Traditional clothes in Japan and Germany Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Traditional clothes in Japan and Germany - Essay Example Culture is expressed by a range of values that are special and unique for a country or a region – these are history, language, cuisine, traditions. Clothes are a distinctive national peculiarity. Traditional clothes have evolved, as culture has evolved during the ages, influenced by historical developments, religious beliefs, regional and class subcultures.The Japanese traditional clothing today has become to represent Japan’s cultural identity. The word kimono or wafuku means simply â€Å"Japanese style clothing†, and is used to differentiate this style of attire from yofuku, which is the Western-style clothing Japanese prefer to wear today Traditional clothes have specific attributes like form or color that make them distinctive to the national culture. The thought here is that clothes’ elements and style in the past have developed for a reason, conveying meaningful messages to other people as part of the nonverbal communication process. The kimono is a universal symbol of Japan. It represents the traditional beauty and simplicity, having a single basic pattern in size and shape. Originally the kimono was worn in multiple layers of different colors. The symbolism behind this variety of colors is that during the Heian period women had to be protected by multi-layered clothes, whereby the different colors of the layers revealed the character of those who wore them. (Chiu, 2001). Elements of the clothing were indicative of woman's character - her skill in matching colors and even the smallest details in the kimono were highly valued as artistic sensibility. Other symbolic elements in the

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Human Resource Management - Essay Example Various nations have been subjected to this problem, out of which the condition of South Africa is worth mentioning. The mismatch has been widening in economies over the years and is evolving as one of the primary causes of concern for organizations. Educational institutions and organizations have been jointly working towards increasing alignment between skills demanded and skills produced. Researchers have identified a number of ways organizations could devise policies and procedures for handling this skills shortage. Not only do they require modification in the job designs but also must consider altering the existing human resource strategies. The project seeks to explore the various possible alternative suggested by researchers and practitioners that can be applied for designing jobs in organizations confronting with labour market shortages (Dychtwald, Erickson, Morison, 2006, p.88). Impact of labour market shortages on organizations Organizations are faced with a number of dilemmas arising out skill shortages in the economy. Researchers and business practitioners are of the opinion that skill shortage has a direct impact on labour costs in organizations. Labour shortage happens to be one of the propelling factors for undertaking offshore recruitments as the local skill availability falls short of the demands. Researchers have identified the standard for cost effectiveness as the price of the available as well as qualified workers for both off shore and on shore (Atwater & Klass, 2007). In other words it can be said that declining skills are directly associated with climbing labour costs in organizations and firms. According to Atwater & Klass, (2007), skill shortage impacts businesses directly by ways of relocation of existing business processes like manufacturing, production and services from one region or country to another. This might include outsourcing or even subcontracting within the same country or shift ing business practices from one nation to another. Although firms might gain from the phenomenon in the way of availing of skilled personnel at lower prices, however, it involves great structural losses. The wide range of educational requirements along with the severity associated with the search costs happen to be so high that researchers have not yet been able to draw a conclusion as to whether hiring off shore skills is an option optimum for adopting (Atwater & Klass, 2007). Although organizations and industries today are in different stages of off-shoring their jobs and functional activities, Atwater & Klass, (2007) are of the opinion that organizations maintaining the view that availability of labour is a local issue are likely to face serious competitive disadvantage as compared to those who consider looking at labour as a global market (Atwater & Klass, 2007). Main considerations in designing jobs for organizations facing labour market shortages According to a research conduc ted by McKinsey Global Institute states that the looming shortage of local talents have been having serious implications for the nation’s multinationals by triggering the process of organizations recruiting offshore skills (Farrell &