Marketing Plan Of Toyota Essay

Executive Summary A company of automobiles named Toyota Motor Corporation owned by Australia has a very vast range of cars. There is a part of manufacturing in the industry named as prius car is one of the best hybrid coactions drivers which are best drivers in the environment of today. It also creates a competitive atmosphere between other businesses due to the provision of best  fuel system. In the beginning of the report about the introduction and the background of company is explained. There is a current analysis about the different products, environment and competition of Toyota’s operation. An analysis named as SWOT is conducted to tell about the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of any business and its environment. The objectives and the strategies can be recognized on the bases of these important factors and complicated issues. For the improvement of the product quality, some plans are thought for the finishing of counsel. For the illustration of the position and the perfo rmance of any product, the presented report has different types of graph of company. Introduction In the world ranking of car manufacturing, Toyota Company has a distinct position in manufacturing and distribution. Good performance and presentation of company is due to the well planned system of company. The company gain many alcove of market with the help of many notable features. One cannot explain the whole construction about the operation of the company. It is also considered as monopoly. This company is one biggest company of Car freighting in the world. Especially in DC, s, the strategies of differentiation presents this company as monopolist almost. Along with it, this system also has some features of oligopoly. The presence of squint competitors like GM is also one of the reasons of this fact. Toyota is eager to see the performance of its rivals and want to confirm its leadership through their actions. Toyota Motor Corporation is also manufacturing minivans, passenger vans, diversion and sports automobiles throughout the world. There are 45 manufacturing companies and 12 foundry of Toyota officially attached in Japan. From the year of 2010, this corporation is doing work on its program of deliberately global vision. Policies like good’s recycling and posture of pro-environment are also illustrated by this program. It also has a new idea to give latest and new chances to the markets of Asia by giving them respect. It also has a goal of getting 35% of automobiles by Spout of the newly  established markets. In the markets of Asia, it’s the ides of the Toyota Company to give honor to the different people from different communities. And spout the newly developed markets to have almost 35% of automobiles. There is need of local production of the automobiles for local customization. Toyota has an honor of becoming the first manufacturing organization in the year of 1990. The main focus of Toyota Company for establishing local markets is on Europe, Asia and North America. On the bases of cost efficiencies, Toyota has responded very fast by pass through the regional and trade hurdles. Toyota laid more stress on its reputation and image. In America, the cost of Toyota products is not affordable. But customer depends and trusts on the product of Toyota so it is completing its journey successfully. Toyota Company gain first rank in the year of 2007 as well as in the year of 2008 in the sailing of cars. There are two distinct duties on Toyota. Due to its hybrid products and items, Toyota is going ahead in competition. Although eco-friendly consumers are asking for newly established brands it is the aim of Toyota to produce new models with advance technology. Another opportunity of Toyota is to make unused market for youth. A motivating revolution is introduced by Scion. There are some indicators like product designing, product marketing and credit help will considered as a great chance in future. The large population of china has identified and the purchasing power and business of Toyota increased. In this way it’s easy for china to establish its main office in china. Due to the economic development in South America, it increases the purchase of full size Toyota’s trucks. Full sized SUV of Toyota is demanded increasingly in Middle East. This is the result of appreciation of Toyota. According its efficient export system, Toyota is acting. Among the total 500 companies, Toyota is the 5th best company. In international strategies, Toyota is become successful. There is many strategies made by Toyota. There is a clear concept of production, marketing and supply. The important and compulsory key points of Toyota are its production as well as improvement system. The concepts which make the company strong are Kaizen and new themes of many areas. To establish the chain or link of supply, management of inventory, capabilities of production and planning method there is a system of TPS (Toyota production system). For the domination of Toyota upon all around  the Toyota industry TPS make it powerful. Basically, Toyota was firstly established in Japan and soon spread its root all around the world. There is no doubt about the domination of Toyota all around the world. There are some targets of Toyota like establishment of long term growth, for making the friendly relations with people, society and whole environment. Toyota is also providing the chances of employment in America. To achieve the higher place in international market, mostly common issues like social, economic and cultural give permission to place equity. Strategic Plan and focus For the overall affects for the planning for Toyota, there are three main points for our focus. They are as follows, Mission Statement of the Company Prosperous and developed society with the help of automobiles is the aim of Toyota Corporation. For this purpose, the company is struggling for a developed and growths for long period for harmonize with all the important aspects, the prominent atmosphere, international bargain, homegrown communities and international stake holders. The Goals of the Company The every model which is sold in the market, the company gives offer about the alternation of hybrid. In this way company achieve its goal of sailing 1 million of hybrid automobiles within a year. And company was succeeding by achieving this goal in the year of 2012. In the year of 2011, in six different fields, Toyota Company is improving its plans. The fields are like changes in energy and climate, air quality, substance concerned, resources utilization and recycling and social cooperation. In the decreasing carbon dioxide company is playing vital role. By seeing the values of fuel economy, the company believed in doing combine actions. Core Competencies and Competitive Advantages For getting a better economic sustainable position, company is working with  the help of international market. Company is started to invest in different kinds of strategies so that the company can get its targets with the help of latest technology. Company is full with the experts so they do research on all the aspects which are the fact that keep this company on the top. There is a large network of its distributions which help it to reach on the top. Situation Analysis We can give the credit to internal environment which have the ability of high efficiency and ranking of quality. The companies which are famous in competition, it give them greater importance and top class management. For the understanding the whole position of company, we can use an analysis named SWOT which have the capacity of examine the advantages as well as disadvantages of company. And at last show the full situation of company. SWOT Analysis of Toyota We can refer advantages and disadvantages of any company as its internal factors because these have a large effect on company. On the other hand chances and threats are considered as outside aspects of company. Basic Strengths of Toyota Innovative culture One of the best companies of innovation in the world is Toyota. It has a powerful custom about the innovations which are constant. Kanban, Kaizen, and TQM systems were firstly introduced in world market by Toyota this company also sell hybrid automobiles as well as famous for mass-production. Brand reputation which has the valued about $30 billion The most valued and costly brand of automobile is Toyota. This brand is successful due to its friendly environmentally, durable and safe cars. These automobiles are wholesaled countries that number near about 170 of the world. Industry is considered as a leader in production and sales Lean manufacturing and total quality management are such reforms which are  firstly used by Toyota for the procedure of manufacture. For a shorter duration, company does practice and had a very low manufacturing as well as production cost throughout the world. Many companies try to replicate the system of manufacturing which is used by Toyota but Toyota is still most profitable company throughout the world. Portfolio of a Strong brand Recently, 70 different models of car are sold by Toyota. This become the reason of awareness among people about this brand and also become a source of satisfaction for its clients. Prius and Corolla are the most important models of Toyota. Toyota is the leading green cars development It is the thinking of Toyota Company that today environmental friendly cars become need. In the terms of CO2 emissions and fuel-efficiency for a car consumer become well-aware. And a very few companies can compete with Toyota in sell of hybrid automobiles. In 170 countries of world, in global organization, it has a powerful international rank. In 1997 Toyota’s sells was 131,511 million yen and growth rate was 29.3%. It has an effective image on the bases of quality, environmental friendly and customized range. It is leader of industry in terms of manufacturing and production. With the help of lean approaches of manufacturing like just-in-time manufacturing, quality management etc. In all strong markets like US, China and EMEA Toyota is become 2nd largest producing company of automobiles. It has a diversified range of production. There are highly targeted markets. Company is producing vehicles for public as well as private customers. For fulfilling the needs of clients, company s using different marketing techniques. It is the brand which is also said as household brand. Weaknesses of Toyota Large-scale recalls For the last few decades, Toyota is a large-scale automobiles industry. In the years of 2009-2010 company sell 9 million cars and in the year of 2010 its sell reached at 7.43 million. Such recall may cause for affecting the  company financially and also affect its brands. Toyota has a low presence in the weak market Toyota’s major markets are in US, Europe and Japan, and it also establishing it’s a branch in china and India. But there are small percentage total sales of Toyota in India and China. In China, Toyota finds it difficult to compete with General Motors because of the poor automobiles in China. GM has large shares. Opportunities of Toyota Positive attitude towards â€Å"green† vehicles. Users of Toyota are well aware of the air contamination created by the cars. The carbon dioxide is emitted in large quantities which create intensity in the greenhouse which are causing all these kind of pollution. So consumer become conscious and wants to buy cars like hybrid and electric cars because these cars reduce CO2. Increasing fuel prices. Due to the high price of fuel, Toyota is shifting to efficient cars instead of hybrid cars. The needs of the people are changing Toyota satisfies different changing needs and tastes of people by offering new models and have an access over a wide group of customers Acquisition and growth   In the past, Toyota has succeeded in acquiring other companies and has grown new assets skills and also had access to the new market. Innovation It is the company which firstly produces marketable mass and hybrid gas electric vehicles such as Prius model. It is built on the R&D and innovative technologies. Due to rise in fuel prices, clients are looking for any other source for fewer prices and guzzling cars. New models of Toyota i.e. Aygo model by Toyota is for the aggressions of segmentation. Toyota doesn’t want to take a share in youth market. Production of fuel efficient cars is beneficial; they have fewer effects on environment. For producing new cars for social and institutional demands, the cars like electric cars and hybrid fuels have the impacts on setting. Toyota’s (Eco-VAS) becomes helpful in the procedure of construction, usage and discarding as well. In the fresh markets similar to India, Russia and china there is global increase continuously due to high population and demand. Threats of Toyota Falling fuel prices Because of the mining of more shale gas, it is clearly seen that in future fuel prices will drop. This is the reason that there is less attraction of consumers towards fuel-efficient hybrid and electric cars. These are main group for Prius model of Toyota. New standards for emission Presented by govt. these innovative and latest emissions become clearer engine for investment we can say that if there is more investment then Toyota’s profit becomes less. Rising raw material prices. For any automobile company the rise in the raw material price is very essential for manufacturing of automobiles. Higher price leads to higher cost and less profit is the main ingredient for raw material of Toyota. 1. Intense competition. In any type of business, competition always takes place. Same case is with Toyota. Volkswagen group and GM are always big rivals for Toyota. 2. Natural disasters.   In Japan, Thailand, China and Indonesia there is the facility of manufacturing by Toyota. All the countries are the subjects for all types of natural calamities which can disturb the Toyota’s amount of sell. 3. Appreciating yen exchange rate. Foreign countries are the big source of Toyota’s revenues. All the profit is converted in yen. And the profit of Toyota becomes less due to exchange rate of appreciating yen. Car Industry Analysis For creating a competitive environment in industry, company can put its advantages and chances. Usually, for the wide presence in international market, product line is really useful. By entering in the newly established markets like china and Europe, one can get it also. If we notice the previous history, Toyota took more attention on the markets such as Japan and America, but there is a need of making more plans. Sustainable development is achieved by Toyota cooperation. For the harmful effects of  global warming and fossil fuels, Toyota has a market named as Toyota’s hybrid. This technology can also be helpful for company to sell it to other firms. Toyota Company analysis In the exportation of cars, in the creation of automobiles, best quality and achieving its target, Toyota Company is one of the best companies of world the company give the best return of people’s money in the form of best quality car and make the client luxurious .they always try to give the best value of the money of their clients instead of their rival companies. So, this is one of the big reason for Toyota as a good company in DC, s. This company always tries to achieve sustainable growth and decreasing the pollution from this earth. Customer Analysis Customers of Toyota are rich, poor and diverse. They lived all around the world. Toyota always tries to keep in mind the demands and range of all type of clients belongs to upper as well as lower class. They have all types of automobiles like small sport car, big family automobiles, trucks and vans also. Toyota has the customers from different age groups, areas, incomes, social as well as cultural class. For the satisfaction of their wants, people go to Toyota. There are also vehicles for low income people according to their range as well as size. Independent and aloof people have also verity of cars accord to their need. Many organizations also want a vehicle for giving the facility of convene to their employees. So, this is the case in which the purchaser of the product is not the user of that product. There is enlargement in the exposure of a product when any person buys any product of company. Companies awake awareness among the people about the product through ads, newsletters, websites, and other sources of information. Books and seminars also provide the chance to Toyota for earn income. Where People Purchase There is a vast network of retailers throughout the world and Toyota sale its products with the help of it. There are some specific models of automobiles  which a customer can buy directly from the Toyota factories. Toyota also gives the facility to its customers by giving them opportunity of online shopping. Most of the advertising activities are also done online. Online shopping and ads keep the papers away from wasting and client can easily buy any automobile easily. There is also a toll-free number of Toyota for direct contact. So customers from all across the world can easily access to the all kind of production of company. When People Purchase Anyone can buy the company’s product in the whole year. Except some models, all the other cars are available on Toyota company whole year. Driving licence is compulsory for buying a car in many countries. Some people want to buy a new car as old one is not able to use or want to try a new model. Why do People Purchase? Due to unique and special nature of Toyota, customer prefers it on other companies. Cars meet all the needs of the clients offered by Toyota. Company want to maintain its standard. The company offer fewer amounts than others. Toyota also takes great care about the safety of driver. When green light turned on, there is a distinct call to driver to alert him .new hybrid product also have the facility of buying and changing the car. Why Potential Customers Don’t Purchase According to the census of Toyota there is large amount of potential people who don’t want to buy a car. Company is filled like the people like this. Nowadays there is a large amount of automobile industries. Some people reject the car for no significant reason. This is due to the reason of class, social status, like and dislike .there is no high requirements of Toyota. So the clients are free to buy car from rivals. Business environment Business environment is made by two words i.e. business and environment. In economic view, all the actions or activities done by the person for earning profit, buying of goods are known as business. Surrounding of us is known as environment. So, we come to know that the conditions of nature, which one cannot control like famines, floods, and economic, social and natural affects, are known as business environment. There are two parts of business environment which are internal and external environment. Internal environment This type of environment based upon the company’s basic elements. Important and vital requirements of internal structure are skilled staff, policies and relations with humans. We can have the example of Toyota. There is strong relationship, skilled staff; experienced specialists show the internal environment. External environment All the actions about trade are taken under the external environment. Technological, political and legal factors affect it. there are also two sub division of the external environment. They are macro and micro. Micro environment: the successfulness of any market depends upon tit communication and transportation with its clients. Top level of managing, departments of finance, research, and channel partners are the forces which have the ability to affect the company. Macro environment: -in 2000 company of Toyota felt the changes occurred by the macro environment. The company Toyota takes full benefits of producing the first hybrid vehicle named Toyota Prius. Five Forces Analysis In the operating industry, there are five Porter’s forces which are organized for forcing the company. The business will not be attractive if profit  becomes low. New entrant’s threats, rival’s threats and substitute products threats are the three such forces which affect our analysis. Toyota also started its business in US market. When Toyota Company started business in US it has 95% shares and produces only three types of cars. Japanese market was 100 times smaller than the market of US. There is strong and high position of US in market. Toyota, Honda and Nissan are three different types of automobiles of Japanese company. These companies took 4 decades for establishing themselves in the international market. Bargaining power of suppliers Weak buyers can make problems regarding the product. In US and Japan the company is doing hard work for establishment. And want to start business of automobile here. The supply of class material is supplied from a big network. In the term of company it explores the weakness of customers. Due to labor and raw material, the company is earning profit. Entry There are many hurdles like economic, financial, social and governmental. After World War 2, the laws about the ministry and trade were not in favor of Toyota. At that time there were no hurdles for US in exporting. The low business was an open advantage for Japanese companies. For efficient sale, new entry of shares is required. Buyers’ Bargaining Power The manufacturing companies in US have the ability of vertical integration as they were enjoying the power of it. The supply companies are companies of manufacturing. We take the example of molar. That is supplying parts of motors. But in Japan companies which supply parts of motors has a share in the administration. It is totally different from US. The dealers were fragment in both countries. Toyota purchase large amount from parts companies. By the right of information from internet, user bargain. Substitute products threats In U.S. and Japan, there is transportation system. The value of special amount is high due to its close substitute. Rivalry Competition between rivals in the production of car is very complex. Although the output of the market was very low but it was enlarging day by day. From the year of 1970, there is tough competition between rival companies there is rivalry on price as well as on other things. In price competition the price of product included and in non-price competition there is marginal as well as fixed cost are added. Competition call also is increased through differentiation opportunity. One basic thing of increasing rivalry between all the companies is the manufacturing of cars, truck, and SUV’s.

Psychology as a Science Essay

According to Russell & Jarvis(2003: 469) â€Å"the word ‘science’ comes from the Latin word ‘scire’, meaning ‘to know'†; thus it is the knowledge of specific study. Psychology was defined by Atkinson et al. (2000: 3, cited by Mestre. et al. 2002: 811) as the â€Å"scientific study of behaviour and mental processes†. Psychology has been universally recognised as a science since the late 1800’s when James (1890, cited by Gross 1999: 3) stated that ‘Psychology is the Science of Mental Life†. Though many praise the study of psychology for it’s findings and achievements there will always be those who are sceptical of these findings and whether or not they can be seen as ‘solid’. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) is widely seen as the ‘founding father’ of ‘new psychology’, in which we mean psychology as a separate scientific discipline, rather than it had been previously; a part of philosophy. Wundt created ‘structuralism’, this is the study of the mind by breaking all chains of thought down in to such things as images, feelings and sensations, for example, if one were to think of chocolate, one may picture the bar, have a feeling of desire for the bar which may produce the sensation of hunger. By studying the conscious mind using introspection he would record the results of his studies, these would be performed under controlled conditions, by which we mean no outside interferences or influences. However, his methods were heavily criticised as it only studied conscious processes, he was also very select in whom he selected for these tests, children and the mentally disturbed for example, were not considered for his studies as he believed they could not use introspection to a successful degree. Thus, introspection cannot be considered a scientific study as it does not aim to discover the mental processes for all humans; it does not allow for generalisation as not all possible subjects have been tested. There are many arguments for and against psychology as a science, let us focus on the arguments for psychology first. Classical and operant conditioning are still widely used on various different subjects, classical (or ‘Pavlovian’) conditioning is the method of teaching a response when a conditional stimulus is in place, for example the study of Pavlov’s dog – the dog was trained to salivate at the sound of a bell, this study was performed under lab conditions and therefore in a controlled environment in which and influences could be eradicated, this was fully testable and as proposed by Popper(1969, cited by Russell & Jarvis 2003: 469) â€Å"a theory or hypothesis needs to be fully testable to be scientific†. This method of conditioning is used in every day society, for example, though when young, one is never told that during ‘play time’ if a teacher or someone of authority blows a whistle one is meant immediately to stop what he or she is doing, it is a natural reaction to pay attention to the person whom commanded the attention and, in a case of a teacher/student situation, follow their instructions. Operant conditioning also follows the proposal that Popper suggested as it is used every day, when teaching an animal or human, whether they be an adult or a child. For example, operant conditioning is used when teaching a pet a new trick such as sitting down or shaking hands, the pet is initially guided in what it is supposed to do by it’s owner, then treated after the act as been performed, over time the pet will ‘learn’ that if it obeys the command of â€Å"sit† then it will be rewarded, though it is no longer necessary to reward the animal after every completion of the command, instead rewarding it every now and then. This was also found in Skinner’s box, in which the rat learnt to press a lever in order to receive a food pellet, psychologists would therefore argue that both of these methods of conditioning are considered objective studies which provide clear findings. Popper also argued that in order for a hypothesis or theory to be considered scientific it must be falsifiable, in practise this means that for the study to be valid there must also be subjects which prove the study to be false. For example, to say that â€Å"all lions are mammals† would not be falsifiable, as it would be impossible to conduct the amount of study necessary to disprove this theory, however, to say â€Å"all lions have yellow fur†, it would only be necessary to find one lion with brown fur in order to prove this falsifiable, Popper(1959, cited by Hill 2009: 19) argued that â€Å"science advances through refutation rather than support†. Psychology, namely the biological approach, has been helped through the advancements in technology, for example, now it is possible to use medical equipments to see the functions of the brain via electrical pulses, though obviously this does not give us an image of what someone is thinking it does provide us with information as to which different triggers the varying reactions which until recently we have not been able to understand, obviously, this provides us with clear findings. Until the 1950s, Behaviourism dominated psychological experimentation as psychologists such as John Watson believed that only observable behaviour should be investigated if psychology wished to be considered an objective science. Thus, though psychology may not have directly effected the advances in technology the benefit it has seen from these advances are clear, it is now possible for psychologists to view the workings of the brain through the advances in other areas of science, therefore this can only inflate psychology’s status as a separate scientific discipline. Despite the arguments for psychology to be considered a science there are, of course, those that believe it should not. Those who are against the idea of psychology as a science believe there are many issues surrounding areas of psychology and the methods of investigation it carries out, one area of concern is that of sampling; random, stratified, opportunity, self-selecting/volunteer. The first in the above list, random sampling, is very rarely used, or at least it is very rare that it can be considered ‘true’; â€Å"true random sampling only occurs when every member of a target population has an equal chance of being selected† (Hill, 2009: 35), this is rarely the case as in a large target audience, in order for everyone to have an equal chance there would be a severe drain on the available resources so that the list could be compiled; many studies do not have the funding or resources available to them to waste on said list, so a truly random list of subjects is rarely achieved. Stratified sampling provides the same constraints on resources as random sampling; it is very time consuming and costly, this is due to the method that is used in order to perform stratified sampling – dividing the target population in to various subcategories then selecting members of these subcategories in to the proportion necessary to conduct the relevant research. Opportunity and self-selecting methods of sampling both provide problems in terms of bias, though from different perspectives. In terms of opportunity sampling not only does it give unrepresentative samples it is often biased on the part of the researcher, whom may pick people to take part in their study whom they believe will be more ‘helpful’ to his or her hypothesis.

Loman family Essay

As stated before, Miller thought that the common man was the most eligible person with which he could create a tragic hero. With this in mind he set out to make his characters tragic heroes, giving them what he called â€Å"a tragic flaw†, a failing that is not peculiar to grand or elevated characters, nor is it necessarily a weakness. In Miller’s plays, these flaws are not major cracks in their characters, they are on the contrary are something as simple as having too much faith in a system that lets them down when they both need it. This philosophy of Miller, gives us a lot of insight into the characters, and also their actions. Joe Keller, the protagonist, is a man who loves his family above all else, and has sacrificed everything, including his honour, in his struggle to make the family prosperous. His fundamental flaw however, is that he is not a man who sees the bigger picture of life, that the whole of mankind is a †family† that deserves just as much consideration, if not more, than his own family. He also feels as though the †system† will protect him, seeing as he was able to trick it. It is this, that leads to the death of the 21 pilots, that were flying faulty planes made by his factory. The American way of life is clearly seen as his ultimate goal, as he is only looking out for himself and his family. His wife, Kate, is a woman that has a tremendous capacity for love, which I seen no only in her love for her lost son, but also in that it extends to her neighbors, notably to George. It is easy to assume that Kate’s persistence in declaring her son still living, is because she could not could with the idea of her son being dead. This is not so, it is in fact, that her sons death would be a punishment for Joes crime, which would be intolerable for her, so she continues to support Joe’s deceit. Kate seems to the reader to be a very unbalanced and somewhat stupid woman, however she, like Joe, is simply trying to hold the family together, even if it is somewhat desperate. Second Section: Death of a Salesman Death of a Salesman is widely regarded as the ultimate tragedy, and was extremely well received by American critics. It is a complete and utter criticism of the American dream, and the American people of the forties. More pertaining to the concept of tragic heroes however, the play deals with painful conflicts within the family, and how a man can fall, ungracefully from a position of respect within the family. The main character of the play, is the father of the Loman family, Willy. He works as a door-to-door salesman, and travels a lot for his job. His wife Linda, seems to be the strongest person in the family, and supports Willy, who is fed up of working, and is slightly disillusioned about life in general. Biff, the oldest of their two sons, is visiting the family, having been off ‘finding himself’, working on and off, but still not settled down to a decent job. His brother, Happy, is young, and as his name suggests, is the most cheerful person in the family. It is extremely hard to outline the plot of the play for two reasons: the first reason is that not a lot actually happens in the play, it is more about the relationship between characters, and with themselves. The second reason is that it is divided in two ‘sections’ that run parallel to each other in Willies mind: the present, and the past (Willy’s memories). Willy has numerous flashbacks during the play, mainly where he describes an event which had a strong impact on his life. One example of such a flashback would be when Linda is trying to comfort him, and suddenly he is a hotel room with his mistress. The play is mainly a record of the problems that a man suffers in a capitalistic and pushy society. It is set in a pleasant suburban area, in the late forties. The reader mainly follows Willy around, through past and present and by this method of narration, we learn a lot about Willy, through his flashbacks, such as his affair with ‘The Woman’, the fact that he was fired from his job. Fourth Section: Common Threads Style Theories Symbols – Motives Context Characters. With the idea of the common man in mind, Miller set out to construct his own tragic heroes, giving them what he called â€Å"a tragic flaw†, a failing that is not peculiar to grand or elevated characters, nor is it necessarily a weakness. In Miller’s plays, these flaws are not major cracks in their characters, they are on the contrary the reactions that the characters have to challenges to their dignity or status. These tragic heroes show two types of reactions: passive, and overly aggressive (ref). Bibliography Death of a Salesman – Arthur Miller All my sons – Arthur Miller.

Police should be trained to properly respond to those individuals who Essay

Police should be trained to properly respond to those individuals who are considered mentally disturbed or mentally challenged - Essay Example A number of factors have led to the increasing interaction between police and persons with mental illness. One is that sufficient funding which is needed to grow proportionally to the increased need of these individuals is not being withheld by community support systems. Furthermore, existing crisis response services are limited in scope and are often not well-integrated. Reductions in hospital beds and services result in hospital admission only for those in acute situation, and even then, only for very short periods of time. Moreover in some situations, several police respond to a person in mental health crisis as they are trained to respond to a usual criminal emergency situation, and with a show of force and authority they may in fact escalate the trouble to a point of risking injury or death unfortunately, most often to a person having mental health problem. ("Study in Blue and Grey: Police Interventions with People with Mental Illness," 2003) Thus, this shift from institutionali zed care to community-based care and the general lack of understanding and awareness to these issues have resulted in more persons with mental dysfunction in the community to come in contact with the police. Due to the lack of comprehensive, ongoing training of police officers in the recognition of mental illness and in mental health crisis intervention as well as the absence of contact and aid from mental health and emergency services, this study is made. This essay will provide step by step solutions to make the police officers properly responsive when dealing with people with mental incapacity. New Models for Police Response Several communities have realized that the usual orders must change, and that new models should be developed that would go well with the identified needs and assets in a certain community. Some of these would be based in the mental health system, some in the police system, some are a true collaboration, and some are based in the community itself. Following are examples of models which have met success in specific communities: Police/Mental Health Team This model encompasses a specialized mental health crisis intervention team, in which plain-clothed police and mental health professionals take action in unmarked police cars. These men defuses the situation, and ensures that the person with mental illness is dealt with properly with either the provision of an appropriate medical/psychiatric care, civil certification and hospitalization or appropriate arrest and detention with psychiatric evaluation. The team is sustained by psychiatric nurses on a mental health crisis line. These nurses are called by vets when team response or on-call support to regular officers is in need. Assistance from psychiatrists are as well necessary when providing on-call advice and attending on-the-spot certifications when necessary. Example: Vancouver's Car 87.(Canadian Mental Health Association [CMHA], 2005) Reception Centre With this model, the person which is recognized to have signs of mental illness is transported to a reception centre where specially trained police or mental health professionals conduct a more thorough assessment of the patient. If necessary, they refer that person to mental health services. Examples: Knoxville, Tennessee; Los Angeles, California. ("Study in

CONTEXTUALLY SPECIFIC OBSERVATIONS INFROM IDEAS OF UNIVERSAL INTERESTS Essay

CONTEXTUALLY SPECIFIC OBSERVATIONS INFROM IDEAS OF UNIVERSAL INTERESTS AND VICEVERSA - Essay Example He uses his words and poetry as a tool to demonstrate and describe his personal interpretation of various dogmas of society pertaining life and identity. Consequently the readers observe that the poet deals with some common themes like self identity, human roots, role reversal and progression and respect for hard labor in majority of his poems hence all these themes are also incorporated in the poems Follower and Digging. However although these themes contextually appear to be poet’s major thematic concerns yet these themes are also a reflection of universal human behavior and interests. Both the poems Follower and Digging take the readers on a journey down the memory lane where the poet is observed to be recalling two incidents of joy and pride from his pasts regarding his father and grandfather. The Follower depicts a tale of a young child who idealizes his father and his profession i.e. farming and reflects on the child’s feelings about his future when he will also g et a chance to walk in his father’s footsteps and will be able to work on his beloved lands. The poem also deals with an interesting phenomenon of life i.e. life comes in full circle and evolution under the context that when a child is young he idealizes his father as he sees him at a high pedestal where he can never expect himself to reach that point. Yet as he grows up ultimately he out shines his father’s glory and succeeds his father and then his father is the one who looks up to his son’s success. On the other hand in the poem Digging the poet talks about the pride he feels in being a farmer just like his father and grandfather. He states his joy at the laborious work that his ancestors have done and reflects on the contentment of an Irish man over his accomplishment in life that is by working hard in the fields through out his life. However he also hints upon the changing times where he thinks that his pen is his weapon to succeed in life although he is no t ashamed of his roots in fact he still finds it delightful to work on the lands along with using the pen as a tool for a better future. Self identity of a person is the sole constituent that makes up a personality of a human being because it is a proof against an individual’s individuality and an independent existence as it forms the foundation of a man’s ego and self esteem. Subsequently it is a natural human instinct to struggle in life in order to retain his independence and never let another individual question his identity for this reason every individual feels pride over his roots as his heritage also provides him self confidence. Hence Heaney is also observed to be extensively incorporating the theme of identity in both the poems Followers and Digging which reflects on the Poet’s feeling regarding his life history. As Kenneally (1995) also states, â€Å"the mystical authority of poetry has its analogue in the mystical authority of a particular conceptio n of Ireland, and it is no accident that one of the terms which discussion of Heaney’s poetry and discussion of Irish cultural Politics have in common is ‘Identity’† (p.180). Kenneally also reiterates that Heaney’s poems are, â€Å"carefully structured to give the notion of identity pride of place in Heaney’s critical orientation† (p.180). The readers while reading the poem sense the importance that the poet puts in the profession of his ancestors as he believes that farming is his actual identity although he might seek other means to succeed in life. As the poet also states in Digging, â€Å"He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep To scatter new

Milestone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Milestone - Essay Example He notes that, â€Å"Western civilization is unable to present any healthy values for the guidance of mankind (Qutb, 1964, Pg. 1)†. It must be noted that the book was written at a time when America as well as the rest of the world was going through numerous changes that were going towards shaping the modern economic systems, the modern governmental systems and the manner in which civilization was to take shape. The 60s was a formative decade indeed since the affects of the Second World War had been shaken off by most of the world and the countries which had gained independence after the Second World War were just beginning to stand on their own feet. However, many such nations in the Middle East, Africa and Asia were struggling with the changes that were being forced upon them. In this context, the war between the western allies who promoted a democratic system and the communist nations of the world often drew in other non aligned nations who had no particular ideology to hold on to. In this scenario, Qutb (1964) presents his ideas of leading Islamic nations through the means of following a new path which is based on the Holy Scriptures of Islam and the examples set down by the followers of Muhammad who were with him in his life. In fact, it was this book itself which was used to prove in an Egyptian court that Qutb was engaged in sedition against the ruling government and was executed for conspiring against the state (Wikipedia. 2008). The primary point made by Qutb (1964) is that the Muslims have lost their way which was shown to them through the Quran and the words of the prophet. In essence, it seems that instead of taking a modern viewpoint on Islam, Qutb favors something which is closer to a fundamentalist approach to Islam in order to bring Muslims closer to how the prophet and his companions lived their lives (Wikipedia. 2008). In his view, the Quran itself is not seen as metaphysical or theological work but as a code of rules which should be

IDS Alert Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IDS Alert - Essay Example If my computer pointer starts moving by itself then I will at once pull out the network cable (LAN) or phone line from my PC as it is the point through which any external source can enter my PC. Port 3389 is a remote desktop connection port in windows which is usually opened in many computers on network. (Denning, 1990) A hacker can exploit it using a remote desktop connection and could send malicious threats or Trojans to gain access to the computer from this port. Removing my PC from the network will help isolate it and stop transferring the threat or virus to other Computers on the network. A well define thought and planning is necessary before installing an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) on a network. Besides technical issues and product selection another serious factor are the resource issues that includes manning the sensor feeds, product expenses and infrastructure support that must also be kept in mind. After the computer has been isolated the next step would be to detect and remove the threat using the appropriate Intrusion Detection Systems. Updated versions of spy ware and Antivirus software will be installed on the PC if the current versions could not detect the threat.

NONE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

NONE - Essay Example Asymmetric information refers to a situation where participants in a particular market have different information. In the case of credit markets, borrowers may know more information regarding their credit worthiness more than the lenders. Another element that brings about imperfection is limited commitment. It refers to situations where parties to a particular contract are not willing to fulfill their obligations. Lenders will usually use collateral to offset the adverse effects of limited commitment. One of the main effects of the two imperfections is that borrowing can only take place against collateral, such as buildings, land, and machinery. The case will affect the ability of the households and firms to borrow because of changes in the value of collateral (Filardo et al. pp, 11-37). Economists have consistently made the assumptions that the credit market is perfect. However, this assumption is not accurate because of the frictions that take place in the market. The frictions mentioned above are of particular interest to any economist. The diverse effects that are they impact on the market cannot be. It is why there is a need for an economic framework that embraces intermediation because frictions can impede the crucial supply of credit in the market. An assumption that the market is perfect would be against the realities of the economy. The effects of frictions are in various economic fields such as the investment decisions, consumption/savings behavior, economic growth and the transmission of monetary policy (Bernanke et al. pp. 17-51). Changes in the credit market condition will result in the amplification and propagation of the initial effect of first real or monetary shocks. Shocks are unexpected and unpredictable events that affect an economy these factors may be positive or negative. Exogenous factors have an impact on endogenous economic variables; the economic variables that respond are output and employment. The

Current Knowledge in Spatial Thinking in Geography Essay

Current Knowledge in Spatial Thinking in Geography - Essay Example Going by Eliot’s depiction, it is worthwhile to note that intellectual knowledge extrapolates far much beyond observational information or simple sensory. In the field of geography, this extension is well displayed partly in the various forms of representation. Such models become critical in summarizing, analyzing and interpretation to unpack spatial existence and relational traits (Bednarz & Lee, 2011). Towards the late 20th century, there has been a significant deviation in the nature of geographic knowledge. In its history as a discipline, geographic knowledge has been declarative, thus focusing on collection and representation of the physical and human occurrences based on existence. During this period, there has been a change from the inventory dominated practice. The new dispensation sought the creation of knowledge through the emphasis on cognitive demands. Such demands sought to address the questions as to why and how in addition to what and where tags that initially i nterrogated. Consequently, the accumulation of geographic knowledge has changed to item transformation, feature and distribution matching in real-time as well as item manipulation. Such a shift has enabled the solution of tasks such as understanding spatial co-linearity either in negative or positive orientations. Moreover, the logical, inductive and deductive inference has allowed for the recognition of geographic associations. This new way of reasoning and thinking, in turn, called for the development of new data, new representation methods, new modes of spatial analysis and interpretation. More importantly, the new thinking and reasoning required that geographers must consider multiple disciplines. Traditionally, the discipline of geography has provided numerous general education courses. Physical geography introduces students to systems of the earth including anthropogenic and physical factors that shape the earth. On the other hand, human geography provides an insight into the patterns of human activities in a range of scales. However, few of such general education aspects emphasize quantitative solving of problems and technology. Therefore, it is critical for geographers to inculcate aspects of spatial literacy and thinking in institutions of learning (Bednarz & Lee, 2011). According to Goodchild (2007), spatial literacy is the ability to capture and communicate knowledge in the form of a graphical representation and understanding, recognizing and interpreting patterns. With this regard, he points out that geography is not merely a list of places in the world. The value of geography can only be achieved by organizing and discovering information. Additionally, its worth as a discipline can be realized by comprehending such basic information as scale and spatial resolution. As pointed out in National Research Council (NRC) report, Learning to Think Spatially, it is paramount to fully equip next generation of students with spatial literacy so as to work and live in the 21st century. Ultimately, spatial thinking is an integral part of the success of the students. Living beings and their immediate surroundings are situated in space. Human-environment interactions must be comprehended in terms of locations, shapes, directions, distances, and patterns (NRC, 2006).  

World Hunger Essay Example for Free

World Hunger Essay Hunger and starvation is an issue that plagues countries all over the world, regardless of how developed that country may be. From the United States to villages in Uganda, there are people who go days without eating, resulting in malnutrition and even death. Many charities and programs such as the United Nations World Food Program are currently working to save lives, but there are still millions of people in need of help and assistance. The UN World Food Program addresses hunger everywhere, including countries that are typically not associated with starvation. In Kabul, Afghanistan not all families can always afford enough food on a daily basis to feed their children. With the region being labeled more as a war-torn area, people often overlook the economic impact of political situations and how the natives are affected. Many adults have to work a minimum of ten to twelve hours every single day of the year, just so they can provide for their families; and if such work is not available, there is no guarantee that they will eat. Africa, in particular, is renowned for its third-world status and the widespread hunger that the entire continent has faced for years. Not only do poverty and a lack of resources add to the high levels of starvation, but the HIV/AIDS epidemic has also contributed to the problem. In Zambia, for example, the UN works with several mothers who are HIV-positive, yet they have several children that they need to raise. In the entire country, 14 percent of the people now have HIV and 16 percent of the entire female population is infected. Many of these women are also working mothers who struggle to find the energy to work long hours due to their illness. They also tend to forgo eating so that their children will have more food each day—a cycle that leads to further deterioration of their own health and increasing weakness, so they are unable to keep up with their work schedules. Fortunately for some of these families, the UN has intervened by providing nutritious food and medicine to treat some of the HIV symptoms. This has enabled many mothers—the UN’s target population in Zambia—to continue working while also building back up their own physical strength. Another example of the UN’s work is Congo, where malnutrition has recently been a rising concern. UN workers have been effective in teaching the natives of Congo to farm and plant their own food, as well as the importance of a nutritious diet. One of the countries most closely associated with hunger and starvation, of course, is Haiti. The UN World Food Program has had an increasing population on the island ever since the major earthquake back in January of this year. Working together to rebuild the country, the UN has made deals with many of the survivors—they provide the people with cash and food rations periodically in exchange for labor, which includes clearing the debris, paving roads, and reconstructing houses and other important buildings. Not only has the World Food Program helped with Haiti’s hunger issues, but they have essentially provided earthquake survivors with a sort of job market. Without the program, the country would clearly have no standing economy, and therefore there would be no available work. Since the labor that the people provide in exchange for food and money all goes towards reconstructing their own country, this process implemented by the UN completely benefits Haiti and its people, especially in the long-run. Perhaps the greatest feature of the United Nations World Food Program is that it addresses hunger from all sides. They do not simply enter a country, distribute food, and then leave. Instead, they work closely with the people there and provide them with the proper skills and knowledge so that they are able to feed themselves and their families forever—not just when the UN is there. Still, due to the fact that there are far more starving people than there are those who can help them, a great portion of the world still needs assistance and there is an enormous amount of work that has yet to be done.

Analysing SME Policy in Ireland

Analysing SME Policy in Ireland Social Network Analysis CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Research Design The proposed design for this study is a flexible mixed-method design making use of both qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection and analysis in order to understand and later analyse policy implementation networks for MSEs in Ireland, particularly concerning those in the Dublin 15 area. This approach was required for two reasons: 1) time and resource constraints; and 2) the literature reviewed for this research indicated that such an approach would provide better answers to the questions being asked. As shown in Table 1 below, this method was also important to establish the complimentary nature of the methods being used for the enquiry. For example, qualitative methods were required initially for content analysis of documents produced by the European Commission and the Dept. of Trade, Enterprise and Employment. However, a quantitative approach is given to the treatment of the relationships under investigation namely, mandatory and voluntary cooperation for policy implementation. Therefore, the following steps were taken for this particular research:- 1. Internet research for qualitative content analysis and name generation of policy actors and policies being made at both European and Irish levels; 2. Short open-ended qualitative interview with a major policy actor in Ireland for name generation of policy implementation actors; 3. Quantitative data collection and non-random sampling and estimate number of start-up companies in the Dublin 15 area; and 4. Data collection and analysis using Social Network Analysis methodology for all names generated to measure the effects of mandatory and voluntary cooperation among policy actors. Patience A follow-up interview with a key informant on the network composition and to confirm that the relationships drawn on the literature for policy implementation indeed existed in the manner they were in the questionnaire. In this case, a Head of Small Business Unit in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment could confirm the relationship among the actors in the network from an ‘ego’ perspective and pros and cons for this approach will be discussed further in the methodology chapter. The table below gives an illustration of the design being used and it follows the design approach suggested by Creswell et alli 2003:- Table 1 – Sequential Research Design Implementation Priority Integration Theoretical Perspective Sequential – Qualitative first Quantitative At Data Collection   and Interpretation Explicit With Some Combination As mentioned earlier, this design draws on Creswell’s (2003) work about various research design approaches – with special attention to the use of mixed-methods in the human sciences. A rather overt and systematic use of the methods have grown in popularity and it is evidenced in the work entitled Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social Behavioral Sciences, launched in 2003 by Abbas Tashakkory and Charles Teddlie and from which Creswell derives most of his useful explanations on the advantages and weaknesses of such a design. In a flexible design, the researcher is given a greater freedom to change research questions as the research progresses since she would be rigidly attached to one philosophical paradigm or the other, but would find relevant to include those that make sense to the enquiry as it evolves. On the other hand, making use of both qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection and analysis – whether they take place sequentially or concurrently, allows for a richer understanding and, hopefully, explanation of the problematic under investigation. Details of the methodologies and paradigms they are associated with are dealt with in the Methodology chapter. For this section is imperative now that the researcher makes the esteemed reader aware of the possible biases and the actions taken to deal with them. Bias statement It has been argued that bias is when systematic random or non-random errors are not accepted or acknowledged by the researcher at any point of her work, such as in the design, measurement, sampling, procedure, or choice of problem to be studied. Bias is also related to the accuracy of the information produced and reliability and validity may also be sacrificed, though not necessarily. Hammersley and Gomm (1997), however, assert that nonfoundationalist realism is rather appropriate for it neither relies on foundational epistemology nor it does on relativist and standpoint theory and its aims are to favour the production of knowledge rather than one’s political or personal agenda. According to these authors, foundationalism makes bias a rather evident matter in a research once the researcher’s ideological commitments are indentified as affecting research procedures hence compromising outcomes expected credibility. But bias is not as straightforward as foundationalists, according to them, would like it to be. In a nonfoundationlist realistic perspective, social researchers are not part of the phenomena they want to describe or explain nor can they construct phenomena through their accounts, but merely account for these realities and be judgemental of the influence that what they understand for established knowledge can have on their accounts of social r eality. (1997) In this research, in a foundationalist perspective, the biases that could possibly compromise the commitment with knowledge production is that:- 1) the researcher is a micro-entrepreneur from the vicinities; 2) her commitment with epistemological views of policy networks as ineffective given the predominant hierarchical structure and political agendas; 3) Snowball sampling technique may introduce bias for it may not represent a good cross section of the population investigated; and 4) Questionnaires sent to MSEs were not returned for reasons which will be explained in the Methodology chapter. This can also lead to incorrect conclusions. However, this is not an action research and the methodologies applied for enquiry on policy implementation networks aim to control for bias arising from the researchers’ own point of view regarding cooperation for the benefit of Small and Micro Enterprises in Dublin 15. Moreover, from a nonfoundationalistic realism view point, efforts were consciously made in order to avoid that knowledge so far taken as established in the field of cooperation among actors in policy networks compromises the knowledge produced by the evidence on cooperation among actors in this research. Taking the above into consideration, one of the methodologies used is a qualitative approach considering respondents’ representations of reality through a qualitative content analysis and qualitative techniques in social network analysis. Once data were generated, they were treated by using quantitative data analysis techniques and were converted into algebraic formulae reflecting responses given, i.e. whether a relation exists or not between two actors or more and if it is reciprocal one is a matter of replacing YES and NO answers, or in this case BLUE and RED arrows, for 1 and 0, respectively. This is not to say that social network analysis will serve as a complete assurance for validity and credibility, as questionnaire return rates and responses can indeed compromise it. It is hoped, however, that the weaknesses evident on this work are rather derivative from the very limited time afforded to Taught Masters students, effectively from May to August 2009, than from research bias. 1.2 Justification This work has a scientific and practical relevance and they are equally important as it is hoped that its findings and conclusion will not just add to the scientific knowledge but also reach the actors involved in policy implementation for micro and small enterprises in Ireland as well as those concerned with aspects of economic development. In the scientific sphere, this study will be initially guided by O’Toole’s (1997) work stressing the increasing complexity of networked settings in the public administration where he also urges for more empirical research to be conducted in order to comprehend the impact of such settings on policy implementation. This is also Blair’s (2002) views in his work on implementation networks in which he infers that complex systems formed by actors both coming from both the public and private sectors are assumed in now-a-days public administration. According to Blair, this will help measure the level of direct action by the government so to assess the complexity of such networks and he goes on to borrow from Alexander (1995) the concept of compulsory and voluntary links as the essence of policy implementation systems. Further to such concepts, the focus of this study is on mandatory and voluntary cooperation amongst MSEs stakeholders both in the public and private sectors. Having it all said, measuring service integration among agencies is not the objective of this study. Instead, it will try to leverage on social network analysis practice and theory to measure centrality, closeness, structural holes and brokerage (Freeman 1979; Burt 1995 and 2005). Other theorists, especially those whose studies are within social network analysis (Simmel 1995; Wellman 1983; Hanneman 2005), and regarding the bureaucratic aspect of the public administration (Weber 1978 and Blau 2006) and the (potential) social capital resulting from networks (Bourdieu 1986; Putnam 1995; and Fukuyama 1996) will also be used in the hope to complement existing literature on the topic. The above will, indeed, guide this study all the way through. 1.3 Chapter Outline CHAPTER III: LITERATURE REVIEW Defining the size of a business This research does not aim to be seen under the umbrella of business studies, but a sociological study of cooperation among policy implementation actors for policies in benefit of micro and small businesses in Ireland. Nevertheless, it is found pertinent to use business literature in order to outline the most commonly used definitions of business’ size according to factor inherent to its life cycle. The literature on organisation life cycle (OLC) has been found to be the most appropriate to define the size of a business. However, it is important to note that professionals used to working with businesses may find their own ways of defining business’ size and may as well widely disagree from the scholarly models created and widely used to date. The traditional models for sizing a company were given mostly in the 1980s first through conceptual works and eventually through empirical research which attempted to establish the phases of an organisation according to the environmental issues it faced throughout its existence (Rutherford et al. 2004). The literature consulted for this section has shown that one of the models that has been most cited and used as a reference is that created by Miller and Friesen (1984) whereby the organisation life cycle was divided into five phases: birth, growth, maturity, revival and decline (1984: 1162). These phases can be summarised according to the age, size and growth rate of the organisation. In summary, these phases were the birth phase for small companies, the growth phase for medium-sized companies, the maturity phase for larger organisations, the revival for very large and finally the decline phase for market size companies. The latter phase is linked with the decline in innovation and with environmental factors such as market dry-up. Meanwhile the earlier phases of the business are linked with the most innovative, although unstructured, stages of the organisation (1984: idem). Figure 2 below exemplifies the above:- Figure 2. Organisation life cycle (OLC) and its expected size per phase. The head count for the traditional models is shows as 0-4 persons employed in the birth phase, then 5-19 employees in the medium-sized firms and finally above 20 in the larger ones (Huang and Brown 1999 cf. Rutherford et al. 2004). Weaknesses of this model have been pointed by more recent works (Stubbart and Smalley 1990; Tichey 1980 cf. Rutherford, Buller and McMullen 2004) which took different views and approaches to establishing the different phases an organisation goes through. Other works making use of open-ended choices rather than forced-choice methods to identify an organisation’s problems according to its size, have found that obtaining external financing, internal financial management, economic environment and regulatory environment are problems often experienced by organisations in their start-up and growth phase (Terpstra and Olson 1993 cf. Rutherford, Buller and McMullen 2004) Taking definition from a different angle, the authors Rutherford et al. (2004) infer that other models have been created to overcome the weaknesses presented in previous models and the model by Kihenen (1990), which makes use of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) in order to depict rather realistic stages of an organisation given a series of other factors not limited to age, size and growth rate and it is similar to a cluster analysis and named as self-organising map (SOM). This model, different from traditional models, including the model created by Miller and Friesen (1984), does not force firms to fit into predetermined groups but allows for stages to fall into categories given by the data under study (2004: 328). Nevertheless, the traditional model remains imperative throughout their work and so it will throughout this work. The reason is twofold: a) the traditional definitions have been confirmed through empirical work and across countries; and b) it is assumed here that the proble ms faced by an organisation in each phase of its existence can be logically linked with the needs of these organisations for growth. Hence, policy-making and implementation, as it will be demonstrated later on, is more likely to follow traditional models than novel models. Though this is not to say that new findings on an organisation’s functioning will not be appreciated by policy actors. Moreover, taking into consideration the criticism on the traditional models it is therefore acknowledged that the adoption of traditional model is merely as starting point for reference given the insufficient time for the maturing of this study. Table 3 below shows the most common problems in organisations given their size and phase found by traditional models which have also been confirmed by more current studies utilising different organisational typology techniques:- Table 3. Problems helping establish the size and stage of an organisation. Problems Stage/Phase Headcount Newness, obtaining external finance, internal finance management, unstructured, informal, product development, economic and regulation environment, weak client base, owner/manager dominated. Birth/Start-up (Small firms) 0-4 employees Production efficiency and effectiveness, human resources management and re-organisation, economic and regulation environment. Growth (Medium-sized firms) 5-19 employees Maintaining growth momentum and market position, economic environment, production stagnation and lack of innovation, and employee retention. Stability/Maturity and Decline (Large firms) 20+ employees Source:Miller and Friesen 1984; Kazanjian 1988; Terpstra and Olson 1993 and Huang and Brown 1999 (cf. Rutherford et al. 2004). Conceptualising the phases and problems of organisations will help us understand the policies made in benefit of micro and small businesses in the European Union. However, a point in time must be made regarding the micro-enterprises that may not fit into the typology above given the ethos of their existence. In Europe, the crafts industry is within the definition for micro-enterprises as well as entrepreneurs in the rural areas. However, one should also consider the large number of self-employed professionals such as plumbers, carpenters, painters and also accountants whom may never expand their business, formalising it into a company hence adhering to the organisational life cycle above. Nevertheless, they too generate employment and tax revenue on top of their networked oriented business behaviour hence contributing to the country’s economy but as well as for social and local integration in Europe (European Commission’s SME Portal Observatory Report of European Enterprises 2003/7). Given the above, the needs for micro and small enterprises will vary according to their problems and other human aspects inherent of the cultural and social settings and mindset businesses are found. These settings have been acknowledged by the European Commission in providing assistance to groups widely seen as minorities in large scale businesses, but forming a large number among micro and small entrepreneurs, namely women and immigrants. The Concept of Policy Implementation Networks In policy network theory, implementation networks have been categorised and conceptualised mostly according to the context in which they have emerged in order to either reduce transaction costs or resolve problems effectively. Such a context will determine the resources and power that members will share on their way to achieve their shared goals or resolve their common problems (Provan and Milward 1995 and Bozer 1996). The subject of context is here defined as the ethos and habitus of policy implementation networks in general and they will be explained later on in this chapter. Modern states are now dealing with problems of greater complexity and this requires a superior level of negotiation and public participation in order for services to be delivered to the public as effectively as it is possible. For this reason, O’Toole (1997) asks researchers and public administrators to take networks more seriously and calls for a whole research agenda on the effects they have on hierarchical structures common to public agencies and ultimately affecting policy making, implementation and evaluation (O’Toole 1997; Provan and Milward 1995, 1998 and 2001; Bolzer 1996; and Sandstrà ¶m and Carlssson 2008, among others). The last decade saw a particular growth in research interest on policy implementation networks. Most of the work produced, once satisfied with the working concepts and theoretical frameworks on the subject, now concentrates on measuring implementation effectiveness from different angles and using different methods (idem). While O’Toole (1997 and 1999) remained mostly in the theoretical field hypothesising on management action in hierarchical structures (O’Toole and Meier 1999) and Bozer (1997) strived to conceptualise networks as forms of governance, others like Blair (2002) took the empirical road either by putting to test models created by O’Toole and Meier (1999) or utilised Social Network Analysis in order to analyse networks for what they really are, social structures with interdependent interests (ibidem). As to the initial theoretical framework for policy implementation networks, O’Toole and Meier (1999) created models for managerial action in public administration taking into account the prevailing hierarchical structure of public agencies. For them, networks are of great help to public servants and they see the two structures, linear and non-linear, as poles of a continuum related to buffering in the interests of stability (1999: 510). However, it is important to note that the emphasis of their work is on improving hierarchical systems rather than replacing them for networks since the authors see the informal and inconsistent nature of networks as a weak structure for buffering environmental issues common to policy implementation or service delivery while they also believe that a hierarchical system can maximise management resources more than networks as the latter demands more of such resources in order to maintain reciprocal ties. Though, they do acknowledge that not all networks have inconsistent relationships and have achieved stability by sharing a consistent policy agenda away from a hierarchical habitus, e.g. US farmers’ network, borrowing the term in italics from Tocqueville (2004: 329). Blair (2002), on the other hand, deals with empirical quantitative research on policy implementation in the field of economic development by studying the so-called Enterprise Zones in Southern United States, very popular in the 1990s, especially during Reagan’s second term in presidency. He makes use of policy tools theory and methodology while also drawing from O’Toole and Meier’s (1999) conceptual framework and models for public management in policy systems to formulate his three major hypotheses that aim at measuring the level of direct government intervention in service delivery systems for Enterprise Zones in distressed areas. The first hypothesis states that less government direct intervention means more complex implementation networks, while the second hypothesis continues from the first by asserting that less government participation also means that more actors are involved in implementation, especially private and non-profit organisations. Finally, the third hypothesis, which will later provide the most confounding findings, posits that the private sector takes a greater role in implementing programs in economic development policy networks (2002:170). The first two hypotheses were validated by the findings and agreed with the theoretical concept framework by O’Toole and Meier (1999) on the structure of new policy implementation systems. However, the third hypothesis for which he expected a negative correlation between private and public participation in implementation, he, in fact, obtained a positive one. His findings indicated that the more active is government intervention in the EZs investigated, the more participative businesses were in implementing the programs. However, this finding, according to Blair, does not contradict what had been theorised by O’Toole and Meier’s (1999) (cf. Blair 2002), but he classifies O’Toole’s (1997) system as the old implementation system and the later as the new system. Although policy tools theory is one good way of measuring government intervention in economic development, other approaches may also provide fruitful findings and ways of analysing policy implementation networks. Bozer (1997), for example, explains that policy networks are conceived as a particular form of governance in modern policy systems (Kenis and Schneider 1991; Kooiman 1993; Mayntz 1994, cf. Bozer 1997). In fact, she notes that their main focus is on problem-solving and not on intermediating interests. Any cooperative game members play in order to negotiate strategies to arrive at a solution and based not only on mutual goals, but mostly on communication and trust while acknowledging that their values, ideas and identities are essential to the network. Therefore, Bozer understands:- Policy networks as ‘webs of relatively stable and ongoing relationships which mobilise and pool dispersed resources so that collective (or parallel) action can be orchestrated toward the solution of a common policy’ (Kenis Schneide 1993: 36 cf. Bozer 1993:5). A policy network includes all actors involved in the formulation and implementation of a policy in a policy sector. They are characterised by predominantly informal interactions between public and private actors with distinct but interdependent interests, who strive to solve problems of collective action on a central, non-hierarchical level. (Bozer 1997: idem) She asserts that scholars whom have dedicated their work to see these network members as rational actors, following a horizontal self-coordination, may forget to include some of the main aspects making for such networks in the first place. For Bozer, looking at the intermediation position that networks can have, one may realise that policy-making can be ‘blocked by dissent’ and create what she sees as the ‘bargaining dilemma’ (or prisoner’s dilemma) where ‘defection from cooperation is more rewarding than compliance for a rational actor, owing to the risk of being cheated’. (1997:4) The exception exists when ‘bargaining is voluntary’. As approaches to research change over time and so do concepts and theoretical frameworks on policy implementation networks. Though, most references analysed for this work, showed that there is more of a convergence of knowledge on the topic rather than any radical change. It was noted, however, that works on the subject matter have become more and more empirical and it was found that using structural analysis has proved rather fruitful for a much needed progression on studying it. Aside policy tools, strategic decisions and interest intermediation to share resources and increase productivity and effectiveness, networks are social structures where norms are created and crystallised or otherwise and as such they must be analysed for their properties, the opportunities (advantages) and constraints (disadvantages) that these properties can originate. In other words, since networks are dynamic social structures, the questions asked, either to understand their modus operandi or more so to measure their effectiveness, refer to how actors organise themselves to problem-solving and what are the properties that this can originate. This seems to be the approach taken by a recent study on four policy networks in the educational system in Sweden by Sandstrà ¶m and Carlssson (2008). They acknowledge the organisational roots of policy network theory and from which important concepts have emerged, such as advocacy coalitions, implementation structures, iron triangles, issue networks, policy communities, and subgovernments (Sabatier Jenkins-Smith 1993; Hjern Porter 1993; Jordan Schubert 1992; Heclo 1978; Jordan 1990; Rhodes 1990; cf. Sandstrà ¶m and Carlssson 2008). Nevertheless, their research is justified by the reasons mentioned earlier, being a lack of substantive empirical work using the methods of social network analysis to study policy networks, since only network theorists in different disciplines (Sociology, Political Science, Business Administration etc.) have been interested in the social capital derived from network properties and which is capable of evaluating outcomes and performance. The authors concluded that their theoretical and methodological approach, as aforementioned, proved fruitful for the understanding of policy networks as a structural process where heterogeneity and centralisation are beneficial to network performance whereas structural holes (poorly or non-connected actors) should be avoided when the objective is to achieve efficiency (2008:517). In this view, concepts and knowledge generated by their study converge with those generated by previous works mentioned earlier in a complimentary manner. Evidently, there are several theoretical and empirical works making valuable contribution to the conceptualisation and setting an ever richer theoretical framework to rely on. However, given the short time given for this research, we will settle for what was seen as some of the most useful works with which to begin with. The ethos and habitus of policy implementation networks After contemplating some of the most prominent and recent concepts and theories on policy implementation networks and having touched on the subject of context, we now proceed to further the discussion on the latter beginning with seminal works on bureaucracy, the original ethos of public policy making and an aspect of the context which policy networks can be found. After that it will be discussed the idea of habitus as conceived by Tocqueville on his work about the associational ability of North Americans in the United States of his times. Beginning with the former, Max Webber interpreted the bureaucratic organisation by using terms such as money economy (for its existence), but also stability and rigidity as forming the ‘mechanised bureaucratic apparatus’ while emphasising its ‘technical superiority over every other form’. (1978:345-50) In parallel to contemporary public administration systems, the bureaucratic systems conceived by Weber had similar reasons to evolve and proliferate, being the always increasing complexity in administration, pressure from interested parties for social policy and willingness by the state to increase efficiency while reducing transaction costs. Still according to Weber, authority and hierarchy are also essential to the universe occupied by the public office. However, networked systems, although still embedded in bureaucracy, being hierarchy its essence, would not posses the same strictness and uniformity. As we have seen earlier, this is not to say that todayâ⠂¬â„¢s public administration cannot achieve stability through ways other than hierarchy. (O’Toole and Meier 1999) However, it is well known that Weber came from a rather theoretical perspective, which is the opposite of Peter Blau’s (1963) case, whom has written an entire book on the American bureaucratic system as a result of his ethnographical work in the 1950s. For Blau, this type of social organisation could not be defined merely through hypotheses, but was rather the subject of empirical investigation. Moreover, he opted to see bureaucracy as an orchestrated effort of public officials to ‘transform exceptional problems into routine duties of experts’. (Hughes 1951, cf. Blau, 1963:251) In fact, Blau acknowledges that the bureaucratic system in Germany during Weber’s times were very different from the same system on Blau’s times, especially if we consider they also refer to different countries, hence of different cultures. Even if we accept that expertise, or specialism, has been the raison d’à ªtre of public administration (again, for transaction cost reduction and efficiency’s sake), social interaction among servants are always changing and recurrent cooperation among workmates and just not friends would help contribute to the emergence of the new ethos of policy implementation networks. (Blau 1963:259; Bozer 1997) Therefore, one can hypothesise that repeated social interaction among individuals within the same group or organisation will lead to cooperative behaviour and as Bozer (1997) has inferred, such interactions combined with the notion of good communication