Core & Peripheries

Economic value will shift to the ends of the networks, as a result of the decoupling of intelligence in a network. Subsequently, companies have realized that they need to change their focus to the core – the back-end intelligence that is farthest away from the user – and the periphery – the front-end intelligence that is closest to the user. This separation of value to the ends has thus created an opportunity for organizations to optimize their business functions around the ends. Common InfrastructureAs in the case of the PC at work, there was a clash between what the users wanted: easy-to-use, portable, and flexible at the front-end; powerful and reliable at the back-end. In trying to provide both requirements some necessary design compromises had to be made previously. However, with the decoupling of intelligence in networks the two ends could be separated and a common infrastructure provided at the back-end, in the form of one server in the IT Department of th e office, while the front-end intelligence could be made without compromise as specialized machines.Similarly, disparate elements within the company can be combined to form shared infrastructures that are more cost-effective in their specialization. Modularity The mobilization of intelligence is another pattern that has resulted in a trend that has shifted economic value in the network. Sawhney and Parikh (2001) have discovered that the importance of plug-and-play has been established by the subsequent modularity of devices, softwares, and processes into self-contained modules that can be assimilated into a new value chain as needed.Sharing of capabilities is more important in this regard, than safeguarding of proprietary assets. Orchestration With increased modularity, it has become more and more economically valuable for there to be companies and managers that are able to coordinate, organize, and connect the different modules into new value chains. HP and Cisco are such examples of companies that are seeking to become the intelligent hubs to coordinate their various stakeholders, and are thus reaping the lion’s share of the value in their respective networks. Conclusion In the words of Sawhney and Parikh (2010, p.79): â€Å"By learning to recognize two simple patterns in the evolution of networks, you may be able to turn chaos into opportunity. † It is the intelligence of the network, more specifically its location and mobility as established by the recent advancements in technology that determines the way that companies organize disparate pieces of information, products, people, and the market, and consequently, how to maximize the inherent value. References Sawhney, M. & Parikh, D. (2001). Where Value Lives in a Networked World. Harvard Business Review, 79, p79-86. Retrieved May 02, 2010, from Harvard Business Review.

Migration and Integration: African Americans and Mexican Americans in the U.S. Essay

A number of African Americans and Mexican Americans gradually migrated into the United States with the development of agriculture in the country. Although the reasons for their migration were different, the African Americans and Mexican Americans share similar situations as they tried to integrate into American society. The choice to migrate into the US was mainly attributed to their need to look for better opportunities, new lives, admiration and obstacles. Migration has a different meaning among African Americans, who had to go through a lot of suffering when they came into the country. They initially migrated into the United States as slaves and made to work in plantation and homes in the new world. They were also considered as commodities to be traded in the market. The working conditions of African Americans on the plantations were horrible even though they formed the foundation of the entire cotton industry. The conditions that African Americans had to go through when they migrated into the United States were detailed and explained in the book â€Å"In Motion: The African American Migration Experience. † The book gives a list of the first African Americans who arrived into the United States during the 1500s through the Caribbean and Mexico. This account is different from common knowledge, which indicates that they arrived through Jamestown in 1619. They settled in a number of southern states such as South Carolina, Florida, and Texas. A good number of slaves found safe haven from their owners in the marshlands and the Bahamas. Some of them even started to live with Native Americans. They started to adjust and embrace the culture of the place where they established themselves. They learned the local languages and other dialects. The twentieth century saw a good number of African Americans increase their influence in history. They played a significant role the development of industrial areas, even as racism continued to remind African Americans of their suffering in the past. A movement was started that saw a number of laws being altered to integrate equality in society. The government was compelled to include African Americans due to the legal system that they were able to establish. The views and contributions of African Americans were included in the formation of cultural and social policies. The Harlem renaissance during the 1920s and the 1930s was the most significant input that resulted to the acknowledgement of African American NEW IN AMERICA PAPER 3 culture and connected their culture with other cultures. The talents of African Americans in art, music, and literature started to emerge during the period. A number of authors were able to demonstrate their talents, which describe the experience of African Americans. It also resulted to the establishment of a number of African American political interest groups. These authors include Neela Larson, Zora Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston. Three of these political groups that emerged include the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Nation of Islam, and the Negro Improvement Association. The African American culture also started to spread from the south. The culture and arts of American society were influenced by African, Haitian, and Caribbean cultures. The situation further enriched the culture of the African American population despite the adversity they faced along the way. This demonstrated the experience of African Americans when they migrated into the United States. At the start of the twentieth century, Mexican Americans were able to easily enter into the United States. An emergency quota act that was ratified by the United States allowed Mexican Americans to travel freely into the US. This act also limited the migration of citizens coming from countries in the Eastern hemisphere. Special allowances were even given to Mexicans by the US government due to the immigration law enacted by the US. The implementation of the immigration law gave credence to the significance of the labor provided by Mexicans, which enhanced the US economy. The act invalidated the literacy test that was enforced on Mexicans by farmers. However, this special allowance was cancelled following the economic crisis that affected the United States in 1929. Americans found it difficult to be employed due to the Great Depression, which resulted to an anti-immigration sentiment and compelled many Mexicans to go back home. Barricades were also set up between Mexico and the United States. However, the Second World War resulted to a labor shortage, which resulted to the creation of a bracer program that allowed Mexicans to work in the agricultural industry in the United States. A good number of Mexicans were able to receive allowances along with minimum wages. The situation was temporary and was only implemented while many American men were out in the battlefield. The United States did not allow the families of the braceros to join them to guarantee that they would return to their homeland. However, many Mexicans were NEW IN AMERICA PAPER 4 compelled to become illegal immigrants since they did not want to go back to Mexico. These illegal immigrants were able to stay employed and eventually made enough money due to the bracer program. By 1954, the United States was compelled to handle the increasing number of illegal immigrants. Operation Wetback was started together with a naturalization service and border patrols that immediately deported illegal immigrants. However, the operation was stopped due to a number of issues that included maltreatment of Mexicans and violence. The children of the illegal immigrants that were born in the US were also deported together with their parents. The labor shortage that was still prevalent among companies resulted to the establishment of factories in Mexico. The factories were called maquillas or maguiladoras, which was beneficial for both the United States and Mexico. Among the benefits that Mexico received were the sending of equipment for the factories. The value of equipment was untaxed. The equipment was also sent as a whole instead of being transported one component at a time. The border between Mexico and the United States was the first barrier that illegal Mexicans had to deal with if they want to go into the US. The border extends from Tijuana, Baja California and Imperial Beach California along the western side until Brownsville, Matamoras and Tamaulipas, Texas along the eastern side. It goes through different terrains that included major urban areas and harsh deserts. Most of the Mexicans who were able to cross the border settled in the states of Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona, and Colorado. Mexican Americans played a role in the development of cities along the southwest, including Tucson, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Although a good number of Mexican Americans were not able to go through formal education, they were able to contribute to the development of the Midwest, from Michigan all the way to Kansas. They provided labor for the steel factories and railroad system. Since the Mexicans were willing to provide labor in the valley in the southwestern states, their culture had a significant influence in these areas. Their contribution allowed the valley to become one of the richest valleys in the world. Mexicans also made some significant contributions in sports, language, demographics, fine arts, and politics. REFERENCES WWW. GWU. EDU GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY BY A ETZIONI – 2000 – Coverage: 1964-2008 (Vols. 51-95) Links to External Content: 2009-2012 (Vol. 95, No. 4 – Vol. 99, No. 1) Published by: Organization of American Historians NEW IN AMERICA PAPER 5.

Business Management - UK based Vodafone group Essay

Business Management - UK based Vodafone group - Essay Example In this essay, I have attempted to examine the Japanese cellular market and have tried to analyze Vodafone's performance in that market. Japan is the most competitive and developed market for cellular accessories and services. According to the '2006 Telecom, Mobile and Broadband market overview', Asia has been ranked as the largest regional internet market.(www.researchandmarkets.com).It is noteworthy that among the Asian nations, Japan is the regional as well as the global telecommunications leader. Empirical evidence asserts that internet penetration in the nation is high and it boasts of one of the most sophisticated broadband infrastructures in the world. Furthermore, it has been established that the mobile device is the most common and preferred medium for internet access.DoCoMo, the Japanese cellular giant is at the cutting edge and far ahead of America in offering total interoperability inside Japan. Another feature of this market is that the mobile content industry is very promising. Mobile phone content includes ringtones, standby displays, movies, games,weather reports and news. In the global scenario, Japa n occupies a strategic position in the mobile content market, even though Europe is a developed market by all standards. The telecom landscape in Japan is dominated by NTT's DoCoMo and KDDI.Other operators include Vodafone and Tu-Ka.Some companies are working towards entering the 3G market, this is likely to intensify competiton.According to Japan's Telecommunications Carriers Association, the number of mobile phone subscribers reached 100.22 million as of 31st January 2007.(www.itfacts.biz).Therefore, Japan is at the forefront of the development of a ubiquitous network society. Besides this, the opportunities for 3G services are abundant. The key providers for this service are KDDI with 19.8 million 3G subscribers trailed by DoCoMo with a 17.6 million-subscriber base. Vodafone claimed 4.8% of the 3G market as of 2005 end. Vodafone's strategic management performance: Business week online (March 2006) had reported, 'Vodafone may beat a hasty retreat from Japan. Five disappointing years after plunging into the Japanese market with a $13.8 billion acquisition of mobile operator J-phone, Vodafone is in takeover talks with Softbank, the Tokyo based internet, broadband and telecom service provider.' The article further points out that, 'over the last few years the British giant has been losing ground. Its market share hovers around 16.7%.Vodafone's troubles in Japan were mostly self-inflicted. It had slashed the budget for network upgrades, delayed the rollout of 3G handsets and tried to make do with global handsets of other markets rather than customizing its lineup for the finicky tech savvy Japanese consumers' Therefore the biggest cellular corporation in the world was struggling in the Japanese market. Following is an examination of some of the managerial policies, which could have hindered its success in Japan. Underperformance of the company could also be because of cultural conflicts. David Jones, CEO of the company tried to introduce the European working standards. Clashes between members affected the company's

Management (social, environmental, human and other factors) Essay

Management (social, environmental, human and other factors) - Essay Example So we are talking here of the social, environmental, human and other factors that are beneficial to the workers, the community, the organisation or business, and the consumers. In this situation, business is not just earning more and more money, but also looking after the welfare of the people. Sometimes, we refer to employees as the workforce and the consumers as partners. Business becomes an ordinary part of life - to say the least - and people might get used to it. Everyone becomes a part of the family, giving inputs and suggestions for the good of the organisation, until success is not far behind. Social responsibilities of ship management business managers evolved through the years. From mere spectator taking simple passive roles (for example, giving small donations or philanthropies), they now take active roles in promoting social responsibilities, instituting programmes that become part of their business. These responsibilities or programmes are focused on the employees, the workplace, the consumers, and the community in general, promoting programmes for the advancement of each of these stakeholders by regarding them as partners in building a strong and coherent organisation. In the traditional sense, organisations and businesses regard employees as mere workers. Now they point to them as partners because they are building an organisation or business which their lives depend on. Ship management business relies upon an effective and efficient workforce therefore its management skills and programmes and objectives should be more focused on them. Corporate social responsibility is applied on the workplace. Job design also has to be positioned in such a way that the workers or employees can work with ease and safety. Moreover, the workers are encouraged to give suggestions or inputs on how to improve the workplace. Job designs are patterned after the workers' suggestions. Corporate social responsibility or CSR is defined as a concept that states that organisations, especially commercial businesses, have a duty of care to all of their stakeholders in all aspects of their operations. This duty of care is seen to go beyond their statutory obligation to comply with legislation.1 Promotion and protection of the environment are concerns of ship management. In a ship, voluminous goods are being processed, and if there are no environmental measures taken, there might be environmental disaster. We have heard of oil spills in seas which endanger sea life, the fishes and coral reefs. They could have been avoided if there were environmental and safety measures done in the first place. Safety measures are one of the social responsib

Envisioning America & What Caused the Pueblo Revolt Essay - 8

Envisioning America & What Caused the Pueblo Revolt - Essay Example I myself have been witness to some of those distressing racial atrocities and have seen murderous intent of few white who had applied Jim Crow Rules against the blacks. I still feel ashamed of the stunted mentality of those people who reveled in the killings of another human being! America was discovered by Spanish explorer, Columbus in the 16th century, who had developed good relations with the native Indian population. But the early 17th century saw the process of colonization by the British settlers who had brought shipload of African slaves as bonded labors to work on plantation and elsewhere. Jamestown in Virginia became the first place for British settlement followed by colonies in Massachusetts and eastern seaboard in the later part of the century. They also tried to exploit the Native Americans with respect to labor and sea faring activities. The indentured labor consisting of European workers, worked as bonded laborers who were freed after several years so as to pay-off their passage to a new country. The slaves worked in labor intensive tobacco plantations along with Native Americans who later refused to work because they were afflicted with diseased like tuberculosis etc. which were brought by the settlers. Turn of the century saw the raced based slavery becoming a full fledged tradition with Africans and non whites becoming slaves for life. Control over the blacks became the main concern of the white because of the rebellion from the natives. The British Crown delegated the power to the companies who administered in their behalf with rules and regulations. The natives, on the other hand, did not believe in subjugation and rebelled against any revenue imposed by the settlers. I had a fat black lady as my governess who was not only very loving and funny but she was also ferociously protective of me. I remember that once when my parents had to leave in emergency, my Joan, my governess took me to her place for

VISIONARY LEADERSHIP, CROSS-CULTURAL LEADERSHIP, FACILITATING CHANGE Research Paper

VISIONARY LEADERSHIP, CROSS-CULTURAL LEADERSHIP, FACILITATING CHANGE - Research Paper Example The dimension of Power-distance addresses existing inequality level across the cross-cultural workforce. The inequality operational is acceptable within the power setting of the organization with regard to positions held in the work environment. In a low PD leadership system, power is well distributed as opposed to a high PD system where the management positions held are key in decision making in the organization. As such, closed-door meetings are done and communication is different in the different states that are created. Visionary leadership applies a hybrid system that allows acknowledgement of everybody’s role in decision-making. During crisis, a high PD system is preferable in making decisions while low PD useful where the decisions made affects policies. In addition, the dimension of Individualism-collectivism (IVD) that focuses on the strength of ties within the organizational community should be applied. An organization with high IDV displays characteristics of loose connection, little responsibility and a demand for high privacy. On the contrary, organizations with low IDV display qualities of respect, loyalty and strong cohesions within the work force in the organization. Visionary leadership lays down strategies that emphasize the benefits of working as a community with the aim of motivating labor force intrinsically and encouraging teamwork. Similarly, visionary leadership assesses the role of the dimension of Masculinity (MAS) in its environment. It refers to the ability of an organization to appreciate the traditional male and female roles in workforce. Organizations where the score of MAS is high expect men to be assertive and tough. In this setup, men occupy the managerial positions. In a leadership where the MAS score is lower, the roles played by men and women are related and are assigned in regards to professionalism and qualification. Visionary leaders embrace workforce based on qualification and professional

The importance of customer loyalty Literature review

The importance of customer loyalty - Literature review Example The study presents that every consumer desires to purchase a product from a brand that she/he perceives to have the best product features, images and of the best quality. It is these perceptions that bring about the products consumer loyalty. Brand loyalty begins with the purchase of the product for trials, and if the products quality is satisfactory, they become consistent in purchasing the product. Brand loyalty is the consumers repeated intention or behavior to continually repurchase the commodity. Brand loyalty is defined as the strength of preference towards a brand than other available options. Brand loyalty is determined through repeat buying and the sensitivity of the price. There are six conditions, which define brand loyalty. These conditions can be summarized as follows; the biased product purchase behavior expressed for a long duration, and the purchase has had influence in consumer’s decision making over other alternative product. True brand loyalty only exists wh en a customer have a high preference towards the brand and is only confirmed by the repetitive purchase of the product. This loyalty is said to be of considerable significance to the company. With brand loyalty, consumers are not affected by the increase of prices. There are two approaches used in defining the loyalty construct; first is the behavioral one which suggested that the loyalty of a brand is only expressed when there is repeat purchase of commodity overtime. The other approach is the attitudinal perspective, which assumes that loyalty of a brand is not necessarily determined by the consistency of its purchase, and that repetitive product purchase must be accompanied by positive attitude towards the behavior. Therefore, brand behavior is a function of both attitudes and the consumer behavior. Established consumers or those who are loyal to a brand are likely to continue buying from the company regardless of price fluctuations of the product (Wang and Sidek, 2008). Therefor e, it is indispensable for a company to establish a strong relationship with the consumer through marketing strategies such as packaging, advertising their products and producing commodities of the right quantity and quality whish are of satisfactory to the consumer (Chi, Yeh and Yang 2009). Factors influencing the customer loyalty To start with is the product quality judgment. Product quality judgment is categorized in to two sub groups namely a) perceived quality and b) objective quality. Perceived product quality is considered as the consumer’s consistency purchase of the product or the benefit of a product after evaluation. It has also been defined as the recognition of a product by the user. Objective quality has been defined as the orientation of the product (Akbar and Parves, 2009). The difference between these two types of quality is that objective quality standard is predesigned by a product whilst perceived quality standard is the influence by internal and external attributes of a product, which in turn affect the consumer’s products evaluation. It has also been pointed out that in objective quality; the consumers utilize their experience and knowledge to grade the products advantages, durability and satisfaction (Armstrong and Kotler, 2009). Perceived quality is also defined as a consumer judgment on the overall cumulative and advantages. It is argued that perceived quality

Organization Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Organization Design - Essay Example For example, in the case of a pharmaceutical company, power is retained by the R&D department because it is the very department that generates resources. Which subunits qualify for receiving the information is dictated by the organizational structure. When a certain subunit in the organizational structure has more control over information compared to other subunits, it is capable of influencing the opinions and accordingly influence the decision making process. Subunits that are central to the organization have more power than others. Manufacturing is central in a low-cost organizational culture. Organizations sometimes need to assign more power to a certain subunit in order to ensure that it makes optimal use of the resources. The balance of power between the different subunits is not always suitable for effective utilization of the resources (Jones, 2010, p. 423). Apart from this, there can be relational ties between the executive managers and the head of one of the subunits, which can become a reason for more delegation of power to that subunit compared to

Good Governance Essay Example for Free

Good Governance Essay Introduction The topic of this essay concerns about good governance namely what is it, what is its possible application in the formal and informal sectors added to its context, do the different ideological systems concord with it and lastly does it produce any, whatsoever, improvement or development in any sense and sector? And to answer to all that issues I will firstly define it, secondly discuss all its characteristics and indicators from the various organizations directly and/or indirectly involved with it and thirdly compare and contrast by analysing any situations within the main political orientations in which it is present or absolutely absent and the consequent effects. And finally I will try my conclusions to whatever it could produce with plausible recommendations. Well, the meaning of â€Å"governance in the normal daily use and the first one that comes straightforward to the mind is: the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). The concept anyway of governance† is as old as human civilization and that is since human being felt the need to organise themselves by gathering in groups and electing among them those who will decide for the communities way of life, the eventual relation between the members and theirs with any other possible group around. However it is very recent when developmental professionals and different actors (international organizations, local, national and regional governments) noticed the relevance of governance on the causes that produce bad or good outcomes regardless the expected results  and the intentions behind. The increased use of the term â€Å"governance† good or bad, in the development literature is real and evident, but because bad governance is being absolutely regarded as one of the main causes of all evil deeds in all over the world, most of the International developmental institutions and financial donors have changed approaches by pretending from aid eligible poor countries to ensure good governance in order to have access to aids or loans. Not to ignore the fact that it is anyway the civil society, tacitly to ask, first of all, their relative governments for good governance if it ensures for a decent and better standard of life. The aforementioned definition implicates the automatic existence of decision makers whom are usually called actors by scholars and professionals. On the bases of this definition it can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance and local governance. Add to this that any analysis of governance focuses on the formal and informal actors involved in decision-making and implementing it and the formal and informal structures that have been set in place to arrive at and implement the decision. Among the various actors Government, is the one per excellence, followed by the numerous local and regional ones in one side and the international or global institutions in the other. Within the same country there are for example, beyond the government that has the super power and final decision, other actors in rural and urban areas such as influential land lords, farmers, cooperatives otherwise known as associations of productive workers, NGOs, research institutes, religious leaders, finance institutions, political parties, the military etc. At the national level, in addition to the above actors, there are media, lobbyists, international donors, multi-national corporations, and many others that may influence the decision-making and or condition the decision-making process. It is worth to remember any way that all actors except government and the military are grouped together under what is known as civil society. In some countries in addition to the civil society, organized crime syndicates also influence decision-making, particularly in urban areas and at the national level. Moreover it is normal to hear about formal and informal government structures and formal and informal sectors and that all of them are one means by which decisions are arrived at and implemented. In some remote rural areas, locally powerful families may informally make or  influence decision-making and most of the time corrupted practices are the final outcomes. So governance may be a good or a bad one depending mainly on whether it is constructive and positively fruitful or corrupted and destructive. Unfortunately it is a real perception that, almost in the majority of the countries in the South of the world, there is an uncontrolled widespread corruption as a result of the bad governances of those minority, the elite in power with no distinction between the trio: Government, the military and civil society. But on the parallel carriage there is, at a global level, a huge campaign aimed to achieve some bettering improvement with the expectations to at least minimise all that corruption if not eradicate it at all. It is known how usually this minority misuse the governmental power to personal and or restricted group’s interest depriving in that way the civil society which represents the majority. If this sort of government in power is of a military extraction it makes the situation very difficult and worse because they, most of the time, impose themselves by intimidating the citizens and treating them as enemies, but the impact of their mismanagement will be discussed later. So the main problem in developing countries is a combination of power misuse, political immaturity and prioritising of personal interests to the communities expenses. The international community, in order to prevent further power misuse, promotes Good governance as the remedy to all that and in the intent to grant a decent standard of life to every single citizen regardless of her/his race, religion and social, political or ethnic group. It is not an easy target implementing it, and at the same not that hard but it, surely, needs or better demands, professionalism with some good deeds. Professionalism is the difficult task to answer since it requires competence, political maturity, responsiveness and responsibility. In other term, to have functioning governance toward the citizens interests and to achieve such governance there is, for the time being, eight major characteristics and several indicators to be fully implemented. These characteristics are the result of a long and hard work of scholars and professionals that offered their intellectual powerful services to the societies in order to find out the solutions for a better life, on common grounds, regardless the different political and ideological views. The eight characteristics are: Participation, Rule of law, Consensus oriented, Transparency, Equity and  inclusiveness, Effectiveness and efficiency, Accountability and finally Responsiveness. According to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific (UN ESCAP) these eight characteristics are defined as follows: â€Å"Participation Participation by both men and women is a key cornerstone of good governance. Participation could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives. It is important to point out that representative democracy does not necessarily mean that the concerns of the most vulnerable in society would be taken into consideration in decision making. Participation needs to be informed and organized. This means freedom of association and expression on the one hand and an organized civil society on the other hand. Accountability Accountability is a key requirement of good governance. Not only governmental institutions but also the private sector and civil society organizations must be accountable to the public and to their institutional stakeholders. Who is accountable to whom varies depending on whether decisions or actions taken are internal or external to an organization or institution. In general an organization or an institution is accountable to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions. Accountability cannot be enforced without transparency and the rule of law. Transparency Transparency means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations. It also means that information is freely available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement. It also means that enough information is provided and that it is provided in easily understandable forms and media. Rule of law Good governance requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially. It also requires full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities. Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an impartial and incorruptible police force. Consensus oriented There are several actors and as many view points in a given society. Good governance requires mediation of the different interests in society to reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be achieved. It also requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed for sustainable human development and how to achieve the goals of such development. This can only result from an understanding of the historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society or community. Equity and inclusiveness A society’s well being depends on ensuring that all its members feel that they have a stake in it and do not feel excluded from the mainstream of society. This requires all groups, but particularly the most vulnerable, have opportunities to improve or maintain their well being. Effectiveness and efficiency Good governance means that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment. Responsiveness Good governance requires that institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe.† In theory it is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society. It is people centred matter trying to address gender inequalities. It is really vital and important from local level to global to achieve good governance, with the awareness that its achievement requires absolute professionalism and consciousness, two attributes that are unfortunately absent or worse than that, not considered especially in the South. Following this â€Å"new† approach the international community, leaded by the United  Nations different and various specialised organizations in collaboration with the International Financial Institutions with Bretton Woods institutions in the first place and some other world organizations, demands those countries in the South, who are always involved in corruption, to adopt good governance’s paradigm by modelling their governmental systems so that it might import huge changes and lead to better their country’s economical and social situations. The aforementioned institutions, after long and on-going hard research on what causes bad governance, and as the ones who perpetuate developmental progress, they use to propose solutions, which most of the times fail because of negligence regarding the way they approach and solve or deal with the problems and because of â€Å"disinterest† from both sides: the proposing and the recipient. However each and every institution has its own proposals, indicators and monitoring systems and some of them need revision and reconsiderations. United Nations institutions: The United Nations different institutions are for instance involved in developing country’s redressing developmental programmes according to their specializations and interests and it is sufficient the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) as an example. In fact, their purpose is to tackle the main tragedies that mankind is facing now in most parts of the planet, with different intensity anyway between North and South. These problems are mainly the followings: -widespread poverty and hunger; -lack of primary education; -absence of Gender equality; -Increasing infant and child mortality; -absolute absence of maternal healthcare; -dangerous diseases such as HIV/AIDS; -mismanagement of environmental resource without sustainability; -misconception of what is a global partnership. And according to these problems the Millennium Development Goals are designed to: -eradicate extreme poverty and hunger -achieve universal primary education -promote gender equality and empower women -reduce child mortality -improve maternal healthcare -combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and -ensure environmental sustainability -develop global partnership development. These goals will be achieved and implemented not later than 2015. As seen they are eight goals focusing on the alleviation and tackling of those problems. Each goal has its own targets and indicators under the supervision of the appropriate different organization in order to measurably achieve developmental improvements in the poorest of the developing countries. In total there are 8 goals, 18 targets and 48 indicators. Regarding to the monitoring institutions there are for example concerning to health based programmes UNICEF, WFP, UNAIDS and WHO while to tackle poverty and hunger there are WB, IMF, FAO and UNICEF. UNESCO is concerned with educational problems while ILO (International Labour Organization) and IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union) are more likely to deal with Gender inequality and women empowerment and so on. One of the eighteen targets [target twelve (12) of goal eight (8): Develop a global partnership for development] demands commitment to good governance, but at the other way round these goals are achievable only in an environment where good governance exists. It is a â€Å"cause† and â€Å"effect† at the same time. The expectations anyway and in any case are less encouraging because of unreasonable policies of some aid institutions that are not allowing a bettering situation, such as IMF and WB or the well known Bretton Woods Institutions. The Bretton Woods Institutions Good Governance One of the major causes of under development is represented by the heavy debts that plague these countries as a result of continuous increasing interest loans hardly repayable. Stabilisation, deregulation, devaluation, distortion of prices and many other interventions render developing countries life very miserable. The killing factor anyhow is represented by the Bretton Woods Institution’s Structural Adjustment Programmes (SPA) with the intention to help heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) repay or clear their debts in order to be eligible to new loans . But, these criticised institutions and related organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), dedicated from long time their efforts to help poorer  countries to overcome corruption, but unfortunately and sorely without positive tangible results, and this is because of their mismatching â€Å"rigid† policies and certain conditionals imposed on borrower such as Structural Adjustment Programme, that did n ot succeed to alleviate but, at the contrary, worsen the already existing conditions of poverty. The worse part is that IMF conditionals diminish the states authority to govern its own economy as national economic issue and not differently. But with the stabilisation programmes, deregulation, price distortion and privatisation of nationalised industries predetermined by the structural adjustment packages does not help the borrower to implement good governance. Equally the WB’s acting in partnership with the private sectors of a given country results in substituting the state which represents the primary provider of essential good and services. Imposing the reduction of government’s expenditure on food subsidies, education and healthcare or changing its import and export policies does not at all help developing countries to achieve good governance. This replacement usually ends in a shortfall of those services when most likely the condemned country is more in need. But now the Bretton Woods institutions realized that they need to review their policies in order to en able good governance to be achieved and the veracity of this is reported in the 1994 Naples summit communiquà © of the G-7’s countries. This communication clearly explicitly urged the need of reforms and reviews because of the Bretton Woods failure to achieve its primary mission of poverty alleviation. Reforming and reviewing the International Financial Institutions means they themselves need to practice and apply good governance and not pretending only from their borrowing members. If they succeed to change their policies in better then perhaps there will be a hope of improvement for the developing countries. All the above exposition concerns the theoretical side of good governance and it is very ideal and difficult to be realised in practice up to be considered a utopia. Nevertheless, the real fact is that good governance is absent from the international scenario and only few countries could be said to be close to implement it fully. Besides, the hilarious aspect of this assertion is that they are of different political orientation. This means that good governance does not require a certain political view than othe r. Examples of these politically differently  oriented states are: OECD, Japan, China and the Arabian Gulf countries. Good Governance and the main political systems and governing ideologies As stated before Good governance is not necessarily related to any of the political systems existing nowadays and this because countries with totally different political orientations seem to succeed implementing it. Moreover these systems might be used as temporary solutions in certain difficult political moments regardless their main â€Å"normal† one. In the purpose to understand which of these systems could conciliate with what could be seen as good governance paradigm it is worth to remember them with some useful comments. There are two main different groups on which these systems are based namely collectivism and individualism. The first one considers human being the pillar around which to build a society with the result that the types of the societies are different as it is different the means to design it. What they have in common is the notion that one (king or dictator) or many men (majority) should rule the others. At the contrary the individualist are more philosophical concepts in respect to the other group. Under the umbrella of collectivism there are autocracy/ dictatorship/ despotism, communism, conservatism, democracy, fascism, imperialism, monarchy, pluralism, plutocracy, socialism and theocracy, and the individualist are: anarchism /nihilism, liberalism (classical), libertarianism, objectivism, capitalism, and the republic. Each of them has its characteristics and less or more they could be simply interrelated and or contradictory. -Autocracy, dictatorship and despotism, for instance, are very similar in term of definition and that is an uncontrolled supreme right of governing in a single person with the difference that autocracy is supposedly benevolent. But there is a paradox in the sense that anyway an autocrat needs a huge amount of force to subordinate perhaps an unwilling people and from autocracy we pass to dictatorship. An example of this sort of dictatorship could be the Russia of Stalin for instance. Dictatorship though is the main factor that unfortunately destroyed most of the countries of the South mainly in the decolonization decades (1950-1970) leading them to extreme poverty. It is clearly evident that this type of system does not favourite the achievement of good governance because lacks most of its characteristics such as transparency, accountability, consensus  oriented, and respect for human rights just to mention some. -Communism and socialism have the same collective view of mankind with the difference that socialism is a political system while communism is a scheme that tends to equalize the social conditions of life by collectivising the private property under the governing of the legislator (the State in socialism); a problem that could be mentioned is concerned with what socialists call supervision on freedom of expression just to preserve the community integrity and this represent a restraining factor. Moreover socialism’s paradigms contradicts and represses the private initiatives ignoring so the potentiality of the private on development. Lately in few western countries there is an acceptance of it but in a diluted fashion. This leads to think that socialism differently from communism could give birth a good governance if well managed up to realize at least the corresponding and similar characteristic of both: good governance and socialism. I think this is enough for our purpose but it can be otherwise developed. Opposing to socialism and communism there are, as secular antagonists, democracy and capitalism. Democracy is usually intended for two major modes: 1) retained and directly exercised by the people and 2) retained by the people but governed by a delegated periodically renewable constitutional authority, a popular representation. It relays on whatever the majority’s choice is sacrificing so the minority, even if represented by one single person. This is the same as dictatorship with the difference that in the latter is the single person who sacrifices the majority for his choice. The major difference between socialism and democracy lays in the way deal regarding the collective. Democracy uses to favour the powerful capitalists at the expenses of others with less economic and consequent social power. In this sense capitalism  exerts inequalities born from wrongly created adversarial. Nevertheless capitalism allowed technological progress to be achieved more rapidly than communism. Hence good governance might be implemented by these later systems albeit in a different way and intensity and there are no consistent and distinctive criteria to declare the suitability of one of them to the best achievement of good governance. Remember that all depends about good deeds and professionalism. -Monarchy is a currently used system in different part of the two hemispheres. As a rulership, in which a king or a queen, an emperor or empress, it holds unlimited power having similarity with autocracy or lately limited power (constitutional), usually inherited. It is proven that monarchy in these last centuries succeeded to implement good governance albeit with more suffering civil society. But seen that good governance is people centred system there should be a redressing effort and good intent. According to the other systems I think that they are either out of fashion such as fascism, imperialism or nihilism or have a temporary or transitory use such as pluralism, conservatism, libertarianism, liberalism, plutocracy, objectivism, theocracy and so on. Among these later systems pluralism seems, in my opinion, to be helpful to most if not totally of the African governments. According to an article on the web of freedom in the UK, pluralism is: â€Å"Government carried out by a process of bargaining and compromise between a variety of competing leadership groups (business, labour, government, etc.). Advocates of pluralism claim that it best serves the democratic ideal in a complex modern society, in which individual participation in every act of decision-making is impractical. According to pluralism, individual rights and interests are protected by a sort of extra-constitutional checks and balances: No single group holds the dominant power position, power is always shifting, and individuals can have influence on policy-making through being active in one of these power groups. Some claim that America is such a pluralistic society; other theories say that pluralism is in fact a myth and American society is elitist. Despite this pluralism is not limited, other than by the common sense of its participants. Therefore it is still, in essence, collectivist and adversarial.† Analysing this sort of definition it is easy to encounter, at least most of good governance’s characteristics such as participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. In 1994-5 I was following Yemen’s political crises during the controversy between the socialists system supporters from the south and the, let us say, non socialist promoters in the north. At the end came winner those from north  formed by a coalition of religious forces and the pseudo capitalist system in power. During the contention the President proposed a joint supreme governing power composed by three representative members of the main three forces: the president, a socialist and a religious leader stabilising so a sort of bargaining government and the result was that the socialist part lost the partnership. My aim anyway was to prove how pluralism worked in this crucial time and for this reason it is seen as a myth since good governance tends to be utopia matter. But nevertheless different countries of different political orientation nearly implemented its characteristics it means that other could succeed by trying it. There is nothing unachievable if there is the willpower to succeed and people are determined to obviate the obstacles. And to do so the actors need to, first of all, understand the nature of the obstacles and then analyse the eventual solutions without being second to none in decision making putting themselves in that way in a subordinated position. They need to be capable of bargaining and only by that way they can validate their voices over bargaining powers on the other side. Understanding your power, resource availability, willpower of bargaining through it and accepting compromises are attributes necessary toward good governance. Representing their civil society properly and honestly and prioritising their basic needs will put the actors in the position of enabling it to benefit from the outcomes. All these requirements are possible of realization if the roles of the three main components of a country are well defined and every component knows its limits, rights and duties. Those mentioned three parts are government, civil society and the force army in its different specialty. Only in the case these parts understand clearly their roles there will be the expected good governance, otherwise the developing countries will hold forever the heavily burdens now devastating their lives and live with it. Good governance and the trio: Government, Civil society and the Military It is absolutely necessary to have distinct these three groups in order to avoid any irregular and regrettable interferences among them. This simply means that government’s role is to rule and to make  decisions, to choose the ways of implanting those decisions while the Military is to defend the country from external aggression or to calm an internal subversive. Regarding the civil society it represents the groups and individuals out of the formal structure of government and the military. Concerning political development it represents the extreme expression of political parties. In it there are the opposing forces that recalls government and military’s misbehaviour. Therefore, if one of them interferes with the other’s role and tries to replace them there will be a chaotic situation, and to sort out or put a remedy will be afterwards difficult. Effectively this is what happens in many of the developing countries causing situations difficult to redress. Nepotism, tribalism, racism, clannish belonging and similar congregations are causes of misuse of power, public and private resources and denying basic human rights to whoever does not belong to their circle. Add to this the fact that if the replacing group are the arm forces, the atrocity of the consequences is very deep and bitter. After the decolonization, in most countries in the South there was a subsequent darkening governmental systems that, based on ignorance and limited professionalism and lacking any sort of political stability due to indecisions regarding to which big power block count lean on, ended in disastrous bad governance and continuous coup dà ©tat from military men. At the beginning this sort of endeavour was aimed for a patriotic purpose but the result afterwards become dictatorship and despotism. The general ideas of governing of creating nations become too hard to be accomplished and it is been replaced by personal enrichment. More these fool governors were enriching themselves the civil society was suffering deep poverty. These facts encouraged military men challenge their adversely rivals in order to access to that wealthy life at the expenses of their poor tribal partners and not any more the whole civil society. Moreover such economic patrimony did not stop them from stealing but they have created tribal-based hatred between the poor people and this ended in between failed states and under the denomination of poorest countries. A failed state is the result of internally not functioning one or externally not recognised and that because the damage is more o less incident. There are so partially or totally failed states or better states that internally function but there is non external recognition and vice versa. Anyway the internal malfunctioning ends  in overthrowing o r secessionism, situations that are to be avoided. Well then, it is time that developing countries leave this nonsense aggregation of tribe, race and similar clannish ones and move forward in order to accomplish decent standard of life becoming equal to the civilised world and to put an end to the greediness of their governors. They have just to ask good governance’s characteristics to be implemented or otherwise they will only regress in respect to the progressive globalizing world. From the above discussion it is clear that good governance is an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality but this does not mean that is impossible. Very few countries and societies have come close to achieve it. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal with the aim of transforming it into a reality. It is a matter of competence/professionalism and good deeds. Competency, or professionalism or skill or aptitude, is very decisive or better it represents the core of the power in the government. It is indeed a requirement. Regarding the good deeds the determining one depends mostly from the rich and free societies and the effort they decide to spend. Actually it is the international community’s interest to show good intents in reasonably and responsibly cooperating with and helping poorest countries all around the world otherwise whatever the outcomes will affect them seen that the whole world is becoming a small village due to globalisation. It is surely known how global warming for example is threatening the whole world. Good deeds from national to international level is required and the rich and free societies role. To support this thesis it is worth to mention the United States of America’ 60th president, John F.Kennedy who said in his inaugural Address in January 20, 1961: If a free society can not help the many who are poor, it can not save the few who are rich. Likewise President Mpaka of Tanzania quoting President Kennedy’s statement said in a speech: In a globalizing world, if we cannot help the many who are excluded in global prosperity, we cannot save the few who are included. In conclusion good governance will definitely improve development’s conditions all over the world if the varied development institutions work in favour of good governance. References: 1. UN ESCAP What is a GOOD GOVERNANCE? INTRODUCTION Recently the terms governance and good governance are being increasingly used in development literature at www.unescap.org/huset/gg/governance.htm (accessed 21 December 2004) 2. United Nations Millennium Development Goals. at www.un.org/millenniumgoals (accessed 27 November 2004) 3. Bretton Woods Project Critical voices on the World Bank and IMF. Good governance. 49 items. Fugitive in five-star hotel, IMF foots bill. at www.brettonwoodsproject.org/topic/goodgov/index.shtml 25k (accessed 24 December 2004) 4. Freedom in the UK google search engine: political systems (accessed 28 December 2004) 5. President J. F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech at www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1961Kennedy.html ( accessed 23 December 2004) 6. Chakravarthi Raghavan, Mar 5, 1998 FINANCE: FUND/BANK SHOULD PRACTICE GOOD GOVERNANCE! At www.sunsonline.org.htm 14k (accessed 14 January 2005) ____________________________________________ Bibliography Kingsbury D. et al (2004) Key issues in development 1ST ed. New York: Palgrave Mcmillan

Living and Working in Korea Essay Example for Free

Living and Working in Korea Essay The case of Ellen Moore is very interesting and diverse, because it shows different reasons why problems can occur in a project management and teamwork and highlights how cultural differences can affect the work in a very negative way. There are several reasons why the project has run into problems. Some of these could have been foreseen but some not. The main problem is that there were wrong decisions made when creating the team and also some risks were incorrectly assessed to be less important than they actually turned out to be. First of all in selecting project management representative Andrew Kilpatrick underestimated the cultural differences and did not listen enough to the warning from American consultants with WSI in Korea that it is impossible to send a woman to work in Korea. I don’t think it is completely impossible for a woman to work in Korea, but Ellen should have been more prepared and more informed about the local traditions particularly about the team building and after-work dinners and how the Koreans’ respect for position and status would influence the teams’ behavior. From the case it seems like too many things came as a surprise to Ellen and it was hard to focus on the primary tasks. Another problem was in the team composition especially in allocating roles. There were 2 project co-managers – Ellen and Jack – assigned to the team. But Jack was given an impression that he will be the sole project leader. For this reason Ellen’s addition to the team created tension between them and from the beginning and this undermined their chances to work together for the same goal. If it was decided to have 2 equal project manager positions, then their roles should have been allocated. For example each project manager would have specific areas of responsibilities and the rest of the team would be informed about these responsibilities. Instead both project managers ended up fighting for the power instead of working towards the common goal. The development of the events in the team also suggests that it was a wrong decision to appoint 2 team managers, because it is clear that the team performed better when they were led by one team leader – when  Jack was around the Korean team would follow his instructions, but when Jack was away and Ellen was the only leader the team cooperated and worked well under her supervision and coaching. The third problem was the expertise and experience of the Korean consultants. The American part of the team was only partially informed about the teams’ qualifications. But it soon turned out that none of them had sufficient previous experience to work on this project. That the teams’ inexperience turned out to be one of the reasons the project ran into problems is partially because of Ellen’s overconfidence. When she realized what is the actual qualification and experience of the team members she thought she could work around it and train the people on the team. Instead of suggesting changes in the team she relied on her skills as a coach to improve the situation. All these reasons are to blame that the project is in serious trouble and without clear action plan the project cannot be put back on track. One solution that could be done to get the project back on schedule is for Andrew to take on a more active role in the teams work and become the team leader in Korea and oversee both Ellen and Jack and the whole team. Since both Mr.Song and Mr.Park think that Ellen is the problem and is not effective, there is not much she can do to continue the role as the team leader because the supervisors in Korea don’t back her up. And in this situation it would be hard for her to become the team leader over Jack. If all the team members remain in their place under Andrews supervisions, roles to each member should be allocated also tem members need to be motivated to work together to achieve the goal. Rewards for cooperation and tem work could be in place here. Another alternative could be removing Jack from the team and find a Korean consultant that has experience with SI projects. This solution would eliminate the tension in the team and also increase the professional capacity of the team. If the budget of the project allows one more possibility would be to include additional team members with more expertise to assist the team. Also changing the team members could be a solution, but  there might be not enough time to completely change the team and still manage to finish the project on schedule. Although the situation is rather complex because the team is dealing not only with professional problems but also with personnel problems and problems caused by not understanding the different culture, there are some things that Ellen could have done differently. First of all she should have tried to draw Andrews and Mr. Park’s and Mr. Song’s attention to the fact that the team members are not qualified enough to work on this project in the early stages of the project. She should have asked to either change the weakest members of the team or have additional training for the team to raise their level of expertise. As for cooperation with Jack I think that the fight for the power between the two of them was inevitable, but one way how to try to deal with the situation could have been Ellen’s initiative to establish some ground rules on how they interact with the team, how they divide responsibilities between them. Her background information shows that she had previous experience in leading teams so probably also knowledge in conflict resolution and motivating people. Clearly Jack needed some motivation to become a team player. But altogether I think that most of the problems occurred because Ellen’s supervisors made wrong assessments about the project and the situation and also made some bad decisions in the beginning.

Double Consciousness In Black Culture

Double Consciousness In Black Culture In his book The Souls of the Black Folk, WEB Du Bois is considering the situations the Africans, who were American citizens after the American Revolution war faced. These where people who were slaves afore time and had become American citizens after being freed from slavery by Abraham Lincoln. The whites looked down upon these black Americans, who were African Americans. They also mistreated and despised these African Americans. The whites considered themselves superior than the blacks and believed that nothing good could come out of these black Americans. The whites considered the black Americans poor and chaotic. They denied the African Americans the opportunity to access basic requirements like education, health care and running businesses. Through this treatment, the African Americans found themselves in a state of confusion. They looked at themselves through the eyes of other people (Du Bois, 12) and considered themselves inferior to the whites. They believed that they were Amer icans and, at the same time, their color and discrimination made them believe that they were Africans. These Negros never wanted to give up any of the two statuses because they believed it had some good to offer, a situation that put them in the state of double consciousness (pg 13). They therefore held on to their African culture and at the same time wanted to embrace the American culture and lifestyle. Double consciousness is a situation where one is convinced of who he or she is and at the same time believes to be what other people thinks he or she is. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at ones self through the eyes of others, of measuring ones soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness, (Du Bois, 12). Such people hold on to the two personalities thus trying to live like two souls competing for one body. In Du Bois account, the concept of double consciousness was aggravated by the whites stereotypes which made the Negros (the African Americans) to doubt the truth they had about themselves, racism that made black Americans to be segregated from the American community and the understanding that the Negros were both African and American. The Afro-American strove to attain self-consciousness and change his double consciousness to a satisfactory truer self (Du Bois, 13). Even though the African Americans desired a better self, they were not ready to change any of the two natures to suit the other. They had to make use of their formerly dispersed, wasted and forgotten mind in order to get out of the problem they were facing. As a result, the African Americans formed a movement that helped them to revolutionalize America and the world and enable them to participate fully in the development of their country. The African Americans employed their skills such as poetry, literature, plays, concerts and music to express what they felt and how they wanted the whites to treat them. They came together and formed an alliance where they used plays and music to discourage stereotypes and discrimination. They formed an alliance and named it the Harlem Renaissance. This alliance grew and became popular among the African Americans. Wor ld War 1 and the social and cultural changes in the United States accelerated the growth and popularity of the alliance during the start of the 20th century. The Harlem renaissance brought democratic reform to the American people. However, the Renaissance ended abruptly due to the great depression and their assumptions about the importance of culture that did not related to the social and economic realities. The African Americans sought better standards of living in other parts of the United States of America. They migrated from the southern farmlands to the northern industrial and town areas. At first, the African Americans received some level of acceptance by the whites and they lived with them in the Northern cities. They established their businesses and started growing in their economic status. Despite this, the whites still looked down upon the blacks and controlled most aspects of their lives like in markets and the economy at large. The blacks found a better life in the neighborhood for some time. This led to a higher influx of the Whites from the south leading to their increase in population. The population of poor blacks in the region increased, as most of them were jobless and from poor background. This situation led to increase in social evils as some became thugs, formed groups of thugs, and disturbed the peace of the people in those areas. Du Bois uses the veil as a metaphor through out his work. In his book, Du Bois stated that the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil (Pg 12). A veil is like an opaque curtain that separates different groups of people. It makes people to be ignorant of what is taking place in the other group because they cannot see it. The veil makes things obscure and acts as a mask preventing the whites from seeing what is of importance in the whites. It covers, hides and conceals the blacks who are born in the veil making them invisible to the American whites. Du Bois indicates that the veil makes the experience of the African Americans invisible to the whites. In a sense, he wants to lift up the veil for us to see and understand what is taking place inside the veil. The veil that separated the whites and blacks was color. This veil followed the people throughout their lives from birth to death. This means that the veil of color separated the way the backs and whites treated each other in all aspects of their lives with the blacks being discriminated in social life, political life, in hospitals, churches, schools, streets, jails and even in graveyards (Allen Jr. Pg 2). Color separates people in the United States making them live as different communities in one region. This causes harm to the inhabitants and destroys democracy. The African Americans feel alienated but at the same time feel themselves as worth people with their own culture and traditions. This thought gives the blacks a dual perception, which Du Bois referred to as double consciousness. Du Bois suggested that the African Americans have an important identity valuable and profitable to all the inhabitants of America. The current conditions in which they thrive prevent this identity from developing or becoming fully and exploited. Through their various cultures, the white Americans put blocks and divisions on the black Americans. Du bois philosophy has been useful in development of American political theories. It has also influenced many people in the tradition of Africana theory. It has been important in development of the race theory through his argument that race has some real meaning even though it is difficult to define that meaning. The book addresses the concept of domination where some people use their race to dominate others and exploit them. Such is evident in the world today. Still the whites are marginalizing the blacks and alienating them in major aspects of development of the American nation and the world at large. The whites have not fully agreed that the blacks can provide much in development than they can do. The whites still discriminate the blacks and deny them good opportunities in education, social standing and in political issues. As a result, the double consciousness still exists in the blacks to some degree. The blacks, however are struggling to overcome this and have been seen contending with the whites in the social, economic and political aspects. The American political theory today has undergone transformation, becoming better than it was decades ago. Science and social science philosophies have helped broaden the intellectual horizons thus improving the prospects of the political theory. This has helped reconcile the conflicting philosophies and traditions of the African Americans and the White Americans (Held, Pg 14). The transformation has also enabled the common citizens to track and participate in the formulation of the political theories and policies. The policies have largely accommodated the African Americans and allowed them to participate actively in the political activities of the American Nation. The new political theory has reviewed the aspects of sovereignty, democracy and justice to all people (Held, 16). Despite all the transformations and struggles the African Americans have made to avoid racism and discrimination, it is notable that this still exists up to now. According to Brown N. Kimberly (2010), Du Bois desire was to see double consciousness eradicated (Brown, 31). Double consciousness still exists but it is no longer an urgent objective. Discrimination and racism still exist, although it is at a lesser degree than it was during the time of Du Bois. Some people are still struggling with their identity and mixed cultures as was experienced by the African Americans. Political instability and social injustices experienced by the people aggravate this problem. Economic disparities and differences in social standing makes some people look down upon others and make them to develop to some degree the double consciousness problem. The political status of the Backs in the American nation has undergone major transformations. Today, the black Americans have a share in political posts in different ranks. This shows that the whites have accepted the contribution of the African Americans and their social standing, intellect and role they play in society. The African Americans of today are not be haunted by the double consciousness as much as it were with those of some decades ago. The new political theory has changed much in terms of policy on how all people aught to treat others. As a result, the African Americans have equal opportunity with the whites in access of all services needed by them. Even though this is the case, there are still some stereotypes. Some of the people still feel superior and thus mistreat others because of their color, race and ethnicity. The whites need to recognize the struggles of the black Americans and recognize them fully as human and treat them with the respect they deserve. They should recognize them as part of them and fully incorporate them in all development plans and activities. The whites need the intellect, resources and power of the African Americans in running the activities of their nation corporately. Cited work Allen Jr. Ernest (1992): Ever Feeling Ones twoness: Double Ideas and Double Consciousness In the Souls of Black Folk, Contributing in Black Studies: Vol. 9, Article 5 Held David: Political Theory today, Stamford University Pres, 1991 Brown, N. Kimberly, Writing the Black revolutionary Diva. Indiana University press, 2010 Du Bois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk, Forgotten books,2008

Initiative 200 :: essays research papers

Affirmative Action Under Attack by Initiative 200?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Affirmative action is under heavy attack by initiative 200, and it should not be. It should not be under fire because it serves as an act of restitution for the discrimination and hurt that we have caused African-Americans and other minorities throughout this century. It is our job to repair and repay blacks because our performance in the past has immediately affected their present status.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Americans, especially white males until late, were not opposed to affirmative action. This is only because affirmative action primarily benefited white males. It was the privileges our colonial fathers established on the basis of race and gender that allowed white males to dominate the job market with little or no contention. Some even believe that affirmative action is preferential treatment for white males.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  White males have used race consistently in two ways since the Civil War: for the purpose of inclusion and exclusion. They have used race inclusively to benefit themselves and exclusively to deny opportunity to others. In the past, white males were preferred. In the present, however, affirmative action, though still based on race and gender, is used to include those who in the past were excluded. In more precise terms, with today’s affirmative action, or preferential treatment, we are attempting to adjust for the imbalances of the past that have been carried on into the present.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All of this seems so intuitively obvious, so why then can’t most Americans understand why affirmative action is obligatory? I believe the answer is as follows: Americans have refuse to recognize that there is and empirical relationship between the past and the present. They refuse to recognize that understanding the effects of past discrimination on the present is the key to explaining why affirmative action is not only needed in the present, but is the moral and political responsibility of so-called Christian nation. A recognition such as this would also demonstrate the inadequacies of present-day affirmative action. Affirmative action is a cheap price for blacks to settle for, given he way America has systematically discriminated against them in order to preserve and protect white male, and increasingly, white female privilege.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the Civil War and up to the 1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education decision, African Americans have been denied equal access to higher education and the labor market, and they have been denied by law.

Lord of the Flies - Who I think would make the best leader on the island: :: English Literature

Lord of the Flies - Who I think would make the best leader on the island: Ralph, Piggy or Jack? The Novel that this piece of writing is based upon is named "Lord of the Flies". The author of the book is William Golding who wrote many other books including Close quarters and Fire down below. This essay is on my opinion of who would be the best leader on the island out of Ralph, Piggy and Jack. I will base my opinions on my assumption of what makes a good leader and my general feelings of their actions, reactions and appearance. These three predicaments make large differences in how other people feel towards you. If you have become irritable easily people may ignore you or if you can not make good decisions of your own they may feel more powerful than you. So these are my reasons of how I will judge the characters. Another aspect I will have to consider is the first impressions made on the characters and how Golding provoked these. What makes a good leader is someone who does not take sides in bad situations, someone who is organised, they can be independent, confident, good ideas, a quick thinker, non-judgmental, works well under pressure, reliable, takes charge and can see good and bad in people. All these points are good because people following the leaders do not want to be under pressure because the leader can not take certain circumstances, followers also do not a leader who is not confident because then they have to be more positive. Also if the leader does not give their followers praise then they will become doubtful about their leader. Piggy is described by Golding as: "The naked crooks of his knees were plump" and "he was shorter than the fair boy (Ralph) and very fat" Piggy wears glasses and this seems to make people disrespect him. For example on page 75 where Jack knocks Piggy's glasses of his face and breaks one side. Jack doesn't apologise to Piggy very quickly and when he does it is in a childish manner whereas before when he and Ralph had had an argument Jack's response was more of an adult nature. Ralph and Jack's argument is on pages 51-52. The argument is about Jack's hunting because he has not helped with the making of the shelters so Ralph is mad. An example of the Adult nature is straight after the argument when Ralph says: " 'You've noticed haven't you?' Jack put down his spear and squatted 'Noticed what?' 'Well. They're frightened.'" This behaviour is very well showed because they forget about the

Explain how multi agency teams work together to support speech, language and communication. Essay

There are a number of professionals that come into contact with each other if a child has needs with speech, language and communication and require support from different areas. E.g. a social worker, SEN Officer, teacher and parent can work together to improve the life of a child or young person. They may come together to discuss a plan that is best for the child to progress effectively. Each child may have different professionals to tailor their individual needs. The people with specialist knowledge and skills will support the people that work with them on a daily basis and have regular meetings to remove barriers of achievement, agree strategies, provide training and identify, and sometimes provide resources. SENCO have the correct paper work in place and ensure appointments are up to date, this will make it easy to monitor development. This will help to co-ordinate with professionals who work with the child. The LEA decides between the school and external support services on how to support the child’s development and may arrange the intervention of a school action plus level to be provided. It also has a parent partnership so parents can be heard and understood with their views taken into account. Every child matters is a programme that covers all children in the school age 0-19. It has been set up so that schools and parents work together to give very child the best chance on life. It has a shared database of children containing information of every child so that all multi agencies, schools, police and voluntary groups can ensure the welfare of each child and can be assessed.

Mahatma Gandhi Essay

One of India’s most important men in history was Mahatma Gandhi. In this interpretation I wish to discuss Mahatma Gandhi’s writing’s on India’s Independence. As discussed in â€Å"Indian Home Rule† written in 1909. Born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi but known as Mahatma Gandhi lived from the year 1869 to the year 1948. He was the primary leader for India’s independence and one of the most successful users of civil disobedience in history. He was a spiritual and political leader in India, and he used his position and voice to make his country better. Mahatma Gandhi believed in satyagraha or † resistance through mass non-violent civil disobedience. Satyagraha remains one of the most potent philosophies in freedom struggles throughout the world today,† (bio.com) . Gandhi spent most of his life fighting for Indian Liberation from outside influences and he was assassinated trying to stop a Hindu-Muslim conflict by a Hindu fanatic on Janua ry 30, 1948. His death was unfortunate but he is remember by the world as one of the most successful spiritual leaders. Gandhi’s most fundamental criticism of British rule in India lies in the fact modernization that has been incorporated into their society by the British has caused India to turn away from their founding principles and religion. Mahatma Gandhi mentions that his people â€Å"should set limit to worldly ambition..’ and ‘make religious ambition be illimitable,† (Strayer, p. 920). This thought reflected his belief that the British concern was merely worldly ambition and that was not what his country should have set their sights upon. In his work, Gandhi defines civilization in his country’s sense and the British’s definition of civilization both of which differed dramatically. Gandhi’s concept of civilization center around a simple lifestyle not dependent on modernization and industrial characteristics. He believed civilization was their past lifestyle before railroads and British imperialism where his people lived in huts and plowed their o wn land the same way as their previous fathers did. His definition of British civilization was highly diluted and biased when he lists their idea of what it is. His definition of their civilization mentions â€Å"women who should be queens of households, wandering in the streets or slaving away in factories’, men being ‘enslaved by temptations of money and the luxuries that it buys’, and ‘that their business is not to teach religion† (Strayer,  p. 920). He goes on to say that their civilization will eventually be self destroyed whereas India’s will just keep continuing. Gandhi reconciles with the idea of India as a single nation even though the obvious religion division between Hindus and Muslims because he is speaking merely on India versus outsiders, not in any way distinguishing India as having separate divisions within itself. Gandhi seeks a future where India is that of its native culture handed down to them. Not in anyway seeking the advice of outsiders, yet instead living as they did in the past and sticking instead to elevate others moral being. With Gandhi’s ideas, he probably met cri ticisms from India’s increasing nationalist politicians who did not want to go back to the old way of life and who loved the power they gained from the British. Mahatma Gandhi said that the tendency of Western civilization is to propagate immorality. I think he says that because the history of Western Colonization is that of spreading their culture and way of life wherever they travel, and he feel that their culture is immoral and corrupted. I think it is impossible for colonialism to be moral because more times than not the outsiders were intruding upon the natives and causing a severe disruption to their lifestyles that probably resulted in their demise or downfall. The history of colonialism does not lend itself to being a moral topic. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 04:39, Jul 27, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/mahatma-gandhi-9305898.

Community Practice Essay

Facilitating and obstructing factors for development of learning in clinical practice: a student perspective. Issues and innovations in Nursing Education. Journal of Advanced Nursing 34(1), 43–50; Priest, H. , 2004. Phenomenology. Nurse Researcher 11(4), 4–6; Stockhausen, L. , 2005. Learning to become a nurse: student nurses’ reflections on their clinical experiences. Australian Journal of Nursing 22(3), 8–14). The data were analysed using content analysis techniques, exploring their contextual meaning through the development of emergent themes (Neuendorf, K. A. 2002. The Content Analysis Guidebook. Sage Publications, London). The identified themes related to elements of students’ basic skill acquisition, the development of their working relationships with mentors, patients and others, the learning opportunities offered by community practice placements and the effects that such placements had on their confidence to practice. These themes are discuss ed with regard to the published literature, to arrive at conclusions and implications for future nursing education, practice and research. Author: M. R. Baglin Source: http://www. urseeducationinpractice. com/article/S1471-5953(09)00110-3/abstract Community nursing competencies: a comparison of educator, administrator, and student perspectives. Perceptions of functioning levels of baccalaureate students nearing graduation were assessed, comparing views of 15 educators, 15 health department administrators, and 185 students. A modified list of the 47 essential public health nursing competencies identified through the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Division of Nursing served as the basis for data collection and analyses. Student competencies in individual skills were ranked higher than group and community competencies by all three groups surveyed. Students ranked competencies at higher levels than educators and educators at higher levels than administrators. Although administrators continue to advise new graduates to work in acute care before entering community health, support for continuation of this practice was not observed based on administrator ratings. Author: Nickel JT,  Pituch MJ,  Holton J,  Didion J,  Perzynski K,  Wise J,  McVey B. Source: http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/7899221 Enhancing students’ perspectives of health through non-traditional community experiences. The shift in emphasis to community-based health care necessitates that opportunities be provided for nursing students to acquire an understanding of the complex nature of health. A qualitative study was used to demonstrate the benefits accrued by junior baccalaureate nursing students in non-traditional community settings. Key themes that emerged from data analysis included definitions of health and illness as context specific, and environmental factors influencing health. The study demonstrated that learning experiences with diverse communities can broaden students’ perspectives and understanding of health behaviours. Students gained an appreciation of the sociocultural variation in meanings of health and illness as well as of the social and political dimensions of health. Author: Sword W,  Noesgaard C,  Majumdar B. Source: http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/8313070 Student Nurse Attitudes Towards Homeless Clients: a challenge for education and Practice The purpose of this research was to describe attitudes of nursing students (and paramedic officers) towards marginalized clients. Convenience quota sampling in a major health faculty was employed. Students participated on a voluntary basis. A 58-item Likert scale, developed by the authors, assessed the student nurses’ attitudes. In general, attitudes towards homeless clients were neutral; detailed analyses, however, revealed that student nurses would decline to care for homeless clients in various situations. Personal experience with homeless patients and positive attitudes of nurses significantly contributed to increased quality of care and equality of treatment for homeless clients. Certain student nurse behaviors warrant immediate attention to prevent marginalized patients from being exposed to unfair, inaccessible and biased nursing care. Based on our results, we recommend that further research attention be paid to the role of ethics education and faculty behaviors, as faculty members serve as role models for professionalization. Zoltan Balogh Semmelweiss University, Budapest, Hungary,  zrinyi_m@freemail. hu,zrinyim@who. int Source: http://nej. sagepub. com/content/11/4/334. abstract Author: Miklos Zrinyi world Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland Student Nurses Learn Lessons in Community Health on Tribal Reservations University of Washington School of Nursing students have the unique opportunity to complete a community health rotation on one of two Native American reservations on Washington’s Kitsap Peninsula—the only rural public health clinical offered by the school of nursing. The experience has not only helped students learn about a unique group of people, but also how to relate to any patient population in future community health work. Recently, teams of student nurses were assigned to the Fort Gamble S’klallam reservation and to the Suquamish reservation, focusing on four different projects. One group of students partnered with family services personnel in an obesity prevention program mirroring TV’s â€Å"The Biggest Loser,† in which the person who lost the most weight won a car. Other students developed a nutrition program for an early childhood development center. A third group was involved in educating the staff of an early childhood development center about the prevention of Hepatitis B infections. The remaining group conducted and transcribed interviews with individuals for a community assessment. The goal of the assessment was to understand the community’s perception of its strengths and problem issues and to discover which issues were most important to the community. Author: Megan M. Krischke, Source: http://insightsinnursing. com/2009/07/student-nurses-learn-from-community-immersion/ Foreign studies Foreign nurses can slip into communication  gap According to (marshall 2009) it’s not politically correct — but it’s a frequent complaint of hospital patients in Las Vegas: â€Å"The nurses don’t speak English! The complaint is inaccurate. Foreign nurses working in Las Vegas do speak English. All have passed English language competency exams to become licensed in Nevada. But the complaint also contains an element of truth. More than 15 percent of the Las Vegas nursing workforce is internationally trained, about five times the national averag e of 3. 5 percent, according to an expert at UNLV. Most of these nurses are from Asian countries — the Philippines, India, Japan and Korea. Their English is often heavily accented and they may not understand the nuances of American culture and lingo — which can create challenges for patients and doctors. Xu’s research has shown that foreign nurses have a difficult transition to the American health care system. A study he conducted on Chinese nurses in the United States found they often felt socially isolated and paralyzed by their communication inadequacies. Foreign nurses are also forced to adjust to differences in the job description in the United States, Xu’s research has shown. Asian nurses are accustomed to family members doing tasks like bathing and feeding the patient, and may feel such jobs are beneath their level of education, one of his studies found. Language and communication problems can have a direct effect on the quality of patient care, and on the perceptions patients have of their care, Xu said. An estimated 100,000 people die every year as the result of medical errors in the United States, and communication problems are believed to be a leading cause. Xu said it’s impossible to know how much internationally trained nurses contribute to medical errors because the area is grossly understudied. Author: Marshall Allen Source: http://www. lasvegassun. com/news/2009/mar/10/foreign-nurses-can-fall-communication-gap/ A Study of the Drivers of Commitment amongst Nurses: The Salience of Training, Development and Career Issues According to (McCabe etal 2) this study is to highlight factors influencing the commitment of nurses, and particularly focuses on the role of training, development and career issues. It provides the basis for a HRD framework, outlining policy choices in developing high commitment amongst nursing staff. Design/methodology/approach: The main themes and sub-themes relating to the drivers of commitment and the role of training, development and career issues were identified and explored employing a grounded theory, constant omparative approach. Findings: The main â€Å"fault-line† between nurses and the organization concerned resource management, and the introduction of general management concepts and practices. HRD practitioners should consider using the language and terms of reference familiar to nurses when devising HRD initiatives. Factors positively influencing the comm itment of nursing staff included shared values, involving a sense of â€Å"vocational† commitment towards patient care and nursing. Strong leadership, particularly concerning the role of line management, was seen as important in influencing commitment. Teamwork and support, from both line management and colleagues, was also important. Training and development were highly regarded by nurses, and could be a useful way of recognizing and acknowledging their contribution to health care delivery. Career progression and greater involvement were viewed favourably by some nurses and unfavourably by others. The main issue concerned the possible substitution of nurse practitioner responsibilities with administrative and managerial responsibilities. Research limitations/implications: The findings are solely based on interviews with nursing staff from two NHS organizations. In exploring the various drivers of commitment and the role of training, development and career issues the study’s focus was towards depth, as opposed to breath, of investigation. Practical implications: Valuable information for HRD practitioners and researchers on the drivers of commitment amongst nursing staff and the role played by training, development and career issues is provided. Originality/value: This paper is a useful study on exploring commitment amongst nursing staff and ways in which HRD practitioners and researchers can facilitate and develop commitment. The DoLE official added that while waiting for a chance to be employed overseas, nurses can venture into and already start income generating projects. However, she admitted that the high demand for nurses abroad is a really attractive career to pursue because of its obvious economic returns. Meanwhile, Pineda disclosed that the continuing demand for Filipino nurses overseas is expected to intensify, as the world’s northern countries experience longer lifespans and the graying of their population in the next five to ten years is sure to see the deployment of local nurses. Countries that will continue to offer employment opportunities include the Gulf States in the Middle East such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman,† she said. Further, European countries including the United Kingdom and Ireland will also continue hiring Filipino nurses, even as new markets are emerging in Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Netherlands. Canada, too, is a new market, while Australia and New Zealand likewise offer

Essay on Essay

Questions: 1. What details in the first two paragraphs convey a sense of the ordinary, behind-the-scenes routines of film critics? What words or phrases suggest the longevity of Ebert’s career as a movie reviewer?The part where it says, â€Å"Some of them look as though they plan on camping out, with their coats, blankets, lunches, and laptops spread out on the seats around them,† shows that this is the routine of the film critics because they are comfortable in the room together. Also, the room has comfortable chairs for the critics to get nice and comfortable in. He says that Ebert is the most renowned movie critic in the world. This indicates that he must have been doing this for a long time to be famous for this.2. How does Chris Jones distinguish Ebert from his fellow reviewers? Why is this contrast important?He shows that Ebert is old school and goes off his memory since he only has a pen and note pad to make notes, where all the other critics will be on their com puters for hours writing after the movie.3. How does Jones’s description of Ebert’s reaction to Broken Embraces help us understand Ebert’s character? What words or phrases reveal Ebert’s attitude toward the experience of watching this film?Ebert shows that he likes the movie very much and shows joy by taking excited notes.4. What are the connotations of â€Å"kid joy†?â€Å"Kid joy† means being purely happy, like a little kid running through sprinklers or around a playground.5. Jones writes that, at the end of the film, â€Å"it looks as though [Ebert’s] sitting on top of a cloud of paper.† Jones then describes how Ebert â€Å"kicks his notes into a small pile with his feet.† Why are these images important?What side of Ebert’s personality do they reveal? These images are important because it shows Ebert’s frustration.6. Why does Jones use the word â€Å"savoring† to describe Ebert’s  quiet p ause after the film ends?It shows that Ebert is taking in the feelings of happiness because it was such a good picture.7. What does Jones mean when he says that the moment Ebert said his last words before losing the ability to talk to cancer â€Å"wasn’t cinematic†? Why is this significant?Ebert cant remember it, while someone’s last words would be meaningful and memorable, so it is not cinematic.8. What details are important in Jones’s description of Ebert’s second-floor library? What do the objects in this room suggest about Ebert’s current life?He had everything he could want in that room. The objects in this room suggest that his life simple and old fashioned.9. Why does Jones say reading Ebert’s post-cancer online journal is like â€Å"watching an Aztec pyramid being built†?He says this because it shows Ebert’s journey to win his battle against cancer and even though it seemed impossible, he managed to push though i t.10. What words and phrases suggest the post-cancer, post-voice surge of productivity Ebert experienced in his writing?â€Å"Feverishly banging the keys of his MacBook Pro† and â€Å"massive monument of written debate†