Portfolio Analysis of Square

Case Study: Portfolio Analysis of Square Toiletries LimitedPrepared by: Fatin Khandoker Ashraful Hassan Ashik Towhida Tasnim Rukhsar Sanjaree Nawaz Jafrin Ahmed Adiba Square is a well-renowned brand in Bangladesh. It provides a wide range of markets with various products and services. It operates various sectors and one of them being Square Toiletries Limited. The Boston Consulting Group Approach (BCG Matrix) is the method by which a company identifies what makes up their portfolio. BCG Matrix helps to process the portfolio and analyze its product’s attractiveness. The company can then decide whether to refrain from or invest into the product or brand. In this case, Square Toiletries Limited is represented by four brands in four different markets. They are Meril Splash in the beauty soap market, Chaka in the washing powder market, Freshgel in the toothpaste market and finally Senora in the sanitary napkin market. As assigned by the Square Toiletries Limited, our analysis of the given products in relation to the BCG Matrix is given below: On the vertical axis, the market growth rate provides a measure of attractiveness. On the horizontal axis, the relative market share serves as a measure of company strength in the market. STAR: Square Toiletries Limited has a sanitary napkin under which comes the brand ‘Senora’. Senora holds 60% of the market share in terms of volume, which is much higher than any other competitive sanitary napkin brands in the market. It also has a high market growth. Senora can be considered as a star product of Square Toiletries Limited as it has both a high market growth as well as a high share in the market. Thus Senora requires a high amount of investment to ustain their attractiveness in the market as its competitors are international brands. CASH-COWS: In the matrix shown on the previous page, Chaka washing-powder can be considered the cash-cows of Square Toiletries Limited. Cash-cows are low-growth, high-share businesses or products. Chaka comprises 9% of the total market share in Bangladesh. It cannot compete with the likes of Wheel which controls a whopping 40% of the market share. Chaka however can compete with its local rivals such as Keya (6% market share), Tibet (9% market share) among others. It is an established and successful SBU which doesn’t require much investment. Chaka earns a lot of cash which can be used to pay for the expenses of the business and support other SBUs needing investment. QUESTION MARKS: Meril Splash, a product of Square Toiletries Limited has a market share of 6% in the highly growing beauty-soap market. Compared to other brands like Lux, which has the most customers and an extremely high market share of 60%, Meril Splash has a very low market share. As a matter of fact, Meril Splash can be considered under the ‘Question Marks’ category since they are low-share business units in high-growth market. This brand will require a lot of investment to hold its share in the market. So the management needs to make a very wise decision about investing further in this product and take the risk to turn it into a ‘star’ or should it be phased out. DOGS: Unlike its business compatriots, Freshgel, a toothpaste brand from Square Toiletries Limited has a very low market share of just 2%. This category of product has low market growth. Hence in the BCG matrix, it can be considered a ‘dog’. It is categorized as such because it has both a low market share and a low market growth rate. Therefore Square Toiletries Limited should stop investing in Freshgel as it does not promise to produce a large source of cash. Eventually Freshgel should be closed down. By focusing and working properly on such aspects of the business, Square Toiletries can become a money-making machine.

The Laws of Cyberspace – Lawrence Lessig

The Laws of Cyberspace Lawrence Lessig †  Draft 3  ©Lessig 1998: This essay was presented at the Taiwan Net ’98 conference, in Taipei, March, 1998. †  Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Stud- ies, Harvard Law School. Thanks to Tim Wu for extremely helpful comments on an earlier draft. Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 Before the revolution, the Tsar in Russia had a system of internal passports. The people hated this system. These passports marked the estate from which you came, and this marking determined the places you could go, with whom you could associate, what you could be.The passports were badges that granted access, or barred access. They controlled what in the Russian state Russians could come to know. The Bolsheviks promised to change all this. They promised to abolish the internal passports. And soon upon their rise to power, they did just that. Russians were again free to travel where they wished. Where they could go was not determined by some document that they were required to carry with them. The abolition of the internal passport symbolized freedom for the Russian people — a democratization of citizenship in Russia. This freedom, however, was not to last.A decade and a half later, faced with the prospect of starving peasants flooding the cities looking for food, Stalin brought back the system of internal passports. Peasants were again tied to their rural land (a restriction that remained throughout the 1970s). Russians were once again restricted by what their passport permitted. Once again, to gain access to Russia, Russians had to show something about who they were. *** Behavior in the real world — this world, the world in which I am now speaking — is regulated by four sorts of constraints. Law is just one of those four constraints.Law regulates by sanctions imposed ex post — fail to pay your taxes, and you are likely to go to jail; steal my car, an d you are also likely to go to jail. Law is the prominent of regulators. But it is just one of four. Social norms are a second. They also regulate. Social norms — understandings or expectations about how I ought to behave, enforced not through some centralized norm enforcer, but rather through the understandings and expectations of just about everyone within a particular community — direct and constrain my behavior in a far wider array of contexts than any law.Norms say what clothes I will wear — a suit, not a dress; they tell you to sit quietly, and politely, for at least 40 minutes while I speak; they or- 2 Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 ganize how we will interact after this talk is over. Norms guide behavior; in this sense, they function as a second regulatory constraint. The market is a third constraint. It regulates by price. The market limits the amount that I can spend on clothes; or the amount I can make from public speeches; it say s I can command less for my writing than Madonna, or less from my singing than Pavarotti.Through the device of price, the market sets my opportunities, and through this range of opportunities, it regulates. And finally, there is the constraint of what some might call nature, but which I want to call â€Å"architecture. † This is the constraint of the world as I find it, even if this world as I find it is a world that others have made. That I cannot see through that wall is a constraint on my ability to know what is happening on the other side of the room. That there is no access-ramp to a library constrains the access of one bound to a wheelchair.These constraints, in the sense I mean here, regulate. To understand a regulation then we must understand the sum of these four constraints operating together. Any one alone cannot represent the effect of the four together. *** This is the age of the cyber-libertarian. It is a time when a certain hype about cyberspace has caught on. The hype goes like this: Cyberspace is unavoidable, and yet cyberspace is unregulable. No nation can live without it, yet no nation will be able to control behavior in it. Cyberspace is that place where individuals are, inherently, free from the control of real space sovereigns.It is, in the words of James Boyle, the great techno-â€Å"gotcha† — nations of the world, you can’t live with out it, but nations of the world, when you’ve got it, you won’t live long with it. My aim today is a different view about cyberspace. My aim is to attack this hype. For in my view, the world we are entering is not a world of perpetual freedom; or more precisely, the world we are entering is not a world where freedom is assured. Cyberspace has the potential to be the most fully, and extensively, regulated space that we have ever known — anywhere, at any time in our history.It has the potential to be the antithesis of a space of freedom. And unless we understan d this potential, unless we see how this might be, we are likely to sleep through this transition from freedom into 3 Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 control. For that, in my view, is the transition we are seeing just now. Now I want to make this argument by using the two introductions that I began with today — the story about Bolshevik Russia, and the idea about regulation. For they together will suggest where cyberspace is going, and more importantly, just how we can expect cyberspace to get there.First the idea: Just as in real space, behavior in cyberspace is regulated by four sorts of constraints. Law is just one of those constraints. For the hype notwithstanding, there is law just now in cyberspace — copyright law, or defamation law, or sexual harassment law, all of which constrain behavior in cyberspace in the same way that they constrain behavior in real space. There are also, perhaps quite surprisingly, norms in cyberspace — rules th at govern behavior, and expose individuals to sanction from others.They too function in cyberspace as norms function in real space, threatening punishments ex post by a community. And so too with the market. The market constrains in cyberspace, just as in real space. Change the price of access, the constraints on access differ. Change the structure of pricing access, and the regulation of marginal access shifts dramatically as well. But for our purposes, the most significant of these four constraints on behavior in cyberspace is the analog to what I called architecture in real space: This I will call code.By code, I simply mean the software and hardware that constitutes cyberspace as it is—the set of protocols, the set of rules, implemented, or codified, in the software of cyberspace itself, that determine how people interact, or exist, in this space. This code, like architecture in real space, sets the terms upon which I enter, or exist in cyberspace. It, like architecture, is not optional. I don’t choose whether to obey the structures that it establishes — hackers might choose, but hackers are special. For the rest of us, life in cyberspace is subject to the code, just as life in real space is subject to the architectures of real space.The substance of the constraints of code in cyberspace vary. But how they are experienced does not vary. In some places, one must enter a password before one gains access; in other places, one can enter whether identified or not. In some places, the transactions that one engages produce traces that link the transactions 4 Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 back to the individual; in other places, this link is achieved only if the individual chooses. In some places, one can select to speak a language that only the recipient can hear (through encryption); in other places, encryption is not an option.The differences are constituted by the code of these different places. The code or software o r architecture or protocols of these spaces set these features; they are features selected by code writers; they constrain some behavior by making other behavior possible. And in this sense, they, like architecture in real space, regulate behavior in cyberspace. Code and market and norms and law together regulate in cyberspace then as architecture and market and norms and law regulate in real space. And my claim is that as with real space regulation, we should consider how these four constraints operate together.An example — a contrast between a regulation in real space, and the same regulation in cyberspace — will make the point more clearly. Think about the concern in my country (some might call it obsession) with the regulation of indecency on the net. This concern took off in the United State early in 1995. Its source was an extraordinary rise in ordinary users of the net, and therefore a rise in use by kids, and an even more extraordinary rise in the availability of what many call â€Å"porn† on the net. An extremely controversial (and fundamentally flawed) study published in the Georgetown University Law Review reported the net awash in porn.Time and Newsweek both ran cover stories articles about its availability. And senators and congressmen were bombarded with demands to do something to regulate â€Å"cybersmut. † No doubt the fury at the time was great. But one might ask, why this fury was so great about porn in cyberspace. Certainly, more porn exists in real space than in cyberspace. So why the fury about access to porn in a place to which most kids don’t have access? To understand the why, think for a second about the same problem as it exists in real space. What regulates the distribution of porn in real space?First: In America, laws in real space regulate the distribution of porn to kids— laws requiring sellers of porn to check the age of 5 Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 buyers, or law s requiring that sellers locate in a section of the city likely to be far from kids. But laws are not the most significant of the constraints on the distribution of porn to kids. More important than laws are norms. Norms constrain adults not to sell porn to kids. Even among porn distributors this restriction is relatively effective. And not just social norms.The market too, for porn costs money, and as kids have no money. But the most important real space constraint is what I’ve called architecture. For all of these other regulations in real space depend on this constraint of architecture. Laws and norms and market can discriminate against kinds in real space, since it is hard in real space to hide that you are a kid. Of course, a kid can don a mustache, and put on stilts, and try to enter a porn shop to buy porn. But for the most part, disguises will fail. For the most part, it will be too hard to hide that he is a kid.Thus, for the most part, constraints based on being a ki d are constraints that can be effective. Cyberspace is different. For even if we assume that the same laws apply to cyberspace as to real space, and even if we assume that the constraints of norms and the market carried over as well, even so, there remains a critical difference between the two spaces. For while in real space it is hard to hide that you are a kid, in cyberspace, hiding who you are, or more precisely, hiding features about who you are is the simplest thing in the world. The default in cyberspace is anonymity.And because it is so easy to hide who one is, it is practically impossible for the laws, and norms, to apply in cyberspace. For for these laws to apply, one has to know that it is a kid one is dealing with. But the architecture of the space simply doesn’t provide this information. Now the important point is to see the difference, and to identify its source. The difference is a difference in what I want to call the regulability of cyberspace — the abi lity of governments to regulate behavior there. As it is just now, cyberspace is a less regulable space than real space. There is less that government can do.The source of this difference in regulability is a difference in the architecture of the space — a difference in the code that constitutes cyberspace as it is. Its architecture, my claim is, renders it essentially unregulable. 6 Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 Or so it did in 1995, and in 1996, when the U. S. Congress eventually got around to passing its attempt to deal with this problem—the Communications Decency Act. I’m going to talk a bit about what happened to that statute, but I first want to mark this period, and set it off from where we are today.It was the architecture of cyberspace in 1995, and 1996 that made it essentially unregulable. Let’s call that architecture Net 95 — as in 1995 — and here are its features: So long as one had access to Net95, one coul d roam without identifying who one was. Net95 was Bolshevik Russia. One’s identity, or features, were invisible to the net then, so one could enter, and explore, without credentials—without an internal passport. Access was open and universal, not conditioned upon credentials. It was, in a narrow sense of the term, an extraordinary democratic moment. Users were fundamentally equal.Essentially free. It was against this background — against the background of the net as it was — Net95 — that the Supreme Court then considered the Communications Decency Act. Two lower courts had struck the statute as a violation of the right to freedom of speech. And as millions watched as the court considered arguments on the case — watched in cyberspace, as the arguments were reported, and debated, and critiqued. And in June, last year, the Court affirmed the decision of the lower courts, holding the statute unconstitutional. Just why it was unconstitutional isn ’t so important for our purposes here.What is important is the rhetoric that lead the court to its conclusion. For the decision hung crucially on claims about the architecture of the net as it was — on the architecture, that is, of Net95. Given that architecture, the court concluded, any regulation that attempted to zone kids from porn would be a regulation that was too burdensome on speakers and listeners. As the net was, regulation would be too burdensome. But what was significant was that the court spoke as if this architecture of the net as it was — Net 95 — was the only architecture that the net could have.It spoke as if it had discovered the nature of the net, and was therefore deciding the nature of any possible regulation of the net. 7 Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 But the problem with all this, of course, is that the net has no nature. There is no single architecture that is essential to the net’s design. Net95 is a s et of features, or protocols, that constituted the net at one period of time. But nothing requires that these features, or protocols, always constitute the net as it always will be.And indeed, nothing in what we’ve seen in the last 2 years should lead us to think that it will. An example may make the point more simply. Before I was a professor at Harvard, I taught at the University of Chicago. If one wanted to gain access to the net at the university of Chicago, one simply connected one’s machine to jacks located throughout the university. Any machine could be connected to those jacks, and once connected, any machine would then have full access to the internet. Access was anonymous, and complete, and free. The reason for this freedom was a decision by the administration.For the Provost of the University of Chicago is Geof Stone, a former dean of the University of Chicago Law School, and a prominent free speech scholar. When the University was designing its net, the tec hnicians asked the provost whether anonymous communication should be permitted. The provost, citing a principle that the rules regulating speech at the university would be as protective of free speech as the first amendment, said yes: One would have the right to communicate at the university anonymously, because the first amendment to the constitution would guarantee the same right vis-a-vis the government.From that policy decision flowed the architectural design of the University of Chicago’s net. At Harvard, the rules are different. One cannot connect one’s machine to the net at Harvard unless one’s machine is registered — licensed, approved, verified. Only members of the university community can register their machine. Once registered, all interactions with the network are potentially monitored, and identified to a particular machine. Indeed, anonymous speech on this net is not permitted — against the rule. Access can be controlled based on who someone is; and interaction can be traced, based on what someone did.The reason for this design is also due to the decision of an administrator — though this time an administrator less focused on the protections of the first amendment. Controlling access is the ideal at Harvard; facilitating access was the ideal at Chicago; tech- 8 Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 nologies that make control possible were therefore chosen at Harvard; technologies that facilitate access chosen at Chicago. Now this difference between the two networks is quite common today. The network at the University of Chicago is the architecture of the internet in 1995.It is, again, Net95. But the architecture at Harvard is not an internet architecture. It is rather an intranet architecture. The difference is simply this — that within an intranet, identity is sufficiently established such that access can be controlled, and usage monitored. The underlying protocols are still TCP/IP à ¢â‚¬â€ meaning the fundamental or underlying protocols of the internet. But layered on top of this fundamental protocol is a set of protocols facilitating control. The Harvard network is the internet plus, where the plus mean the power to control.These two architectures reflect two philosophies about access. They reflect two sets of principles, or values, about how speech should be controlled. They parallel, I want to argue, the difference between political regimes of freedom, and political regimes of control. They track the difference in ideology between West and East Germany; between the United States and the former Soviet Republic; between the Republic of China, and Mainland China. They stand for a difference between control and freedom — and they manifest this difference through the architecture or design of code.These architectures enable political values. They are in this sense political. Now I don’t offer this example to criticize Harvard. Harvard is a private institution; it is free, in a free society, to allocate its resources however it wishes. My point instead is simply to get you to see how architectures are many, and therefore how the choice of one is political. And how, at the level of a nation, architecture is inherently political. In the world of cyberspace, the selection of an architecture is as important as the choice of a constitution.For in a fundamental sense, the code of cyberspace is its constitution. It sets the terms upon which people get access; it sets the rules; it controls their behavior. In this sense, it is its own sovereignty. An alternative sovereignty, competing with real space sovereigns, in the regulation of behavior by real space citizens. But the United States Supreme Court treated the question of architecture as if the architecture of this space were given. It spoke as if there were only one design for cyberspace — the design it had. 9 Lessig: The Laws of CyberspaceDraft: April 3, 1998 In this, the S upreme Court is not alone. For in my view, the single greatest error of theorists of cyberspace — of pundits, and especially lawyers thinking about regulation in this space — is this error of the Supreme Court. It is the error of naturalism as applied to cyberspace. It is the error of thinking that the architecture as we have it is an architecture that we will always have; that the space will guarantee us liberty, or freedom; that it will of necessity disable governments that want control. This view is profoundly mistaken.Profoundly mistaken because while we celebrate the â€Å"inherent† freedom of the net, the architecture of the net is changing from under us. The architecture is shifting from an architecture of freedom to an architecture of control. It is shifting already without government’s intervention, though government is quickly coming to see just how it might intervene to speed it. And where government is now intervening, it is intervening in a w ay designed to change this very same architecture — to change it into an architecture of control, to make it, as I’ve said, more regulable.While pundits promise perpetual freedom built into the very architecture of the net itself, technicians and politicians are working together to change that architecture, to move it away from this architecture of freedom. As theorists of this space, we must come to understand this change. We must recognize the political consequences of this change. And we must take responsibility for these consequences. For the trajectory of the change is unmistakable, and the fruit of this trajectory, poison. As constitutionalists, we must then confront a fundamentally constitutional uestion: if there is a choice between architectures of control and architectures of freedom, then how do we decide these constitutional questions? If architectures are many, then does the constitution itself guide us in the selection of such architectures? In my view, c onstitutional values do implicate the architecture of this space. In my view, constitutional values should guide us in our design of this space. And in my view, constitutional values should limit the types of regulability that this architecture permits. But my view is absent in thinking about government’s role in cyberspace.Indeed, my nation — for many years the symbol of freedom in world where such freedom was rare — has become a leader in pushing the architecture of the internet from an archi- 10 Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 tecture of freedom to an architecture of control. From an architecture, that is, that embraced the traditions of freedom expressed in our constitutional past, to an architecture that is fundamentally anathema to those traditions. But how? How can the government make these changes? How could the government effect this control? Many can’t see how government could effect this control.So in the few minutes remaini ng in my talk today, I want show you how. I want to sketch for you a path from where we are to where I fear we are going. I want you to see how these changes are possible and how government can help make them permanent. Return then with me to the idea that began this essay — the point about the different modalities of constraint — and notice something important about that idea that we have not so far remarked. I said at the start that we should think of law as just one of four modalities of constraint; that we should think of it as just one part of the structure of constraint that might be said to regulate.One might take that to be an argument about law’s insignificance. If so many forces other than law regulate, this might suggest that law itself can do relatively little. But notice what should be obvious. In the model I have described law is regulating by direct regulation — regulating an individual through the threat of punishment. But law regulates in other ways as well. It regulates, that is, indirectly as well as directly. And it regulates indirectly when it regulates these other modalities of constraint, so that they regulate differently.It can, that is, regulate norms, so norms regulate differently; it can regulate the market, so that the market regulates differently; and it can regulate architecture, so that architecture regulates differently. In each case, the government can coopt the other structures, so that they constrain to the government’s end. The same indirection is possible in cyberspace. But here, I suggest, the indirection will be even more significant. For here the government can not only regulate indirectly to advance a particular substantive end of the government. More significantly, the government can regulate to change the very regulability of the space.The government, that is, can regulate the architectures of cyberspace, so that behavior in cyberspace becomes more regulable — 11 Lessig: The L aws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 indeed, to an architecture potentially more regulable than anything we have known in the history of modern government. Two examples will make the point — one an example of the government regulating to a particular substantive end, and the second, following from the first, an example of the government regulating to increase regulability. The first is the regulation of encryption.The government’s concern with encryption has been with the technology’s use in protecting privacy — its ability to hide the content of communications from the eyes of an eavesdropping third party, whether that third party is the government, or a nosy neighbor. For much of the history of the technology, the American government has heavily regulated the technology; for a time it threatened to ban its use; it has consistently banned its export (as if only Americans understand higher order mathematics); and for a period it hoped to flood the marke t with a standard encryption technology that would leave a backdoor open for the government to enter.The most recent proposals are the most significant. Last November, the FBI proposed a law that would require manufacturers to assure that any encryption system have built within it either a key recovery ability, or an equivalent back door, so that government agents could, if they need, get access to the content of such communications. This is government’s regulation of code, indirectly to regulate behavior. It is indirect regulation in the sense that I described before, and from a constitutional perspective — it is brilliant.Not brilliant because its ends are good; brilliant because the American constitution, at least, offers very little control over government regulation like this. The American constitution offers little protections against the government’s regulation of business; and given the interests of business, such regulations are likely to be effective. My second example follows from the first. For a second use of encryption is identification — as well as hiding what someone says, encryption, through digital certificates, can be used to authenticate who some it.With the ability to authenticate who someone is, the government could tell where someone comes from, or how old they are. And with this ability — through certifying IDs — passports on the information superhighway — governments could far more easily regulate behavior on this highway. 12 Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 It would recreate the power to control behavior — recreate the power to regulate. Note what both regulations would achieve. Since the US is the largest market for internet products, no product could hope to succeed unless it were successful in the United States.Thus standards successfully imposed in the US becomes standards for the world. And these standards in particular would first facilitate regulation, a nd second, assure that communications on the internet could be broken into by any government that followed the procedures outlined in the bill. But the standards that those government would have to meet are not the standards of the US constitution. They are whatever standard local government happen to have — whether that government be the government of Mainland China, or Switzerland.The effect is that the United States government would be exporting an architecture that facilitates control, and control not just by other democratic governments, but by any government, however repressive. And by this, the US would move itself from a symbol of freedom, to a peddler of control. Having won the cold war, we would be pushing the techniques of our cold war enemies. *** How should we respond? How should you — as sovereigns independent of the influence of any foreign government — and we, as liberal constitutionalists respond?How should we respond to moves by a dominant poli tical and economic power to influence the architecture of the dominant architecture of regulation by code — the internet? Sovereigns must come to see this: That the code of cyberspace is itself a kind of sovereign. It is a competing sovereign. The code is itself a force that imposes its own rules on people who are there, but the people who are there are also the people who are here — citizens of the Republic of China, citizens of France, citizens of every nation in the world. The code regulates them, yet they are by right subject to the regulation of local sovereigns.The code thus competes with the regulatory power of local sovereigns. It competes with the political choices made by local sovereigns. And in this competition, as the net becomes a dominant place for business and social life, it will displace the regulations of local sovereigns. You as sovereigns were afraid of the competing influence of na- 13 Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 tions. Yet a new nation is now wired into your telephones, and its influence over your citizens is growing. You, as sovereigns, will come to recognize this competition. And you should come to recognize and question the special ole that the United States is playing in this competition. By virtue of the distribution of resources controlling the architecture of the net, the United States has a unique power over influencing the development of that architecture. It is as the law of nature were being written, with the United States at the authors side. This power creates an important responsibility for the United States — and you must assure that it exercises its power responsibly. The problem for constitutionalists — those concerned to preserve social and political liberties in this new space — is more difficult.For return to the story that began this talk — the world of internal passports. One way to understand the story I’ve told today about cyberspace is in li ne with this story about the Tsar’s Russia. The birth of the net was the revolution itself; life under Net95 was life in Bolshevik Russia (the good parts at least, where internal passports were eliminated); the Net as it is becoming is Stalin’s Russia, where internal passports will again be required. Now there’s a cheat to that story — a rhetorical cheat that tends to obscure an important fact about real space life.For we all live in the world of internal passports. In the United States, in many places, one cannot live without a car; one can’t drive a car without a license; a license is an internal passport: It says who you are, where you come from, how old you are, whether you’ve recently been convicted of a crime; it links your identity to a database that will reveal whether you’ve been arrested (whether convicted or not) or whether any warrants for your arrest in any jurisdiction in the nation are outstanding. The license is the in ternal passport of the modern American state.And no doubt its ability to control or identify is far better than the Tsar’s Russia. But in the United States — at least for those who don’t appear to be immigrants, or a disfavored minority — the burden of these passports is slight. The will to regulate, to monitor, to track, is not strong enough in the United States to support any systematic effort to use these passports to control behavior. And the will is not strong enough because the cost of such control is so great. There are not checkpoints at each corner; one isn’t required to register 14Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 when moving through a city; one can walk relatively anonymously around most of the time. Technologies of control are possible, but in the main far too costly. And this costliness is, in large part, the source of great freedom. It is inefficiency in real space technologies of control that yield real space libert y. But what if the cost of control drops dramatically. What if an architecture emerges that permits constant monitoring; an architecture that facilitates the constant tracking of behavior and movement.What if an architecture emerged that would costlessly collect data about individuals, about their behavior, about who they wanted to become. And what if the architecture could do that invisibly, without interfering with an individuals daily life at all? This architecture is the world that the net is becoming. This is the picture of control it is growing into. As in real space, we will have passports in cyberspace. As in real space, these passports can be used to track our behavior. But in cyberspace, unlike realspace, this monitoring, this tracking, this control of behavior, will all be much less expensive.This control will occur in the background, effectively and invisibly. Now to describe this change is not to say whether it is for the good or bad. Indeed, I suggest that as constitut ionalists, we must acknowledge a fundamental ambiguity in our present political judgments about liberty and control. I our peoples are divided in their reaction to this picture of a system of control at once perfect, and yet invisible. Many would say of this system — wonderful. All the better to trap the guilty, with little burden on the innocent. But there are many as well who would say of this system — awful.That while professing our ideals of liberty and freedom from government, we would have established a system of control far more effective than any in history before. So the response to all this is not necessarily to give up the technologies of control. The response is not to insist that Net95 be the perpetual architecture of the net. The response instead is to find a way to translate what is salient and important about present day liberties and constitutional democracy into this architecture of the net. The point is to be critical of the power of this sovereignâ €”this emerging sovereign—as we are properly critical of the power of any sovereign.What are these limits: As government takes control or influences the architecture of the code of the net, at a minimum, we 15 Lessig: The Laws of Cyberspace Draft: April 3, 1998 must assure that government does not get a monopoly on these technologies of control. We must assure that the sorts of checks that we build into any constitutional democracy get built into regulation by this constitution — the code. We must assure that the constraints of any constitutional democracy — the limits on efficiency constituted by Bills of Rights, and systems of checks and balances — get built into regulation by code.These limits are the â€Å"bugs† in the code of a constitutional democracy — and as John Perry Barlow says, we must build these bugs into the code of cyberspace. We must build them in so that they, by their inefficiency, might recreate some of the protection s we have long known. *** Cyberspace is regulated ? by laws, but not just by law. The code of cyberspace is one of these laws. We must come to see how this code is an emerging sovereign — omnipresent, omnipotent, gentle, efficient, growing — and that we must develop against this sovereign the limits that we have developed against real space sovereigns.Sovereigns will always say — real space as well as cyberspace — that limits, and inefficiencies — bugs — are not necessary. But things move too quickly for such confidence. My fear is not just that against this sovereign, we have not yet developed a language of liberty. Nor that we haven’t the time to develop such language. But my fear is that we sustain the will — the will of free societies for the past two centuries, to architect constitutions to protect freedom, efficiencies notwithstanding. 16

The Negative Impact of Tourism Due to Increased Globalization Essay

The Negative Impact of Tourism Due to Increased Globalization - Essay Example It is essential and even necessary to communicate and reach out to the rest of the world as an isolated country can never flourish and keep pace with the rapidly moving world. Japan is an evident example of this case as it had kept itself apart from the rest of the world for many years, not even allowing trade and business with other nations. Japan's isolation policy was fully implemented by Tokugawa Iemitsu, the grandson of Ievasu and Shogun from 1623 to 1641. For over a hundred years, it retained its secluded position, cut off from the rest of the world, but then, after the Tokugawa government fell, it realized the importance of interconnectivity and globalization (Richie and Reischauer 1994). Now Japan is the home of technology; it is a pioneer in various novelties, most of them related to the information technology and better ways of communication and connectivity. Through globalization the economies of all countries are being rapidly integrated. One method of achieving globaliza tion is through tourism. It especially helps in the cultural interaction of one nation to another as well as a source of revenue generation. Tourism is the commercial organization of traveling for recreation and the sum of relationships resulting from the interaction between the tourists, local government, business suppliers, host communities etc. Tourism plays a vital role in the strengthening of a country's economy as it generates an immense amount of revenue for the government of the county. Local businesses also thrive due to tourism and the tourism industry offers various jobs, which ultimately results in high rates of employment. These are a few positive aspects of tourism but where it is earning net national benefits, it is also responsible for its negative impact on the country's image and economy. Tourism is the world's number one export earner, but with its advantages come the negative aspects and disadvantages. Underdeveloped and developed countries want to promote touris m because it is a good industry for revenue generation, but more than often these are not as beneficial or promising as they sound. The major reason for this is the large transfer of money from the host country and the exclusion of local businesses and products. The tourism industry results in inbound country expenses, as the tourists that come to visit the local community or the host country bring foreign exchange revenues with them mostly in the form of liquid cash, taxes, expanses etc. from their home country. These inbound expenses are usually in the form of destination specific expenses as the tourist require lodging and food facilities on their vacation trips. The foreign revenue which is supposed to help the host country economically results in having unfavorable effects on the host community because of certain hidden costs. These hidden costs are more applicable in developing and underdeveloped countries as most of the foreign revenues which come in the host country through tourists leave through leakages. Even though the revenues are retained by destination specific expenses, estimates show that nearly 80% of them are leaked back to the home country of the tourists, the inbound country expenses are basically the destination specific expenses which the tourists spend on their vacation residence and culinary expenses along with the

One event it had improve my english language Essay

One event it had improve my english language - Essay Example We were a bit relieved to realize that the agents in the airline were from Bahrain and they told me to leave my luggage as I was taking my board to Minneapolis via Chicago which connected to London from Bahrain. This was quite a harrowing experience for a person like my Shalan and I who had limited knowledge of English language and we had great challenge when it came to understanding announcements on shifting from one gate to another as we exchanged flights across the different cities. A few hours after arrival in the airport I heard the departure announcement for my flight in Arabic and hurried to the checkpoint for security check procedure. It here that I realized very few passengers about three or two were speaking Arabic language as the majority was internationals. My worry increased especially when I reached London and realized that only one person with a dark hair, little dark skin in his late of twenties I overheard speaking on the phone was Arabic speaker. I planned to speak to him and seek his help in getting my way out of the Heathrow Airport as we were going to connect to the next stopover. This was after I realized that the person seated next to me was an American after I saw him reading some book written in English. I had earlier in Manama tried to put everything in order and ensure all my documents were intact but I realized that one of my travel documents from London to Chicago was missing. I felt worried and could not settle but didn’t have a way of expressing myself to the English speaking American and so I simply stood and begun to behave in a manner suggesting I had a problem. Even the flight attendant did not understand me until some old man entered the plane with a son and helped in translating my problem from Arabica to the attendant and the American. It is after this that I got a surprising tap on my

Philosophical Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Philosophical Theories - Essay Example Specifically, it has been argued that Machiavelli's positions have contrasted greatly with the views of Aristotle and Plato, particularly their views on the government and the State. However, this paper would like to forward the central thesis that if one analyzes carefully their works, it would prove that the theories of Machiavelli have actually benefited much from the theories of Aristotle and Plato and one can see some areas of intersection. We study the ancient theories, then, but with some doubt as to what they are theories of. We tend in fact to talk of ancient ethics, not ancient morality, and we do the same for modern theories containing elements that are prominent in the ancient ones: thus, we talk of virtue ethics, not virtue morality. There is a fairly widespread attitude that ancient theories of virtue and the good life are concerned not with what we take to be morality, but with something different, an alternative which can be labeled ethics. Platonic philosophy is hinged on moral virtue as practiced by just rulers. According to him, man served the State and hence, ethics and politics were the same. This is to be contradistinguished with Machiavellian principles, which states that the State should serve the people. That is its whole reason for being. Under Machiavelli's consent, a ruler is justified in doing whatever needs to be done to maintain the country, even if his actions may be deemed unjust. This is the source of the famous quote: "The end justifies the means." This is a complete opposite of the Platonic model which argues that a ruler may never be unjust. It is immoral and unethical, maintains Plato, for a ruler to rule solely by might. A background on Plato's methodology and work is provided by Bruell (1994): Plato's political philosophy is accessible to us primarily through the three great works whose very titles point to their political themes: the Republic, the Laws, the Statesman. The Republic and the Laws, which happen to be his longest works by far, are devoted chiefly to developing very thoroughgoing themes of political reform; the Statesman is devoted to the search for rare qualities or qualifications that would make a man worthy of that name. Plato's political philosophy first come to sight both as critical and reformist: it establishes immediately its distance from actual politics and looks to the true politics, which Plato's own educational efforts are presumably intended to help bring about. It can thus have an apparently contrary effect, however. Even as it raises readers' political hopes, it may lower their willingness to participate in the only politics available to them, for the small good that might be done there seems smaller still when it is compared with the good they have been led to expect from the schemes of radical reform that they have become acquainted with in Plato. Plato's theories have found traces in the writings of the more modern

Inventory Management for EMC Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Inventory Management for EMC - Research Paper Example Figure 1 indicates that most of the goods are work-in-progress. At the beginning of the year work-in-progress (WIP) represented approximately 39% of the goods in stock, finished goods 25, raw materials 21% and purchased parts 15%. At the end of the period they represent 36%, 28%, 19% and 17% respectively. According to Wong (2006) the first step in determining an inventory situation can be facilitated through the use of ABC analysis. This analysis determines the importance of items and the level of controls placed on them. Using the relative proportions of cost of goods sold for the company’s product line the relative proportions of the different inventory types are shown in Table 1 below. The actual raw material and purchased parts that are used to make the different products in each product line has not been identified but it shows that 37.48% are decorative hardware, 27.25% construction hardware, 25.85% Cabinet Hardware and 9.42% Fasteners. In order to improve the inventory situation at EMC the company should first apply ABC analysis. ABC analysis places emphasis on the value of inventory (Wong n.d.). Focusing on inventory with the highest value can allow companies to assign the necessary resources to achieve the optimum inventory levels and in so doing reduce inventory cost while ensuring that customers needs are met (Wong n.d.). ABC analysis when applied to EMC’s inventory situation will help the company determine the importance of items and the level of controls that should be placed on them. The majority of EMC’s inventory relates to items used in the production of decorative and construction hardware. These could be described as the A items because they are of higher value while those used in the production of cabinet hardware would be the B items, and fasteners - C items. The A items (a combination of decorative and construction hardware

Personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 16

Personal Statement Example That is why I am coming forth before your kind admissions committee now. I have been an emergency room nurse for the past 4 years and I hold certificates in BLS, ACLS, TNCC, and PALS. I am also an active member of the Sigma Theta Tau nursing society. It is my belief that I have presented more than enough evidence that I should easily qualify for a student slot in your good universitys nurse practitoner program which I plan to study simultaneously with my doctorate courses in nursing. I never believe in doing something halfway, that is why I am trying to hit two birds with one stone by applying for admittance to your university for both programs. It will not be difficult for me to achieve the success that I have in mind for my nurse practitioner and graduate school program because I come from a family of nurses. We all have answered the call to take care of others in the best way that we can. But in order to continue doing so, I must sharpen, hone, and update my skills in the nursing care profession. I am hoping that your kind university will be the one to assist me in achieving that

Career Management Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Career Management Plan - Assignment Example My Career management Plan sets the timeline for achieving this objective by 30th January 2017. While this may be quite an ambitious goal especially when looking at the timeline, my passion for this career path propped by my personality and academic background would play a pivotal role in safeguarding the achievement of the goal. With a thirteen years’ experience and training in animal control, animal handling, animal control code enforcement and supervision, it is imminent that I have the requisite skills, abilities and knowledge for the job. However, this does not undermine the fact that more learning and experience in varied capacities is required to achieve my career objective. Nevertheless, in my 13 years’ experience, I have found out that I derive immeasurable satisfaction in enforcing the provisions of all the applicable ordinances, laws, codes and regulations pertaining to animal control as well as initiating the necessary actions in order to correct violations a nd deviations. My passion for overseeing the compliance of animal control regulations has informed my desire and goal of being a Chief Animal Control Officer by the end of January 2017. Interim Goals My career plan, goals, and objectives are set upon a number of interim goals. The interim goals aid in the pursuit of my career aim of becoming a Chief Animal Control Officer. In essence, my first interim career goal is to possess and maintain a valid Animal Control Enforcement Certification from my state. This will aid in attaining the necessary requirement in my department for becoming a Chief Animal Control Officer. In addition, it would set me on the right path of my career by differentiating my roles in line with the career. My second interim goal would be possession and maintenance of a valid Euthanasia Certification. With this certification, the roles and responsibilities that will be assigned even in my current position will be more in line with my career. My third interim goal is to obtain and maintain a valid Chemical Immobilization Certification from the Drug Enforcement Agency. This is not only a requirement in my Department for anyone who aims at [performing duties and responsibilities in animal control field, but also complements my two previous goals. My fourth interim objective is to play a greater role in the supervision and motivation of subordinates. This interim goal aims at outlining my initiative and passion as an individual in safeguarding quality service provision in the department. In essence, this will be combined with training my subordinates on the various aspects of the animal control field. This would allow for the growth of more enhanced interaction and communication skills necessary in my career as Chief Animal Control Officer. My fifth interim objective is to gain experience as Animal Control Officer in line with the basic animal control course taken. This is in line with obtaining a driver’s license which would enhance my c apacity to execute my duties and responsibilities as Chief Animal Control Officer. In essence, this is the initial step taken by individuals who aim at becoming a Chief Animal Control Officer. Resources Needed There are variations as to the resources required to meet the interim goals, as well as the ultimate goal. The first interim goal will require that I relocate to West Virginia

Innovation and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words - 1

Innovation and Change - Essay Example Legitimate innovations are not always the commercialisation of a significant advance in product concept, but can be the process of making enhancements to an existing product. Beacham (2006, p.9) reinforces that innovation is â€Å"the successful exploitation of new ideas†, meaning that specific business processes or management ideology can be representative of legitimate innovation which radically or incrementally change the methodology by which a business improves itself. The end result of innovation as a new idea, rather than a radically exclusive and exceptional product development, is being able to differentiate the innovative firm from its competitor base. For the sake of argument, it should then be recognised that genuine innovations involve making non-replicable changes to business strategy, service delivery processes, internal cultural dynamics both professional and social, improving functionality through software technology implementation, or blending existing technol ogies to create greater value for the firm in a way that has not been conceived of by rival firms. When attempting to determine whether SMEs are better able to innovate than larger organisations, it is necessary to clearly define the concept of what actually constitutes an innovation. An initial assessment of innovation, using the premise that a legitimate innovation is solely related to radical product development, would seem to point toward a larger organisation being more equipped to provide innovation than their smaller business counterparts due to higher capital availability, more labour and divisional support, and more refined manufacturing capacity. Taking into consideration the tangible definition of innovation, involving a variety of conceptions not always related to product, it is actually much more realistic to believe that the SME is much better equipped to provide innovation than the larger corporation. This essay describes the characteristics of the SME that actually m ake innovation more easily achievable than larger businesses, including an emphasis on leadership, cultural development, the political hierarchy, the nature of SME team functioning, organisational structure and managerial prowess in understanding the relationships between inputs and outputs that assist in sustaining the small to medium enterprise. The political hierarchy and business culture In order to successfully innovate, it is necessary to transform tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge within an open culture environment. Tacit knowledge is highly specialised, consisting of expertise that is not easily translatable and transferrable to individuals within the organisation that do not maintain similar expertise. Explicit knowledge is generally defined as documented, easy-to-transfer information such as journals, drawings, schematics and internal procedures that is accessible and understood by all organisational members (Fodor 1968). In the large organisation, especially a multi -national company which maintains a high volume of inter-dependent business divisions, including procurement, research and development, sales and marketing, human resources, and manufacturing, each business unit/division maintains expert (tacit) knowledge labourers. Within the large corporation, it is uncommon for individuals that have been hired for their specific skills and capabilities to be cross-trained under a job rotation

Organisation competition and environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Organisation competition and environment - Essay Example We find that swimming goods and articles associated with swimming has been selling more rampantly than goods related to any other sporting event. While 19% of the people preferred swimming for their health reasons, 18% went to the gym and did weight lifting or other such gym related activities. The keep-fit equipments and users roped in 14% of all those interested in maintaining their health. The other major influencing event was the team related sports. This influence affected the market conditions of the football specifically and to some extent rugby and cricket. More than Three hundred and sixty million pound sterling was spent by soccer enthusiasts on products and articles relating to soccer in 1998. This increase in demand in these two sporting events have happened due to the changed interest in the general health conditions among the public. When Obut and Boules started to manufacture French Boules there were not many manufacturers and they were able to corner the entire market since they were the first entrants. Second, they also ensured that their secrets of trade are not known outside and maintained absolute quality. This made sure that they retained their market share in the country and in Europe. The customers, though they got quality product from these two producers, the price levels should have been higher. The customers were probably paying more than what is due.The products were selling at a premium. Q3. Why have the French introduced a 'Norme Francaise' There have to be a standard for the products that are rolling out and the customers need to be aware of what is happening in the market. In order to ensure that the sold boules are of specific quality, a Norme Francaise has been introduced. Q4. What will be the impact of this standard on the industry The impact of this standard is that the sale of these products have become illegal and they are sold in their own way illegally. However since it is dominated by two of the manufacturers, a standard does exist without a written rule for the quality of the boules. Industry as such is only between the two manufacturers. Q5. What will happen to competition in the longer term in this industry If the competition tries to produce the same kind of boules without improving upon the quality they will have a natural and slow death. Even if they sold the boules at much cheaper price, it may not be accepted by the players. Therefore if the competition wants to sustain and grow in the industry they should ideally, look it setting right their lacuna and build a better product to increase their market share. Case 3: Q1. Explain the changing pattern of supply in the cinema industry from 1946 onwards. The cinema industry in 1945 Briton has been booming when it was in its peak of 1.645 billion admissions in 4600 theaters. The initial high admissions during the 1945 to 1950 period is primarily due to the new trend in entertainment set by these theaters. People seem to love it and wanted to have all of it and more. The growing trend gradually declined. One of the major contributors to the steady decline is the television and the increased viewer ship that it brought along. The TV was the theater in every one's living room. The

No child left behind Essay Example for Free

No child left behind Essay No Child Is Left Behind (NCLB) is a federal state act of 2001 which was proposed by the then president, George W. Bush immediately after being inaugurated in to the White House. This legal framework was aimed at ensuring that the primary and secondary education system was improved by advocating for increased accountability and transparency in its management. It further focused on the education system increased the flexibility on how parents can choose the learning institution their siblings will attend. This paper provides a broad overview of the act and it includes its history, scope, player involved challenges, among other issues. Brief discussion of the relevant history The law was authored by John Boehner and Judd Gregg, a representative and a senator respectively from the Republican Party and George miller and Edward Kennedy, a senator respectively from the Democratic Party. It was then signed by G. W. Bush. Beside aiming at improving the performance primary and secondary education and increasing accountability, improved the focus on reading and re-authored the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Act. The act was brought forward in the 107th congress whereby it was passed in the House of Representatives and US senate on 2001, May 23rd and 2004, June 14th respectively. It was later signed in to law on 2002, January 8th. Scope The act was brought to the lime light after realization the quality of the education being offered was directly affecting the students, parents and all the citizens at large. At the international level, since the world was becoming a global village as a result of globalization, the quality of education needed to improved since many of the Americans’ children had little hope in the future due to high levels of illiteracy and low self esteem (self doubt). The act was of paramount essence since the US, the world largest economy needed to produce intellectuals that would transform America and the globe at large. Context (historical, political, economic, social) At the time George W. Bush introduced this blueprint, he noted that though the American was entering the 21st century with a lot of promise and hope, many of the children who were in need of education support and aid were being ignored and thereby left around. 70% of the fourth graders residing in the inner city could not read or even pass the national reading trial which involved the elementary level of education. The senior high school student in other parts of the world, South Africa and Cyprus to be specific perform very poorly on the international mathematics test. Almost a 1/3 of the college freshmen of American origin take compulsory remedial courses prior to initiating the regular college level courses It is the responsibility of the parents, state and all the citizens to ensure that quality education is guaranteed for all the American children in order to have a bright future. This has not been the case and the United Sates Federal Government is to be blamed for condoning the poor results and failing to address the failure in the education system. The federal government has controlled the Americans, schools since through education policies since 1965 when the first major initiative on the elementary –secondary was undertaken. Since then the federal government has established so many programs/ projects geared towards facilitation of quality education. A major drawback for these programs is that the results have not been analyzed to evaluate whether the programs achieve their objectives or not. Another factor for the failure of the programs is that they are formulated by the congress and the locals are not consulted, as a result, local population education needs are not addressed. There have been programs that are formulated for every single education program and this had led to a pile of programs across the federal states. These programs costed the federal government hundred billions each year but quality of education on the other hand has been falling since the objectives are not being realized. This has resulted to a wide and an increasing gap between the rich and the poor in America. Faced with this dilemma, some citizens have proposed that the federal government should not be involved the education sector. Another proportion of the population suggests that the new programs should be added to the old education system. , the federal government was therefore required to come up with effective programs and projects which would restore confidence in to the American education system. After a braining search of the best option, the federal government came up with the No Child is Left Behind policy which would transform the American education system. During the signing of the bill, the then US president, George W. Bush said; Weve got large challenges here in America. Theres no greater challenge than to make sure that every child and all of us on this stage mean every child, not just a few children, every single child, regardless of where they live, how theyre raised, the income level of their family, every child receive a first-class education in America. Individuals/agencies involved including a discussion of the major decision makers The No Child is Left Behind policy would involve a number of parties in order to transform the American education system, these entities include; o The teachers o The parents o The local citizens o The federal government The teachers will be involved in ensuring the No Child is Left Behind policy work. They will be trained to improve their quality. The schools that will perform well will be rewarded while those not achieving the expected results will be sanctioned. The federal government is expected to fund the training of school teachers and improve the schools in general. The parents are required to monitor the performance of their children and at the same time access more information concerning the performance of his/her child from the school administration. Additional funds will be provided to the state and district schools by so that they can become more flexible. The local society is required to ensure that it provide a conducive learning environment so that the students can utilize their potential to the best of their capability (Hammond 2007). Major stakeholders involved (who the policy/issue affects, who has an interest in the policy) Among the major stakeholders who will be involved and will be affected by the NCLB will include the students, the teachers, parent, the local authorities and the federal government. The teachers will be required to play a crucial role in ensuring that the gap between the poor and rich is closed by ensuring that they maintain high standards and accountability, offering annual academic assessment to children which will then be evaluated by the parents. The teachers are further required to give reading a priority. The parents are expected to work closely with the teachers so that they can assist in progress of the children education. The parents’ flexibility and option for schools will also increase. The local authorities are expected to guarantee the teacher protection, promote school safety, rescue the schools from the schools that are not safe and advocate for character education. o The federal government is expected to provide funds and reward to the well performing schools and states in terms of accountability and transparency. The government will also give the teachers some initiatives like tax deduction in order to promote their performance. The role public administrators play in the policy/issue The public administers are expected to ensure that the funds provided by the federal government are utilized in the most efficient was possible while at the same time making certain that they reach the targeted entities. The public administrators are further expected to evaluate the performance of the school. They should also give feedback to the federal government on matter concerning the effectiveness of the No Child is Left Behind policy in meeting the academic needs of the American people (Samier, et, al, 2008). Policy alternatives and solutions Currently this is the best education program that has been formulated in the US. Proper implementation of the program will ensure that it becomes perfect since it will be evaluated from time to time. Corrective measure will be put in place to ensure that the expected results are achieved. Challenges facing policy implementation and solution The policy is faced with a number of challenges prior to its implementation. One of major critic is on the use of standards to gauge the performance of the states and schools. The schools or each state can lower their standards so that they cam purport to have improved in their performance. This is because each state has the capacity to set its own standards. This means that the incentives and penalties (sanctions) provided by the government would end up on the hand of wrong persons. This problem therefore calls for standardization of the examination if at all there is an expectation of correct unbiased results (Uzzell (2005). The use of standardized within states reduced the quality of education since the teachers â€Å"teach the test† to ensure that the students performs well in the schools. They, teachers, only teach the areas that are expected to be tested in the final standard exams. The standardized tests are also against Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. The tests have also been condemned of promoting cultural bias since different culture value certain skills than others. To avoid this kind of bias, the policy of standardized test should be re-evaluated in depth and a sustainable standard established (Abernathy 2007). The issue of offering incentives to the schools performing poorly enables the schools to continue performing poorly. The schools that are rewarded after performing well in the standards test is likely to push out the poorly performing students so that hey can maintain the standards. In order to ensure that the poorly performing schools improve they should be offered with technical expertise and not financial resources. The top performing schools on the other hand should be closely monitored to ensure that the poor students are not expelled on academic grounds. The No Child is Left Behind policy focuses manly on the core subjects, that is English and Mathematics, this has made the student to improve in these two subjects while the other broader education is lost. This therefore requires the NCLB policy to be considerate of other skills and subjects to ensure that education meets its purpose (Menken 2008). Importance of the No Child is Left Behind policy Its enables the children to understand the policies that have been implemented in the efforts to improve the quality of education in order to face the global challenges in bold. Precisely, the understanding of this policy enables a person to understand the existing education policy’s roots, challenges and its core values. This policy is also an indication of the federal government interest in leading the global by providing its citizens with quality education which will ensure that the illiteracy level decreases significantly. The policy also explains in details the expected level of participation by all the parties involved in ensuring that it is a success. The policy also explains the importance of the accountability and transparency for any program or policy to succeed (Peterson, et, al, 2003). Overview of the important values Irrespective of the stake holders involved in implementing this policy, is of great significance to evaluate the important values of the No Child is Left Behind policy. This policy is expected to; o Result to grades for tests o General improvement of all the standards o Increased accountability of all resources in the schools o Creating opportunity for the minority groups o General improvement of the quality of education o Offering the parent the option to select school for children o Guarantying of the federal funding Conclusion Though the change is well formulated, it needs to be cleansed off some of the issues that are raising eyebrows. It needs to be refined to address all the children depending on their needs. The policy provides clearly detailed guidelines which will ensure that the quality of the education system in America greatly improves to solve the ever increasing global challenges. While comparing the old and the new education programs, this new NCLB is likely to have better results since it focus on all the children with emphasis on the children from the minority groups. The local population, citizens and the federal government should ensure that the proper implementation and evaluation is carried out to make certain that the best results are achieved. As time passes by, a research should be carried out to find out area or clauses that need to be changed for upgrading of the programs. References Abernathy Scott Franklin (2007) No Child Left Behind and the Public Schools, Michigan, University of Michigan Press, (pp 130-149). Hammond Linda D. (2007) Evaluating No Child Left Behind’ retrieved on 18th, November, 2008, available at http://www. thenation.com/doc/20070521/darling-hammond Menken Kate (2008) English Learners Left Behind: Standardized Testing as Language Policy, NY, Multilingual Matters Press (pp 118-140) Samier Eugenie Angele, Stanley Adam (2008) Political Approaches to Educational Administration and Leadership, NY, Routledge, (pp 139-154) Peterson Paul E. , West Martin R. (2003) No Child Left Behind? The Politics and Practice of School Accountability, Brookings, Brookings Institution Press, (pp13-14) Smith Marilyn Cochran (2004) Walking the Road: Race, Diversity, and Social Justice in Teacher Teachers College Press (p 157) The white house, Foreword by President George W. Bush, retrieved on 18th, November, 2008, available at http://www. whitehouse. gov/news/reports/no-child-left-behind. html The White House, President Signs Landmark No Child Left Behind Education Bill, retrieved on 18th, November, 2008, available at http://www. whitehouse. gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020108-1. html Uzzell Lawrence A. (2005) No Child Left Behind: The Dangers of Centralized Education Policy, retrieved on 18th, November, 2008, available at http://www. cato. org/pub_display. php? pub_id=3769

Alike or Different Essay Example for Free

Alike or Different Essay We can try and change ourselves, by changing our appearance, putting on makeup, wearing different clothes, jewellery, etc. But it’s not just a case of appearance, but it also involves the person underneath that mask everyone tries to hide behind. Nobody has ever tried to look at the person underneath before judging them. It’s just ego that stands in the way. What will the result be when people are stripped of all their accessories, when that mask is removed? What we get is a rollercoaster of emotions. Things that people can never guess are hidden underneath. And that’s yet another similarity, which makes mistaken judgment also put into account. Feelings are also something to look at. For example, people do get happy, angry and sad in different situations, but everyone still gets those emotions at times, regardless of reason. And everyone goes through the same life cycle, how they’re born, turn to children, then the teenage, middle aging comes after, then being old, and finally death. Everyone will face death someday. And everyone is made by God, and made of the same materials, as some believe. Everyone eats and breathes, everyone has the five senses, nobody can live without a vital organ, and no one can have supernatural powers. And these are all similarities. * A lot more people don’t believe in that saying, they believe that people differ in a lot of things, and the things that they have in common with others can be looked at from a different angle, making them into another difference. For example, everyone is a human being, but everyone is a different kind of human being, depending on personality, looks, and abilities. And the fact that everyone has a dream that is to be fulfilled can also be a difference, like everyone has a different dream and a different goal for the future. As for the life, everyone does have a life, but it depends on how they live it, and how everyone uses it that makes a difference. Besides, some people are born to have the personality to be good leaders, and others have the power and will to work hard in what they’re good at, while others don’t treasure their abilities, and instead they use it for their own good, to get the better out of things, while they cause hurt to everyone else around them. That’s an example of being and not being able to be a useful person, to not use life wisely, and another way why people are different. Some believe that people differ in how they look (both on the outside and the inside), how they react to things around them, their personality, beliefs, ethics and religions. What can also count as a difference is how everyone is raised, what they’re taught to believe, where and when they were born and who they lived with. People often adopt habits from those they live with, which can sometimes be good, and sometimes be bad. That can make a lot of differences compared to someone who was born rich, lived rich, and died rich. Another way of looking at things is people’s appearance. Some people really care about how they look, and always try to look their best at times. Some wouldn’t give that subject a second thought. Some do care, but not so much. And that’s related to both personality and physical appearance. Language spoken is also a difference. And the fact that some of us can do something that others can’t, which comes down to ability. Furthermore sometimes people have disabilities that others don’t have. Sometimes there are illnesses and diseases that run in families, and some inherit that disease and some don’t, which is another difference. If we try and list these differences they will not have an end, and just thinking would take long too. So it’s not a case of what is the same and what can be different, it’s just how people think about things in their own point of view. So regardless of what there is that can be used as an argument, and however we think the ones who think the opposite are wrong, and no matter which angle we use look at things, it all goes back to opinion, and opinions are very important. And my opinion stays the same, but what about yours? And what’s more important is to reason why we look at things from that point of view, and if we really are being fair, or if we are just judging others by what we think of them, and how we think of them. And most importantly, are we really being fair, or do we just think we are?

Justification and critisism of Transformational Leadership

Justification and critisism of Transformational Leadership Leadership can be described as an important quality of a person, a vital attribute for an organisation or a key source for an effective team towards attaining success. In these ways, leadership occupies its space in different fields and proves to be important in several aspects. The role of a leader is very important in a management field in terms of taking the organisation towards success or failure, as Drucker (1985) defines Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. According to Cox (2001), the leadership has been classified into two types: Transformational and Transactional. This differentiation was initially made by Downtown (1973, as cited in Barnett, McCormick and Conners, 2001). Transformational leader to be briefly explained is the one who possess a good vision and commitment towards success and motivates his followers and encourage them to increase their work potential. Whereas a transactional leader works in a task oriented manner and behave rigid with no place for personal emotions. In this modern world, business culture changes more rapidly prior to time and it is mandatory that skill and custom of the leadership has to adapt these changes. Heiftz and Laurie (1997) claim that: Instead of maintaining standard, leaders have to challenge the style of doing business and facilitate others in order to distinguish immutable values from historical practices that must go. In this essay, certain counter arguments for transformational leadership are critically analysed and a position has been adopted that transformational leadership is better in the current business atmosphere. The reasons are articulated with characteristic feature of transformational leadership. This is further justified with the explanation of some successful facts about notable transformational leaders and their success in their business. Criticisms of Transformational leadership: Transformational leadership being one of the best leadership models has some criticisms regarding several factors like personality, complication, clarity and other factors. Johnson and Kepner (2002) explain the key criticism within transformational leadership is that, it possesses high probability for the abuse of power. This is concerned with morality of leadership, as in terms of emotional perspective a transformational leader influence his follower. If the direction or the path tends to be in wrong track, then it would result in bad consequences. Further Bass (1997) notifies that, transformational leadership lacks the quality of ensuring and balancing the respective interests and influences that might facilitate to avoid dictatorship and minority suppression. Some notable examples of this model are Adolf Hitler, Osama bin laden and Rev Jim Jones who was the main role in massive Jonestown suicide. These are the people considered to be the negative side of transformational leadershi p. The second critic is that, transformational leadership is more often concentrated in developing an individual personality trait rather than a conduct through which people may be instructed (Bryman, 1992). This result in a difficult situation to train people in this approach, as most of the people will find complicated to adopt this quality. Since transformational leadership is a combination of several leadership models, it is more complicated to understand the concept and teach. In a transformational leadership, the leader is considered as a visionary idol and the leader involve in the business process along with his followers. This creates a dilemma in viewing the leadership in a trait perspective. The third critic provided by Avolio (1999) is that, the transformational leadership is discriminatory and autocratic. This further brings to another critic, the lack of conceptual clarity. The transformational leadership covers a wide range of activities like motivation, inspiration, buil ding trust and furthermore, this creates confusion in terms of concept when compared to other leadership model, as Bryman (1992) pointed out that transformational and charismatic leadership are often considered to be identical with respect to their qualities. The fourth argument is about dimensions of transformational leadership as not clearly mentioned. A scientific research by Tracey and Hinkin (1998) has shown considerable intersections among the dimensions of transformational leadership; it notifies that the dimensions are not clearly defined and complicated to measure. The final critic deals with regards to ethics, describing that transformational leadership suppresses the minorities of an organisation. Keeley (2001) believes that the only way to prevent harm done to the followers by the managers is to avoid the managers from uniting towards a common interest or goal. This ethical statement put forwards an action which is contradictory of what transformational leaders are suppo sed to do. These are some of the critical arguments by various researchers in the business field. The upcoming statements provide a justification for transformational leadership and some counter arguments for the above given critical statements. Justification for transformational leadership: Reviewing the critics arguments, a question arises whether the transformational leadership could be followed by an organisation to run efficiently. A position has been adopted for transformational leadership in this essay and the facts are described and clearly articulated. The first point of criticism review the morality and misleading of power by transformational leadership. Bass (2006) explains the classification in transformational leadership as socialised and personalized characteristics in the book Transformational leadership. The leaders using their abilities to inspire and lead their followers to a wrong path are termed to be pseudo transformational leaders. They possess similar elements as that of transformational leaders, but the motive would be personal and exploitative. It depends upon the individual characteristics in determining or choosing their motive and path, the concept of transformational leadership cannot be blamed. People regarding pseudo transformational model were discussed in the previous section; some examples of leaders who led a constructive path of transformational leadership are Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela etc. Transformational leadership concentrates in developing individual personality trait and it is difficult to understand and teach the concept was another critic. The significant feature of transformational leadership is that, it concentrates the development of follower and tries to enrich their personality. It encourages and involves inspiring followers to commit to a shared vision and goal of the organisation. A transformational leader encourages others to become leaders; as a result the entire organisation will be filled with people possessing effective leadership qualities, Kelly (2003). Furthermore, transformational leader motivates his followers to be innovative in problem solving and develop followers leadership qualities by coaching, mentoring and providing both challenge and support. According to (Leithwood, as cited in Cashin et al, 2000, p.1) Transformational leadership is that which: helps to redefine an individual mission and vision, thereby renewing their commitment and re structure the system for accomplishing the goal. This result in a mutual co-ordination within a leader and follower, where the follower grooms his qualities of leadership and the leader transform himself as a moral agent. Hence transformational leadership must be grounded in moral foundations. Regarding the issue about conceptual clarity, transformational leadership has much in similar characteristic features as that of charismatic leadership. The charisma is a part of transformational leader, it is considered to be a factor which correlates with idealized influence (one of transformational leadership 4Is). It is generally classified as socialized and personalized categories. For an organisation to perform better, Howell and Avolio (1993), authentic charismatic or transformational leaders must be socialised leaders. Under transformational leadership, there are four vital organisational activities performed. Making a compelling case for change in order to heighten followers sensitivity towards organisational change, inspire shared vision in order to attain new and better future, leading new changes and embedding the same. Certain critics notice transformational leadership as discriminatory and autocratic and a questionnaire whether it is directive or participative. Weber (1 947) emphasized that during the period of crises transformational leader directed dependent followers with essential solutions towards the problem; high inspirational leaders were extremely directive in terms of their process and approach. This clearly illustrates that, depending upon the situation a leader has to be either directive or participative in order to perform the task efficiently. The issues concerned to dimensions of transformational leadership, the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ) by Bass and Avolio (2000) provides a solution for this critic. The MLQ is used in measurement or determination of the dimensions for this leadership, which are Idealised influence, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation. The ethical issue about the transformational leadership is about suppressing minorities. Being researched for over 25 years, in transformational leadership the objective is to convert individual attention towards larger cause. It results in transformation from selfishness to cooperative concern. The significant feature of this leadership model is that, it focuses on common goal (Ethics, 133). An effective team work is concentrated where majorities and minorities are in the same platform to attain an objective. Successful Transformational leaders: Transformational leadership model proves to be efficient not only in business, but in all other sectors where it is implemented. In order to strengthen the position of transformational leadership, so examples from the past and present are portrayed in this essay. In a historical perspective, Yates (2002) describes about Genghis khan. During the late 12th and 13th century, this man struggled for the unification of the Mongol tribes, which was one of the largest land empires. The mode of leadership used was transformational at that period of time. In terms of business field, Lou Gerstner- the former chairman and CEO of IBM is one of the best examples for transformational leadership. One of the notable events at IBM under Gerstner leadership is: recovery from the companys loss of $1.8 billion in 1993 and making IBM as one of the largest private corporation in IT sector during that period of time. Sheppard (2002) describes that, Gerstner completely rectified the organisational culture an d took IBM to certain heights. Regarding the field of government and military contexts, General Colin Powell overcame the notorious racism in United States military and amidst low expectations became the United States chiefs of staff in 1989. He is the first Afro-American to become the U.S Secretary of State in 1991. Chekwa (2001) notifies that with the vision and qualities of transformational leader, Powell attained this position. Conclusion: The image and the research concerned to transformational leadership might be relatively recent, but demonstration and research of its characteristics and features has been done years back. It is proved that  transformational leaders have great capability to increase the performance beyond expectations and thereby able to make massive changes among individuals and organizations. In this essay, analysing most of the critics statement it has been justified that transformational leadership is stated to be better in a business perspective. When compared with other leadership styles like transactional or autocratic, transformational leadership addresses an individual needs, while the transactional leadership addresses the organisational process and the functioning is more often considered to be monopoly in nature. The decisions made are concerned only with the leader, success and failure occurs in an equal probability. While transformational leadership indulges effective team work, the leader motivates his follower and provides constructive feedback. The significant feature is that, feedback is expected from the follower too thus creating a two way communication. In the current world, transformational leadership is highly recognised and practised by executives in modern organisation. The current business scenario is influenced by insecurity, global commotion and organisational volatility, for which transformational leadership would be a better solution to deal these factors efficiently.

Racial, Social, and Symbolic Elements in Desirees Baby by Kate Chopin

When I think about starting over, I am often reminded of Armand in the story of â€Å"Desiree Baby†. Armand, the protagonist in the story built a bonfire in the efforts of trying to erase away the memory of his wife Desiree, and his son. Armand’s bonfire symbolizes Armand wanting to start over and forget his past. Throughout the short story many elements of symbolism was used to convey a central message those include discussing symbols of racism, social class distinction, and the symbolic elements involving the difference between the gender roles. In â€Å"Desiree Baby†, author, Chopin emphasizes racism by selecting certain words to symbolize the association between light and darkness, and the slaves on the plantation. The association between light and darkness played a major role in the outcome of this story. Desiree the wife of Armand was always associated with things of lightness. After Desiree was recovering from just given birth to their son she laid on the couch in her â€Å"soft white muslins and lace† (Valencia Community College). When Desiree confronts her husband about the race of their child Desiree skin pigmentation is whiter than her husbands. Desiree shows Armand the letter from Valmonde, the book says she was resembled a stone image white and motionless. In October when Desiree was abandoned Armand she left still wearing the white thin garment and slippers. Armand and the baby were always associated with darkness throughout the story. Armand skin complexion was darker than his wife’s. The story also describes Armand face as being dark and handsome. The baby association with darkness came when the baby was lying across Desiree mahogany bed. Mahogany is some dark brown colored wood. Another comparison of the chi... ...haracter, Zandrine, helps add on to the story and the progression of Armand’s developing character. Leading towards the end of the story, Armand builds a bonfire on the pyre. The bonfire symbolized Armand getting rid of all his memories of his wife and child. Throughout this paper I have shared Chopin’s use of symbolic elements by discussing symbols of racism, social class distinction, and the symbolic elements involving the difference between the gender roles. At the end of the story Armand reads a letter from his mom to his father. Armand finds out that his mother is from the African descent after; he has lost his marriage and family. Works Cited Cummings, Michael. "Cummings Study Guide." Cummings Study Guide. Michael Cummings, 2010. Web. 25 Mar 2011. "Desiree Baby." Valencia Community College. Valencia Community College, n.d. Web. 26 Mar 2011.

Friendship Essay: My Best Friend -- friendship essay, my best friend

She doesn’t know this, but she changed my life. She was there for me when it seemed like no one else was. When most of my friends were dissolving around me and I just didn’t feel like I could do anything right, she was there, and she made everything seem okay. It didn’t matter that I was inevitably going to graduate with a GPA a tenth of a point lower than I wanted, or that my director told me that he was disappointed in me because I just didn’t seem focused lately, or that my other friends just weren’t talking to me anymore. It didn’t matter because she was there and she made me feel safe. She’s my best friend, and I love her and admire her for so many different reasons. It seems that, no matter the situation, she knows exactly what will brighten my mood, whether it’s an hour-long venting session, a frozen yogurt run or sitting around a fire making s’mores. She has the incredible ability to make me laugh even when it seems impossible, through sometimes impractical means, like throwing marshmallows across the room or telling goofy made-up stories that may or may not be relevant to t...