Macbeth- ‘Film Proposal’ Rationale

I was given the brief that, if I was a director how would I compose work on Macbeth on Act One, Scene Three of the play? I would begin by thinking on how I will present the following to the audience: the setting, the atmosphere, themes, characters and camera shots. I would decide to try and set the scene around 1000 AD and to do this I think that there should be no bright colours used. Traditional requirements need to be employed such as the transport would be by horse, and food which has been home produced e.g. chickens. To create the atmosphere I would require a large variety of types of music. For example, a sad atmosphere I might use soft music from a flute, the typical Scottish bagpipes might create a happy atmosphere, while during the witches' scene the sound of thunder could be heard in the background. In the third scene there are five different types of characters. I think that Macbeth and Banquo should both look strong and not cleanly shaven and I think that Macbeth should be very dirty, this would emphasize how ‘brave' (1.2.16) and ‘noble' (1.3.67) he is. Both Macbeth and Banquo's clothes should be torn in places and looking exhausted. Macbeth could have a bearded? Ross and Angus need to have a clearer appearance and both should be cleanly shaven. All four of these characters should all speak very clearly to remind the audience the time of the setting of the play. I would like the three witches to look extremely ugly with facial hair i.e. moustache, long fingernails, long scruffy hair and warts. The uses of masks could make them look very unattractive. They should speak very ‘crockery' and very slowing and abnormal. I would want to highlight a number of themes, one of them being the theme of supernatural. This theme is brought up during the witch's scene at the beginning of scene three. I would like the audience to believe that they are inhuman and ‘weird' (1.3.30). I will create this theme by making the witch's unclear with the use of smoke therefore things which are unclear in that sense are abnormal/supernatural. I will also use special effects to make the three ‘witches vanish' (1.3.77). Their general appearance as described above will make them look extremely mythical. I think that I would need to highlight the theme ‘light against dark', this is what he says to other characters (light) and what he expresses to the audience what other characters can't hear (dark). This theme is used a number of times during the play and is used twice during the third scene. Macbeth hides his excitement and a clear example of this is when Macbeth quotes to Ross, ‘Why do you dress me in borrow'd robes?' (1.3.107-108), this robe symbolizes his new title: Thane of Cawdor. While on line 117, Macbeth, aside, appears to be very excited by new potential titles and quotes, ‘Glamis and Thane of Cawdor: The greatest is behind.' (1.3.116-117), this statement is only expressed to the audience.

Describe Functionalist and Marxist Perspective on Education.

Describe functionalist and Marxist perspective on education. Functionalist Education can be described as the method whereby society continually passes on the knowledge it has gain from pass generations to the next or future generation. It is centered around and entails the teaching of the three R’s, which includes: arithmetic’s, reading and writing but also encompass social, spiritual, moral and physical component. It is viewed as a secondary agent of socialization as it socializes individuals into the norms and acceptable behaviors of society. Functionalist view education as having many roles but are interested mainly in how education meets society needs. They believe that one of its major roles being to equip individuals with intellectual knowledge. Functionalist also believes that besides it most obvious role of passing on society’s knowledge, education also has other latent roles that affects the individual on a holistical level and is reflective of society values, beliefs and norms. According to Durkheim individuals learn to socialize with one another within the schools through the integration of people from all diversity of society and this he believes is one of the latent roles of education, which he also call â€Å"moral education†. Besides this, functionalist believes that education have other latent or subtle roles that are used to instill in individuals values that stem from political and economic system and as a result help them build their self-confidence and prepares them for meeting society demands. For example, independence is taught through individualism. Functionalist also, believe that sorting (separating students on the basis of merit) another function of the school is essential in determine from early on who is capable of doing what and what job they will be better suited to in the future. The next function to take place after this is networking, they believe this function facilitates matchmaking and is unavoidable within the schools setting as individual of background, interest and education comes together to learn. Marxist Marxist sees education as a continuation of functionalist ideologies. They believe that education is used by functionalist to maintain the line of segregation that exists between the classes. Hence the reason why the Marxist view education as being used to create an â€Å"obedient working class† continuing the status quo. Acting as a persistent cause of inequality continuing to maintain the power structures and giving them the tool to create a â€Å"docile† work force. However, it is the view of the Marxist that the education system could be used as a system that helps in sorting the individuals of society into what is their calling position in life, it is the way it is done that their exist a problem. The problems they believe exist in the strategy that is used to by the functionalist to achieve this. This strategy they see as based on the ideals of functionalism which is according to class, race and gender. This is achieved in the form of the hidden agenda that exist within the curriculum that is used to educate. This hidden curriculum Marxist believes is present in every classroom and is taught through the use of the curriculum, hence the reason it is call the hidden curriculum. To the Marxist school of taught the hidden curriculum is present in numerous forms, this is evident in the funding that is available to school in affluent areas. These school according to Marxism are funded by â€Å"property taxes† because of there affluent location. Because of this they can afford to pay higher salaries to their teacher and this give them better teachers, available books and even technology. This in turn cause the students that attend these school to have better opportunities than child children who are schooled in rural areas that do not get the amount of funding that the other school get. Some of theses children are not even given the opportunity to go to college or even complete school. This inequality is also present in the exams that are given to children of the two classes. This is seen in the traditional IQ test that is given to student for acceptance into school. This test is Suppose to test the mental knowledge of the child but the formation of the test is not based on the intelligence of the child but on cultural knowledge. This creates a bias because children from a poor social background will not be able to answer question base on the culture of the affluence classes. This is called Cultural bias and is caused by inequality of the classes. They disagree with the idea that education can be used as a tool for any individual to move up within the social classes that exist in society. They believe that these principles are far from the truth. As religion is used to opiate the people against the real issues that affect them and to help in keeping them from solving their problems so to is education used to discourage the people from helping themselves and to remain within their social classes. Marxist see education as an influential tool in maintaining the lines that separate the have from the have not. Another argument of the functionalist school of taught is the use of meritocracy to help individual achieve status in life. However that Marxist sees this as a false perception, and believes that through meritocracy functionalist portrays the ideals of inequality of opportunity. Marxist believed that it is just another tool that is used to create an unequal society. The hidden curriculum is also present in the socialization process that takes place in school. It is of the view of many sociologists regardless of association or theory that the school is a major institution in the socialization process. It is for this reason that the Marxist believes that functionalist used this as the bases for the continuation of their theories. They see the hidden curriculum in this case as use to instill the norm and values of the functionalist. This is used to tell student what is deem as wrong or right, not allowing room for questioning. The question that Marxist asks is who is to tell what is right or wrong? Whether culturally, academically or otherwise. The hidden curriculum does not stop at school level but it is seen as being continued through out an individual lifetime whether it is in the home, work place or society as a whole.

Being Chicano in America

The plight of the Hispanic citizen in the United States is difficult to characterize; a massive demographic that has made its home in an equally massive nation – every major US city today boasts an impressive and diverse Hispanic population. Nowhere is this more true than in Los Angeles and New York City, where Hispanic Americans number in the millions. But who are Hispanic Americans? To what degree have they assimilated to the broader â€Å"mainstream† American culture? How do they differ from one another? In major American cities, Hispanics have, by degrees, experienced a blend of alienation and acceptance. First, it must be understood that the broadly defined â€Å"Hispanic† or â€Å"Latino† label is itself a vast oversimplification. The US Census Bureau is the first to acknowledge that Hispanic Americans can belong to any of 13 distinct races (Cohen 88). Many people think that all Hispanic people are the same, but in actuality the term Hispanic refers to many different types of people. The term Hispanic American is not necessarily a precise linguistic description of this demographic group based on its economic, social, political and cultural diversity. Most Hispanic-Americans speak Spanish and originated from the same part of the hemisphere. Typically, most Hispanics came to America from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Central America, and South America. . Most Mexicans come to the United States to earn higher wages and to support their families back in Mexico. Mexican Americans were treated inferiorly by Caucasian Americans until the late 1990s despite the 1848 Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo which gave Mexican Americans the right to maintain their culture in the United States (Schaefer, 2006). Mexican American children were forced to attend segregated schools that lacked adequate supplies and educated teachers. This â€Å"de jure† school segregation lasted 1975 when the U. S. Supreme Court declared the segregation unconstitutional (Schaefer, 2006). Even after the school systems were integrated, Spanish speaking children were treated unfairly by teachers. In the 1960s, integrated schools in New York and Florida refused to allow Hispanic children to speak Spanish during school hours (Schaefer, 2006). Eventually, a law was passed that required communities with a Hispanic population of at least 5% to provide bilingual education classes to students (Schaefer, 2006). Bilingual education caused controversy amongst many Hispanic groups. Hispanic school children began to fall behind because they believed that the â€Å"English Immersion† classes because the purpose was to assimilate children while depriving them of their native language. Cuban-Americans tend to be concentrated in Miami and on the East Coast. Most of the Cuban population immigrated to the United States during the 1950s, after the takeover of Cuba by the radical communist leader Fidel Castro. The Cubans that fled their home country as refugees tended to be well-educated, wealthy, and politically conservative, and they retained these traits once in the United States. Cubans immigrants that have been in America for a long period of time tend to be better-educated other Hispanic populations, while Mexican-Americans, who may be more recent immigrants, come from an economic situation with poor economic opportunities, may tend to be less well-educated. One reason for the political difference between Mexican and Cuban-Americans in terms of their voting affiliation may be that Mexican-Americans are often fleeing what they perceived to be an unfair right-wing government that is hostile to creating economic opportunities for the lower classes. Unlike Cuban-Americans, Mexican-Americans tend to be more politically liberal on social issues, although they are more politically conservative on social issues if they strongly identify with their Catholic heritage than non-Hispanic individuals of a similar liberal political affiliation. Of Central and South American Hispanics, such as Nicaraguans or El Salvadorians, political affiliation is highly influential upon the nature of the regime the individuals were fleeing. El Salvador was dominated by right-wing leaders who drove many individuals from the nation, versus the left-wing Nicaraguan government of the Sandinistas in the 1980s. Most Hispanics, regardless of where they hail from strongly support the death penalty and family values, although, contrary to conservative stereotype 91% said they disagreed with the present President Bush on issues pertaining to immigration (Corral, 2004). Geographically, of Latino groups, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are the most likely to live urban locations, but all Hispanic Americans were more likely to be urban dwellers than their White counterparts. Hispanic-Americans are also more likely to be employed in service occupations, particularly Mexican-Americans and Mexicans have the lowest annual earnings, overall, of all Hispanics. Hispanics are less likely than non-Hispanic Whites to have earnings of $35,000 or more each year. Thus, although Mexican-Americans may be disproportionately afflicted by poverty, this may be a reflection of their greater numbers and more recent immigrant status, given that Mexican-Americans outnumber other Hispanic-Americans according to most recent census figures. All Hispanic-Americans, although they may be profoundly culturally and politically different in their home nations have common political interests because of the current state of inequity that exists in America between Whites and Hispanics. Furthermore, because they are growing as a demographic and tend to be younger, Hispanics have a political interest in banding together as a powerful interest group to further their interests as a people, even if they might not perceive themselves as unified in such a way that transcends age-old cultural differences. Hispanic-Americans can benefit from joining together as an interest group to improve social conditions for themselves and fight against discrimination (Inventing Hispanics, 2001). Even across cultures, between politically conservative Cubans and liberal Nicaraguans, similarities exist. This sentiment is reflected in the profile of all Hispanic immigrant groups, which tend to live in closer proximity to their extended family, and retain close ties to family that still resides their home country. While the political regime in that nation may affect the type of contact that is possible or feasible for immigrants to America to retain, the determination to keep contact with that group and to facilitate immigration by extended family ‘back’ in the home country was common across all Hispanic-American groups. As with any demographic, Hispanics do not rise and fall as one people, but rather experience gains and setbacks regionally and of course, individually. Thus, it is not surprising that Hispanics in Los Angeles may experience very different things than their ounterparts in New York City. For one thing, the Hispanic population of Los Angeles is largely Mexican. In the state of California as a whole, 84% of all Hispanics are of Mexican origin; in Los Angeles, this figure is just as high (Pew Hispanic Center 1). By contrast, in New York City, there are a plethora of different peoples that comprise the Hispanic population. A patchwork of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, South and Central Americans, Cubans, and Mexicans is blanketed over metropolitan New York, and in some respects, Hispanic neighborhoods reflect this. For example, Castle Hill, Hunts Point and Grand Concourse in the Bronx are predominantly Puerto Rican areas; Roosevelt Avenue, Corona, and Jackson Heights in Queens are home to New York’s up and coming South American population (Ramirez & de la Cruz 2-6). These many distinctions reflect not only in the physical appearance of the â€Å"average† Hispanic in New York, but also in the customs and ideologies that are embraced within each of these communities. It is perhaps because of these many Hispanic subsets that so many foreign-born Latinos in New York appear to have much closer ties to their country of origin than do Hispanics in Los Angeles. In a recent survey, over seven in ten foreign-born Latinos in New York said they consider their â€Å"real homeland to be in the country where they were born†, as opposed to the 57% of California Hispanics that said the same thing (Pew Hispanic Center 2). As a corollary to this, nearly half of foreign-born New York Hispanics plan to permanently return to their country of origin some day; only one third of California Hispanics make the same claim (Pew Hispanic Center 2). Do these trends speak to the degrees by which Hispanics in America feel alienated by mainstream society? If so, it is a difficult conclusion to reconcile with other phenomena that affect Hispanics directly. In both New York City and Los Angeles the Hispanic community is thriving; as such, the majority of New York City’s Hispanics are classified as â€Å"highly/partially acculturated†, and in Los Angeles, the Hispanic Population has tripled since 1980 (Hutchinson 47). What this means is that in both New York City and Los Angeles, Hispanics are enjoying a cultural connectedness that transcends their point of origin. This is evidenced by an overwhelming proficiency with English and Spanish, and a unique ability to vacillate comfortably between the Hispanic and â€Å"American† cultures. The average Hispanic that arrives in New York City or Los Angeles will find not only that he or she is in good company, but that a rich, distinct cultural enclave awaits. In each of these colossal media markets, an immigrant Hispanic will find himself in a culture that, though new to him, is nonetheless at pains to communicate and connect with him in a familiar way. Politicians will be clamoring for his vote, many of whom may bear a Hispanic surname. Stores, shops and markets run by Hispanics and stocked with foods from his country of origin will be easy to find. Spanish language radio stations, television stations, and advertisements will all be aimed at attracting his specific attention—and his dollar. In Los Angeles, where 40% of the metro is Hispanic, Spanish Language radio stations consistently bring in higher ratings than any other stations in the market (Ramirez & de la Cruz 3-7). The power of the Hispanic consumer has not gone unnoticed. This is not to say that Hispanics in New York or Los Angeles do not experience discrimination. Roughly 30% of Hispanics in both places claim to have been in contact with some form of discrimination because of their racial/ethnic background (Pew Hispanic Center 3). A difference between East and West, however, lies in the perceived root cause of that discrimination. The majority of Hispanics in New York believe that they are discriminated against mainly for the fact that they are Spanish-speaking; whereas Los Angeles Hispanics are more likely to assert that it is their physical appearance that attracts discrimination (Pew Hispanic Center 3). Hispanics are also discriminating against one another in the United States; not surprisingly, in New York the cause of this discrimination is the very diversity that exists within the demographic. In Los Angeles, where the Hispanic population is overwhelmingly Mexican, discrimination within the demographic tends to reflect social conditions, with wealthier Hispanics discriminating against their poorer counterparts. In each region, however, intra-racial discrimination among Hispanics is cited as a â€Å"major problem† by at least half of all Hispanics (Pew Hispanic Center 4). The intriguing history of the United States of America has certainly added an interesting chapter in recent years; it is a chapter that belongs to its fastest growing demographic: Hispanics. It is now widely understood that in the next 50 years, Hispanics will likely supplant the â€Å"white† race as the largest racial group in this country (Cohen 91). This has raised some notorious fears about a balkanized United States made up of ethnic enclaves. It has also caused some to express grave concern about the preservation of the English language in the US, and the â€Å"American† way that was forged in the white Puritan crucible. As probably a reaction both SB 1070, to deter undocumented immigrants, and the DREAM act- a piece of legislation that is on the other polar end of the spectrum were formed to both combat, and aid in the acceptance of Hispanic immigrants. Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (â€Å"DREAM Act†) was introduced in the United States Senate, and the United States House of Representatives . This proposition would give those inadmissible or deportable alien students who graduate from US high schools, who are of good moral character, arrived in the U. S. s minors, and have been in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment, the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency and thus continue their studies and be a part of Americas work force. S. B. 1070 was formed as en effort to force people of Latino decent to have their documentation on them at all times. This has caused much controversy, as it has been the pillar for racial profiling and discrimination discussions. Socioeconomic status drives the inequalities in the school system. The low and working class have less time and income to intervene with schooling. This means they have less time to meet with teachers, hire tutors, and provide continuous transportation. Therefore the lower class can't possibly compete with the middle and upper classes. Many Latino students feel inferior in United States School systems. Another explanation to this is a theory of cultural deprivation. This is the idea that certain cognitive styles connect to different ethnic groups. It just so happens that what school demands from students is a characteristic of the White and Asian races, which is abstraction , while other less successful groups like African Americans and Latinos possess more concrete thinking. Current manifestations of this can be seen from Samuel Huntington's article â€Å"The Hispanic Challenge. † Huntington believes that the Latino culture is deprived because lations have not assimilated into American culture, and thus, can't succeed within its boundaries. According to Huntington, unlike previous immigrants, Hispanics wish to retain a dual culture. This presents them with the culture clash of two varying views on culture as well as education. There are several factors that have made this culture of immigrants assimilations' so much different than the past immigrants that America has so fondly welcomed with open arms. These include contiguity, scale illegality regional concentration, persistence and historical presence. The fact that the US shares such a large border with Mexico is enhanced by the great economic differences on each side. â€Å"The income gap between the United States and Mexico is the largest between any two contiguous countries in the world† (Huntington). The incentive to immigrate is obvious, and allows Latinos to remain in contact with their family and friends while making a living in the US. Because the passage between these borders is so accessible, it has lead to immigration on a grand scale. The persistence of Hispanics in migrating has lead to having Mexicans account for nearly half of all immigration to the US and has changed Mexican's standing from the minority to the majority in many areas. This regional concentration has slowed assimilation because â€Å"dispersal is essential† for this to take place. An example of regional concentration slowing this process down to almost a halt is in Miami in which the Cuban population has dominated and Cuban culture is overwhelmingly evident. Much of this immigration has also been done illegally, supporting the fact that Cubans do not possess a strong desire to assimilate. Many Hispanics feel like they should not have to assimilate into an area that is historically theirs. Many feel like this land was stolen from them and have the right to rebel against political, legal and cultural standings. There is also much support from fellow Hispanics in this cause because â€Å"blood is thicker than borders† (Huntington) that is, who you are should overcome where you live. In the US today, there is no need or incentive for Hispanics to assimilate into the â€Å"American† culture. There is actually more reason to retain Hispanic culture than to let it go. Hispanics are not willing to buy into America, and thus continue to possess several cultural traits that hold them back. These include â€Å"lack of initiative, self reliance and ambition as well as little or no use for education, [and that] hard work is not the way to material prosperity† (Huntington). For these reasons, Hispanics are rejecting the ways of the US culture, but in that, they also reject the characteristics of success in school and life that come with the assimilation into this culture. Huntington's article says â€Å"Mexican Americans will share in that dream and in that society only if they dream in English. † The reasons that compel Latino individuals to migrate from their home countries to this one vary greatly. Some immigrants are motivated in hopes of escaping political turmoil, while others are motivated by the prospect of attaining an â€Å"education or economic opportunities with the hopes of improving their lives† (Santiago-Rivera et al. , p. 56). According to Gallardo-Cooper, one way to capture the complexity of the adaptation process is by examining its various manifestations. This process is described in a framework using three dimensions: complete assimilation, acculturation/ integration, and rejection of the American culture. The incorporation of â€Å"values of the majority culture† is more prevalent in those members of a community that have been living in the United States the longest (Ramirez and Castaneda). A first generation Mexican immigrant is less likely to accept the majority culture as his own than a second generation Mexican American. Understandably, a third generation Mexican American would be more susceptible than previous generations towards assimilation. Many hispanic children are Bilingual, but prefer to speak English, primarily. A movement away from traditional Latino family values and â€Å"avoid[ance] of Latino leisure activities† are also signs of assimilation, and many children exhibit both of these attributes (Ramirez & Castaneda). Assimilation or acculturation perspectives would be expected to arise from the pressures to incorporate the values of mainstream America that are felt, in both, dualistic and atraditional communities. Many kids have assimilated, however, despite growing up in a traditional community. A traditional community is a cohesive unit where there are close ties between most families, which are related by blood, marriage or religious ceremony. The â€Å"traditional community is ethnically homogeneous; most residents in these communities† are of Latino descent (Ramirez and Castaneda, pg. 89). Additionally, Spanish is the primary language spoken in these communities. These factors serve to instill a strong sense of identification with the ethnic group. Ramirez and Castaneda, however, emphasize that within every community some variability will be observed from individual to individual, which would account for the contradictory assimilationist attitude observed in some Hispanic children. As a child raised in a traditional community, one would be socialized to â€Å"achieve cooperatively† and â€Å"achieve for the family† (Ramirez and Castaneda). The interpersonal relationships typically found in a traditional community are such that relationships within the extended family take priority over those formed outside the family. The strong interpersonal relationships typically found in a traditional community are apparently absent in many immigrant children’s lives. While growing up sometimes the only close relationships had are relationships with the family. The extended family becomes virtually non-existent in life as a result of the migration. Peer groups play a crucial role in the socialization of adolescents in a dualistic community. Relationships in peer groups are very close, long lasting, and demand commitment for mutual help; membership in these peer groups parallels family ties. As an adolescent. Values related to Hispanic ideology have a strong influence in a traditional community, but have little influence on child socialization in a dualistic community. For example the parent may adhere to tradition religious practices, such as Catholicism- but children aren’t forced to, who may find that these practices are rigid and outdated. That outlook on religion compares with the sentiments observed in Mexican American youths growing up in a dualistic community. The traits of family centeredness and religiosity may reflect positively or negatively on group members, depending on the extent to which individuals’ behavior is consistent with the traits. People who deviate from these prescriptive behaviors may be seen as traitors to their community. They may therefore be seen as â€Å"acting white,† or being traitors if they reject the Catholicism of their communities. Consequently, it is not surprising that ethnic identity may itself be shaped by ethnic stereotypes. In conclusion the Latino population experiences a unique type of discrimination that is both de facto and de jure. Aside from blatant anti-Latino, there exists mechanism and laws the inherently discriminate against Latinos. This research has given me a greater understanding of the Hispanic culture, how they differ amongst their own varying factions. This is important in my field because one may make assumptions based on a very broad categories. There are stands difference not only between the different Spanish speaking populations, but also the generations. This better explains one’s ability or desire to assimilate, it gives insight to understanding how discrimination and oppression acutely affects them.

Florida Legislative Policy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Florida Legislative Policy - Research Paper Example Another argument against allowing nurses contends that Nurses are not well trained enough to dispense controlled substances. Nurses are deemed well trained enough to prescribe all other kinds of medicine. If nurses are well qualified enough to handle all other kinds of medication, it seems unreasonable to assume that nurses cannot prescribe controlled substance based drugs. If nurses around the nation can prescribe controlled substance based drugs without a hiccup then so can nurses registered in Florida because they are just as well trained. Ironically the bill to allow nurses to prescribe controlled substance based drugs has not been able to make it through the legislature for the last decade and a half despite attempts to the contrary. Some institutions in Florida are already taking a giant stride and are supporting the nurses’ cause such as Lee Memorial Health System. ... If nurses around the nation can prescribe controlled substance based drugs without a hiccup then so can nurses registered in Florida because they are just as well trained. Ironically the bill to allow nurses to prescribe controlled substance based drugs has not been able to make it through the legislature for the last decade and a half despite attempts to the contrary. (Aertker, 2011) Some institutions in Florida are already taking a giant stride and are supporting the nurses’ cause such as Lee Memorial Health System. Such a restrictive policy for nurses affects the medical care profession significantly. The need to have a certified physician at hand at all times to get a controlled substance prescription is both wasteful and tends to stretch already scant resources. Moreover, the need to consult a physician every single time lowers the morale of nurses. There has been talk of reduced enrolment in the nursing profession due to this restriction. Florida is already deficient in nursing staff and this status quo is not favourable at all. Nursing practitioners are commonly the only health care professionals who are taking care of patients in rural areas in Florida. Other areas that are deficient in physicians are also looked after by nurse practitioners. People without insurance also frequently visit free clinics that are staffed more or less exclusively by nurses. Susan Lynch a nurse working at clinics in Deland and Sanford relates that when she is seeing patients, often patients looking for common medicine such as cough syrup with codeine or refills for ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) medicine are faced with two choices: visiting a hospital

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First to analyze energy problems - Assignment Example But compared to nuclear fission, nuclear fusion process is extremely complicated and dangerous. Nuclear fusion requires extreme amounts of heat energy in order to fuse two small nuclei combine to form a single large nucleus. For example, in sun, two hydrogen nuclei combined to form a helium nucleus at a high temperature which resulted in the liberation of enormous amount of energy mainly in the form of hat and light. Sun’s interiors have high pressure and temperature so that fusion can take place easily in the sun. But â€Å"earthbound reactors cannot achieve such high pressures and temperatures of the sun’s interior†, which is the major challenge in conducting nuclear fusion on earth’s surface (National Academy of Engineering) Nuclear fusion can be placed only at the last place in the technology concept map considering the complexities and dangers associated with the process of nuclear fusion. The current nuclear reactors which are operating in some of the counties are handling temperatures of smaller amount when we compare it with the temperatures needed to operate a nuclear fusion reactor. The uncontrollable nature of nuclear energy seems to be the major villain in exploiting nuclear energy with the help of the fusion process. The major social issue associated with the exploitation of nuclear fusion energy is the possibility of huge disasters which can wipe off the entire living things from the earth. Till the technology developed to such a level that the possibility of a disaster becomes zero, it is not advisable to conduct even an experiment on the exploitation of energy from nuclear fusion. We have already witnessed the striking power of nuclear energy in Hiroshima and Nagasaki which is negligible when we compare it with the dimensions of a possible disaster that could be happened due to nuclear fusion process. It is a fact that we facing lot of social issues like terrorism, violence,

Use of Facebook by Non-Profit Agencies Speech or Presentation

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SUPPLY CHAIN GLOBAL TREND - Supply and logistics management CLASS - Research Paper Example Customers on their part have become very sophisticated in that they are so keen to discover how a certain product affects the rest of the world. Any business that engages in sustainable activities has received a lot of favors from the rest of the world through donations and market share. The most important aspect of any business dealing is the nature of the supply chain in which the organization uses to acquire goods and services as well as serve its clients. Sustainability is among the global trends affecting supply chain in the world today. Researchers and scholars believe that for an organization and the entire global market to become sustainable the process must start with individual supply chains (Faisal 517). As a result, related bodies have come up with strategies to help individual organizations and industries to establish sustainability in their supply chains. In this connection, this paper aims at discussing sustainability as one of the emerging global trends in supply chai n. Sustainability houses three key issues including environmental protection, socio-cultural and economic performance. These three must be incorporated in any business endeavor to make it sustainable and healthy to the society. Proponents of sustainability in supply chain see it as a way to improve organizational performance and a way to grow the general economy of the world. In addition, sustainable supply chain aims at mitigating the negative impacts on the environment and society that occur in the supply chain. A supply chain is made up different individuals with different personalities and ethnic background (Miemczyk 484). Social harmony and cultural responsibility must be upheld in the supply chain transactions to ensure that organizations achieve maximum success and that customer satisfaction is achieved. The environment in which a business operates is key to its success. The health of the environment determines the flow of material and

Health Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health Policy - Essay Example Despite the fact that the National Health Service was initially designed to be entirely financed through public taxation, changes began taking place in 1952 when prescription charges of  £ 1 for ordinary dental treatment were introduced (NHS, 2011). The charges were however abolished in 1965, only to be reintroduced in 1968. The first restructuring took place in 1974 when fourteen Regional Health Authorities, and nineteen new Area Health Authorities were established (Mercier, 1997). Mercier points out that â€Å"community health care services which had previously been managed by local government were also transferred to the responsibility of the NHS by the 1974 reforms† (1997, pp. 22-23). Further restructuring took place in 1982, when heath costs hugely escalated prompting the Conservative government to change the culture of the National Health Service management, by encouraging the use of nursing homes and private hospitals to patients. For the first time since the introduction of the National Health System, tenders for different tasks were issued to private firms in order to support the health authorities in managing some departments of the health service. However, there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the management style, and this led to the appointment of general managers at all levels of the health service system. An advisory board was also established and various other officials appointed to oversee the affairs of the NHS. Other substantial restructurings and developments have taken place leading to the passing of the Health and Social Care Act in 2012. In 2004, the first NHS foundation trusts were established as autonomous National Health Service providers (Great Britain National Audit Office 2011). A re-launch of the foundation trusts process was announced by the United Kingdom government in July 2010 in a white paper named Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS. After the publication of

What was the artistic ideology of the Bauhaus Assignment

What was the artistic ideology of the Bauhaus - Assignment Example According to the Bauhaus, art was supposed to bring creativity and modernity in modern architecture (Forgacs 197). This came in time when art and creativity in Germany has been overly suppressed by the previous leadership regime claiming that art in modern architecture was a form of communism. Bauhau’s idea was that art should be helpful to the society in all aspects including architecture. The ideology was that architecture could be approached from an artistic direction such that the resultant architectural designs would represent modernity and most importantly, be a tool of making more meaningful and useful buildings. However, the politics of constructivism, modernism were, evidently, behind Bauhaus conceptions of art and architecture. Bauhaus strongly argued that Bauhaus was apolitical in nature. However, the ideology came at a time when German was undergoing constructivism and modernism. These two functions were politically driven since the ideologies of German leadership at the time determined the future of Germany through supporting or suppressing such ideologies. Therefore, the desire of Bauhaus to shape the future of German architecture through art was based on politics of constructivism and modernism. Sadly, Bauhaus had to close down its Berlin institute in April 1933 following pressure from Nazi regime. Actually, the pressure for demobilization of Bauhaus began before even the Nazi regime came to power. They accused Bauhaus of â€Å"Un-German† approach to architecture and made claims of negative influence from the western nations. How did the World War One and its aftermath (inflation, rise of political extremism, etc) influence the artistic production of artists such as Otto Dix, Max Beckmann, George Grosz and Laszio Moholy-Nagy? Interestingly, most of the German artists who were active after World War One were influenced by the war to express their ideas through art. For instance, Otto Dix was actively involved in World War One and was greatly affected by the war. Otto Dix, Max Beckmann, George Grosz and Laszio Moholy-Nagy had one thing in common in that they all had ideologies that contradicted the ideologies of the Nazi regime. Therefore, their art of expressionism faced political extremism to the extent that some of them had to either quit their art or change it to a more favorable art depending on the political climate. For instance, Dix was branded a degenerate artist as was barred from producing art of expressionism against the ruling regime. These artists had to reduce their level of criticism of the Nazi ideologies. Dix's work including â€Å"The Trench  and  War cripples† were destroyed by the Nazi regime. Likewise, over 500 artwork pieces belonging to Max Beckmann were impounded during Hitler’s regime through claims of degenerate art. Laszio Moholy-Nagy felt the pinch of political extremism when Bauhaus was overly criticized and suppressed. Whereas inflation affected virtually everybod y in Germany, artistic productions were also affected. The most affected artists were George Grosz, Laszio Moholy-Nagy and other artists who were part of Bauhaus. Whereas modern and artistic architecture required heavy capital investment, funds became unavailable during the aftermath of World War One. Cost of production of artwork became high and therefore, the artists found it difficult to keep producing large volume of artwork during the inflation period. What is â€Å"Dada† and how did it both influence and reflect the Berlin of the 1920’s? Dada refers to an artistic and literary transformation that began during World War One. At the time, Switzerland being a neutral country acted as a safe haven for artists, intellectuals, and writers.

Favorite Holidays Essay Example for Free

Favorite Holidays Essay 1. One of my favorite Holidays is 4th of July. A few years ago my dad and I went to Washington to pick out some illegal fireworks. So we went to the Black Cat firework store . I got some mortars and roman candles and all the fun fireworks you could think of. So the day before 4th of July we were lighting off a few roman candles and all of a sudden a under cover police car pulled into our driveway and the police officer inside the car said â€Å"are you lighting off illegal fireworks?† because he saw me with the roman candles, and my dad said â€Å"yes† so the police officer confiscated all the fireworks we had bought and were fined a thousand dollars. We did get our ticket reduced down to $250 because we attended a fire works class. This definitely opened my eyes to the danger of fire works. From that day forward, I’ve learned not to do anything your not supposed to do, like buy illegal fireworks. 2. My sister graduated last year and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her passion. She grew up training in dance and singing. We have a close family and we support her all the way. My family and I traveled to see her this summer. She sang originals song and danced with her back up dancers for the music label industry. Very important people were their to see her. She did fantastic and is signing with a major record label. She will be releasing her single by the end of this year and her album in Januarary of 2014. This was a big eye opener to me to know that working hard and pursuing your dreams can really come true. 3. A couple years ago my grandmother passed away. She was very sick the last few days she was alive and my family and I knew she only had a few more days before she was to pass away. I helped her all that I could and so did my parents. She was a great grandmother and nobody could replace her, she was my dads mother, she was the best grandmother anybody could ask for. I remember the game we use to play when she would babysit me, it was called hide the thimble. She had a thumb thimble for sewing, and we use to hide it all over her house kind of like hide and seek, she also used to make the best brownies I have ever eaten. But from that day on I have always learned one thing, you never know how much you miss someone until there gone.

Challenges Of Human Resource Information System Information Technology Essay

Challenges Of Human Resource Information System Information Technology Essay In this technological world, a lot of things are run by the most advanced technology. Therefore, those managers are using the latest technology to operate the whole system in the company. By using these latest technology can help the company work more effective and can help keep their company information more safe and secure. It is same as for the Human Resource Information System (HRIS). Human Resource Information System (HRIS) could be count as the latest technology that can help analyze the data necessary for human resource department to do its jobs properly. So, William (2006) say the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is usually a part of the companys larger Management Information System (MIS) that to help the company to making recruiting, promoting, payroll, employee selection and placement, intake and training projections, career-pathing and productivity evaluation. These information systems help the administrative more effective and produce reports capable of improving decision making. But there are some challenges to make this useful Human Resource Information System cannot work well at all and will make Human Resource Information System work fail. The following are the challenges of Human Resource Information System: Training the users to use HRIS. Cost to purchase and implementation of HRIS. Time to adapt the HRIS. Lack functional expertise in designing. Improper vendor provide illegal copy of HRIS. 4.1 Training the users to use HRIS (by Choo Jun Cheng) The first challenge of company to implementation the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is ensuring that a HRIS for a company involve one key issue that is have the users that can use this HRIS as well as he/she can said by William (2006). The HRIS could be count as the latest technology to operate to human resource department, but there is not every manager and employees know to use this system well and some of them even do not know what this system is and what this system is for. For this case will make the company face the challenge to use this HRIS to help their human resource department to do its jobs perfectly. This will also cause the company cannot work efficiently, quick access to information and the information will be have risk to stole by other company easily. So, human resource department need to provide training to employee of a company in certain areas and the human resource department must make sure that the employees in the company are properly trained to use t he HRIS well. However, teaching the employees how to use system is not the only component needed and it is also critical to teach the employees know to use the HRIS to locate the answers to solve the human resource questions. This requires the employees who under this training program need to adopt the new mindset of self-service rather than turning the human resources questions to the answers by using the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) and make employees become a part of HRIS. 4.2 Cost to purchase and implementation of HRIS (by Choo Jun Cheng) Next, the one of the most significant challenge facing by the company to run the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is the cost to purchase and implementation of a Human Resource Information System (HRIS) said by William (2006). If the company is looking the cost to justify a HRIS new system or upgrade one, they will much need new HRIS software. But for the company already have a policy to cost justifying any new technology for their produce and investment and this cause the company facing the lack capital problem to purchase and implementation of HRIS. Besides that, HRIS system represents a large investment decision for company of all sizes to purchase and implementation this HRIS and this will become the challenge that is the lack capital problem facing by the company. Therefore, some company does not want to upgrade their HRIS system to a new one, even some of the company still using the traditional way to operate their human resource department. This situation will lead the company cannot get the benefits from HRIS that is improved accuracy of information, the provision of timely and quick access to information and the saving the costs of human resource. So, having an HRIS system in the company are very important and it can also bring a lot of benefits to the company and help to reengineer the entire Human Resource (HR) function to work more effective and help the human resource department can use full of HRIS advantages and the company can operate properly too. 4.3 Time to adapt the HRIS (by Choo Jun Cheng) Besides that, the challenge facing by the company is the time that employees and managers need to take to adapt the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) said by K. Michele (2006). Although for the company have already send the employees and managers who in certain area of human resource department to training to use the HRIS, but the employees and the managers need to take times to adapt the new system. Even if the employees and managers know how to use the system, it will not serve the company if they cannot perceive any benefits from its use said by K. Michele (2006). Besides that, some employees are not good in using computer, they will take very long time to adapt this new system even they are trained employees. Not only that, by using the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) will help to reengineer the entire Human Resource (HR) function and this also need take time for employees and managers to adapt this system. Some of their companys HRIS system are lack flexibility w ill cause the employees and managers use more time to adapt the system. Even this HRIS need some time for employees and managers to adapt for it but HRIS still can bring a lot of convenient to human resource department and it can help the company can operate properly. 4.4 Lack of functional expertise in designing (by Choo Jun Cheng) The challenge facing by the company is lack of functional expertise in designing of Human Resource Information System (HRIS) said by K. Michele (2006). The HRIS could be count as the latest technology to operate to human resource department to do the job properly, but there are not yet become a flexibility system for operate the department and company need to hire the expert in this HRIS system keep maintain the system in perfect condition. The lack of flexibility of HRIS would have a risk hacking by theft of information, the companys information would easily know by other people. Besides that, the HRIS cannot solve the difficulty situation and sometime the system will solve wrong problem because of the lack of functional expertise in designing of HRIS. But if the company can keep upgrade the functional expertise in designing of HRIS and it can overcome this problem and it can help company operate the human resource department work efficiency. So, the company need to keep maintain th e HRIS system and always make sure the system are at the perfect situation. 4.5 Improper vendor provide illegal copy of HRIS (by Choo Jun Cheng) The last challenge that face by the company is the improper vendor that provide the illegal copy of HRIS said by Pamela (2006). It is because the HRIS is the latest technology for the company to operate the human resource department and implementation HRIS are expensive, so many of company willing to implementation the illegal copy of HRIS because the improper vendor cost the company cheaper than others. The illegal copy of HRIS possible have the virus that always make the system clash down then the company need to ask the improper vendor repair it and improper vendor can keep charge the company repair fees. Besides that, the illegal copy of HRIS possible have the spyware that let the improper vendor have the backdoor that allow the improper vendor can stole the information from the company. So, for every company need to avoid buy the illegal copy from improper vendor. 4.6 Conclusion (by Choo Jun Cheng) In the conclusion, Human Resource Information System (HRIS) plays an important role to operate the company, even the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) are facing many of challenges to use this system in the company. But if we can overcome those challenges and situation to make the HRIS can run perfect inside the company, we can gain a lot of advantages and by using this system can make sure our human resource department can work more effectively and more efficiently. This HRIS system can also help reduce errors, increase efficiency, and reduce costs for the company and this system are very useful and helpful to the company. 4.7 Reference William P. Anthony, K. Michele Kacmar, Pamela L. Perreve (2006) Human Resource Management (Fifth Edition) Thomson, the Star logo, and Custom Publishing, Chapter 4.

Voting Behaviour in Nigeria

Voting Behaviour in Nigeria ETHNICITY AND VOTING BEHAVIOUR IN NIGERIA ABSTRACT This paper tried to give a historical discourse about the relationship between ethnicity and voting behavior using Nigeria as its case study. Looking at the early evolution of Nigeria, after the amalgamation of both the northern and southern protectorates during the era of colonialism, one issue that has been mind boggling within the historic-socio-political discourse of Nigeria is the paradigm of ethnicity which many from the academia tend to see it as having a great impact in the way and manner elections are conducting which ultimately affects the voting pattern of the people as well. Using historic-descriptive method in which secondary data are mostly used in order to come up with this correlation between ethnicity and voting behaviour in Nigeria, the study noted that the former has significant impact in the way and manner political leaders are elected or recruited. Key Words: Ethnicity, Voting behaviour, Elections, Nigeria, Ethnic, Elites. INTRODUCTION: Ethnicity has been said to have had significant influence in the voting behaviour of individuals. This is mostly recorded in Africa and some part of Asia, where people tend to vote those who will govern them based on certain pseudo-socio and cultural make up. Hence this study will try to study the causal relationship between ethnicity which will be the independent variable and voting behaviour which is said to be the dependent variable and Nigeria will be the country used as the case for this study. According to scholars, ethnicity defines inequalities in our societies which is crucial to capture ethnic identities. Its attempts lead to influence the behaviors of others and the course of events in the organization in order to protect their self-interests, main priority is their own needs. For instance a voter would have to been of age, a citizen, had to be registered to vote and once their qualifications have been met. Then you have the honor to voting. Expanding on these ideas people assume that there candidate will just win even without leading their vote, which means if you do not vote don’t have the right to criticize your leaders. Political efficiency can be defined as one time influence and effectiveness on politics. So the lack of political efficiency is the thought that won’t make a difference. And to widen their own goals. Behaviour may be seen as political. Naming behavior as political, instead, usually implies a judgment that certain people are gaining so mething at the expense of others or the institution/organization as a whole. However a balance understanding of political behaviour and its consequence is needed. People seem to be self-centered and biased when crested actions as political behaviour. Employees may justify their own political behavior as defending legitimate rights or interests, yet call similar behavior by others ‘playing politics.’ RESEARCH QUESTIONS: The study seeks to ask the following research questions: How has ethnicity been able to influence voting behaviour? Are political parties ethnically aligned so as to influence voting behaviour? OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: It is the desire of this study to be able to achieve the following objectives: To explain the causal relationship between ethnicity and voting behaviour pattern. To also know whether ethnic factors tend to affect voting pattern of individuals in the study. As an academic exercise it is the desire of the study to contribute to existing literature about the subject matter which is the causal relationship between ethnicity and voting behaviour. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: In other to come up with a causal relationship between these two variables, the study will rely on secondary data through which secondary sources such as books, articles, journals, reports from other think tank centers like freedom house, afro-barometer etc. in order to explain the correlation between these two variables. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS: To examine the extent to which ethnicity can influence voting behavior in Nigerians the study has come up with the following hypothetical statements: H1- Whether Ethnicity influences voting behavior (Thesis Statement) H2- If it does not influence voting behavior (Anti-Thesis Statement) CONCEPTUALIZATION AND OPERATIONALIZATION OF TERMS: Ethnicity: Can be seen as synonyms of races because the usual idea is biological category inherited from generation to generation. Ethnicity is a basic form of identity, talking about were your ancestors came from and ethnicity can be seen as a cultural trade, believes and language, or a group of people who share a common history, language, culture, ethnicity is really culture component that people share and has been developed as identity over time. Also ethnicity refers to shared cultural practices that set apart one group of people from another. Voting Behavior According to ‘Juma’ (2011:22) explains voting behaviour as a set of attitudes and beliefs towards elections at the national as well as, at the local level. They are basically three source political scientist look at in order to analyse why people or voter behave the way they do, why they vote the way they do and why they chose the parties that they do; looking at the result of the election (seeing whose voting for what or women/men voting or generation voting for what) survey work ahead doing some studies of political socialization which is the process by which people gain their political attitudes, political opinions of growing up process and how you want to be the people you are LÄ °TERATURE REVÄ °EW: The study will try to examine what other scholars have written about the two variables, i.e. Ethnicity and Voting behaviour. Ethnicity: Borrowing from Balliber and Wallerstein, who tried to examine the concept of ethnicity in their work regarding the theory of state formation, Bonila Silva, looked at the term ethnicity as a process where by one assert certain distinct attribute aimed at creating and achieveing a sense of communal way of life in the society. While Barth F. sees ethnicity as a situation in which people that live in a distinct community tend to create a distinct identity that differentiates them from other categories of people in the society as well. Horowitz, (1985) note that ethnicity is the core principle of politics within a state which either challenge or serve as a medium of cohesion amongst states in order to reduce the inherent tension within the international system. According Horowitz, ethnicity exerts a strong direct impact on electoral behavior in ethnically-segmented societies, through generating a long-term psychological sense of party loyalty anchoring citizens to parties, where casting a vote becomes an expression of group identity. By implications, other social divisions become subsumed as secondary to ethnicity. VOTING BEHAVIOUR: According to â€Å"Juma â€Å"(2011:22), the term voting behaviour, connotes a collection of attitudes, values and beliefs in which individuals of a given society have towards elections both at the local, national and international level. While Harrop and Miller, using a constructivist paradigm, explained voting behaviour as a pattern of political participation mostly taking place in democratic societies where people react to certain laid down values, principles and beliefs how they choose their leaders. These set of beliefs could be based on age, sex, ethnicity, religion and education. THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK: In order for this study to be able to explain the causal relationship between ethnicity and voting behaviour, the study will adopt the theory of constructivism in order to be able to study this synergy between both the independent and dependent variables. This theory tries to analyse events, issues and phenomena via a sociological perspective and socio-cultural vantage point. Relating this theory to my study, since both variables tend to toe towards studying socio-cultural phenomena, the study would look at how this variants of ethnicity affects voting behaviour. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION: This is the aspect of the study where the researcher will try to test his hypothesis in order to determine the degree of causality between his variables using relevant secondary data as well as information from think-tanks that can be able to measure his variables. After the analysis the researcher will be able to either vilify or corroborate his hypothesis. SUMMARY/CONCLUSION: This is the last phase of the study, where the researcher will be able to come out with a testable statement and conclusion about the findings of his research, make recommendations where necessary and also make suggestions for further study. Drawing from the available data largely drawn from the reports of ‘Afro-barometer’ and ‘Freedom house’, there seem to be a causal relationship between ethnicity and voting behaviour in Nigeria. This is usually attributed to the diverse nature of the Nigerian society in which there are over 450 local languages, in which each ethnic group, wants a stake in the body polity. This ethnic divisions, played a latent role even in the composition of the various political parties in the country in which right from independence to date, none of the political parties actually, have a national outlook, but rather they are all structured and are operated towards ethnic and religious lines. Thus, with this type of party structures in the society, the ‘ethnic’ factor most often influenced, voter’s choice, because most Nigerians, tend to opt for candidates that represent their ethnic origin rather than vote based on merit, ability or to a candidate that w ould provide the needed dividends of good governance. REFERENCES: Allen, H. (2007), How do rules and institutions encourage vote buying, In Schaffer, (2007), The Causes and Consequences of Vote Buying, Lyinne Reiner Publishers, Colorado. Brusco, M. et al. (2004), Vote Buying in Argentina, Latin American Research Review, vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 65-88. Ibrahim, J. (2007), Nigeria’s 2007 Elections: The fitful Path to Democracy, Institute for Peace, Washington D.C. Ifidon, (2003), Transition from Democracy in Nigeria: Toward a Pre-emptive Analysis, African Journal of Political Science, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 109-128. Jega, A. (2007), Elections and the future of Democracy in Nigeria, NPSA, Lagos. Michael, B. Lewis, P. (2007), The Durability of Political Goods: Evidence from Nigeria’s New Democracy, Cambridge University Press, New York. Michael B. (2007), Who Votes? Implications for new democracies, available at: http://www.globalbarometer.net/publication.htm accessed: 30th April, 2014.

Shakespeares Macbeth - Relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Macbeth is a play about death, deceit, and corruption. At the center of all this is Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth. As the play progresses, their relationship changes dramatically as a result of how each of them handles their emotions following King Duncan's murder.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is a strong, domineering person. She seems able to coerce Macbeth into doing things that he would not do on his own. She seems willing to trample anyone in order to get what she wants. She seems ready to kill. She would have no problem dancing on the backs of the bruised for the same reason stuck up rich people today don't care about the starving kids in Africa--she has never seen or experienced it. When reading Macbeth's letter that told of the witches' prophecy she said, "Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full o' the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way." She wanted to take the quick and dirty route to royalty (murder), but didn't think Macbeth was up to it. She has never killed anyone (as far as we know), so she doesn't understand why it would be so difficult.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Macbeth is a battle-hardened soldier who is no stranger to danger. He has killed more than a few men, women, and children in his day. We're informed of that at the opening of the play when a sergeant tells of how Macbeth hunted down Macdonwald and "unseamed him from the nave to the chaps and fixed his head upon our battlements." But Macbeth knew the difference between right and wrong. Macdonwald was a traitor and fully deserved to be cut in half. Killing Duncan was a different story. Murdering a good king/friend in order to gain wealth and power is not very P.C. and is downright immoral. When Lady Macbeth brought up killing the king he was hesitant to talk about such a thing, then blew her off and said, "We will speak further." Of course, being the whipped little mama's boy that he is, he was talked into her fiendish conspiracy plan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When it came right down to it, Lady Macbeth couldn't kill Duncan. She says, "Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done't." Of course that is a bunch of BS; in reality she was just too fainthearted to get the job done.

Madness and Insanity in Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- Essays on Shakesp

Hamlet - A Question of Madness      Ã‚   Hamlet's public persona is a facade he has created to carry out his ulterior motives. The outside world's perception of him as being mad is of his own design. Hamlet is deciding what he wants others to think about him. Polonius, a close confidant of the King, is the leading person responsible for the public's knowledge of Hamlet's madness. The idea that Hamlet is mad centers around the fact that he talks to the ghost of his dead father. He communicates with his dead father's ghost twice, in the presence of his friends and again in the presence of his mother. By being in public when talking to the ghost, the rumor of his madness is given substance.       Polonius decides to go to Hamlet's mother, the Queen, in Act II to tell her that her "noble son is mad" (105). Aware of what has been going on with Hamlet, the Queen questions Polonius. In his response, Polonius continues to proclaim "That he's mad, 'tis true. 'Tis true, 'tis pity, / And pity 'tis 'tis true - a foolish figure" (105). Although not believing it in her heart, the Queen later admits that Hamlet may be mad. After their conversation, Hamlet enters and has his own conversation with Polonius. During this conversation, Hamlet falsely labels Plonius as a fishmonger. Hamlet knows that Polonius will tell others of the mistaken identity; specifically, he knows Polonius will report it to the King. Polonius believes Hamlet's insanity is related to sex; therefore, he is concerned with Hamlet's relationship with his daughter, Ophelia.       Hamlet's relationship and actions towards Ophelia are not exempt from his dual personalities. In private, he is deeply devoted to her; but in public, he humiliates and belittles her... ... are dead at the end of the play. If Hamlet had not chosen to pretend to be mad, the outcome of the events would probably of been different. Hamlet's quest of destroying the King is selfish, in that it affects the innocent as well as the guilty. Hamlet's false madness finally brings about true madness at the end of the play that is inescapable.    Works Cited and Consulted: http://shakespeare.about.com/library/blhamlet_2_2.htm Bloom, Harold. Introduction. Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Bradley, A.C.. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. Mack, Maynard. "The World of Hamlet." Yale Review. vol. 41 (1952) p. 502-23. Rpt. in Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996.   

Othello, in Love? Essay

Was the relationship of Desdemona and Othello true love? Throughout the entire, through secrets and lies and murder even until the end one of the biggest questions that arose was the vitality of Othello Desdemona’s love. Although some readers of Othello have argued that Othello and Desdemona’s love was true, a closer examination of the way she shows empathy for him when he tells her stories reveals that he is only in love with the attention she gives him because it alleviates his own personal insecurities. By examining the abruptness of Othello’s jealousy and judgment of Desdemona’s possible infidelity, it is revealed that he has deeply rooted insecurities. After Iago tells Othello of the possible infidelity that has occurred, Othello immediately starts to get jealous and angry. He begins to admit some of the insecurities he has, â€Å"Maybe because I’m black and I don’t have nice manners like courtiers do, or because I’m getting oldà ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The insecurities that Othello has directly relate to the abruptness of his jealousy. Othello believes that he is lesser because he is â€Å"black† and â€Å"old†. Of course he, an ugly, old, outsider cannot compare to the young and beautiful Desdemona. He compares his self image with her image and automatically believes that he is not worthy of her. This terrible self image forces him to believe what Iago has told him even without proof. The abruptness of jealousy proves Othello has insecurities. If it was true love Othello would not have been so quick to assume that Iago’s claims of infidelity were true. An examination of the way Othello becomes intrigued by Desdemona because of her undivided attention toward the stories he told shows that the attention she gives him alleviates his insecurities. When Othello is in the court room talking to the duke, trying to prove his love for Desdemona, he mentions that â€Å"She loved me for the dangers I had pass’d, and I loved her that she did pity them†, Othello clearly says that Desdemona’s interest in him only derives from the fact that she is intrigued by the stories of his adventurous past and Othello’s interest in Desdemona derives from the fact that she loves his stories. Othello clearly understands that Desdemona loves him for his previous adventures and not for a romantic reason. Othello uses Desdemona’s fanaticism as a way to alleviate his insecurities. By Desdemona complementing Othello, it makes him feel better and wanted. It distracts him from his insecurities therefore Othello’s â€Å"love† isn’t true. He thinks that he is in love when truly the feelings he has are that of fulfillment of what is lost by his insecurities. Othello being driven into madness has less to do with Desdemona’s possible infidelity but more to do with her no longer being there to alleviate his insecurities because of her shift from undivided attention to Othello to her undivided attention to Cassio in attempt to get him his job back. Before Cassio was fired Desdemona devoted all of her time to Othello and wanted to be with him constantly, when he was sent to war she even wanted to go with him â€Å"So that, dear lords, if I be left behind a moth of peace and he go to the war, the rites for which I love him are bereft me, And I a heavy interim shall support by his dear absence. Let me go with him†. She couldn’t stand to be away from Othello and this made him feel wanted and his insecurities were intern alleviated. This all changed once Cassio lost his job though. Desdemona pledged to get him his job back, â€Å"Do not doubt that. Before Emilia here I give thee warrant of thy place. Assure thee, if I do vow a friendship, I’ll perform it to the last article. My lord shall never rest; I’ll watch him tame and talk him out of patience†. This new devotion to Cassio meant that Othello was no longer receiving the same attention and his insecurities were no longer being alleviated. When she was no longer alleviating his insecurities and there was no purpose for her. When he realized this he was overwhelmed with jealousy. He not only wanted to kill Cassio for taking away the one who solved his problems but he wanted to take away her as well, â€Å"Oh, that the slave had forty thousand lives! One is too poor, too weak for my revenge†¦ Damn her, lewd minx! Oh, damn her, damn her! Come, go with me apart. I will withdraw to furnish me with some swift means of death for the fair devil†. If Othello was in love with Desdemona as a person and not just the attention she gives him then it would be safe to say that the love they shared was true but because he felt as though the only solution was to kill her proves that their relationship was not true love. Othello is only in love with the attention Desdemona gives him because it alleviates his own personal insecurities. Desdemona distracts Othello from his insecurities and makes him feel better and wanted. When Desdemona no longer alleviated the insecurities he had his only course of action was to kill Desdemona and Cassio. If their love would have been true he would not have been so quick to make the decision to kill Desdemona.

Group Exercise on “The Landlady”

In the exposition stage of the plot, the author reveals all the pertinent details of the story. This story however does not reveal everything about the landlady until the climax of the story. 1. What clues did the author give the reader regarding the sinister plan of the landlady that was about to unfold? Animals were usually a good sign in a place like this, Billy told himself. But both animals were stuffed. He was in the act of stepping back and turning away from the window when all at once his eye was caught and held in the most peculiar manner by the small notice that was there. BED AND BREAKFAST, it said.BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST. Each word was like a large black eye staring at him through the glass, holding him, compelling him, forcing him to stay where he was and not to walk away from that house, and the next thing he knew, he was actually moving across from the window to the front door of the house, climbing the steps that led up to it, and reach ing for the bell. He pressed the bell. Far away in a back room he heard it ringing, and then at once —it must have been at once because he hadn’t even had time to take his finger from the bell button—the door swung open and a woman was standing there.She has a room ready for him before he comes in. She had put a warm water bottle in the bed before he came, and the bedclothes had been neatly turned back on one side, all ready for someone to get in. â€Å"Five and sixpence a night, including breakfast. † There were no other hats or coats in the hall. There were no umbrellas, no walking sticks—nothing. There were only two other entries above his on the page, One was a Christopher Mulholland from Cardiff. The other was Gregory W. Temple from Bristol. And the last entry was two years old.She wants him to sign the book, so that she won’t forget his name, and then she can always check the book. She does it with Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Temple. 2. At what point do you begin to become suspicious that the boarding house is not quite normal? †¢When he goes in a kind of hypnosis and goes to ring the bell †¢The landlady answers the door right away. †¢It is very cheap, but no one there. 3. Where is the climax in the story? Its when he realizes there only have been two others visitors besides him, and he notices a suspecting smell and taste in the tea (gets poisoned) potassium cyonide 4.Why does the author write the story in this way? How can you relate his plot’s structure to the theme that he is trying to communicate with you? I think that the reason for this is, that troughout the story there are hints troughout the story that says that this is not a good place – the sign outside – how quickly she opens the door – few visitors – the smell of both her and the tea – her habit of stuffing her pets – etc. This is how he shows that when you are seventeen you still are naive and do not always see the big picture, even if there are hints on the way. THEME ANALYSIS What is the main theme of the story?Why is the author telling you a story of a landlady who inadvertently is also a serial killer? The main theme is â€Å"Naive†. The young man thinks at first that this is the perfect place and is naivly comfortable and does not have any suspission, although there are some hints throughout the story. He doesn’t realise the true character of this â€Å"nice† landlady until it’s too late, and he has been poisoned. I think that the author is telling the story in this way to show that there still is a lot to learn at the age of seventeen, and you are still not ready to make accurate decisions and really not always able to see the big picture.INTERPRETATION What is your reaction to the author’s view on life and/or human behavior? †¢Should people be careful of strangers? The author is trying to tell us that things aren’t always as they seem to be, they can seem harmless on the outside, but on the inside they can do the most unimaginable things, as we read in this story the nice landlady kills and stuffs her victims. This is why we think that the author is trying to show us that you should be careful of strangers, because they aren’t always as nice as they seem to be.†¢Is it better to live in a small town than a big city? We think that the main difference between living in a small town and a big town is, that in a small town it is hard to hide things from your neighbours, and that’s why they are more likely to notice if something is not as it should be, whereas in a big city, people take less notice to other people. They mostly keep matter to themselves and only see the other people on the surface. That is why we think that it is better to live in a small town, if you want to live safe. Group Exercise on â€Å"The Landlady† PLOT ANALYSISIn the exposition stage of the plot, the author reveals all the pertinent details of the story. This story however does not reveal everything about the landlady until the climax of the story. 1.What clues did the author give the reader regarding the sinister plan of the landlady that was about to unfold? Animals were usually a good sign in a place like this, Billy told himself. But both animals were stuffed. He was in the act of stepping back and turning away from the window when all at once his eye was caught and held in the most peculiar manner by the small notice that was there. BED AND BREAKFAST, it said.BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST.Each word was like a large black eye staring at him through the glass, holding him, compelling him, forcing him to stay where he was and not to walk away from that house, and the next thing he knew, he was actually moving across from the window to the front door of the house, climbing the steps that led up to it , and reaching for the bell. He pressed the bell. Far away in a back room he heard it ringing, and then at once —it must have been at once because he hadn’t even had time to take his finger from the bell button—the door swung open and a woman was standing there. She has a room ready for him before he comes in. She had put a warm water bottle in the bed before he came, and the bedclothes had been neatly turned back on one side, all ready for someone to get in. â€Å"Five and sixpence a night, including breakfast.†There were no other hats or coats in the hall. There were no umbrellas, no walking sticks—nothing. There were only two other entries above his on the page, One was a Christopher Mulholland from Cardiff. The other was Gregory W. Temple from Bristol. And the last entry was two years old. She wants him to sign the book, so that she won’t forget his name, and then she can always check the book. She does it with Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Tem ple.2.At what point do you begin to become suspicious that the boarding house is not quite normal? †¢When he goes in a kind of hypnosis and goes to ring the bell†¢The landlady answers the door right away.†¢It is very cheap, but no one there. 3.Where is the climax in the story?Its when he realizes there only have been two others visitors besides him, and he notices a suspecting smell and taste in the tea (gets poisoned) potassium cyonide 4.Why does the author write the story in this way? How can you relate his plot’s structure to the theme that he is trying to communicate with you?I think that the reason for this is, that troughout the story there are hints troughout the story that says that this is not a good place – the sign outside – how quickly she opens the door – few visitors – the smell of both her and the tea – her habit of stuffing her pets – etc. This is how he shows that when you are seventeen you still are na ive and do not always see the big picture, even if there are hints on the way.THEME ANALYSISWhat is the main theme of the story? Why is the author telling you a story of a landlady who inadvertently is also a serial killer? The main theme is â€Å"Naive†. The young man thinks at first that this is the perfect place and is naivly comfortable and does not have any suspission, although there are some hints throughout the story. He doesn’t realise the true character of this â€Å"nice† landlady until it’s too late, and he has been poisoned. I think that the author is telling the story in this way to show that there still is a lot to learn at the age of seventeen, and you are still not ready to make accurate decisions and really not always able to see the big picture.INTERPRETATIONWhat is your reaction to the author’s view on life and/or human behavior? †¢Should people be careful of strangers?The author is trying to tell us that things aren’ t always as they seem to be, they can seem harmless on the outside, but on the inside they can do the most unimaginable things, as we read in this story the nice landlady kills and stuffs her victims. This is why we think that the author is trying to show us that you should be careful of strangers, because they aren’t always as nice as they seem to be.†¢Is it better to live in a small town than a  big city?We think that the main difference between living in a small town and a big town is, that in a small town it is hard to hide things from your neighbours, and that’s why they are more likely to notice if something is not as it should be, whereas in a big city, people take less notice to other people. They mostly keep matter to themselves and only see the other people on the surface. That is why we think that it is better to live in a small town, if you want to live safe.

Philosophy of Education Essay

Thomas Jefferson once said â€Å"genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.† I believe it is this 1% inspiration that we must find, as teachers, in the youth of today. That way, we can give them the motivation to unlock the 99% perspiration inside themselves. After all, without that 1% inspiration, you have no reason to perspire. Teaching requires a certain kind of patience, understanding, and willingness to perspire on its’ own. It is not an easy task to uncover that 1% inspiration within your students. It is a bit like digging for gold. You really have to want it, know why you want it, and go after it. Essentially, a teacher has to have their own â€Å"inspiration† about being a teacher to be able to find the â€Å"inspiration† in their children. My inspiration is uncovering what our students can do for the world of tomorrow when they truly believe in themselves and can think at the highest levels of Blooms (evaluation and creation). A child that knows their dominant learning style and areas of multiple intelligences can comprehend a larger amount of information. They can also embrace their individuality and become comfortable with themselves inside the classroom. They are less focused on what their peers are accomplishing, and more focused on investing in their identified talents. I speak from experience because I was identified at a young age as having a learning style that was not as common at the time (auditory). I received additional assistance as a child, but most of the time I had to uncover my own â€Å"inspiration.† Many teachers during that time were unaware of how to approach an auditory learner. Since then, I have become extremely compassionate towards students who have a willingness to learn. It is important to break down those walls of â€Å"I can’t† and transform them into â€Å"how am I going to.† There is always a way to get something accomplished.

Outsourcing and Rampant Corruption

1. Should Children Be Encouraged to Think for Themselves? Should children be encouraged to think for themselves? This is one of those questions that seems to invite an immediate and emphatic, almost dismissive answer. â€Å"Of course children should be encouraged to think for themselves. We’re not raising robots, after all. What’s wrong with you? How dare you ask such a silly question! † Well, my personal defects aside, the question is far more difficult than it first appears. For one thing, we should all learn to be particularly cautious when our response to a question is too strong.The tone of an answer like the one just given is often an indicator of two rather unpleasant truths. First, the person is far less sure of his answer than he would like to be, but he covers this uncertainty over with emotional emphasis. He is scared that he might be wrong, and he doesn’t want to entertain the possibility of investigating a weak point in his thinking, so he rai ses his voice in psychological self-defense. Second, and closely related, we often become emotional in resisting ideas which expose our own flaws.We seek to deflect even our own eyes from looking at our actual practices by more loudly using our voice to proclaim our â€Å"true† values. See, no parent in America today would likely affirm the idea that children should not be encouraged to think for themselves. But a closer look at the way they treat their children would reveal the clear fact that they do not practice what they yell. Children are told to do things â€Å"because I said so,† â€Å"because I’m the parent,† or even, in a Christian home, â€Å"because God says. Personally, I think all these phrases serve the quite useful purpose of teaching a child about authority, as long as they’re not used exclusively in situations where the parents really have no idea why the thing they’re commanding is correct. Yet, even though we all know tha t children should sometimes be told to think as we do, it’s still not something we’re supposed to say out loud. So we practice wisdom privately and proclaim submission to a foolish social standard. This disconnect explains the indignant voice. â€Å"How dare you make me contemplate my inconsistency! † But this is not the entire story.Many parents, and particularly Christian ones, are scared by the idea of individual thinking. â€Å"God provides the answers in His Book, and who are you to even consider questioning them? † Well, true. But how does memorizing a set of answers cultivate the capacity to form conclusions in new situations which do not come prepackaged with ready solutions? It does not. And if we are supposed to use the brain God gave us for something, that something probably includes the art of thinking effectively for ourselves. For my own part, I think God wired children to remind us of this important developmental feature.They seem almost wi nd-up doll like in their use of the question, â€Å"Why? † And it’s plausible that one purpose of this tendency is to encourage parents to impart not merely a set of answers by rote, but also the ability to comprehend those answers and form new ones as well. But the real challenge for parents who understand both the need for honoring parental and Godly authority in good answers as well as independent thinking is obvious. What do we do when children come to self-formulated ideas which are at odds with what the Bible or we teach them?You might wish for a simple solution for this conundrum. I do not possess it. Nor, I think, does anyone else. I’ve tried their wares, and the proof is not in the intellectual pudding. It is not possible to fully affirm both a process and a result at the same time. Fair competition means you may not win. Free markets will often produce inequality. Electoral politics will often yield officials we do not prefer. And teaching a child to t hink for himself may well produce an adult who does not think like you. So here’s my encouragement.It’s tempting to just propagandize children. Tempting because we fear the real danger they may, if taught to think for themselves and ask questions, come to conclusions we abhor. But God gave them brains, and we must honor the gift as good stewards. So the key here, as with so many things, is to trust the Maker that honoring His gift will work out alright in the end. God gave children their brains. And the real question at the end of each parenting day is whether you are more interested in shaping that child in the Image of the God who made him †¦ or in your own image?Then, we must acknowledge that picking the right answer to that question will require from us more than just loud lip service to the idea that children should be encouraged to think for themselves †¦ most of the time †¦ especially when the scariest thing to imagine is the possibility that they might actually learn the lesson. 2. Essay on Corruption in India Corruption is rampant in India. It is like a cancer that is eating away at the innards of the country. Government employees are some of the most corrupt people in India.Of course not all of them are corrupt but a good percentage of them take bribes from those who approach them to get something done. One reason for this is that government employees in most states are not paid good salaries and wages remain stagnant in public sector companies for years. As the cost of living increases, people find it hard to make ends meet and they resort to corruption to make extra income. If you want to get a driving license or a ration card or a marriage certificate or a birth or death certificate, most probably you may have to grease someone’s palm in the concerned office.There is corruption in every field. Political and electoral institutions are largely responsible for India being perceived as one of the most corrupt countr ies in the world. Corruption among the police force and judiciary has serious consequences for criminals go scot – free endangering society. Corruption in the academic field means that merit is ignored and mediocrity exalted. Politicians embezzle public funds and take kickbacks. Corruption reigns even within the hallowed precincts of religious institutions. It makes a mockery of medical ethics in hospitals.The Satyam scandal blew the lid off the myth that India’s IT sector is immune to such things. In short, nothing is sacrosanct when it comes to this evil practice. If left unchecked, corruption spreads rapidly. It also makes people resigned to it and saps their will to fight it. They become pessimistic and soon they also begin to ignore the law. Corruption causes inefficiencies and diverts resources. The poor are most affected by corruption. Even PDS rations meant for the poor find their way into the open market. India’s rank slipped from 72 to 85 (out of 179 c ountries) in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.TI is the global barometer of corruption. In India, corruption exists in the form of bribes, tax evasion and exchange controls, embezzlement, etc. Corruption has many economic consequences. It causes great loss to the exchequer, creates an unhealthy climate for investment and increases the cost of government-subsidized services. It is not very easy to do business in India. Compared to China and other prosperous Asian nations, the average time taken to secure the clearances for a startup or to invoke bankruptcy is much greater in India.Recently, the Right to Information Act was enacted by the UPA government. A UN development report termed it the most progressive legislation in the developed world. This Act has enabled the public to demand accountability from government institutions regarding processes. But the power of the Act has not been fully utilized because of low awareness. One way to diminish corrupt ion would be to increase pay scales of lower grade government employees. Also, there should be a carrot and stick policy to reward efficient people and punish corrupt ones.Increased transparency and vigilance is the need of the hour. 3. Impact of Corruption on India's Policy The Impact of Corruption on India's Policy and Administrative Service over the last 25 years Assessing the impact of corruption on India's polity and administrative service over the last quarter century has enabled me to gauge the progress made by India's politicians in tackling one of the country's biggest problems. In analyzing the impact of corruption on India's polity over the last 25 years, I highlight corrupt practices by Indian governments during the time-frame in question.I conjecture that the problem of corruption in India's polity is a ubiquitous one, and that corruption has carved out a niche in India's polity. Additionally, I elicit the criminalization of India's politicians by discussing the impact that money has on the functioning of contemporary Indian democracy. I also link corruption in India's polity with increasing levels of corruption in the country's private sector. I use this to conjecture that the usurpation of the country's economic wealth by a privileged minority is part of a corrupt businessman-politician nexus, which is detrimental to Indian society.I gauge the impact of corruption on India's administrative service by incorporating the views of several Indian and international experts. These opinions collate to describe the ineptitude of India's bloated administrative service, providing explanations for the service's inefficiency. My research highlights the impact that corruption has brought to bear â€Å"nepotism among administrative officials, a â€Å"license-permit-quota Raj's system and professional ineptitude† on India's administrative service. Finally, I linked corruption in India's bureaucracy with the country's underachieving economy.While much of the essay is critical of India's politicians, I juxtapose criticisms of India's politicians with corrective measures being undertaken in my conclusion. In doing so, the reader is left to decide whether or not India is any closer to dealing with the issue of corruption within its polity and administrative service, and whether India's aspirations of being an economically developed country can ever be realised. Independent India's Chequered Beginning In a charismatic speech delivered to India's Constituent Assembly on the eve of the country's independence, Jawaharlal Nehru proclaimed ? A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance† . On 15 August 1947, Indian citizens were, for the first time, given the opportunity to independently chart the course their lives would take. While India made remarkable strides during the formative years of its independence towards achieving societal equity, political turmoil enveloped the country following Indira Gandhi's declaration of a state of emergency in 1975 .In many respects, that event marked a shift in the development of India's democratic institutions. Over the last 25 years, there has been a sharp decline in the public conduct and moral values of India's politicians. Interestingly, the rise in the levels of corruption among India's decision makers has been juxtaposed by the country's rapid economic growth. Over the last 23 years, India's economy has grown at an average rate of six percent per annum, making it one of the world's fastest growing economies .Unfortunately, ubiquitous corruption among members of India's business community has prevented the percolation of India's newfound economic wealth to the common man. Consequently, India's recent economic successes have had a minimal impact on the lives of the millions of Indians living below the poverty line. The evident gap between the ha ves and have-nots in Indian society will be discussed in this essay. The usurping of India's economic wealth by a select few has been further exacerbated by the incompetence and corrupt nature of India's administrative service.For India to have realistic aspirations of becoming an economically developed nation, it is imperative for the country to have a fully functional, transparent civil service. Despite the negative impacts of corruption on India's polity and administrative service, the country has made significant progress towards becoming a fully fledged democracy. With the world's largest electorate, the Indian Republic has successfully conducted 14 general elections , all of which have been found to be free and fair, predicating compliance with international standards.An independent judiciary has ensured that India's democratic constitution has been upheld and that the fundamental rights of Indian citizens have been maintained. An apolitical, independent media has brought corr upt malpractices by Indian government officials and business leaders to the public's attention, ensuring that a certain degree of accountability is maintained. More importantly, the division of power between the civilian government, judiciary and the armed forces has been consistently adhered to throughout independent India's history.While democratic constitutions were drafted in Bangladesh, Burma and Pakistan, they were all nullified by military takeovers. The highest echelons of India's armed forces have ensured that the army's role has been limited to substantiating, and not over-shadowing, the civilian administration's functioning. Additionally, the responsiveness and vitality of India's 600 million-strong electorate cannot be underestimated; the resounding 1977 election defeat of Indira Gandhi's Congress (I) Party and the 2004 election defeat of A. B.Vajpayee's National Democratic Alliance are two such cases in point. On both occasions, the incumbent governments† aspirati ons of securing a further five year mandate from the Indian electorate were dashed. Their deluded impressions were nullified by effective opposition campaigning, who, by promising to address the issues that directly affected the common Indian, scored upset victories. While there are several positive aspects of India's democracy, intrinsic problems remain. Apart from rampant corruption in many aspects of India's public administration, stark economic disparities persist.There are, in many respects, two Indias; one made up of 300 million educated, affluent middle- and upper-class Indians, and another with 800 million economically deprived and socially shunned people, still awaiting their share of India's economic prosperity. Almost 60 years after independence, the perpetuation of such a discernible gap between the rich and poor is indicative of the lack of progression in the lives of many ordinary Indians. Such a clear economic differentiation between Indians is a direct result of the endemic corruption that has firmly taken root in India's polity and administrative service during the last 25 years.The Plague of Corruption Besetting India's Polity Of the 159 countries surveyed, the NGO â€Å"Transparency International† found India to be the world's 88th most corrupt country in its 2005 â€Å"Corruption Perceptions Index† . The survey, relying on work carried out by reputable research institutions, gauges the degree to which corruption is believed to influence a country's polity (i. e. its governmental administration). It is notable that lesser developed countries like Rwanda and Burkina Faso have a higher CPI ranking than India's, despite having considerably lower standards of living and healthcare .The alarmingly high level of corruption in India's polity juxtaposes the fact that India is among the world's most rapidly emerging industrializing nations . Despite being the world's most populous democracy , corruption is a major problem among India's politicians. Over the last quarter century, this problem has been worsened by the increased criminalization of India's polity and the inability of India's political leaders to convert good intentions into effective legislation.This has resulted in a lack of accountability among India's legislative bodies. The ubiquitous problem of corruption among the highest echelons of India's polity was first brought to the public's attention by N. C. Vittal, India's Central Vigilance Commissioner from 1998 to 2002 . By publishing the names of 85 IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers who were charged with corruption on his commission's website in 2000 , Vittal did more to highlight the issue of corruption in India than any public sector employee before him.His findings only helped highlight the reality that modern-day Indian politics has undergone a paradigm shift from what it was like even 25 years ago. The rapid industrialization of India's economy in the intervening time period predicat es that politicians stand to gain much more from their positions of influence than ever before, effectively heightening the stakes for election to political office. This has made today's Indian parliamentary elections exercises in monetary power, where the winning candidate is ostensibly the wealthiest one.While the Indian Election Commission recommends that a maximum of 150,000 Indian Rupees be spent by candidates contesting for a seat in the Lok Sabha (India's Lower House of Parliament), candidates have been known to spend upwards of 20,000,000 Rupees on election campaigns . This effectively decimates the level playing-field over which elections in a democracy should be contested; the absence of a cap on the amount that can be spent during election campaigns hands wealthier candidates an unfair dvantage over their opponents. Over the last 25 years, this added dimension to the contesting of Indian elections has resulted in the increased criminalization of India's polity. This worry ing trend was directly addressed by India's then-Prime Minister I. K. Gujral on the country's fiftieth Independence Day. He conceded that corruption was ?  °?  ­eating into the vitals of the country† , and he drew people's attention to ?  °The nexus between the corrupt and politics† as ?  °?  ­criminals are entering politics† .By juxtaposing the incumbent Indian cabinet with Rajiv Gandhi's at the time of his December 1984 election victory, the criminalization of India's polity can be elicited. Gandhi, forced into national politics by his mother, Indira, after the death of his brother Sanjay in a 1980 air-crash , donned the mantle of Prime Minister with a cabinet manned by respected statesmen, many of whom were stalwarts of his assassinated mother . Conversely, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh currently presides over a cabinet that counts six convicted criminals with charges of murder, rape, arson and embezzlement against them among its ranks.In 1984, public accountability would have rendered such an occurrence unthinkable. However, the financial clout that these criminals wield has accommodated their inclusion in India's cabinet. This effective criminalisation of the country's highest civilian decision-making body makes a mockery of Indian democracy; instead of being served by astute decision makers, Indian citizens are being governed by its most influential citizens, many of whom have clearly used illicit means to command such influence.The criminalisation of India's polity does not bode well for future generations of Indian citizens. While every Indian Prime Minister in the last 25 years has been cognizant of the threat posed by corruption, no one has passed effective legislation designed to tackle it. When asked to assess the risk posed by corruption to India's polity, Indira Gandhi dismissively countered that ?  °Corruption is a global phenomenon† . Her non-committal remark encapsulates the attention paid by her administrat ion towards thwarting corrupt practices.Her son, Rajiv, inherited a polity ridden with corruption, compounded by an ever-expanding bureaucracy that had become a â€Å"Committed civil service† during his mother's tenure. His desire to rectify India's corrupt polity was clear within a year of his tenure; in December 1985 he addressed the dangerous levels of corruption in India when he remarked ?  °Corruption is not only tolerated but even regarded as the hallmark of leadership. Flagrant contradiction between what we say and what we do has become our way of life. At every stage our private self crushes our social commitment† .Coming to power with an overwhelming majority in parliament , passing legislation designed to address the issue of corruption would not have been difficult for him to do. Unfortunately, his efforts were diverted by other matters of state, like the economy. His sobriquet of being â€Å"Mr. Clean† proved ironic; his reputation was significantly tainted by the A. E. Bofors Scandal . His failure to explain away the allegations of corruption levied against him proved to be the deciding factor in his 1989 election loss to V. P. Singh .During the 1990's, India had six Prime Ministers . Apart from P. V. Narasimha Rao, none served their full terms, and all led coalition governments. Predictably, the over-accommodating nature of their governments effectively disallowed them from tackling the omnipresent threat posed by corruption to India's polity. While Rao Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996 is best remembered for ushering in a series of economic reforms that sparked the liberalisation of India's economy, allegations of corruption enveloped his administration, eventually implicating him.By adopting a passive stance towards tackling corruption, Indian governments have failed to rectify one of the most formidable problems confronting India's democracy. Their lackadaisical attitude has dampened the impact of India's economic growth on the country's living standards. While India's economy has grown at a rapid rate over the last ten years, the fruits of this economic prosperity have not accrued to the common man, and are instead being enjoyed by a privileged minority.An effective measure of ascertaining the extent to which economic prosperity has dissipated through society is to consider a country's gross domestic product per capita . India's G. D. P. per capita is lower than Pakistan's, and almost half that of China's . A significant factor contributing to this anomaly is prevalent corruption among the highest levels of India's business community, which aids and abets corruption among India's politicians. Corruption in India's economy has undermined attempts made to upgrade the country's infrastructure.Long-term economic growth can only be sustained by having a developed infrastructural system in place, capable of maintaining increased trade. Despite the allocation of substantial amounts of money for road devel opment, India's road network continues to be underdeveloped . Moreover, India's ports, vital for the exporting and importing of goods from the country, are inefficient . The same can be said of the country's airports. These infrastructural problems point to a lack of forethought and planning by India's bureaucrats. As will be discussed, the burgeoning size of India's bureaucracy ogether with the ineptitude of the country's bureaucrats has resulted in a laborious decision-making process. Corruption and inefficiency are significant obstacles inhibiting India's attempts to realise its full economic potential. In a 2006 review conducted by the Hong-Kong think-tank ?  °Political and Economic Risk Consultancy†, international businessmen surveyed felt that corruption in India's private sector was a â€Å"major concern† . Moreover, they felt that corruption was â€Å"an average-sized deterrent†, dissuading them from investing in India .This reinforces a warning issued in a 2000 Indian Supreme Court ruling, which stated that, if unchecked, corruption could cause India's â€Å"socio-economic-political system† to disintegrate . To ensure that the rapid advances being made by India's economy are sustained and that national wealth is equally distributed among all sectors of society, it is imperative for corruption in the Indian economy to be effectively dealt with. Measures should be taken to ensure that government funds set aside for public works are not misallocated.By Rajiv Gandhi's own admission, only 15% of all government aid allotted to welfare programs reached the people the money was intended to assist . Two inferences can be drawn from this: a majority of government money is siphoned away by officials, and corruption in India's polity has been perpetuated over a considerable period of time. The corruption in India's polity can only be addressed by passing legislation that reinforces value codes among Indian politicians. Indian lawmaker s can empirically draft legislation, prescribing â€Å"Codes of Conduct† for Ministers and Members of Parliament.By holding them accountable to national legislation, more credibility will be brought towards the Indian government's fight against corruption in the polity. Additionally, seeking assistance from countries that top Global Anti-Corruption Indices can help Indian whistle-blowers incorporate international expertise in resolving the problem they confront. India's Distended Bureaucracy: A White Elephant The inability of independent India's leaders to modify the county's pre-Independence administrative system proved to be significant in the perpetuation of corruption within India's bureaucracy.While colonial India's administrative system was effective in carrying out the functions of the British Raj collecting taxes, maintaining law and order and upholding the status quo it was unable to modify itself into carrying out the task of serving, rather than subjugating indepen dent India's citizenry. While India was still newly independent, officers from the Indian Civil Service (later modified to the Indian Administrative Service) capably led India's bureaucracy, efficiently carrying out the tasks assigned to them by government.Regrettably, the last 25 years have witnessed an ebbing away in the calibre of India's administrative officers. Rampant corruption among Indian bureaucrats and the politicisation of the Civil Service has significantly contributed towards this demur, creating a situation where India's bureaucracy has become a â€Å"White Elephant†, wielding enough clout for politicians to refrain from reforming it. In 1998, the Hong-Kong think-tank ?  °Political and Economic Risk Consultancy† rated India's bureaucracy as being among the most corrupt in Asia .Several factors substantiate this assessment. The rapid rise of India's economy has led to a huge inflow of foreign investment, with an increasing number of foreign firms competi ng for permits to set up businesses in India. This increased competition for limited vacancies widens the scope for corrupt practises to occur. Moreover, the number of people working in the Indian Administrative Service has risen exponentially since independence from 1,440,000 employees to 3,870,000 today . Understandably, this substantial increase in the workforce has led to greater levels of red-tape.To undercut this inefficiency, many individuals and private companies have resorted to bribery. The extortionate nature of India's bureaucrats has been compounded by the politicisation of the I. A. S. While induction into the Service was entirely meritocratic at the time of its inception, corruption now plays a significant role in the selection of candidates. Recently, serious infringements in the morality of I. A. S. officers have been brought to the public's attention with cases of corruption in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland and Maharashtra . These isolated incidents reinforce a orrying trend. The politicisation of the service has, among other things, resulted in the delegation of power to individuals who may not be the most adept in handling the responsibility delegated to them. On India's Independence Day, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan warned that ?  °?  ­when power outstrips ability, we will fall on evil days† . In many cases, the power being designated to Indian bureaucrats far out-strips their administrative ability. Like the corruption in India's polity, rampant corruption in India's bureaucracy threatens to undermine the societal workings of the country in years to come.The bloated size of India's bureaucracy is another matter needing urgent attention. With over 3,870,000 employees , it is only natural for nepotism to take root between officials at different rungs of seniority. India's Deputy Prime Minister at the time of independence, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel , specifically cautioned against the politicisation of the civil service. In a letter dated 15 October, 1948, he warned that ?  °The Service must be above party and we should ensure that political considerations, either in its recruitment or in its discipline and control, are reduced to the minimum, if not eliminated altogether† .The idea of gaining promotion in the service through underhand means was perpetuated during the last years of Indira Gandhi's tenure, some 25 years ago . As is mentioned by Madhav Godhbole, Home Secretary during Mrs. Gandhi's Prime Minister-ship, ?  °A new breed of civil servants who were ambitious and wanted to go places fast, quickly came into prominence. â€Å"Be committed (to the ruling political party) or get omitted† was the slogan of the rat race† . While Mrs. Gandhi strenuously denied these allegations , this shift in the mindset of Indian bureacrats marked a significant turning point in the affiliations of Indian civil servants.Instead of serving India's citizenry, ambitious civil servants began servin g the interests of the ruling party to win promotion. The rot within India's bureaucracy can be traced back to Mrs. Gandhi's tenure 25 years ago. In arriving at possible solutions for resolving the rampant corruption among India's bureaucrats, the present situation must be carefully considered. The current salaries being awarded to India's politicians and bureaucrats are a pittance when compared with the salaries being awarded to their counterparts internationally .By awarding salaries to government employees that are far below what is required to survive, Indian legislators are effectively compelling members of the civil service to seek alternative ways of making money. It is therefore only natural for them to forge illicit ties with opportunistic individuals. This is an internecine relationship; the bureacrats† ability to provide good governance is inhibited by their ulterior commitments to individuals, while the polity as a whole is at a loss as it is not being efficiently served by its administrative service.Therefore, any meaningful attempt to thwart corruption in India's bureaucracy must begin by appointing a Pay Commission with the mandate of adjusting the pay scales of India's civil servants in accordance with international standards. In many East Asian countries, the policy of awarding government employees high salaries has led to an increased level of integrity among the countries† administrators . To begin fighting an effective battle against corruption in the bureaucracy, India must follow their lead. India's independence leaders were mindful of the task assigned to them at the time of independence.During his 15 August 1947 address to India's Constituent Assembly, Jawaharlal Nehru reminded his audience that ?  °Freedom and power bring responsibility† . Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, who later became India's President, talked along similar lines when he reminded Indians that ?  °A free India will be judged by the way in which it will se rve the interests of the common man† . During the last 25 years, an increase in corrupt practices by India's politicians, administrative officials and business leaders has created a situation wherein India is no longer fulfilling its full potential.Corruption in India has transcended the simple giving and receiving of bribes; it has become a part of the psyche of many people engaged in governance and business. As was mentioned in an editorial in India's â€Å"Economic Times† newspaper dated 11 March 1998, ?  °This ideology (of corruption)?  ­will have to be reshaped†, ?  °before radical changes can be implemented† . In contemporary India, the interests of the common man are no longer being met, as was alluded to by the aforementioned 2000 ruling of India's Supreme Court.Inter alia, the ruling forewarned that ?  °Corruption in a civilised society is a disease like cancer which, if not detected in time, is sure to render malignant the polity of the cou ntry (India), leading to disastrous consequences† . It is not impossible for India to rid itself off corruption. There have been historical precedents for Indians to draw inspiration from; eighteenth century Great Britain was ?  °notoriously corrupt†, but over a 50-year period metamorphosed into ?  °a regime of extraordinary public probity† .This remarkable turnaround was achieved by undertaking several reforms, including the instating of a meritocratic administrative service and the implementation of legislation guarding against corrupt practices . Though Indian politicians have many potentially effective ideas to combat corruption, they lack the political conviction necessary to covert their proposals into reality. Over the last 25 years, numerous commissions have been set up by Indian governments to assess the threat posed by corruption and to map a way forward. By many accounts, corrective measures are already being taken.Between 2005 and 2006, the think-ta nk ?  °Political and Economic Risk Consultancy† reported that the level of corruption in India had substantially decreased, from a rating of 8. 63 to 6. 76 on a scale of ten . This is the most significant fall in India's corruption rating over the last decade, and if this is anything to go by, steps in the right direction are already being taken. Apart from the aforementioned proposals put forth to combat corruption in India's polity and administrative service, another tool useful in furthering India's battle against corruption is public accountability.During the last two decades, public accountability has steadily eroded, with fewer cases of corruption against government officials being levied in courts. Furthermore, logistical problems have resulted in a massive backlogging of legal cases, causing major delays in bringing cases to court . To better ensure accountability, measures should be taken to rectify this. In the words of P. V. Srivastava, ?  °an adequately paid po litical class which is honest and independent and which is thus capable of providing clean, efficient and pro-people governance to the country (India)† will resolve India's corruption problem.However, it is important to bear in mind that, in spite of losing the incentive to be corrupt, some people continue to engage in dishonest practices. Public liability is the only viable solution for bringing such people to book for their actions. As Kofi Annan once commented; ?  °We have the means and the capacity to deal with our problems, if only we can find the political will† . The political will of Indian politicians has been in short supply over the last 25 years; yet it is the only impediment standing between India overhauling the corruption within its polity and dministrative service. 4. Outsourcing WHAT IS OUTSOURCING? The idea of outsourcing has its roots in the ‘competitive advantage' theory propagated by Adam Smith in his book ‘The Wealth of Nations' which was published in 1776. Over the years, the meaning of the term ‘outsourcing' has undergone a sea change. What started off as the shifting of manufacturing to countries providing cheap labour during the Industrial Revolution, has taken on a new connotation in today's scenario.In a world where IT has become the backbone of businesses worldwide, ‘outsourcing' is the process through which one company hands over part of its work to another company, making it responsible for the design and implementation of the business process under strict guidelines regarding requirements and specifications from the outsourcing company. The key to this definition is the aspect of transfer of control. This definition differentiates outsourcing from business relationships in which the buyer retains control of the process or, in other words, tells the supplier how to do the work.It is the transfer of ownership that defines outsourcing and often makes it such a challenging, painful process. In o utsourcing, the buyer does not instruct the supplier how to perform its task but, instead, focuses on communicating what results it wants to buy; it leaves the process of accomplishing those results to the supplier. There are two principal types of outsourcing: 1. Traditional outsourcing: – In â€Å"traditional† outsourcing, employees of an enterprise cease to perform the same jobs to the enterprise. Rather, tasks are identified that need to be performed, and the employees are normally hired by the service provider.For example, an information technology outsourcing may include a transfer of responsibility for management of data centers and networks (LAN, WAN, and telecommunications). In the field of facilities management, individuals acting as property managers might become employees of a facilities management company. 2. Greenfield outsourcing: – In â€Å"greenfield† outsourcing, the enterprise changes its business processes without any hiring of personn el by the service provider. For example, the enterprise might hire a startup company to provide a new service, such as wireless remote computing, that was not previously managed internally.This brings us to the areas of outsourcing. Outsourcing takes place in the following three main fields: * Business Process Outsourcing: – It aims at providing optimal performance in critical enterprise processes. It provides industry-specific as well as cross-industry solutions, enabling clients to focus on core competencies and move to a higher level of performance. * Application Outsourcing: – This aims at applications development, management and maintenance services that complement strategic goals and produce measurable business value.This could also encompass innovation that enables the clients to achieve high performance. * Infrastructure Outsourcing: – Our professionals collaborate with forward-thinking organizations to create low-cost, high-value solutions for the entir e enterprise. Accenture Infrastructure Outsourcing (IO) enables companies to transform business-critical applications and processes and achieve high performance. WHAT IS BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING? The BPO handles the outsourced project in a four-fold manner. * It invites companies to outsource to it by advertising its manpower efficiency and its technological advantage. The next step is achieving the desired results. The company generally has a prescribed set of SLAs (Service Level Agreements) that it has to meet. * Then it needs to assure clients that they would be able to deliver the desired results with utmost security, since a loss of data could lead to grave consequences for the parent company. * The final stage is the result stage. You deliver the results that lead to quality output at cheap rates, thus benefiting the parent company. The services offered by a BPO range from voice based processes to non-voice based processes.The non-voice based processes are termed as back o ffices wherein computations and data feeding and processing takes place. WHY OUTSOURCE? Rapidly changing and increasingly complex business forces are bringing fundamental shifts in management and organization. The steady advance of technology, the complexity of business operations and the need for constant growth are conditions that require core competence in too many functional areas. This business climate demands that companies adapt to keep up with the changes. The benefits of outsourcing of course are variable, dependent upon the nature and situation of the organization.However, the following is a list of common reasons why outsourcing is undertaken: * To improve business focus: Outsourcing lets a company focus on broader business issues while having details assumed by an outside experts. * Free management from day-to-day operations oversight * Access to world-class capabilities: By the very nature of their specialization, outsourcing providers bring extensive worldwide resource s to meeting the needs of their customers * Redirection of resources: Every organization has limits on the resources available to it.Outsourcing permits an organization to redirect its resources from non-core activities toward activities that have greater return in serving the customer. * As business practices continue to change and evolve within organizations looking to remain competitive, the nature of outsourcing is undergoing a transformation in both its use and its impact. * Lower costs due to economies of scale * Ability to concentrate on core functions * Greater flexibility and ability to define the requisite service more readily * Specific supplier benefits. For example, better security, continuity, etc. Higher quality service due to focus of the supplier * Improved internal management disciplines resulting from the exercise itself * Less dependency upon internal resources * Control of budget * Faster setup of the function or service * Lower ongoing investment required in in ternal infrastructure * Greater ability to control delivery dates (e. g. : via penalty clauses) * Lack of internal expertise * Increase flexibility to meet changing business conditions * Purchase of industry best practice * Improve risk management * Acquire innovative ideas * Increase commitment and energy in non-core areas Improve credibility and image by associating with superior providers * Generate cash by transferring assets to the provider * Gain market access and business opportunities through the supplier’s network * Turn fixed costs into variable costs ADVENT OF THE BPO INDUSTRY IN INDIA: Since the onset of globalization in India during the early 1990s, successive Indian governments have pursued programs of economic reform committed to liberalization and privatization. Till 1994, the Indian telecom sector was under direct governmental control and the state owned units enjoyed a monopoly in the market.In 1994, the government announced a policy under which the sector w as liberalized and private participation was encouraged. The New Telecom Policy of 1999 brought in further changes with the introduction of IP telephony and ended the state monopoly on international calling facilities. This brought about a drastic reduction and this heralded the golden era for the ITES/BPO industry and ushered in a slew of inbound/outbound call centers and data processing centers. Although the IT industry in India has existed since the early 1980s, it was the early and mid 1990s that saw the emergence of outsourcing.One of the first outsourced services was medical transcription, but outsourcing of business processes like data processing, billing, and customer support began towards the end of the 1990s when MNCs established wholly owned subsidiaries, which catered to the process off-shoring requirements of their parent companies. Some of the earliest players in the Indian market were American Express, GE Capital and British Airways. The ITES or BPO industry is a youn g and nascent sector in India and has been in existence for a little more than five years.Despite its recent arrival on the Indian scene, the industry has grown phenomenally and has now become a very important part of the export-oriented IT software and services environment. It initially began as an activity confined to multinational companies, but today it has developed into a broad based business platform backed by leading Indian IT software and services organizations and other third party service providers. The ITES/BPO market expanded its base with the entry of Indian IT companies and the ITES market of the present day is characterized by the existence of these IT giants who re able to leverage their broad skill-sets and global clientele to offer a wide spectrum of services. The spectrum of services offered by Indian companies has evolved substantially from its humble beginnings. Today, Indian companies are offering a variety of outsourced services ranging from customer care, tr anscription, billing services and database marketing, to Web sales/marketing, accounting, tax processing, transaction document management, telesales/telemarketing, HR hiring and biotech research.DEMAND-SUPPLY ANALYSIS OF THE INDUSTRY W. R. T. INDIA WHY INDIA? Robust communication infrastructure, a large English-speaking workforce, low labor costs, appropriate time-zone difference with the West and the brand equity built by the software services sector are compelling reasons for choosing India as the BPO destination. To top it all a friendly tax structure places the ITES/BPO industry on par with IT services companies.Further outsourcing to India offers significant improvements in quality and productivity for overseas companies on crucial parameters such as number of correct transactions/number of total transactions; total satisfaction factor; number of transactions/hour and average speed of answer. Some of the other key benefits of outsourcing from India are enlisted below: * Access to leading practices: external service providers give companies access to an extensive, highly specialized knowledge base–which providers must improve continuously to stay in business. Clearer strategic focus: allows a manager to focus on core competencies and strategic issues rather than on routine, time-consuming activities * Better resource allocation: can help shift the traditional focus from transactional activities and reporting to the delivery of forward-looking information and value-added business analysis. * Improving service quality and productivity. Fast turnaround times and the ability to offer 24Ãâ€"7 services based on the country's unique geographic location that allows for leveraging time zone differences. Improve performance–maximize the performance of an organization's enterprise client/server computing environment through the use of the latest technology and an outsourcer's performance management tools and expertise * Achieving cost effectiveness as well as cost Reductions * Significant cost savings, up to 80% in certain cases. * While it can be quite difficult to recruit the expected competence in Western countries, it is a completely different scenario in India, where there are lots of available programmers with a good academic background. Abundant, skilled, English-speaking manpower, which is being harnessed even by ITES hubs such as Singapore and Ireland. * Improving telecom and other infrastructure, which is at par with global standards. * Strong quality orientation among players and their focus on measuring and monitoring quality targets. * Proactive and positive policy environment, which encourages ITES/BPO investments and simplifies rules and procedures. DEMAND FOR BPOs – PRICE DETERMINANTS The Law of demand states that â€Å"higher the price, lower the demand† and vice-versa, other things remaining constant.This concept is well illustrated in the BPO industry. Since the employee costs are higher in nation s like the US and the UK, they are looker towards fresher pastures to cut costs. The breakup of a fictitious company’s expenses is given as follows. The overheads amount to around 17. 7%, the facility maintenance is around 5. 7%, the technical and telecommunication is the major expense commanding around 47. 5% while employee costs in terms of salaries and employee benefits brings up the year with 29. 2%. Now by outsourcing to an Indian firm they cut costs to the magnitude of almost 75% on employee costs.The main drawback though is the fact that they tend to lose around 35 – 40% in terms of technical development and telecommunication costs. But technical development is a one-time investment and the rest is more than offset by the savings on employee costs. To make matters better the international bandwidth situation has improved dramatically over the last 3 years with the launch of India's first private undersea cable. Moreover, considerable bandwidth is also available to companies through state owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited – VSNL.It has strategic stakes and has negotiated contracts to use parts of several international cables like SEA-ME-WE II, SEA-ME-WE III (40 GBPS capacity), FLAG (10 GBPS capacity) and SAFE (40 GBPS capacity) offering connectivity to most locations around the world. Other private operators in India also have aggressive plans to build undersea cable with considerable bandwidth over the next 2-3 years. Besides, the privatization of NLD operations within India has resulted in the emergence of new players. The privatization of the telecom Industry has resulted in significant drop in telecom rates.Continuing competition in the industry with the recent entry of newer players will see a further drop in telecom prices. As a result, the telecom costs have dropped by 85% in 3 years. This has led to decreased expenditure by the international firms that have outsourced to India. A, B and C are points upon the demand curve (de mand for cheap labour available in India). Each point upon the curve reflects a direct correlation between quantity demanded (Q) and price (P). So, at point A, the quantity demanded will be Q1 and the price will be P1, and so on.The demand relationship curve illustrates the negative relationship between price and quantity demanded. The higher the price the less the quantity demanded (A), and the lower the price, the more quantity will be demanded (C). This graph further highlights the reason as to why companies are looking forward to outsourcing their processes. The reasons underlying law of demand can be explained as follows: * Income effect: Fall in expenditure on employee costs is equal to an increase in the profits earned by the company as it now spends less in getting the same amount of work done. Substitution effect: Further when the total manufacturing costs drop price of commodity falls, the consumer buys more of this commodity as compared to other commodities, which are mor e expensive. NON-PRICE DETERMINANTS OF DEMAND The major non-price determinant in this case is the backlash against outsourcing or off shoring by the general American public. This is further supported by the political scenario and changing government policies and strategies. Despite these two factors being strong detractors for trade, the price payoff seems to continue to lure the big companies to outsource.It is business logic that will drive the growth in the sector. One final but major detractor after the public backlash is the issue of data security, which might be projected as a hindrance to the flow of free trade between the two nations. SUPPLY OF LABOUR TO BPOs – PRICE DETERMINANTS Supply represents how much the market can offer. The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good producers are willing to supply when receiving a certain price. The correlation between price and how much of a good or service is supplied into the market is known as the supply rela tionship. Price therefore, is a reflection of supply and demand.The law of supply demonstrates the quantities that will be sold at a certain price. Opposite to the demand relationship, the supply relationship shows an upward slope. This means that the higher the price, the higher the quantity supplied. Producers supply more at a higher price because selling a higher quantity at a higher price offers greater revenues. A, B and C are points upon the supply curve (the supply here is of skilled labour, which may be cheap by US and UK standards but is profitable by Indian standards). Each point upon the curve reflects a direct correlation between quantity supplied (Q) and price (P).So, at point B, the quantity supplied will be Q2 and the price will be P2, and so on. A major factor affecting the supply curve is cost of production. The cost of production in India, where production would refer to tasks ranging from telemarketing to mere data entry, are low due to the availability of extreme ly cheap but skilled labour compared to the labour in the US. This is profitable for Indian companies as they can earn large profits despite paying god salaries to employees and so these producers undertake these processes on a large-scale.EFFECT OF SUBSTITUTES In the case of outsourcing, substitutes are of two types. The first type comprises of service providers from the same country, while the second type makes up the other countries to which processes can be outsourced. Service providers within the country that are real successful are enlisted below. Each of them specializes in single or a range of processes. * Wipro Spectramind * Daksh eServices * Office Tiger * HCL Technologies * ICICI OneSource * World Network * Exl Service. com * MsourcE * Hinduja TMT * Tracmail * ProgeonThree years since, Office Tiger is the fifth-largest third-party BPO Company in India with revenues over $25million. It has 1000 employees in two facilities. Two more Office Tiger centers will go live by the fourth quarter of2003. Besides office documentation, it now offers services as specialized as business research for the banking industry and analytics to its 20 clients in the US and Europe. Most industry observers believe the Indian BPO industry is headed skywards. A research director (off-shore BPO), Gartner India said, â€Å"India will soon have nearly a dozen $100-million third-party BPO companies.In the next 18-24 months, there will be 8 to 10 third-party operators with revenues in excess of $100 million. This is not too difficult to assess considering the over 70% growth of these players†. The $100-million mark is crucial for two reasons: First, it gives the companies a critical mass to fight multinationals like EDS, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Accenture and Exult Inc. Second, it gives the prospective client enough confidence to trust them with larger contracts. Of course, business is still not pouring in, but Indian companies are beginning to graduate from $2- 4 million contracts to tens-of-millions contracts.Early this year, HCL Technologies (HCLT) BPO Services bagged the biggest-ever third-party BPO deal among Indian firms – a five-year contract from British Telecom (BT) worth $160 million. Add to that an existing contract of $15 million from BT’s Belfast unit and HCLT BPO has assured revenue of $175 million over the next five years. That’s $35 million a year from just one client. It has 23 more. Among others who are projected to pull through to the $100-million club by March 2005 are the $30-million Daksh eServices, the $41-million Wipro Spectramind and the $35-million World Network Services (WNS).Daksh has projected a revenue increase of 85-90% by March 2004 on the basis of ramp-up of its current projects from nine clients and Wipro Spectramind, India’s largest BPO Company could be there in the next 12 months based on just organic growth. Others who could hit the $50-million mark are the $20-million MsourcE and the $29-million exl Service. com. Given their current growth rates, even their targets seem well within reach. For instance, exl, which started as a Conseco (US-based insurance company), promoted venture with 95% of the work coming from the arent, now does barely 7% of Conseco work. If all these companies hit $100 million by 2005, they would have outdone their better known cousins-the IT services companies. The other type of substitution is in terms of countries other than India. They are given below with their advantages and disadvantages mentioned alongside. ECONOMIES OF SCALE When there are economies of scale, manufacturing costs per unit decline as a firm produces more of a product. Declining unit costs enable firms to earn excess profits the larger their scale of output.This creates a tendency toward concentration and imperfect competition: normally there are few producers, each one an oligopolist or monopolist, with profits commensurate to their scale of production and th e number of competitors in the market. Economies of scale are important to the political economy of trade because trade enlarges the available market, which affects plant size. For example, trade encourages firms to expand production runs, increase capacity utilization, rationalize production facilities, and pursue mergers and acquisitions.Business Process Outsourcing is generally categorized as being transactional, niche, or comprehensive. Transactions are generally sub-processes such as account payables, account receivables, journal, general ledger, order processing, medical transcription, etc. Niche support moves up to support a complete business process by specialized business services providers such as accounting, human resources, etc. Comprehensive usually thoroughly covers multiple business processes by one of the large Business Services Providers (BSPs). Business Process Outsourcing since its inception has been the turf of large business clients.Small, and many medium sized businesses do not have the staff required to develop, negotiate, and manage the contracts, service level agreements, and other overhead associated with doing business with the large Business Services Providers (BSP). As a result, business process outsourcing has been practically unavailable to small and some medium sized businesses. Major problems faced by small service vendors are: * Reckless Start-ups- a vast majority of the 310 start-ups are headed for a dead-end. Their capacity utilization is less than one of the three shifts.Many of these companies that converted their empty basements and warehouses into BPO units or firms with $10 million-20 million VC funds that ran out of cash without creating anything more than white elephants. They have driven down prices to grab business, but have failed to deliver. They were always clueless about people, processes or technologies- the three key elements of the BPO business. * Poor Infrastructure- the industry has more to worry about than just reckless start-ups. Primary among those is infrastructure. While telecom networks are state of the art, getting a connection still takes up to three months.Unreliable power supply is forcing units to create their own back-ups, which they can barely afford. Roads are bad and airports are in dire need of repairs and upgrades. * High Attrition-another major problem is the high attrition and growth aspirations of the workforce. At least 60,000 of the 171,000 workforce change jobs every year. About 80% of them look for better leaders. Team leaders want to upgrade to supervisors, quality professionals or operations heads. The HR problem threatens to soon become grave. Good agents are becoming hard to find and with tardy infrastructure, big moves to the much talked about smaller towns will take longer.This means costs will rise making it difficult for small VC-funded companies to survive. The big service vendors thus highlighting the economies of scale face neither of these problems. But then as the size of the company keeps growing the diseconomies of scale strike in a big way in the form of increase in demand for employees. The BPO sector is facing a roadblock of sorts, a human one. BPO companies are struggling to hire new employees in sufficient numbers in the metro cities. Consequently they are trawling small towns looking for †employable† graduates.For cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore demand is already outstripping supply of people. The demand for fresh graduates from BPO companies in the National Capital Region (NCR) region is around 20,000 to 25,000. The colleges and the universities within the NCR are unable to supply †employable† graduates to meet this demand. This is because the total number of graduates from all colleges, diploma institute and universities is not necessarily relevant. This has led to a problem wherein despite wanting to expand and accept new processes the companies cannot do so for wan of man power.This leads to recruitment of semiskilled labour and a subsequent drop in quality. DEMAND SUPPLY EQUILIBRIUM The concepts of supply and demand bring us to an important effect that they have on price. When supply and demand are equal (i. e. when the supply function and demand function intersect) the economy is said to be in equilibrium. At this point, the allocation of goods (in this case labour) is at its most efficient because the amount of goods being supplied is exactly the same as the amount of goods being demanded.Thus, everyone (individuals, firms, or countries) is satisfied with the current economic condition. At the given price, suppliers are selling all the goods that they have produced and consumers are getting all the goods that they are demanding. With reference to the BPO industry this could be explained as follows. The demand here would be of skilled labour from international companies wishing to outsource to the service vendors in India. The supply would be of fa cilities and labour to complete the assigned process catering to the SLAs.The equilibrium price would be when the service vendors are sure of making reasonable amount of profits and the international company is assured of having excellent quality work done at lowered rates. Equilibrium occurs at the intersection of the demand and supply curve, which indicates no allocative inefficiency. At this point, the price of the goods will be P* and the quantity will be Q*. These figures are referred to as equilibrium price and quantity. In the real market place equilibrium can only ever be reached in theory, so the prices of goods and services are constantly changing in relation to fluctuations in demand and supply.