Non farming activities in india Essay

Dairy – It is a common activity in many villages. People feed their buffalos on various kinds of grass and the jowar and bajra that grows during rainy season. Then the milk is sold in nearby villages and towns. It is alos transported to far away towns and cities. A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk – mostly from cows or goats , but also from buffalo , sheep , horses or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned with the harvesting of milk.kaloram Shops – People involved in Trade(shopkeepers) buy various goods from wholesale markets in the cities and sell them in the village Some villagers sell rice, wheat, sugar, tea, oil, biscuits, soap, toothpaste, batteries, candles etc.. People whose houses are close to the bus stand use a part of the space to open small shops. Some sell eatables like pakoras, samosas etc.. Transport – Transport is another major activity of villages.People with rickshaws, tongas, tractors, truks, bogey and bullock carts are the ones in the transport service and they transport goods and services from one place to another and in return get paid for it. —————————————- Cottage Industry in Indian Villages Another major occupation in Indian villages is the cottage industry. Cottage industry has emerged as a major source of employment in Indian villages over the period of time. Many villagers are occupied in various kinds of art and crafts works. The villagers produce different types of handicrafts products and many of them are earning their livelihoods by marketing them. The occupations like artisan in wood, cloth, metal and leather have been in existence in Indian villages, since the ancient period and are found even in the modern times. Many Indian villagers are dependent on these occupations to earn their livelihoods. The women in the rural areas, too are actively getting involved in different industries like matchbox and firework industries, Bidi making, agate and  slate industries, coffee and tea industries, brick industry, construction industry, electronics industry, spice industries, etc. Among these, the Bidi, slate or brick making industries are the most well spread industries in Indian villages. Apart from these industries, the Indian villagers have also become sweepers and scavengers. pottery :Pottery being an age old handicraft in India, the roots of the India pottery industry can be traced back to the earliest times of civilization. The beginning of pottery making trails back to the Neolithic era. During the time of the Indus Valley Civilization, this effective art form improved with technology. In the present day, the pottery industry in India has been put forward as a major cottage industry as well as on the contemporary lines in both small and big pottery concerns.India along with several other developing countries of Asia is considered as one of the first Asian countries to manufacture as well as export products of pottery. The pottery industry in India provides mass employment along with betterment of the living standards; both the village and city people comprise the work force of the industry. . tie and die:Tie-dye is a process of tying and dyeing a piece of fabric or cloth which is made from knit or woven fabric, usually cotton; typically using bright colorsDifferent forms of tie and dye have been practiced in India.Bandhani also known as Bandhej is a type of tie-dye practiced mainly in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, India Bandhej in Rajasthan is a traditional form of tie and dye which began about 5000 years ago. It is the oldest tie and dye tradition still in practice. Large scale industry: Large scale industries refers to those industries which require huge infrastructure, man power and a have influx of capital assets. The term ‘large scale industries ‘ is a generic one including various types of industries in its purview. it thus provides job many villagers Indian economy is heavily dependent on these large industries for its economic growth, generation of foreign currency and for providing job opportunities to millions of Indiansjaintia factories of rajgarh chips and namkeen .carpentery=the carpenter is one of the five useful articians of the villages Carpentry is a skilled trade in which the primary work performed is the use of wood to construct items as large as buildings and as small as desk drawers.

Case on Air Deccan

Case Study Strategic management Evaluation II AIR DECCAN: REVOLUTIONISING THE INDIAN SKIES Air Travel in India For decades, air travel in India was meant for the most elite and powerful in society. An overwhelming majority of travellers who could not afford the prohibitive air travel fares, preferred to journey on trains and buses. The revolutionizing effects of liberalization swept India with dynamic changes in the aviation sector. From being a service that few could afford, the sector has now graduated to being a fiercely competitive industry with the presence of a number of private and public airlines and several consumer-oriented offerings. In ten years of competition in the aviation sector, private airlines have changed the rules of the game, and they now account for more than 60 % of the domestic aviation market. More and more middle class families in India now prefer air travel to the more traditional travel by train. In 2003, 10 million Indians travelled by air domestically. In 2004, 25 million took to the skies within India and 6 million Indians travelled abroad. The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation estimates that the domestic Indian market will add 5 million passengers every year for the next five years, growing to 45 million passengers by 2010. Today, the relationship of domestic to international travel stands at 40:60 whereas in 1994 it stood at only 25:75. But taking into account a growing middle class with increased and increasing purchasing power, there are 200-210 million potential spenders. The Indian population grows at a rate of 8% per year. Around 100 million travellers every day on state-owned Indian Railways, If air travel bites into even a small percentage of this huge pie, that’s still clearly a tremendous growth opportunity. The entry of budget airlines like Air Deccan, the introduction of cheap airfares by other domestic carriers, combined with rising incomes and consumption of the middle class as also their growing aspirations, have created this new paradigm: Air travel is no longer for the elite. Air Travel Market The new entrants have caused a shift in the market share for the old hands. The three legacy airlines, Jet Airways, state-owned Indian and Air Sahara, saw their market share slipping in first quarter of this year. Jet Airways, still the leader, found its share of market volumes slipping with 34. 9%. Indian at 23. 9% and Air Deccan at 10% followed suit. Low-cost airlines are certainly giving a tough time to full service carriers whose market share has dipped, as has their revenue. Fares have been slashed drastically and both Jet Airways and Indian are wooing the consumers with special schemes and promotions. Several new entrants such as Air Deccan, SpiceJet, GoAir, Kingfisher and Paramount have begun to dot Indian airspace, garnering a market share of more than 31% in the first quarter of 2006. The leader among this brat-pack is clearly Air Deccan – the airline has doubled its market share to 15. 2 per cent. Kingfisher and SpiceJet have captured a market share of 8. 3 per cent and 6 per cent respectively. Coimbatore-based Paramount Airways has publicly confirmed garnering 0. 3% of the market. Jeh Wadia’s GoAir is also going great guns by cornering 1. 6% of the air traffic in a short time span. These airlines took to the skies after the first quarter of last year. All the airlines have seen an increase in the number of passengers carried in the first quarter. With all the start-ups planning significant increases in capacity this year — Kingfisher (fleet may go up to 20 planes), Deccan (38 planes), SpiceJet (12/14 planes), Go (7/9 planes) and Paramount (10 planes) — the market is set to sizzle. The market is gearing up for an adventurous ride of price wars as six more low-budget airlines waiting in the wings – Jagson Airlines, King Air, Mega Airways, Indus Air and Megapode Airline. IndiGo has made its entry as well, with ambitious plans to induct 100 aircraft into its fleet. According to analysts, airfares will continue to nosedive, as nearly 200 new aircraft will be added to the existing 250 aircraft in the country. All this translates to further downward revision of fares and packaged offers for passengers. Lessons The case is replete with illustrations of how Captain Gopinath crafted the company from scratch. He went on a ‘boot strapping' mode, which is the hallmark of a successful entrepreneur. The constancy of purpose, focus and humility are evident. His ability to sense opportunities from chance encounters (such as a visit to the USA or the Southeast Asian countries) are out of the ordinary experience. These and many other qualities are a ‘must have' list of qualities of a successful entrepreneur. Anyone aspiring to succeed in an entrepreneurial venture will do well to emulate these qualities, among others. Rise of Air Deccan â€Å"It hit me like a ton of bricks. This country has a population of a billion, but only 15 million air passengers. May be the time is right. If one billion people can fly, and we get a miniscule percent of the market, imagine how big that will be? It's not an impossible dream. † – Captain Gopinath, in The Hindu, Sunday, August 15, 2004 Air Deccan, India's first Low-cost Airline (LCA), started off with more of a whimper than a bang in September 2003 with an aborted maiden flight from Hyderabad that didn't quite make it off the ground when a fire broke out in one of its engines. Adding to the embarrassment was the presence of the then Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Pratap Singh Rudy and other senior Indian politicians on the flight. The press had a field day criticizing the ‘maestro behind the mayhem ‘Captain Gopinath, the Managing Director of Air Deccan. There were many prophesies of doom by competing airlines and industry analysts who were convinced that the bad publicity with which the airline took off would drive away customers. Captain Gopinath, however, remained unfazed and calmly went about doing what he did best succeeding at the task that he had set out to do. Making a shaky start with just two ATR turbo-prop aircraft in September 2003, Air Deccan now operates 75 flights a day to around 32 destinations in India and has increased its fleet to three Airbus 320's and seven ATR 42's. This flock of aircraft is constantly growing. As of March 2004, Air Deccan has recorded annual revenues of $120 mn (Rs. 5520 mn) with a passenger load as high as 83% across sectors and some routes like Bangalore-Hyderabad and Bangalore-Goa, recording 100% loads (Exhibit 1 and 2). In December 2004 Captain Gopinath cut a deal with Airbus, the world's largest manufacturer of civil aircraft, for the purchase of 30 A320 aircraft valued at over $1. 4 bn. The delivery of these new aircraft will commence in 2007. While the airbus will operate on trunk routes, the smaller airports will be connected with ATR's. The company has signed a deal with ATR for supply of 30 aircraft over the next few years, of which half will be on lease and the rest will be purchased. A distinctive strength of Air Deccan vis-a-vis any of the big three airlines in the country (Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Sahara) is its ability to penetrate into the small towns of India. This provides the company almost an exclusive access , to 75% of the population of the country that lives in small towns and rural areas. Air Deccan has been instrumental in getting the Government to open up many of these small town airports, some of which had fallen into disuse over the years. In contrast to the swanky airports of the big cities Such as Mumbai and Chennai, these more modest cousins need very little investment on the part of the government to recommission them and the ‘airport terminal’ is often no more than a tin shed or a thatched hut. But according to Captain Gopinath, ‘What the hell, they serve their purpose’. This obsessive focus o costs and functionality is perhaps what best epitomizes the philosophy of the main behind Air Deccan. The Low Cost Business Model: A popular mantra Air Deccan triggered the race to the bottom in the low cost sector. Their model forced the industry to move from having simple economy, business and first class fares, to multiple slab tariffs such as apex fares, internet auctions, special discounts, bulk purchases and last day fares. Some of the tariffs offered are so low that they have brought airline fares neck-to-neck with upper class railway fares. This low cost model is two-fold: offering connectivity between smaller cities and major metros and making air travel a feasible option to a new class of passengers. The features and benefits of the model are listed in the table below: Features| Benefits| Ticketless travel & Online ticket sales| Reduction of huge costs of printing| No international offices| and processing tickets. | Use of secondary city airports| Lower landing and parking costs in| No frequent flyer points| secondary city airports| No free food & beverages/in-flight magazines| High seat capacity due to nil storage of food| No club lounges| Minimal training (of pilots) and| Same aircraft types | maintenance (of spares for different types of aircrafts) costs. | Separate ticket for each sector/flight|   | No premium class|   | Short haul flights| Quicker turnaround and higher aircraft utilization | Challenges and constraints still persist: * India is a very cost conscious society, hence market is very sensitive to air fares * Internet based solutions limited-Bandwidth restrictions and low internet penetration * Changing needs of the business traveller puts more pressure on the travel agents to offer wide variety * Travel agents still the first choice for air bookings * While aviation is centrally managed, the regional structure of India’s government and regulations, combined with the often regional management of airline companies, has created a fragmented market for corporate travel. STRATEGY The challenges that the company has to face are now only beginning. In the initial stages of the company, many of the established players (Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Sahara) would have trivialized the company and not expected it to reach the level it has reached now . Suddenly, the company has appeared as a big dot on the radar screen of  these well-established players. The existing paradigm is that running an airline requires large funding, something that Captain Gopinath lacked. Hence, the existing players would have concluded that this venture was bound to fail. However, there was a lot of  entrepreneurial creativity manifested by Captain Gopi that helped him make his dream a reality, and today Air Deccan is a force to reckon with. Besides, many other ‘me too' low cost airlines are already on the anvil. The Government and the realities are also things to reckon with. Participant teams may identify other challenges as well. How Captain Gopi and his team will deal with all these identified challenges will make observation interesting. Strategy as per the porter’s force model: Kingfisher Red Oct. 17–MUMBAI, India — Kingfisher airlines has signed up with Air-Deccan to buy out the Bangalore-based low-cost airline's extra ASKMs (available seat kilometres) on category 2, 2A and 3 routes. The Vijay Mallya promoted airline will buy about 800,000 ASKMs for the months of October and November, which will enable it to continue its expansion on the metro routes. The DGCA guidelines require airlines flying on the primary routes to fly a certain percentage of their total flights on other, less popular routes. Growth: Indian Travel is on a roll†¦here’s why In India, travel and tourism activity is expected to grow by 8. 0% per annum in real terms between 2007 and 2016. As per World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), India will emerge as the second-fastest growing tourism economy globally between 2005 and 2014, second only to by China. Successful promotions such as the Tourism Ministry's hit â€Å"Incredible India† multimedia campaign and the budget air travel boom are reckoned to have contributed to the tourism gold rush. Summary: Indian Skies are experiencing a new dawn: * Rising income and consumer confidence in key markets-personal travel demand on an increase * Travel liberalization gathering pace * Leisure travel increasingly more affordable * Low Cost Carriers are reshaping air travel, leading to regional liberalization * Branded hotels with air routes have discovered India in exotic places like Goa and the North East * Airport privatisation of Mumbai and Delhi progress and confidence develops in creating tourism infrastructure

Subculture, Taste Culture and Counterculture Theory Essay

Subculture, Taste Culture and Counterculture Theory - Essay Example An analysis of subculture, counterculture and taste culture theories must also be thrown into the mix, for they also help explain music scenes and the impact that scenes have on society, and vice versa. Lastly, a broader view may be taken by examining rock and music from a sociological perspective, as scenes are not just emblematic of their localities but are also a part of a larger societal fabric that encompasses larger groups and people, and it is also helpful to place scenes into a certain time as well. Therefore, this paper aims to explicate each of these topics, as well as present examples of particular musical scenes, to show how and why society is impacted by these scenes. Music scenes, and music in general, must be understood as influential by examining the scene’s role in the larger discussion of culture. â€Å"Culture† is a general term for how an individual finds meaning and collectively make sense of his or her world (Cushman, 1996, p. 7). It is how partici pants interpret events and communication to understand the modern world, and is the outcome of concrete experiences of the individual social actors in their social world. It is through making culture that individual and collective identities are formed (Cushman, 1996, p. 7). Culture has its roots in mans relationship to other men and to nature. (Hall, 1964, p. 318).

Two Different Art Forms Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Two Different Art Forms - Assignment Example Two sculptors namely, Daphnis of Miletus and Paionios of Ephesus designed the statue. The dying gladiator portrays an injured Celtic fighter in anticipation of death in the arena. The sculpture depicts a living-dimension marble of a singular amidst the sculptures of bronze bestowed at Pergammon. King Attlos I erected the statue to honor his wins over the Gladiators who had raided Asia during the 239 B.C. The dying Gaul imitates a miserable gladiator sitting on his shield tired and given up. The sculpture shows a perforation on the warrior’s right lung on its lower lobe. The Gaul is either dying because of the bleeding wound or the enemy might inflict another fatal injury at any moment. The sculptors are sensitive in the application of the principle of proportion. The warrior is seated at the middle with his sword and shield dropped besides him. The viewers would focus on the main statue of the gladiator and his weapons. Michelangelo designed the Pieta sculpture between 1498 and 1499, which is currently housed in Vatican City. The sculpture exposes Mary holding the body of Christ in her laps immediately his body was taken down from the cross. The statue outstands amongst others because of its inability to express proportionality. In common situations, it would be specious for a woman to hold a man in her laps due to the size and weight. Mary’s body is concealed with Christ’s body in her arms. Nevertheless, the statue is magnificent, and other artists commend it for the outstanding manifestation of creativity (Ragionieri, 2008). According to Giorgio Vasari, the sculpture will remain as the best despite other artists’ innovations. Michelangelo employs the harmony principle to outline the homogeneity of the sculpture throughout the work. A painting refers to the technique of art that incorporate the application of paint on other surfaces either in an image or as a beautification. Paintings have meanings

Evaluation of the Responses Made by Dretske as Pertains to Chisholms Assignment

Evaluation of the Responses Made by Dretske as Pertains to Chisholms Claims - Assignment Example It was the philosopher Fred Dretske who took to investigating the various claim that was made by the late Roderick Chisholm who postulated that intentional states could only possibly be mental states. In making this claim, Chisholm was seen to derive the claim mainly based on the thesis proposed by Franz Brentano the nineteenth-century philosopher in his book â€Å"Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint†. Chisholm’s Claim that Intentionality cannot be naturalized and Dretske’s Response to the Claim A key feature of various mental states is their actual content. An example is that in the event that I essentially believe it will snow, my actual belief as at the moment can be seen to represent a state of the weather and when I chance to see a dog, I become perpetually aware of that cat. My innate belief that it is eventually going to rain may be seen to be inaccurate or accurate, my perception as to the existence of the cat may be imprecise or precise and my desire to be loved my eventually be satisfied or unsatisfied. Brentano postulated that intentional states were essentially solely mental states and thus distinguished mental states from the physical states because they are objects of awareness and non-spatial in nature. Brentano further contends that this perceived ‘intentional inexistence’ is generally exclusive to psychical phenomena and that there are no physical phenomena that can essentially be said to have it (Feldman & Feldman 2008). The Intentionality of thought can basically be accounted through mental expectations, semantics, and language. All these factors serve to actively demonstrate psychological intention and therefore cannot be explained in non-intentional or non-psychological terms. For Chisholm intentionality cannot essentially be naturalized because it is impossible to identify any such psychological fact with a physical fact. For Chisholm, the use of various intentional sentences essentially means that all our currently existing beliefs about various psychological phenomena an essentially be sufficiently expressed through them although it is impossible to do so for physical phenomena (Feldman & Feldman 2008). A good example of this is the sentence ‘Diogenes searching for an actual honest man†, this sentence can be perceived to be an intentional statement because it is seen not to rely on the relative veracity of there necessarily being an honest man or not.  Ã‚  

Information Goods and Information Markets Essay

Information Goods and Information Markets - Essay Example According to him, one has to experience at least some amount of an information good before deciding to buy it, because only through experience one can come to know to what extent the commodity is worth buying. According to Coiera (2000), other goods like oranges or batteries do not require these pre-use since people know that they would meet their expectations. Another major characteristic of information goods is that initial production cost of such goods is higher whereas the marginal cost of reproduction is very low. In addition, regardless of the high cost, most of the information products like music, books, sound track, web pages are highly vulnerable to re-production or copying. Another finding of the author regarding information goods is that unlike other goods or services, information is never consumed. For instance, digital information can be copied exactly whereas normal goods cannot be copied this way. Hence, the laws of supply and demand ‘do not easily apply to many information goods’. Finally, unlike other normal goods, information can be easily transmitted across communication networks in bulk at lower costs or for absolutely free of cost. Since information goods are prone to copying, producers must create some form of monopoly in order to ensure profit from producing and selling information goods. ... 117) comments, information goods will be sold for no cost if marginal cost is zero. The market involves numerous other issues as well despite the current copyright laws. Pirates have easy access to various information products illegally as there is no unanimous international regulation in this regard. As Coiera (2000) finds, if free access to information is the goal of a producer, the current feasibility is an advantage whereas if the producer intends to raise revenue from information provided, the advantage turns to be a challenge. Hence, in order for making profits from information goods, one has to create monopoly by acquiring a patent or copyright, although property theft is still likely. The tactic is termed as ‘avoidance’ which mainly involves avoiding the production of ‘information goods that must be traded in such openly competitive environments’. Coiera believes that the avoidance tactic would make considerable amount of delay for the product to rea ch pirates by when the creator would gain revenue. Another tactic which information sellers normally apply is attaching the brand identity to their products or websites so as to help customers to differentiate the original products from the pirated ones. Yet another recent trend in the market is the pay-per-view model. This tactic allows the producer to charge the customer only for particular visit or for getting access to specific information. Selling the particular product bundled with other several products is another technique used by information sellers. The logic is that only a potential buyer would be willing to buy the whole package even at higher costs. Creative pricing and marketing is another useful tactic information producers can try to enhance their revenue. To

Discussion Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion Questions - Assignment Example If I were to create a code of conduct I would include ethical consideration such as honesty, professionalism, and cooperation. These three traits are essential in any negotiation process. I believe that in theory gender is not suppose to play any type of role in a negotiation process. The fact that the people involved are of different gender is not suppose to matter at all. Of course cultural relativism must be considered when dealing in international negotiations. For example when dealing with parties from countries such as many middle east countries were women do not have the same privileges as men it would not be wise for an American company to send a team of women to negotiate with a group of Arab businessmen who would be bias and would not respect the women. I do not think one gender is better than another, but it is reality that men have had more experience than women over the years due to the injustices of the past which implies that there are more men with the skills and abilities necessaries to succeed at the negotiating

Tesco's Recommendations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tesco's Recommendations - Essay Example However, it was with the oncoming of the 1990s that Tesco began its international expansion and began to channel extensive resources towards innovation in its marketing strategy to reach consumers (Clark, 2008). This paper shall attempt to shed light on Tescos current standing in the consumer market and the effectiveness of its current marketing strategies in order to develop a set of recommendations for Tesco to sustain and improve its market share and profitability. It is also imperative to realize that Tesco has chosen to exercise extensive product development and market development by adding products and services that are non-food but provide consumers with high levels of utility. This strategy is one that has proven to be extremely beneficial for Tesco over time (Chaffey, 2008). While this innovation on the part of Tesco may make it difficult to soundly place Tesco as a grocery retailer, the fact remains that Tescos fundamental sales items remain those that pertain to groceries. The approach is one that is found by Tesco in the concept of the investment in growth. Growth, according to Tescos strategy, is the development of availability and accessibility for consumers to Tesco (Corporate Watch UK, 2004). An example can be found in the fact that Tesco more than often chooses to make use of an opportunity to open an Express Store rather than letting it go by. With regard to the effectiveness of the current marketing and strategic outlook of Tesco, it can be observed that Tesco is currently recognized as a reliable and acknowledged brand amongst European consumers and is in a condition that can be considered stable enough to bring forth an expansion plan into the market (Corporate Watch UK, 2004). It would be appropriate for Tesco to move forth from market penetration approaches to product development strategies (Marivic Butod, 2009). Needless to say, the question of the

Case Study on Organisational Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Case Study on Organisational Change - Essay Example Case issues While analysing the given case scenario, it is clear that the takeover of the ‘Star’ by the ‘Iron Cage’ caused the Star to move from a highly profitable company to an underperforming company. The major identified issue is that the business acquisition raised severe challenges to the Star’s innovativeness as the resulted organisational change prevented the company from effectively dealing with experimentation. Undoubtedly, this adverse situation negatively affected the Star’s market competitiveness since thoughtful experimentation and frequent innovations are essential for the sustainability of a chemical company operating in a progressive niche-market. Declining employee loyalty was one of the main reasons for the Star’s failure. According to the author, the business takeover led to the formation of a coercive worksite environment and hence this excessive bureaucracy by Iron Cage top management persuaded Star employees to cha nge their view from â€Å"it is my company† to â€Å"it is just the company I work for† (Grieves, 2004, p.233). In addition, Star employees did not get extensive exposures to demonstrate their creativity due to the parent company’s over-involvement. ... Such a situation adversely affected the formed organisation’s managerial activities and ultimately operational efficiency. The most potential reason for Iron Cage’s break up is that the organisation failed to ensure the active involvement of Star employees. In short, it can be asserted that over-dominance of Iron Cage management over Star employees ended up in the Iron Cage’s break up and sell off. Case study analysis The company’s failure could have been avoided if the Iron Cage had efficiently dealt with the change management subsequent to the Star acquisition. The case study clearly indicates that the Ice Cage management was not thoughtful in integrating two entirely different organisational cultures. The Iron Cage tried to coordinate quality assurance systems and achieve cultural integration by installing a managing director from its own ranks. The organisation did not consider any of the Star’s top executives for this change management process. In addition, the parent company had done nothing proactive in preparing Star employees to adapt to a new organisational environment. The Ice Cage’s business integration strategy was against the business ethics of change. According to Audi (2012, pp.46-50), the idea of business ethics is of greater significance in ensuring an organisation’s sustainability as this concept is a key to tool to achieve employee loyalty and reputation. Similarly, the Iron Cage management did not give any importance to Star employees’ problems and opinions. In contrast, the parent company tried to suppress the ideas and suggestions of Star employees. The case study clearly indicates that Star’s managers were not satisfied with the language of the

Factors influencing students' choice towards private universities Research Paper

Factors influencing students' choice towards private universities - Research Paper Example Malaysian universities offered similar facilities in their colleges at a much lower cost with the sole aim of luring in the students going to Australia and New Zealand for higher studies. The Klang Valley region in Malaysia, also known as the Kaula Lumpur Metropolitan, became the hub many foreign students visiting the country for higher studies. There are nearly 7.5 million people in this region with ample number of students. At present there are over 8000 foreign students in the area. The Klang valley is connected to its neighbouring suburbs and cities through well structured RapidKL Light Rail Transit (LRT) and various other road and rail services. The infrastructure of the area is highly responsible for its flourishing trade and increasing number of HEIs in the area. Klang Valley can be reached easily from any part of Kaula Lampur and the adjoining cities. Malaysia has over 16 private universities and more than 4 foreign collaboration universities. Most of them are situated in the Klang Valley region of the Selangor state. The number of foreign students in the country increase from just hundreds in 1990’s to more than 12500 in 1999 after the introduction of the Higher Education Act in 1996. The Malaysian government’s liberalization policy in education attracted both foreign students and local students equally. However, foreign students who had more choices were targeted specifically by the HEI's in Malaysia. The private universities in Malaysia were mostly small self-financing colleges until the early 1990's. They grew massively like mushrooms in a rainy season only by mid-1990. The IT revolution which transformed the economy of many eastern countries was partly responsible for this. The...From the student perspective they are wide variety of technology oriented courses starting from 6 months duration to full-fledged management courses ranging for nearly three years or more. They feel the courses offered in the Malaysian universities are much e asier to complete as the teaching method is more or less similar to the Korean education system. Whereas the western universities offer only selected courses and limited time to complete the same in student visa. Further, the academic standards expected by the Western universities are also very high. Obtaining a degree from the foreign collaboration university in Malaysia is much easier than studying directly in the western countries and it still gives them a competitive edge over others having degrees from domestic universities. Culture, cost and the chances to win better jobs easily are the three main push factors attracting high number of Korean students towards the Malaysian HEIs.

Learning Theories Essay Example for Free

Learning Theories Essay Lev Vygotsky, born in the U. S. S. R. in 1896, is responsible for the social development theory of learning. He proposed that social interaction profoundly influences cognitive development. Vygotsky’s key point is his belief that biological and cultural development do not occur in isolation. Vygotsky approached development differently from Piaget. Piaget believed that cognitive development consists of four main periods of cognitive growth: sensory motor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations. Piaget’s theory suggests that development has an endpoint in goal. Vygotsky, in contrast, believed that development is a process that should be analyzed, instead of a product to be obtained. Marcy P. Driscoll stated (as cited in Riddle, 1999) that â€Å"Vygotsky believes the development process that begins at birth and continues until death is too complex to be defined by stages†. The major theme of Vygotsky’s theoretical framework is that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition. Vygoysky states: â€Å"Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological) (Funderstanding, 2001). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals. A second aspect of Vygotsky’s theory is the idea that the potential for cognitive development is limited to a certain time span that he calls the â€Å"zone of proximal development† (ZPD). Vygotsky believed that this life long process of development was dependent on social interaction and that social learning actually leads to cognitive development (Kearsley, 1998). Vygotsky describes it as â€Å"the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through Learning Theories 3 problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers† (Funderstanding, 2001). In other words, a student can perform a task under adult guidance or with peer collaboration that could not be achieved alone. The Zone of Proximal Development bridges the gap between what is known and what can be known. Vygotsky claimed that learning occurred in this zone. Therefore, Vygotsky focused on the connections between people and the cultural context in which they act and interact in shared experiences. According to Vygotsky, humans use tools that develop from a culture, such as speech and writing, to mediate their social environments. Initially, Children develop these tools to serve solely as social functions, ways to communicate needs. Vygotsky believed that the internalization of these tools led to higher thinking skills (Riddle, 1999). When Piaget observed young children participating in egocentric speech in their preoperational stage, he believed it was a phase that disappeared once the child reached the stage of concrete operations. Driscoll states (as cited in Riddle, 1999) â€Å"in contrast, Vygotsky viewed this egocentric speech as a transition from social speech to internalized thought†. Thus, Vygotsky believed that thought and language could not exist without each other. Vygotsky’s theory was an attempt to explain consciousness as the end product of socialization. For example, in the learning of language, our first vocal noises with friends or adults are for the purpose of communication, but once mastered they become internalized and allow â€Å"inner speech†. Traditionally, schools have not promoted environments in which the students play an active role in their education and in the education of their friends. Vygotsky’s theory, however, requires the teacher and students to play untraditional roles as they collaborate with each other. Instead of a teacher dictating the lessons to students and later evaluate them, a teacher should collaborate with her students in order to create meaningful ways that students can make their own evaluation. Learning then becomes a reciprocal experience for the students and the teacher. Learning Theories 4. The physical classroom, based on Vygotsky’s theory, would provide clustered desks or tables and work space for peer instruction, collaboration, and small group instruction. Like the environment, the instructional design of material would be structured to promote and encourage student interaction and collaboration. Thus, the classroom becomes a community of learning. Because Vygotsky asserts that cognitive change occurs within the Zone of Proximal development, instruction would be designed to reach a developmental level that is just above the student’s current developmental level. Vygotsky proclaims, â€Å"learning which is oriented toward developmental levels that have already been reached is ineffective from the view point of the child’s overall development. It does not aim for a new stage of the developmental process, but rather lags behind this process† (Social Development, 1996). Appropriation is necessary for cognitive development within the zone of proximal development. Individuals participating in peer collaboration or guided teacher instruction must share the same focus in order to access the zone. Samuel J. Hausfather states (as cited in Riddle, 1999), â€Å"joint attention and shared problem solving is needed to create a process of cognitive, social, and emotional interchange†. Furthermore, it is essential that the partners be on different developmental levels. In addition, the partner that is on the higher level needs to be aware of his partner’s lower level. If this does not occur, or if one partner continually dominates, the interaction is less successful. Scaffolding and reciprocal teaching are effective strategies to access the zone. Scaffolding requires the teacher to provide students the opportunity to extend the current skills and knowledge. Hausfather reports (as cited in Riddle, 1999) â€Å"the teacher must engage students’ interests, simplify tasks so they are manageable, and motivate students to pursue the instructional goal. In addition, the teacher must look for discrepancies between students’ efforts and the solution, control for frustration and risk, and model an idealized version of the act†. Learning Theories 5 Reciprocal teaching allows for the creation of a dialogue between students and teachers. This two-way communication becomes an instructional strategy by encouraging students to go beyond answering and discussing questions. A study (as cited in Riddle, 1999) demonstrated the Vygotskian approach with reciprocal teaching methods in their successful program to teach reading strategies. The teacher and students alternated turns leading small group discussions on reading. After modeling four reading strategies, students began to assume the teaching role. Results of this study showed significant gains over other instructional strategies. Cognitively Guided Instruction is another strategy to implement Vygotsky’s theory. This strategy involves the teacher and students exploring math problems and then sharing their different problem solving strategies in an open dialogue (Riddle, 1999). Vygotsky’s social development theory challenges traditional teaching methods. Historically, schools have been organized around recitation teaching. According to Hausfather, (as cited in Riddle, 1999) â€Å"the teacher disseminates knowledge to be memorized by the students, who in turn, recite the information back to the teacher†. However, the studies described above offer empirical evidence that learning, based on the social development theory, facilitates cognitive development over other instructional strategies (Riddle, 1999). School structure does not reflect the rapid changes that society is experiencing. Opportunities for social interaction have greatly increased with the introduction and integration of computer technology. Therefore, the social context for learning is transforming as well. Learning relationships can now be formed from distances through cyberspace, whereas collaboration and peer instruction was once only possible in shared physical space (Bacalarski, 1994). Computer technology is a cultural tool that students can use to mediate and internalize their learning. According to Kathryn Crawford (as cited in Riddle, 1999) â€Å"recent research suggest changing the Learning Theories 6 learning contexts with technology is a powerful learning activity†. If schools continue to resist structural change, students will not be as prepared as they should be for the world. Lev Vygotsky lived during the Russian Revolution, a time of great change in his culture. His theory was that biological and cognitive development does not happen apart from each other. These two developments sustain and grow from each other. This is when learning takes place. Because of this theory, his environment of change was a great influence in his own cognitive processes. Learning Theories 7 References Bacalarski, M. C. , (1994). Vygotsky’s Developmental Theories and the Adulthood of Computer Mediated Communication: a Comparison and an Illumination. Retrieved November 7, 2003 from http://psych. hanover. edu/vygotsky/bacalar. html. Funderstanding, (2001). Vygotsky and Social Cognition. Retrieved November 7, 2003 from http://www. funderstanding. com/vygotsky. cfm. Kearsley, G. , (1998). Social Development (Vygotsky). Retrieved November 9, 2003 from http://members. aol. com/daidpeal/vygotsky. html. Riddle, E. M. , (1999). Lev Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory. Retrieved November 7, 2003 from www. kihd. gmu. edu/immersion/knowledgebase/theorists/constructivism/vygotsky.

Effects of Terrorism on Businesses and Economy

Effects of Terrorism on Businesses and Economy Terrorism has deep history since the cold war but this issue became most salient after terrorist attacks in September 11 2001 and July 7 2005. According to U.S department of state (2002), more than 3000 people of different nationalities were killed in the terrorist attacks in September 11, 2001. These attacks were the conspicuous example of terrorism on global level. Terrorism affects businesses around the world in both the long term and short-term. Czinkota (2004) cited that terrorism influenced long-term karma of entire industries, for example tourism, retailing and manufacturing industries. There are number of definitions of terrorism, which are complex and deliberate different dimensions. Alexander et al (1979) define terrorism as a threat or absolute use of enforcement and inclemency to achieve a political goal bye means of intimidation fear, and coercion. The beginning of 21st Century changed the world drastically and the first reason behind this was the incident, which occurred on September 11 2001. The devastating terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. On this date, the whole world came into shock when America was under attack. The second incident, which happened on 7 July 2005 in London added fuel to fire. As both these countries are the main economies of the world, these incidents had a hue impact on businesses all around the world. In this assignment, we will try to find the overall impact of these incidents left on the United Kingdom businesses. We will also focus our attention on the changes and new developments which happened, after these two events, in UK organizations. This threat of terrorist attacks poses a continuous atmosphere of risk for all businesses in UK. This risk itself creates extension for treatment of risk in management theories. The majority of management literature theories adopt the term uncertainty as a factor of unpredictable environment, which may influence the performance of organization in certain ways. The environment effected by terrorism also has a factor of unpredictability in it. 2. Effects of terrorism on UK economy and businesses: According to the European Commission 2001 report, terrorists direct their attacks against businesses for more than any other target. Terrorism can bring any organisation or economy to its knees because of its fear and businesses fear for more attacks may happen, so they afraid to operate as normal. Increasing cost of security and putting new systems in place can cost huge amount of money to businesses ultimately decrease in the market value of businesses? Terrorism has its massive effects on UK economy and business activities. It affects deleteriously on businesses strategies and most businesses operating in the effected areas gets impact from the thrust of government policies to quell terrorism. Businesses internationally and locally are particularly affected by terrorism because when incidents like 9/11 happen, it disrupts the supply chain and disturbs business activities in addition to interrupting information flows. It also effected on the industrial demand as well as consumer demand. This falling demand may have different outcomes which may comprises of losses of customers contracts, customer trust, reduced share of the market and a significant decline in sales, all of which could lead to business failure. For example according to the report of BBC 22 July 2005, Bombs will cost just UK tourism alone; Â £300 million. Terrorism has direct effect on UK organizations, somehow indirectly affects on buyers, which definitely declines in buyer demand creates unpredictable shifts, interruption in supply chain, disruption in the flow of policies, regulation and also has a wide impact on the macroeconomic factors of the country. Czinkota et al (2004) cited that over all every factor in economy gets the impact of terrorism and definitely responds to the action of terrorism. Modern terrorism is particularly onerous, because of characteristic of its time. The impact of terrorism on macroeconomic is crucial, customers feel themselves in stress and some kind of continuous fear, which definitely effects the spending patterns. When terrorist attacks happened in New York and London, they affected businesses in a direct and indirect way and disrupted the economic process. Both of these attacks were on the main economic cities of the world trade. To make the effects of the terrorist activities stronger, terrorist groups targeted public and private organizations. Businesses are more attractive target for terrorist as their presence is everywhere and their aftermaths are deeper on society and on the economics. 2.1 Direct effect of terrorism on businesses: Direct effects of terrorism comprise of instant and immediate consequences of terrorism. According to London Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2005 report, after the World Trade Center attacks, the IFM downsized its forecast of UK economic growth by 0.6% from 2.4% to 1.8% and according to Office of national Statistics data UK actual growth was 1.6%, which was weakest economic growth for more than a decade. According to the Institute of Directors report in 2002, after New York attacks 20% of private organizations had increased business security, 52% of organizations carried regular risk assessment to assess their vulnerability to attack. The effects of 7th July 2005 London bombings on UK organizations was even severe than the September 2001 attacks. The business confidence in London has slumped to the lowest levels not seen since the eve of Iraq War 2003. Number of UK organizations was expecting that the economy will improve in coming year but a dramatic slump given the -16% balance seen in the first quarter of the year. In August 2005, The Bank of England reduced Interest rates by one-quarter percent to improve economic conditions. The attacks brought bad time for the London not just in seasonal but economic term as well. According to Time Online (2005) UKs economic growth was seen to be the weakest since 1993. Many organizations respondents reported that their employees were scared to travel on public transport and preferred to travel by cars or taxies which lead to increased travel costs. For the people and organizations, which effected individually the loss was quite tragic. Moreover, direct effects include sudde n increase in cost of product, decrease in production and output of firm, and loss of valuable human capital. 2.2 Indirect Effect: 2.2A Change in consumer demand heterogeneously: While the indirect effects of terrorism in UK include prominent decrease in buyer demand, unplanned shifts and negative interruption in supply chain. Its also compel authorities towards the new policies and their immediate implementation. Indirect effects also include foreign relations of the UK organizations and countrys governments, which affects trade. According to Loewenstein et al (2001) specifically indirect effects contains demand of consumer that may interrupt the deal of purchase or supply. It is evident that industry operates according to the demand of buyer. This is infecting a widespread of common fear of individuals, which in results decline in demand of industrial goods. Daniel Steel (2008) narrates that economic research also has roots in correlation and among behaviour and emotion. The negative emotions like state of fear definitely effects consumer behaviour, even after the happening of those events Czinkota et al (2004) narrated that there may be need of making of policies, laws, and regulations for public and private organization in reaction to these terrorist attacks. Whilst these actions are intended to improve security conditions, they also cause delays in efficient business operations. 2.2B Indirect effects on organizational operations: The other indirect effects of terrorism on UK organizations was discontinuity in supply of essential goods, services and resources and sometime unplanned shifts. These problems cause serious impact on the operation of organizations. In July 7 London terrorist attacks on local transportation and logical system (supply chain) effects badly on businesses around London. Due to suspension of supply chain all businesses struggled and also decrease in efficiency of organizations. It is common problem, while in terrorist attacks, the short-term shortage of services, good, input raw materials and components occurs; it took certain time to recover from this kind of shortage. 2.2C Macro economic phenomenon: The macro economic phenomenon of London and New York terrorism was visible decline in per- capita income, decrease or sudden change in stock market value and increase in unemployment. Such trend affects the UK economy and consumer expectation. The long run impact was decrease in export and declines in GDP and tax revenues and the living standard of people. 3. Dealing Terrorism Shaped BCCM Planning: In this part we will critically analyse the different management approaches and strategies, which could be helpful for organizations to deal with the global crises like September 11 2001 and London Bombing 2005. In this part of the assignment will evaluate performance and adaptation of suitable strategy by organizations on different kind of business activities and scrutinize the different business strategic views, which an organization can adopt for minimizing the effects of terrorism. We will also discuss different ways that organizations can benefit in term of increase in profit and minimise the impact of terrorism. With the threat of terrorism, organizations have to focus on the particular resources which are available to deal with these threats. Except terrorism, there are some other threats (financial and non-financial) which are also effect the organizational performances at the same time, organizational management have confine resources and mental steam to deal with effects of terrorism. 3.1 General strategy: According to Alexander Dean C (2004), terrorism is a possibility, or it leads toward appearance of other possibilities. This kind of act effects producer and as well as consumer psychology, its behaviour of consumption and its buying patterns. The impact of terrorism effects specifically in economic, industrial, political and legal context of external environment. 3.2 Consider Terrorism as a factor while planning: Within the significant increase in risk of terrorism and uncertainty in the field, now all UK organizations are making policies or developing future strategies by considering terrorist threats. Organizations also need to include terrorism as a risk factor; selecting and targeting the potential threats and indentifying the different sources of threats are the most important tasks for organizational managers, while developing future strategies to grow and run the business locally or globally. 3.3 Sourcing, production and distribution: By considering the operation of the organization in value chain that directs it toward production of products and their development. Increasingly most of the UK organizations are getting their supplies from all over the world. The bitter risk of terrorism affects the internationally complex system of value chain. Mostly terrorist groups attack on the sites of organizations and their logistic system directly or indirectly. The indirect impact of terrorism is the imposition of new rules and regulations, which emerges suddenly in the reaction of attacks by the government sectors which cause disruption in value chain movements. Due to the negative interruption in supply chain, it causes difficulties for organizations to fulfil the production orders and customer demand. Due to tight security regulations at borders of all countries, a lot of the businesses have difficulties while fulfilling their operations. For example, Royal Mail suspended vehicles from moving between central London sites and in and out of London for the bulk of the day in July 7 2005. At least 25% of UKs mail move through London every day even if the final destination is elsewhere. The distribution and logistics are one of the most important direct and in direct impacts of terrorist attacks on UK organizations, thats why this became the duty of senior managers to incorporate the risk of supply chain in their future planning. Mentzer (2001) cited that most of the organizations have established system of value chain, which may helps organizations in getting raw material and goods from their suppliers and necessary components from all over the world. This is common practice for various organizations, due to globalization decrease in trade barriers and a secure supply chain infrastructure and advance telecommunication sources. The risk of terrorism is a major threat and challenge for the supplier organizations. As long as the organizations are expending their businesses around the world, the impacts of risk are also increases on the operations of the organizations. Accordingly, organisations have to plan the arrangements to reduce the thrust of terrorism and its consequences on the supply chain structure of companies. According to Ghemawat and Del Sol (1998) overall the companies focuses themselves to find out the other possibilities in order to make available the supplies for dealing in the competitive envi ronment in the emergent of risky conditions. Flexibility directs towards versatility, which is a potential to act alter activities and apply adapted activities, for fulfil the need of the specific situation. 3.4 Consequences of terrorism on Pricing: Organizations have to change price plans according to change in environment. Pricing is one of the fundamental factor which effects with the impacts of terrorism. For example in UK after Terrorist attacks, the insurance rates charged by insurance firms in big cities (like London, Manchester) where terrorist attacks occurred or had a higher chance of occurring, were much higher compare to small cities. Transportation companies may also charge a higher rate for carrying goods from or to risky areas. Similarly, uncertain environment of business pulls organizations to think about their pricing strategy. The sudden effect of terrorism is increase of necessary products like oil and food supplied etc. because of their shortage. Transportation companies charge higher fairs because of high risk to move into that area. Organizational management have to keep in view uncertainty while defining and developing the pricing strategy. The situation of commodity market is relatively different, where prices may fluctuate quickly with the flow of information, the price must soften in for those commodities. 3.5 Global strategy vs. multi domestic strategy: All UK organizations those who adopted multi domestic strategies had relatively less impact of terrorism of 07 July 2005 and 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks than those adopted global strategy. As far as the risk and fear of terrorist attacks increases, the theories emphasise more on multi domestic strategy in contrast with global strategies, which establish more meaningful ways to deal with uncertainty. According to Ghemawat and del Sol (1998) some of the resources may reduce the flexibility of organizations which in results cause interruption in performance of the business internationally, these resources are highly location specific and according to the demand of local markets. 4. Conclusion London is an economic centre and making the capital safer to do business in should be national priority for the Government. Different research suggest that London business community is not safer than it was before 07 July 2005 attacks. According to LCCI report, majority of UK organizations still perceive that there is very high risk of terrorist attacks in London again. This perception has fallen since last year and more than half of UK organizations have contingency plan in place to deal with terrorism effects on business. Studies show that the economic impact on UK organizations has not been as severe as initially feared. Many organizations resumed services on 7 July 2005 and next day they started delivering as normal. Many organizations, those who had no contingency plans, started work to have one and other started to update their existing plans to minimise the effects of these attacks. However many UK organizations revealed that 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks had vary little tangible impact on them and business confidence had affected for the short period. However, it had huge impact on very important sector of London economy such as tourism, transport (trains and airlines) and retail sector. UK employment market has not increased since 7th July 2005 attacks but employment terms were already bleak in London before attacks. Many organizations were expecting unemployment would increase in coming years before July 2005 attacks. Nevertheless, in reality London economy shook off the impacts of 11 September 2001 and 7 July London terrorist attacks. It is evident from history that an unexpected and lengthy critical situation affects performances of organizations. The terrorist attacks in London and New York gave deep shocks to the businesses. Sometimes messages from these terrorist groups, that they can attack anywhere with extremely harmful weapons, results in businesses losing confidence and increased costs to the businesses and economy. Many organizations still have fear of terrorist attacks on the businesses although the UK government is trying to protect the public and private organizations. The targets of the terrorist are usually both kind of locations, public buildings like agencies etc, and private sector like business offices of staff of companies. At present majority of organizations are well prepared for any sort of sudden and unexpected terrorist event compared to July 2005. The basic purpose of this study is to identify the impact of terrorism on businesses and how BCCM planning can help UK organizations to reduce the impact of terrorist attacks. For minimizing the impacts of terrorism managers develops different kind of strategies and sometimes managers can easily recover loss and can get continuous increase In profit if they choose right strategy for pricing in the response of terrorist attack. 5. Recommendations: All organizations need to provide educational programs to all staff regarding terrorism and help them to prepare themselves for unexpected events like terrorism. Government needs to provide intelligence support to help deal with terrorism effectively. Businesses need to strengthen the relationship between themselves for detecting and fighting terrorism. To encourage organizations, government need to offer disaster recovery loans and other loan guarantee programs to help organizations to recover form destruction of terrorism. As the threat of terrorism increasing, so while evaluating international and domestic marketing strategies, managers have to consider effects of terrorism on businesses. In order to targets markets managers have to select those markets and industry zones where the threat of terrorism is at lowest or comparatively less effected. As the rapid increase in the risk of terrorism, it is necessary for organizations to discover and develop the methods of supply chain and other channels of distribution, and adopt new strategies for logistics related channels. For long term, prospective organizations may bring diversification in their supplies, by increasing in the number of supplier.

Research proposal

Research proposal Introduction The research proposal you are about to read is constructed in order to describe the research project I will execute. I will execute this research project in order to finalize the educational program ICT in Business at Leiden University. In this proposal I will give the objective and explain the methodology of this research. First, I will start with an introduction of the topic and the theoretical background. The research will be hosted and supervised by Getronics Consulting and will be executed at the Business Unit Innovative Technology (BUIT). The time span of this research will be 24 weeks. Industry This research will be focused on the Dutch ICT consultancy industry. This industry suits my interests and the knowledge I gained during the educational program ICT in Business. Getronics Consulting Getronics Consulting is an ICT Consultancy firm which operates in various markets like financial, industrial, educational, public and healthcare. Getronics Consulting advises companies on their ICT-strategy and executes ICT reorganizations based on knowledge about current ICT-architectures. They streamline and integrate people, process and technology in order to create a reliable ICT-architecture which is accessible anywhere at any time. Getronics Consulting has already 20 years experience in IT Service Management and has a working force of 1400 experienced professionals. The ambition Getronics Consulting wants to be known as the opinion leader in the area of leading standards and advanced information and communication technologies. Business and ICT-trends are translated into concrete and usable products and services. They state that every business process needs another ICT approach and call themselves architects of the invisible. The approach In their approach in improving ICT-services, they consider all aspects of the organization: people, products, partners and processes. From that perspective, Getronics Consulting offers support in setting up and optimizing ICT organizations. The philosophy is to enable employees to do their work more efficient. Business Unit Innovative Technology The Business Unit Innovative Technology (BUIT) is a competence center in the field of Web Content Management and (collaboration) portals. The customer base includes diverse organizations throughout the Netherlands varying from government, energy, media and logistical service providers. The tools used by BUIT are SDL Tridion and Microsoft SharePoint. The execution of successful ICT projects is based on the collaboration between People, Process and Technology. These technologies used by BUIT support the customer needs in various ways and are part of Enterprise Content Management (ECM). Enterprise Content Management The Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), also known as the ECM association defines ECM as: The strategies, methods and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content and documents related to organizational processes. ECM tools and strategies allow the management of an organizations unstructured information, wherever that information exists (AIIM, 2008, What is ECM?, para.1.). The solutions offered by BUIT are within the manage category. This category has five traditional application areas (Kampffmeyer, 2004): Document Management (DM) Collaboration Web Content Management (WCM) Record Management (RM) Workflow/business process management (BPM) BUIT has the focus on two application areas: collaboration and WCM. The customer needs are supported with different solutions (Tridion SharePoint) around the latter mentioned application areas. The approach Getronics Consulting brought structure into the approach of their projects. They based this approach on the experiences of projects executed in the past. These experiences are bundled into best practices which are based on the eBusiness Development Cycle. The eBusiness Development Cycle consists of six phases. I will elaborate on these phases to give an explanation of the most important activities. Strategy Knowing the mission, vision and goals of the customer is important in order to determine in what direction that organization wants to move. A clear business case is delivered which describes the added-value of the desired solution. Secondly, a conceptual blueprint is created. This blueprint will describe the building blocks of the system in a functional as well as a technical manner. A flexible and modular architecture is the fundamental idea which enables functionalities to be added in the future with minimal adaptations. This blueprint will also function as a starting point of the second phase. Preparation During this phase, several analyses will be done. First, together with the customer, the sources of information which need to be opened up are identified. In other words, what kind of business content does the customer have and for what purpose. Secondly, a prioritized list of the desired functionalities is created. This document will describe the need-to-haves and the nice-to-haves. Also, a scan of the infrastructure is performed in order to compare the current infrastructure with the desired infrastructure. This scan will identify possible technical bottlenecks. After these analyses, the organization itself will be analyzed in order to get a general picture and to see how the new solution would fit in. The main purpose is to define which processes, responsibilities and tasks are related to the helpdesk, technical management and functional- or application management. Finally, all he information gained from the analyses will be the input of the project plan. This plan will be created based on the project management methodology Price2. Design During the design phase, several designs will be expanded in detail. These designs are the basic foundation of what should be built during realization. The designs to be delivered are: infrastructural design, graphical design, functional design and technical design. Acceptation criteria will be written down by the customer. These criteria will be used at a later stage in order to test if the delivered product matches the customers criteria. Every implementation needs its acceptation. Acceptation within the organization is a crucial factor of the success of an implementation. Therefore, an integration plan is created which describes the tasks, responsibilities and processes in such a way the customer understands how they should deal with them. Realization The designs of the latter phase are approved and BUIT will start with the implementation of the infrastructure and the development of custom components. External functionalities and connections will also be realized. Finally, all the realized functionalities will be tested according to the acceptation criteria before the actual implementation takes place. Implementation During this phase, existing content will be migrated to the new system according to the migration plan. The users of these new functionalities will be trained properly. Also, the implemented system will be tested in order see how it performs and what kind of influence it has on the environment. The users are the last ones testing the system. Again, this is based on the acceptation criteria. During this test, the users will investigate the usability and user interfaces of the system. Bugs, found during the tests will be fixed and last but not least: the system will go live including the communication to the end-users. Maintenance The maintenance phase is the operational situation after implementation of the complete system. The emphasis of this phase lies on proper documentation in order to simplify and support future developments and decisions. If necessary, backup- and monitoring processes can be arranged. In the end, an evaluation of the project and its output will be executed. Customer needs The customer requests received by BUIT are especially about online collaboration and the publication of business information (Web Content Management). Today, these processes are supported by internet technologies. The following sections will elaborate on these customer needs. Web Content Management Customers have the need to maintain business information in an easy and intuitive way and make it accessible for those who are authorized to see the content. Information should not be scattered around the organization accessible via different platforms, but via one central platform. Organizational members should also be able to add content to this platform. Adding and maintaining information is one thing, finding the information is another important feature. Organizations have the need to find information via one central search engine which mines different business information sources. Some information is confidential and should only be accessible via the intranet. Organizations can also have the need to share information with the outside world. Think about jobs, news etc. Collaboration Collaboration, essential for improving productivity, becomes more and more important as global market opportunities and competition increase (Soriano, Lizcano, CaÃÆ'Â ±as, Reyes, Hierro, 2007). Today, there are all kinds of collaboration platforms available. BUIT is specialized in Microsoft SharePoint. Microsoft SharePoint is an enterprise platform which supports organizations with collaboration. SharePoint enables people to access diverse resources of information via one platform regardless the devices they have available (Microsoft, 2009). Interest in new technologies BUIT notices the emergence of new technologies and is interested in how these new tools are able to support their current and near-future customer needs. With these new technologies I refer to Web 2.0 technologies. BUITs assumptions about Web 2.0 are not rare. Some researchers come up with statements which add even more question marks. According to Tedennick (2006) Web 2.0 technologies have the advantage of adaptability to the business environment and responsiveness to changing business information needs. He argues that Web 2.0 technologies may offer real benefits in business environments where information plays a vital role. Bughin and Manyika (2007) say that Web 2.0 technologies rely on user collaboration. For BUIT, this raises a couple of questions. What should we do with Web 2.0? Should we embrace Web 2.0, if yes, why? And what are the benefits of Web 2.0 when supporting our customers needs? Web 2.0 Nowadays, new technologies emerged under the label Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is a label coined by OReilly (2005) to describe new patterns which emerged due to the changes occurred by the use of internet. These patterns do not describe the technology but describe the way people share information, contribute to collective knowledge, collaborate and interact with each other. Although this explanation is not about technologies, technologies play a significant role in Web 2.0. As Shah et al. (2005) state in their essay about Web 2.0: The technologies behind Web 2.0 provide a richer user experience and make use of information in unique ways (Introduction, para.1). Theoretical background Like many researchers and organization the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) has also his own opinions about Web 2.0. They state that: Many organizations see value in using Web 2.0 tools or social software within their organizations for improved collaboration and innovation, and this is then often referred to as Enterprise 2.0 (AIIM, 2008, What is Web 2.0?, para.2). The AIIM (2008) defines Enterprise 2.0 as: a system of web-based technologies that provide rapid and agile collaboration, information sharing, emergence and integration capabilities in the extended enterprise (What is Web 2.0?, para.1). An important link with this study is that Web 2.0 seems to improve collaboration (AIIM, 2008). Organizations, mainly located in the US are planning to maintain and increase investments in technologies which encourages collaboration (Bughin Manyika, 2007). Unfortunately, the literature gives no evidence about the Dutch interests and investments in Web 2.0. Tredinnick (2006) has the most interesting statements regarding the interests of BUIT. He claims that The key to Web 2.0 is harnessing the ways in which users use information to add value to information (either through direct or indirect user-participation) in creating the information sources that they use (p.232). This is in relation with the current customer needs. As you could read in chapter 2, in the most abstract form, customers have the need to publish information and enable the access to multiple sources of information. Another conclusion of Tredinnick (2006) suggests a benefit for the customer needs: Web 2.0 technologies also allow a far greater degree of collaboration in the creation of content. (p.233) Not only Tedinnick talks about Web 2.0 benefits regarding collaboration. Soriano et al. (2007) says that: Enterprise 2.0 provides enterprises with new models and tools for emergent collaboration and co-creation (Introduction, para.1). Clearly, Web 2.0 has a relation to customer needs regarding WCM and collaboration. Unfortunately, we do not know which elements of Web 2.0 offer what kind of benefits. It would be interesting to know which specific Web 2.0 patterns can offer benefits in supporting the customer needs described in chapter 2. Web 2.0 design patterns OReilly described his ideas about Web 2.0 through seven design patterns: 1) the web as a platform; 2) harnessing collective intelligence; 3) data is the next Intel inside; 4) end of the software release cycle; 5) lightweight programming models; 6) software above the level of a single device and, 7) rich user experience. The web as platform The internet can be seen as a platform through which the users are connected and collaborating with each other. The platform can be seen as the core which binds the elements of Web 2.0 together. Facebook implemented the pattern: the web as a platform. Facebook, an online social network enables people to connect with each other and share and access information. Their mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected (Facebook, 2010). Facebook (2010) also provides the programmatic interfaces that make it easy, quick, and efficient to share and access information. Harnessing Collective Intelligence Today, the web connects 1.7 billion users with each other (Internet World Stats, 2010). The web enables these users to add content to the web and collaborate with each other. This means users are collectively participating. They bring structure to information by tagging the information (OReilly, 2005). Arguing about topics in their blogs (short for Web Log) and sharing their knowledge trough online encyclopedia like Wikipedia (OReilly, 2005). Data is the next Intel inside The web is all about finding, sharing and enriching information. Amazon, the online store for books and electronics gets his information about books from ISBN registry provider R.R. Bowker. Amazon and its users enrich this information by adding covers, previews, comments and reviews about the books. The ISBN registry is also available to the competitors of Amazon, but the value added by amazon and their users is hard to copy by competitors. The enriched information is therefore Amazons Intel inside. End of the software release cycle Normally, software is released when totally finished and tested. When this is not the case, it gets labeled as Beta which indicates that the software is not totally finished and needs some testing. In the world of Web 2.0, users are the testers and provide the vendor with feedback, or even help improve the software by co-development. This beta version gets updated regularly but never becomes a final version. Vendors use real time monitoring to track user behavior in order to make changes in their software (OReilly, 2005). Lightweight programming models This pattern could also be explained by Web Services and RSS (Really Simple Syndication). Web Services are protocols which make it easier for different systems to communicate with one another automatically in order to pass information or conduct transactions. For example, a retailer and supplier use Web Services to communicate over the internet and update each others inventory systems (Bughin Manyika, How Business Are Using Web 2.0: A McKinsey Global Survey, 2007).These Web Services are lightweight and could be used to pull or push information between systems. RSS enables users to aggregate information from various sources. Users can subscribe to websites and blogs or other information sources. The content gets separated from its design and can be used anywhere. Software above the level of a single device In the Web 1.0 paradigm, the web was only accessible via a single device. Nowadays, the web is accessible via a wide range of devices e.g.: mobile phones, televisions, game consoles, MP3-playes, PDAs etc. These devices are connected to the platform which enables users to stay in touch virtually anywhere at any time. Rich user experience Last but not the least the rich user experience pattern is about the richness of an internet application. These applications are also called: Rich Internet Application (RIA). A RIA is an internet application, viewed via the web browser where the user experiences a richer environment which is comparable to a desktop application. Research objective The objective of this research is to investigate the benefits of Web 2.0 regarding WCM and Collaboration activities. In other words, what is the benefit for an organization to have Web 2.0 support their Web Content Management and collaboration activities? In order to see the benefits I will need to compare the old situation with the new Web 2.0 situation. With the old situation I refer to how the WCM and Collaboration activities are supported today. The new situation refers to a situation where an organization implemented one or more Web 2.0 design patterns in order to support their activities. Measuring the difference between the two situations requires a measurement instrument. Having the validation in mind, this should be the same instrument for both the situations in order to make a valid comparison. Therefore, I will use the conceptual framework described in chapter 5. The first step of this research is to find out which processes are demanding what kind of information properties and with what degree (e.g. high accuracy of information). The second step is to look at new technologies referred to as Web 2.0 and investigate how they support WCM and Collaboration. The focus is on the level of information properties. So, how do Web 2.0 design patterns perform regarding the demanded information properties. It could be that a design pattern causes information to be better accessible. Managerial relevance This research will be relevant because ICT Consultancy companies like Getronics Consulting gain insight in the benefits Web 2.0 might offer when supporting their customers processes related to Web Content Management and Collaboration. Due to the abstract approach of this research, near-future processes which require certain information properties could be matched with Web 2.0 design patterns. Academic relevance Nowadays, Web 2.0 is a hot research topic. Researchers are trying to find out how businesses are using Web 2.0 (Bughin Manyika, How Business Are Using Web 2.0: A McKinsey Global Survey, 2007); what impact Web 2.0 has on enterprise applications (Adobe, 2007) and Web 2.0 Business A pointer to the intranets of the future? (Tredinnick, 2006). The survey done by Bughin and Manyika tells us that the corporate world has a clear interest in Web 2.0 technologies. Respondents of their survey say they are using Web 2.0 technologies to: communicate with customers and business partners; help manage knowledge internally; share and gather ideas and for automation and collaboration. (Tredinnick, 2006) explored the application of Web 2.0 technologies to business intranets, and their potential use in managing and developing business information and knowledge assets. The latter mentioned authors lack to describe information properties required by the processes of the organizations and how Web 2.0 affected these properties. New knowledge could be created by finding out which and how Web 2.0 patterns affect the information properties. Another issue from the latter mentioned papers is that they mainly surveyed the US and only some European countries like: Germany, France and the U.K. Since this research will be executed inside the Netherlands based on organizational needs from Dutch companies, new knowledge could be created. Information requirements Organizations have all kind of processes which need to be supported. Today, many of those processes are supported with IT solutions. Davenport (1993) defines a business process as: A structured, measured set of activities designed to produce a specific output for a particular customer or market (p. 5). In short, the core of a process could be explained as: Figure 1: Core principle of a process. Depending on what kind of activity needs to be supported, emphasis is placed on different requirements of information (Davis, 1982). One business process could require high accuracy of information while another process would require less accurate but timelier information. When these requirements or properties of information are known, a suitable solution for supporting the business process could be selected. But how do we analyze which information requirements are demanded? Conceptual framework Wang and Strong (1996) conducted research in order to develop a hierarchical framework for organizing data quality dimensions. This framework contains several information requirements grouped into four categories. Wang and Strong (1996) conclude that the framework could be useful as a checklist during data requirement analysis (p. 23). This particular statement is interesting since one objective of this research is to analyze which requirements of information are demanded by WCM and Collaboration activities. As you may have noticed, the words data and information are used interchangeably. The word data is a Latin noun, datum, meaning something that is given (Bovee et al., 2002). For information the definition that information is, or contains, input or pieces of information (data) organized to some purpose will be used (Davenport Prusak, Stonie, as cited in Bovee et al., 2002 ,p4). Therefore, data and information will be treated synonymously throughout this proposal. The perspective from which the requirements of information will be measured is an organizational perspective. Other researchers (Bovee et al, 2002 and Katerattanakul Siau, 1999) used this model to measure the quality of information based on a user perspective. Within the context of this research, the organization can also be seen as the user who requires information to be: e.g. accurate or timely. Again, this framework proves to be a relevant tool required by this research. The framework contains 15 requirements grouped into 4 categories. Wang and Strong (1996) stated that this framework provides a basis for deciding which aspects of data quality to use in any research study (p. 22). Regarding this statement, I will have to determine the relevance of each information requirement. For the case studies (proposed in chapter 7) the data quality metrics: accuracy, relevancy, timeliness, interpretability and accessibility will be used. The latter metrics are the most commonly used metrics according to the reviewed literature (Bovee et al., 2002 and Kahn et al., 2002 and Lee et al., 2001 and Griffiths, 2005). Figure 2: A conceptual framework of data quality (Wang Strong, 1996) Research questions Main research question What is the benefit for an organization to have Web 2.0 support their WCM and Collaboration activities? Sub questions Some sub questions are posed in order to answer the main research question. These sub questions will gain more insight about the separate components of the main research question. Which properties of information are important regarding the processes which are currently supported by WCM and Collaboration? Which properties of information are offered by each Web 2.0 design pattern? How do the information properties offered by Web 2.0 patterns match with the information properties demanded by WCM and Collaboration activities? Research methodology Obviously, the main research question as well as the sub-questions cannot be answered without justified sources of evidence. You can imagine that a certain starting point is needed. Therefore, the methodology for this research will be an explanatory multiple-case study within Getronics Consulting and KPN. Herriott Firestone (as cited by Yin, 2003, p.46) say that the evidence from multiple cases is often considered more compelling, and the overall study is therefore regarded as being more robust. According to Yin (2003) a case study is best used when asking questions such as how and why. Since the sub-questions one and two are not how or why questions, these questions are operationalized. The data collection methods will be face-to-face interviews, documentation and archival records (system data). Case description As stated in the introduction, two case studies will be conducted within two different companies. First the Knowledge Sharing Expertise Building project within Getronics Consulting will be studied. Secondly, the social media platform KPN1 Connect within KPN will be studied. Knowledge Sharing Expertise Building (KSEB) Getronics Consulting recently initiated the KSEB project. Getronics Consulting has the need to capture and preserve knowledge gained by its employees. When an employee is working on a project and wants to know more about a particular subject, he should be able to find the right colleague(s) with the right expertise for addressing this particular subject. The KSEB platform will consist of different portals: Personal; Communities; and Knowledge Base. The personal portal will contain a public profile and a blog with posts. The communities portal will contain a community wiki and a community team site. News, a forum and shared documents will be present on the team site. The last portal, the knowledge base will contain a category site with documents. KPN1 Connect The project KPN1 Connect is initiated because of a specific need. KPN had the need to foster communication between all employees across the entire organization. They wanted communication to happen in an organic manner rather than a horizontal/vertical manner which is based on the employees hierarchical status. Therefore, a social media platform was launched earlier this year. This platform is an extension to their original intranet and enables employees to communicate with one another via weblogs (blogs) and short (micro blog) messages. Employees have their own profile which contains: name; function; professional expertise; professional interests; hobbies; and product expertise. In short, they can post blogs; short messages; photos; videos and reactions based on content posted by others. The platform also recommends other employees based on the content of the employees profile. And, last but not least, a sophisticated search function enables employee to find other employees and content posted by others. Case studies propositions The propositions of a case study are important in order to direct the attention into the right direction within the scope of the study (Yin, 2003). For both the case studies the same propositions are posed. The propositions are: Getronics Consulting is using Knowledge Sharing Expertise Building in order to support WCM and Collaboration activities. KPN is using KPN1 Connect in order to support Collaboration activities. Getronics Consulting implemented at least one Web 2.0 design pattern into Knowledge Sharing Expertise Building. KPN implemented at least one Web 2.0 design pattern into KPN1 Connect. Web 2.0 design patterns have an effect on the properties of information. Operational questions With the case studies I hope to answer the sub-questions stated in chapter 6. The following table presents how the sub-questions will be operationalized in a larger set of questions, and how they will be answered by each method. Question q1 will be answered with three operational questions. By answering the first, evidence should point out which processes the company wants to support and why with the use of this particular system. The second question is about the analysis of the content. The analysis should indicate what kind of information is stored and processed by the system, and how this information is tagged and related with each other. The purpose of the third question is to investigate what kinds of properties of information are demanded by the organization. This is regarding the processes and the kind of content stored and processed by the system. Question q2 will be answered with two operational questions. The first question will explore what kind of Web 2.0 design patterns are implemented and with what intentions. The second question will measure how the implemented Web 2.0 design patterns score according to the properties of information. Analyzing the results During the case studies, the data quality will be measured twice. First according to what the organization is demanding. For example: organization x has the activity of publishing content and ranks the accuracy of the information most important. Secondly the data quality is measured according to what the Web 2.0 design pattern can offer. For example: design pattern rich user experience causes information to be better interpretable. By analyzing both results the last sub-question will be answered: (q3) How do the information properties offered by Web 2.0 patterns match with the information properties demanded by WCM and Collaboration activities? References Adobe. (2007). The Impact of Web 2.0 on Enterprise Applications A strategy to improve business performance through software that works the way people work. CIO Custom Solution Group. AIIM. (2008). AIIM What is Web 2.0? Retrieved April 13, 2010, from AIIM: http://www.aiim.org/What-is-Web-2.0.aspx AIIM. (2008, Januari). What is ECM? Retrieved April 2010, from AIIM: http://www.aiim.org/What-is-ECM-Enterprise-Content-Management.aspx Baarde, B., Goede, M. d. (1995). Methoden en Technieken (2nd ed.). Houten: Educatieve Partners Nederland BV. Bouman, E. (2008). SmarTEST: slim testen van informatiesystemen. Den Haag: Sdu Uitgevers bv. Bovee, M., Srivasta

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Nick Sorantino Mrs.Micale Fairy Tale Research Paper January 17th, 2014 Sleeping Beauty Sleeping Beauty is a literary folk tale written by Italian poet Giambattista Basile. In Italy during the seventeenth century, a husband, regardless of his status in life, was expected to be the superior head of the household and show appreciation to his wife and child. A wife was expected to adhere to her husband, and the children were expected to be respectful and heed to their parents. Women were also wonted to be culpable for the family’s health and make home remedies for a wide variety of ailments. Defined, weakness is the likelihood of mutual gratification, and gullibility, the art of being over-trusting, are noted traits of women of medieval literature. Masculine presences are bourgeois and universal throughout literature, through the thought that they are essential to the female figure, despite women who stride against this belief. Male dominance has maintained its position throughout history, as portrayed in the original and modern form of Sleeping Beauty. In the original Sleeping Beauty there once lived a great lord who birthed a child by the name of Talia. Due to Talia’s horoscope, a splinter of flax was significantly dangerous to her wellbeing. Thus, her farther forbid her from coming in contact with a flax, hemp, or any related fabric (Basile 1). One day Talia saw a woman spinning flax and she became curious. Talia took the distaff from the woman, and unintentionally ran a splinter of flax under her nail, causing her to instantly fall dead. Upon mourning, her father laid her corpse in his country mansion, and abandoned it, vowing to never return to the treacherous sight of his beloved daughter, deceased (Basile 2). One day, a renow... ...(Yarrowplace 2). According to many feminists, their theory is said to focus on a expansive picture for women who live in a society which is prominently prevailed by men. Rape and sexual assault is viewed as one of the ways men in which achieve dominance over other men, women, and children, through potent actions. This evidently dismisses the concept that rape results from sexual attraction or the behavior and or fashion of the victim/survivor (Yarrowplace 2). When looking at human society, it is noted that men possess the most high ranking positions in political, social, religious, economic and military organizations globally. The dominance of men sequentially contributes to more fatherly societies in which the men develop the decrees and laws. The laws and decrees are indeed structured in methods that justify the status quo and thus the prevalent positions of men.

Act One, Scenes Six and Seven in Educating Rita :: Educating Rita Plays Willy Russell Essays

Act One, Scenes Six and Seven in Educating Rita Re-read Act 1 scenes 6 and 7 of Educating Rita. How does Willy Russell suggest that these scenes are important stages in Rita's development? When we speak of the way that Rita is educated we speak of two different types of education. Frank is Rita's teacher for both these types of education as he is a person who Rita looks up to and 'idolises' to an extent. Not only is she educated in English Literature to gain a qualification, but also she is also educated to make the transition from the lower social class towards the middle one. Rita also sees Frank as someone to look up to, as he is where she wants to be in life. Scenes six and seven come roughly half way through the play. This is significant because we are looking at Rita halfway through her challenge of gaining an Open University degree and her challenge of becoming the person she truly wants to be. The play is centred on two main characters, Frank, a middle class, alcoholic University tutor and Rita, a working class, scouse hairdresser, who are very different. Rita decides to enrol on an Open University English Literature course in order to try to create a better life for herself. Her tutor for this course is Frank. However at first Frank tells Rita to find a new tutor, but Rita refuses and they continue to work together. Frank's fondness for Rita continues to grow over time and he warms to her and her witty, individualistic nature. However Rita's quest to further her knowledge is troubled by her husband Denny's disagreement with what she is doing. Yet this simply fuels Rita's ambition more and leaves her hungry for success. Rita is more passionate about gaining the qualification than ever when she goes to see a production of 'Macbeth,' so much so, in fact, that she even buys the book. Rita shows how much her relationship with Frank means to her when she goes to tell him first thing the next day: ' But listen, it wasn't borin' it was bleedin' great honest, ogh, it done me in.' Having watched the professional production, Rita displays excitement and enthusiasm and has an eagerness for more. Rita's attitude changes from her expectations of a boring play to sheer astonishment that she enjoys it so much. Rita watches with an open mind and she herself is surprised that she enjoyed the play and the general atmosphere so much. She expresses this to Frank by informing him that at one point she wanted to stand up and shout: 'I was on the edge of me seat at