National Family Welfare Program

The institution of family is as old as man himself. It is the basic social cell. Sociologists and economists have always been propounding the ways to improve quality of life, which is difficult to achieve if the population remains unchecked. India launched a nation-wide Family Welfare Program in 1952, during the first five year plan, making it the first country in the world to do so. COMPONENTS The National family welfare Program in India has five components: A. Maternal and child health, extended to reproduction and child health care.B. Immunization of pregnant women by tetanus toxoid and that of children infant and preschoolers by BCG, oral polio , diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and measles. C. Nutritional supplement- Iron and folic acid to pregnant women and children. Vit. A to prevent blindness D. Contraceptive education and distribution free and social marketing i. e Contraceptive Nirodh, Oral Contraceptive i. e Mala D, copper –T and that of voluntary surgical contracepti on E. Health education on primary health care particularly motivation to accept contraception.Emphasis on vasectomy was made in the national program, currently spacing contraception is promoted. A. Maternal and Child Health{MCH} It relates to health of mother during pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal period and that of newborn and neo-natal health. Reproductive and Child Health (RCH)- relates to extended MCH with adolescent and post-menopausal woman’s health. The RCH package covers: 1. Pre-reproductive Adolescent years: Health care of adolescent girl including health promotion, safe age of marriage > 20 years, prevention of unsafe abortion and prevention of sexually transmitted disease (STD/AIDS) . Reproductive Years †¢Contraception. †¢Legal Abortion ( MTP) †¢Effective RCH care to ensure safe motherhood. Risk approach RCH care is streamlines Male involvement in RCH care is essential. †¢Effective nutritional education to all and services to the vulnera ble group. †¢Service to promote child survival. †¢Prevention and treatment of reproductive tract infection and sexually transmitted disease including HIV/AIDS high risk labor by automobile transport. †¢Prevention and treatment of gynecological problems menstrual disorders or infertility. 3. Post reproductive Years †¢Prevention and care of genital prolapse Education on menopause. †¢Screening and treatment of cancer especially cervical cancer. B. Immunization: Immunization to the mother and child was made one of the important approach. The WHO launched its Expanded program on immunization against six most common preventable childhood diseases, viz. diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, polio, tuberculosis and measles. The government of India launched its EPI in 1978 with the objective to reduce mortality and morbidity resulting from vaccine-preventable diseases of childhood and to achieve self sufficiency, in the production of vaccine.UIP in India w as started in 1985. It has two vital components i. e. immunization of pregnant women against tetanus and immunization of children in their first year against the six targeted diseases. C. Nutritional supplement †¢Special Nutrition program: This program was started in 1970 for the nutritional benefit of children below 6 years of age, pregnant and nursing mothers and is in operation in urban slum, tribal areas and backward rural areas. The supplementary food supplies about 300 Kcal and 10-12 gms of protein per child per day.The beneficiary mothers receive daily 500 Kcal and 25 gms of protein. This supplement is provided to them for about 300 days in an year. †¢Balwadi Nutrition Program: This program was started in 1970 for the benefit of children in the age group 3-6 years. It is under the overall charge of Department of Social Welfare. The food supplement provides 300 Kcal and 10gms of protein per child. †¢Mid-day Meal Program: The program was started in 1961 with an o bjective to promote school admissions, prevent drop-outs and improve literacy of children. The food should be a supplement not a substitute. ?Should supply at least 1/3rd of total energy and half of total protein requirement. ?Economical. ?Should be such that can be easily prepared at schools. ?Locally available. ?Avoid monotony. †¢Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) ?Improvement of the nutritional and health status of children below 6 years of age, ? Basic service for proper psychological, physical and social development of the child, ? Reduction in the incidence of morbidity, mortality, malnutrition and school dropout, ?Effective coordination of policy and implementation amongst the various departments to promote child development and ? Improvement of the capability of mother to look after normal health needs of the children. For achieving these objectives following steps were taken ?Supplementary Nutrition ?Immunization ?Health check-up ?Referral services ?Health and nutrition education ?Non-formal pre-school education. †¢Creches for the children of working or ailing mothers. †¢Welfare of Handicapped children ?Scholarships ?Model schools. ?Educational and rehabilitative services. Financial assistance to voluntary organization. ?Integrated education with normal children in ordinary schools. ?Training of teachers. ?Manufacture and development of special aids. ?Special employment exchanges. †¢The Under-five clinic. This type of service was developed to dispense preventive curative and promotive health services in a unified manner The Under-Five card consists of – record of weight, assessment of nutrition and necessary nutritional advice, Immunization, family planning advice, treatment of Illness. D. Contraceptive education and distribution:Contraception education received a new impetus with the creation of the Mass Education Media (MEM) division within the Department of Family welfare during the Inter-plan period of 1966-69. U nder free distribution schemes and the Social Marketing Program, contraceptives, both condoms and oral pills are sold at subsidized rates. E. Health Education on Primary Health Care. Health education on following components was given through various Health professionals. ?MCH care. ?Immunization. ?Nutrition supply and Education. ?Adequate supply of safe Drinking Water, Personal Hygiene and basic sanitation. Prevention and control of local endemics. ?Appropriate treatment of common diseases and Injuries LANDMARKS oFirst five year plan- (1952-1955)- †¢Establishment of few clinics ?Training and research was conducted. oSecond five year plan- (1961-1966)- †¢Integrated family planning †¢Health education activities and †¢Community development programs. oThird five year plan- (1961-1966)- ?Family was declared as â€Å"the very centre of planned development†. ?The emphasis was shifted from the purely â€Å"clinical approach† to the more vigorous â€Å"exte nsion education approach† for motivating the people for acceptance of the â€Å"small family norm†.Fourth Five year Plan- (1964- 1974)- †¢Family planning services were rendered through sub centers, PHCs and MCH and Family welfare centers. †¢All India Post Partum Program was started in 1970 to motivate mother for planning soon after delivery. †¢In 1972, Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act was implemented. oFifth Five Year Plan- (1974- 1979) – †¢Renamed as Department of Family Welfare. †¢Population control and Family Planning were made con current subject in January 1977 by the 42nd amendment of constitution. †¢1977- Program got a boost by the involvement of VHGs, Indigenous Trained Dais and local opinion leaders. Sixth Five Year Plan- (1980 – 1985) – †¢To attain Health For All by year 2000, through Primary Health Care Approach the Government accepted National Health Policy in 1983 which laid down following goals: ? Net Reproductive Rate : 1 ?Crude Birth Rate : 21/1000 live births ?Crude death rate : 9/1000 population ?Couple protection rate : 60% oSeventh Five Year Plan ( 1985- 1990) – †¢Department of family welfare was separated from Ministry of Health †¢Universal immunization Program, oral rehydration therapy and various other MCH programs.All these programs were brought together under the Child Survival and Safe Motherhood Program (CSSM) oEighth Five Year Plan (1992 – 1997) – †¢Top priority to slower rate of population. †¢Focus on delivery of quality services and integration of other services. †¢April-96 – Target free approach was announced emphasised on providing quality services on demand based on the need of people. †¢RCH – launched, included; ?All components of safe motherhood programme with added components of RTI/STI. ?All components of Child Survival. ?Fertility regulation with a focus on quality care. Aims: To improve the management services at central, state, district and block level ? Seeks to attain holistic approach in implementation of this programme ? Focus on neglected geographical areas. ?Focus on previously neglected segments of population. oNinth Five Year Plan- (1997 -2002) – †¢Objectives – ?Reduction in population growth ?Meeting all felt needs for contraception ?Reducing IMR and MMR and Maternal Morbidity Rate so that reduced fertility rate is achieved. ?1997 -Target Free Approach was renamed as Community need Assessment Approach. ?A Comprehensive National Population Policy 2000 for achieving set goals and objectives.There has been significant decline in the mortality and fertility rates due to successive growth and development of family planning programe as shown in the following figure. CONCLUSION: The Family Planning Programme in India has come a long way and is considered as a way of life by most people. It can be seen from the figure that there has been an im pressive increase in the outlays in the successive plan period. But in reality the outlay for each plan falls short especially for taking up any new venture because most of the cost is utilized for maintaining the infrastructure.

A parent’s dilemma

Parenting is never an easy task. How the children are being raised is always the parents’ prerogative. Parental child rearing styles are key components to assessing emotional attachments, respect, and other domains of parent-child interaction. The belief system, societal norms, and culture are basic ingredients in understanding parental personality and psychopathology.The drama of leaving the young ones behind while daddy and mommy go to work has always been quite difficult for the parents. Therefore relationship between parents and children breakdown to a state more often channeled through professional agencies such as babysitters and other childcare to look after them while at work. Moreover it is still parent’s responsibility to ensure that children behave in a way acceptable to societal norms and community.Considering that disruptive behaviors of children are always followed by criticisms concerning parental irresponsibility, it has always been a headache when some values of the babysitter were being incorporated and taught to the children.Parents tried to compensate absence making calls every now and then to check the kids. But the relationship and the values that children gather is more on witnessing the adult that they are spending a majority of their time in a day.My mother used to call me three times a day. If she is busy she forgot and I got no calls to expect. It is lonely when parents are not at home. This is true especially when I get sick and is left under the care of a babysitter. When I have a slight fever and I want a hug and have someone beside me, the babysitter depending on their race, can be cold at times. I may have my medicines but I still can sense I don’t know what is lacking. Affection and love is really not there, just not there.The need to support high cost maintenance of rearing children and coping up basic needs like education and food has given rise to mothers definitely working to help sustain finances. The c ommon practice of family work balance still refers to women as continually responsible for most of the work associated with child rearing. The behavior of children continues to project experience from other changes made within family context.From my experience, some babysitters tend to be warm and nice in front of my parents and start to change course of mood the moment the car is already off the driveway.They become distant and grouchy in my every request. Food sometimes is a problem. I don’t like how they prepare my meals. I noticed that I was becoming uncaring and disrespectful too even with my parents. The attitude puzzled them. The idea seems to go around like this: what you see is what you portray.Pay off for both parents working are the quantity and nature of family social capital. This is evidenced by home environments. This relatively means that the number of hours parents spend working impacts family strength and relationships.Mothers spending more time with childre n create stronger home environments. The consequence of changing context of parental employment affects the kind of parenting the children benefits and receives. It also shows significant effect on the quality of care giving experience they are receiving.When dad was promoted and he got a nicer pay than the previous month, mom decided to shit from full time work to part time work. I was very happy then and I really value her presence and was really thankful she is the one caring for me most of the time.When Dad had another promotion, the house was already filled with luxury items and my things and my bed are really nice. I have my allowance and I can buy items whenever mother decides for a short trip to the supermarket on mornings for groceries.

Neonatal Necrotizing Enterocolitis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Neonatal Necrotizing Enterocolitis - Assignment Example The initial search was done in PubMed using the MeSH terms "necrotizing enterocolitis" "preterm" "breastfeeds" "formula feeds". The limits set for the search was "English language article only" because of lack of understanding of the reviewer of other languages. The search yielded 12 results. After this, google scholar was used for the search. The key terms used for the search were "necrotizing enterocolitis" "very low birth weight infants" "preterm" "breastfeeds" "formula feeds." The search yielded 130 articles. Abstracts from the articles in the first 2 pages of the search were reviewed for selection of pertinent and useful articles. Further on, CINAHL database also was used for the search. Search in this database was pursued after logging in and using the search terms "necrotizing enterocolitis" "very low birth weight infants" "preterm" "breastfeeds" "formula feeds". It was found that the articles found in Google Scholar and CINAHL database were there in PubMed too. From these dat abases, 3 articles were selected to answer the PICO question and facilitate evidence-based practice. The gold standard for any evidence-based practice is randomized controlled trials which when performed with optimized research designs that can answer pertinent questions. However, meta-analysis and a systematic review have topped the hierarchy list and when present, they are preferred to randomized controlled trials (Evans, 2003). According to the Cochrane database, in preterm infants with low birth weight, formula milk is associated with higher risk for NEC when compared to donor breast milk. Such an inference was based on the exhaustive meta-analysis conducted by Quiley, Henderson, Anthony et al (2007) in which the researchers reviewed randomized controlled trials pertaining to this topic. It was found that formula-fed infants had a statistically higher incidence of NNEC (2.5, 95% confidence interval 1.2, 5.1); when compared to breast milk-fed group (33, 95% confidence interval 17, 100).  Ã‚  

Report on authoritative sources in accounting Essay

Report on authoritative sources in accounting - Essay Example Report on authoritative sources in accounting This paper gives a report on a variety of influential accountancy sources. Among the four source genres, professional associations often stand out as the most credible and authoritative sources of information on accountancy (Katz, Graduate School of Business Website, 2013). This comes as a result of these associations offering membership to several professionals in the accounting field. In addition, these set professional and ethical standards required of all the individuals in the field of accountancy. Professional associations involve themselves in enlightening members through seminars, conferences and workshops. Moreover, many of these associations produce publications such as scholarly journals and periodicals. Therefore it becomes evident that even though all genres serve as credible sources of information on accounting, professional associations stand out more. Professional Association The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is a professional association for Certified Public Accountants all over the world (Associations Unlimited). This renowned and accredited association stands out as an authoritative source of information on accounting due to various reasons. According to Associations Unlimited, the AICPA began in 1887. Having existed for such a long period of time makes the association credible, since a record of the association’s activity for all those years prove its authority above other associations whose life spun is shorter. Moreover, the AIPCA boasts of its large membership of certified accountants within the United States and other territories (Association Unlimited). This proves that AICPA hosts a very diverse group of associates. The diversity in the association enhances the authority and credibility of the association as a major player in the field of accountancy. The AICPA serves as a body that sets auditing and reporting standards in accountancy (Anton, Associations Unlimited). This task sees the body as a pace setter in accountancy (Katz, Graduate School of Business Website, 2013). In addition, Associations Unlimited lists AIPCA as the publisher of publications such as The CPA Letter and the Tax Adviser. All this evidence shows the credibility of AICPA as a major source of information in the field of accountancy. Standard Setting Board The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) stands as an authority in accountancy. According to Investopedia (2013), the FASB is a board of seven members consisting of accounting professionals who set financial accounting and reporting standards. The FASB finds its history running back to 1973, the board’s founding year (Associations Unlimited). This long duration of existence accredits it as an authoritative source in accounting. Associations Unlimited also provides that the board sets accounting standards for the private sector especially businesses and non-profit organizations. This displays the board’s command on many businesses and or ganizations hence its authority. In addition, the board comprises great professionals in the accounting field (Associations Unlimited). This confirirms the credibility of the board members. According to the Bloomsberg Businessweek (2013), the chairperson of the FASB is Ms. Leslie F. Seidman. She is an acclaimed

The war against ISIS will lead to World War III Essay

The war against ISIS will lead to World War III - Essay Example The militant group has been involved in mass killings, carrying out crucifixions, public executions among other inhuman acts. The United States is one of the nations that are in the forefront of fighting ISIS. Drone airstrikes have been carried out against ISIS. The undertaking has led to many questions whether the war against ISIS will eventually lead to World War III or not2. This dilemma is supported by the fact that the planned Christian genocide by the ISIS and the killing of hundreds of people with Jewish faith reflects thoughts of what had occurred prior to World War II. Households have also been stamped with the Arabic Letter N, also called the death stamp which means Nazarene, a repetition of what occurred to Jews during the Holocaust. This means that ISIS is taking a trend that occurred the same way as that before World War II started. The threat is real, and nations should come together to ensure the world does not suffer the same fate again. As Barack Obama of the United States puts it "America is not fighting this war alone." The war on ISIS should involve as many countries as possible so as to bring the militant group down3. In my point of view, the war on terror and especially against ISIS will not lead to WW III. This is because if the group is ignored and left to continue with its vices, more Christians and Jews will be killed which is a violation of human rights. The result is an increased level of hatred between Jews and Christians on one side and Islamic states on the other, a situation that will further fuel the chances of occurrence of World War III. Air strikes will lead to weakening the militant state, and its sources of funds will be destroyed which will delay the advancement of the group big-time. Leaders of ISIS have also been eliminated successfully during this strikes, and although the group has not been weakened to the core, there has been a lack of coordination among

The impacts of exhibitions on customer buying decision-making ------ A Dissertation

The impacts of exhibitions on customer buying decision-making ------ A case study of International Auto-expo - Dissertation Example This gives a broad scope of the actual concept and its related and correlating ideas. The research is then complemented by a field work which interviews consumers who made purchases that can be traced to the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition as well as exhibitors and other experts in the industry. This culminates in a number of findings that are critiqued and analysed. It is identified that consumers who make purchases in the international automotive exhibitions belong to a small group of privileged elites. These are people who take their decisions based on ostentation which focuses on luxury and country of origins. Premises in the automotive expos in China are best presented in a hybrid format and system. Also, the collectivist and socio cultural systems and structures of China still play a major part in consumer buying decisions in these fairs. It is recommended that the information and presentation in Chinese international automotive fair must be watched. Also, the techn ological offerings and the innovation on offer must be showcased in the exhibitions. Finally, there must be a strong and appropriate digital system and structure to gather information for follow up as the market is very small and specialized. TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.2 Research Problem 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 Research Aim 1.5 Objectives 1.6 Motivation for Research 1.7 Research Approach 1.8 Project Outline CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The Exhibition Industry 2.2 Motives, Targets and Standards in International Auto Exhibitions 2.3 Consumer Decision-making & the Exhibition Industry 2.4 The Automobile Industry: Analysis of Foreign and Local Brands in Automotive Exhibitions 2.5 Consumer Psychology in the Automobile Industry 2.6 Decision Making Triggers in the Automobile Industry 2.7 Event Management in International Auto Shows 2.8 Marketing Techniques in International Automobile Exhibitions 2.9 Impact of International Automotive Fairs on the Social and Economic Activities of Consumers 2.10 Cultural Trends amongst Chinese Consumer Psychology 2.11 Gaps in Research 2.12 Conclusion CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Approach 3.2 Sampling 3.3 Data Collection 3.4 Data Analysis 3.5 Data Interpretation 3.6 Ethical Matters CHAPTER 4: RESULTS 4.1 Interview with Experts 4.2 Survey Results of Interviews with Industry Players/Exhibitors 4.3 Consumer Impact Analysis 4.4 Conclusion CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSIONS 5.1 Expert View of the BIAE 5.2 Exhibitor Offerings, Motives and Targets 5.3 Impacts of BIAE on Consumers' Buying Habit and Decision Making 5.4 Conclusion CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS 6.1 Patterns in Consumer Decision in the Chinese Automotive Industry 6.2 Core Enhancers of Consumer Purchasing Decisions in the BIAE 6.3 Consumer Buying Habits amongst Chinese Consumers in the BIAE 6.4 Recommendations for Enhancing Optimal Practices in International Automotive Exhibitions REFERENCES APPENDICES Appendix 1: Interview Questi ons with Marketer/Organiser of Expo Appendix 2: Marketer Questionnaire Appendix 3: Survey on Automobile Consumers and Attendants of International Automobile Exhibitions CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter of the dissertation will discuss the basic elements and structure of the project. It will commence by examining the background of the main variables to be discussed in the actual research. This will culminate with the identification of

Answer this question Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Answer this question - Assignment Example 1. Their bodies were short and stockier compared to humans. This characteristic is because of the environments the inhabited. The cold conditions were responsible for their body statue. ("Neanderthals Characteristics Search") 2. The metric analysis is applied to bones remains to study them. This analysis involves using a standard requirements recorded for measuring of sizes of bones. In this situation, one would access the bones and try and date the time of their existence ("Spoilheap Archaeology"). The hole in his vertebrae through which the spinal cord goes has only half as those for regular humans. It explained that they lacked the fine motor control to control speech and were not eloquent like humans. 2. Reproduction involves the formation of gametes. The gametes have half chromosomes from the father and half from the mother. It ensures the newly formed species is different from the mother and father(variation). Sexual selection is the differential variances in male and female mating success. Males have higher variances than

To What Extent was the US car industry harmed by imports of foreign Essay

To What Extent was the US car industry harmed by imports of foreign cars or by foreign car makers setting up production in the US - Essay Example In the first half of the growth of the automobile industry, USA was one of the front runners due to the economic development of the country. The economic development in the country meant that the demand was prevalent. The engineering developed due to the growth of technology. There were no direct competitors for the US firms. However, the dominance of the US was not everlasting. With the potential of the industry on the rise, various other manufacturers from the other countries began to enter the field. The car manufacturers from Germany and Belgium began to develop with the help of modern engineering technologies. The car manufacturers from the other countries viewed the US market as one of the most inviting and potential markets of the world. They were helped by the fact that the US economy promoted free competition among the firms. This meant that the companies were free to ply their trade in the USA. The US market soon became flooded with the imported cars. Seeing the potential o f the market some of the companies began to set up in operations in the US. In the modern context, the Japanese firms have made a big progress in the industry. The Japanese firms have been technologically advanced and that has prompted the companies to use the most modern technologies. They have been responsible for the introduction of the most modern cars in the market. Most of the Japanese companies have set up operations in the US and the market there has been the main focus for the Japanese companies. The Japanese cars are one of the most dominating in the US market. The US car manufacturers faced a tough competition from the car manufacturers of the other countries. Their condition has worsened due to the global economic downturn in the economy. There is lesser demand for the cars in the US market. The combination of these factors has been detrimental to the interests of the US car manufacturers. (Covarrubias, n.d.). The

Shariah Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Shariah Law - Essay Example It seemed to me that there were no reasons to allow that to happen and yet it seemed that not only was it being allowed by the one being beaten but by those that were watching the beating. I just didn't understand and to be honest it was beyond anything I could imagine. The real sadness it seemed to me came from the fact that tsunami had so devastated this country and now it seemed the new government would devastate what was left. Stopping violence towards women and children is a worldwide concentration right now. The WHO has put major emphasis on it. This new policy seems to make that violence worse and in a part of the world where the respect for women is already very minor. There is also the fact that this police force appears to have a poor view of women as well as the poor. Not only do they have a poor view of women but of the people in general. To parade women in front of men in that culture is degrading and allows men to take advantage of them as well. Being raised in the United States makes one see many things differently. Americans have no real experience with this kind of problem. We cannot imagine allowing someone to beat us, no less in public. Freedom of religion is one of our basic rights and we take full advantage of that. To have any kind of punishment inflicted in the name of a God would be more than we would ever understand. There is a lot of controversy right now about the possibility that there are some cases when culture is incompatible and this may be one of them. How a culture feels about its religion and whether there is a recognition as to the fact that not everyone believes the same thing can affect all other things in life.. That is not the case in Indonesia and it appears the little bit of freedom they might have had for awhile is now gone. Along with freedom of religion, of course, comes freedom of speech. It appears from the example of the women talking among themselves that this is surely not allowed. There also seems to be very little respect for women at all which though it is still being improved, is somewhat better in many countries. Are there any courts This is a question that has to be ask. Punishing someone instantly which appears to the case regularly allows that a court is not necessary. So, another thing that many of us are used to is "innocent until proved guilty." In the United States, we believe that "all men are created equal." We have not shown that through our history but we are getting there. We also believe that we have a government by the people and for the people so it is difficult to imagine that any government has the right to come along and change the religious rules for the country and begin to punish those that do not follow the rules. We can only guess what they are going through. As health professionals, we have caring beliefs. It causes us great discomfort to see the wounded person both physically or mentally. To see a case of purposeful wounding is really quite difficult. Many American surgeons and nurses went to Indonesia after the tsunami and performed great helping services. This is an issue that needs worldwide help. However, we must also remember that the healthcare

North Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

North Africa - Essay Example It is a common misconception that the clusters of nations that make up the continent of Africa are just that, and nothing more. The lack of familiarity, and hence appreciation for these uniquely diverse groups of peoples and cultures perpetuates a stigma of uniformity that belies the truth. What many fail to realize is that, approximately one billion people, made up of nearly 3000 ethnic groups speaking in 2000-3000 different languages (Kaiser 15 January 2013), inhabit this majestic continent. All general notions of uniformity dealt and disposed with, I would like to take a closer look at the specific region of North Africa in order to discuss the larger historical, cultural and social influences, and the effect that they have impressed upon the music in this subcontinent.North Africa has a very influential historical background which is distinctively composed of many civilizations, empires and kingdoms; for instance, the Nok Civilization which remained in power from 500BCE to 200CE (approximate figures) similarly the Kingdom of Ghana which maintained its authority over the continent from 830 to 1235. The African continent is inhabited by emigrants belonging to different parts of the world who until the 20th century did not even consider themselves as Africans (Kaiser, Africa and Ethnomusicology). The word ‘Africa’ is derived from Arabic term Ifriqiye which was an expression for the coastal areas of North Africa. Slavery carried diverse groups of people to the African land who were then recognized as one, which ultimately developed the basic thought of Africa among the residents of many countries. The extremely brutal form of slavery led the scholars of the black population; particularly those who had left their ancestral land and migrated to North Africa to conduct anti-slave campaigns. By the end of the 19th century the term ‘Africa’ was familiar among traders and intellectuals surrounding the coastal towns as the ‘rich diversi ty’. Due to this the modern day Africans are known to be the descendants of aboriginal Berber and Egyptian populace, in addition to the people of Greek, Phoenician and Roman civilizations, Moor as of Iberian Peninsula along with Arabs and Jewish. Also Sub-Saharan African who came and settled in North Africa due to distant trading and slavery. People from France, Corsica, Malta, etc. are also found in the present day North Africa (Kaiser, CD Problems?). Africans because of their rich historical background and affluent diversity among inhabitants have different religious beliefs and practices in addition to integrated music, art, drama and dance. As a result of diverse Diaspora the music of North America is influenced by their religious beliefs, spirituality, and nature; it characterizes the groups and individuals as per their prior conditions and musical abilities (Kaiser, Africa and Ethnomusicology). Material cultural Africans have their own distinctive music style which comp els Westerners to recognize their special music as the ‘African Sound’. The basic idea behind their unique music style is concealed under racial unity, geographic harmony, communal politics/history/economy and above all the cultural concord. African maintain their own cultural attitude which is closely associated with the folklore and actual life events, incorporated in to routine life, active participation in music, drama, dance or visual arts. Ultimately all of these are related to their religious beliefs and nature (Kaiser, Africa and Ethnomusicology). The concept of music does not only encompass the typical music style rather it also includes education, sports and work in addition to visual art, playing instruments, poetry, singing and dancing. Furthermore it includes sounds of humans, animals and instruments as voices, there is a call and response relationship, strong link between motion and rhyme, sound, shape and feeling in the music (Kaiser, Africa a

Capital Punishment Essay Example for Free

Capital Punishment Essay Capital punishment is viewed by the law as the act of deterring a person from performing a certain crime that poses threat to the lives of human being. Through capital punishment, life is lost and this method in a way makes sure that a particular crime isn’t repeated by a particular person thus completely deterring the person from repeating the crime. It should be noted that though death penalty is practiced, in some instances it is discriminatory and it may not award justice to the accused party. In many instances, innocent peoples have been subjected to capital punishment when in actual since they have been innocent. In other cases, the guilty have been freed because of insufficient evidence. This therefore leaves the question as to whether it is viable for death penalty to be encouraged. The cost incurred when putting a person to death, the trials and sometimes the effects have led to many countries thinking otherwise about the issue and many are drafting the bills that are intended to abolish the act. My personal view on capital punishment is that the law should be abolished as it does not achieve the expected results and does not give the accused party the room to change behavior and in some cases, the innocent are subjected to the sentence though they didn’t perform the crime. To support this, the following facts can be made. Status of Using the Death Penalty In the U. S. Various positions have been taken concerning death penalty or capital punishment globally. Some countries have been in favor of capital punishment while others abolished the act and still others have never passed such a law. In some countries mostly in the African continent, countries have this law in place but anybody sentenced to death is not subjected to the capital punishment but they are jailed for life. In America, there are mixed reactions as some countries and state do exercise the punishment while others do not. Still, others have abolished the law concerning capital punishment. To be specific, the number of countries or states that have favored and practiced this law 37 states while 13 of the states do not favor capital punishment. Many presidents have indicated that death penalty does not work or rather doe not achieve the intended purpose. What is the Purpose of the Death Penalty Advantages/benefits of the Death Penalty There are various benefits that are associated with death penalty/ though it may not be real that they are real benefits, capital punishment is entitled to Deter a person accused of doing a certain crime from repeating the same crime or similar again. This being the case, capital punishmen6t should be advocated as it would reduce the number of capital offenders in society. At the same time, capital punishment may serve as a warning to others who may have been involved in the act to desist from committing crimes that may lead to capital punishment. Still, those who may be starting the act may fear and desist from committing these crimes for fear of the consequences. Because of the various options given to an accused person, to some extent it is difficult to kill an innocent person. This therefore being the case, capital punishment is important as it eliminates those people who are likely to disturb the societal peace. It shoed be noted that various chances are given to the accused to prove their innocent. The judges do not rule in favor of capital punishment unless they are sure that the provided evidence justifies a person to be sentenced to capital punishment. It is also sometimes to credit death penalty on the bases of an eye for an eye. If a person is therefore accused and convicted of murder or killing, why shouldn’t they be given the same fate so that it can act as a way of retribution. Many people fear death and killing a person as a sentence may forbid others who may be planning to kill others as they would think that they will also be killed if caught. A convicted [person may also kill others in prison if they know that the only possible penalty they ,may receive is fine or life imprisonment. This being the case, they should be killed to avoid killing others. Therefore death penalty is an important war to incapacitate a person. Disadvantages/disbenefits of the Death Penalty Death penalty has a lot of disadvantages and these include the fact that there may be a possibility of false conviction. This being the case, an innocent person may be killed because of may be shoddy witnesses, bribery or if there was a grudge between the parties involved. There have been mane cases where a person is convicted to be killed but just before the act takes place, new evidence delinks the person from the act. Still others were killed only new evidence obtained that de alienated the already killed person. This therefore indicated that death penalty has a lot of flaws. At the same time, the costs involved before a person I convicted of cap[ital punishment are many. A lot of time is also consumed to try the accused. It should be noted that some people because of the various trials may have repented. The system may be biased. Since we have seen that there are a lot of cost implications that are involved in the process, those who don’t have the financial capabilities may not be able to afford the required lawyers, or money required to sustain the accused. At the same time, social status and racial backgrounds play a big hand in determining who will be hanged. What are the Alternatives to the Death Penalty Advantages/benefits of the Alternatives There are various alternatives to death penalty. One of the alternatives would be to sentence the accused person to life imprisonment. This would ensure that the accused is not part of the society or rather he or she is not dealing with the society in a direct way. This therefore would deter and incapacitate the person from commuting the crime. At the same time, some people do kill unintentionally and they are not able to prove this fact in court. They may therefore feel remorse and change their behavior thus becoming good members of the society.

Case Studies Of Companies Supply Chain Management

Case Studies Of Companies Supply Chain Management Dell was incorporated in 1994 by Michael Dell while he was a student at University of Texas, Austin. From its very first initiatives, direct selling model was adopted. In the beginning PCs were sold over the phone and they were customized according to customers specifications. Dell returned to its direct selling model after using the retail channel from 1990 to 1994. In mid 1990s, the company grew rapidly, thus becoming number one PC seller in the US and number two worldwide in 1999. Dells success continued over the following years, but it was not able to avoid the crisis in PC industry in the new millennium. Dells growth rate fell, resulting in the fall of its stock price. However, over the time, Dell managed to remain a highly successful company, and its growth rate continued to outperform the industry as a whole. Dells strategic choices and ways of realizing those choices have played an effective role in story Dells success. The supply chain management of the company is the key element in its successful business model. The core element of the companys business model is its direct sales model, referred as direct mode, with the build to order strategy. In this work we have a look at an organisation with its sheer strategy and competitive view of the future created a giant in the industry. It has developed a business model which has a very little requirement of controlling variables, but with few efficient and critical models it has created an industry leader. It shows how Dell Inc has changed the dynamics of the industry and how it has helped in evolved with the industry. It is an $80 billion company which is created in just in time frame of 23 years. The strategy was to bypass the dealers in the field of personal computers and sell directly to the consumers. What will urge customers to buy online? The answer to these is to make the product build to order and provide them customization. This business model gave Dell some great cost advantage over it peers. This strategy has given Dell- Information about the customer dell has leveraged that to create with its partner an infrastructure which is a global giant. The power of customer information has given Dell competitive advantage in the value chain as a result of which much of the competition is now turning to becoming partners across the value chain. Virtual integration has harnessed the needs of two very different models. The IBMs and Compaqs and HP of the world subscribed to the view that we have to develop everything. This was an engineering centric era, in this era dell was of the view why we should we make everything; we can just buy and collaborate as per our requirement. This view gave them flexibility and coupled with the excellent supply chain that they created- they became what they are. In this model there are fewer things which can go wrong because there are only fewer things which can go wrong. There is no drag effect of 50000 people working with you. The only critical problem with this business model is to establish partnership model with suppliers so that at customers end everything should seem completely integrated. The key challenge is to make money by reducing the inventory cost to the bare minimum and Dell has done that by using excellent partnership models and also building up an excellent supply chain. They have leveraged the knowledge of value chain in the process. 9.1.2 Partnership with Sony With Sony the partnership has created excellence for both of them. For Dell there is zero day inventories holding if we look at an excellent partnership model with Sony. Lets examine what Dell said to Sony- oh we are looking to buy two or three million of those monitors, why we dont just pick them up as per our need. If you cannot provide us this convenience we dont keep any of your products. They go to Sony and say-The distance between demand and supply has totally shrunk, hence we pick as per our need. The Evolution of a faster Business Model This differentiated model of dell help it creates a niche in the distribution channel and eliminates the entire mid channel members to arrive at cost leadership position in the industry. The basic principle of Resource based view is that the competitive advantage for any particular organization completely depends upon the resources which are available at any companys disposal. It is a management tool to determine the important resources available for any organization. It is very important for success of the organization that these resources are valuable and are not imitable. The two houses of strategy namely Resource based view competitive positioning had their fare share of critics. After studying them in detail it can be seen that there are certain inherent weakness in both of them and both of them are not sustainable in long run if isolated. In a long competitive environment a firm needs to invest in either product differentiation or cost leadership and then utilize the competitive positioning which will be sustainable because of our ability to defend it on the base of cost advantage. 9.1.3 Value Chain Analysis 9.1.4 Strategy for profit oriented industry in 21st century Both the views of strategy are equally strong and have their sets of critics. A competitive positioning in a competitive market is not sustainable if they dont have adequate resources available to them to maintain the cost advantage. For e.g.: Telecom industry in Singapore is an industry of price wars. Competitive positioning is effective but is only sustainable for bigger players like Bharti Telecom Vodafone International because they have valuable resources with them which allow them to sustain themselves in price wars. A profit oriented industry in 21st century should create adequate resources and develop capabilities to use them properly. On the marketing front if the environment is competitive than the firm should develop competitive positioning or till then it should enjoy healthy margins. Lets take an example of Apple Incorporation. It had the resource of great Inventions a great leader in there CEO-Steve Jobs. They utilised it with their capability to position themselves in the market. Its a highly profitable firm now. 9.1.5 Supply Chain Management The Supply Chain Market (SCM) in Asia is poised for a robust growth. (Balsmeier, 1996)The Supply Chain Management is the set of frameworks and processes helping organizations in development and delivery of products. The supply chain represents the complex relationships of an organization with its trading partners through whom it sources materials, manufactures products and delivers products or services to the customers. The supply chain links all the activities in the procurement, transformation and storage of raw materials and intermediate products, and sale of finished goods. Figure 1: Generic Configuration of Supply Chain in Manufacturing The entire Supply Chain (Figure 1) is looked across my Supply chain management, rather than a single entity or level. The SCM aims to increase alignment and transparency of supply chains configuration and coordination, regardless of corporate or functional boundaries. The growing competition among the manufacturers to retain and attract customers has compelled manufacturers to serve customers effectively by maintaining long-term relationships with the customers. In the late 1980s, organizations were looking for ways and means to improve their process efficiency, and for this purpose they revamped their internal processes. After they succeeded in making their internal processes efficient, businesses needed to make their external processes efficient so that they could reduce the time and money needed to market and distribute. For this, they had to redefine their relationship with their suppliers, retailers, distributers, and customers. An effective relationship with these entities increased the need for information sharing and made them mutually dependent. This caused a paradigm shift in competition from manufacturer VS manufacturer to supply chain VS supply chain. Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) systems, developed in early 1990s works on the principal of relating information to different entities in a supply chain- manufacturers, suppliers, business partners and retailers- and making it available to all entities. These applications are aimed to reduce the inventory levels of a company through accurate forecasting, reduced cycle times and near perfect scheduling. Customer levels are increased as the goods are delivered on time due to efficiency in the distribution process. 9.1.6 Direct Sales The direct sales model refers to the fact that the company does not use any retail channels for selling its products, but sells its products directly to its customers through its corporate website, Dell.com. The above figure shows hot the direct model of Dell was different from the indirect distribution channel of the rest of industry. In its direct sale model, the intermediary steps that add cost and time are eliminated, and the company is directly able to link with its customers. Dell directly sells to all its customers, regardless of a home-PC to worlds largest corporations. The direct relationship with individual customer creates a great source of competitive advantage for Dell. This creates a valuable information about the end customers, and thus Dell knows who are the end users of their product, what they have purchased from the company, what are their future preferences, a fact that allows the company to stay closer to their customers by offering add-on products and services. Company distinguishes three customer segments, namely large organizations, medium and small businesses and personal consumers; and the revenue of the company is not concentrated as no customer of Dell represents more than 2% of total revenues. This provides a wide mix of customers served. The focus of the company is majorly on large customers, accounting of 70% of the Dells revenues. Dell has been improving its segment from past years and with the combination of direct sales model, gives them the ability to better forecast demand. In the case of large customers the direct relationship by the company is upgraded to virtual integration. With the help of IT, customers work with Dell as partners. Dell employs two main facilities that bring them and their customers closer. Premier Councils and Premier Pages. Premier Councils are the regional meetings of the company largest customers, where salespersons, technicians and the executives discuss their experiences with Dell, and their future expectations from the company. Premier pages, now known by Premier.Dell.com, are customizes support and procurement sites for their big clients, which allows them to manage and decide their purchases from the company, thus making the role of a sales person a more consultative role. This represents Dells customized sales channel and the company has increased its premier pages manifold in these years. 9.1.7 Build in Order and Integration with Suppliers Build-to-order Supply Chain as a strategy is defines (Gunasekaran et al.)as a value chain that manufactures quality products or services based on requirements of an individual customer of a group of customers at competitive prices, within a short span of time, by leveraging the core competencies of partnering firms or suppliers and information technologies, such as the internet and WWW, to integrate such a value chain. Thus, a computer is build after the customer places and order, then just-in-time production and lean manufacturing takes place. This means when an order is placed, its configuration details reaches the manufacturing department and the assembly begins, and once the PC is configured it is shipped by a 3PL to the corresponding customer. The choice of JIT and build to order has several advantages for the company. Firstly, the level of inventories remains very low, leading to faster responses to demand changes and low inventory costs. For instance, if a new microprocessor comes into the market, the company can immediately place an order with its suppliers, as the company need not get rid of the excess inventory. Also, in case of Dell, customers pay in advance. That means the customer pay for the order prior to when the company pays its suppliers for the products, thus giving Dell the opportunity of operating on Negative cash flow cycle. The special thing about the company is its relationship with its suppliers, which is the major reason for facilitating build-to-order model. In Dell, Suppliers are viewed as the integral part of operating business and a key variable for success. This helps Dell to adopt an approach of the extended enterprise. According to Dell their supplier effectively becomes their partner. The company selects suppliers that show experience, expertise and ability to deliver value. The performance of suppliers is regularly evaluated against the pre-set parameters. A quarterly meeting is held between the company and its suppliers to discuss the quarterly performance and future expectations. The performance of each supplier is evaluated by comparing a scorecard consisting of quality, cost, and reliability with that of their competitor. The companys suppliers are also provided with the support and training to improve their processes. The company demands from its suppliers that it should provide them with inventory at a high speed. This helps Dells effort of minimizing its inventories. So instead of orders like deliver 4000 to warehouse every week, the form of orders is like tomorrow evening we need 7.25 to be delivered at door D3 of the warehouse by 6 pm. This notion of Dell, has introduces inventory velocity, and it focuses on maximizing the speed and minimizing the inventory. Dell holds an average inventory of less than 6 days, while the corresponding industry average is of 6 weeks. In dealing with these rhythms, main supplier does have to maintain inventory near or in the companys plants. All the practices above require close collaboration between the suppliers and the company; sophisticated data exchange and mutual trust are the key variables to achieve it. The information sharing facility of the company is the website ValueChain.Dell.com. Through this website, the companys suppliers get informed of the level of inventory in the companys supply chain, demand and supply data, new part transitions with customers and component quality metrics. This way the company share production, demand and supply forecasts with its suppliers. These help suppliers in deciding on production levels, avoiding bullwhip effect. 9.1.8 Use of E-Commerce Introduction to E-Commerce Though E-commerce was there since long, since 70s in the form of electronics transfers of documents and transactions between banks the boom of E-Commerce was evident in 90s after the introduction of WWW Platform and this was further fuelled by increasing Broadband connectivity along with increasing trust of consumers on this platform thanks to certifying agency like VeriSign ad Payment Gateways like PayPal. Amazon and EBay have been there since its inception and have survived all ups and down of industry and also have been pioneers of new concepts in industry. The technology that supporting this platform constitutes the backbone for industry. Trust of consumers of this platform is very important and it is estimated that around 40% of consumers still do not trust the platform despite using it for their purchases. In coming times this technology will be further dive deep and move from E-Com to M-Com i.e. more and more purchases will be made through mobile phones as connectivity issues become lesser and lesser and more trust gets build up among users. Since 2000s the new concept what we call as Web2.0 or Social Networking is in evolution and has completely changed dimensions of industry with more and more users demanding better and innovative technology and application to make them buy and more and more reviews and wisdom of crowd ruling the purchases made, all E-Commerce retailers have been paying much attention to leverage it and is becoming an hygiene factor for future profitability and growth. In this era of Web2.0 enabled E-Commerce application and more and more social content being the driving force behind it, its worthwhile to have a look at what products/services was being offered by the initial E driven commerce and the present E-commerce, better call it as E-commerce2.0. Let have few points comparing E-Com1.0 and E-Com2.0 and talking about what changes have taken place and why have they taken place and to what have these changes led to. Those making purchases online includes a set of users who are confident of the technology and trust the platform through which it is being offered. Such users are generally people using WWW Platform for more than two year and are generally educated at least or above college graduate. The important thing being that around 80% of E-commerce consumers trust the site through which they make their purchases. In the last decade, many start-up e-commerce companies have rapidly stolen market share from traditional retailers and service providers, pressuring these established traditional players to deploy their own commerce websites or to alter company strategy in retaliation. This effect is most pronounced in travel services and consumer electronics. According to comScore, online leisure travel bookings reached about $51B in 2005, or 44% of all online sales, which were around $122B in the same year. Either an organisation can score on cost leadership or differentiation. In this business cost leadership is not an option; hence only feasible option is to differentiate and survive. With ecommerce capabilities the organisation can differentiate. about two competitive positioning strategies -differentiation or cost leadership. A differentiator invests in creating high offering value while a cost leader has the lowest costs of the product in the market. If a firm can provide a differentiated product in the market it will create a niche for itself, while if it provides same product then it should do that at a lower cost. If the case is involving a niche then this strategy is termed as focus. Hence this strategy creates a trade off for the firm -either invest in offering higher value or invest in lower cost. The e-commerce business is characterized by large volumes of transactions, small value of individual orders, odd place of delivery, speed in internal movement, wider product portfolio, and a large number of customer spread over a wide geographical area. Manual operations have no scope in e-commerce logistics operations. The component of logistics, such as order processing, transportation, inventory management, packaging, and delivery require close coordination using IT solutions. Electronic commerce logistics solutions need to be based on the following design considerations: Online facility for organizing and tracking shipment Online order status and documentation Online dispatch documentation and invoice Auto reminder for payments Seamless interface with existing SCM or ERP systems Online alert for critical information through WAP/Mobile MIS reports on the past data analysis, delivery history etc. E-commerce logistics systems, based on the above considerations, ensure the following benefits to sellers, buyers, and 3PL service providers: Improved Communication Transparency in supply chain Improved customer satisfaction Cost reduction Improvement in efficiency On time delivery Dell computers represent one of the successful e-commerce, logistics and supply chain stories. To compete with the giants like IBM, Apple, and Compaq, Dell has adopted a different strategy to market their PCs. They chose the e-commerce route. For ordering a PC with desired configurations and specifications, the customer has to log on to the Dell website, place an order and complete the outline commercial formalities. Very often the customer gets his PC very next day, if he happens to be in USA. The electronic commerce system installed on the Dell website registers an order after online completion of commercial formalities. The system estimates the demand of the various components going into commercial formalities. The system estimates the demand of the various components going into the computer and place orders for parts with the various suppliers. The supplier delivers the parts to predetermined supply centres wherein the computer is assembled. The system, while registering the orde r, communicates to its logistics partner, the details of the customer and the delivery location as well as the assigned supply chain for picking up the consignment. The logistics partners office nearest to the Dell supply centre is activated for material pickup and delivery. The result of this efficient process is nearly zero inventory and total customer satisfaction. 9.1.9 Security Trusted Computing base or TCB is the sum total of the protection mechanisms within a network system which includes firmware, hardware and the software. It consists of one or more component which together enforces a unified security policy for the whole system. The company that I have chosen contains lot of sensitive data which is very important for national security. As expected the company will have a highly secured system for database management and security. A TCB system is expected to meet users requirements for security, reliability and effectiveness. Because no single user is responsible when it comes to data which is nationally important, operating system which manages this data uses a policy of mandatory access control. In MAC no individual takes a decision, the whole decision is based on the reference framework and the decisions are taken by the system itself. This is the case with XYZ limited which storehouse such sensitive data. 9.1.10 Other Interesting Approaches Apart from build order and direct model supply chain strategies, analysts believe that there are also some other issues that contribute to the companys success. Dells secret concerning its SCM is the appropriate matching of people and process elements. This was obvious from Michael Dells statement that our RD focuses on process and quality improvements in manufacturing and one of our biggest challenges in finding managers who can share and respond to rapid shifts. (Global retail Business) There are three central points in the companys value web model: Dells potent role in control and coordination of a value network, Its close integration with its business partners and suppliers and the importance of IT, internet and electronic communications. Analysts view the company as a zero-time organization identifying four key features apart from direct sales model and build in order, which are described in the following table: Competitive positioning is all about creating a brand for your product. Wal-Mart, the brand indicates adequate quality and low price, attracting price sensitive buyers. This is something which in long run help a firm leverages its brand equity. Firms with strong reputations are better positioned in markets involving inter firm cooperations than firms with history of failed partnership. If a firm can create a brand then it need not differentiate on any particular matter. It only needs to sustain the brand image and leverage the brand premia that it can enjoy. Let us have a look at how Nokia have created a competitive advantage. The above charts set the theme for both the views in motion. They are so well interrelated that there is a common goal that can create a competitive advantage. There are five critical blocks (Green cells are RBV while violet ones are for Competitive positioning) for RBV which when practiced can lead to two quality positions- Superior market position or Defendable market position, which in turn is key component to position a product or service competitively.. These two strategies work in junction and neither of them can be sustainable in isolation. The differentiation among these two perspectives lays in the fact that one talk about capabilities and the other does not. Competitive positioning talks how the capability of an organisation allows the firm to be competitive in the market, while RBV only stresses on the resource. Competitive positioning shows the angle of marketing deciding the strategy of the firm while RBV is more from the side of manufacturing. (Strategy Formulations) The two houses of strategy namely Resource based view competitive positioning had their fare share of critics. After studying them in detail it can be seen that there are certain inherent weakness in both of them and both of them are not sustainable in long run if isolated. In a long competitive environment a firm needs to invest in either product differentiation or cost leadership and then utilise the competitive positioning which will be sustainable because of our ability to defend it on the base of cost advantage. If a company develops a sustainable cost advantage in the industry it can kill its competitors and rules the market. Sustainable differentiation helps an organisation charge brand premia to the customer. Either of the strategy in modern days scenario will not work in isolation. A developing organisation needs to realise that in such a globalised scenario no differentiation or cost leadership can last for long. Baring an example of some technological innovation no strate gy in isolation has created a lasting organisation. Dells Supply Chain Management The company supply chain management system handles pieces and information and enormous transactions, and includes many core components necessary in keeping the operation run smoothly: Configuration management: This component of the company manages up to 1 million of Dells part numbers every year across 200 product families approximately. It also handles over 2 million BOM (Bills of materials) every year. BOMs part numbers are created for facilities manufacturing in building assemblies and its sub assemblies for the companys products. Procurement: The procurement component of Dell manages almost 1.8 million purchase orders line per year from more than 6000 suppliers worldwide. To further streamline the procurement process, the company uses an automated application including the workflow and vendors approvals and communications and enabled services like defective parts replacement. Cost: The batch mode is used to calculate the costs to the company for BOMs. All the cost components run mostly in the batch mode. The batch jobs runs daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly, and each job aggregating total material costs. Inventory: Inventory component of the company manages over 3 million movements daily from the factory floors in all Dell sites to the stock rooms, along with over 3 million messages transmitted to multiple systems for analyzing, reporting and factory scheduling. Accounts Payable: The accounts payable component of the company handles about 15,000 items per day, which includes payments to the companys invoices, receipts and all suppliers. Vendor information includes vendor id, contact info and negotiated terms. Along with these order related transactions of the company, the Supply Chain Management system also runs several other process jobs to aggregate data in intervals of week, month and quarters. (Cohen Shoanen, 2004) The SCM database consists of 3,000 database objects including packages, functions, procedures, triggers, views in the North American region. The SCM of Dell is supported by Power Edge 2650 server applications (6), internally developed web based applications (5), almost 20 system-to system integrations, and around 125 batch jobs with almost 500 user interfaces. Previous System: UNIX-based servers The earlier Dell system used Sun E6000-Class UNIX servers operating the Sun Solaris 8 OS with Sun Cluster 2.2. The Servers, within 16 processors at 336 MHZ with 11GB of memory, managed the production database on Oracle database 8.0.6. The companys disaster recovery server had 12 processors running at 336 MHz with 6 GB of memory. To make the systems readily available, the companys information technology used Sun Cluster to cluster primary and secondary servers with an active/passive configuration connecting to a shared disk storage, enabling its database to fall over to the passive node if in case the active one is failed. Conclusion Dell via its partnership model has completely changed the industry methods. It has integrated the value chain by its access to information. Industry is facing stiff competition and in such a competitive scenario Dell has differentiated at cost and also at offering. The inventory management policy and supply chain excellence has become a part of discussion for all the Ivy League Business Schools. The offering that Dell provided its suppliers has left less room with the suppliers to negotiate. This has led to excellent partnership model which has benefited everyone across the value chain. Dell has created excellence in personal computer industry and it is a pioneer in process management for this industry. The healthy competition and brilliant innovation in this industry has helped in its evolution. Customer is the ultimate one to benefit. The IBMs and Compaqs and HP of the world subscribed to the view that we have to develop everything. This was an engineering centric era, in this era dell was of the view why we should we make everything; we can just buy and collaborate as per our requirement. This view gave them flexibility and coupled with the excellent supply chain that they created- they became what they are. In this model there are fewer things which can go wrong because there are only fewer things which can go wrong. There is no drag effect of 50000 people working with you.

Human resources manager in international expansion

Human resources manager in international expansion ABSTRACT The worldwide dimension of Human Resources work may not have high influence in some businesses. But in some business it does posses a lot of influence. Some organizations that have world wide activities, needs to be staffed but with some different comparisons in the terms and conditions of employment. This is where the importance of international human resource management and the role of international human resource manager arise. International human resource manager must be responsible for framing new Human resources policies and strategies that gets in line with the locations ethical and religious issues for which managers need to posses both explicit and tacit knowledge. This research highlights the importance of this knowledge and its transfer from the parent country to the host country in line with the other objectives of this research. INTRODUCTION The growth of significance in International Human Resource Management originates from the augment of globalization. This substantial growth can be seen very obviously over the past half century. This term explains the propagation of international trading relations, foreign direct speculation, worldwide mergers and acquisitions, quicker and affordable transport and swift technological revolution. Amalgamation of markets multi-nationally was involved by globalization and the involvement was done on a regional level as well which is enthused by the rise of potential and authoritative markets in china, India and Eastern and Central Europe. Multinational companies are yet other visible manifestations of globalization. As companies expand domestically to a certain level they then try and expand internationally. This is when the role of International Human Resource Management comes into action. The objective of this research is to 1. Identify the role of International HR Manager. 2. To provide justification for the chosen geographical area. 3. To discuss the role of IHRM in relation to companys global involvement. The chosen geographical location for this research is India, for which the justification would be revealed during the course of the research. LITERATURE REVIEW International HRM can be defined as ‘the set of distinct activities, functions and processes that are directed at attracting and maintaining an MNCs human resources. It is thus the aggregate of the various HRM systems used to manage people in the MNC, both at home and overseas. Taylor, Beechler and Napier, 1996, pg: 960. There are various models that best explain the International Human Resource Management. These models have been put forward to illustrate how the HR function is configured. The Schuler et al. (1993) model explains us the integrative frame work of international HRM. This is a conceptual frame work that tried to record HRM activity to the diverse strategic requirements for integration and local responsiveness. Schuler et al. (1993) defines strategic international HRM as ‘Human Resource Management issues, functions, policies, practices that result from the strategic activities of multinational enterprises and that impact the international concerns and goals of the enterprise. â€Å"International Human Resource Management can also be referred to as a scrupulous type of devolution activity and spreading out of HR role. As and when an organization starts to develop its international activities, the organization inexorably sets up the degree of decentralization, but internationalization is not just a form of decentralization. This is considered to be one of the most complex forms of the same and involves different types of language, culture, economic and political systems, legislative frame works, management styles and conventions and diversification that stay within those national boundaries.† (Torrington, Hall and Taylor, 2005, pg: 695). Perlmutter (1969) proposed a model that was purely network based, illustrating the globalization of companies. This model was initially implemented in the international human resource management prose, rather than the international business field from where it originated. Kobrin (1994) ‘identified the classification in human resource management issues such as training, recruiting, selecting people and resources as the prime reason why international Human resource theorists adopt the Perlmutters model widely. Perlmutter (1969) initially defined three organizational types based on managements mindsets. They are ethnocentric, polycentric and geocentric organizations. Later he came with the fourth type of organization which is called the regiocentric organization. â€Å"THE ETHNOCENTRIC MINDSET reflects a spotlight on home country values and methods of operating. The consequence is the key positions are filled by the parent country nationals which give them a high degree of direct control over the subsidiaries. THE POLYCENTRIC MINDSET focuses on host country values and methods of operating. The key positions are filled by local employees and the parent company is less interested in homogenizing the organizational culture. THE GEOCENTRIC MINDSET focuses on global operation methods and values. These values are not nationally specific but transcend national boundaries and become almost multi-cultural. This approach involves best people for the job and the selection is done from all over the global organization. THE REGIOCENTRIC MINDSET recognizes regional operational methods and values. The organization is normally structured along regional geographic lines (e.g.: Europe, America, Asia Pacific Rim) and employees are transferred within these regions allowing certain degree of integration and recognizing regional diversity.† Perlmutter (1969). ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER The primary role of the human resources manager of a company that is expanding internationally for the first time is to formulate new HR strategies and policies based on the organizations business policy. They must keep in mind the issues in the geographical location where the company is going to operate. Those issues may be varied starting from political issues, labor issues, religious issues and diversity issues. The next important role would be the transfer of knowledge. ‘Knowledge is defined in terms of its explicit and tacit qualities (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). Polyani (1962) states that ‘tacit knowledge is the one that can be articulated and explicit knowledge is something that cannot be articulated. Both these knowledge has different methods of acquisition and accumulation purposes. Lam (2000) argues ‘that explicit knowledge is mostly generated through reckoning and inference and can be acquired through learning, training reading and listening and tacit knowledge is acquired through exposure in different environments, face to face communications. Close interaction plays a critical role in diffusion of this knowledge. As per the above argument by Lam (2000), we can say that it is mandatory for an international human resources manager to posses both explicit and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge will help the manager in framing international HR policies and strategies based on organizational objectives. This can also be addressed to as the internal factors in international expansion. Where as the external factors include the political issues, the opportunities and threats which they might experience. This requires the manager to posses abundant tacit knowledge which is acquired through experience. To be more specific on the roles we can consider the work of Tregaskis, Glover and Ferner (2005). They examined the role of international HR networks in 13 different Multi-national companies and outlined the role of the HR manager. These include â€Å"1. Global policy development. 2. Global HR policy accomplishment. 3. Best practice conception and allocation. 4. Utilization of the distributed HR expertise. 5. Creating buy-in to policy initiatives. 6. Information Exchange. 7. Socialization of the HR community.† These roles are self explanatory and it underpins the relevant knowledge requirement of the person involved in the international setting. JUSTIFICATION OF THE CHOSEN AREA This research will proceed further based on the assumption that the UK based organization is planning to expand its operations in India. India is one of the largest democracies in the southern Asia. India draws a high level of international attention with a GDP of growth rate of 8.1 percent in the first quarter of the financial year 2005-2006. This increased from 1.9 percent in 1995 to 3.4 percent in 2004. Major growth rate can be found in the industrial and the services sector with a growth rate of 8 percent in 2005. There are quite a few challenges that the organization might have to face during its expansion in India. This is outlined by Beardwell and Claydon (2007, pg: 626). â€Å"INFRASTRUCTURE: The combination of weak authoritarian mechanisms and the improper flow of FDI which is found more in non core sectors have restricted the flow in core sectors and Energy. Wider skill up gradation seems to be essential in India for e.g., more manpower is required in the information and the communication Industry. CORRUPTION: This is another challenge that could be faced by the organization. This is the reason that the FDI flow in china is comparatively higher. The government of India has implemented the Rights to Information Act in 2005. Setting up of the vigilance commission is also an important step taken by the government. GROWTH WITH EQUITY: Despite the fact that there are more jobs being created, these jobs are in the unorganized sector with poor wages and benefits and there is less job security. But the government is taking necessary steps to improve job opportunities and enhance skills development by ensuring education for all. Beardwell and Claydon (2007, pg: 627), outlines the advantages an organization that enjoy despite the arousing the challenges. They are LANGUAGE: Advantage of wide knowledge in English language is evident in most graduates who come from across a million universities in India which makes recruiting quality candidates very easy. SKILLS: Highly skilled people from the field of software and information technology are one of Indias competitive advantages. India though highly recognized for unskilled cheap labor produces a number of graduates from the field of mathematics and science from a number of colleges. DEMOCRACY: The egalitarian nature of the Indian state provides a sustainable distribution of resources with an equitable distribution of resources and opportunities. This may help India address the challenges of poverty, inequality, low equality and per-capita income. DIVERSITY: The key to understanding the Indian context is its diversity. Managers with an experience in a diverse organization are regularly equipped to adjust as well as respond to the increasingly diverse international work place. PROSPECTS: India on description of its competitive advantage continues to gain employment within global division of MNC. The probability of this change happening is high with a projected growth of 9-10 percent which was predicted by the World Bank.† DISCUSSION AND EXAMPLES IHRM and Companys Global Involvement This discussion will mainly focus on role of IHRM in companys global involvement followed by examples of two organizations. Vernons (1996) stage model of organizational change and the steps are listed below PHASE 1. DOMESTIC: Focus is on the market, with unique products and services. ‘There are no requirements of cultural diversity and the HR needs are not demanding in international terms. I.e. expatriate assignments cross-cultural (Dunbar, ET. Al., 1989). PHASE 2. INTERNATIONAL: There is an increase in competition and international markets gain significance for profit. The HR now performs vital role in attaining control of local operations. PHASE 3. MULTINATIONAL: The product/ service reaches maturity, there is a rise in competition and a fall in price. The best people are chosen for international postings for increasing profits and the recruitment of international manager would be from those with the knowledge of parent culture. PHASE 4. GLOBAL: The previous three stages were based on hierarchical structures. This phase functions on the postulation that the business unit will need to operate in all the three phases continuously. ‘It is in this stage the demarcation between the expatriate and local managers disappears and management of dual demands of integration and local responsiveness takes place in the organization. (Doz and Prahalad, 1986). Phase I Domestic Phase II International Phase III Multinational Phase IV Global Primary Orientation Product or Service Marketing Price Strategy Strategy Domestic Multi Domestic Multi National Global World Wide Strategy Allow Foreign Clients To buy Product/service Increase market Internationally, Transfer technology abroad. Source, Produce and Market Internationally Gain global strategic competitive advantage Staffing Expatriates None (Few) Many Some Many Why sent? Junket To sell control or transfer technology Control Coordination and Integration Whom Sent? ‘ok performers, salespeople Very good performers High- potential Managers and top executives Purpose Reward Project ‘to get Job done Project and career development Career and organizational development Career Impact Negative Bad for domestic career Important for global career Essential for executive suite Professional Re- entry Somewhat difficult Extremely difficult Less difficult Professionally easy Training and Development None Limited Longer Continuous throughout career For Whom No one Expatriates Expatriates Managers Performance Appraisal Corporate bottom line Subsidiary bottom line Corporate bottom line Strategic positioning Motivation Assumption Money motivates Money and adventure Challenge and opportunity Challenge, opportunity, advancement Rewarding Extra money to compensate for foreign hardship ______________ Less generous, global packages ____________ Career ‘Fast Track Domestic Domestic Token international Global Executive Passport Home country Home country Home country, token foreigners Multinational Necessary Skills Technical and managerial Plus cultural adaptation Plus recognizing cultural differences Plus cross- cultural interaction, influence and synergy Source: Adler and Ghadar, 1990 cited on Beardwell and Claydon 2007. The table illustrated above was proposed by Adler and Ghadar, (1990), which illustrated the IHRM in relation to the companys global environment relating various aspects with Vernons model of organizational change. Examples The two organizations that will be considered as examples in this research are Barclays bank and British airways. â€Å"Barclays is a UK based organization which is expanding globally at a considerable rate. Barclays bank has been operating in India for just a span of two years. Within a short span of time they have gained the title as the most respected foreign banks of the country. This bank is led by Mark Jones, who is the Managing Director in Asia. The company has its own corporate social responsibilities. In 2008 52.2 million pounds was invested in community projects and over 57, 361 employees in over 50 countries was involved in one of them.† www.barclays.in (2009). Theoretically speaking Barclays in now on PHASE 3. THE MULTINATIONAL STAGE, as illustrated by Vernon (1996). The organization employed a director who has the knowledge of the parent culture. They have five branches across India and currently have their efforts focused on financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, and education and Helping people into Employment. The ethnocentric and polycentric mindsets of Perlmutters (1969) model best suits the companys International HR management practices because; Barclays key positions are filled by parent country nationals as well as nationals from the host country. â€Å"When considering the case of British Airways, they are slightly different from Barclays. This difference occurred because British airways are a huge organization with over 80 years of history. Though they have their hubs only in London, they have their operations in six continents and in over 69 countries and India is one of them. They serve to more than 36 million passengers every year. They believe in offering diversity, more development, better training than their competitors.† www.britishairways.com (2009). This organizations international HRM strategy can be compared in contrast with the permutters (1969) geocentric and regiocentric mindsets of the people because; they involve best people from all over the globe and at crucial stages employees are transferred within a particular region. British airways is currently in the PHASE 4 which is the GLOBAL PHASE as they are operating on all the prior three stages. CONCLUSION This research analyzed the international human resource management using a range of academic models and theories. The role of human resource manager during a first international expansion was clearly related to the knowledge transfer and the organizational strategies and policies. This research can be a useful tool for a domestic company whose future plan is to expand their business globally. After analyzing the advantages and challenges in India it gives the organization a clear picture as to what are the issues that can be expected, both internally and externally. Advantages are those which the organization must be prepared to utilize, and the challenges are something which they must be ready to face. Keeping in mind the role of the IHRM in organizations global involvement, the stages for organizational change, and the advantages and challenges they might face in the host country, the organization can really make an excellent start in their proposed geographical location. REFERENCES 1. All about British Airways, available at http://www.britishairwaysjobs.com/baweb1/?newms=info1 accessed on 24 August 2009. 2. About Barclays (2009), available at http://www.barclays.in/about/about_us.htm accessed on 24 August 2009. 3. Adler, N. and Ghadar, F. (1990) ‘strategic human resource management: A global perspective, in Pieper, R. Human Resource management: An International Comparison. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. 4. Beardwell, J. and Claydon, T. (2007), ‘International Human Resource management, HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: a Contemporary Approach, Edition 5, PP: 562-664. 5. Doz, Y.L. and Prahalad, C.K. (1986) ‘Controlled variety: A Challenge for Human Resource Management in the MNC Human Resource Management, 25, Edition 1, PP: 55-72. 6. Kobrin, S.J. (1994) ‘Is there a relationship between a geocentric mindset and multinational strategy? Journal of International Business Studies, third quarter: 493-511. 7. Lam, A. (2000) ‘tacit knowledge, organizational learning and societal institutions: an integrated frame work. Organization Studies, 21, Edition 3, PP: 487-513. 8. Dunbar, E., Mendenhall, M. and Oddou, G. (1989) ‘Expatriate selection, training and career pathing: a review and critique, Human Resource Management, 26, fall: 331-345. 9. Nonaka, I and Takeuchi, H. (1995) the knowledge creating company. New York: Oxford University Press. 10. Perlmutter, H.V. (1969) ‘the tortous evolution of the multinational corporation, International Organization, 51, Edition 1, PP: 1-30. 11. Polyani, M. (1962), Personal Knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 12. Schuler, R., Dowling, P. and De Ceiri, H. (1993), ‘An international framework strategic international human resource management, Journal of Management, 19, 2: 419-459. 13. Taylor, S., Beechler, S. and Napier, N. (1996) ‘Toward an integrative model of strategic international human resource management, Academy of Management Review, 21, Edition 4, PP: 959-985. 14. Torrington, D., Hall, L., Taylor, S. (2005), Human Resource Management, Prentice hall, Edition 6; PP: 693- 778. 15. Vernon, R. (1996) ‘international investment and international trade in the product cycle. Quarterly Journal of Economics May.

Racism in the south Essay -- essays research papers fc

Antebellum is defined at Dictionary.com as "Belonging to the period before a war, especially the American Civil War."1 In the Antebellum period in the South, many people owned slaves. In the south, plantations were "the most basic unit and the most vital element of the Southern antebellum economy."2 But at the heart of these plantations were the slaves. So vicariously, the slaves of the South were the most vital part of the Southern economy. Slaves, although taken from Africa, were still able to hold onto their religious traditions and beliefs. They would incorporate their traditions into the Christian belief structure that the south had already setup. They kept their dances, chants, songs, etc. by disguising them into their master's religion, thereby ensuring that it would be passed down from generation to generation. The slaves weren't treated as even close to equals to their masters. Their masters would live in the mansion of the plantation, while the slaves would dwell in recklessly built cabins that were separated from the rest of the plantation. These quarters were where the African American culture began to take shape. They began to be inspired to want what the white man wanted, and what they were denied. Slave labor was handed out by what each slave itself was capable of. If a slave were to finish a job early, he would be able to get the rest of the day off for recreational purposes. Not only that, but if a slave were to finish two jobs in one day, then he would receive the next day off. This day was commonly referred to as a "Holiday." This rewards system created a more competitive edge to work in the fields, making the slave production increase. This also made the slaves more content, and less persuaded to run. On the other hand, there were punishments also. "Exceptional misbehavior also warranted the attention of the slavemaster and his wrath."2 The beatings, whippings, etc. were unpredictable. The beatings didn't need an explanation. It wasn't like the law was going to step in, because it was your property and you could do whatever you wanted with it. It would be like if you were to throw your computer out of a 10-story window. Its your property and you can do whatever you want with it. That was their view on slaves at the time. The plantation owners primarily bought the male... ...s."3 Most slaves worked on plantations, but about 20% of the slave population of the south worked in the cities. They often were only domestics, but they sometimes were tradesmen. Some were sold out to other people for a day or up to several years. Obviously nobody likes to be enslaved, so they did try to slow down the southern economic machine. They would destroy crops, dismantle machinery, slow their work pace, etc. Others went for a more direct approach. They killed or mutilated themselves so that their property value would go down. Thousands of slaves ran away. They would hide in swamps or forests for weeks or months. Some escaped to the north where they would be free. Slavery in the south was the economic heart. The slaves were treated as if they weren't human, and were only property. The Antebellum period in the South was an important period in history. It will never be forgotten. Sources Cited 1 URL: http://www.cc.colorado.edu/Dept/HY/HY243Ruiz/Research/Antebellum.html 2 URL: http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=Antebellum 3 URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2956.html Racism in the south Essay -- essays research papers fc Antebellum is defined at Dictionary.com as "Belonging to the period before a war, especially the American Civil War."1 In the Antebellum period in the South, many people owned slaves. In the south, plantations were "the most basic unit and the most vital element of the Southern antebellum economy."2 But at the heart of these plantations were the slaves. So vicariously, the slaves of the South were the most vital part of the Southern economy. Slaves, although taken from Africa, were still able to hold onto their religious traditions and beliefs. They would incorporate their traditions into the Christian belief structure that the south had already setup. They kept their dances, chants, songs, etc. by disguising them into their master's religion, thereby ensuring that it would be passed down from generation to generation. The slaves weren't treated as even close to equals to their masters. Their masters would live in the mansion of the plantation, while the slaves would dwell in recklessly built cabins that were separated from the rest of the plantation. These quarters were where the African American culture began to take shape. They began to be inspired to want what the white man wanted, and what they were denied. Slave labor was handed out by what each slave itself was capable of. If a slave were to finish a job early, he would be able to get the rest of the day off for recreational purposes. Not only that, but if a slave were to finish two jobs in one day, then he would receive the next day off. This day was commonly referred to as a "Holiday." This rewards system created a more competitive edge to work in the fields, making the slave production increase. This also made the slaves more content, and less persuaded to run. On the other hand, there were punishments also. "Exceptional misbehavior also warranted the attention of the slavemaster and his wrath."2 The beatings, whippings, etc. were unpredictable. The beatings didn't need an explanation. It wasn't like the law was going to step in, because it was your property and you could do whatever you wanted with it. It would be like if you were to throw your computer out of a 10-story window. Its your property and you can do whatever you want with it. That was their view on slaves at the time. The plantation owners primarily bought the male... ...s."3 Most slaves worked on plantations, but about 20% of the slave population of the south worked in the cities. They often were only domestics, but they sometimes were tradesmen. Some were sold out to other people for a day or up to several years. Obviously nobody likes to be enslaved, so they did try to slow down the southern economic machine. They would destroy crops, dismantle machinery, slow their work pace, etc. Others went for a more direct approach. They killed or mutilated themselves so that their property value would go down. Thousands of slaves ran away. They would hide in swamps or forests for weeks or months. Some escaped to the north where they would be free. Slavery in the south was the economic heart. The slaves were treated as if they weren't human, and were only property. The Antebellum period in the South was an important period in history. It will never be forgotten. Sources Cited 1 URL: http://www.cc.colorado.edu/Dept/HY/HY243Ruiz/Research/Antebellum.html 2 URL: http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=Antebellum 3 URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2956.html

Power Relations in Summer of the 17th Doll :: Ray Lawler

Dramatic conflict consists of a struggle for power among characters, and dramatic resolution consists of a shift of power among them. Discuss the conflict and resolution in "Summer of The 17th Doll" in terms of the power relations in the play. The play summer of the 17th doll consists of many conflicts, some internal and some external. Some of these conflicts are resolved and some not. This essay will explore some of the internal conflicts as well as some of the external conflicts and elaborate on their importance to the play. There are a few themes in the play The Summer Of the 17th Doll. Some of these themes are Maturity, Gender stereo types, aging and time, ideals dreams vs. reality, loyalty and least expectation. I believe one of the strongest themes in the play is dreams vs. reality. Ray Lawler gives us a very big hint about what is going to happen in the play at the beginning of the play. Ray Lawler explains how the patio has some plants evading the walls. The patio symbolizes the layoff dream and the plans symbolize reality slowly but surely creeping up on them. There are many internal conflicts in the play. One internal conflict in the play is pride. This is best illustrated by Roo. Roos struggle with his pride is evident through out the play. It is so obvious that even other characters in the play can see it and comment on it. An example of this from the play is when Emma says to roo that his ?dirty lousy rotten pride? is changing the man she used to know. It is the reason for him getting in a tiff with John Dowd. But most of all his pride is the reason he is a broken man. His pride has made him stubborn and ignorant to help from other people. Fortunately, he is able to swallow his pride and work as a painter. His pride was the reason for his fall from the cane cutting gang and the reason he left them. In other words, we see the essentially good person (Roo) brought down by their fatal flaw pride. One external conflict that gives us great insight to the theme of the play is between Olive and Pearl. You could say that olive represents the illusion of the Dream that is known as the layoff season, whereas Pearl symbolizes reality.