Data Collection †Business Research Essay

Introduction The experience of focus group and semi-structured interview were gained during my data collection research. I conducted one focus group and one semi-structured interviews, due to participants time limit and busy schedule I was not possible to conduct more interviews. I have designed the interview procedure including questions prepared for each interview to capture different group and individual. I have given participants consent form to sign and ask for their permission to audio tape recorder, simultaneously I was taking note. This type of interview was more suitable for my data collection research because it allowed face to face assurance and explanation of the importance, aim, and necessity of the research. I have enjoyed the interview exercise and my learning reflection about data collection process is addressed below. How well did the research instrument address the research questions and meet the goals of the study? Using focus group and semi-structured interview instruments to collect data helped keeping track of what I observed and how to analyse it. Methods of recording information gathered during focus groups and interview for collecting unbiased information have helped to gain credibility as an accurate and useful source of information collection. Focus group and semi- structured interviews were effective in communicating a desire to obtain meaningful and honest information, both instruments were well designed that helped the conversation develop in line with my research questions. I was able to use technique for collecting data as a combination of an audio tape recorder and note taking which allow me to capture all of the essential information in an unbiased manner, I was also able to capture nonverbal behaviour of group participants, i.e. reactions of other participants after a participant statement may indicate consensus or disagreement. Both instruments are valid and reliable in collecting data, and questions and observations accurately assess what I want to know. What specific advantages and disadvantages can you see from using this particular method? Semi-structured individual interviews are more efficient than focus groups and interviewers are typically able to cover more ground interviewing one person versus a group. While focus groups may actually get less information than one hour individual interview, the dynamic interchange between the group members may result in more in depth and unbiased information concerning a particular topic. A potential weakness of focus groups may occur when members do not express their personal opinions and conform to a popular opinion or agree to a particular group member. In semi-structured interview there is no significant time delay between question and answer, the interviewer and interviewee can directly react on what the other says or does. An advantage of this communication is that the answer of the interviewee is more spontaneous, without an extended reflection. But due to this type of communication, the interviewer must concentrate much more on the questions to be asked and the answers given. Especially when semi-structured interview list is used, and the interviewer has to formulate questions as a result of the interactive nature of communication. Interview also has the advantage that the interviewer can make more use of a standardisation of the situation. On the other hand this type of communication of time and place can bring with it a lot of time and costs. Social interaction in the focus group provides more free and complex answers, interviewer can ask for clarification, problems as to whether the group represents a larger population and difficult to assemble the group. What issues did you face in data collection and compilation? In my situation, I needed to obtain an appropriate permission or approval to collect information from the senior management of the company I have done my research on. I had to allow time to work through the proper channels and it was stressful process to know whether they will provide me with an approval to conduct my interviews and collect data. One of the problems encountered by me was the limited time allocated as the questionnaires were process oriented and it took time to complete some of the questionnaires while each interview was allocated 45 minutes only, in addition, the geographical location of the company was presented a difficulty as I had to travel more than 30 minutes to reach the company’s premises. I had to visit the company twice to conduct a focus group with one team and a semi-structured interview with another team manager. I believe there is no issue in data integrity or accuracy that was provided to me by the team during both interviews. However, compilation of data has been time consuming process due to documenting all notes taking as well as referring to the audio tape recorder to ensure that I haven’t missed anything out. I did not encounter any non-response or outright refusal from the participants. The response from the leaders and officials was also encouraging. How would you change the research instrument based on the data you collected? I believe the answers I have got are as good as the questions I asked, I may need to expand on my research instruments techniques and get the best answers that fit my questions, or follow formative research process that will help me think through which questions I want to ask of which people. For example, asking good questions of the wrong people or asking the right people bad questions will provide me poor and unusable results. Even if focus group and semi-structured interviews are the best method for collecting my data, I will consider changing how to do them, collecting the best data possible is to separate research instruments into smaller rounds instead of trying to get all answer for the questions at once. Later rounds can build on information from earlier rounds. For example, I would use one round of the interview to help me determine a target group, understand their roles, skills and knowledge around using systems and processes and then a second round to investigate more deeply into the group’s thoughts and feelings. What lessons have you learned about collecting data? I believe collecting data for this study or MRP research is way more stressful than other data collection I have experienced. First of all, the stakes are higher, if I don’t get it right I will continue to be in purgatory. All what I needed is to hear from my potential participants about whether they are participating in my research study. I got tons of questions from the senior management asking details of the research study and proposal. This, however, does not mean that they are going to participate in my study. So, I had to be very careful about how I answer their questions and how to interact with them. I learned to be always prepared to get tones of questions. I also had to send my participants a reminder about the date and time of the interviews and accommodate them, otherwise they will forget as they are busy people. I learned to keep my spirit high, and I needed to remind myself that things are going to be OK. I needed to continue providing information, checking in, reminding, answering questions, sending e-mails, making phone calls, and running my research study with a smile on my face. Even though I was exhausted, tried to keep my energy high, and didn’t let my participants feel the stress I felt inside. At the end, I was grateful to have each and every participant I had and enjoyed the experience with them. And finally I learned to be patient, collecting data is a slow process and I was focusing on how to achieve the big goal of interviewing participants and collecting data, while I forget to pay attention to what I achieve everyday towards getting my data collection complete. What thoughts do you have about the importance and relevance of your project based on the data collection experience? Data collected during the focus group and interview is adequate to be analysed for my process improvement project purpose and to make decisions about important issues. I will be able to present findings and analysis based on data collected from interviews and that subsequent decisions based on arguments embodied in the findings are valid. Data collection process will help my project identifying area for improvements, analysing and assessing the importance of systems and processes. Quality and type of data play a vital role in supplying objective information for the problems in process improvement project so that some analytical understanding of the problems and hence solutions can be obtained. Making decision on the basis of poor quality data is risky and may lead to disastrous results. My project requires data that is valid and reliable, and in this study data was collected using a variety of research methods, such as interview and focus group were participants debriefed to ensure interpretive validity in order to determine if data was being interpreted correctly.

A Street Car Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire – Final Assessment 1 . The title A Streetcar Named Desire holds both literal and figurative meaning. Blanche DuBois takes an actual streetcar named â€Å"Desire† to transport her to the home of her sister. Blanche is literally brought to the home of the Kowalski's by â€Å"Desire,† but she is also brought there by her very own desire. Blanche's sexual intimacies held with many men has ruined her reputation and driven her out of her home town. Blanche is longing and wishing to start her life over in the town ofElysian Fields with her sister Stella. She feels that everyone in this town will accept her because they are unaware of her secrets and terrible reputation. Blanche is confident in keeping her past a secret and portraying herself to be such a respected and lady-like woman. 2. Blanche DuBois in this novel could be best described as a tragic hero. She is very capable of great deeds but is destined to fail due to such circumstances beyo nd her own control and fatal flaws.Blanche throughout the play is very fragile and delicate after the tragic death of her husband leaving her with the biggest flaw of desire. Blanche after the tragic death of her husband is in great search for a man who will fulfill her desire however, she seems to never get enough. Blanche held many intimacies ruining her reputation and soon left her home town to go live with her sister Stella in Elysian Fields. Blanche trying to portray herself as a respectable lady slowly reveals her secrets without any intentions.Blanche during her stay in New Orleans is in search of respect, love, and care returning to the traditional wants and needs of a woman during her youth time period. Blanche is not used to the way of life in the world during present time. Vanity soon falls into a fantasy that settles in her mind as delusion. Her vanity gets in the way of her love life, leads her to tell lies and believe them, and ultimately leads to her rape carried out by Stanley and resulting in her biggest fall yet. A Street Car Named Desire Blanche arrives in the New Jersey apartment that is owned by the Kowalskis – in particular, her sister Stella and his brother in law, Stanley. Armed with her striking features, poise and seeming forceful characters, Blanche can immediately relay what her character is all about – power, feminism, liberalism, and absurdity.In general, she serves as the epitome of a new-age woman who has led her life badly. Her arrival immediately relegates the persona of her pregnant career-less sister, Stella, as a submissive, dependent, and traditional woman. With regards to first impressions, while Blanche can be viewed with envy, antagonism, or admiration, one can only offer sympathy and frustration to Stella.As for Stanley, he is pretty much the male counterpart of Blanche. He is the embodiment of brutality, abuse, responsibility, sensuality, and excessive power which often exists in many patriarchal societies. Like me, any person who has respect for women would surely hate what he d oes to Stella. Being ignorant of the truth behind the real life of Blanche, Mitch, like Stella, is another pitiful character.b. Discuss the presence of reality & illusion in the play. How is it represented?The sense of reality is presented as a matter of conflict and question not only in the story’s plot but also through its characters. To start with, Blanche lived her life masked by the illusion she creates in order to free herself from the dreadful results of her wrong doings. Stella also lived in an illusion where she regarded domestic abuse as a typical fraction of Stanley’s love for her.Mitch also fell into a whirlwind of illusions that Blanche created. Basically, Stanley is probably the only character who is in touch with reality. The play started with an illusion that Blanche created and the quest for reality is the plot. In the end however, the submission of Blanche to illusion or madness became her reality.c. Do you think Blanche is crazy? Explain.Blanche was already at the brink of insanity prior to her brutal encounter with Stanley. Throughout the story, we can observe that Blanche has carefully crafted her own fantasy world through the characters that she tried to portray – as a distressed damsel, southern belle or the good school teacher. The way in which she tries to conceal her secrets and the lack of malicious intent to actually manipulate other people just demonstrated her inability to interact with others in a sane manner.d. Blanche’s first husband was homosexual (as was Tennessee Williams). Discuss the depiction of homosexuality in the play.Although heterosexual men like Stanley were unfairly portrayed as brutal, one can say that homosexuals were not depicted reasonably in the play as well. Homosexuality was portrayed through Allen Grey, the poet late husband Blanche.His disgust to himself and his guilt which prompted him to commit suicide proved that homosexuality was demonstrated as something that is devastating , disturbing, and self-destructing. For both Blanche and Allen, the effect was extensively disastrous as one died while the other resulted to rebellious madness.e. Is there any villain in the play? If there is, who is it? Explain.To a certain extent, both Blanche and Stanley can be treated as villains. Blanche struggled to ruin the seemingly â€Å"harmonious† life of Stella and Stanley. On the other hand, Stanley abuses her wife and also succeeds in crushing Blanche’s fantasies.f. Do you think Stanley actually harmed Blanche? Do you think she deserved it?The play implies that Stanley has raped Blanche. Regardless of any circumstance, there is no righteous justification for raping a woman. No matter how hideous one’s character may be, no one deserves to be raped.

How Society Defines Crime Essay

Criminology as explained in an institutionalized setting is viewed as an outside view of behavior which leads to defining crime as an intentional behavior that can be penalized by the state. Our text explains crime as any violations that occurs against the law. Crime is considered a social issue and so it is studied by sociologist who create theories. Over the years, many people have developed theories to try to explain how we come to decide what a crime is. A few theories as to why people commit crimes sometimes seems to equal the number of criminologists. So which theory is the best? Our text concludes that criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, consequences, social reaction, and control of criminal behavior. Collica, K. & Furst, G. (20120 because criminology is a social construct, it may shift over time. This shift consequently had an enormous inï ¬â€šuence on changing attitudes towards punishment and towards the purpose of the law and the legal system . Classical ideas about crime and punishment is defined by numerous writers on the subject. Some writers like Beccaria (1738–94) and Bentham (1748–1832), argued that there was an invisible relationship between the individual and the state and that the relationship as it stood was chaotic. As a part of this relationship individuals gave up some of their liberties in the interest of the common good, with the purpose of the law being to ensure that these common interests were met. For Beccaria, this meant that the law should be limited and written down so that people could make decisions on how to behave. Offenders are viewed as reasonable people with the same capacity for resisting offensive behaviors as non-offenders. This guided the principal of innocent until proven guilty. The central concern of the law and the criminal justice process was therefore the prevention of crime through this deterrent function. So how does society define a crime? The idea that criminal behavior is determined, or caused, by something, leads to the legal, social, and cultural factors that influence the decision to label some behavior’s as criminal while others or not. Like marijuana. Although it comes from the earth in plant  form its hallucinogenic effects and inability to tax mak es it illegal in most stated to manufacture produce without medical and government clearance in the states that have adopted the drug as legal. Some argue that â€Å"Drug prohibition causes the bulk of murders and property crime in major urban areas by creating a black market characterized by warring suppliers, who charge inflated prices to users, who in turn steal to pay for their habits. Drug prohibition also fosters crime abroad, funding violent entrepreneurs and even terrorist insurgencies that threaten fragile civilian governments in poor countries† (Bandow 16). It should be noted however that the classical school of thought has had an enduring inï ¬â€šuence as many legal systems are built on some of its key precepts. The idea of intent for example, emphasizes the importance of the state of mind of the individual and their capacity for making choices. To smoke or not to smoke? To plant or not to plant and to distribute or not to distribute? Many reviews of the development of criminology begin with reference to the inï ¬â€šuence of positivism. Marijuana is linked to many negative aspects outside of a few minor h ealthcare benefits like chronic pain in cancer patients and glaucoma While the speciï ¬ c meaning to be attached to this term is open to some debate, in the context of drugs inside of criminology is usually used to refer to a scientiï ¬ c commitment to the gathering of the facts that distinguish whether or not an offense has been committed. It is this search for facts which most clearly describes one of the differences between this version of criminology and classical criminology. The other main difference between these two different versions of the criminal individual was the commitment of the early positivists to search for the cause of crime within individual biology rather than individual free will (Williams &ump; McShane, 2010). Creating a policy on crime seems to give it definition when the public can prove that there is a danger to society as a whole. It is hard for anyone to grasp the concept or be able to understand why people commit heinous crimes or engage in criminal activities. We as human beings are all capable of committing or engaging in delinquent behavior. What stands in the way of a person that makes them decided to engage in deviant behavior or to choose not to commit crimes at all? It may never be truly understood what the real reasons are behind why people make decisions against the laws implemented for mankind’s protection. Philosophy can only dig so deep to  find these truths and the evolution of criminal behavior only expands with more knowledge of what works and what does not work. What is considered criminal today could be legal tomorrow and what is legal today could be found criminal as well. References Collica, K. & Furst, G. (2012). Crime & society. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Hostettler, J. (2011). Cesare Beccaria [electronic resource] : the genius of on crimes and punishments / John Hostettler. Hook, Hampshire, U.K. : Waterside Press, 2011 http://youtu.be/teKTNwgErCc Morris, R. G., TenEyck, M., Barnes, J. C., & Kovandzic, T. V. (2014). The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on Crime: Evidence from State Panel Data, 1990-2006. Plos ONE, 9(3), 1-7. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092816

Taking responsibility for one's personal and professional development Assignment

Taking responsibility for one's personal and professional development - Assignment Example This is crucial as maintaining competence and also capability helps in performing well as the leaders and bosses always advise and also recommend activities for their staff. The individual’s role comes in to play when change is needed so he/ she needs to be updated and should keep on building their strength along with the development of new skills. Professional development helps in ensuring you and also your employer that legal along with other mandatory requirements like fire safety, health, equal opportunity and also diversity legislation are properly met. It helps in preparing individuals for extra responsibilities in current and also in future roles. It promotes individuals as they are not only meeting the requirements of the job they are in but they are also making efforts to learn more and in showing excellence in performance. It can motivate others along with meeting the requirements of the current job they are in. Successful people basically follow a plan for their car eer which can vary from being a detailed plan to broadening the direction which brings chance into play. It is important to properly plan and always work on the professional development which is based on through knowledge and also self awareness regarding the career options which are open to people. This development refers to the types of work, recruitment methods, career structure along with support provided for training and also development. Individuals have to take responsibility for their own professional development where they are not only trying and working hard to achieve the set goals which they already have but also polish their skill set and work hard to have a backup plan. It is always good to think about the strengths and also values of one’s own self which can help in developing people as per the food of diversified careers. The first and the most important step here is self evaluation along with getting feedback from other people regarding one’s own skill set and abilities. One very important question which comes in the mind of people is when to review their career or to know that professional and also personal development is required. It is basically when one is taking interest in developing their current role or they are preparing themselves for a promotion. It can also refer to a situation where they are looking for a new direction or a new job. It is important to understand that not only working towards development is required for succeeding, it is important to properly measure the development. A very important question is how to work towards development. Firstly it is very important to prepare one to one reviews with the supervisor or even the principal investigator where the discussion regarding the career and professional development will take place. One should always identify and be aware of their strengths along with their weaknesses or the areas which they want to focus on. It is important to be well aware of the prioritie s so that one should always priorities the most important and also formal development opportunities which are provided by the institution. It is important to decide what are the desired outcomes and objectives of people. One should always go for manageable objectives so that when plans are made they can be revised if there is a need. The skills and also the experience which

Synthesis of Educational Theory Domain Research Paper

Synthesis of Educational Theory Domain - Research Paper Example ivity existing in the private sector so as to develop the schools in America, enabling them produce quality graduates to propel the economy of the nation. This will also help the graduates adapt well to the constant changing technological environment. The 21st century labor force should not have to work with an educational system of the 20th century if the nation is to achieve economic prosperity. Although, transforming the education system to be in line with the changing environment, needs an elementary shift in the education system starting with pre-K up to the higher education level. Up to now, people have lacked the audacity and flexibility to implement the necessary changes in the education sector. People need to re-evaluate themselves, and ask themselves if this is the time to bring the necessary change that is going to transform the education sector for the benefit of the future generation. This is irrespective of the uneasiness people may feel now. To address these changes, the following are essential factors to consider (Bushaw & Lopez, 2012). Redesigning the way the school system is formulated is essential. This will enable students use less time in pursuing their dreams and at the same time be successful. The old system might not be easily altered or adopted in today’s high-tech environment, and the grading system (diplomas and grade level) seems to limit success. For instance, let’s visualize a system where students do not have to be categorized according to the level of grade reached but on the basis of their skills and knowledge levels. This system might be efficient in rewarding talent and hard work. However, implementation of such measures will necessitate the handling of very difficult questions. If football clubs can enroll stars directly from high school, why can not ICT corporations like IBM do the same? Also, it is necessary to identify the future implications of embracing technology in the education system. This seems not to be a

Transfer Wise Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Transfer Wise - Coursework Example For instance, Transfer wise would allow a user in Spain to have an access of his money which is being transferred from Britain without physically sending that money to Spain. This is by giving them a similar amount of money in Spain, whereby they swipe with another person in the United Kingdom (Engel, 2014, p. 173). This enables the users of the company to receive their money without paying the banking fees. However, the question to ask, is, if the services of the organization are legal?   The services of TransferWise are legal.  Ã‚     The evidence to this fact is when the Financial Regulator of the United Kingdom allowed the company to open offices in the country. The registration of the company occurred in England and Wales, and its registration number is 07209813 (Klein, 2014, p. 122).This is in accordance to the companies’ act of 2006, which mandates that every company operating in the country must have a registration. Furthermore, to avoid law suits, emanating from a breach of contract or misunderstanding, TransferWise makes it mandatory for the users of its services to agree with the policies of the company, before using its services. For instance, TransferWise recognizes the fact that someone may use the account of their customers without authorization.     To protect itself from lawsuits emanating from this situation, TransferWise has set a provision that it won’t be liable for any transactions that are conducted from the accounts of their consumers. TransferWise is also very concerned about the privacy of its users.

Drawing on appropriate theories of entrepreneurial learning, provide a Essay

Drawing on appropriate theories of entrepreneurial learning, provide a reflective account of how your experiences in this module - Essay Example Furthermore, entrepreneurial learning is a specific field where more than any theoretical knowledge, practical knowledge and experience is imperative and therefore most valued, but with the former playing an important role of its own. In theoretical-based entrepreneurial learning, with the same aims reflected and supported by the practical aspect, some of the key questions that are focused upon are what the essential skills to master are in order to become a successful entrepreneur, how those skills can be obtained, and indeed, whether they can be obtained or at all, or whether they, in a large part, are inherited and inherent in a person's personality. Entrepreneurial learning can be summed up as the outcome of a sequence of choices among many options, often directly contradicting each other, which over time, influence the pattern of choices and individual may take. The skills of deduction and analysis required to make these choices are inculcated and develop through entrepreneur le arning (Harrison & Leitch 2008) . There are three specific aspects to entrepreneurial learning. Firstly, the personal and social development required in an individual, which will equip them to become a successful entrepreneur. ... nt aspect of entrepreneurial learning involves examining what roles an individual's personality and developing environment play in their role as an entrepreneur. This can include past experience, the lessons and conclusions drawn from them, and the effect that it will possibly have on future ventures, or it can include environmental factors that work towards inculcating certain thinking biases in an individual's perspective (Deakens 1998). It can also aim to educate the individual on how their current thinking and evaluation may affect future ventures, or whether and in what ways it should be challenged and developed, according to the goals and expectations of that individual as an entrepreneur. The aspect of entrepreneurial learning focused on learning through physical environment and experience is also called contextual learning. As evident from the name, it involves employing the individual in a scenario of certain context relevant to their position and development as an entrepren eur so that they may take actual decisions based on a variety of key choices, which ultimately go on to effect the outcome, in a positive or negative way. Experiencing the role of an entrepreneur and the situation where it's required leads an individual into applying skills and sense of practical experience, which comes into play where there's a need to make analytical decisions. It also allows expertise in the sense where an individual may logically predict to a certain accuracy the outcome that would result from a certain choice. This again leads to valuable experience, which comes into use where decisions need to be made in situations where there is a lack of common data to build choices upon and therefore make a decision from, and in which case past experience and future acumen will

Nokia Website Marketing Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Nokia Website Marketing Analysis - Assignment Example This product will appeal to users of all industries, be it Music, business, art etc. The most important aspect to determine if the particular age group that the product needs to relate to. A few sorts of methods of advertising are, optimizing search engines, networking sites, banner advertisements, link exchanges, and permission-based email are a few important methods. 1) Optimizing search engines: This has always been the most powerful tool since the beginning of the internet revolution. There are a host of websites available at disposal, but just a hand few of them are being used. To attain maximum exposure from these search engines, the website needs to be listed and code words used so that the website is pulled up within the first three pages of the search. 2) Networking sites: A fairly new trend of online advertising is the use of networking sites. Users from all age groups hold and expand their network. It is through these sites that more than just the target audience is reached. Many big brands advertise on sites like Twitter, Orkut, my space, facebook, etc... (Types of Internet Promotion) 3) Banner advertisements: This is one of the most important and widely used forms of advertising over the internet. This nature of advertising has proved to be very profitable and not very expensive. It helps in attaining more web traffic; again this is determined by the location and the appearance of the banner. (Dave,1996) 4) Link exchanges: This is another form of internet promotion wherein two sites are linked together; here there is no payment for either of the site owners. It helps in sales from both the websites and increases the popularity of both the links. 5) Permission-based emails: It is considered as the only form of email marketing and not considered as spam.  

Critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of the different models Essay

Critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of the different models of Strategic Human Resource Management - Essay Example Personnel Management involved hiring the best employees, keeping employees productive, monitoring employees in their operations, payment, motivation and development of employees (Biz Bite Consulting Group, 2011). Personnel management was mainly focusebd on ensuring that workers made to provide the best results and this was done in a very isolated manner that was independent of central organizational goals and objectives (Becker and Gerhart, 1996: Thomson, 1999). This meant that employee matters were simply grouped under this aspect of the business and it enabled the business to remain in control of affairs in organisations. Also, personnel management involved a unit that ensured that employee matters were dealt with and employee challenges were revolved. It existed as a necessary unit but not a vital component that was manipulated by management to meet the overall goal of the organisation. Strategic human resource management, on the other hand, evolved to blend personnel management w ith the goals of the organisation (Thomson, 1999). In other words, the personnel management unit is designed and ran in such a way that it contributes directly to the long-term organisational plan and goals (Galbraith and Nathanson, 1978). This integration meant that the strategy of the organisation was integrated into the personnel department and this department was ran to meet organisational strategic goals. In linking the old personnel management unit of a business to the strategic units and levels of businesses, there are four main methods and approaches that are used to link the two systems. They are: 1. Universalistic Approach 2. Contingency Approach 3. Resource-based Approach and 4. Institutionalist Approach Each of these four approaches to strategic human resource management comes with various strengths and weaknesses. This paper examines each of the approaches and undertakes a critical analysis of all of them. This will involve an examination of the main theory that underli nes the approach and an assessment of the merits and demerits of each approach. Universalistic Approach to Strategic Human Resource Management. The universalistic approach assumes that there is one best way of carrying carrying out the human resource management function strategically (Pfeffer, 1998). In other words, the management spend time to crystallize a system of managing people that they consider to be foolproof and appropriate to the organisation in all circumstances. The best way of doing human resource management becomes a universal set of rules that are used to run the human resource management unit as a strategic business unit that works to meet strategic goals of the organisation. There are three yardsticks that are used in defining the 'best way'. These yardsticks come up as a result of the need to define what is best and what will eventually become the universally accepted human resource management system. The first yardstick is a commitment based system which involves the choice of a strategic human resource management system that helps employees to become more committed (Guest, 1987). This way, the basis for choosing a system of implementation is to find out what best enhances employee commitment. The second yardstick is the concern for employee motivated system (Wood, 1999). I doing this, what is defined as the best human resource management system is judged by how sensitive it is to the needs of employees. The third model is quite opposite to the second model. This is a concern for work model. In other words, the universalistic approach is based on the ability of an HRM model to make employees provide the highest level of outcome and results for the

Case Analysis On IT at Cirque Du soliel Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Analysis On IT at Cirque Du soliel - Case Study Example One of the best examples of technological developments is the reliance on information technology in various business organisations. Many information technologies have been devised in order to assist in the different needs that most companies seem to have in the course of their activities. Some of these technologies enable the consumers that are geographically separated to effectively share messages and databases, which are copied and sent instantly to different recipients. Many companies rely on information technology in order to make awareness for the products and services they make in a manner that is deemed to be fast and cost effective compared to when they would have done the same by moving physically to their customers. In the same way, many consumers have continued to enjoy the ability to interact with these companies, managing to order for their goods at their convenience, making payments easily and following their products on transit until they get them. This paper examines the influence of information and technology at Cirque du Solie, looking at how the company can use this innovation to improve their performance and market share. Cirque du Soleil, which is headquartered in Montreal in Canada, was established in 1984 by people that were actively involved public entertainment (Richard, Pinsonneault & Croteau 2012, 2). They were led by Guy Laliberte and Daniel Gauthier who were motivated by the need to reinvent the idea of circus, which had not yet emerged in the entertainment scene by 1800s. The critics and audiences were hugely won by the first show that was made by Cirque du Soleil. This show was very dramatic and quite different from traditional circus that had been common before that time. In this show, the participants wore nicely decorated costumes, had modern and original music, featured different dramatical and

Argues what Matthew Dickman's prescription for the good life is Essay

Argues what Matthew Dickman's prescription for the good life is. (please make a better topic) - Essay Example The poet’s style and expression match the daily lives of American people, so he appears a poet of the people who writes for the people and they can related with his experiences as his experiences are similar or somewhat grounded in American culture. This paper scrutinizes three of the above-mentioned poems in terms of poet’s prescription of good life. He elaborates about his reading experiences and his comprehension related to those readings. His toilet as a whole was constructed by a company named as American Standard and he relates his experiences of using the toilet with the formation of American standard. He wants people to enjoy themselves and involve in partying for their happiness and merriment, as being a part of American society, people are allowed to enjoy as they like. There are also some ill happenings in life, but as per the poet’s perspective, a person should ignore his losses and try to be happy by clubbing, doing sex and going to parties. He elaborates about his activities in the toilet and connects them to his happiness. He also wants to be as comfortable while being in toilet and is not ready to hurry up. At the end of the poem, when he recalls about his visit of Africa, he seems to mention the African Americans in America whom he regards to be kind and friendly people. His poem informs about the activiti es what American people usually do. He poem, American Standard not only appears as a narrative of his experience and his life, but also about the accommodation that America gives to foreigners such as African Americans who have migrated from Africa to settle in America. He says, Everything that goes into the American Standard becomes a part of it or melts into it such as African Americans have become a part of America and its pop culture. The poet mentions in the poem about partying and get together of people along with his sex with a women who is engaged to a man from

Country Analysis- India Essay Example for Free

Country Analysis- India Essay India functions on a democratic system, which heavily influences the political situation of the country. However, this democracy stems from a caste system. A caste system is a social grouping that combines a group of particular members based on specific professions and usually leads to the isolation of each individual caste. The Indian people adopted the caste system to create an easy differentiation of communities and neighborhoods. Recently in India there has been a relaxing of the caste system depending on the part of India in which you are looking. In the cities you will see more of an intermingling and mix of the higher caste systems but as you explore the rural areas, you find a traditional form of the caste system. In recent years India has become the largest democracy in the world. The economy is highly affected by the political situation in India. The country suffers from high unemployment and poverty as two of its main issues that currently influence the economic standing of the country. With two opposing parties with vastly different views for the vision of the economy the country is found being pulled for a free market economy and an economy that strongly opposes globalization and favors a â€Å"land-for-all† attitude. (â€Å"Politics of India†) In India the legal situation highly resembles a common law model that is found in England today but is clout with Indian culture. In the courts India has a judge that acts as a neutral party that enforces the law fairly amongst each party. The government too has three branches: the executive, the judiciary and the legislative. The courts hold a common theme of carrying out justice to the people. (Srikrishna) One article says, â€Å"According to Gallups annual public opinion polls, India is perceived by Americans as their 7th favorite nation in the world† (â€Å"India-United State Relations†) Based off this observation, the relationship between the United States of American and India seems to be quite close and cordial. However, this does not mean the countries have always agreed on every matter. Back in the late 1990’s when Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the Prime Minister he began to authorize testing of nuclear weapons and the United Sates chose to form against them and eventually was mandated to cut off economic ties. In 2001 the United States under the Clinton administration began to have economic discussion, opening the door for the Bush administration to partake in close monitoring of India’s nuclear weapons and began strengthening the economic ties. The two countries have really come together in times of need such as  the attacks on September 11,2001 and the December 2004 tsunamis. The most recent development in the relationship is under the pressing of the Obama administration. Right out of the gate of the first term of his presidency, President Obama addressed the issue of the Indian-American relationship and said that he was going to take the steps necessary â€Å"further strengthen the excellent bilateral relationship† (â€Å"India-United State Relations†) This goal was communicated vastly amongst the administration, assuring the citizens of both countries that it was a beneficial relationship. The main person taking care of this relationship is Hilary Clinton. As time passed the country of India became concerned that the relationship was not being as cared for like they were assured would be done. Rather they believed the United States was more focused on their relationship with China and eventually the country of Pakistan. The issues of the bilateral relationship continued to struggle for some time, even after a visit to the White House from Prime Minister Singhin November 2010, which was to hopefully fix or strengthen the relationship. In May 2010 President Obama communicated that shared values, interests and the two larges democracies established the partnership between the United States and India. (â€Å"India-United State Relations†) The economic relation between the United States and India has been continuing to be strengthened since the Clinton administration where the bilateral economic dialogue was established. This is a system where the accountability for consultations amongst multiple high powers. (See exhibit A) (â€Å"Embassy of India†) Since this original discussion; there have been multiple dialogue mechanisms to strengthen the bilateral relationship on the economy and trade issues. This includes different forums and financial partnerships. In the first seven or so months of the year 2013 the United States of America increased the percent they did trade with India 7.4%. (â€Å"Embassy of India†) The relationship of the United States and India is perfectly summed up by the words of the National Security adviser Shivshankar Menon, From a time when we dealt with each other formally, sometimes warily, we today have a full spectrum relationship, between our governments, our peoples and our institutions. (Menon) In the year 2011 the Gross National Product increased over 8 billion INR, an increase of 11,846.1 INR since 2010. It has a forecast of following a trend and reaching almost 9 billion INR for the next year. This is also a steady view of how the inflation levels have  effected the GNP of India and will continue do so in the future. (See exhibit B) (No current data was found) (â€Å"India Gross National Product†) The most current GNP per capita was calculated using the PPP to the US dollar using the atlas method divided by a midyear population. In 2011 in India, the GNP resulted to be $1,420.00 at a ranking of 142/191. In consideration of the past is a very steady increase, however, in comparison the U.S it is hardly an increase at all. (â€Å"India-GNI per capita) As of 2006 India spends 3.11% of their gross national product on their education system. Looking to increase this percentage over the years and have lowered the illiteracy rate by 2015. (â€Å"Infochange India†) Today when discussing the opportunity for a company, of any kind, but especially a U.S company, to manufacture in India the support to do so is quite present. One major benefit of manufacturing in India is that the government has been putting into place a plan of action to create a substantial steady flow of economic progress and one of the crucial aspects is through manufacturing. It began in 2010 with the implementation of a Manufacturing Policy, that industry and the government fully supports. The plan began with the rubber industry in India and where they were choosing to invest, it has continued into medical supplies, a chocolate factory and a huge factory by the direct marketing company, Amway. The Prime Minister has stated that the commitment of expanding the manufacturing in India is of highest priority for the economic growth of the country. (â€Å"Manufacturing Sector in India†) Another great aspect of pursuing manufacturing in India versus a country like China is the possibility of lower wages in India, China continues to raise the minimum wage. There is also the language barrier that disappears when you choose to manufacture in India versus another foreign country with a different native tongue. There is also a younger work force in India than in China and with a similar government as that of the United States it is easier to do business. (Shilling) With all the rage to rush off and pursue manufacturing in India there are those who have doubts, like the unknown author of the article in The Economist, the author says, â€Å"If India is to become ‘the next China’—a manufacturing powerhouse—it is taking its time about it.† (â€Å"Manufacturing in India†) When it comes to a company from the United States and whether or not to compete in India, there is good support that says to go for it. Now a days we have so many jobs outsourced to India it seems foolish to not take it a step further. Particularly in the software industry, there is a large convention that is held there annually and the United States is greatly underrepresented and most likely missing out on big opportunities, because the reality is that the show will go on with out the U.S present. India has been focusing on the service industry over the last years but are now moving towards an industrial form of business. Also present is a strong entrepreneurial spirit, which can be wonderful for a new company coming in because the people will be willing to get in on the ground floor of an international operation, as well as bring new ideas and twists to the table. (â€Å"Americans Should Jump on the India Wave†) Another aspect in general to approach entering any country competitively is the exchange rate and currency. Look into how the country performs monetarily and see how the exchange rate and inflation will affect your business on the day-to-day operations but also over time. (Aimes) When going back and looking at the idea of manufacturing and competing in India based off the Economic Freedom Index, the index can mean multiple things for both. In general India is a 55.2 out of 100 in Economic Freedom. This is 119th out of 177, (not including Lybia) while the United States is scores a 76.0 sitting at the top as number 10 of 177. When assessing the index with the idea of a company from the Unite States manufacturing in India I look the factors that influence the index such as the labor freedom, this looks into the aspect of the legality of the labor market of the country, or in our case, India. This means that as a company we have to be cautious not to abuse or practice the immoral practice of extremely low wages or poor work conditions. As far as competing the issue that stands out to me pertaining to the EFI is the corrupt factor, with a low score like India, as a company one would need to watch closely at the practices taking place overseas. (â€Å"Index of Economic Freedom†) The Human Development Index in India is found in the medium HDI. Since 2011 India’s HDI decreased by 2 but is forecasted to increase .07 over the next year. The HDI refers to how the country’s population is take care of, such as life expectancy, education,  etc. This covers the wellbeing of the citizens of the country; I think this affects the manufacture and competitive aspect equally. If the people are not taken care of who is going to manage and operate the company, as an organization it would just be something that must be kept in mind. (â€Å"Human Development Index†) Pertaining to the Global Competitiveness Report it is hard to know how they would affect us because as a country India is not present in the top 30 for the last four years. So the assumption is made the India is not as competitive as portrayed by some people, but that does not mean there is no room for growth. (â€Å"Global Competitiveness Report†) India holds a score of 36 on the corruption perceptions index; this means that again when looking into entering the country either with manufacturing or competitive ambition one must asses the risk that is going be taken, such as how will the government treat your corporation as well as how will the patrons of the country view your corporation. (â€Å"Corruptions Perception Index†) Last but definitely not least another report that is very useful in assessing the want to on pursuing a manufacture or competitive is the World Press Freedom Index. India is in the difficult situation range in this index meaning, that freedom of speech is kind of difficult to actually have because the government watches closely to what is being spoken and said about their country and the people in it. (â€Å"Reporters without Borders†) Based off the indexes and other information presented above do not believe as a company of the United States need to enter the market in India. I believe this is so because of the uncertainty of the market, as stated above India has great potential to grow and be the next China but it has been heading in that direction since the 1950’s and not much change is evident. There are aspects about the country that would be desirable to enter into and if doing so I recommend the company use the strategy of global standardization. This strategy uses the low cost of the country to its advantage and in the United States outsourcing is chosen for that very reason, so instead of just outsourcing I believe it would be wise to use this method to pursue a start up of an international branch in a country like India where there is low labor cost and where it is not necessary for the people to respond due to the fact that there is a low economic freedom and instead it relies more on the main office back in the United States rather than the host country, or in our case, India. (Aimes) Exhibits Exhibit A Exhibit B Works Cited Aimes, Frederico. Foreign Exchange. Online Lecture, Stillwater. 07 Oct. 2013. Lecture . Aimes, Frederico. International Business Strategy. Lecture. International Management Lecture. D2L, Stillwater. 09 Oct. 2013. Web. 09 Oct. 2013. Americans Should Jump on the India Wave. Web log post. Boston.com. N.p., 21 Feb. 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Corruption Perceptions Index. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Aug. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Embassy of India Washington DC (official Website) United States of America Economic Relations. Embassy of India Washington DC (official Website) United States of America Economic Relations. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Global Competitiveness Report. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Sept. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Index of Economic Freedom. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 June 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. India GNI per Capita. India. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. India GDP per Capita. TRADING ECONOMICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. India Gross National Product. TRADING ECONOMICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. India–United States Relations. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 May 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. Infochange India. India Invests Just 3.3% of Its GNP on Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. List of Countries by Human Development Index. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Manufacturing in India: The Masala Mittelstand. Editorial. The Economist 11 Aug. 2012: n. pag. The Economist. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Manufacturing Sector in India. , Manufacturing Industry, Indian Industries. India Brand Equity Foundation, Sept. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Menon, Shivshankar. India, US Ties Have Come a Long Way: Shivshankar Menon. The Economic Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Politics of India. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 June 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. Reporters Without Borders. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Shilling, A. Gary. Why India Will Displace China as Global Growth Engine. Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 16 Dec. 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Srikrishna, B. N. (2008) The Indian Legal System, International Journal of Legal Information: Vol. 36: Iss.2, Article 8. Available at: http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/ijli/vol36/iss2/8

Wal Mart organizational change management analysis

Wal Mart organizational change management analysis Organizational Change Management encompasses all activities aimed at helping an organization successfully accept and adopt new technologies and new ways to serve its customers. Effective change management enables the transformation of strategy, processes, technology, and people to enhance performance and ensure continuous improvement in an ever-changing environment. A comprehensive and structured approach to organizational change management is critical to the success of any project that will bring about significant change. Organizational change is a reality of the modern world, and that reality isnt likely to change anytime soon Organizational change is the implementation of new procedures or technologies intended to realign an organization with the changing demands of its business environment or to capitalize on business opportunities. Organizational change typically encompasses the introduction of new and perhaps unfamiliar processes, procedures, and technologies, which represent a departure from what affected individuals generally view as the established, practical, and familiar ways of doing their work. Thus, at the individual level, change can engender emotions and reactions that range from optimism to fear, including anxiety, challenge, resistance, ambiguity, energy, enthusiasm, helplessness, dread, motivation, and pessimism. Organizational change management is the process of recognizing, guiding, and managing these human emotions and reactions in a way that minimizes the inevitable drop in productivity that accompanies change. WAL-MART AT A GLANCE Wal-Mart, founded by Sam Walton in 1962, is one of the world largest companies by market capitalization and number of people employed and touching millions of customers everyday. There are more than 7,800 Wal-Mart stores and Sams Club locations in 16 markets worldwide and there are more than 2 million associates serving more than 100 million customers per year (About Us, n.d.) It is the largest grocery retailer in the United States with an estimated market share of around 20% of the retail grocery and consumables business. To be able to efficiently operate such a complex operation at such a large and do it consistently would only be possible by the huge effort by Wal-Marts associates as its employees are called. Companys Principle Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart) has enjoyed success by adhering to three basic principles since its founding in 1962. The first principle is the concept of providing value and service to our customers by offering quality merchandise at low prices every day. Wal-Mart has built the relationship with its customers on this basis, and we believe it is a fundamental reason for the Companys rapid growth and success. The second principle is corporate dedication to a partnership between the Companys associates (employees), ownership and management. This concept is extended to Wal-Marts Vendor Partners who have increased their business as Wal-Mart has grown. The third principle is a commitment by Wal-Mart to the United States and the communities in which stores and distribution centers are located. Wal-Mart strives to conduct its business in a manner that reflects these three basic principles and the resultant fundamental values. Each of our Vendor Partners, including our Vendor Partners outs ide the United States, are expected to conform to those principles and values and to assure compliance in all contracting, subcontracting or other relationships. Saving people money to help them live better was the goal that Sam Walton envisioned when he opened the doors to the first Walmart more than 40 years ago. Today, this mission is more important than ever to our customers and members around the world. Companys Profile: Wal-Mart: the worlds leading supermarkets. Founded in 1962 by the Walton brothers, former employees of Ben Franklin supermarket, Wal-Mart is now the leading supermarket group in the world. With what has become a real empire of more than 5,300 superstores, supermarkets and stores, Wal-Mart distributes every product we need in life (from food to beauty products, together with clothes, electronics, domestic appliances, sports equipment and so on) whether it be under the Wal-Mart name or under that of SAMs Club, a members-only store dedicated to SMEs and the general public, or that of ASDA in Great Britain. Not to mention its on-line sales service. Originally aiming to set up stores in medium-sized towns in the United States, Wal-Mart has since taken on the international market, from Mexico, Brazil, and Canada to Great Britain, as well as Japan with the 2002 take-over of Seyu, the fifth-placed Japanese supermarket chain, without forgetting Europe with the Great-Britain and the Germany. Companys Mission Through careful search, I have established that Wal-Mart does not officially have a mission statement. In retrospect, the mission statement is its slogan, Always low prices, always! The CEO of the company has said that people are not concerned with their mission statement as much as they are their prices. Companys Structure Sometimes I find myself reading through the court documents for lawsuits filed against Wal-Mart. Usually those documents are filled with a bunch of garbage posing as factual information. Occasionally, though, some interesting information is found. Below is a description of Wal-Marts operating structure which was published in a court document in 2003. The only advantage to reading the text here is that I removed all of the legal cross references and footnotes to make the text readable. The following should be taken with a grain of salt in that this information was produced from an anti-Wal-Mart lawsuit and does not come from the companys official filings. There are a total of 41 regions: 35 Wal-Mart regions and six Sams Club regions. Each region is supervised by a Regional Vice President (RVP), who is based in Bentonville and travels for three weeks out of each month to the region. Because the regional management is based in Bentonville, Wal-Mart has an unusually high concentration of executives and managers based in the Home Office. Each region, in turn, contains approximately eleven districts; each district contains approximately six to eight stores. Each district is run by a District Manager, who lives in the field. The highest level hourly manager at Wal-Mart is Support Manager. The next step up is to management trainee, a four-to-five month program which prepares employees for positions as Assistant Managers. The first salaried management position is Assistant Manager. Each store has several Assistant Managers, varying with the size of the store. The next level is Co-Manager, a position used only in larger stores. The top store p osition is Store Manager, called General Manager in Sams Clubs. The stores contain 40-50 different departments. Companys Vision SAFETY EYEWEAR PROGRAM An estimated 1,000 eye injuries occur in American workplaces every day, caused by employees not wearing eye protection or wearing the wrong kind of eye protection for the job. Flying particles, flying or falling objects, or objects swinging from a fixed or attached position (like tree limbs, ropes, chains or tools) are just some of the hazards that lead to accidents. Most people dont realize that an eye can be destroyed in a fraction of a second. The smartest and most effective safeguard against these risks is always wearing suitable eye protection. Many workplaces today are required by OSHA to ensure their employees wear safety glasses meeting the new ANSI Z87.1-2003 standard for personal protective eyewear. OPTI- DIRECT VISION PROGRAM Discover a simple, cost-effective way for your company to provide vision benefits for your employees without the complexities of an insurance vision plan. The Opti-Direct program can mean an average savings of more than $70 per year, per employee in comparison to a traditional vision insurance plan. Companys Characteristics Wal-Mart is almost certainly not an example of pure competition. Pure competition is characterized by a very large number of sellers each with an almost infinitesimally small market share selling a non-differentiated product. Wal-Marts market share is immense (as you stated) and they differentiate their product through branding measures that include everyday low prices, convenient hours, etc. There can be tough competition in every market structure (except monopoly) but that does not mean that the market meets the definition of pure competition. Company Products Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., like most large retail and grocery chains, offers store brands, commonly referred to as house brands or generic brands, which are low-priced alternatives to name brand products. Wal-Mart has numerous store brands, each catering to a different consumer need or desire. Almost all products offered under Wal-Mart brands are private label products, and can be found in almost every category at Wal-Mart. Major Names: Sams Choice: Sams Choice originally introduced as Sams American Choice in 1991, is premium retail brand in food and selected hard goods. Named for Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, Sams Choice forms the premium tier of Wal-Marts two-tiered core corporate grocery branding strategy that also includes the larger Great Value brand of discount-priced staple items. Most Sams Choice beverage products (excluding Grapette and Orangette) are manufactured for Wal-Mart by Cott Beverages. Other products in the line, including cookies, snack items, frozen meals, and similar grocery items are made by a variety of agricultural and food manufacturers. Great Value: Great Value was launched in 1993 and forms the second tier, or national brand equivalent (NBE), of Wal-Marts grocery branding strategy. Products offered at Walmart through the Great Value brand are claimed to be as good as national brand offerings, but are typically sold at a lower price because of minimal marketing and advertising expense. As a house or generic brand, the Great Value line does not consist of goods produced by Wal-Mart, but is a labeling system for items manufactured and packaged by a number of agricultural and food corporations, such as ConAgra, which, in addition to releasing products under its own brands and for Wal-Mart, also manufactures and brands foodstuffs for a variety of other supermarket chains. As Wal-Marts most extensively developed retail brand, covering hundreds of household consumable items, the Great Value line includes sliced bread, frozen vegetables, frozen dinners, canned foods, light bulbs, trash bags, and many other traditional groc ery store products. The wide range of items marketed under the Great Value banner makes it Wal-Marts top-selling retail brand. The new redesign also includes over 80 new items including thin crust pizza, fat free caramel swirl ice cream, strawberry yogurt, organic cage-free eggs, double stuffed sandwich cookies, and teriyaki beef jerky. Walmart changed the formulas for 750 items including: breakfast cereal, cookies, yogurt, laundry detergent, and paper towels. The new brand was tested by over 2,700 people.[1] Other retailers are following suit with their private label packaging as well. MARKETING ENVIRONMENT The Wal-Mart and all of the other actors operate in a larger macro environment of forces that shape opportunities and pose threats to the company. There are six major forces Demographic Environment Demography is the study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, sex, race, occupation, and other statistics. It is of major interest to marketers because it involves people and people make up markets. Demographic trends are constantly changing. Economic Environment The economic environment of Wal-Mart are those factors that affect consumer purchasing power and spending patterns Natural Environment The natural environment involves natural resources that are needed as inputs by marketers or that are affected by marketing activities. During the past two decades environmental concerns have steadily grown. Some trend analysts labeled the specific areas of concern were: Shortages of raw materials. Staples such as air, water, and wood products have been seriously damaged and non-renewable such as oil, coal, and various minerals have been seriously depleted during industrial expansion. Increased pollution is a worldwide problem. Industrial damage to the environment is very serious Government intervention in natural resource management has caused environmental concerns to be more practical and necessary in business and industry. Leadership, not punishment, seems to be the best policy for long-term results. Instead of opposing regulation, marketers should help develop solutions to the material and energy problems facing the world. Technological Environment The technological environment includes forces that create new technologies, creating new product and market opportunities. Political Environment The political environment includes laws, government agencies, and pressure groups that influence and limit various organizations and individuals in a given society. Various forms of legislation regulate business. Marketing Strategy of Wal-Mart Wal-Marts marketing strategies are based upon a set of two main objectives that have guided the firm through their growth years. The customer is featured in the first objective; Customers would be provided what they want, when they want it, all at a value. Team spirit was emphasized in the second objective, Treating each other as we would hope to be treated acknowledging our total dependency on our associate partners to sustain our success. I agree with Wal-Marts two main objectives. The customer objective includes giving the customer what they want at a reasonable value. The second objective covers the foundation of the company; its employees. Employees are the basis for success of the company and drive the day-to-day operations. Wal-Marts employees, feeling like associate partners, gives them a feeling of empowerment and pride that drives the companys culture. Wal-Mart has launched successful marketing strategies that considered factors like social and environmental causes.. CHANGE PROCESS IN THE ORGANIZATION Change is a complex process, and also included with a time of anxiety and uncertainty for the workforce. Organizations need to clearly articulate the merits of change and present a clear process for achieving change, if they are to win the commitment and enthusiasm of people. Wide involvement in and communication of the change project can assist with employee understanding of the what and how of change. ORGANIZATION LIFE CYCLE Before planning a management strategy is important to carry out organizational life cycle to identified in which stages the organization are. After analyzing it if identified that Wal-Mart are in Elaboration of structure phase because it ensures Managers seek ways to streamline any excess bureaucracy that has cropped up during the previous phase. Decisionmaking becomes de-centralised, allowing individual departments to get organised along specific product/services lines or projects. Often the need at this phase is to revitalise the organisation. Innovation Fig: 1: The Organizational Life Cycle of Wal-Mart BUSINESS PROCESS TRANSFORMATION MODEL Business process modeling is a technology aimed at modelling business processes and analyzing them with the objective of using the analyses to drive process transformations. Business process modeling tools have underlying capabilities such as simulation that helps business analysts to understand and quantify the impact of different process transformations on process Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Even though business process modeling is widely used, analytic capabilities such as simulation are used to a much lesser degree because developing and running simulation models and interpreting their results is seen as a complicated activity by a majority of business analysts. As a result, many business analysts consider such tools as only suitable for experts in the field and are hampered in unlocking the full potential of business process modelling for identifying and assessing business process transformation options. Hence, there is a need for researching approaches that enable busine ss analysts to use quantitative analysis methods easily towards the overall objective of business process transformation.. Business process transformation is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed Business process Transformation is a top-down approach. It is not about projects carried out in isolation to examine a specific activity. Business process transformation is about looking at entire processes, rather than at specific activities or functions. It also needs to be customer-centric and look at the chain of activities leading to the customer output (whether that is service or product). Wal-marts mission statement: Wal-mart mission is to enhance and integrate our supplier diversity programs into all of our procurement practices and to be an advocate for minority- and women-owned businesses. To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people BEHAVIOURS THAT NEEDED FOR ACHIEVE THE MISSION AND AIM Optimize resource capacities This pattern results in potential reduction of operating costs, by reducing resource capacities in different roles. Optimize resource scheduling policies This pattern results in potential improvement in service and reduction in cost, by refining the scheduling policies governing the allocation of resources to different activities. Combine roles This pattern results in potential reduction in operational costs, by creating new roles in the process, by aggregating multiple existing roles. Change branching probability This pattern results in potential operational improvements, by modifying the probability that a specific branch is chosen by a token. The change in probability may in turn be realized by different means, such as employing improved technologies for managing flows, etc. Introduce business integration solutions, IT (InformationTechnology) systems This pattern results in potential improvement in operating costs, by automating the process using business integration and other information technology STAKE HOLDER ANALYSIS The purpose of stakeholder analysis is to inform the Project Board and Project Manager who should contribute to the project, where barriers might be and the actions that need to be taken before detailed project planning. Key stakeholders of Wal-Mart A Key stakeholder is a stakeholder whose interest in the project must be recognised if the project is to be successful. In particular, those who may be positively or negatively affected during the project or upon successful completion of the project Shareholders The management authority of the BPL Employees Physicians / Doctors Related banks Participants The retailer The distributor Supplier The non key stakeholder A Non-key stakeholder is a stakeholder who does not need to be recognised in order for the project to be successful, but will be identified as s result of the process of identifying all stakeholders Pressure group Taxation authority The Standard testing Institute Local community Political influences International policy SYSTEM MODELING The 7-S-Model The 7-S-Model is better known as McKinsey 7-S. This is because the two persons who developed this model, Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, have been consultants at McKinsey Co at that time. Thy published their 7-S-Model in their article Structure Is Not Organization (1980) and in their books The Art of Japanese Management (1981) and In Search of Excellence (1982). The model starts on the premise that an organization is not just Structure, but consists of seven elements: Strategy Actions a company plans in response to or anticipation of changes in its external environment. Structure Basis for specialization and co-ordination influenced primarily by strategy and by organization size and diversity. Systems Formal and informal procedures that support the strategy and structure. Style / Culture The culture of the organization, consisting of two components: Organizational Culture: the dominant values and beliefs, and norms, which develop over time and become relatively enduring features of organizational life. Staff The people/human resource management processes used to develop managers, socialization processes, ways of shaping basic values of management cadre, ways of introducing young recruits to the company, ways of helping to manage the careers of employees Skills The distinctive competences what the company does best, ways of expanding or shifting competences Super ordinate goals These represent the aspirations of the organisation, the beliefs, the principles and aims which should pull it towards success. A shared view of this within the organisation is a powerful competitive advantage for an organisation to develop Resources: Recourses needed for achieving the new markets Established a new plant for production Ensure better quality Set up new marketing channel specially for the international markets New management and trained staff Finance Political support Marketing environment IMPLEMENTATION Implementing the Change A practical understanding of how people and organizations respond to change. This is received by a exporters to understanding how change unfolds helps reduce the amount of unproductive behavior that may accompany the implementation of a new technical solution by reducing the amount of uncertainty involved in change. Reduced uncertainty alleviates surprises and better equips people to focus time and energy on the technical solution. The manner in which change unfolds can be broadly grouped into seven key concept areas. These areas are: Nature. The impact of change on the individual. Process. The typical flow of change. Roles. The positions that are central to change. Resistance. The reactions that accompany change. Commitment. The process by which individuals and organizations align with change. Culture. The organizations past and present ways of doing things and the influence of these behaviours on the change. Synergy. The impact of teamwork on the change. Making Good Decisions Decisions are the alignment of an organizations current and planned changes with the resources available for implementing the initiatives. For an organization to be successful in implementing change, it must ensure that the demands created by its change initiatives do not exceed the organizations capacity for executing the changes. When change demands exceed the organizations capacity for change, key resources become overwhelmed by the number of changes competing for their time. The result is an increase in dysfunctional behavior that detracts energy from the implementation effort and, in many cases, impedes its process. Ensuring adequate capacity for existing and planned change demands generally involves: Inventorying current and planned changes and evaluating them to determine their potential value, impact, and resource requirements. Prioritizing changes according to this evaluation. Determining current capacity to implement changes. Trimming current and planned changes as necessary according to capacity limits. Developing and implementing strategies to increase overall change capacity to expand organizational adaptability. Structured Implementation Architecture: The structured plan for achieving the desired goals through implementation of the perceived change solution. Following a structured, yet flexible, implementation framework reduces errors and oversights and allows a team to proactively address issues that are routinely associated with the failure of organizational changes. Such a structured framework consists of seven phases which, when applied as a system, facilitate successful implementation of an initiative. The seven phases are: Clarification. Development of a comprehensive vision and measurable outcomes that are wholly shared by key leaders. Announcement. Development and execution of a detailed communication plan. Diagnosis. Assessment of critical risks and key levers associated with the change. Planning. Development of comprehensive strategies to mitigate risks and use levers identified in the diagnosis phase. Execution. Implementation of developed strategies. Monitoring. Continuous assessment and augmentation of an implementation sequence. Evaluation. Assessment of a complete implementation sequence, and documentation and transfer of key learnings. Recommendations I feel that Wal-Marts most challenging issue involves the publics resentment. Wal-Mart has wiped out numerous retail establishments (too many to count) and will continue to do so unless stopped. So far, some big box opponents have stopped Wal-Mart from specific expansions but Wal-Mart is definitely fighting back. From Wal-Marts point of view, I think more focus should be spent on global expansion. If specific areas are so against having a Wal-Mart that they pass laws to stop Wal-Mart from building in their area, I think Wal-Mart should stay away. For example, Wal-Mart would have a terrible time expanding into Oakland. I would assume that with the laws that were passed, a great deal of negative press also took place. The time and effort to get a Wal-Mart built in Oakland may not be worth the trouble. This is one of the reasons I feel Wal-Mart should focus on international expansion. There were 1,355 international Wal-Marts in 2004. I definitely feel that expanding this number sounds l ike it could be very lucrative. Another issue facing Wal-Mart is the federal lawsuit regarding sex discrimination. From the numbers quoted in the case study, it sounds as though Wal-Mart is clearly discriminating against females. This is somewhat surprising but will hopefully be fixed. Wal-Mart is very thorough in their strategy, maybe they need to be more thorough and/or detailed in their compensation and incentive policies. Wal-Mart definitely needs to end the discrimination. In order to avoid future discrimination, monitoring of wages and salaries should be established. This is especially true for upper management employees, where females are paid significantly less than males in similar positions. Last, I feel that the compensation and benefits offered to Wal-Mart employees are somewhat of an issue. If only about 60 percent of employees have health coverage (compared to 72 percent in the retail industry as a whole), I think their benefit package needs to be revaluated. The case study claims that the reason many employees did not sign up for health coverage is because they obtained it through a member of their household. Im sure that is the case for some, but not all. Furthermore, Wal-Mart does not pay any health care costs for retirees. I feel that both examples are methods Wal-Mart uses to cut costs and both need to be reconsidered. CONCLUSION Management change in the organization is the key to adopting with new technologies. Though it a complex and continuous process but every organization should practice this new techniques to manage and operate he organization successfully.

Abolishing The Criminal Juvenile Justice System Criminology Essay

Abolishing The Criminal Juvenile Justice System Criminology Essay Throughout the course of focusing on juvenile issues that require forethought and afterthought the idea of Should the justice system be abolished? Has been of particular interest to me, because of the apparent disparity that exists in some cases where juveniles are denied due process for a criminal act or thrust into a complex system that does not provide much in the sense of reform. My question becomes investigative in nature to delve into an answer: Why do juveniles seemingly enter an adversarial system and not one that is rehabilitative and in some cases just? The first issue to examine is the get tough approach and its effectiveness as a deterrent to juvenile crimes. As a get tough approach on juvenile crime takes place, the demands for stronger crime policies emerge; elected officials throughout the United States are gradually dismantling the juvenile justice system and replacing it with a deceptive criminal system, a system that emphasizes mandatory sentences and formal advers arial procedures. Much of the juvenile court original case load has been reassigned to the criminal court. The question takes hold: Is it feasibly to have a separate juvenile justice system and if it is not what can replace it? It is the job of the policy makers to introspectively confront these questions, and more importantly find progressive answers. It is certain that new policies need to implemented that capture the essence of the problem and seeks to reform it. Perhaps, these new policies should focus on more than abolishing the juvenile courts delinquency jurisdiction and sending all young offenders to commonplace criminal courts (Butts, 2000, p. 1). It is equally important explore the reasons why the abolishing the juvenile court system is viewed as a viable option by some. Arguments can be made that history has shown the ineffectiveness of such as system currently today. Feld posits that judicial decisions, legislative amendments, and administrative change have changed the j uvenile court from a nominally rehabilitative social welfare agency into a scaled-down second class criminal court for young people (Wiesheit Culbertson, 2000, p. 277). Over the past century, the juvenile court struggled to provide treatment for juvenile offenders while guaranteeing them constitutional due process. But the system has been so overwhelmed by the increase in violent juvenile crime and family breakdown that some judges and politicians have suggested abolishing the juvenile system, and even those experts who want to retain an independent juvenile court have called for the restructuring and other advocates want to reduce jurisdiction over juveniles charged with serious crimes and liberalize the prosecutors ability to try them in adult courts (Siegel Welsh, 2009, p. 446). A compelling argument can be made for abolishing the juvenile justice system, or more specific abolishing delinquency, the idea that juvenile offenders are not fully responsible for their actions and s hould be tried in a separate court system. However, there are two important distinctions to be made abolishing delinquency is not the same thing as dismantling the entire juvenile court. Even if lawmakers ended the juvenile courts jurisdiction over criminal law violations, the juvenile court could continue to handle other types of cases such as abused and neglected children, truants, curfew violations etc. In fact, juvenile offenders could continue to be handled by the same judges in the same courtrooms that are currently handling them, but the courts would operate as youth divisions of criminal court using criminal procedures under the criminal code. Neither would abolishing delinquency mandate that all young offenders be sent to adult correctional programs or adult probation agencies. Many states already operate separate correctional facilities for young adults. The decision to handle all young offenders in the criminal court would not prevent correctional specialization. States would still have the discretion to separate offenders by age when incarcerating or otherwise supervising convicted offenders and the federal government would still be free to require such separation as a condition of financial support for state corrections agencies. The debate will still exist whether abolishing the juvenile justice system refers only to the courts responsibility for delinquency cases. Policy makers must then decide what type of court should have legal jurisdiction over juvenile delinquents. The debate centers on whether to continue defining law violations by young people as delinquent acts, or to classify them simply as crimes and refer them to criminal court (Butts, 2000, p. 1). HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM Juvenile courts today bear only a passing similarity to the original concept of juvenile justice formulated centuries ago. State lawmakers built the first juvenile courts around an informal, quasi-civil process. Juvenile court judges had broad discretion with which they could intervene quickly and decisively, even in cases involving hard-to-prove charges. Juvenile offenders received minimal procedural protections in juvenile court, but in return they were promised a court that would focus on their best interests. The mission of the juvenile court was to help young law violators to get back on the right track, not simply punish their illegal behavior (Butts, 2000, p. 2). The Supreme Courts decision in In re Gault (1967) began changing the juvenile court into a very different institution than the Progressives contemplated. Progressive reformers envisioned an informal court whose dispositions reflected the best interest of the child. The Supreme Court engrafted formal procedures at tria l onto juvenile courts individualized treatment sentencing schema. Although the Courts decision was not intended to change the juvenile courts therapeutic mission, legislative, judicial, and administrative responses to Gault have modified the courts jurisdiction, purpose and procedures (Feld 1984, 1988b). The substantive and procedural convergence between juvenile and criminal courts eliminates most of the conceptual and operational differences between social control strategies for youths and adults (Wiesheit Culbertson, 2000, p. 277). It is important to define the significance of the Supreme Courts Gault (1967) decision at it was two crucial gaps between juvenile justice rhetoric and reality: the theory versus practice of rehabilitation, and the differences between procedural safeguards afforded adults and those available to juveniles (Felds 1990b). The Court stressed that juveniles charged with crimes who faced institutional confinement required elementary procedural safeguards w hich included notice of charge, a hearing, assistance of counsel, an opportunity to confront and cross-examine witnesses, and a privilege against self incrimination. In other cases such as In re Winship (1970), the court determined that the risk of erroneous convictions required delinquency to be proven by the criminal standard beyond a reasonable doubt rather than by a lower civil standard of proof. In Breed v. Jones (1975), the Court posited a functional equivalence between criminal trials and delinquency proceedings and applied the ban on double jeopardy to delinquency convictions. In McKeiver v. Pennsylvania (1970), however, the Court denied juveniles the constitutional right to jury trials and halted the extension of full procedural parity with adult criminal prosecutions. Although Gault and Winship recognized the need for procedural safeguards against governmental oppression, McKeiver denied the need for such protections, invoked the mythology of benevolent juvenile court judg es, and justified the procedural differences of juvenile courts by their treatment rationale (McKeiver 1970, pp. 550-51; Feld 1988b). Gault (1967), Winship (1970), and McKeiver (1970) precipitated a procedural and substantive revolution in juvenile justice that unintentionally but inevitably transformed its Progressive conception. By emphasize placed on criminal procedural regularity in determining delinquency and formalizing the connection between crime and sentence, the Court made explicit a relationship previously implicit and unacknowledged. Legislative and judicial responses to those decisions decriminalized status offenders, waiving serious offenders, punitively sentencing delinquents, and formalizing procedures further the convergence between criminal and juvenile courts (Wiesheit Culbertson, 2000, p. 280). Although these reforms may have been enacted for good reason, they raise serious questions about the continuing need for a separate, juvenile court system. As lawmakers continue to increase the similarity of juvenile and criminal court sanctions, it becomes harder to rationalize the separation of the process that imposes them (Butts, 2000, p. 3). The juvenile justice system has strayed too far from its original mission, according to Feld. Policy makers should cancel the nations juvenile justice experiment. Todays juvenile court retains much of the terminology of juvenile law, but it functions as a pseudo criminal court. Worse, it fails to provide complete due process protections for accused youth. Juvenile courts are still not required to provide bail, jury trials, or the right to a speedy trial for youthful offenders. Feld has recommended that all law violations be handled in a criminal court, although he hopes the system will continue acknowledge the minimized culpability of the very young by imposing sentences with a youthful discount meaning a 17-year-old defendant would get 75 percent of the sentence due an 18-year-old, a 16-year-old would get 50 percent, etc. Even if Felds proposed youth discount is ultimately rejected by policy makers, the insights and observations on which he has based these proposals cannot be ignore d. Lawmakers will soon have to ask themselves the following question: Is it possible to terminate the juvenile justice system? The juvenile justice system conjures some strong opinions, and not all of them can be categorized as either liberal or conservative. It would also be very wrong to assume that all the critics of the juvenile courts are uncaring, law and order types who feel little compassion for the poor, disproportionately minority youth who compromise the largest percentage of the juvenile courts clients. The critics Dr. Felds are more often motivated by a concern for youth. It is their perspective, the juvenile court has never lived up to its rehabilitative promise and it never will, and more importantly, the juvenile courts lower standards of due process are no longer tolerable given its modern emphasize on just desserts and retribution. Courts were meant to handle law violations, the abolitionists say and not social welfare problems (Butts, 2000, p. 2). Policy makers ha ve found it difficult to find middle ground in this engaging controversy, but unfortunately their compromise was to slowly criminalize the juvenile court, especially in light of the Supreme Courts ruling in Gault (1967) in which law makes across the country have encouraged juvenile courts to embrace the goals and operational style of the criminal courts. Juvenile courts currently pursue many of the objectives once unique to criminal courts, including incapacitation and retribution. Both juvenile courts and criminal courts rely on plea bargaining for case outcomes. Both are forced by growing caseloads to adopt assembly-line tactics and they often have difficulty providing individualized dispositions. It is hard to draw a distinction between juvenile courts and adult courts because of the atmosphere. Because of juvenile discretion being restricted, its once sweeping authority becomes diluted, making the court more bureaucratic and inflexible. Decades of reform increased the severity o f the juvenile court process, but they also curtailed the courts ability to provide individualized and comprehensive interventions for youth offenders. Throughout most of the juvenile courts 100 year history, it is evident that we do not need a separate juvenile court system. Juvenile courts allowed society to intervene early in the lives of troubled youth and they prevented a variety of abhorrence that occurred when young defendants were incarcerated with adult offenders. Defending the juvenile court was instinctive among advocates, social workers, family therapists, clergy, educators, defense attorneys, judges and even many prosecutors. Juvenile justice as currently practiced imposes two significant cost on American youth: The first is the juvenile court itself no longer delivers its promise rehabilitation and minimal stigmatism in exchange for due process; the second is the continuing existence of the juvenile justice system allows courts, corrections, and other youth service ag encies to ignore the inherent youthfulness of many offenders now defined as adults. The growing use of criminal court transfer or waiver has been very damaging to the institutional integrity of the juvenile court. Public safety proponents are unduly focused on increasing the transfer, despite research casting doubt on its effectiveness (Butts, 2000, p. 3). Todays juvenile system is vulnerable to abolition because it attracts intense criticism from the public. Some of this criticism stems from ignorance of juvenile law and its purpose, but not all of it comes from lack of information. Many people simply no longer accept the concept of delinquency, or diminished legal responsibility due to age in other words to them, a juvenile drug dealer is still a drug dealer (Butts, 2000, p. 4). Equating seriousness with the length of confinement conflicts with the traditional concept of juvenile justice, but support for traditional justice is wearing thin. Federal and state law makers have enacte d sweeping changes in the nations juvenile justice systems and the pace of change continued even when juvenile violence began to plummet in the mid-1990s. Nearly all states have passed laws to send far more juveniles to criminal court and some jurisdictions have introduced formal sentencing guidelines that limit the discretion of juvenile court judges. Together, these efforts have begun to unravel the juvenile courts reason for being. No issue in the juvenile justice arena captivates the public or policy makers like criminal court transfers. Many policy makers believe that serious juvenile offenders should be tried in criminal court in order to achieve more certain and more severe punishment. In about half of all transfers, the offenders receive sentences comparable to what they might have received in juvenile court. About one-fifth actually receive more lenient treatment in criminal court. Some may be convicted of lesser offenses or the charges against them be dismissed due to the greater evidentiary scrutiny in criminal court. The bottom line is that criminal court transfer does not ensure incarceration, and it does not always increase sentence lengths even in cases that result in incarceration. Yet, few policies are as popular with the public or with elected officials. During the 1980s and 1990s, lawmakers enacted new transfer laws on an almost annual basis. Moreover, there was an increase in laws that moved entire classes of young offenders into criminal court without the involvement of juvenile court judges. Judicial authority in transfer decisions was diminished while the role of prosecutors and legislatures increased. Non-judicial mechanisms now account for the vast majority of juvenile transfers. Many states enacted policies that made judicial waiver presumptive and it shifted the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defense. Presumptive waiver provisions typically require a defense attorney to show proof that a youth is amenable to juvenile cou rt handling or otherwise the juvenile is transferred to criminal court. Between 1992 and 1997, according to a series of reports prepared for the Office of Juvenile Justice, eleven states passed presumptive waiver provisions. Fourteen states (Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Vermont, Virginia, and Wyoming) and the District of Columbia enacted presumptive waiver laws by the end of the 1990s (Butts, 2000, p. 4). Another increasingly popular strategy for moving juveniles into the criminal courts is mandatory waiver. While presumptive waiver allows juveniles to rebut the presumption of nonamenability, mandatory waiver provides no such escape. If a juvenile meets the criteria for mandatory waiver, a juvenile court judge is left with no choice but to transfer jurisdiction. Other mechanisms have contributed even more to the deterioration of the juvenile justice system. One mechanism that has become widespread dur ing the 1980s and 1990 was statutory exclusion, known in some states as automatic transfer. Statutory exclusion laws mandate that some young offenders are transferred automatically to criminal court as soon as they are charged with certain offenses and judicial consent is unnecessary. Direct file, also known as concurrent jurisdiction or prosecutor discretion, is another increasingly prominent form of criminal court transfer. Direct file laws give prosecutors the discretion to prosecute juveniles either in juvenile or adult court. Louisiana gives prosecutors discretion to file criminal charges against any youth age 16 and older charged with a second drug felony, a second aggravated burglary, or virtually any of the Violent Crime Index offenses. The number of juveniles transferred by prosecutors has grown sharply. Florida prosecutors alone send more than 7,000 cases to criminal courts each year (Butts, 2000, p. 5). State sentencing trends indicate that punishment and accountability, in addition to rehabilitation, have become equally important in juvenile justice policy. As a result, many states have created blended sentencing structures for cases involving serious offenders (Siegel Welsh, 2009, p. 517). Blended sentencing policies were devised primarily to provide longer terms of incarceration for juveniles, but they also helped blur the distinction between juvenile justice and adult justice. Increasingly the variety of sentencing options may reduce the resistance of courts to handle very young offenders in the adult system since juveniles may not be subject to draw upon the traditionally resources available in the juvenile justice system without having to sacrifice the lengthy periods of incarceration once available only in the criminal court system (Butts, 2000, p. 5). Sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimum policies for juveniles also began to proliferate during the 1980s and 1990s. As of 1997, 17 states and the District of Columbia had enacted some typ e of mandatory minimum sentencing provisions for at least some juvenile offenders. Some jurisdictions applied sentencing guidelines to juveniles by first requiring that they be tried in criminal court, but others such as Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming enacted formal sentencing guidelines that applied to juvenile delinquency cases handled by juvenile court judges. The use of structured sentencing fundamentally contradicts the basic premise of juvenile justice by making sentence length proportional to the severity of an offense rather than basing court outcomes on the characteristics and life problems of offenders. As the popularity of these policies increases, it becomes very difficult to justify the continuation of a juvenile justice system that fails to provide complete due process protections for the youth it handles. Along with the rights of juveniles at adjudication and disposition, the issue of confidentiality in juvenile proceedings has also received attention in recent years. The debate on confidentiality in the juvenile court deals with two areas: (1) open versus closed hearings, and (2) privacy of juvenile records. Confidentiality has become moot in some respects, as many legislatures have broadened access to juvenile records (Siegel Welsh, 2009, p. 519). As juvenile justice policy became more contentious during the 1980s and 1990s, support for confidentiality protections began to erode. Practical issues such as jurisdiction information sharing and greater media interest in juvenile court proceedings began to win out over confidentiality. Finally, some states have even passed laws enabling juvenile court records to affect criminal court sentences. Enhancing criminal court sentences with juvenile court adjudications abrogates the agreement that allowed the juvenile court to exist in the first place. Adjudication in juvenile court begins to involve potentially serious jeopardy for youth. As of 1997, according to research by Joseph Sanborn, all 50 states an d the District of Columbia had enacted statutes or court rules allowing this practice or they had case law that sanctioned it. An example of this is Illinois and Indiana allow juvenile offense histories to serve as sufficient grounds for increasing sentence length or imposing consecutive sentences. Three states California, Louisiana, and Texas allow juvenile adjudications to serve as the first and second strikes against an adult offender. Thus an offender with two prior juvenile court adjudications could face life in prison for a first appearance in criminal court (Butts, 2000, p. 6). Evaluations of juvenile treatment programs provide scant support for their effectiveness (Whitehead and Lab 1989; Lab and Whitehead 1988). Empirical evaluations question both the efficacy of treatment programs and the scientific underpinnings of those who administer the enterprise. Although the general conclusion that nothing works in juvenile corrections has been persuasively refuted (Melton 1989), it has been strenuously resisted by those who contend that some types of programs may have positive effects on selected clients under certain conditions (Palmer) (Wiesheit Culbertson, 2000, p. 284). PROPOSED CHANGES FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE Advocates of youth may need to reconsider their position on the juvenile court, and instead of concerning themselves only with youth who still happen to be legal juveniles; they may want to shift their focus and work to ensure fair and timely justice for all youth even those processed in the juvenile court system. This could be accomplished from either side of the juvenile-criminal border, by making youth oriented improvements from within the criminal justice system, or by helping juvenile justice professionals to get involved in programs for young adult offenders. It may be even more effective if, however if the border no longer existed. Criminal courts are not as evil and juvenile courts are not as virtuous as some might suggest. The justice system as a whole might benefit if law makers, judges, and practitioners were able to stop fighting over the politically hobbled delinquency jurisdiction of the juvenile court. If delinquency laws were abolished and all offenders young and old were handled in an integrated criminal court system, youth advocates could begin to focus on ensuring the quality of the process used for all youth (Butts, 2000, p. 7). The question then becomes how do we get from here to there, and how can a new justice system that protects public safety and the rights of youth while ensuring that youthful offenders get every chance they deserve to mend their ways and rejoin society if possible? One way to begin this process is to take advantage of the growing diversity in specialized courts. It is assumed by the public at large that there are two types of courts and they are criminal or juvenile, consequently though any effort to increase the symbolic strength of juvenile crime policy necessarily favors making greater use of criminal courts. American courts however are very diverse as it is evidenced by innovative specialized courts such as drug courts, gun courts, and community-based courts which bring new ideas and a wider range of choices to the criminal justice system. Some of these new courts actually resemble the traditional juvenile court in their philosophy of human behavior, their approach to processing cases, and their efforts to monitor offender compliance with court orders by close judicial supervision (Butts, 2000, p. 8). For the past two decades, state and federal officials have been slowly dismantling the juvenile justice system without much thought as to what will replace it. The emergence of innovative specialized courts within the adult system presents an unprecedented opportunity to create a new youth justice system. Ideally, this new system would retain the best features of the juvenile court while gradually incorporating new ideas and procedures by specialized courts now spreading across the country. Eventually, each state could implement a wide assortment of court models and establish individualized intake procedures for routing young offenders to the most appropriate forum. Law makers may be able to think about abolishing the juvenile courts delinquency jurisdiction and improve the coherence of criminal justice policy for all youth, but most importantly, the juvenile court would not be an easy target for politicians who seek symbolic victories over crime (Butts, 2000, p. 8). SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION In conclusion, the central issue is not whether young offenders are called delinquents; the real issue is what happens to them when they are arrested and appear in court. Questions that should be asked are: What process is used to determine their culpability? Who chooses the most appropriate response for each case? How quickly does the process occur, and does it ensure the safety of the public while guarding the rights of offenders? Is the process designed to maximize each persons changes of rejoining the law abiding community? The answers to these questions will only be possible when every community has an effective, understandable intake process, a fair and efficient system of fact finding and adjudication, and a diverse menu of services and sanctions that are suitable for a wide range of offenders. Maintaining the juvenile court and its separate delinquency jurisdiction may have once guaranteed this for young people, but the benefits are far less certain today. Because of the rece nt decreases in juvenile violence it should offer the nations policy makers an opportunity to introspectively reflect on how they have changed the juvenile court and what its future should be. It is also a good time to ponder and ask whether a separate system of juvenile justice is fact sustainable, either legally or politically, and if not, what can state and local officials do to design a new system to meet the needs of youth and their communities during the next century (Butts, 2000, p. 8).