The Universal Freckle, or How I Learned to Be White by Dalton (on Assignment

The Universal Freckle, or How I Learned to Be White by Dalton (on e-Reserve) - Assignment Example Absolutely, everyone of us appreciates a benefit of one sort or the other in our lives. I, for instance, have benefits over my hirelings, who at that point have numerous benefits over those living underneath in the neediness line. Moreover a lady in an Eastern culture is bound to appreciate benefits over their male partners since their men keep up a more profound worship for the female classification by and large. Accordingly truly, I have been watching benefits around me constantly. Indeed, ‘White Privilege’ is a term used to distinguish the preferences the white cleaned individuals appreciate over darker one †as it were: Racism. All through the article the essayist attempts to fix the bunches that hold bigotry and ethnicity together; something which has been approved by the UN show that â€Å"there is no qualification between the terms racial segregation and ethnic discrimination†. Despite the fact that the present reality is more developed and negligible hues don't characterize the benefits we appreciate today, yet in any case the idea of bigotry has hugy affected the social structure of our general public. Since each American stands equivalent today †as ensured by the constitution †the ideas of high contrast had been pushed to a corner and we barely discover instances of racial separation today. The most opposing results of racial segregation came as the educators the essayist had at school. At one school an African American instructor dare not go too far and hit a white kid drawing a reasonable fringe between the blacks and the non-blacks; while at another a Chinese educator utilizes progressively beneficial measures and attempts her best to mix the class into an equivalent power. Racial separation has consistently stayed a warmed discussed and a significant issue of our general public. Considering the writer’s involvement in the German lady businessperson, we as a whole ought to rather clear our way towards solidarity and remain as one equivalent power. Divisions and

Skype the Perfect Freemium Model Essay Example

Skype the Perfect Freemium Model Essay Example Skype the Perfect Freemium Model Paper Skype the Perfect Freemium Model Paper The ideal FREEMIUM model 11/24/2010 Petra Sanyova BCi08: fifth semester: e-Marketing The Freemium Model The term freemium is an authored term, got from words ‘free’ and ‘premium’. This term represents a growing plan of action where organizations are making benefits from offering premium items to a little level of their absolute clients. In spite of the fact that most of the clients isn't paying anything for the item, organizations despite everything has plausibility to be exceptionally gainful, and they normally are. The business where just 5-10% of clients create income couldn't run productively under conventional conditions. The change was brought about by various advancements in the field of computerized creation, just as web conveyance. Because of these mechanical advances, organizations can duplicate and disperse free items to numerous clients at low expenses. Skype â€Å"Skype is programming that empowers the world’s discussions. † Millions of individuals make video or voice calls, send texts and offer documents through this program. Most of them do as such with no charge by any means. The main essential, to have the option to utilize this product, is that the two gatherings who might want to convey need to have the program introduced and running. Skype was set up in 2003, with its central station being in Luxemburg. Its originators Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis are as yet incomplete proprietors along with financial specialist bunch drove by Silver Lake (that likewise claims eBay), the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz. Since the foundation †the primary form of the program, Skype never halted to develop is as yet presenting new updates, highlights and so on. With regards to its locale, the Skype transformed from a little obscure program into a program utilized day by day by a great many individuals with numerous highlights. Recently everyone is dazzled with the quantity of Facebook clients; all things considered toward the finish of year 2009, Skype had 160 million more enlisted clients than Facebook, which in numbers is 560 million. As per the quarterly updates the organization issues, it included 39 million enrolled clients in the last quarter of 2009 as it were. This represents 6% development rate in the development period of the item! 36. billion minutes of Skype-to-Skype calls were recorded in these most recent three months of 2009, adding to get 250 billion minutes of these calls recorded by and large. Still in 2009 just, this number represented 12% of the world’s universal calls. Around 23 million clients are signed into Skype at its pinnacle times. (I am signed in similarly as a compose this paper. ) Skype is global progra mming, offered in 29 dialects and utilized nearly in each and every nation of the world. Skype offers an assortment of highlights to every one of its clients, with the fundamental element being Skype-to-Skype calls for nothing out of pocket. To improve the customers’ experience while calling, it presented numerous extra highlights as: meeting calling, video calling and gathering video calling. Additionally Skype is adequately utilized for texting and sharing different documents; screen sharing included. One of the most recent presented highlights is called ‘Facebook News Feed and Phonebook’ which empowers clients to call companions legitimately from a Facebook News Feed and Phonebook in Skype. In spite of the fact that this everything is offered by Skype to its clients for nothing, it doesn't demonstrate company’s unreasonableness. Because items are free, doesn't mean organizations are not beneficial. Google is an incredible case of this; and anyway marginally unique, Skype is also. The fact of the matter is to expand the great perspective on a market from just two gatherings (purchaser and vender) to more gatherings, from which just barely any trade cash. The most well-known model is the three-party framework. The outsider pays to take part in the framework, the initial two made by a free trade between one another. The accomplishment of charging nothing for something lies in comprehension of the mental hole between ‘almost zero’ and ‘zero’. As the various individuals are expected to make the earth, for others to pay for, it is fundamental to draw in whatever number individuals as could be expected under the circumstances. While the expenses are unimportant and free is a word speaking to nearly everyone, parting with the item to 90% of clients is sensible. The rest 10% at that point comprise of the clients who settled on a top notch record and they produce incomes. Pareto standard applies This is the situation of Skype as well. The outsider comprises of the exceptional clients, who are really paying for extra highlights accessible in premium records. This gathering of clients records to 6% of its every dynamic client producing more than 777 million dollars per year. The extra highlights, they are then empowered to utilize are: Skype-to-landlines/mobiles, voice message, call sending, call move and content informing. The client likewise gets his/her own online number so the landlines/mobiles-to-Skype calls are then additionally conceivable. Skype explicit achievement can be certify not exclusively to the good thought that is making people’s lives simpler, yet to the manner in which its whole plan of action is set up: [ 1 ]. SKYPE plan of action Accomplices:- Phone producers Online Platforms| Key exercises:- Software improvement Integration with new stages Marketing| Value recommendation:- Free VoIP and video calling-Internet based communication| Relationships:- Appreciative client base-Thanks to free download-Automated with online profiles| Customers:- Not fragmented| | Key assets:- Software-Brand| | Distribution and securing channels: Online| | Cost structure:- Very low upkeep cost-Software development| Revenue streams/evaluating:- Sale of complimentary things 7-8% transformation rate from free| Also, no contention there, that it is set up splendidly. End Skype, along with Flickr and LinkedIn, is one of the best organizations, working under the freemium model. As was at that point referenced, Skype utilizes three-party model, in which the Pareto guideline applies †little level of a clients pay to get an exceptional, taking care of the expense of most of clients not charged and as yet producing the incomes. The purpose behind this is the very nearly zero upkeep cost, on account of innovative progressions. For individuals to buy the top notch accounts is significant that the framework made is steady and huge enough, thus Skype is doing extraordinary occupation in drawing in these essential clients. By giving the program for nothing and refreshing it consistently it doesn't make just huge client base, however a thankful one. As Skype is a program, which with its highlights, benefits the customary clients and conceivably set aside them cash †this gathering is appreciative. Being grateful for Skype implies being steadfast and having in general uplifting mentalities towards the brand; which is another large resource of Skype. These days it represents a universal brand, which is generally perceived. In the event that organization can keep up the transformation proportion, stay well known and hand off the potential strings from new contenders or media transmission organizations; its manageability of the freemium model can be demonstrated.

5 Books Too Awesome Not To Own

5 Books Too Awesome Not To Own While we at the Riot take some time off to rest and catch up on our  reading, were re-running some of our  favorite posts from the last several months. Enjoy our highlight reel, and well be back with new stuff on Tuesday, January 3rd. This post originally ran August 12, 2016. Even the heaviest library user will tell you that there are some books that are so good, you have to own them. For me, this usually comes after I have checked out a book from the library, sometimes just onceâ€"often many timesâ€"until I wear my frugality down and buy it. There’s a comfort in owning a book that’s so packed with information or inspiration that you’ll reach for it again and again. Some books I have purchased many times, lending them to friends and never getting them back. When a book is that good, I’m happy to spread it out in the world and purchase another copy (okay, “happy” might be an overstatement. But I won’t complain about it too loudly or for too long). I’d like to believe the book not-returners are as besotted as I am with it and either can’t let the book go or are passing it on. Here are 5 books that I must have in my book collection at all times. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates Rereading a book does not necessarily mean you are soothed by it. As a white person, reading Between the World and Me was an uncomfortable experience: alternately horrifying, tragic, and illuminating. While it’s a slim book, the 176 page treatise is a crucial commentary on race in America and how its been used to enslave, exploit, and marginalize black Americans. Coates is a masterful writer, deftly contextualizing huge issues around systematic racism. You don’t even have to take my word for it, Toni Morrison called Between the World and Me “required reading.”   Would Toni Morrison lead you astray? Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay This is the book I was thinking about when I mentioned book-stealers. So many people have nabbed this book from me since it’s release in 2014. The reason I  can’t be mad at the aforementioned book-stealers is because I get it. It’s a great book. Roxane Gay is an amazing person and excellent writer. Bad Feminist allows you to live inside Gay’s head for a little bitâ€"from her take on The Hunger Games to rape culture. I return to this book when I want something simultaneously thought-provoking, inspiring, and often very funny. Gay reminds us that no one is a perfect feminist. All we can do is continue to look at the world around us with humor, compassion, and an unwaveringly critical eye. On Writing by Stephen King I am extremely picky when it comes to writing manuals or anything that masquerades as such. This snobbery is likely the result of having read On Writing before getting my hands on any other books in the same vein. Simply put, On Writing is one of the best. Half instructional, half memoir, King demonstrates how he became the best-selling writer he is today. As someone who loves some things King has written but can’t stomach the majority of it (because I am a baby and will need to sleep with the lights on if I read something like Misery), I can assure you that this book is for King aficionados and novices alike. As King says, “writing is not life, but I think it can be a way back to life.” For those who agree, this is a must read. Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed Tiny Beautiful Things is the book version of the perfect big sister/favorite aunt. I’m a sucker for advice columns but this book is so. much. more. than a collection of advice columns. It is a phenomenally compassionate kick in the ass. It is full of universally good advice but more important, it’s a meditation on how we should treat ourselves and other human beings. Strayed offers lessons on growing up, on learning that sometimes bad things happen to good people and figuring out how to accept that challenging reality.   It is a book of average size that is very much a big, beautiful thing. It’s also a fantastic going away to college/congratulations on your new career/massive life change gift.  The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavich I don’t know why I checked this out from the library so many times before realizing I could just buy it and have it forever. Perhaps Yuknavitch’s prose stunned me into a mind-numbing irrationality. It sounds hyperbolic but if you’ve read The  Chronology of Water, you’ll know what I mean. Yuknavitch weaves vivid prose throughout her essays in a way that makes them achingly beautiful and painfully raw. I had to buy this book because every  time I returned it to the library I felt a pang of loss, like I was giving up something precious before I was ready. Any overdue charges I incurred would be a small price to pay if I could just hang on to the book for a few more days. Now that I own it, it’s never far out of reach.

Essay on Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens - 3873 Words

Great Expectations may be read as a Bildungsroman because it charts the progress of the protagonist, Phillip Pirrip better known as Pip, from childhood to young adulthood. Great Expectations contains aspects of: Autobiography, Ancestry, Education, Desire, Social Conditions and Love. These are the themes of an English Bildungsroman. Traditionally a Bildungsroman contains a story which consists of the development of a character inside society. During this development the character clashes with his/her social background (class). The protagonist would have suffered from loss in their childhood and would eventually become accepted. This essay is going to discuss and show examples of these themes to show how the novel may fit into†¦show more content†¦Joe Gargery and her husband Joe; this shows that Pip has had a harsh start to his life. â€Å"Mrs. Joe Gargery who married the blacksmith†, Pip’s social hierarchy is very low because his sister’s husband is a blacksmith. Pip is going to be apprenticed to Joe, despite this he feels comfortable in his home. At the time he wasn’t aware of his social hierarchy and so he was happy of where he was. â€Å"Young Pip† is an innocent, humble and loving character, who has nothing going for him. This would make the reader instantly intrigued to him by wanting to know what will happen to him. However â€Å"Old Pip† is going to tell the story as the person who is changing and so may decide to tell us what he wants because he is likely to be biased. The reader may not feel as much in favour of Pip because he/she wouldn’t be sure if Pip is telling the truth. Dickens is able to create fear through vulnerability of Pip, for example when Pip steals pie for the convict. We are able to feel the fear and harshness and the changes of Pip’s life as he does. This enables the reader to feel more sy mpathy for Pip which supports the Bildungsroman framework. The countryside where Pip lives has been described with words like â€Å"savage† and â€Å"bleak† which reflect aggressive and cruelness to the reader. This would eventually gain more support in the reader for Pip because it empathises and echoes Pip’s hardship. Dickens has influenced all this by the Bildungsroman genre by showing thatShow MoreRelatedGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens1113 Words   |  5 Pagesadventures that the male characters go on. This seems to be relevant in a lot of movies and books like the story Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. In Great Expectations there are multiple female characters like Estella, Biddy, and Miss Havisham who all play a large part in the main character, Pip’s life. One of the first that we meet the character Estella in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is when Pip goes to Miss Havisham’s to play with her. The two kids play the game beggar my neighbor when EstellaRead MoreGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens1347 Words   |  6 Pagespoor status of the economy, social mobility does not seem to be occurring at high rates, with the poor getting poorer and rich getting richer. Despite this, social mobility is alive and well, and has been for centuries. In his novel, Great Expectations, Charles Dickens voices the concerns of many that lived in Victorian England during the 19th century by promoting such a desire to live life in a more prosperous social class. One of the most fundamental and reoccurring themes in the novel is that ofRead MoreGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens1426 Words   |  6 Pages Twelve-year-old Charles dickens gets ready for bed after a long day at the blacking house. These Victorian-aged memories will provide him with many ideas for his highly acclaimed novel Great Expectations. Set in 1830 England, Great Expectations is a coming-of-age story about a common innocent boy named Pip and his road to becoming a gentleman through the influence of others. Pip is influenced both positively and negatively by Estella, Herbert, and Magwitch. Estella left a huge impression on PipRead MoreGreat Expectations by Charles Dickens984 Words   |  4 PagesCharles Dickens utilizes his life for inspiration for the protagonist Pip in his novel Great Expectations. They both struggle with their social standing. Dickens loved plays and theatre and therefore incorporated them into Pip’s life. Dickens died happy in the middle class and Pip died happy in the middle class. The connection Dickens makes with his life to Pip’s life is undeniable. If readers understand Dickens and his upbringing then readers can understand how and why he created Pip’s upbringingRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations943 Words   |  4 Pages This is true in many cases but none as much as in Great Expectations. In many ways the narrator/protagonist Pip is Charles Dickens in body and mind. While there are many differences between the story and Charles Dickens life there remains one constant. This constant is the way Pip as the narra tor feels, because these feelings are Dickens s own feelings about the life he lead. Since Great Expectations was written towards end of Charles Dickens life, he was wiser and able to make out the mistakesRead MoreGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens1375 Words   |  6 PagesGreat Expectations by Charles Dickens and The Talented Mr Ripley by Anthony Minghella present similar criticisms of society to a large extent. Both of these texts consider the criticisms of rich social contexts (wealth and status), societal morality (whether a society is good or not. Status [can lead to the wrong people being in a high position i.e. making bad decisions affecting the community/society] Appearance [society appears to be moral/good (if you’re from a higher status) {dickens criticisesRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations1223 Words   |  5 PagesBeloved author Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, England. Growing up in a life of poverty, his childhood hardshi ps provided the inspiration to write a myriad of classic novels including his 1861 seminole masterpiece, Great Expectations (â€Å"BBC History - Charles Dickens†). Great Expectations follows the life of an orphan named Pip, who’s perspective of the world is altered when he is attacked by an escaped convict in his parents’ graveyard in the town of Kent. Throughout hisRead MoreGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens924 Words   |  4 Pagesa character driven novel, or a mix of the two. In order for a novel to be character driven, it must revolve more around the characters’ individual thoughts, feelings, and inner struggles, rather than around the quest of the story. Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, is a character driven novel. While the story does have a plot, it is not contingent upon that plot, but rather is reliant upon its characters and their natures. This is evident from the beginning of the novel. From the opening ofRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations1669 Words   |  7 PagesCharles Dickens He was one of England s greatest authors of the 1800 s, better known as the Victorian era. The various themes and ideas of that time are perfectly showcased in his many novels and short stories, such as Nicholas Nickelby, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and A Christmas Carol. Much of the inspiration for these works came from the trials and conflicts that he dealt with in his own life. His volumes of fictional writing show the greatRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations1017 Words   |  5 Pagesexperiencer is somewhere else absorbing knowledge of a different setting.This abstract adventure is seized by author Charles Dickens in Great Expectations. Great Expectations is historical fiction giving readers comprehension of the Victorian Era.Upon the reading, readers begin to catch on the intended purpose and its significance. A person who lived during the Victorian Era was Charles Dickens himself.He grew up during a time where differences in social class were to an extreme degree.Dickens went through

Improving Quality of Teaching and Learning, Questioning and Explaining Free Essay Example, 2000 words

Effective questioning can help the teachers instill curiosity and a thirst to learn in students (Pagliaro, 2011). By asking questions and letting their students formulate and develop their answers, the teachers can help the students to develop their critical thinking and analytical skills. On the other hand, questioning also helps the teachers to assess the thought process and learning abilities of their students (Walsh and Sattes, 2011). This, in turn, helps the teachers in formulating effective strategies to encourage and motivate the specific students. Delivering a lecture in the class as guided by the lesson plan needs to be accompanied by the teacher s inputs and explanations. Explaining is a crucial part of the teaching activity as it is through explaining teachers are able to elucidate the lessons and keep the discussion within the boundaries of the subject (Trevor, 1998). Explaining involves teachers communications skills, knowledge and delivery style, which can lead to a be tter understanding of the subject by the students (Wolfe, 2006). In addition, additional resources like charts, graphs, graphics, videos and other audio-visual aids can help the teachers in explaining better (Overall, 2001) Assessment is the evaluation of the student s progress over a period of time and is undertaken in order to understand his or her specific needs and problem areas (Ahrenfelt and Watkin, 2006). We will write a custom essay sample on Improving Quality of Teaching and Learning, Questioning and Explaining or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page

Two Ways of Seeing a River (1883) Free Essays

This passage is excerpted from Mark Twain’s 1883 book Life on the Mississippi, in which he shares his experiences as a river steamboat pilot and explores the many facets of the great river. As you read, consider his masterful use of language as he reflects on his changing relationship with the river. Now when I had mastered the language of this water and had come to know every trifling feature that bordered the great river as familiarly as I knew the letters of the alphabet, I had made a valuable acquisition. We will write a custom essay sample on Two Ways of Seeing a River (1883) or any similar topic only for you Order Now But I had lost something, too. I had lost something which could never be restored to me while I lived. All the grace, the beauty, the poetry, had gone out of the majestic river! I still kept in mind a certain wonderful sunset which I witnessed when steamboating was new to me. A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood; in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold, through which a solitary log came floating, black and conspicuous; in one place a long, slanting mark lay sparkling upon the water; in another the surface was broken by boiling, tumbling rings that were as many-tinted as an opal; where the ruddy flush was faintest was a smooth spot that was covered with graceful circles and radiating lines, ever so delicately traced; the shore on our left was densely wooded, and the somber shadow that fell from this forest was broken in one place by a long, ruffled trail that shone like silver; and high above the forest wall a clean-stemmed dead tree waved a single leafy bough that glowed like a flame in the unobstructed splendor that was flowing from the sun. There were graceful curves, reflected images, woody heights, soft distances, and over the whole scene, far and near, the dissolving lights drifted steadily, enriching it every passing moment with new marvels of coloring. I stood like one bewitched. I drank it in, in a speechless rapture. The world was new to me and I had never seen anything like this at home. But as I have said, a day came when I began to cease from noting the glories and the charms which the moon and the sun and the twilight wrought upon the river’s face; another day came when I ceased altogether to note them. Then, if that sunset scene had been repeated, I should have looked upon it without rapture and should have commented upon it inwardly after this fashion: â€Å"This sun means that we re going to have wind tomorrow; that floating log means that the river is rising, small thanks to it; that slanting mark on the water refers to a bluff reef which is going to kill somebody’s steamboat one of these nights, if it keeps on stretching out like that; those tumbling ‘boils’ show a dissolving bar and a changing channel there; the lines and circles in the slick water over yonder are a warning that that troublesome place is shoaling up dangerously; that silver streak in the shadow of the forest is the ‘break’ from a new snag and he has located himself in the very best place he could have found to fish for steamboats; that tall dead tree, with a single living. Two Ways of Seeing a River ranch, is not going to last long, and then how is a body ever going to get through this blind place at night without the friendly old landmark? † No, the romance and beauty were all gone from the river. All the value any feature of it had for me now was the amount of usefulness it could furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat. Since those days, I have pitied doctors from my heart. What does the lovely flush in a beauty’s cheek mean to a doctor but a â€Å"break† that ripples above some deadly disease? Are not all her visible charms sown thick with what are to him the signs and symbols of hidden decay? Does he ever see her beauty at all, or doesn’t he simply view her professionally and comment upon her unwholesome condition all to himself? And doesn’t he sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning his trade? 1. What is Twain’s argument here? What is his claim? What are his reasons? How does he construct his essay to help the reader be persuaded by his claim? How does he draw connections between the ideas in the first two paragraphs and those in the third? 2. What is the purpose of Twain’s argument? To explore? Inform? Convince? Meditate or pray? Something else? 3. Twain is known for his beautiful, rich use of language. Find the phrases or images that are the most powerful to you. What tools of stylish language are he using? How do they help make his argument persuasive? How to cite Two Ways of Seeing a River (1883), Papers

Economics - Minimum Wage free essay sample

South Africa’s history is riddled with economic exploitation and government has continually tried to right the socio-economic wrongs of the past, through the use of various economic policies and labour legislation. One such legislation has been highly debated in recent months. The legislation in question governs the minimum labour wage for each of the respective economic sectors. According to Burda and Wyplosz (2013:124) â€Å"Minimum wages are the legal limits on how low wages can be. † In this essay the advantages and disadvantages of minimum wages will be discussed, with the South African agricultural sector as a case study. Burda and Wyplosz (2013:124). Illustrated above is the effect minimum wages have on the labour market. To be of any worth it is essential that the minimum wage Wmin is set above the wage that would be gained in another way (w), and which is higher than the wage set at market equilibrium that the individual would of accepted. The consequence is an employment level equal to Lmin; and unemployment level equal to (Lsmin – Lmin), which is greater than the level of unemployment in a state of collective bargaining (Burda and Wyplosz, 2013:124). Firms may choose not to lower the real wage rage as a counter measure to rising unemployment; this occurrence is called an efficiency wage. Firms may opt to pay higher wages in an attempt to increase the level of output and quality by workers, as well as to attract better job applicants (Burda and Wyplosz, 2013:124). Government sets the minimum wage level whereas an efficiency wage is determined and set by firms themselves. There are many advantages and disadvantages of implementing minimum wage legislation. Two of the main advantages are the following: firstly economic growth is motivated through the discouragement of labour-intensive industries (Burda and Wyplosz, 2013:124). Secondly minimum wages also reduce the amount of dependency on government by minimum-wage employees, which could lead to a decrease in tax, because less people now rely on social grants to survive. Ultimately the minimum wage aims to protect workers from exploitation. On the other hand the disadvantages of minimum wages have to be studied more closely. Minimum wages can result in an increase in the unemployment of unskilled workers as well as raise employment barriers. The demand for labour is directly affected by the minimum wage legislation; as a result there is an increase in the unemployment level of the unskilled labour force because of an increase in the minimum wage. The unskilled labour force is ultimately the group of people, the minimum wage aims to protect. Due to minimum wage increases, firms starts to invest more in capital and less in labour. This increase in capital investment means that firms spend money on expensive equipment instead of labour because it is seen as a better long-term investment. The investment in technologically advanced equipment also means that firms now have to employ skilled workers to operate the equipment, which ultimately also increases the cost of production. As a result the prices of goods increase, which causes an increase in the CPI (consumer price index), which is reflected as an increase in inflation (News 24, 2013). This increase in inflation contradicts what government intended the minimum wages to do, which is raise the standard of living of South Africa’s unemployed and blue collar workers. South African farmers in the wake of recent strikes and the raising of the minimum wage to R105 a day have started looking at options to replace labour (Cohen, 2013). The implementation of minimum wages has a direct effect on productivity, because it affects the price of the products produced for the consumer. The reason why price is crucial to productivity is because an increase in price results in a decrease in demand for that specific product because of substitution for a similar product. This decrease in demand for goods and services means that suppliers now have to reduce the quantity they produce thus decreasing productivity, and ultimately leading to the retrenchment of employees. It is believed that jobs losses in the agricultural sector could possibly grow to 200 000, despite the agricultural sector being seen as a crucial job creator (News 24, 2013). The rate of technological development in recent years means that machines are consistently becoming cheaper and more commercially available to all businesses. The volatility and inconsistency of South African labour laws, means that it has become more commercially sustainable to invest in capital whilst reducing investment in labour. This means that employers would rather purchase machinery instead of having to battle South Africa’s labour laws, in their bid to be an economically sustainable business. It has been reported that in the wake of the recent farmworker strikes, many farmers will be mechanising their operations or will be switching to less labour-intensive goods (Cohen, 2013). As a developing country South Africa must always look to be internationally competitive. The South African economy relies heavily on the export of agricultural products to developed countries. Therefore the consistent increase in minimum wages seriously endangers the employment of those workers who work in the agricultural sector. The agricultural sector employs many people and is a crucial job creator. But higher minimum wages means that South Africa is in danger of not being able to compete with countries on the international market. In order to ensure sustainable economic growth and job creation. Low inflation levels and financial confidence are needed. The increase in the cost of production as a result of an increase in the minimum wage level, directly affects the CPI and consequently inflation (News 24, 2013). Therefore a resultant increase in inflation because of an increase in production costs is not in anyway beneficial to long-term sustainable economic growth. When trade unions demand higher wages they more often then not fail to take into consideration non-wage compensation. These non-wage compensations often include things such as, free housing, transport and medical aid. In an attempt to counter increasing production costs as a result of increases in minimum wages, firms reduce the amount of non-wage compensation given to their employees. So essentially the workers are not better off. There is a common belief that the implementation of minimum wages stops the occurrence of wage discrimination. Unfortunately this is not always true, because as mentioned above minimum wages cause an increase in unemployment. This increase in unemployment as seen in the previously listed graph, means that there is an increase in the availability of unskilled labour (Burda and Wyplosz, 2013:124). Therefore firms are more likely to take advantage of the excess of unskilled workers, by employing workers below the minimum wage. In conclusion it can be said that minimum wage legislation is far from perfect, and despite its good intentions, it more often then not causes more damage than good. The South African government through its various social grants and unproductive labour laws have created a lazy society who is dependant on â€Å"free hand-outs†. It has become acceptable to try and improve your social position through violence instead of hard work. The minimum wage legislation in South Africa aims to treat the symptoms of a largely unskilled labour force and social inequality. By treating the symptoms, the causes of the social inequality and largely unskilled labour force are not addressed. By consistently increasing the monetary value of an unskilled worker, government indirectly decreases the monetary value of skilled workers. This situation takes the away the incentive for workers, to try improve their level of skill. Government must realise that the only way to decrease social inequality and increase employment, is to fight these problem at a grass roots level. Government should rather focus on improving education in order to raise the skills level of the entire labour force. Government should also make changes to the current labour laws, so that greater emphasis is based on the implementation of incentive/efficiency wages. Efficiency wages are more likely to improve unemployment and increase production, because firms are willing to pay more, if their production increases. In the end sadly the unemployed in South Africa are exploited through false promises in order to gain political favour. List Of References BURDA, M and WYPLOSZ, C, 2013. Macroeconomics: A European Text (6ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press. COHEN, M, 2013. South Africa Raises Farmworkers’ Minimum Wage In Wake Of Strikes. Bloomberg. [Online]. Available: http://www. bloomberg. com/news/2013-02-04/south-africa-raises-farmworkers-minimum-wage-in-wake-of-strikes. html. [Accessed 10 April 2013]. NEWS 24,2013. Farm Job Cuts Could Grow To 200000. Fin 24. [Online]. Available: http://www. fin24. com/Economy/Farms-job-cuts-could-grow-to-200-000-20130210. [Accessed 10 April 2013]. NEWS 24,2013. Farm Minimum Wage A Double-Edged Sword. Fin 24. [Online]. Available: http://www. fin24. com/Economy/Farm-minimum-wage-a-double-edged-sword-20130204. [Accessed 10 April 2013]. NEWS 24,2013. Price Hikes ‘Threaten’ Food Security. Fin 24. [Online]. Available: http://www. fin24. com/Economy/Price-hikes-threaten-food-security-20130301. [Accessed 10 April 2013]. NEWS 24,2013. Rand Edges Lower On CPI Data. Fin 24. [Online]. Available:

Jan. 1923 Invasion of the Ruhr Essay Example

Jan. 1923: Invasion of the Ruhr Paper Invasion of the Ruhr The Ruhr is one of Germany’s most valuable industrial and mining area. End 1922: Germany failed to pay reparations to France as part of TOV In response, the French occupied the Ruhr. Campaign of ‘passive resistance’ was Germany’s response and resulted in a decline in industrial productivity ‘Passive resistance’ affected Germany economy Weimar government still dedicated to maintain commitment to TOV o Reparation bill: US $32 billion Instead of raising taxes, gov borrowed heavily and printed new money Sparked greatest inflation in history o 1914: US$ =gt; 4. 2 marks 1919: US$ =gt; 8. marks 1923: US$ =gt; 25 billion marks German money was valueless causing enormous hardship †¢ Real wages declined, life-time savings wiped, people on fixed incomes †¢ This invasion should be considered against French fears about security. France had been increasingly concerned about security since the collapse of the Anglo-American guar antee that would have given the French support in the event of German attack. In addition, France had been unsuccessful in her attempts to partially dismember Germany. By 1921, Britain and the USA were retreating into isolation and removing themselves from the affairs of the continent. In Britain, there was growing sympathy towards the idea that Germany had been treated harshly and that she should be able to recover economically as means to promote European recovery. †¢ The reparations commission had determined in 1921 that Germany should pay 132 billion gold marks to the allied powers. The French were anxious to enforce the reparations settlement in full for two reasons: 1. To use reparations to pay their debts to the US. 2. They could continue to weaken Germany by collecting the reparations and thus limit the speed and extent of German economic recovery which could pose a serious threat to them in the future. The British attitude towards reparations was hesitant. As much as they needed the money to pay the USA but they were also aware that continued German economic weakness would limit the recovery of British trade. Britain believed also that if Germany was conciliated, she would slip into the Soviet orbit, something which Britain did not want especially aft er Rapallo. France wanted an excuse to demonstrate her hard -line approach towards Germany and the opportunity arose when Germany missed a delivery of timber as part of her payments. We will write a custom essay sample on Jan. 1923: Invasion of the Ruhr specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Jan. 1923: Invasion of the Ruhr specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Jan. 1923: Invasion of the Ruhr specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer So, on 11 January, 1923, French and Belgian troops invaded the Ruhr. †¢ †¢ The French object was to collect reparations through seizing the output of the mines and factories of the Ruhr and shipping them to France. However, the German workers refused to co-operate and went on passive resistance. †¢ The result was inflation. The Weimar government simply printed more money to support the workers to a point that paper money became worthless. †¢ Middle classes in Germany who had saved money were totally destroyed and demoralized since their savings became worthless. Many people lost faith in the democratic system and would turn later to extremists like Hitler. In fact, Hitler made his first attempt during these hard times. However, the breakthrough came with the appointment of Gustav Stresemann as Chancellor of Germany. He cancelled the passive resistance and announced that Germany would comply with her obligation as in Versailles. The French withdrew as their relations with Britain and the USA were sort of damaged and was now willing to reach an agreement with Germany over the crisis. †¢ Charles Dawes, a key player solved the crisis when he proposed the Dawes Plan. This plan allowed Germany to reschedule her reparations payments so that the total amount was reduced and the deadlines were extended. In order for the German economy to recover extensive foreign loss, largely from the United States, were arranged. In addition, much private American capital flowed into German businesses and German government bonds. The resolution of the Ruhr crisis was followed by the Locarno Treaty. Accordingly, Germany accepted her current borders with France and Belgium as permanent. Also, these borders were guaranteed by Britain and Italy. Also, as a result of Locarno, Germany entered the League of nations. However, Germany’s eastern borders had not been guaranteed. Britain refused to guarantee the countries to the east of Germany which gave Germany the impression that she could change the borders with little objection from the Allies. The spirit of Locarno improved the general atmosphere and later the Allies removed their troops from the left bank of the Rhine and the Allied commission to supervise German disarmament departed in 927. The spirit of Locarno was best exemplified in the Kellogg-Briand Pact.

Analysis of the use of music in advertising.

Analysis of the use of music in advertising. IntroductionEmotional PlaygroundMusic has been known for centuries to have a powerful effect on human responses. In the social science context, music is particularly known for its effectiveness in triggering moods and communicating nonverbally. Many marketing practitioners already accept this notion, given that music is increasingly used as a stimulus in the retail environment as well as in radio and television advertising. Music has been shown to affect consumer behaviours, particularly shopper behaviour (Milliman, 1986), as well as emotional responses (Kellaris and Kent, 1994). Marketers that playing music is in itself not enough, that music needs to be used to target groups in the market place, to differentiate from competitors and to maximise image rather than serving as a distraction. It is therefore not surprising that music has become a major component of consumer marketing, both at the point of purchase and in advertising (Bruner 1990). In this essay we will explore the role of music in advertising.AdvertisingSeidman (1981) reviewed the contributions of music to media productions (movies and educational films), concluding that cognitive and affective comprehension of stimuli can be influenced. Music is a complex chemistry of controllable elements (Bruner, 1990). Unfortunately, no definitive taxonomy of music elements has been developed. Time and pitch-related characteristics appear on almost all lists and also have some empirical confirmation (Kellaris and Kent, 1994). Though less clear, evidence also has been found for a third factor, musical texture (Bruner, 1990).Advertisers often deliberately try to convey and transfer underlying, yet unasserted, meanings to viewers. The view that an advertisement is a one-way communicative process is a narrow one since one also needs to consider the information processing responses of the receivers as they perceive and interpret messages and images in advertisements (Procter et al 2001). Designers of advertising me ssages expect viewers...

FINAL EXAMINATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

FINAL EXAMINATION - Essay Example Like in the case of an opening conversation a closing conversation also plays a very essential role. This is because a conversation cannot be referred to be effective if it comes to an abrupt ending without any kind of acknowledgement or even a small summarization of the topic of discussion. Self-Disclosure is defined as â€Å"a conscious, intentional technique in which clinicians share information about their lives outside the counselling relationship† (Simone, McCarthy, & Skay, 1998, p.174). The main guidelines are the communication skills which can be used to avoid any lacking information for the process. It is up to the counsellors to be direct and concise. Self disclosures need to be very straight forward without any wastage of time. It requires being clear to both the clients as well as the counsellors with details and effective information. Attraction theory: This theory is based on the external looks. The theory states that relations start on the basis of attraction and work based on the law of attraction. There is no space given to the attitudes as much as the looks and attraction levels. Relationship Rules theory: This theory was set down by Schimanoff in 1990. The theory states that all relationships have a set of rules which need to be followed in order for the relationship to work. These include various aspects of the relationship like prohibited, preferred or obligated behavior in different situations. Social Penetration theory: The social penetration theory states that as relationships develop, communication moves from relatively shallow, non – intimate levels to deeper, more personal ones (Altman & Taylor, 1973). Social Exchange/Equity theory: This theory explains how people feel about their relationships with the other person and this is mainly based on the balance of what one individual has put into the relationship when compared to what is got out of the relationship, the relationship that is actually deserved and finally

Discuss the history and evolution, justifications for, and ultimate Essay - 1

Discuss the history and evolution, justifications for, and ultimate impact(s) of Canadian content regulations in Canadian radio and television broadcasting from the industrys inception to the present - Essay Example According to Allen (2009, p. 55), this is particularly based on the belief that ensuring Canadian programs on both the radio and television programs is an important way of maintaining and building the country’s culture and identity as well as promoting Canadians’ creativity. The Canadian content regulator CRTC has gone through a series of structural and functional changes beginning from the introduction of the regulations in the early 1920ss to the modern state instrument for content regulation. â€Å"To ensure that every element of Canadian Broadcasting system contributed towards the presentation of Canadian programming, the CRTC required that every broadcasting undertaking not only include certain Canadian services or content but also give them priority positioning†(Armstrong, 2010, p.109). Since the dawn of broadcasting, the Canadian broadcasting policy has always been to adapt to new technologies while at the same time ensuring that the system includes both private and public broadcasting, promotes Canadian content, reflects Canadian values, makes use of the reactive resources of Canada and is controlled by Canadians. This paper critically discusses the history and evolution, justification as well as the ultimate potential impact of the †˜Canadian Content’ regulations in Canadian radio and television broadcasting from the inception of the industry to the present. The history of the Canadian Content regulations dates back to the 1920s when the need to have a Canadian presence on the radio gradually arose as a way to counter the growing American influence on the radio and protect Canadian culture and identity (Armstrong, 2010). Although Canadian radio began licensing numerous commercial radio stations in 1922, the Federal government was increasingly concerned that many Canadian radio listeners were tuning to American stations while the

Working with children in need

Working with children in need This assignment will explain the role of a Local Authority (LA) Social Worker (SW) when working with ‘children in need’ and their families, and those in need of safeguarding and protection, will also explain the main role of children and families’ sw and reasons why they would be involved. Furthermore it will discuss the importance of multidisciplinary working; identify different forms of abuse, their impact and alleviation. In line with evidence based practice, the Children Act 1989 sections 17 and 47 will be analysed as intervention methods It’s important as a sw to utilise an understanding of theories of human growth and development to understand the various stages of development that the children are undergoing, before making any decision of safeguarding. Children in need may have faced extraordinary experiences in their early lives that may affect their physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development. Safeguarding is defined by (HM Government 2013) as ‘the action we take to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm’. Child protection is defined by RCPCH, (2006) as ‘the process of protecting individual children identified as either suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect’. Section 17 (10) of the Children Act 1989 (CA 1989) defines a child in need as a child who is ‘unlikely to achieve or maintain, or to have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision for him/her of services by a local authority’ or ‘his/her health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired without the provision for him/her of such services’ or ‘he/she is disabled’ (H M Government, 1989, section 17) gives LA ‘duties and powers to provide services for children in need and their families Part’ 111 (Sec17 (1)). When a referral is made, LA is forced to consider initial enquiries within 10 days. This is to find out what is happening to a child and decide which action should be taken to protect the child as set in the CA1989 S47 of Protection of Children (Brammer 2013). This guide draws’ on all professionals to work together to promote children’s welfare and ensures families are provided with much needed resources. In some historic children cases these processes weren’t upheld and lead to the death of children like Baby P and Victoria Climbie. Lord Laming ((Laming and Office, 2003)) stated that communication has played a major role in successes and failures of the system. He also made recommendations that will ignite working together in terms multi-disciplinary teams working together information sharing’ Connolly and Ward, (2008) suggested ‘It is good practice to consider children’s rights to protection as of paramount duty and at the same time work in partnership with their parents unless doing so would harm them’. The Framework for Assessment of Children (Figure 1) in Need and their Families (DoH, 2000) emphasises the use of an ecological approach to identify the child within the environment and offers a holistic approach (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). It enables professionals to identify systems affecting a child, the most and the social forces impacting on his lifespan therefore, resulting in interventions being applied where they are needed most. An ecological approach looks at people, families, cultures, communities, policies and identifies and intervenes upon strengths and weaknesses in the transactional processes between these systems (Greene and Greene, 2008). Figure1 (Department of Health 2000, p.1) Living conditions may result in disturbed nights, which can lead to strain and tiredness (Hazel, 2002). Similarly, inadequate housing may cause parents anxiety and affect their capacity to care for the children. Therefore, a sw could use their powers to make a referral for families to acquire an adequate accommodation. According to Gill and Jack (2007) the ecological theory is important in the development of holistic approaches to safeguarding children. Its strengths are that it focuses on individuals as part and incorporating other systems, so it integrates social with psychological elements of practice however, it is criticised for assuming that everything fits into a social order (Payne, 2009). A SW is expected to consider human rights issues when completing any assessment. In the community there’s a whole variety of groups e.g. ethnic minorities, women, disabled people, homosexuals children just to mention a few. Professionals are required to uphold and defend the rights of individuals whilst seeking to meet their needs and this are all governed by The Human Rights Act 1998. Brayne Shoot, (2010) said ‘the act has also heavily influenced the Disability Discriminations Act, (2005) and Equality Act, (2006 2010)’ Welbourne (2012) said ‘SW is a profession that engages with people’s lives at all levels, from the practical to the deeply personal. Lord Laming (2003) said ‘child protection is everyone’s business, and it’s important that SW, police, and health workers take the lead role for the procedures and processes that protect children from harm’. The CA 1989 sec 47(1) places a duty on LA to investigate when they: ‘are informed that a child who lives or is found in their area is the subject of an emergency protection order is in police custody’ ‘have reasonable cause to suspect that a child who lives, or is found in the area is suffering, or is likely to suffer a significant harm’ LA will conduct an initial child protection conference that consists of all professionals including the child, family members. This is a partnership aimed at setting out plans in place for both family and the group members. They will meet within 10 days after the initial conference and at least 8 weeks after that. The plan will be considering day to day details of the care plan and to put it into practice. After the case has been opened, implemented and put into practice, a Review Child Protection Case Conference is called to review and assess the progress of the case. The first review is held within 3 months of the initial conference and at least six months after that. A SW will always aim to achieve results and return the child to their parents. Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006 (Department of Health) has 5 identifiable forms of abuse as neglect, physical, emotional, sexual and domestic abuses, and the latter has been recently added and recognised in its own right. Coleen L (2003) suggested that ‘Negligence can include behaviours that receipt, fraudulently misrepresentation, defamation of character act, violation of human rights, malicious prosecution. Maureen O’Loughlin and Steve O’Loughlin (2008) suggested that ‘Parents have a central role in their children’s welfare and protection from harm, and should therefore be included in all decisions and actions taken by professionals†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Parents have their complex needs as well, some abuse drugs and alcohol and generally have low self-esteem. If parents deny sw access to a child and there’s a possibility of a greater risk of life or likelihood of serious harm, LA will apply for the Child Assessment Order sec43 CA 1989 when they considering any kind of contact, LA would have reasons to suspect concerns with development, welfare and health of a child. This order will only last 8 days without extension. Emergency Protection Order (EPO) under S44 of the CA 1989. It can last for 8 days with the option to extend for 7 more days. Brayne Carr, (2010) suggested that ‘It is important that any discussions with children are done in a way that minimises the distress and maximises the likelihood of them providing clear and accurate accounts’ The children may be looked after by the LA with parental agreement (Children Act, 1989, sec. 20. ‘A child may only be kept in police protection however, for 72 hours’ (Brammer 2006). Other order available is Recovery order sec50, will be applied if a child under PPO or EPO is removed from the responsible applicant. Police can recover the child and return them to the place of safety. SW has ‘an obligation to conduct themselves ethically, engaging in ethical decisionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ making, including partnership working with service users’ and this was quoted by The Code of Ethics for Social Work (BASW, 2011). Social work is a very privileged profession, they draw up conclusions and judgement on what they observe and hear. Hence it’s necessary to develop an inner skill not to use prejudice in any engagement. Empowerment has been understood as a paradigm within anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice (Lishman, 2007) and can be implemented through partnership working, which is a key social work value (Thompson, 2009). This assignment has shown how and why a sw would intervene when a child becomes in need. It also discussed the LA’s responsibility for children in need and their families. Aim is to protect and safeguard children from harm by forming partnership working with families; assist in providing alternative services to promote their welfare. The assignment drew up on relevant legislation that ensure welfare of a child remains paramount, also challenges all professionals to collaborate in a systematic manner. Children have been let down in the past and Every Child Matters ensured it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that their health and development is secured. This reiterates the importance of SW’s impact into the system, drawn from Code of Ethics sw’s should always challenge any discrimination, recognise diversity, always distribute resources to those in need, challenge unjust policies and practices and work in solidarity. In conclusion a sw would not be awa re if a child is in need or requires protection; however, the facts in this essay provide a sensible method of judgement on whether a child is in need or at risk of significant harm.

Summarise the Key Aspects of Current Legistative Requirements and Codes of Practice

PREPARING TO TEACH IN THE LIFE LONG LEARNING SECTOR CITY AND GUILDS, LEVEL 4, 7303 Q2; SUMMARISE THE KEY ASPECTS OF CURRENT LEGISTATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND CODES OF PRACTICE RELEVANT TO YOUR SUBJECT AND THE TYPE OF ORGANISATION WITHIN WHICH YOU WOULD LIKE TO WORK. I work within the Private Security Industry for a medium sized company and am employed as a Training Manager. The company mainly provides Retail Security; this includes Uniformed Officers, Store Detectives and providing Loss Prevention Training.As a company we also cater for Commercial and Industrial work. There is currently a team of three trainers that operate throughout the UK. We can be called on to train in many subjects the core of our work is classroom based with the Basic Job Training relevant to the field the Officer may go into. We also provide training for up-skilling the Officers and for Management and Supervisors in their roles and responsibilities. The Security Industry is overseen and regulated by The Security I ndustry Authority (SIA) and the Private security Industry Act 2001 (PSIA).PSIA is the overriding legislation which states that anyone employed within the private contract security field will have to hold a currant Security licence, Front Line Operational Staff, None Front Line Company directors, Part of the requirement laid down by this legislation is that for an individual to gain a front line licence they must attend and pass the basic job programme for the sector they wish to work in. â€Å"It is essential that individuals working in the private security industry undergo a structured training programme that results in a recognised qualification†. SIA website on training 13th November 2009) This is being redefined in 2010 and becoming a basic programme with core modules on sector specifics. However as a company we also cover parts of the United Kingdom and as such we have to comply with the different requirements for example, PSIA 2001 (Designated Activities) (Scotland) Ord er 2007. PSIA 2001 (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2009. Codes of practice have been adopted by the SIA in regards to these individual sectors and have been derived from the relevant British standards which can be found in appendix 1.When looking to teach in an security environment it soon becomes clear that there are many other things to consider other than just taking a group of students for a lesson, not least the â€Å"The Health and safety at work act 1974† protecting others against risks to health and safety in connection with the activities taking place. Taking into account one’s own behaviour and responsibilities as a teacher, ensuring the safety of the students within the classroom or work place. See appendix 2 The Data Protection Act 1998 also has an impact on working life and habits within the security sector.In your role in lifelong learning you will therefore need to adhere to legislation outlined above. There are many more legislations that I have to be aware of while teaching. It is important that I keep up to date with these legislations and part of my responsibility is to make sure that they are been adhered to and I know what procedure to follow if this is not the case. REFERENCE LIST www. sia. homeoffice. gov. uk/home www. shop. bsigroup. com/ Word count not including question and bibliography 487 Appendix 1BS 7499:2007 Code of Practice for Static Site Guarding, Mobile Patrol Services Recommendations for the management, staffing and operation of an organisation providing manned guarding services on a static and/or mobile patrol basis. (http://shop. bsigroup. com/en/ProductDetail/? pid=000000000030147282) BS 7984:2008 Code of Practice for Keyholding and Response Services Recommendations for the management, staffing and operation of an organisation providing keyholding and response services on a contracted basis.

Everyman-a Medieval Play Review Essay

Summary Everyman is a play which was written to express the importance of morality, to whoever read it or experienced it being performed on stage. Some scholars say that it was written sometime in the late 1400’s, while others insist that it is a translation of a Flemish work called â€Å"Elckerlijc†, which was written by Peter van Diest in 1495. Everyman is an allegory play which is heavily based upon Christian religious perspectives; also it is resoundingly similar to the Christian belief of the resurrection of Christ, and his ascension into Heaven, after the crucifixion. The first act of Everyman, opens with a prologue which takes on the form of a messenger, telling the audience about the fate which is to come to Everyman. The messenger goes on to tell the audience that eventually God will call upon all of humanity to stand before him, and give account of their works which they had wrought in life. The next part of the play is God calling upon Death, to go and bring Everyman to stand before him. God commands Death to go and bring Everyman before him, so that he may give account of his own misdeeds that he has wrought in life. So Death goes and finds Everyman, and tells him that his time has come. Everyman then attempts to bribe Death with a thousand pounds, but Death refuses. However, he states that he will allow Everyman to bring someone with him, so that he does not have to face his judgment alone. Everyman first goes to Fellowship, whom represents friends and companions; and asks him to accompany him to go and stand before the judgment God. Fellowship, whom had promised to stand besides Everyman through whatever may come; tells Everyman that he will not go with him to the grave, because he fears Death and the judgment of God. Everyman is heartbroken, but then goes on to the next in line. Everyman then goes to Kindred and Cousin, which are supposed to represent family and kin; but they too tell him that they will not accompany him on his way to the grave. Thirdly, Everyman turns to Goods, which represents material possessions; nonetheless she also states that she will not go with Everyman to his final judgment. Everyman is very concerned by this point, and so he turns to Good Deeds for companionship. Good Deeds states that she will go with Everyman to face his judgment with him; but unfortunately she lacks the strength for such a journey, because Everyman  has neglected her throughout his life. Good Deeds tells Everyman that he must then go before her sister, Knowledge; for she will know the way in which Good Deeds may regain strength. Upon meeting Knowledge, she tells Everyman that he must go before Confession; and there Everyman confesses his sins. Afterward, Confession gives Everyman a â€Å"jewel† called Penance; which cleanses Everyman of his sins, so that he may stand before God and not be in jeopardy of damnation. With his confession behind him, Good Deeds regains his strength, and is ready to accompany Everyman to the grave. Knowledge then tells Everyman to gather together his attributes of life: Beauty, Strength, Discretion, and Five Wits; so that they too may accompany him to his reckoning with God. But when Everyman gathers them together, they tell him that they will not go with him to the grave; essentially because they are all characteristics of youth, which are all now fleeting from him, as he has the end of life. With that, Knowledge, and Good Deeds accompany Everyman to his final reckoning with God. There enters the character Angel; Knowledge then attests to Angel that Everyman was a good and just person, and in the end, he confessed his sins before God. Then Everyman and Good Deeds go down into the grave, and thus make their way to stand before God in the final judgment of Everyman. Fundamentally, this play ends with the character, Doctor, stating that all accept Good Deeds and Knowledge will all flee from a person, when they go before God for their final judgment. *** Issues in Raised in Key Resources There are several key issues which were raised by the scholars that wrote the major resources which I used to write this report. This play has received a moderate amount of popularity over the past near 500 years; and now today there are some scholars and researchers whom are exceptionally critical, both positively and negatively, of the details as to how it was written. One criticism of note would have to be one which was voiced by Thomas F van Laan. In referring to the general premise of Everyman, he contends of the writer that â€Å"His speech is essentially negative; he focuses solely on the inevitability of death and the destructiveness of sin†. Simply put, Mr. van Laan is stating that at first, the sole purpose of this work appears to emphasize specifically on death and how mankind should feel only sorrow for anything that they do, which goes against the teachings of Christianity. Another criticism of this work which Mr. van Laan refers to is the point in the beginning when God first speaks. Mr. Van Laan states: â€Å"Gods words are wholly negative in force, implying only the difficulty to come, omitting any indication of hope for mankind†. Mr.  van Laan is voicing this criticism on the opening section of the play, fundamentally about how he considers Gods words to be too negative in their approach. In expressing this condemnation, Mr. van Laan is adamant about his beliefs that God would probably not be so disconcerting in his approach to dealing with mankind. However not all that Mr. van Laan has to say about Everyman is negative in nature. He goes on to shed light on the allegory nature of the play, and how this lends credence to its being a unique, legitimate work of theater. He contends that â€Å"The first movement, is a falling action, which traces Everyman’s’ decline in fortune. This shatters the apparent serenity of his life, to the depth of his despair†¦fallowed by the second movement, a rising action, which carries him from this nadir unto his final salvation†¦which is symbolized by the words of the welcoming Angel†. It is my belief, that essentially what Mr. van Laan is stating, is that by using actual characters to personify the specific aspects of human nature; the persona of the play becomes a two-fold endeavor. Firstly, by the characters being literal representations of human qualities; they achieve a form of realism, which is normally only conveyed through the use of spoken dialog. Secondly, the movement’s themselves-transpiring from a state of utter despair, to a state of harmonious bliss; is not only characteristic of all great works of drama, but also of life itself. Throughout Mr. van Laan’s review of Everyman, he states his opinion that by the author using characters to represent the individual aspects of human identity; the play conveys a form of realism, which is distinctly unique. Next brings us to the arguments made by the researcher Roger A. Ladd. His belief is that this play was not written for the everyday person, but was in fact written to be a work which would have been performed for the â€Å"bourgeoisie†. His reasoning stems from research which had been done by scholar Dorothy Wertz; the same scholar who also believes that Everyman was probably written strictly to be performed for the elite rich. In her research, Mrs. Wertz points to the fact that â€Å"by simply examining the vocabulary and phrases used in the original piece, one can determine whom the play had been written for†. In that, she states that â€Å"the wording itself would have been too formal for ordinary citizens of the time period to ascertain†. However, unlike Mrs. Wertz, who believes that Everyman is specifically nothing more than a direct translation of Elckerlijc; Mr. Ladd assumes that it is an amalgamation of Elckerlijc and other English literary customs of the era. Mr. Ladd’s purported theory was reached in part, by investigating the traits of the character â€Å"Goods†, and comparing them with the English anti-mercantile satire traditions which were popular in the late-medieval period. An example of which being, that in the Germanic-Dutch based Elckerlijc, Goods is described as appearing as â€Å"Neglected, rusty. . . heaped up, filthy†. However in Everyman as Mr. Ladd purports, Goods appears in a more English anti-mercantile manner as being â€Å"trussed and piled so high, and in chest I am locked so fast, also sacked in bags†. The Everyman description, falls in line with the late-medieval literary tradition of anti-mercantilism; which according to Mr. Ladd, comes as proof that Everyman could not have been strictly just an English translation of Elckerlijc. Another scholar whom is acquiescent in his research of Everyman is Lawrence V. Ryan. Mr. Ryan takes an approach, which seems to be more about discerning the religious implications of the play Everyman. The first point that Mr. Ryan makes is that †Without theology, the artistic merit may not be fully appreciated†¦that the theology involved is indispensable, not indefensible, and furthermore, that it gives the play its characters, structure, significance, and even its dramatic impressiveness†. One of the main points which all three scholars agree upon is that by being deserted by all those whom Everyman turns to for help; the audience develops a strong sense of pathos, for the plight of Everyman. Mr. Ryan suggests that the emergence of these false-friend characters â€Å"all appear in a climactic order, according to the increased danger of each as a distraction from one’s Maker†. Finally, Mr. Ryan gives his opinion about the reason why all the characters that abandon Everyman, as well as Everyman himself, are all men; and why the only characters that accompany him are women. In essence, the logic behind this as Mr. Ryan contends is that â€Å"All men are born into a state of sin†¦and that for dramatic suspense; the author chose to have the only redeeming characters be women†¦to show that women can counteract this dogma†. Personal Reaction to â€Å"Everyman† My personal opinion of this particular play is one of high appreciation. Unlike some of the reviews of scholars which I have read, which did not display too much positive reception for this work; I personally enjoyed reading it, and doing my report on this play. When I first tried to read the Old-English original version of this play, I found it incredibly hard to ascertain what exactly the meaning was behind what the author had written. Understandably it was difficult for me when trying to use the un-translated Everyman, as Old-English is a version of our language, which has been out-of-date for centuries. When I found the translated version of Everyman on the Fordham University website and began reading it, I almost instantly thought that it had been a work which had been written by either someone whom was a priest, or had been another member of the Christian church in some capacity. Another notion which I had was that if the play had not been written by someone who was a church member, then it obviously had to have been written by someone whom had some form of agenda for getting people involved with the Christian church in some form or another. Perhaps the author had a legitimate reason for wanting people to become more involved with the church or to become closer to god in some fashion. On the other hand, perhaps there was a more sinister motive; like getting more people into the flock of the church, in order to acquire more money flowing into their coffers. Personally, I think that it was a combination of both motives, and that whoever had wrote this play, also had a genuine interest in using a popular mode of expression. Or perhaps the author wanted to show that by turning away from the sins of the flesh; that a person could attain a state of consciousness, which could bring them closer to a higher form of enlightenment. No matter what the personal objectives were for its creation, one thing remains clear; this was that the author of this particular piece was incredibly ahead of his time. From what I have examined in doing research for this report project; in reading other plays that date from the late medieval age, I can honestly say with a certainty, that I have not read anything that dates from this period, which is as unique as this. The usage of human emotions and possessions being personified into literal characters is uniquely a modern notion; and from what I have found, does not appear to have been done in a theatrical piece until sometime around 18th or 19th century. This plot construction is something which I have seen in movies and television shows; which are much more recent, than something that dates from the late medieval period. One example that immediately comes to mind is Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol; although not entirely the same in primary foundation, the underlying principle is similar. Some of the scholars that I read about, that reviewed this work; were quick to dismiss it as being either frivolity, or simply nothing more than an act of religious propaganda. I have to disagree with both sides; I feel that this is a excellent illustration of late medieval/early modern era theatrical work, which will more than likely see its relevance come again. Summary of key scholarship on this play The first article which I used to review for this report on the play Everyman was a modern-English translation, of the late medieval original version of the play. This particular article didn’t offer any insight into it, as in scholar reviews; but it was extremely helpful in writing my summary of the play. Without this article, I am not sure if I would have been able to do this research project on this particular play, as I would not have been able to even ascertain what it was about. The next article which I used to write this report was written by Roger Ladd. Mr. Ladd took a definitively scholarly approach to conducting his research. Some of the main issues which he decided to confront were how the play Everyman deals with the religious implications of how material wealth corrupts the good intentions of mankind. Ladd went into detail, comparing the details of Everyman, to other plays of similar genera that date from the period. He explains about how most everyday citizens of the late medieval period, looked at the assemblage of material wealth, as the path to avarice, which puts their immortal souls in jeopardy. Like many other scholars whom have written journals about the â€Å"morality plays†, Ladd believes that in order to find out whom the plays written for, one has to look into the wording of the work; by doing this, he states that it becomes apparent who the target was. For example Everyman, when the main character is forced to give up his worldly possessions; it is written to appear as if this could have been the most dastardly thing which could have occurred in his life. Other key scholarship reviews of this play, comes from the scholarly works of Lawrence V. Ryan. Ryan takes an approach to his research, which is concerned with how organized religion is suspect in this play. One of his main thesis’ is about how in the play, Everyman attains salvation through his own works, and not by the salvation which comes from God. He talks about how many religious figures were quick to label Everyman as a work of unholy declarations; and that how many of these religious leaders informed members of their churches that they would be in danger of hell by going to watch a performance of Everyman. Ryan is perhaps the most non-forgiving of the three scholars that I chose to use. Mostly, he tries to make it known that he is of the opinion that Everyman was only an English translation of the Dutch work Elckerlijc. He does not make use of very much authentic information to make this claim, he simply relies on paraphrasing works which had been written by other scholars. Next, I used the research from the scholar Thomas F. vanLaan. VanLaan goes into detail describing the individual characters of Everyman. Noteworthy, is how he explains the nature of these characters, and how they relate to the human experience. Differing from the other scholars whom I referenced in this report, Mr.vanLaan gives a very logical accounting of why the author chose to incorporate inanimate human natures, as the title characters for this play. The choices for the human failings and material wealth, was carefully used to make the play appeal to nearly everyone whom would have watched its production. An example being, of how Everyman had acquired material goods in his life, which would have appealed to the rich; while on the other hand, Everyman losing his material possessions would have gained the approval of the poor which might have been in the audience. However, I never found one scholarly review, which did not offer at least one compliment about this great play. Endnotes *** Paul Halsall, Internet Medieval Sourcebook, â€Å"Medieval Handbook: Everyman, 15th Century†, Fordham University (August 1998) (Accessed on October 20th, 2010) http://www. fordham. edu/halsall/basis/everyman. html —The entire summary which I wrote was based upon the modern-English translation of Everyman, which was available online at the Fordham University site.

Effect of Business Process Reengineering Factors on Organizational Performance - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 22 Words: 6452 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Economics Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? The increasing competitive pressure as a result of technological development, globalization, changing customer demand led to survival challenges of many banks in the developing countries and demanded for improvement in quality customer service and speed to enhance profitability performance and cost reduction. This study is aim at exploring possible relationships among the factors of business process reengineering, and test a model that show the effect of BPR factors on firm performance with the moderating effect of IT capability on the causal relationship between the BPR factors and organizational performance of banks in Nigeria. Field study survey would be conducted under natural research setting. The sample of the study consists of commercial banks, microfinance banks and primary mortgage financial institutions. Closed-ended multiple choice questionnaires would be administered to the banks and both descriptive and inferential statistics analysis would be used in data analysis. Key words: Business process reengineering, Factors of business process reengineering, Information technology capability, Organizational performance, Banks, Nigeria, INTRODUCTION Business process reengineering (BPR) is a popular management tool for dealing with rapid technological and business changes (Ranganathan Dhaliwal, 2001). It was first introduced by Hammer (1990), as a radical redesign of processes in order to gain significant improvements in cost, quality, and services (Ozcelik, 2010). BPR creates changes in people (behavior and culture), processes and technology (Al-Mashari Zairi, 2000). It does not seek to alter or fix existing processes; but, it forces companies to ask, whether or not a process is necessary, and then seeks to find a better way to do it (Siha Saad, 2008). BPR integrates all departments into a complete process which have been designed to fulfill a specific business goal (Cheng et al, 2006). Successful implementation of BPR enable s organizations to achieve dramatic gains in business performance (Shin Jemella, 2002). BPR helps banks to deal with new economic challenges and change the traditional processes to improve their customers satisfaction. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a management discipline of analyzing and then redesigning current business processes and their components in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and added value to the objectives of the business. The conduct of business process reengineering steps is planned to gather and process business requirements in support of a modernization effort for defined area. The BPR starts with planning activities that include the creation of BPR team, the development of a BPR scope document and an examination of existing proposal that relate to a given area, examines the existing and future business process and improve accordingly. Similar to any other management approaches, the successful implementation of BPR depend on how well it can be fitt ed to the bank/companies cultural norms, and information technology (IT) suggested by (Davenport Short, (1990); Hammer and Champy (1993); Murray and Lynn (1997); Al-Mashari and Zairi, (1999); Bhatt (2000); Khong and Richardson, (2003); Attaran (2004); Ahmad, Francis and Zairi, (2007). Reengineering in a bank should be undertaken as a project, the project management expertise of IT department become a key ingredient in the success of reengineering. The IT capability includes both the technical and managerial expertise required to provide reliable physical services and extensive electronic connectivity within and outside firm. Information technology (IT) increase the market share of the bank through offering of a product or service that is not offered by another bank (e.g. those customers that prefer private/personalized banking or use debit cards have become the focus of retail and investments in banking (Beyers and Lederer 2001; Peffers and Dos Santos 1996; Post et al., 1995). F or example, new innovative banking practice through merger and consolidation enabled Nigerian banks to bridge the service gap in the system (Sidikat and Ayanda 2008). Therefore, the application of IT capability would enhance service delivery process, produce new product, new processes, new strategy, make the productivity of work faster, eliminate all communication barriers in the organization and empower workers to link up with customers and suppliers to achieve competitive advantage (Davenport, 1990; Hammer, 1990; Teng, James, Grover Fiedler, 1994). The banking sector plays the role of a driver in Nigerian economy that contributed over 6.4% against a target of 10% of total GDP (CBN, 2008). The management of information is a key activity in banking, and the influence of process reengineering and innovations through IT is likely to be bigger in banking than in other industries (David-west, 2005). Banks importantly require IT to coordinate enormous volumes of information (David-we st, 2005). Information technology (IT) is perceived as a necessity to pursue the rationalization and cost management due to intensified competition and crisis in the financial sector (De Bandt Davis, 2000). Information technology has helped Nigerian banks to streamline the back office operations by improving both efficiency and cost reduction. Advances in technology also influence the way banks services are delivered with aimed of making it more convenient for customers. For example, many banks in Africa now have their branches connected on-line real time (24/7). This clearly reduces the danger of carrying cash. Some banks have ATM to make cash available to their customers 24/7. Some Nigerian banks practice e-banking, telephone, and mobile banking. Money transfers services through MoneyGramme and Western Union Money transfer have enable Nigerian in Diaspora to send money to their family (CBN, 2008). Information technology capability (IT operations and IT knowledge) moreover, makes Nigerian banks to participate more effectively in international banking arena. For instance, some technologically up to date banks enable them to access international banking networks in order to efficiently affect fund transfer, open, amend, and negotiate letter of credit, retrieve up to date status of customer transactions among the banks that joined the Society for Worldwide Inter-bank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT The decline in operational performance efficiency of Nigerian banks in terms of return on assets, equity and operating cost requires urgent attention of the banks to re-strategies ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½ for process performance improvement (CBN/BSD, 2008). Sanusi (2010) argued that poor operational performance indices of Nigerian financial institutions were due to inadequate and inflexible operational processes. This was part of the revelations of the special audit for all the Nigerian banks conducted jointly by Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria deposit insurance corporation (NDIC) in July 2009 for Commercial banks and in February 2010 for Microfinance banks. Vetiva Capital Management (2010), reported a quarterly performance of stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange Market for the quarters ended September 2010 that indicated the negative performance of (-2.49%) of banking industry stocks as compared to other industrial sectors of the economy. The weak operational processes of banking services are responsible for decimal performance of the sector in Nigeria (Ibenta, 2010) The consequences of merger and consolidation of operational process and an intensified foreign competition in financial service industry through liberalization and globalization faced by the organizations led to radical changes in operations, and services that result in conflicting performance (Wei Nair, 2006). The customer retention became a key factor in determining the success of bank. The bank that has the largest customer base and highest customer retention rate will be a market leader in the industry. Hence, the quality of customer service becomes a driving force in ascertaining business survival in the banking industry (Tang Zairi, 1998). Various authors such as Tas Sunder, (2004); Bhatt Trout, (2005); Tennat Wu, (2005) Terziovski, Fitzpatrick ONeill, (2003); Salimifard, Abbaszadeh Ghorbanpur (2010) argued that business process reengineering (BPR) in banking services have continued to increased organizational performance and identified the BPR factors that played a major role to successful outcomes for reengineering projects to includes: change management, management commitment, project management, customer focus, adequate financial resources, egalitarian culture, use of I.T, less bureaucratic structure, and quality management system. CSF is one of the most important areas that practitioner would have a greater opportunity to plan and manage successfully if identified in the research on BPR implement ation (Cheng Chiu, 2008). Therefore, given the popularity of BPR and high degree of failure rate linked with BPR project, the desire to identify the key success factors of BPR has gain importance as contemporary management approach for business success. In Nigerian banking industry, managers realized the effectiveness of BPR for gaining competitive advantage even though it is new, they do not fully understand what BPR is about and the CSFs that drive the successful implementation of the BPR project. Therefore, to fill this gap, an investigation into BPR factors would be worthwhile. When examining the relationship between the reengineering factors such as intangible resources and organizational performance, it has been posited that there may exist some key moderating variables that are important issues to research (Wade Hulland, 2004). A moderator variable is a qualitative/quantitative variable that affect the direction and/or strengthen of the relationship between an independent o r predictor variable and dependent or criterion variable (Baron Kenny 1986). The moderating variable of great interest is organization IT capability and its influence on the intangible resources (BPR factors) performance relationships (Liu, Liu, Hu, 2008). The growing of business dependence on information technology both operationally and strategically require the need to focus on value-creating intangible issues of IT capability, such as process effectiveness, IT experience and innovation. IT management experience and competence is expected to show stronger leadership skills and commitment in organizations (Ross Feeny 1999; Gottschalk 2002; Chun Mooney 2009). Building upon the knowledge-based theory, it is argued that the ability to blend business and IT knowledge, operational experience for innovation and competence through a variety of strong intra-organizational relationships lies at the heart of firms superior ability to understand the potential of information technology to enhance performance (Mata et al. 1995; Armstrong Sambamurthy 1999; Wu et al. 2008). To add up the contingency model in explaining the seemingly conflicting findings regarding the impact of aggregate IT capability. Tuominen et al. (2003) proposed the assessment of innovativeness through organizational adaptability as a pre-performance resource and an intermediate factor for financial performance. With the problem at stake, it has therefore become necessary to advance the understanding of the relationship between the factors in business process reengineering performance and IT capability in terms of IT knowledge and IT operations. Previous empirical studies that examined the BPR factors reengineering performance relationships (Cheng Chiu, 2008) have ignored the specific nature of IT capability and also, has not fully considered important environmental condition that influence the relationships. Drawing on the resource-based view, contingency perspective proposed that IT capab ility impact on firm resources was contingent on the fit between the IT capability/resource a firm possesses and the demands of the industry in which it competes. IT capability is expected to influence the BPR factors and reengineering performance relationships. To the researcher ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s knowledge, this moderating effect has never been investigated by prior studies. Although some firms in Asia, UK and US have examined the application of BPR in financial service industry, evidence revealed that much effort did not reach the original expectation (Hammer Champy, 1993). Therefore, the proposed study is different from the previous researches based on the additional three (3) BPR factors in terms of adequate financial resources; effective process redesign, and less bureaucratic flattered structure (Ahmad et al, 2007; Madubueze, 2007; Salimifard, et al, 2010) were introduced into the previous model used. Also, IT capability in terms of IT knowledge and IT operations was being v iewed as moderator (Tippins Sohi, 2003; Mistry, 2006; Yongmei, Hongjian Junhua, 2008). Huang et al, (2009) argued that the empirical evidence of Italian banks suggests that the development of IT capability, such as creating an Intranet to serve as a repository and communication tool, can support the redefinition of the overall strategy of the bank. Furthermore, cultural integration of the branch network and a life-long training process can be conducted to sustain the banks large scale network (Canato and Corrocher 2004). Despite the fact that the financial service industry is one of the early adopters of new information technologies, the effect of IT capability on firm performance is inconclusive in the service sector in general, which is contrary to its manufacturing counterpart (Brynjolfsson 1993). The comparison to be made between banks with BPR project Vs. banks without BPR project (Xin James He, 2005) as well as settings to identify the discrepancies as a result different cul tures, environment, economic activities and level of infrastructural development (Peppard and Fitzgerald, 1997). In view of the above mentioned gaps and the suggestion for further studies by scholars, this study is attempt to investigate and understand the effect of the I.T capability (in terms of I.T skill/knowledge and IT operations) on the performance of Nigerian banks and financial institutions, the possible relationships among the constructs of BPR factors and performance, and test a model that show the effect of BPR factors on organizational performance as well as the influence of IT capability that moderate the causal relationship between the BPR factors and performance of Nigerian banks (Commercial, Microfinance and Mortgage finance. Hence, this study is aimed to explore possible relationships among the constructs, and test a model that show the effect of BPR factors on firm performance and the moderating effect of IT capability on the causal relationship between the BPR factors and organizational performance of banks in Nigeria. LITERATURE REVIEW Organizational Performance The challenges for globalization of financial markets require major changes on the part of market participants to move beyond national-level competition and achieve international and global competitiveness. The entire banking industry is focusing on major process performance enhancements and gains in domestic market share as a catalyst for successful diversification. Banks are concentrating their efforts on market segments offering the potential for growth and enhancing performance, resulting in a re-direction within the overall financial services sector. Innovative banking services and processes were evolved as the market consolidates due to mergers and acquisitions. This dual trend toward specialization and consolidation is forging banks that will be able to compete in international and global markets. Performance enhancement efforts are aimed at a complete realignment of internal processes. In addition to cost containment strategies, focus is now on improving customer service delivery. Organization processes must be effective, efficient, and be more customer-friendly. Attempts are being made to transfer approaches like process reengineering initiatives that have proven effective in other industries, particularly manufacturing, to the financial sector. Organizational performance comprises the actual output or results of an organization as measured against its inputs. Organizational performance measures allow companies to focus attention on areas that need improvement by assessing how well work is done in terms of cost, quality, and time. Today ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s business environment is characterized by the increasing importance and strength of various stakeholder groups. It has become quite obvious that all stakeholders need to be taken into account when assessing modern company ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s performance. This is the main idea of Freemanà ƒâ€šÃ‚ ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s Stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984, 1994). The stakeholder view maintains that firms have stakeholders rather than just shareholders to account for. The view that the corporation has obligations only to its stockholders is replaced by the notion that there are other groups to whom the firm is also responsible. Groups with a stake in the firm include shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, lenders, the government, and society (Berman et al., 1999; Harrison Freeman, 1999; Hillman Keim, 2001; Riahi-Belkaoui, 2003). One important notion revealed in many studies is that building better relations with primary stakeholders like employees, customers and suppliers could lead to increased shareholder ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s wealth. A sustainable organizational advantage may be built with tacit assets that derive from developing relationships with key stakeholders (Hillman Keim, 2001). When studying the relationship between stakeholder management and a firm ¿Ãƒ ‚ ½s financial performance, Berman et al. (1999) found that fostering positive connections with key stakeholders (customers and employees) can help a firm ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s profitability. Therefore due to the significance of various stakeholders, organizational performance should not be solely assessed by financial indicators. There are several approaches to organizational performance measurement that encompass different stakeholder ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s perspectives (Tangem, 2004). The balanced scorecard (BSC) (Kaplan Norton, 1992, 1993, 1996) is the most established and most commonly used (Neely, 2005), but by far not the only one. The multi-model performance framework (MMPF) model by Weerakoon (1996) is also very interesting and has four-dimensions including employee motivation, market performance, productivity performance, and societal impact, and covers the satisfaction of various stakeholders such as customers, investors, employees, suppliers, and society. A more recentl y developed conceptual framework is the performance prism, which suggests that a performance measurement system should be organized around five distinct but linked perspectives of performance (Tangem, 2004). Organizational performances in this study refer to the level of bank performance (increase/decrease) in terms of both financial and non financial performance indicators. Organizational effectiveness represents the outcome of organizational activities (Henri, 2004). Organizational effectiveness empirically is the ultimate dependent variable in research on organization (Cameron, 1986). The perception of organizational performance is linked to the continued success and achievement of an organization. There are wide ranging literatures on performance, but there is still no consensus definition of the term performance (Johannessen, Olaisen, Olsen, 1999). Murphy, Trailer Hill (1996), study found the use of term performance to include 71 different measures of performance categoriz ed into eight (8) dimensions of both financial and non financial measures. Majority of the previous studies used financial and non financial indicators to measure performance (Johannessen et al., 1999; Murphy et al., 1996). The debate on what performance measurement to use would continue as criteria could not apply to all settings (Cameron, 1986). A review of the literature on the evaluation of performance in organization context by Gomes, Yasin Lisboa (2004), reveals different emphasis on the performance measurement depending on the objective of the organization in that particular situation. There are many possible benefits from reengineering that translate into improved organizational performance. However, because of wide possibility of benefit from company innovativeness on performance a multiple dimensional scale of performance measurement offers more comprehensive operationalization of organizational performance than on uni- dimensional approach. Examples on some financial performance indicators employed in previous studies are: profitability, success rate of new service (product) introduction, after tax return on investment, sales growth, and after tax return on assets. Example of non financial performance indicators includes: customer satisfaction, customer focus, market research, and customer relationship management, quality and process improvement. Therefore based on the previous studies, this study would consider multiple measurement of performance (Financial performance and Customer service management performance). The financial and non financial performance indicators would consist of: profit, profit growth performance target, sales growth, overall response to competition, future outlook, and success rate in new product launch, overall business performance, customer service management, market research, customer relationship management, customer satisfaction, operational performance, speed, quality service and process improvement. In this stu dy, the perceived measures of financial and non financial performance of organization would be used because subjective measure was found to be correlated with objective measure of performance (Dess Robinson, 1984; Dawe, 1999). Also the previous studies Lyles Salk (1996); Hansen Wernerfelt (1989); Bart et al., (2001) confirmed the reliabilities and correlations between objective measures and perceived measures are strong. Similarly, previous studies conducted by Bontis (1998); and Bontis et al., (2000) revealed that subjective measure of performance (financial and non financial) are feasible. Therefore many organizations are convinced that the implementation of BPR could bring significant and measurable benefits (Vergidis et al 2008). In fact, the risky nature of BPR has motivated a detailed investigation of its critical success and failure factors (Abdolvand et al 2008) and many researchers (Ariyachandra Frolick 2008; Bandara, Gable, Rosemann 2005) have tried to identify BPR fa ctors. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Factors Business Process Reengineering is being used as a vehicle for re-aligning strategy, operations, and systems to deliver significantly increased financial results and customer satisfaction. It helps to find ways to do more with less, and provide a better product or service in a minimum amount of time, speed, quality, and cost. In one important way, though, reengineering differs from past incremental and analytic methods. BPR factors are the success factors that lead to successful outcomes for reengineering projects, if they are satisfactory, will ensure successful competitive performance for the organization. BPR factors are strongly related to the mission and strategic goals of business or project. Whereas the mission and goals focus on the aims and what is to be achieved, BPR factors focus on the most important factors and get to the very heart of both what is to be achieved and how you will achieve it. The BPR factors are those important factors for success. It was originally developed to align planning with the strategic direction of an organization. It is only when most important factors have been identified that practitioners would have a chance of organizational success. Various BPR factors were developed and validated by authors from studies in organizations operating in different industry such as manufacturing, education, and services. The BPR factor is aptly chosen to represent the factors which are important to achievement of desired outcome of organization performance. BPR factors are of importance that these key areas of activity should receive constant and careful attention from management. BPR factor certainly differ from industry, environment as the company ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s position within industry changes. It is important to understand what factors would be important for BPR in both for understanding the implementation of business process reengineering and organizational performan ce improvement. Therefore, based on an extensive literature review and previous studies of BPR factors in banking process reengineering have been selected based on the scope of study and fit to the banking industry and environment of the proposed study Nigerian banks (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999; Ahmad et al, 2007; Salimifard, et al. 2010). BPR factors are the independent variable which includes: 1) Change Management; 2) Management Commitment; 3) Less bureaucratic and flattered organizational structure; 4) Project Management; 5) Customer Focus; 6) Effective process redesign; 7) Adequate financial resources; 8) Information technology (I.T) infrastructure. These eight BPR factors are essential elements to the successful transformation process. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CAPABILITY The concept of I.T capability was introduced by Ross, Beath Goodhue (1996), defined I.T capability as the firm ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s ability to assemble, integrate and deploy I.T based resources. Heijden (2000) pointed out that the measurement of I.T capability covers relationships in I.T department with the rest for the business. Bharadwaj (2000), broaden the explanation of accepted views of organisational I.T capabilities to an organisation ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s information technology function. Bharadwaj, (2000) defined I.T capability as the ability of firm to mobilise and deploy I.T based resources in combination with other resources and capabilities. Those I.T-based resources are I.T enabled resources (consist of technical and managerial I.T skills); intangible I.T- enabled resources (such as knowledge, assets, customer orientation and synergy- the sharing of resources and capabilities across organisational division. Therefore capabilities reflect the ability of the firms to combine resources to promote superior performance (Amit Schoemaker, 1993). Tippins Sohi (2003) define IT capabilities as the extent to which an organization is equipped with I.T infrastructure, IT skills knowledge a nd experience as well as effective I.T operations utilization. A high level of IT experience enables the smooth implementation of the organization ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s strategy, develops reliable and cost effective systems for the organization, and anticipates customer needs (Bhatt Grover, 2005). Clark (1997) noted that IT experience in combination with other I.T elements directly determines an organization ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s ability to rapidly develop and deploy more innovative techniques to enhance performance. The role of IT capabilities in enhancing organizational performance is well established in the literature. Various I.T studies suggests I.T capabilities provide a basis of gaining competitive advantage and enhancing organizational performance (e.g. Santhanam Hartono, 2003; Bhatt Grover, 2005) An extensive body of IT capabilities literature agrees that I.T capabilities are resource to facilitate an effective collection and utilization of information (e.g. Bharadwaj, 2000 ). Floyd et al (1990) contend that I.T capabilities enhance service reliability, reduce transaction errors and increase consistency in performance. Further contentions are that capabilities can contribute to enhancing service quality through better customized or individualized services, and in creating knowledge links for identifying and sharing organizational expertise (Quinn et al., 1994). Tippins Sohi (2003) argued that I.T capabilities which is also known as I.T competency enhance performance through an elimination of inefficiency, reduction of long term cost, improve service reliability and reduced transaction errors. While Bharadwaj (2000); Ross, Beath Goodhue (1996); Li, Chen Huang (2006) studies focuses on the importance of IT capability as well as relationship between I.T spending (IT investment) and productivity/performance with moderating effect of IT capability. In this study, the term IT capability is adapted from the study conducted by Tippins and Sohi (2003). The study used I.T knowledge, I.T infrastructure and I.T operations among the dimensions of measuring IT capability. The BPR factors encompass both tangible and intangible elements of resources. Therefore, this study would use I.T knowledge and I.T operation as the main components of measuring I.T capability. The third component i.e. I.T infrastructure would be part of BPR factors as intangible resource. These dimensions demonstrate co-specialized resources that firms cannot utilize the information technology architecture effectively without sufficient knowledge and operations. Therefore I.T capability can provide the ability to understand the existing operations. It is also one of the most considered in bring changes into the business process. Michael Hammer recommends companies to redefine their process first and then automate. I.T can play critical roles in the development of BPR efforts as follows: a. I.T makes it possible to use new ideas and higher standard technology i n order to develop a strategic vision and help to make the business process better before it is designed. b. The communication technology through I.T capabilities helps in breaking down geographical and organizational barriers that makes the acceptance of process change and useful understanding of company ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s strength, weakness opportunities and threat. IT also helps to track information. c. For a firm to manage a process can be adapted from other companies practice outside its industry. The company should combine its team members experience to set a standard that other companies can be compared with. d. I.T staff needs to broaden their knowledge in non technical areas to achieve effective team work in an organisation. e. In order to have a flexible organisational design the firms existing difficult structures must be changed so as to ensure the operation of BPR cross functional teams against departmental activities. f. To gain market share and achieve competitive advantage, the agreement between companies and collaboration between suppliers and distributors takes place at the initial stage of BPR before process design. The Contradictory role of Information Technology as an enabler in Business process reengineering (BPR) One of the most straightforward assertions about BPR is that information technology is a key enabler of process redesign. It is information technology that permits companies to re-engineer business processes; a company that cannot change the way it thinks about information technology cannot re-engineer (Hammer Champy, 1993). Most other BPR proponents also adopt an essentially technical model of organizational change in which information technology basically drives the re-engineering effort (Grey Mitev, 1995; Jones, 1994). These arguments acknowledge the technological determinism inherent to BPR; technology determines not only work structure, but also organizational structure, culture, management styles, an d beliefs (Grey Mitev, 1995). Thus, out of fashioned organizational designs can be changed through the use of advanced, enabling technologies that support new business processes that respond to changing market needs. However reasonable and straightforward, this argument seems, it has also become the source of controversy. Rather than being a simple enabler of new organizational processes, information technology inconsistently can also disable an organization ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s ability to change. When an organization revises its basic business processes using information technology, it introduces a new structure that may become even more difficult to change in the future. Since the technical backbone of automated processes exists as software routines, a later change in process will require a reconstruction of the software application and its various links to other systems. While all changes require reprogramming of some sort, either to human or machine components, software progra ms are often virtually inaccessible to the persons nearest to the application. Given the inevitability of business change, hard-wired business processes that are built today may seriously constrain later efforts to redesign them. BPR may have already produced the organizational structures and processes that will be considered old-fashion tomorrow, and those processes may be more difficult to change because today ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s software conventions will probably also be considered out-fashion tomorrow. Lucas Olson (1994) provide a clear analysis of this in-consistency in their examination of information technology ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s effects on organizational flexibility. They argue that technology provides the capability for more flexible organizational structures by allowing greater variety in the time and place of work while increasing the speed of response. However, they note that information technology also constrains flexibility by embedding routines into software progra ms that are not easy to change. Resolving the contradiction of information technology as an enabler or not in BPR is not easy. Gill (1995) argued that managers should not over program their organizations in search of dramatic productivity gains but to ensure greater flexibility. Lucas (1996) recommends a commitment to continuous investment in new technologies, thereby keeping any programmed routines from becoming hardened in the organization The measurement of the I.T capability in this study is based on: IT knowledge (skills) and IT operations (Tippins Sohi, 2003). I.T Knowledge dimension is related to a manager ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s experiences for performing IT management activities. Knowledge of an IT is essential. Since IT consists of complex technologies, its implementation is always associated with high risks and uncertainty (Umble et al. 2003). A number of IT implementation failures can be attributed to inappropriate IT planning and management (Bergeron et al. 2003). Hence, IT manager has a larger role in controlling and managing the IT implementation process (Willcocks et al. 2000). If an IT manager is involved in a new project and possesses the corresponding IT management experiences, IT strategy can be in accordance with current business processes in order to realize the coordination between IT and business objective, thereby assisting the organization enhance business efficiency and firm performance with IT (Willcocks et al. 2000). The IT manager can supervise and control IT project costs, identify financial and human resources deviations, and adopt timely measures in order to avoid the potential risks incurred during the implementation process. This can foster the alignment of the newly developed IT and business processes (Soffer et al. 2005). Additionally, employees can be encouraged to rapidly adapt to the new IT, assimilate IT knowledge and apply it in their daily routines, which is beneficial for the improvement of organization performance (Shao et al. 2008). According to Knowledge based view (KBV) systems of knowing refers to structures of interaction among team members for sharing their perspectives, pooling of knowledge, and development of shared understanding. It is suggested that systems of knowing provides forums for top management team members that exchange their strategic IT and business knowledge, and blend them together to foster higher levels of IT diffusion within the organization. For managers, a frequent interaction between other top management team members enables them to achieve timely information with regards to organizational business, thus to plan and deployment IT to align with organizational business process, improve firm performance through the investments in IT. It is found that IT-related information could be disseminated more effectively between the manager and the top management (CEO) through richer channels of communications, and this greater interactions in different IT forums is proved to have favorable influence on firms IT success (Jarvenpaa Ives 1991) I.T Operations are the activities within the organization that are required to meet goals. These activities are underpinned by skills that encapsulate the knowledge within the firm. When IT operations are able to monitor and manage IT resources and services from a real-time business out-come perspective, it can align IT operations with business priorities. As a result, IT operations can streamline business processes and optimize resources to help manage costs, increase efficiency to manage productivity and increase revenue, and help ensure service availability to enhance customer satisfaction ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½rather than simply focus on technology. IT operations can translate raw IT monitoring data into a useful business impact analysis. IT operations should be able to: 1)Understand the configuration, dependencies and relationships of the components that make up the business service; 2) Establish goals and objec tives for service delivery documented in the service level agreement (SLAs); 3) Measure the effectiveness of its services (such as Web server availability and performance) and business ser-vices (such as payment processing response time); 4) Analyze and report on the actual services delivered for the IT group and the clients that use them; 5) Create usage and accounting reports that can be used for chargeback and billing Information Technology Service Capability Maturity Model According to Niessink, Clerc Vliet (2004) the IT Service capability maturity model consists of five (5) maturity levels, which contains key process areas. For an organization to reside on a certain maturity level, it needs to implement all of the key processes for that level and lower levels. The main focus is the maturity of the service organization, not the maturity of individual services, projects or organizational units. The model covers the service delivery process with primary objectives: 1. To enable IT service providers to assess their capabilities with respect to the delivery of IT services 2. To provide IT service providers with directions and steps and further improvement of their service delivery The IT Service CMM fulfils these above objectives by measuring the capability of the IT service processes of organizations on a five level ordinal scale. Each level prescribes certain key processes that have to be in place before an organization resides on that level. Key processes implement a set of related activities that, when performed collectively, achieve a set of goals considered important for enhancing service process capability. Hence, organizations can improve their service capability by implementing these key processes. More formally, we define IT service process capability as the range of expected results that can be achieved by following a service process. IT service process performance represents the actual results achieved by following an IT service pro cess. IT service process maturity is the extent to which a specific process is explicitly defined, managed, measured, controlled and effective. The IT Service CMM focuses on measuring and improving the IT service process maturity of IT service organizations. An organization that scores high IT Service CMM scale will be able to: * Deliver quality IT services, tailored to the need of its customers * Do so in a predictable, cost-effective way * Combine and integrate different services, possibly by different service providers, into a consistent service package * Continually and sustainably improve service quality in a customer-focused way In order to understand the ITS-CMM, it is necessary to see the definitions of the various levels and to understand the structured nature of these definitions. The five levels of the IT Service CMM are: initial level; repeatable level; defined level; managed level and optimizing level. For an organization to reside on a certain maturity l evel, it needs to implement all key processes for that maturity level  ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½ and those for lower levels. The term key process area merely means that these processes are seen as the key to reach a certain maturity level. There might be more  ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½ non-key  ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½ processes, but these are not strictly necessary to reach the next maturity level. The key process areas are grouped into three process categories: The first group is concerned with the management of services; the second category deals with enabling the delivery process by means of support processes and standardization of processes; the third category consists of the processes that result in the consistent, efficient delivery of services according to the appropriate quality levels. METHODOLOGY This study focus on descriptive and causal research (hypothesis testing), since the objective of the study is to examine the relationships between the BPR factors, I.T capability and organization performance. Descriptive research would be undertaken in this study to identify the characteristic of the population such as respondent (commercial bank, microfinance bank and mortgage finance) variability and organization characteristics. Causal research or hypothesis testing and correlation approach would be conducted in the study to explain the relationship between the variables and the variance of the dependent variables. This study would use non experimental design, where the researcher does not have a control over the independent variables that determine their effect on the dependent variable. The research can only control the measurement of the study but do not interfere with the research settings. The research is only interested in gathering the information about the banks and financial institutions performance outcome of implementation of the BPR factors and specifically to examine the relationship of BPR factors, I.T capability and organizational performance within the ba nking and financial service settings. Therefore, non-experimental design or survey using quantitative method of administering questionnaire would be employed for this research. The study would use organization as the unit of analysis. The population of the study is 1,023 financial organizations (consists of 24 commercial banks, 901 microfinance bank and 98 primary mortgage finance). A total of one thousand and twenty three (1,023) banks and financial institutions are registered with Central bank of Nigeria (CBN). The list can be access through the CBN internet website: https://www.cenbank.org/supervision/finstitutions.asp. The survey would be conducted through self administered questionnaires. Although this method would be expensive compared to mail survey, nevertheless the researcher still favour this method due to its advantages. The biggest advantage is that the researcher can collect all completed responses within a short period of time. The second advantage is that resear cher can explain on the spot the terms or part of the questions which the respondents could not understand. Thirdly, the researcher can motivate the respondents to take part in the survey and give their honest opinions (Sekaran, 2003). The survey method strategy would be to collect the data with regard to BPR factors, information technology (I.T) capability and manager ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s perception of the organizations performance. Babbie, (1990) highlighted the three (3) objectives linked with survey research: 1) Description; 2) Explanation; 3) Exploratory objectives. This study ¿Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ½s objectives are descriptive and explanatory. It involves identifying the characteristics and attribute of the respondent as well as making explanation through the examination of the relationships of the variables of the study. Descriptive statistics according to Babbie (1973) provide a way to streamline the large data to a manageable size that allows easy interpretation and understanding. Statistical package of social science (SPSS) software will be used for the regression model and measuring the causal relationships among the variables. CONCLUSION This paper is based on an ongoing doctoral research and the following hypotheses are propositioned based on the current review of literature. H: 1.The BPR factors related to organizational performance of Nigerian banks H: 2.The I.T capability (IT knowledge and IT operations) attributes related to organizational performance of Nigerian banks H: 3.The Information Technology (I.T) capability (IT knowledge and IT operations) indicators play the role of moderator in the relationship between BPR factors and organizational performance of banks in Nigeria. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Effect of Business Process Reengineering Factors on Organizational Performance" essay for you Create order