Case Study on School Safety

Case Study on School Safety Melissa Rookard EDD 520 January 24, 2010 Leslie Faught It is evident that schools' policies, programs, practices, physical structure, and teachers are factors internal to the school that determine school safety. These are the only factors that are internal to the school and within fairly complete control of schools. It is these factors that can be reformed and adapted to meet the end result of school safety. School safety is also determined to a very large extent by students, their criminal and other behaviors. Students in turn wear the dual hat of external and internal factors. They are external factors because they are part of the community and are internal factors because they are part of the school and can be disciplined to a certain extent through school policies. There was an incident at Horribly Heard Middle School in Dayton, Georgia. A young man names, Bruce, brought a gun to school and was taken into custody by the Dayton Police Department along with the help of the Department Juvenile Justice. There were many key players in locating the student to insure the school safety. A student was shown the gun and reported to his teacher, Mrs. Daisy. Mrs. Daisy in turn contacted her administrator and asked if he could come to the classroom. Mrs. Daisy, team leader, instructed her team to take the students to the library to check out books. Shortly after, they left an announcement came over the intercom that all students and teachers remain in class until told to dismiss. Teachers were instructed to read their e-mail immediately and follow the instructions laid out in the e-mail. All teachers had to take roll and report any missing children to the front office staff. Mrs. Daisy and her team stayed in the library and check their e-mail in the library. Administrator Bob, Principal Hope, and Resource Officer Life, came to the classroom to search Bruce and taken him into custody if the weapon was indeed on him. Two additional administrators stayed in front of the classroom to ensure no one came down the hall. Office Life took Bruce into custody and he was charged with weapons on school grounds. Once Bruce was taken off school grounds school ran as normally as possible. After school and the students were gone, the staff has an emergency faculty meeting. Principal Hope informed the faculty of the incident today and the student would not return back to school. Student was taken into Juvenile Justice Custody and no one was hurt. The student that told the teacher was also spoke to along with his parents in regards to the incident. They asked that he did not repeat was has happen to ensure students safety and parents concern. Students bring weapons to school more times than we are made aware. At HHMS, faculty and administration communicates well as was able to ensure school safety. Having students stay in the classroom or stopping all movements in the hallways is one way to keep order and asking faculty to take roll immediately and report any missing students via e-mail to front office staff is vital. I believe HHMS handle the situation to the best of their ability. School security is the most common type of activity that administrators should specifically set up to prevent disorder in the school. The most prevalent security strategy used throughout HHMS is various ways to monitor student and non-student movement within the school. The staff and administrators were primarily responsible for this task. To avoid a situation other types of security strategies could be used. Examples, are hiring special security personnel, use of metal detectors, and random searches. Schools should have two basic approaches to rules and procedures. The first approach are teachers tend to deal with all but the most serious discipline problems, including setting punishment and calling parents (if necessary). The second approach tends to deal with small infractions within the classroom and then refer students to an administrator for repeated or more serious infractions. The administrator was responsible for assigning punishment and contacting parents. Regardless of the approach, consistency of rule enforcement emerged as an important issue, especially among students. It is the role of the principal in setting the overall tone in a school when it came to discipline and enforcement of rules. School staff expressed more satisfaction if the principal set clear expectations, communicated regularly with staff, and gave them a voice in school issues.

A Critique of Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, Nickel and Dimed, was certainly a wonderful read and is verily able to open the reader’s eyes to a reality that is usually set aside by many. The book was originally a compilation of her researches as she went undercover to write about people who had to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. Those people whose wages were below the minimum wage and were so busy with work they were not able to pursue their own interests and who were also supporting dependents. As a whole, the author was able to document her experiences as she wrote in her journal her everyday experiences. Through this, the readers were able to have a glimpse into the lives of people she had worked with as a waitress at Florida, a healthcare aide at Maine and a salesperson of Wal-Mart at Minnesota. To be able to do this properly, though, she had to fake her qualifications and disguise her motives from her fellow workers. As a journalist, she also had to restrain herself from pointing out her political views to her colleagues. I think her method of studying the people may have some flaws, some biases. Below would be several of them. First of all, she wasn’t really like them. These people has had different experiences and lived in a different environment unlike hers. Such factors would have made an impact on how the subjects would act as people, as workers. The author mentioned that her co-workers didn’t even ask about insurance or other possible benefits included on the job they were on and just accepted what their boss said. If the workers were people who knew about such things, they would probably ask. Then, again, even if they knew, most of them would not have time to think about such benefits as a whole because they would be too busy trying to ake ends meet anyway. Then, as one who had to experience the life of a poor worker, she was not able to live out the role very well. One, she did not have anyone who depended on her earnings—no family or siblings, unlike most of the subjects she studied. She did not feed anyone else other than herself nor did she have to consider the medical problems of other people. The author also did not trust religious organizations even when her coworkers were telling her that it would be a great help. She always refused to accept money from charities and other such organizations. People in actual situations would not be refusing such help; in fact, they would have been the ones who would be asking for help from such organizations, whether they believed in its cause or not. She also insisted on living alone, thus pay her rent by herself. She always seemed to talk about this issue but was never really able to solve such an easy problem. Real people would have gone and looked for roommates to share the rent of the house. That way, she could have saved more money and may even develop a relationship with other people. The last part of the statement was also one of the things she failed to do. Humans are social beings, that’s a fact even when there are a few who say they prefer to live alone. All people need each other and so far, the human race is progressing because of helping each other. The same principle still happens and is certainly one of the most effective ways to survive—to help one another. The author, unfortunately, was not able to build a proper relationship with her co-workers. She was not able to build a support network which most people actually have. I believe that this is one of the most vital parts in the lives of the working class. Yeah, they may be feeding more mouths and spending more, but the human companionship, the support, these extra people are giving to the workers actually motivate them to go on fighting and working. There was also this part on the book where she walks out in the middle of her shift as a worker in a restaurant just two weeks after being hired. The truth is, real people would not have done this, simply because they did not have the liberty to do so. They just could not afford to lose a job, however hard it is or low paying it is. And speaking of low-income, hard, stressful jobs, she also irresponsibly argues against corporations giving such small wages without considering the economics behind it like insurance and overhead. These things are work requirements and are deducted from the employees’ salaries. Of course, with those things, and probably additional loans, the employees would really get a small wage after all the deductions are done. Also, the fact that she seemed to give her own thoughts and comments on the issues that were tackled on the book made it less like professional journalism. Ehrenreich thought that the book was the product of undercover reporting, but it certainly lacked a bit of that sense because of the lack of objectivity of reporting the events. She was not even able to tell or relate the lives her subjects were living. She could have picked a person, tried to get to know him and be able to relate in the book more concretely the problems and issues the person was facing. Instead, the book was actually, in another point of view, mostly about her and how she coped up with living the life of such people. Sure, there were the other characters but it almost always seemed like she was the hero since the whole thing revolved around herself. The subjects she was supposed to be studying were like backdrops in her play. She really should have focused more on the lives of the people she was studying. She should have delved more on exactly how these people lived, what are the exact problems they were facing, if possible, what these people wanted, wished, they could do for themselves and what the government could do for them. I’m not saying that Ehrenreich was all the way wrong in her methods and because of that, her book was essentially ineffective. The truth is, although it would have been better with the above suggestion, it has, in effect, really opened the eyes of its readers of the many people who have jobs but still really are poor. The book certainly disproved the mindset that if one has a job, then everything’s going to be alright. It also might have made people reconsider their thoughts about the poor, saying that they are like that because they are lazy. The book shows that there are hardworking people, but unfortunately, even with all the jobs they are balancing, they are still not able to get out of the sticky web called poverty. Works Cited Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2001.

Eugenics the Unethical Pseudoscience Essay

Our topic was on selective human breeding, or in other words eugenics. If you don’t know what eugenics is don’t worry I’ll tell you, according to Oxford dictionaries eugenics is the science of improving a population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics. Desirable heritable characteristics for example can be things like a particular eye color, hair color, height, etc. My question to you all is if you think eugenics is ethical or not? I want to hear your answer after I give you my reasons of why I don’t believe eugenics is ethical. Now this might not sound like such a controversial topic but the history of eugenics is not exactly a bright one. Now everyone knows how WWII began, and the people responsible for it. Hitler and his henchmen victimized an entire continent, murdered millions, during his search for what he called the â€Å"Master Race. † His vision of the ideal race was white, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed, but contrary to popular belief, this idea of the â€Å"Master Race† did not originate with Hitler. The idea came from the United States and its eugenics program. The E. R.  O also known as the Eugenics Record Office was founded on 1910 in New York. A thing that not many people know is that the United States actually had one of the largest eugenic movements in the world. Eugenics was used by scientists as a way to control people, by that I mean they would use various research methods, hereditary questionnaires, and interviewing groups with special interests. The E. R. O. was able to convince the U. S. government to administer eugenic laws nationwide. This included immigration and marriage restrictions, race segregation, and forced sterilization of criminals and who was seen as undesirable. Well what is forced sterilization you ask? To simplify it for males it’s a vasectomy and for woman it’s a tubal ligation, getting your tubes tied. The U. S. was forcing people to be sterilized just because they were seen as unfit to breed, because they didn’t fall under what was seen as desirable. Now this thing eugenics they called it science, I personally see it as pseudoscience used to discriminate people, was used for decades. Oh and did you know that California had the largest eugenics movement in the country. From 1907 to the 1970’s over 60,000 people were forced sterilized in the U. S. alone, and 20,000 of those people were in California. Now who decides if a person should be forced sterilized or not, well a list was made and if a person has or falls under any of the items on that list, they are to be sterilized right away. The few things on that list are paralysis, congenital blindness, acquired deafness, sexual promiscuity, and not being physically attractive. Now I have a video I’d like to show you about eugenics and its forced sterilization.

Company accounting Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Company accounting - Statistics Project Example In Adjustment data, it is given that the A Ltd company purchased inventory from B and C Ltd companies which means that this is the inter-company transaction and should be eliminated from the opening inventory of A Ltd company. A Ltd company's ending inventory is $950, B Ltd company's ending inventory is $720 and C Ltd company's ending inventory is $780. In Adjustment data, it is given that the A Ltd company purchased inventory from B and C Ltd companies which means that this is the inter-company transaction and should be eliminated from the ending inventory of A Ltd company. .. In Adjustment data, it is given that the A Ltd company purchased inventory from B and C Ltd companies which means that this is the inter-company transaction and should be eliminated from the opening inventory of A Ltd company. The Amount of opening inventory mentioned in the Income Statement is derived as follows: A Ltd Company's opening inventory = Actual inventory - Inventory purchased from B Ltd- Inventory purchased from B Ltd. = $880 - $180 -$280 A Ltd Company's opening inventory = $420 B Ltd Company's opening inventory = $640 + $180 = $820 C Ltd Company's opening inventory = $790 + $280 = $1070 Total Opening Inventory = $2310 3. Inventory (31.1.2008) A Ltd company's ending inventory is $950, B Ltd company's ending inventory is $720 and C Ltd company's ending inventory is $780. In Adjustment data, it is given that the A Ltd company purchased inventory from B and C Ltd companies which means that this is the inter-company transaction and should be eliminated from the ending inventory of A Ltd company. The Amount of opening inventory mentioned in the Income Statement is derived as follows: A Ltd Company's ending inventory = Actual inventory - Inventory purchased from B Ltd- Inventory purchased from B Ltd. = $950 - $190 -$340 A Ltd Company's ending inventory = $420 B Ltd Company's ending inventory = $720 + $190 = $910 C Ltd Company's ending inventory = $780 + $340 = $1120 Total Ending Inventory = $2450

Managing a Global Team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Managing a Global Team - Essay Example James was an effective and brilliant leader to which he sought to carry on the same to the operations of Sun Microsystems, but he had not prepared himself for the reality that dwelled in the company (Tsedal and Delong 3). However, James managed his global team effectively as he conducted conference calls on every week at a usual time in order for the team to receive updates on the status of operations. Despite him allocating time for these video conference calls, the Indian team felt as though they were not party to the global operations of the company as the addressing of their concerns were always last on the agenda sheet. Further, the time difference also proved ineffective for the Indian team as they felt that the time allocated by James for the weekly conference calls were at a time considered by many to be family time. James also failed to understand the causes of the failure to meet deadlines with the Middle East team and was quick to pass judgement that they were incompetent and that he was inconsiderate to the French team. The implication of this was that the US team was his favorite as he considered them more competent as compared to the other teams hence making James to have poorly managed his global teams (Tsedal and Delong 10). 2. ... The other companies that supply HS Holdings with software and hardware could have also been liable for the losses as this was not entirely Sun Company’s fault (12). Further, James is responsible for this crisis because he did not treat the Indian team with the regard that they required hence making them not to work in tandem with the organizational goals of Sun Microsystems. 3. What role did the â€Å"Open Work† environment play in the case? The ‘open work’ policy was a program that allowed employees to work across different time zones by incorporating technology, support systems, and apparatus by using technology that would make this process achievable. The application of this program by Sun Microsystems began in 1995 where the physical presence of an employee was not necessary in ensuring that the company was operational (7). This led Sun to reduce its housing fixed assets by a significant percentage, which also translated to the saving of millions of dol lars. The application of the ‘open work’ program in this case was in terms of the recruitment of team members in the Far East countries as many worked from home while others worked at Sun’s facilities, which registered efficiency and cost reduction (8). James also made use of the video conferencing facility, which allowed him to schedule meetings with all team members at the same time making the Company to save on the travel expenses for the global team manager. Therefore, the ‘open work’ program applied by Sun through James served as a cost reduction measure and a uniting factor for the global team members. 4. What role did diversity play on this team? In this case, diversity played an important role in the recruitment of the global team members as James recruited

Health Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Health Psychology - Essay Example through the use of a certain medium. Communication may be done in a conscious or in a subconscious level and either intentionally or unintentionally. This process requires a vast range of skills such as speaking, observing, questioning, analyzing, and evaluating (Barnlund, 1968). Several models have been made regarding communication. One of these models is the Shannon and Weaver’s model or the Transmission Model of Communication. The following flowchart shows the basic premise of the model and its flow of communication. The information source produces the message and is then encoded into signals for message transmission. The channel is the media through which the message is sent. Through the process of message sending, some noise is present causing the message to be seen differently by the receiver. The receiver decodes the message sent and once it is decoded, it is deemed as having arrived to its final destination (Shannon & Weaver, 1949). In this model, the source or the one who delivers the message encodes the message via a channel which the receiver decodes. This model simply shows that the source communicates about the topic he/she is knowledgeable and his/her message is formed with a specific content, elements, treatment, structure and code. All these are delivered via a channel, which is comprised of the receiver’s sense and are decoded by the receiver (Berlo, 1960). All models of communication try to explain the basic flow and process of communication. In all models of communication, it shows that communicating is a two way process wherein both the sender and the receiver takes part. A physician’s communication skills play a great role in a patient-physician relationship. In fact, good communication has always been important in medical practice and is the keystone for patient-physician relationships. Communication is the main means for physicians to interact with their patients. Certain traits of communication allow trust

Business Structure Advice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Business Structure Advice - Essay Example Sole proprietorship is one of the business structures that Mr. John can opt for. If the owner aims at becoming a sole proprietor he just needs to start a business and does not need much paper work. In such a business there are no partners and all the decision making authority lies in the hands of the single owner of the business (Parrino, 2012). He makes important business decisions regarding what to produce, where to sell the goods and services and for whom to produce. Another benefit of this form of business is that the owner retains all the profits from the business (Nytimes.com, 2012). But at the same time the owner is entitled to unlimited liability which means that in case if the business goes bankrupt, he/she is responsible for paying all the debts and in order to pay the debts the owner may even lose all the money he has invested in the business along with property and assets owned by the owner. In case of running this form of business, the owner has to pay for all the taxes that are associated with the business and these taxes are filed as the personal income tax of the business owner (Sba.gov, 2014). A second form of business is partnership in which more than one individual join hands together to start a business and the profit and the decision making authority is divided amongst the business owners (Parrino, 2012). The benefit of this form of business is that the business can raise more funds that may be contributed by the partners. The disadvantage of this form of business is that all the owners experience unlimited liability. This means that in case of bankruptcy, they will lose all their money to repay the debts (Miller, 2008). Similar to sole proprietorship, the taxes paid in this form of businesses are paid by the owners of the business in relation of the percentage of their share of profit from the business (Sba.gov, 2014). A third form of business is company in which the business itself is recognized as an

HI Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HI - Essay Example cerning this controversial issue shows that most Americans support the death penalty, although the presence of strong opposition to it should not be ignored. It is also found that some individuals support this form of capital punishment only under certain circumstances. Each group to augment their support or opposition to death penalty usually cites several reasons. This essay aims to discuss some of the most prominent arguments usually put forth either for or against the continued application of death penalty in the countries penal laws. The main argument put forth by supporters of the death penalty is that it is a way of preventing future murders from taking place. The argument is that given that the society generally applies punishments as discouragements to would-be criminals, and that the society is highly concerned with prevention of murder, it is only prudent that the same society uses the most severe means of punishment available to deter murder. Moreover, the death penalty is considered the most efficient way of deterring future murders since people generally have a strong fear for death. In the same vein, it is not only the would-be murderers that are deterred by the death penalty, but the actual murderer is permanently ‘deterred’ from committing any further murders by being executed. Just like a robber is imprisoned to prevent him from robbing on the streets, a murderer should be killed to prevent them from committing the same crimes (Bedau and Cassel, 2004). Another line of argument in support of the death penalty posits that in a just world, taking of a life can only be penalized by a death sentence. This is because murdering somebody creates an imbalance of justice, which can only be restored through a death penalty. This is only in tandem with the religious backing on retribution, which advocates for ‘an eye for an eye’ (Kaufman, 2012). The most prominent reason that is usually cited by those calling for the abolition of the death penalty

Technology and beck's concept of world risk society Essay

Technology and beck's concept of world risk society - Essay Example Using this definition as the starting point, we get the subsequent argument that ‘Systemic events’ showed that industrial societies were generating hazards ‘that they could not control’ (Beck, 1999, 51, 44, 72). ‘Compounded risk’ had become the new meta-norm in a networked society (Daniell, 2000, 18). Hence, the thinking here is that the world is spinning out of control with people in the grip of â€Å"blind and impersonal† forces that they can neither control nor comprehend. In this context (Obama, 2006), the development of contraceptive pills and their widespread use has to be seen as a valiant effort at providing â€Å"space† to the marginalized (ethnic minorities, women) as a means of empowering them and providing them with reproductive choices. Ulrich Beck’s World Risk Society (1999) was a sociological meditation on the interlinked forces of ‘globalization, individualization, gender revolution, underemployment, and global risks (as ecological crisis and the crash of global financial markets)’ (Beck, 2000, 2). Beck examined the ‘risk calculus’ concept, the power dynamics and sociology of risk (why groups profit from ‘manufactured uncertainty’), the ‘sub-politics’ of global dissent (anti-globalist and environmental campaigns), and how reflexive modernity uses conjecture in response to crises. Beck’s work was essentially a treatise on the chaos that the processes that we shall talk about subsequently were unleashing on the world. In this context, Beck was in consonance with other social scientists that foresaw a dystopian vision for humanity and tried to warn us to the inherent dangers. In such a bleak scenario, it is worthwhile to consider the fact that the development of contraceptive pills is indeed a bright spot in an otherwise anarchical situation. For instance, Kaplan in his book The

Company Research Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Company Research - Assignment Example The company will be sponsoring FIFA world cup, it is launching a new website and it has over 400 offices in the US. Farmers insurance Inc. is an insurance company based in Los Angeles but with sub branches all over the nation. It deals with insurance and its contact information is https://www.farmers.com/careers.html and 1-800-435-7764. I would like to be a customer relations person as the job is flexible and I would be my own boss. This is the positive aspect but the negative one is that the company requires all employees to own cars. It has one of its values as curiosity, it hires fresh graduates and it has numerous agents with easy contact. The best company to work for is Google not only because it’s the best in Fortune 500 in 2013 but also because of its great culture which is the positive aspect of the company. Google is a search engine whose contact information is http://www.google.com/about/company/ and phone number is +1650-253-0000. It is located in Mountain View California. The best job position is on the management team because of the power and authority not to mention prestige. Its negative aspect is the wavering working hours. It is owned by young people, serves millions worldwide and was founded in

The Psychology and Philosophy of Education of Ayn Rand in The Comprachicos Essay Example for Free

The Psychology and Philosophy of Education of Ayn Rand in The Comprachicos Essay Ayn Rand writes mainly about the status quo and what and who is to be blamed for such circumstances. She talks of a miseducation so ingenious that when one reads about it one simply gets baffled as he is forced to look into his own experiences from the home, to the school, to the Church and in the province or in the city. One can expect to see various parallelisms with how he is brought up and what he is usually told by his superiors. The reason for these apparent similarities, I think is that aside from the ‘system’ that almost each person is forced into; there is something common in every one of us. This is what makes us man, Rand says, our capability to be rational. Rand believes that man is rational and that this characteristic is, by itself unyielding. It is a capacity that can be impaired and can be prevented to work at its best, as what the comprachicos do but it survives even in those who are the ‘exact concretization’ of the Nursery School ideal, the hippies. Rationality is that which enables any man to; even with the worst education given to him feel that something is wrong because things appear blurred to him, that things must have clarity for it to appear blurred in the first place. It gives him an inkling perhaps or an intuition that something is not right around him and yet he still feels that ‘he has to make something somehow’. This is because of his rationality which naturally is the opposite of the fake, the submission, the uncertainty and the chaos. Man is rational because he has a mind. For Rand, this mind is empty at birth as what John Locke holds to be Tabula Rasa. It does not have innate contents; it is on the other hand waiting to be written upon by the experiences to come. Rand says that it has the potential for awareness, with a conscious and a subconscious mind that he must learn to operate to be able to construct inferences about the perceptions he will make. Thus, one can easily see how important it is for every child to be given enough opportunity to develop this potential especially in the years of his life that it is most needed. Rand stresses that it is in the first two years of a person’s life that what he is capable of learning is most significant both in the quantity and the degree of his curiosity about everything around him and the intensity of how he takes every detail seriously. When he reaches his third year, Rand says, his cognitive development is completed. He has acquired the things he need, what he has to do at this point is to use them. How he uses his cognitive tools will determine how well his conceptual ability will be when he grows older. Hence, as early as the nursery level, educators should already start training the child’s mind. Rand holds that teachers should focus on the progress of his mind’s automization of conceptual knowledge. By this, he can then retain the knowledge gained in his consciousness and move on to new information so that gradually, he will learn to integrate the old and new inputs and thus establish relationships between them. This will guide the child in understanding the basic concept of time-continuity and in internalizing a projection of the future instead of acting on whatever he feels like doing in the moment. If the simple idea of having something like tomorrow, or even later, and that what is done at the moment affects the time thereafter is introduced to the child, he will inevitably practice his rational faculty because he needs to look at all his choices and reason when he is choosing among the different alternatives. He needs to think and debate by himself what best could be done in the situation because the consequences of it would always have a lot of implications. Rand postulates that if a child is given the chance to exercise his reason, being caught in an event where he has to make decisions will not be much of a hurdle for him. The important thing is not really for him to make what is in the older people’s opinion the right decision; but to let him, in all his capacity as a rational person and in all his limitations as a child have at least some disposition and not let him be governed by whims or emotions be it of himself, of another person or of the whole pack. To have a disposition requires that one should have a firm ground to stand his beliefs on. This is why Rand tells us that it is wrong to place the children in an environment that would not help him be secured about an objective world, one that would only make him settle for the company of persons the same age as he is and of course do not know any better. What he needs, says Rand is cognitive guidance especially to acquaint him to the reality instead of making him adjust to a group of people he does not know and lose himself in the process. In getting to know the reality, Rand talks of the Montessori Method which utilizes materials that are didactic thus very useful for child learning because it provides a solution that the child needs to discover by actively thinking of how to do it. Instructive materials, Rand moreover says introduces the child to a sense of order since it is directed to a right answer or a right way. During this stage, Rand says that a child can only identify objects around him and its characteristics as it appears to him. The child cannot comprehend its other properties like height, volume, color and so on. This is why at this time, it is best to provide for the child special exercises of attending, observing, comparing and classifying. I have noted that while keeping the learning pace in gear with the child’s current stage, the four exercises mentioned also further develops his reasoning skills [especially comparing and classifying]. It is significant to note in my opinion how the previous knowledge learned leads to the knowledge learned later and how the knowledge learned later reinforces the knowledge learned earlier. When the child is introduced to the reality and becomes more and more aware of his own self, Rand implies that the time for language, particularly speech comes. Interestingly, Rand says that language comes to fix by means of the exact words which the child’s mind acquired and this profoundly lets him find himself alike in the world. This is a start for him to have a sense of belongingness, an idea which is necessary as Rand says to be an active and intelligent explorer of the world. All learning involves a process of automizing, Rand has stated. In forming, integrating and using concepts, Rand establishes that it involves the person’s will; it is volitional. How else better to bring out the will of the child in learning and thinking critically than to let him use practice his cognitive abilities especially in the age when he is most up and ready for it? Rand stresses that educators should not let this time pass because what could have been a joyful activity of enhancing his mind when the child is young will turn to be an extremely strenuous task when he gets older. Rand also gives favor of understanding as a method of learning over memorizing. Understanding means to grasp the content and the essentials of a thing, an event or a concept, to establish relationships between these essentials and what was previously known in the past and most importantly, integrate it with other subjects. By understanding is how the child will learn reading, for instance. Rand mentions what she calls the ‘look-say’ method which is not merely focused on shape of the letters (which the child can reverse; i. e. b-d, m-w, etc. [1]) but more on their phonetic equivalent which encourages the child to think in abstractions; directing his attention to the sound of the letter and not the mere appearance of it. Memorization, Rand further holds, is appropriate only for the level of observation, when the child’s capacity to understand is not developed yet. Another method Rand despises is the Discussion Method. As implied, she prefers to have a teacher in the classroom to guide the students in learning about the subject and to not let them carry the learning process by their premature knowledge. Besides the obvious fact that to learn is why they come to school in the first place, Rand prescribes that the teacher really teach what he expertly knows because to leave the deliberation to the students is to give them an illusion that they can know without being taught; that they can claim expertise without really learning. It is not possible to learn from this method because as Rand tells us, the students are clueless about that which is supposed to be lectured. To employ this method, according to Rand is to give the false idea that any person’s opinion can be the right answer or that the right answer can be produced by a person who does not yet know anything about what is being talked about. This cannot be for the truth is independent of anyone’s mere whims and this, in turn is the reason why education is highly significant and relevant and must remain so by imparting on the students the knowledge and the skills necessary for his growth as a rational being. I think that the reason why Rand says that this method is inappropriate for the students is because the mind prior to learning about the subject is, to say still immature. By this immaturity, they are driven to be hostile people, indulging them to the guilty habits of criticism instead of creativity for they mistakenly think that to demolish a bad argument is to construct a good one. We can see very clearly here how Rand takes it to be an awfully big mistake to leave students of any age unguided and left to themselves when they in fact need to learn and thus to be taught by a superior more knowledgeable than him. To conclude, Rand takes the psychology and philosophy of Maria Montessori and John Locke in her basic idea of education. Her metaphysics on the one hand rests on the basic idea that there is an objective reality that the child will naturally belong to; in which he will find proper distinction between existence and consciousness. Her epistemology on the other hand lies on the thought that every person is born without knowledge but has the potential to exercise his rational capacity if given the due opportunities for development. Moreover, it is best to develop a person’s cognitive skills when he is young not only because it is when he is most ready and willing to do so but also because for Rand, a purposeful and disciplined intelligence is the highest achievement possible to man. Implied then by her basic ideas derived from Montessori and Locke, Rand takes a common stance with the position of Perennialism. [2] Abigail Thea O. Canuto EDFD 201 (HZQ2)/ Thursdays, 5:30-8:30 P. M. 2003-31176 / MA TEG (K-2) Prof. Muega / A Paper on ‘The Comprachicos’ II. Evaluating Ayn Rand’s Philosophy and Psychology of Education from the Standpoint of Pragmatism, Essentialism and Perennialism, Existentialism, Social Reconstructionism and Marxism As evaluated earlier, the philosophy and psychology of Ayn Rand with regards to education rests on the basic idea that man is rational; born with a Tabula Rasa mind that is to be filled with knowledge brought by experiences he will have in the world. She also holds that cognitive training is best started as soon as possible, which is in the nursery level because it is when the child is most ready and willing to learn about the reality and that to delay, or even worse to provide what I may call a wrong education will greatly impede his reason which is his basic means of survival; his reason. Again, the wrong education that I interpret to be in Rand’s article is basically the Progressivist method and any classroom setup that leaves the child to the whims and immature ideas of the collective. Pragmatism, especially that of John Dewey is just one of the various positions contended by Rand. Perhaps the most apparent distinctions that can be made between these two views is the way they regard reality and everything in it human experience, ideas, truth and so on. On the one hand, Rand believes that reality is objective and unchanging and that the experience man derives from this reality is primarily for his own ends alone. She does not think that what man learns from his environment should be directed towards the good of the society or any other person because to do so would be to surrender one’s own will and rationality. Rand says that to be rational is to refuse to act based on the collective’s demand and that this refusal makes him properly selfish. On the other hand, Pragmatism stresses that the reality is changing; what exists is an open universe of constant flux. This position believes that we cannot say that there are metaphysical absolutes because this assertion is unverifiable by human experience. Instead of resting his ideas on an objective, unchanging reality, the Pragmatists prefer to give emphasis on being, work and action as opposed to ideas, spirit and thought, which are targeted to the betterment of the society; to solve its problems. It thus follows that Pragmatism proposes an epistemology that is conditioned by societal institutions. By this, this view is in favor of experimental learning wherein theories which are derived from experience are tested and applied and that which contributes and affects the society in the best way is perpetuated. By extension, truth and morality then are not things that are absolute but are, respectively a tentative assertion based on the application of hypotheses to solving problems and values that arose from outcomes of human responses to varying situations. In evaluating Rand’s philosophy and psychology from the standpoint of the different positions through the use of my own interpretation, I deem it highly significant to first categorize where I think the latter’s ideas are coming from. Pragmatism, in my opinion does not choose the society over the individual. I do not think that its intention is to diminish the value of the individual man in order to promote progress of the society. What I think it does rather is to try to bring together, as harmoniously as possible human beings in every community to work together for the good of the group not only for the group itself but also because the group inevitably affects the individual. The point of the matter for Pragmatists, in my opinion is that every person is a member of a group and what happens in that group affects the individual. What best be done is to act and react based on what can be verified by human experience and to do so as freely as possible, unlimited by absolutes that act as constraints to the inquiry of every man. Therefore, Pragmatism would disagree with Rand in saying that the child should not be left to a group of other children and not to let him pursue activities based on his interests. This method is, on the contrary what best helps children in teaching them to be open to numerous possibilities that are discoverable by their minds through inquiry. Moreover, to let children mingle with other people especially those of their own age introduces them to the nature of a democratic society; one that fosters virtues of sharing, of waiting and of cooperating which I think would come in very useful in establishing healthy relationships in adult life. Rather than what Rand says about this method as justifying the omnipotency of the pack, the Pragmatists would say that to be with other men is the natural state of every individual and to expose them to this nature would better prepare them for a productive and empathic existence with each other, mutually beneficial for each and every man. Additionally, Rand’s method of cognitive training would, for Pragmatism limit that child’s capacity for free inquiry. Rather than the traditional way of teaching with the instructor merely imparting knowledge and skills, the Pragmatists are more inclined in an activity method which involves play, construction, nature-study and self-expression. These activities are I think formulated by the Pragmatists not for the reason of impeding the cognitive development of the child. Contradictory, the activity method enhances not only the thinking ability but the capacity of this ability to speculate critically by firsthand experience, by concept-building, by getting acquainted with the environment and by doing all these through expressing the self. Pragmatism would thus see Rand’s general thought regarding education as imposing on the individual; limiting the child’s capacity of learning by himself through play which he enjoys in his young age and helps a lot in critical thinking by inquiry and living in harmony with others. Finally, Rand says that the Pragmatists see the mere absorption of facts and values does not provide any social gain; in this I do not think that the latter would disagree. Conversely, the Pragmatists would not say that the activity method would make a child submit to the pack for what they promote is not submission but cooperation. The positions that are most similar to Rand’s thought on education, on the other hand are Essentialism and Perennialism. I find these views as very similar to each other but to properly distinguish and outline their individual points is nevertheless significant to see how exactly Rand’s ideas are alike with them and determine where they would diverge from each other. Essentialism, from its name itself talks about basic education. It calls for a return to the essential subjects that have been proven to be useful in the past and are likely to be beneficial in the future. Essentialism says that such a return is needed because the modernization of education, by the relaxation of academic standards for widespread social promotion and by the dominant educational theories that are enfeebling are causing academic standards to fall. Its orientation is thus very scholastic, holding that societal problems should not hinder academics. Essentialism deems it of high importance to transmit generative skills and intellectual disciplines that identify and perpetuate basic cultural elements. Hence, the teacher should exhibit high competence of the subject and of the task of bequeathing such knowledge to the students for the needed mastery in preparation for work and citizenship. All these, according to the Essentialists cannot be accomplished in a Progressivist classroom where the Whim rules, destabilizing the primary function of the school. Rand’s theory of education perpetuates the idea of basic education by Essentialism. Because of the stance that Rand takes with regards to man as being rational and in need of cognitive training, she proposes a classroom setup where a teacher handles the class in his full capacity to pass on knowledge that the children came to the school to learn about. Conversely, Rand’s idea of a purposeful and disciplined use of intelligence is also in common ground with what Essentialism promotes; as it would be attained in an environment of systematic and sequential learning. Interestingly, where one might tend to see Rand’s theory as alike with Essentialism is in her proclamation that the poor quality of man’s use of reason and the increasing frequencies and number of people engaging in violent behavior and drug use should be attributed to the educational system that has plagued human life for many years. However, I find it very remarkable that the precise aspect of the system that Rand is blaming for the status quo is different from what the Essentialists are talking about. As discussed earlier, Essentialism is fighting against the Progressivist schools that cater to children’s whims because they destroy the academic function of the school, which is to impart basic skills and knowledge that are useful in the past and will likely be useful in the future. The justification of the preservation that the Essentialists are vying for is that they believe that such basic education is what is needed for a person to grow a responsible adult who will gear his capacity towards economic productivity and growth. This is where I find a separation between Rand and the Essentialists. Rand criticizes Progressivism because it hinders the child from developing his capability to become a fully-functioning rational being by making him conform to the pack. She does not say anything about the society’s growth being impeded for in my opinion, it is not what she is most concerned about. The Essentialists, I think would find the curriculum and the method of teaching of Rand as those that would best encourage their thesis of preserving basic knowledge but they do not share her sentiments with regards to the rationality of man. Furthermore, the Essentialists share Rand’s views in expressing that the declining education is to be held responsible for violence and drug abuse that are getting more rampant nowadays. I have observed, however that while Essentialism blamed the Progressivists’ permissivism to students thus leading them astray, Rand tells us that such malady in the lifestyle of people today is an evidence of their impaired rationality’s search for a higher reality or higher experience. The ideas of Rand and the Essentialist are indeed related but quite unlike each other. They do not oppose each other but they nevertheless do not meet at the same point of the arguments. Perennialism, on the other hand promotes an education of man that upholds his potentialities; an education that is based on the universal characteristics of human nature. It goes further than Essentialism in promoting basic education; it does so in the name of rationality, that which, as Rand says defines us as human. Further, rationality is man’s highest attribute thus the cultivation of intellect is education’s highest goal. Rand, as well as the Perennialists blame the social orientation of today’s education to the growing malaise in the situation of man. They both proclaim that when students are left to educational trends that lean towards mere whims and emotions of the students and mediocre educators, they are brought to internalize false notions of success and progress (i. e. emphasis on the society, premature vocational training, specific economic training) that contradicts their individuality; their nature to be objective. This is the inevitable result of the elimination of the proper cultivation of intellectual abilities by means of acquainting them to an objective and universal reality, one that is in line with their existence and human nature, also objective and universal. The Perennialists would thus correspond Rand in the idea that a proper study of metaphysics would restore rationality. It is I believe the key point of their positions: that the reality in which we live in is universal and our human nature is unchanging as well. To say then that rationality, which defines human nature, is constant implies that education should be fixed as well. Perennialism, like Rand also emphasizes that the students come to school because they wish to know that is why it is imperative for the teachers to be mature; competent and knowledgeable about the subject. They both talk about a classroom setup which is open not to the mercy of the whims and emotions of the students but to the development of their cognitive abilities in a structured manner thus avoiding the tendency to be anarchic or despotic. The curriculum and the subject matter that they speak of are those that are systematic and sequential, thus both want to foster the basic skills in the younger years of the child to help him prepare for the disciplines he would need to study later. Moreover, the consciousness of the child should begin with his immediate environment and the idea that it is universal and objective before immersing him into a group in order for him to identify himself first as belonging in the reality thus achieving self-identity. By extension, Perennialism together with Rand would find that when the child is older, he will not be driven to the physical sciences to escape questions of morality and other issues in the humanities. The Perennialists would I think agree with Rand that a symptom that a person’s rationality is in good condition is when he is asking and forming his own concepts of these kinds of problems. I have found thus that the general views of Rand and Perennialism are alike except on some orientation (not root or ground) in their positions. Just to note, I have noticed that while Perennialism is usually associated with religion and the relationship of the individual to the universe and with God, Rand was a renowned atheist. This interestingly does not cause them to conflict with each other since they remain resolute on the universality of metaphysics and epistemology which is not affected with a belief or a disbelief in a higher being. Another position (or rather an inclination) that takes a totally different view of reality and human nature from Rand’s is I find, very fascinating to discuss. I say so because I have realized that even though they are very distinct from each other, at some point they still manage to meet. Existentialism is well-known for its statement ‘existence precedes essence’. Human nature, for them is subjective and independent from any antecedent reality thus negating Rand’s idea of metaphysics as objective and universal. For the existentialists, the freedom to choose is man’s highest attribute and not reason for if such is the case, then they cannot choose reason as a value. To be rational, thus is something for an individual to choose. This thesis is extended to the human purpose, which is also subjective for every person. One man can make and define his own purpose and his own alone; he is responsible for his every action that is derived from his freedom as a human being independent of the opinions of other people and on any reality that some may assume to exist before him. The existentialists thus would not agree with Rand in saying that man should be introduced to an objective and unchanging reality because it limits him in constructing his own definition of his existence. They further, unlike Rand do not see any problem with seeing the individual as not only possessing abilities for rationality but also for irrationality, feelings, and affective characteristics. They claim to see a person in more varied terms because they do not believe that one can simply define him as just rational or just emotional and so on. Human beings are to complex for this kind of definition, they say. The values, moral dispositions and the validity of knowledge for the Existentialists are thus to be determined by the individual. This is not to say, as Rand does that truth for instance becomes dependent on a collective group that the individual loses himself in conformity. Rather, what the Existentialists mean is that man’s determination of values, morality and knowledge validity stems from the recognition that human experience is subjective basically because of every person’s capability and freedom to choose. Therefore, while Rand speculates that it is reason, impaired or properly developed that determines how a person lives his life, for the Existentialists it is the freedom to choose which never wavers regardless of the situation he is in. For both points of view however, though what they interpret to be the highest attribute of man (reason vs. freedom to choose) is rigid and unchanging, it can still be limited and impeded by a crucial factor. That which harms human existence is one and the same thing for Rand and the existentialists: a societal orientation or the growth of a mass society. Both the Existentialists and Rand claim that the quality of human life is threatened because of the group that makes a student conform to it, thus preventing him to decide for his own and think in terms of his own liking. The general tendency of the Progressivist school, both for Rand and Existentialism is to be coercive on the student, alienating him if he expresses creativity and divergence from the norms. However, because of the rigidity of human nature, both contend that the essence of being human survives even in the bleakest of moments. Rand, on the one hand does not coin the term ‘choose’ in saying that man’s rationality will find ways of alternative expression in later life (i. e. drug addiction, violent behavior). She instead expresses it in a way that means that a man does not really choose for his rationality to be expressed in whatever way; the way it expresses itself is dependent on the cognitive training he receives in the course of his academic life. On the other hand, the Existentialists hold that his freedom to choose is the thing that lives on and even if he is oppressed and alienated, he can still choose to either conform, to submit or to revolt. With regard to the classroom setup and method of instruction, the Existentialists would find what Rand is proposing as prescriptive because they might interpret it as placing too much emphasis on the role of the teacher in imparting knowledge than letting the student discover for his own even when young. The Existentialists, hence would find the main goal of education to be that of cultivating in the children the freedom to choose and awareness of this freedom. They would agree with Rand insofar as, perhaps, autonomy and emphasis on the self is concerned but they definitely denounce her idea of rationality as man’s basic essence for such an idea limits and prescribes the individual to, in my interpretation, act rationally. Another position that detects problems in the status quo is what is called Social Reconstructionism. It talks of a cultural crisis, brought about by the growing population, conflicts between different cultures especially by discrimination, environmental pollution, violence and terrorism that threaten human existence. All these predicaments infiltrating human life, they say can be traced to the severing of human values from social and economic realities. What the Reconstructionists propose, from the name of the position itself is a reconstruction of personal and social experience to reform society. The obvious implication of this thesis, of course is that culture and society is not universal, it continually grows with the direction of its growth depending on the time, place, people and the general circumstance of it. Conversely, human can refashion culture to fit and promote human development and growth. Social Reconstructionism would thus first and foremost denounce what Rand calls an ‘objective and universal reality’ because it believes that change is a necessary feature of human life. The absence of change for them, I think is like a dead society; it is deprived of its potential for progress and betterment, all things in it obsolete and useless. The Reconstructionists would not support Rand in her theory that students should be encouraged to be selfish because he is rational and that to use one’s reason is by nature a selfish affair; rather, they would declare that there is no room for selfishness in any society at any time for how can progress be realized if men used their rationality for mere thinking and not much doing? The solution, according to the Reconstructionists is not to eliminate or deny the process of change but to learn to cope with it. As they put it, change itself did not provoke crisis; crisis occurred when man was unprepared to cope with it. They would hence find Rand’s virtue of selfishness as dangerous because it discourages social cooperation, perhaps because it hurriedly concludes that to belong in a group is to conform to it, losing one’s individuality. I do not think that the Reconstructionists have any problem with Rand’s assertion that man is rational and that it is what makes him human. On the other hand, what they would propose is that such rationality should be geared towards social progress for cognitive training for the sake of rationality only will not render any gain for society. Schools then should educate students with a deliberate purpose to inculcate in him a commitment to work for deliberate social reform and a planning attitude for cultural revision. For them, there is nothing wrong with orienting students even when young, a sense of cooperation and the acknowledgement that reality is changing not only because it is the case but also because it is happening rapidly and to ignore or deny it would cause a lag between the moral consciousness and social organization and technological inventiveness. They do not propose mere conformity to the group but they also do not renounce that the society and culture is imposing on the individual.

Darwins Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection Essay Example for Free

Darwins Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection Essay The mechanisms for individuals in a population to survive heterogeneous habitats have been a strong debate within the scientific community. The native European Littorina obtusata are a great model organism to study Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. This is because of their vast phenotypic characteristics, particularly their evolving shell thickness throughout history due to predatory pressures of the new arrival of Carcinus maenas. Here we test whether L obtusata three most critical tenants of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection; variation within a population, heritability, and selection. By observing the shell thickness of East Coast of N. America L. obtusata where predatory C. maenas are common versus the West Coast of N. America where C. maenas are not found, it will further provide evidence whether these shell thickness differences are due to natural selection predatory or phenotypic plasticity occurring. This was tested by placing banded crabs in both East and West populations of L. btusata and observing how their shell thickness decreased, further proving that L. obtusata cannot sense or smell the presence of C. maenas. These findings provide further evidence for Seeley’s research that the accelerating morphological changes of L. obtusata shell thickness was in response to strong selection by C. maenas and not because speciation occurring. Some believe that Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is operating the morphological breaks found in fossil records within a population. Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species listed four basic postulates to natural selection; there must be variations among individuals in a population, variations must be heritable, survival and reproduction must be variable and non-random (Darwin, 1859). As a result, every generation there will be slight changes in the population. One scientist in particular, Robin Seeley, tried understanding Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection by studying the thickness of shells of flat periwinkles, Littorina obtusata, of Appledore Island and the new arrival of predatory green crabs, Carcinus maenas. Seeley noted acceleration in natural selection that normally is not observed within the L. obtusata population in response to strong selection by C. maenas. This is because shell thickness affects the survivability and reproduction of L. obtusata when C. maenas claws break them to meal (Trussel, 1996). The observation confirmed that when C. maenas were introduced in the East Coast of N. America, L. obtusata range of shell thickness increased compared to the West Coast of N. America L. obtusata populations where predatory C. maenas were not found (Seeley, 1986). These vast morphological differences in their shell thicknesses was thought to occur because of the C. maenas selection for the thinner-shelled L. obtusata. Seeley’s research further showed that speciation was not occurring within the intertidal snails as many previous scientists claimed.

TATA Steel: UK Case Study

TATA Steel: UK Case Study Nicolson Mustapha Tata steel UK is one of the largest and geographically most diversified steel producers of Europe which is operating in 26 countries and have its commercial offices in around 35 countries around the globe (Tata Steel, 2017). They have been serving different markets such as energy and power, automotive, lifting and excavating, packaging, aerospace, construction etc. with their innovative products. The success of their business lies in their operations being centered on benefiting the society on the whole and making collaborative relationships with customers. The main business values of Tata steel UK include excellence, understanding, responsibility, integrity and unity (Tata Steel, 2017). The proposed strategy for Tata Steel at corporate level is market penetration while the proposed business strategy for penetrating in the market is the hybrid of cost leadership and product differentiation. Tata Steel has the capacity to penetrate into its market because it has a strong brand image and good customer base but due to increasing supply of steel from China and decreased demand, the revenue generated in the last period was a bit less than expected. In a dynamic environment, the foremost priority of a business is to keep an eye on the external environment. So, to cope with the changes taking place in the external environment, Tata Steel has to penetrate the market for increasing its market share. The cost leadership can be achieved by the capacity expansion and employment of new technology. The new technology would be used for differentiating its products from those of its competitors. Tata steel UK is one of the largest and geographically most diversified steel producers of Europe which is operating in 26 countries and have its commercial offices in around 35 countries around the globe (Tata Steel, 2017). They have been serving different markets such as energy and power, automotive, lifting and excavating, packaging, aerospace, construction etc. with their innovative products. The success of their business lies in their operations being centered on benefiting the society on the whole and making collaborative relationships with customers. The main business values of Tata steel UK include excellence, understanding, responsibility, integrity and unity (Tata Steel, 2017). This paper demonstrates the importance of understanding and in-depth knowledge that a firm must have for the formulation of its strategies from time to time. The environment in which the businesses have been operating currently has become dynamic and it is necessary for the businesses to adapt themselves with such environment by continuously updating their strategies to carry out the business (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson, 2003). The previous analysis conducted about Tata Steel suggested that it has strong brand equity and value-chain efficiency due to which it has expanded its operations overseas in the foreign markets. One of the main competitive advantages for Tata Steel UK is that there products are unique and innovative but there are also certain threats for the survival of business i.e. increasing competition, changing economy of UK and the fall in demand from China (Schram, 2015). The first part of this paper discusses different strategic options that are available to Tata Steel UK or to propose a strategy at corporate level, second part deals with formulation of business strategy, while the third part deals with the evaluation of strategy on the basis of suitability, acceptability and feasibility. The main objective of this paper is to see the Tata Steel UK from strategic management perspective. Different models and frameworks from previous academic literature have been used for the purpose of analyzing the industry and proposing a relevant strategy for the selected firm. Strategic options have been defined as the resourceful substitute action-oriented reactions to the major external trends faced by an organization. These options are exercised by taking into consideration the factors, trends, threats and opportunities in the external environment in which an organization is operating. These options are usually taken into consideration for the purpose of increasing the sales and profits of our business (Trigeorgis and Reuer, 2016). The main objective of Tata Steel UK is to become a global benchmark for creating value for the customers and corporate citizenship by offering innovative products and services. Ansoff Matrix Strategic options can be best explained with the help of Ansoff matrix that takes into account existing and new products and markets. There are four strategic options available to a particular firm (Jeyarathnam, 2008). These are explained as follows Selling existing products to existing market which is known as market penetration Developing new products and selling them to existing market which is known as product development Taking existing products to new markets segments which is known as market development Developing new products for newer markets segments also known as diversification The strategic options or Ansoff matrix is presented in the figure as follows Tata steel UK can expand its customer base with the help of market penetration strategy. This strategy is used for the purpose of growing our business. The current market share of Tata Steel UK is 60% sales to the manufacturers of different products in UK while 40% comes from sales to main Europe and 15% outside the Europe. The main products that contribute to the sales revenue of Tata Steel include automotive, construction, packaging, aerospace, and energy and power. The corporate strategy of Tata Steel UK is to become a global benchmark by creating value for the customers at global level. Â   Â   The rationale behind using the market penetration strategy is to sell existing products to existing consumers. According to the SWOT analysis conducted for the Tata Steel Europe and other sources suggest that it is losing the market because of various factors including decreased demand from China, changing economy of Europe, increasing international competition and steel available at cheaper prices. Tata Steel UK can penetrate the market by making its products unique from those of its competitors. It should increase its investments in the projects which helps in differentiation of its products by improving the overall marketing mix and getting closer to customers by forming collaborative relationships. The unique and innovative products as compared to competitors will give Tata Steel UK a competitive edge in gaining the largest market share. This product differentiation requires Tata Steel to develop cutting-edge manufacturing and production technology and to improve their business c ycle to a greater extent to make the products sustainable for the customers as well as for the environment. Tata Steel UK should strive to upgrade their manufacturing and distribution operations because it will help the firm in providing on time products and services to their consumers. An efficient supply chain and closer production plants help in increasing the effectiveness and optimization of services to customers. The presence of competitors cannot threat the existence of Tata Steel unless it is continuously striving to improve its business operations and differentiation of products and services. Overall, in improving the business operations and product differentiation of Tata Steel, it must not compromise the corporate responsibility it owes towards the environment and all its stakeholders (Jha and Arora, 2013). The main point to be considered in the market penetration strategy is the cost-benefit ratio. Market penetration specifically deals with increasing already captured customer base. The fact sheet of Tata Steel UK represents that 25% of Tata sales revenue is generated by automotive industry, 30% by construction, and 10% by packaging. It also exports 80% of its energy and power products to big firms such as Shell, Chevron and Total etc. it also has 10% global market share for the supply of aerospace products (Kelsey, 2016). The main competitive advantage of Tata Steel UK is its brand identity i.e. it is a well-known brand for its quality products, so its customers have loyalty with its products. The factsheet about Tata Steel UK suggested that the demand for its automotive products is increasing in the mainland Europe as well as in other countries because the annual car production rate is increasing at a greater pace. So, this is an opportunity for Tata Steel UK to penetrate the market by using its world-class manufacturing and distribution facilities. The market penetration strategy requires Tata Steel to strengthen its own manufacturing, production and distribution infrastructure to manufacture differentiated products as compared to its competitors. By using this strategy it will be able to increase its sales revenue in the existing market by strengthening the manufacturers of different products across Europe. Own manufacturing and production plants will be helpful for Tata Steel in reducing the cost of manufacturing and achieving the economies of scale. Tata Steel has the capacity and resources to penetrate into its existing market e.g. it has a string brand loyalty, it is producing the products in an environmentally sustainable way, it has its own cutting-edge manufacturing and production plants that only need upgradation. The commitment of Tata Steels towards manufacturing unique and innovative products can help them conquer the market and increase their market share relative to their competitors. After a successful scrutiny of internal factors affecting the business and a thorough scan of external business environment, the next stage is to formulate an ideal strategy for business which is capable of achieving the desired objectives. Business strategy is designed for the purpose of getting to the place where we want to see ourselves. Business strategy requires careful planning and implementation and it also requires a lot of resources that must be used handy to maintain the cost benefit ratio (Teece, 2010). According to a model proposed by McKinsey, it is necessary on the part of organization to have talented staff, an integrated system, proper structure, a unique style, skills, a perfect strategy and shared values to achieve the desired business goals. According to Johnson et. al (2011), strategy clock is a perfect framework that can be used to analyze the customer focus for the prices and differentiation among the products. For Tata Steel UK, it is analyzed that the market penetration strategy could be used for increasing the market share of the company. And it has been already known that it has a strong brand name and also a very good customer base. But the recent statistics of financial times confirmed that the earnings and sales revenue of Tata Steel was not up to the mark and didnt meet the forecasts set earlier (Markets.ft.com, 2017). This requires Tata steel to penetrate into its market with the help of hybrid strategies i.e. cost leadership and product differentiation. Cost leadership is an intensive growth strategy in which the company tends to decrease the cost of its products for the purpose of increasing its sales. Tata Steel UK can exercise the cost leadership strategy either by reducing its costs to increase the profits and charging average industry price for its products or it can increase the market share by reducing the price of its products (Jha and Arora, 2013). For practicing this strategy, a firm must make sure that it will remain number one in terms of low-cost producer and wont be easily attackable by other low cost producers. This requires the firm to have enough capital for making investment in the technology that reduces the overall cost of producing the products, have efficient logistics and being sustainable in terms of its resources and environment. For Tata Steel UK, all of these options are exercisable so they can easily penetrate their existing market with their existing products. One of the main competitive advantages of Tata Steel is capacity expansion i.e. it can expand its capacity of manufacturing and production which will ultimately reduce its cost of producing the products. The quality and sources of raw materials are highly secured from various captive mines which can be used for the enhancement of production capacity. The manufacturing plants of Tata Steel are already located in many countries including USA, Canada, Sweden, Germany, France, and Belgium etc. These plants can be used for the purpose of increasing the global sales revenue and market share of Tata Steel by offering diversified products and services to the customers. Technology and the manpower are two most essential resources that are required for increasing the innovation and uniqueness in products of Tata Steel. The up-to-the-minute technology can be used for producing larger numbers of steel and aluminum products differentiated from its competitors, available in various designs and colors and are sustainable for the community which is using the products. Recently in 2013, Tata Steel made an investment of 250 million pounds to set up two blast furnaces in Port Talbot, 25 million pounds investment at Hot Strip Mill, and 15 million pounds investment in Stockbridge plant in 2015 which will improve the operations of Tata Steel to a greater extent thereby reducing the overall costs of production (Kelsey, 2016). Product differentiation is another strategy through which Tata Steel can penetrate its market. Customers switch products or brands only when they are not satisfied of the quality and prices of the products. A bit of value added to the products and services can increase the customer loyalty and improves the brand image (Anderson and Vincze, 2004). Tata Steel is providing a wide range of its products to the most renowned and big companies around the globe. Tata Steel can increase its market share by offering customized products to its customers e.g. for automotive industry it can provide customized products right from initial design to the fully manufactured vehicle or they can provide effective solutions related to steel in the construction projects. For consumer goods, customers prefer reliability and after sales services and it can also gain a good market share by offering sustainable packaging products to packaging firms. The bottom line is that Tata Steel can use its core competen cies for gaining the market share. A summary of core competencies of Tata Steel is presented in the following table. Core competencies Cost leadership and product differentiation Technology Different manufacturing plants of Tata Steel UK located across the Europe must use the cutting edge technology for the production of high quality and low cost products. Installation of technology helps in the mass production which achieves the economies of scales hence making the firm low cost leader and technology also improve the quality of products by presenting more immaculate outlook and product design to the products. Supply chain management The supply chain of Tata Steel is very sophisticated because it has its own distribution and processing units across the Europe, USA, Middle East and many other parts of the world. This is the competitive edge for Tata Steel because they dont have to make the customers wait longer for the products rather they provide on-time delivery of their products due to their numerous production hubs. Efficient supply chain also helps in making the products differentiated and low cost because there are no additional tariffs and raw material import costs incurred on the products. Quality and customer focus Quality and price of the products are the two essential elements that customers look for in the products. The research and marketing department of Tata Steel continuously tries to analyze the customer preferences for products and tries to invest in the projects which offer the best marketing mix i.e. best price for the products and differentiated products as compared to the customers (Tata Steel, 2017). Based on the core competencies listed in the above table, the competitive advantage of Tata Steel i.e. capacity expansion, and the financial position of Tata Steel UK (SWOT analysis), it is evaluated that Tata Steel can competently reduce the cost of its operations for increasing its revenues and earnings as well as increasing its market share. Moreover, these strategies are also useful for Tata Steel to exist its penetrating market everywhere its operations are in process. Evaluation of strategy is as important as the formulation of strategies because the strategic management process requires a lot of resources for implementation. So, it must be made certain that we are not wasting our resources or using them in a wrongful manner (Atkinson, 2013). Strategic evaluation is carried out in order to know whether the strategy that has been designed will be able to achieve the required objectives or not. Three criteria are used for the purpose of strategy evaluation i.e. suitability, acceptability and feasibility. 1.1. Suitability Suitability refers to the overall objective and rationale of the proposed strategy i.e. whether the strategy proposed will be able to achieve the economies of scale or not or will it acquire the proposed strategic objectives to improve the overall position and outlook of business. For the purpose of measuring the suitability of market penetration for Tata Steel, it is important to analyze the trends and key drivers explained in the assignment 1. Trends: The current trends for the Tata Steel are not good because there is an overall decrease in demand due to cheap supply from China. Another reason is stricter regulation changes on the part of European Union and lower wage laws as well as expensive cost of production in Europe (Islam, 2016). Key drivers: The key drivers that prove to be helpful in boosting the sales revenue of Tata Steel include reduces costs of renewable energy, flexibility in emission regulations placed in by European Union and support provided to UK for numerous steel construction projects to increase the job market for people. So based on the trends in the market and key drivers, it is evaluated that Tata Steel can overcome the cost of production in UK by employing the expatriate labor into its steel industries so that the cost of labor is reduced. The employment of technology in all of its production plants can improve the production rate as well as differentiate its products in terms of quality. The reduced cost of energy i.e. 30% reduction in electricity bills and in gas prices is also a favorable driver for employing the technology in UK plants. Government should also make its regulations flexible so that Tata Steel can invest into steel projects and provide jobs to numerous people. As a result of evaluation, it is suggested that the proposed strategy can work well with Tata Steel because it has enough capacity to expand its operations, have improved infrastructure to add value to its supply chain and have enough competencies to take the market as a cost leader. 1.2. Acceptability Acceptability of strategy relates to the concern with which it meets and exceeds the expectations of its stakeholders. It is obvious that changing the cost of operations and prices of the products also affect the overall revenue of the business which in turn affect the dividend payment to its shareholders, flexibility in regulations involves government and increased production affects the environment (Atkinson, 2013). The key stakeholders of Tata Steel are presented as follows infleuntial stakeholders active particpants Stakeholders that impose The most influential shareholders of Tata Steel are its customers, competitors and the environment in which it is operating. The reduced costs of operations will reduce the prices of products which is beneficial for the customers. Competitors will have tough time imitating the strategy of Tata Steel. For environment, it is certain because Tata steel is producing environmentally sustainable steel. Government and suppliers are the most active participants in the business operations of Tata Steel. It is good that UK has been provided flexibility to invest in steel projects and the supply chain management of Tata Steel is already better and sophisticated and will be enhanced with the help of capacity expansion. The BODs, employees and shareholders of Tata Steel are better off with this strategy because increasing the markets share will eventually increase the market share and profits of the company. Shareholders, employees and BODs are the stakeholders who know the vision and mission of the company so at the end they are confident that market penetration strategy would pay something off to them. The acceptability criteria of strategy evaluation suggests that market penetration strategy will be acceptable to all of the stakeholders of Tata Steel. It can be evaluated in more detail by using the stakeholder matrix of power and interest. The matrix is as follows When the power and interest of stakeholders in an organization is high, it is necessary for them to be both engaged and influential while in case of low power and interest, they only need to monitor the company or keep an eye upon the company. While those stakeholders who impose the company strategy have both high power and high interest in the company. Tata steel UK is safe on all ends because the strategy is acceptable for the customers due to quality and price of products and for shareholders to receive the increased dividends. The most influential stakeholder in case of Tata Steel is environment because the production may impact the environment in an adverse way but it is operating in an environmentally and social sustainable and responsible manner. The strategy of market penetration is meeting the needs and expectations of all stakeholders of Tata Steel UK. 1.3. Feasibility Feasibility means that the strategy is good in terms of resources available to the organizations for its implementation (Atkinson, 2013). It has been studied that the main competitive advantage of Tata Steel is its ability to expand or capital expansion. Different elements have been taken into account for the purpose of checking the feasibility of strategy. The most important enabler affecting the implementation of market penetration is the cost and quality of products. The cost of products can only be reduced when a high cutting-edge technology is employed for the manufacturing and production of products. The RD of Tata Steel continuously strives and works hard to know preferences of customers for newer and innovative steel products. Another important consideration is workforce of Tata Steel. Although the workforce is highly talented and able to boost the revenue generated by Tata Steel, Tata Steel should pay them a handsome amount of salaries to them. They should invest in their workforce to boost their confidence to increase the market share. The financial viability of this strategy is considerably favorable because Tata Steel have enough resource for capacity expansion and reducing the overall costs of operation. Capacity expansion will generate the increased outcome thereby leading to increased market share. The new strategy proposed for Tata Steel is the market penetration using hybrid strategies of cost leadership and product differentiation. The analysis is conducted on the basis of thorough internal and external analysis of Tata Steel and it has been evaluated that the strategy is perfect in terms of its suitability, acceptability and feasibility. Tata Steel should adopt market penetration strategy for the purpose of boosting its market share because it has the capacity to expand its operations by using newer technology, the power of its labor and its efficient supply chain. Tata Steel UK has strong brand image and identity which will be very helpful to penetrate into its current market. It has to reduce the costs of its operations so that the products become a bit cheaper and attracts a new market share. This strategy will be helpful because China has been supplying the steel to the market at much lower price so for its survival and growth, Tata Steel has to adopt cost leadership al ong with product differentiation strategy. Strategy formulation starts with the thorough analysis of internal and external factors affecting the business. The external analysis for Tata steel UK suggested market trends for steel industry and the key drivers that are helpful for boosting the industry. Formulation and implementation of strategy is based upon the environmental analysis of Tata Steel. Market penetration is the best alternative for Tata Steel to increase its market share. It can be done with the help of cost leadership and product differentiation. The cost leadership can be achieved with the help of expansion of business because capacity expansion is the main competitive advantage of Tata Steel. References Anderson, C. and Vincze, J. (2004). Strategic marketing management. 1st ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Atkinson, D. (2013). Dynamic capabilities: implications for marketing strategy formulation and implementation. International Journal of Business Environment, 5(3), p.252. Hitt, M., Ireland, R. and Hoskisson, R. (2003). Strategic management. 4th ed. Australia: Thomson/South-Western. Islam, F. (2016). Understanding The Steel Crisis: 10 Key Points. Sky news. [online] Available at: http://news.sky.com/story/understanding-the-steel-crisis-10-key-points-10223034ÂÂ   [Accessed 15 Jan. 2017]. Jeyarathnam, M. (2008). Strategic management. 1st ed. Mumbai: Himalaya Pub. House. Jha, V. and Arora, S. (2013). Strategic leadership for corporate sustainable development at Tata Steel. International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 7(3), p.283. Johnson, G., Scholes, K., Whittington, R. and Johnson, G. (2011). Exploring strategy. 10th ed. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Kelsey, C. (2016). The facts and figures about Tata Steel UK. Wales Online. [online] Available at: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/facts-figures-tata-steel-uk-11258131ÂÂ   [Accessed 15 Jan. 2017]. Markets.ft.com. (2017). Tata Steel Ltd, TATASTEEL:NSI forecasts FT.com. [online] Available at: https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/forecasts?s=TATASTEEL:NSIÂÂ   [Accessed 15 Jan. 2017]. Schram, B. (2015). Redcar and Tata Steel: Four reasons why the UK steel industry is struggling to survive. International Business Times. [online] Available at: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/redcar-tata-steel-four-reasons-why-uk-steel-industry-struggling-survive-1524375ÂÂ   [Accessed 14 Jan. 2017]. Tata Steel, (2017). At a glance | Tata Steel in Europe. [online] Tatasteeleurope.com. Available at: http://www.tatasteeleurope.com/en/about%E2%80%93us/at-a-glance [Accessed 14 Jan. 2017]. Tata Steel, (2017). Our values | Tata Steel in Europe. [online] Tatasteeleurope.com. Available at: http://www.tatasteeleurope.com/en/about%E2%80%93us/valuesÂÂ   [Accessed 14 Jan. 2017]. Teece, D. (2010). Business Models, Business Strategy and Innovation. Long Range Planning, 43(2-3), pp.172-194. Trigeorgis, L. and Reuer, J. (2016). Real options theory in strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 38(1), pp.42-63. Multicultural Analysis of Japan: Traditions and Religions Multicultural Analysis of Japan: Traditions and Religions Land of the Rising Sun: Japan Japan is a country filled with old and rich traditional history that cant be found anywhere in the Western world. Japan and America share quite an interesting bond with one another. The bond between them seems to infer that they have most of their trust in each other, but trusting the notorious nation, China, is something that they can both get on terms with. Disagreements between the two powerful nations can form, for example, one being Japans role in regional security. The old nation is located in the continent of Asia, being an chain of islands, it is surrounded by the Sea of Japan ( East) and Pacific Ocean (West). Japan or Nihon as it is said in Japanese, translates to the suns origin. It is also known as, by its nickname Land of the Rising Sun. The old nation consist of a series of islands, which is close to around 6,852 islands. There are also four main islands as well, which include: Hokkaido, Honshu {largest island}, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Although there are no bordering countries since the country is a chain of islands, there are some neighboring countries by Japan, promptly consisting, but not excluding: South Korea, North Korea, China, Taiwan, Russia, and the Philippines. The current size of Japan is around some 145,932 miÂÂ ² and compared to the U.S. which is some 3,536,695 square miles. The country of Japan has the third-largest economy, after the United States and China, in the modern world. The country exports vital goods such as automobiles ( ex. Toyota, Honda, Mazda), computers, and other electronics. etc. Not to mention the fact that Japan natural resources that it exports it ems such as: fish and other seafood, gold, silver, magnesium, oil, Japan greatly depends on foreign/imported natural resources and fuels to keep manufacturing industries functioning and thriving. Some industries in Japan include: shipbuilding, textile, mining, bioindustry, processed foods, and construction. Besides noting Japans economy, the old nation is known for its unique physical features. The geography of the country consists of a mountainous terrain with basins, valleys, plains, and coral reefs; while also having temperate weather and consisting of four seasons. The country has many cultural traditions and holidays throughout the year. Obon, Lantern Festival, ( August 13- 16) is a buddhist festival that is held within the month of August, it that pays tribute to ancestral spirits by lighting lanterns in from of home and on rivers to guild spirits back home and to the underworld. Cultural Day ( November 3rd ) was previously known as the day of commemorating the birthday of the Meiji Emperor, but it was renamed to Culture Day to rejoice the Japanese Constitution as well as peace and freedom. Another holiday is Marine Day (Umi no hi [ July 3rd] ) which commemorates the blessings of the oceans and its significant importance for Japan as a nation. Both Japan and America share unique cultural difference, but their main difference is concerning education, not to mention the fact that recreation among them is quite the same. Similarly Japanese and American elementary schools last for six years. The difference is the in Japan junior high last for thr ee years, while in America it lasts for two. Another distinction is that students in Japanese high schools go to school for three years, while in American high schools students go to school for four years. Japanese and Americans typically do the same thing the same things for fun sports, shopping, hanging out with friends, and using electronics. Meals consumed by the Japanese are mainly homemade meals which may consist of a bowl of rice, miso soup, pickled vegetables, fish, and (or) meat. Religion is a thing that sets Japan apart from most countries. Religions in Japan are Shinto, Taoist, Confucian, Buddhism, and surprisingly Christianity. As far back as historians can date, Shinto was the most popular religion and oldest among the Japanese and even today it is. Buddhism was brought by monks in the 6th century. Both religions have been coexisting with each other in harmony for quite a long time, and most classify themselves as either Shinto or Buddhist, but in some instance both. Christianity on the other hand was introduced to Japan ( 1506- 1552) by a man named Francis Xavier. Although its not the most popular religion in Japan it still is practiced by some individuals. Surprisingly religion doesnt play a major role in the everyday lives of ordinary Japanese citizens. People may visit shrine or temples on New Year and participate in local festivals, all in which hav religious (historical) background. As an island nation, Japan has flourished and bloomed into a well known nation full of old traditional and modern ways of life. One may find that the nation is some like any other nation; a rich and old history, recreation, and important holidays/traditions. The fact that Japan is no bigger than the state of California may surprise foreigners at best and that although its a nation with the tenth highest population, its population is slowly decline every year. Such rural and old historical seem to be present in Japan to this day, hopefully this countrys unique history shall never fade.

Harley Davidson :: Business Management Essays

Overview Harley-Davidson’s management had much to be proud of as the company wrapped up its Open Road Tour centennial celebration that began in July 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia, and ended on the 2003 Memorial Day Weekend in Harley’s hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The 14-month Open Road Tour drew large crowds of Harley owners in each of its five stops in North America and additional stops in Australia, Japan, Spain, and Germany. Also during its 2003 centennial year, Harley-Davidson was named to Fortune’s list of â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work For† and was judged third in automotive quality behind Rolls-Royce and Mercedes-Benz by Harris Interactive, a worldwide market research and consulting firm best known for the Harris Poll. The company’s revenues had grown at a compounded annual rate of 16.6% since 1994 to reach $4.6 billion in 2003—marking its 18th consecutive year of record revenues and earnings. In 2003, the company sold more than 290,000 motor cycles, giving it a commanding share of the 651+cc motorcycle market in the U.S. and the leading share of the market in the Asia/Pacific region. The consistent growth had allowed Harley-Davidson’s share price to appreciate by more than 15,000% since the company’s initial public offering in 1986. In January 2004 the company’s CEO, Jeffrey Bleustein, stated that Harley-Davidson’s earnings growth rate should fall in the mid-teens for the foreseeable further and the company expected to increase unit sales to 400,000 units by 2007. However, not everyone was as bullish *This teaching note reflects the thinking, insight, and analysis of case authors, Professor John E. Gamble and Diplom-Betriebswirt Roger Schà ¤fer, both of the University of South Alabama. on Harley-Davidson’s future, with analysts pointing out that the company’s plans for growth were too dependent on aging baby boomers. The company had achieved its record growth during the 1990s and early-2000s primarily through the appeal of its image with baby boomers in the U.S. There was some question how much longer boomers would choose to spend recreational time touring the country by motorcycle and attending motorcycle rallies. The company had yet to develop a motorcycle that appealed in large numbers to motorcycle riders in their 20s or cyclists in Europe who both preferred performance oriented bikes rather than cruisers or touring motorcycles. Another concern of analysts watching the company was Harley-Davidson’s short-term oversupply of certain models brought about by the 14-month production run for its 100th anniversary models.