Three Models of Emotional Intelligence

The emotional intelligence field is a very new area of study in psychological research. The definition therefore is varied and is constantly changing. It was only in 1990 that Salovey and Mayer came up with the first published attempt in trying to define the term. They defined emotional intelligence as the ability to monitors one’s own and other feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide ones thinking and actions. Emotional intelligence to a larger extent involves “emotional empathy” which is the ability to concentrate on one’s emotions and recognize mood both of themselves and others. It further describes how well one is able to adapt to various life challenges like stress and difficult incidences. It also involves the ability balance “honest expression of emotions against courtesy, consideration and respect”. This would obviously involve possession of some level of good social and communication skills. Continue reading

Globalization and Business Ethics

Business ethics is a well-institutionalized academic field, which deals with the moral dimension of business activity. In the context of international business, it means the treating of moral questions of international cultures and countries. International business should be sensitive to the environment and not just selfish for its own profits. Ethically, safety comes first and the profit comes last. The various issues that ethics target are diverse environmental concerns, animal welfare issues, labor practices, fair trade, health concerns, genetic modification, patenting of genes, cloning etc. International business is both more exposed to a variety of ethical conditions as well as in a position to exploit business ethics due to the sheer size an international company has. The end result of an ethical judgment entails its authenticity from being morally correct. But moral correction itself is a relative concept and is based upon the cultural perceptions as well as traditions. The Continue reading

An Overview of Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS)

Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) are Operating Systems for systems operating in Real Time. These Operating Systems have functions dedicated to detecting and responding to tasks from the real world within their deadlines.  Real-Time  Operating Systems are systems that are subject to real time limitations and are expected to deliver services within strict time boundaries. The correctness of such systems depends not only on computational output, but also on the instant at which the system produces the output. Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) can be generally categorized into soft and hard real time systems. When a deadline is missed in a hard real time system, i.e. a service is not provided at the instant at which it is expected, the result would be catastrophic. Hence, hard real time systems are generally safety or mission critical. Examples of Hard Real Time Systems are, Air Traffic Control Systems, Pace makers for heart patients and Continue reading

International Business Negotiations

In a number of cases the foreign market entry and strategy implementation involve negotiation with the government of the foreign country and / or foreign firm. International business plans “are always often implemented through, face-to-face negotiations with business partners and customers from foreign countries. The sales of goods and services, the management of distribution channels, the contracting for marketing research and advertising services, licensing and franchise agreements and strategic alliances all require managers from different cultures to sit and talk with one another to exchange ideas and express needs and preferences. Executives must also negotiate with representatives of foreign governments who might approve a variety of their marketing actions’ or in fact be the actual ultimate customer for goods’ and services. In many countries governmental officials may also be joint venture partners, and in some cases vendors. International business negotiations are deliberate interactions of two or more social units (at Continue reading

Project Constraints

A project should possess identifiable goals and a definite starting and finishing point.  Project goals must be defined clearly.   A useful checklist can be developed in relation to project success criteria.   Criteria may be hard and concerned with what the project should achieve, or soft when they will cover how the project should proceed.   The major constraints on the completion of projects are time, resource availability and the need to achieve the required standard of performance/quality for the project. This is also known as Project Management Triangle. Each of these project constraints is linked to the other two. If one or more of the constraints is changed, the remaining ones will also be changed. For instance, decreasing the budget/cost of a project is likely to lengthen its schedule or force the creation of a new, more restrained quality. Or an increase in quality generally results in an Continue reading

Sales Letters – Meaning and Importance

Although the primary aim of sales letters or offers is publicity yet it is the most important written form of business communication. It reaches out to a large number of people interested in a particular product or service and turn them into buyers. Even if people are not interested in the product, them the aim of this letter is to make them interested in it. Starting with the assumption that the receiver may resist the offer, the sales letter has to be persuasive or powerful enough to make recipient act. They are unsolicited letters, mostly written by professional writers. The effectiveness of such letters depends on the writer’s ability to use language suited to his purpose that is above all to influence the recipient – his thinking, taste and behavior. This is the aim of persuasion. Sales letters are, therefore, persuasive or indirect approach letters. Sales letters are the best Continue reading