The Field Of Anthropology As A Field - 2218 Words

Attempts to understand other cultures have seemingly existed all throughout human history, yet the methods for doing so have changed over time. The field of anthropology dates back to the late 19th century, and when it reached the United States, it became even more WORD-widespread? Since then, it has continued to develop as a field, with new approaches becoming standard about every twenty years. Two of the main approaches to writing works of ethnography include ethnographic accounts of a culture foreign to the writer, and fictional stories, often based on the culture the writer himself belongs to. Each approach has its strengths and drawbacks, and both seek to achieve different objectives, but works of both styles have gained popularity for their insightful and thought-provoking commentary. Each method has a unique set of advantages to offer, and the cultivation of anthropology as a field has only furthered their influence. In the 1980s, a trend of objectivism spread across works of anthropology, which made sense, since the â€Å"founding fathers† of the field were primarily scholars of science. This background influenced how they viewed other cultures, compelling them to approach the societies they studied as part of a â€Å"controlled experimental setting† and â€Å"analyze how individual elements in this ‘closed system’ were interrelated and how they interacted† (Kohl 556). In the mid-1990s, a budding approach to ethnography by George Marcus was centered on a very different principle;Show MoreRelatedAnthropology : The Field Of Linguistic Anthropology912 Words   |  4 Pages Originally, linguistics was my intended major. Recently, I decided to switch my major to anthropology, and more specifically, the field of linguistic anthropology. For the linguistics major, one of my requirements for transferring to a university was to take a language and culture class. Seve ral of the first lectures focused on the history of linguistics and anthropology. I was introduced to the idea that language, thought, and culture all influence each other. This meant that studying languageRead MoreAnimal Ancestry : The Field Of Anthropology Essay1271 Words   |  6 PagesRyan Schueneman Intro to Anthropology Rachel McTavish 05 December 2016 Animal Ancestry Within the field of anthropology, there are various subsections that deal with specific branches of knowledge. Zooarchaeology, specifically, is a division of archaeology that deals with the remains of an animal after it has died. Much knowledge can be gleaned about various aspects of the animal itself, as well as the world surrounding it, through the study of zooarchaeology. The following will discuss the historyRead MoreField Work Paper Anthropology791 Words   |  4 PagesThere are many lost civilizations that today anthropologists and archaeologists are slowly finding. They go into these places and dig up artifacts and information about the people that live in these places. They also try and find what happened there to see what government they had, what they usually did in these places, and how they became lost. There are three places where each has an old, small, lost culture or civilization. These three places are Peru, Bangladesh, and Florida. Here is some informationRead More Anthropology : Anthropology And Anthropology1550 Words   |  7 Pagesimagined the endless careers that are available to anthropology majors, before taking Professor Sharratt’s Intro to Anthropology course. The things that I have learned in anthropology have opened my mind to a variety of different career paths that is possible with a degree in anthropology. Anthropology majors go off to a plethora of careers with their degrees in anthropology. Anthropology is â€Å"the study of humankind in all times and place†. Anthropology has four different subfields which include: Physical/BiologicalRead MoreHow Technology has Changed Anthropology872 Words   |  4 PagesHow technology has changed Anthropology â€Å"Anthropology is the most humanistic of the sciences and the most scientific of the humanities† – Alfred L. Kroeber Anthropology is holistic. Humans are social beings more than anything, but with underlying psychological, biological and cultural connotations. The field of anthropology encompasses everything and anything having to do with humankind throughout history. Anthropology attempts to answer the tough questions about the human condition. What influencesRead MoreApplied Anthropology: Domains of Application Essay1502 Words   |  7 Pages Applied Anthropology is difficult to fully implement into a being’s existence. When using applied anthropology, many factors must be taken into account such as the Darwin approach, theological approach, or any other specialized field of anthropology. All can have an effect on human culture and relationships, but all have their benefits and harms that can behoove or dismay a human individual in their field of study. The study of humanity is unfortunately as fallible as humanity itselfRead MoreEssay on The Role of the Reflexive Ethnog rapher1252 Words   |  6 Pagesof the study of anthropology. The use of reflexivity has and will always be questioned in anthropology. Malinowski, who was a pioneer in the field of anthropology, discouraged the use of reflexivity; he, instead, believed that anthropology was scientific and could produce â€Å"concrete evidence† (Malinowski 17). Reflexivity is way in which anthropologists try to get rid of this scientific and rigid anthropology; it is a move towards an emotional and self-reflective anthropology. Reflexivity deniesRead MoreThe Full Scope Of Human Life871 Words   |  4 Pagesstrong need humans have to fully understand what it truly means to be human. Many fields such as history, psychology, and sociology all offer a perspective in the study of humanity, but there are distinguishable from anthropology. Anthropology differs from other humanities fields due to its holistic nature, comparative research methods, and the strong emphasis on fieldwork and participant interaction. Anthropology is the study of people throughout the world, their evolutionary history, how they behaveRead MoreThree Disciplines1097 Words   |  5 PagesThe Three Disciplines all appeal to me in some ways, but if I had to choose between anthropology, psychology, and sociology, I would have to choose psychology. The reasoning behind it wi ll be explained in detail but it can be broken down to three main reasons; being the first discipline with verified results and facts rather than unproven theories, having more post-high school opportunities considering that I wish to pursue a career in business, and being the most in-depth discipline. PsychologyRead MoreAn Analysis Of Nancy Scheper Hughes Article1270 Words   |  6 PagesIn Nancy Scheper-Hughes article she draws on her fieldwork in South Africa, Cuba and Brazil where she encountered a challenge to sociocultural anthropology as she saw a transition from her using an objective model to a moral model. She has calls for an ethically grounded, militant anthropology because she sees the importance of being fully involved in one’s own research rather than just simply being an observer. According to Hughes, acting primarily as a witness does not allow you to fully understand

Leslie twiggy Hornby Essay - 1279 Words

quot;At 17 Leslie Hornby took hold of the world. At 21 she let it go, she was the original waif, a 60’s phenomenon a superstar. She was Twiggyquot; (Vogue). Leslie Hornby was the revolutionary woman who changed the idea of beauty in the eyes of the fashion industry and the entire world. Twiggy exemplified the androgynous mod look that swept America as it had Britain and much of Europe in the 1960’s. She healthily maintained a 5 ft 6 1/2 inch 90 lb body. Based on her thin figure, a nickname of quot;Twiggyquot; was derived. Twiggy’s popularity not only produced many people who tried to look like her but also drastically increased the hourly wages of models. She paved the way for current top models like Kate Moss, Elle MacPherson,†¦show more content†¦Twiggy’s success soared when she made her first visit to America. On March 20,1967 the second she stepped off the plane she was swarmed by fans, and was candy to the media’s eyes. She was like a fever that spread. Everyone wanted a piece of her. Her pictures were everywhere. Twiggy’s popularity allowed her to charge revolutionary high prices an hour. She charged as much as $240 an hour opposed to a 50’s top model like Suzy Parker who only received about $40 an hour (Century of Models). Once again Twiggy set the standard for 90’s top models to earn outrageous sums of money. For example, the 90’s Twiggy (Kate Moss) earns about 26.3 million dollars a year. One reason for Twiggy’s great success was that the public had never seen anyone like her. She had a completely new look that took the entire world by surprise. During the 40’s, long limbed, and sophisticated was the trend. In the 50’s, a more curvaceous womanly look (Marilyn Monroe) was in. Twiggy set the 60’s waiflike standard. What a leap from Marilyn to Twiggy. They were almost completely opposite. Twiggy’s influence is still seen on today’s runways and television. The current day Twiggy is Kate Moss. Her figure is strikingly similar (Twiggy 31-22-32, Moss 33-22-35) (Century of Models). Remarkably, Twiggy’s favorite thing to eat was ice cream, bananas and hot fudge, she doesn’t drink or smoke but quot;eats like a horsequot; (Time). Twiggy isShow MoreRelated Understanding the Causes of Negative Body Image Essay518 Words   |  3 Pagesthe late Middle Ages until the 1800s, the rounded figure of a women’s body remained the prevailing image. The rounded figure was a sign of wealth, fertility, and prosperity. The thin â€Å"waif look† didn’t enter our society until 1967 when Leslie Hornby, known as Twiggy, began showing up in the media. Moe also discussed the emergence of the mass media which confronted people with many â€Å"ideal† bodies to look at and quickly, body image became a widespread obsession. The book did a great job of goingRead More Medias Influences on the Development of a Womans Self-Esteem1301 Words   |  6 Pagesare thin (Henderson-King Henderson-King. The media widely popularizes the female figure as very thin. This all has its roots to 1959 and the introduction of the Barbie Doll and then in 1967 the ?waif look? entered our society when Leslie Hornby, known as Twiggy, began showing up in the media. The majority of actresses throughout the history of media have been thin (Beauty and Body Image in the Media). Many of today?s personalities are thin, and with the newer shows and movies coming out, it is

Hotel Accommodation Operation Free Essays

INTRODUCTION Cabot Hotel depends on room revenue rather than selling liquor or food because most of the hotel capital comes from numbers of room sold. However there are different methods of sales technique that Cabot Hotel use to increase room revenue, one is to bring new and old customers to continue to use their establishment rather than their competitor. Good sales technique is one of the important key elements in Cabot Hotel when currying out duties because every customer have different types of needs, by providing the right information and selling the right product and services to the customer at the right time, and persuading guests to pay more for an accommodation and to use the establishment facilities that can increase the business profit. We will write a custom essay sample on Hotel Accommodation Operation or any similar topic only for you Order Now Abbot, P. And Lewry, S. (1999)Baker, et al. (994) Abbot, P. And Lewry, S. (1999) Up- Selling persuade guest during the checking- in to purchase other products starting with the higher price, medium and then lower price or (Abbot and Lewry, 1999) â€Å"other add-ons in order to make more room revenue† and also giving suggestion on a particular services or product that the hotel offers to encourage guests to use more of the establishment leisure facilities, for example; Sauna and steam room A luxury spa offering a range f luxury treatments for ladies, gentlemen and even for the children Hotel front desk clerk are in an excellent position to captures and encourage more walk-in guests to purchase their products, instead of just welcoming the guests and quoting room rates, the receptionist can start by offering the guest two or there room types and give descriptions of features that will make them seem as appealing as possible, It also important to secure other guests from migrating from other hotels by talking to the guest about other benefits and advantage of the establishment. Greeting Guests When checking-out a guest saying farewell and greeting them in the correct manner it influences on the impression which they will take way with them. When checking-out a guest is good opportunity to encourage the guest to return again in the future by using their first name when saying goodbye and we look forward to seeing you again, that personal touch can encourage the guest to make their next booking there and then. A hotel is kind of second home to some guests and departing can be comfortless time, at that moment he or she is likely to be particularly receptive to the suggestion that you would like to see them back sometime. (Abbot and Lewry, 1999) â€Å"You can ask ‘I hope you enjoyed your stay?’, and if you get an affirmative answer, go on to ‘are you going to be coming back this way againCan I make a provisional bookingEven if few guests decide to book again at least you will have a repeat business.Baker, et al. (994) Product knowledge It’s very important as a receptionist to know about the facilities that Cabot Hotel offers because there might be times when they have to encourage guest to use more of their establishment facilities than they had original intended to do. When checking-in a guest it also important to know exactly the products and services the hotel offers to meet the needs of various customers. For example: Business female guest Families with children Small group of people If the guests continues to use their establishment facilities and return to purchase their products it more likely that their facilities will continue to remain in the business and it can increase the sale result and the company would make profit. Follow-up techniques The follow-up techniques is use to trace back previous customer, there are people who have already had reason to come to your hotel or customer that have most likely been happy with their choice. The company would send email or letter by post to their guests offering them the latest product and services which are available and also other promotional products. Abbot and Lewry(1999) Communication Communication can be verbal and non-verbal.Verbal communication is when speech is use to communicate with a guest and non-verbal is when you use your body language. When dealing with a guest over the telephone or at the desk it very important to treat each guest and their needs with respect because without customer there’s no business revenue and work, so it important that your voice sound polite, friendly and maintain good eye contact with the guest at all time when taking a booking or dealing with a complain, that can influence the customer to purchase Cabot Hotel products and to use their services again. Baker, et al. (994) Front-desk-sales-training(2011) Q-2A) The check-in process start some time before the guest has arrive, the front office will prepare the arrival list twenty- four hours in advance, the list contains the expected date and time and other special requirements, and copies are sent to different departments within the hotel, such as, housekeeper, head porter and food and beverage. A FEMALE BUSINESS PERSON TRAVELLING ALONE A female business traveller requires executive room with additional suites including; A generally higher quality of furniture and fitting With a selection of magazines Bathrobes and a higher standard of toiletries Telephone in the bathroom Morning newspaper Comfortable room, located where there’s no transportation disturbance and with better view. Also room with enough space fully en-suit including the following facilities air conditioning, central heater within the room tea and coffee making facility hairdryer minibar digital LCD flat-screen television with choice of international channels/ radio, interactive video on demand and extension speaker in bathroom dual line, direct dial digital telephone with connection points by both bed and writing desk wireless broadband internet access throughout the hotel luxury toiletries in bathroom trouser press laptop sized safe. Special amenities, decor appealing to women. For example big mirror and wardrobe also make-up facilities. A Car park facility where they can park their car. LEISURE FACILITIES Sauna and steam room Changing room Luxury spa offering a range of luxury treatment A FAMILY OF FOUR WITH CHILDREN AGE 6 AND 8 Access to information Maps Internet Having an easy access to information such as city maps and internet helps them to move around more easily with less troubles of getting lost, the use of internet is very handy to finding restaurants, transport, special events and other different type of facilities. Accommodation- room type standard (double) standard (twin) A family of four would have more requirements to meet their needs, in order to feel comfortable they require good accommodation to suit the whole family. Rooms’ facilities including digital LCD flat-screen television with choice of international channels/ radio, interactive video on demand dual line, direct dial telephone with connection points by the bedside family meal menu in the restaurant is very important for the family to socialise with each other food heating facility LEISURE FACILITIES Sauna and steam rooms Changing room Luxury spa offering a range of luxury treatments for ladies, gentlemen and children A SMALL GROUP OF TEN PERSONS ACCOMMODATED IN 5 TWIN ROOMS Access to information Having an easy access to information such as city maps and internet would help group travellers to travel around the city easily with less troubles, the use of internet would be very handy to finding restaurants, transport, special events and other different type of facilities within the city. Accommodation- room type 5 standard (twin rooms) Group of ten people requires good accommodation to suit each individual needs. Each room with facilities including digital LCD flat-screen television with choice of international channels/ radio, interactive video on demand dual line, direct dial telephone with connection points by the bedside hairdryer and dual voltage shaver outlet toiletries in bathroom trouser press tea and coffee making machine LEISURE FACILITIES Sauna and steam rooms Changing room Luxury spa offering a range of luxury treatments for ladies, gentlemen and children Q 3) When a reservation for a booking has been confirmed by Cabot Hotel, the guest will enter into a bind contract. The guest is expected to turn up and the hotel must provide the agreed accommodation. If any of the party fails to honour its side of the bargain, it must compensate the other for any loss suffered. If Cabot hotel is responsible for walking-out a guest, the hotel will accommodate the guest to another hotel and pay for other expenses. Guests are not allowed to change a room reservation once confirmed, room rates and other taxes included in the booking must be paid in full when confirmed reservation is made. If the customer fails to make the full payment or credit arrangements are not made with the company, when a reservation is confirmed, Cabot hotel might any time cancel the reservation. For booking cancelation refund, Customer must give 48 hours notice before the expected date, cancellations up to 21 days before the arrival date 20 percent of the room costs, up to 11 days before 40 percent, up to 7 days before 60 percent and 6 days or less – 80 percent of the room costs. Customer who makes online booking need to pay 10 percent deposit, The deposit is to assurance the company from any profit lost if a customer decides to cancel their booking at the last minute or decides to not show-up on the expected date and time. Booking cancellation and no-show has a huge impact on hotel profit. It can cost the hotel a large amount of lost in room revenue. If you book a room for some nights at Cabot hotel and decide to depart earlier, it will be assess early departure and you have to pay a fee because you did not stay for the entire number of night reserved. Cabot hotel charge 50 percent if you decide to leave your room after the posted check-out time (between 12noon to 3pm) the 50 percent charge is the daily room rate for a late check-out fee. Hotel cancellation policy law (2011) Q-4A) The sales department needs to do the number of rooms occupied divided by the number of room available ? 100, to check whether there’s enough room available to accommodate their guests . There are other factor the sales department should consider before accepting the booking. Such as: The time of the year (shoulder season –December ) Time of the week (weekend or weekdays) Number of rooms required (30 or maybe more) The room rates and discount ( group room rate) Name of the tour operator Contact details of the booker. James, A, Bardi. (1947) the sales mix ration is important because it contributes to the business finance success, the hotel room division manager needs to keep a tract of how many group booking are being sold and their rates, if rooms are being sold for the same lower rate throughout the month the room division manger needs to obtain the higher possible quantity of room revenue occupancy rate to increase the business profit. Baker et al, (1994 For group booking the check-in process might start a week before their arrival date because groups require more preparation. A copy of the arrival list can also be sent to the general manager if any VIP’s expected. Denney G, I, Rutherford (1942) and Abbot and Lewry(1999) Bibliography Denney G, I, Rutherford (1942) Hotel Management, 2ndedn, America: New York Front-desk-sales-training, (retrieved 05, April 2011, from (http://www.ehow.com/facts_6856648_front-desk-sales-training.html) Hotel cancellation policy law (retrieved 05, April 2011, from (http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/guide/resources/hotel-cancellation.html) James, A, Bardi.(1947) Hotel front office management, 5th ed. Hoboken, New Jersey. Abbot, P. and Lewry, S. (1999) Front Office. 2nd ed. Butterworth: Heinemann Baker, S., Huyton, J. And Bradley, P. (1994) Principles of Hotel Front Office Operation. 2nd ed. Strand: London How to cite Hotel Accommodation Operation, Essay examples

Drugs in Schools free essay sample

Problems solutions. Examined in terms of drugs abused, incidence, at-risk students, reasons for use, abuse-prevention programs, peer pressure, health education and community approach. Includes examples. Todays adolescents are heavily involved in the drug culture, and drug-related activity is increasingly invading the school environment. Students come to school high and some brazenly use drugs on school property. Drug dealing, once a rare occurrence on school campuses, is not uncommon. Given the disruptive effect of drugs in a learning environment, the creation of drug-free schools in the educational system is a critical issue. Schools were once considered safe zones from illegal drug-related activities, but those days are past. As Berliner and Biddle (1995) point out, Since the 1960s large amounts of marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and hallucinogens have been sold to Americas youth, and a good deal of that drug trade has been conducted in Americas schools (p. 233). Schools have responded..

Analysis Marketing Plan of Tesco free essay sample

Table of Contents Executive Summary Introduction 1. Contextual analysis of the Tesco 2. Customer Analysis (markets, segmentation, targeting and positioning, branding) 3. Competition analysis (major competitors, their strengths and weakness etc) 4. Tesco strategic approach 5. Channel analysis (distribution and communication) 6. Marketing Management Implementation of Tesco Plc 7. Contingency Plan Conclusion References Executive Summary This article discusses about marketing-plan developed for Tesco Plc which is the largest retail network of retail food stores in UK. The marketing plan covers various important aspects which are significant for processing the marketing problems connected with internal and the external environment of Tesco. The article has critically analyzed the situational analysis in which organizational strategy, client’s behavior, Porter’s five forces; the Ansoff matrix (to determine products and market growth strategy), SWOT-analysis and marketing efficiency have been described.In the objective section of the marketing plan, mission, vision, corporate objectives and marketing objectives of Tesco are examined from high angle of perspective and various strategic measures of segmentation, targeting and positioning are suggested to gain competitive advantage. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis Marketing Plan of Tesco or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As Tesco constantly faces threats of capturing its market share by nearest rivals, how marketing mix of 7ps, will help Tesco to analyze its current position in food retail sector of UK is highlighted. Assessment of Tesco management also has been given in the marketing plan which includes key parameters of efficiency.Beside contingency plan of Tesco is also discussed. (Clarke, 1994) Introduction Changes occurring in scenario of marketing have been posing problems for all retail companies in-spite of their competitive positions in the market. The marketing plan is revival step for the company to give a new direction for its business. I have chosen Tesco Plc for the marketing plan which is the largest UK retail trade and operational chinks in field of food retail commerce. Tesco PLC is the global general merchandising and the grocery retail seller.It is the largest British retail from the point of view of global sales and a fraction in a home market. 1. Contextual analysis of the Tesco Industry analysis: Pestel framework Political Factors Operating in globalization conditions with stores worldwide (Tesco now operates in six countries of the Europe, in addition to the Great Britain, Ireland, Hungary, Czech, Slovakia, Turkey and Poland, it also operates in Asian countries such as South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and Taiwan). Performance of Tesco is highly under influence of political and legislative conditions of these countries, including the European Union (EU). For employment, the government encourages stores to provide mix jobs possibilities for employment from flexible, lower paid and local jobs to highly paid, highly skilled and centrally located jobs. Also to cater the demands of the population categories such as the students, working parents and older people. Tesco understands, that retail commerce has dramatic effect on jobs and people factors (new development of store often saw, how destruction of other jobs in sector of retail commerce as traditional stores leave business or compelled to save the cost to compete), being inherently and local labor-consuming sectors. Kotler, 2008) Economical Factors Economic forces cause concern to Tesco because they can affect demand, costs, the prices and profits. One of the most influential factors on economy is the high rate of unemployment which decreases demand for many goods, negatively influencing on the demand of such goods necessary for manufacture. These economic forces substantially do not depend on the company, but their influence on productivity and marketing maybe deep.Though the international business still grows, and it is expected, will assist the greater sum on profit of Tesco within next several years, the company still depends strongly on the market of the Great Britain. Consequently, Tesco will be strongly affected with any slowdown in food market of the Great Britain and exposure to market concentration risk. Social/Cultural Factors Current trends specify that the British clients have inclined to one stop and volumetric shopping that is connected with various social changes.Therefore Tesco have increased the quantity of non food items available for sale. (Kotler, 2008) Demographic changes, such as ageing of the population, an increase of women-workers and decrease in house preparation of meal means, that the Great Britain retailers are concentrating on added value products and services. (Lancaster,2005) Besides concentration is now moving towards, own labels share of business mix, supply chain and other operational improvements which can lower expenses of business. National retailers are more and more constrained to find new suppliers.Type of the goods and the services demanded by consumers depend on their social conditionality and their subsequen t installation and belief. Consumers become more and more informed on questions of healthcare, and their attitude to meal constantly change. One of examples Tesco adaptation of its product mix is to accommodate increase in demand of organic products consists. The company also was the first to permit consumers to pay in the form of checks and cash in cash department. Technological FactorsTechnology is a major macro-environmental variable which has influenced the development of many of Tesco products. The new technologies benefit both customers and the company: customer satisfaction rises because goods are readily available; services can become more personalized and shopping is more convenient. The launch of the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) initiative provided the shift that is now apparent in the management of food supply chains. Tesco stores utilize the following technologies: †¢Wireless devices †¢Intelligent scale Electronic shelf labeling †¢Self check-out machine †¢Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) The adoption of Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS), Electronic Funds Transfer Systems (EFTPoS) and electronic scanners have greatly improved the efficiency of distribution and stocking activities, with needs being communicated almost in real time to the supplier. (Lancaster,2005) Environmental Factors In 2010 pressure upon many companies and managers has been increased to recognize the responsibility before a society and to operate by which society is benefitted as a whole.With the basic social question threatens sellers of food stuffs were the environmental problems and one of key areas for the companies to operate in socially responsible with maintenance of its reputation. Therefore, accepting this tendency within the limits of wide ethical positions, to corporate social responsibility of company Tesco concerns ways in which the organizations exceeds the minimal obligations to the interested sides specified by means of regulation and corporate management.In 2010 the government plans to start new strategy of stable consumption and manufacture to reduce waste, to reduce consumption of resources and to reduce to a minimum damage to an environment. The last the legislation has created the new tax to advertise with a high degree of processing and fatty foods. So-called fat tax directly mentions product Tesco’s ranges which subsequently have been adapted, mentioning attitudes as with suppliers and clients Legislative Factors Various legislations government policies also render direct influence on performance Tesco.For example, Food retailing commission (FRC) has offered Code of practice should be created, prohibiting many of existing practice, such as demanding payments from suppliers and variation in the coordinated prices retrospectively or without notice. Availability of powerful competitors with known brands creates threat of intensive price wars and strong requirements to differentiation of production. (Kotler, 2008) Government policy on monopoly of management and decrease in power consumption of buyers can limit an input in this sector from such control, as license requirements and restrictions on access to raw material.With a view of realization politically a proper pricing policy, Tesco offers consumers, reduction of prices on purchase of fuel on the basis of the sum spent for products in the stores. Though the prices are lowered on the advertised goods, the prices in other shops rise to compensate. (Lancaster,2005) 2. Customer Analysis (markets, segmentation, targeting and positioning, branding) Marketing strategy (STP) Segmentation, targeting and positioning are three marketing strategy which should be used by the company for promoting its Fairtrade products aggressively, with objective of increasing sales. Porter, 1980) The f ollowing concern to them: Segmentation of strategy: Segmentation strategy plays a huge role in success or refusal of the company. Mass, local and niches, all segments of the market should be considered in marketing plan on expansion of sale of Fairtrade products for increasing satisfaction of clients in effective manner. For maintenance of the maximal consumer value, behavior of consumers will be studied before segmentation in which their taste and preferences, attitudes and the behavior of buyers will be estimated.Pink: Pink part of a matrix designates area which has high appeal of a segment and the most suitable for the company over the longer term. Red color: red part of a matrix reflects environments which have a smaller piece of appeal in comparison from the mass market. This part has less validity for the plan in comparison from the mass market. Green: In this part of a segment of a matrix, reflects to a measure of appeal from the point of view of a segment and has smaller validity for marketing-plan developed for a retail network. Targeting strategyTargeting strategy in the marketing plan of business al so defines viability. The target market for marketing plan must involve those people who have preferences for Fair trade products as children, youth and people of middle age should participate all. The company should estimate demands of clients, with objective to reveal them in well planned in the image. For this purpose the firm should analyze the preferences and taste in Fairtrade products. The consumer behavior should be well analyzed prior to the beginning of targeting strategy. (Porter, 1980) Positioning strategy: positioning in the arket for separate types of production plays a major part in the marketing plan. Fairtrade products should be located in city centre market in all stores of Tesco. Fairtrade products for youth and people of middle age in the Great Britain and other countries are recommended. For satisfaction of a growing demand for target clients for Fairtrade products, the product will be positioned in a convincing manner. On quality Fairtrade hints innovative design and to the added cost, this product will be positioned in intelligence of clients. This brand competes with the license goods offered by Wal-Mart.For this purpose the companies should go on some innovative modes to entice attention of clients to production of Fairtrade products. 3. Competition analysis (major competitors, their strengths and weakness etc) Strategy: Tesco accepts effective marketing strategy for achievement of objects in view, which are viable during long success of start of the business. By means of these strategies, the company competes in the world market and has reached the top position in field of retail commerce. The company is organized in viable image which is responsible for its lead positions in field of retail commerce.For this part, model of McKinsey from 7Ss as strategy, staff, shared values, structure, skills, system and style is applied in Tesco. Five forces of Porter model is applied for an assessment of competitive advantages of industry. Tesco PLC works in industry of retail commerce, which is diversified industry. Progress of a competition in the industry for PLC Tesco looks as follows: Porter’s Five Forces Analysis The analysis of structure of the industry should be undertaken to find effective sources of competitive advantage. Porter’s Five Forces, 2008)Therefore, with objective of the analysis of the competitive environment of Tesco, analysis of Porter’s five forces has been used by the researcher as follows: Threat of substitute products and services †¢The threat of substitutes in the grocery retail market is essentially below for food stuffs and f rom an average up to high for non food items. †¢In retail trade of food stuffs, substitutes of the giant food retailers are chain of small convenience stores and organic shops which are not considered as threat for supermarkets as Tesco which offer products of high quality under significantly lower prices. Besides Tesco is further holding its upper hand by, opening Express shops in local cities and the city centers thereby creating obstacles for these substitutes in the market. †¢Nevertheless, threat of substitutes for non food products, for example clothes is rather high. It is necessary to note, that until then as economic recession prevails, clients will be inclined to discounts, and consequently, Tesco is threat for special-purpose shops. (Porter’s Five Forces, 2008) Threat of entry of new competitors †¢Threat of occurrence of new competitors in the food-processing industry is low. It requires huge capital investments to be competitive and to create a brand. The basic brands which have already grasped retail trading in food stuffs are Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Morrisons and their fraction is 80 % of shopping in the Great Britain. Thus, new participants should make something at extremely low price and / or high quality to establish their market. †¢Reception of permit from planning local self-management borrows a significant amount of time and resources for creation of new supermarkets and it is therefore a significant obstacle for new participants. Intensity of competitive rivalry The intensity of competitive rivalry in food and grocery retail industries is extremely high. †¢Tesco has an intensive competition from the direct competitors, including Asda, Sainsburys, Morrisons and Waitrose which compete with each other at the price, products and promotional activities. Therefore it is necessary to emphasize, that Asda is one of the basic competitors in this segment with an increase in fraction of the market from 16,6 % up to 16,8 % in 2010 financial year / 09 while Sainsburys has shown growth up to 16,1 % from 15,8 % and Morrisons up to 11,6 % from 11,3 % through the same period.Slow growth of the market in essence means that these increases of a fraction of the market from competitors became more active in the mark et rivalry which threatens leadership of Tesco’s position in the market. (Porter’s Five Forces, 2008) †¢In rural areas where the nearest supermarket maybe at some distance, some primary consumers are attracted by Somerfield and Co-op. †¢Rigid discounts by Aldi, as well as Lidl have taken in the market during recession. In 2008 they have recorded growth of sales more than on 25 %.Bargaining power of buyers †¢Bargaining power of buyers of buyers rather high. †¢In cases when products have small differentiations and more standardized, switching cost is very low, and buyers can easily be switched from one brand to another. †¢ It was offered, that clients are attracted towards the low prices, and with availability of online retail stores, the prices for products can easily compared and, thus are chosen. Bargaining power of suppliers †¢Supplier’s bargaining power is low. It is necessary to note, that suppliers are always inclined towards big grocery food retailers and fear to lose the business contracts with large supermarkets. Consequently position of retail commerce of Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys further strengthen and negotiations are positive to receive the lowest possible price from suppliers. (Porter’s Five Forces, 2008) SWOT Analysis of Tesco SWOT-analysis Tesco in the Great Britain: Strengths Reputation of Tesco for low costs of products, can receive Fair-trade cotton clothes high market proportion in the Great Britain.Tesco growth in sector of insurance provides financial stability for Tesco in the Great Britain. Other important factor is the increase in growth of sales through the Internet and fair-trade products of a cotton fabric can be included in these sales. Brand recognition of Tesco in the Great Britain is the important force and will help fair trade products of a cotton fabric. (MacDonald, 1999) Weaknesses Tesco’s weaknesses are that still it substantially depends on the Great Britain for its sale. Hardly will it support fair commerce objectives for cotton fabric.Business-model which Tesco uses approaches for the Great Britain, instead for other world. Though Tesco sales grow with the low priced items there is a falling on sale insignificantly on expensive products. If Fair-trade cotton clothes are perceived as insignificant, its sales objective will not be reached. Tesco suffers from hopeless debts, debts on a credit card and household insurances claims. It is financial wearisome. Opportunities Tesco can carry out a high degree of purchasing capacity to guarantee, that it has a scale effect in its Fair-trade cotton clothing line.Opportunities in Europe and Asia provide excellent possibilities for growth. The most important, growth of on-line sales shows a fine possibility for an increase of sales Tesco. Threats Increase of Fairtrade prices of cotton clothing can lead to decrease in sales of food products and decrease in profit for Tesco. Variations in purchase trends of consumers in Great Britain due to variation of technology can lead to loss of clients in the Great Britain. (MacDonald, 1999) 4. Tesco strategic approach Market objectives and strategies implementationStrategy framework and structurization tools are keys to an assessment business-situation. Risk and cost compromises neatly, leading to specific proposals to raise value and to lower risk. Explicit plans of action, including effective indispensability of planning should be developed Tesco as strategic alternatives. From the general strategy it was spoken above, Tesco is possibly to apply two strategic versions which are prime objectives of the market and also can concentrate on development of the market, though partner attitudes and diversification by development of new products use. Peck, 1999) Market Development Strategy: Joint Developments and Strategic Alliances With entering into new markets such as China and Japan, it can serve key factor in growth of incomes of the company and strategy of expansion. Interests of Tesco in Japan, possibly, will continue to grow in due time as the Asian markets show growth in consumer spending and an increase of the tendency towards retail commerce. These new markets also serve as high opportunity demographically markets. In case of Tesco, one of offered strategic versions in the international alliances is with local retail dealers in the Asian markets.It will be considered as a method of progress and maybe generated on use of existing resources and the competence. Entering into joint ventures or partnership, with objective of reception of a greater scale effect greater presence in the market, Tesco will lean on an extensive local knowledge and experience of the partners while adding own circuits of deliveries, progress o f a product and keeps operations skills to deliver better shopping experience of clients. However, considering huge scales, potential and complexities in these markets, Tesco can feel that being the first mover, advantage is not mandatory. Success of partnership will be connected with three basic criteria of success: stability, acceptability and feasibility. Whether stability will be engaged Strategic circumstances in which the company works are considered. It is a question about a background of this strategy development for expansion of the market. Acceptability is the risk level and probability of reaction of the interested sides concerns to expected profitableness from strategy. Whether technical and economic will consider Tesco has resources and the competence to deliver strategy. (Peck, 1999) Product Development: DiversificationVariations in the business scenario can create needs for new products and services at the cost of established provision Ansoff matrix also assumes, that if new products are developed for the existing markets strategy, then strategy to develop product, should be considered at management level by the company. In expansion and diversifications, assortment of products for Tesco is of critical i mportance for realization of internal progress when new products are developed. Character and a degree of diversification should be considered also in connection with a background of corporate strategy and a variety of a portfolio.Following changing in demands of Tesco clients, it is possible to launch new types of products. It can demand more attention on RD that leads to additional expenses. The retail industry experiences superfluous capacities both innovative services and the products, being the basic competitive advantage. Thus, the innovation should be a major factor for development of products of company Tesco. For example, Tesco can launch portfolio for various stores formats in the Great Britain and each of which is intended for different shopping experience.Though the majority of the East Europe and the Far East outputs are hypermarkets, Tesco also can develop various types of stores in these markets, as well as the added cost by virtue of uniqueness finally will lead Tesco commands the high price. Management of technological innovations is increasing in all strategic decisions more actively. Tesco should use the internal forces and minimize the internal weaknesses for achievement of stable competitive advantage (Though competitive advantage is objective of innovators wish to reach, the possibility of creation of a platform and depends on how they could operate innovations.Nevertheless, it does not mean, that the innovator should possess all necessary capabilities, the main thing, skill to organize and use a possibility of others to create business-platform). (Peck, 1999) 5. Channel analysis (distribution and communication) Tesco continues to focus on peak efficiency of the chain deliveries, but what consequences for sustainability? We detect, Tesco in complex objectives for minimizing waste for satisfaction of cost, productivity and ecological objectives.Under policy of ongoing Tesco network optimization program, Tesco has developed significant infrastructure over the last de cade, by opening new warehouse, site closures, and transferring of management. Tesco moved from Crick regional distribution centre and the Wincanton-operated Middleton 1 depot to add more network capacity at new distribution centre at Livingston and a new purpose-built RDC at Lichfield. Tesco also has opened new centre of distribution in the Goole for the slow moving grocery and non food items. Palmer, 2005) Delivering an integrated transport solution In a transport network, there was precise focus on driving efficiency by progress of a primary network of consolidation while a cargo transportation stations and onwards play a key role in granting constitutions to concentrate on own store pick and delivery operations. This installation allows naturally for the best product grouping so that products come together to store by one special delivery. There also it has been directed on improvement and integration of initial and average fleet of transport.Tesco has been working on various chains deliveries initiatives and new business practice on storekeeping fuel economy, recycling, developing transport solutions, logistics and collaborative options of transport with suppliers. Tescos Environmental Targets About the ecological agenda, some of complex objectives of Tesco in clude: †¢own distribution fleet, Tesco is directed on reduction of emissions of 50 % by 2012 †¢Tesco is participant of Carbon Trust and now participates for measurement of emissions of carbon on five basic categories food coverings tomatoes, Potato, orange juice, bulbs and washing-up liquids. Tesco has obligations on reduction of packing on 25 % on both branded and non branded products during the following of 3 years. To track the progress concerning the obligations, Tesco has rolled out packing parameters with suppliers. Tesco distribution owns more than 76000 SKU and 95 % of volumes are delivered through the centralized distribution. Re-designs of an infrastructure of deliveries for maintenance of stable future growth is one of key problems at 29 constitutions and more than 2000 vehicles, 659 million kilometers of primary and secondary transport operations.But it would be fair to tell, that Tesco has achieved significant progress for last two years and, undoubtedly, the nearest years will see the further variations. (Palmer, 2005) 6. Marketing Management Implementation of Tesco Plc It is the important area for any marketing plan, the organization should follow well defined models and approaches for carrying out of the marketing plan to gain advantage. The following concern to them: Growth Ansoff Matrix serves strategic alternative which helps the company with decision-making on a product and gr owth of the market. The output from this matrix assists in development of strategy of growth. Ansoff Matrix state clearly, that penetration on the market is the best fitting strategy which should be directed on Tesco PLC as it should increase the domination now in the market with the present product. (Wilson, 2005) Marketing integration mix It consist of seven segments and each offer strategy for each marketing combination of Tesco. They are as noted: †¢Product: the Company should provide qualitative added Fairtrade products with a view to maximize the client base. The Price: the corporation should provide Fairtrade products at lower price in comparison with the clients. It is important to provide products on value added price so that to entice attention of clients. †¢Place: Fair trade products offered by the company generates popularity, therefore it should place them in city centre in the markets at huge level. †¢Promotion: the Company should accept aggressive advertising strategy, with a view of an increase of sales during the following of 12 months.Besides it is necessary to accept the Internet, press and publicity, channels for advertising campaigns. The firm should create a slogan or a trade mark to involve clients to Fairtrade products. (Wilson, 2005) †¢People: Tesco should employ well prepared and qualified people to deliver Fairtrade products for clients in the effective image. The company should provide training of the people to make their competent enough, to use new technologies in effective manner. †¢Process: For accommodation of Fairtrade products aggressively and effectively, the company should accept approach ?2? of marketing.It also should develop individual systems to develop process by easier for clients and employees to communicate on delivery Fairtrade products. (Wilson, 2005) †¢Physical evidences: the Company should raise availability of Fairtrade products for clients, placing them in city centre of the shops located in the Great Britain. 7. Contingency Plan In case of failure of the market plan, firm will go on development of the market instead of market penetration that has been offered in Ansoff matrix of marketing strategy.The company will develop new strategy for progress of the market, with objective of studying of new areas for trading in products of Fairtrade in positive successful approach. The alternate plan of the company will make 10 % from the marketing plan. The corporation will change the marketing strategy to distract attention from penetration on the market for progress of the market in long-term profitability of performance and achievement of corporate objectives. (Hague,2002) Conclusion Success of Tesco shows, how with branding and effective granting of services that one can achieve in moving beyond splashing a logo on Billboard. It assisted powerful identities, having made them retiling to the concept into virus and its spending in culture through various channels: cultural sponsorship, political disagreements, consumer experience and expansions of brands. In quickly changing business-environment with pressure of high competitors, Tesco new strategy of expansion or diversifying into existing with a view of maintenance should accept its lead positions in the market in already installed retail market. The company should adapt for quickly changing circumstances constantly.Strategy formulation is necessary to consider as process of continuous training which includes studying objectives, influence of possible actions on achievement of these objectives and how to carry out and out these actions. Quality of formulated strategy and speed of its realization therefore directly depends on cognitive and behavioral of Tesco-processes. In the large organizations as Tesco strategy should be analyzed and it is carried out a t various levels in hierarchy. These various levels strategy should be connected and mutual supported. Strategy of Tesco at a corporate level defines business in which it will compete Tesco in such a manner that the basic attention resources, transform the distinctive competence to competitive advantage. From stated above, it is possible to come to the conclusion, that the marketing plan plays a key role in Success or a failure of business of the company. The plan includes various actions which are directed on the maximal profit on the some people of new policy or practice. Strategic management is the important part of the marketing plan.

Report on Tesco Essays

Report on Tesco Essays Report on Tesco Essay Report on Tesco Essay All corporations have to work at expanding themselves within the region as well as internationally. They have to work at framing and adapting different strategies in order to reach optimum success. This report analyzes the external environment and scans it thoroughly so that strategies can be implemented and adopted later on. Company Background Tests is a company that originated from the ELK, but has now expanded globally. Starting from Worcestershire, it is now operating within Asia, Europe as well as USA. Back in the year 201 2, Tests had 2975 stores within the United Kingdom which brought in a revenue of 64. 5 billion pounds per annum. By 2014, these stores have expanded within 14 countries with 6531 stores. Tests also offers other services like insurance, online shopping and banking. Vision and Core Values The vision of the organization is the addition of an important position in the minds of the clients they serve, community altogether, keen and steadfast staff and the shareholders. The organizations visions is to develop and change themselves into a creative and present day association through applying their aptitudes all internationally. The core value of Tests is to expand its retail organization which would help to convey the organizations core purpose. In addition, the organization lives up to expectations devotedly to win clients faithfulness and to make brand value. 2. 0 Strategic Position With a large number of stores, Tests ranks amongst the global giants. The principle of strategy of Tests and their strategic position is the design of the shareholder value with the help of focus and innovation upon the customer satisfaction. Their strategic position is based on their seven principle theory which includes: Nurturing business primarily within the entire United Kingdom Achieving strengths in all departments Retailing all over the world successfully Serving the society with premium advantages Defining values and purposes with the help of team work Becoming the founder of new brands Expanding internationally and globally 2. 1 Passionately Political Factors The political system of every country Tests expands within has an effect on the company. Tests is also bound to the European legal system There will be multiple employment regulations Economic Factors Tests has the effect of exchange rates on all its revenue Any decline in European market could cause damage to Tests Socio-cultural Factors Bulk shopping Trend of eating out Increase in aging population Increase in female workers Technological Factors Enhanced operations Enhanced communications Strong online presence Saving of time and money Environmental Factors Increased pressure on environmental awareness Organic food provisions Legislative Factors Tests is bound to legal policies Competition creates price wars There is a strong need for product differentiation 2. 2 Porters Five Forces Michel E. Porter has created five powers through which the organization can recognize its position in the business and figure out if the position of the organization is more aggressive than the others. He has recommended that the appeal of the business sector can be measured through the long haul degree of profitability of the firm. The significant five strengths of the model are discussed as below. 2. 2. 1 Threat of Substitute Product and Services In the retail business, the danger for the substitute items is typically low for the food items and medium for the non-food items. However if there should be an occurrence of the food items the risk of substitute items is high with respect to the non-food things there are little chains of comfort stores. Be that as it may these accommodation stores, off permit and natural shops are not considered as the real danger for the general store like Tests. Then again, to face these issues Tests is opening more stores in the remote region to offer the helpful transportation framework for the clients. 2. 2. 2 Threat of New Entrants To come in the sustenance retail industry, Tests needs gigantic measure of UAPITA interests so as to be aggressive and to make a solid brand name. Thus, the risk of new participants in the nourishment retail industry is moderately low. The greater part of the brands that have effectively caught the sustenance retail showcase in UK are Tests, Kingsbury, SAD and Morrison comprising of more than 80% of all shopping in the ELK. This is likewise backed by the string brand picture of the current organizations who as of now have caught a great deal of devoted clients through their prevalent strategies and methodologies. 2. 2. Competition among the Existing Companies The power Of the opposition among the current organizations in the retail business in UK is to a great degree high as there are a ton of organizations with high capital venture and solid approaches. These contenders like Waitress, Morrison, Kingsbury and SAD are continually attempting to switch clients from one another over value, items and advancements irregularly. As the major contenders like aforementioned brands have picked up the development of their business impart however the general business sector development is moderate. This shows that this enormous player in the retail business is catching the clients bringing them from different contenders, so the opposition gets more serious. Then again, a few organizations like Laid and Lid are likewise offering generally low value items who need to catch the clients amid the monetary down turn and they picked up a development of 25% amid the financial retreat of 2008. 2. 2. 4 Bargaining Power of Buyers As there are a considerable measure of rivals in the business, the clients have the choices with zero exchanging expense to move from one organization to others. In this way, the position of the clients is unequivocally high in the event of dealing force. On the off chance that the clients find that the cost of the results of an organization is generally modest contrasted with different organizations that offer the same quality then the clients will move to that organization. Here, in the retail business, the clients need both the lower cost and quality items. Along these lines, all the organizations in the retail business need to accentuate on keeping the cost moderately judicious keeping the quality high. 2. 2. 5 Bargaining Power of the Suppliers In the retail business in UK, the suppliers position is not all that solid. This is on account of the top general store organizations like SAD, Tests and Sunbursts have contract with the suppliers and suppliers dread losing the agreement with these huge organizations. Therefore the suppliers dont have a solid position if there should arise an occurrence of the bartering force. Notwithstanding this, the suppliers consider giving the supplies to the top general store as one Of the opportunities for the business development. 2. 3 SOOT Analysis 2. 3. 1 Strengths Tests has a strong financial position. Tests operates globally (Retail Business Review, 201 2) The sales of Tests are more than its competitors Brand image of Tests is coupled with reliability and superior quality Tests has the largest online supermarket within UK The market share of Tests is up to 13% 2. 3. 2 weaknesses The company is dependent upon the I-J The company is not enough diversified geographically The prices at Tests are higher as compared to other multinational organizations Transportation costs are also higher as compared to other resources 2. 3. 3 Opportunities Entry into the Asian market can lead to greater diversification The online community is growing, bringing in more sales for Tests Multiple business strategic alliances can help Tests grow stronger 2. 3. 4 Threats Financial crisis within Europe Heavily competitive retail market Decline in income and increase in unemployment Presence of Walter and Careful 2. 4 Strategic Capabilities There are two strategic capabilities of Tests: 1. Resources 2. Competence Base Any superior performance needs to be evaluated in the way by which the resources of the company are used for creating competence within the activities of an organization. Competence within Tests includes processes or activities that have the power of effectively underpinning the competitive advantage of the company. Tests therefore has the capability of recognizing its competitive rivals, achieve market power and position, and thus ultimately focus on advantage. 2. 5 Conclusion of Strategic Strategy Overall it can be concluded that Tests has a great influence within the European market, but it needs to look into global expansion more seriously in order to avoid being cut off from the bottom if in case economic crisis strikes thin Europe.

Lockerbie Blast Culprit Freed Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lockerbie Blast Culprit Freed - Assignment Example The Scottish government made a unilateral decision to release Megrahi, who was received with immense jubilation and festivity in Libya. Mr. Gaddafi, the Libyan president, received him personally.   John F. Kerry said Merahi’s release â€Å"turned the word ‘compassion’ on its head† (Adam, 2009).A lot of distaste and anger over Mr. Megrahi’s unprecedented release was exhibited across the geographical divide, but great fury was observed in the US, which has regarded as outrageous and disgusting the frenzy with which the bomber convict was received in Libya. In a special report to The Washington Post, Adam reported how the family members of the victims reacted towards this eventuality. A case in point among many is that of Glenn Johnson, the father of Beth Ann, who died on her way home from London where she was studying, said in an interview that he was just devastated as a person who killed 270 people and had no compassion for them, could be given com passion. He termed it as ‘another tragedy’ that families had to suffer. A 57-year-old Libyan Abdel Basset Ali-Megrahi who was convicted for this terrorist attack and sentenced to serve 27 years of a life sentence was released on grounds of compassion that he is dying from prostate cancer.ConclusionThe Scotland government, through her justice secretary MacAskill, subverted justice by releasing Abdel Basset Ali-Magrahi back to Libya and considering that this was a heinous crime, in fact, first class terrorism, the embittered parties has express right to vie an appeal.

How are tourism businesses using ICT to improve the tourist experience Essay

How are tourism businesses using ICT to improve the tourist experience - Essay Example 109). This implies that the application of an array of communications- and computer-assisted, and electronic technologies are being used to a greater extent to improve the performance and implementation of business operations in the tourism industry, and to enhance tourist experience. One of the primary functions of ICTs is the processing and speeding up of information flow to and from the customers. In addition to the World Wide Web, other technology devices, such as smartphone and GPS, have boosted the tourist experience (Mamaghani, 2009; Cantoni, Kalbaska, & Inversini, 2009). Homogenisation of communication technologies allows global reception of mobile phones. Tourists use GPS to quickly and conveniently acquire directions and information about present locations. The combination of standard technologies and systems also has given suppliers the opportunity to lessen costs, and enhance the tourist experience. For instance, airline businesses launched mobile check-in by combining th e check-in procedure with the newest mobile phone technologies (Frew, 2000; Kourtit et al., 2011). Customers gain from further ease or convenience and the tourism sector gains from cost efficiency by supplanting employees with kiosks. Other technologies that the tourism sector can use nowadays in order to enhance the tourist experience are the QR Code, augmented reality, MP3 guide, and geolocation marketing. Quick Response (QR) Codes are a kind of barcode that can be seen through QR reading gadgets such as smartphones. QR Code can be used by tourists to access addresses, maps, and locations through their mobile phones (Hall & Williams, 2008). Augmented reality is a latest technology that erases the line separating what is unreal and what is real by improving people’s senses. This technology is guiding tourists and gives them a surreal experience of magnificent tourist destinations (Conrady, 2010, p. 248). MP3 guide provides tourists access to maps, from historic destinations to the most popular attractions. This technology eliminates the need for tour guides, and makes the tourist experience convenient and trouble-free (Conrady, 2010). Geolocation is a process of detecting a physical location using a wireless device. It can detect a person’s longitude and latitude coordinates to identify his/her precise position. The tourism sector may use geolocation marketing to enhance its services by making local information available to its customers. Tourism businesses may concentrate its marketing efforts and advertise to local populations (Yunker, 2010, p. 76). Geolocation marketing is giving the tourism sector the opportunity to show services that are offered in specific locations. ICTs in Tourism Much of the progress in the tourism industry is rooted in technology processes and facilities that businesses buy for their standard activities. Recently, ICT systems have produced numerous process innovations. Processing of accounts, checking in of guests, and bookings has become considerably downsized, and additional facilities for maintenance made operations more versatile and flexible (Zhou, 2004; Ruiz-Molina, Gil-Saura, & Moliner-Velasquez, 2010). Cooper and colleagues (1998 as cited in Page & Connell, 2006, p. 44) have observed that these ICTs are

Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 12

Annotated Bibliography Example The findings revealed five criteria that define the concept of professional practice. They include: Technical and legal concerns was identified as the most important concern that the students felt should be incorporated in their studies. The results of the study seem to support the effectiveness of the theory of case based learning. Many students feel that they are not being effectively prepared for professional practice. The lack of experience and connection with the professional world are some of the concerns raised by the students. A section of the students felt that creative design is sufficient to prepare them for their field of work. In conclusion, the study identifies the different concerns regarding preparation of students for professional practice. Communication abilities should be part of the higher education program to help students communicate effectively in their professional field. The study recommends further research to determine the effectives of the strategies like case study learning methods. Incorporation of the communication skills and case study learning meth od is likely to equip students with skills needed in professional

Content-based Image Retrieval (CBIR) System

Content-based Image Retrieval (CBIR) System Chapter 1. Introduction Nowadays, in the most of areas it is necessary to work with large amounts of growing visual and multimedia data, at the same time, the number of image and video files on the web is quite big and is still rising very rapidly. Searching through this data is absolutely vital. So, there is a high demand on the tools for image retrieving, which are based on visual information, rather than simple text-based queries. Content-based Image Retrieval (CBIR) consists of retrieving the most visually similar images to a given query image from a database or group of image files. It is a quite useful thing in a lot of areas such as Photography which may involve image search from the large digital photo galleries; Medicine it is used to assist in diagnosis. In most of diseases, their visual characteristics carry diagnostic information and visually similar images correspond to the same disease category. The output of a CBIR system can help to make a decision (Tahmoush, 2007); Military detection of e nemy soldiers or vehicles from screen photographs; Crime prevention it helps police in suspicious peoples identification from large image databases and in image retrieval of crime scene photos (Wen, 2005); Geography frequently used in Geographical information systems (GIS) (Hafiane, 2006) and many others. CBIR has been a subject of intense research over the last 15 years. It is one of the most difficult research areas in multimedia computing and information retrieval. During the research history many different image matching, indexing and retrieval algorithms have been tried. Practice shows that user queries described by visual information are more effective and more precisely meet user needs, than standard text search queries. It is because visual information is closer to the humans perception of the world. 1.1 CBIR Systems Many CBIR systems and tools have been developed to make queries based on visual content. During the 90-ies several notable commercial systems were introduced. IBM developed Query By Image Content (QBIC) system, which lets user to make queries of large image databases based on visual image content properties such as Example images; User-constructed sketches and drawings; Selected color and texture patterns. (Flickner, 1995) Soon after that â€Å"Virage Image Search Engine† of Virage Inc. was developed, which provides an open framework for building systems that explicitly manages image assets by directly representing their visual attributes. (Bach, 1996) Several online content-based web search engines can also be mentioned. â€Å"WebSEEk† developed by Image and Advanced Television Lab, Columbia University. It allows making queries by example and by desired color composition. â€Å"Chabot†, Developed by Department of Computer Science, University of California, which allows to search by colors, but offers limited options such as choosing one dominant color. (Veltkamp, 2002) Global Memory Net (GMNet) was launched for public access in late June 2006. It is a digital library of cultural, historical, and heritage image collections. Among other text-based searching types this web library has a possibility to search by image content. It has two basic options for content based searching. Search by example image, based on its color and shape and by user drawing. For CBIR, GMNet uses SIMPLIcity developed by Prof. James Z. Wang of Penn State University. (Chen 2006) Different CBIR systems use different types of user queries. Typically tools for the content-based image retrieval consist of query statement and a result presentation; this query can be done by providing an example image a sketch, or by choosing desired colors for the image. Results are presented by the top several similar images based on the similarity measure. 1.2 Research Questions Despite the large number of CBIR systems developed, there are still a lot of challenging problems in this area. The important sides that still need to be improved are speed of retrieving, when working with the large databases, accuracy and effectiveness of the retrieved results. So the researchers from multiple disciplines are deeply concerned with these aspects. Comparisons by image content are much more complicated task than by textual data. Generally, content-based image retrievals are based on comparison of image content descriptors that represent visual features of the image. Different features can be used to obtain the image descriptor. To meet specific user needs and in various cases some of them are more effective than others. Sometimes the implementation simplicity is as important as retrieval accuracy and effectiveness. Based on the previous discussion, research questions are the following: What are the basic retrieval techniques? What kind of features are usually used? How the features are obtained from the image? How these features are matched? How the retrieval results are presented to the user? How accurate can be the algorithms, which are relatively easy to implement? 1.3 Objectives The CBIR research often involves two areas computer vision and database systems. The database systems part studies database indexing, searching and retrieval techniques and computer vision part is about image processing, obtaining the image descriptors and image matching. In order to answer the research questions this dissertation focuses on a computer vision part. Image processing and image transformations are used by CBIR systems in order to extract image descriptors. CBIR systems are based on different image features descriptors matching. Some of these systems perform image comparison by multiple features at the same time and some of them use only one feature. In this dissertation we are going to investigate what are the basic techniques used in CBIR systems, which are based on different feature descriptors. We will make a detailed overview of these basic methods. We are also going to implement one of the most effective algorithms in the CBIR field. This is Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm (Lowe, 2004) and see how effective and accurate it can be. Chapter 2. Literature Survey 2.1 CBIR systems typical architecture Typical CBIR system has two main functionalities. This is Data insertion and query processing. Data insertion procedures are performed independent of user interaction.   They are applied to all the data. The purpose of this process is to extract visual features from the images in the database. These features are obviously smaller than the actual image and they are then stored for easy comparison reasons, as a characterizers of each image. Query processing starts with user specific request. Request can be done in several ways: By an example image, by giving desired pattern or object, color distribution and etc. Query processing module obtains the visual features from the given request, metric is defined. Then similarity is measured based on the chosen metric and some set of the most similar images are . Features extraction itself involves, selecting the features that have to be extracted, it depends on the type of user query. The feature extracting algorithm is chosen to create the feature vector from the selected features. Eventually, image descriptor is formed which are then used to compare the images. (Torres, 2006) 2.2 Semantic Gap Basically, similarity searching between the images is based on low-level and higher-levels of queries. (Eakins, 1996) Low-Level Similarity in this case visual features to describe the image are primitives such as color, texture and shape. Higher-Levels, Semantic Similarity at higher levels, similarity searching is not based on a simple features. In this case images are described by higher level of semantic attributes. This involves identification of the object types depicted in the image. These two levels of queries form the problem called semantic gap. Semantic gap can be defined in the following way: â€Å"The semantic gap is the lack of coincidence between the information that one can extract from the visual data and the interpretation that the same data has for a user in a given situation.† (Datta, 2008) In another words, images with high low-level feature similarities may still be different in terms of user perception. So similarity by low-level features, not always mean semantic similarity of these images. 2.3 Content Comparison Techniques This dissertation is concerned with low-level similarity features extraction .CBIR for low-level similarity queries needs techniques which can be used to obtain the image content descriptors to compare images based on their color, texture and shape. Color Image content comparison by color is based on matching images by their color distribution. In this case image feature identifies the proportion of pixels of specific color or colors within an image. So one can make color searches by indicating desired concentration of colors or by an example image with desired color distribution and get similar images. Color histograms are widely used to extract the color distribution descriptors from the image. It is a statistic of the color of pixels in the image. First color distribution is represented by appropriate color histogram, and then color vector is formed from that histogram. Lets discuss several color feature extraction histograms. Conventional Color Histogram (CCH) This histogram consists of occurrences of each color in the image. Each pixel is associated to only one its own histogram bin only on the basis of its own color. This color histogram uses the probability mass function of the image pixel intensities. (Suhasini, 2009) Fuzzy Color Histogram (FCH) as an opposite to CCH, in FCH each pixel is associated to all bins of histogram with different degrees of membership depending on color similarity of the pixel. This is done by fuzzy-set membership function. (ferone, 2008) Color Correlogram (CC) color correlogram of an image is a table which is indexed by color pairs, where the d-th entry of (i,j) cell shows the probability of finding the color j at a distance of d from a pixel of color i in the image extracting. Such a feature from the image is tolerant to the changes in appearance of the same scene which can be caused by changing the viewing positions, but color correlogram is more difficult to compute than color histograms. (Huang, 1997) Texture Retrieval by image texture in a similar to color-based feature extraction, but it looks for visual patterns in images rather than colors. So it looks at homogeneity that is not a result of a single color presence or intensity of a pixel value. Sometimes it also provides more spatial information. The most basic method used to extract the texture descriptor from the image is based on Fourier Transform. The initial image is transformed by the Fourier function. As the method works on digital images, Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) is used. DFT converts images from the spatial domain into the frequency domain, where all the spatial frequencies of the original image are represented. In another words this transformed image shows intensity variations over a number of pixels. Transformed data is grouped to obtain several measures from it. Then descriptor is formed of these measures and is used for comparison. (Nixon, 2007) Shape Shape-based image retrieval comparison looks at shapes of regions within an image and searches for the shapes similar to given as in a query image. Edge and blob detections are important parts for the shape feature extraction. These edges and blobs are points or regions in the image that are either brighter or darker than the surrounding. Several methods are used for shape-based image retrieval, which involve different kind of image filtering and image transformations. One of the most effective algorithms for shape-based image retrieval is Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm, which was first developed by David Lowe in 1999, at the University of British Colombia. It takes a single image as an input and returns a set of detected image features. In SIFT algorithm image filtering is based on Gaussian function. After image filtering SIFT uses Difference of Gaussian (DoG) pyramid for blob (keypoint) detection. The image feature descriptor, which is called keypoint descriptor is 128 element feature vector and formed of gradient magnitudes and orientations computed for the area around the identified keypoints. (Lowe, 2004) Chapter 3. Research Method 3.1 Research approach Mathematical methods play key role in the most of CBIR algorithms. Often mathematical solution of the problem is difficult or impossible to implement practically, therefore it is important to assess the method in practice. Thats why Experimental approach will be used in this dissertation. This method of primary research forces to experience and overcome all the difficulties that can appear during the practical implementation of theory. It requires focusing on the details of algorithm and clearly shows advantages and disadvantages of the particular algorithm. It also gives possibility to assess the instruments used in experiment, which are not less important than algorithm itself. In this dissertation, one of the CBIR algorithms for shape-based image retrieval will be implemented for a number of images and the results will be assessed 3.2 Tools and Technologies used This study focuses on the algorithm which involves image processing. It will be implemented under the Microsoft .net framework platform and using GDI+ and C# programming language. .Net framework provides managed interface for GDI+; therefore its relatively easy to process images using this platform. Microsoft Visual Studio .Net will be used as an IDE. This experiment will also show how useful can be .net framework library and C# language for image processing purpose. References: Bach J., Fuler C., Gupta A., Hampapur A., Horowitz B., Humphrey R., Jain R., Shu C., (1996) The virage image search engine: An open framework for image management SPIE Conference on Storage and Retrieval for Image and Video Databases; Chen Ch. Ch. (2006),Using Tomorrows Retrieval Technology to Explore the Heritage: Bonding Past and Future in the Case of Global Memory Net; available at: http://ifla.queenslibrary.org/IV/ifla72/papers/097-Chen-en.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009 Datta R., Joshi D., Li J. and Wang J. Z. (2008) Image Retrieval: Ideas, Influences, and Trends of the New Age. Eakins J.P. (1996) Automatic image content retrieval are we getting anywhere?Department of Computing, University of Northumbria at Newcastle, available at: http://www.cs.uu.nl/docs/vakken/mir/materials/literature/eakins.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009 Ferone A., Maddalena L., Petrosino A., (2008) The Enhanced Color Histogram: a way for dealing with uncertainty in CBIR systems, University of Naples Parthenope, Department of Applied Science; Flickner M., Sawhney H., Niblack W., Ashley J., Huang Q., Dom B., Gorkani M., Hafher J., Lee D., Petkovie D., Steele D. and Yanker P.(1995) Query by Image and Video Content: The QBIC System, IBM Almaden Research Center; available at: http://www2.cs.ucy.ac.cy/~nicolast/courses/cs422/ReadingProjects/qbic.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009; Hafiane A., Chaudhuri S., Seetharaman G., Zavidovique B. (2006) Region-based CBIR in GIS with local space filling curves to spatial representation Huang J., Kumar S. R., Mitra M., Zhu W. J., Zabih R. (1997) Image Indexing Using Color Correlograms, Cornell University; Lowe D. G. (2004), Distinctive Image Features from Scale-Invariant Keypoints, Computer Science Department University of British Columbia; available at: http://people.cs.ubc.ca/~lowe/papers/ijcv04.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009 Nixon M. S., Aguado A. S. (2007) Feature Extraction and Image Processing, Academic Press; Suhasini P.S., Dr. K. Sri Rama Krishna, Dr. I. V. Murali Krishna (2009) CBIR Using Color Histogram Processing; VR Siddhartha Engineering College; available at: http://www.jatit.org/volumes/research-papers/Vol6No1/13Vol6No1.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009; Tahmoush D.   Hanan S. (2007)A Web Collaboration System for Content-Based Image Retrieval of Medical imag;available at:http://www.cs.umd.edu/~hjs/pubs/medicalimagepapers/TahmoushSPIE07a.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009; Torres R. S., Falcà £o A. X. (2006)Content-Based Image Retrieval: Theory and Applications; available at: http://www.dcc.unicamp.br/~rtorres/artigos/journal/torres06rita.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009; Veltkamp R. C., Tanase M. (2002) Content-Based Image Retrieval Systems: A Survey; Department of Computing Science, Utrecht University; available at: http://give-lab.cs.uu.nl/cbirsurvey/cbir-survey.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009; Wang J. Z. (2001) SIMPLIcity: Semantics-Sensitive Integrated Matching for Picture Libraries; available at: http://infolab.stanford.edu/~wangz/project/imsearch/SIMPLIcity/TPAMI/wang2.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009; Wen Ch. Y, Yu Ch. Y., (2005) Image Retrieval of Digital Crime Scene Images, Forensic Science Journal; available at: http://fsjournal.cpu.edu.tw/content/vol4.no.1/06-95-04.pdf last accessed on 24th September 2009.

Homosexual Marriages Must be Permitted Essay -- essays research papers

Homosexual Marriages Must be Permitted   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marriage is traditionally viewed as the legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. However, what happens when those two people are two men or two women? This topic of gay marriage has been a major issue in the United States over the past few years. It has raised several political debates as well as other minor arguments throughout the United States and around the world. Until recently, homosexual couples in the United States were allowed to marry. Recently, a series of events change the standing of homosexual marriages in the United States. The Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas repealed a Texas law that made sodomy a crime in order to affirm the privacy rights of homosexuals. In November 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the state cannot deny marriage licenses to homosexual couples. Following the Massachusetts decision, more gay marriages occurred publicly across the nation from San Francisco to New York. President George W. Bush responded to these activities by urging Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to grant legalized same-sex marriages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Opponents of same-sex marriage argue that marriage is a union between a man and a woman and they view anything else as morally wrong. They claim that homosexual marriage is unconstitutional and would destroy the sanctity of marriage. I believe that gays and les...

Public administration Essay

‘Ethics’ is a difficult term to define. The meaning, nature and scope of ethics have expanded in the course of time. ‘Ethics’ is integral to public administration. In public administration, ethics focuses on how the public administrator should question and reflect in order to be able to act responsibly. We cannot simply bifurcate the two by saying that ethics deals with morals and values, while public administration is about actions and decisions. Administering accountability and ethics is a difficult task. The 1 levels of ethics in governance are dependent on the social, economic, political, cultural, legal-judicial and historical contexts of the country. These specific factors influence ethics in public administrative systems. This Unit will discuss the meaning, evolution, foci and concerns of ethics. It will bring out the different dimensions of ethics and their relevance for public administration. The significance of an ethical code for administrators will be analysed and the nature of work ethics will be discussed. This Unit will also examine the obstacles to ethical accountability. 21. 2 ETHICS: MEANING AND RELEVANCE ‘Ethics’ is a system of accepted beliefs, mores and values, which influence human behaviour. More specifically, it is a system based on morals. Thus, ethics is the study of what is morally right, and what is not. The Latin origin of the word ‘ethics’ is ethicus that means character. Since the early 17th century, ‘ethics’ has been accepted as the â€Å"Science of morals; the rules of conduct, the science of human duty. † Hence, in common parlance, ethics is treated as moral principles that govern a person’s or a group’s behaviour. It includes both the science of the good and the nature of the right. The ethical concerns of governance have been underscored widely in Indian scriptures and other treatises such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagvad Gita, Buddha Charita, Arthashastra, Panchatantra, Manusmriti, Kural, Shukra Niti, Kadambari, Raja Tarangani, and Hitopadesh. At the same time, one cannot ignore the maxims on ethical governance provided by the Chinese philosophers such as Lao Tse, Confucius and Mencius. In the Western philosophy, there are three eminent schools of ethics. The first, inspired by Aristotle, holds that virtues (such as justice, charity and generosity) are dispositions to act in ways that benefit the possessor of these virtues and the society of which he is a part. The second, subscribed to mainly by Immanual Kant, makes the concept of duty central to morality: human beings are bound, from a knowledge of their duty as rational beings, to obey the categorical imperative to respect other rational beings with whom they interact. The third is the Utilitarian viewpoint that asserts that the guiding principle of conduct should be the greatest happiness (or benefit) of the greatest number (Hobson, 2002). The Western thought is full of ethical guidelines to rulers, whether in a monarchy or a democracy. These concerns are found in the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Penn, John Stuart Mill, Edmund Burke, and others. Rawl’s theory of justice revolves around the adaptation of two fundamental principles of justice, which would, in turn, guarantee a just and morally acceptable society. The first principle guarantees the right of each person to have the most extensive basic liberty compatible with liberty of others. The second principle states that social and economic positions are to be: (a) To everyone’s advantage, and (b) Open to all. A key issue for Rawls is to show how such principles would be universally adopted, and over here his work borders on general ethical issues. He introduces a theoretical ‘veil of ignorance’ in which all ‘players’ in the social game would be placed in a situation, which is called the ‘original position’. Having only a general knowledge about the facts of ‘life and society’ each player is to make a ‘rationally’ prudential choice concerning the kind of social institution they would enter into contract with. By denying the players any specific information about themselves it forces them to adopt a generalised point of view that bears a strong resemblance to the moral point of view. This view point revolves around moral conclusions can be reached without abandoning the prudential standpoint and posting a moral outlook merely by pursuing one’s own prudential reasoning under certain procedural bargaining. 2 The gist of wisdom on administrative ethics is that the public administrators are the â€Å"guardians† of the Administrative State. Hence, they are expected to honour public trust and not violate it. Two crucial questions raised in this context are â€Å"why should guardians be guarded? And â€Å"Who guards the guardian? † (Rosenbloom and Kravchuk, 2005). The administrators need to be guarded against their tendency to misconceive public interest, promote self-interest, indulge in corruption and cause subversion of national interest. And they need to be guarded by the external institutions such as the judiciary, legislature, political executive, media and civil society organisations. These various modes of control become instruments of accountability. 21. 3 EVOLUTION OF ETHICAL CONCERNS IN ADMINISTRATION It is essential to recognise that the discipline of Public Administration has been broadly influenced in the initial stages of its growth, by Political Science and the science of Management. While the philosophical premises of Public Administration were influenced primarily by Political Science, its technological facet was designed by Management Sciences. The early Political Science was taught as Moral Philosophy and Political Economy, while its current curriculum is the product of secular, practical, empirical and scientific tendencies of the past century. The American students of Political Science, in the early years of the last century, were dismayed at the inadequacies of the ethical approach in the Gilded Age. As a result of their interaction with the German universities and the influence on their thinking by scholars such as J. N Burgess, E. J. James, A. B Hart, A. L Lovell, and F. J Goodnow, they sought to recreate Political Science as a true science. They became increasingly interested in observing and analysing ‘actual governments’. Natural and Social Sciences substantially influenced their ideas and approaches. Later, Logical Positivism of the Austrian School influenced scholars such as Herbert Simon and thus there emerged a booming faith in developing a Science of Politics and a Science of Administration that would be able to `predict and control’ political and administrative life. As Dwight Waldo comments, the old belief that good government was the government of moral men was thus replaced by a morality that was irrelevant and that proper institutions and expert personnel were the determining factors in shaping good government. `The new amorality became almost a request for professional respect’. The eminence of Behaviouralism until the mid-1960s further marginalised the ethical issues in the study of Political Science and Public Administration. It was only after the advent of Post-behaviouralism in Political Science and of the accent on New Public Administration in Public Administration that the scientific methods of Behaviouralim and humanistic (read `ethical’) values struck a homogenous chord with administration and the dispute between facts and values was resolved substantially. The current discipline of public administration accords primacy to the `values’ of equity, justice, humanism, human rights, gender equality and compassion. The movement of Good Governance, initiated by the World Bank in 1992, lays stress, inter alia, on the ethical and moral conduct of administrators. While the New Public Management movement is more concerned with administrative effectiveness, the New Public Administration focuses on administrative ethics in its broader manifestation. Both the movements are complementary to each other. This complementarity of foci 3 is as truer today as it was a hundred years ago when the industrial world was experiencing the rise of Scientific Management amidst a strong acceptance of the notion of administrative responsibility. John Kennedy, during his Presidency (19611963) had averred: â€Å"No responsibility of government is more fundamental than the responsibility of maintaining the higher standards of ethical behaviour. The ideal-type construction of bureaucracy, propounded by Max Weber also highlighted an ethical imperative of bureaucratic behaviour. Weber (1947) observed: In the rational type, it is a matter of principle that the members of the administrative staff should be completely separated from ownership of the means of production and administration. Officials, employees and workers attached to the administrative staff do not themselves own the non-human means of production and administration†¦. These exists, furthermore, in principle complete separation of property belonging to the organisation, which is controlled within the sphere of office, and the personal property of the official, which is available for his own private uses†. Weber’s analysis underscores the need to prevent the misuse of an official position for personal gains. Although his ideal-type construct on bureaucracy is not empirical, yet it has an empirical flavour, for it appears to have taken into account the existential reality of bureaucratic behaviour. From a normative angle – knowing that Weber was not normative in his ideal type constructs – also, the message is clear: Don’t misuse official property for personal benefit. Most critics of real-world bureaucracies, including Harold Laski, Carl Friedrich, Victor Thompson and Warren Bennis, have criticised bureaucrats for violating the prescribed norms of moral conduct. Even Fred Riggs, while discussing the traits of a prismatic society like `formalism’ and ‘nepotism’ points out the yawning gap between the `ideal’ and the `real’ in administrative behaviour. The deviations from the norms and mores have been too glaring to be ignored. Immoral behaviour thus has become an integral component of `bureaupathology’ 21. 4 CONTEXT OF ETHICS AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Ethics, whether in an entire society, or in a social sub-system, evolves over a long period of time and is influenced, during its nurturance and growth, by a variety of environmental factors. Administrative ethics is no different. It is the product of several contextual structures and it never ceases to grow and change. Let us now look at some of these contextual factors that influence ethics in the public administrative systems: The Historical Context The history of a country marks a great influence on the ethical character of the governance system. The Spoils System in the USA during the initial phase of the American nation vitiated the ethical milieu of the American Public Administration. â€Å"To victor belong the spoils† asserted American President Jackson. Things would have continued the same way had not a disgruntled job seeker assassinated President Garfield in 1881. Garfield’s assassination spurred the process of civil service reforms in the USA, and the setting up of the US. Civil Service Commission in 1883 was the first major step in this direction. India has witnessed a long history of unethical practices in the governance system. Kautilya’s Arthashastra mentions a variety of corrupt practices in which the administrators of those times indulged themselves. The Mughal Empire and the Indian princely rule were also afflicted with the corrupt practices of the courtiers and 4 administrative functionaries, with ‘bakashish’ being one of the accepted means of selling and buying favours. The East India Company too had its share of employees who were criticised even by the British parliamentarians for being corrupt. The forces of probity and immorality co-exist in all phases of human history. Which forces are stronger depends upon the support these get from the prime actors of politico-administrative system. What is disturbing is that a long legacy of unethical practices in governance is likely to enhance the tolerance level for administrative immorality. In most developing nations having a colonial history, the chasm between the people and the government continues to be wide. In the colonial era, the legitimacy of the governance was not accepted willingly by a majority of population and therefore, true loyalty to the rulers was a rare phenomenon. Although the distance between the governing elite and the citizens has been reduced substantially in the transformed democratic regimes, yet the affinity and trust between the two has not been total even in the new dispensation. Unfortunately, even the ruling elite does not seem to have imbibed the spirit of emotional unity with the citizens. The legacy of competitive collaboration between the people and the administrators continues to exist. The nature of this relationship has an adverse impact on ‘administrative ethics’. The Socio-cultural Context Values that permeate the social order in a society determine the nature of governance system. The Indian society today seems to prefer wealth to any other value. And in the process of generating wealth, the means-ends debate has been sidelined. Unfortunately, ends have gained supremacy and the means do not command an equal respect. A quest for wealth in itself is not bad. In fact, it is a mark of civilisational progress. What is important is the means employed while being engaged in this quest. We seem to be living in an economic or commercial society, where uni-dimensional growth of individuals seem to be accepted and even valued, where ends have been subdued by means, and ideals have been submerged under the weight of more practical concerns of economic progress. Can we change this social order? Mahatma Gandhi very much wanted to transform the priority-order of the Indian society, but there were hardly any takers or backers of his radical thinking that was steeped in a strong moral order. To put it bluntly, ever since Gandhi passed away, there has been not a single strong voice in independent India challenging the supremacy of ‘teleology and unidimensionalism’. Neither have our family values questioned this unilinear growth of society nor has our educational system made serious efforts to inject morality into the impressionable minds of our youth. We have starkly failed on these fronts. The need is to evolve fresh perspectives on what kind of the Indians we wish to evolve and how? Till then, efforts will have to be focused on the non-social fronts. The issues of morality may or may not be rooted in the religious ethos of a society. Indian religious scriptures do not favour pursuit of wealth through foul means. Interestingly, Thiru Valluvar’s Kural, written two thousand years ago in Tamil Nadu, emphasises that earning wealth brings fame, respect and an opportunity to help and serve others, but it should be earned through right means only. Can this dictum form the basis of our socio-moral orientation? The level of integrity among Protestants and Parsees is believed by some to be relatively higher when compared to other religions and one can find the roots of such integrity in the well-ingrained mores of these religions. Nevertheless, it is only one point of view, as there are several other religious and secular groups, which are known for their high moral conduct. The cultural system of a country, including its religious orientation, appears to have played a significant role in influencing the work ethics of its people. For instance, the stress on hard work, so characteristic of the Protestant ethics, has helped several Christian societies to enhance their per capita 5 productivity. While Judaism has valued performance of physical labour by its followers, the Hindu and Islamic societies, on the other hand, have generally considered physical labour to be of lower rank than the mental work. Work ethics may or may not be linked with religious moorings. These are subjective issues but make for an interesting study. The family system and the educational system are influential instruments of socialisation and training of the mind in its impressionable years. If the values inculcated through the family and the school have underscored honesty and ethics, the impact on the mind-set of citizens is likely to be highly positive and powerful. Legal-judicial Context The legal system of a country determines considerably the efficacy of the ethical concerns in governance system. A neatly formulated law, with a clear stress on the norms of fair conduct and honesty, is likely to distinguish chaff from grain in the ethical universe. Conversely, nebulous laws, with confusing definition of corruption and its explanations, will only promote corruption for it would not be able to instill the fear of God or fear of law among those violating the laws of the land and mores of the society. Besides, an efficient and effective judiciary with fast-track justice system will prove a roadblock to immorality in public affairs. Conversely, a slow-moving judiciary, with a concern for letter rather than the spirit of the law, will dither and delay and even help the perpetrators of crimes by giving them leeway through prolonged trials and benefits of doubt. Likewise, the anti-corruption machinery of the government, with its tangled web of complex procedures, unintendedly grants relief to the accused who are indirectly assisted by dilatory and knotty procedures. In India, there is hardly any effective anticorruption institution. As we have read in Unit 7 earlier on in this Course, the Lok Pal is yet to be established, Lok Ayuktas are feeble and toothless agencies, while the state vigilance bodies are low-key actors. The consequences are too obvious to warrant any explanation. The Political Context The political leadership, whether in power or outside the power-domain, is perhaps the single most potent influence on the mores and values of citizens. The rulers do rule the minds, but in a democracy particularly, all political parties, pressure groups and the media also influence the orientation and attitudes on moral questions. If politicians act as authentic examples of integrity, as happens in the Scandinavian countries, or as examples of gross self-interest, as found in most South Asian countries, the administrative system cannot remain immune to the levels of political morality. The election system in India is considered to be the biggest propeller to political corruption. Spending millions on the elections `compels’ a candidate to reimburse his expenses through fair or foul means – more foul than fair. While fair has limits, foul has none. It is generally argued that the administrative class – comprising civil servants at higher, middle as well as lower levels – emerges from the society itself. Naturally, therefore, the mores, values and behavioural patterns prevalent in the society are likely to be reflected in the conduct of administrators. To expect that the administrators will be insulated from the orientations and norms evidenced the in society would be grossly unrealistic. The argument, propounded here, has a convincing logic, yet there can be a counterpoint that the rulers are expected to possess stronger moral fibre than the subjects. Since there are hardly any instrumentalities to protect and nurture administrative 6 morality vis-a-vis the general social morality, such an expectation remains at the most an elusive ideal. Hence, there is an obvious need to go deeper into the problem. The behaviour of politicians has a demonstration effect on civil servants. Besides, the capacity of the less honest political masters to control civil servants is immense. It is ironical that the moral environment in a country like India is designed more by its politicians than by any other social group. The primacy of the political over the rest of systems is too obvious to be ignored. If the media is objective and fearless, its role in preventing corruption can be effective. It can even act as a catalyst to the promotion of ethical behaviour among administrators. Hence, those who own and manage the media should understand their wider social and moral responsibilities. The trend in this direction is visible now with many television channels regularly airing their ‘expose’ on malpractices in the system. This role of the media is important if performed with intent of social responsibility rather than sensationalism. The Economic Context The level of economic development of a country is likely to have a positive correlation with the level of ethics in the governance system. Even when a causal relation between the two is not envisaged, a correlation cannot be ruled out. A lower level of economic development, when accompanied with inequalities in the economic order, is likely to create a chasm among social classes and groups. The less privileged or more deprived sections of society may get tempted to forsake principles of honest conduct while fulfilling their basic needs of existence and security. Not that the rich will necessarily be more honest (though they can afford to be so), yet what is apprehended is that the poor, while making a living, may find it a compelling necessity to compromise with the principles of integrity. It is interesting to note that with the advent of liberalising economic regime in developing nations, there is a growing concern about following the norms of integrity in industry, trade, management and the governance system on account of the international pressures for higher level of integrity in the WTO regime. This is what Fred Riggs would call `exogenous’ inducements to administrative change. 21. 5 ISSUE OF ETHICS: FOCI AND CONCERNS An important question arises in connection with the moral obligation of an administrative system. Is the administrative system confined to acting morally in its conduct or does it also share the responsibility of protecting and promoting an ethical order in the larger society? While most of the focus on administrative morality is on the aspect of probity within the administrative system, there is a need to consider the issue of the responsibility of the governance system (of which the administrative system is an integral part) to create and sustain an ethical ambience in the socioeconomic system that would nurture and protect the basic moral values. Moral political philosophy assumes that the rulers will not only be moral themselves, but would also be the guardians of morality in a society. Truly, being moral is a prerequisite to being a guardian of wider morality. Both the obligations are intertwined. It is a truism that the crux of administrative morality is ethical decision-making. The questions of facts and values cannot be separated from ethical decision-making. Thus, the science of administration gets integrated with the ethics of administration. And in this integrated regime, only that empirical concern is valued, which respects the normative concerns in the delivery of administrative services. 7 Which are the essential concerns in regard to administrative ethics? There can be a long list of values that are considered desirable in an administrative action. However, in being selective, one has to focus on the most crucial values. Let us now concentrate on the values of justice, fairness and objectivity. Woodrow Wilson, â€Å"The Study of Administration† (1887), in his inaugural address averred that justice was more important than sympathy. Thus, he placed justice at the top of value-hierarchy in a governance system. Paradoxically, there has been a lot of discussion on the formallegal aspects of administrative law since then, but very little analysis has been made of the philosophical dimension of administrative justice. The other two issues of ethical decision-making, viz. fairness and objectivity are, in fact, integral components of administrative justice. When administrators are true to their profession, they are expected to be impartial and fair and not get influenced by nepotism, favoritism and greed while making decisions of governance. Objectivity should not be misconstrued as a mechanical and rigid adherence to laws and rules. From the decision-making angle, it has undoubtedly wider ramifications encompassing a set of positive orientations. Currently, the notion of ethics has expanded itself to involve all major realms of human existence. Let us attempt to outline certain salient aspects of ethics in public administration. Broadly, they could be summarised as following maxims: †¢ Maxim of Legality and Rationality: An administrator will follow the law and rules that are framed to govern and guide various categories of policies and decisions. Maxim of Responsibility and Accountability: An administrator would not hesitate to accept responsibility for his decision and actions. He would hold himself morally responsible for his actions and for the use of his discretion while making decisions. Moreover, he would be willing to be held accountable to higher authorities of governance and even to the people who are the ultimate beneficiaries of his decisions and actions. Maxim of Work Commitment: An administrator would be committed to his duties and perform his work with involvement, intelligence and dexterity. As Swami Vivekananda observed: â€Å"Every duty is holy and devotion to duty is the highest form of worship. † This would also entail a respect for time, punctuality and fulfillment of promises made. Work is considered not as a burden but as an opportunity to serve and constructively contribute to society. Maxim of Excellence: An administrator would ensure the highest standards of quality in administrative decisions and action and would not compromise with standards because of convenience or complacency. In a competitive international environment, an administrative system should faithfully adhere to the requisites of Total Quality Management. Maxim of Fusion: An administrator would rationally bring about a fusion of individual, organisational and social goals to help evolve unison of ideals and imbibe in his behaviour a commitment to such a fusion. In situation of conflicting goals, a concern for ethics should govern the choices made. Maxim of Responsiveness and Resilience: An administrator would respond effectively to the demands and challenges from the external as well as internal environment. He would adapt to environmental transformation and yet sustain the ethical norms of conduct. In situations of deviation from the prescribed ethical norms, the administrative system would show resilience and bounce back into the accepted ethical mould at the earliest opportunity. 8 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Maxim of Utilitarianism: While making and implementing policies and decisions, an administrator will ensure that these lead to the greatest good (happiness, benefits) of the greatest number. Maxim of Compassion: An administrator, without violating the prescribed laws and rules, would demonstrate compassion for the poor, the disabled and the weak while using his discretion in making decisions. At least, he would not grant any benefits to the stronger section of society only because they are strong and would not deny the due consideration to the weak, despite their weakness. Maxim of National Interest: Though universalistic in orientation and liberal in outlook, a civil servant, while performing his duties, would keep in view the impact of his action on his nation’s strength and prestige. The Japanese, the Koreans, the Germans and the Chinese citizens (including civil servants), while performing their official roles, have at the back of their mind a concern and respect for their nation. This automatically raises the level of service rendered and the products delivered. Maxim of Justice: Those responsible for formulation and execution of policies and decisions of governance would ensure that respect is shown to the principles of equality, equity, fairness, impartiality and objectivity and no special favours are doled out on the criteria of status, position, power, gender, class, caste or wealth. Maxim of Transparency: An administrator will make decisions and implement them in a transparent manner so that those affected by the decisions and those who wish to evaluate their rationale, will be able to understand the reasons behind such decisions and the sources of information on which these decisions were made. Maxim of Integrity: An administrator would undertake an administrative action on the basis of honesty and not use his power, position and discretion to serve his personal interest and the illegitimate interests of other individuals or groups. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ There could be many more tenets added to the above catalogue of maxims of morality in administration. However, the overall objective is to ensure ‘Good Governance’ with a prime concern for ethical principles, practices, orientations and behaviour. There are no dogmas involved in defining administrative ethics. The chief concern while doing so is the positive consequence of administrative action and not just ostensibly rational modes of administrative processes. In the following Section, a few of the salient concerns and foci of ethics are being dealt with briefly. 21. 6 PERTINENCE OF CODE OF ADMINISTRATIVE ETHICS. The concept of ethics has been a latecomer in the realm of public administration. For too long, doing one’s duty well was considered to be an equivalent of bureaucratic ethics. Interestingly, in the United States, the original city managers’ and federal code of ethics placed notable stress on efficiency as ethical concept. In the early 20th century, the perspective began to change. In 1924, the International City/Country Management Association adopted the public sector’s first code of ethics that reflected anti-corruption and anti-politics facets of the municipal reforms movement. 9. In 1958, the US Congress imposed a code of ethics on the Federal Government and in 1978, founded the Office of Government Ethics as an upshot of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. In 1992, the Office of Government Ethics released the Federal Government’s first comprehensive set of standards of ethical conduct, comprising standards pertaining to gifts, conflicts of financial interest, impartiality, misuse of office, seeking outside employment, and outside activities. Almost all the American states have also promulgated their respective codes of ethics, though compared to the federal initiative, they are less comprehensive. Today, codes of ethics, ethics boards, and ethics training have been accepted as integral aspects of public administration in the U. S. Moreover, ethics education has also permeated the discipline of public administration. The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Public Administration has made ethics education a required component of a Public Administration Programme for its accreditation and has prescribed that all introductory text-books in public administration should include a discussion on ethics (Browman, Berman and West, 2001). Eminent professional associations of public administration also offer training programmes on ethical conduct for public managers. In India, there are a few training programmes on administrative ethics offered by the Indian Institute of Public Administration and other institutions for civil servants, but there is hardly any similar initiative taken up in the realm of education in Public Administration. The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) had adopted in 1984 a Code of Ethics for its members (comprising intellectuals as well as practicing administrators). It was revised in 1994. Certain salient points of the ASPA’s Code of Ethics are as follows: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Exercise of discretionary authority to promote public interest Recognition and support to the public’s right to know the public business Exercise of compassion, benevolence, fairness and optimism Prevention of all forms of mismanagement of public funds by establishing and maintaining strong fiscal and management controls, by supporting audits and investigative activities Protection of Constitutional principles of equality, fairness, representativeness, responsiveness and due process in protecting citizens’ rights Maintenance of truthfulness and honesty and not to compromise them for advancement, honour, or personal gain Guarding zealously against conflict of interest or its appearance: e. g. nepotism, improper ou.