Does the World Still Care About American Culture Essay

Pells – Does the World Still Care About American Culture? What does Pells mean by the statement, â€Å"American culture used to be the elephant in everyone’s living room†? â€Å"Elephant in the room† is a term used for an obvious truth that is going unaddressed or being ignored. It also applies to an obvious problem that everyone is ignoring or no one wants to state it. In the article when Pells mentioned â€Å"American culture used to be the elephant in everyone’s living room.† he meant that the American culture is being forced on everyone whether they like it or not it. If we look back after WWII everyone wants to study in the US because the American culture was the dominant culture in the world whether you are fan of the culture or not, it will still affect you. Just like an elephant in the living room whether you are comfortable or not you still can not deny the existence of the elephant. (Pells has a very different perspective on globali sm when compared to O’Connor and Verdu and even Rice-Oxley. When we go back to O’Connor’s and Rice-Oxley’s article we can see that both authors main point is that America is forcing its culture to the world. Moreover, they both believe that American culture is the dominant culture of the world. In the other hand, Pells believe that the American culture used to be the dominant culture in the world back in the 20’s centuries. Furthermore, Pells states that we are living in an era where the American culture is one of many other competing cultures in the world, in other words we are living in a new world order and a globalization era where everyone have many options of cultures to adapt from. Rice-Oxley writes about a cultural backlash against America. What is Pells saying here that is different? Do you agree with Pells’s assessment? After reading Pells article I’ve realized that the author believes there is no backlash against american because nowadays the American culture is just another another item on the shelves of the global supermarket. Pells states that in the 90’s many people assumed that the emergence of what they called global culture is just another mechanism for Americanization, but the truth is that globalization has strengthened the culture of other nations. Now the American culture is competing against other culture in shaping people’s values and tastes. Furthermore, Pells strongly believe that the world we are living is not a hegemonic American culture, instead it is a multiple form of art and entertainment.

Critique the Proposal That Van Leer Has Prepared for Total Essay

First of all, the proposal has identified everything that TOTAL was seeking to obtain. These were (1) the best prices at each location based on the overall purchasing volume for the group, (2) all quoted prices would be firm for one year, with a multi-year proposal including the escalation on cost of raw materials starting at the second year, (3) an annual rebate based on purchasing levels, and (4) suppliers were asked to include information on their quality assurance and drum collecting facilities. Secondly, every element of the proposal was clear, concise and straight to the point. However, to increase its effectiveness, the proposal may need to assess more on the TOTAL’s needs, demonstrating to TOTAL that Van Leer has a clear understanding of their situation. On the other hand, the proposal has succeeded in identifying the problem- that being the high cost of the proposed unit process in France and outside of France. Thus, by offering rebates and establishing a cumulative discount policy on all purchasing in Europe, the problem of high unit costs will be improved. Moreover, by providing information of their Quality Assurance programs and Drum Recovery and reconditioning program, their quality of services can be collaborated by both TOTAL and Van Leer. Assuming that TOTAL also has their own sets of Quality of Service policies, both parties will be able to negotiate with one another and exchange their policies to an agreement and implement on it. The proposal however, does not show the method on how the negotiation will be conducted. This is crucial in guaranteeing atomicity property in the process given that both parties are honest throughout. – If TOTAL declines Van Leer’s offer, it would best if Van Leer holds firm on its price they quoted instead of countering it with a reduction in price. This is because there is no use in putting their business at risk of failure, endangering their operation’s survival. Furthermore, Van Leer were not the only ones affected by the rise in price of steel (15%), but other steel drum companies are also affected by it. Therefore, it is most likely that they were also forced to readjust their prices of steel. Hence the chances of TOTAL switching suppliers were very slim unless the competition offered more comparable international discounts, while maintaining existing market prices- this too is very unlikely due to the high rise in steel prices. Moreover, even if TOTAL were to decline the offer, Van Leer will still stand to be one of the world’s leading steel drum manufacturer- with market share of 37% in Europe in 1995, whilst Blagden, a British company, holding 35% and Gallay-Mauser with 12% market share.

Judaism and Christianity Essay

What beliefs and practices does Islam share with Judaism and Christianity? Specify what is distinctive about the Islamic form of those beliefs and practices. The relationships between Islam, Judaism and Christianity in the later parts of the 20th century appear to have improved as well as worsened from different perspectives as compared to any other period in history. A noteworthy aspect of the current relationships is that Muslims are now engaged in dialogues with Christians and Jews. Islam is now the fastest growing religion in the world and Muslim leaders and clerics can be observed functioning together with ministers, priests and rabbis in several religious endeavors. However, the three religions continue to have major differences and are engaged in nationalist and territorial conflicts that have gradually been characterized with religious or sectarian differences. This paper makes an analysis of the beliefs and practices that Islam shares with Christianity and Judaism because the misunderstandings between the three religions can be resolved only in recognizing that they have the same roots and share several social and religious pract ices. Islam is a monotheistic religion and is the second biggest in the world after Christianity. The religion has its origin in the Middle East and has several customs and beliefs that are the same as Christianity and Judaism. These three religions are commonly referred to as the Abrahamic religions; they believe in one God and trace their lineage from the Prophet Ibrahim, as evident in the Hebrew. Islam, Christianity and Judaism believe there is only one God who is the creator of all things that exist in the world and He is the one who takes care of every living being. The three religions provide that God believes in justice and He has established fundamental rules in guiding people about how they can become virtuous and honorable in complying with His intentions. The three religions hold that God believes in mercy and that with His grace people get the power to become more like what is desired of them to become (Wells, 2011). Islam, along with Christianity and Judaism, holds that all human beings are Ibrahim’s children and are the most capable living beings on Earth. Human beings were created with an element of mystery in being given immense potential to grow constantly, individually as well as a species. When people strive towards achieving good, righteous and loving qualities they transform into what God desired them to become. If such freedom is misused and others are harmed with one’s actions, it implies that such people are transgressing God’s will, which makes them evil. The three religions believe that it is possible for every individual to seek God’s help in achieving the capability to ward off evil influences. Eventually, the message in all three religions is to be devoted and obedient to God (Los Angeles Chinese Learning Center, 2012). In being monotheistic, the three religions are different from Buddhism and Hinduism. They share common beliefs about history being the arena of God’s activities and His encounters with human beings, Satan, angels, heavenly revelation and prophets. All three religions focus on t he importance of Judgment Day, accountability, responsibility and perpetual rewards and punishments. The three religions give immense importance to peace, which is evident from historical patterns of greeting one another, implying Peace Be Upon You, beginning with Assalamalaikim in Islam, with pax vobisum in Christianity and salom aleicham in Judaism. However, such greetings of peace have primarily pertained to greeting one another in a given community or society. All three religions believe that it is essential to engage in holy wars to espouse the cause of empires and to protect societies. The relationships between religion and politics is apparent in the present times also although in different ways, such as the circumstances that prevail in present day Israel, Palestine, Middle East and other parts of the world. All the three religions share the same ancestry and believe in scriptures that were delivered through heaven. They have similar religious practices and rites relative to charity and regular prayers, value of pilgrimage and common holy places. The three religions give the promise that appropriate behaviors will be rewarded and inappropriate behaviors will be punished in life as well as in the afterlife. They balance and integrate many elements of piety, devotion, legalism and mysticism and appear to be suitable in co-existing mutually in reinforcing one another (Peters, 1990). Islam has similarity with Judaism in regard to the focus on practice instead of beliefs. The main basis of religious obedience in Islam and Judaism is religious law, while in Christianity the focus is on theology. Across history, the main differences between Islam and Judaism have pertained to disagreement of religious practices and religious law. The disputes between Islam and Christianity have pertained primarily to the divide amongst communities about theological belief systems, relative to the relationships between divine and human characteristics. Christianity and Judaism are given special consideration in Islam in view of the Islamic beliefs that God had conveyed His will through His Prophets, namely Ibrahim, Moses and Jesus. In this regard, the Quran specifically states that God revealed his will throug h Ibrahim, Ismail and their progeny, as well as through Moses and Jesus. There is no difference amongst them and in what they say, which is why Muslims adhere to what was said by these Prophets (Newby, 1996). Islam and the Quran hold that Christians and Jews are Ibrahim’s children and relate to them as people of the book (Esposito, 2011). This is because the three religions originate from the same lineage of Ibrahim. Muslims trace their lineage from Ibrahim and his servant Hagar, while Christians and Jews trace their lineage from Ibrahim and his spouse Sarah. Muslims hold that God’s revelation in the form of the Torah was first delivered to the Jews by Prophet Moses and later to Christians by the Prophet Jesus. Muslims are in agreement about some biblical prophets such as Jesus and Moses and use their names as Isa and Musa respectively (Hipps et al, 2003). They also use the Virgin Mary’s name as Mariam and it is evident that her name appears more frequently in the Quran than in the New Testament. Muslims do not refute the status of Virgin Mary and Jesus’ virgin birth but they hold that in due course, over the centuries, the original revelation as made to Jesus and Moses became despoiled. Muslims view the Old Testament as a mix of human manufacture and of God’s messages. They hold the same views about the New Testament and believe that doctrines referring to Jesus as the Son of God are erroneous without any truth. They do not believe that the death of Jesus represented the redemption and atonement for mankind’s sins. It is apparent that Islam, Christianity and Judaism have some common roots and share several common practices. This is because they are all having the same Abrahamic heritage. Islam, Christianity and Judaism are monotheistic religions as they believe in a single God in focusing on the unity and oneness of God. The confirmation of one God in Christianity has been often debated because of its adherence to the Holy Trinity but this cannot be considered as a refutation of monotheism. It is only an acknowledgement of the ways in which God is viewed because in Christianity the Divine Being is God. Islam, Christianity and Judaism hold that God is the source and foundation of all that exists in the world and takes care of all His creations in ensuring their wellbeing. All the three religions confirm that people are governed and guided by basic rules that make them take the right path and become righteous in complying with God’s will. References 1. Esposito, John L. (2011). What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam, Oxford University Press. 2. Hipps, Amelia., Kayanaugh, Dorothy., and Khaled Abou El Fadl. (2003). Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Mason Crest Publishers. |Los Angeles Chinese Learning Center. (2012). Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Similarities, | |http://chinese-school.netfirms.com/Judaism-Christianity-Islam.html, Accessed on 16 October, 2012. | |Newby, Gordon. (1996). Muslim, Jews and Christians – Relations and Interactions,The Muslim Almanac, Gale Research Inc, Detroit, p.423-429. | |Peters, F. E. (1990). Judaism, Christianity, and Islam,Volume 1: From Covenant to Community, Princeton University Press | |Wells, Mark. (2011). Comparison of Islam, Judaism and Christianity, http://smileyandwest.ning.com, Accessed on 16 October, 2012 | | |

Social Media and Marketing mix Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Media and Marketing mix - Assignment Example Some argue that social media marketing is a replica of the word of mouth marketing since people like the contents and share the information with friends thus increasing visits to the social network site. The change brought about by social media in marketing has seen the success of companies like Netflix whose presence is not only felt in the UK but also worldwide. For business entities to consider social media as an effective marketing tool, they must understand what the concept entails. Gordon (2014) suggests that the definition of social media is never complete without reference to Web 2.0 that has been defined as the new way through which people use the World Wide Web as place that continually alters contents to allow sharing in a collaborative way. The Web 2.0 came about or evolved from simple tasks of retrieving information to more complex functions like interoperability, interactivity, and collaboration. By definition, social media a collective term for internet based applications whose basis come from technological and ideological foundations of the Web 2.0 to allow creation as well as exchange user content (Brennan, & Croft, 2012). According to Brennan, & Croft (2012) social media are basically software tools that make it possible to create user specific content which they can share. For a website to meet specifications of a social network, it must have content, user profiles, method for connecting users and posting comments and also provisions for joining virtual groups of common interests like politics, fashion, or religion (Gordon, 2014). Also, there is always confusion between the terms social media and social media networks though the latter allows users to unite through generation of personal or private information profiles where the users can invite their friends to access the profiles (Sashi, 2012). Therefore, a more discreet definition of social media is that; social media is an environment where social networking occurs and

Direct Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Direct Marketing - Essay Example It is a system of interactive marketing which is aimed at maintaining and building long term relationships with customers through the products and services offerings (Koekemoer & Bird, 2004, p.332). On the other hand, mass marketing aims to target the total market without emphasising on specific market segments. In such a case, the marketer believes that the entire market would be satisfied through the single product offering. The product is offered in the market with minimum or completely no variation in the marketing. It includes a single price, one single promotional campaign targeting the entire market and also a single method of distribution (Strydom, 2001, p.61). This is a relatively less costly affair which includes only a single standard package using one promotional message. Some of the common differences between the two are discussed as follows. The traditional advantages associated with mass marketing are that the production costs remains low because of a single production run for a product which is homogeneous in nature. The advertising cost also remains low because of the launch of a single campaign. It also does not require extensive market research which is why the cost associated with market research also remains low (Strydom, 2001, p.62). ... It is said that the strategies for direct marketing must be in alignment and should be guided by the marketing strategy of the organisation on the whole. It shows the way in which the customers can be reached on a one to one basis. This includes determining the product strategies, setting the price and arranging for the distribution. The L. L. Bean Inc. targets the outdoor apparel niche by the use of catalogue marketing. Many companies have used direct marketing to communicate with the target market. For example, Dell Inc. employs sales contact directly with the business customers, internet sales and telephone sales (Cravens, 2009, 377). Dell Inc. is also said to be using the internet for providing customers with the necessary information prior to taking an order over the telephone. The following paragraph discusses some of the common features of both forms of marketing. In term of the costs involved, direct marketing is said to be less costly as compared to mass marketing because it targets less number of people and is carefully aimed at a selected few. It would be more applicable for businesses which have a small or medium target market and which has string prospects. For example, the TV home shopping channels, like Home Shopping network is one the modes of direct marketing (Kennedy, 2006, p.3). In other words, direct marketing involves an one to one customer relationship on the basis of personalized communications (Stone & Jacobs, 2007, p.10). Another basic difference between the two is that direct marketing has a greater conversion rate than mass marketing. It is likely to be surer of converting the first person it targets before moving to its next target. Also,

The relation between assessment practices and outcomes of students in Essay

The relation between assessment practices and outcomes of students in foreign language learning - Essay Example The importance of assessment in the process of education cannot be overemphasized (CERI, 2008). Although prior knowledge affects students’ performance positively, yet the effects primarily depend upon the way they have been assessed (Dochy, Segers, and Buehl, 2010). Ensuring equity in the assessment of students’ performance and its interpretation is fundamental to getting the students motivated to achieve high standards in education (ncrel.org, 1997). To identify the performance assessment methods commonly used by teachers for foreign language learning, first a thorough review of literature would be done. Students would be required to mark the importance of the identified performance assessment methods in determining best learning outcome on a scale of 1 to 5 where the values represent â€Å"not important†, â€Å"less important†, â€Å"important†, â€Å"very important† and â€Å"most important† respectively. The performance assessment methods would be classified using the relative importance index. This research would produce useful results both for the teachers and the students. The teachers would be able to identify and implement the best performance assessment method according to the students’ perception whereas the students would be able to optimize on their academic performance. between Classroom Activities, Motivation, and Outcomes in a University Language-Learning Environment. Carnegie Mellon University. Dietrich College Honors Theses. Paper 74. Retrieved from

Race and Race Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Race and Race Theory - Essay Example It is also difficult to determine what characteristics of human beings need to be considered for racial discrimination. The concept of categorizing human beings according to their blood and kinship is a newer theory. Towards the end of the Middle Age, this concept took concrete form when anti-Jewish feelings were evolved as a manner to express resentment towards the religious beliefs of the Jewish community. These kinds of antagonism towards Jewish blood and kinship paved the reasons for hatred towards a community instead of an individual. Baptism among the Jews caused threat to the Christian community as the former could not prove their purity of blood to the Inquisition. The concept of racism had its roots in the Mediterranean slave trade during the Middle Ages when the Western world equated the blacks with slavery. In the modern time the concept of distinguishing human beings based on social, physical and intellectual features has proved to be unsound. This notion has generated fo r ages and is more specifically a social and historical process. Race cannot be confined to the physical or biological traits cultivated by an individual. The genetic inheritance of human beings that contribute towards those traits does not form the concept of â€Å"race†. ... There is a continuous inclination to regard race as an essence that is concrete and objective. There is also a contrasting view of the non-racist society that race is merely an illusion created purely by some ideologists. It was with the growth of political economy in the global arena and the advent of seaborne empire that race began to take a concrete shape. During economic crisis it is often the ethnic minorities who endure discriminations in the labour market. They even have limited access to proper education and health care facilities and this happens even during economic well-being although to a lesser extent. Although racial prejudices exist all over the world, the racial discrimination of human beings was originated by the Europeans. The era of European imperialism suggested that only those people belonging to the highest social rankings must govern the earth and it is they who should get access to all kinds of facilities for their development. It is however not correct to sta te that the European’s attainment of imperialism gave rise to race, but on the contrary it can be stated that race has created sociopolitical discriminations and has shaped the international economy: â€Å"this is not to say that the European attainment of imperial and world-encompassing power gave rise to race. Indeed it is just as easy to argue the opposite: that the modern concept of race gave rise to, or at least facilitated the creation of, an integrated sociopolitical world, a modem authoritarian state, the structures of an international economy, and the emergence over time of a global culture† (Winant, 172). What I find interesting about the article is that it discusses about the theoretical elements of race with the advent of the twenty first

Road Movies Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Road Movies Analysis - Research Paper Example The south-west was the protagonist’s home place responsible for discrimination, violence and racism. It was the place where the two drivers did not receive the best of treatments, experiencing attack and insults due to their long hair. The depictions of the African American poverty with the touch of modernity with the gas stations were later to indicate more to the story. The first terrain discussed above showed the nationalism that was being experienced already and the fight for those against it (Laderman, 179). Vagabond was the distinguishing film between the European and American road movie. It was the first depicting a woman on the road, the film does not put much emphasis on the drive but on the isolation, and lack of interest in being part of a home. Mona does not cross over borders or territories but rather circulates in the same place south of France. The camera shifts from Mona to other scenes such as the branches of trees alongside the road to creating a feeling of w hat will happen in future. The non-narrative escape from the road drifts induces coldness in the film. More attention is given to Mona’s body rather than the car she is travelling in. This is a major distinction between the European and American road movie. The sound techniques in the film are modern classic tracking the camera and only changes to focus on significant objects or sceneries (Laderman, 268). Stranger than paradise was an American Road movie was produced by Win Wenders when the activities of this genre were inactive. He established a film producing company named as Road movies. This particular film adopted a journey structure where the film characters taking a journey that stopped frequently by having long pauses in between the drive. The journey takes a therapeutic remedy. The first driving scene is staged with the camera being at the back of the seat of the car where Eddie and Willie are going to escape from the town. They are driving the windscreen is being us ed as a shield in which we can see them.

Implementation of ecotourism principles in Pembrokeshire Coast Research Paper

Implementation of ecotourism principles in Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Success or failure - Research Paper Example The bar graph above shows the responses to the question – What best describes Ecotourism? A total of 25 visitors indicated that it meant minimal impact on the environment and also ecological protection of preservation. Seventeen (17) visitors indicated that it meant travelling to natural destination and appreciating nature as well as create environmental awareness for the locals and the tourists. Twelve (12) visitors indicated that it provides direct financial benefits for conservation and that it involves community participation while nine (9) visitors indicated that it provides financial benefits for locals. From the diagram above it can be seen that out of the five modes of transportation – Car, Train, Bus, Bicycle and Foot, only two modes of transportation were used by the visitors surveyed. Car was the most popular method of transportation for visitors to the park. Of the 29 visitors surveyed 22 or 76% used a car while 7 or 24% used the train. The pie chart above shows the types of accommodations that they used. Six accommodations were specified in the questionnaire and visitors were required to state any other option. The chart shows that guesthouse was the most popular type of accommodation used. A total of 29 visitors were surveyed and (12) or 42% used Guest houses, 7 or 24% used hotels, 6 or 21% persons used relatives/private houses, 3 or 10% used cottages, and 1 or 3% used day trip. No visitor used camping site or any other unspecified accommodation. All of the persons surveyed were motivated to visit PNCP because of the natural beauty of the park or the scenery. Fourteen (14) persons were motivated by the good lodging facilities and services, eight (8) because of the hospitality of the people, six (6) because of its convenience and quality, five (5) because of the local food and beverage as well as the educational aspect of the park. The responses by the visitors indicated that on a scale

Impact of the Russian revolution - Ideology matters Essay Example for Free

Impact of the Russian revolution Ideology matters Essay I. BACKDROP: GERMAN IDEALISM AND RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONARIES German philosophers in the 19th century were often Idealists, that is to say that they maintained that ideas have a force, power, and reality that is more real than that concrete, reality that so consume us in our daily lives. German idealism dominated the 19th-century Russian revolutionary movement from the Decembrist Revolt of 1825 until long after Lenins successful revolutionary coup that we call the October (or Bolshevik or Communist) Revolution of 1917. While I never want to downplay the central role of raw hypocrisy in human affairs, much of what we in the United States have interpreted as hypocrisy in the Soviet Union-the dissonance between the profound humanism of Marxs ideas and the coarse violence of the Stalinist dictatorship-this hypocrisy can also be seen as the desperate attempt to coerce reality through the power of belief-through the power of the Idea. And one way to interpret the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was that the Soviets had lost their ability to convince themselves that the Leninist/Stalinist Idea had the power to transform reality into a better future. With the collapse of this self-justifying, central Myth that legitimized the Soviet experience, the Soviet Union died not with a bang but rather whimpered into Lev Trotskys dust bin of history. With this introduction, I would now like to offer three examples in the Russian Revolutionary experience where Ideas profoundly affected the future course of events. Only toward the end of the Twentieth Century have these effects begun to run out of steam. II. THREE EXAMPLES A. MODERATE SOCIALISM AND THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION OF 1917 The first example involves the reaction of moderate socialists to the February Revolution in Petrograd in 1917. Moderate Socialists, including the Marxist Mensheviks in contrast to Lenins Bolsheviks, had adopted a position that Russia was not yet ready for a Socialist Revolution; reading Marxs Stages of History quite literally, they understood that the Bourgeois Revolution had to come first and had to take place under the leadership of the bourgeoisie. The working class movement thus had to be satisfied with playing the role of a party of the extreme opposition-the bourgeois revolution must come first and be developed, and the responsibility of the proletariat was to encourage this historical necessity. Real consequences flowed from this belief. When the women, workers, and soldiers of Petrograd spontaneously took to the streets in February 1917, it took only several days for them to overthrow the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty. They then handed power they had won in the streets to their moderate socialist leadership-none of whom were philosophically or psychologically ready to assume the mantle of power. Consistent with their beliefs, the socialists in turn handed power to the bourgeoisie who established the Provisional Government. Not having the complete courage of their convictions, however, the moderate socialists also established the Petrograd Soviet which basically held veto-power over the actions of the bourgeois Provisional Government. This compromise established the period of Dual Power which was inherently unstable. In retrospect, it is amazing that the Provisional Government, amidst the catastrophe of World War I, managed to hold on to power until October of 1917 when Lenins and Trotskys Bolsheviks managed a coup detat to take power. Lenin, like his Menshevik cousins, was a Marxist, but his Marxism focused less on the determinist element of Marxs Stages of History than on the ability of the individual to assert his will on history. For him, there was no need to wait patiently for the bourgeoisie to fulfill their historical duty at their own leisure; Bolshevism could force the pace. Lenins Will to Power and his belief in the power of the Idea to change reality made the difference between his success and the moderate socialists failure. B. LENINS IMPERIALISM, THE HIGHEST STAGE OF CAPITALISM The second example of the power of the Idea concerns Soviet influence on the developing world. Lenin wrote Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism in 1917, during the trials of the First World War and before the Bolshevik Revolution, to explain two crucial contradictions facing Marxists of the day. The first contradiction concerned the delayed outbreak of the promised world revolution. After all, it had already been sixty-nine years since Marx in the Communist Manifesto had proclaimed that A Specter is haunting Europe-the specter of Communism. What had gone wrong? The second failure of the Marxist promise involved the inability of the worlds proletariat to prevent war and its rejection of internationalism for nationalism. It had been a common belief among those of all political stripes from the far right to the far left, that socialist influence on the proletariat had made a major European war impossible. One of the central socialist beliefs was that wars are fought for the benefit of capitalist profits. Now, with the spread of democracy and the entry of powerful socialist parties into Europes parliaments, the capitalists could try to provoke war to their hearts delight but would find it impossible to vote war credits through parliament or to mobilize soldiers who, following their socialist leadership, would refuse to fight. These ideas evoke memories of the anti-Vietnam War poster: What if they gave a war and nobody came? Lenins ingenious answer to both questions came in his book, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism. In it he argued that the concentration of production had transformed the capitalism of free competition into monopoly capitalism. The concentration of production also had dramatically increased the socialization of production. Big banks had changed from pure credit institutions into business banks and as such they dominated whole sectors of industry. Together the banks and industry were tied in with government. This coalescence of bank capital with industrial capital with strong government ties had led to the formation of a financial oligarchy that controlled large sections of the national economy. Share issues and state loans had increased the power and amount of surplus capital which flowed beyond political frontiers and extended the financial oligarchys control to other countries. The capital exporting monopolies had divided the world among themselves; international cartels formed the basis for international relations, and the economic division of the world provided the ground for the struggle for colonies, spheres of influence, and world domination. But once the world was divided up, the struggle had become one for the repartitioning of the world. Because the economic development of individual countries is uneven and sporadic, some were left at a disadvantage in this repartitioning. Imperialism represented a special, highest, stage of capitalism. The transition to a capitalism of this higher order was connected with an aggravation of contradictions, frictions, and conflicts. Monopolists assured profits by corrupting the upper stratum of the proletariat in the developed countries. The imperialist ideology permeated the working class. In other words, the burden of bourgeois oppression had been shifted from the shoulders of the domestic proletariat to those of the colonial peoples. In effect, the domestic proletariat had been bribed and they came to see that their material interests were tied up with colonial enterprise. Now, successful war to repartition the world in the favor of a particular nation made fighting war against fellow proletarians in other countries worthwhile. With his theory, Lenin seemingly had explained those two problems with Marx. The revolution had not yet swept the world because the potential revolutionaries, the proletariat, had been bribed by the illusion of short-term, material gains to forget their true, long-term interests. They had rejected their class-based internationalism for nationalism because wars fought to expand colonial holdings appeared to be in their material self-interest. Hence they did not prevent the outbreak of the Great War. This theory held long-term importance because Lenin, unlike Marx and Engels, did not see the revolutionary perspectives as centered uniquely upon advanced capitalist countries. After the Great War, in a period of Capitalist Encirclement the Soviets attacked the weak link in the chain of imperialism, the colonies. Political influence went to where the oppression was-the colonies. In the colonial and post-colonial world after World War II, given the absence of an entrepreneurial bourgeoisie with the will and capacity to transform existing conditions and to overcome the entrenched interests opposed to full-scale development, a gospel of competitive individualism seemed useless for modernization to those in the Third World. What appeared to be needed to get the underdeveloped country moving has been collective effort inspired by a national sense of political purpose. Only governments had sufficient capital, organizational skills, and commitment to make rapid development possible. Ideologically, therefore, the intelligentsia of such countries gravitated to one or another of the various socialist doctrines-something that in general might be described as state capitalism, that is, the state and not private individuals perform the entrepreneurial duties of gathering land, labor, and capital for productive enterprise. Socialist rhetoric disguised this crucial essence . For most of the twentieth century, Soviet Russia provided the model for those in the Third World who wished to rapidly modernize their countries. And rapid modernization was necessary for the sake of national prestige and independence. Russias success seemed obvious when we note that within forty short years Russia had risen from the ashes of World War I to defeat Hitler, to become one of the worlds two superpowers, and to be the first in space. Just as important as was this practical example was the vocabulary provided by Lenin. That Marx himself had had little to say to the underdeveloped world mattered little. I would argue that many Third World leaders, for two contentious examples Ho Chi-Minh and Fidel Castro, who led revolutions to assert national pride, independence, and prosperity, turned to Communism because Lenin had provided a vocabulary with a coherent explanation for colonial degradation and a means for asserting national regeneration. Additionally, of the major powers, the Soviet regime alone more-or-less consistently supported the aspirations of those wishing to throw off the oppression of colonialism and capitalism. Of course, today, the Communist model no longer holds the same allure it once did. C. TWO MARXIST HERESIES: LENINISM/STALINISM AND MUSSOLINIS FASCISM The final example of the power of ideas generated during World War I involves the intimate, kissing cousin-relationship between Stalinist Communism and Mussolinis Fascism. Despite facile assumptions, Fascism and Communism were not antipodes. Although their exact relationship remains difficult to define, there exist commonalties, as one author has pointed out: Fascism was the heir of a long intellectual tradition that found its origins in the ambiguous legacy left to revolutionaries in the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Fascism was, in a clear and significant sense, a Marxist heresy. It was a Marxism creatively developed to respond to the particular and specific needs of an economically retarded national community condemned, as a proletarian nation, to compete with the more advanced plutocracies of its time for space, resources, and international stature. Was this kind of self-awareness present as thinkers and politicians struggled to define these two ideologies as they co-developed earlier in this century? In fact, many did recognize that their common interests held much greater weight than did the Talmudic differences between Fascism and Communism. Arturo Labriolas Avanguardia Socialista of Milan by 1903 had become the forum for Italys Sorelian syndicalist revolutionaries, who were struggling to make Marx relevant and against reformist socialism. Such luminaries as Vilfredo Pareto and Benedetto Croce graced its pages, followed shortly by a second generation of Sorelian theoreticians, who came to dominate Italian radicalism for more than a generation. Together they constructed an alternative socialist orthodoxy, which they believed was the true heir to classical Marxism. Clearly, their ideas were no more heretical to those of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels than was Lenins Marxism. By 1904 Mussolini, then a socialist agitator in Switzerland, had begun his collaboration with Avanguardia Socialista, a relationship he maintained for the next five years. The syndicalist contributors to the journal affected the future Duces intellectual and political development. Radical syndicalists like A. O. Olivetti innovatively argued that, under retarded economic conditions, socialists must appeal to national sentiment if their ideas are to penetrate the masses. For him, both syndicalism and nationalism were dedicated to increasing production dramatically. As long as Italy remained underdeveloped, the bourgeoisie remained necessary to build the economic foundation requisite for a socialist revolution. Olivetti spoke of a national socialism, because in an underdeveloped economy, only the nation could pursue the economic development presupposed by classical Marxism. When Mussolini took over as editor of the socialist paper, Avanti!, in December 1912, he attracted anarchists and even some rigid Marxists like Angelica Balabanoff, whom he took on as his assistant editor. Paolo Orano, who served on the editorial staff of Avanti!, along with other syndicalists like Sergio Panunzio, set the tone of that socialist paper. Mussolini also founded and edited Utopia from November 1913 until December of the following year. This bi-monthly review attracted many of the most important young socialist and syndicalist theoreticians, who helped Mussolini to develop his own ideas. In the final years before the First World War, many independent national syndicalists, including Panunzio and Ottavio Dinale saw war as progressive. Helping to put together the rationale for Fascism, they supported Italys fight with the Ottomans over Libya in 1911, and, along with Mussolini, they called for Italys intervention in the First World War. Many socialists now passed into Mussolinis Fascist ranks, and syndicalists such as Panunzio, Olivetti, and Orano, became its principal ideologues. As early as October 1914, Olivetti in Pagine Libere spoke of an Italian socialism infused with national sentiment, a socialism destined to complete Italys unification, to accelerate production, and to place it among the worlds advanced nations. Over the next three years in LItalia Nostra, Olivetti spoke of the nation as uniting men of all classes in a common pursuit of historical tasks; class membership did not align an individual against the nation, but united him with the nation. Patriotism was fully compatible with the revolutionary tradition of Italian socialism. By the time of Mussolinis accession to power, Fascism had given clear evidence of its commitment to industrialization and modernization of the economy. Not only were the Futurists, Nationalists, and National Syndicalists agreed that maximizing production was the first order of business, but all also advocated urban development, the rationalization of financial institutions, the reorganization of the bureaucracy on the basis of technical competence, the abolition of traditional and nonfunctional agencies, the expansion of road, rail, waterways, and telephonic communications systems, the modernization and secular control of the educational system, and the reduction of illiteracy. What does this mean for Fascisms relationship with Soviet Russia? Mussolini by 1919 was pointing out the absolute decline in economic productivity in Russia as proving its failure to recognize its historic obligations. He suspected that the Bolsheviks ultimately had to commit themselves to national reconstruction and national defense, that is, to some form of developmental national socialism as defined by Fascisms former syndicalists. Speaking of the Bolshevik failure to comprehend their revolutionary necessities, Mussolini presciently predicted that Lenin had to appeal to bourgeois expertise to repair Russias ravaged economy. Bolshevism, he said, must domesticate and mobilize labor to the task of intensive development, something which could have been anticipated, because Marxism had made it quite clear that socialism could be built only upon a mature economic base. Russia, not having yet completed the capitalist stage of economic development, met none of the material preconditions f or a classic Marxist revolution. Russia was no more ripe than was Italy for socialism. Lenin, in the practical working out of his revolutionary government, did run headlong into many of these conundrums predicted by the syndicalists. In the months following his takeover, he had expected that the revolution in Germany would bail Soviet Russia out of its difficulties. Thus, while the first Fascists were organizing for a national revolution, the bolsheviks were still dreaming of an international insurrection. Lenin, changing horses, in 1921 proposed the New Economic Policy to replace the ideologically purer but failed War Communism. Like Fascists, Lenin now spoke of holding the entire fabric of society together with a single iron will, and he began to see the withering away of the state as a long way away: We need the state, we need coercion-certainly a Fascist mantra. After Lenins death in 1924, this logic culminated in 1925 with Stalins creative development of Marxism: Socialism in One Country, a national socialism by any other name. Mussolini suspected that Stalin might be abandoning true Communism. This, it seemed, might provide economic advantages to Italy, and to Mussolini it made sense for his country to build ships and planes for the Soviets in exchange for one-third of Italys oil supplies. For him the even more interesting possibility was that Stalin might be the true heir to the tsars and an imperialist with whom Fascism could see eye-to-eye. In 1923, the Duce predicted, Tomorrow there will not be an imperialism with a socialist mark, but . . . [Russia] will return to the path of its old imperialism with a panslavic mark. Mussolini convinced himself that Russian Communism was proving to be less revolutionary than was Fascism. The Duce and some of his followers considered it possible that the two movements were moving together closely enough as to be no longer easily distinguishable. Even dedicated Fascist party workers such as Dino Grandi, Mussolinis foreign minister from 1928 to 1932, early recognized Fascisms affinities with Lenins Bolshevism. He had taken at least part of his own intellectual inspiration from revolutionary syndicalism, and in 1914 he had talked of the First World War as a class struggle between nations. Six years later, Grandi argued that socialists had failed to understand the simple reality of what was happening in revolutionary Russia. The Bolshevik Revolution had been nothing less than the struggle of an underdeveloped and proletarian nation against the more advanced capitalist states. Not only Fascists made this sort of analysis. Torquato Nanni, a revolutionary Marxist socialist and an early acquaintance of Mussolini, as early as 1922 had anticipated these developments. He analyzed the common economic foundations of Fascism and Bolshevism, which produced the related strategic, tactical, and institutional features of these two mass-mobilizing, developmental revolutions. Both, he wrote, had assumed the bourgeois responsibilities of industrializing backward economies and defending the nation-state, the necessary vehicle for progress. Lev Trotsky, the organizer of the October Revolution, consistently, even mulishly, argued that Fascism was a mass movement growing organically out of the collapse of capitalism. He also rejected all notions of any sort of national Communism. Nonetheless, he too recognized a certain involution. Stalinism and Fascism, he said, in spite of a deep difference in social foundations, are symmetrical phenomena. In many of their features they show a deadly similarity. A victorious revolutionary movement in Europe would immediately shake not only fascism, but Soviet Bonapartism. (that is, Stalinism) He, however, refused to go as far as his sometime ally, Bruno Rizzi, who later argued that the assumption of similar developmental and autarchic responsibilities could only generate social and ideological convergence. He lamented, that which Fascism consciously sought, [the Soviet Union] involuntarily constructed. For him, the governments of Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, and even Roosevelt were lurching toward a global system of bureaucratic collectivism, a new form of class domination. Fascist theoreticians agreed with such convergence notions. By 1925, Panunzio claimed that Fascism and Bolshevism shared crucial similarities. Fascists noted that the Soviets had created an armed, authoritarian, anti-liberal state, which had mobilized and disciplined the masses to the service of intensive internal development. The supreme state generated and allocated resources, articulated and administered interests, and assumed and exercised paramount pedagogical functions. Thus, while the first Fascists were formulating the rationale for a mass-mobilizing, developmental, authoritarian, hierarchical, anti-liberal, and statist program guided by a charismatic leader, events had forced the Bolsheviks along the same course. Both intended to create a modern, autarchic, industrial system, which would insure political and economic independence for what had been an underdeveloped national community. With forced industrialization and state capitalism, the Soviets hoped to bring Russia all the benefits of bourgeois modernization. In the face of required austerity, to mobilize their respective populations, the Communists and Fascists alike supplemented economic incentives with pageantry, ritual, ceremony, and parades. All this, coupled with territorial aggression, completed a compelling picture of systemic symmetry. III. CONCLUSION I have presented three diverse examples of the impact of the Russian Revolution on subsequent history. There are other potential examples. I find it interesting that events so crucial to the twentieth century, now seem to be fading so rapidly in their influence. One real benefit of examining the Communist Revolution within the larger question of how best to develop is that the Revolution loses its sense of seminal criticality. For all the pathos surrounding the effort, it becomes just another interesting attempt at rapid development-a failed attempt at that. While I would happily argue that Marx still has relevance for us today, especially in his critique of capitalism if not particularly in his solutions, clearly Lenin and Stalin no longer do.

Marketing Communications Mix Strategies | Tesco

Marketing Communications Mix Strategies | Tesco Although the 4P characterization has led to widespread use of the term promotion for describing communications with prospects and customers, the term marketing communications is preferred by most marketing practitioners as well as by many educators. Consider that we may want to use marketing communications to refer to the collection of advertising, sales promotions, public relations, event marketing, and other communication devices. Promotion is considered as Sales Promotion. (Shimp 2007) {Terence A. Shimp (2007), Integrated Marketing Communications in Advertising and Promotion, 7th Edition, Ohio, Thomson South-Western, P: 4.} Marketing Communication is used by organisations to communicate with customers with respect to their product offerings. In this sense, Marketing Communication is one side of the communication process with customers. Market research, in which suppliers seek to elicit information on consumer requirements from consumers, is the complementary component of the communication process. The following summarises this very simply: (Rowley 1998). Source: Promotion and marketing communications in the information marketplace. According to Rowley producer should communicate to reach the customers and in turn should listen to the customers needs and requirements to enhance the product and service. Tesco proudly announced that one of the reasons to its Success is listening to their Customers and its suppliers. Tesco has adopted multiple qualitative research techniques to reach their customers such as focus groups, accompanied shops, home visits to collect the feedback in order to straighten the things and respond quickly. Modestly they say Its simple we listen and respond, providing customers with what they tell us they want. { [online] < http://www.tesco.com/talkingtesco/listening/> (March 19, 2010)}. Marketing Communications Mix also know as Promotional Mix consists of Advertising, Personal Selling, Sales Promotion, Direct Marketing, Internet Promotion and Publicity. Marketing communications Mix strategies: Source: Promotion and marketing communications in the information marketplace. Push Strategies: A promotion strategy that calls for using the sales forces and trade promotion to push the product through channels. The producer promotes the product to wholesalers, the wholesalers promote to retailers and the retailers promote to consumers (Kotler et al. 2005). Pull Strategy: A promotion strategy that calls for spending a lot on advertising and consumer promotion to build up consumer demand. If the strategy is successful, consumers will ask their retailers for the product, the retailers will ask wholesalers and the wholesalers will ask the producers (Kotler et al. 2005). Push Strategy aims at Intermediaries, its make good use of Sales promotion and Personal Selling. Pull Strategy aims at direct customers, its make good use of Advertisements. Advertising: Source: You tube : Tesco Christmas 2009 advertisement. [Online]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8y85QTa1g8 (March 19, 2010) This Advertisement is about promotional offers at Tesco for Christmas, It states that everyone could enjoy a finest Christmas at Tesco with an affordable range of products. Advertising is a paid form of non-interactive showcase of products and services to the consumer through print media or other common advertising channels (Rowley 1998). Advertising Models: AIDA Model: Attention: Making customer aware of the product. Interest: Developing an interest in the product. Desire: Making customer think that he needs the product. Action: Purchase is made. Designing communication strategies is important to identify whether the objective is to draw to attention, cultivate interest, stimulate desire or provoke action(Rowley 1998). Communication Objectives: Source: Promotion and marketing communications in the information marketplace. From the above objectives, AIDA is strongly recommended (Rowley 1998). According to Rowley a communication strategy should have a message and it should go along with its communication objective. The message should reflect the unique selling proposition (USP) of the products. The organizations should concentrate on elements of the message that need to be considered are: Content, Structure, Format and Source. Importantly these Advertisements should be target oriented; the Organisations should often have a strategy on the market to target. Impact of Advertisements: A good communication strategy would yield results per expectations. It should be market oriented and should reach market without any cost to the market. Directive would leave an impact, provided its ethical. Positives of Advertisements: It can create awareness in the targeted market. It can reach markets far and wide. Positioning of the product and Brand image could earn customers trust. Negatives of Advertisements: It cannot answer the customer queries. Always may not provoke customers to purchase decision. Too many Advertisements may cause audience loose concentration. Personal Selling According to Baker (2003) personal selling can be defined as the personal contact with one or more purchasers for the purpose of making a sale. To be effective, marketing management needs to integrate personal selling with other promotional elements, with other organizational functions such as distribution and production, and with the customer and competitive structures prevailing in the market. Different stages in Personal Selling: Generating leads and identifying prospects Pre-call planning The approach The presentation Overcoming objections Closing Follow-up. Baker says Personal selling is a two-way approach and it employs push strategy and is relatively expensive per contact and according to a 2001 survey, the average cost of an outside salesperson is in excess of 55,000 pounds per annum. The actual time spent on face-face customer communication is typically around 20-30 per cent of working hours. Sales management issues: Selection of sales Team Training Leadership and supervision Remuneration Evaluation and control Impact of Personal Selling: Efficient sales force often yield results Personal selling increases the customers interest and desire on the product and it could lead to purchase Personal Selling should act as forum for answers to all the customers queries Positives of Personal Selling: High Interactive communication between the buyer and the seller Detailed product information and features Relationships can develop Negatives of Personal Selling: Cost oriented Team Not appropriate approach towards thousands of prospective buyers Sales closure time could lead to customer dissatisfaction Sales Promotion: Sales promotion consists of short-term incentives to encourage purchase or sales of a product or service (Kotler et al. 2005). As per the above definition, sales promotion offers reasons that would achieve immediate sales. It seeks to lure people to buy now. Promotional Tools: Samples Coupons Rebates Price packs Premiums Advertising specialties Patronage rewards Point-of-purchase Competitions, lotteries and games Impact of Sales Promotion: It helps to lure consumers and attract them from competitors Customers trying our products, giving a chance to retain them Positives of Sales Promotion: Increase immediate sales Interim strategic tool Negatives of Sales Promotion: Not for long-term usage, as customers may get used to this. Too much involvement into sales promotion may harm the brand image Seasonal Promotions: Advertisement Models: Internet promotion: Its interlinked with Place i.e. Mix in Mix. Sales Promotion: Public relations: Promotional Strategies: Pull Strategy: Push Strategy: Mercer (1996), in emphasizing that communication must be a two-way process, says (p. 309): The ideal form of promotion is the conversation which takes places between the expert sales professional and his or her customer. It is interactive and conversation is specific to the needs of both. Other forms of promotion, which deal in the average needs of groups of people can only hope to approximate to this ideal. Promotional Mix: Place: Introduction: The main purpose of this report is to determine the importance of the Location in retailing. It includes an analysis of Tesco and Corner Shop locations by taking into account all the factors of well chosen place for retail store as well as current situation on the Market. Report discusses the role location played in the success of those retailers. It also tries to assign the importance of the Location in comparison to other elements of the retail Marketing Mix. First Tesco Metro has been opened in 1992 and are usually located in the town and city centre locations (http://www.tescocorporate.com/page.aspx? pointerid=3DB554FCAE344BD88EEEEFA63D71B831). They are usually smaller than ordinary Tesco store but bigger than Tesco Express with the size varying between approximately 7,000 to 15,000 sq.ft. Source: Online Available http://www.tesco.com/talkingtesco/stores/. Psychology Analysis: The Epic of Gilgamesh Psychology Analysis: The Epic of Gilgamesh Jungian analysis is a deep psychology of the unconscious and includes the interpretation of dreams as well. Jung believes that most dreams are attitude-compensations. The attitudes that dreams balance are those of the ego. Carl Jung believed that myths and dreams were the main way to the self-realization because he believed that they allowed humans to understand and relate to parts of their psyches which would have otherwise been unreachable. Dreams offer the ego information, advice, constructive criticism, and even sometimes wisdom. If the ego is open to acceptance rather than defensive, it can evaluate these alternative perspectives and decide whether to accept or reject them. Jung developed a process called individuation, which was the therapy he created which tries to deepen a persons experiences psychologically. Responding to dreams required interaction of many aspects of the personality, which he titled the archetypes: the Self, shadow, animus, and anima. He defined an archetyp e as a universal and recurring image, pattern, or motif representing a typical human experience. Archetypes are patterns and behaviors; are primordial images which are part of our psyche and social systems. Archetypes can grow on their own and present themselves in many different ways. When people dream, they form images unconsciously. The images that are formed in these dreams correspond to the sacred images, stories, and myths of primitive people. Archetypes are similar to instincts and they also reveal themselves in peoples unconscious by these powerful symbolic images; they are collective meaning they are held in common by a social group. They appear simple on the surface, but they are very complex. The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest written stories in the history of earth and it comes from ancient Sumeria. Many believe it was first written on clay tablets, showing the adventures of the historical King of Uruk-Gilgamesh. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, he travels between his c onscious and unconscious in order to solve inner problems and grow out of his own fear of death. Through the Jungian analysis one can determine how the myth of Gilgamesh fits into the unconscious of every human. Gilgamesh is a king that oppresses his kingdom and forces his people to build a wall around his land, which inside he is guilty of committing atrocious acts. Gilgamesh is one third mortal and two thirds divine, because his mother was a goddess. He is an arrogant king who constantly oppresses and wrongs the people of his kingdom. He is struggling throughout the epic with the gods, his kingdom, and most importantly, himself. In order for an individual to reach their unconscious, there needs to be a specific dreamer established an in Gilgamesh, the dreamer is the hero of the story-Gilgamesh. He must go through the process of individuation, which is the psychic life of the individual, the archetypes interact in a pattern which both reflects and fosters the development of the personality (Devinney and Thury, 2005). The natural process that individuals go through which causes the need for self-realization and leads people to explore and integrate parts of themselves which they have never l ooked into before is individuation. It helps people become different from others in their society. In order for Gilgamesh to discover and uncover who he truly is, he must encounter the shadow, the animus and anima and most importantly-the self. In the epic, the ego is the conscious I of the self that works to produce and preserve its self-defined identity. In the process of individuation, the conscious coming-to-terms with ones own inner self usually begins with a cutting off of the individuals personality and the hardships that go along with that process. The second archetype in the individuation process is the anima and animus. Jung stated the anima was the unconscious feminine component of males and the animus was the unconscious masculine component of females. Jung believed the anima and animus act as guides to the unconscious, and that every individual must form one and building that connection is a very difficult but rewarding process, and that it is necessary for psychological growth. They are determined by the gender of the dreamer themselves. Due to Gilgamesh being a male, he has an anima, which is the personification of all feminine psychological tendencies in a manes psyche. The first animia in the epic is Gilgameshs mother, the goddess Ninsun. In the beginning of the myth the reader discovers that Gilgamesh is worshiped like a god, even though he is part human as well. His mother acts as a guide and confidant throughout the myth, and he receives word of Enkidu through dreams that his mother interprets for him. She leads him to the next stage of growth for himself by giving him the information about his new companion, Enkidu. For Gilgamesh, he still is unaware of a lot of his own personality and this is where the third archetype comes into play. The shadow is the same sex as the individual, but has the complete opposite personality and self-image. The shadow for Gilgamesh is Enkidu, he is a replica god of Gilgamesh himself-but he is uncivilized and beast-like. He represents the great opposite of Gilgamesh, but they are identical in authority and vigor. He first appears to Gilgamesh as an enemy, informing the shepherds that he will go to Gilgameshs kingdom and will challenge him in front of his people and state that he is the strongest around. They quarrel in Gilgameshs city and he beats Enkidu which caused them to become friends and also causes Gilgamesh to have a bigger insight to his unconscious. When Gilgamesh and Enkidu travel through the forest, they encounter another shadow archetype. Together they embark on a trip into the forest where Humbaba, the king of this forest lives. Humbaba signifies all t he personality characteristics that Gilgamesh wants, including strength, courage and glory. Gilgamesh believes that by killing Humbaba he will create some immortality for himself and his people. On their way back home, Gilgamesh comes to an anima, Ishtar the goddess of fertility. She is drawn to Gilgameshs beauty and strength and she recommends for him to marry her, but Gilgamesh refuses and continues to insult her with stories of her past lovers, which causes her to become extremely angry with him. Ishtar is a negative anima, who can cause Gilgamesh to demolish himself. Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven to kill Gilgamesh but Enkidu kills the bull, which causes him in the end to suffer a slow death from the gods, and ultimately hurts Gilgamesh because he lost his comrade. With Enkidus death, Gilgamesh goes crazy and eventually becomes his shadow and takes on those characteristics. Gilgamesh turns away from his kingdom and takes on the beast-like personality Enkidu displayed when they first met. A third shadow archetype is displayed in the land of Utnapishtim, where Gilgamesh winds up on his search for immortality. Utnapishtim is the land of gods, where they live and thrive. Gilgamesh longs for the gods immortality, it is shown here the fear that he has for death and why this search is so important to him. The gods inform him if he stays awake for seven days and seven nights and they will grant him with immortality-but he fails at this challenge and therefore he fails at reaching his goal of becoming immortal. On his return back to his kingdom Gilgamesh has won his wish of immortality in a different sense, he found his self through the journey. By encountering all the archetypes Gilgamesh builds his inner self and builds his personality in many different ways. The archetypes he encountered represented his unconscious dreams and wishes, and he discovers his self through his unconscious discoveries. Using Jungs theoretical perspective to analyze the epic myth of Gilgamesh, one discovers Jungs belief that myths and dreams were intertwined. Jung attempted to uncover ways that individuals could determine their inner selves and he found that myths and dreams were a way to reach into ones unconscious. Through Jungian analysis, a reader can interpret a myth to better understand the personality characteristics of humans. The fear of death that haunted Gilgamesh also haunts many individuals in our society and societies prior. This epic shows the reader that any individual can discover their inner self through understanding different archetypes including, shadows, animas and animus, and lastly inner selves which will help them break into their own unconscious. Gilgameshs heroic journey has been dignified because it is more than just a great journey story; it is also an unbelievable academic quest. Gilgamesh has courage and determination which is important for him to defeat the obstacles he was faced with during his journey, but he also must have undeterred tolerance, internal strength, and willful self-examination.

The success of ALDI

The success of ALDI ABSTRACT In the new era of information technology, we have seen the large migration of interrelated software and from research; I found that the grouping of software called the Enterprise systems. On this hypothesis, I worked on ALDI one of the biggest super market in Europe and profitable as well compared with other giant super market. The reason, why I am choosing ALDI is because it is near to where I am living and also this will help me to find and gather more information to work on in the thesis. I am also curious why they are selling cheaper products with good quality than other super market and also the reason behind their success? I did research on it and please see detail below for more instructive information. This case study introduces what Enterprise System and the important role in ALDI or other organizations. Therefore, I would like to introduce how this structure is intended to be legalizes with experiential substantiation and the expected contributions of the research to academ ia and business. What is ALDI? ALDI is an excellent in global retailing industry and it is citied by Europe as largest retailer, the network proved of success by going against virtually every standard of super marketing. Mr. Brandes said: The Aldi system is not exclusively a retail discount system, but the management and organisation system that can be applied in any business. ALDI is secretly held by brothers Theo and Karl Albrecht established in 1993, Aldi Group is Germanys leading grocery store network. Early of 1990s the company established and operated 3,000 stores under the Aldi, Hofer, and Combi names in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Austria, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. Unlike the vast majority of supermarket chains, which are continuously increasing their product offerings and selling space, Aldi holds selection at its stores to about 700 items. (Dieter Brandes 2000)C:UserskbalaDesktopEShead_logo_blue.gif In 1993 examination of the limited-assortment function noted that flourishing discounters (like Aldi) work strongly with manufacturers to design products that are cheaper to convey, stock, and sell than branded goods. National brands are occasionally offered, but many business observers hypothesize that Aldi only stocks them to emphasize its own discounts. While Aldi has experienced huge success in its will do attitude to develop its power globally, its performances have had a prominent effect. Nevertheless, from the research I found Aldis pioneering in Internationalisation and spurred to the changed of the global retail food organisation. In 1993 the Economist confirmed that cross-border mergers, acquisitions and alliances in European Community food-retailing, almost unknown a few years ago, are already growing. (Economist 1998) Former ALDI manager Dieter Brandes reveals the objectives that strengthen ALDI do, starting with simplicity. The system is not only a retail discount system but the management and organisation can be applied any to business. From the research, I found companies such as Wal-Mart and General Motor getting more complex in management but ALDI empowered of simplicity, so I identified the simplicity of the system and management, the retailer can offer discount rate of goods. An Enterprise System (ES), what does it mean? Around the world, organizations are expanding and are connecting one business function with another business to another business unit (integrated business). ESThe diagram below is summarise of the fundamentals of an ES, as from here we can see the benefits of implementing an ES in ALDI The Components of Enterprise System Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) ERP is an integrated computer-based system that handles internal and external resources, including financial resources, materials, stocks and human resources in ALDI. Activities undertaken internally from system development to implementation and maintenance, and the management of all these processes cover a greater number of staff. ERP systems also merge all business operations into a uniform and enterprise-wide system environment. Material Requirements Planning (MRP) MRP which is phases orders for dependent-demand items over a period to coordinate flow of materials and in in-process inventories for an example (BOM software-Bill of Materials) with manufacture schedules. It also calculate and tracks consequence of hundreds of variables such as new orders, changes in various capacities, clogged production centers, shortages, and delays by suppliers for an example (Inventory Status File software ISF), and feeds financial data into the accounting system. Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) DRP is generally used with an MRP system, even though most DRP models are more inclusive than stand-alone MRP models. The fundamental basis for DRP is to more precisely predict demand and then use that information to increase delivery schedules. This way, distribution in ALDI can reduce inbound supply by using MRP in combination with additional schedules. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) One important role in Enterprise System is an integrated information system that is used to plan, schedule and control the presales and post sales actions in a business. The primary goal of CRM is to improve long-term growth and profitability through a better understanding of customer behavior. In the compartment interconnecting CRM, Customer Experience Management (CEM) playing significant role to collect automated information. ERP systems also integrated CRM systems that deal directly with the customers, or the eBusiness such as e-Commerce, e-Government, e-Telecom or supplier relationship management (SRM) systems. Control and Enhance Business activity with SCM and EDI SCM (Supply Chain Management) is to control the process of the series of activities that move products from suppliers. It is ideal for operations for ALDI that require rapid order entry procedures, visibility of process from the order entry screen, and extensive serial tracking capabilities. In addition, the software provides extensive shipping and multi-warehousing management capabilities in ALDI. There are fundamentally 3 goals of SCM: to decrease inventory, to boost the pace of transactions with real-time or online data exchange, and to amplify returns by fulfilling customer demands more resourcefully. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and e-Procurement we can set goals; and predict, optimize, and schedule time, materials, and other resources with EDI activities: The inventory tracking is significantly facilitated throughout Web-based ordering (Web 2.0 or e-Mobile) and the softwares ability to integrate with bar-code-readers with the retail Point of Sales (POS) system. E Commerce Internet, the most powerful tool of the new era of ES technology, it has transformed the business methodologies and dramatically impacted the communication with customers. The formation of faster internet connectivity and influential online tools has resulted in a new commerce arena Ecommerce. The advantage of introducing Ecommerce in ALDI and its customers are as follows: This revolution is particularly common in business-to-business (B2B) commercial. Many of the Fortune 500 companies have adopted e-commerce systems such as Amazon, Tesco, IBMs etc. E-commerce can be developing XML (cXML, or Commerce Extensible Markup Language) specification for the messages. The XML Common Business Library (xCBL) as the format of messages, and mySAP uses the Open Catalog Interface between buyer and seller systems Cast study According to Glen Petersen, author of ROI: Building the CRM Business Case, the most successful CRM systems are found in organizations that realign their business model for effectiveness, not just redesign their information systems. The other benefit of the ES approach is to have the same version and method information systems for the whole branches whether in ALDI in Ireland or ALDI in Denmark. The information stored in systems stored once and at the same time it will avoid any duplication and save money as well. As a result, there is no wasted effort and no variation of data. This can be done via Database Management Systems Server (DBMS), so the new opening branches need to network to DBMS server to download programs, product details, etc. The integrated systems will flow seamlessly across diverse business strategy, business units, and geographic boundaries. Eventually, most of transactions currently are use integrated system to running business operation such as purchasing, invoicing, cashiering, (inserting, updating, manipulating and reporting data) etc. The integrated system that sound general but number of companies implemented, implementing such systems called an Enterprise Systems Developments of Enterprise Systems From my research and the inspiration by Peter Checkland the best method before designing, the phases should analyze with Soft System Methodology (SSM) before Systems Development Life Cycle (SLDC) taking process. SSM was developed during the 1970s, the methodology surfaced from systems engineering. The system engineering unable to scope with complex system, so the SSM grew stronger till up to date. The SSM, to handle the complexity where the ALDI could recognize and understand the global needs. A complexity where SSM is appropriate is in deciding how ALDI should make use of the information technology. Please see below the sample of SSM process though CATWOE analysis: The next stage of SSM is SLDC. SLDC is life cycle for the project management technique that alienated complex phases into smaller part. Segmentation of phases easier to manage and substantiate the successful completion for ALDI. Please see below the subsequent phases: System realization and implementation Initial feasibility of project C:UserskbalaDesktopEShead_logo_blue.gif Various testing phases integration system, testing and debugging Project planning and designing The phases-analyst, structured and documentation Actual programming and coding phases Implementation an Enterprise System in ALDI Enterprise systems have enabled cost-effective business processes and contributed to the improvement in process efficiencies. The Enterprise systems start from back-office an automating the business transactions that customer do not care about. In eye of people, although back office systems not offer reimbursement they do important role for an organizations. Poorly, operating of back office can lead to unsatisfied customers, suppliers or tax officer and also cant generate accurate accounting final reports. So, in my observations, moved or transforms into ES it will supporting supply chains of optimization, sales force automation and improve customer service. When implementing ES, most organisations are required to do significant changes and to (re)design processes according to the best practices embedded in ES. This is considered the most challenging issue in ES projects (Davenport 2000, Shanks et al. 2003). Robey et al. (2002) suggest that ES implementation can be understood as dialectic of learning. ES create new opportunities but also new challenges and difficulties for both users and implementers and influence ES development. The implementations of system in ALDI, can be done in either by installing more comprehensive software or by installing complementary software applications-it called Bolt on systems (from 3rd party software company). In addition to the issues that relate to change management, the legacy systems still maintained by many large organizations such as ALDI for some specific applications, along with the ERP system, are posing further challenges for the business processes. ALDI have been successful in capitalizing on enterprise systems are striving to continuously improve their business processes and the fit between processes and information systems, and how they support their business needs and models. The Database Management Systems (DBMS) and Strategy The database for Aldi, why we need it and its used for? Why is it important for an organisation or to ALDI? From the research that I have been through and found the most common uses for databases and the deep impact for the Aldi or any organisations. Storing Information Data Modelling is to control and manage large volumes of data. Database is a kind of program that enables the user to store information. A database system provides electronic and easy to insert, update, retrieve and store information. In order to avoid of duplication and reduce data redundancy, in DBMS the feature embedded and is called Normalisation. Multiple Users Access The super power in database technology allows multiple access and update information and to be instantly viewable by all users. It is improve communication internally and externally but also ensures the server distribute equally with load balancer via (file, print, database and application server) Application Server DATABASE SERVER http://www.petervaldivia.com/technology/networks/image/client-server.gif Data dictionary Organisational Structure Log Files Master Data Programs Transaction Data Please see above the Tiered of Configurations and the Layer of Database Security and Protection Database security indicates the system, processes, and procedures that defend a database from illegal activity. DBMSs frequently impose security through access control (manages who can connect to the database via authentication and what they can do via authorization), auditing (records information about database activity. Encryption (protects data at the lowest possible level by storing and possibly transmitting data in an unreadable form. The DBMS encrypts data when it is added to the database and decrypts it when returning query results). Centralization of Database Centralised database, information congregation and distribution ensuring reliability of data across the region and producing economies of scale. The centralisation of database is to ease maintaining accurately updated of data that easily accessed to DBMS via File Sharing and Networking tools. Maintenance Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) feature maintenance tools to easily maintain, test, repair and back up the databases housed in the system. Enable to access to Web The new technology of data storage and retrieval via XML with connected with DBMS, where the ability to access information any part of world. Cut Down On Staff A database that is used efficiently will lessen the need for extra man power to maintain the system. Although, the DBMS can account for an initial investment, it will more than pay for itself after long-term active use. Reduces Data Duplications Object Linking and Embedding, Database (OLE DB) uses the Component Object Model (COM) which reduces unnecessary duplication of data at high level degree, not only among diverse information sources but also among existing database. Money, Money, Money: When choosing a database, one of your first decisions is going to be about money. How much are you willing to spend for your database? Free databases exist, but remember the maxim: software isnt free, you are. In this context, if you get a free database package, it will be up to you to install, configure and administer it. Tech target.com Queries The tremendous of DBMS is Queries, tool embedded in system enable the database administrator to retrieve information and present in a predefined format. There are number of database management system available in today informative world, such as SQL Structured Query Language (SQL). SQL is computer language for designing and manipulating database systems. The SQL work database programs like MS Acesss, Oracle, Sybase, etc Example of SQL to control user with DCL: The Data Control Language (DCL) authorizes users and groups of users to access and manipulate data. Example: GRANT SELECT, UPDATE ON My_table TO some_user, another_user; REVOKE SELECT, UPDATE ON My_table FROM some_user, another_user; Barriers of Implementation of Enterprise System in ALDI Cost and Financial barriers Financial barriers should in fact be the biggest barrier. The implementation of ES to millions, tens of millions, for small and medium enterprises, and ultimately to create value or by products, ES, at best, is an information platform. ES in the short term, apart from helping to cultivate and to help staff the concept, the negative returns. As for the long-term interests, for the efficiency gains and cost reduction, but also fundamentally corporate will produce fundamental changes in the structure of the self-optimization path. Another significant of implementing is the initial setup and preliminary expenses time and the cost through with adaptation, adjustments and training. For a business that only receives one P.O. per year from a client, fully integrated CRM, MPR and EDI may not make economic scale. In this case, businesses may implement inexpensive solutions. For other businesses, the implementation of an integrated ES solution may be necessary as increases in trading volumes brought on by EDI force them to re-implement their order processing business processes. Tools Many ES initiatives have failed because the tools werent available enough to end users so the ES (e-commerce, DW and a complex of business intelligence system), capabilities were never really applied. Users regularly used the DBMS system to pull data from the warehouse and import it into Excel, bypassing the systems analytic capabilities that, to them, seemed overly complex or not very useful. Despite this fact, we can see the complexity of systems and all about the related to financial matter to buy hardware and developing a complex programming (Java, Delphi, Pearl and C ++) and end with re-engineering of ES if the current system not useful for management and users. People People who have the information, industry skill, and objective to succeed are sometimes unenthusiastic to embrace new technologies. This can be internal or external of people, when implementing advance ES, an organisation should value and estimate the level of education and culture with the current location. There are several factors: Employee are comfy and secure with the expertise of current factors The leadership issue, the senior management will have to look hard to find a business minded leader (project manager) wise and technology savvy leader. Such people are scarce. Management must choose that person carefully in order to complete tasks according to get the most productive and efficient leader for the organisation to maximise the use of the system. Inadequately information is communicated about the technology that is being adopted and deployed; Lack of training and empowerment between management and staffs Without proper hiring of staff or human resources it is consider as one of the Information System (IS) barriers with the implementation for they are the one who gives the specifications, requirements and standard that help to develop and improve the functionalities of any business organization. Communication also adds up to impediments of technology, every staff member and manager must work together as a team to be able to be successful in achieving one goal. Unskilled staff The system must be prolong and supervise from time to time and the staff who will handle the operation must be well trained and have a capability on maintaining the system. By unskilled staff inside the organization will add up to the barriers to the realization of the system. Technical Problems: IT Infrastructure Deficient of a sharing, reliable computing and network infrastructure to address the needed teamwork for the implementation. When an organisation deficient an IT infrastructure there will be a complexity in operating technology supported programs with consistency from one office to the other or building to building. It also slows and complicates communication among the organization or others. Unworkable time frames Most information systems take considerably longer than initially planned. The timing issue delay and attempt to serious technical hitches in planning for and regulating to changes in operations. Difficulty of data collection and management Data collection is measured to be the most crucial and tricky part of implementing an Information System (IS) for it is the establishment of the entire system process. Thus, these convey what the system is all about, its capacity and limitations. Conclusion Enterprise systems affect nearly all aspects of organizational life, not only at the point of start-up but also throughout their operational lives. Indeed, an organizations enterprise system affects its need and ability to upgrade or convert to more modern technologies. . In this paper, I have attempted to tackle the pro-innovation bias present in many of the reasons reported for the adoption of ES packages. I have gone through the benefits and barriers that are relating the Enterprise System. The Enterprise System can be a companys best asset when it is used correctly, however if not it will not yield much saving for a company. It is best suitable for the large organisation such as ALDI. My overall research does not recommend that a company blindly put in place Enterprise System without proper knowledge, research, technique, methodologies and analysis for a term of modernisation. Nevertheless, for that reason, the analysis with SSM and Enterprise System life cycle playing significant roles of the developing integrated business intelligence system. Overall, new organisational structure need challenge to new Globalisation Information Systems (GIS) to centralised on establishing data communication, IT infrastructure, e-business and DBMS to positing of the global organisation in the international economy.

A Comparison of Heart of Darkness and The Secret Agent Essay -- compar

A Comparison of Heart of Darkness and The Secret Agent      Ã‚  Ã‚   This essay consists of two separate parts but the intention is that both these parts will prove to be relevant from the point of view of what this essay sets out to study. The first part will present Joseph Conrad's life and some of his works and the latter part will consist of a comparison of two of Conrad's works, Heart of Darkness and The Secret Agent. In this essay I will begin from two assumptions, namely, that both the works mentioned above include clearly identifiable similarities in their narration, theme and method, and, that Conrad's own experiences and views have had great effect on both works.    The method of this essay is firstly to discuss Conrad's life and then to try to find out what kind of similarities and differences Heart of Darkness and The Secret Agent contain and also to try to discover how Conrad's own experiences relate to these works ( and his other works in general). I will also try to relate Conrad's works to some other writers' styles whenever I am capable of doing so despite of my poor knowledge of Conrad's contemporaries and despite of the fact that I was unable to get hold of such works as Conrad and His Contemporaries which surely would have been useful. My sources for carrying out this task are Conrad himself, his critics and my own opinions/interpretations of the two works by Conrad.       Joseph Conrad    In dealing with the life of Joseph Conrad I will focus on the period before he settled in England and started his actual writing career and so I will not present his life after his trip to the Congo and nor will I deal with how it affected him afterwards. I take this approach simply because in my opinio... ...r to be able to understand what is happening.    In conclusion, both The Secret Agent and Heart of Darkness are loosely based on reality; the former on a historical incident and the latter on Conrad's experiences of Congo. Both works have surprisingly much in common and, in my opinion, are also great works of art.    Works Cited    Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. 1902. New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1990.    Conrad, Joseph. The Secret Agent (1907)   New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1990.    Fleishman, Avrom. Condrad's Politics: Community and Anarchy in the Fiction of   Joseph Conrad. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1967.    O'Prey, Paul. 'Introduction', 'Heart of Darkness'. (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983).    Warner, Oliver Joseph Conrad Longmans, Green and Co., London, New York, Toronto. 1950.   

Existence Of God :: essays research papers

Existence of God   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The truth behind the existence of god. As a flesh and blood we seem to aspire to be ultitmley immortal, we have created stories guidelines ways in which we our able to become immortal. Christins call it jesus others call it alla or buddua. Does this make one better then the other or is just a set of rules that we all follow just so mankind can prosper. Is faith a trait that is leared or is it a proptey that we our all born with the ability to belive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The questions we have this is a trait the abilitty to reason is a trait, but what scares us so terribly bad is whaen we cant answer a question. We study we learn but the idea that many of us have not leared is that faith is not imortality or heaven or hell but our faith in ourselves and faith in our fellow man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What scares me so bad is the fact that many people hide in this world of god. God is what created us what made us it is what we must ultitmley answer to. We answer as not flesh and blood but as a spirit we choose long before our mortal body goes where we go. We leave behind our bodys and enter into a realm to which we cannot comphrend. Our minds well never allow us to comprhend immortality but our souls can that is faith.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This faith belongs to no clan of self righteous humn being that think that becuse there rules that they follow our better then another. Se the truth is god does not have a check list of whos good and whos bad but rather he make the decision we have morals or as some calit a concous. This world is about the first stepping stone that we take this is a test can you live in an imperfect world and handle without cheating your fellow man. This is faith in yourself this life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  God gave us life it is our choice wether we use it to its follow view or we cash in early and take the easy way out. Is a gamble much like a stock in a company we own our own stock we have a value this is a value that we place. The question that you must ask yourself what value is yours. Our you a sellout our you willing to give up everything you have for an easy buck or our you willing to ride the rollercoaster of life following it rules so you can exsisit.

Comparative Public Administration Essay

The Arab Spring has created opportunities for countries across North Africa and the Middle East to redesign their constitutions. There are ongoing debates on whether these countries will adopt the Anglo-American model or look at other paradigms. Political leaders and scholars have turned to a number of academic fields such cultural studies, sociology, economics, and political science in attempt to answers some of these questions. However, no other field of study will provide more insight into the development of these new government structures than comparative public administration (CPA). Simply put, it is the study of comparing two or more public administrations by using multiple disciplines. This definition, however, does not sufficiently describe the complexity of this field or its contributions to other academic areas, government employees, and country leaders. Perhaps the area in which CPA provides the most aid is in its cross-national analysis. Through this research, countries are able to learn from one another. CPA is not limited to cross-national comparison though as it evaluates different administrative processes and systems within countries. To fully appreciate CPA, however, it is necessary to understand how politics factors into it, its progression over the years, and its analysis towards delineating future challenges to public administration. Politics in CPA The study of comparative public administration challenges the notion that public administration and politics are separate entities. Specifically, it has recognized that bureaucrats, pressure groups, and elected officials are all political actors in the policymaking process. In Germany, for example, politics influence policy formation because the law requires public agencies to consult with interest groups before making legislation and regulations. In other countries like the United States, public administrators and pressure groups engage in clientela politics which are mutually dependent relationships. Agencies rely on interest groups not only to shape policies but also for their survival. The interest groups lobby politicians and gain public support in order to help the agencies compete for government resources. At the same time, pressure groups benefit by gaining access to the decision-making process where they are able to represent their interests (Peters, 2010, p. 182). Nations w ith a single dominant party, in contrast, use politics to develop parantela relationships. The Chinese Communist party, for example, works with the bureaucrats on behalf of the interest groups, thereby ensuring policies decisions do not steer away from the party’s ideology. CPA also researches politics between public administration and other formal institutions, and it investigates the political strategies each side uses to assert their power and control over policies and budgets. The bureaucrats, for example, have technical knowledge and information which they use to their advantage. In Norway, civil servants collect and analyze vast amounts of data to develop complex plans and budgets which politicians do not have skills or the time to understand. The overwhelmed political leaders have little choice but to accept the administration’s plans. Another useful device that civil servants use in Japan and France are advisory bodies. Although these advisory boards are attached to the ministries, the members are usually civil servants or interest group associates co nnected to the government agencies. Thus, the bureaucrats determine many of the final outcomes of policies (Peters, 2010, p. 219). Nevertheless, political institutions have their own devices to counter the bureaucrats. Political leaders create their own specialized institutions and counterstaffs to gain independent sources of information. The president of United States has the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to monitor public expenditures while the Congressional Budget Office oversees the national budget on the legislative side (Peters, 2010, p. 220-221). Executive leaders also hire their own experts such as the Executive Office of the United States and the Office of the Chancellor in Germany. Since civil servants’ positions are permanent, elected officials exert their policy goals through political appointees as in the United States, Belgium, and France. In Germany, however, the minister may directly replace the senior civil servants with their own personnel (Peters, 2010, p. 226). Changes in CPA Traditionally, the field of comparative public administration focused on â€Å"public administration† aspects such as the bureaucratic structures and systems. In recent years, academics have shifted to the theme of â€Å"public management† where CPA identifies best practices to enhance the performance of bureaucracy. The theory of â€Å"New Public Management† (NPM) emphasizes generic management and market-based principles. It favors loosening bureaucratic rules to allow more creativity and flexibility, thereby â€Å"letting the managers manage† (Peters, 2010, p. 329). Moreover, NPM encourages competition by privatizing government services. An alternative approach to NPM is the participatory concept of governing. The participatory model streamlines the hierarchy found in traditional administrative system by empowering the lower echelons of civil servants (Peters, 2010, p. 334). Government workers become more productive through involvement in policy decisions (Peters, 2010). Other managerial reforms have included performances measures on the managers themselves and on the organization as a whole. This new tactic focuses on â€Å"making managers manage† (Peters, 2010, p. 335). Since employment is typically permanent in most agencies, leaders recognize that this status have made some civil servants comfortable and unmotivated in their jobs. CPA evaluates different methods to measure employee performances and explores different strategies to encourage them to work, including a variety of rewards and punishments (Peters, 2010, p. 336). Organizational performance reviews are challenging since there are many factors outside the agencies control that impact its successes. CPA aids in this process by identifying the indicators of poor performances in organizations, while also taking into consideration the external influences (Peters, 2010, p.341). Notable Challenges to Public Administration The study of CPA emphasizes a comparative approach to identify new challenges that public administration will face in the 21st century. One such challenge will be the issue of accountability. As mentioned above, many countries have transferred public services to the private sector. However in their attempts to increase efficiency, they have lost accountability. Transparency and ethical standards are no longer guaranteed. In order to solve this dilemma, a restoration of some form of government control is necessary. The challenge will be to find new models that balance efficiency and accountability (Peters, 2010). Yet, the biggest challenge will be finding long-term economic solutions in the face of demographic changes. In many societies, the over-65 population is increasing more than twice as fast as the overall population (Peters, 2010, p.8). Unless policy changes are made, this demographic shift will create unsustainable public expenses leading to budgetary deficits which could compromise pension programs and health care systems. By comparing public policies, governments can analyze policy options and understand the implications of their choices. Some countries have already changed their pension plans by increasing the age of eligibility for retirement; however, they may soon have to make difficult decisions regarding austerity measures such as benefit cuts. Conclusion It is important to understand that CPA does more than recognizing similarities and differences. CPA provides descriptive analysis and theories that help advance government institutions, improve government performance, and expand policy options. Before CPA can achieve its purpose, politics must be recognized as an influential factor in the research. In every aspect, politics is involved in the governmental decision making processes, especially policymaking. CPA research explores alternative strategies to improve public management and helps anticipate future challenges. As new regimes are formed, the field of CPA will be a valuable source of information to aid leaders in the process of nation-building. In return, existing CPA theories will likely be changed and new theories emerge through the research of the new governments in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Reference Peters, B. G. (2010). The Politics of Bureaucracy: An Introduction to Comparative Public Administration (6th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.