Introduction to Operating Systems

Brief history of three different Operating Systems (OS). For the three OS I chose Windows, Linux and Apple systems. Windows 1. 0: The very first version of Windows, Windows 1. 0, basic interface that used â€Å"gadgets,† like the calendar and calculator, but it gained little popularity. Released in 1985, the system had basic functionality, introduced the first version of MS Paint and a primitive word processor. Windows 2. 0: Released in 1987, was not much better than the first. While 2. 0 introduced two current staples Excel and Word to users 2. went under fire when Macintosh sued Microsoft for mimicking the look and feel of their current operating system. The lawsuit was dropped. Windows 3. 0: The introduction of virtual memory, improved graphics, and the ability to multitask helped propel Windows to sell 10 million copies. In fact, while it was released in 1990, Windows 3. 0 wasn't discontinued until 2001. Windows 3. 1: A pseudo-release for Microsoft, Windows 3. 1 contained fixes and improved font functionality. Microsoft continued to develop a new release, Windows NT, hoping it could be released as a continuation of Windows 3. and 3. 1. Unfortunately, issues with driver support and software meant it was time for a new version altogether. Windows 95: The change from 16-bit to 32-bit, Windows 95 was designed for increased compatibility and ultimate user-friendliness. Became clear that consumer computers would become the future, Windows 95 was offered on newer computers only because it lacked some backwards compatibility at first. Newer releases and patches made the version easier to use on older machines, by 1995, Microsoft had achieved a widespread interest in home computers. Windows 4. : The follow-up to Windows 3. 0, Windows 4. 0 released in 1996 with minor improvements and is not considered a major Windows release. Windows 98: As consumer computers became widespread, Windows 98 improved hardware and hardware drivers, Internet Explorer, and eventually Internet connection sharing. Released in 1998, with a new release in 1999, Microsoft 98 was the first release designed specifically for consumers, as opposed to the business or technology set. Windows 2000: Windows 2000 made everyone's lives easier increasing the number of plug and play devices compatible with the OS. Windows ME (Millennial Edition) was also released, offering the system recovery tool to help return a crashed computer to its last known operating settings. Windows XP: The system designed for ease and stability, Windows XP was released in 2001, offering plenty of ease and functionality for laptop and desktop users. The OS was designed to offer users help through a comprehensive help center, gave users the ability to consume a number of different types of media. Windows Vista: Widely considered a flop in technology circles, Windows Vista was released in 2006. Vista had high system requirements and suffered issues with performance and security. The OS also tended to drain laptop batteries. The version lasted only three years, during which some users downgraded back to XP avoiding the pitfalls of Vista. Windows 7: For this current release of Windows, Microsoft learned its mistakes with Vista and created an OS with speed, stability and minimal system requirements. Microsoft ditched the gadget bar from Vista, replacing with a cleaner feel. This version was released in 2009. Windows 8: This latest Windows release is getting a lot of attention. With redesigned Metro-style user interface and Windows Store, this version is, once again, redefining what Windows is. It also comes with integrated antivirus protection, a virtual hard disk and a new platform based on HTML5 and JavaScript. Windows 8 promises faster boot time, touchscreen compatibility and the ability to create a bootable USB flash drive. It may not be enough to get people to switch from Windows 7, but at least it's a glimpse into the future of the Windows operating system. Linux is an OS for your computer. Like the Mac and Windows systems, it provides the basic computer services needed for someone to do things with a computer. It is the middle layer between the computer hardware and the software applications you run. Full applications have capabilities like boldface type and picture editing tools. None of this is available through the OS. Yet all of it is done by communicating with the machinery of the computer through the OS. You may highlight a word in word processor and tell it that you want that word in bold type, but the OS tells the computer which pixels (or part of the screen) to darken. Linux was developed by Linus Torvalds and a band of programmers who voluntarily developed the core program of the system (aka, the kernel). That program was originally compatible for another operating system called Minix, but later development made it usable with GNU software. GNU is pronounced like the animal and stands for ‘GNU's Not Unix. ‘ It was a project conceived by Richard Stallman in 1983 in response to the increasing tendency of software companies to copyright their software under terms that prohibited sharing. GNU's purpose: to develop a wholly free system. It had achieved significant progress toward this goal by the time that Linus and others had developed their kernel in the 1990s. While many people refer to the combination of the two as â€Å"Linux†, this is not correct. The kernel combined with GNU's free software is properly called â€Å"GNU/Linux. Both the kernel and the software are freely available under licensing that is sometimes called â€Å"copyleft†. Where traditional copyright was meant to restrict usage and ownership of a copyrighted item to as few people as possible, inhibiting development and growth, GNU/Linux is different. It is released under terms designed to ensure that as many people as possible are allowed to receive, use, share, and modify the software. That license is called the GPL (GNU Public License). Ubuntu depends on the Linux kernel and includes many GNU applications. So, when someone speaks of the Ubuntu kernel for a computer, they are actually talking about a recent version of the Linux kernel. Most of the applications that are available for Ubuntu are either part of the GNU collection or are released under the GPL. For Apple not much information was found. However, they provide a timeline of the OS. 1978: In June of 1978 Apple introduces Apple DOS 3. 1, the first operating system for the Apple computers. 1984: Apple introduces System 1. 1985: Apple introduces System 2. 1986: Apple introduces System 3. 1987: Apple introduces System 4. 1988: Apple introduces System 6. 1991: Apple introduces System 7 operating system May 13, 1991. 1995: Apple allows other computer companies to clone its computer by announcing it is licensed the Macintosh operating system rights to Radius on January 4. 1997: Apple introduces Mac OS 8. 997: Apple buys NeXT Software Inc. for $400 million and acquires Steve Jobs, Apples cofounder, as a consultant. 1999: Apple introduces Mac OS 9. 2001: Apple introduces Mac OS X 10. 0 code named Cheetah and becomes available March 24, 2001. 2001: Apple introduces Mac OS X 10. 1 code named Puma and becomes available on September 25, 2001. 2002: Apple introduces Mac OS X 10. 2 code named Jaguar and becomes available on August 23, 2002. 2003: Apple introduces Mac OS X 10. 3 code named Panther October 25, 2003. 2004: Apple introduces Mac OS X 10. code named Tiger at the WWDC on June 28, 2004. 2007: Apple introduces Mac OS X 10. 5 code named Leopard October 26, 2007. 2008: Apple introduces Mac OS X 10. 6 code named Snow Leopard and MobileMe at the WWDC on June 9, 2008. Factors that may lead users to upgrade the OS they use is stability, performance and security. Windows Vista had many issues in these areas making users switch back to XP. For other OS not quite sure if any had serious issues, though the newer versions gave more reason to upgrade. My personal use of OS has only been with Windows and A pple IOS on a cell phone. Never a fan of Apple but Windows I like. It has been so long since I used XP that I am unsure of why I switched other than I had to because my new PC had a different version. Despite the problems with Vista I was like Sheldon when using 7 the first time, 7 is too user friendly. However, I love Windows 7 and do not intend on upgrading until I have no choice. For Apple use on a cell phone there may be a chance I do not like this IOS because it is only through a phone and they have not yet made phones run just like PC’s. I do plan on buying an Apple computer soon so I can get more experience with the OS. Linux is an OS I am not even sure if I ever used, it is possible I did when computers first came out because my neighbor was a computer fan and was also the person that got me into technology. That was so long ago that I barely recall anything I did through her computers, all I remember is I had to tell the PC what to do like command prompts. If Linux OS is the same, than I do enjoy this system.

Performance Enhancing Drugs Speech (Issues)

Lets be honest here, taking drugs to improve performance isn’t a spur-of-the-moment mistake, its a well planned and thought out way of cheating. It’s not like they are sold over the counter at your local chemists (or are they? ) People often say they don’t want to see druggies representing their country (wherever they are from) and so they should be banned for life, but can athletes that take performance enhancing drugs be labeled as druggies. Their physically fit in shape and generally healthy, everything a typical idea of a druggie isn’t.Lifetime bans could produce fewer convictions, because harsher punishment means greater â€Å"burden of proof† First, the reality is that a lifetime ban represents the harshest possible punishment for an athlete, for it takes away their livelihood, often without a fall-back plan (ask a 26-year-old cyclist what their second career option is, for example). It is, literally, a case of â€Å"off with their heads†, because you may as well do this. Now, in order to do this fairly, you have to be absolutely, 100% certain that you are punishing a person who deserves it.And sadly, the science is, as of this moment, not able to provide those guarantees, and there is always some doubt if an athlete wants to contest the origin of a doping positive. So ask the following: â€Å"If there is a 2% chance of a false positive test, then how comfortable are we issuing lifetime bans? † Then ask: â€Å"If there is a 10% chance of the positive dope test being the result of contamination of supplements, then are we comfortable with a lifetime ban? Now, imagine being the decision maker who has to evaluate a legal case where the athlete says: â€Å"I do not contest the positive dope test, but my defence is that it came from a supplement (or meat). I was therefore not cheating. † Can you confidently judge and condemn this person as a cheat? Given the science of anti-doping today, and the complexi ty of these cases, I'd argue that you simply cannot make this decision, and if your punishment option is to hand out a lifetime ban, I'd argue that you're far less likely to find dopers guilty when presented with this defence!We do not want our young people looking up to people who use drugs, but we also do not want to give those who are in admired positions of proposed authority to be forgiven of their sins. However, we are more than willing to allow those who use illicit street drugs a second and third, sometimes even a fourth chance at resolving themselves from what, these days, is being regarded as a disease instead of what it started out as- a very poor personal choice on the person who is now using.Steroids are not safe. We all know this. Use of these sorts of drugs, when not prescribed for an actual ailment, cause more damage than good. We do not like when our heroes are found out to simultaneously be human as well as talented. It is far easier to see this sort of behavior wh en it is displayed by a rock star or a spoiled rich kid, but when it is our heroes, we want to punish them severely, and more so than we would if the person in question were some street hooligan with no hope for a future.We will gladly help the hooligan, because that makes us a hero. We have helped a person lift themselves out of a personal and spiritual poverty and in the process have been given the chance to tell the world that because of something that we did, whether it is directly or indirectly, that person is now, in the eyes of better society, whole again, and it was all due to something we did for them.We are more willing to uplift an entire population of people who cannot even remember their name rather than allow those who could be the example of having done the bad thing, and now, after a lot of work and LOTS of apologizing, be the example that they were cut out to be. I say let them have a second and third chance at it all. And why not? We let crack heads, meth heads, al coholics and wife beaters do it. Why not someone who has access to the media who can truly be the role model that they did not ask to be when they signed those multi-million dollar contracts?

To Kill a Mockingbird Novel

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel about growing in the 1930s in the Southern United States. Scout Finch lives with her brother Jem and their father Atticus (a lawyer) in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is a small town, and every family has its social standing depending on where they live, who their parents are, and how long they have lived in Maycomb. Atticus raises his children by himself, with the help of neighbors and a black housekeeper named Calpurnia. Scout is a tomboy who prefers to solve her differences with her fists. She tries to make sense of a world that demands that she act like a lady, a brother who criticizes her for acting like a girl, and a father who accepts her just as she is. Scout hates school, gains most of her education on her own and from her father. Scout and Jem understand their neighborhood and town. The only neighbor they do not understand is Arthur Radley, nicknamed Boo, who never comes outside. When Dill, another neighbor's nephew, starts spending summers in Maycomb, the three children begin an obsessive quest to lure Boo outside. Scout and Jem discover that their father is going to represent a black man named Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping and beating a white woman. Suddenly, Scout and Jem have to deal with racial slurs and insults because of Atticus' role in the trial. During this time, Scout has a very difficult time restraining from fighting, which gets her in trouble with her aunt and uncle. Even Jem loses his temper a time or two. After destroying a neighbor's plants, Jem is sentenced to read to her every day after school for one month. As the trial gets closer, their aunt comes to live with them. Read also  How Powerful Do You Find Atticus Finch’s Closing Speech? During the last summer, Tom is tried and convicted even though Atticus proves that he could not have done the crime. In the process of trying the case, Atticus accidentally offends Bob Ewell, a nasty drunk whose daughter accused Tom. In spite of Tom's conviction, Ewell vows revenge on Atticus and the judge. All three children are stunned by the jury's decision, and Atticus tries to explain why the jury's decided that way. After the trial, Scout attends one of her aunt's Missionary Society meetings. Atticus interrupts the meeting to report that Tom Robinson had been killed in an escape attempt. Scout learns valuable lessons that day. Things slowly return to normal, and Scout and Jem realize that Boo is no longer the center of their curiosity. The story appears to be winding down, when Bob Ewell starts making well on his threats of revenge. Scout is in the Halloween pageant at school, Jem agrees to take Scout to the school. After embarrassing herself on-stage, Scout leaves her costume on for the walk home with Jem. On the way home, the children hear noises, but disregard them as a friend who scared them on their way to school that evening. They are attacked, and Scout really cannot see out of her costume. She hears Jem being pushed away, and she feels arms squeezing her. Jem breaks his arm during this attack. Scout gets just enough of a glimpse out of her costume to see a stranger carrying Jem back to their house. The sheriff arrives at the Finch and announces that Bob Ewell has been found dead under the tree where the children were attacked, believing that he had fallen on his own knife. Scout realized that the stranger was Boo Radley, and that Boo is responsible for killing Ewell, and saving her and Jem's lives. Atticus' tries to get the sheriff to press charges against Boo, but he refuses. Scout agrees with his decision and explains it to her father. Boo sees Jem one more time and then asks Scout to take him home. With Boo safely home, Scout returns to Jem's room where Atticus is waiting. He reads her to sleep and then waits for Jem to wake up. I believe the main reasons that this book was banned were because of the language that was used, along with the racist implications toward the government. I also believe that it showed an unjust court system.

Explain dualism, materialism, and Idealism. Which is preferable and Essay

Explain dualism, materialism, and Idealism. Which is preferable and why - Essay Example nly measure of reality by disregarding other possible dimensions such as the mental, cultural, or spiritual as it is only material things that constitute the entirety of the universe including all other phenomena. This theory is alternatively termed as eliminative materialism because it disregards all the other possible mental states as probably inherently wrong and non-existent (Ramsey, 2013). 3. Idealism – this philosophy is basically the exact opposite of materialism by claiming that all forms of observed phenomena (or reality itself) are primarily ideal or mental in form only (as mental constructs and therefore immaterial by its very nature). It rejects materialism by and other forms of philosophical thought by saying all human experiences are mental in nature and the entire universal human existence is just like one giant â€Å"mental thought† and ultimate reality is nothing but just images or representations of what people observed (McQuillan, 2014). Dualism is a better philosophy because it more or less is consonant with what people are observing and experiencing in terms of their earthly human existence. In other words, there is a duality in human existence which is the physical or material world and then another dimension of a spiritual nature because the mind-body interactions are very real indeed (Kelly,

Trust-Mart expansion on to UKs supermarket retail market Assignment

Trust-Mart expansion on to UKs supermarket retail market - Assignment Example Competitive Strategy of Trust-Mart Since inception, Trust-Mart had showed immense growth in the retail supermarket industry. Trust-Mart operates in almost 20 areas of China. It has rapidly enhanced the number of outlets throughout China. Trust-Mart focuses on three strategies to compete in the supermarket retail environment [1] (Trust-Mart, 2011). Freshness: Trust-Mart aims to provide fresh products compared to other supermarkets in China. For maintaining freshness in its products Trust-Mart has enough employees in every department (production, marketing and distribution). By proper management, Trust-Mart is able to obtain food products quicker and much fresher. Cost: Trust-Mart strives to provide low cost for any products which makes the company a strong competitor in retail market environment of China. Trust-Mart provides impressive rate across various products. The rate of product does not affect the freshness of the products (Canton365, n.d.). Service: Trust-Mart has improved distribution network which initiates the company to provide right product to the people. Trust-Mart has experienced employees who know the needs and preferences of customers and thus provide products according to their choice. Providing better service is a competitive strategy for Trust-Mart which helps the company to make available the desired products to the customers. Michael Porter’s Generic Strategy Michael Porter had established generic strategy to identify a company’s competitive advantage. According to him a company can take three types of competitive strategies which are cost leadership, differentiation and focus. Fig 1: Porter’s Generic Strategy Diagram Source: (Provenmodels, 2011). Trust-Mart does not follow the focus strategy because the resources and assets of Trust-Mart allow it to compete on broader factors. Trust-Mart follows the differentiation strategy by making their products under their own brand name. Trust-Ma rt also follows the cost leadership strategy by providing inexpensive products to customers. Trust-Mart’s strong sales distribution makes it possible to gain cost advantage over other competitors. Critical Success Factors Core Competences For any company, the

Little house in the war zone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Little house in the war zone - Essay Example Even after the fall of Saddam, the house did not regain its status as it was in a dilapidated condition. In fact, Salbi indicates that the once warm and happy house that carried the hopes and dreams of a family became an execution center, a brothel, and even the Iraqi army used the house for its operations. It seems that the once warm house filled with happiness started having problems after the family welcomed and entertained politicians, no less than the late dictator Saddam Hussein. In my opinion, the family had it coming from the onset after they opened the door for Saddam. Indeed, the welcoming of Saddam and the consequent appointment of Salbi’s father to a position in the government led to the family’s subjection to a public life full of scrutiny from security agents. In effect, this denied the family a private life that they had been accustomed to before welcoming Saddam. Nonetheless, I think the family did not deserve this treatment since they were non-politico. However, a quiet and simple life full of happiness was wrecked with the hopes and dreams of the family wrecked. It is unfortunate to see a house filled with warmth and happiness, which the family extended to their visiting friends change and used in ways that the family could not comprehend. In this case, I think the family stood for all that is virtuous although their house was later used for reasons that were different from the family’s beliefs and principles. Salbi indicates that she could not come to terms with the fact that the house that housed her family’s dreams and hopes once became a brothel. Indeed, the family believed that respect for all human beings was paramount. In addition, I think the family could never imagine that their house would at any one time be a place where men took advantage of women forced into prostitution by

Critically consider the challenges and opportunities that social and Essay

Critically consider the challenges and opportunities that social and community enterprises face in their chase to affect social change - Essay Example In contrast to other socially/community-oriented organizations, social enterprise combines two important aspects: entrepreneurship and social-orientation. Even though the concept of social entrepreneurship is a relatively new, the number of social enterprises has increased substantially during the past decades (Nkala, 2009). Today there exist both threats and opportunities that social enterprises face with. The aim of this paper is to analyze what challenges and opportunities social and community enterprises face in their chase to affect social change. There exist many different interpretations of the concept of â€Å"social entrepreneurship†. Despite the variety of definitions of the term of social entrepreneurship, some researchers believe that more unified definition is still to be developed (Short, Moss, and Lumpkin, 2009). Bornstein and Davis (2010) define it is a process by which individuals transform or create institutions in order to solve or help to solve various social problems, including poverty, illiteracy, illness, environmental destruction, corruption, and human rights abuses. Thus, these organizations aim to improve life for many people and broader society. In order to achieve their mission, social enterprises undertake various commercial activities. Thus, the value of social enterprise is measured not only in terms of its contribution to social, environmental, or cultural life but also in terms of its financial sustainability (Social traders, 2011). There are identified three major categories of motivations for establishment of social enterprise. These categories include: employment; service innovation, and income generation. In terms of employment motivation, social enterprises provide employment opportunities, support and training for marginalized groups. These enterprises are also motivated by an opportunity to maintain or create services, which enable to satisfy economic or

Determination Of Nitrate Ion In Treated Wastewater Effluent Lab Report

Determination Of Nitrate Ion In Treated Wastewater Effluent - Lab Report Example The possible causes of errors may result from wrong or inaccurate readings made in the spectrophotometer. The spectrophotometer is in use to measure the intensity of red color produced when nitrate reacts with the acid, sulfanilic and N- naphthyl ethylenediamine. The lack of calibration of the equipment causes errors in results. The equipment may record a reading higher or below the one expected. Errors result from measurements done by using flasks and pipettes. When experimenters fail to monitor the readings properly, the final value of concentration will be affected.    For example, observers of volumetric readings should look at the lower meniscus to prevent these errors. Such errors will affect dilution and dissolving of solids in solutions (Woody 12).   The possible causes of errors may result from wrong or inaccurate readings made in the spectrophotometer. The spectrophotometer is in use to measure the intensity of red color produced when nitrate reacts with the acid, sulfa nilic and N- naphthyl ethylenediamine. The lack of calibration of the equipment causes errors in results. The equipment may record a reading higher or below the one expected. Errors result from measurements done by using flasks and pipettes. When experimenters fail to monitor the readings properly, the final value of concentration will be affected.  For example, observers of volumetric readings should look at the lower meniscus to prevent these errors.  Such errors will affect dilution and dissolving of solids in solutions.

Financial Security in a Persons Retirement Term Paper

Financial Security in a Persons Retirement - Term Paper Example In order to have financial security in our retirement, we need to start saving, keep saving and also stick to our goals. We need to make saving for the retirement a priority. In order to stay focused, we need to know our retirement needs and save towards it. A good starting point is finding out our retirement benefits. Investing for retirement is vital in ensuring safe and enjoyable retirement. Due to uncertainty, the true quality of a person’s retirement actually depends on their planning and planning must begin somewhere (Berk & DeMarzo, 2014). To have a secure retirement one must understand all the necessary factors that are crucial in the realization of the set goal. In saving for retirement individuals must understand the time value of money concept because it influences any financial decision to be made. They need to start saving early enough to increase the worth of the money in the future. It is the idea that money available today is worth more than the same amount in future because of its potential earning capacity (Taillard, 2013). Because money earns interest, any amount of money is often worth more the sooner it is invested. The paper entails computation of the amount to be invested annually to earn $1,000,000 in 30 years and the amount earned at retirement. In addition, it discusses values such as time and the interest rate that can be changed to lower annual deposits while increasing benefits. Besides, it discusses asset allocation among three asset classes, stocks, bonds, and cash. It concludes by looking at the investment objective which in this case is capital appreciation. Further, it discusses investment constraints that affect my asset allocation. In solving the problem, I will use the money purchase method which takes into account annual deposits and actuarial factor that is based on annuity period (time horizon or age) (Berk & DeMarzo, 2014). This method takes into account the time value of money by using present value or ordinary annuityÃ'Ž

Preserving illinois wetlands Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Preserving illinois wetlands - Essay Example The achievement of the measures will be put in to analysis together with how the goals and objectives of wetlands preservation in Illinois have been effective. Wetlands conservation is of international concern because they are transitional area between the open water and the dry land. They serve many function such recharging the ground and sea water, providing habitats to fish and other aquatic organisms, they also protect floods damage and improves water quality by purifying to reduce on chemicals and other harmful bodies. These benefits increase the need to preserve the wetlands. There has been establishment of Illinois Wetlands Conservation Strategy (IWCS) which is a comprehensive plan to guide the implementation and development the wetlands protection initiatives. The goal of the IWCS is to ensure there are no losses of wetlands or the functional value of wetlands is lost. Their objective is to develop and implement an ecosystem strategy that is directed towards protection, restoration and conservation of wetlands (Dunne & Knapp, 11-26). Agencies such Ducks unlimited introduced a method where it would purchase land from original owners to safe it from destruction. The government funds those agencies that work towards conservation of the wetlands which acts as a motivator to agencies to work towards such a course (Mitsch & Gosselink, 24-36). The measures have been effective in conservation of the wetlands. Ducks unlimited have registered success where it have bought the encroached land from their original owners and uses them as homes for ducks and other birds. IWSC have registered success in its implementation of the various policies which it has formulated to protect and conserve wetlands. The agencies have registered success in restoration of the wetlands where they have been able to buy land and plants trees and other plantations which will act as habitat for animals and birds. The government policy to fund agencies has

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (YEAR 3) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (YEAR 3) - Essay Example Power is a force or a store of political influence through which events can be affected. Politics involves activities or behaviors through which power is developed and used in organizational settings. Political behavior is initiated to overcome opposition. If there is no opposition, political activity is not necessary. Bases of power may be divided logically: personal power is derived from personal attributes and expertise while position power is derived from official position. There are many ways to describe the uses of power. Organizations are made up of individuals who are grouped into coalitions of interests. Coalitions form to protect and improve their vested interests. Often they are formed along departmental lines, but not always. This refers to the political interests in the organization. The different subunits in an organization are not neutral. Each group has a distinct set of interests which is frequently at odds with other groups. The groups compete for favourable allocation of resources. The structure of an organization is a crucial determinant of the flow of the distribution of resources, therefore built into the organization is a structure of advantage and disadvantage. It is in the interests of a group to have resources distributed in its favour. So interests refer to the relationship between an individual or group and the distribution of organizational resources. Interests are concerned with securing a fair share of organizational resources, and are expressed through a motivation to enhance or defend a particular distribution of organizational resources. Organizations differ in the distribution of power. In some power is focused and concentrated within a narrowly drawn coalition, in others power is relatively dispersed between multiplicities of groups. There is a difference between power and authority which has to be made

Discuss research relating to bystander behaviour Essay Example for Free

Discuss research relating to bystander behaviour Essay The murder of Kitty Genovese and the bystander behaviour that was apparent that night triggered a great deal of research to explain bystander behaviour. Latane Darley suspected that the fact that the number of possible helpers was so large might actually have contributed to their lack of intervention. They processes that might explain the reluctance of others to get involved in situations such as the Kitty Genovese incident. The Diffusion of Responsibility explanation suggests that the more witnesses there are to a person needing help, the less anyone witness feels responsible for giving help. Latane Darley conducted a lab based experiment using male university students seated in individual cubicles connected by an intercom system, believing they had come to take part in a discussion on collage life. Students were lead to believe they were on their own, alone with one other participant who would later appear to have an epileptic seizure, or an increasing number of other participants. Help was less likely and slower to be given when participants believed that other potential helpers were available. The findings from this study support the notion of diffusion of responsibility as, as suggested the more witness there were to the victim needing help, the less the participant felt a sloe responsibility to help. Participants assumed that his intervention would not be necessary, as confederates would have taken care of the situation. However, it could be argued that as the experiment was lab based it holds no ecological validity, and therefore the results cannot be generalised to real life situations. Participants reluctance to help may have been caused by an attempt to avoid social disapproval (e. g. being the odd one out), or they may also have picked up demand characteristics from experimenters or other confederates as to the true nature of the experiment and felt they needed to supply the experimenters with the results they required. Latane Draley also proposed the Pluralistic Ignorance theory. This hypothesis suggests that when making a decision about whether or not to help, we look to see what other bystanders are doing. If other bystanders appear to act as if the situation is an emergency situation and help the victim, we are likely to do the same. If no one else offers to help we are unlikely to offer help as well. In the smoke filled room experiment participants were invited to take part in what they thought was a psychological experiment. While waiting for it to begin they were asked to fill out a questionnaire in a waiting room that is filled with smoke. In the first condition they were in the room on theyre own, and then in a variety of conditions including an increasing number of confederates, who acted like it was not an emergency situation. When on their own participants seeked help 100% of the time, but as the number of people present increased, participants remained seated and acted like it was not an emergency situation (mirroring the confederates behaviour). This strongly supports the idea of pluralistic ignorance as they were looking to confederates for guidance on how to shape their own behaviour. Again this was a lab-based experiment and therefore it lacks ecological validity. As a result of Latane Darleys research, Piliavin conducted a field in a New York subway, where a stooge collapsed in a variety of conditions (black stooges that looked ill, white stooge that appeared to be drunk and visa versa), with other experimenters observing commuters behaviour. If the victim appeared to be ill they were helped much more frequently than if they appeared to be drunk. The colour of the victim made no difference to the frequency of help they received. This real life study demonstrates that personal characteristics of the victim appear to play a more important part in whether to be a bystander or not. This study is much higher in ecological validity than those conducted by Latane Darley as it was conducted in a real-life situation. Most of the above research has been carried out in the USA. The dominant approach in the USA is based on self-interest, rather than concern for others. There is evidence that this selfish approach is not dominant in other cultures, e. g. a study by Whiting Whiting found large differences in the prevalence of altruistic behaviour form one culture to another. Darley said in 1991; in the United States, and perhaps in all advanced societies, it is generally accepted that the true and basic motive of human action is self-interest.

The Decline In Tourism Of Pakistan

The Decline In Tourism Of Pakistan The title of this research paper, as it entails, is Decline in Tourism of Pakistan. The main purpose of this project is to determine the real causes of downfall in Pakistans Tourism. In order to further elaborate the purpose, the objectives of study are to obtain the rating and ranking of various issues which are considered to be the likely causes of decline in tourism; examine and investigate the role of Government of Pakistan (Ministry of Tourism, PTDC, TDCP) in running the tourism industry; determining how far the public sector of Pakistan is responsible for the downfall of tourism and determining how far the private sector of Pakistan has its role to play in the decline of tourism. Multiple sources were used to collect secondary data such as periodicals, government sources, regional publications, media sources and commercial sources. A hybrid research methodology is used which consists of questionnaire survey research, a personal interview and a focus group interview. Through the multi-dimensional research, it was observed that out of the ten issues which posed as likely causes for tourism downfall, nine proved to be real causes which are constantly decaying the tourism industry of Pakistan. Except the terrorism factor, which acts as both an internal and external force, all issues are consequences of governments incompetence and corruption. Nevertheless, the Pakistani media, being a key stakeholder is not helping to portray the soft image of Pakistan to the world and within. In order for curbing these issues, the it is primarily the responsibility of Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab(TDCP), Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation(PTDC) and all provincial tourism ministries to foster infrastructural development related to tourist services and facilities; establish cohesion and coordination amongst state departments in order to smoothly carry out tourism development projects. Public-Private Sector partnership is the need of the hour and if the govern ment sincerely works on establishing productive partnerships with private sector enterprise then it will be an all-win situation not only for the tourism industry but for the economy of Pakistan as a whole. The Media of Pakistan should emphasize more on the national interest and curb the continuous and over-emphasized broadcasting of news related to disasters, violence and terrorist attacks as it results in portrayal of negative image of the country in the world. As for terrorism, since now it has become more deep rooted in Pakistani society, the current government and the governments to come would have to be equipped with a package considering the national interest- of radical social, economic and educational reforms which should be planned and implemented in order to stop the development of provocative and extreme mindsets in the society which further lead to conflicts in the name of religion, castes and socio-economic classes. This research project brings a deteriorating industry of Pakistan into limelight which is continuously underperforming for the past 5 years. Pakistan is a home of approximately 180 million people and most of the population is earning less than US$ 1 per day (Fakhar, 2008). Pakistan just like any other beautiful European country is a big market for tourism because it offers not only beauty of nature but also variety and diversity in cultures (Fakhar, 2008). In fact tourism is the most profitable and entrepreneurial business (Fakhar, 2008), especially for people living in the mountain areas as it creates new job opportunities and reduces the unemployment level for them (Fakhar, 2008). But unfortunately, tourists visit to Pakistan is decreasing tremendously with ups and downs each year (Fakhar, A.H, 2008).  [1]   Therefore the title of my research project is Decline in tourism of Pakistan. BACKGROUND Pakistan, after its independence from British India appeared as a modern nation on 14 august 1947(Fakhar, 2008). All four provinces of Pakistan are gifted with heritage and culture and one of the fertile and unique collection of majestic and lush fields, rivers, rugged mountains, lakes, deserts, landscapes and seashores enriched with friendly and hospitable people thus making it a heavenly destination for tourists with different tastes (Fakhar, 2008). Pakistan is known in the world of tourism because of the Karakoram, mountainous regions of the north, the Great Himalaya and the Hindukush who form the densest concentration of one of the worlds highest peaks. Pakistans Kalam (Swat valley) is known as the Switzerland of Asia (Fakhar, 2008).The hunza and chitral valleys in pakistan were the home to a small Pre-Islamic animist Kalasha community who claim descent from the army of Alexander the Great (Fakhar, 2008). The historical and archaeological sites of the Gandhara and Indus Valley ci vilizations, Taxila, the Mughal Empire and Mohenjo-Daro are the examples of oldest civilizations in Pakistan (Fakhar, 2008). This multicultural nature of the country also contributes to the tourism industry in the way that it offers various traditions, customs and festivals for the tourists to explore and enjoy (Fakhar, 2008).  [2]  Tourism in Pakistan has been stated by the Lonely Planet magazine as being the tourism industrys next big thing (Wikipedia, 2012). Pakistans tourism industry was in its heyday during the 1970s when the country received unprecedented amounts of foreign tourists, thanks to the Hippie Trail (Wikipedia, 2012). The main destinations of choice for these tourists were the Khyber Pass, Swat, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi (Wikipedia, 2012). In 2009, The World Economic Forums Travel Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Pakistan as one of the top 25% tourist destinations for its World Heritage sites ranging from mangroves in the South, to Mohenjo-D aro and Harappa of the 5,000-year-old cities of the Indus Valley Civilization (Wikipedia, 2012). One year after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake i.e. October 2006, British Newspaper The Guardian released a piece of information what it described as The top five tourist sites in Pakistan in order to help the countrys tourism industry (Wikipedia, 2012). The five sites included Lahore, Taxila, Karimabad, The Karakoram Highway, and Lake Saiful Muluk. In order to promote Pakistans unique and various cultural heritage, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz launched the Visit Pakistan marketing campaign in 2007 (Wikipedia, 2012). This campaign involved various events throughout the year including fairs and religious festivals, regional sporting events, various arts and craft shows, folk festivals and several openings of historical museums (Wikipedia, 2012).  [3]   Based on the above Information, It seems like Pakistan is a perfect place to be visited by the tourists but still the tourists arrival is decreasing day by day(Fakhar, 2008) especially if the timeframe from 2007 to 2011 is considered. LITERATURE REVIEW Various international and national think tanks, renowned authors and scholars have highlighted the main causes of decline in tourism of Pakistan over the years. Seemingly, some of these causes are so grave and deep rooted in nature that it might take the Government of Pakistan decades to eliminate them provided it carry out the process of elimination with utmost dedication, coordination among other departments, effectiveness and efficiency. Due to adverse publicity in negative travel advisories, continued terrorism international media and deteriorated state of law and order in the country, the prospects for revival of inbound foreign tourism are very poor in near future. But still the scope for growth in domestic tourism does exist  [4]  . Lack of coordination among different government bodies, poor infrastructure, less attention paid on improving the image of the country by national campaigns are just some of the reasons for the decline of the sector in the present years. Terror ism and lack of security has also caused a severe blow to Pakistans tourism industry and can be listed as the major reason for its poor performance.  [5]  According to the tourists the biggest problem they are facing while travelling is security issues which include the current insurgency in Pakistan (Fakhar, 2008). Even the domestic tourists dont feel like travelling in their own country. Furthermore, the negative image of Pakistan portrayed by media to the outside world (Fakhar, 2008). Lack of infrastructure; ineffective promotional policies; inadequate tourists services and facilities; lack of initiative by concerned government departments; inadequate knowledge and training of personnel in tourism sector; law and order situation especially in the high tourist attraction areas; inadequate infrastructure facilities; lack of incentives in the tourist sector; failure to show and project the positive image of the country via media to the outside world; low allocation of annual tou rist budget; lack of development and facilities in the mountain regions; lack of understanding to the tourist needs; the overtaking and change of governments and administration within the country(army rule); high inflation rate are the key points which have altogether made tourism an unsuccessful industry in Pakistan (Fakhar, 2008)  [6]  . There was 0.8 percent and 3 percent decline in the number of foreign and domestic tourists, respectively (Correspondent, 2012, March 27). Official data revealed that the Taxila Museum was visted by 2,434 foreign tourists with various other archeological sites especially Sirkap and Dharmarajika Stupa located in the valley as compared to 2010 when it was recorded 2,474(Correspondent, 2012, March 27). 87,173 domestic tourists visited the sites last year as compared to 92,660 in 2010 (Correspondent, 2012, March 27).  [7]   How far terrorism affected tourism? The way terrorism, whether international or national, undoubtedly eroded the economy of Pakistan has also plagued the tourism of the country with the same gravity and notoriousness. The countries or regions that depend heavily on tourism have been found to suffer significant economic losses due to the persistence of terrorism (Ali, 2011). Gilgit-Baltistan and the NWFP are important destinations in Pakistan and people living there depend on tourism (Ali, 2011). For example, Swat was an important tourist destination in Pakistan which attracted people from across the world not only to its natural beauty but also to see its rich civilization and history. Swat supports all sorts of tourism, i.e., spiritual tourism, culture/heritage tourism, eco-tourism, adventure tourism, sports and commercial tourism  [8]  . There are over 855 hotels, which include 405 restaurants, in the valley and around 40,000 people are directly and indirectly associated with these hotels (Ali, 2011). But they ha ve mostly remained closed during the past three years due to militancy and the subsequent military operation (Ali, 2011). According to governments own estimates, the hotel industry in Swat valley suffered a loss of Rs. 60 billion from 2007 to 2009 (Ali, 2011). The workers associated with the hotel industry also lost their jobs due to the ongoing incidents of terrorism. Moreover, the transport industry faced a severe blow and both the national and international transport services either closed down or decreased their services from Peshawar, Islamabad and Lahore (Ali, 2011). Therefore, the hotel association offered a very cheap package of 10-day free stay in hotels in the valley Swat starting with the New Year 2010 (Ali, 2011). Consequently, in the financial year 2008-2009, the overall real GDP growth fell to 2 percent  [9]  (Ali, 2011). Pakistan ranked 113 out of 130 countries in 2009 as a tourist destination. The low ranking attributes to incidents of terrorism and the lack of a tourism regulatory framework in Pakistan (Ali, 2011). Sources said that many motels in the countrys restive northwest were closed down as tourists were banned from those areas and the staff had migrated to other cities for work  [10]  (Ali, 2011).According to Travel Tourism Competitiveness Report 2011  [11]  , Out of 139 countries, Pakistan has further dropped to the 125 mark as a tourist destination. The Role of Ministry Of Tourism, PTDC, TDCP and other Tourism Development Organisations of Pakistan Government intervention may be necessary to enhance the contribution of tourism to socio-economic development and poverty reduction. Of all governments principal roles, one is to set policy and legislative frameworks for tourism. The reasons why governments should formulate tourism development strategy are firstly the tourist industry has many negative externalities, particularly negative environmental and social impacts that need to be regulated and managed at national or local levels. Secondly, tourism can offer substantial opportunities for local economic development, which can augment the positive effects of tourism on local socio-economic development and poverty reduction. the Planning Commission of India has already identified tourism as one of the major vehicles for generating employment and promoting sustainable livelihoods (UNESCAP, 2007, pp. 84-85).  [12]  A 2007 UNESCAP report highlighted the importance and functioning of public sector in the development of a countrys tourism. As tourism moves up the national agenda, the departments of government dealing with tourism may need to be upgraded and strengthened. To achieve sustainable management of tourism, tourism ministry staff needs networking, support of colleagues and coordination and in other ministries and in a range of sub national administrations. Such needs emerge because the administration and governance of tourism takes places in localities where tourists and host communities interact, while incentives and regulations aare applied within a framework laid down at the national level. The tourism ministries have to be watchful to the impact of institutional fragmentation on the governance of tourism. Major decisions about management of cultural and natural assets, planning, labour regulations, environmental impact assessments, taxation policy and financial incentives are often the responsibility of other ministries, where there might not be adequate awareness about the impact on tourism plan s and policies. The functions of tourism ministries should go beyond marketing and promotion, regulating tourism businesses and include wider consultation and coordination. For example, the air transport has changed considerably in recent years due in part to policy initiatives, such as adding a substantial number of new routes, deregulation of air services and allowing operations by low-cost carriers; all of which would aim to increase the number of tourists. Since the economic benefits of tourism are now explicitly evaluated in aviation policy in countries such as Singapore, tourism ministries have to consider the implications for tourism plans, strategies and policies. Tourism ministries can provide the government and its agencies with systematic and a good quality data, particularly about the effects of different types of tourism on local socio-economic development. The provision of such data can help to substantiate the contribution of tourism and convince policy makers (UNESCA P, 2007, p. 85).  [13]  In 2010, the Punjab Resource Management Program with collaboration of A.F Ferguson Co. prepared a recommendations report to reform the TDCP (Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab). The above mentioned consultant firm aided in developing tourism models for various developed and developing countries including Thailand, India, Malaysia, USA, Switzerland and Australia. In all the cases, it was concluded that the public sector of any country is the main driving force for the tourism industry. As mentioned in this report, the functions and duties of Ministry of Tourism were as follows: Development Promotion of Tourism in Pakistan. Establishment of Pakistan National Tourism Council. Establishment and publicity of tourists centers in Pakistan and abroad. Development of tourism information centers for the service and guidance of domestic and foreign tourists in Pakistan. Establishment of tourist facilities in tourist potential areas where private sector is reluctant to invest. Regulation and Control of tourist industries and associated service. Establishment of International organizations and agreements relating to tourism. Controlling Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation. Promoting Facilitation of travel in Pakistan for tourists. Development of Tourism and Hotel training institutes. Encouraging training and research in tourism in Pakistan and abroad.  [14]  (A.F Ferguson Co. 2010) However the Ministry has been abolished on June 30th,2011 after the 18th amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan ensuring transfer of tourism ministries to the provinces. A.F Ferguson Co. recognized the importance of TDCP in running the tourism industry of Pakistan. The consultants proposed the following roles and functions of TDCP which the organization should adopt: Encouraging the tourism activities and industry in the province Performing the planning and development of tourism sites Offering one window service to facilitate the tourists Offering assistance to the Tourism and Resort Development Department Facilitating the organization and promotion of tourism events and activities Creating an environment which ensures capacity building in tourism industry Encouraging and facilitating public-private partnerships.  [15]  (A.F Ferguson Co. 2010) As per an analysis of tourism management of Pakistan, the stated objectives of PTDC are as follows: To establish and develop tourism infrastructure on an all Pakistan basis To act as an instrument on behalf of the Federal Government for the production of tourist literature and publicity for tourism both in terms of domestic and international. To act as a catalyst to encourage the private sector to play an active role in tourism development. To undertake tour operations and facilitate ground handling facilities for group tours. PTDC has an administrative structure which is responsible to control and operate all its involvement in the tourism sector. These are: Planning and Development Wing/Engineering Department; undertakes identification and implementation of projects concerned with tourism infrastructure such as recreation units, motels, resorts etc. Publicity and Promotion/Marketing Department; undertakes the production and publication of tourist literature in foreign and domestic tourist markets. PTDC Motels Ltd; carry out the management of all hospitality units operated by PTDC in various tourist destinations in Pakistan. Pakistan Tours Ltd; facilitates ground handling and transport facilities for international and domestic tourist groups and also acts as an inbound tour operator.  [16]  (Pakistan Research Repository, 2009) The provincial governments of other provinces have not adequately realized the importance of tourism for which the federal government is partially responsible. As far as only the realization is concerned, after assessing the performance of TDCP and realizing the fact that most of the tourist assets are situated in jurisdiction of NWFP or Khyber Pakhtunkhwaa(KPK), The provincial government of KPK established Sarhad Tourism Corporation (STC) in 1991. The aims and objectives of STC are as follows: To motivate the private sector to step forward and support tourism development in the form of tour operations and accommodation facilities at potentially attractive regions; Provide long-term, leases to private sector for development of properties through Joint ventures with STC; Serve as a spring board for fruitful interaction between the private sector and Government, PTDC for proper development of tourism industry; Cooperate with private sector in developing, distributing and sale of quality information and publicity materials.  [17]  (Pakistan Research Repository, 2009) The 2007 UNESCAP report also suggested ways how governments can channelize the progress of tourism of a country. Real progress can be facilitated by using a wide range of instruments. Many of these have been identified by the World Tourism Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme and are categorized into measurement instruments which include sustainability indicators and monitoring; identification of limits, command and control instruments which include legislation, regulation, rules and licensing; land use planning and development control, voluntary instruments (guidelines and codes of conduct, reporting and auditing, and voluntary certification), supporting instruments (infrastructure provision and management, capacity-building, and marketing and information services) and economic instruments (pricing, charges and taxation; property rights and trading; financial incentives; and voluntary contributions). The right mix of policies and instruments will vary depending on the situation, objectives and government structures (UNESCAP, 2007, p.84).  [18]   The analysis on tourism management sheds light on the fact that over the years, the Ministry of Tourism remained unsuccessful in gaining the respect or confidence of the private sector. Nevertheless, the ministry was not fully empowered to handle the problems faced by tourists since most of the related responsibilities were assigned to other ministries/divisions, hence the focus on the problem solving lacked altogether. Furthermore, lack of funding had serious implications (Pakistan Research Repository, 2009) regarding the effective management of the tourism sector (Pakistan Research Repository, 2009). The Ministry of tourism never proved itself to be a source of effective and meaningful data, hence no comprehensive survey on tourism on its credit (Pakistan Research Repository, 2009). As far as PTDC is concerned, serious problems relating to recruitment, training, management style and finances are prevalent. The ministry is not fully responsible for recruiting the personnel. All the staff is not hired directly by the ministry Therefore a problem of dual management persists as half of the employees (Pakistan Research Repository, 2009) hired by the ministry are generalists whereas half of them hired directly by PTDC acquire inadequate experience. As a result, internal cooperation and coordination lacks among departments hence reporting procedure is also affected. The personnel hired, either by PTDC or Ministry of Tourism are not well trained and sufficiently qualified. Ironically over the years a major chunk of funding received from government (Baloch, 2007) has been spent in administration and staff costs. However, considering the training of personnel in the tourism industry, the Government of Pakistan back in December 1960 established a training institute which was initially a cooking school known as Pakistan Institute of Tourism Hotel Management (PITHM). A 2009 HEC Analysis stated the main function and activity of the Institute is to impart knowledge by training manpower for the Travel and Tourism Indu stry and Hospitality in Pakistan. This is done by seminars, workshops, regular courses and on the job training etc. It cooperates with PIAs training center in Karachi and provides courses for the Pakistan Navy. Furthermore, it offers consultancy services when and where required (Pakistan Research Repository, 2009).  [19]  The analysis also remarked on the condition and the performance of this institution: Since its foundation the Institute has been located in rented buildings, which could not cater for the demands of a professional education institute. Hence this has been a major constraint on its effectiveness and its ability to train students to the standards indicated in its aims and objectives. Lately the institute has moved to a newly ill-constructed building lacking numerous important facilities and equipment and has yet to resolve many problems to enable it to provide better training and facilities and environment for students and staff. For the last decade, the institution has had no official Director and the current Acting Director has inadequate management or training skills and is not compatible with the requirements of the hospitality industry. The existing staff is de-motivated and unqualified as instructors are entrenched in outdated syllabuses and teaching methods. Resultantly, the image of the school throughout the industry is very negative, chiefly due to lack of knowledge as to the industry needs and what the school can provide. The incapability of the school is further compounded by government controls and establishment employment scales where it is not possible to attract national or international qualified trainers at suitable private sector levels.  [20]  (Pakistan Research Repository, 2009) In June 2011, The National Assembly of Pakistan passed the 18th amendment according to which the Ministry of Tourism was devolved into the provinces. In response to this development UNESCO published a report to examine the post-devolution situation in the culture and tourism sector of Pakistan. According to the findings of this report, a number of stakeholders remarked that culture policies are an instrument for the promotion of creativity and must therefore recognize and incorporate heritage, tradition, crafts, classical and the performing arts. The majority of stakeholders both from the public and private sector supported devolution as they felt it would give empowerment to the provincial identities and pride and ownership at grass root level, which was the main purpose of the 18th amendment. The other side of the coin reflects the critical point of view on devolutionary process attributed to the 18th amendment. The stakeholders who hold the particular point of view also include th ose in the Senate Standing Committee on Tourism and Culture. Critiques of the devolutionary process, including those in the Senate Standing Committee on Tourism and Culture, as well as those emerging from stakeholder consultations pointed out that the provinces will not be able to harmonize a cohesive cultural heritage; instead this will lead to its fragmentation, and increase divisiveness within the country. Similarly some senior government representatives in Islamabad also did not support devolution, pointing out that the provinces lack capacity, resources and funds to completely manage cultural departments. Devolution was feared to not cause inter-provincial disharmony, but make communication with key donors more difficult, and cause delays in securing technical assistance. It was thus argued that the Ministry of Culture should remain the focal point and coordinate with the provinces.  [21]   The Role of Private Sector The tourism sector investments in the country are dominated by private sector with the role of public sector mainly as a facilitator. Nearly the entire restaurant, hotel, travel agency and tour operator business is in the private sector. Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) is also operating a limited number of hotels and roadside facilities in areas where the private sector has been reluctant. The Department of Tourist Services (DTS) is responsible for maintaining the standard and categorization of hotel industry. A 2012 report by Planning Commission of Pakistan remarked on the tourism development of Pakistan. The Ministry of Tourism looks after the entire public sector interventions including formulation of policies and overseeing the legal and regulatory framework.  [22]  The hotel and transport business is in the hands of the private sector, which has not contributed much to meeting the development costs. However the Planning Commission of Pakistan has envisaged to strengthen and regulate the private sector institutions operating in the hotel management and training sector in the 2011-2014 MTDF (Medium Term Development Framework) period. The hotel management and training institutes in the country are not delivering the desired results due to lack of management, regulation and teaching staff. Similarly, the host of private sector institutions providing ticketing and travel courses are not regulated which results in variable standards in the sector. As against the annual training needs of the tourism industry of about 3000 skilled staff, the total output of the existing training institutes is only about 500. (Planning Commission, 2012) The Hotel Industry of Pakistan Ali, et al., (2012) highlighted the importance of hospitality industry in South Asia and the current state of hospitality industry in Pakistan: The Hotel industry is among the top three constituents of the world economy after oil and autos and is growing faster than the petroleum and arms. Its larger than agriculture in the U.S.A, automobile industry in Japan and banking in Switzerland. Developing economies of South Asia are in rapid transit towards becoming service economies and therefore competitiveness of hospitality industry is emerging as a crucial factor influencing the overall competitiveness of a country, and Pakistan is no exception to this, where the share of services is increasing. It is unfortunate that instead of growing with international trend, the hospitality industry in Pakistan, co

Social Conformity Essay -- essays research papers

Human beings are defined as ''social animals'' because in every aspects of life they live together, they form a variety of groups and improve relationships with each other. Interaction with others is a natural result of living in society. In the process of interaction, society and its rules has a social impact on each individual. If people face with any kind of social impact such as group pressure, great part of them show conformity by changing their behaviors, ideas, decisions in expected way. A person conforms if he or she chooses a course of action that a majority favors or that is socially acceptable. Some kind of conformity is natural and socially healthy but obeying all the norms, ideas, and decisions without thinking or accepting is harmful for the society and its democratic norms....

In Vitro :: essays research papers

In Vitro Fertilization   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In vitro fertilization is a technique used to fertilize an egg outside of the woman’s body, usually done because of the failure of conception with normal sexual intercourse. For pregnancy to occur, a sperm must unite with an egg released from the ovary during sexual intercourse. Normally this joining, called fertilization, happens within the fallopian tube, which joins the ovary to the uterus. However, in some situations natural conception cannot occur because of factors affecting the couples’ fertility. In Vitro fertilization permits for the amalgamation of the male sperm cell and the female egg to happen in a laboratory instead of taking place in the fallopian tubes where this process would ordinarily happen. When looking at in vitro it seems to be a blessing to couples that cannot have children on their own. It seems to be a way for science to triumph over nature. But in that description lays the controversy. To some this procedure is a life givin g miracle that provides an opportunity for couples, who are by any other means unable to conceive a child, a second chance at bringing life into this world. While others would argue the ethical point claiming that this process is just a cover for infanticide and causing humans to play God. The moral question that arises from this procedure is: in allowing or assisting sperm to penetrate an egg when without help it would have otherwise not been able to do so, are we unnaturally, by human machination, over-riding one of nature’s barricades to inhibit fertilization? Also, if there is some sort of natural check and a reason that certain sperm fail to reach the egg, could it possible be for good reason that they do not? Is it possible that the sperm is ineffective because it obtains some genetic defect that would cause the child some form of inherited disease or some other deficiency? In other words, maybe there is some sort of natural or God-given rationale for filtering out some sperm. If this is true then we could be risking the possibility of manufacturing deformities and inherited diseases by assisting in the overcoming of a theological barrier.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The process of IVF involves five major steps: the first step being the monitoring of the development of the follicles in the woman’s ovaries. The second is aspiration of the follicle’s contents and identification of the eggs.

Summary of Pirates of the Caribbean :: essays research papers

This story is about a boy named Jim Hawkins who lives at an inn that his mother and father run and watch over. So one normal day, a pirate looking man walked into the door for somewhere to stay in for a couple of nights. This pirate looking man was called the captain {Bill}, because he never told the Hawkins family what his real name was. So every day the inn family would provide him with food and shelter and Rum. He would always drink to much rum and he would become every drunk and inconsiderate of others. Jim’s father was getting very sick as the cold winter came along and working so much while running the inn. He soon died and his wife and child had to take care of the inn by themselves. A day or two later Bill the captain had a stroke because of the amount of rum he had drank while he was with the Hawkins family in their inn. Soon as the captain kept on drinking he soon passed away. When he died, Jim and his mother look for a key to open his suitcase which they think they can get their money that Bill had owned them cause of his stay at the inn and the meals they provided for him. The found some interesting things in his ripped coat such as the key which they were looking for, and other materials that shipmates carry with them. They also find a letter, and a treasure map, which they decide to take off for a journey to find the missing treasure that no other pirate or other human-being has come before. While on the road on the start of the journey they notice a lantern shinning about a decent couple feet away coming toward their direction. They were also looking for Bill’s treasure map that someone had given him to look for the treasure, but soon stumbled upon him when they walked into the Hawkis inn and noticed he was dead. So the mad men walk away from the inn from nothing but dead bill. Jim and his mother walk to Mr. Trelany’s house to tell him the news but the maid that answers his door, tells them that he is over the squire’s house. After the joy and excitement of the people that were going on this journey they found a ship and a couple new experienced ship mates.

Racism in Brazil

Introduction Racial disparity and discrimination is not a new concept to any nation. In fact, many were built on the back of slave labor, whether the slaves were indigenous peoples or imported bodies. While many nations have undertaken measures to overcome racial disparity, others have encouraged racial democracy. Brazil, a modern and industrialized nation, suffers from racial discrimination based on their position in the world economy and built on the Ideology of the past.History Brazier's history is rife with racism and slavery, dating back to Its discovery by Pedro Allover Cabal In 1500. Brazil was originally settled with the Intention of harvesting Broadloom. However, over time the profits from that were supplanted by sugar, Brazil became the leading producer of sugar In the Atlantic world. The production of all these exports meant cheap labor was needed. During this time, the Portuguese were sending between 4,000 and 5,000 slaves per year to Brazil from Angola and West Africa: b y the 18th century, one million slaves had been imported (117).The continually shifting landscape meant that Brazier's exports continued to shift. By the time the 1 9th century came around, Brazier's major export was coffee as sugar reduction had shifted to the Caribbean Islands. The continued influx of European slaves and citizens resulted in an uneven population. European labor was generally more skilled and slowly began to overtake slave labor. Around this same time, the abolition of slavery happened in 1888, resulting in a decline in the slave population.By 1888, it was estimated that only a half-million people were slaves, compared to the one-and-a-half million slaves in 1872 (117). This is in part due to the fact that the coffee production process became more and more elaborate, requiring those with pesticides skills to take over. Coffee production soon fell into the hands of a wave of European immigrants, not freed slaves (122). The slaves that were freed often became vagrant s, homeless, Jobless and penniless (Roach, â€Å"Analysis: Brazier's ‘racial democracy†). The history of Brazil continues to inform the current day Brazil.The current day population of Brazil tops 160 million, with about half of that being black. Yet, the black population is nearly absent from all levels of power, meaning â€Å"government, congress, senate, the Judiciary, the higher ranks of the civil service and he armed forces† (Roach, â€Å"Analysis: Brazier's ‘racial democracy†). In 1999, the Minority Rights Group International reported that â€Å"black and mixed race Brazilian still have higher Infant mortality rates, fewer years of schooling, higher rates of unemployment, and earn less for the same work.Black men are more likely to be shot or arrested as crime suspects, and when found guilty, get longer sentences† (Roach, â€Å"Analysis: Brazier's ‘racial democracy†). Racism Persists There are many theories as to why racism continues to persist In modern day Brazil. One thing to look at Is their placement wealth the greater world economy. 22). When the Portuguese settled Brazil, they created a line of trade that focused on Portuguese and the plantation owners became very wealthy, all at the expense of the nearly three million black and mulatto slaves.A truly capitalist world is one that where each countries worth is weighed in terms of their strengths (military, trade, financial, production) and what they can contribute. A superpower such as the United States is naturally more diverse, which means that tolerance and racism are not tolerated as easily in modern day society. Core countries are those that have the retreat strengths and the peripheral countries are the ones that are expendable. Phillips says â€Å"the peripheral countries were exploited by the core, and ‘semi peripheral' countries were exploited by the core and exploited peripheral countries.The relations between these three geopoli tical units are ones built on inequality' (122). Phillips goes on to say that â€Å"similar to the inequality that can be seen in a class system within a country, this template is now spread around the globe to view inequality on a world scale† (122). In other words, Brazil is treated with discrimination based on their trade abilities and overall contribution. This has trickled down so that individuals are also being treated with the same discrimination.It is also important to note that â€Å"racism is fundamentally rooted in processors class structures, historically shifting modes of production, distribution, and consumption, and increasingly, in the unequal exchanges that tie local political economies to the global processes of capitalism† (Phillips 122). Brazier's history of racial prejudice and discrimination has established a mode of living and ideology that persists to this day. It would be too easy to blame slavery on the world economy, but it is safe to say tha t he capitalist world economy has helped perpetuate racial prejudice and discrimination.Slavery existed long before profit was exchanged for labor. As Brazil has grown, â€Å"the means to social mobility after emancipation was closely guarded by the Brazilian white ruling class, who allowed for a pool of relatively less expensive labor consisting mainly of Brazilian natives and other European immigrants† (122). The influx of cheap European labor resulted in the black and mulatto population being pushed aside. After Brazil abolished slavery, the ex-slaves were left with two hoicks: work under the same conditions as when they were slaves or Join the masses of unemployed (Phillips 122).They had additional challenges; they were competing with native Brazilian and European immigrants for a limited number of jobs where the new economic order was wage labor (122). Racism played a major role after the emancipation of the slaves as many of the ex-slaves were discriminated against in t he free Job market. While the shift has been to the detriment of blacks and mulattos, racism has not helped the white population of Brazil (123). Despite the racism running rampant, there is no black movement in Brazil. There is seemingly no racial tension or conflict.Blacks that live in Salvador, who make up 80% of the population, say they feel safer in that environment than they do in the US (Roach, â€Å"Analysis: Brazier's ‘racial democracy'). It is speculated that this is because appearances matter more in Brazil than heritage. In the US, one drop of black ancestry means you are black, while in Brazil, if you appear white, you are perceived as white (Roach, â€Å"Analysis: Brazier's ‘racial democracy'). It can also be noted that the US has a history of violent racism where oppressed populations were treated harshly. Those past grievances have not been forgotten, and in some cases, not forgiven freedom.It would seem as though the US operates under a shadow of racis m, attempting to sweep it under the rug and pretend that equality is real. Brazil does not operate under such false pretenses. Racism is alive and acknowledged. As of the 2010 census, 51% of Brazil identifies itself as black or brown. The government estimates that the income of white Brazilian is more than double that of black or brown Brazilian and that blacks are at a distinct disadvantage in relation to education and access to healthcare (â€Å"Brazilian 2010 Census Highlights Racism Problem†). The racial divide in Brazil is based on a social pyramid.Many will argue that the black community is poor because class, not race, stratifies their society. However, there are many that would disagree. According to Mario Theodore, an activist for social equality believes that â€Å"slavery legacy of injustice and inequality can only be reversed by affirmative action policies, of the kind found in the United States† (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). Yet, it i s also fair to note that in the US, there are many of different races that are in positions of great power and that social class is often dictated by wealth.The history of the US supports the advancement of the white race, but progress is showing that race is beginning to take a backseat to skill set and overall acumen. In Brazil, the race line is well drawn. Most of those in the public eye, such as TV news anchors, doctors, dentists, fashion models, and lawyers are all white. The majority of black and mulatto's are working in the â€Å"blue collar† trade, often deemed the unskilled labor pool. The salary disparity is even more telling. By 2011, the average black or brown worker was earning of what the average white worker made (â€Å"Brazilian 2010 Census Highlights Racism Problem†).Statistics do not differentiate between gender, only race, though it can be assumed that the same problem occurs between gender lines. Affirmative Action Brazil, once considered a â€Å"r acial democracy' is fighting hard to shed that moniker. Racial democracy, in relation to Brazil, is defined as the thought that compared to other nations; racism was actually very minimal in Brazil (Tells, â€Å"Discrimination and Affirmative Action in Brazil†). However, today, most Brazilian concur that Brazil is victim to racial prejudice and discrimination.Blacks and mulattos are the major cities of widespread police violence and often earn half the income of their white counterparts. In addition, television and advertising portray Brazilian society as one that is almost entirely white (Tells, â€Å"Discrimination and Affirmative Action in Brazil†). This is because the working class and elite are almost entirely white, so the melting pot of races exists only in the working class and poor. According to Antonio Riser's, a sociologist, â€Å"It's clear that racism exists in the US. It's clear that racism exists in Brazil.But they are different kinds of racism† ( â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). He continues to argue that the racism itself is nefarious and veiled, unlike the racism that used to run rampant in the US. In Brazil, there was never a UK Klux Klan or enforced segregation or even a ban on interracial marriage (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). Affirmative action is often put into place to attempt to create a racially diverse atmosphere. Most often this is in correlation to the workplace where employers do not discriminate based on race, gender, or religious affiliation.In Brazil, the new affirmative action can be most notably seen in the university setting. By 2008 almost 50% of Brazilian universities have a race-based affirmative action attend a university, students were required to pass a standardized test. Now, leading universities are mandated to allow a fixed percentage of nonwhite students to attend. In addition, they have quotas for indigenous peoples and for the disabled (Tells, â€Å"Dis crimination and Affirmative Action in Brazil†). Even though affirmative action was put in place to help, it is not without controversy.Those that oppose the policies include â€Å"much of the media, private school students, their parents and the schools themselves, scholars and artists who alee the racial democracy ideal and even black students who believe in meritocracy' (Tells, â€Å"Discrimination and Affirmative Action in Brazil†). They maintain that affirmative action does nothing to further racial equality; instead, it merely promotes racial equality without any substance. In addition, many academics are fighting against affirmative action in schools and campaigning against quotas.They argue that enforcing affirmative action is, in itself, inherently an act of racism. It divides people into arbitrary color categories; a feat, which is not as easy as it seems nice much of Brazil, is a country of mixed race (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). They a lso argue that it undermines the equality of the admissions process, even though in the past, nepotism and whom you know have been the quickest routes to advancement (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†).Despite these arguments, studies have shown that many of the â€Å"quota† students are performing academically as well or better than their white counterparts. This can be attributed to the fact that many of those white students were admitted because they had the means and money to prepare for the entrance exam (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). The next target is the labor market, a place where affirmative action could show positive benefits. In the United States, only 12% of the population is black, yet we have a black president, numerous black politicians and millionaires.In contrast, Brazil has a limited number of black people in positions of power. Because of this, some private sector companies are making racial diversity a requirement in th eir recruiting process (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). But again, the same problem occurs that showed up in the university setting. Just because a person is off different race does not mean they are qualified for the Job at hand. It often follows that work production and quality decline because employers are hiring based on color, not skill level.Unlike the US, affirmative action in Brazil is being done in a very Brazilian way. There is little to no government interference or enforcement. Universities and private companies are making their own policies. The Supreme Court is involved, but is slow to act in hopes that society will figure out their own issues (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). Society is moving fast though. Businesses and advertisers are now targeting black populations, but changing the minds of the consumer sector is n easy task compared to changing the mindset of racism ingrained after years and years of overt racism.Many Brazilia n assume that blacks and browns belong on the bottom of the social ladder, making the push for proactive change difficult (â€Å"Race in Brazil: Affirming a Divide†). Solution? In order for Brazil to pull down the racial divide and move beyond racial democracy, the boundaries between black and white need to be weakened. There is but despite this, the racial division is not nearly as rigid as they are in the US. An interesting note is that most Brazilian perceive their culture to be an example how ace and culture can coexist peacefully.Despite this somewhat astonishing claim, it is still believed that 90% of the white population is prejudiced against the black and mulatto population. However, their idea of racism differs greatly from person to person so it is difficult to Judge what this really means. In a recent event in Brazil, a six-year-old boy was kicked out of a pizza polar supposedly for the color of his skin. According to the restaurant manager, he mistook the young bo y as a local street boy. The boys parents have since then filed a complaint with the local police department ND are also considering taking legal actions.This story launched a huge race-debate in Brazil (Phillips â€Å"Does Brazil Have a Race Problem†). While stories like this continue to gain traction, it is hard to figure out where Brazil goes from here. Affirmative action plans seem like a step in the right direction, but that will not be enough to change 500 years in ingrained behavior. Brazil will need a complete economic and social shift if it wishes to eradicate racism. If the US is a learning curve, Brazil has a lot of work to do, and so does the US when it comes down to reality. ConclusionMany people around the world see Brazil as a country full of racial diversity where racism Just simply does not exist, where as others claims Brazil suffers from invisible racism where blacks earn less, live less, and are educated less. Although blacks make up for most of the popula tion in Brazil they are still grossly under-represented in higher education, media, and politics. The continued racial divide will only be removed when government and individuals work together to not only acknowledge the problem, but find a way to move above and beyond racism and look at the individual for the value, not their skin color.

Children’s Play and Their Physical Health

With the presence of the media, transport patterns, and the physical environment of today, it has been suggested that the current conditions of the society have reduced the consistency and opportunities for children’s play, harming their play health and physical development as a result. Because of this, it was noted that such reduction has been a significant concern in terms of health perspective for children (â€Å"Play Health and Physical Development for Children,† 2009). Play is often associated with childhood, a phase that stresses the concepts of natural creativity and the liberty to play. Hence, it is highly important to encourage children to engage in plays with a creative format channeled towards learning. The purpose of play for children may not be explicitly expressed. However it should be taken into consideration that plays are something that actually children feel; an avenue where they can express themselves. It is an activity where they gain skills and experiment. Most importantly, play, especially the physical ones, provides positive outcomes that could be beneficial for the children in the long run (Jambor & Van Gils, 2007). According to researches, physically active children are more likely to develop their sensori-motor skills and physical health at a higher level compared to children who do not play at all. Because physically active children learn how to use their body parts in order to experience the sense of play, they develop more of their gross motor skills, agility, strength, and coordination. Hence, active playing, especially outdoor games, serves as children’s physical exercise and promotes their health welfare (Jambor & Van Gils, 2007). To further strengthen such claim, studies on children’s play in relation to physical health reveal that physically active children are less likely to develop chronic health conditions over a lifetime. Compared to sedentary children who are prone to hypertension and obesity, physically active ones have a lower risk of acquiring premature illness or death (Roberts, 1992). Other than the physical health benefits of children’s play, it was also found to contribute to a child’s emotional and psychological development, cognitive and learning stances, as well as their socialization and self awareness (Jambor & Van Gils, 2007). Based on the evidences presented, it can be inferred that promoting children’s play, most especially outdoor and physical play, is beneficial for the physical health of children. Aside from this, such activity is also seen as a child’s social arena and an imperative process of learning things outside the book. In this regard, the benefits of play do not only restrict itself to physical heath, but it also contributes to the emotional and cognitive maturity of the children which can help them become better adults in the future.

How does Priestley express ideas about Eric Birling in ‘An Inspector Calls’ Essay

Eric’s Drinking One explanation for Eric’s drinking perhaps is the hypocrisy of his family, and Eric feels he has to join in with the male dominated culture in society. For example when Gerald suggests he is going to be careful Eric expresses his amusement; â€Å"Eric suddenly guffaws. His parents look at him† this is the strongest suggestion yet that Eric is aware of Gerald’s affair, if not the exact specifics. When asked by Sheila what was causing his amusement Eric replies; â€Å"I don’t know – really. Suddenly I felt I just had to laugh† this shows how Eric defends the male and shows how Eric has to defend the male power not the female power. This could suggest that the hypocrisy of Gerald who is highly esteemed by his family had led to Eric’s frustration and led him on a path to alcoholism. Eva’s Sacking + Capitalism Eric clearly shows much more sympathy to Priestley’s views than that of his father. Discussing Eva Smith’s death, Eric suggests; â€Å"Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages? We try for the highest possible prices? †¦ you said yourself she was a good worker† this shows how Eric is questioning not only the decision making of his father but also Mr. Birling’s view on society. Mr. Birling is a keen advocate of everybody â€Å"looking after himself† but when a lower class workers attempts to improve their life changes Mr. Birling is contradictory and fires Eva. Showing how Eric’s rhetorical question of â€Å"Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages?† shows how Eric is almost representing Priestley’s views of the selfish, aggressive form of capitalism, which Mr. Birling represents. Affair When Eric’s affair comes to light, his choice of language leaves ambiguity to the reader about the nature of Eric’s affair. Did Eric force himself upon Eva? Or was Eric showing sympathy and attention to an innocent girl? Eric states to the inspector; â€Å"She wasn’t the usual sort. But – well, I suppose she didn’t know what to do† by suggesting she wasn’t â€Å"the usual sort† suggests that it is Eva innocence and desperation that causes Eric to be attracted to Eva, this could lead us to have sympathy for Eric. As if here were to see Eva not purely as a prostitute but also as somebody who can change and reform shows a more sympathetic side to Eric; that everyone can change. However the ambiguity comes from the statement â€Å"well, I suppose she didn’t know what to do† this sounds strongly like rape from Eric. That he has clearly forced himself upon her with Eva not knowing how to react. Again highlighted in the following remark â€Å"Yes, I insisted – it seems† again suggesting how Eric was the one dominating the situation. Although Eric’s guilt is evident when he tries to express doubt on his wrongdoing with the quote â€Å"it seems† showing how Eric is not comfortable with the sin he has committed. If this were to be the case it paints a much darker picture of Eric; suggesting he had no genuine car for Eva, but was only interested in the need to fulfill his sexual desire. Sexism/Prostitution Eric’s relationship with Eva continues to lack any real substance and highlights Priestley’s thoughts that woman have little choice about their choices in order to survive. As Eric continues to describe his relationship with Eva he describes â€Å"And this time we talked a bit† for a couple to only â€Å"talked a bit† is hardly a romantic statement, and suggests that Eric pretty much had sex with Eva straight away. The fact that Eric also couldn’t â€Å"remember her name or where she lived† shows how from Eva’s point of view Eric was someone who was abusive with her, and didn’t seem to look after her. The only reason for Eva to continue to associate with Eric would be because of the extreme poverty she faces; and showing how despite the abysmal way she is treated she has no choice but to accept the dominance of men. Learning His Lesson After the Inspector has left, Priestley does give the reader an opportunity to take a more optimistic view about what Eric’s future may hold. After his mother has condemned Eric outraging; â€Å"I’m absolutely ashamed of you† Eric’s reply shows a sign of maturity and of a genuine capacity to change responding, â€Å"Well, I don’t blame you. But don’t forget I am ashamed of you as well – yes both of you† the fact that Eric is now admitting shame on himself could suggest he is now in the frame of mindset to change his ideals and values. The way Eric also condones his parents also sounds remarkably mature saying â€Å"But don’t forget I am ashamed of you as well† this shows how Eric is condemning his parents in a very authoritative way, and turning the tables on his parents using mature demeanour. Eric continues to ridicule his parents, particularly expressing doubts over his father’s viewpoints. In one of his final lines Eric remarks; â€Å"You told us a man had to make his own way†¦and then one of those cranks walked in – The Inspector (laughs bitterly.) I didn’t notice you told him it’s every man for himself† the way that Eric uses repetition of his fathers notion about â€Å"every man for himself† shows how Eric ridicules Mr Birling’s views on Priestley’s behalf to show how many of the beneficiaries of capitalism believe in that principal; except those who need to be looked after the most. The message from Priestley that no matter how flawed or wealthy the character everybody has the ability to change.

Power and Politics in Organization

Power and Politics in Organizations: Public and Private Sector Comparisons Joseph LaPalombara Wolfers Professor of Political Science and Management School of Management Yale University A chapter for the â€Å"Process of Organizational Learning† section of the Handbook of Organizational Learning, ed. Meinolf Dierkes, A. Berthoin Antal, J. Child & I. Nonaka. Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming. DRAFT: Please do not cite without author’s permission. Power and Politics in Organizations: Public and Private Sector ComparisonsJoseph LaPalombara Yale University Political Organizations and Their Milieu Organizational learning derives most of its knowledge from research on organizations in the private sector, particularly from the study of the firm. Its rich interdisciplinary quality is reflected in the range of social sciences that have contributed to the field’s robust development. The contribution from political science, however, has been minimal (reasons are s uggested in the chapter on ‘politics’ by LaPalombara in this volume).The mutual failure of political scientists to pay more systematic attention to organizational learning and of organizational learning specialists to extend their inquiries into the public/political sphere is unfortunate in at least three senses. First, a general theory of organizational learning is unlikely to emerge unless and until what is claimed to be known about this phenomenon is shown to be the case (or not) in the public/political sphere as well.Second, sufficient evidence in political science—even if not gathered with organizational learning as the central focus—shows that organizations in the public/political sector do differ in significant ways from those in the private sphere. And third, considerations of power and its exercise are so ubiquitous in public/political-sector organizations, indeed they are so central to an understanding of these bodies, that one wonders why such m eager attention has been paid to this concept in the literature on organizational theory and organizational learning.The present chapter is intended to show that the integration of political science into the field of organizational learning will be improved and that knowledge about organizational learning itself will be deepened if increased attention is focussed on two general questions: What characteristics of organizations in the public/political sector distinguish them from organizations in the private sector? And what are some of the implications of these differences for the overall field of organizational learning?The Normative Dimension The answer to the first question must be that one and perhaps the most salient distinguishing characteristic of public/political-sector bodies is that they are normative at their core. For organizations in the private sector, utility and efficiency are universally accepted as primary values. Theories about them are naturally based on the assum ption that these bodies are organized and behave according to rational principles that reflect these values and not other considerations.This assumption, however, remains so central to writing about management that, as shown below, it actually serves to impede almost any serious attention to power and politics in private-sector, for-profit entities. To be sure, any portrayal of private-sector, for-profit entities as monolithic structures exclusively and rationally oriented to the market and the so-called bottom line is much too stark and oversimplified.Even when this flaw is recognized or conceded, however, organizations in the public/political sector are quite different, so the logic and rationality that may apply to a private-sector body cannot easily be extrapolated to them. These differences are also reflected in the ways in which public-sector organizations relate to the learning process. The fact that they typically carry very heavy and distinctive normative baggage is only on e of many dimensions along which differences may be assessed.Normative considerations are endemic to public/political-sector organizations, first because they are directly or indirectly involved in what Easton (1953) once called ‘the authoritative allocation of values’(p. 129). This phrase is a shorthand way of describing a government’s vast organizational apparatus that engages in a wide range of activities over people. These activities typically include matters over which even the meekest of persons affected will argue and fight with each other, sometimes violently. These contrasts, or differences in preferences (i. e. hat government should do or not do), apply not just to the ends of government but also to the means chosen to bring these ends to fruition. In Lasswell’s (1936) brutally unvarnished observation, politics is about ‘Who Gets What, When, How’. Where organizations are constrained or hemmed in by normative considerations, appeals t o logic and rationality do not travel far or reach many receptive ears. Even when political issues appear to be settled and consensus is reached, say, on the desirability of a given policy, normatively driven questions will arise over the mode or method of policy achievement.Because these policies involve things that happen (or do not happen) to human beings, considerations of expediency and efficiency will often take a backseat to normative ideas about goal achievement. In Etheridge’s (1981) words, such normative matters also raise the issue of ‘what should government learn and what should government not learn’ (p. 86). To put it bluntly, learning things about goal-setting or policy implementation that may be rational and efficient but that are palpably unfeasible politically is not only a waste of resources but also a one-way ticket to political bankruptcy.This and other aspects of public/political-sector organizations to be discussed below make for a good deal of messiness—in organizational boundaries; in the specification of organizational missions and authority; in the functional, territorial, and hierarchical division of labor that relates to policy-making and policy execution; and so on. This messiness cautions against a too-easy extrapolation to the public sphere of agency theory or concepts such as principal–agent relationships. These theoretical frameworks may work quite well for the private sector, where one finds much clearer statements of urpose or of means and ends and where the boundaries demarcating organizations, their authority, and their responsibility are much more unambiguously delineated than in the public political sphere. To cite the most obvious example (see Mayntz and Scharpf 1975, for example), in the public sphere it is not easy to separate, say, the legislature (as ‘principal’) and the bureaucracy (as ‘agent’) for the simple reason that in many circumstances the bureaucrat s not only administer policies but also de facto make policies.In fact, the fabric of public policy-making and its administration is typically a seamless admixture of official and unofficial bodies interacting together in ways that make it next to impossible to distinguish principals from agents. This aspect is in part what I mean by messiness. Other Dimensions of Differentiation. It will help clarify the above exposition if one considers some of the additional dimensions that differentiate organizations in the public/political sphere from those in the private sector. The distinctions drawn are not a matter of black or white but rather one of degree.In every instance, however, differentiation is at least a caution against thinking that differences between the private and public/political spheres are superfluous, misleading, irrelevant, or nonexistent. The dimensions are the organization’s (a) purposes or goals, (b) accountability, (c) autonomy, (d) orientation to action, and (e) environment. Purposes and Goals Political organizations are typically multipurpose. The public policies they are expected to make or administer will often be quite vague, diffuse, contradictory, and even in conflict with each other (Levin and Sanger 1994: 64–8).What governments do is so vast and touches on so many different aspects of organized society that it would be astonishing if these policies did not have such characteristics. Even where single agencies of government are concerned, their purposes, goals, specific marching orders—to say nothing of their procedures and actual behavior—will rarely be coherent or logically consistent. Not only are the mandates of government normally quite vague and diffuse (Leeuw, Rist, and Sonnichsen 1994: 195; Palumbo 1975: 326), they may not be known to many of the people who make up the organizations designated to carry them through.It is not unusual for such organizations to have no goals at all (Abrahamsson 1977), or to have goals that appear to be quite irrational (Panebianco 1988: 204–19; 262–74). For this reason rational-actor models, in which it is assumed that preferences are ‘exogenous’ to the organizations themselves, rightly draw criticism when applied to public/political organizations (Pfeffer 1997). Accountability In the private sector, a timeworn cliche is that those who manage publicly held firms are accountable to their shareholders.As Berle and Means (1933) long ago established, this claim is largely a myth. If the ensuing decades have changed this situation at all, it is only in the influence now exercised over the firm by some of the rather large institutional investors as well as by some stock analysts. Occasionally, even the mass media may influence what a corporation does. The corporate community’s relatively recent references to management’s accountability to stakeholders does not make the publicly held firm similar to public/politica l organizations.In comparison with those who are in public office or who manage governmental and other political organizations, corporate managers live in splendid freedom. Paying attention to stakeholders is, like many other aspects of corporate policy, a matter of management’s choice. In the public/political sphere, accountability to a wide spectrum of individuals and organizations is an inescapable fact of organizational life. People in the public/political sphere who fail or refuse to understand this fact spend very little time there.Public-sector officials, especially those who occupy governmental office, whether appointive or elective, wisely pay attention to and worry about many constituencies, all of which are more or less ready and able to apply sanctions if their wishes or advice are not followed. The vaunted autonomy of the executive branch is much more limited than one supposes (Levin and Sanger 1994: 17). In all democratic systems, what the executive does is subj ect to oversight by legislatures and to challenge in the courts. And the latter two institutions are themselves subject to checks by still others.All of them are under continual scrutiny by outsiders prepared to intervene. In addition, many activities that are considered legitimate, and even praiseworthy, in the private sphere would subject public office-holders to arrest, prosecution, and possible imprisonment were they to practice them (Gortner, Mahler, and Nicholson 1987: 60–4). Consider, for example, the public’s quite different reactions to words like ‘broker’ and ‘influence peddler’—or the variety of meanings ascribed to a term like ‘corruption’.As noted by Child and Heavens (in this volume), the universal condition of governmental and other public-sector organizations is that they are subject to constitutions, laws, administrative regulations, judicial decisions, executive orders, and so on. The actions of these pers ons called upon to manage these organizations are constrained by external and internal de facto rules, and limitations (Rainey and Milward 1981). Comparable examples of accountability in the private sector are rare. Public/political-sector organizations are also for more ‘porous’ than private firms are.The former are easily permeated by organized outside interest groups determined to pull these organizations, and therefore their leaders and managers, in different policy directions. The mass media (often the instruments of powerful interests in civil society) also often make quite explicit and sometimes contradictory demands on them. Because these organizations are presumably representatives of the public and are expected to behave in its interest, the press is expected to be especially vigilant on behalf of the public. Above all, public-sector organizations in democracies are subject to the influence of political parties.These parties have their own preference orderings of issues and their own sense of the public policies required to deal with them. Their agendas are essentially normative; rarely do they brook qualification or interference on grounds of efficiency or similar considerations (Gortner et al. 1987: 65–9). Members of governmental organizations, even when protected by civil service laws, defy political parties at considerable risk. This exposure may be extreme in the United States, but it is endemic to European and other parliamentary systems as well. AutonomyThis condition of multiple accountability, formal and informal in nature (Cohen and Axelrod 1984), implies that political organizations are considerably less autonomous than private-sector organizations. Not only are the formal chains of command multiple and complex, but informal influences and pressures often limit, sometimes drastically, the degrees of freedom open to persons in these organizations. Although managers in the private sector are also not free to act exactly a s they might prefer, their organizations (as long as they operate within the law) are immensely more autonomous than public/political sector organizations are.Two additional characteristics relating to autonomy are worth noting. First, not only the goals of these organizations may not only be dictated from the outside, they may also be dependent on other external bodies to achieve them. Lawmakers need the executive branch, as do the courts, to have their policies enforced. Central governments need regional or local governments. A single policy may require the coordination and collaboration of different governmental bodies, many of which are in competition or conflict with each other.And, as I noted earlier, successful goal achievement may in part also lie in the hands of political parties and interest groups. Furthermore, governmental bodies or agencies often disagree about goals and policies. Evaluations of how well or poorly organizations are doing will be driven not by objective criteria (assuming they are available) but rather by political ideology and partisanship. Even within the same government, existing organizations will be in conflict over policies, such as in the case of ministries and departments that spend money while others have to worry about deficits, exchange rates, inflation, and so on.Even in highly authoritarian or dictatorial political systems, such factors make organizations in the public/political sphere, if not radically different in kind from their counterparts in the private sector, then certainly different in the valence of the factors that I have been enumerating. To summarize, the missions of these public/political bodies, their membership, the resources provided for operations, the rewards and punishments for good or bad goal achievement, and often the sheer survival of the organization itself are all matters that typically lie outside the organization itself.Hence, before taking initiatives, persons in political and governmental organizations will make careful internal and external assessments. First, they seek to discover how their superiors or immediate colleagues may feel about a policy or mode of policy implementation. Second, they look to how this policy or mode of implementation will sit with those internal or external forces that can impinge on their professional careers, their economic well-being, or the welfare of the organization itself.Third, they make assessments about what will lie in the way of their ambitions, including, perhaps, their desire to make and enforce given policies. This basic pattern suggests that these organizations are under enormous pressure to engage in learning. Attention will certainly be paid to other governmental agencies, political parties, labor unions, trade associations, religious or ethnic groups, the courts, the mass media, professional associations, the corporate community, and other political and governmental jurisdictions at home or abroad that may affect the org anization’s well-being.The list is very long of constituencies that wield enough power, formal or otherwise, to either dictate or veto certain policies or facilitate or nullify their successful implementation (Dean 1981: 133). Failures to perform calculations of this kind and to learn about these things—and at a reasonably high level of competence—will hobble or defeat the persons or organizations involved. The corporate community has taken to engaging in somewhat similar scanning in recent years, largely because of the internationalization of the firm.When managers extend their operations abroad, they come to appreciate the value, indeed the necessity, of scanning these new environments for aspects that are not, strictly speaking, directly related to the market. As noted above this scanning has also been practiced at home, for national and local governments have come to exercise jurisdiction over matters that affect the life and particularly the profit or loss of private enterprise. One can generalize this tendency by noting that managers are increasingly impelled to engage in scanning whenever gaps begin to appear between a corporation’s policies and its actual performance.Failure to catch sight of such gaps before the media do can carry severe consequences. Orientation to Action The conditions described above do not encourage much initiative by public/political-sector organizations. Action tends to be reactive, not proactive, and prophylactic, not innovative. Fresh ideas are typically viewed as threats to a delicate equilibrium between internal and external forces. Few people wish to risk taking steps that might trigger chain reactions with unknown consequences.Conservatism, not risk-taking, becomes the modal orientation to action. Persons in the private sector, and the mass media, lament attitude, sometimes stridently. They overlook, perhaps, that they themselves are partly responsible for the shortcomings that they criticize. C onservatism also grows out of the fact that these organizations are much more tied to tradition and more deeply institutionalized than is true in the private sector. These traits, too, make them extremely resistant to change.Whether legislatures (Cooper 1975), political parties (Panebianco 1988), or bureaucratic agencies (Powell and DiMaggio 1991; Scott 1995) are meant, the length of time they have been around will greatly condition what the organization is capable of doing, including its capacity to learn and, on this basis, to change. Max Weber’s (1958) reference to bureaucracy’s ‘dead hand’ (p. 228) suggests that this type of conservatism is brought about by the very same characteristics that he associated with legal-rational authority systems.Some writers have labeled this phenomenon ‘strong institutionalization’ (Panebianco 1988: 53). Others have called it the embeddedness of values, or norms, that affect the cognitive systems of organiza tions (Herriott, Levinthal, and March 1985), the governmental sphere, therefore, endless examples show that efforts to reform these organizations fail more often than not (Destler 1981: 167–70). This pattern does not mean that the bureaucrats who run these organizations are beyond anyone’s control or that change is impossible (Wood and Waterman 1994).It does mean, however, that organizational change is extraordinarily difficult to carry off, given the magnitude of inertial forces (Kaufman 1981). The budget process and goal displacement in the public/political sphere are additional factors that impinge on an orientation to action. For instance, not only are public budgets controlled from outside the organizations that depend on these allocations, in the short and medium terms, they can be modified and redirected only minimally, and at the margins. This circumstance is one reason why political scientists who wish to identify the most powerful groups and organizations, wi thin government tself and within civil society, will profile public budgetary allocations over fairly long periods of time. Goal displacement occurs when the personal interests and expediency of organizational leaders and members come to dominate and replace the purpose(s) of the organization itself. This tendency is ubiquitous in the political sphere. Cooper (1975) nicely summed it up in his observation on the U. S. Congress: He found that institution ‘quite vulnerable to the deleterious effects the pursuit of residual goals [of its members] involves. These self-regarding goals] distort policy orientations and block institutional reforms by making individual self interest or collective partisan advantage the focus of attention and the criterion of action’ (p. 337). Mayhew (1974) found that the best explanation for the action orientation of members of Congress is the strength of each member’s the desire be reelected. In extreme form, and in many different types o f organizations, these characteristics actually result in a transformation of the organization itself (Perrow 1972: 178–87).The Environment Because the environment of organizations in the public/political sphere is so strongly normative, the policies enacted there are not only temporary but also contested in their implementation every step of the way both inside and outside government. Knowing about these aspects of their environment, the managers of public/political organizations engage in a predictable type of environmental scanning and learning. For example, they learn whether to pay more attention to the legislature or to the executive office (Kaufman 1981).In order to be at least minimally effective in their environments, the organizations involved must learn the ways and means of overcoming the kinds of constraints that I have been summarizing (Levin and Sanger 1994: 66–8, 171–6). Indeed, considerations of organizational efficiency may be and often are ent irely irrelevant to decision-making and choice in the political sphere. Successful ‘entrepreneurs’ in this context are the ones who learn how to survive and/or help their policies survive in an environmental landscape full of dangerous surprises and subject to frequent and radical change.The basic knowledge to be internalized is that this struggle will remain continuous and that space for freedom of action will not last long. It is these qualities—ambiguity, messiness, and continuous struggle and conflict—in the political and governmental environment that lead political scientists to give considerable attention to power and its distribution both among and within organizations. That attention remains intense, notwithstanding that power is an elusive concept invariably laden with all sorts of normative claims about to what type of power is legitimate and what type is not.In political science there is fairly broad agreement (Dahl 1968) that power is the abili ty, through whatever means, of one to person make another do his or her bidding, even and particularly in circumstances in which doing so is not what the other person wishes or prefers. Power and Organizations The Role and Anatomy of Power Struggles Power, and the struggle over it, describe the essence of the political process. Rothman and Friedman (in this volume) note that scholars writing on organizational learning rarely take conflict and conflict resolution into consideration.They add that organizational conflict, even in the hands of authors as skilled as March and Olsen (1976), is not mentioned as one of the factors that may inhibit the successful development of a learning cycle (see also March 1966). This neglect stems in part from the tendency, widespread in both the corporate community and management literature, to consider conflict itself as something highly undesirable and potentially pathological and, therefore, as something to be defeated (Hardy and Clegg 1996: 627â₠¬â€œ8; Pfeffer 1981: 2–9).It cannot be without negative consequences, either for the theory of organizational learning or for attempts to apply it in the workplace, that such organizations are almost never studied from the vantage point of power and of the competition that takes place to create and maintain control of it or wrest it from others (Berthoin Antal 1998; Dierkes 1988; Hardy and Clegg 1996: 631). One author (Kotter 1979: 2) noted that the open seeking of power is widely considered a sign of bad management.Indeed, the authors of management literature not only skirt the behavior associated with power struggles but also condemn it as ‘politicking’, which is seen as parochial, selfish, divisive, and illegitimate (Hardy and Clegg 1996: 629). Kotter (1979) found, for example, that in 2,000 articles published by the Harvard Business Review over a twenty-year period, only 5 of them included the word ‘power’ in their titles. This finding is astound ing. It suggests that power is treated like a dirty little family secret: Everyone knows it’s there, but no one dares come right out to discuss it.One might imagine, though incorrectly, that the situation has changed for the better in recent decades. An examination of the Harvard Business Review with Kotter’s same question in mind shows that only 12 of more than 6,500 articles published in the period from 1975 to mid-1999 contained the word ‘power’ in their titles and that 3 contained the word ‘conflict’. ‘Leadership’ appeared in nine titles. In a sample of abstracts of these articles, one finds, as expected, the term ‘power’ somewhat more often than in the article’s titles.But the term is almost never treated as a central concept that orients the way the researcher looks at an organization or develops propositions about its internal life. This finicky, keep-it-in-the-closet attitude toward power is puzzling. F or political scientists, the question of power in organizations is central for many reasons: because power is held unequally by its members, because there is a continuous struggle to change its distribution, because these inequalities and efforts to change them inevitably lead to internal tensions.A persistent quest in political science, therefore, is to illuminate the structural aspects of public/political management that permits those involved to confront and handle power confrontations without defeating the purpose of the organization itself. Is There a Power Struggle? The puzzle of inattention to power in the fields of organizational theory and organizational learning is all the more intriguing given that leading organizational theorists, such as Argyris and Schon (1978, 1996) and Perrow (1972), have certainly addressed this matter.For example, Perrow treated organizational traits such as nepotism and particularism as means by which leaders of economic and noneconomic organizati ons maintain their power within them. Because these organizations are the tools of those who lead them and can be used to accumulate vast resources, a power struggle typically occurs over their control (pp. 14–17). And because of goal displacement that may accompany such power struggles, organizations may well become ‘things-in-themselves’ (pp. 188–9).It is possible that leading theorists such as Argyris and Schon (1978, 1996) and Senge (1990) have themselves been excessively reticent in treating phenomena such as power struggles within the firm (Coopey 1995). It may be that corporate managers are in denial and therefore loathe to acknowledge that even they, like their counterparts in politics, are playing power games. Firms, and the literature about them, stress the beauty of teamwork and team players. Plants are organized around work teams and quality circles. Mission statements are endlessly reiterated.Human resource managers expend enormous energy inst illing the firm’s culture as a distinctive way of doing things. People who excel at the approved traits are rewarded with promotions and stock options. All these practices might be cited as evidence that corporate behavior is instrumentally rational and that the search for power, especially for its own sake, is alien to the firm. This way of thinking and describing things leaves little room for attention to the power games that lie at the center of most organizational life.Thus, making decisions about corporate strategic plans and the budgetary allocations that go with them; defining of core businesses and the shedding of what is not ‘core’; effecting mergers, acquisitions, and alliances; and carrying out radical corporate restructuring that may separate thousands of persons from their jobs and yet dazzlingly reward others would typically be seen by political scientists as behavior that is quite similar to the kind of power struggles that take place every day in public-sector organizations.Behind the veil of corporate myth and rhetoric, managers obviously know about this aspect of their environment as well. So do writers for the financial newspapers, where words such as ‘power struggle’ appear much more frequently than they do in the management journals. How could it be otherwise when the efforts at leveraged buyouts, struggles to introduce one product line and abolish others, and differences over where and how best to invest abroad take on the monumental dimensions reported in the press?It would be astonishing if the persons involved in these events were found to actually believe that considerations of personal and organizational power are not germane to them. Nevertheless, as Hardy and Clegg (1996) noted, ‘the hidden ways in which senior managers use power behind the scenes to further their position by shaping legitimacy, values technology and information are conveniently excluded from analysis. This narrow definition o bscures the true workings of power and depoliticizes organizational life’ (p. 629). Attempts to correct the queasy orientation to the reality of conflict and power struggles have been relatively rare.One reason is that not just the actors in the corporate community but also students of such things come to believe in the mythologies about empowered employees, concern for the stakeholders, the rationality of managerial decisions, and the pathology of power-seeking within organizations. Their belief is a pity in that, without doubt, the structure of power, explicit or implied rules about its use, and the norms that attach to overt and covert power-seeking will deeply affect the capacity of the organization to learn (Coopey 1995).In any case, there can be no doubting the fact, however much it may continue to be obscured in the corridors of corporate power, that struggles of this kind deeply affect corporate life its external behavior; and who gets what, when, and how within these institutions (Coopey 1995: 202–5). The Benefits of Power Struggle Power struggle, of course, is not the only aspect of organizations worth study, and the world of politics is not just Hobbesian in nature. Cooperation is the obverse of conflict.How power is defined and whether the definition reflects left-wing or right-wing bias makes a difference in thinking about or conceptualizing the salience of power in organizations (Hardy and Clegg 1996: 623–5). In particular, it is essential that one avoid any definition or relatively broad conceptualization that does not take into account that, in any organization the existing ‘rules of the game’ even if they are considered highly rational and ‘legitimate’, constitute in themselves the outcome of an earlier (and typically ongoing) struggle over control of an organization’s resources (Hardy and Clegg 1996: 629).When the ubiquitous existence of power struggle within organizations is acknowledged and put into proper perspective, when power-seeking (even when the impulse is entirely ego-centered and not driven by organizational needs) is accepted as normal behavior, and when it is recognized that no existing organizational structure is entirely neutral, only then can one hope to clarify what kind of single-loop or double-loop learning is likely to occur.For example, Coopey (1995) argued, correctly in my view, that where the distribution of power within an organization is hierarchical and asymmetrical, the type of organizational learning that proceeds in such contexts will tend to buttress the status quo. Their reasoning makes sense not just because, for example, the learning process tends to favor senior managers but also because the kind and quality of information to which those managers have access becomes, in itself, an instrument for exercising and preserving one’s favorable position in the power hierarchy.In the public sector, double-loop learning is even more imp eded and therefore rarer than in the private sphere. The reason is that politics, in both the organizational environment and political organizations, actually infuses every aspect of what public-sector organizations are and what they do. The more important the sphere of action or the issues treated by these bodies and the more public attention they draw, the more difficult it will be to reach consensus.And once consensus is reached, the more improbable it will be that anyone will either want to modify it or succeed in doing so—no matter what the feedback about the policies and their efficacy may turn out to be (Smith and Deering 1984: 263–70). Double-loop learning in the public sphere is impeded also by the formal separation of policy-making and policy implementation, as for example between legislative and administrative bodies. As noted earlier, policies are infrequently the choices of the organizations called on to implement them.In this setting, endemic to governmen tal systems, certain types of impediments to organizational learning tend to materialize. On the principal’s side, there may not be sufficient time, or technical competence, or interest to learn what is actually going on with policy implementation. The probability is low, therefore, that those who make policy and set organizational goals will ever get information that might encourage a realistic articulation of goals and a rational specification of the means to be used in goal achievement.Organized interest groups are well aware of this gap. As a consequence, their typical strategy is to keep fighting for what they want, not only when alternative policies are up for consideration but also (sometimes particularly) after an unwanted policy has formally been adopted but must still face the vagaries of being carried out. On the agent’s side, whatever is learned about policy implementation that might urge a change of methods or of the policy itself may never be articulated at all, for to do so might upset an existing political equilibrium.Not only are these equilibria difficult to obtain in the first place, they often also involve an unspoken, symbiotic relationship—often dubbed the ‘Iron Triangle’ (e. g. Heclo 1978: 102)—between a specialized legislative committee, a bureaucratic agency responsible for administering the specialized policies, and the organized interests that benefit from particular policies, particular ways of implementing these policies, or both. Potential learning that would upset this balance of forces finds very rough sledding.The treatment of whistle-blowers, who sometimes go public with revelations of misguided or distorted policies or of bad methods used in their administration, is eloquent evidence of this problem. One way to overcome the stasis implied by these tendencies is to encourage power struggles, not to obscure them (Lindblom 1971: 21–42, 64–7). Nothing will galvanize the atten tion of politicians and bureaucrats more than learning that organized groups with a vested interest in a given policy and large numbers of faithful voters are unhappy about a particular aspect of public policy.When these groups lie outside the Iron Triangle, they are far less inhibited by considerations of equilibria then when they are inside it. This single-issue focus is indeed one of the reasons why even small and not well-financed public advocacy groups can sometimes be very effective in bringing about change (Heclo 1978). The trick is to maximize transparency, to encourage more group intervention as well as prompt the media to provide more, and more responsible, investigative reporting than they usually offer.Today it appears that the Internet is quickly becoming an important instrument for the timely, accurate, and detailed exposure, now on a global scale, of conditions that require correction. The organizational learning implications of this development are potentially enormo us. Increased transparency implies, if nothing else, a more democratic, capillary diffusion and sharing of information (see also Friedman, Lipshitz, and Overmeer in this volume).In an organizational context, whether in the private or the public sphere, this fact alone modifies the form, quality, and spread of learning; it also brings about a modification of the organizational power structure itself. Such modifications also mean that the structure and configuration of conflict will change. In political science this kind of transformation, which widens and deepens competition, is considered to have healthy implications for the overall political system in which competition takes place.That is, benefits are expected to derive from the fact that the ‘market’ becomes, in comparison to the more dirigiste state, more Smithian, less concentrated, and less dominated by a handful of competitors who, rhetoric aside, rarely pursue the general welfare but rather much narrower conside rations. At the very least, increased transparency and the broadening of the competitive sphere clearly require that political managers develop a set of skills that permit them to meet such challenges and function well within these constraints.New Signals from the Private Sector Something similar to this attitude about encouraging conflict may be developing in the private sector. Gortner et al. (1987) lamented that theories of the organization ‘simply do not deal with the issue of politics, and . . . [that these theories] interpret power as an internal phenomenon usually related to the area of leadership’ (p. 76). But change may be afoot in this respect for at least two reasons.Contributors to this volume as well as writers such as Pfeffer (1981, 1997), Coopey (1995) and Hardy and Clegg (1996) may well succeed in their efforts to raise self-consciousness and broaden and refine theories of the organization and organizational learning to include attention to power and pol itics. Second, variations and abrupt changes in the environment of business are ubiquitous today and likely to intensify tomorrow. It could not be otherwise in an era of globalization of the firm, in which, more than ever before, firms venture into a wide variety of cultural settings.In addition, managers increasingly come from a wide variety of cultures and professional backgrounds where values and norms are not necessarily carbon copies of each other. An organization’s capacity to read signals about politics and power distributions, outside as well as inside the firm, and to make quick, constructive adaptations to them will represent not just a luxury but also a necessary condition for establishing a competitive advantage in the global marketplace.In limiting cases, this capacity may actually become a necessary condition for survival. Power-driven behavior within the firm not only is endemic to such organizations but remains salient irrespective of the degree to which the f irm succeeds in creating an internal environment that is homogeneous, harmonious, and collaborative—an environment peopled by those who share corporate values and a corporate culture and who stress collective over individual goals (Handy 1993: 123–49).By definition, the firm is typically an organization that places high value on the competitive spirit. That spirit is an aspect of human behavior everywhere and that can scarcely be divorced from the impulse to obtain and hang on to disproportionate shares of power. Improved understanding of the structure of such internal competition also illuminates the relationship between these kinds of patterns and corporate learning (Coopey 1995: 197–8; Hardy and Clegg 1996: 633–5; Kotter 1979: 9–39).Increased attention to power (even if the term itself is not used) is implicit in the corporate community’s recent encouragement of internal open expression of objections to existing policies and of open compe tition between units of the company and between its members. Bringing these universal underlying conditions to the surface may be inevitable, given how much more variegated today’s large-scale companies are from those in the past, not just in technology, product lines, and personnel but above all in the great diversity of markets and cultures in which they now operate.The less homogeneous the international firm becomes, the more difficult it will be to mask the fact that corporate life, like political life, involves a good deal of organizational and individual struggle over power. Power Linkages and Networks Because conflict and power struggle in public-sector organizations are both internal and external, their managers are impelled to search the environment for opportunities to form alliances. Sometimes such alliances are of the Iron Triangle variety, but they are certainly not limited to this form. The idea is to create structural linkages that will improve one’s cha nces of prevailing.As public policies become more salient for the firm, the firm too, will experience increased need to expand its own networks beyond those that already exist in the marketplace. Linkages with public bodies, for example, cannot be optimized (as once may have been the case) through the use of consultants and lobbyists. Structures and capabilities consonant with the establishment of direct networks come to replace or supplement these older approaches. Multinational corporations that operate abroad, where public policies represent new risks for the firm as well as new opportunities as well, have often moved in exactly this networking direction.One indicator of this change is the proliferation not just of equity joint ventures (as opposed to the once-dominant fetish of the wholly owned subsidiary) but also all manner of other interfirm alliance, designed to optimize, in overseas local markets, the use of firms and their managers who have extensive experience there. In t he case of U. S. companies, this type of change was also spurred by the passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act a generation ago. At home, one immediate consequence of this legislation was a sharp increase in the number of in-house attorneys employed by American firms.Overseas, it led to a much more intense search for the ways and means of finding arrangements that can somehow enable overseas U. S. firms to engage in corporate behavior that was unexceptional abroad but suspect or even outright unacceptable at home. The globalization of enterprise, the growth of networks in which the firm becomes involved at home and abroad, also brings about a considerable extension of learning methods and horizons, if not a new type of organizational learning in the private sector. The international firm becomes more sensitized to power configurations and power equilibria.The search is broadened as well as intensified in order to identify aspects of the environment that might impinge on corpor ate success. The quality of intelligence relevant to business operations at home and abroad is improved, as is the knowledge about the location and means of access to points in the decision-making process that relate to public policies affecting the foreign investor. A keen sense that each environment has its unique aspects as well as dimensions that are general to any environment impels the firm to sharpen its analytical instruments and thereby try to improve its learning.Efforts to create a total quality system come to include not just the production, distribution, and servicing of a firm’s products but also the firm’s ability to recognize power and power struggles for what they are and to attune its learning methods to profit from this new capability. Types of Power Distributions and Equilibria Although power equilibria are never permanent, they tend to last for a long time. The reform of governmental bodies tends to be greatly resisted because, even when reforms ar e relatively mild, they threaten existing equilibria (Seidman 1977).As a rule, unless quick and deep change is the goal, it is better for an organization (inside or outside the public/political sphere) to learn how to operate within an existing equilibrium than to make efforts to change it. Indeed, it is almost axiomatic that, where a radical departure in public policy is intended, creating a new organization is far preferable to seeking achievement of these new goals through the existing system (Levin and Sanger 1994: 172–3).Events of this kind, though rare, provide highly fluid opportunities to achieve first-mover advantages as new networks and a new equilibrium are established. In this regard, it makes a difference whether the overall configuration of the political system is monocratic or pluralist, unitary or federal, highly centralized or characterized by broad delegation or devolution of powers. That is, power equilibria at the microlevels will be influenced in no small measure by the configuration of the larger system in which these equilibria are embedded.Pluralism Pluralist systems tend to maximize not only the number of individuals and organizations able to intervene in the policy-making and policy implementation processes but also the number of channels through which the interventions occur. Pluralism implies minute and fragmented representation of interests. The underlying assumption is that equality of opportunity, central to democratic theory, should also apply to the policy-making process. It will obviously make a difference which groups prevail in these efforts to exercise influence.It is equally important whether and what kinds of groups can bring some order to the process by aggregating a number of small groups under a single organizational umbrella. Pluralism also invites much debate. In theory, when consensus is achieved, it is expected to be very strong, precisely because of widespread opportunities that interested parties have for being consulted and hearing the views of others. Again in theory, this system of broad participation should also optimize the discovery both of best solutions and of innovative ideas about public policies and how best to achieve them.It is behind such policies, according to pluralist democratic theory, that one can expect the strongest collective effort to emerge. And given all of these assumptions, consensual policies are likely to be well administered and widely accepted as long as they achieve expected aims. Within this rich mosaic of interactive participation, organizational learning is presumably optimized, as are the efficacious making and implementation of public policies. There are also negative sides to pluralism, and they are well known to organizational theorists.A plethora of communication channels easily degenerates into information overload. This overload in turn can lead to never-ending debates that wind up in stalemates or paralysis. There may be too much talk, too m any options raised, and little inclination, or indeed ability, to reach closure. An even more notable objection to this mode of decision-making is the raised probability that it will produce only lowest-common-denominator outcomes. The need to balance competing forces and to find acceptable compromises implies that only in extreme emergencies can pluralist systems adopt radical measures.Pluralism and the forceful, timely management of issues do not sit easily side by side. Hence, it seems valid to presume that such systems will not work well within a corporate structure that, almost by definition, is expected to be hierarchical and unitary (Hardy and Clegg 1996: 622–6). Monocratic and Unitary Systems Monocratic and unitary systems are highly centralized. If they permit a broad representation of interests, it is likely to be within a framework that is much more disciplined than that of pluralist systems.Monocratic and unitary systems are able to act even when broad consensus m ay be wanting or impossible to bring about. Participation from the ground up, so to speak, is not so loose or permissive as to actually tie the hands of or paralyze those at the center. Compared to pluralist systems, monocratic arrangements tend to be less democratic (not to be confused with undemocratic). They may involve broad, well-articulated participation in policy-making and implementation, but within limits.They tend to be more intolerant of inputs that are judged to be dysfunctional. They are immensely more suspicious of interventions in the formal decision-making and policy implementation process by groups and organizations that are not official, or not officially approved by the government. The tensions between pluralistic/democratic and unitary/monocratic arrangements are not unlike those found within corporations that move in the direction of empowerment of those located toward the bottom of the pyramidal hierarchy.As I have suggested, this pyramid is not just one of pos itions and authority but also of command and control. That is, as long as the pyramid remains a pyramid, even slightly, it is a power arrangement governed by rules that, with rare exceptions, are themselves the outcome of a power struggle. Serious efforts to empower persons who have not had very much power, or who through empowerment will come to exercise more of it than in the past, clearly imply a widening and deepening of participation in decision-making both in the making of corporate policies and in their implementation.It is no wonder that changes of this kind, as well as those designed to bring stakeholders meaningfully into such processes, are fraught with complications and that they usually degenerate into not much more than lip-service platitudes (Coopey 1995). Monocratic and unitary political systems, such as those typically found in Europe and elsewhere outside the United States (and to some extent outside Great Britain), accord very high status to the state writ large. Those who manage the state are more inclined to redirect, minimize, and, if necessary, override interference from civil society when this interference threatens to paralyze government.Reasons of state, as the justification is often called, will lead to closure of debate and then to public action, presumably in favor of the community as a whole. In monocratic systems, popular sovereignty and broad participation by the masses or by organized groups will not be permitted to place the state and its overriding welfare at risk. This attitude is similar to the posture of senior corporate managers who are scarcely about to tolerate modes of empowerment or participation that might cast serious doubt on the company’s mission, the rationality of its basic long-term strategy, or the company’s very survival.Nevertheless, in the corporate sphere, as in the sphere of the state, the powers available to managers must be and often are used to end an aura of legitimacy not just to existi ng rules and policies but also to the outcomes that derive from them (Hardy and Clegg 1996: 630). Federalism Federalism adds another facet to this discussion. As a political concept that stands in opposition to that of unitary structures, federalism implies a division of power on the basis of territory.A much-touted advantage of federalism is that it permits the bringing together, under one central authority, of territorial units that differ quite markedly from each other in many ways. This would include, say, the size of their population or territory; their racial or linguistic make-up; and a wide range of social, economic, and even political conditions. Federal systems represent ways of organizing and managing diversity. In the realm of politics, experience has shown that these systems are therefore much more viable means of managing large nations than are highly centralized unitary systems.In fact, most of these nations are of the federal, not the unitary, variety—even the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China in their so-called totalitarian heyday. Federalism also maximizes the amount of experimentation (with different laws, institutions, electoral arrangements, administrative organizations, and the like) that can take place under a common political roof. This umbrella-like structure permits, indeed encourages, the search for best practice in institutional form and relationships and in policy-making and implementation. This feature of federalism encourages, permits, and, indeed encourages self-conscious learning.In the United States, for example, there are formal organizations designed to provide the individual states and major cities with information about the potentially innovative or effective approaches that each may be taking to, organizational procedures or public policy. Similar information-sharing institutions also exist at the international level. This institutionalized learning is designed in the broadest sense to raise th e quality and lower the cost of governmental services. In a federal setting the political center shares a number of powers with other territorial units. Except in estricted areas, it cannot pretend to be the exclusive holder or exerciser of power and authority. Even where in formal terms the political center’s authority may be exclusive and where policies are expected to be uniformly administered throughout the system’s territories and subunits, considerable local variation must be permitted. Unitary systems, by contrast, permit much less flexibility of this type. The central authority within such systems exercises nearly exclusive authority to make system-wide policies, and it is also expected that these policies will be uniformly administered everywhere.Any deviation from centrally established policies, indeed any policy-making within subnational units, proceeds only with some sort of authorization by the center. As often said in France, if one wishes to know exactly what children might be doing at a certain hour of any school day, it is sufficient to consult the manual issued by the appropriate ministry in Paris. The unitary form is highly analogous to the world-wide business firm, including firms organized by product group or division, in which authority and control are concentrated in a single, central organization.The preceding, post-war development of the multinational corporation, at least in the United States, proceeded for the most part on the basis of this model. It was thought that the revolutions in jet travel and electronics made such centralized control both desirable and feasible. That is, these changes in the speed and facility of travel and communication were said to make possible the global extension of the so-called Sloan model of the corporation, a model that had worked so well within the United States.Feedback and Learning No matter whether the basic structure is pluralistic or monocratic, federal or unitary, the need for fe edback from which the center can presumably learn is universal. Federal systems, because they produce many streams of information, may be more open but less efficient than unitary systems. Unitary systems, although in theory narrower and easier to control than federal systems are in terms of information-producing channels, are at high risk of having information delayed, distorted, or misdirected.It is apparent, however, that the center often deludes itself into believing that, with a highly disciplined and centralized organizational weapon at its disposal (like the Communist party under Stalin in the USSR or the Chinese Communist party under Mao), it can both learn and control what transpires at the periphery (Hough 1969). The fallacious assumption in this instance is that a centralized and highly disciplined organizational instrument, such as the Communist party, can prevail irrespective of whether the overall system is of the federal or unitary configuration.Pluralism and Federali sm in the Firm? A pluralist and federal model of the polity ill fits the generally held image of the firm and of other private-sector organizations. Decision-making of the kind represented by the typical firm can scarcely follow a pluralist model to the letter, at least not without a rethinking of a great many well-established notions of what a world-scale company should be and how it should be run. Within the firm great emphasis is placed on clear lines of authority, both horizontal and vertical.The global firm still tries to instill a single corporate culture so that the hierarchy of values, the operational norms, and the modus operandi will be essentially the same wherever its branches and units may be located. This model leaves little room for pluralist inputs and local diversity. Pluralist democracies and federal systems thrive (most of the time) on their multicultural dimensions. Rather than eliminate diversity, it is honored and encouraged. In the corporate world, much of wha t is claimed about decentralization, ‘planning from the bottom up’, and individual empowerment often is spurious.Senior managers in the corporate world are rarely able or inclined to practice the decentralization or the broad and deep participation that they may preach. More often than not they use the considerable powers at their disposal not to encourage debate that leads to consent but rather to mobilize consent itself (Hardy and Clegg 1996: 626). In the public/political sector, a key test of how seriously the center wishes to encourage diversity and favor empowerment lies in the practice of devolution, as opposed to decentralization.Devolution, typically practiced on a territorial basis, substantially reduces the powers of the center over the periphery, sometimes drastically. The strongest indicator of this reduction is the empowerment of the periphery not only to make policies but also to tax or otherwise raise capital in connection with these policies. Such transf ers, in turn, encourage high levels of competition between the subnational units of federal systems, sometimes creating very difficult problems at the center.Devolution increases pluralism. When hierarchy is replaced by something composed of rather free-acting units, managers need to develop skills that are germane to these changed circumstances. It is one thing when a person’s position makes it possible to mobilize consent and conforming behavior; it is quite another story when both of these things must be generated within the context of a relatively open, participatory, and fluid system of reaching consensus on what should be done and how best to do it.It is possible that the globalization of enterprise will force an increase in genuinely federal arrangements on the firm, a shift that would certainly imply moving away from a strict unitary, hierarchical model and award one that is genuinely more participatory, even if more difficult to manage. Charles Handy (1996) stated th at such a change may be taking place (pp. 33–56), although even he suggested that the application of federal principles to the corporate world will, perhaps inevitably, be imperfect (pp. 109–12).The creation of similar federal structures, even ones remaining distant from devolution, requires a new look at many of the most canonical ideas about how best to organize and manage the profit-seeking enterprise. On close inspection, the sometimes spectacular downsizing and other changes in corporate structures since about 1990 do not appear to have brought about radical operational changes in hierarchical structure. In both the public and the private sectors, centralized control of organizations dies hard.Nevertheless, the federal thrust in many of today’s global firms should not be underestimated. In the truly global firm, where multinationality is not just a label, traditional arrangements for strategic plans, corporate finance, and capital budgeting—which are still basically monocratic and unitary in nature—will gradually be revised. It is misleading to think, as so many corporate managers still do, that the continuing electronic and information technology revolutions will permit efficient global control from a single, geographically dis