The Last Castle

The movie â€Å"The Last Castle† provides examples of good leadership and bad leadership. Colonel Winter, the warden of a military is the example of bad leadership, while General Irwin, a prisoner at Winter’s prison is an example of good leadership. The film illustrates that a leader does not have to have a technical leadership position to gain followers, and how two leaders who have differing viewpoints on leadership cannot exist in the same space without conflict. Henri Nouwen, in his book on leadership â€Å"In the Name of Jesus,† says â€Å"power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love†¦easier to control people than love people. In â€Å"The Last Castle,† we see the contrast of Irwin’s and Winter’s leadership styles in regards to the prisoners. Winter constantly reads the inmates files about the crimes they committed in order to remind himself that they are capable of violence and so he will not ever feel compassion for them. He is hard-nosed and takes no interest into their personal feelings, and he refuses to ever recognize how they could change over time. Irwin, on the other hand, chooses to ignore the inmates’ pasts and focuses on who they are in the present. He recognizes that no matter what they have done, they have a good side as well. In addition, Irwin treats the inmates as men, instead of treating them like stupid children. In the film, Irwin takes interest in a prisoner named Aguilar. Aguilar is not well liked because he is Hispanic. In addition, he has a speech impediment so others think he is dumb. He has no confidence but when Irwin starts treating him like a soldier, and not like a worthless man, he gains his confidence. Irwin recognizes that Aguilar is smart and knows masonry so he puts Aguilar in charge of building the wall. Since Irwin treated Aguilar like a man and a soldier, Aguilar gained confidence and was able to himself become the leader of the wall-building project. In building the wall, the prisoners were building themselves a figurative castle to protect themselves from the unfair practices of Winter. Irwin inspires the men to build the wall to be something that is their own. Irwin suggests that they all work together in order to build a better, stronger wall. Building the wall was something the prisoners did on their own, without the directive of the warden.

Disadvantages of Texting

Texting on the phone while driving can be a very dangerous thing to do. As someone looks at the phone and concentrates on the text messages, they will become distracted from driving. Distracted drivers can cause car accidents and injuries or death to themselves or others. Texting causes delayed reactions, which increase the chance of getting into an accident. According to Cary Aspinwall, when texting while driving, drivers take their eyes off the road for 4. 6 of 6 seconds. A National Safety Council fact sheet states drivers who use cell phones are four times more likely to be in a crash. The Harvard center for Risk Analysis reports the annual cost of crashes caused by cell phone use was estimated at $43 billion in 2003. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and the Orthopedic Trauma Association are also urging drivers to never text message while behind the wheel, due to the frequent treatment of injuries resulting from car accidents of drivers that have been texting. Texting while driving should be avoided, making the roads a safer place for driving. Texting is changing the importance of grammar and proper spelling, causing many problems because people do not know how to write formally and accurately. With the language of texting; grammar, spelling, syntax and abbreviation do not matter anymore. Dixon and Kaminska currently researched using a paradigm, showing that exposure to phonetically plausible misspellings negatively affected subsequent spelling performance with adults. Texting in the in school can result in distractions to the person texting and the surrounding classmates. Sending and receiving text messages during exams is a way one can cheat and get the answers, taking away from the learning process. The Florida Time-Union stated out of 269 students from all classes, 10 percent admitted to transmitting text messaging during exams. Texting in school can also pose a safety issue in text messages being sent and received on threats and rumors. According to Deborah Lee and Maureen McMahon, in April 2008, the Manhatten court of appeals, noted that cell phone bans in public schools are constitutional.

Multinational Corporations (MNC’s) Essay

Introduction What is a Multinational Corporation (MNC’s)? Multinational companies are firms with their home base in one country and operations in many other nations. Most of these very immense firms establish in third word countries or developing countries where they could manufacture the same identical product for very low costs compared to establishing the same firm in the western countries producing that product. Although transnational corporations (TNC’s) are commonly thought to be synonymous with MNC’s they are infact different in several regards. The primary defining factor is that they keep their financial headquarters offshore to protect them from taxes. Ideally MNC’s are one which are global operating across borders with no single national emphasis. The first multinational, appearing in 1602, was the Dutch East India Company. A key concern with regards to MNC’s is their mobile nature. Logically they establish subsidiaries in countries where conditions are most favorable to their business operations. Very large multinationals have budgets that exceed those of many countries. Countries often offer incentive to MNC, such as tax breaks or lax environmental standards, in order to attract MNC into their country. They can be seen as a power in global politics. MNC’s are important vehicle for the movement of direct foreign investment. With Direct foreign investment, a firm in the country creates or expands a subsidiary in another through the use of international capital flows. Companies such as Reebok, Nike, Mcdonalds, DeBeers, Enron, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Toyota, Colgate, Cadbury are some of the multinational companies. Text. Positive Aspects of Multinational Corporation in an Economy -Creating Competitive Environment – Competition is not destructive; it has compelled multinational corporations to provide the world with an immense diversity of high-quality and low-priced products. Competition, given free trade, delivers mutually beneficial gains from exchange and sparks the collaborative effort of all nations to produce commodities efficiently. As a consequence, competition improves world welfare while dampening the spirit of nationalism and, thus, promoting world peace. -Boasting the Economy – There is evidence, which was supplied by World Bank and United Nations that multinational corporations are a key factor in the large improvement in welfare that has occurred in developing countries over the last forty years. These firms rent buildings and land, or sometimes buy them thus generating higher incomes for the owners. In 1998, 75% of foreign direct investment went to developed countries. Besides, labor costs alone do not determine where multinational corporations base their affiliates; other variables-such as political stability, infrastructure, education levels, future market potential, taxes, and governmental regulations-are more decisive and a boaster in the economy. -Help to reduce poverty – They can bring money into a country through employment and investment. Three quarters of international investment in developing countries is from MNCs and private sources. They create jobs, raise labour standards as in their absence, the people would have had fewer or much lower paying jobs. For instance in Bangladesh, Mexico, Shanghai, Indonesia, Vietnam, and elsewhere figures show that multinationals actually pay what economists call a â€Å"wage premium,† that is, an average wage that exceeds the going rate in the area where they are located. Affiliates of some U.S. multinationals pay a premium over local wages that ranges from 40 to 100 percent. -Welfare Activities Carried Out – MNC also organizes charitable funds for the welfare of the people of the countries where they are located. For example after the tsunami Schlumberger a well know MNC agreed to support four  children’s activity centers that now are being administered by the two charitable trusts. Each will accommodate 50 to 100 children who will receive nutrition, counseling, and education. -Spillover – This is a very good effect on developing economies; this refers to the fact that domestic firms learn productivity-enhancing techniques from foreign corporations with better technology and management practices. Production workers often learn better techniques while employed by foreign firms. Managers may learn about better practices by observing, or by having previously worked at multinationals themselves. And increased competition pushes all companies in an area where multinationals are operating to become more productive. -Reliability & Awareness – When a product is associated with an MNC it is considered to be a good quality product and genuine as these firms follow the same standards and procedures to manufacture it wherever they are, which goes with their goodwill and reputation all over the world. For instance a burger at Mcdonalds will taste the same in Paris or India. This reliability helps the consumers to distinguish between the MNC product and local product thus creating awareness. -No contribution to external Debts for Developing Countries – If the investment does not do well, the multinational corporations may lose their investment and the developing country does not receive the aforementioned benefits, but the developing country owes no restitution. As a result, multinational corporation investments do not contribute to the external debt problems of developing countries. Negative Aspects of Multinational Corporation in an Economy. Incidents such as the improper use in the Third World of baby milk formula manufactured by Nestle, the gas leak from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, and the alleged involvement of foreign firms in the overthrow of President Allende of Chile have been used to perpetuate the ugly image of MNCs. The fact that some MNCs command assets worth more than the national  income of their host countries also reinforces their fearful image. And indeed, there is evidence that some MNCs have paid bribes to government officials in order to get around obstacles erected against profitable operations of their enterprises. Here are some negative impacts on the economy: -Exploitation of Labor – This can be proved by examples like companies like Reebok, Nike have exploited the labor in Indonesia. Workers live in deteriorating, leaky, mosquito – infested apartments and only earn a mere 39$ a month for producing thousands of products worth well over 100$ each. They encourage child labor as in poor countries where population is rising poverty is everywhere and children cannot afford to study are employed by these big firms thus jeopardizing their health and future. For instance in India one of the gem cutting industries DeBeers employed six-year-old children at work on dangerous polishing wheels, people living and sleeping at their workplaces, and trash, human feces and industry waste clogging the open sewers that run between the warren of gemstone workshops. In one factory almost half the workers were under-age. As diamonds are ground, fine dust enters and infects the lungs. Diamond cutting is among the top 10 hazardous and the employment of children under 15 is banned. However, the number of children employed in recent years has been rapidly expanding. -Polluting the Environment – Some MNC’s are also responsible for polluting the environment like throwing industrial waste in rivers, polluting the air etc. We had a very serious case in India the Bhopal Gas Tragedy where in over 40 tons of deadly methyl isocyanate, hydrogen cyanide and other gases leaked from a hazardously designed pesticide factory in Bhopal owned by US based multinational Union Carbide Corporation. Over 500,000 men, women and children were exposed to the poison clouds and at least six thousand people died within the first week of the disaster. The current death toll is well over 16,000. Hundreds of thousands of survivors continue to suffer from multi-systemic injuries. -Harming Domestic Investment – By pumping in foreign investments it  discourages domestic investments it is like the big fish eats the small fish in the ocean. Local products suffers and this intern discourages domestic investments -Monopolistic Power – Due to a large share in the economy they can exploit the countries on the basis of this like causing problems in aspects of human rights, economic fragility, corruption etc. -Human Rights Violations – Due to having substantial amount of power it allows them to easily find cheap labor in large quantities as a result the workers are exposed to hazardous conditions, over exertion and overall are subject to abuse of capital -owners. -Corruption – MNC can easily get their work done like acquiring a licence for manufacturing products which may cause damages to the environment or people by Bribing the officials and also exploit the government due to their stake in the economy thus encouraging corruption. Like the Enron project raised controversy for a number of reasons: there was no competitive bidding for the project. The project costs and power tariffs were higher than other power projects and the cost of electricity from Enron would be higher than before. The Maharashtra Electricity Board promised to buy all the high priced power produced by Enron even if cheaper power was available. No environmental impact assessment has been done. Natural gas is 90% methane, which is 20 times more damaging to the global climate than CO2. Each well produces thousands of tons of toxic drilling mud that contains arsenic, lead, and radium that severely affects the health of people. Conclusion. Determining the positions (in favor or against) of nation-states towards MNCs is a bit complicated and not always logical. Generally developed countries usually favor MNCs as it allows firms to make more profit with cheaper labor. With developing countries the stance is not very clear usually they will favor this in order to boost the economy and infrastructure. Thus delegates  must consider many complex economic factors that would help explain whether it is in their favor to support or oppose multinational corporations based on whether that particular developing nation has comparative advantage or not.

Global warming and biodiversity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Global warming and biodiversity - Research Paper Example This primarily happens owing to the increase in the amount of Green House gases in the atmosphere. These gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc) trap the sun’s incident heat energy and do not allow them to escape, thereby increasing the Earth’s temperature. These green house gases are released into the atmosphere because of human activities like pollution, burning of fossil fuels, deforestation etc. Global warming has negative impacts on all most everything, from ecosystems to individual species. Climate-carbon cycle feedbacks are also responsible for increasing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In fact, studies have shown that rise of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere will increase the temperature which in turn will cause change in the process of photosynthesis, leading to death of the plants. GRAPH:1 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 The other challenge that forms the core of my discussion is extermination of both floral and faunal species. Species become extin ct due to a number of reasons like deforestation, invasive species, diseases, changing climate etc. . In fact in North America alone, â€Å"123 fresh water animal species have been recorded as extinct and hundreds of additional species of fishes, amphibians, mollusks and crayfishes are considered imperiled† (Riciardi & Rasmussen, 1998) and using this data in the exponential decay model, researchers Riciardi and Rasmussen have concluded that the extinction rate in North America alone is 4% per decade. ... his data in the exponential decay model, researchers Riciardi and Rasmussen have concluded that the extinction rate in North America alone is 4% per decade. Moreover, islands like the Galapagos or the Hawaiian islands are more vulnerable to species extinction because the presence of physical barriers has cut off gene flow which has in turn decreased adaptability of the species to extinction factors. Thus, endemic species are more vulnerable to extinction. There is a definitive connection between global warming and loss of biodiversity. Global warming is one of the key reasons behind species extinction.† Plants and animals, even far from human habitation, are now endangered due to global warming, resulting from increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere through different human activities† (Malcolm, 2006). A recent study showed that the increase in the temperature led to disease outbreaks caused by Batrachochytrium among the amphibian species i n tropical America leading to extinction of 67% of the 110 species of Atelopus species (Pounds et al, 2006). Over the last century the temperature of the world has increased by 0.6 degree centigrade but most species have adapted themselves to it, but the present rate of temperature increment â€Å"could easily disrupt the connectedness among species and lead to a reformulation of species communities, reflecting differential changes in species, and to numerous extirpations and possibly extinctions.† (Root et al, 2003). Root et al, meta-analyzed 143 different studies and concluded that the shift in climate was leaving a fingerprint on animal as well as plant species. It is a common notion that environmental awareness and conservation efforts are restricted to the developed countries i.e. countries

Make green tech, not green legislation Research Paper

Make green tech, not green legislation - Research Paper Example Google has had a track record of getting into trouble over privacy issues. This article pertains to the most recent trouble that Google faces on this issue. Google faces investigation from regulators in the U.S.A and Europe over its bypassing of the user privacy settings on Apple’s Safari Web browser. Bypassing of the privacy settings by Google was through the use of enabling special codes that allowed Google to maintain a track of computer and mobile users. Google says it will cooperate with the investigation and has stopped the use of these special codes and the tracking of computer and mobile users. However, Google had earlier taken the stand that the advertisement cookies through which the security was bypassed, was to provide features that the users themselves had enabled. In addition, it was also earlier stated that personal information of the users was not collected by the generated advertisement cookies. (2).

Teaching Plan for Practical Skill and Techniques of Peripheral Essay

Teaching Plan for Practical Skill and Techniques of Peripheral Intravenous Cannulation - Essay Example This teaching plan shall provide an easy format to help teach medical staff like the nurses, midwives, physicians and surgeons on this procedure. The objectives of this teaching plan are to enable the student to know the devices and equipment used for this particular procedure. While learning, the students should know various parts of the body which are the best insertion sites. The students should also be able to completely do the procedure successfully and be aware of any associated complication and how to handle them. There are several learning theories that have been brought forward, the three main ones are behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. These theories merely try to explain how we learn. The behaviorist theory focuses mainly on the observable change .To modify people’s attitudes and responses, behaviorists believe that you either change the stimulus conditions in the environment or change what happens after a response happens. Behaviorists generally ignore t he internal factors of learning but on the contrary the cognitive learning theorists stress the importance of what goes on within the learner. Cognitive learning allows a student to think critically and gather information to acquire and develop his/her skills. It is therefore important in plan to teach certain skills that a conducive environment is provided to ease understanding of complex procedures. Lastly the constructivism focuses developing one’s learning from personal experiences. This simply applies a teacher must take into consideration the experience of the student thus provide sufficient room for practice either through simulations or with a real patients. Individuals may prefer a particular method of learning or different style and it’s the teacher’s judgment to decide which theory works for his student. The most common method used by many teachers is when students perform the cannulation under the supervision of a competent clinical procedure teachin g staff. There are several preferred learning styles by the students may opt one being the practical on an actual patient. In this case the practitioner or teacher must be present and ensure that the student has sound understanding of the procedure and anticipated outcomes. These may be both complications and expected anticipation. The other method could be the use of a simulated environment this can be used especially with students who have high anticipation to lower the pressure of dealing with an actual patient. For such students I would focus on building their psychomotor skills so that they build up confidence and it’s more practical to teach the students in parts. In such an environment the students can discover and learn different methods of performing the skills and also learn to correct errors that they make without fear of harming patients. These students would have enough practice before they can actually perform their first clinical procedure in an actual environm ent. Another technique that also uses non patients is use of videos from audio visual libraries to give the students a view of â€Å"real† patient scenarios. Although it has its disadvantages it also helps especially by filling the gap when real patients are not available. Similarly models may be used in teaching procedures like the intravenous cannullae insertion. This is very useful especially for students who have never performed such

Lab report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Lab report - Essay Example Understanding of soil is an essential area of study in civil engineering. It is critically important to carry out the analysis of soil prior to initiate any construction. The analysis of soil yields soil related various important factors that include the interaction of soil with the structure over a time through various weather conditions, types of structure soil can support etc. The analysis of soil composition reveals that there are three types of soil namely cohesion less, cohesive, and organic soils. In cohesion less soil the soil particles remain apart from each other. The example of such soil is sand, gravel and silt. Cohesive soils consist of very tiny particles that have characteristic to stick together in presence of water due to attractive forces present among them. Clay is an example of such soil2. Organic soils have spongy, compressible and crumbly nature and because of because of its unstable nature are strongly undesirable for any scale of construction. Depending of the soil various layers depth, all three types are further divided into various sub-categories and construction is carried out while considering these sub-layers i.e. shallow foundations is located in the first layer below the structure, followed by the individual footing (sub plate) between boundary layers, and uprooting sub paneling that sometimes used extreme environments (tundra )1. As enlarge footing size will increase the area of contact (area = B2), hence it increase the allowable bearing capacity qa of soil. By evaluating all these variables, the column load can be calculated which will be equal to the load on footing. As soil degradation also affect the footing hence the effect is indirectly transfer to columns and hence to the whole construction. In this experiment a specimen of soil with known % of water by weight has been prepared. The mass of sample is determined using an analytical balance

Discuss the political significance of shifting structural (economic, Research Paper

Discuss the political significance of shifting structural (economic, cultural, social, demographic) trends in Texas - Research Paper Example When examining the interactions that interconnect economic outcomes and decision making politically, we are studying structural trends and political economy. Therefore, this paper will discuss the political significance of shifting structural (economic, cultural, social, demographic) trend in Texas. Political economy The economy creates a significant context in understanding of Texas’ political culture. It can assist in the shaping of the political culture. The economy’s development can shape certain political stereotypes and perceptions-and the society’s various sectors. With much involvement of the government in the economy, economic actors from private sectors have every reason to get involved in political participation to become actors in politics (Gutierrez 217). Since the earlier settlement improved by oil production and land grants boosted by state law to the technology backed by the government in the past two decades, the government has been protecting an d promoting state economic interests. It has happened so with the positive participation of political representatives of the interests. This marriage of politics and business has been successful in the Texas government’s council. ... The stability of the marriage of politics and business stands on pragmatism of both the result and the cause of the state’s booming economic history. In Texas, the culture has created entrepreneurial politicians and giants of savvy entrepreneurs, the government has made and protected businesses and established industries with incentives, exemptions, state contracts and subsidies during both wicked and good economic times (Mayer 265).The resulting distortions and inefficiencies in the economy’ structure and negligence of public interests have hindered a diversified development of a modern economy. The in-come tax absence, the reluctance to set a side funds for the delivery of education and social services have distorted the state’s growth and development. With the agreement that the government’s business is to uplift business, it has been constant throughout the history of the state, the public services delivery like public health and education has been pre sent despite constitutional and legal mandate. It is no surprise that the link between the economy and government is political and occupied by the influence of well-financed and well-organized private interests. It is too unsurprising that state governments perpetuate efforts to deriver public services that might raise the state of Texas amongst other states. The interaction patterns between the policy makers and the economic interests in the â€Å"reduced services, low taxes â€Å"government dominance to both the broader body politics and government halls (Mayer 205). Business leaders, such as political leaders and several voters saw government income tax as beyond the reasonable realm. As a result, the state services provision remains low because the money to fund them is little.

Academic Poster ( Mental Health) in the uk Essay

Academic Poster ( Mental Health) in the uk - Essay Example Physical problems such as stomach problems, tremors, blackouts, and hangovers occur. Psychologically, the drinker is irritable and can be moved to angry outbursts (Livestrong, 2015). The costs of alcohol misuse are high. Before taking a drink, it is important to ask whether or not, the risk of becoming addicted and succumbing to the problems linked to alcoholism are worth the gains achieved through alcohol consumption. Based on the four stages of alcoholism, it is important to stop drinking as soon as it is apparent that you are at vulnerable to alcohol addiction. This realization should occur in the first stage or the adaptive stage of alcoholism. All efforts should be made to quit consumption of alcohol during this stage. As the alcoholic progresses, it becomes harder to quit until the conclusion stage where quitting might not make a difference since the alcoholic’s body and mind is likely suffering irreparable damage and death is imminent. Ideally, the drinker should recognize a drinking problem early on and make a determined effort to abstain. It is best not to wait until you hit rock bottom as rock bottom could mean a custodial sentence, harm to othe rs. o.oneself. Excessive drinking or drinking ‘more than the recommended limits of alcohol consumption’ (NHS, 2013). The government has established alcohol consumption limits that are believed to pose minimum health risks to those who want to drink. Keeping within the guidelines’ limits should mean the risk of harm is reduced, if not eliminated. Recommended Limits : Women should drink at most, 2-3 units (175ml glass of wine) daily. Men should at most drink 3-4 units (pint of beer, lager or cider) daily (NHS, 2015). However, Nichols, et al. (2012) reveals that even keeping within these limits will not prevent exposure to chronic illness due to alcohol consumption. Mental Health Issues: Alcohol interferes with the brain’s neurotransmitters and exposes alcohol misusers to depression,

Indian girl Essay Example for Free

Indian girl Essay He was a good husband. No one could deny it. He let her have her own way, indulged her, even. When the kitchen was remodelled, for example, and she wanted pink and grey tiles even though he preferred white. White. A clean colour. A colour he believed to be innocent, just like his wife.  He was traditional as an Indian man could get. He had expectations from his wife. Demands that had to be fulfilled.  She would dress as he would tell her too, sleep with him when he wanted her to.   Not only that, she would provide him with a son and a daughter. The duty of every Indian wife was to give their husband a child, regardless of whether they wanted to or not. He would be the provider in this relationship. She would cook and clean at home while he worked.  It was tradition after all and he was very traditional.  However, when he did put his foot down he would often soften his nos with kind remarks. There had been two occasions that he strongly remembered in which he had to be firm. Like when she wanted to get a job and go back to school or buy English clothes.  Nobody in his family had ever worn English clothes, except for the men that is.  His mother, his mothers mother and sisters had always dressed in Indian clothesno matter what the occasion. He preferred Indian clothes on his wife too. After all they hid her body. The loose blouses didnt reveal her breasts like some English tops or show an unnecessary amount of cleavage. The endless mounds of fabric concealed his wifes legs and waistline.  He believed his wifes body was just for him to look at. Why tempt other men to look at his wifes curvaceous hips or low cut neckline?  The soft remarks that often accommodated his nos were mostly, What for? Im here to take care of you or You look so much prettier in your Indian clothes, so much more feminine. He would pull her to his lap and give her a kiss and cuddle, which usually ended with him taking her to the bedroom. That was another area where he had to be firm. Sex. His wife was constantly pleading with him, Please, not tonight. He didnt mind that. She was, after all, a well-bred Indian girl.  She had good Indian values that he felt all Indian women should have. Her dreams in life were those of his mothers. She wanted to marry, have children and live a contented life in a glorious home. She was conservative and an introvert. Not a woman who would cause him embarrassment in front of friends and family. Timidsomeone who needed support and he believed that he was indeed the support she needed. But her reluctance went beyond womanly modesty.  After dinner for instance, she would start on the most convoluted household projects, soaping down the floors, changing the liners in the cabinets. The night before she had disappeared shed started cleaning the windows, taking out the Window cleaner and rags as soon as shed put the boy to bed, even though he had mumbled, Lets go.  Surely he couldnt be blamed for raising his voice at those times (though never so much to wake his son) or for grabbing her by the elbow and pulling her to the bed, like he did the night before she disappeared. He was always careful not to hurt her, he prided himself on that. Not even a little slap. And he always told himself hed stop if she really begged him, if she cried, After some time, though, she would quit struggling and let him do what he wanted. But that was nothing new. That could have nothing to do with the disappearanceafter all that was his right.  His grandfather had done the same with his wife, his father had treated his mother the same way too and she had turned out fine hadnt she?  So, why should he have treated his wife differently? She too was an Indian woman and for generations Indian women had been afflicted upon. So what made her so special? Why couldnt he behave the same way with his wife as his male ancestors had with theirs? Two weeks passed and there was no news of Zeneve, even though the husband had put a notice in the local newspaper as well as a half-page ad in India West, which hed photocopied and taped to all the neighbourhood lampposts. The ad had a photo of her, a close up taken in too bright sunlight where she gazed gravely at something beyond the camera.  How on earth will you come up with that kind of money? asked his friends. The husband confessed it would be difficult, but hed manage somehow. His wife was more important to him, after all, than all the money in the world. And to prove it he went to the bank the very same day and brought home a sheaf of forms to fill in so that he could take out a second mortgage on the house. He kept calling the police station, too, but the police werent much help. (They were working on it apparently.) Theyd checked the local hospitals and morgues, the sheltersbut there were no leads. It didnt look very hopeful.  So finally he called India over a faulty long-distance connection that made his voice echo eerily in his ear. He told his mother what had happened.  My poor boy! she wailed. Left all alone (the word flickered unpleasantly across his brain, left, left.)  How can you possibly cope with the household and a child as well? she added. And when he admitted that yes, it was very difficult, could she perhaps come and help out for a while if wasnt too much trouble, she replied Of course! Ill come right away and stay as long as you need me too and what was all this English nonsense about too much trouble? Youre my only son arent you? She even said that she would contact the wifes family too so he wouldnt have to deal with that awkwardness. He was relieved at his mothers kind gesture. How could he possibly face his in-laws at a time like this? How would he tell them that there one and only daughter may never come back?  Within a week his mother had closed up the little flat she had lived in since her husbands death, got hold of a special family emergency visa and was on her way. Almost as though shed been waiting for something like this to happen, said some of the women spitefully. These were his wifes friends, though in his opinion, acquitances would be a more accurate word. His wife had liked to keep to herself, which had been just fine with him. He was glad, hed told her several times, that she didnt spend hours chattering on the phone like the other Indian wives.  He was livid when this gossip reached him (perhaps because he had the same insidious thought for a moment, when at the airport, he noticed just how happy his mother looked.) Really he asserted to his friends, some people see only what they want to see. Dont you think it is a good thing she has come over?

UK Wrist Watch Industry | Marketing Strategy

UK Wrist Watch Industry | Marketing Strategy During late 2008 and 2009 confidence of consumer fell and people became more aware about their spending in watches and jewellery has not been immune to the economic climate. During 2005 jewellery and watches market grew by 10 % were it reaches to  £4.8 billion in 2010 and over next five year Mintel forecasts is 11%growth in watches and jewellery market. Hence 2011 is also going to be the year to invest in mens jewellery. Stephen Webster presented a strong case for mens jewellery at IJL in September 2010, and assuming male customer only want watches and the odd signet or chain could lead to missing out on a potential wealth of customer. Its not that male customers dont want it: they just dont know they want it. Men dont have thinking about what to wear as women do, explain Webster. But once a man is bejewelled, theres no looking back. They also dont wait for special occasions like woman do, and they can go from zero to jewellery enthusiast in no time. Market research company Mintels September 2010 report Watches and Jewellery Retailing UK found that 20% of male respondent said they like receiving jewellery as a gift, and 12% said that they had purchased all of their own jewellery. So the market is clearly there to be exploited. http://www.retail-jeweller.com/trends/in-with-the-new-2011-trends/5020089.article Rapid increase in gold prices and recession change many consumers mind to buy silver instead of gold, this trend is rising to nearly three in ten women with almost one in five people wearing silver jewellery than gold; particularly young people aged 15-24. Now days Consumers are willing to experiment and try new looks with little minimising their bank balances which means many costume jewellery items are affordable and easy disposable without denting their bank balance. Young aged under-35 is more open to pay large amounts for watches these are consumers who do not wear jewellery to express their individuality or to show their consumer spending power. As the research has should that 86% of consumers wear a watch, were 40% only buy a new watch when their old watch is broken. The new reason for purchase a watch could be watchs main function with health benefits as a new way of helping the consumer. http://oxygen.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen/display/id=479809 Executive Summary: https://www.keynote.co.uk/market-intelligence/view/product/10331/chapter/0 Why buy me. Can be better explain by to fend off the competition by constant innovation, reinvigorate, recalibrate, update. Many brands and companies are continuously renovating their business and holding positioning themselves for growth. Positioning able offerings for brands and availability of product in the market. Several key target groups and users meet their needs as it reaches a certain mode of consumers and delivers benefits to them. Consumer and user are attributed by benefits and product as they are depended on how actual approach of a company or brands position communicates in the market place. As a result positioning or product of a company find one to keep further distance itself from competitors which is based on list of items, but very importantly in six key :, Distribution, Quality, Attributes, Product, Price and Usage Occasions. As compared to earlier times consumerism has undergone a sea change where the consumers are informed about the products. Hence, the market has become customer centric. Understanding the importance of customer is become the structure of business; in effects companies have started in regular basis i.e. repositioning exercise. In the recent times Titian Industries Ltd had a major brand repositioning exercise was planned more in order to provide more to its customers. Now the company holds new position. This study will help to understand the revived positioning strategies of Titan watches. An analysis of repositioning strategies of Titan also forms of the study. Firstly it is important to understand the overall wrist watch industry in UK. Secondly to study the brand positioning and re-positioning strategy of Titan wrist watches and to find out about the loyal customers of Titan watches as they are aware of the new positioning strategies of the company and how they used them. To study primary and secondary data have been used. Analysis UK wrist watch industry and brand repositioning strategies of TITAN Company has been analysed and completed on the basis of secondary data. Internet, journals, books and magazines have been used for this purpose. Project comprises conducting a questionnaire survey. (function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })() Introduction: 1.1 Theory and concepts: According to Peter Drucker A business has two and only two basic functions: marketing and innovation To maintain business relevance and market position, it is important to continuously innovate and invent brand image in the market to pace with change and intense competitive pressure in the marketplace. In this context, now days brand positioning and revitalization strategies have become a business vital part for battling brand erosion. Further heightened for brand repositioning is because of rising cost and high risk connected with launching a new brand in market. Increase in the cost and high risk related with launching a new brand that is a part of brand reposition. Brand reposition has received very importance in the marketing literature and treated as a difference of brand positioning. Reposition can be required as the market changes and new opportunities occur. In order to reach the customer which was never targeted at first can also be targeted with brand reposition. In order to change its image in the market it is important to focus towards brand repositioning, although it is one of the toughest and harder actions for repositioning of familiar brand in market. As per Solomon, essential part in the marketing efforts is position strategy because companies have to use the elements in the marketing mix to influence the customers understanding the position. There has to be several choices to be, so to as to be in more attractive and relevant position. It is important for the person who is reposition for the reposition to know and understand why reposition is necessary and its need, and if the offer is the one that will change or just the brand name. While repositioning it is important to undertake and understand all the risk factors that is likely to affect it in the market. A company risks its credibility and reliability more while repositioning its brand in the market and the need for a thorough strategy is very important to avoid any occurrence. Some analyst argues that to successfully reposition a established brand name is almost impossible because repositioning of a brand can make the most loyal customer to switch brand. If the brand is eroded then brand reposition becomes important. Numerous attempts to reposition brand in the market may fail which is testified by many company for example while soft drink has successfully been able to connect with the youth though they exist for 40 years in the market but at the same Levis, jeans has been losing its market share to newcomers such as The Gap despite numerous campaigns designed to reposition the brand trend. 1.2 Literature Review: The reposition strategy is defined into three stages that is: Introductory Elaboration Fortification This involves the introduction of a new or a repositioned brand, seeking underline the brands value over others, and to broaden the brand position. It is truly hard to change the customers perceived attitude towards a brand, and therefore the risk is great that the attempt to repositioning might fail. After rolling out the strategy, it is time to modify the proposition through update of the personality and through repositioning. There pros and cons with both of this segments and it is great significance that they are truly calculate when deciding the next step in the process. To understand it more deeply http://htmlimg4.scribdassets.com/55f3acalz4nfgla/images/10-81b5e3fa9c/000.jpg Figure 1: Stages in brand strategy development. When a company modifies or change something that is already there in the market established in the mind of the customer that is called as repositioning. Different profession and individuals have different meaning and understanding towards Repositioning. There are few different definitions and greater understanding about this concept: Repositioning is a change, principally about triggering the vision, mission and value in a new direction that is more suited f or the brand in the future- Brand manager consultant. Principally, reposition concerns changing the consumers perception of the brand PR consultant. Repositioning is built upon the change of unique and differentiated associations with the brand in some kind of direction; it is about having a balance between the category party and differentiation when using reposition strategies (Leading Brand strategies) From these definitions, it is obvious that reposition is about moving something to more attractive and relevant position. Reposition direction is often decided as to what a company wants to achieve. There is also a visible relation between price and quantity aspects. When a company perceives the market as a demand curve, the purpose is to down stretch or upward curve. When moving up and there is a need for reaching the premium segment and expand up wards. Figure: The principle of reposition. When striving towards a new position in the market, it is important to understand those consumers are limited. Peoples minds select what to remember and it is important to convince the consumers with greater arguments. The market always strive for change which is rapid and therefore repositioning can be necessary to meet these demands, newer and stronger arguments have to be established to convinced them to stay as loyal customers. As repositioning is a very complicated matter and therefore there are no detailed theories or models. Aim for repositioning is different for different person, and the only connection between all the different theories is that repositioning is moving something from somewhere towards a greater position at the market. Corstjens and Doyle (1989) identified three types of repositioning strategies: Zero repositioning, which is not a repositioning at all since the firm maintains its initial strategy in the face of a changing environment. Gradual repositioning, where the firm performs incremental, continuous adjustments to its positioning strategy to reflect the evolution of its environment; and Radical repositioning that corresponds to a discontinuous shift towards a new target market and /or a new competitive advantage. After learning the repositioning of several brands from the UK market, the following 8 types of repositioning have been identified. These are: Increasing relevance to the consumer Increasing occasions for use Making the brand serious Falling sales Bringing in new customers Making the rand contemporary Differentiate from other brands Changed market conditions A four phased brand repositioning approach can be followed to achieve the intended benfits- Phase I. Determining the current status of the brand Phase II. What does the brand stand for today? Phase III. Developing the brand positioning platforms Phase IV. Refining the brand Positioning and Management Presentation The advantages that can be derived from brand repositioning exercises can be summarized as: Value over others Updated personality Relevant position The risks associated with such strategies are: Loss of focus Neglecting original customers Losing credibility for the brand Confusing the brand Therefore, in order UNLEARN the brand positioning one must help the customer to know brand repositioning in more difficult than initially positioning. This can be done by: Carefully crafted communication New products, packaging Associations with other brands ( co- branding, co- marketing, ingredient branding, strategic alliances, etc) that reinforce the new brand positioning. This exercise is so critical to an organizations success that the organizations and leader in marketing/brand management should develop skill preferably with the help and facilitation of an outside brand positioning expert. Research Methodology: 2.1 Objectives To study the current scenario of UK wrist watch industry. To review the brand positioning strategies of different sub-brands of watches. To analyze the brand repositioning strategies of watches. To study consumer awareness and perception about the brand repositioning strategies of watches. This study will help to understand the gap in its communication strategy regarding brand repositioning exercises and the further measures to be taken for effective marketing communications. 2.2 Limitations: The study is confined to London area only There is possibility of sampling errors in the study The responses of the consumers may not be genuine Questionnaire may not be comprehensive 2.3 Sources of Data Collection: The relevant data was collected from both primary sources and secondary sources. The starting point of my information gathering has been the secondary sources such as internet, books, and journals and so on. Firstly, brand positioning and repositioning strategies of Titan, secondary sources such as internet, insurance magazines, and journals and so on. Then I conducted a consumer awareness survey on brand repositioning strategies undertaken by Titan watches in recent times. 2.4 Sampling: To conduct sampling of 50 loyal consumers of Titan and in the age group of 20 30 years for this study. Since Titan has taken up brand repositioning strategies since January 2011, consumers who have seen the previous and new campaigns have been targeted. 2.5 Primary data: Data was collected through an interview schedule, consisting of both open ended and closed ended questions. It consisted of the parameters like reasons consumers brand preference, recollection of earlier tagline and advertisement, brand ambassador of Titan awareness of new tagline and campaign featuring sportsmen and actors from International body and so on. The data was collected through e-mails, telephone contacts and one to one personal interviews. Industry Overview UK Watch industry: In 2004 and 2008 market report examines the jewellery and watches market in UK were fluctuated and fell by 2.8% and finish at  £4.33 billion in the review report. Large declined in 2008 contribute to the global economic downturn and UK recession which adversely effected nearly all UK industries. The only unaffected by the downturn was the luxury end of the market end, but by the 2008 and 2009 it begun to take effect on it. In recent year the jewellery and watches become increasingly competitive. Although this market have wide range of suppliers and retailers also online retailing have contributed highly for transparent for information on pricing and availability of products. This was a positive trend for small brands that was previously unable to deal with consumer directly. Some larger retailers and few independents have developed their transactional sites to deal with their consumer demand. The product which have high rate of consumer penetration with around a third of the UK population owning piece jewellery and watches. In 2009 downturn in UK economy shows that it will affect all areas of consumer spending and unlikely to show reversal in near future. It seems the concepts of a wrist watch have become that of a status symbol rather than a practical chronometer. According to a survey that suggest one in seven people in the UK has no need for watch, apart from as a fashion accessory. Gadgets such as iPods, laptops and mobile phone, represent threat to the watch industry, survey conducted by Mintel. Even in the age of iPhones, people spend huge amount of money on a quality time piece, with high-end brands such as Rolex and Tag Heuer adorning blinged up wrist of rappers, bankers and fashionistas alike. http://www.wharf.co.uk/2010/11/why-wrist-watches-are-dialling.html SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE UK WATCH INDUSTRY: Strengths: Watch industry is growing industry which faster rate As the population is rising, the watch market is also expanding Customers are not very price sensitive as far as quality watch is concerned Weakness: There is not much advertising done by watch industry No innovation in products There are few number of exclusive showrooms that reduces the consumers accessibility to the product There are few marketers, who are concentrated only upon a particular niche segment (Tag Heuer ) Opportunities: There is more need of fashionable luxury watch and fine luxury watch brands that can be targeted in UK, as customers are more like trendsetter and fashionable. UK especially London is a metropolitan city which makes it more attractive for the new company. Youth are more brand conscious than their predecessors. That leads to the expansion of the market for branded watches. Threats: There are many foreign players entering in the race Too many players will dilute the market and the profit margin. Mobile phones acting as substitutes of the watches. The Indian watch industry began in the year 1961 with the commissioning of the watch division of Titan. The first watch model manufactured by HMT was the Janata model in the year 1962. HMT was the leader in the watch market till the Tatas formed Titan watches in association with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation in the year 1987. They took a major strategy decision, which later changed the face of the Indian watch market to manufacture only quartz watches. Liberalisation in 1992 and removal of quantitative restrictions due to WTO has opened the doors for many the Indian market viz. Tissot, Swatch, Omega, Rado, TAGHeuer. The import duties on watches are falling which makes the Indian market look attractive for the global majors like Casio, Swatch and Citizen. Company Profile: Overview Titan is one of the largest watch producer in India and sixth largest in the world. Titan manufactures over 7 million watches per annum and have 65 million customer. In 1984 titan was established as a joint venture between the Tata Group and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation. Manufacturing in a state- of -the art at Hosur, Tamil Nadu the company brought the large change in Indian market, by offering quartz technology with international styling. By understanding the different segments in the market, the company launched its second brand Sonata watch, as value brand for those who like styled watches with affordable prices. In last two decade the company has build an very good impression in watch business to become Indias largest manufacturer and world largest sixth manufacturer of watches. This was mainly because good formidable distribution network. Being one of largest retail chain of exclusive retail showroom for watches called The world of Titan spread over 100 towns. Titan have branches over 30 countries, its also have multi brand outlets named Time Zone, service centres and dealer outlets. The company has watch plant at Dehradun (UP) and Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) and electronic circuit boards in Goa. The promoters held majority stake of the company, with Tidco having 28% of the shares and Tata Group companies owing 25% of the shares and the public sharing holding around 28% in the company. The rest of the stake held by the foreign institution, non resident Indian, mutual fund and other institution. It also acquiring a license for global brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss, while. It has also in its portfolio its first Swiss Made watch brand Xylys. In 1995 the company capitalize to brand Tanishq as diversified into jewellery in fragmented market operating no brand in urban city. Also in 2005 the company launched its second Jewellery brand, GoldPlus, as using its opportunity for capitalizing in small town and rural India. Its also diversified into fashion Eyewear by launching Fastrack Eye Gear sunglasses as well as prescription eyewear. TITAN WATCHES: BRAND POSITIONING STRATEGIES Overall strategies: Since from the beginning Titan has been positioned as a premium brand, because its high quality products for its customer. Titan is struggling to have a strong brand image in UK market due to its numerous sub-brands that caters to different segments in India. It follows different positioning strategies; these strategies can also be analyzed as given below: Attribute Positioning: The company launched first quartz watches to Indian market as its product. The company successfully penetrate the market by this launch, under this strategy came Raga, Classique and Regalia. Classique positioned as style corporate wear that leaves a quiet definite impression and qualities of function. Regalia ranger represent the elegant-wear. Raga is an exclusive watch as positioned. The Raga and silver Raga collection of style, delicate and feminine with each piece unique truly. User Positioning: Titan provides to several user groups children (the Dash), sportspersons and adventurers. The fastrack range is seen as being modern and related to present time, reliable and sturdy. The advertising, packaging and merchandising of this range is young, cool and vibrant. Benefit Positioning: Titan offer many deals to differentiate its offering on the basis of superior style and attractiveness which is offered by Digital range fastrack. Competitors Positioning: Titan had to encounter the threat with the entry of several foreign watchmakers into the market; most the entrants are catering to the upper end of the market Omega, Cartier etc. Quality or Price Positioning: In the overseas market, especially in Europe where it is competing with Swiss and Japanese watches, it is position itself as value-for-money (less than Swiss watches and higher than Japanese), by giving attractively styled and of good quality. TITAN WATCHES: BRAND RE-POSITIONING STRATEGIES FOR GLOBALISATION Titan has managed to get fair market in Middle East and Africa but its failure in Europe was a downturn for the Company as the return was not as good as investment made for the expansion. Titan has decided to revamp its flagship watch brand in Europe mainly in UK. Titan wants to reposition it more youthful and relevant to the changing times. Titan has entered the International markets in 1989 through the export of watch movements. Titans first global footprint was placed in the UAE the largest market in the Middle East then it moved towards Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and few markets in Africa. Though it faced strong competition, it reached the sales of 100,000 watches within a year of its launch. It started to move globally and moves towards Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal. After its extensive survey, it concluded that it needs good reason to stock the brand. Titan needs to re-position its brand image in the UK market. And so Titan decided to against soft option of driving its globalization through private label exports. It would launch its product under its own brand with market positioning Therefore Titan found a massive advertising campaign to create brand awareness. It also participated in the fair which showcases the worlds biggest watch brand in the world. http://www.moodiereport.com/images/luxury_watch_tables_jan10_04.jpg http://www.moodiereport.com/images/luxury_watch_tables_jan10_05.jpg CONCLUSION: The suggestions to improve consumer awareness about brand repositioning strategy of Titan are as follows: To increase its visibility, Titan Company can sponsor events similar to fashion shows which all latest designs launched are displayed. This is important as it has a great effect on different segments of the customers in different ways. It is important to have Tie up with radio channels and television to broadcast and telecast its advertisement about various sales promotion from time to time. RD needs more investment as customer expectations are changing rapidly. It should focus more on introducing more varieties and luxury items in the market at regular interval. Introduce exclusive collection for working women which is more contemporary and complements any fashion styles. Tie up with international watch brands to make the product stronger in the market. To use internet to spread awareness among consumer about the brand. (function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })() Terry Hills framework: Corporate objectives Terry Hills framework: Corporate objectives Friction materials is enjoying a new lease of life as seen by their ability to make substantial profit partly due to the renaissance of the motorbike (scooter) as a source of transportation by the middle aged. Thus the corporate objectives are: Gain market share in the OE market through manufacture and supply of DBP in 2 years. Entering the Far East market as a Long Term Strategy to increase profitability and to wrestle for International Market Share in 3 years Superior Product Performer thereby securing the contract on a Long term Basis Improve Research and Development for the OEM for incremental business. Increase ROCE to 30% 3 years. Increase Profit Margin to 30% in 3 years. Increase ROI to 40% in 3 years. Order Winners and Qualifiers Criteria Discussion of the Criteria and the Implication for Operations BRAND IMAGE This is true for the motorcycle manufacturing company as demonstrated by their attention to detail and their strong Quality Policy and culture. It is therefore pertinent for Friction materials to maintain their already lofty heights of Quality to be able to tap into the sea of opportunities of OEM. For the AM, it is a guide to the potential customers of the qualities attached to the brand. With a Quality rating in the industry, the brand image does help win some of the customers over to the product range. For the SM, Brand Image could play a role in the choice of the DBP because the customers may want the best quality DBP for their automobiles which would help in marketing (word of mouth). This is a strong basis for our core competency being retained rather than outsource. COST For the OEM, Cost is the major order winner here as the company has to be highly competitive on cost to ward off potential competitors from the market. But with the prospect of Research and Development for new ways of making DBP, Friction Materials would be able to charge pre For the AM, Cost is highly competitive as well. The company must be able to get DBP to the market at affordable prices as the company has to be highly competitive on cost to ward off potential competitors from the market. For the SM. Cost is not competitive and almost not relevant. The cost of the DBP should be reasonable enough and not charge ridiculous amounts though the customer is willing to pay for the value of the DBP. Q QQ QQ: Performance quality flexibility in design dependability and volume are sensitive order qualifiers such that a drop in one of the characteristic specification could cost them the order. These criteria are key to their winning over the OE market thus we have a QQ which denotes (order loser). On the long run (3 years on) some of the values would change because Friction would have acquired a certain volume of market share and the direction of the market would tend to shift. For instance with a breakthrough in RD, the value of design flexibility and cost would change. This signifies that For design flexibility, it would be a new order winner, a display of our competency and thus they would be able to charge premium price, or at least increase the price of supply. Cost would be a dominant order winner as competitors would seek to drive down cost hence stiff competition. On the other hand, Q is not as sensitive as QQ. You would not lose the order if you cannot meet the demand. For Instance the durability of the DBP is a qualifier because it must be able to perform for a period of time but not too long to be considered absurd. 2 years is good but no one would want to design DBP for 10 years so if the life span of 2 years is attained then it is fine. For instance delivery speed is not required as you would have agreed to sign the deal to deliver at an agreed period failing which you would be fined. MARKETING STRATEGY SWOT Analysis Strengths Credible supplier network Modern managerial input Good debtor to creditor days Good current Ratio; indicates cash flow Ability to expand current location Centralized location to market and to ports for export Fully depreciated machine cost, hence they machine cost  £0 Skilled Labour force as can be seen in Specialist Manufacture Brand Image recognition for quality Close relationship with the tool specialist fabricators. Weakness Inventory levels Friction between top management (cronton and whitson) Long changeover period on press machine Poor personnel management Poor use of work packages leading to unused raw materials Underutilization of MRPII systems Inability to do online payment Poor space utilization Over reliance on entry into OE market Opportunity Potential global leader in OEM Local sourcing of materials (when they gain social status) DBP direct supplier to industry manufacturers thus increasing market share Expansion of production range Threat Competitive Labour Market Stiff competition from the Far East Potential Environmental threat on noise and waste disposal MARKETING STRATEGY Expansion of Market channeled to an increase in both local and global supplies of DBP. Revolutionize the OEM to a Quality competitive market based on cost management. Improve Research and Development capabilities After sales customer feedback as a way of getting closer to the customer and improving on quality and performance. MANUFACTURING STRATEGY VERTICAL INTEGRATION This is the level of incorporation in a supply chain for the various stages of the supply process. It could be forward or backward integration. A vertical integration could be to bolster the technological front based on competition or for to emerging markets. Make / Buy: The make or buy analysis is a strategic analysis that helps top management to decide what they want to produce, what they want to stop producing or what they want to outsource to a third party. In practice, core competence is not outsourced because that is the uniqueness of the product; if you let it go, you could just be setting up future competition for your company. The various decisions taken and the reason are as follows; For the supply of raw materials; a single supplier was preferred. This would prevent re-testing for the quality of the supplied materials as the testing phase takes a couple of weeks to get the right mix for the required braking performance. This would increase lead time and consequently reduce the ability to deliver on time. It also helps reduce the variation in quality that could arise from multiple sourcing For the mixing operation, that is the core competence and could be detrimental to the growth and the corporate objectives of the company. For the Press Operation, the Press tool manufacture is done by a local specialist firm. This could lead to delays in taking up the tool fabrication hence building up lead times for the OEM. When the design team finishes the design, they would have to wait for the Press fabricators to be available to work. Communication gap is also a threat to the smooth running of the design of the tool for the OEM. The specialist firm is also prone to take over by large BP manufacturers who are direct competitors and once competitive advantage is lost to them, it affects the market share of the OE and consequently the ability for Friction Materials to compete. Thus the decision is to Vertically Integrate the Local Specialist; this helps build competitive advantage in the OE market. For the baking operation, it would be kept in house. Outsourcing baking increases the time the operation takes; from 3 hours to a potential 5-6 hours. The cost of transport, labor and the payment of the operation together with the time trade-off make it very complicated and unsuitable for outsourcing. The chemical properties of the brakes at high temperatures could be altered during transportation and thus could lead to a failure in testing which results in the company losing the order. It is therefore a critical operation in-house and not outside. For the machining operation, the decision is to be kept in house. This is because an automated 100% dimensional check is required after machining. If you machine in house, there is a greater chance of achieving that accuracy than to outsource to a specialist that could be overlook little details that could lead to test failure. Since the machines are running at full capacity, an extra machine is required for the OEM manufacture. The machine would be second hand quality as accustomed to the company. The fully depreciated machines make extra budget available for this purchase and would in no time be fully depreciated as well. Thus we practically are paying less to do more. For the painting, the operation would be carried out in house. The reason is to be in control of the goods produced. Also the painting operation is a low skilled task hence a contract staff could be employed for the sole aim of painting. This helps specialization on the long run and reduces costs due to transportation and material handling. It also reduces labor cost as the company is only bound by the contractual agreement without benefits. For the packaging, the short term objective would be to continue in-house but re-brand the lot size so as to accommodate more DBP. This reduces the burden of having to pack several hundred of DBP at any time. The lot sizes could be increased and standardized as there is no obligation to supply with the current range of boxes but simplifies the current packaging operation. This helps reduce the number of boxes supplied for packaging and hence the time and cost of transportation and material handling. However the long term plan would be to source for a packing company that would agree to package as close to our production site as possible. This helps free up space for increased production and other value added work. FACILITIES The design of the operation would take into consideration the item to be produced, vary the different possible ways to produce it and come up with the best and most efficient way of producing it. The characteristic of the operation is determined by the 4 Vs VOLUME HIGH LOW HIGH LOW VARIETY LOW HIGH VARIATION LOW HIGH VISIBILITY The OE market involves long production runs with product specification and low variety, there is need to implement a high volume low variety manufacturing process which is the category of the OE market. Volume: This is the production capacity within a particular time frame. The volume is set prior to production in order to plan for capacity. The current forecast of 150,000 in the first year is a high volume compared to the normal few hundreds that are currently produced. Therefore it is a high volume process operation and adequate capacity should be provided as required. Variety: this can be described as the different combinations of products that a production process can accommodate. There is limited variation in the demand of DBP for the OEM due to the standardized requirements. Basic changes can be made in the design but it is practically the same spine and technology that is used. This depicts a low variety production. Variation in Demand: This is the ability of the production process to change with little notice to the forces of demand and supply or product design and specification. Orders are requested a year prior to production thus a stable demand profile which makes effective capacity utilization probable. Therefore it is a low variation demand production. Visibility or Customer Interaction: this could be described as the level of participation of the customer in the production process. The ultimate goal of any production of the process is to satisfy the customer. Since the customer is not expected to be at the factory every time, we settle for a low visibility production process. This has no bearing on the type or quality of DBP produced as the company would be ratified fit for the production of the OEM before proper production can commence. Location The current location of Lutterworth is perceived as a central location both to the potential and to the international market. The town has a rich history of manufacturing work and is in a central location for transportation of finished goods and raw materials and assess to the factory very easy. It is also close to a large motorcycle manufacturer who is the potential customer. This is an ideal location for a growing company and the rate of development could become attractive for immigrants due to the emerging facilities. TECHNOLOGY Product Profiling The product profiling approach is an analysis understands the requirements for production and the characteristics available for each process to meet production specification. A comparative analysis helps in process choice the layout structure to adopt. Original Equipment Manufacture would be done through the batch production process. The process type helps utilize the standardized production format due to low variety. It also helps improve the efficiency of production and spreads the overhead costs over more units. The Specialist Manufacture is a jobbing type process while the Aftermarket production is Batch Production therefore if we go for a flow line production process; it would impede our production process. Thus if for OEM, a flow line is chosen then Specialist Manufacture must be outsourced to compensate for the complexity of the production process. However the Specialist manufacture is the core competence of Friction Materials and to let go of it would be synonymous to throwing your market share away. If a competitor comes by and vertically integrates that section of your company, then there is a potential buy-out of Friction Materials. Therefore it was sensible to use a flexible Bach production process currently which could move into a flow production process with enough investment to justify the resources required to change it. Process Choice Project SPECIALIST PARTS AFTER MARKET Jobbing ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT Batch Line Continuous High Volume Low Alex and Terry Hill 2009 Volume High Low Low High Low Variety Fixed Position Process Cell Feasible Flow Product High High Low Regular Flow Dr Watt 2010 However, for a long-term capacity planning, investment decision and availability of funds could make OEM be more flow line suited. This occurs when there is a huge volume to justify the investment and good forecast of an emerging market hence a growing demand and a comfortable market share to control. The OEM batch process tends towards the flow line production section. Process Choice SPECIALIST PARTS Project AFTER MARKET Jobbing ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT Batch OEM Line Continuous High Volume Low Alex and Terry Hill 2009 CAPACITY A capacity strategy is a review of how the personnel would work effectively with the resources and machinery available. For the OEM, there is a predictable demand known a year prior to production, hence a level capacity strategy typifies the production. There is no lead or lag in production and demand hence the make to order plan. LEVEL CAPACITY PRODUCTION The capacity is set at 3000DBP per week at standard working week of 40hours. This helps both capacity and personnel utilization and a tight budget schedule. If there is a change in capacity planning, shift hour or overtime can be used to compensate for such. However this plan is for the current production target of 150000. INFRASTRUCTURE HUMAN RESOURCES These are specialists in the area of recruiting people for various job functions. From a manufacturing point of view, an IE is the right person for this task. This is because he has been trained to understand the right work contents the workforce required to achieve maximum capacity utilization and the performance measurement attached to each job function. However the HR specialist understands how to tie the salary structure and the benefit (both money and material) attached to him. Therefore the strategy would be to employ the unskilled workforce and train them to a basic minimum skill level required to do the basic non skilled operations like printing, packaging and painting and machining while we use a higher wage structure to lure the skilled workers; should we need them. The unskilled workers could be temporary workers or permanent workers depending on the requirements while the skilled workers would be made permanent to increase core competency. Periodic training like safety and their specific job functions would be necessary to update the level of skill and technology across board. PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT THE BALANCED SCORE CARD It is a framework that converts the vision of the company into performance measures that can be interpreted and monitored. The mission statement should thus be seen as the action plan that drives the company on the journey to the destination it hopes to achieve in future. LEARNING AND GROWTH FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE CUSTOMERS PERCEPTION AND EXPECTATION INTERNAL STRUCTURE AND INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES Fig : The balanced Score Card Slack, chambers Johnston 2007 Strategic Objectives Strategic Measurements Core outcomes Performance Drivers 1 Financial Increase Profitability Increase Revenue Project Cost Reduced Cost Compete Based on Cost Operational Efficiency 2 Customer Increased market share Share of segment % presence in the OE sector Customer satisfaction Customer feed back % satisfaction, positive feedback 3 Internal Revenue mix Research and Development collaboration Prototype designs success rate Increase ROCE High ROCE Higher utilization of resources 4 Learning and growth Employee capability Staff productivity Reduced scrap rate Upgrade of facilities Systems Audit Improved cycle times Adapted Balanced Scorecard, Kaplan and Norton 1996 Financial perspective Growth: The dream of every business is growth; and so is Friction Material. The growth of the company is the gate way to expansion in other markets and could be a factor in increasing the Market share which has been set as at 2 years. Increased Profitability: The profitability of a company is its ability to satisfy the demand of production; output, overheads and cost of production and still make a margin. Most businesses are set-up with an aim to make money; either primary or secondary. Friction Materials made profit this year and the OEM is a lee-way to guarantee constant volumes of production and with a high efficiency system, the OEM would be the source of revenue for the company. This is because the OEM has a huge potential to turn the fortunes of the company around from a small company to a Large company with huge revenue and large market share. In an emerging market like the OEM, the first to enter the market usually dominates a great percentage of the market share. Therefore it is pertinent for Friction Materials to be in the market as one of the pioneer members. The OEM would generate huge revenue as they have a huge volume of production thus reducing the cost accrued to the production costs and overheads and consequently drives d own the cost of production and hence increases profitability Profitability of the OEM is vital to the existence of the company as it helps to generate a funds through production that could be ploughed back to the operation of the other product range and with good decision making and investment policies; the company will be transformed into a World Leader in the manufacture of DBP. Profitability of the company also helps it satisfy its personnel commitment; paying of salaries and bonuses to the workers for increased motivation. If a business is not profitable, the management of the company could struggle to pay wage and this would ultimately impact on the shop floor reducing the productivity of the workers; as most workers would lack the motivation to continue work without pay. Ultimately the customers; the motorcycle manufacturers would get affected as Friction Materials could end up not meeting the demand target and are imposed heavy fines. Gradually the company would lose its competitiveness and could end up being bankrupt if it continues to fail to meet the target. The contract would be cancelled and the production would be hampered. The end result could be the administration of the company, since it cannot meet its basic obligation. Cost Reduction Sustaining growth is all about meeting the expectation of the shareholders, those responsible for the investing money and time to the success of the company. In Sustaining the growth of the company, good asset utilization and cost reduction policies like getting depreciated machines to work effectively, helps to reduce the overheads and unwanted cost attached to the daily running expenses of the company. The OEM is a cost-competitive market and imploring a strategy to drive down cost is worthwhile. Trade-offs associated with low cost production should be properly weighed before decisions are made else it could eventually cost more; both for the cost of rework and the excess and unnecessary man-hours used. For instance, if the cost of a standard back plate is $10 and you get a supplier for $6, it is possible that the manufacturer might not be able to meet production target. So if you hire him for your supplies and he fails to deliver, in panic, you might need to get another supplier w ho would end up charging you more than it would cost and you might have to run extra man-hours to cover up for production time lost. All these could cost more compared to the stable $10 who is guaranteed to deliver when needed. Customer Perspective Increased market share The market share is a portion of a business sector where you dominate. In reality, big companies like McDonalds have almost all the market share between them leaving the remaining for smaller companies. The idea is that every company sells a particular volume of the product in the market. Companies with dominant shares sell high volumes of stock periodically. Friction Materials has market share as one of its targets because it aims to be a profitable business. If they can churn out large volumes of DBP and exhaust their production capacity in terms of sales; then they would be able to get the overhead cost driven low. This helps put the Cost reduction strategy in check and increases the viability for profit making. A large market share increases the brand image of the company and opens doors for wider reach to the Far Eastern and Global markets on a whole. It also helps increase the possibility of dominating the Local market. Based on the operational capabilities of the company and the entry into the OEM market, Friction Materials could boast of a sizeable market share so far as other factors are favorable. With percentage market share dominance, plans like marketing drive sales promos and exhibition events like auto fares can be used to boost their brand image and ultimately sell the product to the market. The market share volume determines the amount of profit and volume of DBP that could be sold over a period of time. Customer satisfaction Customer is king, should be at the back of the mind of every employee of Friction Materials. This is because the customer makes it possible for the employee to be paid; if the DBPs are not quality ones or the customers are not satisfied, they could easily turn to a competitor and this affects the market share of the company. Since we regard the customer as king, and production is based on customer needs; it is imperative that Friction Materials delights its customer base by going the extra mile to meet with them, to have a personal experience with them. This helps the company reach out to potential customers and at the same time get a good understanding of the performance of the DBP in the market and ways to improve the current production specifications and designs without altering the standard specification requirement for manufacture. It also helps identify potential areas of strengths and weaknesses as emerging opportunity that abound but have not been fully utilized. For the OEM to succeed, the customer must be delighted exceptionally and satisfied with the unique qualities of the DBP else Friction Materials would lose ground to their competitors and could lose their competitive advantage to poor human relationship. Therefore the company should make the customer the aim of the production process and in pleasing a customer that could be a potential chain of new customers. It is widely said that it costs a lot to get a new customer compared to retaining one of them. Thus it is more profitable to secure already existing customer base by delighting them exceptionally while looking for incremental business than to look for more business and neglect current customer base. Internal Process Perspective Research and development For Friction Materials to remain relevant in the OEM, the RD team would be expected to design and develop new lines for production. The ability to meet this requirement is one of the basic tasks of Friction Materials as an OEM. Therefore it is an important aspect of the company that needs to be restructured. Currently, there is no department for RD and since it is a major requirement by the contractor, a new R and D department be formed. The design engineer as well as the local specialist firm that was integrated needs to be incorporated in this department to work together for the progress of the company. A good R D enables breakthroughs which can yield huge revenue. Similar to this is the Astra Zeneca R D who charge premium price for discoveries in their RD that are able to sail through to the production stage. RD also increases skill level of the company and takes the competitiveness to a higher level. Thus it gets to a point where they could re-define the characteristic qualities of performance of DBP as seen by the 5 seconds telephone response employed by Zenith bank to attend to customer enquiries. High ROCE: A high ROCE for Friction Materials signifies a good balance of employee strength. The ROCE is a financial tool used to understand the extent of effective utilization of resources. If the employees are trained well and given the right resources to work with and appropriate incentives and benchmarks to go with, then they would be well motivated to achieving company targets. When the targets are met, they can be used as benchmarks to be built upon. With a steady growth rate in ROCE, investment on raw materials, machines and personnel would be justified. Productivity, efficiency and proper scheduling of the production process are the hallmark to achieving a high ROCE. An Acid test ratio can be used to measure the liquidity of the company, the more liquid a company is; the stronger it is. Thus using a benchmark as a source of strength makes the top management of the company a focused one. Growth Employee capability reskilling people Upgrade of facilities buying new machines ORGANIZATION The organizational structure of Friction Materials should change from a process based leadership to a functional matrix organizational structure where the operations personnel have easier access to top management for decision making and policy formulation. For a small company like Friction Materials, the Organizational hierarchy is very visible. Too many management port-folios or positions; as is seen here, creates a communication problem such that escalating issues or problems as seen on the shop floor could take a while before it gets to the appropriate table and this makes flexibility very low. If friction arises between the managers, it could trickle down to the shop floor. Besides there is unclear definition of roles and responsibilities and this is a potential disaster because of the ownership of responsibility for failure or damage. Thus instead of creating an operations unit, they are building a potential silo. This hampers effective communication between the operations crew. The dual role for the sales manager could also be detrimental to the progress of the company as there might be sub-optimization of the sales department and biased decision making; should he be in contest with another manager. There should be a common focus of top-management on the direction, aims and objectives and the vision should be shared collectively. Time out on team building and holiday trips could be scheduled to help foster relationships of employees of Friction Materials. Having grudges against people is a reality of life, but when it affects the productivity of the company, it becomes questionable. Job roles and functions should be well defined and the performance; measured. This helps make the workers responsible for the daily activities and could improve productivity. A good reward and compensation scheme (bonus) could be employed but it must be properly structured to avoid sub-optimization of departments or resources. PRODUCTION AND PLANNING CONTROL The planning and control system of Friction Materials Ltd is the MRPII but is underutilized at the moment as there is no skilled clerical worker that can handle the software. The clerical workers need to proceed on a flexible training schedule to learn the latest version and application of the MRP II system. There should also be an online order and portal system where purchase orders and payments can be made and reduce the over reliance on the telephone order or fax as there could be ambiguity in communication. The capacity planning features of the MRP II system was not in use and the WIP records for an on-going production process is not recorded which makes it almost impossible to be able to plan for adequate capacity and schedule for raw materials hence the high inventory levels. A kanban pull system can be implemented for the production of the OE market to meet production targets until a full scale imp

Child Poverty Dynamics in Seven Nations | Paper Analysis

Child Poverty Dynamics in Seven Nations | Paper Analysis Task: to evaluate the research design, methods of data collection and analysis, and any other ethical or philosophical issues that arise in the specified research paper. Introduction This assignment will focus on the working paper entitled Child Poverty Dynamics in Seven Nations (Bradbury et al, 2000). It will identify and analyse the research design, methodology, data collection and analysis contained within the paper. There will also be an assessment of philosophical and ethical issues as well as a comparison with other documents of a similar nature. The paper is a comparative study examining how children move in and out of poverty. Research Design The authors of this paper are concerned with child poverty and how children in different countries move in and out of poverty. They maintain that state welfare provision operates more effectively to reduce child poverty when it has prior research knowledge of what causes children to move in and out of poverty The research uses standard relative poverty definitions and examines the mobility rate of the poorest fifth of children from, Britain, the USA, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Hungary and Russia. It is usual at the design stage of a project to decide what approach one is going to take to the research. This is because different epistemological and philosophical assumptions are an inherent part of any approach to research ( Bryman, 2004). At a general level the study is an inter-societal comparison of the dynamics of poverty. Inter-societal comparisons look at the similarities and differences which countries display. Numbers of such studies have been undertaken, a well known recent one o f these is Esping-Anderson’s (1990) research into the welfare regimes of different countries. Comparative studies have a long history in sociology, e.g. Weber’s work on religion (1930, 1965) and Durkheim’s work on suicide (1952). Comparative studies are a big part of research into poverty, whether this is the traditional notion of poverty as a lack of disposable income, or whether it is the more contemporary concept of social exclusion (Berghman, 1995). Bradbury et al (2000) acknowledge that they have taken a rather broad brush approach in their study and that there are some problems with this, nevertheless they maintain that charting the flow in and out of poverty cross nationally is useful for policy making that aims to reduce the number of children who are poor. The researchers believe that studying poverty from the vantage point of children needs little or no justification because children represent a country’s future. It might be argued however, that is a rather Eurocentric view and may not necessarily be held in all the countries in the study. The researchers further defend their choice of method in the following way: Comparisons across countries provide a reference point for assessing the results for any single country, for example whether a particular statistic is large or small. Cross-national analysis also raises provocative questions about whether differences in outcomes are due to, say, differences in policy regimes or differences in population characteristics. Of course the usefulness of crossnational analysis relies on having good data, and making data comparable may require compromises in the depth of analysis which would not be required in a single country study. (The trade-off depends on the number of countries considered.) Our paper illustrates the various strengths – and weaknesses – of taking a cross-national perspective (Bradbury et al, 2000, p.7-8). The authors thus express a generally held view that comparative research does have integral strengths and weaknesses, the following analysis hopes to demonstrate whether or not the strengths of this research project outweigh any weaknesses it may have.. Methods of Data Collection The primary data source for this study is panel data drawn from the seven nations involved. This data is largely household survey data and is therefore the income levels are those given by heads of households. The researchers maintain that there study is complementary to one undertaken by Duncan et al (1993). The studies differ in that Duncan et al’s work concentrates on the family as the unit of analysis whereas Bradbury et al (2000) concentrate on the child. The units of analysis are children under the age of 18. The data sets refer to the early 1990s[1] with the most recent year being 1996. The researchers want to use the data to compare poverty dynamics between one year and the next, so they looked at data from two years across the seven nations. The data sets differ, with four countries, Germany, Hungary, Britain and the US providing data spanning five years and data from Germany and the US spanning ten years. This means that some countries receive a deeper analysis than others because they collect more data. The income figures provided by households are used as the income of the child with relevant adjustments for household needs. Table 1 below gives a summary description of each of the data sets used. Bradbury et al, 2000 pps 10-11 This table gives an overview of the data that the researchers used in their comparative study. The researchers chose the following features from which to compare the data for different countries: †¦the type of longitudinal survey, the period to which incomes refer, the definition(s) of income available, and two statistics summarising sample size (Bradbury et al, 2000, p.11). The chief indicator of whether a child is living in poverty and how a child moves in and out of poverty are the income measures that are available. The researchers point out however that there are differences between countries on how this is assessed i.e. whether income recorded is before or after any deductions for tax etc. They acknowledge that such differences have clear implications for differences in poverty dynamics but they do not elucidate what this is.[2] This lessens any faith that one might have in their methods of data collection because there is no explanation of how this affects poverty dynamics. Income is recorded as net except in the case of Ireland and the US. The researchers say that net income for Britain cannot be recorded in all cases and this causes a reduction in sample size, with possible resulting implications of difference (?). Only two countries, Spain and Russia, provide evidence of household expenditure in addition to household income and arguably this is a weakness in the data set as levels of expenditure may differ widely from country to country and is a greater indication of the distinction between absolute and relative poverty (Giddens, 2001).[3] Again this might evidence greater discrepancies across nations if more of such data were available and this will raise questions as to the reliability of the findings of the study.The study only uses disposable income as a measurement of poverty, In a sense this is a step back in terms of theoretical development as Berghman (1995) has said the focus has shifted from simply financial poverty to whether a person can fully participate in the society to which they belong. This is not referred to in Bradshaw et al’s study and as such might be said to evidence a weakness in their choice of conceptual indicators. While the measure did work for the variables that the researchers were interested in it is nevertheless a narrow way of measuring child poverty. This is especially the case when one considers the researchers’ acknowledgement that they have no single comparable method of measuring income across the seven nations and this raises questions about the internal validity of their methods. Data Analysis Techniques The study uses quantitative data and the study is quite large using household panels from seven nations. The researchers argue that this not only provides them with a cross national comparison of how and why children enter and leave poverty but also allows for any serious discrepancies between nations to be identified. The number of households selected for the analysis is between 1 and 2 thousand per country (see table one above). Statistical comparisons are made between child poverty rates, their relative income levels and income inequality. The statistics are similar to those found in an earlier chapter but no details of this are given. Arguably, one wonders why they mention any similarities here as they then go on to say that: †¦they are not fully comparable because there are differences in the definition of the income measure, the year referred to ,the sample, and in most cases even the survey (this is true in Britain, Ireland ,Spain, and the US) (Bradshaw et al, 2000, p.13).[4] The researchers say that they use the median income of children to measure material well being but because their data set and methodology are rather convoluted they have to explain what this is.[5] Their usage of a median is questionable as they later say (p.15 ibid) that: median income levels provide no guide to how incomes vary among children. Their use of arithmetical averages is also questionable as this can obscure the existence of very high and very low incomes, a fact which they also acknowledge.Their methods include the use of a statistical technique known as the Gini coefficient[6] The technique is named after the person who developed it, an Italian statistician called Corrado Gini.[7] The use of the Gini coefficient does tend to show whether income inequality is increasing or decreasing and so it is often used in comparisons between countries. However, its capacity to measure inequality is also determined by how disposable income is dealt with and this information is not av ailable. It is arguable therefore whether the use of the Gini coefficient gives an accurate representation of the data. The use of the Gini coefficient tends to suggest that income inequality for children is substantially different across the seven nations. Western Europe has lower inequality levels than do Russia and America, and there may be further discrepancies here because the Russian data also provides details of household expenditure and this is missing from the American data. Bradshaw et al’s (2000) findings show that with the Gini coefficient income inequality in Germany stands at 0.3 while in America and Russia it is 0.4 a rise of 10 percentage points which the authors say is larger than the overall income inequality of Britain and the United States throughout the whole of the 1980s. However, further questions are raised as to the reliability of the data from the US because the US Census Bureau shows that the calculation of the index of the US was changed in 1992 this led to an upward shift of 0.02 in the coefficient making comparisons after that period misleading.[8] Bradshaw et al (2000) claim that their major finding is a: †¦ significant (but not total) uniformity in patterns of income mobility and poverty dynamics across the seven countries. The key exception is Russia, where the economic transition has led to a much higher degree of mobility (Bradshaw et al, 2000, p.6). Having said this, the authors later go on to demonstrate that rather than there being significant uniformity, there are considerable differences between the seven countries. Their findings indicate that the US has the highest rate of income inequality which affects the income mobility but as has already been indicated American figures after 1992 may be misleading. Another factor that makes their finding problematic is that the data for all countries is only available for two years, for some five and for two countries it is available over ten years, as the author’s admit longer time spans significantly affect the dynamics of poverty. Income mobility is greater in those countries where the most data is available it is therefore arguably the case the only significant comparison of income mobility is that between America and Germany. The ways in which the data is analysed, is, like the rest of this paper, rather complex. It is not always easy to decide when they are talking about method and when they switch to data analysis techniques as the information tends to be rather mixed together. The complexity of this paper makes it difficult to assess what the author’s may have missed in their analysis, while the authors claim a number of findings from the research there is also evidence to suggest that they could have found the contrary. Conclusion Analysing this research paper has been a problematic task. The authors continually refer back to other papers/chapters in the collection of which this paper is a part but because they do not give sufficient information on what they are referring to it might be argued that it is pointless referring back to work that is not available for comparison. The structure of this paper is confusing it does not give clear indications as to when it goes from research design, to data collection, to analysis. Discussion of the issues is ongoing and at times repetitive. There are significant weaknesses in this paper, there is little discussion of ethics as they use secondary data analysis but by their own admission there are significant differences and discrepancies in the data and this leads to the view that the both the reliability and validity of the methodology and findings are questionable. On the positive side the researchers do recognise that there are weaknesses in the data set and that this may affect the findings. There are points where the researchers (arguably at least) make claims for their data that are difficult to substantiate e.g. that there are significant similarities between patterns of income mobility across the seven countries. This claim does not really hold up in view of their further analysis of the data which lists the differences between countries. In addition to this much of the data relating to the US could, according to the US Census Bureau, be misleading. Finally the constant referring back to other papers without elucidating the issues does not help the researchers to make their case and their use of income as a major conceptual indicator does not really tell the reader how poverty affects the lives and well being of the children who are meant to be the focus of the research. Bibliography Berghman, J. 1995 â€Å"Social Exclusion in Europe: Policy, context and analytical framework† in Room, R. ed Beyond the Threshold: The Measurement and Analysis of Social Exclusion University of Bristol, Policy Press Bradbury, Bruce, Stephen P. Jenkins and John Micklewright (2000), ‘Child Poverty Dynamics in Seven Nations’. Innocenti Working Paper, No. 78 Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. Bryman, A 2nd ed. 2004 Social Research Methods Oxford, Oxford University Press Duncan, G.J., Gustafsson, B., Hauser, R., Schmauss, G., Messinger, H., Muffels, R., Nolan, B., and Ray, J.-C. (1993). ‘Poverty Dynamics in Eight Countries’. Journal of Population Economics, 6: 295–34. Durkheim, E. 1952 Suicide London, Routledge Esping-Anderson 1990 The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism Cambridge, Polity Giddens, A 4th ed 2001 Sociology Cambridge, Polity Weber, M. 1930 The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism London, George Allen and Unwin Weber, M., 1965 The Sociology of Religion London, Methuen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient accessed 28/4/06 http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/ie6.html http://hampshire.edu/~apmNS/design/RESOURCES accessed 28/4/06 1 Footnotes [1] This is the terminology used by the researchers see page 10 of the study [2] This working paper apparently forms part of a collection of such papers on child poverty. The researchers continually refer back to issues mentioned in other papers without elucidating what these issues are. [3] Again the paper refers back to issues covered in other papers without indicating what these issues are. [4] For example, the UK figures in BJM Chapter 3 (the UK is defined as Britain and Northern Ireland) are based on the Family Expenditure Survey while the results for Britain in this paper are based on the British Household Panel Survey. [5] By ‘median income for children’ we mean the median of the distribution of children, ranked by the value of equivalised income of their household (p, 15 ibid). [6] This is a measure of inequality of distribution which is often used in the measurement of income levels. It is a measure between 0 and 1 where 0 corresponds to complete equality and 1 to complete inequality [7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient accessed 28/4/06 [8] http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/ie6.html Ten Critical Traits of Group Dynamics | Article Analysis Ten Critical Traits of Group Dynamics | Article Analysis With the industrial revolution and latest globalisation effects, competitive nature of businesses has increased more than ever. In order to survive in this modern competitive world, businesses must find solution to their problems faster and also it is more important to do their work more effectively. With that companies have identified that collaboration or in other words, group or team works will find more creative solutions for the problems that they are facing as modern day businesses. Therefore more and more companies nowadays use teams as a part of their organisational strategies. On the other hand as the Article has mentioned in its introduction, the issue is, putting some people together and expecting them to work effectively as a group would rarely work. Therefore understanding the term Group Dynamics and Group Processes and effectively manage them in groups is becoming more important. The article Ten Critical Traits of Group Dynamics which was written by Helene F. Uhlfelder who is a PhD holder in educational psychology has acknowledged the importance of identifying and improving the Dynamics of groups and teams in organisations in order to improve their effectiveness and performance. Further the author has introduced 10 critical traits that can be used to categorize group dynamics. Finally the article has mentioned the importance of assessing groups regularly in order to find issues that are facing groups and how those traits can be used to improve group dynamics in order to build effective teams. Main objective of this assignment is to summarize the given article giving my opinion on the main argument of the article. For that task various sources will be researched including text books, online journal articles and some other web sites. And the complete article will be summarized in a critical manner giving my views on necessary points using the research findings and my own experiences on the subject matter. The Main Argument of the Article This article mainly discusses the importance of 10 traits that have been identified by the author, which can be used to categorize dynamics of groups. According to the author these traits can be used to identify any areas that groups need to improve and areas that they are good at. The author argues that by doing so groups or teams will be able to work together more effectively and increase their performance levels. When analysing the article it can be seen that the author has successfully explained her argument more clearly with providing examples and covering many supplementary topics which are required to further clarify and make it easy to understand the main argument for the audience. Helene Uhlfelder has covered many technological terms like Group Dynamics, Group Process, and has defined the difference between Group and Team before explaining about the 10 critical traits. Although the article has explained group dynamics and group process before explaining what is group and team, as I believe in order the article to be more logical the author could have explained terms like Group and Team first. If the author has assumed that the readers having the knowledge about those terms then she could not have covered them later. Anyhow to begin with explaining the term group and team would be appropriate. Group and Team The term group is defined in the article as situations where two or more people coming together in order to achieve a common purpose. Further it is mentioned that in a group people should interact each other, depend on each other and they should have a task to realize. According to the article the team also a group, that is in a work environment. The author has mentioned various characteristics that are possessed by teams. It is and intact social system with boundaries. Therefore who is in the team and outside the team can be clearly identifiable. There is interdependency among members. Members are collectively responsible for the tasks to be performed. Operates in an organisational context and therefore members have relationship with other members of the organisation. It is obvious that the author has comprehensively explained the terms group and team using various sources and in different contexts like systems terms. But she has overlooked the theory of group formation, which could have added great value addition to the article. As the author has mentioned various stages during some parts of the article, it would be a necessary part to be explained. Group Formation According to (Luthans, 2008) there are five stages that are generally recognized as stages of group formation. Forming this stage is characterized by uncertainty and confusion. Members are testing the appropriate behaviour for the team. Storming in this stage leadership will be determined. Intragroup conflicts are common. Norming Members settle down into conformity and cooperation. Performing The group will perform the task that they were grouped. Adjourning After the task is completed group will disband. Group Dynamics and Process According to the author either positive or negative, group dynamics exists in every group and hence teams. Although authors definition about group dynamics and processes a bit confusing at the end of that particular section she has given a simple explanation to identify those terms distinctly. According to that group processes are simply referred to as specific processes used by group members and leaders whereas group dynamic is defined as forces and dynamics of the group as a whole. It is found in literature research that the term Group Dynamic has been defined in many different ways. According to (Forsyth, 2010) it was first defined by Kurt Lewin, as the processes of the ways groups and individuals act and react to changing circumstances. According (Luthans, 2008) another view on group dynamic identifies it from the viewpoint of the internal nature of groups like how they are formed, structure and processes, how groups function and affect its members After explaining basic definitions and concepts the author moves her discussion into the main content of this article, the 10 critical traits. Ten Critical Traits According to the author, using 10 critical traits approach it is possible to characterize group dynamics and identify issues that are faced by groups. Those 10 critical traits include, safety, inclusion, free-interaction, appropriate level of interdependence, cohesiveness, trust, conflict resolution, influence, accomplishment, and growth. Helen Uhlfelder has explained them comprehensively using examples to make them easy to understand by the readers. Safety according to this trait team members need to feel safe within their teams and members of the team should be safe from any disruptive behaviour of other team members. Inclusion all members should be allowed to participate with equal opportunities. Everyone should be taken as members of the group and efforts should be taken in order to include new and quiet members. Free interaction there should not be any restrictions on which members interact with which members and every member should be allowed to interact with others. According to the author teams can become less effective when only few members are allowed to interact with the leader. Appropriate level of interdependence there should be an appropriate balance between individual needs and group needs. It is mentioned there the important of sense of belonging and affiliation that comes from being interdependence as well as maintaining individual identity. Cohesiveness members should feel as they are a part of a team. Without the attraction of cohesiveness a group can fall apart. Therefore it is very important that members having a bond or affiliation among them. Trust team members should trust each other and they should trust the leader. There should be consistency between what they say and do. Conflict resolution as any team could face conflicts at any stage there should be a way to resolve those conflicts in order to continue the team work. Influence there should be ability for team members to influence other members. They should be able to motivate each other. If there is no method to influence members through usage of reward and punishment productivity could be minimized. As the author has mentioned it is very important to make sure that influence will not be confused as control because controlling can lead to group problems. Accomplishment team should be able to complete its tasks. They should possess skills, knowledge to do their tasks. If they cannot perform their duties frustration would lead to conflict. Growth As in any situations group members should have opportunities to grow. Also as a team they should be able to learn and growth. Otherwise boredom can result in failure in the group. When looking at those traits it is obvious that those traits in nature would help teams to achieve its goals by eliminating group issues. But one weakness of this finding is that the author has not ranked the order of importance of these traits. Perhaps one could argue that these all could be equally important. But according to my point of view some traits are certainly superior or more important than others. For example cohesiveness, conflict resolution, etc. could be more important than growth or influence, because first, the group must work together and achieve their goals. Other things like growth, etc. comes next to that. However it can be clearly said that these 10 traits would (although few traits could be more important than others) help groups or teams to achieve their goals and improve performances. Benefits of 10 Critical Traits According to the author these 10 traits can help teams or groups in great ways by helping them to identify weaknesses and strength of their group dynamics. Therefore she suggests that organisations can use a form that includes those 10 critical traits in order to evaluate teams. According to the article teams can be assessed in 5 scores continuum. Also it is important to assess teams on regular basis in order to keep and improve their performance levels. As the author explains, this evaluation can be done by any person who is not in the team, given that he has required evaluation skills. Further it is noted there that this tool can be used to evaluate a team in any development stage and find out their dynamics and processes in order to improve them. There are several steps that need to be taken after evaluation is done, The assessor should meet team members and provide reason for the score that they have got for each criterion. Appropriate actions should be taken for traits that are scored below 3. Action plans can be implemented to resolve issues. Team should celebrate scores over 3 and reinforce them in order to retain and improve performance. Last step is to follow this procedure regularly again and again after agreed time period. As I understand this is the most important part of this article, because this can be really used by any team in real world to improve their performances. Instructions are clearly given using examples. Therefore nobody would find any difficulties in implementing this. Ultimately through this procedure teams will be able to improve group dynamics and group processes and will be able to build powerful teams and improve their performance level. But there are some drawbacks in this method itself as it has not addressed all issues that could affect the performance of groups or teams. Shortcomings of the 10 Traits Method When analysing the article in depth it is clear that the author has failed to identify some of the important aspects of group and team management that are identified by other researchers and authors. Those aspects could directly affect the outcome of the group in terms of performance and effectiveness. For an example phenomenon like groupthink and groupshift that could hinder the ability of the group to come into quality decisions by evaluating alternatives objectively. According to (Robbins, Millett, Waters-Marsh, 2004) groupthink is related to the group norms. It describes that with the pressure from group to conformity group may eliminate unusual, minority or unpopular views from evaluating when making decision. Groupshift is a situation where when group arriving at a decision they could go for more risky decision as members initial positions are exaggerated toward more extreme positions. Further (Robbins, Millett, Waters-Marsh, 2004) has identified many factors that could affect group performances than the group dynamics that have been identified by the author of the article through her 10 critical traits. Size of the group, availability of resources for a group to perform, effects of social loafing, etc. could affect the outcome of groups greatly. From the shortcomings mentioned earlier it is clear that the phenomenon of groupthink could clearly contradict with cohesiveness trait that she has mentioned in the article. She has mentioned that cohesiveness as an important dynamic in performance. Without cohesiveness a group can fall apart. But she has failed to mention the limit of cohesiveness because as mentioned earlier, extreme cohesiveness can cause groupthink and ultimately affect the effective decision making in the group. Conclusion Putting some people together and expecting them to work effectively as a group would rarely work. Therefore understanding the term Group Dynamics and effectively manage them in groups is important. The author of the article has mainly discussed the importance of her 10 traits method in categorizing group dynamics in order to identify and manage any areas that a group/team need to improve or they are good at. The author argues that by doing so groups or teams will be able to work together more effectively and increase their performance levels. The article has organized its arguments in a logical manner and has introduced many theories and concepts that need to understand the main argument of the article. Apart from few adjustments that I suggested in the analysis part of this assignment, it can be concluded that the author has succeeded in those aspects. Further the article has written in simple English that is a good point because readers will be able to understand the content of this article easily. In addition to that the author has provided lot of examples to make readers understand complex theories and concepts more clearly. When critically evaluating the article, it is found that those 10 critical traits are actually important and very practical in evaluating and managing group performances except for few drawbacks that were discussed in the body of this assignment. Those drawbacks include the failure to mention some of the important aspects that could affect the performance of groups, like groupthink, the size of the group, effects of social loafing, etc. Finally it can be concluded that if any organisation follows the method that the author has suggested to evaluate group/team dynamics and manage them with taking care of the additional points that I have mentioned earlier, organisations will be able to increase performance and effectiveness of their groups/teams.