Human Communication Process in the Small Group Context Essay

Question #5 How would you rewrite some of Lam’s comments to show how he could have paraphrased what Kelli, Ryan, and Tamika said? â€Å"Tyler has been late to meetings, because he has been caring for his sick parents. Because he his late and missing meetings, we are missing his part of our assignment. Let’s just go ahead and get started and try to finish tonight. If we need another meeting, we can meet at my place to give us more room, instead of meeting in this old stuffy room.† It’s good to paraphrase because, it lets to previous speaker know if you understood what was said. If incorrect, the message can then be delivered in another way, so that the listener understands the message the speaker it trying to make (Galanes & Adams, 2010). This allows for effective communication. Question #6 Which of the eight major categories of nonverbal behaviors are most relevant to this study group? Several of the eight major categories of nonverbal behaviors are expressed in this study group. First of all space and seating play a part because, the group was sitting in a circle, and when Tamika pulled away from the table, it showed that she was upset about Tyler not being present; demonstrating â€Å"kinesics.† In addition, Tamika was using â€Å"time cues† by complaining that Tyler was late and that 20 minutes had gone by. When Kelli began to pack up her things, her movements expressed that she too was unhappy about the situation. â€Å"Paralanguage† was used when the pitch of Tamika’s voice changed as she asked the question â€Å"Man, what time is it.† It is evident that there was no â€Å"transactional process† within the group as a whole. Tamika and Kelli were expressing how they felt about Tyler on being present at the meetings. They were clearly sending a â€Å"message† throughout the group. As Ryan was demonstrating â€Å"paraphrase† by reminding the group the everyone knew that Tyler’s parents was sick and Lam â€Å"action-oriented listening† turned everyone’s attention back to the task of completing the project. It is clear that there was plenty of â€Å"nonverbal behavior† with this group. Nonverbal behaviors can be interpreted by other in ways not intended. Our text states â€Å"nonverbal behaviors can contradict verbal behaviors (Galanes & Adams, 2010).† As we speak to another person or a group, our tone of voice and body language are also speaking for us. It’s important to be aware, so that our actions aren’t taking away from what we are trying to speak. By observing nonverbal ques, we are able to recognize if what we are saying is being taken serious, upsetting someone, confusing or if people are in agreement. Question #7 How might computer-mediated communication been used by our student group? What precautions might they take should they choose to use it to compensate for absences from meetings? Computer mediated communication could have been used in the form of video conference where every member can see and hear their team member, or a chat room where all team members can post their work and respond to other members work. They could attach their assigned work to an email and forward the work to all the members of the group; this would have eliminated Tyler missing meets and Tamika being in that stuffy room. The first precaution is making sure each member has a computer or access to one. If the group is going to use the video conference, then the group need to make sure everyone has the proper equipment and software to participate in the group project. Once the group establishes everyone has a computer or access, they need to understand how to upload their work if they decide to use the chat room as a communication channel. Question #8 Given your understanding of communication principals, including nonverbal messages, what advice would you give to this student group? The group in chapter two should have, communicated differently. Communication is the key to an effective group. You must communicate with your fellow team members, be open about what you are feeling so that way tension does not build and explode making thing much worse than they have to be. Lam could have paraphrased the group feeling when he took control, and decided to start. If lam would have paraphrased, it would have let the other member’s know that he was listening to their concerns. The group should be more mindful of their nonverbal behavior. Lam did do a great job displaying â€Å"action-oriented† listening and getting the team back on track. As a group they should have focused on a solution to get Tyler’s part of the assignment, since they know his pattern with the group. Email and video conferencing are a couple of solutions. References Galanes, G. J., & Adams, K. (2010). Human Communication Process in the Small Group Context. In Effective Group Discussion (pp. 22-47, Chapter 2, pgs. 39 – 46, Chapter 3). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Globalisation Pros and Cons

|[pic] |UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA | | |Assignment Cover Sheet – External | [pic] An Assignment cover sheet needs to be included with each assignment. Please complete all details clearly. Please check your Course Information Booklet or contact your School Office for assignment submission locations. ADDRESS DETAILS: Full name: |Stephen Andruchowycz | |Address: |25 Northumberland Street Tusmore | | | |Postcode: |5065 | If you are submitting the assignment on paper, please staple this sheet to the front of each assignment. If you are submitting the assignment online, please ensure this cover sheet is included at the start of your document. (This is preferable to a separate attachment. ) Student ID | |Course code and title: BUSS 5300 – Global Business Environment | |School: International Graduate School of Business |Program Code: DGMK | |Course Coordinator: You-il Lee |Tutor: You-il Lee | |Assignment number: 2 |Due date: 10 / 5 / 10 | |Assignment topic as stated in Course Information Booklet:Assessment 2: Individual Report | Further Information: (e. g. state if extension was granted and attach evidence of approval, Revised Submission Date) |   | I declare that the work contained in this assignment is my own, except where acknowledgement of sources is made. I authorise the University to test any work submitted by me, using text comparison software, for instances of plagiarism. I understand this will involve the University or its contractor copying my work and storing it on a database to be used in future to test work submitted by others. I understand that I can obtain further information on this matter at http://www. unisa. edu. au/ltu/students/study/integrity. asp Note: The attachment of this statement on any electronically submitted assignments will be deemed to have the same authority as a signed statement. |Signed: Stephen Andruchowycz |Date:9/5/10 | Date received from student |Assessment/grade |Assessed by: | | | | | | | | | |Recorded: |Dispatched (if applicable): | Globalisation is a force which brings an array of benefits and costs on a global scale, with developing countries generally bearing the majority of these costs. This essay will argue that while many of the benefits of lobalisation are felt around the globe, they are m ore beneficial to developed countries than third world countries. Likewise the negative consequences of globalisation are felt more heavily in third world countries than in developed countries. These benefits and cost are incurred on economic, political and socio-cultural levels. Many see globalisation as a primarily economic phenomenon, involving the increasing interaction, or integration, of national economic systems through the growth of international trade, investment, and capital flows. (Kirdar, 1992, p. 6) However, one can also point to a rapid increase in cross-border social, cultural, and technological exchange as part of the phenomenon of globalisation. Whether people fear globalisation or not, they cannot escape it. It is driven, above all, by the extraordinary changes in technology in recent years – especially computer and communications technology. For a society to achieve, it must use this technology to its advantage. To be able to do that, it must be globally engaged. As Alexander Downer said in his speech on harnessing globalisation power, â€Å"globalisation is an irreversible trend, it is not something that should be viewed as a juggernaut bearing down on the lives of ordinary Australians. † (Downer, 1998) The effects of such a phenomenon are widespread and felt in different ways by developed and developing countries There are many economic effects that result from globalisation that affect all nations on a global scale. Free trade is a phenomenon closely tied with globalisation. Countries remove their trade barriers, such as tariffs, so that all countries can begin to specialise in their most efficient production areas, resulting in maximum profit through global trade. Among the major industrial economies, sometimes referred to as the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, 65 percent of the total economic production, or GDP, is associated with international trade. Economists project that, in the U. S. , more than 50 percent of the new jobs created in this decade will be directly linked to the global economy. (Hopkins, 2002, p. 56). Certainly these figures show that globalisation is a major benefit to developed countries, but in many third world countries, it is argued that though jobs are being created, agricultural, subsistence jobs are being wiped out and replaced with ‘dollar per day’ multinational corporations, and further, that such corporations are merely widening the gap between the rich and poor. Critics of globalisation argue that despite the supposed benefits associated with free trade and investment, over the past hundred years or so the gap between the rich and poor nations of the world has gotten wider. In 1870, the average income per capita in the world's 17 richest nations was 2. 4 times that of all other countries. In 1990, the same group was 4. 5 times as rich as the rest. Hill, 2010, p. 31) By the late 1990’s the fifth of the world’s people living in the highest income countries had 86% of world GDP, 82% of world export markets, 68% of foreign direct investment, and 74% of world telephone lines. The bottom fifth of the world’s people earned 1% for the first three categories and 1. 5% respectively. (Waters, 2002, pp. 3-4) Of course we must be wary that there are exceptions to this trend. China’s opening to world trade has bought it growth in income from $1460 a head in 1980 to almost $4500 in 2005, and in 1980, American’s earned 12. 5 times as much as the Chinese per capita, by 1999, they were only earning 7. times as much. (Evans, 2001, p. 80). Nonetheless there appear to be strong forces for stagnation among the world's poorest nations as a result of globalisation. A quarter of the countries with GDP per capita of less than $1,000 in 1960 had growth rates of less than zero from 1960 to 1995, and a third have growth rates of less than 0. 05 percent. (Hill, 2009, p. 31) Market failure is another major issue that is common in western economies, and impacts on other countries rather than themselves. Market failure is when thos e who are producing or consuming goods or services do not have to bear the full costs of their actions, such as the cost of pollution. Free trade encourages firms from advanced nations to move manufacturing facilities to less developed countries that lack adequate regulations to protect labour and the environment from abuse by the unscrupulous. (Dowling, Hill and Lieche, 2009, p. 31) This effectively means that transnational corporations are able to pollute third world nations and destroy their environment with minimal or no cost. Attempts to stem global pollution have been implemented such as the Kyoto Protocol, which sets binding emission targets for developed countries (Horton and Patapan, 2004, p. 86) but nonetheless, the majority of developed countries impact on developing countries in this way to some extent. In this regard it can again be seen that the benefits of globalisation on an economic level are skewed in favour of developed countries. However, this does not mean under-developed countries do not benefit at all. Another issue that arises for developing countries is that falling trade barriers allow firms to move manufacturing activities to countries where the wage rates are much lower. For example, Harwood Industries, a US clothing manufacturer closed its US Operations which paid wages of $9 per hour and shifted manufacturing to Honduras where textile workers received 48 cents per hour (Hill, 2009, p. 27) The majority of developing countries continue to experience falling levels of average income. Globally, from the late 1970s to the late 1990s, the average income of the lowest-income families fell by over 6 percent. By contrast, the average real income of the highest-income fifth of families increased by over 30 percent. (Hill, 2009, p. 28) However, it has been argued that while people in developed countries may regard this situation as exploitation, for many people in the developing world, working in a factory is a far better option than staying down on the farm and growing rice. (Stiglitz, 2002, p. 4) Nonetheless, it is a clear case of where the benefits of globalisation for developed countries far outweigh those that arise for developing countries. In fact the only clear indicator that suggests developing countries are benefitting from globalisation more-so than developed countries is in regards to their quality of life. There is evidence which shows that a number of developing countries have benefited from globalisation, and this is supported by quality of life statistics. Through globalisation, many people in the world now live longer than before and the standard of living is far better. Further, per capita GDP growth in the post-1980 globalisers accelerated from 1. 4 percent a year in the 1960s and 2. 9 percent a year in the 1970s to 3. 5 percent in the 1980s and 5. 0 percent in the 1990s. (Dollar and Kraay, 2001, p. 1) The non-globalising developing countries have done much worse than this, with annual growth rates falling from highs of 3. 3 percent during the 1970s to only 1. 4 percent during the 1990s. Indeed, throughout the 1990’s till today, eighteen of the twenty-four globalising developing countries have experienced growth, many of them, quite substantially. (NA, 2004, p. 236) However, the growth most have experienced is minimal in comparison the growth being experienced by developed countries. Certainly there are ways in which globalisation does bring benefits to developing countries on an economic level. However, overall it is clear that the benefits are felt more heavily in developed countries and the costs are felt more heavily in developing countries. This is much the same case when regarding the social and cultural effects of globalisation. Globalisation opens people’s lives to culture and to all its creativity – and the flow of ideas and knowledge. Although the spread of ideas and images enriches the world, there is a risk of reducing cultural concerns to protecting what can be bought and sold, neglecting community, custom and tradition. (Hirst & Thompson, 1996, p. 256) it is widely asserted, and indeed frequently taken for granted, that we live in a ‘global’ village where national cultures and boundaries are dissolving, we consume ‘global’ brands, corporations have to be competitive in a ‘global’ market place and governments have to be responsive to the needs of the ‘global’ economy. In any case, globalisation produces a tension between sameness and difference, between the universal and the particular, and between cultural homogenisation and cultural heterogenisation (Subhabrata & Linstead, 2001, p. 684) Americanisation is a major example of such cultural homogenisation, acting in many ways which destroy global culture. Globalisation has increased transmission of popular culture easily and inexpensively from the developed countries of the North throughout the world. Consequently, despite efforts of nationally-based media to develop local television, movie, and video programs, many media markets in countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America are saturated with productions from the U. S. Europe and a few countries in Asia. (Tomlinson, 1999, p. 98). Local critics of this trend lament not only the resulting silencing of domestic cultural expression, but also the hegemonic reach of Western culture and the potential global homogenisation of values and cultural taste. (NA, 2005, p. 1) A report by the UN Educational, Scientific and cultural Organisation showed that the world trade in goods with cultural content almost tripled between 1980 and 1991: from 67 billion dollars to 200 billion dollars. (Akulenko, 2008, p. 1) At the core of the entertainment industry – film, music and television – there is a growing dominance of US products. The World Trade Organisation rules do not allow countries to block imports on cultural grounds, which means there is nothing standing in the way of Western culture overtaking and eradicating the cultures of developing countries. It is argued that this could mean the end of cultural diversity, and the triumph of a uni-polar culture serving the needs of transnational corporations (Tomlinson, 1999, p. 134). Clearly globalisation is benefitting developed countries by allowing them to spread their culture and influence on a global scale. However, for developing countries, their culture is in many ways being eroded and replaced with the typical Western culture. However, supporters of globalisation argue that it does not make sense to talk of a world of 6 billion people becoming a monoculture. The spread of globalisation will undoubtedly bring changes to the countries it reaches, but change is an essential part of life. It must also be noted that globalisation is not all one-way traffic. Global products are absorbed into and change western life – including such phenomena as Latinisation and Japanisation. (Hopper, 2007, p. 82) Similarly many of the arts and foods from developing cultures have become ingrained into Western society, presenting opportunities for developing countries to increase their cultural exporting. For example, curry, an Indian cuisine has become a global food eaten world-wide. However, Americanisation is a far greater cultural force which brings many benefits to Western countries. The impact of developing countries cultures is far smaller and there is the risk that Westernisation could lead to the destruction of the cultures of a number of developing countries. Another effect of globalisation is a global improvement in communications and technology. On the one hand, the electronic revolution has promoted the diversification of information as people in nearly every country are able to communicate their opinions and perspectives on issues, local and global, that impact their lives. (NA, 2005, p. ) Political groups from Chiapas to Pakistan have effectively used information technology to promote their perspectives and movements. On the other hand, this expansion of information technology has been highly uneven, creating an international â€Å"digital divide† in such things as differences in access to and skills to use the internet. (NA, 2005, p. 1) Often, access to information technology and to telephone lines in many developing countries is controlled by the state or is available only to a small minority who can afford them. (Hoogvelt A, 1997, p. 46) Thus, it can be seen that the technological benefits of globalisation are also being felt much more by developed countries than developing countries. This is the same case when regarding the effects of globalisation on a political level One of the biggest political issues surrounding globalisation, which particularly impacts on developing countries, is that many sovereign countries have lost control of their economies and that such control has shifted to more powerful countries, multinational firms, and international financial institutions. The logic of this concern suggests that national sovereignty has progressively and systematically been undermined by globalisation, leading to growing cynicism among political elites and their citizenries, especially among poor developing countries. (Pere, 2010, p. ) Critics argue that today's increasingly interdependent global economy shifts economic power away from national governments and toward supranational organisations such as the WTO, the EU and the UN. Unelected bureaucrats now impose policies of the democratically elected governments of nation-states, thereby undermining the sovereign ty of those states and limiting the nation's ability to control its own destiny. (Hill, 2009, p. 30). Globalisation has seen state power decline as transnational processes grow in scale and number. The power of TNC’s, with annual budgets greater than that of many states, and is the most visible sign of this change. As economic and political life becomes more complex, many traditional functions of state are transferred to global and regional international organisations. (Gupta, 1997, p. 6) In this environment, developing countries are losing their influence on a national and global scale towards organisations largely controlled by developed countries. In this way, it is again clear that developed countries benefit from globalisation more so than developing countries. However, if these supranational organisations turn their focus more towards aiding developing countries, a number of benefits could result. At the international level, supranational organisations such as the World Bank and IMF must pay more attention to the reality that globalisation has generated extremes of inequality of assets and income across the spectrum of developing countries. (Gupta, 1997, p. 06) International lending and grants could be more explicitly focused on cutting subsidies that benefit the rich, on encouraging and financing market-related land reform, and most importantly providing investment and policy advice for effective public education. There is also a need for developed countries of the OECD to thoroughly review their neo-mercantilist trade policies. (Pere, 2010, p. 1) There is enough empirical evidence to show that protection of agriculture and textiles discriminate against the poor of developing countries. The poor and vulnerable in developing countries could also benefit from international financing of countercyclical safety net programmes, subject to certain conditions. These would include a solid record of sound fiscal policy; the political capacity to undertake such programmes free of corruption; and a long-term fiscal capacity to service any debt that might be incurred. (Pere, 2010, p. 1) If these policies were instated, developing countries would benefit from globalisation in ways that match or exceed the political benefits that developed countries receive as a result of globalisation. Clearly globalisation is a force which brings an array of benefits and costs on a global scale. However, it is also clear that developing countries are, in many cases, bearing the majority of these costs while developed countries are feeling the majority of the benefits. While there are a number of economic, socio-cultural and political actions which could be taken to ensure developing countries benefit from globalisation to a similar extent to developed countries, as it stands, there can be no denying that globalisation is a force which favours developed countries over developing countries. Bibliography: Akulenko. E, 2008, Cultural Aspects of Globalization, Accessed 5 May 2010, < http://emiliaakulenko. wordpress. com/2008/10/22/cultural-aspects-of-globalization/> Dollar. D and Kraay. A, 2001, Trade Growth and Poverty, Accessed 5 May 2010, http://www. imf. org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2001/09/dollar. htm Dowling. P, Hill. C and Liesch. D, 2009, International Business, Mc-Graw Hill, New York Downer. A, 1998, Annual Trade Lecture by the Minister for Foreign Affairs: Harnessing Globalisation's Power, Accessed 5 May 2010, Evans T, 2001, The politics of human rights: a global perspective, Pluto Press, London Gupta. S, 1997, The Political Economy of Globalization, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Massachusetts Hill. C, 2009, International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace, Mc-Graw Hill International, New York Hoogvelt At, 1997, Globalisation and the Postcolonial World: The New Political Economy of Development, Macmillan Press Ltd, London Hopkins A. G. , 2002, Globalization in World History, Pimlico, London Hopper. P, 2007, Understanding Cultural Globalization, Polity Press, Cambridge Horton. K and Patapan. H, 2004, Globalisation and Equality, Routledge, London Kirdar U, 1992, Change: Threat or Opportunity: Economic Change, United Nations Publications, New York. Linstead S & Subhabrata B, 2001, Globalization, Multiculturalism and other Fictions: Colonialism for the new Millennium, RMIT University, Melbourne N. A, 2004, The Globalisation Debate, The Spinney Press, Thirroul NSW 2515, Australia N. A, 2005, Introduction to Globalization – After September 11, Social Science Research Council, Accessed 5 May 2010, Pere. G, 2010, The Positive and Negative Consequences of Globalisation, Institute for Global Dialogue, Midrand. Stiglitz, J, 2002, Globalization and its Discontents, Routledge, Allen Lane, London Tomlinson. J, 1999, Globalization and Culture, University of Chicago Press, Chicago Waters M, 2002, Globalization, 2nd Edition, Routledge, Fetter Lane, London

Macbeth- Monster or Man Essay

When the play begins, Macbeth is given the characteristics of being a great warrior, who leads his nation to victory with the simple motivation that we will stop at nothing to serve his country. Yet as the play goes on, the true colors of Macbeth come out as he is blinded by his ambition to obtain power to which he would take extreme measures, where only tragedy was sure to arise, revealing that Macbeth is a true monster at heart. The only thing between Macbeth and the crown was his cousin Duncan, which he decided to kill Duncan if he is to become king, where only a monstrous person can achieve. Though he troubles himself whether he should murder, his determination to obtain power took over his morality and drove him to kill his cousin to claim the crown. â€Å"To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself And falls on the other†¦Now I’m decided, and I will exert every muscle in my body to commit this crime.† (Act 1 Scene 7) Even with the crown, Macbeths evil doings do not stop, for once he is crowned king, he becomes paranoid of all those around him, imagining that they will betray him, and when he suspects that his best friend Banquo, questions of how he became king, he makes no hesitation to have him killed. â€Å"To be thus is nothing, But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature Reigns that which would be feared.† (Act 3 Scene 1) Macbeth stopped at nothing from becoming and staying king, taking out all of those in his way, even those who wear closest to him. Although Macbeth was deceived by both the witches and his wife to do their doing, Macbeth realized the extreme measures of the actions he had to do, but yet he follows through, discarding the future consequences. Even though Lady Macbeth bamboozled Macbeth to kill Duncan, by questioning his man hood, Macbeth had the choice to whether he should murder his cousin, or wait until he died naturally, but became too anxious to prove that he is a man and he truly wants to become king. â€Å"Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem†¦I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none†¦What beast was ’t, then, That made you break this enterprise to me ? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you  would Be so much more the man†¦I am settled, and bend up Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.† (Act 1 Scene 7) Macbeth seeked the witches, and chose to be driven by fear, imbedded by them, to believe that Macduff will defeat him, and allowed it to unravel his plan to kill those who will betray him immediately, exposing that we will do anything to protect his ruling. â€Å"Time, thou anticipat’st my dread exploits. The flighty purpose never is o’ertook Unless the deed go with it. From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand. And even now, To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done: The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool. This deed I’ll do before this purpose cool.† (Act 4 Scene 1) Macbeth always had a choice to do what was morally right, but rejected it to prove his manliness as well as to satisfy his ambition. To lift suspicion from one self, one must hide their true dark desires, and must act as virtuous hero that can only do upright as if to wear mask that deceiving everyone what a true monster one is. Not only does Macbeth fool every one of his â€Å"sorrow†, when he overreacts at the news of Duncan’s death, but uses it to his advantage to brain wash everyone into justifying his actions done. â€Å"Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time, for from this instant There’s nothing serious in mortality. All is but toys. Renown and grace is dead. The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees Is left this vault to brag of. Who can be wise, amazed, emp’rate, and furious, Loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man. Th’ expedition of my violent love Outrun the pauser, reason. Here lay Duncan, His silver skin laced with his golden blood, And his gashed stabs looked like a breach in nature For ruin’s wasteful entrance; there, the murderers, Steeped in the colors of their trade, their daggers Unmannerly breeched with gore. Who could refrain, That had a heart to love, and in that heart Courage to make’s love known?† (Act 2 Scene 3) Macbeth was always the ‘snake under the flower’, masking his true self, deceiving those around him into believing that he is innocent. Towards the end of the play, the true selfless, ruthless and cunning aspects  of Macbeth are reveal to unmask the true ambitious, power hungry, and heartless monster he truly is.

US History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

US History - Essay Example post-war foreign policy, maintaining that the Soviet Union was â€Å"relentlessly expansionary† and that the ebb of â€Å"the flow of Soviet power† required a â€Å"firm and vigilant commitment† (Kennedy 554). And it was from this principle, to be known as the â€Å"containment doctrine,† that much of the post-1945, anti-Soviet foreign policy of the United States arose in a crescendo of increasing intensity. The application of the containment doctrine began with a series of policies designed to avert war and Soviet dominance. First, in March of 1947, President Harry S. Truman appeared before Congress to request military equipment and advisers to strengthen the defenses of Greece and Turkey against the communist threat (Brinkley, 782, Kennedy 554-55, Palmer 844-45). In his request, Truman pledged the support of the United States to those â€Å"free peoples . . . resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures† (Kennedy 555). This rhetoric, historically known as the â€Å"Truman Doctrine,† formed the basis for further acts of Soviet containment and, indeed, committed the United States and its foreign policy to a comprehensive, international battle against communism. To be sure, a fundamental element of the containment policy was the recognized need to aid in the economic recovery of Western Europe, where some countries, particularly France, Italy and Germany, were still afflicted with the social and economic turmoil stemming from World War II and were thus susceptible politically to communist exploitation (Brinkley 782, Kennedy 555, Palmer 845). Consequently, in June of 1947, then-Secretary of State George C. Marshall offered economic aid to all European countries, hoping to reconstruct the economy of Europe and thereby strengthen its resolve against Soviet influence (Kennedy 555, Palmer 845). The Marshall Plan, as it became known, dedicated 12.5 billion

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire - Essay Example It seems like America has forgotten the lesson learned after the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire. On March 25, 1911 right before the final whistle called for the end of the day a fire started on the 8th floor of the 23 Washington Place (Schneider). The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory occupied the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the building. After the fire started the 8th floor called the 10th floor to give them warning, but no one notified the 9th floor (Stein and Greider 182). The women on the 10th floor either escaped through an elevator or up the stairwell to the roof. The people on the 8th floor went down the stairwell or through the elevator. An elevator ran for a little while to the floors , but soon the cables melted (Drehle 153). Soon people were opening the elevator shaft and jumping to get away from the flames. Women were also jumping out the 9th floor windows as well. The 9th floor girls were trapped due to a locked stairwell that was supposed to prevent theft† (Greenwald 62). As the factory burned people gathered on the street watching the women jump. Fire trucks did not have the water or the ladders to reach the 8th floor. The devastation of human life was enormous. Lives were lost due to an antitheft measure. After the fire workers cried for new safety measures. â€Å"The 146 lives lost in the fire ignited. ... If women tried to strike they were considered bad. â€Å"They were either ‘good’ girls who listened docilely to fathers, employers, and policemen, or ‘bad’ women whose aggressive behavior made them akin to prostitutes† (Orleck 62). Even if the women at Triangle would have protested the unsafe locked doors, it would have been up to management to open them. One of the owners probably would not have listened. Max Blanck was caught locking doors again in 1913; he was only fined $20 (Hoeing). There was a need for the creation of OSHA and unions. Although the Triangle fire was 100 years ago, many lessons can still be learned from the tragedy. However Americans are forgetting about this tragedy and other workplace accidents. Unions are being outlawed by our own congresses. Instead of worrying about lives, the legislators are more interested in budget shortfalls. â€Å"Yet a century later, the laws that could have saved lives had they been in place on March 25, 1911, are being threatened by budget cuts proposed by a Republican-controlled Congressâ€Å" (Schneider). Unions have come to stand for pay raises and benefits. What about the safety issues? It seems like safety issues seem to be a moot discussion. The most famous anti-union legislation is against teachers in Wisconsin. It might seem like a good idea to cut the budget, but what could the possible outcomes be? Teachers might decided to go to different states that still have unions. That could mean the best teachers would leave. If the best teachers leave, then what would the children of Wisconsin be learning? The consequences could reach for generations. Without the union what happens if principals decided to make the teachers work in unsafe conditions?

Leadership and Persuasion Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leadership and Persuasion - Term Paper Example The apex of the military efforts is air force strikes. This brings terror to the group and its allies and consequently a suppression of the sect. Have we ever considered the effectiveness of this approach though? Alternatively, is it a strategy to ensure revenge on ISIS for their past terrorist acts? As much as action should be taken, the military action and all the bombing associated should be stopped. ISIS militants usually live around innocent civilians. Bombing causes killing with impunity, which we are fighting actually. This causes ill feelings by the Arab civilians which fuels radicalization of the youths by the sect. Nations therefore ought to seek alternative ways of conflict resolution. The Hezbollah and the Iran oppose ISIS operations. America is also an enemy of the ISIS. However, America has been involved in many military attacks in the Arab countries. This has caused the Arab countries to have ill feelings about America due to military deployment. This has caused constraints in diplomatic relationships making the fight against the ISIS difficult. Countries, especially America that have been intensively involved in the war against the ISIS, need to restructure their relationship with the Arabs. This will provide a safe haven in the Arab countries. This will strengthen war against the ISIS. Intervention without biasness to either party of the conflicting Arab countries will also be beneficial. Arab countries are widely arid with high rates of unemployment. This favors recruitment into the radical ISIS group. Moreover, the continued economic decline due to warfare increases chances of the youth radicalization. The governments involved and the intervening governments need to create more jobs for the youth to counter idleness that make them prone to radicalization. The youth need informing that the ISIS is not a channel that fights for their interests. Critical thinking involves the evaluation of facts from a

Othello by William Shakespeare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Othello by William Shakespeare - Essay Example Outdoors, the cool autumn New York City air was tinged for a moment with the melancholy sounds of Billy Holliday belting out her first-hand impression of the ever-present scourge of lynching in the Deep South; painfully echoing through the words of a song she named Strange Fruit. Set in northern Italy during the late sixteen century, William Shakespeare's tragedy has never been able to avoid its powerful racial imagery. Perhaps that is as it was meant to be. However today, in such a multi-cultural and yet arguably still a rather segregated society, it is often difficult for Americans to truly gage racial sensibilities across several centuries and such wide bodies of water. When have we ever been able to gage an honest understanding of the true nature of racism within our own society So it is, that the best that we may hope to do is to put notions of racial antagonism and identity within the proper context of a prominent European city immersed within the waning years of the Italian Renaissance. Watching from the very first scene, as Iago appears to speak somewhat disparagingly of him as - 'The Moor', and Roderigo mocks his 'thick lips', what are we to make of the contemporary at

RFPs and Proposals disscusinon reply Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

RFPs and Proposals disscusinon reply - Essay Example Through analysis of the second RFP design, it appears well formatted, articulated and intended for an easy read. The second design of the RFP begins with a table of content that can direct a reader to a particular area of interest. Nevertheless, I feel the RFP could be made better with adjustments of sections in the document like following the work with the guidelines of the work to ensure easy comparison and comprehension of the information. Inferring to the proposal, the document is written in response to the RFP in an articulate manner. The proposal directs the reader to specific sections of the RFP which allows the reader to access easily and understand the specific information. The proposal is equally written in a persuasive tone making it an ideal inference of an RFP (T&D, 234). The writing of a proposal in a persuasive tone is meant to woe the clients that the company has the necessary capability to offer the required

Stats16 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Stats16 - Essay Example Answer True False   Question 5    If other factors are held constant, then increasing the sample standard deviation will increase the likelihood of rejecting the null hypothesis. Answer True False   Question 6    If all other factors are held constant, increasing the sample size from n = 25 to n = 100 will increase the power of a statistical test. Answer True False   Question 7    By selecting a smaller alpha level, a researcher is ___. Answer a. attempting to make it easier to reject H 0 b. better able to detect a treatment effect c. reducing the risk of a Type I error d. All of the above.   Question 8    The critical boundaries for a hypothesis test are z = +1.96 and -1.96. If the z-score for the sample data is z = -1.90, then what is the correct statistical decision? Answer a. Fail to reject H 1. b. Fail to reject H 0. c. Reject H 1. d. Reject H 0.   Question 9    Increasing the alpha level (for example, from ? = .01 to ? = .05) ____. Answer a. increases the pr obability of a Type I error b. increases the size of the critical region c. increases the probability that the sample will fall into the critical region d. All of the above    Question 10    In a hypothesis test, an extreme z-score value, like z = +3 or z = +4, ____. Answer a. is probably in the critical region b. means that you should probably reject the null hypothesis c. ... concluded that a treatment has no effect when it really does d. concluded that a treatment has an effect when it really has no effect   Question 12    A Type I error means that a researcher has ____. Answer a. concluded that a treatment has an effect when it really does b. concluded that a treatment has no effect when it really has no effect c. concluded that a treatment has no effect when it really does d. concluded that a treatment has an effect when it really has no effect   Question 13    A researcher risks a Type I error ____. Answer a. anytime H 0 is rejected b. anytime H 1 is rejected c. anytime the decision is "fail to reject H 0" d. All of the other options are correct.    Question 14    A researcher conducts a hypothesis test to evaluate the effect of a treatment. The hypothesis test produces a z-score of z = ?2.60. Assuming that the researcher is using a two-tailed test, what is the correct statistical decision? Answer a. Reject the null hypothesis with ? = .05 but not with ? = .01. b. Reject the null hypothesis with either ? = .05 or ? = .01. c. Fail to reject the null hypothesis with either ? = .05 or ? = .01. d. cannot answer without additional information   Question 15    A researcher uses a hypothesis test to evaluate H 0 ? = 80. Which combination of factors is most likely to result in rejecting the null hypothesis? Answer a. M = 85 and ? = 10 b. M = 85 and ? = 20 c. M = 90 and ? = 10 d. M = 90 and ? = 20   Question 16    A researcher uses a hypothesis test to evaluate H 0 ? = 80. Which combination of factors is most likely to result in rejecting the null hypothesis? Answer a. M = 85 and n = 10 b. M = 85 and n = 20 c. M = 90 and n = 10 d. M = 90 and n = 20   Question 17    A researcher uses a hypothesis test to evaluate H 0 ?= 80. Which

Rising tech firm Asus seeks to improve U.S. brand Essay

Rising tech firm Asus seeks to improve U.S. brand - Essay Example The article likewise provided a brief historical backdrop on Asus, including presenting the increasing number of diverse products it currently manufactures and intends to launch in the global market. The current discourse hereby aims to present the summarized theme of the article and to provide a discussion on why the article is interesting and how it ties in with the material from the book. Personal Insights and Critique The article was particularly interesting in terms of envisioning the anticipated upgrades on the noted Nexus 7 classified as the next generation Nexus 7. Being an intent avid fan of technological gadgets, one is amazed at how technological products continue to make regular updates based on customers’ feedbacks from the last product that was launched. In contemporary times, consumers are provided with opportunities to avail of newer models, upgrades or updates as fast as one year from the time that a newly launched technological gadget was offered for sale in the market. Depending on how consumers reacted and responded, the manufacturer either addresses the weaknesses or incorporates innovative features that could complement and make the upgraded product more attractive to the consumers.

Organisational change management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Organisational change management - Essay Example In their document that was titledâ€Å"Implementing the New Strategic Direction,† the council states how they will review their activities and develop into a strategic body that encourages an array of provision for its services. This can be considered as divestment and this approach will obviously have consequences that will affect the future of public service delivery, the workforce that is in existence in the council as well as the local government (Haglund, 2010, p. 196). The county council has full recognition of the significance, the challenges as well as the consequences that are associated with these proposals and thus they address and detail the risks and have enumerated the work that has not been done yet while acknowledging that these changes need to be taken in the prevailing financial constraints. This is associated with the transition costs, which will be incurred when the council moves to different types of service delivery. When the financial constraints are considered, there are varieties of questions that arise on the manner in which the strategic ambitions can be achieved in relation to the costs linked to building community capacity as well as new social enterprises. There are thousands of jobs that could be lost as the Suffolk county council prepares to halt the direct provision of services in most of the areas that it functions in and all the services at the council including the child protection services may be outsourced if the plan is implemented. The county is poised to take radical approaches as far as the public sector reforms are concerned by coming up with a virtual authority which will outsource most of the services that the council deals with. The new strategic direction could be the beginning of outsourcing of the counties services to social enterprises and companies while aiming at turning the authority form one that avails public services

Rene Descartes and a discription Essay Example for Free

Rene Descartes and a discription Essay Rene Descartes (1596-1650) was not only a philosopher but also a mathematician and scientist. As a philosopher, he used skepticism as a means of finding the truth of all. His idea was to doubt everything, and in doubting everything, anything that couldnt be doubted was definite. I will doubt everything that can possibly be doubted, he reasons, and if anything is left, then it will be absolutely certain. (Moore/Bruder 93) This, Descartes felt was the only way to obtain truth and knowledge. This method was to take away all the confidence in everything that was taught to us, what we sense and believe, and the things we take as being obvious. To truly determine if we know anything is for certain we must doubt it all disregarding all we knew about it before. So everything we currently believe is open to discussion and can be questioned. Descartes Method of Doubt incorporated two well-known conjectures, a dream conjecture and the evil demon conjecture. What the dream conjecture is, is the notion that everything that is reality might just be a dream. Adding to the dream conjecture, is the evil demon conjecture. This evil demon conjecture, in essence, is the concept that if this all [reality], is just a dream, then perhaps there is an evil demon that is deceiving our minds with these false images of reality. So, we cant assume that our bodies or that anything of our experience exists and can be trusted to be true. For everything we know could be just a dream and not real at all and controlled by a deceiver. No, Descartes was not out of his mind. He was aware that these two conjecture he composed sounded far-fetched. However, that was the whole point. Descartes was on a quest to find certainty in an any-case-possibility. What Descartes came up with after going through and doubting everything was the cogito, ergo sum or I think, therefore I am. What this meant was if you are thinking, you are existing. The self that doubts its own existence must surely exist to be able to doubt in the first place. (Moore/Bruder 93) Subsequently, this was the only true thing we can know to be real. We know that we exist at least in a form of a mind. So we can doubt our physical existence but not our mental existence because you can think. To take this a step further he developed the clear and distinct test. The clear and distinct test was a test to find out what was true with clarity and distinctness. Meaning, anything that is clear and distinct is true. Using this clear and distinct test, Descartes came to the conclusion that God, in fact, exists. Descartes believed he viewed God clearly and distinctively, and further, God would not let an evil demon toy with his mind, if such a thing did exist. Descartes also thought that there were two distinct substances beyond God, and these two substances were material substance and mind substance. The material substance was all that exists and occupies space and the mind substance is that of thought. Because a substance, according to Descartes, requires nothing other than itself to exist, it follows that mind and matter are totally independent of each other. (Moore/Bruder 95) The result to these two substances being independent of each other is called parallelism. The mind, they argued, does not really cause the body to move. When I will that my hand should move, my act of willing only appears to cause my hand to move. (Moore/Bruder 97)Descartes felt that God was the one who was involved in the mental things that happened and the sequence of material actions. He believed God was the reason those two things happened to happen together. This idea was called occasionalism. Descartes was first to make this systematic account of the mind and body relationship, and also the souls contact with the body. (Rorty). Descartes essentially through everything, approached all metaphysical issues by going back and trying to pick apart everything about the basic things. Descartes tried to discover metaphysical truth about what is through epistemological inquiry about what can be know. (Moore/Bruder 97) The profit of Descartes ideas is that in the dismissal of everything makes you question and look at elements that may be overlooked because it is human to draw on experience. So, to clear oneself of all former beliefs leaves everything wide open for exploration and opens up a wider scope. The problem I find in his distinct and clear theory is Descartes proof of Gods existence. In proving the existence of God he uses circular reasoning. This circular reasoning is called the Cartesian Circle. The Cartesian Circle is the circular reasoning that, on one hand, we can only know that God exists because we clearly and distinctively perceive it, and on the other hand, we can only know that our clear and distinct perceptions are true because God exits. (Loeb 200-235) This type of reasoning doesnt make any concrete conclusions on the existence of God. It just keeps going around in a circle, one right after the other. Descartes believe that only his perceptions could be deceived not his mind. So since God was good and perfect, he wouldnt allow him to be deceived, therefore God exists. To explain his ideas on the existence of God, Descartes states that if one can have an idea of a perfect being, which is God, then a perfect being must exist if we can think it in our minds. All of this to me, doesnt show any solid proof. Even though you can think something in your mind, doesnt mean it must exits. I can think lots of things in my mind personally, that doesnt necessary mean that somewhere, maybe not in the physical world I experience, truly exists. Also, if God did exists, and if God is perfect, as Descartes claims, then why does Atheism and such religious beliefs exist? Wouldnt perfection be if God could exist and not be questionable? Because what Descartes believes is all that we can perceive clearly and distinctively exists, and he had not given any way that explains how you can perceive God clearly and distinctively, other than stating he can perceive in his mind. Also, another thing that is a problem in Descartes method is his goal of proving the existence of the outside world was not valid by any substantial means. There is no proof that any physical object exists aside from a near universal belief that the external world exists. What Descartes says, is that since God makes us believe that there is an external world, then there must be one. However, there are lots of mistakes in his proof of God and it isnt truly valid. So, therefore we cannot say anything in this external world does exist or either God, based on the knowledge I have obtained on the subject matter on Descartes. From what I have read on Descartes and his philosophical ideas, there are many holes and things to argued; as Im sure is in most theories. Nonetheless, even though his ideas arent entirely credible to myself, I feel that his contributions to the field of philosophy are eminent. Descartes had brought lots of old questions of past philosophers and tried to rationalize them, he failed in my opinion to come up with any competent answers for what he was trying to prove. However, he did prompt other philosophers in his progression to come up later with some better answers to some of these ideas.

History of the Collapse of the Soviet Union

History of the Collapse of the Soviet Union How can one explain the disintegration and eventual collapse of the Soviet Union and its sphere of influence? The disintegration and collapse of the Soviet Union was the result of a complex combination of internal and external pressures which had been building for decades. Economic decline, strong currents of indigenous nationalism, corruption and the systematic deligitimization of the central authority and Communist ideology all contributed to an environment of internal pressure, doubt and cynicism. Externally, the Soviet Union’s foreign policy had led it into a tense and costly confrontation with the West, both socially and militarily. The combination of these internal and external pressures forced the Soviet Union into an untenable position, no longer able to maintain control through a sense of legitimacy and lacking the will to exact it through force. Many were surprised not only at the speed with which the USSR unraveled, but also at how quickly nationalist movements and organizations were able to move forward with popular support and structure in such a short amount of time. The pressures that had been building show the collapse of the Soviet Union to have been more akin to a dam breaking, releasing pent up pressure and momentum that had been merely held back. What made the disintegration and collapse of the Soviet Union so remarkable was not just the convergence of so many complex factors to necessitate its failure, but the means and manner in which its broken parts responded. It must be remembered that the Soviet Union was an empire. As Gerhard Simon Points out in Aussenpolitik, it was the first of its kind, held together by a party and a committment to ideology. As a result â€Å"The Soviet Union was not perceived in the context of the other empires which had fallen apart in Europe The USSR, on the other hand, ranked in the West as a ‘normal’ state The Soviet Union, however, was simply not a normal state.† (Simon, 2000) It was based upon the legitimacy of its party and its ideology. The systematic deterioration of this legitimacy served as one of the main factors in its disintegration and collapse. It was the weakening of the dam itself, so to speak. The actions of its satellite states represent the impulses of newly freed captives, not the heartless abandonment of their mother-state. The pressures against the dam, however, reach back into the early 20th century. Simon identifies the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 as an effective reassertion of the Russian empire following the First World War. Furthermore, he argues that it arrested the nationalistic movements taking shape among the recently freed peoples’ of post-imperial Russia. These nationalist movements, of major ethnic and cultural signficance for many, were not stamped out under the Soviet system of control and oppression. They were merely pushed underground. They spent the better part of the 20th century building momentum from within the Soviet system until the internal pressures, exerted in so many directions and ways, could no longer be contained. (Simon, 2000) This explains how quickly and eagerly the different sattelite states declared independence and moved toward Western models of government and economy. â€Å"The causes for the downfall are rooted, on the one hand, in the design errors of the Soviet system and, on the other hand, in the process of degeneration which had been undermining stability for decades.† (Simin, 2000) The currents of nationalism within the Soviet Union were intensified and gained strength as Stalin’s controls were gradually loosened and the legitimacy of the Communist Party began to suffer in public view as information began to flow more freely. Nationalist sentiment coincided with social events in the 50’s and 60’s where labororers from the Soviet Gulag returned home and began to talk with long-lost friends and relatives about what had happened to them. (Hosking, 1991) This began to affect public perceptions and attitudes for the first time. People of like mind began meeting privately in their homes to talk and listen to Western radio. Eventually, the dissemination of unofficial literature, known as Samizdat, began. A culture of covert associations and hidden groups emerged. They began to grow covertly in response to the systematic persecution of intellectuals and dissidents. These groups and associations eventually began operating openly in the late 80â€⠄¢s, only to add to the tremendously diverse pressures pulling at the Soviet Union. (Hosking, 1991) As nationalist sentiments began to gain strength from such a ‘social awakening’, they quickly learned that their energies were best spent organizing within the Soviet system. Different national movements had gained strength and led to uprisings in Hungaria in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968. The Soviets put them down quickly and brutally. (Fowkes, 1993) â€Å"[The] party leadership had no qualms about forcibly helping their ideological presumptions become reality† (Simon, 2000) Combined with the ‘social awakening’, and the currents of nationalism running through the USSR, was the systematic deligitimisation of its sytem. â€Å"During the 1950’s the Soviet middle class became increasingly optimistic about the performance of the Soviet system and about its own prospects for material betterment In the 1970’s it has given way to pessimism. The rise and decline of middle-class optimism can be linked in part to political developments, but the crucial determinant has been the changing perception of Soviet economic performance.† (Dallin Laepidus, 1995) Ruled by ideology, the failure to meet economic goals and expectations constituted a signigicant crisis of confidence for many and a serious blow to the legitimacy of collectivist economic philoophy. The political developments that contributed to the deterioration of Soviet legitimacy had to do with a dissonance between ideology and practice. The conflicts of Krushchev’s ‘de-Stalinisation’ gave way to political rifts which exposed key divisions in government. This dis-unity was damaging to public confidence and to Soviet political legitimacy. It became a habit for the new Soviet leader to deal with his problems by casting blame and criticism upon his predecessor. â€Å"All successors have dissociated themselves along similar lines from their respective predecessors, declared them to be unpersons, and thus contributed considerably to the delegitimation of the Soviet system.† (Simon, 2000) The establishment of this practice had an extremely detrimental effect upon the public perception, resulting in a more entrenched cynicism toward politics in general and political leadership. Furthermore, this cynicism became even more deeply rooted in the social and political culture as Brezhnev’s Soviet Union saw the spread of corruption invade almost every corner of Soviet life. â€Å"The Soviet Union is infected from top to bottom with corruption – from the worker who gives the storeman a bottle of vodka to get the best job, to the politburo candidate Mzhavanadze who takes hundreds of thousands of rubles for protecting underground millionaires; from the street prostitute, who pays the policeman ten rubles so that he won’t prevent her from soliciting clients, to the former member of the Politburo Ekaterina Furtseva, who built a luxurious suburban villa at the government’s expense – each and everyone is afflicted with corruption.† (Dallin Laepidus, 1995) The lack of legitimacy by itself was not enough to dissolve the Soviet Union, as no single issue probably could have been, but it was enough to make everyone look to themselves. Public cynicism combined with deep graft and corruption at all levels made for a political system held together simply by control. Within this system the communal ideal was effectively dead. Everyone looked to cut corners, everyone looked for a bigger piece of a zero-sum pie. The Soviet Union saw the development of competing interests within itself rooted in a system of corruption. Combined with the currents of nationalism, who were cut short in their bid for self-determination, and the social underground harboring forbidden ideas and conversations and publications, this in-fighting proved to be the final element of a political picture which had lost its fundamental integrity. From a foreign policy point of view, this is also when the Soviet Union came to be known as the ‘Evil Empire’. With the gradual relaxation of Stalin’s controls came an increased flow of uncontrolled information between the Soviet Union and the West. The turning of international sentiment against the Soviet Union in the late 70’s and early 80’s, as the truths of their social and political system made their way into the international mainstream, only served to heighten the moral legitimacy of the West in confronting Soviet Ambitions abroad. Before that, the American political spectrum remained solidly divided over how best to engage the USSR. After the moral clarity issued by the facts of such an indictment, the West was far less sympathetic and much more aggressive in applying all the external pressure it could. The socialist/communist intelligentsia in the West lost credibility and standing, while the political mainstream in both America and Europe b oth saw thwarting Soviet ambitions as a strategic, and more importantly, a moral imperative. With a moral mandate to challenge Soviet interests across the globe, the Americans committed fully to maintaining their military and technological advantage, and dealt with little opposition from within their own political system. At the height of the arms race, it is estimated that the Soviet Union allocated anywhere from â€Å"at least 15 percent† (Dallin Laepidus, 1995) to 25 percent (Simon, 2000) of their budget to defense spending. This represented huge external pressure to an already struggling Soviet economy beign outperformed by its Western counterparts. The economic difficulties of the Soviet system were masked initially as steady growth in the 1950’s led to a sense of optimism. From that point onward, Soviet growth continued to decline. â€Å"One reason was that earlier on, inputs-capital, labor, energy-had been ample and cheap. By the 1970’s this was no longer so† (Dallin Laepidus, 1995) Furthermore, Dallin and Laepidus note that â€Å"productivity was low, and the system failed to provide adequate incentives for harder work of for technological innovation.† So in addition to the economic circumstances of declining growth, the Soviet system had no way of increasing the productivity of its workers or the creativity of its technology industry. â€Å"Above all, the motivating effect of the market, competition and profit could not be replaced by any system of allocation and control, regardless of how sophisticated it may have been. Initiative, creativity and the striving for profit maximisation drifted in to the shadow economy and corruption after the disciplining and deterrent effects of Stalinist terror had ceased to be effective.† (Simon, 2000) And so while the economy declined, the quality of goods and services continued to decline as well. (Notice the conspicuous absence of hsitorical market demand for Soviet goods) The Soviet system had killed off or driven away the very tools it needed to recover. Or from the point of view of Hillel Ticktin, who famously predicted the failure of perestroika and accurately described the long denied economic realities of the then-current Soviet system, they had put themselves in a position (according to Communist ideology) where they needed to â€Å"defeat the working class† and return them to the conditions under which they had been exploited before. (Ticktin, 1992) It is a cruel irony, indeed, that the very pronouncements of the ideology that sustained their political order walked hand in hand with their economic doom. In the late 80’s the sum of all the factors discussed here proved too great. The nationalist movements the Bolshevik revolution had arrested in mid-development were driven underground but ultimately endured within the Soviet system, waiting to release a momentum held back by years of Soviet control. These sentiments found friendly ears in the social underground that developed as information began to flow more freely after the gradual relaxation of Stalin’s controls. This underground only continued to grow as the oppressed and free-thinking individuals of the Soviet Union continually sought refuge in association with one another. These two elements only reinforced the sense of lost legitimacy following the economic setbacks of the mid-20th century and the political divisions that showed the first cracks in the Soviet political system. The the general sense of a loss of legitimacy was a critical blow that aided the widespread proliferation of a deep and contagious corrupt ion which came to partially define and become engrained in the culture. This corruption struck at the heart of all the mechanisms the Soviet Union needed to right itself, but it was at the same time a consequence of the system itself. They had, in the course of their committment to their ideology, abandoned the necesssary tools to successfully recover and advance their economy. The social forces of discontent, the nationalist sentiments and social underground, combined with economic factors to present significant internal difficulties. And as Soviet foreign policy demanded a share of defense spending four times larger than that of the United States (as a percentage of GNP), external pressures combined with internal pressures to literally put the Soviet system in a pressure cooker. By the time Gorbechev’s came through with perestroika, the myriad social and political interests at odds with one another, combined with the deep cynicism and scorn for the Soviet system rooted in the social underground, proved too much. There was no social consensus or any real momentum for support. â€Å"The political and social contiguity of the Soviet political system had been broken long ago. â€Å"For the first time since the revolution of 1917, society, rather than the state, was driving the process of change in Soviet life. But that society was increasingly fragmented, fractious, and polarized, pitting radical democrats against die-hard communists and nationalists of all kinds against Soviet patriots. In this setting Gorbachev found himself reacting to multiple and conflicting pressures in an effort, growing ever more desperate, to hold the country together.† (Strayer, 1998) The final years of the Soviet system were spent with the political leadership desperately trying to hold it together. But it could never survive the collapse of its political order because it was under the very pretext of that political order that the Soviet Union came to power. â€Å"[The] Communist party had reconstituted the empire and developed the instruments of rule, which meant that, following the party’s loss of power, there was no other force to hold the empire together.† (Simin, 2000) Meanwhile, the political alternatives that had been developing and taking shape within the Soviet system itself, the national movements which never came to fruition, provided the impetus to break free from the Soviet system. As new declarations of independence were proclaimed, one after the other, â€Å"the consequence of decades of pent-up energy† (Simon, 2000) ensured that the strugle for nationhood which began after the fall of the first Russian Empire, would continue a fter the second. Bibliography Dallin, A., (1992) â€Å"Causes of the Collapse of the USSR†, Post-Soviet Affairs. Vol. 8, No. 4 Dallin, A., Lapidus, G., (1994), The Soviet System From Crisis to Collapse Westview Press:Cambridge, MA Glenny, M., (1990) The Rebirth of History Penguin:London Fowkes, B., (1993) The Rise and Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. MacMillan: Chicago Hosking, G., (1991) The Awakening of the Soviet Union. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA Hosking, G., Et Al., (1992) The Road to Post Communism: independent political movements in the USSR, 1985-91, London/New York Kotz,D., Weir, F., (1997) Revolution from Above. The Demise of the Soviet System. Routledge:New York Miliband, R., Panitch, L., (1991) â€Å"Communist Regimes. The Aftermath† Socialist Register Simon, G., (2000) The End of the Soviet Union: Causes and Relational Contexts Aussenpolitik German Foreign Affairs Review, Vol. 47, No.1 Strayer,R., (1998) Why did the Soviet Union Collapse? M.E Sharpe: Armonk, NY Ticktin, H., (1992) Origins of the Crisis in the USSR. M.E. Sharpe Ltd.:New York

Social Exchange Theory

Social Exchange Theory Social Exchange Theory is a perspective of the field of social psychology and sociology to explain social change and stability, representing them as a process of negotiated exchanges between people. Social exchange theory can be described as the theory, according to which, human interaction is a unique transaction, which seeks to increase the rewards and to reduce the costs. The social exchange theory advocates that all human relationships are formed by using a cost-benefit analysis and comparison with alternatives.ÂÂ  For example, when a person perceives the costs of a relationship over the profits made, the person, according to this theory, leaves the relationship.ÂÂ  This theory has its roots in economics, psychology and sociology. The social exchange theory is linked to the rational choice theory and structuralism, its major features. Exchange theory arose as a reaction to functionalism, which focused on the impact of a phenomenon on the system.ÂÂ  This is not a single theory, but rather the band theory, describing the social world as a system of exchanges of goods (tangible and intangible) between individuals and social groups.ÂÂ  Social exchange theorists see every interaction as a transaction something for something.ÂÂ  It is like a theory of individual self-interest.ÂÂ  If a person takes any action, it does so with the prospect of benefit for himself.ÂÂ  Often it is the intangible benefit, such as respect from others, obedience, satisfaction, etc. Social exchange theory is a theory in social science which states that there are elements in social relations without discipline, sacrifice, and benefits that affect each other. This theory explains how humans view their relationships with others in accordance with the assumption of human self is to: the balance between what is given to the relationship and what is excluded from that relationship. There is no unified sociology of exchange, but one can distinguish three main theoretical points of theories. Taking the example of the mutual exchange of between the bride and groom, so this could be either a civil contract between two different-actors to the mutual exclusive use of their bodies, or a mutually donated sacrament, by which ChristianityÂÂ  continues, or view as an institutional and thus pacification a driver or will form. Exchange of individuals.ÂÂ  Sociological theorists think consider the assumption that individuals always act when exchanged (individualistic, paired, antagonistic perspective).ÂÂ  No matter what they share in a particular case, there are always sociological social sanctions.ÂÂ  As positive sanctions, for example, congratulations or goods, but as negative there are insults or threats.ÂÂ  Often in the exchange theory only positive or ambivalent sanctions are treated, but include more general approaches and negative sanctions. In the distribution of conflict the actors face each other with conflicting interests. The one advantage is the other drawback: any one tried if it goes to positive sanctions, and spend as little as possible from the opponent to gain as much as possible.ÂÂ  In economics, this strategy, which it called only for positive sanctions (such as goods for money in markets), is the minimax principle.ÂÂ  And also, if people have antagonistic re lations and negative social sanctions (for example acts of violence against violence, such as in war) taken into account, the exchange ends here trying to minimize its losses and maximize the opponent. Considering the criticism, critical is pointed out that this is based on Homans and Blau, Exchange Theory as a variant or mutation of the behaviorism. It had become a rational choice model, and this methodological simplification was achieved at a price, as compared toÂÂ  classical and other approaches in sociology would be neglected by extra-economic motivations, norms and institutions and their history in general. Durkheim or Mauss expected to behave in exchange for all social collectives (community, systemic view).ÂÂ  Controlled by the exchange, the consideration to the group received the actors (mostly positive) from each other sanction.ÂÂ  The players share a common interest in the welfare of the collective, which is the individuals self-interest.ÂÂ  Each exchange includes the end and always a compromise in favor of the collective, even as a loyal member of a community and even with regard to his own advantage.ÂÂ  The Collective is always with a person, which is reflected in valid rituals (for example the handshake) or norms (such as the Commercial Law) that express stability.ÂÂ  Because of that, all exchange behavior is also spoken of as amphibole exchange. The theorist Clausen considers one of some forms of exchange that, in addition to the nature of man involves him into it with acting. Here, the parties conduct an exchange so that the survival of the human speci es will be encouraged to nature and other species.ÂÂ  So it is not only a sociological but also the anthropological institution.ÂÂ  This refers in particular to reproduction, child care and fighting prowess.ÂÂ  The most common example is the dyad between infant and caregiver time (usually, but not necessarily the mother), is expected to result that in the both the exchange is biologically supported and the happier they are, the better it is for others. Exchange theory by Homans. According to George Homans, the social behavior is an exchange of material goods, and it is also intangible, such as the symbols of approval and prestige. Homans, George tried to explain the behavior defined in the broadest sense as a result of interaction in which individuals acquire, sell, or share resources. He tried to explain social behavior using fundamental concepts of behavior, developed by behavioral psychologists, and neoclassical economists.ÂÂ  Behavioral model of operant conditioning is based on the utilitarian principle that individuals will seek to maximize enjoying and to avoid or minimize the pain.ÂÂ  It is assumed that individuals will respond as expected to reward and punishment.ÂÂ  Any interaction provides an opportunity to share resources, in which each party tries to get resources, with a higher value in comparison with that which he or she gives or which refuses. All social organizations were created on the basis of the network exchanges.ÂÂ  The organization needs the unit to be fulfilled by other bodies belonging to this organization.ÂÂ  Homans has developed five general provisions relating to social behavior and resource sharing.ÂÂ  Three of them reproduce the model of behavioral psychologists. The first statement directly follows from the model of operant conditioning, and says: In respect of any acts performed by people, the more often a person is rewarded for a particular action, the more that person will perform this action.ÂÂ  The second situation is linked to recognition of the role of past experience: In the past, the emergence of a particular stimulus or set of incentives has created a situation in which human action is rewarded, the more the present-day incentives are similar to those past stimuli, the more that person will perform the same or similar toÂÂ  his action in the present.ÂÂ  However, the third provision states that for their actions when a person does not receive the expected rewards or receive unexpected penalty, he goes berserk and can behave aggressively.He created a series of allegations, among them are the claim of success, the assertion of deprivation and that there is saturation of aggression. These statements are a part of seven and, according to crowning this list is the assertion of rationality, which says that the body of the two alternative measures will choose the one which gives the most likely results to achieve greater benefits. The basic proposition is: success: the more action the individual is rewarded with, the more likely it is to take this action. the stimulus: if the past occurrence of a specific stimulus or combination of stimuli was a circumstance, in which individual action has been rewarded, the more likely it is that the unit would take this or a similar effect. value: the more the action is for the individual securities, the more likely that it will be demonstrated this action. -saturation of deprivation: the more frequently in the recent past, the unit received a particular prize, the less valuable it becomes for each additional unit of the award. frustration-aggression: If the unit does not bring action to obtain a reward or punishment received by the entity, which they did not expect, it will react with anger, and anger aggressive behavior results will have a reward value. Exchange Theory by Peter Blau. Peter Blau introduced the analysis of exchange, which processes the term marginal utility, which says that the more the expected rewards entity obtains from a particular act, the less valuable this action is, and the less likely it will be.ÂÂ  The idea is that if in a result of the exercise we get some action on the awards, you will have less value, which will be a new round of the award.ÂÂ  Another concept introduced by Blau is the concept of standards for fair exchange, which indicates what should be the ratio of rewards to costs in the exchange relationship.ÂÂ  If these standards are shaken, then the injured party may disclose to aggressive behavior. Blau concept differs from the concept of Homans that provides conflict situations. Balance in one relationship, which is impaired by homeostasis seen in another.ÂÂ  Blau has another concept, which is social attraction that is the perception of opportunities for reward.ÂÂ  This is according to sociologist factor, necessary for the existence of the exchange ratio, which is based on the belief that people who give awards, in turn, you will receive the award as payment for the goods delivered.ÂÂ  There are four types (classes): the prize money, social acceptance, respect (deference) and submission.ÂÂ  Of these, the greatest value is the submission, then the respect, acceptance, and the least appropriate reward in the relations of social exchange is money. Submission is the most valuable prize because for Blau it is inherent in the relationship of power, and this in turn gives a possibility of denying rewards to those who do not want to comply with the standards.ÂÂ  Power is born when the value of services exceeds the value of services received in return.ÂÂ  If people have to choose only one or a few alternative sources of awards, then it also comes to forcing submission.ÂÂ  This is further facilitated if people are not giving to the possibility to use the coercion and opposition to a person providing services.ÂÂ  Inability to work around without data prizes also affects positively the opportunity to force the submission by the person in possession of these awards. Exchange in social psychology. Social psychology also speaks about human relations as relations of exchange. These systems are based on the so-called rule of reciprocity, under which we are committed to the future for favors, gifts, invitations and the goods that we have received.ÂÂ  According to social psychologists one of the important principles is governing the human investigation.ÂÂ  This commitment to the rematch probably exists in all human societies.ÂÂ  Researchers say that this rule has developed in order to encourage people to contact, based on mutual exchange of services without fear of giving something to another, and we lose it forever.ÂÂ  Another form of this rule is called reciprocal concessions, namely: if someone goes to hand us, we do it to him, too.ÂÂ  Thus we can safely take the first step to someone, as he will be obliged to give us a similar sacrifice.ÂÂ  This rule is valid according to social psychologists and it is an effective r egulator of social relations. The emergence of social exchange theory. In general, the social exchange theory consists of social relations rather than public. The societies have viewed the behavior influence of each other in the relationship; there are also elements of discipline, of sacrifice and gain that reflect social exchange.ÂÂ  The reward is all that through the sacrifice, when the sacrifice can be avoided, and the benefit is reduced by the rewards of sacrifice.ÂÂ  So the social behavior of the exchange at least between two people is based on the cost-benefit calculations.ÂÂ  For example, patterns of behavior in the workplace, romance, marriage and friendship. Analogy from the case, at some point people can feel in any of their friends, who, usually, are always trying to get something from you.ÂÂ  At that time you always give what a friend needs from you, but the opposite is actually happening when you need something from your friends.ÂÂ  Each individual course has a goal to be fri ends with each other.ÂÂ  These individuals would be expected to do something for others, help each other if needed, and provide mutual support.ÂÂ  However, maintaining friendly relations also requires the costs, such as the lost time and energy and other activities.ÂÂ  Although these costs are not seen as something that is expensive or burdensome when viewed from the point of reward obtained from these friendships.ÂÂ  However, these costs should be considered if we are to objectively analyze the relationships that exist in a friendly transaction.ÂÂ  If the cost seems not in accordance with the compensation, what happens is the uneasy feeling of a person who feels that the benefits received were too low compared to the cost or sacrifice that has been given. An analysis of the social relationships that occur according to the cost and reward is one characteristic of the exchange theory.ÂÂ  This exchange theory has focused on micro-level analysis, particularly at the interpersonal level of social reality.ÂÂ  In this discussion the focus will be on the notion of exchange theory by Homans and Blau.ÂÂ  Homans in his analysis insisted on the necessity to use the principles of individual psychology to explain social behavior rather than merely describing it. But Blau, on the other hand, was trying to move from the level of interpersonal exchanges at the micro level to the macro level of social structure.ÂÂ  He attempted to show how larger are the social structures that emerged from the basic exchange processes. Unlike the analysis described by the theory of symbolic interaction, exchange theory was mainly seen as the real behavior, not the processes that are purely subjective.ÂÂ  This was also adopted by Homans and Blau, who were not focused on the subjective level of consciousness or reciprocal relationships between the levels of dynamic interaction of subjective.ÂÂ  Homans further argued that scientific explanations should be focused on real behavior and then can be observed and measured empirically. The process of social exchange has also been expressed by the classical sociologists.ÂÂ  As expressed in the classical economic theory of the 18th and 19th century, the economists like Adam Smith have analyzed the economic market as a result of a comprehensive collection from a number of individual economic transactions.ÂÂ  He assumes that transactions will happen only if both parties can gain from these exchanges, and welfare of the community in general can be very well s ecured when the individuals are left to pursue personal interests through negotiated exchanges in private. Conflicts of individualistic and social exchange in collectivism. Conflict that occurs is a result of the growing contradiction between the individualistic orientation and collectivism.ÂÂ  Homans is probably someone who was very stressed on an individualistic approach to the development of social theory.ÂÂ  This is certainly different from the explanation that the Levi-Strauss, a collectivist, in issues especially regarding to marriage and kinship patterns. Levi-Strauss is an anthropologist who comes from France. He developed a theoretical perspective of social exchange on the practice of marriage and kinship system of primitive societies. A general pattern of analysis is when a man marries his mothers daughter.ÂÂ  A pattern that happens is that people rarely marry the daughter of his fathers brother. This latter pattern was analyzed further by Bronislaw Malinowski, who advanced by the exchange of nonmaterial. In explaining this, Levi-Strauss distinguishes two exchange systems, which include restricted and generalized exchange.ÂÂ  In restricted exchange, members of the dyad groups are directly involved in the exchange transaction, each member of the couple give each other a personal basis.ÂÂ  And in the generalized exchange, members of a group of triads or even larger accept something other than a dyad who gives something useful. In these exchanges the impact is on the integration and solidarity groups are inÂÂ  a more effective manner.ÂÂ  The main purpose of this exchange process is not to allow couples who are involved in an exchange to meet the needs of individualization. An analysis of marriage and kinship behavior is a criticism of Sir James Frazers explanation of a British expert who studies the economic anthropology on patterns of exchange that occurs between mating pairs in primitive society. The theory of exchange today does not represent a single school of thought.ÂÂ  Strictly speaking, there are several theories that share a common position that human interaction is a process of exchange.ÂÂ  In addition, each of them has their own views on human nature, society and social science. Theories of exchange have been and still are often criticized for the lack of freshness, the evidence of certain statements, ignoring the existence of a forced situation.ÂÂ  Most can be found with the view that this point of view narrows the social life and relations between people only to the physical assets. As a fact, social forms of exchange are perceived differently and communicated, as a sociological and anthropological analysis would be expected to.ÂÂ  As the question of justice, including equivalence of an exchange is directed according to dominant values, or it is judged differently from the representatives of warring values. Social exchange theory Social exchange theory Main dependent factor(s): Value and utility: profit, rewards, approval, status, reputation, flexibility, and trust Main independent factor(s): Exchange relation, dependency, and power Summary of theory Social exchange theory was formed by the intersection of economics, psychology and sociology. The theory was developed to understand the social behaviour of humans in economic undertakings, according to the theorys initiator Hormans (1958). There is a fundamental difference between the two the theories: economic exchange and social exchange theories, which is the way in which the actors are seen. Exchange theory views actors (persons or a firm) as dealing not with another actor but with a market (Emerson, 1987, P.11), reacting to various market characteristics; while social exchange theory sees the exchange relationship between specific actors as actions contingent on rewarding reactions from others. (Blau, 1964, P.91) Nowadays, various forms of social exchange theory exist, but all of them possess the same driving force which essentially is the same central concept of actors exchanging resources via a social exchange relationship. Where social exchange (e.g., Ax; By) is the intentional transfer of resources (x, y ) between several actors (A, B) (Cook, 1977). A network model (Cook, 1977) with market properties (Emerson, 1987) is the evolved form of the theory which previously was a dyadic model. The core of the theory is best captured in Homanss own words (1958, P.606) Social behaviour is an exchange of goods, material goods but also non-material ones, such as the symbols of approval or prestige. Persons that give much to others try to get much from them, and persons that get much from others are under pressure to give much to them. This process of influence tends to work out at equilibrium to a balance in the exchanges. For a person in an exchange, what he gives may be a cost to him, just as what he gets may be a reward, and his behaviour changes less as the difference of the two, profit, tends to a maximum.In conclusion, social exchange theory is best understood as a framework for explicating movement of resources, in imperfect market conditions, between dyads or a network via a social process (Emerson, 1987). Agency Theory or Principal-Agent Problem Key dependent factor(s) Efficiency, alignment of interests, risk sharing, successful contracting Key independent factor(s) Information asymmetry, contract, moral hazard, trust Summary of Theory In economics, the principal-agent dilemma treats the technical hitches that come up under conditions of unfinished and asymmetric information when a principal hires an agent. A variety of mechanisms could possibly be used in an attempt to align the interests of the agent with those of the principal, for instance piece rates/commissions, profit sharing, efficiency wages, the agent posting a bond, or fear of firing. The principal-agent problem is seen in the majority of employer/employee relationships. Agency theory is focussed at the ever-present agency relationship, which basically is: one party (the principal) entrusts work to another (the agent), who carries out that work. The resolution of the two problems in an agency relationship that can occur is the primary concern of agency theory. Firstly, is the agency problem which surfaces when (a) the desires or goals of the principal and agent conflict and (b) its difficult or expensive for the principal to authenticate what the agent is actually doing. The predicament here is the principal cant confirm that the agent has behaved fittingly. Secondly, is the problem of risk sharing that arises when the principal and agent have dissimilar attitudes towards the risk. The problem at this point is that the principal and the agent may fancy different actions since they have different risk preferences. Relationship between theory and Information Systems Agency theory sees the firm as a nexus of contracts amongst interested individuals. The owner employs agents (employees) to execute work on his/her behalf and delegates some decision-making power to the agents. Agents must be under constant supervision and management; this stems the introduction of management costs. As firms grow consequently management costs rise. Information technology minimises agency costs by providing information without difficulty so that managers can oversee a larger number of people with fewer resources. Simply, technological changes support the agency theory, which enables managers to supervise more employees at a reduced cost. Technology in general, and information systems particularly, save companies lots of money by reducing the number of managers needed to oversee larger numbers of workers. Transaction Cost Theory or Transaction cost economics Main dependent factor(s) Governance structure, degree of outsourcing, outsourcing success, inter-organizational coordination and collaboration Main independent factor(s) Coordination costs, transaction risk (opportunity costs), coordination costs, operational risk, opportunism risk, asset specificity, uncertainty, trust Summary of Theory In the field of economics and its related disciplines, a transaction cost is a cost incurred while making an economic exchange. A variety of transaction costs exist, for instance, search and information costs are the costs incurred in determining if a required good is available on the market, who has the lowest price, etc The costs required to achieve a satisfactory agreement with the other party to the transaction, drawing up an suitable contract, etc., is known as the bargaining cost. Policing and enforcement costs are costs that make sure the other party abide the terms of the contract, and taking appropriate action (regularly through the legal system) if this turns out not to be the case. Transaction costs consist of costs incurred in the process of looking for the best supplier/partner/customer, the cost of drawing-up a supposedly air-tight contract, and the costs of monitoring and enforcing the carrying out of the contract. Transaction cost theorists state that the total cost incurred by a firm can be grouped basically into two components: transaction costs and production costs. Transaction costs, which are often referred to as coordination costs, are the costs of all the information processing necessary to coordinate the work of people and machines that perform the primary processes, whereas production costs comprise the costs incurred from the physical or other primary processes necessary to create and distribute the goods or services being produced. Relationship between theory and Information Systems Transaction cost theory is based on the notion that a firm incurs transaction costs when the firm buys on the marketplace in comparison to making products for itself. Traditionally, in an attempt to reduce transaction costs firms wouldve gotten bigger, hired more employees, integrated vertically and horizontally, and wouldve taken over small-company. IT helps firms reduce the cost of market participation (transaction costs) and helps firms minimise their size while producing the same or even greater amount of output. In simplified terms, transaction cost theory supports the idea that assistance or through the help of technology businesses can minimize their costs of processing transactions with the same emphasis and enthusiasm that they attempt to minimize their production costs. Frameworks Traditionally, the Chief Information Officer (CIO)s job description entailed ensuring that the Business Strategy and Information Systems strategy were aligned. Successful information technology/business alignment, however, entails more than executive level communication and strategy translation. Achieving alignment is usually done by establishing a set of well-planned process improvement programs that systematically tackle obstacles and go further than executive level conversation to filter through the entire IT organization and their culture. IT/Business Alignment Cycle A generally used methodology is the IT/Business Alignment Cycle, which introduces a straightforward framework that the IT organization can take on to manage a broad range of activities. The cycles four phases are: plan, model, manage, and measure. Organization-wide shared expectations between business and IT managers are fostered utilizing this cycle, and a universal framework is defined for a wide-range of activities that jointly serve to align IT and business objectives. Within the cycle the best practices and common processes within and between IT functional groups are identified which makes IT/business alignment sustainable and scalable. When integrated and automated with software applications and monitoring tools the framework functions optimally. Plan Phase: In this phase business objectives are translated into quantifiable IT services. This phase aids in closing the gap between what business managers need and expect and what IT can deliver. Giga Research reports that IT leaders in poorly aligned organizations are still trying to elucidate technology management issues to their business colleagues and havent made that leap to comprehending business issues and communicating with them on a business-minded level. To bridge the gap between what business expects and what IT can deliver, IT must have an ongoing dialogue to elucidate business needs in business terms. Without any ongoing dialogue, its difficult for IT to determine which IT services to offer or how to efficiently allot IT resources to maximize business value. Also, when business needs change, IT ought to adjust and modify the service offering and IT resources fittingly. CIOs should consent the use of a regimented service level management process that will lead to agreement on precise IT services and service levels required to support business objectives. IT management can then translate service definitions and service levels into fundamental rules and priorities that empower and guide IT resources. Lastly, IT needs a method to measure and track both business level services and the underlying capabilities that support the services. Model Phase: An infrastructure should be designed to optimize business value. The model phase pinpoints resources needed to deliver IT services at dedicated service levels. This phase involves mapping IT assets, processes, and resources back to IT services, then prioritizing and planning resources that support those business critical services. The bottom line in measuring the triumph of an alignment is the extent in which IT is working on the things which business managers care about. This implies that IT must have processes in place for prioritizing projects, tasks, and support. To effectively prioritize resources, IT needs a service impact model and a centralized configuration and asset management repository to connect the infrastructure components back to particular IT services. This amalgamation is vital if IT is to efficiently plan, prioritize, and constantly deliver services at agreed-upon service levels while also minimising costs. Manage Phase: Results should be driven through fused service support. The manage phase permits the IT staff to deliver pledged levels of service. Assurance from the CIO that the organization meets expectations by providing a single location for business users to submit all service requests and by prioritizing those requests based on pre-defined business precedence. Without a single point-of-service request, it isnt easy to manage resources to achieve agreed-upon service levels. Furthermore, lacking a system for effectively managing the IT infrastructure and all changes, the IT staff is faced with the danger of causing failures. In order for the IT staff to ensure the effectiveness of the service desk they need to provide: A technique for prioritizing service requests based on business impact. A well-organized change management process to reduce the risk of negatively affecting service level commitments. An IT event management system to monitor and manage components that support business critical services. The basic operational metrics that enable service delivery at promised levels, in addition to the means for measuring and tracking the advancement of service level commitments using these metrics. Measure Phase: Involves the verification of commitments coupled with improvement of operations. Cross-organization visibility into operations and service level commitments is improved in this phase. Conventional IT management tools operate in functional silos which confines data collection and operational metrics to focused areas of functionality, relating more to technology than to business objectives. Component-level metrics and measures are definitely essential for continuing service availability. Nevertheless, to support real-time resource allotment decisions, these measures must be construed in a broader business context, with the inclusion of their connections to business-critical services. Without a business context for construing measures and metrics, isolated functional groups cant get a holistic view of IT services that sustain business objectives. By committing to the cycle and integrating and automating activities using software solutions, its possible to align a whole organization to make logical improvements that prevail over obstacles. Competitive Forces Model Porters competitive forces and strategies is one of the popular and effective models for formulating a strategy. After studying a number of business organizations, Michael E. Porter proposed that mangers can formulate a strategy that makes an organization achieve a higher level of profitability and reduce vulnerability if they understand five forces in the industry environment. Porter found the following forces determine a companys position vis-ÃÆ'Â  -vis competitors in the industry: The rivalry among existing competitors The threat of new entrants The threat of substitute products and services The bargaining power of buyers The bargaining power of suppliers Porters framework (competitive forces model) has long been acknowledged as a valuable tool for business people to utilize when thinking about business strategy and the impact of IT. Porters framework illustrates why some firms do better than others and how they gain competitive advantage. It also analyzes a business and identifies its strategic advantages, as well as, demonstrating how entrepreneurs can develop strategic advantages for their own business. And lastly, it shows information systems contribute to strategic advantages. The threat of new entrants: The threat of new entrants to an industry can create pressure for established organizations, which might need to hold down prices of increase their level of investment. The threat of entry from in an industry depends largely on the amount and extent of potential barriers, such as cost. The power of suppliers: Large, powerful suppliers can charge higher prices, limit services of quality, and shift costs to their customers, keeping more of the value for themselves. The concentration of suppliers and availability of substitute suppliers are significant factors in determining supplier power. The power of buyers: Powerful customers, the flip side of powerful suppliers, can force prices down, demand better quality or services, and hence drive up costs for the supplying organization. The threat of substitutes: The power of alternatives and substitutes for a companys product or service maybe affected by changes in cost, new technologies, social trends that will deflect buyer loyalty, and other environmental changes. Rivalry among existing competitors: In most industries, especially when there are only a few major competitors, competition will very closely match the offering of others. Aggressiveness will depend mainly on factors like number of competitors, industry growth, high fixed costs, lack of differentiation, capacity augmented in large increments, diversity in type of competitors and strategic importance of the business unit. Information Systems Competitive Advantage In order to be competitive, companies must have a degree of quickness, nimbleness, flexibility, innovativeness, productivity, thriftiness and customer centricity. It must also align its IS strategy with general business strategies and objectives. Given the five market forces mentioned above, Porter and others have proposed a number of strategies to attain competitive advantage: Low-Cost Leadership Information systems can be used achieve the lowest operational costs and the lowest prices. For instance, Wal-Mart has utilized IT to develop anefficient customer response systemthat directly links customer behaviour back to distribution, production, and supply chains. Product Differentiation Information systems can be used in the process of enabling new products and services, or significantly changing the customer convenience in the use of an existing products or services. Mass customization enables organizations to offer individually tailored products or services through the use of mass production resources. Focus on Market Niche Using information systems enables a firm to pinpoint a specific market focus, and thus allowing them to serve this narrow target market better than competitors. Information systems can support this strategy because it can be used to produce and analyze data for use in finely tuned sales and marketing techniques. Companies can now analyze customer buying patterns, tastes, and preferences closely so that they efficiently and effectively pitch advertising and marketing campaigns to smaller and smaller target markets. Strengthen Customer and Supplier Intimacy The use of information systems tightens linkages with suppliers and develops intimacy with customers. Switching costs increase when and where therere strong linkages between customers and suppliers (expense a customer or company incurs in lost time and expenditure of resources when changing from one supplier or system to a competing supplier or system). STRENGTHS OF THE FIVE COMPETITIVE FORCES MODEL The model is a strong tool for competitive analysis at industry level, compared to PEST analysis It provides useful input for performing a SWOT Analysis LIMITATION OF PORTERS FIVE FORCES MODEL Care should be taken when using this model for the following: do not underestimate or underemphasize the importance of the (existing) strengths of the organization (Inside-out strategy). The model was designed for analyzing individual business strategies. It does not cope with synergies and interdependencies within the portfolio of large corporations. From a more theoretical perspective, the model does not address the possibility that an industry could be attractive because certain companies are in it. Some people claim that environments which are characterized by rapid, systemic and radical change require more flexible, dynamic or emergent approaches to strategy formulation. Sometimes it may be possible to create completely new markets instead of selecting from existing ones.