On Social Theory In Social Work Essay

We know where we have been, where we are now and where we need to go – but how do we get there? A map. Theory is a map. It notes any number of known landmarks (previously achieved or applied solutions) and obstacles (issues or problems) and gives us direction so that we are able to navigate intelligently and arrive safely (minimal discomfort to all) at our destination (desired outcome/s). Theory is an attempt to explain the unexplained, to give title to the untitled and to give reason to the unreasonable. It is a combination of existing knowledge and newly acquired knowledge that allows us to make assumptions in order to realise reasonably foreseeable outcomes. It is only in the realms of science, physics and mathematics that the repeated application of a single theory will return a consistent result indefinitely. However, in the social work disciplines, the repeated application of a single theory may very well result in chaos and mayhem due simply to the addition of the vagaries and subjectiveness of human behaviour – individual realism and personality. Mix society with the individual then add a third ingredient – power (political, economic, etc) and you end up with a chameleonic and metamorphosis-like result, what I refer to as the ‘lava lamp effect’ – constant change, confusion, tangentiality, shifts in personal, political and societal values and meanings. Theory is the vehicle of bringing order and making sense of all these things. That an individual on one occasion might respond to certain stimuli in a particular fashion, is no predictor of the individual’s (micro level) responses to the same or like stimuli on subsequent occasions and is certainly not an indication that the ‘collective’ (macro level) will respond in the same manner. It is not possible for one person to comprehend the world as perceived by  another person. The absolute closest we can come to this is to use our own imagination and compare our own experiences as a guide – empathy. Enter theory. Theory gives us the launching pad for action. It is a single starting point for all social work practitioners regardless of their individual methodological preferences. Howe (1987, p48) states, â€Å"The loud claim is that practice is saturated with theory no matter how much the social worker speaks of [their] simple reliance on commonsense or intuition. Each theory and its associated practice holds assumptions about people and their society †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†. However, theory still remains our most valuable agent in facilitating acceptable if not positive outcomes. The nature of social work is in a constant state of flux and what was suitable or successful yesterday may not be today although past theories still have a valid place in our reckoning. There is a constant flow of new and more complex issues introducing themselves to society every day and more often than not, theory will be the only tools available to us as a means of sourcing solutions. When discussing how theories are used in practice, Payne (1997, p48) states; â€Å"There are three approaches to this task: using theories to interrogate, clarify and criticise each other, using theories selectively, and using theories together to modify each other† and Lemert (1999, p20) states â€Å"Social theory is what we do when we find ourselves able to put into words what nobody seems to want to talk about†. Further, Mullaly (2002, p3) cites Reynolds (1971) â€Å"Theory carries out four basic functions: description; explanation; prediction; and control and management of events or changes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦it describes phenomena; it attempts to explain what causes them; it predicts future events, including what will happen if certain interventions occur (or do not occur); and attempts to control and manage events or changes at all levels of human activity†. Theory also has its place in supplementing existing knowledge – filling in the blanks as it were. There is no divorcing theory from experience nor from assumption as these two  things are the interminably prime ingredients of theory. In order to create a theory we must draw upon our own or others’ knowledge bases, experiences and assumptions – no other source/s exist/s. Whilst most would agree that theory is generally the basis for experiment, quite often the reverse is true – experiment as the basis of theory! There once existed a theory that technological advancements would eventually result in a reduction of the number of skilled tradesmen required. This theory therefore required that there be a reduction in the numbers of (government subsidised) trade apprenticeship places – a huge cost saving exercise, an economic positive! However, we have since learned that this theory was implemented without a great deal of thought as to the possible negatives – those of higher youth unemployment (increased welfare bill), a much sharper decline in the number of skilled tradesmen to adequately service the community (have you ever tried to get hold of a plumber or electrician in an emergency?), and a steep increase in the cost to the consumer (community) in utilising those affected trade services. Some would also argue that the reduction in apprenticeship places would have contributed to increases in various crimes and therefore further unnecessary cost to the community and taxpayers. A more recent theory is that of children in detention centres. Some schools of thought insisted that keeping children in detention was senseless and cruel and that they should be settled into local communities. Others viewed this train of thought as being reminiscent of the ‘stolen generation’ and further theorised that it was wrong to separate the children from their parents and therefore the mother and children should be settled into the community with regular visits to the father who should remain in detention. There was still further argument that cultural matters had not been considered in that further or other yet foreseen problems may result by isolating the father from the family unit. Each discourse here is based only on theory but it encourages discourse that seeks resolutions. A good thing. Not all theory is good and nor is it all bad, it is simply a helpful step  towards finding resolutions where none has previously existed to address issues and problems in society be they real or perceived. As can be ascertained from just a small collection of readings, even theorists differ widely in their interpretations and applications of theory. Every ‘-ist’ of every ‘-ism’ believes that their approach is more beneficial than those of the others. Whether they are aware of it or not, even those social work practitioners who would underrate the benefits of the use of theory in their practice, preferring instead to rely on their own intuition and experience, are still employing theory – empirically. References Howe, D., 1987, An Introduction to Social Work Theory; Making Sense in Practice, Wildwood House. Lemert, C., 1999, Social Theory, Second Edition; The Multicultural and Classic Readings, MacMillan Press Ltd, Victoria. Mullaly, B., 2002, Challenging Oppression; A Critical Social Work Approach, Oxford University Press. Payne, M., 1997, Modern Social Work Theory, Second Edition, PALGRAVE, N.Y.

The Door You Willing to Shut

Stephen King provides us with his own vocabulary as well as methods for isolating one’s mind and unlocking it to its utmost potential. His blueprint for writing involves isolation from mundane life, from thinking too rationally or dogmatically in order to get in touch with our creative side. Using the terms â€Å"the room†, â€Å"the door† and â€Å"the determination to shut the door† he maps out an environment, which helps him concentrate on his writing.Stephen points out that usually we need to find a comfortable place to write (in his case-his home). The next step is to get rid of all distractions (the shutting of the door) and then to set a certain goal, as well as to make sure that it is quite attainable. King believes, based on his own experience that the hardest part about writing is just to begin the task, writing â€Å"one word at a time†; once it starts its not overly difficult to maintain the flow of ideas and their transfer on paper.Pers onally I find the environment of a small cozy cafe preferable to that of my home in terms of shutting the door to various distractions that King talks about. The room and the determination to shut the door are more important to me when I write, then the door itself. When I write in a cafe, I do not control the environment—the door — that is, I cannot shut it entirely, but I can control my focus on my work, in King’s own words it’s called the determination to shut the door.I’m not sure if I would be able to write to Metallica or AC/DC as King apparently can, but music in general if it is soothing, would not distract me. Just like King, I find the hardest thing is to begin, once I get going I do not feel distracted by my surrounding environment, I can focus and be completely absorbed by the writing task, creating a piece â€Å"one word at a time†.

Body Dissatisfaction in Adolescent Females and Males Essay

Body Dissatisfaction in Adolescent Females and Males - Essay Example In fact, each disorder or ailment needs to be examined from the inside first – this will provide necessary information on the origins of the disorder and factors that might cause, increase or reduce it. Being aware of internal mechanisms of disorder development, specialist will be able to affect needed details of an adolescent’s psyche. For instance, in our case, knowing of the impact of parent’s support or criticism on development of body dissatisfaction, one is able to define positive parental relations and support as one of the protective factors.According to the data provided in the article, body dissatisfaction issues related to such appearance aspects as shape or weight are rather widespread especially in the Western society. The level of body dissatisfaction reaches 46% in girls and 26% in boys, while the percentage of adolescents satisfied with their appearance is rather low: 12% of girls and 17% of boys (Presnell). While compared in adolescent girls and boys, body dissatisfaction details have both common and distinctive features. First, according to the article, it is historically predetermined that thinness has always been considered more important aspect of female beauty standards. In other words, thinness has been perceived as a key criterion of women’s appearance. In boys, this has predominantly been weight and muscles. Another difference between boys and girls regarding body dissatisfaction lies in the effect of media on their perception of their bodies.

Features of an Effective Total Rewards Program Essay

Features of an Effective Total Rewards Program - Essay Example Total rewards program, that is explained in this essay ensures that employees get paid according to their performance. Also, fair payment means that employees get the best value for the work that they do. Equitable payment relates to the ranks of the employees and so it should match their interests according to the organization structure. This essay is focused on a total rewards plan creation. Benefits that employees get should be competitive and should meet their personal needs. Author states that this can be achieved by offering economically feasible benefit plans that meet their needs at personal level. Rewarding also should be done in a fair way. Efforts made by employees to attain a certain goal should be recognized, this can be done by having a rewarding and recognition system that satisfies the employees. Also, the expectations of employees to grow and succeed should be met by the highly managed plan and high-qualified managment. Equity and fairness in payments for both genders, that are defined in this essay can be determined by communication between employers and the employees. In general, equitable pay leads to motivation and increased performance. Also, the plan, created by the magament should be positive. The employee compensation plan should be positive in the sense that both the employees and the employe r are comfortable with the system or program. In conclusion, author states that if payments are competitive for employees, they will do their work with a lot of motivation.

Listening carefully to the use of the female voice, research the Essay

Listening carefully to the use of the female voice, research the womans silence, articulateness, and her scream with regard to Carson and Choins claims about - Essay Example This is reflected in the new stories that we make up in our films and on television. However, this does not mean that these concepts can’t change. As the ideas surrounding the female voice have been explored by Hollywood during the course of its history, the female voice, and ideas about it, is seen to be undergoing a subtle shift, gradually acknowledging that the woman’s voice has greater strength than she has been given credit for or been permitted to use. To gain a greater understanding of the female voice, a brief history of the voice will be explored as foundation for discussion of current views which will be applied to specific films emerging from Hollywood either created or depicting different time periods. From very early history, women have been defined as a sort of sub-human who existed only on the margins of civilization yet strongly contained within this civilization. In discussing the role of women in ancient Greece, Anne Carson () illustrates how Alkaios uses the women’s voices around him to illustrate his isolation and exile. Alkaios writes that he is among the wolves, which are animals associated with the outlaw because they exist on the fringes of the community, living in the wild off of the leavings or extraneous elements of civilization. â€Å"Women, in the ancient view, share this territory spiritually and metaphorically in virtue of a ‘natural’ female affinity for all that is raw, formless and in need of the civilizing hand of man. So, for example, in the document cited by Aristotle that goes by the name of The Pythagorean Table of Opposites, we find the attributes curving, dark, secret, evil, ever-moving, not self-contained and lacking its own bounda ries aligned with Female and set over against straight, light, honest, good, stable, self-contained and firmly bounded on the Male side† (Carson: 124). Part of the origins

Deductive and Inductive Arguments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Deductive and Inductive Arguments - Essay Example A deductive argument is said to be unsound if its premises are not logically correct, but then they can be founded upon to form a correct conclusion. For instance, the following premises; Mary is 37 years old, Mary is caring then the conclusion from the premises is Mary is a mother. The argument is unsound since the premises are generalized and thus will not form a good basis for making an informed conclusion. The premises since they are general in nature cannot be said to be logically correct since they are not specific to be based for making informed conclusions hence the argument is unsound. Inductive premises are not always correct the person in the argument will take them as they are to influence a certain conclusion that is desirable (Iep.utm.edu). The nature of the premises in inductive arguments determines whether the overall conclusion of the argument is weak or strong. For instance; the policemen said Peter committed the murder, so Peter is the murderer. This argument is weak because its based on a section of the overall evidence and thus, cannot be depended upon. On the other hand, if we have premises like these; eyewitnesses said they saw Peter commit the murder, fingerprint evidence from the body of the diseased together with the weapon are identical to Peter’s and Peter confessed to the police to have committed the act, so Peter committed the murder. The argument above is strong since it incorporates a number of evidence that precisely implicates Peter to the murder beyond reasonable doubt. Therefore, from the aforementioned definitions and illustrations it is evident that the deductive arguments are more compelling than the inductive arguments because their conclusion are correctly premised logically and morally as opposed to the inductive arguments, which are often incorrect and depend upon the perception or intention of the individuals to form a conclusion that

Macro and Micro Economics and their Predictions for the Future Term Paper

Macro and Micro Economics and their Predictions for the Future - Term Paper Example Research has it that this growth began in the postwar period from 1955. Between this year and 1973, there was a rapid growth in the GDP at 8% but later, the GDP per capita was at 3%. Most of this growth has been attributed to the increase in the manufacturing sector. Various spheres of human development also improved greatly during this period, for instance; infant and maternal mortality rates declined such that by 1993 it was one of the lowest in the world. Some researchers say that over the past decade, Japan's economy has been stagnant due to poor population growth, debt, deflation and natural disasters. According to Buttonwood, however, the growth per capita over the last ten years is at 1.6% greater than that of the United Kingdom, Germany, France and even America (www.economist.com). Apparently, Japan has plans to start trans-pacific partnership trade to increase its economic growth. Another indicator of economic growth is the Human Development Index, currently in Japan; it is at 0.901, the 12th out of 187 countries. The purchasing power parity according to the wall street journal is 1$= 110.784 yen. The main industry in Japan is the manufacturing industry inclusive of electronics, automobile, biochemistry and optical media. Agriculture is not that well developed due to lack of farming land. These two industries provide the population with employment and according to the economist, in 2008, the ratio of job offers to applicants is at 0.59. However, the low birth rate is troubling this economy due to the high probability of lack of available indigenous workforce in the next few years. Japan is known to be one of the easiest and best places to do business due to its low tax rate. This is one of the members of G-20 countries, an upcoming economy. Currently, its economy has an expectation to expand by 8.5% (the Economist). The increase in the workforce is one of the reasons why there is a high expectation of its economic growth. The growing national income per capita has been seen to triple at a  percentage of 13.7% according to the wall street journal. Human development index in India is still questionable but expectations of improvement are very high.

To develop creative solutions to a brief including analysis of Research Paper

To develop creative solutions to a brief including analysis of effectiveness - Research Paper Example The beauty of this industry is that along with tourism, it combines a number of professions in it (Walker, 2007), making it good for the economy and for employment. People stay in hotels because they are far away from their home, or they are living in a country, that is not their home country. When a person thinks about a hotel, it can conjure up exciting images. Hotels are often thought to be busy areas filled with people all around the world, especially business people and celebrities in order to pass their holidays or meetings (Bardi, 2003). The industry hires large number of skilled, unskilled and semi skilled workers to work, and because their work is to provide service, they need to teach some essential points to unskilled labors before hiring (Tanke, 2000). Adventurous people, when travelling, often need luxurious places to pass their traveling times. Because of the in comfort desired by people while traveling, hotel owners and designers tried to make places where people could come and rest without stress. As a consequence they made hotels for the betterment of people traveling from other countries for various purposes (Andrews, 2007). Hotels today are often called â€Å"home away from home† and people can stay in them for many different lengths of time, from a few days to many months. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Hotel America is a mid-sized hotel chain which is one of the top ten hotel chains of America. During the last quarter of 2001, this hotel started to experience a decline in occupancy rate. There are certain factors attached with this decline. It is not just the case of this particular hotel chain. Rather, all the hotel industry is on a decline. The executive leadership hopes to improve the occupancy rate and this report was prepared to analyze the data available and devise the strategies to help the management. An analysis of the data found that there were certain internal factors as well as external factors that contributed to this downturn. Exter nal factors included the incident of 9/11 and the recession of America, both of which decreased patronage to hotels, and numbers of people travelling in general. Internal factors included a list of things like negligence of the management to maintain the bathroom or other facilities and to see whether the bed provided was comfortable. Another issue was the rude attitude of the staff which offended the customers. The staff coordination must be to a high standard, and there must be no conflict between the staff members because this will give a bad impression to the hotel customers (Sonnenstuhl, 1990). The location of many of the hotels and the unavailability of suitable transportation also had negative impact leaving many customers were unsatisfied. Special facilities and features were also looked upon. When people live in hotels in countries that they are foreign to, they often look at hotels for long term accommodation, however, the rent must be according to the facilities provided (Robinson, 2009). The most effective point towards a successful hotel is goal congruence (Goldsmith, 2002). Within the location category, the closeness to downtown and commercial areas was what the customer desired. Within the special features category, the presence of restaurants, business lounges and clubs gave a positive impact. Of the communication category the main desires were the provision of facilities like telephone and internet access. Based upon the analysis, this report gives recommendations such as: ensuring proper

Music assigment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Music assigment - Essay Example The audiences are particularly attentive as the songs are being played as they find themselves knocked off their feet by the skillfulness and humor of the band. Moreover, the success of the majority of his albums has positively influenced the reception of his Benny performances as audiences are always eager to learn more from performances done by the band. The use of visual aspects in performances featuring blues after dark by Benny Golson add to the performance as they make the show lively, hence retaining the audience attention in listening the different bands being played. Blues after dark by Benny Golson is a piece of the album gone with Gibson. The duration of the piece is eight minutes and thirty seven seconds and the original date which it was released was January 20, 2009. The tune reminds an audience of the artistry involved in the composition of the piece since it is associated with synchronized swimming. The piece also has a wonderful team of blues which is carefully coordinated to show the chemistry and teamwork resulting to the melancholy of the piece. The sound produced from the piece is rich and compelling to audiences as its simple and passionate. I remember Clifford by benny Gibson is piece paying homage to the hard bop jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown. The use of lyrics versions in this piece has improvised the use of instrumental solos, making the piece interesting to the different audiences present at the performance. The sound effects used in the piece also compliments the use of instruments like the piano, thus creating a rhythm that augurs well with audiences listening to the performance. Instrument use like use of string, brass enhances the beats of the piece thus making the performance to be conducted at the stipulated time. Blues after dark by Benny Golson and I remember Clifford by benny

An Analysis of Space and Place in Cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

An Analysis of Space and Place in Cinema - Essay Example The essay "An Analysis of Space and Place in Cinema" presents an overview of film space and place definitions considering their role in the aesthetic perfection of a film. Space and place in cinema is a topic worth on the go discussion. Film space is not a topic that can be glanced at untailored. Space in cinema is determined by the director, who is the first viewer when the angles which are not relevant for creating the space are screened out by him. Film space is a term that can be interpreted in various perspectives. In a film, space is used in a set design that is both literal and metaphorical. As an extension to this particular point, it can be stated that when conceptions of space are re-orientated it is not simply within a particular scene, but its significance is extended through the entire film. More specifically, an object on the wall shown in the first scene may not be brought into the film again; in spite of this, its significance stays behind. Actor’s body in space is the next level of significance. This idea can be expanded, the actor’s dimensions and negotiations of space and filmmaker’s skill to represent a movement through space. The concept space can be comprehended only by moving through spaces. In such an outlook the acting body is recognized as the site of transference between the viewer and the actual site of the film. Apart from this, the manipulation and creation of the space are by the camera eye. And in cinema, dissimilar pieces are put into place.

Intellectual thought Essay Example for Free

Intellectual thought Essay An intellectual is a person who primarily uses intelligence in either a professional or an individual capacity. As a substantive or adjective, it refers to the work product of such persons, to the so-called life of the mind generally, or to an aspect of something where learning, erudition, and informed and critical thinking are the focus, as in the intellectual level of the discourse on the matter was not high. Jacques Barzun, a French-American intellectual.  The intellectual is a specific variety of the intelligent, which unlike the general property, is strictly associated with reason and thinking. Many everyday roles require the application of intelligence to skills that may have a psychomotor component, for example, in the fields of medicine, sport or the arts, but these do not necessarily involve the practitioner in the world of ideas. The distinctive quality of the intellectual person is that the mental skills, which he or she demonstrates, are not simply intelligent, but even more, they focus on thinking about the abstract, philosophical and esoteric aspects of human inquiry and the value of their thinking. Traditionally, the scholarly and the intellectual classes were closely identified; however, while intellectuals need not necessarily be actively involved in scholarship, they often have an academic background and will typically have an association with a profession. More broadly, any work of the mind may be termed intellectual property, whether or not its content is intellectual in the sense covered in this article. Intellectuals include not only philosophers, interested in epistemology, but also others in the arts and sciences, plus the humanities, with no boundaries as to fields of study.

The Functions of the Financial System | Economics Essay

The Functions of the Financial System | Economics Essay Introduction The objective of this chapter is to provide a theoretical and empirical literature review of the relationship between financial development and economic growth in general and more narrowly at sectoral growth analysis. Therefore, it is important to determine what financial development relates to, how the financial sector and overall economy are related to each other, and the implications of such a relationship for other sectors of the economy. In the following of this chapter, the study will first review the theory of financial development, whereby explaining the framework of financial system and how they affect growth of the real sector. The next section will focus on those authors who believe that economic growth is a good predictor of financial sector development. Further, effects of financial development on various sectors growth will be discussed. The next section will review the existing empirical studies examining the relationship of FD and growth. Theoretical Background Financial System A financial system is a network of markets and institutions that bring savers and borrowers together (Hubbard, 1997). Financial systems have become the keystone of most economies around the world. This field is of great interest to economists, who research mainly the causes and impacts of its development. Through years, economists has changed their perceptive has about the nature of the relationship between financial systems and economic growth. Bagehot (1873) established the pioneering theory on the relation between financial system and economic growth in his book Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market (1873). He found that financial markets facilitate the accumulation of capital and these markets manage the risk from relative investments and business strategies. Later, Schumpeter (1911) identified that financial intermediaries facilitate technological innovation by gathering savings, evaluating investment projects, monitoring managers and facilitating transactions. The main argument of Schumpeter was that financial development affects economic growth through technological changes and this is done by banking institutions than stock markets. According to the Schumpeterian model, banks create entrepreneurs who carry out new investment projects that lead to economic growth as these rise in investment opportunities are available due to new combinations of providing finance to entrepreneurs. Following, there were Goldsmith (1969), McKinnon (1973) and Shaw (1973) who emphasised on the role of capital accumulation in economic growth. In the McKinnon-Shaw model, a well developed financial system mobilises savings by channeling small valued savings into profitable large scale investments. According to them, without a proper participation of financial system, these savings might not be available for further investment because a financial institution mobilises savings from various savers in an efficient and effective way by avoiding information asymmetries and lowering transaction costs. Unlike Schumpeter, they did not distinguish between the banking sector and the stock market. For them, both of markets are important in the process of economic growth. Although Schumpeter (1911), McKinnon (1973), Shaw (1973) and other economists emphasised on the positive role of financial development on economic growth, they failed to explain clearly how channeling of those funds affects growth. Then came Levine (1997, 1999), who has first depicted this link clearly. Levine demonstrated five main functions of the financial markets that affect the economic growth. More specifically, Levine pointed out that financial system Facilitate the trading, hedging, diversifying, and pooling of risk, Monitor managers and apply corporate control, Allocate resources, Mobililize savings, and Facilitate the exchange of goods and services. Functions of Financial System Unlike other economists, Levine (1999) produced a comprehensive way of showing the significant role for financial markets. The impact on economic growth occurs through the following channels according to Levine. As discussed above, financial markets play a significant role in economic growth through their role of allocation capital, monitoring managers, mobilizing of savings and promoting technological changes among others. Economists had held the view that the development of the financial sector is a crucial element for stimulating economic growth. Financial development can be defined as the ability of a financial sector acquire effectively information, enforce contracts, facilitate transactions and create incentives for the emergence of particular types of financial contracts, markets and intermediaries, and all should be at a low cost.  [1]  Financial development occurs when financial instruments, markets and intermediaries ameliorate through the basis of information, enforcement and transaction costs, and therefore better provide financial services. The financial functions or services may influence saving and investment decisions of an economy through capital accumulation and technol ogical innovation and hence economic growth. Capital accumulation can either be modeled through capital externalities or capital goods produced using constant returns to scale but without the use of any reproducible factors to generate steady-state per capita growth.  [2]  Through capital accumulation, the functions performed by the financial system affect the steady growth rate thereby influencing the rate of capital formation. The financial system affects capital accumulation either by altering the savings rate or by reallocating savings among different capital producing levels. Through technological innovation, the focus is on the invention of new production processes and goods.  [3]   As market frictions and laws, regulations and policies differs to a greater extent across economies and over time, the impact of financial development on growth may have different implications for resource allocation and welfare in the economy. Relationship between Financial Development and Economic Growth (i) Link of financial development and real sectors of the economy The theoretical evidence that financial sector development fosters economic growth has been accumulating over many decades. Schumpeter (1911), McKinnon (1973), Shaw (1973) Goldsmith (1969), Levine (1999) and other proponents came with a clear understanding of the role of financial development on economic growth. However, these theories do not provide a clear explanation of the transmission of financial development to the real sector of the economy thats lead to growth. Recently, some researchers have translated these abstract links between financial development and economic growth into concrete channels, such as household consumption, investment, trade (exports and imports) and government spending. Consequently, any increase from household consumption, investment, trade and government spending will have a positive impact on the real sector of the economy, and on the growth of economies. This link is illustrated below: Yt= Ct+ It+ (Xt-Mt) + Gt, where Yt is the gross domestic product, Ct is household consumption, It is domestic investment Xt is exports, Mt for the imports and Gt is government spending. Financial development and household expenditure are highly correlated, as discussed in Claessens and Feijen (2006). They argued that despite the causal relationship between financial development and household consumption is less clear than in the case of income, there is evidence that financial development is a leading indicator for increases in household consumption. Apart from increasing the household welfare, financial development also increases investment through the allocation of capital to private sector. The World Business Environment Survey (WBES), recent research concludes that finance is the most important constraint on firm growth. Other studies such as, Rajan and Zingales (1998), Perotti and Volpin (2005) have found that the number of firms in an industry grew faster in counties that have better financial development. Claessens and Feijen (2006) also highlighted that the presence of financial intermediaries with their products such as credit cards, debit cards facilitate domestic and international payment service whereby facilitating trade. The Claessens and Feijen framework hence has demonstrated the link between financial development and economic growth through concrete channels. (ii) Finance- Growth Nexus In the traditional development economics, there exist two distinct views of the finance-growth nexus. The first view was first proposed by Schumpeter (1911) who argues that services provided by financial intermediaries are essential drivers of innovation and growth. Thus, well-developed financial systems channel financial resources to their most productive use. The Schumpeters view was later formalised by Goldsmith (1969); McKinnon (1973); Shaw (1973); King and Levine (1993); Pagano (1993); Fry (1995); Zervos and Levine (1996, 1999); Christopoulos (2004); Manoj and Kamat (2007) and Hasan, Watchel and Zhou (2008) where all believed that financial development is a catalyst for economic growth. The second view suggests that economic growth is the major driving force behind the development of the financial sector. This idea is very much stressed in the work of Robinson (1952). According to him, as an economy grows, more financial institutions, financial products and services emerge in markets in response to a higher demand for financial services. Further, the Patricks hypothesis (1966) was introduced with the supply leading and demand following, which is important to determine the relationship between financial development and economic growth. The demand following view explains the demand for financial services as dependent upon the growth of real output and the modernization of subsistence sectors. Thus, the creation of modern financial institutions, their financial assets and liabilities, related to financial services are a response to the demand for these services by investors and savers in the real economy. Therefore, the more rapid growth of real national income, the gr eater will be the demand by enterprises for external funds (the savings of others) and therefore financial intermediation. Also, with a given aggregate growth rate, the greater the variance in the growth rates among different sectors or industries, the greater will be the need for financial intermediation to transfer saving from slow-growing industries to fast-growing industries. In this case, an expansion of the financial system is induced because of real economic growth. The second causal relationship between financial development and economic growth is termed the supply leading by Patrick (1966). Supply leading has two functions. Firstly, is to transfer resources from the traditional low-growth sector to the modern high-growth sector and secondly, to promote and stimulate an entrepreneurial response in these modern sectors. Thus, the availability of financial services stimulates the demand for these services by the entrepreneurs in the modern, growth-inducing sectors. However, previous empirical studies have produced mixed and conflicting results on the nature and direction of the causal relationship between finance and economic growth

The Reverse Product Cycle Model Of Service

The Reverse Product Cycle Model Of Service In this essay, I will be evaluate the effectiveness of reverse product life cycle as a theory of innovations in service and to find out if there is alternative model that does a better job in this. To answer the question, I will first look at some of the major characteristics of services and how they compare to that of manufactured goods; I will then look at the three different approaches of service innovation theories. Next, I will look at what a normal product life cycle looks like, how it can be used to explain innovations in manufactured goods. After that, I will look at the different stages of reverse product cycle and evaluate it effectiveness with the help of examples. I will also look at some of its limitations and questions raised by other authors. Finally I will look at the four dimension model of service innovation to find out if it is a better alternative than that of the reverse product cycle. Goods and services are often mentioned in the same sentence, while there are many similarities between the two, they are actually very different. Services are something that is intangible offered or sold to customers; it is not something that can be contact physically. When people purchase a good, they actually own the product after paying for it. But this is not the case in services. Good examples of services are public transports, mail deliveries, insurances, retail banking, and broadband internet. Here we can see, these are products that cannot be owned even if you pay for it. The differences between goods and services are so huge and obvious; it is not surprised to see the innovation processes of the two are hugely different too. Innovations in manufactured goods are often related to innovations in technologies. When it comes to research and development, manufacturing companies focus on improving the technologies and performances of their products. However innovation in services mainly focuses on improving the design of the services instead of the technological aspects. Tekes, a Finnish website defined service innovation as the following : Service innovation is a new or significantly improved service concept that is taken into practice. It can be for example a new customer interaction channel, a distribution system or a technological concept or a combination of them. A service innovation always includes replicable elements that can be identified and systematically reproduced in other cases or environments. The replicable element can be the service outcome or the service process as such or a part of them. A service innovation benefits both the service producer and customers and it improves its developers competitive edge (Tekes) Although innovation in manufactured are much more well known than innovations in services, there were a number of models, theories or frameworks which was produced over the years in order to help and explain the nature of services innovations. These theories and models can be fitted into three different approaches. They are service-orientated approaches, integrative approaches and technologist approaches. In this essay, we will focus on Richard Barras reverse product cycle which falls into the technologist category, it is important to note that the technologist approach is the most common approach out of the three, it focuses mainly on bringing in new equipments and technical systems into service firms and industries. Reverse product cycle was introduced in one of Barras articles named towards a theory of innovation in services which was published in the Research Policy journal in April 1986. Barra realized at the time the importance of services industries in the economies and that most of the economic theories of innovation focuses exclusively on manufacturing goods. Because of this, Barra decided to develop a theoretical model that explain innovation process in services industries. (Gallouj. F 1998) Before we explain how the reverse product life cycle can be used to explain innovation in services, we need to first understand how the normal product life cycle operates. Product life cycle can be separated into four different stages: they are 1) the take-off or introduction stage, 2) the growth stage, 3) the maturity stage and finally 4) the decline stage. (QuickMBA) During the introduction stage, the companys main objective is to promote the product therefore potential customers become aware of the existence of the new products. The product at this stage is new to the public, and its performance is often superior compare to alternatives. The price at this stage is usually high in order to cover the production costs, and the volume of output is often low. The competitive edge at this stage lies in the performances of the product. The nature of the innovation process here is product innovation (QuickMBA) The growth stage, during this stage, customers are well aware of the existence of the product and a number of competitors has emerged, these competitors will offer products with similar performances and merits. the main goals for firm at this phase is to increases or maintain market shares. The price at this stage is often lower than that of previous stage and the volume of output increases also. In order to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals, a firm will focuses on improving the quality of the product which can be done by adding additional features. The nature of the innovation process here is radical. (QuickMBA) Maturity stage, during this stage even more competitors has emerged. The market starting to become saturated. The price of the product will further decrease as there are more competitions around, and the level of output greatly increases. The nature of the innovation process at this stage is incremental. The competitive focus here is to reduce production costs which leads to lower price and increasing output as much as possible therefore selling more units which leads to higher profits. (QuickMBA) Decline stage, this stage is reached when the market is totally saturated and the products technology become established. There are always the threats from newer and more advanced technologies here. When a new technology emerged, the whole cycle begins all over again, with the old technology declined and new technology introduced. (QuickMBA) In his article, Barras argued that the product life cycle as a whole is not driven by one single force. He suggested that early on in the cycle, technology push driving force is predominant where as later on in the cycles where the nature of the innovations are incremental, the predominant force is usually demand pull force generated by users. (Barras. R 1986) Now we understand how product life cycle can be used to explain the process of innovation in manufactured goods, we will now look at the reverse product life cycle which is concerned with innovations in services. Reverse product life cycle works in a complete opposite direction compared to the normal product cycle. The first stage of the cycle involves incremental innovations which aim to increase the efficiency of existing services. The second stage of the cycle is concerned with radical innovations where innovations are focused on improving the quality of existing services. The third and final stage of the reverse product cycle is focus on developing a totally brand new service that is significantly different compared to other services in the industries. (Barras. R 1986) To have a better understanding of the reverse product cycle, we will look at a few examples that were illustrated in Barras articles. The examples we will look at are local governments, insurance companies and accounting companies which are all in the services industries. During the first stage of the cycle in the 1970, companies were applying mainframe computer technology in services organisations. The purpose of the application is to improve efficiency as well as cutting down the demand for labour in services sector. The application of computer technology was employed by insurance company to computerised records of policies. It also provides computer audit techniques as well as internal time recording for accounting companies. Finally it was used by local governments to computerise personnel records and payroll. The applications of mainframes computers had greatly increase the efficiency in these three sectors, it has cut down the demand for labour by a considerable amount. The nature of innovation is incremental and the type of investment is considered to be in the capital deepening nature. The full effects of the mainframes computer became fully conscious to companies by 1979 which lead to the reverse cycle entering the next stage. (Barras. R 1986 ) In the second stage which was round the 1980s, companies began applying mini and micro computer technology in the services industries. Local government used the technology to computerize house waiting list. Insurance companies began to provide online quotations in branch offices. And accountancy used the technology to computerized accounting management and book-keeping services. The mini and micro computer technology is radical rather than incremental; it improves the effectiveness of the services instead of just the efficiency. Unlike the previous stage, the type of investment is considered to be capital widening investment and it has no impact on the demand of labour. (Barras. R 1986) In the third stage of the reverse product cycle, the focus is not on improving the quality of the services anymore; instead it is about creating totally new services. At this stage, companies concentrates on developing a new service that is different and better to other services in the industries. By doing this, companies can create a completely new market. Back to our examples, networking technology was developed in the 1990s and was employed by insurance companies, accounting companies and local governments. This networking technology provides users a full online insurance and investment services. For accounting companies, the networking technology allows companies to offer a completely automatic audit and accounts services. For the local governments, viewdata system became available to the local residents to get public information services. Like previous stage, the investement type here is again considered to be capital widening, however the nature of the innovation is no longer j ust a process, instead it focuses on product. It is important to point out that this stage has a positive impact on labour, increasing the demand of labour and level of employments. (Barras. R 1986) Once the new technology is established and adopted by public, just like the normal product life cycle, the reverse cycle will start all over again and start at stage one again where innovation nature would be incremental and focuses on improving the efficiency of the new product. (Barras. R 1986) Now that we understand how the reverse product cycle operates, it is important for us to examine its validity in explaining innovation is services. In an article named Innovation in reverse: services and the reverse product cycle which was published in the European Journal of Innovation Management in 1998, the author, Professor Faiz Gallouj pointed out the limitations of the model in the third stage. Gallouj argued that the model sees innovations as products. But in services, the product is in fact a process, therefore it is difficult for a process to be explained in a model that was originally designed to explain a product. (Gallouj. F 1998) Gallouj pointed out that Barras model are drawn from case studies that focus only on information and telecommunications technologies in vanguard services sector. And because of this, Gallouj raised two questions in his article. The first being if the model is valid for all vanguard services? And the second question is if the model is valid in explaining technologies other than information and telecommunications? (Gallouj. F 1998) There are evidences to show that the reverse product cycle does not apply to all vanguard services. The first example is legal consultancy in France which is clearly a type of services. An empirical study carried out by Gallouj suggested that legal consultancy in France does not appeared to show a reverse product life cycle. This is because consultancy is not open to technological information and it doesnt handle codified information. Having said that, there are signs of innovations in this activity, but the nature of innovations doesnt fall into the ones in the reverse product cycle. (Gallouj. F 1998) The second example is notary, microcomputers and fax machines were introduced to these services but these innovations are only incremental, there are no signs of radical and product innovations. (Gallouj. F 1998) These two examples have shown that the reverse product cycle isnt really valid for all vanguard services. Barras model is only valid in explaining vanguard services that are greatly influenced by technological evolution. (Gallouj. F 1998) We will now look at the second question raised by Gallouj, whether the reverse product cycle model can be applied to technologies other than information and telecommunications? (Gallouj. F 1998) Again to answer this question, we will look at two examples that were discussed in Galloujs paper. The first example is containerized transport, it was an incremental innovations in the beginning improving efficiency of transports which falls nicely into the first stage of the cycle. In the second stage, the sizes of the containers are made identical and unloading cranes was introduced. These changes greatly improves the effectiveness of the services, the services quality was greatly enhanced. In recent years, the tracking technology has been introduced to this service making it possible to know the exact details of the container at all time, these details includes its ownership, its origins and its destinations. This technology improves the services so much that it can considered being a brand new service. Therefore we can see the innovations in containerized transports over the years fit the reverse product cycle quite nicely. (Gallouj. F 1998) The second example Gallouj discussed is the fast food services in America. He suggested that cooking and refrigeration technologies are incremental innovations whereas computerized menu ordering is radical innovations process as it increases the quality of the services by a considerable amount. (Gallouj. F 1998) From these two examples, we can see the reverse product cycle can be applied on other services other than information and telecommunication. So is the reverse product cycle a good model to explain innovations in services? Should we continue to use it in the future? The model is useful in explaining innovation process when the innovation is technological related, however not all innovations are technological; therefore the model is only useful in explaining some areas of services innovation. Having said that, the model still provides tremendous amounts of insights on how some innovations process are carried out, therefore it should still be used in the future. So are there any other models that are more promising than the reverse product cycle by Barras? As mentioned earlier, one of the shortcomings of Barras model is that it only focuses on innovations that are considered to be technological. Therefore it would be useful to look at Den Hertogs four dimensional model of service innovations which explain four different areas of innovations. The four dimensions are 1) service concept 2) client interface 3) service delivery system and 4) technological options. The above diagram is taken from the international journal of innovation management page 495 New service concept is when a new idea is introduced in a particular market. The new idea only has to be new in the market in question; it can be an existing in other markets. Call centre service is a good example of this dimension. (Hertog. D 2000) New client interface is the interface design between the service provider and the customers. The communication channels between service providers and customers can be innovation itself. A good example of this dimension is electronic data interchange (EDI) (Hertog. D 2000) Service delivery system is similar to dimension two, but it is actual arrangement that is planned internally by the service provider in order to make sure their employees to do their job correctly. A good example of this dimension would be how amazon delivery ebooks using 3g technology onto consumers kindle reader (Hertog. D 2000) Technological option is the final dimension, although innovation doesnt have to be technological, many innovations have technological elements. IT is the most common form of innovations, a good example would be parcel tracking services provided by royal mail. (Hertog. D 2000) Hertog suggested that any given service innovations will have a combinations of the dimensions mentioned above. In fact, quite frequently they become interdependent with each other. Often times when a new service product is introduced in the market, it will need a new client interface design so communication between service provider is clear, also new delivery system should be planned too in order for the staff to delivery the service properly. (Hertog. D 2000) For example Royal mail introducing the tracking technologies of parcels will need a brand new interface (website) for consumers to be able to use the services; they will also need staff to deal with issues with the tracking system that might occur (delivery system) The four dimension model is an excellent framework illustrating how services innovation can be operated; looking at more than one dimension of innovations at a time allows the model to be applied to most services innovation. And because of this, the four dimension model should be superior to the reverse product cycle when explaining innovations in services. Having said that the Barras model still offered considerable amount of insights, therefore it should not be discarded. In this report, we have learnt how the normal product life cycle can be used to explain innovation in manufacturing goods, what are the key features in each stage. We have also learnt how innovation in services worked in an opposite manner by looking at the reverse product cycle, and understood the models limitations by applying it to different examples of services. We also seen what the four dimensions of innovations are and how they can be used as an alternative theory to explain innovation in services and finally we have understood the effectiveness of this model and how it compares to the reverse product cycle.

Anti-Voucher Point of View Essay -- essays papers

Anti-Voucher Point of View The idea of school vouchers sounds like a wonderful idea to get children the best possible education, until the issue is analyzed more closely. In reality, this system is hurting more children than the ones that they are helping. The people and institutions that do not support the use of vouchers believe that by taking away funds from the already failing public school system, it is causing a decrease in the level of education for children in public schools. With new initiatives like the â€Å"No Child Left Behind† campaign causing and the greater demands on teachers and children there is not room for a cut in funding (Traub 13). There are also increasing amounts of standardized tests, with guidelines that teachers must teach to, and that students must pass in order to show proficiency in the subject matter. The last thing that the public school system needs is funds taken away and distributed to the education of children in private institutions. There are not enough text books , computers, technological resources, and teachers in the public school system to meet these new high demands. When the standard is set so high and is unattainable it is not logical to take away funding from an already failing system. Every parent has a choice to send their child to a public school; if they choose to or not is their personal decision. A free public education is a right that is granted to every child in the United States. Children are required by law to attend school until they are at least sixteen years of age. Whether or not a child’s parents choose to send them to public or private school is their choice. Parents have the right to send their children to public school at no extra cost to them, whether they pay tax... ...sin. It discusses how the vouchers have moved into use in religious schools, and why people are upset about this. Chan, Swell. (2004 Sept. 1). The Washington Post. Retrieved on November 23, 2004 from: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=7&did=000000686712711&SrchMode =1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&T S=1101223405&clientId=41150 (DC VOUCHERS CHAN) Traub, James. (2003 Dec. 21). The New York Times Magazine. p13. Retrieved November 30, 2004. From: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb? index= 0&did =000000507793821&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD &RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1101794958&clientId=41150. Shultz, Fred, ed. Education. Guilford, CT: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2004. Collins, John William and Nancy Patricia O’Brien, ed. The Greenwood Dictionary of Education. 1st ed. 2003.

Symbol Of America :: essays research papers

The thing that I see that represents America is Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There have been numerous historical events that have been the basis for the forming of the United States of America that took place inside Independence Hall. Basically, everything that happened during the time of the Thirteen Colonies and a period of time after the Revolutionary War that involved political affairs, all took place in Independence Hall. This place was pretty much the earlier version of the United States Congress back in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. Independence Hall, a historic monument of the United States of America, was where the U.S. first began to form from where the Continental Congress met to the place where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution was signed to build it’s way to become one great nation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First of all, Independence Hall was where the Continental Congress held all their congregations that eventually led way to the independence of the United States. The Continental Congress was where all the forefathers of America from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Hancock, and many others all decided to free America from British rule. And where else did this take place than at the site of Independence Hall, but after the Declaration of Independence was signed and a bloody war called the Revolutionary War was fought.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were signed in Independence Hall. The Declaration was just a little document that brought the birth of a â€Å"new, free nation.† The beginning of the United States was on July 4, 1776 at the signing of the Declaration where all the forefathers of America risked their lives as patriots to get rid of an â€Å"evil† tyrant ruling from far away across the ocean, and to create a democracy that they could believe in. One more thing was that the United States Constitution was signed after the Revolutionary War to bring deserving and fair rights to every American citizen. Freedom and rights were achieved by these historic documents after they were signed to bring in a new country that has lasted for centuries and for centuries to come.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What other thing represents America better than the place of Independence Hall where America was actually born? There were many things that can also be seen as the symbol for America from such things as the President of the United States, to freedom, to the â€Å"American Dream†/ â€Å"the almighty dollar,† and so on.

Cold War Essay -- essays research papers

THE COLD WAR The Cold War was the longated tension between the Soviet Union and the United States of America. It started in the mid 40’s after WWII had left Europe in shambles and Russia and the USA in superpower positions. The Cold War was a clash of these supergiants in political, ideological, military, and economic values and ideas. Though military build up was great on both sides neither one ever directly fought each other. In this essay I’m going to bring forth the following points: Rise of the Cold War, events in and because of the Cold War, and the fall of Russia. Again Germany had been thwarted in its plans of total domination. It had been a combined effort by all the Western powers and a few Eastern powers too. England was devastated, France had been literally burnt to the ground, and many small nation had suffered economic failure. To the East Russia had suffered many losses from the vain siege of the Nazi’s. But they were in better shape then Europe. They still had a military and a running, somewhat , economy. In the late 40’s through early 50’s the Soviet Union started to spread the Lenin ideological as it started moving in the Westward position. In 47 the US started funding the rebuilding of European infrastructure in a system called the Marshall Plan. Russia in turn brought forth its own funding called the Molotov Plan. Because of that, they were able to spread communism through many countries. Some of these nations were: Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Eastern Germany, and numerous countries in Southeastern Asia. But on the US side we had the support from almost the entire Western Europe. So the tension started, between Western Europe or a republic society and Eastern Europe and communism. There are many key events that happened throughout the entire duration of the Cold War. The fist main events that led up to the tension were the foreign aid policies. These policies were able to divide up Europe between the superpowers. After Europe was divided up treaty organizations and alliances stated forming up again. One of these alliances was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This allied the western portion of Europe. Next came the Warsaw Pact, it was the communistic version of NATO. Throughout the Cold War, relations between the Soviet Union and the west alternated between times of tension and crises and peri... ...e reforms, the revolts of Poland were not a bloody massacre as the first two, but effective displays of rejectment of the government. It was a union setup by a boat dock worker, which union were forbidden, to start strikes on the factories and industrialized areas. They smartly got the world media on them. This put the Soviet Union on the spotlight. The revolt was considered one of the greatest individual feats on the fall of communistic Russia. This in turn brought forth new policies and rights. The by-products of these policies brought forth the collapse of the communistic countries(around 89 -90 ). This lead to the establishment of non-communist political parties, free elections, and the development of a new democratic state. In October of 1990 the communistic government fell in Berlin, and the divided city was re-united. This was the final symbol of the fall of communism in Europe. A little bit later the Warsaw pact was abolished, and the last of the nuclear weapons were dispersed in the sea. Presidents George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev officially ended the Cold War in 1991, I think. Basically the end of the Cold War ended because the Soviet Union ceased to be a superpower.

Ya kun

Ya Kun is an established and has renown reputation for its coffee and kaya toast. It has been around us since 1944 when it registered itself as Ya Kun Coffee Stall. It differentiated its food by manufacturing its very own kaya that is used at all of the Ya kun outlets. Yakun now has expanded to a total of 11 countries in Asia and Middle Eastern region. As mentioned above in the Porter five forces, Ya kun faces both direct and indirect competitors in the industry. The direct competitors are Toastbox and Killiney kopitiam. The indirect competitors are Starbucks and Macdonalds.Although the indirect competitors are not in the traditional coffee and toast industry, they still possess threats that affect Ya Kun Identify Product offering Scale of operation Local Regional Global Limited Wide Product offering Scale of operation Local Regional Global Limited Wide Toastbox Toastbox was established in 2005 and it aims to recreate the warm atmosphere of local Nanyang coffee shops from the 1960s. It has successfully expanded both locally and internationally to countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong and China. Killiney KopitiamKilliney Kopitiam has a rich history, from being established in the 1950s as â€Å"Qiong Xin He† and later renamed as â€Å"Killiney Koptiam† in 1993. They have now expanded their operations to countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and Hong Kong. The vision of the company is to share the â€Å"Kopitiam† tradition through generations by educating the young.? Evaluate (str & weakenesses) Brand| Strength| Weakness| Ya Kun| * Uses social media (eg. Facebook, website) * Maintain the traditional menu * Expanded regionally * Outlets can be easily found in more places * ?Nostalgic appeal keeps older generation feel attached * Infused traditions with vibrancy and style * Attempt to attract the younger crowd who fancy dining in a traditional setting | * Limited variety (Product list) * Slightly overprice| Toas t Box| * Uses social media (Facebook, website, twitter) * Wide variety of choice in menu * Locates its cafes in the heartlands as well as the central business district to cater to a wide array of its target market * Expanded regionally| * Menu not on website.Only signature dishes * Toast and menu not as traditional | Killiney Kopitiam| * Uses social media (Facebook, website) * Wide variety of choice in menu * Offers quality products and services at affordable prices * Preserve the coffee shop tradition * Expanded regionally| * Menu is not attractive enough * Lack of updates in Facebook| Is YA KUN always stronger- which areas is it stronger and which weaker (the vulnerable areas)?

Max Weber: Iron Cage

According to him the modern era human beings, especially in the western capitalist society are increasingly being caught in the process of Rationalism and the factors elated to it such as, Bureaucracy, Disenchantment and Individualism. Through this essay we intent to agree with Weber about how he thought that Modern Capitalism in which people are rational is literally inescapable process in which they are getting locked into, and this ultimately gives rise to bureaucracy.We will give some evidences proving Weber ideas on how the protestant ethics contributed to the rise of capitalism and also show how there are no solid alternatives to this problem of bureaucracy. In his book â€Å"Protestantism and the Spirit of Capitalism†, Weber told us the Protestants who started off with an Ascetic life to whom their work was there â€Å"calling† I. E. Their only purpose in life was to work all day and not get pleasure from the fruits of their labor as self consumption was consider ed morally wrong because they were not to enjoy the money they earn on themselves.But later on with the emergence of the modern capitalism, the Protestants eventually ended up in focusing more on the pursuit of money. They started applying rational and scientific methods in the ways of making money to increase their profit margins. This rational way is very much evident even today because people have lost their religious values and in the capitalist society we have now, they just want to seek more and more profit and build wealth more than they possibly could require.According to Weber this went against the traditional Catholic Doctrine where they intent to avoid materialist pursuit by adopting the spiritual way of life. This had a huge impact on people's life because in the capitalist society today most people are not concerned with the nature of their job nor do they enjoy it much as long as heir social status is maintained and their financial goals are accomplished.Weber through his writing has explained how people especially in the west were developing this rational, methodological and a calculating approach to lead a life which had completely triumphed over the old traditional and irrational way of making money to please the God. In the process of making money, whether you like it or not you are forced to adopt this methodological way where you work day and night not to get close to God but to gain profit and this is what Weber thought as the â€Å"Iron Cage of Capitalism†, in which you continually pursue your calling and the spirit of capitalism is a cage where we are imprisoned in.However Weber felt that the protestant ethics did not directly lead to spirit of capitalism, but it is one of the main factors that lead to it. According to him the old traditional way which was based mostly on kinship and values has shifted its form to goal oriented rationality. This is where Weber is switching his writings and explaining how the modern capitalism whic h gave rise to strict set of rules and regulations is directly giving rise to the growth of Bureaucracy because bureaucracy is the main example of Rationalization.Weber argued that the rational goal oriented profit seeking ways had a tremendous impact on people's lives because this had dominated their behavior so much that the old spiritual values are being lost in the modern era. People were abandoning God, religion and spirituality in the name of freedom, insisting that it was not possible to free with the restrictions that the religions impose but they forget to realize that they themselves were becoming slaves oftener own material pursuit.This is what he meant by â€Å"Iron Cage† of Rationalism. This had increased their interest in power and authority which has taken the form of bureaucracy. Weber also explained the long term processes of Rationalism from which the magic has taken Out Of the world and there are no intrinsic mysteries in the world because the life has beco me so predictable and understandable that we could know the reason behind anything in world hence it makes life very dull and boring.According to him the modern world has lost its enchantment because people have mastered in the scientific knowledge in the rational way ND science has empowered them. In the book, Max Weber: Reading and Commentary on Modernity, Bureaucracy is described as â€Å"the means of transforming social actions into rationally organized action† (pig 214). Weber now is giving the example of bureaucratic organization which is enslaving people. According to Weber, Bureaucracy does have a lot of positive implications because these are effective in reaching the goal in a rational manner.It gives individuals more security in their respective work areas unlike the feudal system and also sakes more specialists in a particular area of the organization. However Weber also points out the negative effects of bureaucracy as well. Bureaucratic organizations are the dom inant form of institution in the modern society. It involves Hierarchy in offices where there are clear command of structures and expects the employee who is on bottom to report the higher employee and so on.It has written documents for the rules of conduct and you have to obey whatever the organization expects from you. They are also considered as very impersonal because they take away our emotions and feelings out of the situation and force you to do exactly what is required from their job and now your â€Å"impersonal† duty of office becomes your â€Å"calling† of life, because even if you disagree with something you still have to do it because you are mandated to follow instructions and obey the authority.In other words, in this process of Rationalization where people are forced to do whatever the bureaucratic organization expects it to do is what Weber thought as the â€Å"Iron cage† of the Bureaucracy. This restricts people to be creative and spontaneous a nd you are trapped into this cage forever escaping from the traditional religious ways. Weber goes on to say that this has a drastic consequences in people's lives as it had created inequality which keeps on increasing and keeps popping up, getting bigger and bigger as it is spreading everywhere.Weber saw some alternatives to these dominant organizations such as a charismatic leader who can break away its populace from this organization because according to him it was the charismatic style of organizations that maintain social creativity by giving people more freedom from the rules and regulations. According to him a charismatic leader is a person who is creative and possess extra ordinary qualities who makes up their own rules and this is a good solution because charismatic ruler is somewhere in between the 2 extremes forms, Bureaucratic and traditional organizations.The big feature of expansion of bureaucracy is taking the charisma out of the organizations which trying very hard t o be an alternative and opposite of bureaucratic organization. However there is also a problem associated with charismatic Organization hat it has a transitional phenomenon, which means it is very hard to make it last for a long time in its purest form because eventually it ends up becoming either Traditional or Bureaucratic.He also explains another alternative is; for examples if you have a community involved in every single decision, it becomes very messy and hard in terms of getting things done in the right way and efficient manner because everyone has the equal calling. So these are the reasons you can't escape bureaucracy and it has become the basic feature of the modern capitalist society. As Weber states; â€Å"Once fully established, Bureaucracy is among those social Structures which is the hardest to destroy†(pig 214).

Inventory System Essay

With our fast-paced developing society, many of our institutions optimize to perform their procedures in a computerized manner. They consider this as a great reliable process to lean on. They believe that this method will help them catch-up with this quick changing situations that they encounter each day. However, it is hard to imagine that many of us still stick to the manual method knowing that computerized system is just there waiting for them to take advantage of. There are several reasons that are forcing them to be stuck with to this traditional system. One of these is illiteracy; no one in this world is unable to understand and adapt to the computerized system if it will be properly introduced and taught. Another one is being doubtful with the system; they believe that manual system can perform less error than an automated system. But as the years goes by, a number of certain works have grown indicating that the manual method is not practical and efficient anymore. Nowadays, people have become more conscious with their time and they find essential ways on how they can do such work in less time or how they can do their number of works at the same time. This study is aimed at developing a computerized system for a barangay that still practices a traditional way of creating a Barangay Clearance and management of database. We will do this by incorporating the technology of using camera and stylus pen for creating a Barangay Clearance. We will also use the computer to properly manage their files. By using our system, their barangay employees can have fast, more practical and efficient way of doing their tasks. This chapter will provide an overview of the study, present general and specific objectives, state the scope and limitations, and give its significance. Background of the Study Barangay Molino VI was formed by Governor Juanito Remulla, it was then only the Soldiers Hills IV Subdivision, which was comprised of four (4) phases. The first appointed Barangay Chairman was Mr. Reu Lucio Samaco. He was appointed by then Governor Juanito Remulla. The first Sangguniang Barangay Officials were the Homeowners Association Officers of the four phases of the Subdivision. The legality of the appointment of Mr. Reu Lucio Samaco was questionable at that time, since he was in active service in the military consequently; Mayor Victor Miranda then appointed Mr. Tarsicio Dalman and assumed the office of the Barangay Chairman. After two years of assuming as interim Barangay Official, a Barangay Election was held in 1994. Thus, Mr. Tarsicio Dalman ran for the position of a Barangay Chairman and won. Together with his Barangay Kagawad officials who also won were Antero Anero, Wilfredo Arjinal, Mario Cruz, Joey Eslao, Jose Virrey, Remedios Prospero and Amante Isla. They were the first elected Sangguniang Barangay Council. The first elected Sangguniang Kabataan Chairman was Amil Rasuman and the Appointed Secretary was Gloria Galve and likewise the Barangay Treasurer was Evelyn Soriano. In 1997, another Barangay Election was held, another victory again for Mr. Tarsicio Dalman as Barangay Chairman. He served the Barangay Molino VI until his untimely death December in 2000. The first elected Kagawad then assumed the Barangay Chairmanship was Ms. Remedios Prospero. It was in the term of Kapitana Remy, as she was fondly called by her constituents that Barangay Molino VI ballooned in terms of population, housing, and small business. As of now, Barangay Molino VI is composed of four Subdivisions: the Soldiers Hills IV Subdivision which comprises of four phases, BF el Grande Homes II, BF Topman Homes II, and Woodwinds Village with a total population of 17,000. We have also identified depressed areas which are located around the perimeter of the subdivision, named as Maralit Compound, ARC Compound, the Creekside, Manggahan Alonzo Area, the Block 16 Hicban Area and Block 12 Barracks. The dominant religion in this barangay is the Roman Catholic which is about fifty percent, the Iglesia Ni Cristo about 25 percent and the remaining percentage is divided among the Protestants, Jehovah Witnesses, and Islam respectively. The researcher of this study proposed a system named Design and Development of a Computerized Barangay Clearance with Information System for Barangay Molino VI that will help the barangay constituents. To properly manage their files in a computerized manner create a process of Barangay Clearance done in a more efficient way. This system will be helpful for the maintaining, searching, and storing of records of those residents that have past incident reports. This will help barangay employees to do their work in a faster and more reliable process. Theoretical Framework As Carlos Richard A. Bawalan, Edgar C. Miguel, Ma. Carmela M. Reyes and John Frederick Sia Sy stated in their study entitled â€Å"Faculty Tracking Device† â€Å"Nowadays, we are dependent on computers from simple to complicated computation, from small to big business and many more. Computers are here to stay and will continue to increase its influence in the lives of many people, throughout the future. Different transactions are made easy through a computer companies which are using computers especially to their databases. Companies believe that through computerization, they save time and effort and they are sure that their work is accurate and reliable.† As new programming languages have developed, features have been added that let programmers express ideas that are more remote from simple translation into underlying hardware instructions. Because programmers are less tied to the complexity of the computer, their programs can do more computing with less effort from the programmer. â€Å"The process of preparing programs for a digital computer is especially attractive, not only because it can be economically and scientifically rewarding, but also because it can be an aesthetic experience.† -Donald Knuth However, testing by itself does not improve software quality. Test results are indicators of quality, but in and of themselves, they don’t improve it. Try to improve software quality by increasing the amount of testing; the software development techniques you use determine how many errors testing will find. If you want to improve your software, don’t test more; develop better. â€Å"A program is never less than 90% complete, and never more than 95% complete.† – Terry Baker Lastly, computerized systems are not really perfect or we can say that a perfect computerized system does not exist. We have chosen this as one of our principles because we cannot prevent criticisms from the users of our system especially those with people who are not really knowledgeable about the capabilities or limited capabilities of a computerized system. We can promise them improvement, but not absolute perfection. â€Å"If we think across so many different scenarios, the way they were typically done a few years ago and the way they will typically be done a few years from now, it will show a dramatic change†¦ We are developing software that’s in the car, in the phone, of course in the PC, the set-up box, the watch. All the places where software can run, we want to make sure that we do the best we can to make that connect up and to make it seamless.† – Bill Gates As emphasized by Bill Gates, the owner and founder of Microsoft Network, we have a need for computerization to be able to compete with other countries and demonstrate their potential when it comes to globalization. Aside from most of the possible gadgets to be automated, Mr. Gates envisions greater means in enhancing one’s chance in becoming successful. Truly, this experienced entrepreneur and Information Technology magnate has the ideologies of the best chances and ways in achieving the betterment of different business industries. â€Å"With the renewed business confidence, we intend to promote the country as the e-service hub of Asia and seize the I.T.’s potent opportunity for growth and development. The government and the private sector have developed the electronic commerce action agenda or ISP.com to achieve this objective. The ISP.com is a comprehensive strategy to develop an environment conducive for the investment in, and growth of E-commerce. The plan identifies a focus market where Filipino companies can concentrate to maximize inherent advantages of the country’s human resource† – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Obviously, the former President wants the Filipinos to realize that it is never too late to discover and learn the possible advantages that we can gain from adopting Information Technology (I.T.) for various businesses. To be sure, great innovation can take place if the country will just communicate and seek the assistance of people who are knowledgeable when it comes to enhancing I.T possibilities. Definitely, our country needs to wake up and see the great possibilities I.T. can bring, once it is being employed.

Creative Accounting

The term of creative accounting refers to select accounting methods for the preparation of financial statement that provide the result desired by the accounting preparers. Especially when the firms are under a financial difficulty, the need of creativity would be very apparent because it might be difficult for parties such as auditors, with an oversight function, to report that the account preparers are doing anything wrong (Deegan, 2010). When the economy is moving into recession, the most companies are likely to manipulate their financial statement to be in the upward direction in order for the favourable profit by overstating the asset and understating the liability. b) No, the roles and responsibilities of auditors and regulators are very vital at improving control. Auditors perform audits to evaluate whether the policies and process are designed and operating effectively and provide recommendations for improvement. They also help to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the organizations risk management processes. They may prepare a comprehensive assessment of any wrong doing that might lead the organization into financial loss. As for the role of regulators, they will determine how best to cause firms subject to their jurisdiction to develop control policies and procedures to meet the performance objectives. In fact, auditors and regulators are part of the pillars of corporate governance. The auditors and regulators definitely work to predict the warning of the recession and give notification to the company. However, they could not be in position to finish final decision and to control every improvement and process. Just like the HIH insurance case, the directors still make wrong decision, even if there was the concurrence of the actuaries and the auditors. It does not matter how efficiently they played their role, it matters how efficiently the four pillars which are boarder of directors, management, auditors and regulators could be harmonized with. In other word, this failure should not be the reason to reduce the roles of auditors and regulators. Creative Accounting The term of creative accounting refers to select accounting methods for the preparation of financial statement that provide the result desired by the accounting preparers. Especially when the firms are under a financial difficulty, the need of creativity would be very apparent because it might be difficult for parties such as auditors, with an oversight function, to report that the account preparers are doing anything wrong (Deegan, 2010). When the economy is moving into recession, the most companies are likely to manipulate their financial statement to be in the upward direction in order for the favourable profit by overstating the asset and understating the liability. b) No, the roles and responsibilities of auditors and regulators are very vital at improving control. Auditors perform audits to evaluate whether the policies and process are designed and operating effectively and provide recommendations for improvement. They also help to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the organizations risk management processes. They may prepare a comprehensive assessment of any wrong doing that might lead the organization into financial loss. As for the role of regulators, they will determine how best to cause firms subject to their jurisdiction to develop control policies and procedures to meet the performance objectives. In fact, auditors and regulators are part of the pillars of corporate governance. The auditors and regulators definitely work to predict the warning of the recession and give notification to the company. However, they could not be in position to finish final decision and to control every improvement and process. Just like the HIH insurance case, the directors still make wrong decision, even if there was the concurrence of the actuaries and the auditors. It does not matter how efficiently they played their role, it matters how efficiently the four pillars which are boarder of directors, management, auditors and regulators could be harmonized with. In other word, this failure should not be the reason to reduce the roles of auditors and regulators.

Capital Punishment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Capital Punishment - Essay Example For instance, during the execution of Angel Diaz, via lethal injections, the time taken for him to die, proved to be twice the time that such death was expected to take. Furthermore, some of the witnesses present at the execution were of the opinion that Diaz underwent a significant amount of suffering during the process. Another disquieting feature of this execution was that the medical examiner categorically stated that the lethal injections had not been administered properly (Execution Rules Still Inhumane , 2007). Subsequently, it came to light that these injections had not been administered by a medically trained professional. This execution, which took place in Florida, was effected by injecting a mixture of 3 chemicals. This combination produces extreme pain, which the hapless condemned prisoner cannot express, due to the diabolical inclusion of a paralyzing agent, which constitutes one of these chemicals (Word, 2006). The Floridian authorities have exhibited a total disregard towards rendering executions humane. This was tellingly brought home, by the fact that these authorities ignored the recommendations of a commission appointed by the governor of Florida, which called for the appointment of adequately qualified personnel to carry out the executions, via lethal injections (Execution Rules Still Inhumane , 2007). The Floridian state legislature showed a belated and half – hearted response to the fiasco that was the Diaz execution, by declaring a moratorium on executions. Thereafter, a hearing was conducted into the manner, in which lethal injections were administered to the condemned (Florida Mulls Lethal-Injection Problems, 2007). Capital punishment involves high expenditure. In the US, 36 of the 50 states employ the death penalty against some of their criminals. There is much that is distressing and paradoxical with the US in this regard. It had recently come to light that putting a person to death, in

POPULATION, MIGRATION AND ENVIRONMENT Research Paper

POPULATION, MIGRATION AND ENVIRONMENT - Research Paper Example Population is the total number of people living in the same geographical area such as state or country. Population growth is the increase in the number of individuals in a given time period. Population growth rate refers to the rate at which the number of people increases over a unit time period. Several scholars argued that every individual made an impact on earth, however, the exact impact was influenced by other factors such as the average affluence of the population. Changes in population occur due to factors related to births, deaths and migration. Increase in population growth can occur due to increasing number of births or through immigration. Migration is the movement by people from one geographical location to another. Population growth is known to have significant negative impact on the environment. Impact refers to the amount of a particular kind of environmental degradation. Environmental impacts are a product of population, affluence and technology. Impact on the environment is understood as the deterioration of the resource base, the decline of ecosystems and production of waste (Robbins, et al., 2010). The role of population growth in environmental degradation differs from place to place, from time to time. Environmental degradation is a combined result of population growth, the growth in production that is, in economic development and technology applied to the transformation process. Population growth leads to depletion of resources therefore being a trigger to social and economic burden. These resources include food, water, soils and land. People may over-use non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels and renewable resources such as forests to non-existence. Australia and New Zealand environments have been affected by increase in human population. Social and economic activities may lead to emission of air and water pollutants, greenhouse gases and

History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

History - Assignment Example It was the â€Å"’cruel necessity’ that made independence unavoidable† (Maier, 1997) and the â€Å"painful and harrowing† (Thomas, 2001) genesis resulted from the American Revolution. The primary cause for the revolution then was the taxes to claim ‘unlimited jurisdiction’ over the Americans. This began with the Stamp Act. For some, there were impelling economic reasons to remain within the empire for security, but especially during the war after the debacle at Quebec, the American Prohibitory Act which shut all trade with the colonies was perhaps ‘the nail in the coffin’ that â€Å"put the two Countries asunder† (Richard Henry Lee). The later hiring of mercenaries only outraged Americans towards the Crown. The other dimension that made revolution necessary was the British mishandling of their colony, and therefore the need to â€Å"sever ties with a long colonial past† (Ferling, 2004). â€Å"The Royal Navy had bombarded and burned American towns, and the colonists’ commerce had been nearly shut down by a British blockade† (Ferling, 2004). It is the war that enabled the final break because it transformed â€Å"the colonists’ deep-seated love for Britain into enmity† (Ferling, 2004). The hostilities also brought on massive unemployment, heinous cruelties, slave insurrections, and the spread of diseases. The anti-independence faction being ‘the dullest and slowest of sailors’ still needed convincing, as they feared retaliation the most, but eventually it was clear that the sword of the war was ‘opening their veins’ and this compelled Americans to fight for their freedom. At the time of the revolution, those who remained loyal t o the British crown only constituted a third of the colonists. Another third that were ‘true blue’ were prepared to fight the British redcoats arriving in New York. Success had already been achieved in Boston. However, what really precipitated the

Children as Equal Family Members Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Children as Equal Family Members - Essay Example It was Jean Jacques Rousseau who first stated that he believed that children should be encouraged to develop as befitted them the best and that they should learn what they had an aptitude to learn. He stated that â€Å"We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need a reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man's estate, is the gift of education.†1 His ideas were that children should be lead along a path where they could learn and acquire knowledge in a manner that appealed to them. He also believed that children should be allowed to learn things that came naturally to them and they found easy to understand instead of being forced to learn about things that they did not want to know. These ideas influenced the thought of many philosophers and educators who came after him and it is believed that many of the institutions that are still viewed as progressive in this modern day gain their original inspiration from a man who was never properly schooled himself. The fact that he was not schooled and yet still came to be viewed as one of the greatest and most original philosophers of his day is a testament to his theory since he taught himself everything he knew and as such he would have followed his aptitude. Children were seen in the same light from the moment they began to talk until the time that they emerged as a true adult. There were no perceptions that at a certain point in their lives they thought and felt differently to their parents and other adults. There was no realization that they had different needs at different ages and as such these

Financial Regulatory Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Financial Regulatory Systems - Essay Example All these points are dealt with close contrast between Australian and Singaporean financial system. The main aim of the paper is to deal with some important points that make a well-structured financial system by comparing the Australian system with that of Singaporean one. It brings sharp contrast of the western financial system with that of Asian. The paper stresses the importance of institutional structure in the design of strong financial regulatory system. After thorough study of sources like International Monetary Fund's report on Australia's and Singapore's financial system, the report of Monetary Authority of Singapore (2006), Perkins, J.N.O., book , The Dergulation of the Australian Financial System: The Experience of the 1980, Ng Nam Sin's speech in 2004, Ginnie Teo's articles on Singapore. There are other sources of information that help to make this paper worthwhile. The main findings of the paper is the structure and functions of the financial regulatory system in Australia and Singapore and the related changes that both the nations have brought in to stand as the ultimate destination the financial sector. The paper concludes with the point that how both the nations are trying to become the regional financial services hub. For this the two countries are ready to bring certain changes in each other system to show their prowess in the financial sector. ... e some recommendations in the form of table, which is vital for financial stability and that's more important for any country to fit into the global financial regulatory system. "Identify and discuss the differences and similarities between the structure of the Australian Financial regulatory system and one Asian country, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia or Hong Kong". Introduction Maintaining financial stability is an important step towards the development of economy. Every nation is now working hard to bring financial stability. It not only checks the inflation but also brings transparency in the financial system, including the activities of hedge funds. The main objectives of the financial regulatory system are to maintain market confidence in the given financial system; to create public awareness of the financial system; to protect the consumers and to minimize financial crime. A well-structured financial regulatory system encourages competition and diversity in the provision of financial services through information disclosure, auditing and enforcement. It is a known fact that the financial system structures changes continually in response to financial innovations and to changes in both the economic environment and the regulatory framework. If we are talking about the world-class financial regulatory system then Australia tops the list. Australia has built a world-class financial sector regulatory regime, which provides security and integrity, through a sound, flexible and strong system of financial regulation. It is specially designed to prevent systemic failure, and avoid unnecessary burdens on business. Even some of the Asian countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. are also trying to ensure a strong financial regulatory