Captiva Conglomerate Case Study Analysis

Major Facts: ?System specifications not clearly defined ?Contract wording is partial to S. O. Software ?Spares management module is a disaster ?Spares management module currently complicated and un-useable/outdated ? Spares management module behind schedule ?Regional and centralized inventory management system behind schedule ? S. O. Software depleted allotted financing ?The system software specifications were not drafted by S. O. Software personnel Major Problems: The contract was not reviewed by appropriate personnel prior to contract award ? The spares management module is 4 months behind schedule ? The spares management system requirements is a hassle ?The spares management module does not provide relevant data ? The regional and centralized inventory management system is 10 months late ? The contract calls for â€Å"best effort,† â€Å"whenever possible† ? The 1 million called for in the contract is used up ?17 un-priced change orders The specifications looked like they were drafted by SOS, but Jana (IT manager) had initialed each page Solutions: Best Solution: Contract Renegotiation and Restructure Advantages: ?Bring in the SME (Subject Matter experts) to relook the concepts behind the contract. Restructure the contract based on existing monies to provide the type of service required. While leverage the existing contract with the current vendor may cause for some additional funding it provides the current vendor a change to improve on its product.Providing the current vendor is agrees’ with the restructure this avenue is the most preferred in order minimize change and downtime of the current system. ?This approach allows the company to restate or clearly define the specifications, needs and current objectives, necessary to predict future cost and further invest the time, tools, and expertise necessary to ensure they get workable software systems. Disadvantages: ?The current vendor S. O.Software may not be un-able or willing to work wi th the company in order to re-negotiate the existing contract. ?A poorly executed re-negotiation strategy can destroy a valuable relationship which may hinder the company’s ability to move forward with the supplier. The negotiations approach must take on the altitude of a win-win situation in order to provide the company with a incentive to re-negotiation. Alternate Solution: T4C, Termination of Contract Advantages: ?Captiva Conglomerate is able to cut the losses with the S.O. Software Company; accurately re-define the specifications; provide an accurately cost analysis and procure a new company that is able to design a systems in accordance with the requirements within the allotted time while provide a customer service approach to address any issues that might arise. ?The ability to exit transactions with S. O. Software could have significant cost savings to Captiva Conglomerate rather than waiting for the contract to end and paying for poorly performed services. Disadvantag e: Depending on where the contract is currently in its life cycle stage may cause for compensation to S. O. Software that is sufficient to cover any loss of profits over the remaining project term. ?Termination will also damage the company’s reputation with current and future businesses world. ?The company may risk a trial or protest because of the foggy nature of the â€Å"best effort† verbiage generally demands a factual determination as to its meaning. IMPLEMENTATION: The first step would be to completely re-examine the software requirements and request a new specification document based on current needs.Secondly, I would implement an acquisition team to include program officers, contract specialist, IT personnel, finance, legal and any other relevant personnel in order to devise a performance work statement (PWS) conducive to the program. Third, engage the S. O. Software regarding current issues and concerns regarding the existing contract (simply why we have a nee ded to relook the contract: i. e. , the two systems being 4mos and 10mos behind, constant changes to the specs which led to depleted funding), then propose the new contract in a manner and fashion that provides a win-win for all vested parties.

Choosing the Best Method of Service Desk Automation for a Growing Government

Organizations and companies come up with plan that are aimed at ensuring their success in meeting the needs of their customers as a step towards the achievement of organizational goals. Therefore, planning is the first step towards the realization of a companies goals as laid down by its vision and mission statement. Coming up with a good policy is not good enough if any organization is to meet its goals and thus communication of the goals to all members of the organization is equally important in the realization of the goals.The communication mechanism and the means adopted are the key aspects that determine the success of this phase and therefore they have to be well researched on and be relevant to the organization. The formulation and the communication phases are just the fist two steps which act as a guide toward the implementation phase in strategic planning. The implementation phase in strategic development can be described as the action phase. Therefore, as much as the formul ation and communication phase play important roles in the strategic development, much emphasis is placed on implementation.Formulation and implementation are a must and communication is considered a means to the success of the process. Thus the implementation phase is one of the most monitored and resource intensive phase in strategic development to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in delivery and thus the success of the entire strategic development. The importance of information in the modern information conscious society can never be under stated. As it is often the case, effective management of information system is not a Sunday afternoon walk on the beach.It is far from defined and is often filled with uncertainties. Furthermore, the benefits of automating the implementation have been too tempting for most organizations and thus the emergence of a system that allows for automation of the last two processes in strategic planning is seen as inevitable in organizations that are serious about staying afloat. The question is no longer about automation but rather about how to go about it. Problem Statement Two approaches to the development of automation for organization that are moving from a manual system have been adopted.An organization moving from an old system may choose to either develop their own or buy an already made system. There are several issue involved in deciding on whether to buy or to build a system and thus every organization must look at these factors keenly before making a decision as it has a great bearing on the effectiveness of the organization in meeting the needs of its customers and their expectation at the time of implementation and in future. Furthermore, such strategic decisions that affect an organization's future invariably have an effect on almost all aspects of the organization including the stakeholders.Development of in-house software requires long term commitment in terms of resources and time from developers who often have too much to do and not enough time (Jenny, 2004). On the other hand, if a company decides to purchase the software it effectively enters a long term business relation with a vendor who not only charge high amounts for the purchase of the license but a considerable chunk of the organizations finances will be directed towards the customization and installation of the software.The organization which is medium sized and in its active growth period faces a tough decision on the implementation of the software especially in consideration of the relative advantages and disadvantages of each approach. The advantages of building an automated help desk support system may include the reduction of the cost involved, moreover the organizations labor force are presented with a chance to understand the in details with regards to the working of the automated support system.Furthermore, the need for training of supports staff for information technology is eliminated as they are responsible for the s ystems existence and are thus well conversant on its operations. On the other hand, the disadvantage may include the need for IT labor can be significant in the organizations budget, furthermore the approach does not have any form of guarantee that will help the organization in recovery in case the system crashes as they are solely responsible for the existence and maintenance of the system.In addition, the approach is associated with a considerable amount of pain experienced by the customers and the end users of the system in case of system malfunction or lapse in performance. Lastly the building process can be so demanding on an in-house IT department or team that is not well conversed with the application that the organization intends to come up with. A decision to buy the office help support system involves a thorough survey and the calculation of the total cost involved in ownership, determination of the best software company and product and the actual purchase of the automated office support system (Coldwell, 1999).The determination of what the company needs is a very critical part in the decision making process as most individuals and executive often fail at this phase and instead state what the organizations wants. Moreover, the considerations on the financial stability of the software company and their level of experience all come in handy in the decision making process. After the determination of all these, the focus hen shifts to what the organization needs after which a purchase is made.Some of the benefits associated with this approach include increase in user satisfaction, well developed user support, reduced need for internal help support and easy access to support any time of the day. The disadvantages may include increased cost associated with training of staff on the use of the new software, furthermore the process of buying which is quite length may ignore some aspects leading to the purchase of a poor help support system. Lastly, customizat ion of the systems to meet the needs of the customers is done by an outsider which often lead to conflict of interest. Significance of the StudyUsing a help desk management software leads to the increase in efficiency in operation as it allows for the solution of some of the redundant issues over call. This has the effect of reducing traveling costs and man-hour billing to field engineers as they go to customer sites. Research Question The purpose of this research is to determine whether purchasing COTS or building a service desk tracking application is best for the automation and tracking of the GovComm, Inc. Engineering Support Services’ Helpdesk. To answer this question, this research must explore: ? The entities of GovComm, Inc.Engineering Support Services’ Helpdesk ? Based on advantages and disadvantages, which qualities of each configuration best adhere to Engineering Support Services automation and asset tracking; ? If these applications fulfill stakeholders' re quirements Design and Methodology This research is qualitative, drawing mostly from a review of the literature on the subject of Helpdesk/support desk tracking applications and the battle of building versus buying to determine which application structure provides efficient asset tracking, failure notification, and metrics collection. GovComm, Inc.’s Engineering Support Services will be reviewed to discover details that might affect the factors that will contribute to the decision of choosing build or buy. From the review of the internal workings of GovComm, Inc. ’s Engineering Support Services a decision will be made upon comparison with the inherent nature of the two systems of implementation. Chapter 2 Literature Review Automated office systems support (AOSS) is a model made up of teams of technicians in computer who are charged with the responsibility of providing a variety of support activities in a desktop computer environment and area networks for any organizatio n.To ensure the provision of high quality services and products, each of these teams must follow the processes, standard and procedures. A process referred to as quality assurances is used in monitoring and evaluation of the level of adherence to the procedures processes and standard in a bid to determine the potential quality that the product will attain. Therefore, QA involves review and audit of the services and activities as a means of verification of their compliance with the relevant procedures and standards so as to assure the appropriate results are seen.The question of whether to buy or build an AOSS is one of the very complex decisions that an organization has to deal with in its daily activities. It is in deed a perpetual dilemma for the organizations that are contemplating on automating their office activities. Buying implies purchasing an off-shelf Automated office systems support that are produced in mass by some software company, more often multinationals (Leopoldo, 1 999). The products typically contain contents that are not unique to a particular organizations or user population needs.Moreover, it is the general trend in the software industry to create new softwares that do no conflict with the existing and thus the technology can be implemented without conflict with the existing systems. Build imply the creation of Automated office systems support from scratch (Leopoldo, 1999). Therefore, the process of building requires the determination of the organizational needs, the data and information nature and needs of the organization, design of the system an the actual implementation of the system.The process of building may and often include testing the end product to ensure that its functionality are as per the objectives that acted as the basis for its formulation (Leopoldo, 1999). A decision to buy or build a Automated office systems support may seem to be complex but in reality it can be reduced to three considerations: Resources, Needs and uni queness. The organization must clearly determine its needs and wants before a decision is made, this may involve identification of features which are critical in meeting the organizations needs. In determination of the organizational needs they must consider the following:? Organizational objectives ? Skills ? Information needs ? Culture ? Corporate direction. Meeting all the needs is an impossible event and therefore setting priorities is inevitable. Resources Resource as a factor is one that many organizations and individual would quickly jump at an opportunity to ignore. However, examination of resources is a very important aspect to the development agenda. Moreover, many organizations make the mistake of viewing resource in the monetary dimension only. Although money as a resource is quite critical, two other pieces; time and personnel, need to be considered to complete the puzzle (Shrapre, 1999).Time When taken in the context of either building or buying a Automated office syst ems support, time takes the following into account: ? The time that will taken in decision making. ? The developmental time of the Automated office systems support including the time taken in testing. ? The time taken in rolling out the Automated office systems support or implement it within the organization. Analysis of organizations against the three time variables helps in the determination of the importance of time in deciding whether to buy or build. Decision makingThe time taken by the organization in making decision is quite varied and cannot be correctly determined as the nature of the problem and other variables that can never be determined nor controlled easily have a great bearing on the total time (Curan & Mitchell, 2001). The nature of the organization and the kind of decision to be made also have a bearing on the time taken. It time critical decision making the aspects of time is important and the challenge thus lies in coming up with sound decision within limited time (Curan & Mitchell, 2001).Most theories adopted in decision making leave out the time taken in selection of actions which is often considerable in organizations where the decisions are viewed differently by constituent members (Curan & Mitchell, 2001). Coming up with a solution that are made without consideration of a well carried out problem solving session could lead to solutions that lack in operational significance, thus any decision making should be aimed at finding the solution that is either associated with the least cost or most returns of the total costs (Curan & Mitchell, 2001).In coming up with the cost, organizations must include the cost and effort taken in thinking and coming up with a plan or a policy in determination of the time taken in decision making. The problem with time considerations is that complex problems may hinder the development of best solutions (Spezzano & Mertens, 1999). In some instances, coming up with the best solutions could be within organization s grasp but the cost associated with such may not be acceptable to the organization. The organizational structure plays a great role in the speed of the decision making process (Spezzano & Mertens, 1999).A structure whereby all members of the organization have to be involved is time consuming (Kaplinsky, 2007). Such an approach is inclusive and the decisions made from this approach are more likely to meet both the needs and wants of the organization. The implementation of such policies is often smooth as those charged with the responsibility of carrying out the policies are well aware of the good and thus have the motivation required for the implementation. The tread off in this approach is the time taken; the approach requires organization wide consultation and is time intensive.Getting the opinion of each and everyone in a medium or large organization and coming upon with a decision based on their varied views can be demanding on an organization's financial resources and time. Mos t organizations have adopted a mechanism where the executives and top managers exclusively take part in the formulation of the policies. Such an approach is time conscious and often leads to timely formulation of policies. Despite this, the relevance of the policies to the needs of the organization is brought into question as the people charged with the responsibility of implementation are not included in the formulation.Policies implemented through this mechanism often address what the organization wants rather than what it needs since organizations are best known by the people charged with the duty of policy implementation. Deciding on the correct approach is thus complicated as both time and relevance of decisions are very important, moreover, company heads have in a number of occasions made decisions that have turned out to be for the good of organizations without necessarily involving everyone, this complicates the issue even further.Therefore, organizations have to consider al l the factors inherent of their organization that affect the decision making effort and thus the cost of decision making associated with each approach before deciding on whether to buy or build Automated office systems support. Developmental Time The time taken in the development of Automated office systems support varies with the approach employed. Other factors inherent of an organization also play an important part in the determination of the total time the organization will take in coming up with a new system (Tapscott, 1998).The developmental time can be viewed in two contexts; the time taken in building an Automated office systems support and the time taken in buying an off-shelf Automated office systems support. The time taken in building a new Automated office systems support is generally larger than that taken in buying (Tapscott, 1998). Moreover, the factors that are influential on the overall time taken in building are more compared to those in buying.The total time taken in building is influenced by internal and external factors which include; the availability of resources, the organization and coordination of all those involved in the implementation of the project. The level and the availability of the required expertise within the organizations working environment is a consideration. The availability of the required software and hardware components necessary in coming up with Automated office systems support is fundamental. The software and the hardware components must be as per the required functionality set by the organization needs.Change in government policies and market trends may greatly affect the availability of the required components and thus have an effect n the developmental time (Tapscott, 1998). In addition the needs of the users often change with time and this may require the modification of components that are already in place which lead to delay. The time taken in buying a new system is highly dependent on external factors that a re not within the control of the organization (Tapscott, 1998). In most cases organizations lose time in this stage for reasons that are not within their reach or control.Buying as a process requires a well established resource base and a good legal framework to fully engage the system as a whole (Kenyon, 2001). The market conditions are influential on the speed of purchase and thus very important in the determination of the total developmental time. The actual location of an organization is also important in evaluating the total buying time. An organization in an urban setting find it easy to buy software and hardware components as the availability and cost associated with their purchase is small compared to those in a rural setting.Personnel This is also one of the most overlooked factors (Kenyon, 2001). In consideration of the personnel, decision on whether to buy or build an Automated office systems support requires company wide consultation (Kenyon, 2001). As organizations anal yses their resources they must determine what they have and the needed personnel required for the implementation of the Automated office systems support. The organization should determine the number of available technical staff available for the support.If organizations lack or anticipate a lack of personnel, they must decide on when and where the required staff will be obtained from, which may involve the determination of the cost of the support (Kenyon, 2001). Money Money is an important consideration in strategic development as it affects the nature of the budget. A limited or unlimited budget has a great bearing on the choice of whether to buy or build an Automated office systems support (Katzan, 2002). In consideration of the budget both individuals and organizations must consider the short and long term benefits that will be accrued by the implementation of either methods.This may also involve the analysis of the effects of the non-implementation of the alternative. The import ance of money is such that without it the project is non-existent (Levy, 2001). Therefore, organization are required to accurately estimate their resource requirements before a decision on whether to buy or build an Automated office systems support is made. The cost involved in both cases have to be estimated and any other factors that may affect the estimated cost determined.Moreover, since all factors can never be determined accurately, including a contingency or escape plan in the formulation of the original policy will ensure that the organization is well prepared for any eventuality (Kenyon, 2001). The effect of money on the total time taken also depends on the government policies, market and industry condition that can affect the availability of resources especially money (Carter, 1999). Expected change in areas that currently affect the availability of funds largely determines the feasibility of the project in future.The availability of additional funding and all the factors that affect it, which may include legal and political issues all play important roles. Uniqueness The nature of organizations differ and therefore their requirements may vary though the degree depends on the organizations being considered. A major consideration is thus the uniqueness of the needs of the organization. In determination of the uniqueness of an organizations needs the following have to be looked into: ? What are the needs of the organization? ? What are the objectives in the implementation of Automated office systems support What are the connections between the available of the shelf-software and the needed capabilities in what the organization looks for in Automated office systems support? ? Does the implementation of the system go in line with the industry and market needs? ? What is the relationship between the methodology of choice and the organizational culture? The determination of the answers to this question as per the context of the organization helps in coming up with the level of uniqueness needed for the Automated office systems support and thus plays a very important role in the determination of whether to buy or build.The needs of an organization are defined as its requirements to perform in the industry (Herbert & Sparck, 2004). The needs are thus the components that are necessary for the survival of a business in the industry that it is in. The needs are the basic components of the operational environment. Determination of the needs requires one to look deeply into the processes and establish their requirements, outputs, behavior and interaction before any modification aimed at the improvements of the processes is made.It is noteworthy that every process has a number of factors that affect it both from its external and internal environment. Moreover, every activity or operation than an organization may undertake in can be broken into a number of processes and thus determination of the needs of the organization is done effectively i n an efficient manner. The implementation of developmental agenda in any organization is best done through strategic planning (Buckingham, 2006). Strategic planning involves the formulation of a plan aimed at development of some project(s) so as to ensure organizational growth.Any plan that is developed with success in mind must have a well laid out action plan that is characterized by well intentioned and realistic objectives. It is important that the objectives of any plan be in line with the actual needs of the organization. Therefore, the objectives of the organization in coming up with an Automated office systems support must be established and documented clearly so that the guidelines in the implementation of the policies that arise as a result of the consideration of the objectives be in line with the organizational goals.Moreover, the objectives in the implementation of a plan differ according to the priorities of the organization and are therefore unique to the problem bein g addressed and the organizational approach to problem solving. After the determination of the exact needs of the organization, the available software and software components have to be evaluated. An important consideration is that in either case the organization has to buy either software components to, or the full Automated office systems support since the organization does not engage in the manufacture of softwares (Gibson, 2004).Thus, determination of the needs of the organization and the available software capability in meeting those needs must be established. Moreover, organizations must effectively determine any addition capabilities possessed by the available softwares that may enhance service delivery. These capabilities which meet the wants of the organization must be addressed clearly and effectively if the investment is to be a success. Industrial and market considerations also contribute a great deal in deciding whether to build or buy Automated office systems support.A n industry is defined as a collection of businesses and related economics (Gibson, 2004). The industry is thus one of the factors that is influential on the strategic development of any organization. Companies may choose to either go with the trends of the industry or adopt a trend that can be considered as being contrary, in either case there are pros and cons that must be considered. The effects of the trends in an industry do impact on its players. Moreover, how the effect is felt by the constituent members depend on their abilities and thus differs across the industry.An occurrence in an industry may be viewed by the sector players as an opportunity or a threat depending on their policies, resource base and technical capabilities (Gibson, 2004). Policies implemented by organization under the consideration of the industry may be aimed at measuring up to other players in the industry or gaining an edge over them. In either consideration the nature of the organization in question p lays a great role in the strategic direction adopted. The market is a very important consideration in deciding on what strategic direction an organization will adopt in pursuing its vision.Most organizations are in business for the sole aim of meeting their customers' needs and thus their strategies are often biased towards the achievement of this cause. The customers needs are an aspect of business that is nearly impossible to predict. The requirements and the expectation often shift with changes in technology, industry, preferences, fashion and taste. The social, environmental, legal, political and economic factors all have a great bearing on the market and thus on the decision.Moreover, in market considerations, expected growth in the future plays a central role in formulation of current market strategies. In consideration of the market needs, the policies formulated are often aimed at coming up with directions that will best meet the needs of the market so as to either match the other players or earn a reputation and thus a competitive advantage. Organizational culture Organizational culture is defined as the shared values and beliefs within an organization (Wilkes, 2000).The culture also comprises of the norms and beliefs and is thus an in build system within an organization (Wilkes, 2000). Thus organizational culture is specific to an organization and it defines the relationship and the nature of the interaction between members of an organization and is influential on the nature of the relationship with outsiders (Wilkes, 2000). The culture is also definitive of the goals that are set for each member of the organization and is seen to go in line with thee vision of the organization. From the clear definition, goals, guidelines or expectations are developed; these constitute the norms.The management may try to instill some kind of a culture on its employees, this type of culture is thus described as corporate culture and is more specific (Wilkes, 2000). T he classification of culture takes on diverse dimensions and therefore the analysis of the effects must also take on the same trend. The following are some of the factors that are used in classification of organizational culture: ? The expected differences in power levels. ? The extent to which the organizations members are willing to take risks. ? The level of collectivism or individualism in an organization. ? Gender aspects.? Orientation, which can either be short or long term. Any strategy that an organization comes up with must be within the organizational setting and thus be relevant to the organization culture. A clash between the strategies and the organizational culture will lead to the flop of any program, therefore all organizations must ensure that their development plans are in line with the culture, failure to which the implementation will be a flop. Support for the policies After the analysis of needs, resources and uniqueness, there is an additional factor that must be considered in coming up with a decision; support.The organizational support to the mode chosen is very critical in the determination of the success of the mode of choice in meeting the needs of the organization. This is because it affect how members of the organization receive the decision. Support can be categories into three: ? Upper level support ? Like/ Colleague level ? End user support Management The reasons for support by upper management staff and executives is quite clear. The main reason for their support is the power they posses in the implementation of the plan especially in resource allocation and policy formulation (Woodruff, 2005).Moreover, the obvious nature of the need to influence the top executives often lead to concentration on them and thus ignoring the other members. Organizations must ensure that such occurrence are minimized and if possible eliminated as they can cause failure of well intentioned plans. Colleagues This group is made up of all those that th e organization have to interact with in their daily undertaking (Woodruff, 2005). The importance of this group lies in counteracting the power that the organizations executives have on the decision making process.The support of the members of the organizations operational environment plays a very important role in influencing the decision. Therefore, enlightening the colleagues on the importance of Automated office systems support will go in line with drumming up support for the implementation of the approach of choice. In addition, enlightening the colleagues to understand the implementation of the plan, which it is meant for and the effect of its implementation on their jobs will go a long way in influencing their support.End Users Even though they have the power to influence the success of a plan, the end user are often ignored in lobbying for support (Woodruff, 2005). The end users have the power to render the plan a failure by deciding not to use the product, which will have th e effect of changing the attitude of the colleagues and the management executives on the effectiveness and efficiency of the adopted Automated office systems support acquirement mechanism.Moreover, the sabotage need not be intentional; the failure of the system may be due to their lack of understanding of why the product is necessary or as a show of their lack of support of the governance model adopted. Furthermore, the products failure in meeting the needs of the end user could lead to failure and thus the importance of the end user in deciding on whether to buy or build Automated office systems support can never be downplayed.The Decision Process Whenever an organization decides to buy, the decision is always an aftermath of a series of processes. The decision may be instantaneous or take a long time though buying is a process and not an event (Woodruff, 2005). No matter the length of the process the origin is when a company becomes aware of the need (Woodruff, 2005). The need is then identified and the organizations searches for avenues through which the needs can be met.In the process of information or data gathering, the criteria that will be used in buying affects the buying process and should therefore be evaluated and refined. It is advisable for organizations to choose a few alternatives that are considered to be the best from the lot. Once a decision in reached and a choice made the purchase is made which is another process that can be quite time consuming (Woodruff, 2005). In summary, the decision to buy can be broken into five stages in which the first three are also constituted in a decision to build:? Identification ? Searching ? Evaluation ? Decision ? Purchase ? Reevaluation i. Identification This is the phase in which the organization realizes that it has a need that can be met by an Automated office systems support. The identification could be as a result of the failure of the system that they are using, increased competition from their rival s who have automated or as a strategy to gain some competitive leverage on players in the industry who are still implementing the manual system or are using a poor automated system.ii. Searching This is more of a research phase where the organization analyses itself, processes together with the industry to come up with the aspects in which it is lacking (Woodruff, 2005). Moreover, the organization can establish areas in which it can improve in so as to aid the establishment of its presence in the industry. iii. Evaluation In this phase the results from the searching p

Obama Perfect Union Speech – Contemporary Racism

Contemporary Racism President Obama’s speech â€Å"A More Perfect Union† was a response to many outbursts made about things that Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former pastor, had said on issues of racism. The reverend made statements that Obama called dismissive when what the world needed most was unity to overcome the continual racism in the country. Quotes from the Reverend such as â€Å"In the  21st  century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01.White America and the western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the  woodwork  or just ‘disappeared’ as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring black concerns† and â€Å"Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run! †¦We [in the U. S. ] believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God† caused an uproar in Washington.Obama used this opportunity to address race and the problems in the country relating to it. This speech relates to many of the topics we learned about in class regarding race and racism. Obama talks about his family’s background and how various people don’t like him in office for ridiculous reasons such as that he’s â€Å"too black† or â€Å"not black enough† to be the first black president. They even go as far as to say that he’s in office due to affirmative action.He goes on to talk about his white grandmother and the racist statements she would make, such as that when a black man passes her by on the street she fears him. President Obama’s speech relates to white privilege in the sense that the country has only ever had white presidents and therefore a stereotype has been formed that only the typical white collar, white male deserves to be in office. White people say things like that because they feel like power is being taken away from them and given to blac k people by having a black president in office.Obama even quotes about white privilege and the power of whites being taken away by saying, â€Å"Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race†¦Ã‚  when they hear an African-American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time. In his speech he also talks about institutional racism which goes all the way back to Brown vs. Board of Education which was the Supreme Court case that ruled separation of black and white students unconstitutional. Obama also talked about this in his speech saying, â€Å"Segregated schools were and are inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them,  50 years after Brown v. Board of Education. And the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students. He went on to say how this gives an inferior education to blacks and how this explains the gap in the income levels of white Americans vs. black Americans which in turn doesn’t give black men as many economic opportunities as white men. This not only relates to white privilege because they feel they are deserving of these jobs and educations but it also has a lot to do with institutional racism. By giving these economic opportunities to the better qualified person you are giving it to the one who has a better education.Through his speech, Obama illuminates the problem within our schools. Funding and quality of education go hand in hand, and since often times African Americans live in poor urban communities, schools struggle for funds to heighten the quality of their education. By talking about the dependence of schools on the income of the people living in the areas surrounding, Obama points out that privileged white kids are able to come out on top verses an African American child who grew up in an underfunded school.These white kids then get into more prestigious colleges, in turn landing more high paying jobs than the majority of their African American counterparts. Obama also goes on to talk about how people try to act like there is no racism anymore even though it is so blatantly out there. He quoted â€Å"Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism. He talks about how things like this widen the gap of racism and how we need to work to close the gap instead. He calls it a racial stalemate saying, â€Å"Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naive as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single el ection cycle, or with a single candidacy — particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own. † Obama believes that only by exposing the true roots of racism can we move forward, slowly but with conviction. He encourages more debate and open discussion instead of hiding behind polite political facades. But I have asserted a firm conviction — a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people — that, working together, we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union†. Overall, the goal of President Obama’s speech was to highlight the most taboo of topics in our society: racism. Since the era of reconstruction, white people have tried hard to ignore skin color, but Barack Obama is trying to make a point of not ignoring the color of his skin, but rather using it to his advantage by pointing out the problems we have created.White sup remacy is still very much a real idea, even in our modern 21st century society. Poor education makes finding a good job in tough economic times an almost impossible task for the African American community, simply because they never had the same opportunities as their white peers. Obama encourages Americans to forgive past grievances and instead create a â€Å" new normal† – one of racial equality and opportunity regardless of race.

Guest lecturer reports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Guest lecturer reports - Essay Example Thus engineers are part of the problem solving process and apply an analytical approach in providing solutions. The knowledge of social construction of technology aids in the comprehension of societal problems in relation to the existing economic needs of the people. Therefore engineers are able to device appropriate solutions technically to suit the changing economic trends. Engineers are social scientific practitioners who mainly link scientific discoveries and the commercial applications to meet the day today societal and consumer needs (Anastasia & Reshma, 2009). This is incredibly plausible through the ideas this clever bunch of professionals put forward to act as economic solutions to technical problems in relation to the application of scientific principles. Sociology of technology is a theory that argues on the basis of human action shaping technology. One of the distinctive characteristics of technology is that it’s socially shaped i.e. a new technology available at o ne time may be developed and implemented following consumer interests. Thus a working technology is rendered unsuccessful when it does not meet the prevailing standards of consumer interests (Bijker, Wiebe, Thomas, Hughes, Trevor, & Pinch, 1987). Engineering socio-technical system defines societal roles in determining what design should be used by engineers to construct a device that is generally accepted, at certain limits. It is this design that influences the implementation of a particular technology at a particular time. As a theory and a methodology, SCOT analyses the causes of success and failure to a particular technology through formalizing appropriate scientific procedures and principles. This argument is evident in the evolution of bicycle, innovating different designs. The first invention of the bicycle was the velocipede, which was difficult to mount, had a poor braking system and the front wheel tended to clean itself on the cyclist's trousers while negotiating bents. T his paved way for penny-farthing part of the developmental process to find an efficient form of personal transport. Similarly, it took a cyclist some practice to learn how to get into and off the high wheel. This, accompanied by risks of tumbling for longer distances when one lost control, called for a new invention. The bicyclette, also known as safety bicycle, is the first chain-drive with advantages over the other inventions. The bicycle invention may be summarized in an innovation model continuum, as shown below. The linear innovation model suggests that the technical change in bicycle occurs in a linear fashion as illustrated in the flow chart below. On the other hand, multi-directional model provides a wider view on the relationship of the subsequent designs (Sismondo, 1993). Illustration 1: Linear Model of Innovation Illustration 2: Multi-directional Model Social analytical approach spells out clearly the diverse problems that need corrections, thus, which are very fundamenta l for my understanding. The interpretive flexibility stage analyses the problems affecting the male, elderly and female cyclists. By this, understand the requirements of the elderly, male, and female cyclists. The ordinary bicycle contributed major to the development of bicycles albeit having limitations on the elderly cyclists and female cyclists. It was rendered for young and athletic men who were thought to withstand its tumbling menace when it suddenly hit a rough surface, and also the rider's position over the centre of the

Qustion 7.10 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Qustion 7.10 - Essay Example The rise of technology has enhanced communication across the world. In addition, the cost of internet has fallen down. The use of focus groups can be implemented by embracing video-conferencing, telephone calls and online interviews. Pepsi can use all the three avenues to reach more participants. Video-conferencing has emerged as a major channel for communication across international markets. As a result, people can communicate from different parts of the world. The approach would also enable the market research team at the global office to collect important data that would reveal significant information about the issue. Focus groups provide a great opportunity to generate honest feedback from the audience (Warner, 2014). The video recordings can be analyzed to examine the facial expressions of the participants. Although the cost of video-conferencing equipment is relatively high, it is easy to set up. Furthermore, it can enable the marketers to reach a wide reach of customers in dif ferent parts of the world. However, Pepsi will have to create an effective action plan for implementing this qualitative research methodology. Besides selecting qualified and experienced partners, it needs to select an appropriate sample size. Focus groups are usually limited in number. They usually involve six to twelve participants (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The organization can interview three different focus groups in each market. In addition, it should pay attention to the demographic and cultural factors. The participants must be diverse. Demographic and cultural factors influence consumer behavior (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2012). They should also have the ability to respond to the questions effectively. The organization may have to hire translators in order to communicate with participants who do not speak English. It is important to remember that transparency and accountability are

Biotechnology legal issues involved in technology transfer and new Assignment

Biotechnology legal issues involved in technology transfer and new venture formation - Assignment Example Another legal issue is the registration of the patents or the transfer of the patents’ ownership with the Office of Intellectual Property in the relevant jurisdiction. Contracts will also have to be drawn up between Bio Vacc Ptty Ltd and RMIT for the vaccine project and between Bio and Protein Solutions and Firefly Australia with respect to their joint ventures. Contracts of employment or simple contracts including confidentiality covenants will also be necessary with respect to the students involved in research. This paper examines the various legal issues involved in the transfer of technologies in the arrangements spearheaded by Bio Vacc with a view to accommodating the interests of the parties and any other relevant stakeholders particularly with reference to the patents involved. This is necessary as the parties to the arrangements are only some of the important stakeholders. Other stakeholders who are not parties to the arrangements may have interests that conflict with the commercial and/or scientific interests of the contracting parties.1 The Consequences of the Spin-off A spin-off is the creation of a new organization which is founded on the resources of the parent company or organization.2 This means that the Bio Vacc is essentially a new and independent organization that originated from RMIT. To put it another way, RMIT is commencing a new venture formation via Bio Vacc. The parent company which is RMIT in this case typically forms the new company which is Bio Vacc in this case, to facilitate technology transfer.3 Four legal issues are involved in this spin-off process. First there is the rights and obligations of the parent organization that transfers the technology (patents). Secondly, there is the stage where the technology transfer can actually start. Thirdly, the rights and obligations of the spin-off company that is attempting to form a new venture out of the technology. Finally there are the rights and obligations of the investor who pr ovides funding.4 The roles of each of the actors are best understood by the definition of spin-offs. To this end, Boehm defines a spin-off as: A new company formed (1) by individuals who were former employees of a parent organization, and (2) which is based on a core technology that is transferred from the parent organization.5 In the context of a university spin-off, Boehm describes the spin-off as a founded by a former member of the faculty, or staff member, or even a student who departs from the university for the purpose of starting an organization or starting a company while â€Å"still affiliated with the university†.6 The university spin-off may also be a â€Å"technology or technology-based idea development within the university†.7 The main legal issues are therefore the limits and extent of the use of new technology for the new venture formed by Bio Vacc. In this case the new technology is the two vaccine patents. A second legal issue is the limits and extent to which university research members will participate in the new venture of Bio Vacc. Bio Vacc is essen

The Role of Emotion-focused Theory in Functional Assessment Essay

The Role of Emotion-focused Theory in Functional Assessment - Essay Example New models of marital suffering, such as Gottmans model, also have grounding in the observation and the coding of exact interactions flanked by intimates, as do models of adult close relationships such as accessory theory. Moreover, it is perhaps not astonishing, then, that there is consonance in the middle of EFT as a model of intervention, researched evocative models of distress, and relational theories such as accessory. Distressed couples taught Les Greenberg and me, the inventor of EFT, how to describe the procedure of alter outlined in EFT and the interventions that endorse this change procedure. Moreover, the primary EFT manual was written as part of the first result study, which compared EFT to untreated couples and couples who finished a behavioral communication and skills training intrusion. The consequences of EFT in this primary study were imposing sufficient to spark another two decades of research on EFT(Elliott, R., Watson, J. C., 2004). No doubt, this study utilized evocative assessment methods to expand hypotheses regarding the function of lunchtime behavior troubles for three characteristically developing children. No doubt, functional treatment was assessing in the natural setting through caregivers as change agents. In general, results of the evocative assessment suggested that every childs difficulty behavior was upheld by flee and, to a lesser extent, attention. In adding, this study optional that straight observation was more dependable than a behavioral interview or survey in acquiring the information essential to expand hypotheses on factors maintaining a childs mealtime behavior evils. Lastly, a functional treatment wrap up consisting of death, stimulus fading, and strengthening of suitable eating behaviors put into practice by the caregivers was effectual in decreasing the mealtime behavior evils for two of the children who continued in the study, thus given that

Explain new approaches in respect of how a firm could finance takeover Essay

Explain new approaches in respect of how a firm could finance takeover and acquisition. Identify issues with such approaches, f - Essay Example The strategy adopted by each group is prepared by the management accounting department through analyzing the market, shareholders and the regulatory framework within the industry. In some instances, it may be important to obtain synergies to help analyze the financial and accounting policies applied by each of the companies merging. Although the A&M started in 1980s, the international rate of industrial mergers and takeovers took place during the 1990s. However, the complexity and nature of international operations coupled with other complexities has sophisticated global takeovers and mergers. Mergers and acquisitions normally abbreviated as M&A refer to the corporate strategy aspect, management dealing and corporate finance that involve the selling and buying as well as combining and dividing of different companies aimed at assisting an enterprise grow in its location or sector or venture into a new location or field (Brealey and Myers, 2000, p 89). Such a growth is expected to be w ithout subsidiary, use of joint venture or child entity. Over the years, the distinction between acquisition and merger is  blurred with several aspects especially economic income. Shareholders lawsuits are common in the event that a firm opts to engage financially in an acquisition or takeover and is appreciated as being part of the current market now that they are meritless. Merger lawsuits frequency has increased in the recent years with their life cycle undergoing a complete change. These days, once a merger deal is closed, lawsuits are normally closed. However, some plaintiffs have come out strongly in mergers to refine the way they operate. They insist on keeping such litigation alive even after they have been closed. This is achieved through having extensive discovery more so against the acquirer executives in control of the purse strings. Why mergers and takeovers There are a number reasons cited by firms for mergers and takeovers. However, the most prevalent reasoning cit ed by majority of the firms participating in M&A is profitability and growth sourced from external means. The outsourced growth may be of great economic benefit to the acquirer through increase in the production capacity, product diversification, increased market share, and expansion of the product lines. Some firms cite quantifiable reasons such as tax advantage and increased economies of scale are the main reasons for the mergers. In laying the strategies for merger and takeovers, it is important for the participating firms to focus on their goals and strategies. The management accounting department of the merging firms observes the compatibility of the merging companies to determine the compatibility of the core values and beliefs of these corporations. While quantitative variable provide ideal aspects which makes takeovers and mergers very attractive, their applicability are limited as they fail to portray the clear picture of the scene. Qualitative factors of the merging corpor ations should also be deeply considered. In estimating the real value of each merging firm, intangible factors such as favorable location, the strength of management, and skilled labor force constitute the qualitative aspects of the takeover or merger. Whatever the goal or rationale of the merger, the failure or success of

Google article and Zappos article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Google and Zappos - Article Example Yahoo offers their workers free time given that the workers complete their jobs on time. However, at Google, workers are only given one-fifth free time of their working hours. Zappos incorporates a corporate culture which treats their employees as a family (Zappos 1). The firm puts its employees first and then everything else. A person would expect a firm to put its customers first and then its employees, but this is not the case at Zappos. The leadership of Zappos is what enables the company to maintain such as corporate culture (Zappos 1). The leaders advocate for fairness and understanding all through the company, and this has enabled the firm to maintain a family-like culture. Such a culture in the case of Zappos might make some workers perform less than other, yet the matter would not be addressed. Working as a family makes a person over-rely on others since they are there to assist one

Business law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 8

Business law - Essay Example 222). This case examines the degree of responsibility the employer has over the visitors or workers and the extent to which their can disclaim that responsibility. The case involves Dabir an employee at Uxbridge University whose car was stolen from the university’s car park. According to the university policies, the limited parking space was only available for the workers living beyond ten miles from the University. Furthermore, the space was given on first-come-first-served principle. Since Dabir was living less than ten miles, he was not entitled to parking space in the university compound. However, the morning he arrived early he decided to park his car in the institution’s car park. Later he learnt his car was missing and after reporting he discovered he had no chance of recovering his car either with the help of the police of compensation from the university. The car park attendant informed him that he saw a stranger drive his car out and did not ask stop him because he thought he was a new member of the staff. After informing the security personnel at the university, they rubbished him and claimed it was a waste of time. Furthermore, the security personnel claimed that Dabir was not entitled to gate pass because he lived less than ten miles away. Dabir has been inconvenienced a lot because he has to board multiple vehicles before he gets to the place of work. The issue in this case is whether the university is liable for the loss of Dabir’s car, whether the university had done enough to discharge their responsibility whether Dabir was liable for contributory negligence (Howells & Schulze, 2009). It appears the main reason for the university restricting right of parking the car at the university’s car park was because of insufficient parking space. However, even the available space was on-first-come-first-served basis, and many

Changes in the Marketing Environment Essay Example for Free

Changes in the Marketing Environment Essay In recent times, from an economic environment perspective, people are getting more affluent, even in third world countries like Vietnam, the younger generation are more interested in spending on the latest fashion and gadgets, like iPods. Phone marketers might want to include phone designs which allow for self-expression, hence catering to the younger people seeking to carve out their own identity. For example, young girls in Japan like to stick many shiny crystals on their phones as they see it as a form of beautiful art. Phone marketers can cash in on this growing trend by offering phones which have suitable surfaces for crystal gluing, and they might want to also consider having a tie-up with a suitable bead company in order to have a package selling the crystals together with the phones. An important marketing strategy in catering to the changing political environment would be cause-marketing. It is by cause-marketing that phone marketers can reassure the public that they are socially responsible, even in the midst of increasing unethical behaviour existing in society. Cause marketing might be the determining factor which might set a phone or a brand of phones apart, especially if customers have the same perception of 2 brands of phones and are undecided which to choose. Phone marketers can follow Motorola’s lead whereby they produced a red â€Å"razr† phone to promote awareness of aids, which was highly successful. Another important marketing strategy is for the marketer to observe the changing demographic forces and decide which target group they can focus on in order to make the most profits. Quite a few countries in the world are facing an aging population, like Japan, China and Singapore. This might be a good target market to go into, by manufacturing phones which are suited for older people like by having larger screens and more user-friendly buttons. Technological forces are constantly changing, and a good marketer would be able to foresee what kinds of functions people might want in their phones. Marketers might want to research about what form of entertainment is capturing people and cater to these needs. Sony Ericsson realised that music was slowly becoming an integral part of people’s lives, no matter what age and produced the walkman phone series which was highly popular. The path to success and its maintenance depends very much on a phone marketer’s resellers and suppliers, hence phone marketers should engage in tie-ups with them both. A phone marketer’s resellers normally consist of telecommunications companies.  Marketers can offer to sell their phones at a lower price to these companies, and in exchange, persuade them to offer more attractive or cheaper line subscription packages when customers purchase the phones of the marketers’. Marketers should constantly source for more efficient and cheaper suppliers and sign a long-term contract with them. Marketers might also want to consider suppliers based in China or India, as labour in such countries is known to be one of the cheapest, yet efficient, in the world. Lastly, marketers should always keep an eye out for competition and continually check on other phone marketers’ strategies and phone pricing. Marketers should also be aware that competition not only lies with other phone marketers, but in any company that has to do with providing entertainment or convenience to people. For example, Apple is not a phone manufacturer, but it is beginning to slowly capture the phone market due to its iPhone. Phone marketers might want to produce phones which have the capability to rival such phones, or if they are unable to do so run a major advertisement campaign to promote their phones against other rival phones, so as to hopefully mould the public’s thinking into their liking. Alternatively, phone marketers can also liaise with major entertainment companies like Apple or Creative to work together to produce quality phones or gadgets to capture a major share of the phone market.

War In A Time of Peace Bush, Clinton, and the Generals Essay Example for Free

War In A Time of Peace Bush, Clinton, and the Generals Essay David Halberstam who is considered to be one of Pulitzers Prizewinning journalist write the sequel of â€Å"The Best and the Brightest† entitled â€Å"War In A Time of Peace Bush, Clinton, and the Generals. † In this great book he tries to evoke the internal conflicts, power struggles and unchecked ego within the White House, the military and the state department. He also shows here how the decisions of men who served in Vietnam War and even those who did not have shaped Americas role in global events. He provides the influential and fascinating power of Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Kissinger, Baker, Cheney, Albright and others to reveal a stunning view of modern politics in America and policy. Beginning with the Persian Gulf War, the author tries to discuss political shifts by emphasizing foreign to domestic issues which ushered Clintons administration. Despite the fact that Clinton, along with much of the country preferred to focus on the home front, America nonetheless found itself in conflict in Haiti, Somalia and the Balkans this events reflected American discomforts with the use of military forces abroad and at the same time acknowledging that majority of the world is dependent on the United States for guidance and support. Halberstam also noted the irony of the Gulf war since it was the time where lesser-known players who contributed to the picture were not overlooked. And the wrong branch of the service and the wrong military leaders were celebrated at its conclusion. He points out that President Bush got little electoral bounce from that first high tech, low casualty victory and that this was a lesson that Clinton never forgot. Then the author shifts to the conflict in Bosnia which\ch is a different kind. That war he says tested the United States commitment to moral goals in it foreign policy rather than simply to considerations of national security. Bosnia created a new political constituency in America on e that is â€Å"driven by a memory that connected these events to the atrocities of the Mazis and therefore demanded that other nations ask themselves what their larger purpose was. † War In A Time of Peace 2 Halberstam also noted. Reviewing the last pages of the book, the author gave his point of view in taking a glimpse of the future and the September 11, 2001 World trade center tragedy. The author tries to speculate and give a notion of wrong idea at the wrong time he notes that intelligence analysts believe â€Å"the threats to an open society like America comes form terrorist, rather than the military power of rogue states† which themselves present an exceptional target. Events and personalities clashed in this extraordinary book. The author masters the presentation of well-rounded portraits and in telling the anecdotes of the personalities that created United states policies over the past decades. It was really a historical book full of niche from the author that he himself had carved it is a luxurious product of about four to five years of research wherein any journalists or other people from all walks of life can be indulged and enjoy reading it. It gives a clear portrait of the emerging united States in its full and vivid human detail. War in a Time of Peace is really an interesting case for Americans. If they want to learn from the past decade, they should. If they want to think about the future they must. This is a guiding book for them to read so as to avoid conflicting ideas about politics and policy, leaders ad laws. And how it feels good to live in a strong and influential country like America. Reference David Halberstam, David, (2002). War In A Time of Peace Bush, Clinton, and the Generals.

Buyer Behaviour To Fair Trade And Ethical Clothing Marketing Essay

Buyer Behaviour To Fair Trade And Ethical Clothing Marketing Essay Abstract Being an ethical consumer means buying products which were ethically produced and/or which are not harmful to the environment and society. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2001/feb/22/ethicalmoney1) In todays society, consumers are becoming far more aware of the law breaking and inexplicable exploitation of workers including young children in many of the factories across Europe and the World that produce clothing good that are sold all over the United Kingdom as well as many other countries. There is currently a massive gap in the market for a major player to come into and promote that they are using fair trade clothing, showing that they are an ethical business, which would almost definitely up there levels of custom. In effect, the consumers who choose to take their money to ethical businesses would rather purchase ethically manufactured goods rather than the alleged unethical products if the price isnt significantly more than the ethical one. In order to know this however, these consumers need to have appropriate information of the conditions and standards in which they were made before they get to the buying situation. With this only being a recent matter to come up in the c lothing industry coherent information is scarce and it is beginning to cause friction between consumers and businesses. So with issues to do with companies corporate social responsibilities being as big as they ever have been we wanted to know what local consumers felt. Introduction The intention of this report is to analyse and assess consumer behaviour when it comes to fair-trade and ethical clothing. The objective is to find out what consumers beliefs are, whether ethics has an impact on their clothing range, and why they would choose to wear what they do. This was achieved via the use of both secondary and primary research. The secondary analysis involved research using articles on fair-trade and ethical clothing and the appliance of appropriate buyer behaviour concepts and theories. The report will carefully examine, contrast and report on the characteristic decision making processes prone to be used by a particular target market for the purchase of fair trade clothing. This will entail the primary research in which 6 participants will be interviewed with questions regarding to consumer behaviour when it come to purchasing ethical clothing for self wear. Interviews were used as a method to find the qualitative research as they are far more reliable than que stionnaires. The participants are all from Leeds, they are all male and students and aged between the years of 18 and 25. The interviews didnt follow a particular format, as they were informal based, using a number of open and closed questions in an attempt to get honest and appropriate answers from the participants. Research and findings Many aspects of peoples lifestyles can affect the choices they make due to the opinions they form and the interests they have. Looking into somebodys lifestyle can help us develop in depth insights of their consumer behaviour. Some people only buy clothes for comfort, yet others opt to buy clothes as they are branded and they believe it will help them gain respect and a status amongst peers. These points were evident throughout all of the research. An example of it is from interview 3, when asked What aspect of clothing is most important to you? he replied Style and comfort are both important as you to look good but it has to be comfortable as well. This is showing that they wish to look good, yet also desire to feel comfortable. If you take Maslows Hierarchy of Needs (see figure 1 in appendix) and select the Esteem part of the pyramid, we found that this was an ever present issue with the sample with what they had to say. When asked What aspect of clothing is most important to you one participant replied Looks smart and another when asked If you were to wear it do you think your friends would be impressed (as regards to expensive clothing)? He replied with Yes. This shows consumers need to feel confident with themselves when it comes to what they are wearing. They also want to gain respect from others, and sense a feeling of achievement. It is assumed that family and friends will also have a huge influence on dress sense with students. All participants but one agreed with this. When asked Do family and peers tend to have a large influence on the clothes that consumers wear and purchase? one participant answered with yes, because youre constantly around them and they are your family and friends for a reason so you are more likely to have similar dress sense to fit in but everybody does have their own individuality even though you hang around with similar people who wear similar clothing to you. This is proof that you may choose to dress just to fit in amongst peers and family sometimes losing sight of you individualism. The one member of the sample who didnt agree with the above was the only participant from outside of the UK. He was from Eastern Europe. This bring up the topic of whether culture also determines opinions and choices. Culture is the lens through which people see their world. It is also a blueprint of human activity. (McCracken 1986). A Western Value is characterised by separateness in the sense of people being relatively independent and individualistic with the view of the self emphasising separateness, internal attributes and uniqueness of individuals. Non-Western cultures are more connected (interdependent and collective) and have the view of the self stressing connectedness, social context and relationships. This is evident from the way he went around answering specific questions. For example when asked what are your views on how ethically clothes are manufactured? he answered with I have no view, its not my business, which is showing that this topic doesnt really mean much to him . From this we can only assume that this is what the Easter European culture believes and that he is speaking on behalf of them. With most products and brands there is a system of meaning that comes along with them and it is more often than not culturally specific and shared, learned and transmitted through generations. If you look at The Semiotics Triad (see figure 2 in the appendix) we get a better idea of how to change cultural beliefs. If we can get it nailed in to their heads that there is a message behind Fair Trade, perhaps it shows how much you care for the welfare of producers, and let them know what the meaning of Fair Trade is, that you will be providing a better lifestyle for these producers if you purchase the goods, they may become more inclined into buying these Fair Trade goods. From the socio gram in figure 3 (see appendix) you can see that only the Eastern European participant was the only person who disagreed with the question of Does clothing show personality?. T o have any chance of overcoming this cultural difference business must promote all of the benefits that come along with purchasing fair trade clothing. They need to show just how it affects peoples livelihoods and that it isnt just happening in one area, its happening all over the world and everybody needs to do their part to make sure they exploitation is abolished. One of the ways in which this could be promoted and open up to the public is via the use of television advertisements, these would be effective in showing the problems and have the best chance of creating empathy amongst people no matter what culture they may be associated with. Another aspect that was apparent from the research is that consumers look to buy benefits rather than buy things. This was especially the case as the sample were all students and the need to save money yet still have a status and fit in whilst constantly gaining respect is apparent for all to see. When dealing with fair trade consumers can look at benefits in different ways. They can look at the benefits that will be received by the original manufacturers. Or consumers could view fair trade clothing as being more expensive then the benefit to them is not to buy it and go elsewhere therefore saving their self money purchasing a cheaper option. An example of this is, when asked Would you pay slightly more for fair trade clothing one participant replied Yes, however Im not prepared to empty my pockets. This brings up the myth of fair trade being too expensive. If you look at the Market Map (see figure 5 in the appendix) you can see that consumers believe that fair trade clothing is expe nsive to buy and the quality of it doesnt match the price, yet in actual truth the quality is just as good so this myth needs dealing with. The stereotypical mindset of a student is for them to seek the most economical option with clothing that is unless it is branded. This hampers their chances of purchasing fair trade clothes, as the perception is that they are more expensive and that it comes without a brand. If marketers can dig into this perception showing that the little added value is more than worth it and show that it isnt all that much more expensive they will be half way there in changing the perception of students towards it. You can see from figure 4 (in the appendix) that 2 of the participants said that knowing that the clothes were fair trade would not convince you to buy them. This shows that a majority of them would yet a third of them wont. Again one them being of a different culture and the other being British which could prove that is isnt only Eastern approaches yet, only one participant doesnt show that this is how Westerners may also feel. A topic that also occurred throughout is that of motivation. What is it that motivates students to buy the clothes they do. Different factors motivate different people, whether its: brand, price, comfort or style etc. If we look at David McClellands Need Based Motivational Model it suggests that there are three main motivators when purchasing goods. Some have the need for achievement, some have the need for authority and power, and others have a need for affiliation. Basically saying we purchase to get recognition and respect. One example of this is when asked Since being a student has your attitude towards clothing changed and if so how? one reply was Yes because I used to wear scruffy clothes where as now I am more self conscious of how I look, I would rather buy designer makes in order to fit in with friends. This shows just how people like to fit in within a group even if they may not genuinely like what they are doing. Another participant answered Yes I would when asked Would yo u buy an item of clothing just because its expensive?. This also backs up this model. Conclusion To conclude it is evident that more needs to be done to raise awareness of fair trade clothing to students. Figures show that in 2008 a total of  £77.9 was spent on fair trade cotton goods in the UK to drop to  £50.1 in 2009 (http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/what_is_fairtrade/facts_and_figures.aspx)so as well as students perhaps the whole country needs more awareness, however this drop is more than likely to be linked to the recession as luxuries such as fair trade goods will be put to the side by many consumers. However this drop could also be linked to a lack of repeat custom. Once somebody has purchased a fair trade piece of clothing they may feel they have done their bit and have no need to help out anymore. Also advertisement from companies who sell fair trade needs to be increased to give many consumers especially students more knowledge or where it is and how it is produced. Part B Discuss, citing several sources, the differences between the B2B and B2C buyers from the perspective of a sustainable marketer Although business to business buying and business to consumer buying are very similar in many ways, the marketing of the two has to be done in different manners. Buyers are individuals and many different subjects can influence one. Whether it is word of mouth, reputation of a business, or past custom. Business to Business can be described as Business that sells products or provides services to other businesses. (http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/b2b/). An example of this could be Heinz selling its ketchup goods to McDonalds. Business to business buyers are very intelligent with what they do. They understand everything to do with the products and/or service better than anybody else and they are able to continually purchase these products or services and still make sure that they are making a profit. Marketing copy must talk to a sophisticated audience. Taking this into account, business to business marketing needs to be of very high quality, looking for areas that perhaps the buyer wont previously have visited and opening them up to new education. Business to consumer can be described as Business that sells products or provides services to end-user consumers. (http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/b2c/). An example of this could be a retailer selling a pair of shoes to its customer. Business to consumer buyers are on the lookout for the best value for money deal and always tend to look around different places before making their mind up on who to purchase from. It is more personal then B2C as it is done on more of a one to one basis. One of the major issues that arises for business to consumer buyers is that of faith and trust. Even though you are able to purchase the same goods from more than one different source whether it be in the high street or on the internet if a consumer knows that they can trust a particular source it is more than likely they will get their repeat custom. Taking this into order, businesses to consumer marketing needs to shows the consumer all of the benefits that buying a product has and prove that they are a trustworthy firm. In business to consumer marketing it is most likely that there wont be much time to play with as consumers can purchase their goods in a split second. Consumers may not even need to view any of the marketing before they opt to buy, it may be word of mouth that convinces them maybe from a friend or member of family. However they may not even need this. Many people buy on impulse, there and then so marketers need to make sure their marketing is noticed therefore it needs to be aimed at the appropriate target in order for it to go noticed, via leaflets or advertisements whether they be on a billboard or television etc. When it comes to business to business buying this idea of impulse buying is scarce. There is normally a list of many things that all need to be ticked before the thought of purchasing even comes to mind. Thus the time is increased and marketers will have more time to play with in marketing their goods and services as B2B buyers need to take their time and make sure they are making the correct and most efficient decision. As well as it having far more time, there are also many more people involved within it. These range from directors to cleaners as everybody needs what is best for them in their role. With more time being available marketers can think of more coherent ways to get the consumers attention and convince them that their goods are better than their competitors. Another difference between B2B and B2C marketing is that the business to business needs to make sure they keep that chain of command in mind. They will have to make sure that all queries are sufficiently answered and there is nothing for potential buyers to believe that they are making a mistake in choosing them instead of others. For example, if you take the Head of I.T from a business, they may decide they want to upgrade all of their computer systems. In their mind they will be thinking of the best value for money supplier to buy from, they will want top quality software but at an affordable and realistic price. They may also want to receive perks for doing business with them. Although this Head may not be the person eligible to make the final decision it is more than likely that the decision maker will take advice from the head and trust them with their opinion. The decision maker will also look at other areas such as reputation of the supplier and speed of delivery etc so market ers need to make sure everything is covered. Another difference between the two is the overall value of a sale. The cost of the initial B2B sale is only half of it, the business then goes on to sell the products it purchased. Initial transactions can cost hundreds or thousands of pounds and it is more than likely that these products will be again sold on. Therefore the value over the lifetime of a product can span many years and add up to thousands, potentially millions of pounds. With B2C they are bought solely for the consumers benefit with them not looking at the possibility of selling the product on. Therefore only a one off payment is made and nothing else needs doing. However marketers should continually be trying new ways of keeping the consumer updated in an attempt to get repeat custom. Appendix Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

The French Revolution of 1789 Essay -- French History

There is no doubt that the French Revolution has had a profound effect on the world. The cause or causes of it have been greatly disputed. Clearly the Revolution's primary cause was the presence of a weak monarchy and a lack of a stable system of government. France's absolute monarchy had many changes toward the end of the eighteenth century. King Louis XVI, in his attempts to consolidate his authority and lessen the power of the aristocrats, had planned out an intendant system. The intendants were like governors. They would oversee one constituency of the country. These intendants could not govern the region in which they lived, and were chosen from other than the aristocracy. This insured that their allegiance was pledged to the king and not to their own region. This system caused great disturbances among the aristocrats who felt that the regions should rule them, which in fact, would take away the power from the monarchy. Unfortunately for King Louis XVI, this system had been corr upted by the time he had come to power. The intendants had been replaced by nobility and they had no loyalty to the monarchy. Everybody was trying to be more independent from the monarchy. The Parliaments, who before King Louis XVI had the right to bar the king's legislation, all changed when Louis XVI had made it illegal to veto. This had diminished any kind of check or balance system that had existed in France. This decision by Louis XVI made the Parliaments rebel against the King. Louis XVI, who had not been a very strong king to begin with, sat idle while the Parliaments reduced his power. France, who had been in great debt, could not raise taxes because the Parliaments would not pass it. Nothing was accomplished because the government could not ag... ...and the presence of a weak monarchy in Louis' XVI indecisive and half-hearted attempt at running the country, had caused the downfall of the French monarchy and an overhaul of the country itself. Works Cited 1. Hooker, Richard. (1999): n. pag. Web. 7 Jan 2011. . 2. Kreis, Steven. "The Origins of the French Revolution." (2006): n. pag. Web. 6 Jan 2011. . 3. "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity." Exploring the French Revolution n. pag. Web. 6 Jan 2011. . 4. "The Social Causes of the French Revolution." n. pag. Web. 6 Jan 2011. . 5. n. pag. Web. 6 Jan 2011. .

The Uncertain Future of Quebec Culture :: Canadian Culture Essays

The Uncertain Future of Quebec Culture Gaetan Tremblay, a professor of communications at the University of Quebec at Montreal and deputy manager of the Group of research on cultural industries and social computerization (GRICIS), is a leading researcher for public policies in the field of communications. Tremblay is an advocate of public policy that defends against cultural imperialism by countries such as the United States . In particular, Tremblay studies the effects of the media on culture in Canada especially in a province like Quebec which is distinct from the rest of English Canada. Tremblay's article on the Americanization of Quebec culture is slightly more than a decade old, yet most of the information he provides is still relevant today. In his article, Tremblay takes a look at the invasion of Quebec 's airwaves by American content. His title refers to a belief in his mind that the Quebecois culture will one day be integrated into that of America , which in turn will lead to Quebec throwing itself into the melting pot of American culture. The first part of the article concerns policy, the never ending promotion of identity by the Quebecois. Tremblay calls for an all out communications policy that would protect Quebec . He goes on to contend that a policy is not only useful, but that it has becomes more necessary with each passing day. However, Tremblay has ignored the fact that Quebec culture is already protected in part by the Canadian constitution. From the beginning, the Canadian federation has provided guarantees, for the Quebec language and culture. â€Å"The Constitution Act, 1867 contained specific provisions designed to protect Quebec 's distinct culture and language† (Nicholson, 2003) Canada has always given guarantees to protect the Quebec culture, a policy would be nice but it is not an absolute must have as he portrays. Tremblay then moves on to say, that U.S Department of Commerce would like to deregulate the communications industry and how horrible this would be for Canada . He points out that onc e this happens the U.S will pressure Canada to do the same. Yet, he seems to forget that Canada is a sovereign nation that does not have to give in to U.S pressure. Canada sets its own policies without being influenced by others. It has and will always be this way. Quebec is already officially recognized as distinct, it is entrenched in the constitution.

The American Cancer Society Essay examples -- Cancer Education, Resea

The American Cancer Society is a volunteer-based organization that is present across the United States. Its main purpose is to raise money and awareness about the severity and prevalence of cancer. Cancer education and research is where most of the focus and monetary donations are used for. The American Cancer Society strives to fulfill their goal of â€Å"less cancer and more birthdays† across all generations and populations (ACS Inc., 2011). The American Cancer Society began its fight in 1913, starting as the American Society for the Control of Cancer (ASCC), which included fifteen members in New York City (ACS Inc, 2011). Cancer was never a high-priority disease and was often pushed to the side due to the fact that there was no treatment, harsh conditions, and low diagnosis. In 1945, after WWII, the ASCC was reorganized and renamed as the American Cancer Society (ACS) (ACS Inc, 2011). At this point, America was able to recognize problems on the home-front, which major public health issues were obvious. In 1946, a woman by the name of Mary Lasker, a member of the original ASCC, helped raise more than $4 million for the Society, where one million of it was used to establish and fund infamous cancer research (ACS Inc, 2011). Soon after, Dr. Sidney Farber, one of the Society’s first research grantees, achieved the first temporary cancer remission in a child with acute leukemia using the drug Aminopterin (ACS Inc, 2011). The ACS has been developing research theories for decades, with approximately $3.5 billion dedicated to finding a cure to cancer through research (ACS, 2011). With the ACS name nationally recognized, they were able to help fund many national, government, and hospital prevention strategies and research. Currently, t... ...faith. Even though my friend lost his battle with esophageal cancer, he raised over $50,000 for the ACS with the help of our community, family, and friends. He wanted to repay ACS for what they did for him and wanted nothing more than to save someone else from what he was had to go through. ACS stayed by his side until the end giving him hope and support, and for that, I feel they are a remarkable organization. I do not feel that any improvements need to be made for this organization. They utilize all types of prevention and educational tools, including technology, media, and events. ACS can only continue their research in hopes of finding the cure to cancer. Time is the only factor that may be for, or against, the Society’s efforts. Spreading faith, knowledge, and strategies to overcome cancer is the only way to keep individuals safe from the burden of cancer.

Canadian Pacific Railway

They were forced out of office and defeated by the prime minister Alexander Mackenzie What dolefulness did the liberal covet. Face? A major economic depression was sweeping AN(railway was a huge undertaking) Mackenzie disagreed with McDonald balloons of a nation linked by rail from sea to Mackenzie thought it was a loot of expensive trouble The main geographical problems with building the railway was the mountains to the west. The Fraser River the Canadians shield and the distance from the mainland and Vancouver land.A formula for nation building,remained an essential part of Canadian government policy Including a system of protective Tariffs, Western Settlement and The CPRM â€Å"Canada for Canada† -McDonald Resources (Gold In BC) Keep American out promise BC to build a railroad Eastern politicians viewed the Canadian west as a potential market Parries=well suited for agriculture Canadian gob. Supported settlements of the west by farmers Grains and crop would be produced for export abroad income would be spent on Canadian manufacture goods John A. Mcdonald found the backer who can start the railway project.Sir Hugh Allen rated CPRM, but with American backer. Private investors George Stephen (Bank of Montreal) Donald Smith(HOB) James J Hill It was controversial because it wasn't fair for any of the new railway company rat wanted to come In. Very one sided Sad 1400 miles Waldron to Port Hardy Windsor,Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, North Bay, Sturdy, Fort Williams, ignore, Winnipeg, portage la paired branded, swift current, Medicine Hat, Calgary, Fans, Yale, Port Moody, & Vancouver $60 million to make railway through the Rockies no know path through Selkirk Mint. (Roger) Albert Bowman Rogers, found a path April 1881Avoid land speculators and keep the Americans out William Van Horse was an intelligent and dedicated worker who was chosen to be the general manager of the CPRM. Van Horn instilled a balance of Discipline and worker satisfaction in the workers (Most ly disciplined). He was able to complete the CPRM 5 year a head of the expected date. Cost of blasting tunnels and trestles Creditor cooling In loans worker Unpaid threatening strike snow on tractors Ian Horn moved covet. Troops to Saskatchewan In 10 day to defeat reels forces and the Cree uprising crowfoot had signed a treaty with covet. The Cree were suffering

City Road Essay

Another would be that pedestrians seem to be favoured more so than motorists. For instance the islands in the middle of the road, they are there to make crossing City Road safer and more convenient to those who travel by foot. The island isn’t just the concrete mound in the middle of the road, it also includes the paint on the ground around it which cars are not allowed to drive over. Again, the bollards that were erected along the pavements are there to favour pedestrians. The reason why they were put there is to stop vehicles parking on the curbs, which was a problem before the bollards were put in place as the cars and lorries would park right over the pavements making it difficult for people to walk past and leaving less space for people with prams or wheelchairs to go round. Some things favour different groups because they appeal to different groups. Take for example the Taste Buds Cafe; one thing that struck me straight away was that the majority of the customers in there were predominantly female and mostly the older generation. They like to go in there because it appeals to them, it appeals to them because; The price is reasonable- a lot of the customers will be drawing a pension so keeping costs down is important to them, They feel safe- because there are regulars who go there and they get familiar with one another and that gives the customers a sense of safety because they know what to expect and Mr Suarez the cafe owner aids in the feeling of safety through being consistent in the way in which he runs his business. Also the menu is all home cooked and this is important to his customers. Because of all these factors, Mr Suarez’s cafe is geared more towards the older generation than the younger ones so in a sense it is favouring, although that isn’t altogether a bad thing. Lastly I would mention the security cameras. They are positioned all over City Road and they are there for a number of reasons, one reason is that a crime is less likely to be committed in an area which has CCTV (which deters people from offending) and also it makes people in the area feel safer knowing that these things are in place to not only aid in the catching of the people who commit the crimes but also that it is part of crime prevention too. CCTV is important on City Road because it does make the residence feel that little bit safer, a lot of them feel that the road is a bit â€Å"rough† and not the sort of place you would like to walk down at night, even though the local policeman denies that there is a problem with crime in the area. People just perceive it to be a crime hotspot, despite having little to no experience of any serious crimes having taken place on the road. Most of the material things on City Road favour one group over another but some inadvertently and some deliberately, the issue with the busses for example is inadvertent. They are not purposely designed to be inconvenient to a certain

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Essay

Aron Ralston’s physiological need was to satisfy his hunger, thirst, and a need to love and be loved. His desire was to be a father. This gave him a purpose to live. His will to live became greater than dying. But thirst and hunger overcame him to a point where he was saving and sipping his own urine to stay alive. I also believe that he had a divine appointment as he was shown insight into his reproductive future by the vision he had of a son. He was also shown that he was going to lose his arm when he saw the preschool boy being scooped up by a one armed man. I do not know if Aron believed in God or if he even had a relationship with my Lord and Savior or not, but I do think that his spiritual development should have grown through his journey. Hunger can put us in a life or death situation. After hours of driving alone in an unfamiliar city, you finally see a diner where you can eat. Even though it looks deserted and a little creepy, you end up stopping because you are really hungry. According to Maslow (pg 407) our need to meet the physiological need of hunger and thirst takes priority over our safety needs prompting us to take risk at times in order to eat. See more:Â  Masters of Satire: John Dryden and Jonathan Swift Essay References Myers, David G. Psychology. New York: Worth, 1998. Print. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Essay With the exception of reflexes, the science of psychology portends that all human behavior is motivated. The subject is exhaustively dealt with by different schools of thought and each of which appears to be valid explanations of human behavior. Dr. Abraham Maslow (Halonen & Santrock, 1996) made a strenuous effort to arrange human motives in a hierarchy from stronger and lower at one end to weaker and higher at the other. Maslow essentially suggested that what man really wants is more of everything. Man desires a better and better situation for himself. He wants only what he does not already have, and thus satisfied needs do not motivate behavior. Maslow said that needs or wants can be arranged in a hierarchy of importance. Thus, when needs on the lower level are fulfilled, those on a higher level emerge and demand satisfaction. The hierarchy of needs he suggested placed physiological needs as lowest or basic, then safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and finally self-realization needs. In other words, Maslow believed that higher needs are expressed only when the prepotent physiological needs are satisfied. See more:Â  Perseverance essay This is also true of needs for safety and security. Until there is a basic amount of order and stability in meeting the lower needs, a person may have little interest in higher pursuits (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). A person with an empty stomach cannot be expected to write literary work or tasked to write an essay about the effects of war on Afghanistan. The paper attempts to scrutinize the validity of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory based on several criteria which shall be discussed as follows. Discussion Maslow’s theory is classified under the humanistic perspective as it emphasizes the direction towards an individual must proceed which is self-actualization. This point in his hierarchy, Maslow tried to explain in much detail. According to him, self-actualization when attained, demonstrates what it is to be a fully developed human being. It is described as elusive due to the fact that man must have to satisfy the lower needs or those needs preceding this highest need (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). To satisfy further one’s curiosity about this theory, the theory will be determined by the following: Freedom or Determinism: can a person control their own behavior or is it determined by internal or external forces? In Maslow’s viewpoint, human motives are ordered in hierarchy and thus, man responds to these as they arise (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). With this premise, the theory is basically leaning toward the philosophical idea of freedom. Man is free to chart his course and how he is supposed to fulfill his various needs; i. e. his physiological dimension. In addition, the manner with which he carves himself in a particular niche that satisfies his psychological domains is also based on his own volition. There is no flavor of unconscious thoughts pervading motivation like when the idea of psychological instincts being interpreted within Maslow’s understanding; in contrast to this notion, any individual can basically control their own behavior. Maslow’s theory believes on the capacities of human nature to achieve what man wants to achieve rather than be held captive by forces within him or in his external world; it is the internal determinants such as self-determination that separates the theory from the rest especially among those with the deterministic stance (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). Hereditary or Environmental: are the characteristics a person has inherited and inborn or is it developed by social influences? Since the premise of this theory hinges on freedom, a person’s characteristics therefore are developed by social influences. According to Maslow then, people vary in their manner of satisfying their needs because of various environmental influences that surround him/her. Man is free to choose from several options adequately provide for his own needs or desires. What are essentials though, are man’s tendencies or propensity to follow the order of needs. Biology or heritability is deemphasized, rather the value of experience is pre-eminent in the theory (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). Uniqueness or Universality: individuals are unique or people are all pretty much the same This theory eventually emphasizes individuality or uniqueness, as it fundamentally illustrates in its assertion that every one has the capability for breakthroughs in circumstances which may be difficult. Man is also capable to understand himself and others, showing a lot of hope on the potentials that man possesses that he can exhaust in his lifetime (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). Proactive or Reactive: individuals act on their own initiative or just in reaction to external stimuli? Since man is free, unique and has the possibilities to accomplish whatever he is set to do, it is also asserted that man is proactive: he can choose how to respond in any situation and may even extend himself to advance his interests, both positive and negative at whatever goal or in whatever circumstance he may be in (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). Optimistic or Pessimistic: individuals can change given the right environment or they are unchangeable? The Hierarchy theory by design is hopeful and positive in every essence, if one is to follow the line of thinking which Maslow attempted to direct his audience. Individuals then have all the chances to make their lives fulfilling, impact others on virtues of honesty, charity and generosity, if and when he determines himself to be one. Likewise, he can also influence and negatively affect those that surround him when he chooses to do so. In this perspective then, an individual has high hopes of changing his attitudes and disposition, as well as his physical arrangements in life (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). Part II. Evaluation of the theory If this theory is to be evaluated, the strength of Maslow’s assumptions lies in his recognition of the positives that humans possess. It reminds the audience of the person as a whole being and not just an organism subject to either what the psychoanalysts termed as instincts or behaviorists’ position as merely organismic. The emphasis on developing the potentialities mark Maslow’s crowning achievement in terms of theoretical appeal (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). However, there are obvious or clear discrepancies or weaknesses in the theory. Since Psychology claims to start and end as a scientific endeavor, thus following scientific procedures to provide proofs to any of its claims, then Maslow’s theory must be ready to be tested accordingly. And this is where his theory fails in almost every measure in essence. At the outset, this viewpoint of explaining behavior is difficult to measure or put to test. Specifically, despite the details and emphasis Maslow placed on self-actualization the concept is still hard to operationally define. Scientists then and now are encountering various dilemmas in making the concept scientifically or empirically acceptable. In addition, there are illogical and inconsistent presuppositions in the constructs he postulated. He adheres to man’s capability to choose and yet how can he justify the existence of the structure of ordering needs in every individual if man is not born with it in the first place. How can he explain as well on those people who have achieved (jumped to the higher order needs) when they are barely existing or are starving at the same time; being altruistic and yet has no means to adequately meet their own needs (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). Lastly, studies even show that many who adhere to this philosophical viewpoint shun the scientific procedures imposed on any scientific field or discipline, and choose to lean towards the clinical orientation for the explanation of specific behaviors or motivations. Others who examined this theory explained that the assumptions on human behavior are too high or exaggerating on positives or the freedom and the logical capabilities that humans possess. Maslow’s theory, especially his self-actualization concept, critics affirm, implies the tendency for man to reinforce his self-centeredness (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). Conclusion If popularity and appeal are benchmarks for a theory to pass with flying colors, Maslow’s theory probably will go to the top. This is evidenced also as to the current prevalence of his theory in business; it is pervadingly present in almost every discussion in any business management course apparently (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). For convenience, I too would readily fall for his theory and its seemingly simplistic way of explaining behaviors. But if I were to stick to following empirical underpinnings, I should say that the theory is not deep enough to satisfy more difficult human dilemmas, though in some instances, the theory seems to point to some aspects of life’s realities. It is not sufficient to compel me to believe in the theory enough. To illustrate, pursuing many of our own self-centered needs only frustrates us all the time and eventually makes many of us disordered and mentally sick along the way. Can I use it to predict human nature? In fairness, yes; but to a certain extent only, because as I mentioned, it is not sufficient enough to merit full dependence. The theory can probably modified to some degree as a picture of several aspects of being human, but to explain about the potentialities, may imply believing too much when all that is in there is just hot air, so to speak. Self-actualization may provide hope for those who are so discouraged in life, but it is still very limited in reality. Some even say that a by-product of this belief is a sense of irresponsibility (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). Remarkably, Maslow suggested that various famous personalities illustrate what his theory posited including Beethoven, the brilliant composer, and Lincoln, one of the greatest leaders of all time. Each of them exemplified individuals who had characteristics of the self-actualized person (Halonen & Santrock, 1996). Reference: Halonen, Jane and John Santrock (1996). Psychology: Contexts of Behavior. Brown and Benchmark Publishers, pp. 453 and 553-556.