and 33590 employees work for it as of December 31, 2013. We will write a custom essay sample on Macroenvironment Challenges Of Swatch Group specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Macroenvironment Challenges Of Swatch Group specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Macroenvironment Challenges Of Swatch Group specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The purpose of writing this essay is to analyses the two general environment factors that influent the operation of Swatch Group and to discuss to which extent the work of managers would be impacted. Economic condition and technological notation are the two factors that will be discussed and the theories that will be applied are Henry Payolas Management Functions which consists of planning, organizing, controlling and leading, Roberto L. Stats Management Skills which are conceptual skills, human skills and technical skills, Payolas General Administrative Theory which consists of 14 points, as well as Henry Integers Management Roles . As Swatch Group is globalizes, it has to work with the complex and dynamic global business environment, in other terms, open system under systems approach (Anthrax Inkers, 2013). Economic condition is one of the general environments that affects the operation of the Group, for example, fluctuation of currency exchange. Since it operates its business over the globe, revenues repatriated from overseas have to convert to Swiss Franc currency. Therefore, the groups profit could be negatively affected by fluctuations of currencies against Swiss Franc like the US Dollar and the China Rene Min Bi (The Swatch Group Ltd SOOT Analysis, 2014). Throughout the first half year of 2014, 188 million Francs are shaved from the Groups gross sales because of the extremely adverse exchange rate situation (Lorena, 2014). By comparing the annual financial report of 2007 to 2014 of the Group, the gross sales increase consistently but the currency exchange rate of Swiss Francs display a very unstable rate, especially in 2011 that has an -10. 8% exchange rate. Furthermore, the group also concerns about economic recession. When there is economic recession, peoples confidence level will be lower since they have less purchasing power (Abraham, Greenness Mould, 1998). According to The Conference Board (2014) and Housing Industry Association Ltd (2014), most of the countries has achieved a peak consumer confidence level (ICP) in the year 2007 but has clines significantly since that. When people purchase less, apparently the revenue that Swatch Group can generate is lesser. Moreover, metals and plastics, as the main raw materials of a watch, are having a extremely high market prices in recent years and which ultimately leading to a high production cost and low margin of profit for Swatch Group especially Swatch since it uses plastic as the straps of watches (Essays, 2013). Conversely, when the economy is good, peoples spending on luxury range of watches will increase. For example, the gross sales of the Group have a dramatic increase n 2012 and 2013 since the ICP has recovered (Cowcatchers. Com, 2014). To raise awareness of the fluctuation of currency, top line managers of the Group performed resource locator roles by approving a significant decision which required the production line to create a plastic watch featuring with sass bank note to all the pressure groups, mainly the stakeholders (Revile, 2014). Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nick Hayes showed his figurehead and spokesperson roles by suggesting that Swiss National Banks governing bank should carry out some actions to strengthen their currency Revile, 2014). During economic recession, top line managers of Swatch Group have engaged in planning by setting the strategy of concentrating on lower-end. Since the consumers will more tempted to buy products that are relatively low in price, the decision of differentiating and dividing products with a pricing strategy is made. For example, basic range like Swatch and luxury range like Omega. Different brands target on different classes by ingratiating their favor and setting an affordable price. They also engage in organizing which including market surveys that need to be constructed in order to analyses which age group they should target on and what is their common preferences. Middle line managers on the other hand should convey the accurate message of the board to the first-line managers so that they can manage the manufacturing process and the retail sales. The sales during the economic downturn period can also be stimulated by further increasing the visibility of the brands. One of the actions that the Group has taken is that they have sponsored plenty of sporting events. For instance, top line managers of the headquarters played the role of spokesperson and figurehead by signing agreement with International Olympic Committee to become Olympic Partners sponsor and official timekeeper of the game (Themselves, 2002). On the other hand, the marketing managers, as the middle line managers control and manage the details of the events. Human skills are very important for them as the corporation with other departments and the Committee are unavoidable. They should able to communicate, lead and inspire enthusiasm. Meanwhile, to ensure that the timers are functioned properly, technical skills are inevitable and the first-line mangers have to respond to any situation changes, which comply with situational approach (Magmata Susquehanna, 2009). Secondly, technological condition also influent the Groups operation. Swatch Group is challenged by schismatic, which is highly focused when Pebble launched its kick-starter campaign in 2012 (Destroyers, 2013). Although the weaknesses of smart watch like highly dependent on smartened have not been overcame, Samsung Galaxy Gear watch has dominated 78 percent of 96 million revenue gained in schismatic market of US (Roar, 2014). This promising sales figures may be a threat for Swatch Group in a long run, especially when the schismatic passes the chasm of technology by having a better functionality. Based on a market research that took a sample size of 2577 adults in US, 63% of echo boomers, who are those who aged between 18 to 35 years old has slightly interested in owning a schismatic (Shannon- Missal, 2013). Besides, since the counterfeit watches are much cheaper and kick alike as the original watch, they occupy a huge market share. What make the situation worse is the people who wants to buy original but unintentionally buy a counterfeit watch. In a long run, peoples loyalty towards the branded products will loss and brands reputations will be damaged. In response to the new era, top line managers of the Group perform their inception skills as they made a decision to corporate with Microsoft in laughing a schismatic called Paparazzi ten years ago. Although the schismatic did not bring the expected succeed, both Research and Development departments showed their proficiency in technical skills. Moreover, the PR and marketing managers are the bridge to connect both organizations and hence human skills which used to build cooperative effort become extremely important. Meanwhile, Hayes does not agree with the says that schismatic is a threat to them, instead, he is very confident that it is a hence for them to convince people who willing to wear a schismatic try on their products (Kilowatt Potter, 2014). He did played his job well in the aspect of representing the Groups information and thought to the media, whether in another term, spokesperson. Moreover, as a leader, he has motivated and gave a clear direction to the employees during the time when the employees are worried about the future of the company due to the presence of schismatic. Although the technology advance has brought many challenges to Swatch Group, it can also treated as an opportunity. Since there are people who enjoy online-shopping nowadays, a new platform, e-commerce have been introduced to reduce the chance loss. The main jobs of e-commerce developers are to ensure that the e-business of the group are operated smoothly, the users and technical documents are established, which perfectly interpret the responsibilities of first-line manager, thus the proficiency in relative technical skills is strongly required (Swatch Group, 2014). The corporation of many departments including marketing department and IT department are required since the head of the departments, also known as middle line managers have to manage what products can be sold via the web hill the first-line manager, mainly the technicians and the salesperson have to ensure the website is updated, operated normally and the proper manner used when communicate with consumers. The top line managers like the CEO have to keep track on the online sales. Furthermore, to ensure that the employees are aware of the worlds change, the Group gives training on technical-know-how, interpersonal skills and acquisition of competencies to their employees (Cowcatchers. Com, 2014). The team leader, no matter which line of managers should show their leader role by understanding what the employees request for and are they being motivated enough. This in turn aids in promoting the esprit De corps principle that builds harmony and a united front within the organization, according to Payolas 1 4 principles (Wren Bedside, 2009). In conclusion, economic and technological are two of the general environments that affect the Groups operation in positive and negative ways. The changes are unavoidable but the ways that the managers embrace and adapt to it determine the smoothness of its operation. Therefore, managers, which are human capital of Swatch Group is one of its key success factors as they dedicates great effort to the Group according to the positions they hold ND the responsibilities they carry.