Interview people about the economy Essay

The people of the Orange County are an optimistic bunch. Yet, one can see this optimism slowly fading away into the darkness. For a country which is so close to perhaps world’s biggest entertainment hub, this is not a pretty picture. It would be wrong to blame the people. Little has gone right for the county since the economic recession of 2008, the effects of which are still quite visible. For a county which was already suffering from one of the more serious unemployment problems than compared to the average figures of the United States of America, the recession of 2008 has spelt doom, and its repercussions can still be felt. Take the case of the 34-year old Mr. Matthews who had a small shop selling electronic goods. However, with most people who gave him patronage, out of jobs or saving up for the bleak future, there are no takers for his once steadily selling shop of television sets and radios. His only hope is a government bailout, so that his customers have more money in their hands, or in other words greater purchasing power so as to indirectly get him out of this mess. Mr. Matthews situation is in complete contrast with Mrs. Mosby who is a secretary with the local government authority. She has been affected very little by the 2008 economic recession but maintains that she is concerned about a lot of her friends, whose businesses have shut or who have been shown the door in their jobs. The only consequence of this recession on her is that while her pay has not increased, prices of many commodities of even general use have gone by which makes it difficult for her to make the ends of her household meet. She is for the moment thankful that she has a government job, but strongly advocates that it is the state’s responsibility to find her fellow citizens a job which at the very least promises them adequate means of survival. Recession and the deteriorating economic situation is a concern not only to those who are currently affected by it, but also those who may be affected by it in the future. Take the case of 24-year old Mike, who is a final year student at the local university. He agrees that the heat in the air can be felt by all, and even though his university manages to put together a small career fair every year, it seems a difficult proposition this year. Although in the top half of his class, Mike admits that getting a job which helps him repay his educational loans he took for college, at least currently, seems to be a daunting task. He is hopeful that by the time he graduates, the situation would improve. He doesn’t make a case for out and out state intervention, but hopes that the state would help big economic powerhouses by giving them incentives and subsidies. Things have turned sour for those who are self-employed as well. Take the instance of a lawyer who has his own practice, Miss Timberlake. Litigation has become suddenly too expensive, and people seem to prefer to hold up matters for now. Even matters of home foreclosure have got delayed for now. People are looking at otherwise normal litigation procedures as a luxury service, which they are unable to afford at the moment, and are not as big a priority as say medical and health expenditure. Health insurance companies are facing the heat as no other according to Jeff, who works at one of the biggest insurance companies. The health and medical costs have spiraled over the last few years. The fact that people have very little disposal income, and are defaulting on their regular premium payments is making the matters worse for the insurance companies. Their being no solution in sight, people are turning to each other and urging them to perform acts of gratitude. For instance, appeals are being made to doctors and other hospital staff to give up a day’s pay. People are becoming much more cautious and conservative in spending their money. For instance, the younger siblings are getting their older siblings clothes. The insurance companies don’t have enough cash flowing in so as to be able to cope up with the increasing medical costs. This spells a disaster not just for one or two companies, but for two industries which are vital to the US economy – health and insurance. Whether there is a way out of this mess is the million dollar question facing everyone right now. The companies in both sectors, however, are optimistic and hope to see things improving with the Obama administration. Obama’s success in being able to pass the health insurance bill is being seen as a huge positive and people seem to be oddly comforted by his words of promise. Job creation is what people are currently looking forward to. Perhaps, the only sections of the society who have nothing to lose right now are the school going children. However, it is amazing how the economic crisis has made way into their everyday conversations as well. David who is only 14 is angry at the whole situation. He maintains that the whole crisis is the fault of the government, which allowed risky investments to be made. He is also unhappy about the liberal policies which have allowed a bulk of the work to be outsourced to other destinations where labour is much cheaper. Stricter laws are needed, he argues emphatically. Those who are retired have been hit badly as well. Their pension schemes and other insurance amounts are simply not enough for them to be able to make their ends meet. Home foreclosures are likely and in the offing, and this has most of them worried. Take the case of Mr. Andrews, who is 66 years old and survives on a small pension scheme. Recently the prices of even basic consumables have risen so sharply risen that he is finding it difficult to make the ends meet. His old age means that it is much more difficult for him to find a job as compared to other freshers just out of college. He is worried that if the State fails to take some concrete steps soon, many Americans could be tinkering on the verge of starving poverty. Take the case of Mr. Murdoch who is a stock market analyst and broker. In the economic recession of 2008, he lost close to $100,000. He says that he is devastated and doesn’t know if there is any hope remaining for his business, and whether he will be able to revive it in the near future. He is currently torn between the idea of continuing his business, or taking up a small job somewhere. However, he himself laughs at the irony of it all, given that it would be near impossible to find a job anywhere. He also feels responsible to many of his clients, who he was acting for, and have lost a considerable amount of money in the stock market. At the same time, however, he is quick to point out that investment in the market is subject to market risks, and therefore, one is understood to have assumed the same.

Janmar Coating INC Essay

Janmar Coating INC is currently facing a problem of where and how to enact corporate marketing efforts among various paint coatings market. Several top executives cannot come to an agreement on if they should expand to non-Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) areas or construct additives to the current budget for advertising, hiring a salaried employee, or cutting prices so that the customers and retailers who are price sensitive will not be discouraged to use the product. According to the case study the U.S. paint coating industry has three segments. The smallest of the three with only 22% of the market is the special coatings segment. This group is particularly used on items that may have extreme temperature fluctuation or environmental factors. The middle segment with 35% market share is the Original Equipment manufacturing (OEM). OEM is used on objects such as cars, trucks, building products and more. The largest segment with 43% market share is the architectural coatings used on homes, buildings, industrial structures and more. Industry sales for paint coatings in 2004 were around 16 million with expected sales to increase in the next year. Analyzing the data reflects that the segment of Architectural Paint coatings and sundries have a strong position in the industry. This 12 billion plus group is expected to grow more with the extreme demand of maintenance and repairs on new and old homes increase. Although its competition such as aluminum and vinyl siding appears to have a grip on the market but APC is still holding steady. In addition, the do it yourself painters are increasing in popularity making the trend successful and providing stability in the market. Knowing the competition is not hurting but this segments growing concerns are the mandatory regulations regarding a reduction  in emissions caused by the production of paint. This has stigmatized the industry causing sales to decrease which resulted in many business closing or merging with bigger firms. Janmar’s mission is to gain more market share across the industry. With sales being steady in the DFW area there should be an emphasis on the non DFW area which may provide an increase in sales which will result in increased revenue. A strength of the company is great customer relationships. Many believe to sell a particular product you must know the product very well and Janmar’s representatives has demonstrated  this according to several internal customer surveys. Team perseverance believes a weakness in this company may be its inability to begin penetrating the market outside the DFW area. Also the indecisiveness of the leadership of the company may prevent them from taking advantage of the upcoming peak season. In the past before the specialty stores or the big retailers like Walmart and home depot were around Janmars competition was minimal. Although they have many professional painters that purchase their product it may be considered a weakness because it limits gaining more share. The alternative course of action in the Janmar case are being able to excel their presence in the DFW do-it-yourself market. A con to this alternative is that many consumers select a store before selecting the brand. With many stores having more than one brand this may leave the consumer a chance to purchase a less priced product. It is very common for consumers to purchase from advertising they have also seen although a very small percentage. A pro would be the increasing of brand awareness. The cost to enact this alternative is around $350,000 in brand advertising over the current budget. Another alternative which counter acts the previous mentioned alternative is to issue a special coupon in the newspaper. A con may be that in the time of the internet print marketing is out of date and seen as less effective. The alternative is to  hire a new sales representative that may be aggressive in the non DFW area may be a better suggested alternative. A pro to this alternative is the direct cost in salary vs $350,000 in addition to the budget which the salary is dramatically lower in price. The final alternative is to continue with the current approach. Team recommends that Janmar Coating Inc. should chose the last alternative with a twist. Keep everything the same with small increments of change. The first change would be adding a new sales rep. We believe this individuals role to recruit new accounts may show a faster result in revenues via new accounts than advertising on the television which carries a higher cost and more time to see sales increase. This representative may have the ability to get more accounts in one year than they have in five years. One of the strengths of Janmar is its ability to satisfy its retailers. It is crucial that Janmar begins to aggressively  attack the non DFW area in order to get there presence and product known. With globalization it is very easy for a company to be left behind.

1. Research the term children as zones of peace. 2. Research a recent Essay

1. Research the term children as zones of peace. 2. Research a recent example of environmental refugees - Essay Example ram revolve around vaccination analysis and illness regulation; however, after years of development, other projects such as post-violence regulation and national intervention are now inclusive. Nonetheless, CZOP faces many challenges based on the origins of conflict such as political backgrounds and logistics. Decisively, for the Children as a Zone for Peace to be effectual at a particular region, they aim at creating a partnership with the authority or prominent stakeholders for easy execution; moreover, they have negotiation strategies for places where the children still face violence. Secondly, the CZOP also deals in resource control, development and circulation; largely, for all of their initiatives to succeed communication is a core aspect with the children and other involved parties (WHO 1). Last year, the leaders of CZOP introduced a new initiative that bases on incorporating children issues in political campaigns and states’ constitutions; however, this is just a small part of its development. In 2014, CZOP announced its partnership with multiple non-governmental organizations that also focus on campaigning about child health and welfare both on national and international levels. Environmental refugees are the people displaced after natural calamities occur i.e. earthquakes or the drastic rise of sea levels that destroys people’s homes and generally everything near these places. The disasters leave these people without shelter, food or any of the important necessities forcing them to migrate or look for other means of survival (Mante 1). However, there are temporary and permanent environmental refugees depending on the depth or impact of the disaster i.e. earthquakes or forests fires sweep away everything hence the people affected are permanent environmental refugees but calamities such as drought make the victims temporary environment refugees since there are possibilities of going back. There are the popular calamities that left millions of people

Corporate Information Strategy and Management Essay

Corporate Information Strategy and Management - Essay Example The scenario in the world of business is changing every now and then with new entrants in the market making sincere attempts to make it to the top. Any organization either to survive or compete in the industry needs to re-formulate its strategy keeping in view the market condition and rivals. According to Grant (Bowman, E.H and Helfat, C.E., 2001) business strategy deals with the ways in which a single business firm or an individual business unit of a larger firm competes within a particular industry market whereas corporate strategy deals with the ways in which a corporation manages a set of business together. Chew E.K. and Gottschalk, P. (2009) states that strategy is about creating a competitively differentiated position to win customers in the marketplace. Yannis and Treacy (1986) mentioned that senior executives, strategic planners and information system managers are nowadays formulating policies to include information technology to achieve competitive advantage in the industry market. The technology offers great array of capabilities at lower costs that has motivated the companies to utilize the technology for better decision making process. Information technology is useful in trying to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of current organization and out maneuver the others in the competition. The components of corporate strategy, which include internal, competitive and business portfolio strategy, are affected by information technology that improves the efficiency of the firm's operation. It has become necessary in today's competitive climate for every business organization to utilize the information technology in its operations to achieve the objectives in scheduled time. Therefore the present study intends to find the importance of information technology as part of corporate strategy and its usefulness to the management and also to evaluate its impact during the turbulent times of recession when most of the companies were going bankrupt and filing for liquidation. Research Question The present study is research on the importance of information technology in corporate organizations and management in taking decisions with regard to achieving the objectives through various literature reviews. It is intended to study the impact of IT strategy in development of company's internal strategy and how it is useful in attaining its goals and objectives. Therefore, a short study will be carried out in one of the organizations to study its corporate information strategy and how it is effective in taking managerial decision making process. Review of literature Arquilla and Borer (2007, p.4) relating information strategy to history mentioned that the first giant leap came with electrical telegraph that allowed information to move at the speed which was unheard at that time. And presently, Information Technology (IT) is referred to as wildcard in business by Applegate et al (2008, p.1), a source of opportunity and uncertainty, of advantage and risk. It is further stated that the evolution of technology, work and workforce over the past 40 years has dramatically influenced the concept of organizations and the industries and IT is not considered as a back office transactions tool, it has become a strategic part of businesses enabling the redefinition of markets and industries and strategies and designs of firm

Healthy Chaos Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Healthy Chaos - Movie Review Example The themes presented in Pi are representative of more than stock market numbers. Rather, Stuart N Davidson contends that "Chaos theory is becoming as important to medicine as it is to physics," (1998). To be sure, we have seen the theory used to model other highly complex systems, including everything from population growth and epidemics to arrhythmic heart palpitations. The truth is, when applying chaos theory, we can see that even something as seemingly random as a dripping faucet has a pattern or sense of order behind it. Davidson argues that "a healthy human is a series of fractal systems each in a state of internal chaos but global order. However, if we put very large numbers of us apparently well-ordered organisms together in social units . . . chaos again appears, but then again becomes perceived as orderly when regarded from afar," (1998). This is to say that neither humans, nor social structures, though they seem to be well ordered, are free from internal chaos. This chaos however, can be regarded as healthy.

Death Penalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Death Penalty - Essay Example Death penalties in previous times were charged for the theft, sedition and killing, etc. People of modern times raise questions against the execution of death penalties charged by the State as people think ethically there should be a thorough discussion based on evidences, rights and ethical values before such executions (Lee and Mooney). Since day one, the United States of America has been quite successful in controlling overall affects and consequences than any other country including Europe, etc. United States of America had set proper laws and regulations for the execution of death penalties for some of the identical crimes. People in the United States believe that the death penalty is not just a punishment for a single person but could equal to a proper torture for the entire family. Death is death, either killing or punishment so people raise issues and arguments. Therefore, Americans tend to choose death penalty as the last option for severe terrorists and criminals. Holding all other arguments constant, government does explain to people that some criminals are habitual of conducting severe crimes like murder or terrorism that it might not be feasible to let such criminals open as this way, they can commit more crimes in future. After the incident of nine eleven, the US has been stricter than ever before. In some ways, death penalties can not only prevent the citizens from dangerous habitual terrorists but can also be an example for other people to stay far of such

Contemporary And International Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Contemporary And International Marketing - Essay Example of globalization has forced countries and the businesses to broaden their strategies and implement these strategies in other markets to expand the size of their business and economies. Moreover, televisions, cameras, telecommunication services and products and electronic gadgets are in great demand by consumers and businesses, who are involved in producing these products and services, see this increasing demand as a great opportunity to produce even greater revenues. The expansion of business can be in the form of foreign direct investments, Greenfield ventures, licensing and franchising or by opening up a subsidiary in cross border regions. Businesses can be involved in international markets for the sake of achieving benefits and significance of production based on the increased supply and demand in foreign markets (Lukac). In Sony’s case, the Japanese conglomerate decided to expand into international markets for the sake of delivering benefits of its products and services to the customers all around the base and in return, maximizing its annual revenues and shareholders’ wealth (Sony Corporation). Sony has divided its business into five geographic regions. These are Japan region, United States region, European region, Asia-Pacific region and Other Areas which include different markets in Africa, North and South America and Oceania. Sony makes its major profits in United States, Japan and European regions, thanks to the bulk selling of its communication gadgets and television in these regions. Sony’s annual revenues in 2011 were amounted to around 7,181,273 Japanese Yen which are -0.0045% lower than the revenues reported in 2010 (Sony Corporation). Sony considers four emerging markets as its future prospects for setting up factories and operational facilities... This report stresses that Sony offers a variety of standardized products through the geographic regions in which it is doing business. These products can be classified as electronic devices, games and entertainment solutions. These categories includes a range of televisions and projectors, home theatres, cameras, laptops, games, portable entertainment solutions, cellular phones, batteries and chargers, peripheral devices and etc. Reason for producing and delivering standardized products to the target customers at dispersed locations is the high cost of producing and delivering differentiated products. Moreover, consumers’ preferences for electronic goods and gadgets are same all around the world which allows Sony to sell its trademark and standard products throughout. This paper makes a conclusion that the review of Sony Corporation’s business reveals that the company has established itself as the manufacturer of quality electronic goods and gadgets. The consistency in quality delivered to the customers and after sales service makes Sony the world’s largest manufacturer of electronic goods and a reliable name in the field, which helps the company to maintain the current market share and attract new customers. Moreover, the massive size of its business, which is dispersed in 5 regions of the world, helps Sony to outclass its competitors, which is supplemented by the strategies adopted by the company regarding its marketing mix.

Information Systems Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Information Systems - Coursework Example 3. Firstly the patient submits a request for X-ray application which is denoted by the data flow â€Å"Submits X-Ray request form† to the process â€Å"Make X-Ray appointment† and subsequently makes an appointment denoted by â€Å"Makes an appointment†. The primary reasons for having an information system is to understand in detail the various cost drivers which make sure that a certain amount of money is drained in the process and an organization is benefited in the long run. For example, QuickShop Inc enveloped information system in the form of an ERP product which failed because of the lack of enough management belief in the system, lack of turnover ratio, not taking care of the system requirements and functions. The information system processes are the ones which are mentioned in the SRS document which needs to be adhered by the software vendor. Often the customer is not clear or confused about the ideas and the requirements. Total failure relates to either the concept has never been implemented or after implementation the system was abandoned. The concept building phase would have taken so much time that the very idea was quite complex at the end. The feasibility factors were studied in so detail that there was always some probability of not proceeding with the further implementation stages. The other case which was highlighted is that just after the system is implemented it was found to be not satisfying the business requirements or it did not envelope the business workflow and had to be abandoned so that the business does not suffer losses if it cannot make profit. The partial failure of the system can be attributed for either the system does not fulfill the system requirements or there are significant undesirable outcomes. If a particular set of requirements are not fulfilled or if a department is not aligned in sharing information then it may result in failure of the system. Other types

Case study #3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case study #3 - Essay Example The couple should visit a nutritionist to assist them in creating a weekly menu and attendant shopping list of what they will need to ensure good health. This also acknowledges the wife’s need to be included in the care plan process (Quaglietti, Atwood, Ackerman, & Froelicher, 2000, 261). A schedule of medications needs to be created and made accessible to the couple. The caregiver should meet them, on a weekly basis, and portion out the pills into daily containers, marked with the day and time that the medication should be ingested. This process should be reviewed with them to ensure they understand which pills are taken and why. A moderate exercise program that both can follow, e.g., walking, should be developed, and a walking route appropriate to the weather and their living circumstances worked out. This should be part of a daily time table that includes meal times, exercise times, and medication times. A monthly review of all activities should be undertaken by the care te am (Grady, et al., 2000, 2452). There should be frequent telephone contact between visits by the nurse to ensure that the couple are managing his care plan and that the wife is feeling less overwhelmed. A nurse should visit the family weekly and review (i) nutritional intake and advise of any adjustments; (ii) medication intake and subsequent medication division and packaging for the following week; and, (iii) the amount of exercise taken and adjustments made as needed. A nutritionist should also visit once per week to plan and review weekly menus and to assist with creating shopping lists. A social worker should be contracted to come into the home two or three times a week (i) to assist with the grocery and any other shopping; (ii) to go with the couple for exercise; and, (iii) to ensure that proper personal care is also taking place, along with maintaining a clean and healthy environment. Health education is needed to ensure that the couple

PESTLE Analysis Template Essay Example for Free

PESTLE Analysis Template Essay Your notes Potential Impact: Implication and importance The list below is just to get you started. Remember to put these, and others that you add in the context of your organization or business. For example if you are a small private company the behaviours of a Wall Mart / Tesco or other large international player may well impact on you.If you are a local authority, government changes will change your priorities. In the NHS changes to treatments and public attitudes will also impact etc. About your organization.How might the factors listed on the left impact your business or part of the organization? H – HighM – MediumL – Low U – Undetermined Time Frame:0 – 6 months6 – 12 months 12 – 24 months 24 + months Type:Positive +Negative Unknown Impact:Increasing Unchanged = Decreasing Unknown Relative Importance:Critical Important Un-important Unknown Political – SWOT Trading policies Funding, grants and initiatives Home market lobbying/pressure groups International pressure groups Wars and conflict Government policies Government term and change Elections Inter-country relationships/attitudes Terrorism Political trends Governmental leadership Government structures Internal political issues Shareholder/ stakeholder needs/ demands ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ Economic – SWOT Home economy situation Home economy trends Overseas economies and trends General taxation issues Taxation changes specific to product/services Seasonality/weather issues Market and trade cycles Specific industry factors Market routes and distribution trends Customer/end-user drivers International trade/monetary issues Disposable income Job growth/unemployment Exchange rates Tariffs Inflation Interest and exchange rates Consumer confidence index Import/export ratios Production level Internal finance Internal cash flow ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ Social – SWOT Consumer attitudes and opinions Media views Law changes affecting social factors Brand, company, technology image Consumer buying patterns Major events and influences Buying access and trends Ethnic/religious factors Advertising and publicity Ethical issues Demographics (age, gender, race, family size,) Lifestyle changes Population shifts Education Trends Fads Diversity Immigration/emigration Health Living standards Housing trends Fashion role models Attitudes to work Attitudes to people doing certain types of work Leisure activities Occupations Earning capacity Staff attitudes Management style organizational culture Changes to education system ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ Technological – SWOT Competing technology development Research funding Associated/dependent technologies Replacement technology/solutions Maturity of technology Manufacturing maturity and capacity Information and communications Consumer buying mechanisms/technology Technology legislation Innovation potential Technology access, licensing, patents Intellectual property issues Global communications Inventions Innovations New discoveries Research Energy uses/sources/fuels Communications Rate of obsolescence Health (pharmaceutical, equipment, etc.) Manufacturing advances Information technology Internet Transportation Bio-tech Genetics Waste removal/recycling Email M-learning E-learning Collaboration tools Software changes RSI ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ Additional split of information if doing a PESTLE analysis rather than a PEST analysis: Legal – SWOT Current legislation home market Future legislation European/international legislation Regulatory bodies and processes Environmental regulations Employment law Consumer protection Industry-specific regulations competitive regulations ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ Environmental – SWOT Ecological Environmental issues International National Local Environmental regulations Customer values Market values Stakeholder/ investor values Staff attitudes Management style organizational culture Staff morale Staff engagement Global factors EU based factors ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ top Remember this is only a tool. Call it what you like – use whatever factors you feel are appropriate. Other variations include: PEST analysis (STEP analysis) Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological PESTLE/ PESTEL analysis- Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, Environmental; PESTEL analysis PESTEL analysis- Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Environmental, Labour (Labor) related; PESTEL analysis (rare no references available) PESTLIED analysis- Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, International, Environmental, Demographic STEEPLE analysis – Social/Demographic, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, Ethical SLEPT analysis – Social, Legal, Economic, Political, Technological STEPE analysis – Social, Technical, Economic, Political, and Ecological ETPS analysis – Economic, Technical, Political and Social – Scanning the business environment PESTLE Analysis on an HR department or other internal function While the PEST or PESTLE analysis is primarily aimed at looking at the external environment of an organization, many HR courses ask students to use the PEST or PESTLE analysis model to look at their own function. In this context we need to imagine that the department (HR) is an organization in its own right and look outside. Factors to include in your analysis may include the following: Political What is the culture of the organization, How is the HR function viewed by other functions? Who are the political champions of HR (or its adversaries)? Shareholder views Economic What is the budgetary position of the department, Is more money available? Are our customers likely to spend more or less money on the services we offer? What is happening to the financial status of the organization Interest rates Inflation Salary trends in the sector Sociological Other departmental attitudes to HR Population shifts (age profile) Education Fads Diversity Immigration/emigration Health Living standards Housing trends Fashion role models Age profile Attitudes to career Technological What changes may be coming our way? What new technology/ systems, How do we record attendance, performance? how might this change? Use of and encourage home working? Communications technologies changes of technology that will increase/ reduce the need for recruitment changes to HR software Legal What is happening in our sector that will impact what we do? Minimum wage, Working time, Food stuffs, Under 18 working, Occupational/ industrial Training etc. What changes will impact the services of the organization Environmental Staff morale Staff engagement Need to reduce storage needs Management attitudes (inside dept/ function) Organizational culture PESTLE Analysis for Schools or Education By rapidbi Last updated: Sunday, April 19, 2009 Save Share 2 Comments A PESTLE analysis is a tool that can provide prompts to the governors, management and staff involved in the analysis of the changes in the school’s environment that could impact future finance, planning and management decisions. It can enable them carry out a more comprehensive analysis. A PESTLE is usually used in commercial organisations as a part of the strategic development of a business and marketing plan, however a PESTLE analysis can be used as part of identifying the opportunities and threats (swOT) for operational planning within educational and school environments. The PESTLE provides a simple framework within which to consider external factors. PESTLE is used as part of a SWOT for identifying the external factors (OT) Political Schools being privatised (like the NHS) A government initiative creates the risk that the school may fail to deliver the policy or be diverted away from local priorities etc. Changes to the skills required to be a teacher/ tutor Changes to curriculum with short lead times Requirement to be self managing Requirement to be self financing Economic Central or local government funding decisions may affect school/ establishment finances Closure of a local industry may affect fund raising plans etc. Ability of parents to raise funds for optional activities The need to run breakfast/ after schools clubs Ability to invest ‘savings/ surpluses’ Cost of providing resources: Staff – teaching support Basics – books/ paper Technology solutions laptops etc Interest rates Shortages of materials on national/ international markets Over provision of school places in the area resulting in competition from neighbouring schools The risk of highly valued, key staff moving on to more ‘up and coming’ schools/ academies Social Decline in birth rate, reflecting national trends Local population changes (increasing/ decreasing numbers) Demographic changes may affect likely pupil rolls or the nature of pupils needs e.g. pupils with English as a second language etc. Closure of local firms providing employment Inability to attract staff Social networking – blogs, facebook, twitter Changes to qualifications expected Integration with local community Integration of students with special needs parental preference – an increase in ‘parent power’ has allowed parents more freedom of choice over their child’s school the risk of highly valued, key staff moving on to more up-and-coming establishments Information is accessible to staff anywhere in the world via the Internet Staff were not given enough training or access to effectively change their habits and how they expected information to be made available Technological Changes to standards/ equipment required Risk of selecting the wrong technology at times of change (i.e. windows -v- open source) New computer viruses may affect school/ college operations, Disturbing/ illegal images on the internet may affect ICT security measures etc. Move from paper based books to e-book readers Computer hardware being out of date Computer software being out of date Time to manage IT systems Legislative new legislation may create risks of non-compliance with the law, create new administrative burdens etc Changes to child protection legislation Raise the age of school leaving age Raise/ lower the age of starting school. Nursery/ kindergarten Change to school opening hours Changes to funding of charity based organisations Health safety legislation Environmental A new highway layout near the school may create new dangers for pupils etc Waste disposal Reduction of green space available for activities Changes to local bus routes Using a significant amounts of paper and photocopier toner to produce printed information. For a more comprehensive PESTLE article see our pain page. A PESTLE Template: Area being reviewed Factor: Is factor positive or negative? Political P – N P – N P – N P – N Economic P – N P – N P – N P – N Social P – N P – N P – N P – N Technological P – N P – N P – N P – N Legislative P – N P – N P – N P – N Environmental P – N P – N P – N P – N Remember this is only a tool. Call it what you like – use whatever factors you feel are appropriate. Other variations include: PEST analysis (STEP analysis) Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological PESTLE/ PESTEL analysis- Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, Environmental PESTEL analysis- Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Environmental, Labour (Labor) related PESTLIED analysis- Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, International, Environmental, Demographic STEEPLE analysis – Social/Demographic, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, Ethical SLEPT analysis – Social, Legal, Economic, Political, Technological STEPE analysis – Social, Technical, Economic, Political, and Ecological ETPS analysis – Economic, Technical, Political and Social – Scanning the organizational environment Choose the acronym that most suits you or your organization. http://www.familybunker.com/forums/students-workshop/11967-swot-pest-analysis-part-ii.html Examples of SWOTs Strengths and weaknesses à ¨ Resources: financial, intellectual, location à ¨ Cost advantages from proprietary know-how and/or location à ¨ Creativity (ability to develop new products) à ¨ Valuable intangible assets: intellectual capital à ¨ Competitive capabilities à ¨ Effective recruitment of talented individuals à ¨ Competitive Advantage à ¨ Brand reputation à ¨ New product Opportunities and threats à ¨ Expansion or down-sizing of competitors à ¨ Market trends à ¨ Economic conditions à ¨ Expectations of stakeholders à ¨ Technology à ¨ Public expectations à ¨ All other activities or inactivities by competitors à ¨ Criticisms by outsiders à ¨ Changes in markets à ¨ All other environmental condition à ¨ Global Influences à ¨ Nothing PESTEL Analysis for Macro-Environment http://accalecturenotes.blogspot.com/2011/01/pestel-analysis-for-macro-environment.html PESTEL Analysis is used for the assessment of macro-environment (environment which indirectly affects business decisions) in which the business operates. Managers have to identify changes in macro-environment that influence their business decisions. These can be identified using PESTEL analysis. In exams, using this framework ensures that we have gathered sufficient information necessary to analyze the scenario. Other frameworks used are equally acceptable. Below discussed factors are interrelated, points discuss in one factor can be included in other. 1. POLITICAL. The following points to be considered when evaluating the political environment of the industry or business. 1. Availability of government grants or assistance in the form of cash or other asset perhaps upon fulfillment of some conditions. 2. Award schemes to enforce quality standards. 3. Stable or dynamic political environment i.e. is the government changes frequently resulting in changing policies being implemented by every new government or the country are under martial law or war? 4. Rules and regulations are polite or stringent. This indicates the venerability of the business to legal risk i.e. fines (can be discussed under legal also). 5. Barriers to entry and exit. Example by imposing licensing requirements. 6. Provision of training to workers. 7. Provision of infra-structure, includes sewerage, transportation and energy. 2. ECONOMICAL 1. Business cycle, identify the stage from which the business is suffering. The stages are depression, recession, recovery and boom. 2. Industrial cycle, identify the stage from which the industry is suffering. The stages are introduction, growth, maturity and decline. 3. Access to resources, finance at reasonable cost, workers at reasonable rates, material economically and easily and equipment with maintenance and spare parts. 4. Customers suppliers, their availability and bargain power should be assessed. 5. Taxation policies i.e. direct or indirect taxation and rates 6. Inflation, interest and exchange rates. 7. National income can also influence demand for the firms product. 8. Level of unemployment in the country, high unemployment may suggest that employer has dominant position and can negotiate low wage rate with workers 9. Stock market condition rising stock market index means rising demand of shares in the stock market may suggest easily availability of finance at cheaper cost. 3. SOCIAL 1. Stakeholders demand, taste and behavior. Example customer, financers and supplier who may not support if your business conflicts their principles. 2. Increasing or decrease population. Increasing population may suggest that higher demand for younger people products e.g. toys while decreasing population suggests opposite. 3. Attitude to work. Are people committed to their work or they just comply with standards. Healthy workers are more productive than overstressed workers. 4. Income distribution, how wealth for the country is scattered among individuals, even distribution may suggest that majority of the people can buy our product while uneven distribution may suggest that majority is poor and minority is rich which create demand for high volume and low priced and low volume high priced products respectively. 5. Social footprint. Impact that business leaves on the society 6. cultural change should be identified e.g. identifying societies leisure activities, changes in customs. 4. TECHNOLOGICAL 1. Stable or robust. Stable environment may suggest longer product life cycle and low level of obsolesces while robust environment suggests otherwise. 2. New product developments may permit doing business more efficiently, cost-effectively and effectively. Employer may move towards automation, this is turn may affect other factors of the framework 3. Innovation leads to break-through in economy and it may affect society as well. Example facebook, youtube are the products which affecting youths behavior. 5. ENVIRONMENTAL 1. Green house effect has affected the way business trades. There are increasing demands of environment friendly products. Example using hybrid cars and paper bags instead of plastic bags. 2. There are increase emphasis on environmental footprints and sustainability. 3. There are legislations being enacted related to environment. This forces the business to change its policies (the way they do business) and disposal costs to business like restoration of site. 6. LEGAL 1. Competition law imposes restriction of mergers and acquisitions to promote efficiency gained through competition. 2. Employment legislation protects rights of workers by setting minimum wage requirements, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment legislation. 3. Health and safety legislation to protect workers. 4. Imposition of high import duties to protect home industries. 5. Licensing requirement as discussed above Students are advised to think as many points as possible so they can quickly identify if they come in the exam scenario. Having thought its impact on business activities can save you lot of time. PESTEL ANALSIS is frequently used framework in exams and in practice. It is worth spent some time on it.

Consumer Culture of Low-Income Consumers

Consumer Culture of Low-Income Consumers Literature Paper focus on low-income consumers whose economic resources results in them being unable to obtain the goods and services needed for an ‘‘sufficient’’ and ‘‘socially acceptable’’ standard of income (Darley and Johnson, 1985, p. 206); in other words, consumers experiencing relative poverty and relative deficiency (Townsend, 1987) in consumer culture. In today’s consumer culture, as the standard of living rises, the gap between a survival income and a social enclosure income will continue to enlarge (Bowring, 2000). While economic escalation and consumer culture has raised the standard of living for many, there are also concerns that income gaps between the rich and the poor have widened and variation is deepening. It has been recognized that those living on a low income face consumer disadvantage in the market place (Andreasen, 1975) encountering different exchange restrictions and negative results (Hill and Stephens, 1997). It is being unable to obtain the goods and services needed for a socially suitable standard of living (Darley and Johnson, 1985) according to low-income consumers encounter different other market place limitation. imperfect product openness can be a problem. Smaller variety have been partly endorsed to access difficulties in both the food retailing industry (Cummins and Macintyre, 1999) . Equally, low-income consumers often have to be enough with lower quality goods and services, for example, they may have no choice but to pay for second-hand goods, an option that is almost always viewed as second best (Williams and Windebank, 2001). Moreover, since the publication of The Poor Pay More , it has generally been accepted that they suffer price bias in the market place (Chung and Myers, 1999). For low-income customers, such social behavior are often beyond reach as a large percentage of their money is tied up with basics such as food and rent (Alwitt and Donley, 1996). This leads to a generality of life’s experiences . Low-income consumers may practice more difficultly in forming helpful relationships outside the instant household (Daly and Leonard, 2002) due to limited opportunities for socializing In the case of low income they lose opportunity to take benefit of ‘‘what life has to offer’’ and are cut from what passes as a ‘‘happy life’’ (Bauman, 2005, p. 38). Low income consumers are often unemployed because they have not power of purchasing comfortable goods. Which can satisfy their demands m (Alwitt and Donley, 1996). These could include individualized payment plans that allow consumers control of their own budgeting strategy or credit opportunities that are specifically adapted to the needs of low-income consumers (Himlton 2004). This is not amazing that as these consumers are often considered as a group with different aspiration who are losing and risky, and not good for market-related research ( Hamilton and Catterall, 2005). People spend more part of their income for their basic necessities, life style is not consider. The incomes that households actually receive play a significant role in determining their consumption (Tregarthen and Ritternberg, 2000) such that low-income consumers consume less fresh  fruits, fresh vegetables, fruit juices, low-fat milk, whole meal bread and fish compare to more economically advantaged consumers (Anderson and Morris, 2000). Low-income consumers can be defined as individuals whose financial resources or income results in them being unable to obtain the goods and services needed for an â€Å"adequate† and â€Å"socially acceptable† standard of living (Darley and Johnson, 1985 cited in Hamilton and Catterall, 2005). HILL and ADRANG studied on global poverty of the united nations contened that the poor are individual and families are some what rich. Lifestyle characteristics of the low-income consumer The incomes that households actually receive play a significant role in determining their consumption (Tregarthen and Ritternberg, 2000). To rely on making incursions into other budgetary allocations and postpone other essentials, such that they decide on which item of necessity is less necessary (Matza and Miller, 1976). Most buying decisions for relatively low-priced products that have close substitutes would be low-involvement. A more detailed view of low-involvement products is proposed by Semenik and Bamossy (1995). It has been suggested that ‘‘An individual is socially excluded if (a) he or she is geographically resident in a society and (b) he or she does not participate in the normal activities of citizens in that society’’ (Burchardt, 1999, p. 230). The aim of this paper is twofold. First, social policy studies surrounding social exclusion in terms of separation from mainstream society have focused on employment, often neglecting theorizing about the specific forms of social exclusion that can be associated with consumerism (Williams and Windebank, 2002; Hohnen, 2007). Positive discourse heralds the benefits of a consumer society suggesting that choice can be seen as ‘‘the consumer’s friend’’ (Gabriel and Lang, 2006, p. 1) Marketing techniques are often critiqued for creating a strong social pressure to consume, leading to feelings of exclusion and shame for those consumers who cannot make their desires a reality (Bowring, 2000). Fullerton and Punj (1997) also suggest that as well as stimulating legitimate consumption behavior, the consumer culture can stimulate consumer misbehavior. Previous research suggests that the poor may be particularly prone to consumer misbehavior as their financial resources may not be sufficient to  satisfy desires. Equally, low-income consumers often have to suffice with lower quality goods and services, for example, they may have no choice but to purchase second-hand goods, an option that is almost always viewed as second best (Williams and Winde bank, 2001). The British Social Attitudes Report (National Centre for Social Research, 2008) highlights that a rising number of people place the blame for poverty on the poor themselves; some 27 per cent think that poverty is due to ‘‘laziness or lack of willpower’’, up from 19 per cent in  1984. References Darley,W.K. and Johnson, D.M. (1985), ‘‘A contemporary analysis of the low income consumer: aninternational perspective’’, in Tan, C.T. and Sheth, J.N. (Eds), Historical Perspectives inConsumer Research: National and International Perspectives, Association for ConsumerResearch, Provo, UT, pp. 206-10. Townsend, P. (1987), ‘‘Deprivation’’, Journal of Social Policy, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 125-46. Bowring, F. (2000), ‘‘Social exclusion: limitations of the debate’’, Critical Social Policy, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 307-30. Andreasen, A.R. (1975), The Disadvantaged Consumer, The Free Press, New York, NY.Arnould, E.J. and Thompson, C.J. (2005), ‘‘Consumer culture theory (CCT): twenty years of research’’, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 868-82. research’’, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 868-82. Hill, R.P. and Stephens, D.L. (1997), ‘‘Impoverished consumers and consumer behavior: the case ofAFDC mothers’’, Journal of Macromarketing, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 32-48. Cummins, S. and Macintyre, S. (1999), ‘‘The location of food stores in urban areas: a case study in Glasgow’’, British Food Journal, Vol. 101 No. 7, pp. 545-53. Williams, C.C. and Windebank, J. (2001), ‘‘Acquiring goods and services in lower income populations: an evaluation of consumer behaviour and preferences’’, International Journal Of Retail Distribution Management, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 16-24. Chung, C. and Myers, S.L. (1999), ‘‘Do the poor pay more for food? An analysis of grocery store availability and food price disparities’’, The Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 276-96. Alwitt, L.F. and Donley, T.D. (1996), The Low-income Consumer, Adjusting the Balance of Exchange, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Hamilton, C. (2004), Growth Fetish, Pluto Press, London Hamilton, K. and Catterall, M. (2005), â€Å"Towards a better understanding of the low-income consumer†, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 32, pp. 627-32. Tregarthen, T. and Ritternberg, L. (2000), Economics, 2nd ed., Worth, New York, NY. Anderson, A.S. and Morris, S.E. (2000), â€Å"Changing fortunes: changing food choices†, Nutrition Food Science, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 12-15. Matza, D. and Miller, H. (1976), â€Å"Poverty and proletariat†, in Merton, R.K. and Nisbet, R. (Eds),Contemporary Social Problems, 4th ed.,Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,NewYork,NY, pp. 641-73. Semenik, R.J. and Bamossy, G.J. (1995), Principles of Marketing, 2nd ed., South Western College, Cincinnati, OH, pp. 170-1. Burchardt, T., Le Grand, J. and Piachaud, D. (1999), ‘‘Social exclusion in Britain 1991-1995’’, Social Policy and Administration, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 227-44. Williams, C.C. and Windebank, J. (2002), ‘‘The ‘excluded consumer’: a neglected aspect of social exclusion?’’, Policy Politics, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 501-13. Gabriel, Y. and Lang, T. (2006), The Unmanageable Consumer: Contemporary Consumption and its Fragmentation, 2nd ed., Sage, London. Bowring, F. (2000), ‘‘Social exclusion: limitations of the debate’’, Critical Social Policy, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 307-30. Fullerton, R.A. and Punj, G. (1997), ‘‘The unintended consequences of the culture of consumption:an historical-theoretical analysis of consumer misbehavior’’, Consumption, Markets and Culture, Vol. 1 No. 4, pp. 393-423. Williams, C.C. and Windebank, J. (2001), ‘‘Acquiring goods and services in lower incomepopulations: an evaluation of consumer behaviour and preferences’’, International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 16-24. National Centre for Social Research (2008), British Social Attitudes, The 24th Report, Sage, London.

Loss of Faith in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay -- Young Goodma

Loss of Faith in Young Goodman Brown      Ã‚   In the Bible, God commands Moses to go up Mount Sinai to receive divine instruction.  Ã‚  Ã‚   When he comes back, his people, the Israelites, have gone crazy.   They have forgotten Moses, and forgotten their God.   They form their own god, a golden calf, and build an altar.   They even had a festival for the golden calf.   "Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and sat down to indulge in revelry" (Exodus 32:6).   Moses then went down the mountain and got so angry that he smashed the tablets with the Ten Commandments on them.  Ã‚   The Israelites lost faith because they could not see the God they were worshipping, so they forgot him and began worshipping a false idol.   The Israelites are not very different from modern man.   In his short story, "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne shows why man loses faith.   Man loses faith because of pride, weakness, and erroneous values.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pride causes man to lose faith.   Often man tries to handle situations on his own.   He seeks to contend with evil by himself.  Ã‚   In "Young Goodman Brown," the title character becomes crazy and confronts evil, "Come witch, come wizard, come Indian powwow, come devil himself! And here comes Goodman Brown.   You may as well fear him as he fear you!" (Hawthorne   324). Goodman Brown feels that he will be the demise of sin.   He assumes that he is strong enough to conquer it all single-handedly.   Pride also prevents man from realizing his own imperfections.   When wandering in the wilderness, Young Goodman Brown says, "A marvel, truly, that Goody Cloyse should be so far in the wilderness at nightfall" (Hawthorne   320).   The wilderness symbolizes any sinful place.   Young Goodman Brown fails to realize that the only reason... ...ke Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, who cast off the beliefs of post World War I America.   Many of these thinkers moved to Paris and try to make find meaning in their meaningless lives.   They would throw wild parties, "drink excessively, and have scandalous love affairs (Kaiser)."   They gained prominent places in the twentieth century because of their spiritual alienation.   Loss of faith may cause fame and fortune, as it did for the lost generation, but with this loss came inescapable emptiness.    Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel.   "Young Goodman Brown."   Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense.   Ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson.   Harcourt College Publishers: Fort Worth, 2002.   316-328. Kaiser, Nancy.   "The Lost Generation."   University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.   29 October 2001.   <   http://ils.unc.edu/~kaisn/pathfind.html>

Liberals Opinion on American Government :: essays research papers

The typical philosophical ideals of the liberals seem to focus on the government helping the little guy and leveling the playing field. They oppose tax-cuts for the rich, they are distrustful of big-business and those who are wealthy. They like government programs that help minorities and those with lower incomes. They want to raise the minimum wage, provide better national healthcare and provide better unemployment and welfare coverage’s. They nearly always side with unions over management, the guy who sues the big business. They are sick and tired of conservatives telling them that the poor are poor because they don't work hard enough. They are sick and tired of being criticized for caring about the little guy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Liberals focus on the bad side of human nature, and look to the government to protect us from it. They see the fragility of the human spirit and overwhelming outside factors as the determining reason why people struggle. They see those who are born with better looks, more intelligence, more athletic skills, more creative skill, or more money as having an unfair advantage in life. They believe that those at the top have gotten there either by these advantages, or by stepping on people. This is why they view those at the top skeptically, because if they stepped on people to get there, they will continue to step on people once they are there. They see examples of this in their own everyday life... The snob from school who had everything given to him, who is now a successful business owner that pays all of his employees minimum wage so he can drive a Caddy. The poor kid from down the block who had to quit school to help support his family, and now works menial labor j obs because he never got the chance to get an education. Why should some people fail, while others succeed? Liberal’s believe that life shouldn't be like that. The typical conservative tends to focus his philosophical Ideals on the self reliance and free market. They don't see the need for big spending politicians and big government programs. They would prefer to see the money stay in the private sector. They also believe that business people tend to be better at economic decisions than politicians. They believe that the government has it's place, but many times oversteps it's authority for political reasons. Big business and corporations are not evil in their world, in fact most conservatives will tell you that big business and corporate success is the only thing that will make the economy go.

Comparison between Because I Could Not Stop For Death and Come Up From the Fields Father :: Emily Dickinson Walt Whitman Poetry Essays

Comparison between Because I Could Not Stop For Death and Come Up From the Fields Father Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman were two of the best poets in America, during the nineteenth century. They were both rebellious each in his own way. The shared some features, especially their abandonment of the usual form of poetry and their use of free verse instead. In comparing the poems â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop For Death† by Dickinson and â€Å"Come Up From the Fields Father† by Whitman, we can notice some similarities. Both poems have some kind of music though there is no rhyme scheme, due to the use of free verse. They both use repetition of some words. Dickinson repeated the words â€Å"we passed†. While Whitman repeated several words such as â€Å"waking†, â€Å"longing†, â€Å"withdraw† and â€Å"better†. They both used descriptive language. Dickinson described the â€Å"Dews† that â€Å"drew quivering and chill†, her â€Å"gown† which was made of â€Å"Gossamer†, her â€Å"Tippet† which was â€Å"only Tulle†. She also gave us a description of the house of death, which was â€Å"A swelling of the ground, The roof was scarcely visible, The Cornice in the ground†. Yet Whitman used more descriptions in his poem. He described the fields of Ohio’s villages in autumn and their beauty. He described the â€Å"apples ripe†, the â€Å"grapes on the trellis’d vines†, â€Å"the sky so calm, so transparent after the rain†. He made us feel as if we were smelling the grapes, the buckwheat and touching them. He made us hear the buzzing of the bees. He also made us experience the awe and misery of the mother by describing her â€Å"trembling steps† when she went to read the letter, her â€Å"sickly white face and dull in the head†. In addition to her state after her son’s death, she was â€Å"presently drest in black†, â€Å"her meals untouched†, â€Å"fitfully sleeping often waking† and her â€Å"deep longing†¦to be with her dead son†. Dickinson uses imaginative and somehow figurative language. She personifies death as a gentleman who kindly takes her for a journey in his carriage. She also personifies immortality as a person riding with them in the carriage. She uses paradox â€Å"The Cornice in the ground†. Whereas Whitman’s language is poetic and realistic. Both poems discuss the view of death, but from different perspectives. Dickinson gives us a joyous and happy view of death, which is like a kind gentleman that takes her for a journey. He is so civil, therefore she willingly gives him her â€Å"labor† and â€Å"leisure too†. She is not afraid of death, she instead receives it calmly. Whereas Whitman’s view is the contrary. For him death is a horrible

The Beloved Country

Cry, The Beloved Country, a novel by South African Alan Paton, is the story of a father's search for his son, an experience which opened his mind to the prejudice and poverty prevalent in his country. As the story opens, Reverend Stephen Kumalo, is summoned to go to Johannesburg to help Kumalo's sister who was very ill. He goes to help his sister and also to look for a long-lost son, Absalom, who has gone to the city and never came back.When Kumalo arrives at Johannesburg, he discovers that his sister has become a prostitute and that his brother, John, has become a politician. He visits his brother for help in locating his son and from him Kumalo learns that his son worked at the Doornfontein Textiles Company with John's own son years before. From the factory, Kumalo is forwarded to a couple of addresses until he eventually finds his son in prison. Absalom killed a white man, Arthur Jarvis, who was also a proponent and activist for racial equality.Furthermore, he also meets a girl wh ich Absalom got pregnant and would have married before he was sent to prison. Kumalo talks to his son and finds a lawyer for him. The second part of the novel shifts to the viewpoint of James Jarvis, the father of the murdered Arthur. The police inform him of his son's death and he flies from Ndotsheni to the city to attend his son's funeral. There he learns the activities of his son and sets out to continue his cause. He also meets Kumalo whom he has to comfort and forgive.Absalom is found guilty of the murder and sentenced to death. Before Kumalo returns home to Ndotsheni, he marries his son to the pregnant girl and brings her and his nephew with Gertrude to the village. Back in Ndotsheni, he and Jarvis comes together to plan a way to help the village which at the time has been experiencing drought. The novel ends with Kumalo going up on a mountain on the evening of his son's execution. As the dawn breaks, he contemplates on his life, the blessings he has received, and of South Af rica and its social problems.How the novel relates to culture and values The novel takes a look at how elements in society, whether they are events or changing situations, affect the culture and values of a country. Cry, The Beloved Country explores how the social situations between the black and white races promote a culture of apartheid in South Africa, threaten the loss of the long-held values of the natives, and cause other social illnesses that plague the country even in contemporary times.Paton uses the story of Reverend Kumalo to define the larger problems discussed in the novel. The most obvious of these is how the divisions among the peoples of South Africa have been causing a series of problems that threaten to destroy the entire country. The more affluent and privileged whites are claiming the lands which the black natives have long revered and cultivated. As a result, more blacks are leaving the countryside for the cities where they believe they could find more meaningfu l and better-paying jobs as workers in industries.This results to a breakdown of the tribal system and the loss of previously strong-held beliefs and traditions. When these natives arrive in the city, they find that the situation is worse in that the urban areas themselves plague the black population with poverty and injustices. In retaliation, they commit violent crimes against the more privileged white people. The fear among whites against â€Å"native crime† and the hate of the blacks against â€Å"white injustice† fuels a cycle of violence and further chaos for the whole South African country.Yet, instead of being a pessimistic look at the situation, the novel would like to promote the values of kindness and cooperation among races to create change and a better future for the country. The friendship which evolves between Kumalo and the white Jarvis contains the author’s sentiments of everyone coming together instead of fighting each other to solve the basic problems of both the countryside and the urban areas. Paton promotes the values of family and religion as means by which the lost values could be reclaimed. Reference Paton, Alan. Cry, The Beloved Country.

Employee Rights and Discipline Essay

In the society, the concept of individual rights and personal freedom is viewed to be an important element and part of social structure and perspective. Social institution, organization and the legal opinion give high regard and importance towards this concept as inclined with the desire of promoting democratic opinion towards freedom and equality. Human civilization is founded with the values of independence wherein people enjoy personal freedom free from oppression and commanding power. Thus, the personal right for freedom is viewed to be an important element in the life of each individual as he or she exists in the society. However, the concept of individual right is often in contrast with the society’s pursuit for organized system within its structure. People desire to have a certain degree of control and power over its organization for the purpose of management for the attainment of their desired accomplishment and success. For the attainment of social discipline in the social organization, certain individual rights need to be limited for the purpose of management and control for the effective and efficient process of each social institution. For example, in the working environment, personal right for speech and opinion must be limited and restricted for the purpose of management of the said organization. This concept is indeed logical and permissible on this view however, the practice and application of the argument can likely cause critical and complicated questions. The troubling concern in this argument is the use of the power of restricting the right for free speech in the work environment. If implemented for the ideal reasoning and pursuit of social organization and discipline, limited the free speech is indeed permissible however, abusing this power through utilizing it as a mean of suppressing individual rights for personal benefit is already negative and detrimental. In addition, in the said scenario, limiting the free speech is permissible on some grounds however, there is still the need to develop a system where employees can still express their opinion, complain, and suggestion to the management on a way that will not negate or contradict their social discipline. The restriction on the individual right is only needed to achieve the ideal obedience and discipline in the work organization and environment necessary for the effective accomplishment of their tasks and processes for their success.

Collaboration and Communication in Business

Increasingly, employees are in jobs where interaction is their primary value-adding activity (Laudon & Laudon, p. 90). List and describe collaboration and communication tools that you use regularly. How do they improve your work both in terms of the process and the product? What is the approach that organisations could adopt in relation to these tools to improve organisational performance?Fortunately (or unfortunately), I have been working with the same organization for the last 19 years. As a result, I have been witness to the evolution of my organization globally in terms of being â€Å"tech savvy† towards effective use of communication and collaboration tools. In my opinion, the more the business is facing turbulence in terms of market and/ or competitors, the higher the need emerges for collaboration and communication.In the good old days of 90’s, when we used to do business in countries, with little or insufficient IT infrastructure and capabilities, we used to sti ll manage effectively the customer relationships and profitability of the business through telecommunication links like fax and telephones as well as F2F meetings with the stakeholders involved. Somehow, it appeared to be relatively easier to make business dealings under such circumstances.Although, it is worth mentioning, that the core value proposition of the products and/ or services during those times were considered by our customes, to be due to the high technology and streamlined product development processes of our company. With the advent of internet as a viable channel of communication and information sharing and the diversification of business into different market segments and geographical regions, it became imperative for the organization to look for easier ways of communication and collaboration.Moreover, the decline of experts with know-how or knowledge of the entire value chain of the product/ service, also calls for involvement of experts with specific domain knowled ge, who need to communicate and collaborate on a regular basis, within the framework of certain rules. Starting from end nineties, we started using Lotus Notes as one-stop tool for both communication and collaboration. Since this was primarily driven by the operational level, lots of other strategic and operational tools for communication and collaboration were built around this tool. However, due to various reasons like re-organisation, diversification, cquisitions etc, this tool went on to assume a mammoth shape, lost connectivity to more up-to-date state of the art tools and was dragging down the business globally in terms of communication and collaboration. Moreover, the hierarchy of the organization was also responsible for taking a pragmatic approach towards decommissioning of this tool and creating a more flexible IT architecture, which can be agile and can integrate with state of the art tools across the various areas of business like marketing, product development, product delivery, logistics and supply chain and after sales services to customers.In the last 2 years our organization has moved to MS based office tool suite including tools for communication and collaboration. The legacy systems of LN are getting decommissioned and huge LN DB’s were converted and transferred to more easily manageable and accessible DB systems. Right now we are using Passport based tool suites where individual applications communicate with each other and augment the ongoing, required collaboration among the various entities of the organization.It is true that most part of the organization is adding value to the communication flow through the effective use of tools, but at the same time, more emphasis is put on sharing and storing key, useful information to be used by anybody in the organization, who may need it, e. g. by creating internal blogs or Wikis with managers motivating and/ or incentivizing information and know-how sharing. Useful collaborative tools like Live Meeting, Telepresence etc can ensure participation from different locations at different time zones, sharing the same level and content of information.Collaboration, the ability to work together especially in business is raising key concerns for organizations taking on new approaches to improve performance and outcomes. Because leaders are looking for positive signs that acquiring collaboration tools will impact the bottom line, an organization may also need to consider its communication and collaboration practices. According to research and best practices, the combination of several factors may help steer collaboration to achieve business results, through empowerment, culture, and technology.Some practical examples of each of these factors that are causing collaboration to work in business are mentioned below: Empowering People through Communication and Collaboration Empowerment is a form of approval for individuals and teams to make decisions. Starting with executive collabor ation, key leaders of your organization may need to support shared goals for empowering people if they don’t already, through communication and collaboration. The reality of collaboration for leadership is through empowerment.By embracing a model of operational coordination across teams and departments, collaboration can basically drive motivation and engagement. In Harvard Business Review’s Aligning Strategy with Technology, the chapter â€Å"Empowered† dives into an example of empowered sales teams to develop sales solutions using video at Black & Decker. Video as a communication form is extremely popular. Because of the complexity of Black & Decker’s many different products, the sales staff is able to document challenges in the field and quickly communicate how power tools are used on job sites.As the authors Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler pointed out, these useful bits of information also benefit senior management, corporate marketing, and public relat ions. Bernoff and Schadler use the phrase â€Å"highly empowered and resourceful operatives† – dubbed HEROs as characteristic of empowered teams like this example at Black & Decker. In fact, the authors’ research study shows a high proportion of information workers, by industry and job type, especially marketing & sales in technical products and services that are empowered to create similar customer solutions.Creating Value in Collaborative Culture The collaborative culture of an organization stems from its’ shared beliefs, values, and business practices. Author and business consultant, Evan Rosen says collaboration is about creating value. In Bloomberg Businessweek, Evan Rosen emphasizes every worker contributes knowledge to the business. Using an example at Dow Chemical, he writes, â€Å"The day’s sales and inventory numbers are shared with everybody in the company, including the people doing the heaving lifting on the front lines.Dow acknowledg es that people will do a better job when they know their actions contribute or detract from business results. † Taking a step further, former CEO of Campbell Soup, Doug Conant, is famous for handwritten notes to employees celebrating their contributions. Recognition through these and other high value communication practices further strengthens a collaborative culture. Establishing a Technological Framework for Collaboration Collaboration tools essentially provide a technological framework to enable people and groups to work together.But adding new collaboration tools into the enterprise does not change things overnight. Where does an organization begin to design a technological framework? A gap analysis of workflows is often necessary and can help in redesigning processes. Furthermore, an organization’s specific data, based on activity in the organizational network, including sales, customer services and support, product development, and even external resources, can be collected, analyzed, and better routed to teams.This social intelligence can help everyone be informed. Tony Zingale, CEO, of Jive Software ‘sees change the way work gets done’ – referring to the communication and interactivity of social software like Jive. And reports are showing cost efficiencies, speed to market, and greater pool of ideas and innovation through collaboration, which are passed on to the customer through cost savings and better products.

As Fashion Merchandiser

How to Draw Strategy from a Comparison Shopping Report Milliard's Mini-Case As an FM student you have already done lots of shopping reports. This exercise is intended to show you how to use this information as an analytical tool. Comparative shopping Is done In the Industry constantly. But the point of the task Is to Identify strengths and weaknesses of your stores merchandise mix In comparison to the competitors'. Are you offering the customer something unique in one segment of your business, but not in others? Are you Just a poor second in comparison too throng competitor?Are you under- or over-developed in certain classifications? Are your prices in line with the rest of your store? In relation to your competition? Are there business opportunities that no one has addressed yet (market voids)? In this exercise, you are the buyer for Milliard's Department Stores Men's Sport Shirt Department. Your boss has asked you to do a comparison shopping analysis in order to determine ways to a djust your assortments to improve sales and profits. Milliard's Is a mostly moderate department store with some business done at better price points as well.Women's, Men's, and Kids' are all carried, along with all the usual Home Store categories. Within Women's, both Misses and ‘Women's† (Plus size) are carried. The store is predominantly branded, but there is some private label merchandise carried within the departments. For 201 3 Private label has not been as profitable as Branded merchandise and the buyer of Men's sport shirts is seeing a trend toward â€Å"labels† Note: This Is a self-contained case study. â€Å"Mallards† Is a fictitious store. Therefore, you must Limit yourself to Information In this write-up only. Work on the skill of writing with specificity.Don't answer competitor-by- competitor; give one assessment that takes all competitors into consideration) b. Why are these segments at a competitive advantage? C. Which components are not at a competitive advantage? D. Why not? Third Step After finishing your study, you read in the paper that Thomas & Blake is going out of business! Even though they continued to have decent revenues, their debt load finally did them in. They could no longer afford to keep the stores open. 3. A. Does this change provide an â€Å"environmental opportunity' for you? . Does the issue of branded vs.. Private label enter into this consideration? Why or why not? C. How might you adjust the assortments in your department to â€Å"pounce† on the misfortunes at Thomas & Blake? Be very specific. A. Yes, When Thomas & Blake goes out of business, that gives you an opportunity to take over Thomas & Flake's market share with the right merchandising strategy. B. Maybe , because Thomas & Blake is a typical department store that doesn't have over Thomas & Flake's customer. They might want to consider private label. C.Compare to Thomas & Flake's shopping analysis. Milliard's needs make the price ran ge of the better regular classification a bit higher from $80 to $120. Also, the price range of the better big/Tall classification need to be adjusted higher from $50 to $90 in order to meet the need of the customers who used to shop at Thomas & Blake. D. Fourth Step Of course, nothing stands still in the world of retailing. Just as you start to celebrate the loss of a key competitor, another news item hits the local paper: Wall-Mart is coming to town!! Ouch!

Retail failue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Retail failue - Essay Example Failures and bankruptcy cannot occur overnight. The symptoms start showing years ahead of the actual failure. According to Mellahi, Jackson and Sparks (2002) organizational failure can occur due to changes in both the external and internal business environment, but failure is necessarily caused by the external factors over which the managers have no control, contend Sharma and Mahajan (1980) and Mellahi and Wilkinson (2004). This is because the external environment imposes pressures and constraints on the firm’s strategies that can lead to failure. This suggests that firms do not fail due to the inefficiency of the management but they fall victims of the external environment. Changes in customer tastes, brand switching, cyclical decline in demand, competitive rivalry, technological uncertainties due to product and process innovations, are some of the external factors that can lead to organizational failure (Mellahi, Jackson & Sparks, 2002). In addition, retailers undergo the à ¢â‚¬Ëœwheel of retailing’ where they start as low cost, low set business offering modest products but as they develop, they add to the ambience, the products and then they make themselves vulnerable to the other new entrants. Circumstances lead to the inability to respond to the threats of the business. This suggests management inefficiency as the cause of organizational failure. ... When trading conditions became difficult, they sought new trading opportunities. Their decisions were such that at one point they were confused whether they were retailers or consumer finance company (Pal, Medway & Byrom, 2006). They operated under uncertain micro-environment conditions; they changed their format and refurbished their stores when the real estate market was at its height. Failure at AGS was a multi-factor issue. There was no top management homogeneity and hence continuity and growth was also affected. Each decision maker had his own perception and this was based on the micro- and macro- environment prevalent during his tenure. Managers also tend to become blinded to their own weaknesses and strengths, to the customer demands and to the competitors (Mellahi, Jackson & Sparks, 2002). Once success is achieved, overconfidence and arrogance steps in. When organizations become conditioned to exploit their old advantages, they become vulnerable to failure. They either ignore or do not respond to new opportunities. These are internal inadequacies in dealing with external threats. Impulsive decisions, poorly informed managers and the habit of taking unwanted risks are also some of the causes that can cause failure. Managers fail to react to external threats and they continue to focus on the internal methods that were successful in the past. Marks & Spencer’s (M&S) the legendary UK retailers, referred to as ‘managerial giant in the western world’ by Peter Drucker, was recognized as one of the best managed companies in the world. It started facing survival crisis since 1998. M&S were blinded by their past success and refused to advertise (except for new store openings) or make any other

Educational Philosophy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Educational Philosophy - Research Paper Example From all of the theories presented about pre-service teacher, the most common and well known theories are that of Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934). Lev Vygotsky was an educational theorist, who has presented numerous theories about the impact of culture on child’s mental and behavioural development. He also presented ideas about pre-service teachers. According to him, students should be inspired and motivated enough to present their own creativity and knowledge in their writings. He further states that the person who is interacting with child has most of the responsibility for problem solving but slowly and gradually his responsibilities transfer to the child. Example: If the theory of Lev Vygotsky is implemented in the premises of today’s classrooms, then it can bring profound changes. Children must be allowed to utilize their own thoughts and creativity, be it in art work, writing or any other intellectual activity. In extra-curricular activities, children should be encouraged to bring those projects which reflect any notion of their immediate culture or background in order to value diversity in classroom. Kolb (1984) stated that effective pre-service teachers need to have ability in four different areas; observation, experience, conceptualization and experimentation. Kolb (1984) states that teachers need to openly and fully involve themselves in providing new experiences to the students. Teachers need to present and reflect these experiences from several different perspectives, in other words, teachers should provide reflective observation. They must also conceptualize those observations with supportive logics and facts. At the end, they should use these concepts for problem solving and decision making which is the fourth component, namely experimentation. Example: After the students bring in projects or related material about their respective culture, the duty of teachers start. Teachers should acknowledge other students about each student’s culture.

Business Project Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Project - Coursework Example Moreover, for maintaining its competitive advantages, the company has focused on satisfaction of its customers, employees and business partners such as its dealers, investors and suppliers among others. The vision and mission of Vauxhall Motors is to expand its business operation around the world with considering its core values of honesty, integrity as well as professionalism. In this regard, it is identified that the company exports a larger proportion of vehicles (80% out overall production) in the global market (General Motors UK Limited, 2014). In the recent years, Vauxhall Motors has been trying to develop new heavy motorcycle in the market place, with the aim of capturing the two wheelers nationally and internationally. The company has identified that two-wheeler market is one of the emerging markets across the globe over the last decade. The two-wheeler industry has witnessed positive volume of growth during the last few years. Simultaneously, the company has identified that the demand of motor cycle has been positively increasing among the consumers in the recent years. At the same time, the company has also recognised that due to high market demand, several existing motor cycle manufacturers are concentrated on the total quality management system with the aim of enhancing the performance and excellence of the motor bikes. Thus, Vauxhall Motors has tried to introduce a new heavy motorcycle with the intention of enhancing the profitability and acquiring high market share in global market place (General Motors UK Limited , 2014). Analysis of the Context In order to determine the internal situation of Vauxhall Motors, it will be vital to apply ‘SWOT’ analysis method for better understanding the current situation of the company. According to the report of Global Data (2012), Vauxhall Motors is one of the leading automotive players in the global market

Zappos Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Zappos - Essay Example Zippos and its CEO have provided lessons that a strong leader ought to combine both leadership and management aspects in order to perform in a suitable manner. The CEO has ensured communication with both customers and workers. He has realized proper motivation for employees and proper customer relationship (Berger, 2011). The CEO ensured relocation of the company to Las Vegas in order to overcome the challenges of globalization. The relocation achieved proper customer service and gain of new customers. Operating in Las Vegas gave the company a competitive advantage due to proximity to customers and low cost operation. The CEOs ability to deal with a diverse workforce contributed to the success of the company. The CEO has developed an appropriate corporate culture, embraced by every employee in the company. The CEO developed a dynamic culture fundamental for future growth (Berger, 2011). These aspects were fundamental for the growth of the company. For example, the CEO ensured proper treatment of customers, even in cases unassociated with the sale of products. The company chose to remain at break even for a long period in order to maintain quality services to the customers. Appropriate character and personal integrity that leads to customer attraction and satisfaction are evident where the CEO emulates customer service an important aspect of the business (Berger, 2011). I agree that Zippos is different from other companies. Al through, the company has mastered the art of customer service by emulating a culture unique from other corporations. Most companies focus on profits and forget the importance customer service. The choice of the company to remain at breakeven was a difficult one (Berger, 2011). Organizations can perform well if they emulate proper customer service and motivation of workers. Employee motivation ensures efficiency in the work place, and proper customer service ensures retention and attraction of new

How Horses Were Still Used In World War I Term Paper

How Horses Were Still Used In World War I - Term Paper Example How Horses Were Still Used In World War I This paper aims to establish this opinion that WWI hugely influenced human and animal interrelationships by the way horses were used in the war. It will also highlight different ways in which horses were used. Discussion will be supported with important research literature to assess the extent to which this opinion could be held true. History shows that cavalry units or warriors mounted on horseback formed an essential constituent of a military force. It is claimed that â€Å"the best horses were taken by the cavalry† (Breverton). The greater the number of horses, the stronger a military force was considered. This is before the vulnerability of animals to modern artillery was much of an issue. However, horses continued to be used in WWI because warfare was also going through important changes in this time period. Warfare used in WWI had not been used before, so not much was known by the combatants about the vulnerability of animals before machine guns or tanks. It should be remembered that this war changed the concept of armed conflict. This is because it represents a very important transition from the use of horses to modern artillery. WWI was started with cavalry forces, but the favor shifted from horses to machine guns over passing time. This shift also occurred because â€Å"supplying the fodder for ho rses and mules was a permanent problem† (Breverton). WWI marks a transition period in human and animal interrelationships.

Comparative Research Paper of Atman and Anatta Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comparative of Atman and Anatta - Research Paper Example The term atman is explained in the Upanishads, a collection of philosophical writings written in the period 800-600 BC which provide the underpinning of many Hindu beliefs. Kupperman explains the concept of atman as â€Å"our intuitive sense of an unchanging ‘me’ throughout life †¦ a core of self that has no individual nature of elements that grow and change †¦ a core that underlies (and is separate from) personality, thought patterns, bodily form and so forth† (11). This self is also part of something bigger: â€Å"The Upanishads teach that self and cosmos are one, repeatedly stating that one’s atman is inseparable from all that there is.†(Hamilton, 28). This is a complex theory which tries to understand the inner nature of all beings and things in the universe, and postulates that the universe is â€Å"a field of inner realities that are all at bottom the same†¦ in somewhat the way that a drop of water is the ocean of which it is a part.† (Kupperman, 11). Another way of describing this is the concept of Brahman. This early Hindu way of thinking has implications for the way that people understand themselves and their goals in life: â€Å"Thus, the highest good is self-recognition, not as one’s individual self, but as the larger all-encompassing self that is atman. Atman is not distinctively individual. Atman is immortal and impersonal.† (Solomon, 87). Both human beings and the myriad of Hindu gods and goddesses share in this mixture of specifically personal qualities, which are changeable, and this core selfhood, which is divine and permanent. The related concept of anatta is the Pali language version of the Sanskrit anatman, and it means not-self, or not-soul. It originates in the teachings of Buddha who lived in Northern regions of the Indian subcontinent in the region now known as Nepal. Anatta is one of the key concepts which distinguishes Buddhist thinking from the older Hindu tradition. In some ways it also

Journal - wk 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Journal - wk 4 - Essay Example Student learning is positively impacted by the detailed feedback. A responsive teacher uses a significant and crucial way for the determination of assessment objectives along with decisions. There are multiple and varied sources for the information of assessment based on the formative, benchmark and summative drawn from students’ experience both in formal and informal ways. Prozesky (2001) called the summative that was done at the end of the learning period. Feedback is influential as it exists in the several forms of received information. This information is experienced from interaction in a classroom to the standard and formal assessments. Effectiveness of feedback is also determined by these types of assessments. The feedback needs objective and a neutral outlook for the analysis of the students’ assessments. Assessment improves equally the performance of teachers to student learning (Olah, Lawrence and Riggen, 2010). Comments after the tests are also good source of feedback (Middle States Commission,

Social Cultural and Economic Context of Zimbabwe Essay Example for Free

Social Cultural and Economic Context of Zimbabwe Essay The fall of the Ian Smith led Rhodesian government led to Zimbabwe gaining its independence in 1980. The ZANU PF government led by then Prime Minister Mugabe of the ZANU PF party embraced a policy of national reconciliation between races in order to encourage amity, nation-building and economic growth between the country’s white minority and black majority racial groups. This lead to a period of growth throughout the 1980s, the economy performed extremely well, which led the Central government expenditure to triple and increase its share from 32. % of GDP in 1979 to 44. 6% in 1989(Hazzlewood, 1967:284). Having inherited a socially skewed system of allocation of resources from its predecessor, the ZANU PF government began to rectify this distribution of resources from the mainly white domiciled areas in the urban areas and commercial farms to rural parts of Zimbabwe focusing on provision of clean water (Transitional National Development Plan, pp. 61-62), and providing educational resources in areas where prior to independence there had been none (International Education Journal, 2005, 6(1), 65-74 Gibbs Y.  Kanyongo). However towards the end of the 80’s the growth experienced shortly after independence waned and by the early 90’s Zimbabwe fell into an economic crisis forcing it to implement IMF and World Bank proposed Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) which was designed to lure investors into the country and remove any limitations on growth on the country. This policy forced the government to create a free market place in which the government’s reach would be miniscule and market forces would rule the day (Dansereau, ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’, p. 3). This policy eroded what little socio-economic gains that had been made in the first decade of the newly independent state (L. Sachikonye, ‘Whither Zimbabwe? Crisis and Democratisation) by introducing government spending on the socialist policies such as free education and projects with the intention of improving the infrastructure of the country to those habitant in the rural areas of the country who had been neglected by the former colonial government. This was followed by the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) included among other things, removal of price and wage controls, reduction of government expenditure, a 40 per cent devaluation of Zimbabwean Dollar, removal of subsidies on basic consumer goods, a radical restructuring of various parastatals and other public enterprises (Sichone, 2003:1). SAPs also coincided with the years of drought (1992, 1993, 1995) which put a heavy burden on an economy that was mainly reliant on commercial agriculture through its export of teas, cotton and tobacco. This already fragile economy was later shattered by the war veterans unbudgeted pay outs in 1997 which culminated in what is widely referred to as â€Å"Black Friday†14th of November 2007(L. Mambondiani :newzimbabwe. com). Already reeling the economy took another hit via the chaotic fast-track land reform that took place in 2000 which led to the United States freezing lines of credit by means of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001. This land reform led to vastly inexperienced persons receiving large tracts of farmland with virtually no experience which resulted in a substantial decrease in agricultural yields (Dancaescu, Nick.  Note. Land reform in Zimbabwe. 15 Fla. J. Intl L. 615 (2003). This led to an enormous decline in agricultural production which in turn led to chronic food shortages which were borne by the people of Zimbabwe. This further compounded by underperforming state owned enterprises whose debt obligations were undertaken by the government. This led to rampant inflation which by 2008 had reached +11 000 000 per cent July leading to the rebasing of the currency by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe by removing 3 zeros and issuing new bearer checks which did nothing to alleviate the situation as the zeros quickly reappeared . On top of all this Zimbabwe also had a spiralling external debt amounting to US$3 968 million. With the harmonized elections of 2008 which resulted in the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) there was the complete abandonment of the Zimbabwean dollar and the adoption of the multi-currency (South African Rand, Tswana Pula and the US Dollar). This led to some growth which although was very small was a positive change as compared to what Zimbabwe had experienced in the last eight years. Upon becoming the Prime Minister Of Zimbabwe in the Independent era from 1980 Mugabe preached a policy of reconciliation involving members of competing political parties in his early cabinet such as Joshua Nkomo leader of PF ZAPU and other whites who had previously worked under the colonial regime. However these policies were not to last long as from 1983 to 1984 there was a major suppression of Nkomo and his supporters based on what could be defined as ethnic basis. With government setting curfews in Matabeleland here Nkomo’s support base resided which was mainly the Ndebele tribe as opposed to the Shona tribe which Mugabe hailed from. The sending in of the army, in particular the North Korean trained 5th brigade which attempted to supress the â€Å"dissidents† through a campaign of mass violence campaign, known as the Gukuruhundi, or (strong wind) which resulted in as many as 20,000 civilian deaths. This eventually led to Nkomo’s part agreeing to be swallowed by ZANU PF via the signing of the Unity Accord in 1987 thereby making Zimbabwe for all intents and purposes a one party state. This status-quo remained for much of the 90’s with ZANU PF stifling any opposition to its power by amending the constitution following the lapsing of the 1980 Lancaster agreement, restoring corporal and capital punishment and denying recourse to the courts in cases of compulsory purchase of land by the government. Attempts by students trade unionists and workers to protest via demonstrations being curtailed via banning of anti-government protests by the police. This growing swell of antagonism by these various groups culminated in the creation of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in 1999. In 2000 besides the clear voter intimidation of opposition supporters the MDC managed to win 57 of the 120 seats in the parliamentary elections. These effect of these results then coloured the months leading up to the 2002 presidential election where intimidation and violence was rife towards opposition. The outcome of these elections were Mugabe wining by a large margin although international observers did call them to be rigged in the sense that the pre-election environment was neither free nor fair, and the election itself was marred by significant fraud and rigging regional opinion was however mixed. The resulting legal challenge against these results by the MDC by 2004 still did not have a ruling which resulted in the the United States, the EU, and other European countries imposed travel restrictions against senior Zimbabwean officials and embargoed the sale of arms to Zimbabwe. The US and the EU also froze the financial assets of selected ruling party officials. In 2005 the MDC party then spilt into two separate parties with one retaining the MDC name under Welshman Ncube and the other being called MDC-T which was under its founding party leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The acrimonious split occurred over differing views over the party’s participation in the 2005 Senate elections. Tsvangirai’s camp didn’t want to contest these elections on the premise that the MDC had released a statement in 2004 stating that they would not participate in any elections till conditions prevailed for free and fair elections whilst the Ncube led faction was of the opposite opinion. In 2008 the harmonised elections first round the Tsvangirai led MDC was adjudged to have won won 47. % and Mugabe won 43. 2%, thereby necessitating a run-off. These figures however seen by many international observers to have been massaged as the results for the first round of elections took nearly five weeks to be released. The period leading up to the runoff between Mugabe and Tsvangirai saw an unprecedented wave of violence aimed towards supporters of MDC-T, resulting in the death of up to a 100 of Tsvangirai’s supporters leading him to pull out of the election s citing this violence. This resulted in the Government of National Unity (GNU) which was mediated by the Southern African Community Development (SADC) where a power sharing coalition was negotiated between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Ncube. The GNU was given a life span of five years in which the negotiated terms of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which govern it where meant to be put into legislature with the hope of putting in systems such as a new constitution that will reform Zimbabwe to the point of having free and fair elections. Implementation of the GPA has however been fraught with disagreement with the pure lack of sincerity on ZANU PF’s part on stalling the reforms such as the repealing of repressive legislature like the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) which have been used to bar the MDC’s and civil society from holding rallies to simple internal meetings.