Curriculum-based Pedagogy

Every educator across levels has their own understanding and views about curriculum and pedagogy and these may be based from personal and theoretical knowledge and from their own experiences both as a student and educator. An educator in the conduct of his or her profession in actual practice would be guided by his or her perspective on what curriculum is and should be. Curriculum studies and development had become abstract and highly theoretical and curriculum inquiry is a difficult and perplexing area of study which many educators are not comfortable with.However, the beauty of curriculum inquiry is that it enables educators to come to terms with their own beliefs and interpretation of curriculum. The exercise can be quite painful and revealing to educators as it makes them realize their biases and preconceived notion on what education should be and how lacking or adequate their approaches and philosophies are. It is in this context that I begin the process of self-reflection on my own beliefs and perspective on curriculum-based pedagogy and the theories and personalities that have influenced me as an educator.I do not intend to justify my beliefs or educational philosophies but rather I attempt to expound on what I think are effective practices and curriculum theories that I have embraced in my profession as an educator. I know that theories are not infallible and some may generate more questions and criticisms than answers but I do believe that it is still a good practice to anchor one’s beliefs in a certain theory or perspective as it provides a guide and substance to what I do as educator.In this paper, I try to make sense of my own realities and how it has affected my work and my personal life. There are two kinds of educators, those who follow curriculums strictly and those who adopt curriculums to their own realities and learning environment (Eisner, 1998). I would like to think that I belong to the latter. I had always thought of curriculum as a guide, as a framework and as an evaluative tool in how I conduct my teaching. I do not adhere to a specific curriculum nor do I force curriculum to a learning environment if it is not suited.I have nothing against those who use curriculum religiously because I have seen it to be effective in some schools however, in a diverse learning environment, one has to adopt and adjust the curriculum to meet the needs of all learners. I still see this approach as curriculum-based because I follow the instructional models that the curriculum provides; the changes I make are still based on the given curricula and basically teach the same thing and arrive at the same learning goals but in a slightly more appropriate way for my set of learners.I may not always interpret and apply the lessons and approaches provided for by the curriculum accurately, but I always see to it that every lesson is a learning experience for my students. There are different reasons for adhering to a curriculum approach, one can be an implementer, a developer or a maker and the choice would be dictated by one’s personal experience and perspective.I view education as a complete process that mirrors life and teaches students the skills and knowledge that they need to live this life. On the other hand, I also acknowledge the great impact of learner characteristics to the effectiveness of education, thus, curriculum-based pedagogy should not be viewed as a narrow and constricting approach to instruction but as a democratic and deliberate artistry that will lead to a more practical and appropriate learning process (Feden & Vogel, 2003).I know of some educators who had adhered to the curriculum they had been trained to use and apply for the longest time, they were experts in that certain curriculum and have produced learning and knowledge for their students to absorb and assimilate, but they had refused to learn anything else. I don’t blame them, comfort and familiarity is a much safer terr ain than change and innovation. At a certain point in my profession, I had also gravitated towards curriculum fidelity wherein I did everything by the book and relied on what curriculum experts deemed as true and correct and most effective.However, when one immerses oneself in the filed and puts the curriculum to practice, it is a different story. There were instances when I was left hanging and felt inadequate about my teaching even when I did everything that was asked by the curriculum, I thought I was not being a good teacher, I took me some time to realize that the curriculum I was using was not meeting the needs of my students.The curriculum was not at fault, nor was my teaching the problem, the problem was that I restricted my creativity and artistry in interpreting the guides given by the curriculum; I was not confident in my own abilities but relied on what was prescribed and suggested. The obsession with following curriculum guides, lessons and content led me to become a cu rriculum transmitter. I was focusing on what was in the book, in the unit lessons and had very few attempts at augmenting the lessons through additional research or innovative strategies.The lessons I was teaching was only based on the prescribed textbook and I followed it unit by unit even though I noticed that some units were not relevant or applicable and that some units were not in the right order of presentation. I thought I was being a good teacher by following closely what was demanded of me based on the curriculum. My principal and supervisor approved of my teaching and the system that I followed, it was in those times when curriculum was the be all and end all of pedagogy.Why would it not be, when it was assumed that the prescribed curriculum was the best and that the teaching strategies and unit lessons covered all the things that students are expected to learn? Moreover, the curriculum was designed by curriculum experts who were knowledgeable about student learning and ef fective instruction. As I gained experience as a teacher, I begun to notice things, that sometimes the content covered in the curriculum was not developmentally appropriate because students were not absorbing it, that sometimes the lessons were too long for something that was easy and sometimes it was too short for a difficult concept.It was at this point that I became more aware of my students needs and how the prescribed curriculum was not really bringing out the desired learning from the students. I started slowly, at first I felt guilty about skipping some units but then I found out that the amount of learning students gained was not affected by the skipped units.I also tried little by little to introduce new information from other books or materials and made use of different strategies in presenting the lessons and student became more interested, in the past I was labeled as a boring teacher, but when I made the changes, I became a little popular and students started greeting m e in the hallways. But I did get in trouble for those changes, my principal was alarmed at why my previously quiet classes were becoming noisy, and why were my lesson plans not in accordance with the content in the book.I was told to revert to my old teaching strategies and to continue using the prescribed textbook only. And as I was an obedient teacher then, I did as I was told, however the seed was planted. I was wondering whether other schools followed the curriculum closely and whether there was some other way of teaching the same content. This is when I decided to find answers to my questions and I pursued higher education to augment my knowledge and understanding of educational practices and curriculum. I guess I have gone back to school full of idealism and the hope of finding the answers to my questions.When I went back to school I was eager to prove my supervisors wrong and that I was correct. It was only when I had started reading the course materials and the papers given to us in class did I realize that curriculum-based pedagogy is more than an approach, more than a theoretical concept. At first I had difficulty reconciling the fact that there are a number of curriculums that different schools adhered to and that effectiveness is often measured in terms of student outcomes and achievement of learning goals. At best the course was an eye opener, but sadly after two courses I decided to go back to teaching full time.I thought that I could better apply my curriculum perspective in real classrooms and students than simply learning it in class. I decided to become a curriculum developer in the sense that I would try to adjust and modify the curriculum I was working with. I guess I was too adamant for my own good, because I found myself half-baked, wondering whether the strategies I was using was correct or not and not knowing how to derive feedback from my colleagues or my students on the quality of my teaching. I found myself using one strategy after a nother that often left my students confused instead of gaining understanding.I begun to read about curriculum theorists and I was enlightened by their conceptions of what curriculum should be and how it is applied in actual teaching. However, some were too theoretical for me, it was too abstract and complex that naturally I gravitated towards the theories that were more practical, more realistic and more applicable to my present reality as a teacher. But I knew that whatever practical understanding I have of those curriculum theories, I was sorely lacking in the theoretical aspect and could not distinguish one from the other.Thus, I knew I had to go back to school, this time with a more open mind and a desire to learn. In the next part of the paper, I will outline the different perspectives of the curriculum theorists and educational figures that have impacted my own professional life as an educator and how they contributed to my own conception of deliberate artistry. John Dewey and the Social Curriculum John Dewey is one of the pioneers of curriculum development and in his pedagogic creed he outlined the nature of education and what its subject content should be (Dewey,1897).I read Dewey’s creed as part of our course readings and I readily found his perspective to appeal to my own sense of educational focus. Dewey argued that children develop through social interaction and the social environment that the child is situated in. Thus, to him education should reflect the social life of the child, he pointed out that schooling should be a life itself and not as a preparation for future life (Dewey,1897). I think what Dewey was arguing was for educators to make their lessons and instructions mirror reality and actual life relationships and processes instead of some abstractions.It is very easy for us to teach mathematical concepts and relationships in algebra and trigonometry without placing those relationships in actual experiences or realities. In this cas e, the teacher should be able to make the connections between algebraic relationships to objects and concepts that are real to the student. Who would have ever thought that mathematical concepts could be used to predict the number of baseball homeruns? Math becomes more real to the student when it is explained in terms of baseball, a sport that most students play or know about and are very real to them.Dewey also said that there are two aspects of education, psychological and social, wherein the intellect and development of the child’s psychological processes serves as the starting point for which education and learning should be based (Dewey,1897). Dewey recognized that the child in the course of his or her development has the capacity to make sense of his or her social interactions and will learn from it. The sociological aspect of education is to place into context the psychological attributes of the child and to ascribe meaning to his or her capacities in relation to his or her social reality.It is important for both the psychological and sociological aspect of education to be aligned as it would benefit the child and lead to optimum learning. For example, providing psychological stimulation without social meaning will result to superficial learning while focusing on the sociological without considering the psychological would result to developmentally inappropriate content and instruction. In this respect, Dewey advocated that education for it to be effective; it should be cognizant of both the intellect and development of the child and the social environment of the child.It makes perfect sense to me that Dewey strived to communicate such practice because we now know that learning and instruction must be synchronized and aligned for effective learning to occur, but he was ahead of his time. At present, the curriculum standards of most states dictate that at a certain grade level and age, a child must be able to master and learn a set of skills and information that are appropriate for their age. However, what is problematic about these so called standards is that it does not take into account the variation of human development; some children develop faster while others appear to lag behind.On the other hand, children who do not perform at par with the given standards are labeled slow learners or have learning disability which strip them from their self-confidence and diminishes their self-worth. In an age where we know more about cognitive development than ever before, we fail at incorporating that knowledge to the social institution that is responsible for educating our children and our future. Dewey was correct when he said that education should be focus on the total development of the child or student in relation to his or her social activities.But this is easier said than done, when accountability issues and achievement scores dominate the educational system, it is very difficult to honor Dewey’s recommendations. De wey postulated a curriculum that would allow for the social development of the child, for schools to become social institutions and for educational content to become the social life of the child (Dewey,1897). In this way, the child becomes more in touch with his or her nature and the social context in which he or she engages in a daily basis and which constitutes his or her life. This would imply that lessons taught should be through the experiences of the child.For example, a kindergarten teacher who wishes to introduce her students to counting and numbers would be more effective if she uses blocks, balls or candies that children are familiar with and have come across it through their social interaction. On the other hand, it would not make sense to teach a historical event to students without connecting it to their present realities. For example, if I teach children about some ancient civilization and not connect it to the present realities in our society and culture, then I would have failed to impart to them information that had mattered and that would have shaped their own learning.In terms of curriculum content, Dewey had said that every lesson, concept and skill should be taught in the view of the social activities of the child. He had identified a number of subject matters that should be taught to children and this includes the arts, literature, language, culture and science as it encompasses the essence of human life. However, he cautioned on the mere teaching of science as an objective subject as it limits the experience of students in terms of how social lie is shaped by scientific developments.Dewey also stressed the importance of literature and language studies as the expression and cultivation of life experiences (Dewey,1897). It is important to study literature as it provides children with an unrestrictive medium of self expression as well as an understanding of the social realities of the past and the present. Language should not be taught only as a series of sounds, phonetics words or even grammar but as a form of communicating and the medium wherein knowledge is transmitted, ideas are shared and emotions are expressed.The problem with being too curriculum oriented is that we tend to rely on what is prescribed and live out our own creativity. Language instruction should first focus on the expression of experiences, the learning of grammar rules, tenses and subject-verb-agreement would then follow because the student has found that language is an effective agent of expressing ideas and experiences. In the classroom, this would mean that importance should be placed on developing students’ language skills such as speaking and then motivating them to become more effective communicators through the learning of correct grammar and pronunciation.

Can You Say What Your Strategy Is

www. hbr. org It’s a dirty little secret: Most executives cannot articulate the objective, scope, and advantage of their business in a simple statement. If they can’t, neither can anyone else. Can You Say What Your Strategy Is? by David J. Collis and Michael G. Rukstad Reprint R0804E It’s a dirty little secret: Most executives cannot articulate the objective, scope, and advantage of their business in a simple statement. If they can’t, neither can anyone else. Can You Say What Your Strategy Is? by David J. Collis and Michael G. Rukstad COPYRIGHT  © 2008 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Can you summarize your company’s strategy in 35 words or less? If so, would your colleagues put it the same way? It is our experience that very few executives can honestly answer these simple questions in the af? rmative. And the companies that those executives work for are often the most successful in their industry. One is Edward Jones, a St. Louis–based brokerage ? rm with which one of us has been involved for more than 10 years. The fourth-largest brokerage in the United States, Jones has quadrupled its market share during the past two decades, has consistently outperformed its rivals in terms of ROI through bull and bear markets, and has been a ? xture on Fortune’s list of the top companies to work for. It’s a safe bet that just about every one of its 37,000 employees could express the company’s succinct strategy statement: Jones aims to â€Å"grow to 17,000 ? nancial advisers by 2012 [from about 10,000 today] by offering trusted and convenient face-to-face ? ancial advice to conservative individual investors who delegate their ? nanharvard business review †¢ april 2008 cial decisions, through a national network of one-? nancial-adviser of? ces. † Conversely, companies that don’t have a simple and clear statement of strategy are likely to fall into the sorry category of those that have failed to execute their strategy or, worse, those that never even had one. In an as tonishing number of organizations, executives, frontline employees, and all those in between are frustrated because no clear strategy exists for the company or its lines of business. The kinds of complaints that abound in such ? rms include: †¢ â€Å"I try for months to get an initiative off the ground, and then it is shut down because ‘it doesn’t ? t the strategy. ’ Why didn’t anyone tell me that at the beginning? † †¢ â€Å"I don’t know whether I should be pursuing this market opportunity. I get mixed signals from the powers that be. † †¢ â€Å"Why are we bidding on this customer’s business again? We lost it last year, and I thought we agreed then not to waste our time chasing the contract! † page 1 Can You Say What Your Strategy Is? David J. Collis ([email  protected] du) is an adjunct professor in the strategy unit of Harvard Business School in Boston and the author of several books on corporate strategy. He has studied and consulted to Edward Jones, the brokerage that is the main example in this article, and has taught in the firm’s management-development program. Michael G . Rukstad was a senior research fellow at Harvard Business School, where he taught for many years until his untimely death in 2006. †¢ â€Å"Should I cut the price for this customer? I don’t know if we would be better off winning the deal at a lower price or just losing the business. Leaders of ? rms are mysti? ed when what they thought was a beautifully crafted strategy is never implemented. They assume that the initiatives described in the voluminous documentation that emerges from an annual budget or a strategic-planning process will ensure competitive success. They fail to appreciate the necessity of having a simple, clear, succinct strategy statement that everyone can internalize and use as a guiding light for making dif? cult choices. Think of a major business as a mound of 10,000 iron ? lings, each one representing an employee. If you scoop up that many ? ings and drop them onto a piece of paper, they’ll be pointing in every direction. It will be a big mes s: 10,000 smart people working hard and making what they think are the right decisions for the company—but with the net result of confusion. Engineers in the R&D department are creating a product with â€Å"must have† features for which (as the marketing group could have told them) customers will not pay; the sales force is selling customers on quick turnaround times and customized offerings even though the manufacturing group has just invested in equipment designed for long production runs; and so on. If you pass a magnet over those ? ings, what happens? They line up. Similarly, a well-understood statement of strategy aligns behavior within the business. It allows everyone in the organization to make individual choices that reinforce one another, rendering those 10,000 employees exponentially more effective. What goes into a good statement of strategy? Michael Porter’s seminal article â€Å"What Is Strategy? † (HBR November–December 1996) lays out the characteristics of strategy in a conceptual fashion, conveying the essence of strategic choices and distinguishing them from the relentless but competitively fruitless search for operational ef? iency. However, we have found in our work both with executives and with students that Porter’s article does not answer the more basic question of how to describe a particular ? rm’s strategy. It is a dirty little secret that most executives don’t actually know what all the elements of a strategy statement are, which makes it impossible for them to develop one. With a clear de? nition, though, two things happen: First, formulation becomes in? nitely easier because executives know what they are trying to create. Second, implementation becomes much simpler because the strategy’s essence can be readily communicated and easily internalized by everyone in the organization. Elements of a Strategy Statement The late Mike Rukstad, who contributed enormously to this article, identi? ed three critical components of a good strategy statement— objective, scope, and advantage—and rightly believed that executives should be forced to be crystal clear about them. These elements are a simple yet suf? cient list for any strategy (whether business or military) that addresses competitive interaction over unbounded terrain. Any strategy statement must begin with a de? nition of the ends that the strategy is designed to achieve. â€Å"If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there† is the appropriate maxim here. If a nation has an unclear sense of what it seeks to achieve from a military campaign, how can it have a hope of attaining its goal? The de? nition of the objective should include not only an end point but also a time frame for reaching it. A strategy to get U. S. troops out of Iraq at some distant point in the future would be very different from a strategy to bring them home within two years. Since most ? rms compete in a more or less unbounded landscape, it is also crucial to de? ne the scope, or domain, of the business: the part of the landscape in which the ? rm will operate. What are the boundaries beyond which it will not venture? If you are planning to enter the restaurant business, will you provide sit-down or quick service? A casual or an upscale atmosphere? What type of food will you offer—French or Mexican? What geographic area will you serve—the Midwest or the East Coast? Alone, these two aspects of strategy are insuf? ient. You could go into business tomorrow with the goal of becoming the world’s largest hamburger chain within 10 years. But will anyone invest in your company if you have not explained how you are going to reach your objective? Your competitive advantage is the essence of your strategy: What harvard business review †¢ april 2008 page 2 Can You Say What Your Strategy Is? your business will do differently from or better t han others de? nes the all-important means by which you will achieve your stated objective. That advantage has complementary external and internal components: a value proposition that explains why the targeted customer should buy your product above all the alternatives, and a description of how internal activities must be aligned so that only your ? rm can deliver that value proposition. De? ning the objective, scope, and advantage requires trade-offs, which Porter identi? ed as fundamental to strategy. If a ? rm chooses to pursue growth or size, it must accept that pro? tability will take a back seat. If it chooses to serve institutional clients, it may ignore retail customers. If the value proposition is lower prices, the company will not be able to compete on, for example, fashion or ? t. Finally, if the advantage comes from scale economies, the ? rm will not be able to accommodate idiosyncratic customer needs. Such trade-offs are what distinguish individual companies strategically. De? ning the Objective The ? rst element of a strategy statement is the one that most companies have in some A Hierarchy of Company Statements Organizational direction comes in several forms. The mission statement is your loftiest guiding light—and your least speci? c. As you work your way down the hierarchy, the statements become more concrete, practical, and ultimately unique. No other company will have the same strategy statement, which de? nes your competitive advantage, or balanced scorecard, which tracks how you implement your particular strategy. MISSION Why we exist VALUES What we believe in and how we will behave VISION What we want to be STRATEGY What our competitive game plan will be BALANCED SCORECARD How we will monitor and implement that plan The BASIC ELEMENTS of a Strategy Statement OBJECTIVE = Ends SCOPE = Domain ADVANTAGE = Means form or other. Unfortunately, the form is usually wrong. Companies tend to confuse their statement of values or their mission with their strategic objective. A strategic objective is not, for example, the platitude of â€Å"maximizing shareholder wealth by exceeding customer expectations for _______ [insert product or service here] and providing opportunities for our employees to lead ful? lling lives while respecting the environment and the communities in which we operate. † Rather, it is the single precise objective that will drive the business over the next ? ve years or so. (See the exhibit â€Å"A Hierarchy of Company Statements. ) Many companies do have—and all ? rms should have—statements of their ultimate purpose and the ethical values under which they will operate, but neither of these is the strategic objective. The mission statement spells out the underlying motivation for being in business in the ? rst place—the contribution to society that the ? rm aspires to make. (An insurance company, for example, might de? ne its mission as providing ? nancial security to consumers. ) Such statements, however, are not useful as strategic goals to drive today’s business decisions. Similarly, it is good and proper that ? ms be clear with employees about ethical values. But principles such as respecting individual differences and sustaining the environment are not strategic. They govern how employees should behave (â€Å"doing things right†); they do not guide what the ? rm should do (â€Å"the right thing to do†). Firms in the same business often have the same mission. (Don’t all insurance companies aspire to provide ? nancial security to their customers? ) They may also have the same values. They might even share a vision: an indeterminate future goal such as being the â€Å"recognized leader in the insurance ? eld. However, it is unlikely that even two companies in the same business will have the same strategic objecti ve. Indeed, if your ? rm’s strategy can be applied to any other ? rm, you don’t have a very good one. It is always easy to claim that maximizing shareholder value is the company’s objective. In some sense all strategies are designed to do this. However, the question to ask when creating an actionable strategic statement is, Which objective is most likely to maximize shareholder value over the next several years? harvard business review †¢ april 2008 page 3 Can You Say What Your Strategy Is? Growth? Achieving a certain market share? Becoming the market leader? ) The strategic objective should be speci? c, measurable, and time bound. It should also be a single goal. It is not suf? cient to say, â€Å"We seek to grow pro? tably. † Which matters more—growth or pro? tability? A salesperson needs to know the answer when she’s deciding how aggressive to be on price. There could well be a host of subordinate goals that follow from the strategic objective, and these might serve as metrics on a balanced scorecard that monitors progress for which individuals will be held accountable. Yet the ultimate objective that will drive the operation of the business over the next several years should always be clear. The choice of objective has a profound impact on a ? rm. When Boeing shifted its primary goal from being the largest player in the aircraft industry to being the most profitable, it had to restructure the entire organization, from sales to manufacturing. For example, the company dropped its policy of competing with Airbus to the last cent on every deal and abandoned its commitment to maintain a manufacturing capacity that could deliver more than half a peak year’s demand for planes. Another company, after years of seeking to maximize pro? ts at the expense of growth, issued a corporate mandate to generate at least 10% organic growth per year. The change in strategy forced the ? rm to switch its focus from shrinking to serve only its pro? table core customers and competing on the basis of cost or ef? ciency to differentiating its products, which led to a host of new product features and services that appealed to a wider set of customers. At Edward Jones, discussion among the partners about the ? rm’s objective ignited a passionate exchange. One said, â€Å"Our ultimate objective has to be maximizing pro? t per partner. † Another responded, â€Å"Not all ? nancial advisers are partners—so if we maximize revenue per partner, we are ignoring the other 30,000-plus people who make the business work! † Another added, â€Å"Our ultimate customer is the client. We cannot just worry about partner pro? ts. In fact, we should start by maximizing value for the customer and let the pro? ts ? ow to us from there! † And so on. This intense debate not only drove alignment with the objective of healthy growth in the number of ? ancial advisers but also ensured that every implication of that choice was fully explored. Setting an ambitious growth target at each point in its 85-year history, Edward Jones has continually increased its scale and market presence. Striving to achieve such growth has increased long-term pro? t per adviser and led the ? rm to its unique con? guration: Its only pro? t center is the ind ividual ? nancial adviser. Other activities, even investment banking, serve as support functions and are not held accountable for generating pro? t. De? ning the Scope A ? m’s scope encompasses three dimensions: customer or offering, geographic location, and vertical integration. Clearly de? ned boundaries in those areas should make it obvious to managers which activities they should concentrate on and, more important, which they should not do. The three dimensions may vary in relevance. For Edward Jones, the most important is the customer. The ? rm is con? gured to meet the needs of one very speci? c type of client. Unlike just about every other brokerage in the business, Jones does not de? ne its archetypal customer by net worth or income. Nor does it use demographics, profession, or spending habits. Rather, the de? nition is psychographic: The company’s customers are long-term investors who have a conservative investment philosophy and are uncomfortable making serious ? nancial decisions without the support of a trusted adviser. In the terminology of the business, Jones targets the â€Å"delegator,† not the â€Å"validator† or the â€Å"do-it-yourselfer. † The scope of an enterprise does not prescribe exactly what should be done within the speci? ed bounds. In fact, it encourages experimentation and initiative. But to ensure that the borders are clear to all employees, the scope should specify where the ? rm or business will not go. That will prevent managers from spending long hours on projects that get turned down by higher-ups because they do not ? t the strategy. For example, clarity about who the customer is and who it is not has kept Edward Jones from pursuing day traders. Even at the height of the internet bubble, the company chose not to introduce online trading (it is harvard business review †¢ april 2008 page 4 Can You Say What Your Strategy Is? till not available to Jones customers). Unlike the many brokerages that committed hundreds of millions of dollars and endless executive hours to debates over whether to introduce online trading (and if so, how to price and position it in a way that did not cannibalize or con? ict with traditional offerings), Jones wasted no money or time on that decision because it had set clear boundaries. Similarly, Jones is not vertically integrate d into proprietary mutual funds, so as not to violate the independence of its ? nancial advisers and undermine clients’ trust. Nor will he company offer penny stocks, shares from IPOs, commodities, or options—investment products that it believes are too risky for the conservative clients it chooses to serve. And it does not have metropolitan of? ces in business districts, because they would not allow for the convenient, face-to-face interactions in casual settings that the ? rm seeks to provide. Knowing not to extend its scope in these directions has allowed the ? rm to focus on doing what it does well and reap the bene? ts of simplicity, standardization, and deep experience. De? ning the Advantage Wal-Mart’s Value Proposition Wal-Mart’s value proposition can be summed up as â€Å"everyday low prices for a broad range of goods that are always in stock in convenient geographic locations. † It is those aspects of the customer experience that the company overdelivers relative to competitors. Underperformance on other dimensions, such as ambience and sales help, is a strategic choice that generates cost savings, which fuel the company’s price advantage. If the local mom-and-pop hardware store has survived, it also has a value proposition: convenience, proprietors who have known you for years, free coffee and doughnuts on Saturday mornings, and so on. Sears falls in the middle on many criteria. As a result, customers lack a lot of compelling reasons to shop there, which goes a long way toward explaining why the company is struggling to remain pro? table. Customer purchase criteria* Low prices Selection across categories Rural convenience Reliable prices In-stock merchandise Merchandise quality Suburban convenience Selection within categories Sales help Ambience poor Delivery on criteria * in approximate order of importance to Wal-Mart’s target customer group Source: Jan Rivkin, Harvard Business School Mom & pop stores Sears Wal-Mart excellent Given that a sustainable competitive advantage is the essence of strategy, it should be no surprise that advantage is the most critical aspect of a strategy statement. Clarity about what makes the ? rm distinctive is what most helps employees understand how they can contribute to successful execution of its strategy. As mentioned above, the complete de? nition of a ? rm’s competitive advantage consists of two parts. The ? rst is a statement of the customer value proposition. Any strategy statement that cannot explain why customers should buy your product or service is doomed to failure. A simple graphic that maps your value proposition against those of rivals can be an extremely easy and useful way of identifying what makes yours distinctive. (See the exhibit â€Å"Wal-Mart’s Value Proposition. †) The second part of the statement of advantage captures the unique activities or the complex combination of activities allowing that ? rm alone to deliver the customer value proposition. This is where the strategy statement draws from Porter’s de? nition of strategy as making consistent choices about the con? guration of the ? rm’s activities. It is also where the activity-system map that Porter describes in â€Å"What Is Strategy? comes into play. As the exhibit â€Å"Edward Jones’s ActivitySystem Map† shows, the brokerage’s value proposition is to provide convenient, trusted, personal service and advice. What is most distinctive about Jones is that it has only one ? nancial adviser in an of? ce, which allows it to have mor e of? ces (10,000 nationally) than competitors do. Merrill Lynch has about 15,000 brokers but only 1,000 of? ces. To make it easy for its targeted customers to visit at their convenience—and to provide a relaxed, harvard business review †¢ april 2008 page 5 Can You Say What Your Strategy Is? ersonable, nonthreatening environment— Jones puts its of? ces in strip malls and the retail districts of rural areas and suburbs rather than high-rise buildings in the central business districts of big cities. These choices alone require Jones to differ radically from other brokerages in the con? guration of its activities. With no branch-of? ce management providing direction or support, each ? nancial adviser must be an entrepreneur who delights in running his or her own operation. Since such people are an exception in the industry, Jones has to bring all its own ? ancial advisers in from other industries or backgrounds and train them, at great expense. Until 2007, when it sw itched to an internet-based service, the ? rm had to have its own satellite network to provide its widely dispersed of? ces with real-time quotes and allow them to execute trades. Because the company has 10,000 separate of? ces, its real estate and communication costs are about 50% higher than the industry average. However, all those of? ces allow the ? nancial advisers who run them to deliver convenient, trusted, personal service and advice. Other successful players in this industry also have distinctive value propositions Edward Jones’s Activity-System Map This map illustrates how activities at the brokerage Edward Jones connect to deliver competitive advantage. The ? rm’s customer value proposition appears near the center of the map—in the â€Å"customer relationship† bubble—and the supporting activities hang off it. Only the major connections are shown. TARGET CUSTOMER individual conservative delegates decisions PRODUCT blue chips PRICE one-time commission mutual funds HEADQUARTERS St. Louis home of? e for all activities TECHNOLOGY satellite (historically) LOCATION rural suburban strip mall REGIONAL STRUCTURE no regional management COMPENSATION each ? nancial adviser is a pro? t center ONE FINANCIAL ADVISER PER OFFICE advisers run their own of? ces MARKETING local mailings knocking on doors INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHY long-term buy and hold CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP face-to-face convenient tru sted ? nancial adviser VALUES & CULTURE volunteerism mentoring BRANCH SUPPORT branch-of? ce assistant OWNERSHIP partnership, not public BROKER TYPE entrepreneur member of community HIRE & TRAIN hire from outside industry internally train all ? ancial advisers harvard business review †¢ april 2008 page 6 Can You Say What Your Strategy Is? and unique con? gurations of activities to support them. Merrill Lynch. During the ? ve-year tenure of former CEO Stan O’Neal, who retired in October 2007, Merrill Lynch developed an effective strategy that it called â€Å"Total Merrill. † The company’s value proposition: to provide for all the ? nancial needs of its high-net-worth customers—those with liquid ? nancial assets of more than $250,000—through retirement. While a lot of brokerages cater to people with a high net worth, they focus on asset accumulation before retirement. Merrill’s view is that as baby boomers age and move from the relatively simple phase of accumulating assets to the much more complex, higher-risk phase of drawing cash from their retirement accounts, their needs change. During this stage, they will want to consolidate their ? nancial assets with a single trusted partner that can help them ? gure out how to optimize income over their remaining years by making the best decisions on everything from annuities to payout ratios to long-term-care insurance. Merrill offers coherent ? nancial plans for The Strategic Sweet Spot The strategic sweet spot of a company is where it meets customers’ needs in a way that rivals can’t, given the context in which it competes. CONTEXT (technology, industry demographics, regulation, and so on) COMPETITORS’ offerings CUSTOMERS’ needs SWEET SPOT COMPANY’S capabilities such customers and provides access to a very wide range of sophisticated products based on a Monte Carlo simulation of the probabilities of running out of money according to different annual rates of return on different categories of assets. How does Merrill intend to deliver this value to its chosen customers in a way that’s unique among large ? ms? First, it is pushing brokers—especially new ones—to become certi? ed ? nancial planners and has raised internal training requirements to put them on that road. The certi? ed ? nancial planner license is more dif? cult for brokers to obtain than the standard Series 7 license, because it requires candidates to have a college degree and to master nearly 100 integrated ? nancialplanning topics. Second, Merrill offers all forms of insurance, annuities, covered calls, hedge funds, banking services, and so on (unlike Edward Jones, which offers a much more limited menu of investment products). Since several of these products are technically complex, Merrill needs product specialists to support the client-facing broker. This â€Å"Team Merrill† organization poses very different HR and compensation issues from those posed by Edward Jones’s single-adviser of? ces. Merrill’s compensation system has to share income among the team members and reward referrals. Wells Fargo. This San Francisco bank competes in the brokerage business as part of its tactic to cross-sell services to its retail banking customers in order to boost pro? t per customer. It aims to sell each customer at least eight different products. ) Wells Fargo’s objective for its brokerage arm, clearly stated in a recent annual report, is to triple its share of customers’ ? nancial assets. The brokerage’s means for achieving this goal is the parent company’s database of 23 million customers, many of them brought into the ? rm through one particular aspect of the bankin g relationship: the mortgage. Wells Fargo differs from Edward Jones and Merrill Lynch in its aim to offer personalized, rather than personal, service. For example, the ? m’s IT system allows a bank clerk to know a limited amount of information about a customer (name, birthday, and so on) and appear to be familiar with him or her, which is quite different from the ongoing individual relationships that Jones and Merrill brokers have with their clients. harvard business review †¢ april 2008 page 7 Can You Say What Your Strategy Is? LPL Financial. Different again is LPL Financial, with of? ces in Boston, San Diego, and Charlotte, North Carolina. LPL sees its brokers (all of whom are independent ? nancial advisers af? liated with the ? rm) rather than consumers as its clients and has con? ured all of its activities to provide individualized solutions and the highest payouts to its brokers. This means that the vast majority of the activities performed by the corporate headquar ters staff are services, such as training, that brokers choose and pay for on an a la carte basis. As a result, LPL’s headquarters staff is very small (0. 20 people per broker) compared with that of Edward Jones (1. 45 people per broker). Low overhead allows LPL to offer a higher payout to brokers than Jones and Merrill do, which is its distinctive value proposition to its chosen customer: the broker. By now it should be apparent how a careful description of the unique activities a ? rm performs to generate a distinctive customer value proposition effectively captures its strategy. A relatively simple description in a strategy statement provides an incisive characterization that could not belong to any other ? rm. This is the goal. When that statement has been internalized by all employees, they can easily understand how their daily activities contribute to the overall success of the ? rm and how to correctly make the dif? cult choices they confront in their jobs. Developing a Strategy Statement How, then, should a ? rm go about crafting its strategy statement? Obviously, the ? rst step is to create a great strategy, which requires careful evaluation of the industry landscape. Leaving No Room for Misinterpretation Executives at Edward Jones have developed a detailed understanding of every element of the ? rm’s strategy. Here is an example. †conservativeâ€Å" Our investment philosophy is long-term buy and hold. We do not sell penny stocks, commodities, or other high-risk instruments. As a result we do not serve day traders and see no need to offer online trading. We charge commissions on trades because this is the cheapest way to buy stocks (compared with a wrap fee, which charges annually as a percentage of assets) when the average length of time the investor holds the stock or mutual fund is over 10 years. †individualâ€Å" We do not advise institutions or companies. We do not segment according to wealth, age, or other demographics. The company will serve all customers that ? t its conservative investment philosophy. Brokers will call on any and every potential customer. Stories abound within Jones of millionaires who live in trailers—people all the other brokerages would never think of approaching. investorsâ€Å" Our basic service is investment. We do not seek to offer services such as checking accounts for their own sake, but only as part of the management of a client’s assets. †who delegate their ? nancial decisionsâ€Å" We do not target self-directed do-it-yourselfers, who are comfortable making their own investment decisions. We are also unlikely to serve validators, who are merely looking for reassurance that their decisions are correct. Edward Jones’s Strategy Statement To grow to 17,000 ? nancial advisers by 2012 by offering trusted and convenient face-to-face ? ancial advice to conservative individual investors who delegate their ? nancial decisions, through a national network of one-? nancialadviser of? ces. harvard business review †¢ april 2008 page 8 Can You Say What Your Strategy Is? This includes developing a detailed understanding of customer needs, segmenting customers, and then identifying unique ways of creating value for the ones the ? rm chooses to serve. It also calls for an analysis of competitors’ current strategies and a prediction of how they might change in the future. The process must involve a rigorous, objective assessment of the ? m’s capabilities and resources and those of competitors, as described in â€Å"Competing on Resources: Strategy in the 1990s,† by David J. Collis and Cynthia A. Montgomery (HBR July–August 1995)—not just a feel-good exercise of identifying core competencies. The creative part of developing strategy is ? nding the sweet spot that aligns the ? rm’s capabilities with customer needs in a way that competitors cannot match given the changing external context—factors such as technology, industry demographics, and regulation. (See the exhibit â€Å"The Strategic Sweet Spot. ) We have found that one of the best ways to do this is to develop two or three plausible but very different strategic options. For example, ? eshing out two dramatically different alternatives—becoming a cheap Red Lobster or a ? sh McDonald’s—helped executives at the Long John Silver’s chain of restaurants understand the strategic choices that they had to make. They had been trying to do a bit of everything, and this exercise showed them that their initiativ es—such as offering early-evening table service and expanding drive-through service—were strategically inconsistent. Competing on the basis of table service requires bigger restaurants and more employees, while drive-through service requires high-traf? c locations and smaller footprints. ) As a result, they chose to be a ? sh McDonald’s, building smaller restaurants with drive-through service in hightraf? c locations. The process of developing the strategy and then crafting the statement that captures its essence in a readily communicable manner should involve employees in all parts of the company and at all levels of the hierarchy. The wording of the strategy statement should be worked through in painstaking detail. In fact, that can be the most powerful part of the strategy development process. It is usually in heated discussions over the choice of a single word that a strategy is crystallized and executives truly understand what it will involve. The end result should be a brief statement that re? ects the three elements of an effective strategy. It should be accompanied by detailed annotations that elucidate the strategy’s nuances (to preempt any possible misreading) and spell out its implications. See the exhibit â€Å"Leaving No Room for Misinterpretation. †) When the strategy statement is circulated throughout the company, the value proposition chart and activity-system map should be attached. They serve as simple reminders of the twin aspects of competitive advantage that underpin the strategy. Cascading the statement throughout the organization, so that each level of management will be the teacher for the level below, becomes the starting point for incorporating strategy into everyone’s behavior. The strategy will really have traction only when executives can be con? ent that the actions of empowered frontline employees will be guided by the same principles that they themselves follow. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ The value of rhetoric should not be underestimated. A 35-word statement can have a substantial impact on a company’s success. Words do lead to action. Spending the time to develop the few words that truly capture your strategy and that will energize and empower your people will raise the long-term ? nancial performance of your organization. Reprint R0804E To order, see the next page or call 800-988-0886 or 617-783-7500 or go to www. br. org harvard business review †¢ april 2008 page 9 Further Reading The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series Here are the landmark ideas—both contemporary and classic—that have established Harvard B usiness Review as required reading for businesspeople around the globe. Each paperback includes eight of the leading articles on a particular business topic. The series includes over thirty titles, including the following best-sellers: Harvard Business Review on Brand Management Product no. 1445 Harvard Business Review on Change Product no. 842 Harvard Business Review on Leadership Product no. 8834 Harvard Business Review on Managing People Product no. 9075 Harvard Business Review on Measuring Corporate Performance Product no. 8826 For a complete list of the Harvard Business Review paperback series, go to www. hbr. org. To Order For Harvard Business Review reprints and subscriptions, call 800-988-0886 or 617-783-7500. Go to www. hbr. org For customized and quantity orders of Harvard Business Review article reprints, call 617-783-7626, or e-mail [email  protected] harvard. edu page 10

Robert Moses Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Robert Moses - Research Paper Example Robert attracted several top titles that he used to power his projects. He was the president to the Long Island Park Commission in 1924, and he later took the chairmanship of the State parks council. As the chairman of States Parks Council, Robert used his position to build many public parks in New York. His focus was to improve Long Island by appropriating land and building parkways. Southern State Parkway, Northern State Parkway and Jones Beach State park, were part of the places that Moses wanted to take his projects (Joann, 1989). His intention was to build three bridges that would connect Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens. By the time, he was removed from power, Moses had constructed more than ten bridges parkways and many recreational facilities. Moses also came up with the idea of building skyscrapers to give more land for the construction of public facilities. His work had a considerable impact to the people in New York and Long Island because he connected the island to the mainland by constructing bridges and tunnels (Joann, 1989). He provided the public with several play grounds and recreational parks, as well as an effective transport system. Further, he facilitated the flow of traffic in New York by constructing thousands of Kilometers of parkways. However, one of his projects led to the destruction of private houses, and this brought a negative impact to his public favor (Joann, 1989). I gain the impression that Robert was a strong personality who was determined to bring development to everyone. He a man who would sacrifice the interest of a few if what he was chasing would benefit the majority. Moses was also capable of building strong connections that would protect him when the influential people wanted to ruin his career. I also realize that Moses was vengeful to those people who stood in his way. Today’s planning processes are different from the ones that Moses applied. Today, an extensive survey, is done to account for the people’s

GUIDED READING ACTIVITIES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

GUIDED READING ACTIVITIES - Essay Example They explain their stand and arguments by giving specific examples and referring to the relevant theories. In this regard, the claimed contribution to the current knowledge is the use of the dominant story in furthering ethical business conducts especially by the stakeholders of particular concerned companies. The authors of the article mainly use the dominant theory to discuss the essence of ethics in doing business in the contemporary world. They specifically state that the dominant theory is not consistent with the law in that the dominant theory puts the interests of the stakeholders first before considering the interest of the community, customers, suppliers, and the employers. In addition, the dominant theory is according to the authors resistant to change in that because of the priority given to the shareholders’ interests, the system becomes reluctant to accept change as it firmly believes in a hierarchical system of classifying various interests. Perhaps the most important feature of the dominant theory in this regard is that the dominant theory is inconsistent with the basic ethical rules. In many business environments, business ethics is a fundamental tool for ensuring that corporates operate in accordance with the international best practice. In this regard, it is appropriate to infer that the integration thesis applies to all business decisions and environments. The integration thesis states that nearly all decisions that are of business nature normally contain some element of ethics in them and the opposite is true. This means that ethical decisions also have some business implications. There is also the responsible principle that insists t hat almost everybody either want to or should take individual responsibility for the consequences of their actions. In the conclusion part, the authors offer some arguments for managing the shareholders especially if their interests seam to

Paraphrasing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 23

Paraphrasing - Essay Example Secondly, compare between the printed and measured resistance, which should have a small difference. The second phase is to implement the power supply for the circuit in a way that the output yields 10 volts while the other is putting out 5 volts. The experiment led to the formation of Thevenin’s circuits both connected in series and parallel by using the two DC power supply and the three resistors. The third step is to use the initial resistors by adding them to the circuit. The last phase of the experiment is to measure the open circuit voltage, the short circuit current and the equivalent resistance and to comparison of the outcomes. At the end of the experiment, there was a difference in computed and measured values and the definition of Thevenin’s theorem in equivalent for linear and resistive circuits. The purpose of the experiment is to give the credible results of resistivity test showing the importance of the lab session and the

Sustainability Led-Marketing - Small business Term Paper

Sustainability Led-Marketing - Small business - Term Paper Example Sustainable marketing aims at winning consumers who have adapted to eco-friendly products made by businesses, which have embraced sustainable production. For a sustainable business, companies seek to enhance their production processes to minimise the side effects it causes to the environment. A sustainable business ensures that it reduces air pollution, water pollution and the side effect the product has on the consumer using the product or the service (Meffert et al. 2014, p. 156). Sustainable business is more of a business that looks toward enhancing or achieving corporate social responsibility to the community it serves. The illustration above implies that sustainable business aims at creating an environment where people believe that the product being manufactured by the company is the best in the market. In addition, it implies that the qualities a company’s product cannot be compared with any other firm in the same industry. Consumers are made to believe the product they are consuming was manufactured in a clean environment that not any other company can achieve (Belz & Peattie, 2010, p. 31). To bring to light a better understanding of sustainable marketing, Philips Lumileds Lighting Company will be used as a case study, as it enjoys the use of sustainable led marketing procedures. Philips Lumileds Lighting Company is an American light product manufacturing company that is located in San Jose, California, USA. The Company was established in 1999 with the aim of producing solid-state lighting solutions that include automotive lighting, LCD televisions, computer displays, creating a signal, and general lighting. It is the world-leading producer of high power light emitting diodes. In partnership with LUX EONPower Light Company, they came up with long life cost-effective light emitting diodes that have been ranked as the world-leading producer of light emitting diode lighting. In lieu of this information, it is

The Open Boat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Open Boat - Essay Example This is quite contradictory to the notion that human beings hold an importance in this Universe and humanity was created with some purpose. It might compel one to think if the Universe and its activities would come to a halt if a human being dies. This piece of literature shows how the nature and her elements move in their self-determined ways despite the fate of the four sailors who struggle against uncertainties of their fate through mutual support. The opening scene of the story introduces us to four survivors of a shipwreck, the captain, the oiler who is called Billy, the correspondent (the author who underwent the similar experience was also a correspondent at that time) and the cook. The author gives a detail description of all the men. For instance the cook is obese and shabbily attired, bailing water from the boat and positive about their rescue, the oiler is physically strong and rows with a single oar along with the correspondent who is with another oar and apparently detac hed from the group. The captain on the other hand lies in an injured condition at the base of the boat. The opposition between human fate and nature is best reflected in the lines â€Å"The birds sat comfortably in groups, and they were envied by some in the dingey for the wrath of the sea was no more to them than it was to a covey of prairie chickens a thousand miles inland† (Crane). ... The normal activities of nature seemed hostile and aggressive to the men. In fact the author brings out the angry thoughts of the men as follows: â€Å"If I am going to be drowned--if I am going to be drowned--if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees?...If this old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do better than this, she should be deprived of the management of men's fortunes† (Crane). Human beings often show their desperation through expressions of anger against nature. Such conditions of men bring them to a point where they want to vent their wrath on religion and God by throwing bricks at the temples. The next reason of exasperation comes when the men find there are no temples. Though the men at first thinks their fates are guided by some form of Gods. One on hand they feel â€Å"childish and stupid† to show any kind of optimism, while on the other any â€Å"open sugg estion of hopelessness† is not a wise demeanor (Crane). Crane tries to point out that humanity is not in a glorious position but one amongst he other components of nature and just like the society pursues their everyday activities, even the Universe would be undisturbed at the absence of human race. This is presented in contrast with the concept of the 19th century suggesting that the ultimate form of creation is human being (D’Ammassa, 174). The sole ray of hope comes from their mutual dependence and obtaining support from one another at times of distress. Such situations compel men to understand what it is like to be in the midst of a harsh reality and makes them realize the importance of comradeship. The men constantly get into fights, which

US Intel Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

US Intel Community - Essay Example Therefore, the confederate and the union leadership valued intelligence and thus established spy networks. Over the years, both the legislative as well as executive arms have devised committees and commissions that have proposed for the reorganization of the US Intelligence Community. The goals of these proposals reflect the international environment and the American foreign policy trends as well as all domestic concerns regarding governmental accountability3. The constitution gives Congress the power to authorize militia use to execute the union’s laws, repel invasions and suppress the insurrection4. The Intelligence Community has so far accomplished counterintelligence and foreign intelligence. Counterintelligence involves gathering information, protection against espionage, sabotage or assassinations by foreign governments or terrorists. Foreign intelligence refers to the information about foreign government’s activities or the activities of international terrorists5. Since the Act’s creation, which coincided with the establishment of the modern Army, only four men have held the demanding job of the Army’s Chief of Staff (â€Å"Top Soldier†)6. Best, Richard A. â€Å"Proposal for Intelligence Reorganization, 1949-2004.† CRS Report for Congress, Last Modified 24Th September 2004, Accessed 3rd September 2014, http://fas.org/irp/crs/RL32500.pdf Doyle, Charles & Elsea, Jennifer, Elsea, K. â€Å"The Posse Comitatus Act and Related Matters: The Use of the Military to Execute Civilian Law.† Congressional Research service, Last Modified 16Th August 2012, Accessed 3rd September 2014,

Teenage Pregnancy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Teenage Pregnancy - Assignment Example ned the differences of youths who are school going in the urban minority and faced with the possibility of teen pregnancy, how teen pregnancies affect academics and the approaches that the schools can use in addressing the problem (Basch, 2011). The author emphasizes that there is a lot of pressure that comes from teen pregnancy in influencing the outcomes of education among teens. There are reported high cases of teen pregnancy especially among the urban minority youth. According to the research carried out school, based programs can be of help in equipping the teens with skills and knowledge the need to be able to postpone sex to later time in life, to practice safe sex, to avoid unwanted pregnancies, and incase one becomes pregnant to go on and pursue education. There is an added advantage of the sex education in schools since the youth are protected from HIV and other infections, which can be spread amongst the youth as they engage in sex (Basch, 2011). The author carried out a research to have an overview on teenage pregnancy and realized that almost a third of teen females in the U.S get pregnant and once pregnant they face the risk of getting pregnant again. Compared to other western countries the author argues that in the U.S teenage pregnancies are high. When teens give birth especially when it is not intended they are highly affected and it can be extended to the children they get. The minority youth have higher teen pregnancy cases than the white youths. Teen pregnancies affect education, health, and social aspects of children (Basch, 2011). Teens that get pregnant are likely not to continue with their education. Those who continue with their education face several obstacles such that their performance is highly affected. From research, it is clear that children who are born to teen mothers are likely to become teen parents too. The research shows that children born to teen mothers are likely to become teen mothers since they probably live in

Parliamentary sovereignty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Parliamentary sovereignty - Essay Example The notion of Parliamentary Sovereignty has been central to democratic practice for a considerable period of time. In a democracy, the legislature is elected by popular vote and this has been a major feature of the English Constitution. In the initial stages of democracy in Britain, liberty was at grave risk due to monarchical power.1 As a consequence of the doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty, the Parliament was empowered to enact or rescind any law whatsoever. In addition, no individual or organisation was permitted by English Law to set aside or overrule legislation enacted by Parliament. In R (Jackson) v Attorney General,2 Lord Hope stated that Parliamentary Sovereignty was not absolute. Thereafter he referred to the enactment of the 1972 European Communities Act and the 1998 Human Rights Act which had effectively diminished the power of Parliament to legislate.3 There was disagreement among their Lordships, regarding the ruling in R (Jackson) v Attorney General. This divergenc e in view related to whether the process detailed under section 2 of the Parliament Act 1911 and 1949, could be employed by the House of Commons to extend the life of Parliament beyond 5 years. The decision in the Jackson case apparently supports this view. Most of the members of the House of Lords were against this conclusion.4 However, they were signally unable to substantiate it in a manner that was consistent with promoting the supremacy of Parliament. In particular, Lord Hope highlighted the fact that the notion of absolute legislative sovereignty of Parliament that had been derived by Dicey from Blackstone and Coke was undergoing gradual change. However, in his judgement in this case, Lord Hope refrained from explicitly declaring that the courts lacked the power to question the validity of legislation for the reason that the latter was incompatible with union legislation.5 However, Lord Hope was of the opinion that union legislation was a tangible constraint on Parliamentary S overeignty. As per Lord Hope, the doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty was central to the Constitution. However, due to certain developments, Parliamentary Sovereignty was not absolute. Consequently, it would be incorrect to contend that Parliament’s freedom to legislate is unrestricted.6 In addition, Lord Hope stated that the rule of law, which was implemented by the courts, was the decisive controlling factor, and that the Constitution was founded on this element. Furthermore, Parliamentary Sovereignty would be rendered a hollow doctrine, if the general public refused to acknowledge legislation enacted by it, on the grounds that it was extremely offensive and incongruous. The fulcrum of the British Constitution is the doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty. Dicey, wrote extensively on the doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty and deemed it to be the underlying feature of British political institutions, as well as the very bedrock of constitutional law.7 As per Dicey, parlia ment can repeal or enact any law and the judiciary cannot hold a statute to be invalid for the reason that it breaches legal or moral principles.8 Thus, every fundamental law, with the exception of the principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty, can be altered by Parliament. One of the critical features of the rule of sovereignty is that no parliament has the power to bind its successors. Thus, there is no avenue, whereby a parliament can ingrain an Act of Parliament.9 In other words, every Act of Parliament can be repealed by subsequent legislation. Dicey was a strong proponent of the thought that the Rule of Law would be affected by discretionary power, as the latter would ultimately result in arbitrary decisions. This has been criticised by some scholars, who have contended that discretion is inevitable in a modern state, if a wide range of regulatory and welfare duties have to be carried out.10 All the same, several important values are incorporated in the Rule of Law, such as acces s to justice, accountability, certainty, due process, efficiency,

A Poets response to place is rarely purely descriptive Essay Example for Free

A Poets response to place is rarely purely descriptive Essay In this essay I will write about whether I agree with the statement above, or not. I will base my conclusion upon a detailed examination of two poems. I will look at the ideas and techniques poets use, language and imagery etc. I agree with the above statement, I feel nothing is purely descriptive, for example when someone says That house looks deep-rooted and daunting the quote is descriptive as well as being someones personal opinion. To one person it may look daunting but to another the house may look safe and restful. Whenever someone describes something, it always includes an opinion, so nothing can ever be purely descriptive. I will back up my opinion by looking at the two poems: London -William Blake (1757-1827) Dover Beach -Matthew Arnold (1823-1888) London is a poem about William Blakes interpretation of the dark side of London, he talks about how everyone is suffering, and how everyone is looking for freedom, no one has a future. Dover Beach is a poem about a beach in England, Matthew Arnold is describing what he feels is wrong with the world, and the reasons for the problems we have. London A poem of social protest, against the suffering of all who live in a world such as this. Written in 1789 (during the British industrial revolution). Not a poem of observed factual detail but Blakes perception of London, he uses the traditional form of alternate rhyming lines to imitate the repetitive predictability of the circle of suffering. London shows that: if the institution and structure of a place is corrupt then the people can never have a chance for innocence. In his poem Blake describes to the reader how there are legal restrictions on the roads, Charterd street. Also how the river Thames is governed Charterd Thames The quotation shows that even a river which should seem free, is owned , restricted. When Blake describes the restrictions, he is also enlightening the reader about the state of the residents of London, mind forgd manacles this quotation shows the depression and imprisoning of people, in their own mind. People are searching for liberty. People in London are abandoning the church because there lives are going so wrong Every Blackning Church appalls. The word plagues really gives us the impact of the place he was walking through, its a very pungent word. In this Poem, Blake uses disconnected stanzas, almost to describe the place where he is , nothing is stable, including peoples life. The rhythm of the poem is monotonous, there is not one positive image or feeling. There is also assonance to reinforce what he is saying. In this Poem, Blake starts to describe London, but as soon as he does, he describes the way people live and how they drastically lack liberty. Dover Beach is a melancholic poem. Matthew Arnold uses the means of pathetic fallacy, when he projects the human feeling of sadness onto an inanimate object like the sea. A repetition of neithernor in stanza 4 underlines a series of denials: . . . neither joy, nor love, nor light/ Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; (l. 33-34). All these are basic human values. If none of these do truly exist, this raises the question of what remains. With these lines, Arnold draws a nihilistic view of the world he is living in. Throughout the poem, the sea is used as an image and a metaphor. At first, it is beautiful to look at in the moonlight (ll.1-8), then it begins to make hostile sounds (grating roar (l. 9); tremulous cadence (l.13)) that suggest a general feeling of sadness. In the third stanza, the sea is turned into a metaphoric Sea of Faith (l.21) a symbol for a time when religion could still be experienced without the doubts brought about by progress and science (Darwinism). Now, the Sea of Faith and also the certainty of religion withdraws itself from the human grasp and leaves only darkness behind. Matthew Arnold, not only describes Dover beach, he describes he thoughts on the world, and why things are the way they are. To conclude with both the poems I have looked at, have reinforced the statement: A Poets response to place is rarely purely descriptive I have shown by using London and Dover beach that a poet always does so much more than simply describe a place, the poets own thoughts and feelings shine through. The reader gets taken deep down into the poem ,and finds out why the poet feels the way he/she does. Each poem is an insight to the way poets feel about places. Neither poems just describes a place, therefore I empathize with the above statement.

Romeo And Juliet Play And Movie Comparison Film Studies Essay

Romeo And Juliet Play And Movie Comparison Film Studies Essay The crown of English literature for plays, embedded with timeless and priceless gems, rests certainly on the head of William Shakespeare. Shakespeare has created masterpieces in every possible genres of play. Romeo and Juliet is an everlasting (or ever grey due to tragic over tones?!) play which draws undivided or unparallel attention of the writers even during this modern era. Apart from enjoying immense popularity when it was enacted as a drama during the early part of the sixteenth century, the beginning of mid twentieth century witnessed this play being converted into movies in 1968, and 1996. Both the movies stayed faithful to the original storyline; however, the 1996 version, Baz Lurhmann adopted the storyline to reflect the revealing trend of dispute among two feuding families. It is an exciting task to make a detailed study of the play, and its comparison in different aspect with the immensely popular 1996 version directed by the Australian, Baz Lurhmann. Romeo and Juliet, though termed as tragedy carries more of Shakespeares comedy elements. Love is obviously the dominating and most vital theme of this play. The whole play is intertwined on the romantic love between Romeo and Juliet at their first sight. In this play, love supersede other characteristics such as loyalty, emotions etc. In this play, the lovers deny the family and the entire world and proceed with their marriage. This is evident from the words of Juliet, Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, I / And Ill no longer be a Capulet (Romeo and Juliet. 2.2. 38-39). Romeo abandons his close friends, Mercutio and Benvolio and even risks his life and returns to Verona for the sake of his lady love even after being sent in exile. Love becomes a riding force for every incident narrated in the play. The lovers are emotionally triggered and take impulsive decisions; by this, they go against the norms of this world. Also, love is described as a religion. This is clear in the lines describing Romeo and Juliets first meeting. The readers can observe that Juliet has no words to explain her love for Romeo and thus refuses to describe it in words. But my true love is grown to such excess / I cannot sum up some of half my wealth (Romeo and Juliet 2.6. 33-34). Thus, it is clear that both the lovers are not able to explain their love and differentiate it with the society, family and religion. Their inability to draw line between their love and other ties can be said as a vital reason for their tragic end. By this, their love takes a back seat and death and violence occupies the front seat. The delicate ingredients of family feud, immature teenage aspirations and above all the raging love between the teenagers provides a great and ideal platform for Shakespeare to come up with an immortal tragedy. It is quite natural that film makers were inevitably attracted and motivated to make an interesting movie from the play. The project of making a movie on Romeo and Juliet certainly has some challenges to be encountered. Firstly, in the narrative, the vivid descriptions of the various scenarios are brought out in a several lines of verse; while the same can be made into a visual presentation involving much lesser times and words. Secondly, certain specific features in the realm of plays such as soliloquy are brought out in a distinctive style but picturization of the same is a different proposition altogether as the technical advancements has facilitated to project the actors expressions and bodily gestures by way of close-up shots and suitable editing in a forthright manner which is not possible in the play. Again, the advanced film making technique with avenues like lightning, wide variety of locales, costumes, advanced make-up facilities, make-up for an effective combination to produce excellent visual effects as compared to the limitations in the enactment of the play. Thus, the avenues are open for effecting the most picture perfect visualization. Baz Luhrmann has been successful in innovating the adaption of the screenplay in a different background scenario drawing a unique visual style, reflecting the politics and trends that existed in a combination of 1940s, 1970s and 1990s. Luhrmann deposits the play in the modern Verona beach; this can also be interpreted as reminding part decaying Miami and part Mexico City as frequent and high crime rate areas (Berardinelli, 1996). Accordingly, fast cars with roaring engines in the movie replace the horses in the play. Guns come in to occupy the place of swords and daggers. This kind of a hybrid with an old play in new setting makes a startling impression on the viewer. While trying to bring out the directors intent, it would be in order to bring out certain important scene of the play, especially pertaining to the love-scene. The way it has been brought out in picturization acquires a special credit. Firstly, the balcony scene is considered by many scholars to be the highlight of the play where the impact of youth love is brought out vibrantly to be stronger than all the forces that work against it. Luhrmann takes Shakespeares use of 190 lines and reduces it to 90 lines. He also switches the venue from the orchard to the swimming pool. However, he manages to retain the main intent of the lovers (Modern Film Adaptations of Shakespeare). Again, the camera work here is quite impressive: in usual cases the camera is moving frantically, however here the camera remains fixed in a tight close-up as Romeos dialogue, But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? (Romeo and Juliet 2.2.2), and the camera stays extremely close to the lovers as they disco ver each other and realize how much they are attracted to each other and how deep in love they are with each other. This scene take place in the pool courtyard of the Capulet mansion and is noticeably more muted than other scenes; the importance of words and feelings gain ascendancy allowing Shakespeares poetry to come through in full bloom (Modern Film Adaptations of Shakespeare). While essaying on the directors perspective, it is worthwhile to discuss about the technical credits of the movie: the camera is always seen roving around; there are many instances in the movie where rapid cuts and screaming soundtrack might make the viewer doubt whether he is watching a rock-video! Also, the camera tricks, the special effects such as a roiling storm and the rebellious splash of colors right through the movie gains priority relegating the romantic theme into the background, in the process, lose certain more intangibles of intricate romance. This is more manifested in the first few scenes of the movie and tends to get corrected as it progresses. In conclusion, any adaptation of a Shakespeare play is determined by two major factors. The first is the competence of the director. The second factor is the ability of the main cast members. Any other innovations and unconventional flourishes applied by the director and technicians will not carry any significance. With these viewpoints, the litterateur can appreciate that the play Romeo and Juliet has fallen in the capable hands of directors and actors such as Luhrmann, DiCaprio and Danes. This 1996 film version of the play, despite being interpreted as a loud and brash version, and despite being unacceptable to the high-level experts as a classic, it has certainly helped widen their perspective to venture into any movie that bears the credit based on play by William Shakespeare.

Archaeology: Imperialism, Colonialism and Nationalism

Archaeology: Imperialism, Colonialism and Nationalism How does archaeology interact with Imperialism, Colonialism and Nationalism? Have they contributed to archaeology in any way? Discuss with examples. When we look at the history of the archaeology, it can be said that the archaeology have always been a part of political activities however the most sensational and the conspicuous time of this interaction between archaeology and the politics can be dated after the French Revolution. With the French Revolution, the nationalism ideology raised and swiftly spread around the world with industrialization. At the first round, rising Nationalism awaken the curiosity of the people about their ethnicity. With this curiosity, people focused ethnicity researches to find out their origins and for this reason many archaeologist take a place in this quest. Governments started to support the archaeological excavations and many institutes started to be opened and many archaeology students started to be educated. In this manner, archaeologists’ interest began to turn form historic times to pre- historic times. With the emergence of Darwinian evolutionary theory, all these ethnicity research a nd the focus on the pre-historic excavations prepared foundation of Colonialism and Imperialism. Nationalism is defined by Trigger as â€Å"an all embracing sense of group identity and loyalty to a common homeland that is promoted by mass media, widespread literacy, and a comprehensive educational system.†(Trigger, 2007). As a result of Nationalism, in the 18th and 19th C. ,the ethnicity concept gained a significant role among the most European states and they started to courage pre- historic archaeologist to study the origins and early ethnic groups. Although all the European states made archaeology which serves to the nationalistic ideology, for me the most striking and passionate studies are done by Germans who carried nationalism into the fascism level in the Word War II. With the establishment of German Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistoric Archaeology, Germans began to be professional in the pre-historic archaeology and they introduced culture-historical approach to the archaeology (Trigger, 2007). For the nationalistic archaeology, Kossina is the most striking name for that period in German archaeology. He claimed that the Germans are the noblest topic for the archaeological research and criticized the archaeologists who were studying classical and Egyptian archaeology (Trigger, 2007). He seeks for the origins of Germans and he wrote â€Å"Die Herkunft der Germanen†. He evaluated his archaeological data in a biased way and this evaluation encouraged â€Å"Germans to regard Slavs and other neighboring E uropean peoples as inferior to themselves and which justified German aggression against these people† (Trigger, 2007). Although Kossina died in 1931, he continued to be effective on the nationalistic and racist actions of Germany. For example, Nazis supported their discourses by using the works of Kossina. As a result of the nationalistic and ethnic researches, people became more aware of the different nationalities -such as the French, Germans, and English etc. It encouraged thinking that the people are biologically different from one another; therefore their behavior was determined by these racial differences as opposed to social or economic factor. This kind of thinking led people to think about â€Å"the inequality of the races†. Gobineau, who was a part royalist French family, claimed that â€Å"the fate of civilization was determined by their racial composition† (Trigger, 2007). Also in this time, Darwin’s evolutionary thought started to interact with the ethnicity oriented and nationalistic archaeology. Darwin claimed that plants and animals pass on their characteristics to their offspring however different offspring vary from each other. He believed that some of these offspring suited to their environment than others. This idea was explaining tremendous variety and the complexity of the natural world. He published his ideas in â€Å"Origins of Species†. This book was highly effective on the Herbert Spencer who introduced the idea of â€Å"survival of the fittest† and applied this view into the archaeology to explain the human societies in uni-linear evolution concept. He claimed that all human societies move from simple to complex (Johnson, 2010). As a result of this interaction â€Å"inequality of races† idea had gained scientific credibility. Additionally to these ideas, in 19th century Lubbock suggested that as a result of natural section human groups had become different from each other not only culturally but also in their biological capacities to utilize culture (Trigger, 2007). He regarded Europeans as the product of intensive cultural and biological evolution. His idea used to legitimize the British colonization and the establishment of political and economic control on their colonies. He also vindicates British and American colonialist from the moral responsibility for the rapid decline of native peoples in North America, Australia and the Pasific. This decline of these peoples was not because of what colonialists were doing them but because of the natural selection. This type of modality toward the native people increased the colonialism and the imperialism all over the world. As a result of colonialism, â€Å"historians of archaeology have sometimes justified acts of colonialist usurpation in adopting ethnocentric viewpoints which presuppose that archaeological pieces are better conserved in Western museums.†(Abadà ­a, 2006). For an example, the situation of Elgin marbles can be mentioned in this matter. Evans says, in 1816, Elgin Marbles were brought to the British Museum and all the drawings, excavation and the exhibition coast like  £35,000 to the British government. In 1821, Greece separated from Ottoman Empire and it created an endless controversy about the propriety of the ‘marbles’. What is beyond all of this discussion most people think that they would have great damage if left in their original home (Abadà ­a, 2006). With the increasing industrialization, which is the period inventions and developments, created the ideas in diffusionism and the migration to explain the cultural differences in past cultures. Many of the researchers rejected the culture evolution theory. As result of this, the idea of psychic unity, which is introduced by Adolf Bastian, lost its importance. It made racism much more powerful because the belief that every culture has a potential to develop their culture is collapsed. The idea that indigenous people were viewed as biologically inferior to Europeans became much more solidified. Writers and social analysts claimed that human beings were not inherently inventive. If there is a development in culture it should be a reason of diffusionism or migration. Also they said that the change was naturally belong to the human nature and it was not beneficial to people. Therefore it is supported that unchanging societies are the most convenient to human being. In this manner, indepen dent development idea in the cultural changes ignored and a belief emerged which is particular inventions were unlikely to be made more than once in human history. This kind of discourses solidified perceptions about the savage people inferiority. In the United States, the ‘myth of the mound builders’ was aroused and it has been thought that these mounds could not have been built by the Native People of America, who were considered too savage. Instead, they were built by a ‘civilized’ race that disappeared a long time ago (Abadà ­a, 2006). When the people see the mounds in Zimbawe and investigators claimed that this similarity is the proof pf prehistoric white colonization in Southern Africa (Trigger, 2007). To sum up, the interaction between archaeology and Imperialism, Colonialism and Nationalism developed after the French Revolution. Archaeological studies and the scientific developments to answer the questions in the archaeology have been abused by the politicians. The archaeological studies which suit the politician were encouraged and supported financially. Although this mutuality helped the archaeological developments, the results that archaeology reached had been used to satisfy the nationalist, colonialist and imperialist actions. Bibliography Abadà ­a, Moro O. 2006. The History of Archaeology as a ‘Colonial Discourse’.Bulletin of the History of Archaeology16(2):4-17 Johnson, Matthew. 2010. Archaeology Theory an Introduction. Trigger, Bruce. 2007. A History of Archaeological Thought.

A Separate Peace :: Free Essay Writer

What point of view does each character show in regards to their attitude to the war? The war is a symbol of how things are not always what they seem. Recruiting posters and propaganda to join the army convinced many boys into thinking the war is an exciting adventure. â€Å"The characters Gene, Finny, and Leper are used as opposing forces struggle between that cold reality of war and a separate peace†(Brian, Gatten), A peace away from the real war and all the terrible things that come. The attitudes towards war of Finny, Gene and Leper reflect their approach to life. Finny does not face the reality in life nor the war, Leper (stands on the sidelines) is isolated from life and the war, while Gene is a follower in life and the war. Finny does not face the reality in life nor the war by, finny first begins to create games. Because Phineas cannot face the reality of the real war. For him, these games are representative of the war. Finny made up these games and he made it so that he could be in control. This is just like Finny ‘s world of separate peace. Also finny does not fully understand the impact of war on people. He does not understand that war kills people physically and mentally. He also does not understand how it affects a person’s life. Finny is not present for the beginning of the fall session at Devon and as a result, the statement â€Å"Peace had deserted Devon†(knowles, pg. 132). Is true indicates the lack of peace†¦Ã¢â‚¬ the peace that the school had come to know when finny was present.†(Brian, Gatten) â€Å"With the lack of this peace, the door is open for the reality that is war, to enter†. (Brian, Gatten) Finny has his own reality, about the war. That is why he created the games to the substitute for the war. Leper’s attitude towards to the war is that he feels that was does not affect him. Leper is much like Finny because of his innocent, romantic view of the world, he loves nature and especially skiing during the winter. Leper is not popular at Devon due to his oddities, but he does not give any attention to such things. He joins the army after seeing a film about their ski troops although he is not even fighting is the war; he is shocked to find military life to be much different from what he expects.

Gene therapy :: essays research papers fc

Genetic disorders have been plaguing people for ages and causing fatalities. However, with new information and research, and something called gene therapy, hope now exists for these unfortunate individuals. Gene therapy is a technique for correcting defective genes responsible for disease development. It has been around for a while now and is getting more advanced with time. Experimentation is an ongoing process with gene therapy. Ethical issues are something that has been accompanying the procedure since it has been used. New facts on gene therapy continue to be uncovered as we speak.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To start off, an overview of why people need gene therapy should be covered. Each of us carries about half a dozen defective genes. However, we remain ignorant to this fact unless we are among the millions of people who have a genetic disorder. About one in ten people has, or will develop some time later in life, an inherited genetic abnormality. And approximately two thousand eight hundred specific conditions are known to be caused by defects in just one of the patient’s genes. Some single gene disorders are pretty common, such as cystic fibrosis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most people do not suffer harmful effects from our defective genes because we carry two copies of nearly all genes. One is inherited from our mother and the other from our father. The only exceptions to this rule are the genes found on the male sex chromosomes. â€Å"Males have one X and one Y chromosome, the former from the mother and the latter from the father. So each cell has only one copy of the genes on these chromosomes. In the majority of cases, one normal gene is enough to avoid all the symptoms of disease. If the gene that may be harmful is recessive, then its normal counterpart will carry out all the tasks assigned to both. A disease will develop only if someone inherits two copies of the recessive gene from their parents.† (Web source #3) In other terms, if the gene is dominant, it alone can produce the disease, even if the counterpart is normal. Finally, there are the X chromosome-linked genetic diseases. Because males have only one copy of the genes from this chromosome, there are no others available to fulfill the defective gene’s function. Hemophilia is a common result of this.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To continue, how gene therapy works, should be explained. There are several different approaches scientists may use to correct faulty genes with therapy.

Essay --

â€Å"The world’s information is doubling every two years. Inter- national Data corporation believes that the Digital Universe will grow by 44 times that of 2009 by 2020. IBM estimates that data is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 64% a year or more.†[2] In such a scenario handling data in an effective manner is really important. There is a huge in- crease in data from experimental sciences. Data today comes in all types of formats. It may be structured or unstructured. Unstructured data is everywhere, some of the examples are satellite images, photographs and videos, social media data, scientific data, financial transactions and the list goes on.[3] Different types of information will have different properties. Managing and governing all these different variety of data is not easy. Beyond that managing the data without affecting the performance of the system is crucial. In this paper we will be going through four research papers from the Session Databases of CIKM 2012: Maui, HI, USA which discusses about the Information storage and retrieval. We will dis- cuss techniques that provide a better solution to manage data. The research papers present a storage system for Big spatio-temporal data, a model for positional access of rela- tional data, and approaches for querying DBpedia data and optimization of Data migration. 1. OVERVIEW In this paper, four research papers are discussed which focus on the storage and retrieval of different varieties of data. In the further sections we discuss how the papers we selected have given different models and techniques for effi- cient data management operations like storage and retrieval of different varieties of data. The organization of the paper will be as follows, section 2 will discuss... ... and how the approach gives better performance results. The other two papers Lushan et al [7] and Xiulei et al [8] provide good insights about quering DBpedia and optimizing data migration respectively. Lastly, there are no generalized methods for loading, re- trieving or as a whole handling and managing variety of data. Different approaches have to be used depending upon the kinds of data. There are numerous tools for capturing data and so the data is growing everyday bigger and bigger. Consequently, there is going to be increase in the number of tools to analyse the data because of its diversity. Each tool or technique is precise to a particular kind of data. At the user’s end, one has to learn various approaches to han- dle variety of data. To summarize, a generalized method of handling data would make life smooth. However, it’s not easy to design such a system.