Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Ethics - Essay Example Rawls’s argument that we should maximin instead of maximize leads to a fascinating standoff, whereby the argument for maximin appeared not compelling, but it was straight additive maximization of utilitarian in a way that revealed the possible function associated with morality that people are expected to maximize. In fact, according to Rawls, the utilitarianism is not straight based on taking maximandum, which refers to the things that are to be maximized that is utility instead of the primary social goods. Moreover, the idea of maximizing the key social goods is not appealing, since it fails to pursue the maximization of utility. Therefore, the espousal of the ideal legitimacy in political Liberalism does not have an effect on the conclusions and arguments that are developed to reinforce the ideal with respect to justice as fairness in utilitarianism and Rawlsian theories (Arneson, 2000). There is another problem with the utilitarianism, which is associated with the tenuous a ssociation with liberalism, whereby in prominent situations of aggregate goods of numerous, people outweigh the few individuals. Moreover, utilitarianism appears to be committed to the majority over the minority, and it seems to be unfair or violating the fundamental rights and liberties. Therefore, utilitarianism retort is unfair since the mere handovers from outdated and pernicious moral conversions. On the other hand, Rawls’s arguments are in the first part, whereby he focuses on the conflicts between utilitarianism and people’s beliefs concerning justice and fairness. In fact, he provides diagnosis, which is unflattering in order to appeal to utilitarianism. Therefore, utilitarianism may seem to be appealing by taking over the model of decision-making that individuals make relating to their lives. However, there is a significant difficulty associated with implementing the model in a society with people suffering from sacrifice, whereby they are denied the chance to obtain the benefits. In this case, the official arguments, in the parties in the original state prefer the Rawlsian Maximin Principle, by turning the choice between rules related to making the decision under uncertain circumstance of maximizing expected utility instead of maximin. The formal argument of the Rawls’s assertion is supported by the psychological arguments related to parties in the original state that prefers the principles. In fact, ideas of psychological arguments related to Rawls’s principles do not have limitations of the strains of commitment, like utilitarianism. Moreover, Rawls maintains that people growing in a society governed by principles Rawls’s principles, they would end up valuing the principles and complying with them. Rawls’s principles are concerned with the worst off, whereby the society is committed to the well being of the well off. However, this is not the case with the utilitarianism, whereby it is easier to have the all egiance to a society, which is governed Rawls’s principles, compared to the society governed by utilitarianism. Making a comparison between the Rawls principles with the maximin rule and utilitarianism, there is a chance of utilitarianism given

Barcode Reader Technology Overview

Barcode Reader Technology Overview A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an electronic device for reading printed barcodes. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light sensor translating optical impulses into electrical ones. Additionally, nearly all barcode readers contain decoder circuitry analyzing the barcodes image data provided by the sensor and sending the barcodes content to the scanners output port. Methods Scanning methods are distinguished by the amount of operator manipulation required: Pen or wand-type readers: requires the operator to swipe the pen over the code. Semi-automatic handheld readers: The operator need not swipe, but must at least position the reader near the label Fix-mount readers for automatic reading: The reading is performed laterally passing the label over the reader. No operator is required, but the position of the code target must coincide with the imaging capability of the reader and ll Reader gates for automatic scanning: The position of the code must be just under the gate for short time, enabling the scanner sweep to capture the code target successfully. Types Of Technology The reader types can be distinguished as follows: Pen Type Readers Pen type readers consist of a light source and a photodiode that are placed next to each other in the tip of a pen or wand. To read a bar code, the tip of the pen moves across the bars in a steady motion. The photodiode measures the intensity of the light reflected back from the light source and generates a waveform that is used to measure the widths of the bars and spaces in the bar code. Dark bars in the bar code absorb light and white spaces reflect light so that the voltage waveform generated by the photo diode is a representation of the bar and space pattern in the bar code. This waveform is decoded by the scanner in a manner similar to the way Morse code dots and dashes are decoded. Laser Scanners Laser scanners work the same way as pen type readers except that they use a laser beam as the light source and typically employ either a reciprocating mirror or a rotating prism to scan the laser beam back and forth across the bar code. As with the pen type reader, a photodiode is used to measure the intensity of the light reflected back from the bar code. In both pen readers and laser scanners, the light emitted by the reader is tuned to a specific frequency and the photodiode is designed to detect only this modulated light of the same frequency. CCD Readers CCD readers (also referred to as LED scanner) use an array of hundreds of tiny light sensors lined up in a row in the head of the reader. Each sensor measures the intensity of the light immediately in front of it. Each individual light sensor in the CCD reader is extremely small and because there are hundreds of sensors lined up in a row, a voltage pattern identical to the pattern in a bar code is generated in the reader by sequentially measuring the voltages across each sensor in the row. The important difference between a CCD reader and a pen or laser scanner is that the CCD reader is measuring emitted ambient light from the bar code whereas pen or laser scanners are measuring reflected light of a specific frequency originating from the scanner itself. Camera-Based Readers 2D imaging scanners are the fourth and newest type of bar code reader currently available. They use a small video camera to capture an image of a bar code. The reader then uses sophisticated digital image processing techniques to decode the bar code. Video cameras use the same CCD technology as in a CCD bar code reader except that instead of having a single row of sensors, a video camera has hundreds of rows of sensors arranged in a two dimensional array so that they can generate an image. There are a number of open source libraries for barcode reading from images. These include the ZXing project, which reads one- and two-dimensional barcodes using Android and JavaME, the JJIL project, which includes code for reading EAN-13 barcodes from cellphone cameras using J2ME, and Zebra (Changed name to ZBAR), which reads various one-dimensional barcodes in C. Even web site integration, either by image uploads (e.g. Folke Ashberg: EAN-13 Image-Scanning and code creation tools) or by use of plugins (e.g. the Barcodepedia uses a flash application and some web cam for querying a database), have been realized options for resolving the given tasks. Omni-Directional Barcode Scanners Omni-directional scanning uses series of straight or curved scanning lines of varying directions in the form of a starburst, a lissajous pattern, or other multiangle arrangement are projected at the symbol and one or more of them will be able to cross all of the symbols bars and spaces, no matter what the orientation. Omni-directional scanners almost all use a laser. Unlike the simpler single-line laser scanners, they produce a pattern of beams in varying orientations allowing them to read barcodes presented to it at different angles. Most of them use a single rotating polygonal mirror and an arrangement of several fixed mirrors to generate their complex scan patterns. Omni-directional scanners are most familiar through the horizontal scanners in supermarkets, where packages are slid across a glass or sapphire window. There are a range of different omni-directional units available which can be used for differing scanning applications, ranging from retail type applications with the barcodes read only a few centimetres away from the scanner to industrial conveyor scanning where the unit can be a couple of metres away or more from the code. Omni-directional scanners are also better at reading poorly printed, wrinkled, or even torn barcodes. Housing Types The reader packaging can be distinguished as follows: Handheld scanner: with a handle and typically a trigger button for switching on the light source. Pen scanner (or wand scanner): a pen-shaped scanner that is swiped. Stationary scanner: wall- or table-mounted scanners that the barcode is passed under or beside. These are commonly found at the checkout counters of supermarkets and other retailers. Fixed position scanner: an industrial barcode reader used to identify products during manufacture or logistics. Often used on conveyor tracks to identify cartons or pallets which need to be routed to another process or shipping location. Another application joins holographic scanners with a checkweigher to read bar codes of any orientation or placement, and weighs the package. Systems like this are used in factory and farm automation for quality management and shipping. PDA scanner: a PDA with a built-in barcode reader or attached barcode scanner e.g. Grabba. Automatic reader: a back office equipment to read barcoded documents at high speed (50,000/hour) e.g. Multiscan MT31 Methods Of Connection Early Serial Interfaces Early barcode scanners, of all formats, almost universally used the then-common RS232 serial interface. This was an electrically simple means of connection and the software to access it is also relatively simple, although needing to be written for specific computers and their serial ports.{10} Proprietary Interfaces There are a few other less common interfaces. These were used in large EPOS systems with dedicated hardware, rather than attaching to existing commodity computers. Wand emulation is another output type that takes the raw wave and decodes it, normalizing the output so it can be easily decoded by the host device. Wand emulation can also convert symbologies that may not be recognized by the host device into another symbology (typically Code 39) that can be easily decoded.{11} Keyboard Wedges With the popularity of the PC and its standard keyboard interface, it became ever easier to connect physical hardware to a PC and so there was commercial demand similarly to reduce the complexity of the associated software. Keyboard wedge hardware plugged between the PC and its normal keyboard, with characters from the barcode scanner appearing exactly as if they had been typed at the keyboard. This made the addition of simple barcode reading abilities to existing programs very easy, without any need to change them, although it did require some care by the user and could be restrictive in the content of the barcodes that could be handled. Later barcode readers began to use USB connectors rather than the keyboard port, as this became a more convenient hardware option. To retain the easy integration with existing programs, a device driver called a software wedge could be used, to emulate the keyboard-impersonating behaviour of the old keyboard wedge hardware. PS/2 Port Most barcode readers now use a PS/2 or USB cable for output: PS/2 cables are connected to the host computer in a Y formation, the PS/2 keyboard port with its first end, to the keyboard with its second, and to the barcode reader with its third end. The barcode characters are then received by the host computer as if they came from its keyboard decoded and converted to keyboard input within the scanner housing. This makes it easy to interface the bar code reader to any application that is written to accept keyboard input USB is supported by many newer scanners. In many cases a choice of USB interface types (HID, CDC) are provided. Some have Powered USB. Wireless Networking Modern handheld barcode readers are operated in wireless networks according to IEEE 802.11g (WLAN) or IEEE 802.15.3 (Blueooth). However, such configuration limits the time of operation from battery or rechargeable battery and required recharging at least after a shift of operation. Resolution The scanner resolution is measured by the size of the dot of light emitted by the reader. If this dot of light is wider than any bar or space in the bar code, then it will overlap two elements (two spaces or two bars) and it may produce wrong output. On the other hand, if a too small dot of light is used, then it can misinterpret any spot on the bar code making the final output wrong. The most commonly used dimension is 13 mils (0.3302 mm). As it is a very high resolution, it is extremely important to have bar codes created with a high resolution graphic application. While cell phone cameras are not suitable for many traditional barcodes, there are 2D barcodes (such as Semacode) which are optimized for cell phones. These open up a number of applications for consumers: Movies: DVD/VHS movie catalogs Music: CD catalogs, play MP3 when scanned Book catalogs Groceries, nutrition information, making shopping lists when the last of an item is used, etc. Personal Property inventory (for insurance and other purposes) Calling cards: 2D barcodes can store contact information for importing. Brick and mortar shopping: Portable scanners can be used to record items of interest for looking up online at home. Coupon management: weeding expired coupons. Personal finance. Receipts can be tagged with a barcode label and the barcode scanned into personal finance software when entering. Later, scanned receipt images can then be automatically associated with the appropriate entries. Later, the bar codes can be used to rapidly weed out paper copies not required to be retained for tax or asset inventory purposes. If retailers put barcodes on receipts that allowed downloading an electronic copy or encoded the entire receipt in a 2D barcode, consumers could easily import data into personal finance, property inventory, and grocery management software. Receipts scanned on a scanner could be automatically identified and associated with the appropriate entries in finance and property inventory software. Code 39 Code 39 (known as USS Code 39, Code 3/9, Code 3 of 9, USD-3, Alpha39, Type 39) is a barcode symbology that can encode uppercase letters (A through Z), digits (0 through 9) and a handful of special characters like the $ sign. A Code 39 Barcode Label The barcode itself does not contain a check digit (in contrast to—for instance—Code 128), but it can be considered self-checking by some; on the grounds that a single erroneously interpreted bar cannot generate another valid character. Possibly the most serious drawback of Code 39 is its low data density: It requires more space to encode data in Code 39 than, for example, in Code 128. This means that very small goods cannot be labeled with a Code 39 based barcode. However, Code 39 is still widely used and can be decoded with virtually any barcode reader. One advantage of Code 39 is that since there is no need to generate a check digit, it can easily be integrated into existing printing system by adding a barcode font to the system or printer and then printing the raw data in that font. The name Code 39 is derived from the fact that three of the nine elements that constitute a codeword are wide elements, the remaining six are narrow. Code 39 was developed by Dr. David Allais and Ray Stevens of Intermec in 1974. It was later standardised as ANSI MH 10.8 M-1983 and MIL-STD-1189. The width ratio between narrow and wide can be chosen between 1:2 and 1:3. The details of CODE 39 can be seen in Appendix A.

Perspectives of Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx Essay -- Sociology Compar

Perspectives of Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were full of evolving social and economic ideas. These views of the social structure of urban society came about through the development of ideas taken from the past revolutions. As the Industrial Revolution progressed through out the world, so did the gap between the class structures. The development of a capitalist society was a very favorable goal for the upper class. By using advanced methods of production introduced by the Industrial Revolution, they were able to earn a substantial surplus by ruling the middle class. Thus, maintaining their present class of life, while the middle class was exploited and degraded. At this time in history, social theorists like Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx challenged the aspect of social structure in their works. Emile Durkheim is known as a functionalist states that everything serves a function in society and his main concern to discover what that function was. On the other hand Karl Marx, a conflict theo rist, stresses that society is a complex system characterized by inequality and conflict that generate social change. Both Durkheim and Marx were concerned with the characteristics of groups and structures rather than with individuals. The functionalist perspective in society is a view of society that focuses on the way various parts of society have functions, or possible effects that maintain the stability of the whole. Durkheim developed the idea of society as an integrated system of interrelated parts. He wanted to establish how the various parts of society contribute to the maintenance of the whole. He also focused on how various elements of social structure function to maintain social order and equilibrium. Durkheim stressed that culture is the product of a community and not of single individuals. He argued that the ultimate reality of human life is sociological and not psychological. The sociological reality, which Durkheim called the collective conscience, exists beyond the individual and individual actions. Durkheim characterizes collective conscience as â€Å"a totality of beliefs and sentiments common to average citizens of the same society forms a determinate system which has its own life† (Ritzer , 82). In Durkheim’s opinion a whole is not identical to the sum of its parts, thus society is not just a mere sum of individu... ...sband’s property (Ritzer, 63). Marx says that this corresponds precisely the definition of unequal division of labor in the modern society. Where an employer degraded a worker until the worker becomes the private property of the industry and therefore no different than a slave. Just as a slave is not free to decide whether or not to work on a given day, neither is the worker. Both must work in order to survive. Ultimately, many social thinkers in the history of sociology have challenged the topic of social structure in their works. Social thinkers like Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx have spent their entire lives formulating theories that would explain the status of individuals in societies. From a functionalist perspective sociologist like Emile Durkheim looks at society as a system with various parts that contribute to the maintenance of the whole. On the other hand Karl Marx, a conflict theorist, stresses that society is a complex system characterized by inequality and conflict that generate social change. Both theorists looked at a social system as a set of mutually supporting elements, unlike for Mark, it was hard for Durkheim to explain how change might occur in a society.

Explain and assess Haidt’s ‘moral foundations’ theory

Introduction This essay will explain and assess Moral Foundations Theory (MFT), which was originally developed by Haidt, and which he has since worked on with a number of collaborators. The first part of this essay will outline the philosophical background of the theory, especially its relationship to Continental rationalism and British empiricism. This will be followed by an explanation and description of Haidt’s Social Intuitionist Model (SIM), which provides the essential mechanism by which MFT functions. Next will come an unpacking and explanation of the general claims of MFT, and the specific foundations it postulates. Finally, there will be an assessment of some of the various critiques of the theory, during which its strengths and weaknesses will be considered. It will be concluded that MFT is a strong theory on the whole, which builds on firm philosophical and scientific foundations and provides good descriptive representation of moral systems. MFT rejects the rationalist notion th at morality can be accessed by a priori reason. Put simply, there are four main justifications for this: (1) there are two cognitive processes that occur in humans – reasoning and intuition – the former of which has been overemphasized; (2) reasoning is frequently motivated by other concerns; (3) the reasoning process tends to construct post hoc justifications, even though we experience the illusion of objective reasoning; and (4) moral action covaries with moral emotion more frequently than with moral reasoning. This is the heritage of Continental philosophy, whose champions were figures such as Descartes and Kant. The philosophical forerunners to MFT were the British empiricist philosophers, especially Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, Hume, and Smith. These men believed, to quote Hume, ‘that Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.’ In philosophy, this position now falls with in the school of intuitionism. This ‘refers to the view that there are moral truths and that when people grasp these truths they do so not by a process of ratiocination and reflection but rather by a process more akin to perception.’ The social element comes in because intuition occurs in relation to other people. As Haidt puts it, ‘when faced with a social demand for a verbal justification, one becomes a lawyer trying to build a case rather than a judge searching for the truth’. Based on this intellectual heritage, Haidt developed the ‘Social Intuitionist Model’ (SIM). It is important to explain this properly because the ‘SIM is the prequel to MFT’, and provides the mechanism by which the latter works. There are a series of links in the SIM that explain how people relate to moral problems. The first is the intuitive judgement link. ‘The model proposes that moral judgments appear in consciousness automatically and effortlessl y as the result of moral intuitions’. The second is post hoc reasoning. This entails moral reasoning (rather than judgement), which is an ‘effortful’ process in which individuals search for support for an existing, intuitive moral judgement. Research has revealed that ‘everyday reasoning is heavily marred by the biased search only for reasons that support one’s already-stated hypothesis.’ The third is the reasoned persuasion link. This is the process by which the individual verbalises their reasoning in an attempt to persuade others of the validity of their already-made position. This reasoning can sometimes affect the views of others, but this rarely happens because moral judgements are not based on logical arguments but on intuition. It has been hypothesised that persuasion, when it occurs, is effective because it elicits new intuitive judgements in the listener. The importance of using affective persuasion to change affectively based attitu des has been demonstrated by Edwards and von Hippel. The fourth is the social persuasion link. Due to the fact that people are so receptive to the development of group norms, ‘the mere fact that friends, allies, and acquaintances have made a moral judgment exerts a direct influence on others, even if no reasoned persuasion is used’. This may indicate only outward conformity on occasion, but researchers have shown that private judgements can often be directly influenced by the views of others. There are two additional links that are hypothesised. One is the ‘reasoned judgment link’ by which people may at times reason their way to a judgment by sheer force of logic, overriding their initial intuition’. This tends to occur, however, when the ‘initial intuition is weak and processing capacity is high’. In other cases, it frequently leads to a kind of dualist way of thinking, where reasoned judgment is revealed verbally but the intuition cont inues to operate. Interestingly, on this point MFT diverges from the moral theory of Hume and the argument from pure intuition. If this link does exists, there is no explanation of how one can reason their way to a set of premises or axioms that can be used to support logic argument – unless, of course, they reason in a circle. The other link is the ‘private reflection link’, through which moral reasoning can have an indirect causal effect on moral judgement by triggering a new intuition. This is said to be why role-taking is so effective in creating new moral judgments. As Haidt puts it, ‘Simply by putting oneself into the shoes of another person, one may instantly feel pain, sympathy, or other vicarious emotional responses.’ MFT makes several broad claims, which will be presented here in no particular order. Firstly, it rejects the assumption of monism that all moral systems are ultimately reducible to a single goal or principle, most commonly gene ralised as forms of ‘justice’, ‘pleasure’ or ‘happiness’. Instead, it is pluralist and contends that there are numerous (but finite) basic values or virtues. As Isaiah Berlin put it, ‘there is a plurality of ideals, as there is a plurality of cultures and of temperaments.’ This is derived from the fact that it is heavily influenced by evolutionary biology, especially the concepts of kin selection and reciprocal altruism. It also builds on more recent work by de Waal (1996), Ridley (1996), among others. As there are a multitude of adaptive challenges faced by human beings, it seems likely that there are also many different mental tools fitted for a variety of purposes. The second claim is intuitionism, which has already been discussed at some length. To reiterate briefly, it is the assertion that ‘moral judgments, like other evaluative judgments, tend to happen quickly’, without any considerable regard for reasoning or drawn out evaluation. This aspect is encapsulated by Haidt’s (2001) SIM. Moral reasoning (as opposed to moral judgment) is generally utilised for strategic purposes in order to ‘to explain, defend and justify our intuitive moral reactions to others’. The third claim is nativism, which is the belief that there is a set of innate predispositions within human beings (‘innate’ in this case means ‘organized in advance of experience’). These are determined by genetic inheritance, but the ‘first draft’ of moral development is malleable and is changed during childhood and to an extent even during adulthood. Graham et al. employ the metaphor of writing a book, distinguishing between nature’s ‘first draft’ and the ‘editing process’ that begins with experience. Morality, therefore, ‘is innate and highly dependent on environmental influences’. The belief that nature has installed a kind of à ¢â‚¬Ëœpreparedness’ in certain species, one of which is humans, is suggested by studies of rhesus monkeys conducted by Mineka and Cook (1988). Graham et al. (2012) ‘think of this innate organization as being implemented by sets of related modules which work together to guide and constrain responses to each particular problem.’ The final claim is that morality is influenced by cultural learning. This takes places through a set of ‘learning modules’, which are innate and can be used to build on one’s genetic inheritance. For example, the tendency to bow in deference or respect is common to many cultures, but this is adapted to locally-specific cultural contexts and by ‘the time a Hindu girl reaches adulthood, she will have developed culturally-specific knowledge that makes her automatically initiate bowing movements when she encounters, say, a respected politician for the first time.’ In an American household, however, this foundati on might be dropped early on. Despite both girls starting off with the ‘same sets of universal learning modules†¦.the universal (and incomplete) first draft of the moral mind gets filled in and revised so that the child can successfully navigate the moral â€Å"matrix† he or she actually experiences.’ Different societies use different foundations to build their moralities, and some use all of them. MFT, therefore, is an intuitionist theory contending that human moral systems are the combination of innate predispositions and cultural learning. Additionally, judgements are made rapidly on the basis of a plurality of in-built mechanisms, which have been ‘hardwired’ into humans over the course of our species’ evolution. The rest of this essay will present, explain, and assess, in no particular order, the specific foundations postulated by MFT. There are supposedly five or six empirically supported ‘foundations’ for moral judgemen ts, but MFT allows for others being discovered in the future. The first is the care/harm foundation. Human offspring ‘are unusually dependent, and for an unusually long time’ and the intuitive reactions of females have been ‘optimized to detect signs of suffering, distress, or neediness’ for the purpose of raising more offspring. ‘The original triggers of the Care/harm foundation are ‘visual and auditory signs of suffering, distress, or neediness expressed by one’s own child’, but they can be activated by other children, baby animals, stuffed toys with childlike qualities, or descriptions of suffering. This foundation leads to the creation of terms such as ‘kind’ and ‘cruel’, which are valued differently by different cultures (e.g., classical Sparta vs. Buddhist societies). The second is the fairness/cheating foundation. Social animals face non-zero-sum games in which it is advantageous to cooperate. Creat ures ‘whose minds are organized in advance of experience to be highly sensitive to evidence of cheating and cooperation, and to react with emotions that compel them to play â€Å"tit for tat†, had an advantage over those who had to figure out their next move using their general intelligence.’ Social partners with reputations for certain types of behaviour are therefore labelled with words such as ‘fair’, ‘just’, and ‘trustworthy’. The third is the loyalty/betrayal foundation. It was advantageous for our ancestors to form cohesive groups when competing for territory and resources. This same behaviour can be seen in troops of chimpanzees. So humans have developed an innate predisposition to form groups. This manifests today in numerous areas, from nationalism to sports and brand loyalty. The fourth is the authority/subversion foundation. Dominance hierarchies are common among many primates, and the ability to recognise and rea ct by forming strategic relationships yielded an evolutionary advantage. Modules of the human mind in this foundation explain why we submit to many useful but constraining societal structures, such as the police force and political leaders. The varied development of this foundation explains why different societies (modern-day China vs. America) or groups (social conservatives vs. liberals) value authority in different ways. The fifth is the sanctity/degradation foundation. Human evolution carried adaptive challenges, such as moving from tree-based to ground-based living, living in larger, denser groups, and eating more meat, some of which was scavenged. This exposed us to a greater number of pathogens and parasites, and we therefore developed a pre-emptory, in-built sensitivity to factors other than the ‘sensory properties of potential foods, friends, and mates.’ ‘Disgust and the behavioral immune system have come to undergird a variety of moral reactions, e.g., t o immigrants and sexual deviants’ There are numerous criticisms of MFT, most of which are directed at one of the four main claims undergirding it: nativism, plurality, cultural learning, and intuitionism. One problem with nativism, for example, is that it is difficult to determine the extent to which the mind is ‘hardwired’. As Graham et al., put it: ‘opinions range widely from minimalist positions, which say that there is hardly any writing on the â€Å"first draft† of the mind, to maximalist positions such as massive modularity’ Indeed, the ambiguity here has led some to criticise MFT, and nativism in general, on the grounds that it lacks empirical neuroscientific evidence for the existence of modules. However, this is not reasonable at present. Given that the field is yet to ‘find a set of genes that, collectively, explains 5% of the variance in how tall people are what chance is there that anyone will find a set of genes that code fo r mental modules (such as loyalty or sanctity) whose expression is far more subject to cultural influence than is height?’ There is also considerable criticism of the emphasis MFT places on intuitionism. For example, some argue ‘that that intuition and reasoning are best seen as partners in a dance, in which either partner can lead and the other will follow.’ However, whatever the prominent role of reason, this seems misleading at the very least. As has been referenced already in this essay, and as Hume showed in his Treatise, it is not clear how reason can establish the first principles from which logical argument follows. Moral axioms cannot be given a logical foundation, and to the extent that they exist in nature and are ‘hardwired’, they cannot be expressed. Therefore, they are beyond realm of reason by their very nature. To say that reasoning can lead when it is necessarily guided by intuitive first principles is therefore unsupportable. Intere sting critiques come from the monists, who disagree with the pluralism hypothesis. Gray et al. believe that the care/harm foundation is the only one that is truly foundational. Graham et al. (2012) call this Procrustean, citing the fact that certain moral judgements, such as disgust, appear not to be accounted for by the care/harm foundation. Their confidence in this matter, however, is arguably misplaced. Disgust over, say, a dirty environment could be seen as a cause of harm. Perhaps those creatures with a predisposition to avoid unclean environments encountered fewer pathogens, for example, or were at less risk of being exposed to small but dangerous creatures such as spiders and snakes. Clearly, emotions, such as disgust, can potentially be explained by the care/harm foundation. The difficulty here arises in attempting to make bold comment about the way our ancestors perceived the links between various phenomena and their effects. While it is possible to argue that matters of di sgust have little to do with harm, perhaps there is link that has not yet been discovered. Some critics suggest that there should also be an oppression/liberty foundation. This is the potential sixth foundation being worked on by Haidt. Others point to the fact that MFT might be missing a waste/inefficiency foundation. These critiques focus on the particular pluralisms chosen for MFT. This is really a matter of fine-tuning, rather than any fundamental. This essay has sought to explain and assess Haidt’s MTF. It has emerged that its central claims are extremely well-founded. The SIM has strong roots that date back to the empirical tradition in Britain and which still have not been successfully overturned. With the developments in psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology, both intuitionism and nativism rest on firm foundations. There are philosophical and other objections that can be targeted at the pluralism element of MFT. This is not to say that it is incorrect but rather that the confidence with which the claim is made is not justified. This essay has not sought to address deontological critiques of the MFT. There are those who would argue that MFT is asking the wrong questions, namely what morality is rather than what it should be. However, given that this problem was so adequately dealt with by Hume in his Treatise, it seems appropriate that scholars building on his legacy should develop a descriptive moral theory instead. Bibliography Berlin, Isaiah, ‘My intellectual path’ in H. Hardy (ed.), The Power of Ideas 1-23, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001 Bruner, Jerome, The process of education, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960 Davis, Jody L.., & Rusbult, Caryl, E. ‘Attitude alignment in close relationships’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81 (2001), pp. 65-84 Edwards, Kari., & von Hippel, William, ‘Hearts and minds: The priority of affective versus cognitive factors in person perception’, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21 (1995), pp. 996-1011. Graham, Jesse, Haidt, Jonathan, Koleva, Sena., Motyl, Matt., Iyer, Ravi, Wojcik, Sean P. and Ditto, Peter. H, ‘Moral Foundations Theory: The Pragmatic Validity of Moral Pluralism’, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (2012) Gray, Kurt, Young, Liana, and Waytz, Adam, ‘Mind perception is the essence of morality’, Psychological Inquiry, 23, (2012), pp. 101-124 Greenwald, Anthony. G., and Banaji, Mahzarin. R, ‘Implicit social cognition’, Psychological Review, 102, (1995), pp. 4-27 Haidt, Jonathan, The righteous mind: Why good people are divided by politics and religion. New York: Pantheon, 2012 Haidt, Jonathan, ‘The Emotional Dog and Its Rational Tail: A Social Intuitionist Approach to Moral Judgment’, Psychological Review, Vol. 108. No. 4 (2001), pp. 814-834 Joyce, Richard, The Evolution of Morality, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2005 Mineka, Susan, & Cook, M., ‘Social learning and the acquisition of snake fear in monkeys’, in Thomas. R. Zentall & John. B. G. Galef (Eds.), Social learning: Psychological and biological perspectives (pp. 51-74). Hillsdale, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1988 Narvaez, Darcia, ‘Moral complexity: The fatal attraction of truthiness and the importance of mature moral functioning’, Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5 (2010), pp. 163-181 Perkins, David. N., Farady, Mike., & Bushey, B., ‘Everyday reasoning and the roots of intelligence’ in Voss, James F., Perkins, David N., and J. W. Segal (Eds.), Informal reasoning and education (pp. 83-105). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1991 Skitka, Linda J. ‘The psychological foundations of moral conviction†, in Wright, Jennifer and Sarkissian Ryan H (eds) Advances in Moral Psychology (pp.267-281), Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2010 [Accessed 09/03/2014] http://tigger.uic.edu/~lskitka/Foundations.pdf Suhler, Christopher. L., & Churchland, Patricia, ‘Can innate, modular â€Å"foundations† explain moralityChallenges for Haidt’s moral foundations theory’, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23(9) (2011), pp. 2103-2116 Williams, Bernard, ‘Rationalism’ in P. Edwards (Ed.) The encyclopedia of philosophy (Vols. 7-8, pp. 69-75) New York: Macmillan, 1967

Memory Keepers Daughter Essay

Truth be told nobody is normal or perfect each and every one of us have our flaws, insecurities and concerns. In The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards argues that . In life, there are many things that we can neither cure nor accept nor overcome; sometimes all it takes is one choice to determine the rest of our lives. One winter night in 1964, a Dr. David Henry makes a decision that will haunt his life forever. On a winter night in 1964, an unusual Kentucky blizzard forces Dr. Henry and his nurse Caroline Gill to deliver his own twins for his wife, Norah. First born is the boy, Paul, who is a visibly perfect baby. Shortly after, the baby girl Phoebe is born and is noticed to have symptoms of Down Syndrome. David cannot accept his baby girl because he does not want his wife to go through the same trauma his mother went through with the death of his little sister due to a heart defect. In a split second, David decides that the girl should be placed in an institution to spare Norah the suffering, and he asks the Caroline, the nurse, to take Phoebe to the institution. After Caroline left the Henry’s house, and seeing the horrible conditions of the institution, Caroline decides to keep the baby and raise Phoebe herself. David then lies to his wife and says that their daughter died at birth. This quick lie David Henry tells his family changes their life forever. The â€Å"death† in the family immediately causes a distance between David and Norah; David becomes infatuated with a camera that Norah bought for him while Norah turns to drinking. The distance between the Henry’s continues to grow even further while David and Norah aspire to do totally different things with their lives. David wants to become a photographer and tries to immerse himself in his work, he tries to ignore the resulting toll it takes on his family by viewing everything through a camera lens, almost†¦ We as people are in general very bias even if you don’t mean to be, you can be bias to the types of foods that you prefer, or to people who may or may not have mental illnesses. Life is filled with things beyond our control, and we must rely on ourselves to discover the link between suffering, joy and acceptance. There will always be thing that we can neither cure nor accept nor overcome; sometimes all it is going to take is one choice to determine the rest of our lives and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards proves this.

How Does the Executive Branch Check the Judicial Branch

How Does the Executive Branch Check the Judicial Branch SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Understanding how the United States government works is critical to succeeding on the AP United States Government and Politics exam. That includes having a solid understanding about how each piece of the federal government works together. One of the key components of this is the checks and balances system, which is where each branch of government checksor limitsthe power of the others. And unfortunately, understanding how those checks work can be a little confusing. That’s where this article comes in. Today, we’re going to investigate how the executive branch of the U.S. government checks the judicial branch. To do this, we’ll: Define the three branches of government Examine how the judicial and executive branches operate Answer the question, â€Å"How does the executive branch check the judicial branch?† So let’s get started! The Three Branches of the United States Government When the United States was founded in 1776, the federal governmentor the government that governs all the states collectivelywas split into three branches with equal power: the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the legislative branch. The idea behind splitting the government into three separate pieces was to make sure no one area of government held too much power. Remember: the United States broke away from England for many complex reasons, but a major factor was how much power the English government had over the original thirteen colonies. It’s no surprise, then, that the founding fathers were concerned about making sure that the federal government of the United States didn’t become as big and powerful as the English monarchy. Their solution was to create a three-part governing system where each branch could limit the power of the others. This is called a checks and balances system, which you can learn more about in our complete guide. For this article, though, let’s take a closer look at two of the three branches of U.S. government and see how the executive branch can check the judicial branch. The Judicial Branch: Definition and Explanation The judicial branch of the federal government is tasked with interpreting the laws, including Constitutional laws, which are created by the legislative branch. This happens through the court system, where attorneys bring cases before a judge (and sometimes jury). When a judge makes a ruling on a case, they are actually interpreting the law. That means they’re reading the laws and determining whether a defendant has actually broken them or not. In some federal cases, judges are actually evaluating the laws themselves to determine if they’re in violation of the constitution! For instance, in the famous case of Brown v. the Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that laws requiring the racial segregation of schools were unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court While the U.S. judicial system is vastthere are both state and federal courts, each with different organizational hierarchiesthey both operate under the Supreme Court of the United States (or SCOTUS). Understanding what the Supreme Court is and how it operates is key to understanding how the executive branch can check the power of the judicial branch. You may have heard of the Supreme Court referred to as â€Å"the highest court in the land.† That’s because it’s the only part of the judicial branch that’s specifically required by the Constitution, though Congress determines the number of justices that serve as part of the Supreme Court. Currently, the court has nine justices, including one Chief Justice. The Supreme Court serves as the final say on all laws in the United States, and it also rules on Constitutional issues, too. The rulings of the Supreme Court directly affect how laws are interpreted, enacted, and upheld across the United States. Some of the most famous court rulings have done things like guarantee defendants the right to an attorney, legalized same-sex marriage, and invalidated laws preventing interracial marriages. So how does someone become a Supreme Court justice? (This is actually pretty important to understanding the executive-judicial checks and balances system.) First, they have to be nominated by the President, or the executive branch of government. The nominee then has to be approved by the majority vote of the Senate, which is a part of the legislative branch of government. Once appointed, justices serve on the court for the rest of their lives or until they voluntarily retire. Federal Appellate Courts But the Supreme Court isn’t the only federal court in the United States. Since the Supreme Court only hears 100 to 150 cases a year, most federal cases are heard and adjudicatedor decidedby the federal appellate courts. When a federal case goes to trial, it is heard in a U.S. District Court. That’s where prosecutors and defendants call witnesses to the stand, provide evidence, and try to prove their cases. After both sides present their cases, a judge or a jury decides whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty. The defendant, however, has the right to appeal the U.S. District Court’s decision. When a case is appealed, it’s heard in appellate court. There are thirteen appellate courts in the United States. Each of the 12 regional circuits of the federal court system has their own appellate court. The 13th court is known as the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Unlike the other appellate courtswhich only adjudicate cases from their regional circuitsthe United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction. Its job is to hear appeals on topics like patent law, veterans affairs, and international trade. So what do the appellate courts do? Well, it’s the job of the appellate court is to determine the outcome of an appeal (just as their name implies). Unlike the original trial, which involves hearing testimony and examining evidence, the appellate courts don’t retry cases or hear new evidence. Instead, the case is reviewed by a panel of three judges in order to determine a) whether the defendant received a fair trial and/or b) whether the correct law was applied appropriately. If a defendant wins their appealmeaning, if the appellate court rules in the defendant’s favorthe case goes back to trial court to be heard again. If the appellate court affirms, or upholds, the trial court’s decision, however, the original verdict stands. The appellate court is an important part of the federal court system, and it helps ensure that people receive fair trials. And just like Supreme Court justices, federal judgesincluding the appellate court judgesare appointed by the President of the United States. The Executive Branch: Definition and Explanation The executive branch of the United States government is the branch that makes sure the laws of the United States are obeyed. The executive branch is split into three major groups. The first is the presidency, which we’ll talk about in more depth in just a second. The second group is the U.S. Cabinet, which is a set of advisors appointed by the President to help guide him on issues facing different sectors of the United States. The cabinet is comprised of the Vice President and the heads of the 15 major federal agencies. The third group of the executive branch are the federal agencies themselves, which help enforce laws in different legal and economic areas of the United States. For example, the Department of Labor oversees the American workforce, which includes making sure work environments adhere to federal laws (OSHA) and administering federal disability programs for people who are injured and/or no longer able to work (OWCP). But because the President is the head of the executive branch, it gives them the most power to check the judicial branch. So let’s take a quick look at the powers of the United States presidency. The Presidency The President of the United States has eight major roles within the government of the United States. They are: Chief of State: The President represents the United States to the rest of the world. Chief Executive: The President is the head of the federal government. Commander-In-Chief: The President commands every branch of the armed forces, and generals report to the President. Chief Diplomat: The President sets the United States’ foreign policy and appoints diplomats/ambassadors. Legislative Leader: While the President cannot make laws, they can ask Congress to do so and/or veto existing legislation before it’s passed. Chief Administrator: The President leads the executive branch of government, which includes more than 2.7 civilian employees. The President also appoints people to different roles, which includes appointing federal judges and nominating Supreme Court justices. Chief of Party: While this role isn’t specifically outlined in the Constitution, in modern politics, the President also serves as the head of their political party. Chief Citizen: This role isn’t specifically outlined in the Constitution either, but as Chief Citizen, American citizens expect the President to represent their interests and provide strong leadership. The role that matters most in terms of the executive branch checking the judicial branch is Chief Administrator because it gives them the power to appoint judges to long-serving positions in the justice system. How Does the Executive Branch Check the Judicial Branch? After reading the sections above, you’ve probably realized that the executive branch and judicial branch overlap...which is how the branches check each other’s power. Judicial-Executive Checks on Power Don’t worry, we’re going to get to know how the executive branch checks the judicial branch. But first, we need to take a short detour to explain how the judicial branch checks the executive branch. This will help things make more sense later. Since the judicial branch’s job is to interpret laws, they are constantly weighing in on laws signed into effect by the President (through their executive powers). Additionally, the judicial branch makes sure that the U.S. Constitution isn’t being violated. That means that members and departments of the executive branchincluding the Presidentcan be sued for violating their constitutional authority. For instance, when President Trump declared a state of national emergency to try and fund the building of a border wall, a watchdog group named Public Citizen filed a lawsuit against him. Their suit alleges that President Trump’s actions are unconstitutional, and now it’s the judicial system’s job to determine whether that’s true or not. If they rule against President Trump, it will serve as a check on his executive powers. Nick Youngson/The Blue Diamond Gallery Appointing Federal Judges It might seem as if the judicial branch has all the power over the executive branch. But that isn’t the case! One way the President checks judicial power is through his ability to appoint federal judges. Since the President is the Chief Administrator, it’s his job to appoint court of appeals judges, district court judges, and Supreme Court justices. There are more than 870 federal judgeships today, which means the President has their work cut out for them! It also gives the President quite a bit of power over how the justice system works. That’s because all federal judgeships are life terms, which means that once a judge is appointed, they serve in their position until a) they retire or b) they are impeached and removed from office due to misconduct. Once a judge leaves office, it’s the President’s job to appoint their replacement. That can really add upfor example, over the course of his presidency, former President Barack Obama appointed 334 judges, including two Supreme Court justices. Federal judges are an important part of the judicial process because they have the power of judicial review, which is the authority to interpret the Constitution. When a judge rules on a constitutional issue, their decision becomes legal precedent. Their ruling will now serve as the standard by which similar cases are judged. In fact, once a precedent is set, it’s uncommon for a court to rule against it. When Presidents appoint federal judges, they often consider both a judge’s pedigreeor their qualificationsalong with their position on key political issues. Often, Presidents appoint judges that share their ideas about how laws should work. This helps keep the judiciary in check, especially given that no party has ever held presidential power in the United States for more than 28 years (the Democratic-Republican Party held the presidency from 1801 to 1829). So how does this check judicial power? It means that Presidents can influence the political leanings of the federal court, and since judges serve a lifetime appointment, they can continue to impact the judiciary process long after a President steps down. For example, Judge George C. Young was appointed as a federal trial judge by President John F. Kennedy in 1961...and he served in office until 2015! The President nominates Supreme Court Justices. Justice Sonia Sotomayor was nominated by President Barack Obama. Nominating Supreme Court Justices The President’s ability to appoint federal judges is especially critical when it comes to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court only hears around 100 to 150 cases a year, but those cases change the ways laws are implemented across the country. For example, the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade in 1973 which made first- and second-trimester abortions legal in all 50 states. That ruling still stands and dictates law today, despite abortion being a hot-button political issue. Like we mentioned earlier, it’s the President’s job to nominate justices to the Supreme Court. The President often nominates judges who align with their political stances on critical issues. Because the Supreme Court is so powerful, the President’s nominations can have lasting impacts on the long-term political leanings of the Court. When the Supreme Court leans more liberal (or more conservative), it can impact how the Court rules on cases. For example, with the appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2019, the Supreme Court now leans more conservative. The President’s power This effectively checks the judicial system by ensuring that the makeup of the Supreme Courtand its ideologyshifts from time. Every Thanksgiving, the President pardons a turkey. The President also has the power to pardon people, too. Pardon Power The last way that the executive branch checks the judicial branch is through the power of the pardon. Executive branch officials like state governors and the United States President can overturn convictions by the court. This only counts in cases where the criminal committed a crime against the state (in the case of a Governor’s pardon) or against the United States (in the case of a Presidential pardon). When a criminal is pardoned, their conviction is completely overturned and their record is expunged. That means it’s as if the crime was never committed in the first place! This allows the executive branch to check the judicial branch by ensuring that the judicial branch isn’t using its power unfairly. A good example of how the pardon power checks the judicial branch is the case of Patty Hearst. Patty Hearst was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for robbing a bank in 1974. But Hearst was also suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. She had been kidnapped and brainwashed by a militant organization months before the bank robbery. In 2001, President Bill Clinton granted her a full pardon, which absolved Hearst from any legal wrongdoing. What's Next? Now that you know more about the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the checks and balances system, it’s time to get to know the AP U.S. Government exam. Here’s our introductory guide to the AP U.S. Government exam that will help get your test prep off on the right foot. Not sure what to study? No problem. Here’s a compilation of the best AP U.S. Government notes to get you started. The AP U.S. Government exam has a section called the free response questions, or FRQs. They’re essentially short essay responses to prompts, and for many students, they’re one of the trickiest parts of the test. That’s why we’ve broken down how to answer them and earn top marks in our FRQ guide! Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Ashley Robinson About the Author Ashley Sufflà © Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams. Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Get FREE EXCLUSIVE insider tips on how to ACE THE SAT/ACT. 100% Privacy. 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Section 4 VRA Case of negation Essay

Section 4 VRA Case of negation Essay Section 4 VRA Case of negation Essay Legislative Branch only Established by Article I of the Constitution, the Legislative Branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together form the United States Congress. The Constitution grants Congress the sole authority to enact legislation and declare war, the right to confirm or reject many Presidential appointments, and substantial investigative powers. (White house.gov) John Roberts Activist Card In its sweeping disregard of history, precedent and constitutional text, the chief justice’s 5-to-4 opinion in the voting rights case was startling for its naked activism (The Opinionator Jun 29, 2013) Antonin Scalia activist judge The idea that liberal judges are advocates and partisans while judges like Justice Scalia are not is being touted everywhere these days, and it is pure myth. Justice Scalia has been more than willing to ignore the Constitution's plain language, and he has a knack for coming out on the conservative side in cases with an ideological bent. (New York Times April 19, 2005) Anthony Kennedy Activist judge Justice Kennedy is the most activist judge on the court - willing to strike down federal and state laws when they violate individual liberty and dignity." (NPR.org June 28, 2013) Clarence Thomas Activist Judge We found that justices vary widely in their inclination to strike down Congressional laws. Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H. W. Bush, was the most inclined, voting to invalidate 65.63 percent of those laws; Justice Stephen Breyer, appointed by President Bill Clinton, was the least, voting to invalidate 28.13 percent. The tally for all the justices appears below. Thomas 65.63 % Kennedy 64.06 % Scalia 56.25 % Rehnquist 46.88 % O’Connor 46.77 % Souter 42.19 % Stevens 39.34 % Ginsburg 39.06 % Breyer 28.13 % (New York Times Published: July 6, 2005) Samuel Alito Activist Judge Alito's conservative stripes are equally evident in criminal law. Lawrence Lustberg, a New Jersey criminal defense lawyer who has known Alito since 1981 and tried cases before him on the Third Circuit, describes him as "an activist conservatist judge" (USnews.com Posted 7/19/05) Contention 1: History shows Preclearance is needed Without a preclearance, the United States returns to a failed method of prosecuting discriminatory racial laws. In the previous Civil Rights Acts, Congress granted the Attorney General the power to prosecute discriminatory racial laws. He proved unable. Voting suits are very hard to prepare for and are also ineffective. The Supreme Court case Katzenbach, details how voting suits sometimes require as many as 6,000 hours preparing for one trial. Even if there is a victory, states can switch to a different discriminatory law and force the Attorney General to repeat the process once again. Thus, Congress instituted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to create a preclearance. A

Inspirational Quotes About Uniqueness

Inspirational Quotes About Uniqueness Since childhood, we have heard that each of us is unique. Yet, in the humdrum of life, as we walk along with millions of others on the eternal quest for success, what really makes us stand out? Can you put your finger on your unique feature? Here are some uniqueness quotes. Perhaps these uniqueness quotes will help you in your quest to find your zing. Michael SchenkerI believe that every person has uniqueness something that nobody else has. Robert H. SchullerAs we grow as unique persons, we learn to respect the uniqueness of others. Eric HofferIt is the child in man that is the source of his uniqueness and creativeness, and the playground is the optimal milieu for the unfolding of his capacities and talents. Hilary DuffMom always tells me to celebrate everyones uniqueness. I like the way that sounds. James BroughtonTrusting your individual uniqueness challenges you to lay yourself open. Dr. SeussToday you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You. Henri MatisseIt has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else. Walt DisneyThe more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique. Eileen CaddyA human being is a single being. Unique and unrepeatable. Coco ChanelIn order to be irreplaceable one must always be different. William JamesHe who refuses t o embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had failed. D.M. DellingerYou are unrepeatable. There is a magic about you that is all your own. Jane GentryDare to be remarkable. John MasonYou were born to be an original. Don’t die a copy. Vicky WallYou are the colors you choose.

Motivation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Motivation - Essay Example 1-2). Change is a process which plays an important role in our lives. Change is a process that triggers immediate reaction. Managerial decision making is crucial while planning for change as change can either reinforce trust or might destroy the same (Rudolf, 2009, p. 40). The fact that change is not all positive should not deter individuals from embracing change. Change is all pervasive and people seeking change as well as those opposing it must realize that change has its own drawbacks and deficiencies. People who do not seek change and oppose are known as opponents of change and ‘resistance’ is the action adopted by these individuals when they sense that change can be a threat to them. Although resistance is a common thing in the workplace it can also be found in other places. Change and resistance go hand in hand. This is so because people have a tendency to resist change as they feel threatened when they sense change coming. This report will discuss the causes of re sistance to change which can be due to individual resistance, group resistance and organisational resistance. The organisations around the globe are experiencing a rapid change in there structure. The influence on managerial decision for the organisational change is a major concern and can affect the organisation in a great way. It is important to analyse the after effects of this decision taken by the leaders of the organisation. Moreover it has become difficult for the staff members to sustain in the changing organisational environment which leads to employee turnover and job dissatisfaction (Bianco et al., 2007, p. 188). The influences on managerial decision in context to the organisation change are directly related to the resistance of individuals and groups to the organisation change. This can further be elaborated as: I. Individual and group resistance There are various reasons behind the resistance of people towards the organisation change. In some cases it is an individual w ho resists the change while in most of the cases group resistance is common. The main causes related to the individual resistance could be the outcome of the change which is uncertain makes the individual insecure and causes the resistance towards organisation change. Another reason why individual resist change is due to their tendency to perceive selective information which is linked to their existing outlook about the organisation. This makes them vary of the changes as they tend to focus on the outcome which has an impact on them while rest of the benefits are neglected. Another fact is the habit of the individuals or the preferences of individuals for similar proceedings and activities which also acts as an obstruction to change (Jennifer, 2009, p. 602). Group resistance is another form of opposing the change and occurs when the alteration in the relationship and task caused by the change makes it difficult for the group to adapt to the change. The change disturbs the norms made by the groups. Secondly it has been found that attractiveness between members of a group affects the performance. To overcome this changes are required in the structure of the organisati

Anti-Terrorism bill 2000. A necessary evil Dissertation

Anti-Terrorism bill 2000. A necessary evil - Dissertation Example rights activists who claim that the implementation of terror laws have failed to prevent extremism, instead have led to the establishment of theoretical and political movements, that claim these terror laws unfairly target the Islamic community. 1 There are also claims that the legislations have isolated the UK Islamic community from the general civic community, giving rise to an atmosphere of ager, mistrust, and hatred. The British coalition government has recently underlined the failure of ‘multiculturalism’ and brought forth the necessities of creating an ‘active muscular liberalism’ which would identify the root causes of extremist ideologies.2 (PM’s speech at Munich Security Conference, 2011). Furthermore, in the 2010 review of terror related legislations and strategies, UK government proposed exploration of wider strategies for countering terrorism acts, known as CONTEST. The main idea underlining CONTEST is to alleviate the contingencies that m ay arise within UK from terrorism at a global level. This strategy is based on four main ideas, which are Prevention of terror acts; Pursue, that aims at blocking all kinds of terrorist attacks; Protection, to fortify the existing counter-terrorism systems against future terrorist attacks; and Preparation for terrorist attacks by assuaging its effect on the people (HM Government, Prevent Strategy, 2011). The critics feel that the various counter-terrorism strategies and policies implemented in UK, has created a lack of trust between the Muslims, and the UK law enforcement agencies. 1.1 Background history The history of terror and counter-terrorism strategies to repress the terror acts were started as early as 1790s, when the French revolution and the associated acts of violence and radicalism created a panic in... The paper tells that the history of terror and counter-terrorism strategies to repress the terror acts were started as early as 1790s, when the French revolution and the associated acts of violence and radicalism created a panic in UK that such acts of ‘subversion’ would take place in Britain, against the ruler classes. This prompted the adoption of various stringent measures by British Parliament and executive, against ‘sedition’, and a large number of the sanctioned civil liberties, won over through many years of strong activism, were removed due to pressure from various arenas. Thus, it was the first instance in UK where were many of the sanctioned civil liberties were cut short to abort acts of terror. However, UK used its special powers related to emergencies, primarily in the various colonial (occupied) territories, where during revolts against imposed British rule by the native residents, the ruling UK authorities often suspended all common legislativ e provisions and the rule of emergency declared. Such emergencies would include detention in prisons without any trial, suspension of habeas corpus, and formation of military tribunals, and the regulating standards of the British common law were sidestepped during these times. Emergency powers were also widely in vogue during the two Great Wars, where the executive of the erstwhile UK government were given widespread powers to detain people involved or even suspected of being involved in activities related to helping the enemy, and various measures were taken to protect national security.

Write paragraph on (1) Sun Centered Universe and (2) Earth Centered Assignment

Write paragraph on (1) Sun Centered Universe and (2) Earth Centered Universe (Maximum one page, half page for each) - Assignment Example According to the Holy Scriptures (the Genesis), God created the earth and later added sun, moon, stars and planets to beatify it. The earth centered model also projected heaven and hell as the outermost space (Wils S, Wils S R, 2001, p.31). Aristarchus (310 BC-230 BC) introduced Heliocentrism (Sun Centered model) but was unfortunately ignored for centuries. However, the theory was later revived by Nicholaus Copernicus in 16th century AD. Heliocentric model challenged the Earth Centered theory stating Sun as the center of the universe. Although Copernicus could not gain appreciation for his findings, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) and Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), the supporters of heliocentrism, contributed to the growth of the theory. Kepler introduced the law of motion and described how satellites revolving the sun and how the moon orbiting the earth (Kuhn K F & Koupelis, 2004, pp.41-42). Galileo invented telescope and made star observation rather easy. However, Catholic Church which was the emerging political and religious power of the age opposed and persecuted Galileo for his

Financial Markets and Institutions, Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Financial Markets and Institutions, - Essay Example The function of the US financial market is to insert the household savings into the circular flow in the form of investment, so as to enhance the income level of the country (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 2012). Apple Inc. was instituted in the year 1977 and is headquartered in California, United States of America. Apple Inc. is a constituent of the S&P 500 Index and it trades under the symbol AAPL. The earnings per share of Apple for the year 2012 were $44.64, while it was only $28.05 in 2011. This increase in EPS was due to the 61% rise in the net income of Apple in the year 2012 as compared to that of 2011. The graph below illustrates the evaluation of the five year total shareholder return of Apple as against the S&P 500 Composite Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index and the S&P Computer Hardware Index (Apple Inc, 2012). In the figure, it has been assumed that in September 2007, $100 was invested in each of the index including Apple (Apple Inc, 2012). It can be observed from the graph that the total shareholder returns of Apple Inc. had been consistently higher that of the other Indexes considered. Vodafone is a global telecommunication company, operating in above 30 nations across the world and with more than 404 million customers (Vodafone, 2012). It has been extremely cash generative during the historical period and has incessantly returned its market capitalization to its shareholders through dividend payments and share buybacks. The following figure represents the share price movements of Vodafone from April 2011 to May 2012, against that of the FTSE: It can be observed that Vodafone had performed relatively better than the FTSE stock in terms of share price movements. Additionally, the company had been continuously giving out dividends to its shareholders since the last four years. France Telecom-Orange is one of the major telecommunication companies in the

Safety and health policy of the Unit operation laboratory Research Paper

Safety and health policy of the Unit operation laboratory - Research Paper Example Such a policy should be clear, easy to understand, guarantee a safe and healthy environment, and should relate to job requirements and responsibilities of any party in an organization. Additionally, it reflects in the way the management prioritizes and focuses on health and safety issues (Health, Safety and Environment Office). Management commitment Safety and health policy It is the core duty of the management to ensure high value of the safety and health of its employees and other stakeholders. This entails the provision of a safe workplace with better health conditions with an aim of preventing injury and illness. Actually, the safety and health policy is an initiative that involves the management, supervisors, and employees of a given organization seeking to curb, identify, and eliminate all safety and health risks that accrue in a working environment. The basis of the safety and health policy is the declaration by the management that the health and safety of all parties is supre me in an organization. ... loyees should take necessary precautionary measures, promote and maintain safety in the workplace, and take requisite actions towards eliminating any safety and health risks. Additionally, the management bears the responsibility of formulating and providing the necessary resources for the communication and implementation of the policy. Moreover, the management establishes a safety committee, trains employees, and supervisors on the provisions of the policy, and ensures unity of purpose in its implementation. At the same time, the management establishes a system for identifying and responding to safety risks and subsequently creates a disciplinary policy to guarantee total compliance to the safety and health principles as enshrined in the policy. Indeed, OSHA states that the commitment to safety and health starts with management. Indeed, it recommends a number of actions to the management to prove commitment to the health and safety policy in an organizatio n. It recommends that the management should clearly state and communicate the objective of the safety and health policy to all parties of a reference organization. The management should equally involve its employees in making decisions that will influence their safety and health in the organization. In addition, OSHA relevantly recommends that the management provide the requisite moral, technical, and financial support relating to the establishment and implementation of the policy. Furthermore, the management should involve, assign, communicate, and authorize respective safety and health responsibilities to all departmental heads and staff. In addition, OSHA recommends that the management should hold all employees accountable for discharging their safety and health responsibili ­ties.

Organization Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Organization Theory - Essay Example Therefore the role of the leader is to find a compromise between all of his employees to perform the organization objectives. "The resource base view of the firm infers that firms create competitive advantage by implementing unique combinations of resources and business practices that are difficult (or impossible) for competitors to imitate" from this viewpoint, Human resource practices are key components of overall firm strategy. In fact, the success of some well-known firms has been attributed to their HR practices as a competitive advantage (e.g. Southwest Airlines and SAS" (Porter 1990). This paper addresses three important themes addressed in three chapters in the course focusing on Tesco as the case study institution. In the first part of the paper, an overview of the institution under analysis is presented. Part two of the paper presents the strength weaknesses opportunities and threats of TESCO. The part of the paper, evaluate the motivational strategies of Tesco, in relation to chapter ten of the study. Part four focuses on corporate social responsibilities of Tesco, while the last section focuses on Tesco decision making. Founded by Jack Cohen in 1919, Tesco Plc has come a long way and has established itself as the largest super store in Europe. At the turn of the century, Tesco became very proactive in coming up to the requirements of the new ear and tesco.com was launched, followed by aggressive entry into international markets like Malaysia, Japan & Turkey, China & the US. Today, the international operations of Tesco yield more profit as compared to the profits in the Europe market. More than half of Tesco's selling space is in markets outside Europe. The Tesco Plc website states "shareholders. Today the Group operates in 12 markets outside the UK, in Europe, Asia and North America. Over 160,000 employees work in our international businesses, serving over 28 million customers and generating 13.8 billion sales and over 700 million profit." Tesco denotes its success to an aggressive global strategy of geographic diversification. In its attempt to renew the brand and keep it in sync with changing customer tastes and keeping up the growth figures in future, Tesco follows various strategies including international diversification, providing value to customers, product diversification, innovation, and umbrella branding 1.2 SWOT Analysis of Tesco 1.2.1 Strengths Premium location, centre of primary target market catchments. High exposure to foot and vehicular traffic. Better value in the form of lower prices Fresher Merchandise Unique service offering to this market and highly recognized in UK. High level of qualified resources and their professional capabilities to

Safety and health policy of the Unit operation laboratory Research Paper

Safety and health policy of the Unit operation laboratory - Research Paper Example Such a policy should be clear, easy to understand, guarantee a safe and healthy environment, and should relate to job requirements and responsibilities of any party in an organization. Additionally, it reflects in the way the management prioritizes and focuses on health and safety issues (Health, Safety and Environment Office). Management commitment Safety and health policy It is the core duty of the management to ensure high value of the safety and health of its employees and other stakeholders. This entails the provision of a safe workplace with better health conditions with an aim of preventing injury and illness. Actually, the safety and health policy is an initiative that involves the management, supervisors, and employees of a given organization seeking to curb, identify, and eliminate all safety and health risks that accrue in a working environment. The basis of the safety and health policy is the declaration by the management that the health and safety of all parties is supre me in an organization. ... loyees should take necessary precautionary measures, promote and maintain safety in the workplace, and take requisite actions towards eliminating any safety and health risks. Additionally, the management bears the responsibility of formulating and providing the necessary resources for the communication and implementation of the policy. Moreover, the management establishes a safety committee, trains employees, and supervisors on the provisions of the policy, and ensures unity of purpose in its implementation. At the same time, the management establishes a system for identifying and responding to safety risks and subsequently creates a disciplinary policy to guarantee total compliance to the safety and health principles as enshrined in the policy. Indeed, OSHA states that the commitment to safety and health starts with management. Indeed, it recommends a number of actions to the management to prove commitment to the health and safety policy in an organizatio n. It recommends that the management should clearly state and communicate the objective of the safety and health policy to all parties of a reference organization. The management should equally involve its employees in making decisions that will influence their safety and health in the organization. In addition, OSHA relevantly recommends that the management provide the requisite moral, technical, and financial support relating to the establishment and implementation of the policy. Furthermore, the management should involve, assign, communicate, and authorize respective safety and health responsibilities to all departmental heads and staff. In addition, OSHA recommends that the management should hold all employees accountable for discharging their safety and health responsibili ­ties.

Contemporary Management issue (Tom's of Maine) Essay

Contemporary Management issue (Tom's of Maine) - Essay Example Business has its own ethics. Ferrell et al state that â€Å"business ethics comprises the principles and standards that guide behaviour in the world of business† (2009). This paper will examine the ethical matters that differentiated Toms of Maine from other businesses. It would examine the dominant theories that affected the way Toms of Maine and also identify the different dilemmas that Toms of Maine went through. The paper will examine the important activities that influenced the companys ethical affairs. The report concludes by making findings and recommendations on this subject. The story of Toms of Maine is such that the company started with a modest belief that was based on the views and strong beliefs of the founder and his wife that people must be more responsible for their actions and how they use natural resources. Toms of Maine was steeped in two things: humanitarianism and environmental consciousness. In terms of humanitarianism, they believed strongly that the members of the public needed to be given the proper products that would boost their health and ease their conscience. People who purchased their products felt that they were helping to promote a kind of business that is responsible. In terms of environmental consciousness, the company used operational systems that were very responsible. They were sensitive to animals and also conscious of the systems and production they had. Also, the company used popular methods like recycling and other things. There are several ethical frameworks that can be used to help in decision making and thinking before any action is taken. There are several approaches which are always applied and they can give a view of how to decide on a matter. Deontological Ethics are based â€Å"on duties and obligations that apply, for the most part, regardless of consequences† (Thompson, 2011: 54). Deontological ethics suggest that what is

The Tesco Loyalty Card Scheme

The Tesco Loyalty Card Scheme Today the businesses have become customer centric and the marketing mix of 4 Ps is now being replaced by 30 Rs (Gummeson2008). Companies are more focused on delivering the value demanded by the customers, they are creating exit barriers for the customers by maintaining good relationships with them to retain them and earn lifetime loyalty. Today in highly competitive markets getting new customers is costlier and more difficult than maintaining the existing ones. So, companies are putting more emphasis on Zero Defection Strategy and maintaining their customer relationship as best as possible. In this essay we will critically evaluate the loyalty scheme run by Tesco to manage its customer relationship and the RM techniques followed by the company with different target segments that whether they are successful or need some improvement in future. TESCO PROFILE: Tesco, a European based company is the biggest and the most profitable supermarket chain in UK. It is considered to be the fastest growing company and a successful supermarket in the world selling almost everything, from food to clothing and operating through both geographic locations and internet. (Retail loyalty scheme2003, Corporate profile Tesco2004). Tescos success so far is based on its marketing relationship strategies which it has maintained through the launch of Club cards in 1995(Mitchell, Peck2007). It has effectively used the scheme targeting different customers segments, for attracting and retaining them. Tescos main approach is to create value for the customers and earn lifetime loyalty and they try harder for customers than anyone else. (Corporate profile Tesco2004). They have taken advantage of major changes in the lifestyle and it is the key for their continuous success. Relationship Marketing: Gronroos has defined relationship marketing as, An approach to establish, maintain and enhance relationship with the customers and other partners at a profit, so that objectives of the partners involved are met and this can be achieved by mutual exchange and fulfilment of promise. Thus, relationship marketing is an approach to establish and maintain good relationships with the customers in such a way that, no party is in loss and there is a room for profit for both the parties. Keeping customers in the first line of defence and winning their loyalty is the main theme of RM. Loyalty ladder Model: The model was suggested by Kotler 1997 for categorising customers on the basis of relations formed with them or repetition of purchases. Partners Members Advocates Clients Repeat customers First time customers Prospects Tesco Company uses loyalty ladder and commitment based segmentation to retain its existing customers and it has categorised them in 6 different stages. These are: logged on cautionary developing established dedicated logged off (needs win back the confidence) Tesco works with them in the sequence upside down as believe that newest customers can make an impression or lose it. Tesco uses automated event messaging for encouraging them for regular purchase. Whenever customers register themselves, they are prospect and needs motivation to buy. After 2 days, receives a registration e-mail along with  £5 discount on first purchase and the journey begins. Now they are first time customers or cautionary buying for the first time at discount and receive an e-mail asking about their experience and then another discount on next purchase. They keep on receiving bi- weekly alerts and e-newsletter on exclusive and personalised offers. On the top of mailing procedures the company offers Clubcard loyalty schemes to the dedicated customers with variety of incentives such as shop with the partners of Tesco, doubling the points on regular purchase and memberships with the clubs offered by Tesco. Now they are the established ones word of mouth will increase companys reputation and brand equity. By joining the clubs they become members of the company. If company comes to know that a customer is not buying for a long period then a reactive e-mail is sent to survey if he is having some problem with incentive of  £ 5. These are the logged off needs winning back the confidence with further incentives. Thus Tesco manages its customers and try not to lose them. RM techniques of Tesco, the loyalty card scheme: Customers loyalty plays an important role in RM, as their loyalty through repeat purchase and word of mouth with other customers can not only bring higher revenue for the company but new customers also. Tesco has managed all this through its Clubcard scheme; this is a membership card which allows the customers to save their money on shopping at any store of Tesco group of the companies or its partner companies and getting price off vouchers or Club card vouchers after collecting 150 points. As they win points on every pound they spend on shopping and after a limit these points get doubled, so such a scheme motivate the customers to buy more and earn points. On the other hand generate good revenue for Tesco groups. Such a loyalty scheme has enabled Tesco to increase its market share in grocery (squid2009) and overtake Sainsbury as a number one retailer. Following Tesco, many other companies like ASDA, Safeway and Sainsbury tried to run the loyalty card scheme but were unable to manage and match the success of Clubcard and failed. How club card helped in retaining existing and attracting new customers: The biggest challenge faced by the companies is to make their loyalty scheme, effective and appealing to the customers. Retailers need to clearly define the target segments, anticipate their needs and fulfil them properly to be successful (McGoldrick2002). Same is done by Tesco, as per the promise made by the company to create value for the customers it has provided club cards to the members and created following clubs where the members can shop and save money. Tesco targets 10 years old buy to 80 years old man as its customer and effectively offers benefits and value to all its targeted segments through these clubs. Members get magazines on different issues and price off vouchers from these clubs creating a creditability and loyalty for the company in the heart of the customers. The clubs for different segments are: Tesco Kids Club: This club offers products and fun culture for kids of age 5 to 8 years and it is their parents choice to join the club for kids and buy gifts for them. They provide them with the tips for safety and health of the kids to the parents to create creditability and soft corner on parents heart. (harlequin1,2001) Tesco Baby and Toddler club: This club offers tips and advice about the child care and pregnancy tips to would be parents or pregnant ladies. Club provides them parking area closer to the store to facilitate the ladies and such a deed builds strong relations and trust for the Tesco Company and customers prefer the club for a long. Tesco Healthy Living Club: The club offers magazines and booklets for health tips and it is for the middle aged or old people who want healthier living. It also provide price off coupons on organic and dairy foods to promote its Healthy and Organic foods and win creditability as a health conscious retailer. Tesco World of Wine Club: it provides a good and new range of wine for those to like to drink and promotes it through price offs to attract some new customers too. It also gives information about what kind of food goes with which wine. Tesco Food club: it provides its members cooking tips and teaches them techniques to cook easy, enjoyable and tasty food. How To videos for cooking facilitate the members to watch and learn the making of the meal and even they get mails about ideas for simple weekdays meal and menu. Like these Tesco have some more benefits too like greener living cards, association with Air miles company etc but its success is more dependent on its partnership with many other companies like Powergen electricity and gas supplier, beefeater restaurants, National Tyres and Avis car hire etc and customers can use the clubcards to deal with these companies also. Besides this, online shopping, Tesco petrol stations, Tesco mobile and credit cards also add points for the customers. Thus integrated approach of Tesco for maintaining relations both with the businesses and the customers helps the company to win trust of the customers. Clubcard as a CRM Tool The loyalty card scheme presented by Tesco acts as a CRM tool for the company collecting necessary information about customers buying habits and their specific needs. For getting club cards, customers have to get registered through filling a form online, on paper or through telephone. This form seeks the necessary information about the customers helping the company to design their marketing strategies as well as develop new products and offer them to the customers in a cost effective manner. Every year, nearly all the transactions held at Tesco are linked with the customers profile and now it has become companys philosophy to maintain and retain good relations with customers (ICMR, 2003). By getting information about the customers, company is able to understand its customers better and can serve them in the best possible way. Tesco consider the scheme as a learning process through which it can know about the customers, what they want from the retailer and how they shop and provide th em the value and benefits asked by the customers and promised by the company. (Humby, 2003) The reward system of discounts and price offs has enabled the company to successfully maintain the relations with the customers. Critical evaluation: Clubcards loyalty schemes have enabled Tesco to grow as a no.1 retailer in UK market leaving the competitors behind who were not able to run such schemes profitably. The Clubcard customers are also benefited by the schemes as they can shop and earn points with Tesco partners. Company listens and modifies its activities on their recommendations such as Wine club and Kids Club. (Rowley2007). But it was not successful in all the target market such as student segment.(Retail loyalty Scheme2003) and not able to still attract the students segment by offering them the benefits like special discounts as many retailers in UK do such as Peacocks, Apple store etc.(aceltham.co.uk2010). Also the redemption process of the vouchers is time consuming as it is through post and not online. Even the redemption value of the clubcard points is also very low. (Tesco2010). Not that loyalty schemes really makes the customer loyal because customers pay for the service they received which contributes to store loyalty and repetitive purchase.(Turner Wilson2006) So, it is necessary for Tesco to emotionally appeal the customers and manipulate their interest as in the competitive world switching to the competitor costs very low for the customers. Would Tesco be successful without the ClubCard: Tescos success depends on its targeting different segments and fulfilling their needs by developing strategies and products as per the demand. All this it can manage through its loyalty schemes. Many others companies have also tried such schemes, as Nectar, managed by Loyalty Management UK Ltd also offers the rewards and points on shopping from its members(Rowley2005) but not as successful as Clubcard. Tesco considered as CRM champion after the launch of loyalty scheme because it was able to win trust and loyalty of their customers both in behavioural and attitudinal form. The whole credit goes to the Tesco management who has effectively formulated the strategies for the target segments, derive information about their needs through their profile and delivered the value with the help of its CRM tools (ICMR2003). Even the rewards and benefits gained by the customers from its partners also helps in retaining the customers as they found it costlier to switch to other company. So, we can say without Clubcard, Tesco would have to struggle a lot to become as successful as it is now. Recommendations: Track the polygamous loyalty customers and provide them with better incentives for their better word of mouth as they deal with many loyalty schemes and make them feel that Tesco is better than others. Take advantage of modern communication technology and allow online chat rooms. Regular emotional attachment with the customers will lead to behavioural and attitudinal loyalty. Attract student segment by offering them additional discounts more than other segments. It costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to retain the existing one so company needs to apply positive switching barriers for customer retention.(Gee, Coates and Nicholson2008) Appropriate monitoring is required to evaluate that customer defection is not covered up by customer acquisition. (Gee, Coates and Nicholson2008) Tesco can provide a combination of currency-points flexibility. (Strategic Direction 2007) Analyse the LTV or estimated profitability of the customers and then allocate companys resources to them such as marketing spend. (Day, 2003) . Conclusion: After going through the relationship strategies and loyalty schemes of Tesco, it can be said that with the help of single loyalty scheme, it was able to target and address customer segments of different age groups. Club cards act as a CRM tool for the company and company has adopted the culture to follow the customers needs and reward them accordingly. Tesco has effectively managed the loyalty scheme and was able to win the trust and loyalty of the customers in return which helped the company to grow so far. It is advisable that company should maintain its relationship marketing strategy and loyalty scheme and redesign them as needed to provide the differentiated advantage to the customers forever. References: Gummeson Evert. (2008). Total Relationship Marketing. p36-40, third edition. Elsevier ltd. Mitchell H. Peck H. (2007). Does Tesco hold all cards. Cranfield school of management. Peck, Payne, Christopher, Clark. (1999). Relationship marketing for competitive advantage, keeping and winning customers. Reed educational and professional publishing ltd. Retail loyalty scheme, myth or marvel, Tesco. (2003). Available at : http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/free-marketing-essays/tesco-marketing-essay. Last accessed 3/04/2010. Tesco club card. (2010). Available at : http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/clubcard/clubs.asp. Last accessed 3/04/2010 Loyalty scheme helps tesco grow. (2009). E money news. Available at: http://www.squidcard.com/corporate/emoneynews/loyalty/loyalty-scheme-helps-tesco-grow218.html. Last accessed 3/04/2010 Tesco plc, company profile. (2010). Available at: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=TSCO.L. Last accessed 3/04/2010 Michael Jorgenson. (2009). Tesco.com. How they do it. Available at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/22655210/Tesco-com-%E2%80%9CHow-Do-They-Do-It-%E2%80%9D. Last accessed 3/04/2010 Corporate profile Tesco. (2004). Corporate watch. Available at: http://archive.corporatewatch.org/profiles/tesco/tesco1.htm. Last accessed 3/04/2010 Christian Grà ¶nroos. (1994). From Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Marketing Management Decision, Vol. 32 No. 2, , pp.4-20. MCB University Press Limited, 0025-1747. Harlequin1. (2001). Tesco kids club. Available at: http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/offline-shopping-misc/tesco/305681/. Last accessed 3/04/2010 ICMR. (2003). Tesco- the customer relationship management champion. Available at: http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG070.htm. Last accessed 3/04/2010 McGoldrick, P. (2002). Retail Marketing 2nd edition. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill. Humby, C., Hunt, T. Philips, T. (2003). Scoring Points: How Tesco is winning customer loyalty 1st Edition: Kogan Page Limited. Rowley J. (2005). Customer relationship management through the Tesco Clubcard loyalty scheme. International Journal of retail and distribution management, Vol. 33, p196-206. Rowley J. (2007). Reconceptualising the strategic role of loyalty schemes. Journal of Consumer Marketing, p.366-374 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Peacocks special offer. (2010). Available at: http://www.aceltham.co.uk/acebusinesses.php?id=217. Last accessed 3/04/2010 Apple store. (2010). Students discounts. Available at: http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/education_routing. Last accessed 3/04/2010 Tesco. (2010). Clubcard points. Available at: http://www.tesco.ie/clubcarddeals/. Last accessed 5/04/2010 Turner Wilson. (2006). Grocery loyalty. Tesco Club card. British Food Journal, Vol. 108 No. 11, 2006, pp. 958-964. Gee, Coates and Nicholson. (2008). Understanding and profitably managing customer loyalty. Marketing Intelligence Planning, Vol. 26 No. 4, 2008, pp. 359-374 Strategic direction. (2007). Vol. 23, No.2, pp 18-22. Day, G. (2003), Creating a superior customer-relating capability, MIT Sloan Management, Review, Spring, pp. 77-82. TATA STEEL (B2B) CONTEXT Contents: Abstract 12 Introduction 12 Tata Steel Profile 12 Branding Steel 12 Customer Base Brand Equity Model 13-14 The Initiatives act as CRM tools 15 Benefits Reaped with Branding 16 Critical evaluation 16 Recommendations Conclusion 16 References 17 Abstract: The report is about the B2B relationship of Tata Steel Company that how they manage their relationships with their business customers and the techniques they apply for the same. Critical evaluation will be done of the techniques that whether these are appropriate or any recommendation required will be given to the company. Introduction: B2B marketing is the practise of doing business with other organisations or the businesses not the ultimate consumers. This practise is not new and is old as commerce itself but the concept of B2b marketing is quite recent. Companies sell their products to other companies and organisations to resell them or use the components or products for manufacturing the stuff, they are offering to the end users or support their activities. Today the focus is on maintaining relations with the customers as who is the customer today will be tomorrow also if they are being treated well. (Morgan Hunt1994)The organisation has to manage these relationships for acquisition and retention of the customers. For acquisition they need to create value for them and for retention they need to enhance the value offered or sustain it. (Morris, Pitt, Honeycutt2001). We will evaluate the B2B approach followed by the Tata Steel, the model followed to collect information about their business customers and strategies they followed to make their customer happy. Tata Steel Profile: Tata steel, a part is Tata Group is the worlds sixth largest steel producer operating in more than 20 countries. In past few years with the investment in Corus, millennium steel and NatSteel Holdings the company is able to create a marketing and manufacturing network in South East Asia, Pacific-rim countries and Europe with the capacity to produce every year 30 million tonnes of crude steel. (docstoc.com2010, Tata steel 2010) In year 2001 and 2005, it was ranked as worlds best steel company. (Kotler2006). The profitability of the steel companies depend on the business cycles, they can make profit in the times of boom in the economy and loose it in the recession. Even the external environmental factors also affects the revenue generation of the companies. So to reduce the dependence on the business cycles and make continuous flow of revenue Tata steel adopted the strategy of branding,(ICMR2004) so that customers would buy the brand and pay the premium for the value added services provided to them with the brands. Tata Steel has also launched various initiatives for promoting its brands such as CVM, RVM, CAMs and ecommerce. The strategy they follow to create relationships with the business customers is branding, CRM initiatives and e commerce. Branding steel: A successful business marketer knows the customer needs and offers them the same. Tata has also recognised its customers in two segments the end users and businesses organisations using steel for the manufacturing of their products mainly automotive industries such as Maruti, Ford, Telco, Honda etc and realised that 80% of the sales is being covered by these business sectors, so it formulated different strategies for B2B and B2C segments. The companys B2B customers are more knowledgeable and brands help to create good finance and public awareness for the company. (Kotler,2006). So, Tata steel branded its products under following brands: Tata Steelium for cold rolled steel Tata Shaktee for galvanized sheets Tata Tiscon for re-bar Tata Wiron for wires Tata Agrico for hand tools and implements Tata Pipes etc. Customer Based Brand Equity Model: The model was suggested by Keller(1993,2001,2003) and constitutes of four stages through which brand is created and built its equity and strong relations with the customers. The model can be used in both B2C and B2B context. The model is in form of ladder going upward and it is subdivided in form of blocks in pyramid. (Kuhn Alpert, Keller2001) Lets see how Tata Steel branding policy fits in the CBBE model. http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/cio/142401287 The model has four phases for creating, enhancing and maintaining relationship with the customers through brands. Creating identity for the company or the product: First of all the company needs to create awareness among the business customers about the product. Variety of steel is available in the Indian steel market and it becomes really difficult for the customers to differentiate that which one will be suitable for their use. Keeping that in mind, Tata Steel focused on customers need and then branded the steel to facilitate its business customers. Now they can order the variety or brand needed. Delivering value: The company realised that its B2B customers are more knowledgeable than ultimate customers, they dont buy the brand rather are keener about the quality, specificity and performance of the steel. So, for better performance of the product and satisfying customers psychological needs the company has promoted the brands in accordance with its usage as Tata Tiscon for constructional bars and Tata Shaktee for roofing and NatSteel for cold rolls etc. For making the scheme successful, brand management department has been created in 2002 to evaluate and train the staff and sales personnel accordingly. They focused on making more and more interactions with the customers to understand their needs and offer them the needful in a better and improved way. They made their branded products highly value added to beat the industry and take the company to new heights of success. (Kotler2006). Following the excellence model of Tata (TBEM), the company kept on making improvements in its offerings and undertaken many initiatives such as Retail Value Management, Customer Value Management and Customer Accounts Managers to help their business customers in brand promotion, building brand equity and solving their grievances.(Improvement initiatives,2009) Customers positive responses: It is related with the responses given by the customers on the basis of the judgement and feelings associated with the brand that how far the products were successful in satisfying their needs.(Keller2001) With the continuous improvement in the offerings and CRM initiatives the company was able to place itself as the Worlds Best Steel Company in 2001 and 2005,(Kotler 2006) by the studies done by World Steel Dynamics, USA. Its bearing division became the preferable supplier for Hero Honda and Toyota motors and they recognised the company as Zero ppm Supplier and Direct Online Supplier. (docstoc2010) Maintaining strong relationships: Tata steel was successful in making strong relationships with its business customers and 60% of its products are sold through contracts and company spend 1.3% of its turnover in maintaining its brands.(Kotler2006). Branding of steel is providing the business customers a stable price of the commodity which creates a good impact on the business customers mind. Aligning with the Tata Groups internationalisation initiatives, the company was able to acquire NatSteel Asia and Corus UK as both the companies were seeking to establish long strategic alliances with the reputed steel companies of the world and Tata was able to do so with its deep social commitment towards society, trusted and reputed relations with the stakeholders.(Noronha2006,2007) The initiatives for maintaining successful relationships: Along with the branding, some more customer centric initiatives has been undertaken by the company for better understanding of the customers and direct and continuous interaction with them to maintain strong relationships with their customers. (improvement initiatives2010) Retail Value Management: The initiative was started in 2002 to redefine the concept of retailing and build stronger relations with the rural retailers by educating them about the selling techniques and customers need. The company has planned to target the small retailers operating in the rural areas and enhance the retail chain to near about 4000 retailers and serve the rural market personally by integrating retailers in the program and research done by the company help the retailers in selling the product according to the customers specific need. (Media releases Tata,2006, High beam research2006) Customer Value management: Tata steel has started the initiative to retain and build strong relationships with its customers. These were designed to deeply understand needs of the business customers and deliver improved value added products. They build teams to study the value chain of operations like receiving, storing, deploying of steel by the customers and even rejection. The company was able to understand the problems related with the value chain and provide deep insights to solve them at an effective and less cost. Thus company was able to win loyalty of the customers by making the supply chain (sales team, dealers and retailers) more customer focused and customer sensitive (Pullanikkat 2010, Economic times 2007) Customer account manager: Company has maintained separate accounts for the customers for improvement and focus on business customers. The accounts were categorised as under: Enterprise accounts: potentially large and long term accounts. Commercial accounts: the key accounts Distribution: for the customers accessed through distributors. (docstoc2010) Such an initiative helped the company to classify their customers on the basis of their transactions and now they can deal with these customers accordingly. This also helped in solving their problems and grievances and increase interaction with them for better understanding. (Kotler2006, scribd.com2009) E business: Tata steel has started the initiative for e business looking forward to tap the opportunities of information technology. These are E-procurement and E-sales, the e- procurement allows the business customers to get multi dimensional information, such as online and offline quotations logging for auction, inbound supply chain, order placement, material receipt and delivery compliance monitoring. Some new and value added features like negotiation chat rooms for reverse auction, e-mail notifications and acknowledgement and FAQs are also offered. (E-procurement system, Tata steel 2010) Benefits Reaped: The Company is able to succeed so far due to the its relationship marketing through branding, strategic alliances as well as other initiatives focused on customers need and building long term relationships with them. Through its strategic alliances especially with Corus, the company has moved on from fifty sixth position to the sixth largest steel maker in the world.(Norohna2007). Mr Muthuraman, managing director, Tata Steel says Branding helped the company in gaining both the tangible benefits in form of pricing and intangible benefits in form of loyal customers. The successful RM startegy so far has made Tata Steel Worlds Best Steel company and has started co branding initiative in 2003 with the automobile companies such as Ashok Leyland and Telco (ICMR2004) and has decided to move on with co-branding in consumer durable sector. Critical evaluation: B2B customers focused more on functionality or performance rather than taste or aesthetics as customers on consumer market do. (Anderson Narus,1999). Tata steel has taken the initiative of branding steel to protect itself from fluctuations in business cycles and set a premium price on steel through brands. Through its regular upgrading and customer focus was able to become the most preferable brands in steel. But there are price sensitive customers in industry that seems steel as a commodity not a brand and are not ready to pay premium prices for that. The company needs to educate and create awareness among these customers.(Norohna2003). Tata steel is selling steel under different brand so it should be careful that customers may not be intense and actively loyal with all the brands, they may experience resonance with a particular brand.(Keller2001). Branding is related with making a promise to the customer and delivering it so far but if in any case company fails to deliver the bran d meaning it can lose its market position and customer may move on to the competitors. Online branding technique is now getting popular in western countries and as Tata steel operates in six continents why hasnt taken the initiative yet? The company also finds challenging, the management of the channel to sell the branded products in near future, says Mr Muthuraman. Conclusion and Recommendations: The above report shows the Tata steel strategy followed for B2B relationship marketing. The company has managed it with branding the steel and remained customer centric by adopting and launching various initiatives like CVM, RVM, CAMs and e-commerce. As, it has been noticed that branding has not only helped the company to generate regular flowing revenue but also helped in maintaining long term relationships with the customers and become the preferable supplier of the customers. Such initiative has also made feel the importance of relationship marketing to the other steel makers. Along with the success, relations with business customers have brought about new challenges for the company which needs some recommendations: Regular check on the product quality is needed as brands provide quantitative and qualitative satisfaction to the customers. Brand awareness among the price sensitive customers as among these some can turn to be the loyal customers. Online branding initiative should