SPITCEROW MODEL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

SPITCEROW MODEL - Essay Example At this time, 86 of 88 Russian Federal subjects committed to 1992 Federation Treaty (Turkish Weekly 1). This separated the power of the local and federal government. However, Tatarstan and Chechnya were not part of this agreement. Later, Tatarstan bowed to the agreement leaving Chechnya alone. This was followed by declaration of full independence form Moscow in 1993 by the Chechnya (Turkish Weekly 1). This resulted into a conflict, and Russia invaded Grozny that was Chechen capital. There were many civilian causalities including over 5000 children. On 11 December 1994, Russian forces from the ground towards Grozny launched an offensive. This happened with some discontent form the Russian military and government. The main cause of the war prior to the 2009 North Caucasus Insurgency was more of a secessionist conflict rather than ethno-nationalist, religious one (Turkish Weekly 1). In fact, Islam was a part of the Chechen identity. The first party is the Chechens. They have remained opposed to Russian authority since the late 18th century. This happened as Russia expanded to areas already under Turkish or Persian authority. The other party is Russia and more specifically Russian military. This has led to conflict due to political decisions and stand by the leadership in authority. Three issues relate to Chechen. They are statehood, international involvement, and equal rights. On the other hand are the Russian issues. They include renunciation of the demand for a separate state, the Chechen disarmament, and the ceasefire. The other issue at hand is the natural resources in Chechnya, and the religious tensions especially between largely secular or Christian Russians and Muslim Chechens. The rebel leaders are sometimes successful in pushing the Russian armed forces out of their vicinity. This was evident as from 1996 to 1997. The Russian army counters this especially after the rebels cross into other regions of Russia, as

Sports And International Laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Sports And International Laws - Essay Example Sport has coexisted with the existence of man. From the very simple to advanced levels sports are played by individual of almost every age. A formal definition from Dictionary.com quotes sport as, â€Å"An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others.† More than just a leisure activity, over the years, sport has evolved as a means of progress and development. The international face of this physical activity becomes a source of development and coordination among different factions and nations. The present face of sport has evolved such that teams have been founded at both local and international levels and have developed and matured into the game of sport being acclaimed internationally. The international awareness of sport has bought many meanings to the game. The professional issues associated with both domestic and international sport have taken many turns over the years. It is across these levels of modification that the globalization of sports has evolved. Moreover, the issues of marketplace in an era of global prominence have also been looked upon. Professional and amateur sports, both, are affected by a number of controversial issues. The examples of these issues could be the abundant use of performance enhancing drugs, the migration of athletes and coaches, the impact of sports on the environment, the production of sportswear and sport as a potential market for the workforce of the developing countries. (Tahibault, 2009) The commercialization of sports in the society is also one of the global effects of sports in the it. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: The historical perspective of the field of sports dates back to the 14th century when the game of croquet was played. Moving on to the French and then noticeably to the English sport then evolved into a field just as significant as any other in the corporate sector. The official history of the Olympic Games however dates back to the 776 B.C. The Greek calendar was itself based on the Olympiad which was to be held every four years. Though scholars agree that these were not the very firs t games but they unanimously affirm that they were substantial games that took place between city states such as those of Elis and Pisa. The founding of the Olympic games has been traced back to King Iphitos of the Eleans. This realm of ancient Olympics continued over 1170 years. Then after a gap these games were again revived in the in the 19th century. This was done by French Baron

Analysis Of Buck And Pulleyn Strategic Change Management Management Essay

Analysis Of Buck And Pulleyn Strategic Change Management Management Essay Leadership and Organizational philosophy is one of the most strategic organizational assets which provide means to devise an efficient strategy for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. We identified in our training presentation that organizations needed change to survive in the marketplace due to change in customer needs, competitors strategies and change in political, economic, social and technological conditions surrounding the organizations. Organizations need to undergo a strategic change process in which the stakeholders and employees of the organization play the most crucial role. In this paper, assuming the role of a consultant to a business advice organization, the material of Buck and Pulleyn which is an American advertising agency has been selected for discussion. This case was written by Professor Louis B. Barnes in 1995 and it is one of the most prominent examples of strategic change management that how this organization has to undergone change. The discussion about the organization revolves around the following important points and it provides important insights about the strategic change management. Develop systems to involve stakeholders in the planning of change and develop a change management strategy with stakeholders. Evaluate the systems used to involve stakeholders in the planning of change. Explain what systems and processes would need to be/have been developed to ensure involvement of the stakeholders in the change, and justify choice. Create a strategy for managing resistance to change. Review the effectiveness of management actions to overcome any identified instances of resistance Describe the most important features in the successful implementation of organizational change, drawing upon at least two organizational models Plan to implement a model for change and develop appropriate measures to monitor progress. The case was published by Harvard Business School in 1995 for class discussion. (The case study can be accessed online at: http://gwu-emse-211.wikispaces.com/file/view/Buck++Pulleyn.pdf) Summary of the Analysis of Buck and Pulleyn Strategic Change Management This case focuses on the issues faced by Buck Pulleyn which includes restructuring of the organization, employees motivation and stationing of Creative Director, Robert Massimilian, as the president because of the conflicting feedback from different stakeholders. For Analysis, I have applied and reviewed Lewins Three-Step Change Model in this case. Firstly, in Unfreezing, Chris came up with a new structure which was formed by the consensus of all the employees and stakeholders. The resulting structure was less formalized and highly decentralized. In the Moving phase, the new structure was enriched with greater employees and stakeholders involvement and it consisted of external and internal teams to manage the strategic change process. The basic focus of change in organizations structure was to anticipate the dynamic environment with changing needs/wants of customers and clients (The most important asset for any organization). The issue of conflict between cost and quality, issues re garding expertise database and concerns related to compensation according to the new system structure were also addressed. Review compensation group had to deal with a couple of issues such as the process, merits, implementation and criteria for the compensation plans. Now the organization is facing the problem to re-freeze the change process at an optimal point and this is the main problem for the case. After analyzing the case, I would like to make some recommendations which are: Buck and Pulleyn need some visionary leadership to anticipate change with greater employee consensus and involvement. The compensation plan by team needs some more compliance and focus. The Roberts management practices should be reviewed. There is a need for making sure that the organizational values and philosophy should be compatible with the new organizational structure because these values and philosophy are the building blocks of leadership and a sustainable competitive advantage. (Barnes, 1995) Problem Statement: The Buck and Pulleyn needs major organizational structure changes due to changing environmental context and needs/wants of consumers and clients by keeping productive human resources enriched with motivation and enforcement of organizational philosophy and vision. The organization is looking to refreeze the change process at an optimal point Analysis: The basic problems faced by this organization were poor leadership, inefficient decision making and cultural resistance. At the start, when the need for change in organizational structure realized by Chris, the efforts failed because of old cultural norms of organization and lack of confidence on the top management by the employees and stakeholders; a factor which had lowered the motivation level and increased the reluctance to change among the employees and shareholders. I have arrived to this conclusion by applying, a well-known approach for managing change that requires organizations to go through three separate processes. It is called Lewins Three-Step Change Model. The three steps are unfreezing, movement, and refreezing. First step unfreezing was done by understanding the need for organizational change due to change in environmental context and customer needs. In the 2nd step discussions were held with all the stakeholders to change the existing style of leadership and strategy but employees showed some resistance for organizational change. During this step, employees were a little uncomfortable, and there was a need for some strategies to encourage them for participating in decision making process in order to engage employees in decision making about the new system. Finally during refreezing, some issues arose due to poor leadership techniques, inefficient decision making methods and lack of confidence on the top management by the employees. (Barnes, 1995) First of all, I would like to analyze the case with Lewins Three-Step Change Model to understand the change process and then I would generate some arguments to get understanding of issues to arrive at a conclusion of the case study with some recommendations. It is advised that the reader of this paper must read the case study originally published by Harvard business school. (Barnes, 1995) Lewis Three Step Change Model: Unfreezing: The initial stages related to the restructuring of the organization were met with some problems, including the negative reaction of the employees when the first memo for the restructuring of the organization was sent. The employees were engaged in selective perception and believed that their feedback or participation in the new structure of the hierarchy would be insignificant, despite the continuous effort of the top management to involve them in the structural reforms through various procedures including group discussions. Stakeholders were involved in the strategic change management process by group discussions and training sessions to discuss the change in environment and to implement a strategy for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. The approach to change was good and being in the place of Chris Pulleyn, I would not like to change differently from Chris because the approach used by Chris opened the way for stakeholders involvement to increase their m otivation and to change their selective perception. Unfortunately, this effort to engage stakeholders was not very successful due to confusions among the stakeholders about the strategic change management. My argument supports this approach because despite this approach did not succeed but it provided some edge or initiative for change or in other words it worked as a slipping point to bring a change in the organization. All the remaining process of change in The Buck and Pulleyn started from this initiative. Therefore, the change management strategy was defined in such a way that different tools and systems were developed to involve all the stakeholders in the change management process such as training sessions, group discussion and seminars across the organization as has been mentioned in the case. (Barnes, 1995) Moving: The failure of the first memo was followed by the introduction of group discussions for all the employees a factor which resulted in a relatively more positive increase in the response of the employees/stakeholders and motivated participation in the strategic change process, but still it did not meet the required objectives. The restructuring task force process resulted in formation of controlled command groups on intra-departmental basis, and as noted from the performance and the orientation of the external and the internal teams, especially the red team, it seems that the five-stage model had been adopted in the group development model. Problem solving teams both internal/external (red, green and blue) had been formed and the team leaders were selected by the team members themselves, thus increasing the cohesiveness amongst the teams and increasing the possibility of positive effect of performance expectations. Membership in the three external and three internal teams had been est ablished. Each team was developing and clarifying its responsibilities and new working relationships, with the Red Team far ahead of the others. Most Red Team members had previous experience in one of Buck and Pulleyn earlier multifunctional teams. The Blue and Green teams were still in their early stages of formation. The Transition Task Force was also under way, had a mission statement, and planned to dissolve itself after a three-month work span. Robert Massimilian had agreed to spearhead the cost/quality initiative and another staff member was in the process of establishing an expertise database of internal resources for the coaching/consulting problem. The approach was successful because it motivated employees/stakeholders to take part in the change process and increase in response rate of employees is a clear indicator of this success. (Barnes, 1995) Refreezing We need to do something about this! The time constraints in the decision making process had been relaxed to some extend by Chris so as to ensure optimal decision making. The process of rational decision making would have been used to get a better and much quicker solution. The organization is attempting to anticipate and refreeze the change process but still some concerns from the employees and stakeholders side exist. Moreover, some more brain-storming is required to refreeze the process as the new system is not fully mature (as mentioned in the original case study). For example, Domains for teams are being defined and teams are still developing their working relationships and therefore the process is actually in progress. Red teams may have some experience but the blue teams and great teams are in early days of their formation. Cost-quality constraints are being considered and new staff is being developed for expertise database etc. The current structure is different from organizations previous structure and there ar e some contradictions which are confusing the company in efficient decision making and leadership. For example, now the compensations are to be paid on team performance basis while in the past compensations were paid on individual basis. In simple words, similar problems like the controversy between the old individual based performance values and new team based performance values are creating problems and a proper solution is required before re-freezing the change process. Some other problems like the issue of Creative Director need some immediate solution to complete the refreeze process. My point here is to explain that the organization is unable to re-freeze the change which it has implemented because of some problems and an immediate solution is required to address these problems before re-freezing the change process. Therefore, it is the basic problem faced by the organization in this case. (Barnes, 1995) Argumentation The focus of the various teams in Buck Pulleyn was on customer retention and satisfaction, and this could be attained through highly motivated and highly satisfied teams. Also, smooth coordination and cohesiveness would be needed among the various team members. Scarce resources should be efficiently allocated amongst the teams to result in optimal performance through the formation of a comprehensive database for resource detection and an effective compensation policy to go along with both these factors. The factors highlighted by the Restructuring Task Force were related to the compensation and bonus of the employees, as well as job promotions and possible career expansions. Compensation plans would have a positive effect on the motivation and the productivity of the employees if they would be tied to both the team and the individual performance, with periodic reviews of the team members for allowing better performance. (Barnes, 1995) Looking at the team effectiveness model, the teams had all the four components of Context, composition, work design and process and were moving to the path of success. Better teams would be made, with the passage of time, by providing training to the employees. (Barnes, 1995) The organization had come out of the conflict process successfully. The conflict related to cost and quality was good for higher efficiency of the organization because the employees would have focus on using the optimal production procedures for the maximum output. Looking at the issue faced by Chris regarding the nomination of Robert as the president, we can see that there was a conflict only in the opinions of the employees. (Barnes, 1995) If we see the above events which happened in the last then these events clearly support my conclusion given at the start of the discussion. For example, there are clear evidences of poor leadership techniques, inefficient decision making methods and lack of confidence on the top management by the employees. We can consider the start of this change process when employees declined the change process indirectly. Then at the moving phase, some conflicts arose. Finally at the case of Richard, some contradiction occurred. All the employees needed a unified line of command with motivation and leadership for strategic change management. This supported my point which I described in the presentation that leadership and organizational philosophy is the most significant and strategic asset of an organization and it is crucial for employees to understand the organizational philosophy to efficiently take part in the strategic change management process. (Barnes, 1995) Recommendations: Based on all our analysis, I would make the following recommendations for Chris in order to solve various issues: Ensure that the company has string leadership, with a strong support from the employees. The compensation plan, dealing with all the issues highlighted in the report given by the Restructuring Task Force, is needed to be considered in the light of the new system. The organization has a very strong culture and employees are reluctant to change. This should be kept in mind before establishing any further change policies. The company will now have a decentralized decision making and a horizontal hierarchy, in which the reliance will be on the decisions made by the team leaders rather than the top management. They will be in direct contact with the customers and therefore, they are the most valuable asset for the company if it needs to prosper. Therefore, I would like to recommend that for the external teams, motivated and customer friendly employees should be hired. Moreover, the teams should also be given training to strengthen the team dynamics. As a result, in the long run, they will generate very positive outcomes for the company. The methods used for the compensation plans should be efficient and employee oriented like peer surveys, etc. The final decision should rest with the compensation team, while the bonuses should be given on both team and individual performance basis. The career paths and possible promotions should be made clear in the new structure by the top management to increase the motivation level of employees and to hire the best talent for internal and external teams. Any policies which are radical, or are providing a deviation from the general norms or practices, need to be carried out with caution and precision. This is because as was seen in the restructuring process, the organization wasnt very supportive of the change in the structure of the organization. Any change or major decision needs to be carried out with precision and in accordance with the possible reaction of the employees. It would be better for the organization to have the confidence of the employees or the team leaders before and during the implementation process and decision making of policies. All the changes made should be tested empirically that whether these changes are compatible with organizational structure or not. Because organization philosophy and vision are the building blocks of organizations structure, a proper brain-storming and activity mapping should be done to check the feasibility of change process. This is because organizational vision and philosophy are transferred from leadership and supports the activity systems of organizations. Any change away for these constraints will cause is poor leadership with organizational collapse. Conclusion If we clearly analyze the above the case of Buck and Pulleyn, then it is obvious that every strategy to undergo a strategic change management was efficient but the only problem faced was lack of leadership and organizational philosophy in strategic change management. The same recommendations were given in the training slides other than the report. The organizational philosophy and leadership the most the strategic assets to undergo and manage the strategic change management process in organizations. The organization must enforce organizational and leadership philosophy to align the personal goals of employees with organizational goals to accomplish its goals and objectives with an effective and efficient strategy.

Inevitable Grief in Not Yet, Jayette :: Not Yet Jayette Essays

Inevitable Grief in Not Yet, Jayette In the short story "Not Yet, Jayette" by William Boyd, Charlie, the narrator and main character, describes a day in his life, and tries to understand, what is going on with him, and where and when his life took a turn towards misery. He states: "It seems to me that everybody in their life is at least two people. Once when you're a child, and once when you're an adult. It's the saddest thing." We will now try to see how this statement relates to his life, and whether or not this phenomenon can be said to be symptomatic for our culture. Charlie, the main character of the short story, spends his life in Los Angeles, mostly looking for famous people. He used to be a star himself, when he was a child, but this came to an end as soon as he reached puberty. Now he is trying to recover the glamour of his childhood, but it is infinitely lost to him. This leads him to the reflection mentioned above. I would argue, however, that he himself is not really changed. As a character, he appears never to have fully grown up. What has changed, is the attitude of the world towards him. His society, Hollywood, in the middle of the California of the American Dream, estimates youth above all, and maintains a "childish" attitude towards things. He himself, however, is excluded from the people he dreams of being with. He lives in a world of disillusionment, the wrong side of Hollywood, together with all those who have never succeeded. But he has somehow conserved a certain hopeful candour, which makes us pity him, as we know he should have no hope. This has however prevented him from sinking into the total despair of e.g. Vanessa, the woman he calls "aunt" . He keeps on dreaming about being famous, rich and young, and he views his own existence as a kid as something close to Paradise. As I have already mentioned, he does not cope with existence like an adult. He is not able to keep his work, his family has been broken to pieces, and yet, all he does is looking for the rich and famous, and dreaming about the return of his career. He is secretly proud that Jayette, the woman in the coffee-shop, has noticed him.

Foreign Policy Toward Iraqi Refugees Essay

In 2003, the US war in Iraq finally toppled Saddam Hussein’s dictatorial regime and freed the Iraqi people from the bondage of tyranny. However, the re-establishment of democratic processes and the road to achieving peace have led to perdition, as Islamist fundamentalism prevailed during the cultural-religious bestowal even at the time prior to Saddam’s reign of power. The victory of democracy in the installation of a new Iraqi government instilled the shadow of political unrest and extreme economic recession, in which the fall of Baghdad may have been buried in a deep grave. At present, the violence in Iraq is showing no sign of slowing down and majority of the Iraqi people continue to suffer tremendously as documented on this account : the UN estimates that 2. 6 million Iraqis have fled since 2003 ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 Iraqis leaves their homes every month; two million flees to nearby countries and about 1. 8 million of the civilian populace seek refuge in safer areas within Iraq, in which Syria and Jordan are among the countries directly helping the refugees for the past three years, and some have fled to Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran and Turkey. Meanwhile, almost daily the media reports on the desolation of Iraqi. The Refugee International has accounted for series and continuing street crimes, the prevalence of business closures, human trafficking, and kidnap-for-ransom cases. In addition, the media said that the documentation of casualties and victims of similar crimes has to be reconciled with at large proportion due inability to locate substantial witnesses and the family of the victims. Goal Positioning The goal of this paper generally seeks to discuss and examine the continuing struggle for survival in Iraq. The product of examination shall be presented through a course of study pertaining to foreign policy toward Iraqi refugees. In particular, a holistic approach will be undertaken, to: (1) identify the extent and magnitude of mass evacuation of refugees, and (2) examine the availability of foreign policies that concern Iraqi refugees. In addition, the objective of the study is to address the long debatable issue on host country refugee adoption and to answer the question â€Å"why and how Iraqi refugees could be hosted by countries like the United States of America but neither by other European countries or in Asia? † This question plainly posits the feasible means of a foreign policy that could be adopted [if there once that exists,] in which this compendium could ventilate the avenues of legislation and to the meanest effort of influencing the public interest for policy initiatives. Background of Study The background of the study focuses on the sub-human conditions of the Iraqi people and their desire to flee from their homeland in exile as refugees. The background [based on the plight of the Iraqi refugees] will also discuss derivatives of study on foreign policies that evolve the goals of this paper. The additional consideration on the need for enabling a foreign policy for Iraqi refugees could indicate and can be comparatively analyzed with the proportion of violence that links the overall unaccounted number of Iraqi casualties. Thus, the initial indicator is based on the documented report that follows: (1) US military killed in Iraq is estimated at 3,973; (2) number of US troops wounded in combat since the war began is 29,203; (3) Iraqi Security Force deaths is 7,924; (4) Iraqi civilians killed is estimated at a range from 81,632 to 1,120,000; (5) internally displaced refugees in Iraq is estimated at 3. 4 million. On the other hand, as part of the documented report , the cost of war has accounted to; $526 billion to date, with a cost per day of $275 million and being estimated at a long- term bill of $3 trillion. In addition, Iraqi unemployment has grown from 25 to 40 percent. Literature Review A brief review of similar literatures will be discussed in this section in order to: (1) present the collection of initiatives and collaboration of international entities and governments for refugees, and (2) link the relevance to the process of this paper. Canada was tasked to assume the role of â€Å"gavel-holder† of the newly established Refugee Working Group (RWG) in January of 1992 as part of the design of the general Middle East peace process (MEPP) that created the Expert and Advisory Services Fund (EASF) as a Canadian involvement to the Middle East Multilateral Peace Process . The EASF is administered by Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). The implementation of EASF for the period of March 2002-2008 works within key policy issues on refugees, in which EASF (Phase 3 IDRC) programs embark on the â€Å"compensation to Palestinian refugees as part of a comprehensive solution, challenges of repatriation and absorption, and gauging and engaging public opinion† . In a related finding, the Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service through its Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) located in Qatar and the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) in Washington jointly conducted a study in 2007 regarding this for . The study showed that Iraqis in Jordan and Syria are beneficiaries of two opposing foreign policies, one is the tradition of Arab brotherhood which comprises a political and moral responsibility in providing refuge while the other is an option of Jordan and Syria not to integrate the Iraqis’ permanency . However, the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) considers the Iraqis as â€Å"prima facie refugees† (being registered refugees) who were issued with â€Å"asylum seeker cards† in Jordan and refugee cards in Syria. The UN agencies and NGOs have provided immediate support to lessen the misery. Furthermore, the study team stated that â€Å"the war in Iraq is not limited to Iraq since it has intensely affected the Middle East region . However, according to a statement of a UK-based NGO, many refugees are denied asylum status, being degraded and are even called as â€Å"welfare scroungers† or â€Å"fake refugees† when they come to the UK . It is obvious that the US and UK’s â€Å"War on Terror† is marginalizing refugees still further as numerous legitimate political movements are labeled â€Å"terrorist† . In addition, based on the statement, the UK has curved entire migrant communities as terrorist suspects [in which the anti-terrorism laws have widened the classification of terrorism] encompassed with political activities even on those who are against oppressive regimes overseas . Moreover, the US government has recently released a press statement disclosing that about 12,000 Iraqi refugees will be admitted to US before the end of 2008. According to State Department’s Senior Adviser James Foley, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs’ Tony Edison and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Senior Adviser on Iraqi Refugee Issues’ Lori Scialabba, Iraqis were identified as potential candidates for emigration to the United States. After a year of redoubled efforts, all of the organizations involved in the process are working together to build a more effective refugee screening program . The three US officials further stated that the US has poured in $171 million in humanitarian assistance to displaced Iraqis both in and outside the country in 2007. However, the UN has appealed for $123 million in 2007 to $261 million for 2008 . Scope and Limitation The scope of work will be composed of a 2-prong method which are: (1) on-field and out- field research; within the scope of finding available and adequate materials as derivatives in the conduct of evaluation and the actual field validation of data and (2) study review in areas of fitting in the study parameters in view of legislative policy agenda for refugees in order to re-examine the gaps and further conduct of study. Considerably, the aspect of out-filed research may be limited only to accessing the available data sources, such as on-site interviews to various individuals or personalities and gathering of other data materials that are readily available. Perspectives It has been a glaring and presently debatable issue that Iraqi refugees pose a challenge to global governments and communities of progressive people. The parameters of the study believe that Iraq has not yet overcome the war. While it is true that Iraq was once a captive of political and religious dogmas, the country must still be retained to its sovereign people. The Iraqi refugees is a shame to the least part of developed and even underdeveloped world from Africa to Asian continents because in that part of Middle East lies a bleeding country characterized by the plagues of war. It is in this regard, the study envisions a perspective that would create and supplant the bondage and stigma of war from the life of the Iraqi people. The study also aims to map out the road to recovery, and through that, a foreign policy for Iraqi refugees may guide the ascendancy of moral values and responsibility in order to achieve peace in Middle East and the rest of the world. Conclusion It is clear the Iraqi people continue to walk on the road to perdition due to their long struggle of tyranny. It could be described that the misery after the fall of Baghdad has a continuum in despicable plight. The global partnership in restoring and retaining the democratic processes in Iraq may be a long process and difficult due to the intensely adverse cultural-religious entanglement. Nevertheless, it is necessary to first restore the people’s lives, specifically women, and children. Once this is achieved, it will be no longer hard to once again see the flourishing city of Baghdad where people co-exist in abundant life amidst the barren lands. Bibliography America. Gov, â€Å"United States to Welcome 12,000 More Iraqi Refugees in 2008† (February 06, 2008) [http://www. america. gov/st/peacesec- english/2008/February/20080206160027idybeekcm0. 824032. html] Erik Leaver and Jenny Shin, â€Å"The Iraq Quagmire†, Foreign Policy in Focus, Institute of Foreign Policy, Washington DC 20036. (March 4, 2008). [http://www. fpif. org/fpiftxt/5036] International Development Research Centre (IDRC), â€Å"Middle East Expert and Advisory Services Fund†, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (2008). [ http://www. idrc. ca/uploads/user-S/12060300201Microsoft_Word_- _EASF_Program_Profile__3__final. pdf] Kristele Younes, â€Å"The Iraqi Refugee Crisis†, Foreign Policy in Focus, Institute of Foreign Policy, Washington DC 20036 (March 14, 07). [http://www. fpif. org/fpiftxt/4059] Patricia Weiss Fagen, Iraqi Refugees: â€Å"Seeking Stability in Syria and Jordan†, Georgetown University Institute for the Study of International Migration (2007). [http://www12. georgetown. edu/sfs/isim/Publications/PatPubs/Iraqi%20Refugees. pdf] The Refugee Project, 44 Ainger Road, London, NW3 3AT (2008). [http://www. therefugeeproject. org/]

How did Lenin add to Marxism up to 1905, and with what consequences? Essay

Karl Marx was a German philosopher who wrote the Communist Manifesto, which encouraged workers to unite and seize power by revolution. His views became known as Marxism and influenced the thinking of socialists throughout Europe in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Marx believed that history was evolving in a series of stages towards a perfect state – Communism. These stages started with Feudalism – with the aristocrats controlling politics. Next would come Capitalism – with the bourgeoisie in control of politics. Finally the â€Å"perfect state† would arrive Communism – with the proletariat in control of politics. Marx believed that a Communist state would come about in countries such as Russia that were still feudal or did not have fully developed capitalist societies. He urged the proletariat to join the capitalists in revolting against the aristocrats and complete a capitalist revolution and then continue until the proletarian revolution occurred leading to a communist state. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, also known as Lenin, was born in 1870 in Simvrisk, Russia. Lenin had a turbulent start to his life. At the age of 17 Lenin had to deal with the fact that his brother Alexander Ulyanov was hung for plotting to assassinate Tsar Alexander III. He then studied at the University of Kazan, where he converted to Marxism, but was expelled for revolutionary activities. Then in 1895 Lenin was exiled to Siberia for distributing revolutionary pamphlets. During his exile, the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (RSDWP) was formed in Minsk in 1898. After Lenin’s return from exile in 1900, he founded a newspaper, Iskra, with Julius Tsederbaum, also known as Martov. The idea of the paper was to establish it as the leading underground revolutionary paper that would push forward the revolutionary movement. In 1902 he published a pamphlet called † What is to be done?† This pamphlet contained his radical ideas towards the nature of a revolutionary party. In this pamphlet, there were three main points that Lenin made in relation to the role of a revolutionary party. â€Å"An organisation of revolutionaries must contain primarily and chiefly people whose occupation is revolutionary activity†¦ This organisation must necessarily be not very broad, and as secret as possible.† This idea was stating that he wanted the party to consist of activists. He wanted people to go out and do something for the party rather than sit around and do nothing to help the cause of the party. This idea was later to contribute towards the split of the RSDWP. Lenin also stated; â€Å"The one serious organisational principle for workers in our movement must be the strictest secrecy, strictest choice of members, training of professional revolutionaries.† Lenin wanted the party to be professional and didn’t want the country to know that there was a revolutionary party being constructed that was to revolt against the current government. The third major point that Lenin made in his pamphlet was; â€Å"We must break completely with the tradition of a purely workers or trade union type of social democratic organisation down to factory groups inclusive. The factory groups or committee †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ must consist of a very small number of revolutionaries, receiving direct from the committee, orders and powers to conduct the whole social democratic party work in the factory.† This statement showed that Lenin wanted to create a dictatorial party that was to take orders from the top and no one else. He wanted to control the party and maintain it as a fully organised and prepared revolutionary organisation. In these three statements Lenin has already added to Marxism. Marx did not state what the role of the communist party would be. But here Lenin has said what he wants the party to do and how he wants it to be controlled. Marx also did not comment on how the party would operate and how it would gain power. Here in his pamphlet Lenin has shown that he wants a dictatorial party that will be run from the top and that they will take power with a highly organised and secret movement. Karl Marx never stated how and when revolution would take place. Lenin though did mention this. He made three changes to Marx’s theory. 1. Revolution would be accomplished by a small group of highly professional dedicated revolutionaries. They were needed to develop the revolutionary consciousness of workers and focus their attentions. 2. Lenin believed that the revolution would occur during a period of conflict between capitalist powers. He accepted Trotsky’s idea that a revolution would start in an underdeveloped country just like Russia where the struggle and conflict between proletariat and bourgeoisie was very great. This was known as the â€Å"weakest link† theory. 3. He did not think that the middle classes of Russia were strong enough to carry out a revolution. He believed that the working class could develop a revolutionary government of its own alliance with poor peasants who had a history of mass action in Russia. These changes show how Lenin believed in Marxism but added parts that Marx failed to mention in his theory. And so extended Marxism with his own ideas, Leninism. In 1903 the RSDWP held it’s second congress eventually in London, after the initial location Brussels was changed due to fear of persecution. In this congress four main issues were discussed. The first was the adoption of Iskra, Lenin and Martov’s revolutionary newspaper, as the party organ. The second issue discussed was probably the most important of the congress. The issue was that of membership. Lenin’s proposal was: â€Å"A member of the party is one who accepts its programmes and supports it, both materially and by personal participation in one of its organisations.† Lenin wanted party members that were active and actually went out and personally participated in events that would benefit the party. Whereas Martov believed that members should be: â€Å"A member of the RSDWP is one who accepts its programme and supports it both materially and by regular co-operation under the leadership of one of its organisations† Martov believed that party members should be passive and of large quantities similar to that of governments of nowadays. He wanted members to just accept the party’s programme and support in what they do. He didn’t state that he wanted active members like Lenin. George Plekhanov was the chairman of the congress as was the only main figure to agree with Lenin, all of the others on the Iskra editorial board came down on the side of Martov, as did Trotsky. Lenin’s proposal was rejected 28 to 23 and Martov’s proposal was accepted 28 to 22. The third issue of the Congress that was discussed was that of overseas organisations. It was decided that only the League of Revolutionary Social Democracy should be recognised and therefore the Union of Russian Social Democrats Abroad was disfranchised. This action caused the resignation of seven members of congress, all of them being Martov supporters, and sop now allowing supporters of Lenin to be in the majority. The fourth and final major point of the congress was that of Lenin’s proposal to reduce the members of the Iskra editorial board from six to three, and that the new party central committee have only three members. This was accepted and Lenin, Martov and Plekhanov were elected. But it became clear that Martov was in a minority and so rejected the offer and his supporters had nothing more to do with the elections. At this split Lenin’s supporters were dubbed the Bolshevik’s, majority, and Martov’s the Menshevik’s, minority. This congress shows how Lenin was adding to Marxism as he was trying to give the RSDWP some identity and an insight has to how he wanted it to be run. This was an addition to Marx, as he never mentioned how the party would be run and what the role of it would be. But these actions taken by Lenin have large consequences. His ideas clashed with that of Martov and so caused the split of the RSDWP. Another major consequence of Lenin’s abrasive personality and wish to have the RSDWP run his way was that this split of the party was non reconcilable. Plekhanov tried to create reconciliation between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks and co-opted Mensheviks onto the now Bolshevik run Iskra board. But Lenin was having none of this. He resigned leaving Iskra to become a Menshevik organ and organised the Bolsheviks as a separate faction. Trotsky who was part of Martov’s Mensheviks wrote â€Å"Our political tasks† in 1904. â€Å"The party is replaced by the organisation of the party, the organisation by the control committee, and finally the control committee by the dictator.† Trotsky is commenting on the consequence of Lenin’s organisation of the party. He believes that Lenin’s concept of a revolutionary party would inevitably lead to dictatorship. In conclusion Lenin’s main addition to Marxism was to give the details about the role of the party, the membership of the party and the ultimate aim of the party, that Marx did not give when he began his theory of Marxism. But Lenin’s additions did not come without significant consequences that would affect the future of Russian politics.

Expansion and Capture of New Markets

Expansion and Capture of New Markets Introduction Within the recent years,the e-commerce retailing market is rapidly growing and maturing. Creating the specialized website, Superdry has penetrated into the e-commerce market successfully. At the same time, the design of the website requires further improvements as well integration of the social media options for the purpose of attracting new customers and retaining the old ones. The peculiarities of the spheres of the e-commerce and the clothing market need to be taken into consideration for assessing the associated risks.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Expansion and Capture of New Markets specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Research findings According to the results of the recent market research, Superdry not only obtains all the necessary characteristics of a successful retailer, including high quality product, strong brand name and recognizable brand identity, but also looks for new opportunities for p enetrating new markets and utilizing new channels by re-assessing their digital strategy. Superdry as a clothing brand remains popular among various demographic groups (Cotter â€Å"Is Superdry Still Fashionable?†). The tactic which was chosen by the designers, namely the combination of the features of Chinese and American street-wear styles was rather risky but appeared to be successful (Phong â€Å"Brand Pofile: Street-Wear Label Superdry†). Realizing the benefits of the penetration into the e-commerce market, Superdry pays attention to improving the customer’s interface and incorporating new options into the e-commerce retailing site of the company for the purpose of increasing the customer’s satisfaction with the services and attracting the continuous customers. The analysis of the market Within the recent years, a tendency for the rapid growth in the sphere of the European e-market has been observed with more than 25% of growth in sales per year. For example, in 2009 the e-market sales in Europe reached $307, 1 billion as compared to $ 196.9 billion in 2007 and $ 255.7 billion in 2008. According to the forecast for the e-sales in the year 2011, it is expected to be more than $ 400 billion (â€Å"European E-Commerce to Reach 323 Billion Euros in 2011†.) This statistic data and the experts’ forecast for the future growth demonstrate that the investments into the sphere of e-commerce are expected to be profitable. Graph 1 (Adapted from Marketing Charts Website)Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Though the clothes are one of the products requiring trial fittings with the emphasized importance of the color integrity, the clothing is one of the most successful spheres of e-commerce (â€Å"The E-Commerce Market: Size and Trends†). With the quick maturation of the e-market, companies cannot rely o n the prolonged period of its development and should pay proper attention to the development of the sphere in a timely manner (Rigby â€Å"Social Commerce Set to Be Key in 2011†). The criticism of the interface The success of the e-commerce strategies depends upon the convenience of the interface of the company’s web site. In that regard, the design of Superdry website is not consumer-friendly, limiting the opportunities for filtering the products by colour, price and style. Another restriction of the layout is the lack of the option of viewing all the products on one page. With the high competition in the sphere, the customer’s convenience is crucial and the disadvantages in the layout can have a significant impact on the customers’ choices and preferences. The poorly designed website can even have a negative impact on the company’s off-line reputation (â€Å"How to Be an E-Commerce Success†). Being induced to scroll the long lists of the u nfiltered products, customers can decide to switch the service provider. Proposal for the improvement of the Superdry website The major directions for the improvement of the Superdry website include enhancing the customers’ convenience in working with the site and incorporating the social media options into the website layout. Developing the segmented databases for processing the data on the products can be beneficial for increasing the customers’ satisfaction with the interface and even increasing the e-sales of Superdry. Providing customers with opportunities for printing newsletters and generating their awareness on the loyalty programs would be beneficial for generating the consumers’ awareness of the available products and existing options.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Expansion and Capture of New Markets specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Including the elements of the social media into t he interface of the website could be helpful for enhancing its effectiveness. It is possible to start from the automated communications such as welcome, birthday messages for the registered users and proceeding to more complicated options such as creating the links with the social networks. The experience of installation of the specialized cameras in the fitting rooms for providing customers with opportunities to share photos with their friends on the Facebook and ask them for a piece of advice has increased the company’s sales (Rogers â€Å"Integrated Experience Design†). Adoption of this experience and developing the idea of incorporating the social media options into the retail e-commerce can be beneficial for Superdry. Recommendations for Superdry For the purpose of creating a competitive edge and enhancing the effectiveness of the retail e-commerce website, Superdry should focus on the customer-friendliness of the website interface as well as generating the consum ers’ interest by making some special offers, such as vouchers, discounts, gifts packaging. One of the major recommendations is providing customers with opportunities to find exactly what they were looking for by integrating the filtering options into the website interface (Jody â€Å"Superdry, Superbrand!†). Along with working on the layout of the pages and enhancing the convenience and satisfaction of users, the Superdry web designers should aim at creating the opportunities for receiving customers’ feedbacks and taking them into account for making the desirable improvements. Providing customers with an opportunity to express their opinion concerning the work of the website and the quality of the service in general would produce the impression of the involvement into the company’s progress. At the same time, the analysis of the customers’ feedbacks is a valuable source of information on the existing demands of the target customer population. It is important to incorporate particular revolutionizing options for ensuring the user that the company provides the unique opportunities of making reservations in store schemes and trial a click and collect, for example. Growth opportunities and integrated digital strategy The main opportunities for the growth of the company include refining the Google adwords, integrating the social media options with the e-commerce retail options and working on the multi-language campaigns for broadening the customer database and targeting at multi-language audience. For the purpose of optimizing the work of the search engine, Superdry asked for help of Rice Media, the digital agency which had worked on the improvement of the Superdry online marketing strategy and increased the number of visitors of the website by 15% (Cowan â€Å"Superdry Appoints Rice Media for Online Drive†).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Social media options, including the design of the mobile-friendly site and providing customers with opportunities for socializing inside of the site on the forums and through the link to the most popular social networks, are expected to attract wider audience and increase the chances of repeating purchases. The website contains the information on the policy concerning the company’s motifs for collecting the personal information which is believed to enhance customers’ sense of security (â€Å"Privacy Policy†). Creating the links to the social networking websites would motivate users to create the authorized accounts and consequently provide the administration of the website with their personal information which can be used for developing future marketing strategies. Engagement path The achievement of the customers’ involvement into the dialogue with the company retailer is a gradual process including the four major stages of awareness, evaluation, conversi on and engagement. The stage of awareness presupposes enhancing the customers’ awareness of the brand and increasing its popularity for generating the public interest. On the stage of evaluation, customers analyze their experience, making the conclusions which would have impact on the following process of decision making. On the stage of conversion, customers are supposed to make a choice between the various existing tools and decide on the most suitable of them. After the completion of the three previous stages, when an individual has got certain experience and has evaluated it, the engagement of the customers into the dialogue with the company is more probable. Methods of influencing the individual buying phases With the recent shift to the customized approach to the e-commerce, the retailing companies have to develop strategies for retrieving the information on the customers’ preferences, processing it and choosing the appropriate methods for influencing the custome rs’ buying phases. After attracting the customers’ attention with promotions and advertisements, the company should concentrate on retaining the attention. It is important to provide customers with all the necessary support, ranging from the technical support in navigating the site to the opportunities of price comparison. While making the purchase, customers should be provided with the information on the price reductions and discounts. Proper attention to the after-sale phases would increase the chances of the repeating purchases. Companies need to take into consideration the delivery and guarantee terms as well as stimulation for future purchases such as bonus and invitation for the sale events. Conclusion The penetration into the e-commerce retailing market provides a number of opportunities for Superdry though the peculiarities of the quickly growing market need to be taken into consideration by the company for evaluating the existing risks. The success of the e-co mmerce retailing market is associated with the technical integrity and convenience of the website interface as well as the optimization of the search engine, thus, requiring new specialists (â€Å"Managing Risk in E-Commerce†). At the same time, considering the peculiarities of the sphere of the clothing retailing which requires trial fitting of the products, the refunds and exchanges are a separate category of risks which need to be taken into consideration (Budania, Sunil. â€Å"E-Retailing – A New Strategic†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Budania, Sunil. â€Å"E-Retailing – A New Strategic†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Sunil Budania Blog. Web. Cotter, Gary. â€Å"Is Superdry Still Fashionable?† Buzzle.com. 16 October 2010. Web. Cowan, Katy. â€Å"Superdry Appoints Rice Media for Online Drive†. Creative Boom. 13 July 2010. Web. â€Å"European E-Commerce to Reach 323 Billiopn Euros in 2011†. Marketing Charts. n.a. 9 August 2010. Web. â€Å"How to Be an E-Commerce Succ ess†. A-K Strategic Business Solutions. n.a. n.d. Web. Jody, Leon. â€Å"Superdry, Superbrand!† Pondering’s of a Digital Marketer: Industry News, Trends, Strategy and Insight. 30 June 2010. Web. â€Å"Managing Risk in E-Commerce†. Business Link. n.a. n.d. Web. Phong, Luu. â€Å"Brand Pofile: Street-Wear Label Superdry†. Fashion. Telegraph. 10 February 2010. Web. â€Å"Privacy Policy†. Superdry Website. n.a. n.d. Web. Rigby, Chloe. â€Å"Social Commerce Set to Be Key in 2011†. Internet Retailing. 12 Nov. 2010. Web. Rogers, Teri. â€Å"Integrated Experience Design†. Think. Create. Deliver. Blog. 17 June 2010. Web. â€Å"The E-Commerce Market: Size and Trends†. Global Merchant Services. n.a. n.d. Web.