Harley Davidson Company Essay

Harley Davidson Inc is a company that has been in existence for over 100 years. The company is made up of several other subsidiary companies such as the Harley Davidson Motor Company, Harley Davidson Financial Services and Buell Motorcycle Company. These companies work together in the motorcycle industry with the motor cycle companies dealing with the production and marketing of the motorcycles while the financial services deals with providing financial services to the customers and dealers of the company. Harley Davidson Company has undergone various challenges in its internal and external environment such as the World War I and II, the Great Depression and other internal challenges such as the labor strikes and change in ownership. An analysis of the company portrays several strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that the company faces. The company can use the findings of this analysis to develop a grand strategy that can help the company survive the future. The various stakeholders of the company are mostly the customers, the suppliers, dealers, employees, the shareholders and the management of the company. These are the people that are affected by the activities of the company and that also have expectations from the company. The company’s financial performance has been improving during the current financial year due to the restructuring changes that are ongoing. It has reported profits in its operations and also an increase in sales. The strategic issues that the company is facing have also challenged its performance. The shifts in the customers’ tastes and preferences for example have affected the sales of the company’s motorcycles. A grand strategy that focuses on growth through an increase in marketing and an improvement of the company’s product and manufacturing processes can help the company survive the current environment. 1.0 Introduction Companies strive to excel in all manner of situations and overcome the challenges that they face in order to succeed and become competitive. Harley Davidson Inc is once such company. It has been surviving for about 107 years since it was founded in 1903 (Harley-Davidson, n.d). The company has its headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was founded by three brothers Arthur, Walter and William Davidson together with a partner, William Harley. The company consists of several subsidiary companies which operate in three continents. The companies include Harley-Davidson Motor Company (HDMC) which deals with the production of motor vehicles together with Buell Motorcycle Company (Buell) (Harley-Davidson, 2010). Harley-Davidson Inc also includes Harley Davidson Financial Services (HDFS) which provides financial services to the dealers and customers of HDMC’s products. It also provides insurance policies and programs to the companies and its customers. HDMC sells motorcycles, together with the accessories and spare parts which it also produces. Harley-Davidson is also involved in other activities such as racing and in the production of bicycles and motor vehicles. The company which has been in existence for years now has survived several political and economical challenges such as the World War 1, the Great Depression, the World War 2 and other company trials such as labor strikes and change in ownership. Despite the many challenges it has undergone over its existence the company has been able to survive. The company’s sales have gone off severally, its quality has also been affected but it has been able to regain both the sales and the quality of its products. It has remained tough in the manufacturing of motorcycles and this has made its brands the most sought after all over the world (Davidson, Thompson, & Barger, 2006). The company has also faced competition from other companies based in the U.S and in other countries such as Japan but it has been able to retain and maintain its market share. Further more; the founders of the company were named American heroes through their innovation with the company receiving several awards for its involvement in the two World Wars and other racing events (United States Department of Labor, n.d). This paper discusses Harley Davidson Company providing a SWOT analysis of the company, a description of its internal and external environment, a financial assessment of the organization as well as summarizing the major strategic issues that have faced the company. It also discusses the next grand strategy that the company can undertake in the future to improve its performance. 2.0 Harley Davidson 2.1 History William Harley, Arthur Davidson and Walter Davidson pooled their resources in 1903 to produce their first practical motorcycle (Harley-Davidson, n.d). The three men were assisted by William A. Davidson on a part time basis and by 1905 they had produced eight machines and they hired their first employee then. William Davidson quit his job in 1907 at the Milwaukee Road railroad and joined the Motor Company (Harley-Davidson, n.d). The Harley Davidson Company was later incorporated in September 1907 with the stock of the firm being split into 4 among the four founders.   At that time the staff of the company had more than doubled from 18 employees in 1906. The size of the company had also doubled by then and dealer recruitment had begun targeting the New England Region. In 1908, the company was able to sell its first motorcycle for police duty in Detroit Police Department and a year later they started motorcycles spare parts. In 1912, the company started building its six storey headquarters at Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee (Harley-Davidson, n.d). The building would also become its main factory with a separate parts and accessories department. During the same year the company made its first sales outside the U.S when it started exporting motorcycles to Japan. Its dealership network also grew to become over 200 dealers. A few years later, the company formed a racing department with Engineer William S. Harley who was assisted by William Ottaway. It also started publishing its first magazine, The Enthusiast which became the first motorcycle magazine all over the world (Harley-Davidson, n.d). In 1917, when the World War I started, the company was asked by the military to produce motorcycles to be used during the war. The company produced over 20,000 motorcycles to be used specifically by the military for the war (Speed Ace, n.d). The involvement of the company in producing motorcycles for the military enabled it to survive the war. By 1920 the company had become the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world due to the number of motorcycles it produced and the size of its facilities. It was operating in over 67 countries and had over 2000 dealers all over the world (Harley-Davidson, n.d). In the year 1941 when the World War II started, the company suspended the production of civilian motorcycles and started producing more military motorcycles (Harley-Davidson, n.d). The company also developed specific models for the army and in 1943; the company received the first of its 4 Army –Navy Awards for its excellent performance while producing motorcycles for the army. The company had produced over 60,000 models for military use (Harley-Davidson, n.d). When the war ended, the company wasting no time it resumed the production of civilian motorcycles. In the year 1952, the company was charged with restrictive practices after they applied to the US Tariff Commission for a 40% tax to be imposed on the imported motorcycles (Speed Ace, n.d). In 1953, as the company was celebrating its 50th anniversary, an attractive logo was developed that would depict the engine that had brought the company that far (Harley-Davidson , n.d). During the same year, Hendee Manufacturing Company, the Indian Motorcycle Company in the U.S, went out of business leaving Harley Davidson as the sole U.S motorcycle manufacturer over the next 46 years. The year 1969 was not a great year for the company as the American Machine and Foundry (AMF) acquired the Motor Company and made some changes that affected the company for years to come (Masker, 2007). AMF worked to streamline the production activities of the company and reduced the workforce in a bid to reduce the costs of the company. These changes were beneficial to the company in the short term but they became very damaging to the future of the business and in its long term. The reduction in the workforce led to a labor strike that affected the performance of the company. Furthermore the changes that had been done led to a reduction in the quality of the motorcycles that were produced over the years. The sales of the company were affected and the company almost went bankrupt. It was during this time that the Japanese manufacturers caught up with the company with their better quality, technology and increased stock. The regime by AMF lasted until 1981 when the company was bought back by 13 senior executives who were led by Vaughn Beals and Willie G. Davidson. The group bought the company for about $80 million and they were they able to set up the company to its load of recovery (Masker, 2007). Soon after in 1986 the company was listed in the American Stock Exchange and started to trade publicly in the year 1969. A year later the company was listed in the New York Stock Exchange and it petitioned the International Trade Commission to terminate a five year tariff on heavy weight motor cycles. This was seen as a major step for the company as it boldly stated it was in a position to compete fairly in the market. In 1993 the company celebrated its 90th anniversary with over 100,000 people parading their motorcycles in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Harley-Davidson, n.d). The company also purchased a minority interest in Buell Motorcycle Company which was manufacturing American sport motorcycles. In 1998 the company opened a new assembly facility that was to be the first of its kind outside the United States. The facility was opened in Manaus Brazil when the company was celebrating its 95th Anniversary and at the same time it bought the remaining interests in Buell Motorcycle Company of 49% (Harley-Davidson, n.d). The company has continued to expand its production facilities in Milwaukee, Tomahawk, Wisconsin, and New York and in Pennsylvania (Davidson, Thompson, & Barger, 2006). The company has also been developing more products and improving its products with the latest technology. The company has also developed a Harley Davidson Museum which showcases the motorcycles that the company has developed over the years and other historical items that the company has maintained in its archives. The museum building cost the company over $75 million and is situated in Milwaukee (Rovito, 2006). 2.2 SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis is a framework that is used to audit an organization and its external environment. The results of the analysis help in the planning of any strategic decisions towards the future of the company. The analysis involves identifying the internal and external factors that favor the organization and that also form an unfavorable environment (Stahl & Grigsby, 1997). The strengths of the company include those attributes that help the company to achieve its objectives while the weaknesses are the internal attributes that derail the achievement of the company’s objective and that also harm the company. The opportunities that are in the external environment include conditions that help the company to achieve the objectives. The threats on the other hand, include the conditions that are in the external environment and that challenge the company and affect it in a way that it may not be in a position to achieve its objectives. (a)  Ã‚   Strengths The Harley Davidson Company has several strengths that make it very competitive and profitable. The company has been in existence for over 100 years, and during this time it has established brand loyalty with its customers for its products. This is the major strength of the company as the products of the company are viewed as a culture and not just products. Most of the customers of the company are male and are in the middle-aged age bracket. They normally use the motorcycles for recreational purposes rather than for transport. The main qualities that the customers look for in the company’s product are the brand quality and the style. The company is able to provide these qualities and hence maintain its customers. The computer switching costs are high and once a customer buys a product from the company, they get trapped in buying more of the company’s products. The complementary products that come with the motorcycles also encourage the consumer loyalty. Once a customer purchases a Harley motorcycle, they proceed to buy accessories such as jackets and bandanas from the company. The company has also expanded its operations in different regions within the United States and also in other countries outside the United States. Some of the production plants are located in areas such as York, Kansas City, Tomahawk, and Milwaukee among others (Harley-Davidson, Inc., 2009). The different manufacturing plants have helped in reducing the costs especially in transport. The company has also diversified its activities and acquired several companies in different industries. The company acquired Buell Motorcycle Company which was also in the production of Motorcycles in East Troy, Wisconsin (Wheelen & Hunger, 2002 ). It also acquired the company Eagle Mark in 1995 which was providing financial services to manufacturers of leisure products as well as their dealers and customers. The company acquired Eagle Mark so that it would provide retail financing to its customers, insurance and contracts for servicing. Eagle Mark Company has also been offering planning services on behalf of the North American Dealers in motorcycle floor planning. The two companies have been working together complementing each others activities. The diversification of the company in the motorcycles, related products and the financial services has helped the company to diverse its risks in the industry and in business. Over the years the company has maintained strong relationships with its suppliers. The strong relationship with the suppliers has given the company access to resources that it needs in its production processes as well as the design and development of its products. It has then been able to increase the quality of its goods and improve the features of the brands in a bid to remain competitive. The production process is also reduced in terms of time as the suppliers are able to deliver the suppliers on time reducing the lead time. This leads to a reduction in costs and saves time for the company. The company operates its business in three continents and in various countries all over the world. However it has not been able to increase its foreign sales which are mostly carried out outside the U.S. (b)  Ã‚   Weaknesses The major weaknesses that the company has experienced within its internal operations include the weak marketing strategies that it has applied especially in its foreign markets. The company has experienced low foreign sales over the years as compared to its competitors. In 2009, the international sales only made up 33% of the total unit sales of the company (Pravda.Ru, 2009). The number of dealers in international markets are also very few and this has contributed partly to the low market sales of the company’s products as most of the customers in the market can not access the company’s products through this dealers. The labor conflicts that the company has experienced in some of its plants over the years have been affecting the performance of the company. Dissatisfied workers of the company have held strikes that have contributed to losses for the company as it has had to shut down the production plants during these times. The company has also had to lay off workers during the strikes in a bid to cut down its operation costs as a result of the strikes in other production plants. The labor conflicts have also reduced the investor confidence in the company as the prices of the company’s shares have been affected. (c)  Ã‚  Ã‚   Opportunities The external environment of the company has several opportunities that can benefit the company and improve its performance and market share. The shifts in the trends in the customers’ preferences and tastes in the market are producing an opportunity that the company can exploit to its advantage. The customers’ preferences and tastes have changed especially among the young and hip crowd of customers who the company was once targeting as its sole customers. These customers have shifted their preferences to sporty motorcycles for their recreational purposes. Harley-Davidson Company does not engage in the production of sporty motorcycles; however the increased demand for these kinds of motorcycles is providing an opportunity for the company to develop them and target this new market. The company can grab this opportunity and develop these sporty motorcycles and hence gain from the high demand. The need to restructure the company’s business structure after the company’s subsidiaries have experienced a decrease in performance is providing an opportunity for the company to concentrate in its brands and grow. The new structure of the company will ensure that all the resources of the product are put into good use to help develop the company and expand its operations into other markets. The company will also be able to focus on the development of the products and also develop new products that can help increases the market share in different parts of the world. (d)  Ã‚   Threats The company has faced several threats in the market that have undermined its performance. One of the major threats that the company has faced include the competition in the market. The company has faced a lot of competition from other international companies and manufacturers especially in the heavy weight motorcycles market. Some of the major competitors include Yamaha, Suzuki, and Honda among others. The increased competition has led to decreased sales of the company’s products especially in the foreign markets. The competition between these companies is based on the price, quality, and features of the products, the preferences of customers and the reliability of the products among other factors. The switching costs for the manufacturers in the industry are also quite low. With the increased growth in demand and the potential of the market, new competitors are entering the market and increasing the competition. The existence of substitute goods such as cars for transport and other recreational activities has also threatened the existence of the company and the sales. Consumers have a wide variety of products to substitute the motorcycles with and the increase of competitors is also leading to an increase in more brands in the market. This poses a big threat to the future of the company in the market of its products. The changes in customers’ demographics are also threatening the business in terms of sales. The percentage of males who have been purchasing the company’s products especially the motorcycles is declining. The percentages of women who are purchasing the products are however increasing. During the years 2003 and 2004 the percentage of sales that were purchased by men made up 89% with the rest being female. While in the years 2005 and 2007, the percentages had reduced to 88% among the male customers and 12% among the female customers (Harley-Davidson, n.d). The ages of the customers who have been purchasing the products of the company have also been increasing. By 2008 the median age of the customers had risen to 47 from 45 in the year 2004.

B.F. Skinner and Radical Behaviorism

B. F. Skinner, as he is known popularly, had made much contribution to psychology as he made confusions and debates. In delving into Skinner’s works, it is not surprising that researching about him and his ideas will overwhelm a student by the immense literature on Radical Behaviorism as well as will be lost in the confusion and humdrum of his â€Å"theory†. Thus, it is important in the narrative that it should be divided into smaller units as to delineate subjects about the whole topic. The first part will deal with a short biography of Skinner.This will only trace his career but will also include some sketches of his life that may have contributed to his line of thought and thinking. Presented in the next section are some ideas about his Radical Behaviorism and a rather shallow understanding of it. The difficulty in here however is that as one goes deeper into Radical Behaviorism, the more it is complex and confusing that the brevity of this paper will not permit. The third part is the presentation of some of the influences Radical Behaviorism had made in other fields of study.Many authors and many scholars would claim that Radical Behaviorism had influenced their fields, although only some of these fields will be presented. On the next section, a presentation be made on the criticisms on Radical Behavior. With a gigantic amount of literature written by B. F. Skinner, it is in no doubt that there will also be a great amount of published criticisms on Radical Behaviorism and only a few have made their way here. As a whole this paper will not be an ambitious research about B. F.Skinner and Radical Behaviorism but just to answer on the surface as: (1) Who is B. F. Skinner? ; (2) What is Radical Behaviorism? ; (3) What are the fields of study influenced by Radical Behaviorism? , and; (4) What are the criticisms directed towards Radical Behaviorism and to B. F. Skinner in particular? Biography Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsyl vania in March 20, 1904 (Hall, Lindzey & Campbell, 1998). His mother was an intelligent and strong housewife and his father, a modest lawyer practicing in the area (Vargas, 2004).According to Hall, Lindzey & Campbell (1998) as well as Vargas (2004), Skinner lived his early life with much warmth and stability – his parents giving him much freedom on discovery and his inventiveness. As Skinner’s daughter, Julie S. Vargas (2004) would attest that her grandmother gave her father the freedom to discover things and to develop his abilities. On the other hand, she was also strict in social matters, such as etiquette, and the young man devised many things to help him remember his mother’s social controls (Vargas, 2004).Nonetheless, the family gave emphasis on open debate over things and topics, although they have some conservative stance on certain things. With an interest on Literature, having been encouraged by Robert Frost, Skinner attended a small liberal arts schoo l of Hamilton College where he majored in English, determined to become a writer (Hall, Lindzey & Campbell, 1998). He was not successful though in writing, then he left home for New York and went to Harvard University for graduate studies (Vargas, 2004).In 1931, he received his Ph. D. and moved to the University of Minnesota in 1936 for an academic position, where for 9 years he would claim and establish a name as one of the most influential experimental psychologists of that time (Hall, Lindzey & Campbell, 1998). He then went to the University of Indiana for a short stay, in 1945 and returned to Harvard in 1948 to stay for the duration of his entire career until his retirement in 1974, where he would enrich all his ideas and theories (Vargas, 2004).Finally, on March 18, 1990 one of the most celebrated and controversial psychologists of all time died of leukemia, leaving behind a â€Å"ripple effect of his life’s work† as the â€Å"Operant procedures have crated entir e fields [of science]† (Vargas, 2004) Radical Behaviorism Radical Behaviorism is a term attributed to B. F. Skinner (Schneider & Morris, 1987), described as a distinction from the so-called Methodological Behaviorism and the â€Å"rest of psychology† (Malone & Cruchon, 2001). To contrast the two kinds of behaviorism, it is noteworthy to define both.By definition, Methodological Behaviorism is the: †¦view that there is a distinction between public and private events and that psychology (to remain scientific) can deal only with public events †¦ private events are ‘mental’ and, therefore, beyond our reach †¦ the â€Å"arid philosophy of truth by agreement† (Skinner, 1945) [that] something is meaningful or objective only if at least two observers agree on its existence. (Malone & Cruchon, 2001) According to Skinner’s viewpoint, Radical Behaviorism is quite different because, â€Å"it does not distinguish between private and public events.In so doing, it omits nothing commonly thought of as mental, but it treats ‘seeing’ as an activity similar in kind to walking (Malone & Cruchon, 2001). This is because Skinner â€Å"deny the mind/body dualism of the mentalists and the methodological behaviorists† (Malone & Cruchon, 2001). As an example, Malone and Cruchon (2001) succinctly described that: Thinking is something that we do, just as is walking, and we do not think mental thoughts any more than we walk mental steps. Personal experience is not necessarily ‘private’ experience.That part of the world within our bodies is difficult to describe because society has a difficult time teaching us to name it. (Malone & Cruchon, 2001) In other words, Skinner departed from analyzing behaviour as actions affected by our thoughts rather he argued that thoughts are effects themselves to a degree from our actions (Malone & Cruchon, 2001). With the term behaviorism attached to his ideas, he was as sociated with the Stimulus-Response Theory, but he repudiated it (Hall, Lindzey & Campbell, 1998) because accordingly his study of behavior should be:†¦redefined as studying the interactive relationship between an organism and the environment in which it behaves. The past and present environments provide the stimuli that set the occasion for behavior, and the organism’s actions operate (hence operant) on the environment. Actions have consequences, and these consequences shape the behavior of the organism. (Leahey, 2003) In addition, Skinner said that in Radical Behaviorism, it is not about the stimulus-response stance because:Instead of saying that the organism sees, attends to, perceives, ‘processes,’ or otherwise acts upon stimuli, an operant analysis holds that stimuli acquire control of behavior through the part they play in contingencies of reinforcement. Instead of saying that an organism stores copies of the contingencies to which it is exposed and la ter retrieves and responds to them again, it says that the organism is changed by the contingencies and later responds as a changed organism, the contingencies having passed into history. (Skinner, 1987)That is, â€Å"All operants and stimuli are members of classes of similar phenomena, defined by the environmental relations in which they participate. † (Ritzer, 2005). This is further said in the article Evolution of Verbal Behavior as: †¦species-specific behavior did not evolve in order that a species could adapt to the environment but rather evolved when it adapted, so we say that operant behavior is not strengthened by reinforcement in order that the individual can adjust to the environment but is strengthened when the individual adjusts.(Skinner, 1986) This is to say that Skinner’s Radical Behaviorism rests on the study of behavior in a sense that behavior is not caused by the stimuli but depends on the actions that a person reacts to in a certain setting (env ironment) resulting into another reaction, thus; â€Å"The environment not only triggered behavior, it selected it. Consequences seemed, indeed, to be more important than antecedents. † (Skinner, 1987). Some Influences by Skinner’s BehaviorismSurely, the influence of Radical Behaviorism in the applied fields has been proven by academic scholars in numerous research writings as part or a whole of some other fields in psychology. One such field is Human Geography, so called because it is â€Å"concerned with the spatial differentiation and organization of human activity and with human use of the physical environment† (Norton, 1997) and is concerned mainly of human behavior in an environment.In here, Norton (1997) corroborated that Human Geography is related to Radical Behaviorism because the principle of cultural materialism as an approach to the study of the former is similar to latter as: Radical behaviorism is concerned with the identification of the principles of individual behavior and talks about reinforcers and punishers, while cultural materialism is concerned with group behavior and talks about benefits and costs. Both argue that behavioral responses to environmental variables precede mental rationalizations as to the reasons for responses.† (Norton, 1997) Norton (1997) further adds that the research approach of Human Geography is â€Å"the analysis of behavior in landscape†, advocating the use of Radical Behaviorism. Secondly, it has also influenced the approaches of the analysis of Human Cognition as Barnes and Holmes (1991) would contend. This is because, they said that, â€Å"radical behaviorism does, on the contrary, and as opposed to earlier forms of behaviorism, direct considerable attention towards phenomena called ‘cognitive.’† (Barnes and Holmes, 1991), giving credit to the importance of the â€Å"contextualistic perspective† in the analysis of human thought. Further, they said that, â€Å"its current burgeoning of interest in human behavior, and particularly language and symbolic control, have yet to be fully appreciated and explored† (Barnes and Holmes, 1991), such that Radical Behaviorism, â€Å"can play an important role in developing psychology into a fully formed science† (Barnes and Holmes, 1991). Third, as formulated by Skinner, one such field influenced by Radical Behaviorism is the analysis of Verbal Behavior and communication.In the study conducted by Forsyth (1996) on the Language of Feeling, he identified Behaviorism as a good approach to such an analyses furthering understanding of the communication process. He said that â€Å"the functional analysis of verbal behavior has served as the cornerstone for behavior analytic research and theory about emotional behavior beginning with how people learn to label and describe their experience using language†, commending its use in clinical behaviour analysis.Fourth, an interesting prop osal of the use of Radical Behaviorism is the simulation or duplication of a community called Walden Two (Cullen, 1991), based on a novel by Skinner of the same title. The interesting part is that this proposal carried out for a community of disabled children having behavior deficits. This community was called Comunidad Los Horcones which was started in 1971 and has continued up to the present, followed the guiding rules based on the novel (Cullen, 1991).Cullen (1991) argued that the guiding principles of Radical Behaviorism can sustain a community, nonetheless the presence o only a handful of these kinds of community make it less probable for practical use. In the outset, the promise that, â€Å"it might provide the basis for sensible planning in the lives of people with learning disabilities† (Cullen, 1991). Criticisms Skinner’s Radical Behaviorism came out into the academic arena without and exemption from criticisms.According to Malone and Cruchon (2001), Skinnerâ €™s over-simplification of in his prose on the principles of Radical Behaviorism to gain public readership caused further criticisms because those who read it misunderstood it further. They said that these criticisms are, â€Å"attributable to the opacity of his prose and the excessiveness of his proposed applications† (Malone & Cruchon, 2001).Thus, the writings of Skinner led to many misconceptions as well as misinterpretations of Skinner’s works (Ruiz, 1995). Skinner have regretted this himself later in his life as he â€Å"eventually complained at having to redress misconstructions in the literature† (Ruiz, 1995). On the other Ruiz (1995), argued that Radical Behaviorism attracted strong objections from feminist critics and listed the following points as basis for that criticism as misinterpretations that it is:(a) a mechanistic stimulus-response psychology; (b) is primarily concertned with the behavior of small organisms in experimental chambers; (c) con ceptualizes the organism as a passive recipient of external forces; (d) denies or ignores innate contributions to behavior in its extreme environmentalism; (e) requires that we fragment behavior down to elemental units of analysis; and (f) deals only with overt behavior and so denies or ignores subjective experience such as feelings and thought. † (Ruiz, 1995)Quite interestingly is that Skinner’s Radical Behavior, undoubtedly had been misconstrued with these â€Å"labels† and had been the source of fierce criticisms from many quarters (Ruiz, 1995). Furthermore, Ruiz’s (1995) first entry in the misinterpretation list about Radical Behaviorism as â€Å"a mechanistic stimulus-response psychology†, was also claimed by Hall, Lindzey and Campbell (1998). In the long run, Skinner suffered misinterpretation rather than the validity of his Radical Behaviorism as a science.All three sources would agree that Skinner was misinterpreted and misunderstood (Malone & Cruchon, 2001; Ruiz, 1995; Hall, Lindzey & Campbell, 1998), because his readers and supporters as well as critiques always place labels on approaches, techniques or methods of analyses. Conclusion B. F, Skinner is a remarkable scholar of the 20th century, having to influence a handful of fields of study. In retrospect, Skinner started out with a humble beginning and his upbringing may have contributed to the immense power of thinking.His Radical Behaviorism, was an attempt of Skinner to delineate his ideas from the whole of behaviorism and the rest of psychology. In such doing, a new breed of approach had taken shape. His ideas on Radical Behaviorism eventually influenced many other fields of study for application and as an approach to many experiments. On the other hand, with such a remarkable approach, B. F. Skinner and Radical Behaviorism had been attacked by numerous criticisms simply because of its complexity; Skinner himself often over-simplify his writings to cover a wider audience that also caused much confusion and labeling on Radical Behaviorism.Nonetheless, many students and scholars also interpreted and cleared-out his ideas for better understanding such as Malone and Cruchon’s work (2001). Finally, Skinner’s Radical Behaviorism, according to most articles and proposition has a great promise to give for the science of psychology. While it is a fact, as many sources would say, that Skinner’s works are misinterpreted and confused, there is no way that in the subsequent debates and further studies on his Radical Behaviorism that it will shed more understanding to a wider audience.Thus, it is only in the hands and minds of later scholars to interpret Skinner’s work more fully. References Barnes, D. , & Holmes, Y. (1991). Radical behaviorism, stimulus equivalence, and human cognition. Psychological Record, 41(1), 19. Cullen, C. (1991). Experimentation and planning in community care. Disability, Handicap and Society Volume 6, No. 2: 115-128. Carfax Publishing Co. Forsyth, J. (1996). The language of feeling and the feeling of anxiety: Contributions of the behaviorisms toward†¦ Psychological Record, 46(4), 607. Hall, C. S. , Lindzey, G. & Campbell, J. B. (1998).Theories of personality 4ed. New York, N. Y. : John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Leahey, T. H. (2003). Chapter 6. Cognition and learning in Irving V. Weiner’s Handbook of psychology volume 1: History of psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Malone, J. C. & Cruchon, N. M. (2001). Radical behaviorism and the rest of psychology: A review/precis of Skinner’s About Behaviorism. Behavior and Philosophy Vol. 29, 31- 57. Cambridge: Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. Norton, W. (1997). Human geography and behavior analysis: An application of behavior analysis to the explanation of†¦Psychological Record, 47(3), 439. Ritzer, G. (ed). (2005). Encyclopedia of social theory volume 1. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc. Ruiz , M. R. (1995). B. F. Skinner’s radical behaviorism: Historical misconstructions and grounds for feminist reconstructions. Psychology of Women Quarterly Volume 19: 161-179. EBSCO Publishing. Schneider, S. M. & Morris, E. K. (1987). A history of the term radical behaviorism: From Watson to Skinner. The Behavior Analyst Vol. 10, No. 1 27-39. Arkansas, AK: University of Arkansas Skinner, B. F. (1986). The evolution of verbal behavior.Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Vol. 45, No. 1: 115-122. Skinner, B. F. (1987). Whatever happened to the rest of psychology. American Psychologist Vol. 42, No. 8: 780-786. American Psychological Association. Staats, A. W. (2003). Chapter 6. A psychological behaviorism theory of personality in Irving V. Weiner’s Handbook of psychology volume 5: Personality and social psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Vargas, J. S. (2004). A daughter’s retrospective of B. F. Skinner. The Spanish Journal of Psychology Vol. 7 No. 2: 135-140. Madrid, Spain: Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

MARKETING COMMUNICATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

MARKETING COMMUNICATION - Essay Example The process of creating, maintaining and enhancing strong, value –laden relationship with customers and stakeholder’s {Kolter et al 1999, p11}.The development of on-going (and, if possible, constantly deepening and improving) relationship, as opposed to one –off transaction. A key principle is to extend the duration, or lifetime, of a customer’s purchasing relationship with the firm, and therefore to maximise their ‘‘life time value† that is, the future flow of net profit arising from the relationship. Transactions are single exchanges between an organisation and customer: a single market exchange in the form of a purchase {goods exchange of information or influence (such as an offer and a response). The focus of transaction marketing(TM) is to look to each transaction or encounter as an opportunity to maximise short term gain, without necessarily considering future contacts, or the effect of this transaction on the potential for future contacts. At its worst, transactional marketing can be seen as manipulative or exploitative approach (Egan, 2004).it has been recognized that: transaction marketing is inadequate to cope with today’s business environment. A focus on single transaction fails to leverage the potential inherent in the customer base, and other relationship, to add value for the organisation and for the customer. E.g., it fails to gather on-going customer feedback which could be used to refine marketing strategy Relationship marketing intentionally aims to retain customers (keep them purchasing repeatedly over time) and foster customer loyalty (create a favorable attitude or bias which drives repeat purchase). Research by Fredrick Reichheld, a management consultant at Brain & co, found that a high correlation between customer retention and company profitability: retained customers are more profitable than new customer for several reasons. Is an interactive approach which builds a database of all communications and

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You can choose a topic - Essay Example of such values is the assigning and instilling of traditional gender roles among children, which is the typical parenting norm within the mainstream girl/ boy dichotomy. However, another form of parenting, known as gender neutral parenting (GNP), shifts focus away from categorizing children into specific genders basing only on their biological sex, allowing them to find their own spots of comfort on the gender continuum. In that sense, parents should raise their children in gender-neutral homes where kids can construct their own identities because parents have the most influence over their children’s lives and have a responsibility to educate children. Because children mimic their parents’ behavior, parents are best placed to influence them towards gender neutrality. Children begin mimicry at birth, but by the time they are one year old, it turns into true imitation, which means they imitate with intent (Zentall, 2006). They will observe and process information conveyed through their parents’ behavior, and since they already understand that such behavior has significance, they will copy it. In that way, gender neutrality can be imparted on them. Gender neutrality in parenting pertains to not referring to any one particular sex, which means that boys and girls are brought up the same. The most basic indicators of GNP include allowing boys to play with toys and girls to play with toys usually associated with boys, and not emphasizing on gender by way and type of dressing. Parents, therefore, should make the homes in which they raise their children gender-neutral. It is significant for parents to acknowledge that GNP is not aimed at abolishing female or male concepts and creating a genderless world. Rather, its underlying objective is not to force any predetermined gender standards onto children. It simply provides that a child’s identity should not be suppressed by the parents, which is usually the case when children are restricted to traditional gender

North Korea Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

North Korea - Research Paper Example According to Armstrong (2011), North Korea is currently experiencing a range of issues but the most prevalent include the poor state of the economy, which Armstrong (2011) attributes to its authoritarian leadership style that still has not implemented market reforms to improve the country’s ailing economy. Secondly, Armstrong (2011) states that the country has focused so much on funding its military operations that comprise of more than 9 million military personnel of which approximately a million are active army personnel, a fact that makes it the 4th country in the World with largest military defence force. The country’s budgetary allocation to the defense department is extremely high leaving little resource for economic development. Armstrong (2011) stated that North Koreans are grappling with harsh economy, coupled with high food prices, periodical shortage of electricity, fuel, and raw materials that cause manufacturing factories to remain inactive thus, leading to increase in number of the unemployed population. However, on the positive side Armstrong (2011) notes that the new North Korean leader has given women the freedom to wear western brands, which were restricted in the past due to their western affiliation. Secondly, the new North Korean leader has shown a new leadership style by taking the responsibility of the failed rocket launch. Such an admission was not to the norm with the North Korean leadership. The other notable current issue in North Korea is its poor relations with its’ close neighbor, South Korea of whom they are still technically at war with after failing to sign a peace treaty ever since the Korean war. The North and South currently have murky relationship because of periodical wrangles that increases the tension between the two countries. Armstrong (2011) further notes that the new leader of North Korea strained the country relationship with China after recently carrying out a

Investment Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Investment Strategy - Essay Example The investment idea was ‘shorts’. Market sentiments are positive for JPM and investors are expecting share prices of JPM to appreciate the trending market movements. The detailed observation and evaluation by the Chairman and CEO are discussed in the annual report of the company under the â€Å"Management Discussion and Analysis† section. Both of them has concluded that internal control and procedures were effective during the financial year 2013. The financial statement of the company aims to provide information about enterprise’s financial position on a given date. Technical analysis involves identifying patterns or trends in the movements of stock prices at an earlier stage and then device an appropriate strategy with the objective to benefit from such market movements. The technical of JPM suggests that its stock prices are currently experiencing up-trends. A bullish market sentiment and better job creation report along with better economic growth could be the probable reason for the same. The investment decision of an individual depends on certain factors like economic conditions, return on investment, the attractiveness of security, time horizon, and business outlook. An investor has the option to invest his/her savings in stock markets which provides an opportunity to maximize returns by identifying market trends. The investment idea can generally be classified as ‘turnaround’ or ‘short-sale’ investment strategy. The former strategy focus on particular sector or stocks that are currently not attractive to other investors. The technical chart of such stocks reveals that they are sellers’ favorite and are probably oversold at the moment. The key to success in ‘turnaround’ strategy is to observe the chart very carefully and determine whether the worst is over or not. By analyzing the fundamentals of the underlying asset, the analyst could tell whether the stock is left for dead or a possible turnaround is apparent in near future.

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SAM 451 UNIT 2 - Assignment Example Pernetti who had earlier defended the coach, rooting for the coach’ rehabilitation accepted the dismissal and vowed to regain the trust of Rutgers community (The New York Times). There are several types of feature stories. These are; profile, explanatory piece, color story, human interest, news feature, backgrounder, lifestyle feature, travel story, general feature, interview piece, investigative feature, column and review (Helitzer 162). The type of feature focused in the article is Human interest story. The article focuses on interactions between a professional, a coach, basketball team and the Rutgers community. Emotion created in the story is of remorse, derived from the way the coach relates with his team. The use of slur and humiliating approaches to team members who possess talent and vigor in the game is demoralizing. Information about the character of the coach, attitude developed by the team is revealed. An anonymous person takes the initiative of recording a video during the training sessions to reveal the vice. The whistle-blower creates a dramatic event that reveals Rice’s character without dispute that leads to his

War 1812 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

War 1812 - Assignment Example The 1812 war had a number of heroes as well as heroines, whereby the most common being Andrew Jackson and James Madison. Whereas Madison has recognition due to his role in drafting the Virginia state constitution, Conversely, Andrew Jackson is remembered for the role he played, whereby alongside Tennessee and Kentucky volunteers, he managed to defeat the British army (Hickey). According to Cantor, the war acted as a watershed moment for the entire state’s development program. This is because through it US came up with a much stronger national defense system that apart from providing justification for the navy, it also altered the nation’s attitude, for instance, strengthening of the central governance (Cantor). After the war, US realized that apart from one’s physical appearance, professionalism also plays a major role when it comes to military prowess. It is due to this that it established a number of military academies, for instance, Citadel as well as US Coast guard academy. Military academies play a major role in offering skills that one ought to have before going to the battlefield. The new system has proved to be quite effective; this is due to the numerous times it has been put to test, for instance, when the US went to war with Afghanistan and after years of intensive fighting, it emerged victorious, though it suffered a numbe r of casualties

Evaluating NAPLAN as a Performance Measurement System Assignment

Evaluating NAPLAN as a Performance Measurement System - Assignment Example According to the ACARA website, the NAPLAN testing widely reflects the aspects related to numeracy and literacy, which are common to the curricula of all the states and territories (â€Å"My School Fact Sheet†). The test formats as well as questions are chosen in such manner that they remain familiar to the students and teachers all across Australia. It is designed in such manner that it can be taken on the same date in any particular year all across the country (â€Å"National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy 2010†). Problems associated with design or use of NAPLAN Management accounting enhances the decision making by suggesting methods and methodologies. In this part of the project, the problems in the design and framework of NAPLAN would be reflected by taking into consideration the management accounting theory. Three problems associated with NAPLAN are given below: The content coverage of the NAPLAN test: With 40 questions in every test, NAPLAN always assess es fragments of the student achievement. This is not appropriate because testing a portion of the curriculum does not give indication about any student’s learning in all the curriculum areas. The result of the students in this test reflects the percentage of questions that could be answered by them out of all the questions present in the questionnaire. However, the test fails to reflect achievement of the entire numeracy and literacy domain. The bureaucrats have explained it as a test score gap, where they stated that there is an achievement gap between the students and the schools. As the NAPLAN test only assesses limited aspect of the learning of Australian students, the result is not useful for inferring the overall achievement. Moreover, achievement related to any student must not be so narrowly confined to only the grounds of literacy and numeracy. There should be assessment made on other grounds as well, such as critical thinking, creativity, capability of following any inquiry, motivation, compassion etc. But test on these grounds are not assessed by the NAPLAN. In contrast to this, the Australian teachers know about the ability of the students in much broader way apart from numeracy or literacy. Accuracy in the identification of overall level of the students in grounds of numeracy and literacy: The test instrument comprising of a set of only 40 questions cannot judge and separate the students accurately on grounds of literacy and numeracy. The NAPLAN does not provide any additional information, which a teacher does not have with him/her. For identifying the student level much more accurately, there should be long tests conducted. Matching the assessment procedure with the curriculum: In order to assess the achievement of the students on grounds of literacy and numeracy, it is very important that the assessment matches with the curriculum, which is being taught by the teachers. ACARA states that the test item is informed to the teachers by Ã¢â‚¬Ë œNational Standards of learning for English’. But the document based on which the test would be taken remain unknown to the teachers in most of the schools. It is not an appropriate process of planning the NAPLAN test on the basis of new Australian Curriculum because there are still some states, which did not adopt the curriculum yet. Moreover, even after adopting the curriculum, it would require time for these schools to implement them. As the learning of the

Why Cats Are Bad Pets Essay Example for Free

Why Cats Are Bad Pets Essay In ancient Egypt, they held cats up high for poise and grace; they even had a goddess cat, named Bast (Bastet). When Egyptians lost their cat, they would mourn as if they lost a family member. To kill a cat, even accidentally, was an automatic death sentence. Cats were believed to be guardians of the gates of hell, and to prevent demons, ghouls, and spirits from escaping, and prevent them from entering homes of humans. So why people find this animal cute, adorable, and friendly is beyond me. Who would want a pet that was held up to be a god? That people have killed over and treated like a human? That is associated with hell and all its demons? Animals aren’t human, so these cats should be treated exactly like pets. Not equals, not â€Å"man’s best friend†, but an animal. You can’t take them everywhere with you like you can a dog, and if you leave them home, they may pee everywhere, claw up the couch, get into everything they shouldn’t, and make a ridiculous mess. Cats are a bit messy. They like to sleep everywhere, and leave their hair of the couch cushions, curtains, comforter, and your clothes. They walk on your ledges, and if you have picture frames, candles, or any type of dà ©cor, they will knock it over. It’s just a given, you’ll come home to your things on the floor. It seems like every time you’re walking, or in the kitchen, they are right there by your feet, weaving too and fro as you are trying to get from one place to the other. It’s almost like they are trying to kill you. They have no respect for your personal space. If you’re sitting on one end of the couch, taking up only one cushion, they will feel obliged to jump up on your lap and stay there till you have to move. If you do move, and come back, good luck getting back on their good side, because they want nothing to do with you. They have a lot of diva in them. One minute they want every little bit of your attention, and the next they want nothing to do with you and will hiss if you as much as reach your hand out to them. Because of this attitude, they will choose to completely ignore you, even when called by name. They are worse than women going through menopause. Sure, you don’t have to bathe a cat like you do a dog. And that can be very time consuming and expensive, especially if your dog has allergic reactions to certain substances and chemicals, but who wants to let a cat lick you, knowing where their tongue has been? It’s just disgusting, filthy, and sickening. While it’s nice to not have to bath them, during each cleaning they ingest a small amount of hair and it accumulates until it grows into a wet hairball that they need to cough up on your expensive wood flooring, your new carpet, or your bed. Another nasty habit with cats is spraying. When an un-neutered male cat feels threatened, he will spray urine everywhere, as a way of marking his territory, and claiming what’s his. They don’t care where they spray. They will go all over your house if they want to. Who wants your cat leaving their stench on your couch, bed, floor, clothes, etc.? Not me. How many people do you see taking their cat with them on car rides? Or having a nice walk in the park? Absolutely no one. If you’ve ever brought your cat in the car, you know how loud, annoying and horrible it is, not only for them but you as well. The whole time, all you hear is their pitiful meow from the carrier, which is in the very back, covered in blankets to drown out the ear-splitting screeches. Trying to get them to go on a walk with you is like dragging a brick. They don’t want to leave the comfort of their home. Dogs on the other hand, love to go on walks, car rides are a special treat for them. They will play with you, train them to do tricks, and even dress them up for Halloween. Sure you have to give them a bath every now and then, but would you prefer to have a companion as a pet, or one that acts like a temper tantrum throwing toddler?

The Evolution Of The Mauritian Economy Information Technology Essay

The Evolution Of The Mauritian Economy Information Technology Essay In the past two decades, the world scenario has considerably changed with one of the pioneering factors leading such changes as globalisation being information technology (IT). The pervasiveness of information and communications technologies (ICTs), may it be at home, within offices, or at schools cannot be denied today. The phenomenal growth of ICTs worldwide has had economic, social, political, and legal implications. For instance, businesses operate in more competitive environments today while others have closed down due to unforeseen pressures. ICTs have also been the foundation blocks for globalisation. Global network systems are today considered as being the new basis for power. The core elements propelling developing and developed economies to surface have been free trade, unrestricted investment, deregulation, balanced budgets, low inflation, privatisation of state owned institutions and infrastructure among others (APC, 2003). Few multinationals are dominating a large part of the market share in the majority of countries. ICTs have been contributing largely to such encroachment in the social and economic conditions of states. With the advent of ICTs instantaneous, global and electronic information is widely available to all. Today, a world without ICT cannot be fathomed. Increased dependence on the new forms of information has marked the whole world: financial markets, competition, research and development, educations and innovation are all sustained by the recent developments in ICT. According to Castells (2000) ICTs are the equivalent to the importance of electricity in the Industrial Era. Various other authors have appraised ICTs as being the tool to leapfrog economic growth through modernisation of production systems and increase competitiveness. Economies ignoring the developments in technology will only remain poor, marginalised and cast aside while those taking advantage of it will simply gain further by going beyond the traditional restrictions of space and time (ITU, 2004). The Mauritian Economy has not been left unscathed by phenomenal changes brought about by globalisation. Reduction in trade barriers and the erosion of trade preferences enforced by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has exposed the economy to diverse hazards on the world market. Fiscal measures are currently being tightened with a view to sustain the economy in the long-term; increased dependence on local quality products is being encouraged. Consultancy services are being sought from knowledgeable persons with a view to identifying means as to how the economy can survive the impact of globalisation. Among the long-term strategies put forward, lies the development and progress of the Mauritian ICT sector as a means of reducing reliance on other pillars. The ability of ICTs to counter the effect of globalisation has been proven by countries such as Singapore as a reliable path towards sustaining competitiveness in the world market. Indeed, several years have elapsed since Mauritius has engaged itself in a new vision of transforming the country into a cyber-island. As such, numerous changes and developments have been achieved taking from infrastructure to the legislative framework for ICTs. Contribution of established pillars to economic progress Agriculture Manufacturing Tourism Financial and Services The ICT Sector Contribution to the economy Given the lack of figures for GDP contribution, the main emphasis has been on the level of employment generated in the ICT sector to describe its growth. However, in 1997, the ICT sector has been reported to have generated 3.3% of total sales to the economy and by 2002 this figure had grown to a total of Rs.4.1 Billion (2.9% of the Gross National Income). The Mauritius IT Industry Association (MITIA) estimated the ICT sectors turnover to be around $70 Million for the 2001/2002 period. The telecommunications sector has been accredited with bringing in the major contribution from the ICT sector to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This result is due to approximately 300 companies operating in the ICT sector, involved in a wide range of activities including software development, call centre, Business Process Outsourcing, IT Enabled Services (ITES), training, hardware assembly and sales, networking and other support services. World leaders such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, HP, Infosys, Accenture, Hinduja Group have started operations on the island. ITES-BPO so far is the strongest segment of the local ICT industry, experiencing a robust growth recently. These ITES-BPO companies have already invested some MUR 727 M and were employing around 5513 people at the end of September 2006. This figure includes an increase of 27.2% from January 2006 to September of the same year. Call centres contributes most to ICT sector employment in Mauritius with 42% of the workforce pooled into their activities (2338 persons). A remarkable increase of 158% should also be noted with regard to software development where employment incre ased from 277 to 716 lately, indicative of a rise in demand for software developers as well (BOI, 2008). Furthermore, with respect to encouraging small local entrepreneurs to invest in ICT, some 18 start-ups have benefited from the National Computer Board (NCB) Incubator Centre. These start-ups have in turn contributed towards the creation of 86 jobs and an investment of MUR 12.75 M. When it comes to IT Export, companies like Blanche Birger, DCDM Consulting, State Informatics Limited and Mauritius Telecom have extended their operations to the regional market (NCB, 2006). Investment The Mauritian government has realised the huge potential of ICT, in boosting the economy. It wants ICT to offer efficient, effective and citizen-focused public services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (ITU, 2004). Mauritius is presently ranked 32nd worldwide as an easy and attractive location for business (BOI, 2008). Foreign investment being constantly sought; the government offers a range of facilities and incentives aimed at creating a favourable climate for FDI; for both the Individual and Corporate Investor. At the international level the government maximises on its political, economic and diplomatic endeavour to secure market access and investment guarantees (NCB, 2006). Mauritius has been a leader in Africa in making tax concessions and giving other investment incentives, dating from 1970. All of these benefits have now been extended to the ICT sector. It is now emphasising a targeted promotion project instead of an incentive driven approach. The government has, in that respect, given many facilities regarding FDI. The package of incentives as listed in the ICT Incentive Regime is as follows: low corporate tax of 15% instead of 25% VAT at 15%, refundable No capital gain tax 100% foreign ownership Free repatriation of profits, dividends and capital No minimum foreign capital required 50% annual allowance on declining balance for the purchase of electronic and computer equipment Streaming of all administrative procedures exemption of customs and excise duties on the import of materials and equipment exemption from tax on dividends FDI is governed by the Non-Citizen (property restriction) Act of 1975. This investment regulation is in line with WTOs agreement on TRIMS. A World Bank study conducted in collaboration with the Board of Investment (BOI) indicated that delays in the issue of business licenses and operating permits severely and negatively affect investment. Consequently, recent developments have led to the creation of business within three days. Most activities in the ICT sector are undertaken by a few big groups and governmental entities. The latter fare fairly well, as compared to other regional countries. Most of our investment in 2005 has been obtained from Indian companies with the objective of using the island as a channel to the African market. For example Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Limited (MTML) has started operation in July 2005 with international long distance telephone services. As from this year, it has launched fixed phone services and will soon be offering cellular phone services. It was estimated in 2005 that MTML would have invested $25 million in its network. Many European companies are also reported to have entered into joint ventures with Mauritian organisations in the ICT sector. The potential for BPO, call centre services and offshoring is increasing. Many foreign-owned call centres have invested in Mauritius, such as V-Lines from France, and Infinity; joint venture between French and Mauritian organ isations. As such, the potential for BPO, call centre services and offshoring in particular are increasing. In fact, BPO is the most thriving activity at the moment. Investment in BPO activities has increased by 38.3% (to the number of 148) over seven months (January 2006 to September 2006). Following Mauritius, France brings the most funds in the sector (forecasts indicate a figure of MUR 529 million). India is the next big investor in BPO, with a forecasted investment of MUR 440 million (BOI, 2006). The ITES-BPO sector is actually intended to bring investment of MUR 1.94 billion in the island. So far, MUR 1.01 billion has already been pooled in the economy. By September 2006, ITES-BPO activities were distributed as follows: Figure 1: ITES/BPO Activity in Mauritius (In Numbers) Many foreign-owned call centres have invested in Mauritius such as V-Lines from France, and Infinity; joint venture between French Mauritian organisations. Software Development companies are coming in larger numbers, with a 43% growth rate, followed by BPO (40%) and Multimedia Companies (33%). By end September 2006, the BOI has approved of 29 ITES/BPO investment projects. 24% of these come from call centres and 21% from Software Developers. The main target markets of investing companies are France, United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), and India. Legislations Given the increasing growth of the ICT sector, there has been a shift in the paradigm of regulation during the last decade. The development of the ICT sector is not solely dependent on the technological advancements but also on a strong and supportive regulatory and legislative environment. The ICT Authority (ICTA) has identified seven major market segments where regulation is deemed to be imperative. The market segments are as follows: 1. Fixed telephony a. Local b. International i. Conventional ii. Internet Telephony 2. Mobile telephony 3. Services related to fixed and mobile telephony 4. Dial-up Internet 5. Broadband Internet 6. Wholesale 7. Sale of Equipment Mauritius has been accredited with having a sound and an impartial legal system based on the Napoleonic Codes and the British Common Law. Intellectual Property rights have been strengthened by recent trademark, patent and industrial design laws which comply with the WTOs TRIPS agreement. Furthermore, Mauritius is also a member of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and party to the Paris and Bern conventions for the protection of industrial property and the Universal Copyright Convention (Bank of Mauritius, 2006). Over the past decade, the Government of Mauritius (GOM) has taken a proactive role in the regulation of the ICT Sector and has passed five laws to deal with issues such as recognition of digital signatures, protection of copyrights and combating cyber-crime. A brief description of each act is provided below: Table 1: Overview of Main Legislations for the ICT Sector Regulation Law Description Date Passed The Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Bill Provides for repression of criminal activities perpetrated through computer systems and protection against computer misuse and new forms of Cybercrime May 2003 Information and Communication Technologies Act Provides for the establishment, management, regulation and promotion of ICT sector December 2001 Electronic Transaction Act (ETA) Covers electronic records and electronic signatures and the security thereof. (ICT Sector in Mauritius, ICT Authority, 2004) July 2000 Information Technology (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act Deals with admissibility of electronics documents as evidence in court cases; data protection and security, computer misuse and patenting of software. December 1998 Copyright Act Pertains to the protection of software and electronic databases. September 1997 Data Protection Act 2010 As per the provisions of the ICT Act, a number of institutions, namely the ICTA, the ICT Appeal Tribunal, the ICT Advisory Council and the Internet Management Committee have already been set up. This regulatory framework has encouraged and allowed international ICT players such as Microsoft, Infosys and so on to successfully conduct their business from Mauritius while allowing the state to meet its social and economic goals. The GOM has also proposed one more bill, entitled the Data Protection Act, which is planned to reassure the ITES companies and their customers on the safety of their data (BOI, 2008). This bill has been in the pipeline for the past 2 years now. Liberalisation There has been a marked difference in the ICT sector structure as from 2000 to 2004. The international long distance and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have changed from having a monopolistic structure to a highly competitive one. The mobile operators have also drifted into full competition, as compared to a previous situation characterised by partial competition (World Bank, 2004). As per the WTO agreement, in 1997, to liberalise the telecommunications sector, the ICT Act was laid as a foundation for proper legal framework governing and enabling liberalisation to take place (ICTA, 2001). It was agreed that all state monopolies and exclusivity rights in domestic and international services would be terminated by 2004. This date was however advanced to the 1st January 2003 as the legislative environment was then deemed insufficient to meet the development of the ICT Sector as regards to foreign investment. Prior to 2003, Mauritius Telecom (MT) held exclusive rights on most national and international services. However, with liberalisation, the Mauritian population has seen the emergence of several new entrants in the sector to their benefit. In 2001, the ICTA replaced the MT Authority as per the ICT Act of 2001. It oversaw the full liberalisation of the telecommunications sector and in its first year it granted several licenses. The liberalisation of the telecommunications services since 1st January 2003 has given a major impetus to the ICT sector (African Economic Outlook, 2006). Exclusive rights of ownership of the SAFE cable have been given to MT however. The mobile market on the other hand, involves two major competing firms: Emtel and Cellplus, and a third likely in the near future: MTML. Current State of Information Technology in Mauritius People Mauritius is a highly erudite economy with 88% literacy rate (BOI, 2006). The island is on the go towards increasing its IT literacy rate. For this purpose, it has started at the ground level i.e. from schools. Another project launched in 2001, was the School Information Technology project, where primary and secondary schools will have computers, with at least one computer lab. In 2002, 100% of schools in Mauritius had a computer but only 18.7% of these had access to the internet (ITU, 2005). All the universities have LANs and high speed internet access. In 2004, 48% of the secondary schools and 4% of the primary schools had internet access (BOI, 2006). With regard to the distribution of the educational level in Mauritius, in the year 2005, there were a total of 11,814 school leavers in S.C. and 5555 school leavers in H.S.C. Only 4444 tertiary students enrolled in Mauritian institutions of which 2,020 enrolled for IT Courses taking from Diploma to Master degrees (BOI, 2006). Adding to the tally of developing IT skilled professionals is the high number of students who are returning to Mauritius each year with degrees from leading universities in Europe, Australia, India, Canada and South Africa. There are five main institutions offering courses leading to certificates, diplomas and degrees in IT. These include the University of Mauritius (UOM), Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Swami Dayanand Polytechnique, De Chazal Du Mee Business School (DCDM) and University of Technology Mauritius (UTM). Other institutions include Formation, Recruitement et Conseil en Informatique, State Informatics Limited and NIIT Computer Education and Training Centre (NCB, 2006). However, the Mauritius College of Air (MCA), which is the countrys leading public distance learning institution, has very few Computer Science courses and in the year 2002 only 3.6% were enrolled in the Computer Science field. Nevertheless, there are many other international universities which provide distance learning courses. Distance learning accounted for the largest share of tertiary Computer Science students with a total of 1,962 students in 2002 (ITU, 2004). The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and the Task Force on E-Education and Training projected the number of graduates to join the ICT labour market up to 2005 at around 4000 (NCB, 2006). The following diagram illustrates this distribution by the type of institution: Figure 2: Enrolment in Tertiary Computer Science Courses by Institutions (2001) [Adapted from ITU (2004)] However, the forecasted demand of IT workers and/or IT specialists far exceeds the forecasted supply. It was forecasted, in 2003, that if GOM accelerated training accompanied with a low demand for IT professionals, Mauritius will just meet the demand for IT professionals in 2006. If the contrary was to be true, then Mauritius would face an acute shortage of capable labour which was forecasted to be around 8000 IT professionals. In the year 2000, there were approximately 1,900 IT Professionals according to a survey carried out by the NCB. Three years later that figure had increased to 3,200 professionals. Furthermore, an annual growth rate of 15% per annum of newly trained IT graduates is estimated by the TEC. However, as stated earlier, it would prove to be grossly inadequate to meet the demand if there is the expected and the desired growth of the ICT sector. The GOM is providing incentives to attract internationally renowned institutions and universities to set off-campus branches in Mauritius (ITU, 2004). Due to Mauritius relatively poor adoption of the internet, the GOM has sharpened its focus on education at all levels. Promotion of an ICT Culture at the national level has been acknowledged through operation of: An IT Coach Project (Cyber Caravan) to raise ICT awareness around the country A Computer Proficiency Program a joint Government Private-Sector initiative by the National Productivity and Competitiveness Council (NPCC) on basic computer skills is available to the community at large at a subsidised fee of Rs.700. Also, the GOM has recently launched an ambitious and enormous training programme of 400,000 Mauritians in ICT over the next four years on the 4th September 2006. Commonly known as the IC3 programme, it aims to dispense a series of training sessions under the Universal ICT Education Programme (UIEP) which will eventually lead to the highly recognised Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3). In that respect, the NCB has been delegated the task of implementing the project which will include people from various background, be it educational, social, or work. The IC3 Certification which was developed by Certiport Incorporation (USA) is the first globally accepted, standards-based, validated certification program for basic computing skills. It consists of three modules, namely: Computing Fundamentals, Key Applications, and living Online. IC3 being a foundation course for ICT studies, the trainees can further evolve in the sector by going as far as the MCSE (Microsoft Computer Softw are Engineer) qualification. IT Penetration among the Mauritian Population Since it has adopted a vision of becoming a cyber-island, the state has been strongly emphasising the need to bring the technology to the reach of one and all. On one hand, the younger generation has been heavily benefiting from the inclusion of ICT in their curriculum. 2004 reports confirm that around half of all secondary school and a number of primary institutions benefit from internet access. A large portion of the educational institutions have been equally fitted with computers for students use. On the other hand, the government has also been providing training in IT. As per October 2004, 2500 civil servants had already been trained. The table below illustrates some economic and ICT indicators for 1999-2004: Table 2: Economic and ICT-related indicator (1999-2004) Year Indicators 2003 2004 Estimated Population (Millions) 1.186 1.196 GDP per capita (MUR at Market Price) 128,288 141,826 GDP Growth at basic prices +3.7 +4.5 Mobile Subscribers/100 inhabitants 38.13 47.58 Fixed Telephone Penetration (%) 91 92 Estimated Internet Users 180 000 230 000 No. of Internet Subscribers (dial up) 60 052 77 558 Estimated Household Internet Penetration (%) International Internet Bandwidth (Mbps) 45 61 Estimated Internet Hosts 3985 4836 Source: Central Statistics Office, Mauritius A survey conducted by the NCB in 2002 showed that the main reason why people did not have a PC at home was that they already had one at work and the second reason was cost. The government started a Computer in Every Home campaign and also provided subsidised loans to civil servants for buying PCs; but CSO figures claim that people did not know about these initiatives. Furthermore, the Ministry of Health had implemented the National Health Information System, so as to make health care more efficient. By 2002, seven health centres had been computerised. Mauritius also has the cheapest internet access rates in the African Continent. However, on a global basis, the price of internet connection is relatively high. Indeed, in July 2004, there was a 15% VAT charge on internet services. Such diverging strategies directly hinder the governments policy of spreading internet use throughout the island. With prospective competition from MTML, the internet tariffs were expected to fall by the end of 2006. This would have rapidly increased the number of internet users. Nowadays, post offices also provide electronic services, namely for payment of bills and the sale of telephone services. Mauri-Post is further expected to launch online banking services. Conclusion The ICT Sector in Mauritius has undeniably emerged as a sector in its own right today. The vision of the Mauritian government to make it the next engine of economic growth is in its making as ICT starts to make important inroads to the contribution of GDP. An analysis of 18 economies on their abilities to effectively implement ICT putting Mauritius in 5th position clearly supports this view. The Mauritian government has taken several steps to make the islands outlooks more favourable to investors in the ICT Sector. Additionally, infrastructural developments, especially in the physical terms, are highly conducive to the foreign investment and the GOM is taking pro-active measures to attract further FDI in the ICT Sector. The legislative framework for the sector clearly demonstrates the countrys willingness to foster competition, openness, and an attractive business environment as well as the provision of universal service with efficient interconnectivity. With the liberalisation of the local telecommunications market, investors can expect lower rates of internet access as well as better services from international brands in the future. The liberalisation is also attracting investment in the telecommunications field. To complement the above, several unprecedented initiatives, with the IC3 programme being the latest, have been undertaken to create a first-time-ever educated population in respect of information technology. The combination of the discussed issues, projects, and factors in this chapter will irrefutably link Mauritius firmly to the global information highway in the near future. Yet, development cannot happen in a vacuum, and Mauritius will need to keep pace with the fast changing environment of ICT as it develops the sector further. Pro-activeness, responsiveness, and flexibility represent key requirements for the ICT sector development to prevent the country from losing its position. Literature Review This chapter describes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the Mauritian ICT industry. The following diagram illustrates the main elements of the analysis: STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES Language- Bilingual Workforce Political Willingness Infrastructure Physical Telecommunications Attractive Fiscal Incentives Sound Legal Framework Geographical Location Political Stability and Low Risk of Terrorism Infrastructural Weaknesses Poor education system Deteriorating economy Lack of Research and Development (RD) OPPORTUNITIES THREATS Membership in major Regional Trade Blocs Indian Government support Rapid Development Pace Brain Drain Competing ICT economies in the region Risk of natural disaster/s Table 3: SWOT for the Mauritian ICT Industry Strengths Bilingual Workforce Mauritians are bilingual being conversant in both French and English and can therefore service both English-speaking and French-speaking markets (Novatech, 2008). The Industrial Vocational Training Board (IVTB) furthermore organises the training of call centre and BPO operators (which currently constitute a high proportion of the ICT sector) on a regular basis. Additionally, ten public and some thirty private institutions, in collaboration with reputed foreign universities and international training centres provide professional training courses in the IT sector. Key players operating in Mauritius include NCC, NIIT, Aptech, University of Surrey, University of Birmingham, University of Witwatersrand, Università © of Poitiers, Dale Carnegie, BCS, ACCA, CIMA. Additionally, Mauritian employees are commended for their loyalty by Indian, French and British firms. This, according to them, improves the quality of the Mauritian workforce. Infrastructure Telecommunications The SAT-3/WASC/SAFE submarine optical fibre cable links Europe to the Far East through Mauritius and provides connectivity to worldwide destinations through ADSL, ISDN and high bandwidth international leased lines (IPLCs). Government has equally accelerated the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector by an early termination of the exclusivity of the incumbent operator, Mauritius Telecom (MT) as mentioned earlier. As such, new operators have entered the local telecommunications industry offering value added services in the field of International Telephony, Internet Service Provider and Voice over IP. The market has become highly competitive and new entrants compete mainly on prices to gain new clients. A further asset is possessed by Mauritius Telecom, the national operator, with a Point of Presence (PoP) in Telehouse, Paris where major international bandwidth providers and key telecom operators are present for interconnection, thereby providing end-to-end service at very competitive rates (BOI, 2008). Another underwater cable of East Africa, EASSy (Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System), will soon add to the bandwidth provided by the SAFE cable. The cable of a length of more than 8000 km will link Mauritius to around 20 countries of the Eastern coast of Africa including Kenya and Madagascar. As such, telecommunications and internet costs, which have already been reduced substantially over the past few years, are deemed to further decrease. The Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunications, has signed the protocol for linking Mauritius to the EASSy project on the 20th November 2006. This will give Mauritius a competitive edge in telecommunications costs. Physical The Ebene Cybercity is the first IT Park in the African region. It is spread over an area of 172 acres and with consist of various facilities such as video conferencing, conference halls, 24/7 restaurants and banks. The first Ebene Cyber Tower has already been constructed with many international ITES-BPO players are already operating within the most intelligent building in Mauritius. A second cyber tower is also now operational and has already been booked up to 70%. Among the operators are the French company, Phone Sales Experts, which has already started its activities with 50 employees and an American BPO which has booked five floors and is expected to employ around 600 employees. Political Willingness The dedication of the Mauritian government to achieve its goal of making Mauritius a cyber-island has also been reflected over the past few years by its e-government initiatives (e-government, 2004). E-government is the use of ICT to deliver public services which provides greater convenience for citizens (G2C) and to businesses (G2B), as well as between different ministries (G2G). Such initiatives include: The setting up of a Government Online Centre (GOC) as a point of interaction with citizens and businesses. The setting up of a Government Intranet System (GINS) as a medium for collaboration between civil service departments. The designation of Chief Information Officers to champion IT developments and for the provision of learning materials. The approval of international standards to benchmark the internal level of security. Indeed, the government took the initiative to invest in an e-government scheme gearing towards e-management, e-services and e-democracy. E-management consists of computerising all governmental departments while E-services are a platform for the exchange of information between the population and the state. E-democracy on its part is a concept that allows citizens to participate in government decision-making through the posting of queries. Citizens are also provided with e-services such as Application for Lump Sum, Drivers License, Scholarships and Passports are offered online (Govt. Mtius, 2010). The enactment of various legislations for regulating the ICT sector equally reflects such willingness at top level. Attractive Fiscal Incentives Fiscal incentives are being used as a means to increase FDI and investment potential in the island. Such differing tax

The Role of Women in Giants in the Earth Essay -- Giants in the Earth

The Role of Women in Giants in the Earth   Ã‚   Peter Mangus Hagen, a large Swedish immigrant carpenter, pushed back his chair, rose from the end of the long dining table in their kitchen, and announced, "And now for my dessert--."   He walked the length of the table past his thirteen children to the other end, bent his large frame down, and tenderly kissed his wife Maggie, who was fifteen years his junior and mother of those thirteen.  Ã‚   As he pulled himself to his naturally erect stance, he proceeded to thank her for her labor in preparing an excellent meal and in caring for their home and their thirteen children.  Ã‚   This conclusion to the meal was as much a ritual as was the blessing asked in Swedish before it began.  Ã‚   And if the "thank you" was customary, so was the bill of fare, i.e., a large bowl of navy beans, freshly-baked bread and freshly-churned butter, a bowl of home-canned tomatoes and a bowl of home-canned fruit, a very large bowl of mashed potatoes, two pitchers of milk, and c offee for the adults.   In that household a seven-course banquet was not mandatory in order to extract a word of appreciation.       This Scandinavian never pretended that his building of refrigerator boxcars for the Santa Fe Railroad in 1919 was more important or worthwhile than Maggie's homemaking, home management, clothes-making, food preparation and preservation, or care of their family.  Ã‚   In fact, it may have been Peter's respect and high regard for Maggie's "woman's work" that helped hold together and make easier a loving marriage that encompassed not only their thirteen children, but also his five children by an earlier marriage.       Of course, if looked at realistically, the couple's division ... ...probably all women are alike--they have no sense" (194).  Ã‚         The one important function Beret fulfills is having children.  Ã‚   Giving birth to Peder that Christmas on the prairie is her only noteworthy accomplishment.  Ã‚   But even then, Per Hansa takes over and names him with a name that poor Beret dislikes and regards as near sacrilege (279).       By looking at Beret in Giants in the Earth and certainly by looking at Peter and Maggie Hagen, it could be concluded that childbearing is the chief item of value in "woman's work."   By comparing those lives further, it might also be concluded that it is too bad that Beret was not told more often that she was Per Hansa's "dessert" and that her "woman's work" was appreciated.       Works Cited    Rolvaag, Ole Edvart.  Ã‚   Giants in the Earth.  Ã‚   New York: Harper and Row, 1955.

Move Aside Fat and Say Hello to Healthy Solutions Essay -- Health, Nut

A student’s stomach growls, and what is to come for lunch is immediately thought of. Will it be the overcooked, dried out pizza pockets, or the cracked, gooey bean burritos? When the student thinks about their empty stomach, filling it with precooked food simply warmed up is anything but satisfying. So, what can be done to fill the empty stomach? The unthinkable: eating a school lunch. Simply entering the school cafeteria is daring enough, but now having to eat the food? How outrageous this seems. The student has given the secretary their lunch number and next has picked out a clean tray. Along with this, a choice of milk of has been selected and then the mound of slump has been placed on their tray. If this is not daring enough, the student subsequently picks up the ‘burger’ and is immediately shocked; the student realizes he is no longer hungry, and proceeds to dump the tray. What seems to be the problem here? School lunches should be appetizing, yet nutritious, right? Do not all schools pursue the food guide pyramid? The answer is no, they do not. Nanci Hellmich brings this to attention, â€Å"For many years, school meals have been criticized for their high-fat, overly processed foods and not enough nutrient-rich fare† (2). Does having an unhealthy school lunch have an effect on childhood obesity? The answer is yes. Michelle Obama has a campaign called â€Å"Let’s Move† which, â€Å"stresses the importance of healthy school meals because many children consume at least half of their daily calories at school† (Dickey 1). Although schools are not expected to solve the childhood obesity problem, it still is a major factor (Paulson 2). Not only do students need a nutritional meal to keep them healthy, but also to help them stay ... ... or pizza pockets can now be switched with freshly grilled hamburgers from local cattle. Dickey reports the reason school lunches are stressed to be healthy is because, â€Å"many children consume at least half of their daily calories at school† (1). With an increasing obesity rate in America, a healthy school lunch should be a necessity. Increasing vegetables and fruits in meals, having farmers connect with schools, and making a healthy meal play issued by the USDA and the students are all solutions to fix the unhealthy, yet unlikable school lunches. The best solution to getting healthier, more likeable school lunches is getting chefs to help out with meals. Thus the healthy meals are being prepared with a delicate, artistic look. In the midst of having a nation with high obesity rates, students should always be able to reckon on getting a healthy school lunch.

Mitch Albom’s, The Five People You Meet in Heaven Essay -- The Five Pe

In Mitch Albom’s, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the author centers the story around Eddie’s life, beginning with his death. â€Å"It might seem strange to start a story with an ending. But all endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time† (1, paragraph 1). The most important thing in this story that we must all understand is that although we may not know it, somehow our lives all have a common intersection. â€Å"No story sits by itself. Sometimes stories meet at corners and sometimes they cover one another completely, like stones beneath a river (16, paragraph 8). Eddie’s life ends tragically at Ruby Pier, the amusement park, where he has felt trapped for so many, long years, with what he thinks of as â€Å"a meaningless life†. When Eddie opens his eyes, he thinks that he is in heaven. He sees the sky changing many, beautiful colors as he is floating through the air. Eddie eventually lands in the place that he has come to think of as his own hell, Ruby Pier. He questions why he has been sent back here. He wonders if he had really been so bad of a person on earth that God would send him here to live for eternity. Once Eddie meets the side show â€Å"freak†, The Blue Man, he begins to understand why he has come here again. The Blue Man explains that Eddie will meet five people in heaven that will explain the meaning of his life. The Blue Man tells Eddie the story of a young boy, and how that young boy darted out into the road in front of a man, causing him to have a heart attack and crash. He realizes that the man was The Blue Man and the boy had been himself. The Blue Man tells Eddie that he must understand â€Å"That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than... ... to all the children that entered Ruby Pier. They all knew that they would be safe because they had someone watching over them, like an angel. Eddie had been the children’s angel. Everyone Eddie met in heaven taught him something about his life. They were all connected to him in different ways, whether it was someone close to him once, or a complete stranger. Somehow, all of their lives had crossed Eddie’s and helped make him the person that he had become. When you think about this lesson, you truly understand. One decision causes an effect, maybe on your life or maybe on someone else’s life. That effect will cause something else. It’s what I think of as a ripple effect. Everything happens for a reason, and all of the events that lead up to our â€Å"now† makes us who we are. Works Cited Albom, Mitch. The Five People You Meet in Heaven. New York: Hyperion. 2003.

Helter Skelter Book Report

The year was 1969, and in early August seven people were brutally murdered; words like â€Å"Pig,† â€Å"Healter Skelter† and â€Å"Rise† were found printed in blood at the crime scenes. Eventually it is discovered that the perpetrators of these horrific crimes are cult members living on the outskirts of society, led by a man named Charles Manson. But who is Charles Manson? Charles Manson is a monster, certainly, but as a monster he offers us a unique look into the human mind. This semester we have learned about the many different types of people who may engage in individual forms of interpersonal violence. Charles Manson however, provides us the case study of a man whose life revolved around interpersonal violence in all its manifestations. There was nothing this man wouldn’t do to reach his goals – he would rape, murder, manipulate, and lie – all in the name of his personal ambitions. In Vincent Bugliosi’s book, Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders, the reader is provided a thorough explanation of how Manson developed his criminal lifestyle though the focus is on the famous murders he helped to commit as the leader of The Family and the process used to convict him. After a brief comment about the book as a whole and its writing style and content, Manson’s connections to the subject of interpersonal violence will be examined. These connections include the subjects of child neglect, rape, domestic violence, and spiritual abuse. This book offers a huge amount of detail regarding how the Manson Family murders were committed, how the investigation proceeded and how the trial against Manson was won. To bring this history to life, Bugliosi organized his book into chapters ranging from one month to five month increments which serve to place the reader back in the summer of ’69 right after the Tate murders were committed, and take him or her all the way to the conclusion of the trial and its aftermath. While this level of detail and careful organization is very good at informing the reader of the details of Manson’s crimes and how he got convicted, I believe that most important is the analysis of Manson’s life in regards to interpersonal violence. Therefore, I will focus only on the summary of Manson’s life provided in the book, as well as his methods for building and controlling his Family. Since this book was written by a lawyer (Mr. Bugliosi was the prosecuting attorney in the Manson case), one might think that Helter Skelter might be rather boring i. e. totally fact driven and concerned with the technical aspects of the Manson trial as Mr. Bugliosi experienced them. This book is certainly very concerned with the facts, and Bugliosi even provides the time that many events took place. The police investigation is especially explicit in this regard. For example, â€Å"about 1:30 that afternoon Lieutenant Burdick interviewed a girl who had been booked under the name Leslie Sankston,† (p. 121). This aspect of the book can be hard to get through at times, as there is a large cast of characters including suspects, law enforcement officials, witnesses and other ancillary characters whose actions and influences on the case are laid out in careful detail. It can be difficult to keep track of who provided what evidence or which Manson family member was or wasn’t involved in the group’s actions (to make matters worse many of the Family have multiple aliases and nicknames). However, despite some factual overload, Bugliosi does add some comments which add flavor and help the reader to understand what the murders meant for people living around Los Angeles at the time. For example, Bugliosi talks quite about how the general public and the media react to the murders, including details such as, â€Å"one Beverly Hills sporting goods store sold 200 firearms; prior to the murders, they averaged three or four a day,† (p. 73). This color commentary lifts the reader’s head out of the world of the murder investigation to remind them that outside of all this tragedy people were living their ordinary lives, and were obviously scared and nervous about the violence they saw happening in their city. Another interesting aspect of the story is the fact that while this book is in a way a history book looking at the past, Bugliosi actually experienced this history and provides his own emotional reactions to what happened. For example, when Bugliosi read Manson’s file to understand who he was about to prosecute he commented, â€Å"I was surprised, in studying Manson’s record, to find no sustained history of violence,† (p. 203). While the reader might disagree with Bugliosi (it seems that instances of armed robbery, homosexual rape and wife beating could be considered a â€Å"sustained history†), these personal reactions to what is going on show the reader that Bugliosi is not merely an author or a historian, but a character in this story who experienced all the madness revolving around Charles Manson first hand. Therefore, while Helter Skelter might be considered very fact-driven it certainly has a heart, and Mr. Bugliosi does an excellent job describing not only exactly how the investigation went, but also how it felt for some of the people involved. Anyone interested in interpersonal violence, the 60s or Charles Manson will certainly have learnt a great deal after finishing this book. As I’ve said previously, the life of Charles Manson revolved around interpersonal violence. From an early age Manson was the victim of child neglect – his mother (Kathleen Maddox) would leave him with neighbors, â€Å"for an hour, then disappear for days or weeks,† (p. 91). While there is no evidence provided that Manson was actually abused during these days away from his mother, the lack of any strong parental figures to care for him must have been traumatizing for Manson. Kathleen was sixteen when Charles was born, and was known to drink and party, often bringing home men with the same proclivities. She was also a very poor model for her son when it came to following the law. Along with her brother Luther, Kathleen was sentenced to five years in prison for armed robbery when Charles was between four and five years old. Manson never met his father who is said to have died in 1954. Considering his upbringing, it is not surprising that the boy had trouble adjusting properly, and that his struggle to be noticed and gain attention would be at the core of his being. When Manson was twelve his mother sent him away to the Gibault School for Boys, described as a â€Å"caretaking institution,† (p. 191) because she could no longer to care for him. From this point on Charles Manson would be in and out of institutions (including prison). When the investigations for the Tate-LaBianca murders were taking place Manson was thirty-two years old and had spent over seventeen of those years in some form of institution. During the time Manson was incarcerated personality examinations were conducted and various descriptions warn of the possibility of violence. Manson was described as being, â€Å"aggressively antisocial,† (p. 193) having, â€Å"a tendency toward moodiness,† (p. 192) and as, â€Å"hiding his loneliness, resentment, and hostility behind a facade of superficial ingratiation,† (p. 00). These examinations and their conclusions will be very important when considering what could have been done to stop Manson and what we as a society can do to ensure no one like him is ever allowed to terrorize others again. The acts of interpersonal violence Manson committed during his time in and out of institutions are numerous. When Manson was seventeen he attended Natural Bridge Camp and a month before his release hearing he, â€Å"took a razor blade and held it against another boy’s throat while he sodomized him,† (p. 194). However, this did not stop Manson from being released and he promptly married a waitress and got her pregnant (he was 19). A year later however, he was in trouble with the law for stealing cars (and driving them across state lines – a federal offense) and admitted to the judge-requested psychiatrist that he beat his wife, â€Å"at times,† (p. 196). After three years in jail, Manson was released with five years parole (the year was 1958). In 1959, Manson’s parole officer was informed by a parent that Manson had conned his daughter (Jo Anne) and one of her friends (Beth), telling them he was in the night club, radio and television business. Manson convinced Jo Anne to invest her savings in his bogus company, got her pregnant (there was no mention if the sex was consensual), and drugged and raped Beth as well (p. 199). For violating his probation as well as these new sexual crimes he was accused of committing Manson was sentenced to 10 years in prison (although he was paroled on March 21, 1967). It was after this stint in prison that Manson began to bring his â€Å"Family† together and it was with them that he truly began to explore his appetite for violence through the use of spiritual abuse. The Manson Family at first glance may not seem different from many of the communes that had come together in the 60s, representing a desire for sexual liberation and a more natural way of living. However, the Family was not simply a commune, but a cult whose idea of a more natural way of life included violence, submission and eventually control over the world as the, â€Å"pure, white master race,† (p. 330). To members of the family Charles Manson was Jesus Christ or God, and these were the aliases that Charlie Manson provided the police when he was charged for the car theft ring (p. 80). Manson always had a desire for attention and to feel noticed and important, and it was through his creation of his own religion that he could finally get what he always wanted. Unfortunately for his acolytes, Manson’s appetite for violence and abuse only escalated once he had a multitude of willing victims under his control. It may seem odd that people would want to join such an abusive group, but Manson had various means to attract people to his Family. To convince men to join him Manson would use the sexual favors of the girls already under his control. For example, when trying to attract a biker from the Straight Satans gang to join him, Manson is quoted as saying, â€Å"Move up here, you can have all the girls you want, all the girls,† (p. 131). To get girls to join Manson would ask for the help of some of the more attractive men in the Family to, â€Å"go down to the Sunset Strip, where the teenyboppers hung out,† or â€Å"drive the highways watching for girls who were hitchhiking,† (p. 317) in the hope that they would be able to lure some of the girls back to the ranch the Family was living on. Once these new recruits were introduced to the Family, Manson had a variety of techniques he would use to control them. Manson was said to have possessed an ability to capitalize on, â€Å"a person’s hang-ups and/or desires,† (p. 316). He told plain girls they were beautiful, told girls with daddy issues to imagine that he was their father, and girls looking for a leader that he was Jesus Christ. To ensure that the girls were completely submissive Manson would convince them that, â€Å"women are only as good as their men,† and that they were â€Å"a reflection of their men,† (p. 02). This is obviously ideal for a cult leader because Manson portrayed himself as the father of the Family and their savior. Since â€Å"their man† was so good, these girls felt that they were good, and that Manson would lead them to salvation and love. This mixture of brainwashing and domination produced in the girls, â€Å"a little girl quality† as if they had been, â€Å"retarded at a certain stage in their childhood,† (p. 184-185). Even when considering murder and death the girls would maintain a positive, contented mood, as if nothing could faze them. Manson did not just use words to bring about total obedience however. One thirteen-year-old girl was not considered â€Å"submissive enough† for Manson so he, â€Å"punched her in the mouth; kicked her across a room; hit her over the head with a chair leg,† (p. 277). This was not entirely typical of Manson though as his favorite weapons of control consisted of using or withholding sex (especially with the male Family members), as well as drug-aided manipulation. LSD is a hallucinogenic drug which can make the one taking it more susceptible to outside influence. Manson used this property to, â€Å"instill his philosophies, exploit weaknesses and fears, and extract promises and agreements from his followers,† (p. 318) while they were â€Å"tripping† on LSD (which he provided of course). Manson’s â€Å"religion† that he would con his followers into believing was based on a mixture of Scientology, passages from the Bible, Buddhism and records by the Beatles. While it is difficult to decipher exactly how this philosophy all fit together, one important element that aided in the control of the Family was fear. According to Manson, â€Å"fear was the same thing as awareness,† (p. 319) and the goal (as in many religions or philosophies) is to gain more awareness, or to come into the â€Å"Now,† which is a term taken from Scientologists and basically means to truly live â€Å"in the moment. † Manson told Family members that they should always be afraid, and he would search out his followers’ greatest fears so that he could use these fears, â€Å"like a magic button†¦he could push at will to control that person,† (p. 319). This aspect of the Manson cult is so important to understand because it explains why Manson had such a strong following. Even though many of his Family members were afraid of him, Manson told them that they wanted to be afraid so they took it as a good thing. Another important aspect of Manson’s beliefs that is very important for understanding the murders he would later commit was his interpretation of a chapter in the Bible from Revelations. Revelations tells of the four horsemen of the apocalypse who were foretold to arrive on earth to bring about a war where a third of mankind would perish. Manson believed that these four horsemen were the Beatles rock group, and therefore the apocalypse was happening soon if not immediately. Manson believed there was going to be a race war (blacks vs. whites) in which the whites would be wiped out (the third of mankind that will perish) and the only way to escape it was to hide out in the desert where he could later return with his Family where they would rule over the remaining blacks as the master race. The murders that Manson and his followers committed were meant to spark this race war, and move Manson’s plan into action. Although this sounds quite unbelievable, the combination of LCD, naivete (some of the Family members were fed these theories since they were thirteen), and the time period allowed Manson to assemble quite a sizable group. While it is estimated that there may have been over a hundred Family members at various times, the inner circle remained at around 20-30 people (p. 186). The Family was Manson’s â€Å"greatest† creation. While previously Manson could only abuse one or two people at a time, he found a way to simultaneously abuse dozens of people – all without the knowledge of society as a whole. A lot of research has been done in the field of interpersonal violence since the time of the Manson murders. There are more accepted theories explaining why people commit acts of interpersonal violence and there are more tested methods of how to recognize people or situations that may become abusive. It is clear just how far things have progressed when the ease of which Charles Manson is labeled as the monster he is and the multiple warning signs that appear when looking at his life and personality. Many of Manson’s personality traits match with those suggested by Rosenbaum, Pagelow and/or Anderson, including â€Å"violence in family of origin,† (although there is no explicit information about physical abuse, Manson was neglected and rejected by his mother) â€Å"low self esteem,† (Manson had a drive to be recognized by others) â€Å"traditionalist, authoritarian personalities, need for power or control† (the way Manson ran his Family is clear evidence of this) as well as â€Å"moody,† (mentioned in institutional personality checks of Manson) and â€Å"psychopathology,† (Wallace, Roberson, p. 22 Table 9. 1). Although there is no single accepted checklist for traits of an abuser, Manson would be identified as an abuser using three different (though overlapping) scales. If these types of measurements had been available in Manson’s early years, he may have been discovered and possibly could have been treated when he was 19 (when he abused his first wife) instead of being released from prison after a few short years with no rehabilitation and allowed to continue his patterns of abuse. The tactics Manson used to control the Family are also very well documented in today’s research of intimate partner abuse. For example, three main elements in any abuse situation are fear, isolation and lack of resources (Wallace, Roberson, p. 225). Manson’s â€Å"religion† was based on making his followers as afraid as possible, and having an intimate knowledge of each member’s fears so that they could be used against them when needed. While many of the Family members appeared to radiate inner contentment, there were several former members of the Family that testified in the Manson case that would talk about how afraid they were of what Manson would do to them if they disobeyed his commands. Isolation was obviously an important part of Manson’s philosophy as he was very against the â€Å"establishment† and saw the apocalypse fast approaching therefore he took his family to the desert and for most of the time the Family was together they lived on Spahn’s ranch, which was an old western movie set that had allen into disrepair. Once in this isolated location Manson had free reign to manipulate and abuse his followers with no one to stop him. Lack of resources could be said to apply to all the members of the Family as they were living the hippie lifestyle with no real employment prospects. However, this is important when considering that very few of the Family members left Manson, especially his â€Å"inner circle. † Although Manson might have been abusive and demanding in many ways, he appeared to have a plan and an answer for life’s tough questions. With no better prospects and no real way to successfully fend for themselves, it is no surprise that many of the women especially did not leave (they were taught they were only good as their man after all – what would they do with no man? ). With more knowledge about what can cause abusive situations as well as increased awareness among the general population I am hopeful that a situation like the one that developed in the California desert will not happen again, and if it does hopefully it will be quickly identified and shut down. Sexual assault is a common factor in many of the different topics in interpersonal violence including rape, intimate partner abuse and child abuse. There is evidence that Manson participated in all of these facets of sexual assault. Although I’ve already mentioned how he has raped (Beth in 1959) and used sex as a means of control (with the female Family members), he also engaged in child sexual abuse. One thirteen year old girl was sodomized by Manson as other Family members looked on as part of her initiation (p. 18). Manson’s motives for sexual assault are easy to match up with the category of â€Å"power rape† given in Wallace and Roberson’s text book on family violence. Power rapes (specifically power-assertive rapists) consider rape as, â€Å"an expression of his virility, mastery and dominance,† (p. 342). Clearly Manson desired attention, obedience and wanted control over his victims, that being the same way he ran his Family. By controlling what others did sexually Manson was able to feel in control of them. Clearly Manson was not interested in his followers as people, but merely puppets from which he could get what he wanted. When considering the scope of the spiritual abuse that Manson perpetrated on his followers, it is important to consider his authoritarian personality and his need for attention and control. Manson’s philosophy was all there was for the Family – there was no adding elements to it or putting a personal spin on the information. As one Family member put it, â€Å"everything was done at Charlie’s direction,† (p. 317). Therefore, when examining some of the questions Wallace and Roberson’s book offer as means of determining if a religious group is abusive, the answers to them are uniformly â€Å"no. † For example, â€Å"Does the group allow for development in theological beliefs? † â€Å"Does the group foster relationships and connections with the larger society that are more than self-serving? or the question most indicative of the abusive situation happening at Spahn ranch, â€Å"Does the group encourage independent thinking and the development of discernment skills? (Wallace and Roberson, p. 327). While Manson did not demand any of his followers kill themselves as is the pattern in many cults, his motives were just as sinister. Manson’s goal was to survive the apocalypse to be the leader of the master white race. With the help of his Family Manson wanted to go from the leader of 30-40 hippies to the leader of the whole world. Luckily his means of obtaining this goal were not as grand as the goal itself and eventually landed him in jail, far away from impressionable minds to warp and twist. Charles Manson is an interesting man in that he offers us the opportunity to see how a human being can transform himself into an animalistic monster if society turns a blind eye. Even though Manson proved from an early age that he was violent and had no respect for authority or law, he was repeatedly let out to wreak havoc on society. Charles Manson’s masterpiece was a sadistic, brainwashing cult which twisted the minds of dozens of young people, made them experiences the horror of abuse, physical, emotional and sexual, and finally ended in the deaths of at least nine people. What Manson really gives us is a reason to continue the fight against interpersonal violence. As a society we must never again allow such a person to freely exist among us. People with these types of violent tendencies must be identified, understand and if at all possible, rehabilitated. If rehabilitation is not possible then the proper steps must be taken to ensure that such an abusive person is never allowed access to another victim. While people often think that interpersonal violence isn’t their problem because they haven’t personally experienced it, Charles Manson shows just how ignorant this opinion is. While Manson may have been â€Å"someone else’s problem† before he started the family, it was still one man that shocked and frightened an entire state, and made the entire country take notice. With our increased understanding we now that the ability to fight to insure that nothing like the Manson Family will be allowed to exist unchecked again.