Moral panics Essay Example for Free

Moral panics Essay The term moral panic suggests a dramatic and rapid overreaction to forms of deviance or wrongdoing believed to be a direct threat to society. The most common definition of a moral panic is the opening paragraph of Folk Devils and Moral Panics by Stanley Cohen: Societies appear to be subject, every now and then, to periods of moral panic. (1) A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; (2) its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; (3) the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people; (4) socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions; (5) ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to; (6) the condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes more visible. Sometimes the object of panic is quite novel and at other times it is something which has been in existence long enough, but suddenly appears in the limelight. Sometimes the panic passes over and is forgotten, except in folk lore and collective memory; at other times it has more serious and long-lasting repercussions and might produce such changes as those in legal and social policy or even in the way the society conceives itself. Although in Cohens original work the numbers did not appear, but they can be said to represent the six stages in the development of a moral panic. One such moral panic was the video nasties case after the James Bulger murder in 1993. Robert Thompson and Jon Venebles, who were both ten years old at the time, abducted James from the Strand shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool. They walked him two miles to a railway line where they inflicted massive injuries on him, which resulted in his death. This deviant act dominated the newspaper headlines and created a panic. This murder was portrayed as a horrific act in the press and symbolized the degeneration of modern British society. The Bulger case was used, by the media, to symbolise all what was wrong with Britain. They focused on the difference between innocence and evil and why we as a society let this happen, it suggested the increase of public indifference, lowering family values and increasing isolation, generating massive public guilt and predicting a breakdown in society itself. Fuelled by the press reports, reasons were sought why the murder of James Bulger may have happened. This prompted demands for tighter controls, curfews for young people and stricter laws. One of these laws was for stricter controls on violent films, or video nasties, as the press called them. This was because the trial judge, who sentenced Venebles and Thompson to be detained at Her Majestys Pleasure, unusually made a statement in open court claiming that he believed violent videos may in part be an explanation to why the boys committed murder. He in particular singled out the film Childs Play 3, which he stated had some striking similarities to the manner of the attack on James Bulger. The police officer in charge of the case told The Guardian newspaper that he had no evidence to suggest that the boys had access to any videos worse than might be found in many households. This comment didnt matter, the scapegoat had been found and this was the starting point for the second moral panic about video nasties. The first such panic occurred between 1982-1984 during the influx of video cassette recorders (VCR), one-third of households owned or rented a VCR. Coincidentally, Hollywood produced a crop of gruesome horror films which prompted many complaints, due to the extreme violence of such films, including sadism, mutilation and cannibalism. Laws were set up to prevent children from renting or buying 18 certificate films, and The Daily Mails Ban The Sadist Videos campaign was set up. During the course of this first video nasty moral panic, the term video nasty was unmistakably synonymous simply with horror films and by 1984 the Video Recordings Act had been set up and became law. During the Bulger trial the press used emotive language to create a moral panic about the influences of video nasties. The press wanted to blame the moral decline on liberal permissiveness, the collapse of family life and the failings of schools, but the real culprit in the Bulger case was the arguments about the effects of the media. Every newspaper focused in detail on the alleged influence of video nasties. The Sun declared that An x-rated video may have sown the seeds of murder in the mind of one of James Bulgers killers and the Daily Mirror ran the headline Judge Blames Violent Videos. Childs Play 3, a film about a doll which comes to life and commits a series of murders, had been rented by one of the parents of one of the boys shortly before the murder. However, the police did not introduce the film as evidence in court as there was no evidence that either Venebles or Thompson had actually watched it. Whether or not the film had played a part in inciting the boys to commit murder, the video became the scapegoat. The press simplified the moral issues by concentrating on the video to the exclusion of virtually all other possible influences on the killers. The day after the judges summing up the Daily Mirror printed sensational coverage of the evil and sick video in the first few pages of the paper. Later Mirror coverage included an interview with the films director, David Kirschner, quoting him as saying that Childs Play 3 was never intended for kids and that he wouldnt let his own children watch it. The Suns coverage was more graphic than that of the Mirror. The front page of an issue led with the headline For the sake of ALL our kids BURN YOUR VIDEO NASTY, launching a campaign to destroy all copies of Childs Play3 by asking readers and video shop outlets to burn them. In the same issue a graph was also printed showing the heart rate of a Sun journalist who watched Childs Play 3 whilst wired to a heart monitor, her heart rate increased during the most violent parts of the film. The Sun used this experiment to prove that the video was indeed an incitement to murder, trying to prove that the furore over the so-called video nasties was a valid one. The case of the Bulger murder was seen to encompass every negative aspect of society which is evident in todays world. The Times described this as a reminder of humanitys most ancient and bestial instincts. Comments like this gave the press the opportunity to preach to society about modern social values and the need to return to a vigilant network of neighbours looking out for one another. The Times also used the word alarm to sensationalise the more accurate term concern, this use of language brings a new urgency to the debate about the video nasty moral panic. The press, using sensational media scaremongering, as they do to sell more papers, focused entirely on how violent films and in particular Childs Play 3 incited the two boys to commit murder. Describing the film using words such as sick and evil, and even drawing parallels between the killings in the film and how James Bulger was murdered, of which none were proved in court. Moral panics tap into the publics fears for their safety and the safety of their society around them. In many instances the press coverage of such events doesnt help in alleviating the publics fears, more often than not the press heighten these fears. They do this through sensationalism reporting. As tragic as it was that a young toddler was killed it allowed the people who hold power in this country to enforce their ideas and rules more CCTV cameras were installed in the country because of how essential they were in identifying James murderers. Many panics result in official change and have long-lasting repercussions, as was the case of the video nasties moral panic. The Video Recording Act 1984 was set up introducing the regulations of videos through the British Board of Film Classification. The debates upon the lack of parental control in monitoring childrens viewing and the dangers of young children watching films intended for a mature audience led to further regulations in 1994. Bibliography Bell A, Joyce M, Rivers D, Advanced Level Media. Hodder Stoughton, UK, 1999 Bowker, Julian, Looking at Media Studies, Hodder and Stoughton, UK, 2003 Cohen, Stanley, Folk Devils and Moral Panics, Macgibbon and Kee, London, 1972 Critcher, Chas, Moral Panics and the Media, Open University Press, UK, 2003 Price, Stuart, Media Studies (2nd Edition), Longman, UK, 1999

The India-Pakistan conflict: An overview

The India-Pakistan conflict: An overview INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND India Pakistan conflict is one of long lasting and unresolved conflict of modern times. It started with the birth of Pakistan as a different state in 1947 after the Britain empire come to an end in India. On religious grounds, one country (i. e. India) was divided into two. In 1947, when British India got its independence, it was primarily divided into two countries: India and Pakistan. All areas with the majority of Muslim population were supposed to be the part of Pakistan. The dividing line between these two countries was bizarre. As major part of North West India after partition, was called West Pakistan and there were some territories in eastern part of India with majority of Muslim population, those areas were called East Pakistan (Bangladesh). Since the partition, these two south Asian countries have been the arch rivals. The rivalry has gone through several wars, terrorist activities and nuclear tests by these countries. (Ref: T.V. Paul, page 3). Both of these countries spend a great chunk of their funds in defense budgets. The race of becoming the superpower of South Asia has adversely affected the economic growth of both these countries. The origin of the India-Pakistan conflict is deep-rooted in the issues such as religion and the politics of revenge. Problem of Kashmir is the most important issue for the tension between India and Pakistan. (Ref: usamhi.army.mil) The some of the other issues between these two nations are problem of sharing waters, religion. KEY ISSUES/REASONS: Kashmir The Kashmir is the biggest cause of conflict between India Pakistan. After partition India and Pakistan were two nations. However, there were some princely states, and they were left to make their own decision to join Pakistan or India or remain independent. The ruler of Kashmir (also known as Jammu and Kashmir) decided to remain independent. However, the attack by Pakistan tribal forces in late 1947 forced the ruler of Kashmir to sign the agreement to accede Kashmir to India. The nature of that accession has long been the subject of debate. After a short war, a ceasefire agreement was signed by both the nations under the support of United Nations. According to the agreement a ceasefire line (later called as Line of Control) was established defining that, the two-thirds of the Kashmir will stay under Indias control and rest will stay under the control of Pakistan. The territory under Pakistans control is called Azad i.e. Free Kashmir by Pakistanis and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) by India. Since then, the issue of Jammu and Kashmir has been the root of dispute between these two nations. Pakistan claims it to be its territory, since the majority of population is Muslims. For the Pakistan, the partition of the Indian-subcontinent will remain incomplete until the Kashmir is unified with their state. On the other hand, Indians believe that the Kashmir is a legal part of their territory. According to them, the partition was completed in 1947. (Ref: T.V. Paul, pages 8-9). Security India has also been accusing Pakistan for not taking serious actions against Pakistan-based militant groups and training camps. Government of India says these militant groups pose a big threat for its national security. Indian government demands that Pakistan needs to take serious actions against the Pakistan-based militant groups and training camps. Indians also suspect that the Pakistani security agents support these groups. India is much worried about its national security issue because of the militant attacks in various India cities. (Ref: zeenews.com). India accuses Pakistan security agencies for supporting the militant attack in recent years such as attack on Indian Parliament House in year 2001 and Mumbai attacks in 2008. Water Another issue which is causing the problems with these two countries is the use of water. Many rivers rise from India and flow down to the Pakistan. Pakistan claims that India is not playing fair in terms of user of waters according to a treaty under which India can use the waters of three eastern rivers and Pakistan can use water of three western rivers. Pakistan says India is diverting these waters by building dams. Pakistan is very much dependant on these waters for the farming and other needs of its population. India, on the other hand, denies all these accusations by Pakistan. (Ref: zeenews.com) Religious Ideologies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both the countries have their religious ideologies. The foundation of Pakistan was laid down on the basis of religion. Muslim in British India felt that after the independence if a Hindu government takes the command of the nation, the Muslim community will be isolated from the political grounds. Therefore, they demanded their separate nation as Pakistan, a state of Muslim entity. Since partition, both the countries have become more reliant on their religious ideologies. Rise of Hinduism in India have made anti-Pakistan ideologies more strong. On the other hand, Pakistan has used their Islamic identity to defend their own political position, which has strengthened the rivalry. (Ref: T. V. Paul, page 22-24) KEY EVENTS The 1947-48 war The wounds of partition were not healed yet, when both the countries went to war in October 1947.Pakistani tribal troops attacked the Kashmir. The Kashmirs ruler asked India for help and he agreed for accession of the state to India. Thats how the first war between India and Pakistan started. This war ended in January 1949 with the involvement of United Nation and a ceasefire line was established between two countries. (Ref: news.bbc.uk) The 1965-war   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the spring of 1965 two countries went to war again. A clash between border patrol forces on the south western border of Pakistan with India resulted in a major war. Pakistani forced entered the Indian-administered. Indian forces hit back by crossing the international border. Again with UN supported both countries agreed to cease fire. In year 1966, India and Pakistan signed an agreement in Tashkent (in former U.S.S.R.) to resolve their issues in peaceful manner. (Ref: news.bbc.uk) The 1971 war   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1971, two countries went on war with each other once again. However, the battle field this time was the border of India and East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh). In year 1971, Pakistan faced a civil war between West Pakistan army and East Pakistan. The civil war resulted in many people escaped to India from East Pakistan. After that, Indian army invaded the East Pakistan to help those people. Consequently, Pakistan army surrendered to Indian army and war came to end with the birth of another country, called Bangladesh. (Ref: news.bbc.uk) Kashmir Rebellion In 1989, the beautiful valley of Kashmir came under siege by armed resistance to India rule. Some extremist groups started rebellion movement against Indian Government, calling it war of Kashmirs independence and some groups called the movement for union of Kashmir with Pakistan. Indian government accused Pakistan of supplying arms to these revolting groups. During this period, many Islamic groups came into emerged in the region for the fight against India. (Ref: news.bbc.uk) Nuclear Tests In 1998, India conducted nuclear tests near the border of Pakistan and later on Pakistan too conducted some nuclear tests. These tests were criticized by United States and many European countries. After these tests, it was now clear that both the countries will think twice before attacking each other. In fact, the relations between India and Pakistan started to improve after the nuclear tests. (Ref: news.bbc.uk) Kargil war Just when it seemed like the rift between India and Pakistan has started to heal, the conflict erupted again after Pakistan army break into Indian Kashmir in year 1999. India responded with air strikes against Pakistan forces. Both the nations suffered from great economics loss; many people were force to leave their homes on both sides of the Line of Control (LOC). Under the pressure of United Nations, the contemporary prime minister of Pakistan withdrew his forces from the region. (Ref: news.bbc.uk) Mumbai Attacks   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The financial capital of India, Mumbai has always been the target of terrorist activities. The city has experienced many terror attacks since March 1993, when Muslim underworld joined to Pakistani militant group carried out a series of bombings on Mumbais stock exchange, trains, hotels and gas stations. In 2006, terrorists shocked the Mumbai with series of seven bombings on Mumbai railways within 11 minutes. According to officials the attack was carried out by POK based militant group Lashkar-e-taiba. In November 2008, terrorist attacks once again shocked the Mumbai. Pakistan based terrorist groups coordinated the shooting and bombing attacks in 10 different areas of the city. Again, the operation was carried out by Lashkar-e-taiba. (Ref: timesofindia)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Apart from the above, various other regions of India are also been the targets of Islamic terrorism activities. There were some plane hijacks by these militant groups. They even attacked Indian Parliament house in New Delhi. KEY GROUPS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is very hard to point out the groups that are involved in this conflict. In fact, it is conflict between nations, governments, and religions. The security agencies of both the countries are also involved. Indians have always accused Pakistans top national security agency ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) for supporting militant activities in India and on the other hand, Pakistan says that the Indian intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) was involved in the conspiracy of separating Bangladesh from Pakistan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the decades of 1980s and 1990s the rivalry between India Pakistan was so intense that even their sports could not remain unaffected from the tension. For example, during this period the matches between Indian and Pakistani Cricket or Hockey teams used to be regarded as the battles between two countries. As far as, Kashmirs issue is concerned, there are some terrorist groups that have direct involvement in the conflict. A few of these Islamic extremist groups are as Harakat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). All these groups belong to POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) and were formed to seek to claim the region of Kashmir to Pakistan. Some officials claim that these extremist groups also have connections with Al-Qaeda. These groups are responsible for most of the terrorist activities in India. FUTURE   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In recent years, there have been a lot of efforts being made by both the sides to improve their relationship. There have been several peace talks between in India and Pakistan. However, militant attacks continue to obstruct the progress to maintain the peace. In 2001, Pakistan military ruler President visited India for a landmark summit. The summit held in Agra, the city of Taj Mahal, between Pakistan president and Indian prime minister. People on the both sides of the border were very optimistic about the meeting and hoped for peaceful resolution of some of the issues between the two countries. However, the summit ended without any agreement over the Kashmir conflict (Ref: news.bbc.uk). In year 2005, both the countries agreed to start a bus service across the LoC (Line of Control). Militants have tried to attack those buses. It has been proved that whenever some hope arises for maintaining the peace, extremist groups have tried to come up with som ething which deteriorates the relationship. After Mumbai attacks in 2008, India has put the hold on peace talks. Although there has been efforts being made by the governments on both sides, but the conflict doesnt seem to end, as long as, the issue of Kashmir is there. The issue of Kashmir can only be resolved by involving the people of Kashmir. The chances of which are not very bright, as the separatist leaders are not ready for anything less than the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan from India. Indian government claims that they own the Kashmir legally and they cannot afford one more partition. The majority of the population of Jammu and Kashmir is of Muslim. Many of them want Kashmir to be the part of Pakistan, and many wants to stick with India. Although the relations between India and Pakistan have improved a lot, but the hopes of peace between the two countries are not very strong. REFERENCES/BIBILOGRAPHY The India-Pakistan conflict: an enduring rivalry by T.V. Paul http://www.zeenews.com/news606880.html# http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/south_asia/2002/india_pakistan/timeline/default.stm http://www.usamhi.army.mil/USAWC/Parameters/03spring/malik.pdf http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India_a_major_terror_target/articleshow/3761676.cms ttp://www.cfr.org/publication/9135/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1430367.stm http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/187/34567.html

Impact of Globalisation on the Nation-State

Impact of Globalisation on the Nation-State Introduction The discussions of globalization have become topics which are in the great demand. Especially with the development of information and technology and the form of global economy, the global affairs have become more and more complicated. It is hard to distinguish the internal affairs and external affairs. People found that the distances between different countries are shorter than before. After the Cold War, a great amount of countries publish their economic policies to develop their economies. Take American 11th September for example, 11th September is an event that New York America attacked by the terrorists. However, the global aviation, finance, technology all has been affected as well as the international business. Even the central banks in mostly countries have taken the action of decreasing the interests to make the effects of 11th September not to be so serious. Those phenomenon show that globalization has growth rapidly, and has deeply influent the development and vicissitude o f the situation of global politics and economy. To observe it deeply, different countries and institutions have different influences. As the matter of fact, it is to some extent a relationship of gain and lost. Whatever the existence of globalization or the debates of scholars on globalization, those all illustrate that globalization is a development of process. However, the importance of globalization has already drawn the attention of countries. This essay will be divided into three sections. Firstly, the definition of globalization will be analysed. Through the compare of different definitions, a clear sense of globalization will come out. After that the process of globalization will be briefly introduced from some aspects, the geography and time period, the global economy and culture and politics. Secondly, nation-state will be discussed. In this section, five aspects will be analysed. This section includes the definition of nation-state, the influence of politics, economy and culture on nation-state. Moreover, the role of media in global condition will be discussed. Thirdly, this essay will discuss if globalization destroyed the nation-state or not. Then finally a conclusion will be made. Globalization What is globalization? Globalization could be argued to be a process, which the flow of substances and spirit products destroy the area and the boundaries of countries, and effect the peoples life around every corner of the earth. The globalization also includes the immigrations. It could be seen from the table, it is not easy to define what globalization is. It is a phenomenon which influenced peoples life. Based on Busch (2009), globalization is a continuing process of intensity not only the economy, but also culture, social life and politics. From the definition above, it could be argued that the definition of globalisation could be analysed into two parts. The first one is the space. As the Buschs and Waters view, globalization means that the boundaries of countries are being decreased. Although this does not mean the compression of geography, it is the economy and culture make the distances between different countries decreased. Secondly, it is something about relationships. Robertson (1995) indicated that the conflict and unity of homogeneity and heterogeneity make globalization. The globalization makes the people from all over the world getting more and more close in culture, economy and politics. The countries are more relied on each other. The process of globalization Basically, the process of globalization could be divided into three moments. The first one is in geography filed. The first emergence of globalization could be dated back to 1492 A.D. according to Butzer (1992), the European encounter discover the American continent. Then after a period of time, Britain colonized India, the world has changed from a large scale to small size. The second moment, Holton (1998) indicated that from 1960s the advent of globalization has more developed. The words globalization and global village are newly added into the dictionary. Take American foe example, in the post-1945 ear, American constructed a hegemonic order (Ikenberry, 2007). To some extent it could not be denied that the hegemonic order of America pushed the economic globalization within the global condition. The third moment is after the history steps into the 21st century more opportunities are produced to people, so that the people flow cross the countries to seek more comfortable life. Howev er, this might be harmful to some of the countries. For instance, the U.S. was the most opened country in the world before 10th September 2001. On 11th September 2001, the U.S. has been attacked by terrorists. After that Americas border was quite closed (Alden, 2008). The widely discussions of globalization is the global economy. Based on Wills, Samli and Jacobs (1997), the world economy is trending globally. And there are three major economy regions in the world, the European Union, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Pacific Rim (Bennett, 1995). The economic groups indicated that the economy in each country has more closed. Culture and politics globalization are also notable. Take American culture for example, because of the development of technology, the communication within the world is getting easier and easier. Movies which are made by Hollywood are very famous among the countries. Now Hollywood movies are trying to absorb the actors from different countries to gain more global audience (Robertson, 1995). However, politics are more closed with economy. The hegemonic order which constructed by America, the policies which published, most of them are aims to support the development of economy. Nation-state What is nation-state? According to Grossberg (2006), nation-state could be argued to provide some securities for people, such as economic, social and physical. Grossbegy (2006) went further that nation-state also means that the sovereign is under control of its own leadership or people, but not under control of some other external aspects. It could be identified that nation-state is a political community. Within the nation-state, the country has the power to set up its own laws to make sure its territorial autonomy is integrated and political sovereignty is not encroach by some other countries else. The social cohesion within a nation-state has its unique society. Moreover, the people in a nation-state share the same culture, religion language and so on. The influence of politics on nation-state. Politics has great influences on nation-state. Politics is an activity and relations. Politics could be seen as the treatment of the relationship between people. Vitally, politics could influent the nation-state economy. Without a steady, health condition of political atmosphere, the economy will not be developed. Take Japan for example; in the years of Meiji era, the government gave the great support for the economy. Therefore, Japan became richer and richer. At that time, the government encouraged people to develop the economy; the policies the government made were more concentrate on economy. Many companies have grown fast. As Ikenberry (2007) indicated after the World War ?, the leaders of America made many efforts to rebuild the trade, investment and currency. Although those politicise helped America to construct is hegemonic order; it could not be denied that those policies made the American economy quickly recovered. Moreover, the governors should fully understand the economy. If the government misunderstand the economy, the politics they made will destroy the economy. For example, if a country import a foreign product at a very low price, even lower than the internal price, many people in the same filed within the nation-state will lost their job. The influence of economy on nation-state. The economy influenced the nation-state as well. As the matter of fact that the nation-state economy influent the politics and culture within the nation-state. As Grossberg (2007) indicated that the nation-state has more concentrate on the sovereign and territorial autonomy. However, the economy is the basic construction which could decide if people within the nation-state have a better life or not. Altschull (1997) argued that there are four basic patterns which influence media ownership; one of the four patterns is commercial aspect. From here, it could be seen economy has influenced each part in the nation-state. Economy also influences the national culture. There was an old saying in Chinese culture only you have enough food, you could have time to pay attention on your behaviours. People have enough food; they could do their jobs well or not resist the government. If a scientist is hungry and no food to eat, he would probably not continue doing his research. If a litterateur doe s not have enough food to eat, he has to do some physical work, such as cultivation. He would probably not write those literatures. Without the development of economy, the society members have to cultivate themselves, the society, even the nation-state could not be developed. The influence of culture on nation-state. Culture could be argued as the spirit of the nation-state. People in the same nation-state share the same history, religion, language and so on. It is said that, for a person, his fortune is decided by his personality. The culture could be compared with the personality of a country. Thus, culture could by the actions and response when a country faced some problems. Culture could affect peoples lifestyle (Evans, Jamal, and Foxall, 2009). Take Japan for example; according to Lebra (1974), the spirit of Japanese culture is to respect the person who is perfectly capable. They do not have any sympathizes for the wreakers. Therefore, if one wants to get some respect from other Japanese, the first thing to do is to become stronger. It could not be denied that become strong so as to gain identify of the world. Apart from the correct or incorrect of this spirit in the ethic field of Japan, only concentrate on the development of the nation-state is beneficial to Japanese society. Under this cu lture, Japan could become more and stronger. Culture could be inherited. Therefore; culture would influence the idea of a nation. A perfect culture passed on generation by generation, the later government will become strong and well developed. The role of media in the erosion of nation-state. Media actually helped globalization to shock the national culture, however the globalization of media make the distances of countries shorter and shorter. Firstly, the globalization of media threatens the national culture. As Doyle (2002) indicated that the trends of international media id expansion and the press are controlled by large companies. Sreberny (2000) argued that after American hegemonic order, American values are now stepping into to the hearts and minds of the Third World countries. Take Hollywood movies for example; as it mentioned in previous sections, Hollywood movies have now employed more people with different nationalities to act and produces the movies so as to attract more audiences for outside the U.S. However, the American do not full understand other countries cultures, there always have some misunderstandings in the movies to make other countries people feel uncomfortable. Moreover, with the development of technology, televisions are widely spread. Satellite television could receive hundreds of channels. Young people could learn another culture from the television; but for their own culture, it might be fade. However, the globalization of media makes the distances of countries shorter and shorter. As mentioned above, the development of technology, more families have television. Through television programs, people could learn more things. Especially after the invention of computer and internet, all the information from each country could be checked from them. This made peoples life more comfortable. Has globalization destroyed nation-state? Globalization has not destroyed nation-state. Globalization brings numerous benefits to the world. Some people believed that globalization helped poor people from developing countries out of the poor conditions. Because globalization helped the developing countries opened their markets. Ikenberry (2007) pointed out that after the World War ?, American leaders have promoted to recovered the economy by publishing a series of policies to set up an open system of business, investment and currency. The price of labour in developing countries is much cheaper than developed countries. Therefore, many multinationals have been set up, and provided more job opportunities to the local people. Take China for example, the expending of employment in multinationals have helped many poor Chinese out of poverty. According to Bardhams (2006) research people who live in the rural areas whose daily living cost under $1 per day were decreased from 79% to 27% in China from 1981 to 2001. China is a socialism country, but introduced capitalist business methods in 1987 (Bennett, 1995), and opened its markets to other countries to developed its economy. The capitalist business methods have made great achievements to China. There is another good example from Bangladesh; Barfham (2006) did an interview of a woman call Rahana Chandhuri who works in garment export factories. She said there are many women work in the garment export factories. Although the job is not fair, compare with other people, she still earns much money. A research shows that 86% of women work in the garment industry and their average monthly income are more than their neighbourhoods (Bardham, 2006). Globalization weakens the barriers of geography, but closes the link between different countries. Slagnt, Harben and Pallant (2006) argued that all the countries could share the materials all over the world. People in different countries could buy whatever they want in the local supermarkets and the materials for industry used also could be import and export easily. Fr o example, Chinese students who studies could buy Chinese cooking ingredients in Tesco, and in U.K.s stores, it is not hard to find any products which said made in China. In addition, the development of transportation makes the distance of different countries shorter and shorter. For instance, in the past it might take years to travel from China to Britain. However, now from Beijing to London, it only takes less than 10hours by direct flight. Globalization of economy bring many benefits to the countries within the world, so as the culture. Still take Hollywood movies for example,, many people with different nationalities work together to produce movies suitable for the audience from all over the world. Globalization has destroyed nation-state. Globalization also brings many disadvantages to the nation-state. Firstly, for example, after the multinationals enter the developing countries, it could not be denied that human is greedy, in order to make more money, the owners of export and import factories even hired children work for them. Based on Bardhams (2006) research, in Bangladesh, the garment export factories used to hire children to work for them; because children is much cheaper than adult labours. If the owners of those factories employed children work for them they will gain more profits. In 1993, the U.S. has banned on importing products using children labour, the garment dismissed about 50000 children. However, only few of them went back to school, most of them went to stone breaking or even child prostitution. Secondly, the economy of developing countries was helped by large international organisations such as economic groups. Those developing countries need to change something in order to fit those economic group s. It could be easily lost the autonomy of those countries. China enter WTO in 1999, nine hundred laws would need to be changed to adapt the world economy (Nolan, 2001). This might be the biggest challenge to Chinese retailers, for they have using the original laws for a long time, the changing of laws might make some of the small retailers go bankrupt. Moreover, changing laws could make China loose the autonomy in charting the complex path of economy reform. Thirdly, the globalization of culture destroyed local culture. Islam culture is a unique culture, and different from western culture. Turner (2007) argued that the development of global mass communication has influenced the Islam world. It is an extension of westernization, and will weaken the local culture. With the American hegemonic order, the Americanization has appeared many places all over the world. For example, many Chinese students or even adults are huge fans of NBA, a basketball association in America. Those fans eve n look down upon their own countries basketball association. Another example, McDonalds are in every part of China. Children like this American fast food than Chinese dishes. Fourthly, English is using wildly; people could travel to any other countries whose native language are not English; however, English is still workable there, the same as Chinese. Since the English and Chinese are widely use all over the world, some language whose native speakers are really few will be endangered. When a language disappeared, the culture will soon disappeared, and could only be finding in the books. Conclusions This essay is aiming to discuss if globalization has destroyed nation-state or not. This essay was divided into three parts. The first part focuses on globalization. There were many definitions of globalization; they are defined from different aspects. From compare different definitions of globalization given by scholars, then an idea of definition of globalization is being cleared. Globalization is not only a pheromone within the world of politics, economy and culture, but also a process. The earliest emergence of globalization could be dated back to the year of 1492. In recent times the construction of hegemonic order of America pushes the speed of the globalization. The second part was concentrated on nation-state. Globalization is a kind of process; the nation-state is more focus on the political sovereignty and territorial autonomy, social cohesion and culture. Politics, economy and culture all have the influence on nation-state. Media has two sides; it has erosion on nation-sta te, but also makes the distance of countries shorter. The third part discussed if globalization destroyed nation-state or not. Globalization is a sword with two sides. For one aspect, the globalization made the developing countries out of poverty. People in those countries lived in a more comfortable life. Globalization also weakens the barriers of different countries, and makes the links of different countries. The distances of different countries are getting closer. However, globalization made some destroys of nation-state. For example, in some developing countries the factories owners hired children. Some developing countries have to change their laws to enter the economy groups to make more profit, so that those countries will probably loose their autonomy. The widely spread of American culture and English language will make some local culture and language endangered. As mentioned above, globalization is a sword with two sides, if the nation-state makes the proper polities and p rotections of culture, the benefits of globalization will make the countries become stronger. References Alden, E. (2008) The Closing of the American Border: Terrorism, Immigration, and Security Since 911, Harper. Pp35-50 Altschull, J.H. (1997) Boundaries of Journalistic Autonomy, Berkowitz, D. (eds). Social Meanings of news: a text -reader. London: Sage. Pp259-268. Bardhan, P (2006, April). Does Globalization Help or Hurt the Worlds Poor? Scientific America, [Magazine, online]. Retrieved March 5, 2008, from http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=does-globalization-help-o accessed on 31.11.09 Beck, U. (2000), Introduction. what is Globalization? Cambridge: Polity. Pp1-16 Bennett, R. (1995) International Marketing: Strategy, Planning, Market Entry and Implementation, London: Kogan Page Limited. pp157-209 Busch, A. (2009) Introduction, Globalization and State Capacity, Banking Regulation and Globalization, Oxford:Oxford University Press. Pp 1-22 Butzer, K.W. (1992) From Columbus to Acosta: Science, Geography and the New world, Annals of the Association of American Geography. Vol 82, NO.3, The American before and after 1492: Current Geographical Research (Sep. 1992). Pp543-565 Doyle, G. (2002) Media Ownership: The Economics and Politics of Convergence and Concentration in the UK and European Media, London: Sage. Pp141-153, pp171-179 Evans, M., Jamal, A. and Foxall, G. (2009) Culture and Subculture, Consumer Behaviour, 2nd Edition, Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. Pp284-291 Giddens, A. (1990) The Globalising of Modernity, The Consequences of modernity, Cambridge: Polity. P64 Grossbery, L., Wartella, E., Whitney, D. C. and Wise, J.M. (2006) Globalization, the Nation-state and Culture Imperialism, Media Making: Mass Media in Popular Culture, California: Sage Publications Inc. pp424-425 Held, D. (2002) Governing Globalization: Power, Authority and Global Governance. Held, D. and McGrew (eds), Oxford: Polity. P1 Holton, R.J. (1998) Globalization and Nation-state. Hampshire: Macmillan Press Ltd. Pp21-25 Ikenberry, G. J. (2007) Globalization as American Hegemony, Held, D. and McGrew, A. (eds) Globalization Theory, Cambridge: Polity. Pp41-58 Lebra, W.P. (1974) Introduction, Japanese Culture and Behaviour: Selected Readings,Revised Edition, Lebra, W.P. and Lebra, T.S.(eds). Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press. Pp xi-xix Nolan, P (2001), China and the Global Economy. Wales: creative Print and Design Ebbwvale, PP195-196 Robertson, R. (1995) Globalization: Time-space and homogeneity-heterogeneity. In: Global Modernities, Featherstone, M., Lash, S. and Robertson, R. (eds). London: Sage. Pp 25-41 Slagnt, J, Harben, P and Pallant, A (2006), The Global Village: Challenges for a shrinking planet-Source Book, Reading; Garnet Publishing ltd. PP44-45 Sreberny, A. (2000) The Global and the Local in International Communication. In Mass Media and Society, 3rd Edition, Curran, J. and Gurevitch, M. (eds), London: Arnold. Pp118-136 Turner, B.S. (2007) Islam and Consumerism, In: Part 2 Global Consumerism, Tourism and Identity, In Globalization: The Reader, Oxford: Blackwells. Pp141-163 Waters, M. (1995) Globalization, London: Routledge. P3 Wills, J., Samli, A.C., Jacobs, L. (1997) Developing Global Products and Marketing Strategies: A Construct and A research Agenda, Doole, I. and Lowe, R. (eds). International Marketing Strategy: Contemporary Readings. London:Tomson International Business Press. Pp45-50

OSI Model Essay examples -- Essays Papers

OSI Model During the past two decades there has been a tremendous increase in the numbers and sizes of networks. Many of the networks, however, were built using different implementations of hardware and software. As a result, many of the networks were incompatible and it became difficult for networks using different specifications to communicate with each other. To address this problem, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) researched many network schemes. The ISO recognized that there was a need to create a network model that would help network builders implement networks that could communicate and work together (interoperability) and therefore, released the OSI reference model in 1984. This chapter explains how standards ensure greater compatibility and interoperability between various types of network technologies. In this chapter, you will learn how the OSI reference model networking scheme supports networking standards. In addition, you will see how information or data makes its way from application programs (such as spreadsheets) through a network medium (such as wires) to other application programs located on other computers on a network. As you work through this chapter, you will learn about the basic functions that occur at each layer of the OSI model, which will serve as a foundation as you begin to design, build and troubleshoot networks. The concept of layers will help you understand the action that occurs during communication from one compu...

Self-Concept Essay -- Self Concept

The Self-Concept is a complicated process of gaining self-awareness. It consists of mental images an individual has of oneself: physical appearance, health, accomplishments, skills, social talents, roles, intellectual traits, and emotional states and more –all make up our self-concept.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The development process begins at about six or seven months of age. The child begins to recognize â€Å"self† as distinct from surroundings. They stare at anything they see, including their own body parts; hands, feet, toes, and fingers. As they grow, their sense of identity expands through interactions with others –creating self-esteem levels that become the â€Å"booster† for the ability to interact. There are two theories that describe how interactions shape our self-views. One defines perceptions of the judgments of others called Reflected Appraisal. It is the notion of receiving supportive and nonsupportive messages. It states that positive appreciation and a high level of self-value is gain when supportive messages are received. In contrast, receiving nonsupportive messages leads to feeling less valuable, lovable, and capable. Everyone that you and I interact with influences these self-evaluations. Either from your past or from present –all shapes how you view yourself, especially from our significant others. The strength of messages from significant others become stronger and eventually affect the health, when they are nonsupportive; depression, for instance, leads to less physical activities that are necessary for a healthy body. However, the foremost important influences are our parents. Supportive parents raise children with healthy self-concepts. While nonsupporti ve parents raise an unhappy child who view his/her self in negative ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The other theory defines evaluation of ourselves in terms of how we compare with others, called Social Comparison. There are two types, superior or inferior comparison and same as or different from others. We compare by attractiveness, success or failures, intelligence, and it all depends on whom we are comparing ourselves with. For instance, an individual might feel inferior when compared with an inappropriate reference group. Therefore, he or she might feel inferior because she feels less of everything from the reference. Similarly, the opposite occurs when compared with an appropriate reference group.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In addition, we a... ... behavior. This means that self-awareness must also come into play. I will have to be concerned about the way I present my ideas, as well as my behavior; otherwise, it will be perceived negatively.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  So far, my self-concept has changed positively and in time, it will improve (optimists). The only difficulty that I have been facing is the ability to defend myself against negative comments from others. Because of my thinking process speed, it takes time for me to acquire comments and how to say them immediately. In addition, I found that it is not necessary to give a response back to negative comments in order to defend yourself, except in courtrooms. Nonverbal expressions are also as powerful. For example, ignoring critical comments create a serious climate between you and the speaker –sending a message that the comment was unnecessary and offensive. But in some cases, verbal messages are necessary, such as that in debates over issues. In conclusion, I would have to say that what has been written are only a scratch on a big surface of interpersonal communication skills that I have learned from this class. This concept just happened to be the most important for improvement.

Explanation of the research proposal Essay

# central research question: Research questions steer the student’s research, and the central research question should reflect the subject of research in a concise way. # theoretical (desk) research questions: Questions should reflect relevant theoretical concepts that apply to the topic under research by the student, i.e. from marketing, finance, business environment. The theoretical framework should be taken into account when formulating theoretical research questions. New theories will receive extra points! Students can improve the structure and categorize the questions under themes (categories), such as: * Strategic management (Competitive Grid, BCG, Ansoff, Abel, 5-forces, competitive strategy, PLC, PEST, SWOT, etc), * Marketing (4Ps, positioning, targeting, branding, CRM, branding, etc). * Operations & SCM (process strategy, SCM, inventory management, lean systems, forecast & demand driven systems, resource planning , and others). * International business (FDI, strategy & organization of int’l business, entry models, barriers to trade, etc). * Finance & accounting. The choice of topics also depends on how broad or narrow the student wants the research topic to be. # empirical (field) research questions: Students should think about what they want to find out by doing field research, and formulate research questions about these issues. They will need to identify the populations that they want to research and formulate research questions for each of these populations. One way to structure empirical research questions is using the research populations at categories. What is it you want to learn from these populations? But, formulate research questions, not questionnaire or interview questions! Research objectives: Objectives should reflect briefly what the student wants to achieve by the research project. Philosophy: Interpretivism – the view that all knowledge is a matter of interpretation. From the book: â€Å"A People’s History of the United States†, Howard Zinn: â€Å"But there is no such thing as a pure fact, innocent of interpretation. Behind every fact presented to the world – by a teacher, a writer, anyone – is a judgment. The judgment that has been made is that this fact is important, and that other facts, omitted, are not important.† * Positivism: 1 + 1 = 2 * Interpretivism: 1 + 1 = 3 # research approach: deductive/inductive: * Deductive is applying theories in desk research; * Inductive is developing theories, or new insights, by doing field research. # cross-sectional/longitudinal/exploratory/ descriptive/explanatory studies. * Cross-sectional means studying the here and now. * Longitudinal means studying developments over time by doing * exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory studies. Research strategy # Desk research: * Theoretical research questions drive desk-research. * IP-8 is an academic assignment and presenting issues in a theoretical context is a requirement. * IP-8 requires students to apply theories and models to a ‘real life’ business problem and to organize proprietary original field research. * Desk-research Desk research is done to answer the theoretical research questions and includes selecting and studying the theories and information relevant to the research topic. Students should explain how they will collect quantitative and qualitative data by doing internet, database and literature research. # quantitative secondary data: examples of texts, authors should be given. * # qualitative secondary data: Specific sources should be presented. * # internet research: Specific sources should be presented. Use of school databases is expected. * # literature research: Use of school library sources is expected. * Theoretical framework * Area – field – topic: when selecting the theories that apply to the research topic, students will describe the theoretical framework of their research topic. In the theoretical framework allows students to broaden or narrow down their subject of research. * # The area is the broader context, such as strategic management, marketing, finance, or logistics; * # The field is more narrow, such as for example competitive strategy, customer service, flow strategies of production and distribution, financial performance measurement, etc, depending on the topic of research. * # The topic is usually the central research question. * # primary – secondary – tertiary sources of secondary data: Specific sources should be presented. * # secondary data: document/survey based (CBS): Specific sources should be presented. * # referencing method: IBMS referencing method should be used. Field-research Empirical research questions drive field-research. # case-study: When students work with a sponsor, the research is often called a case study, because they do research that applies to a particular case, the sponsor. The sponsor company provides access to empirical data. # research populations: sampling frames: Students should do the following when they organize their field research: # formulate empirical research questions that will be answered by doing field research, # choose the research populations that can answer these questions, and possibly get a sampling frame (a list with names or items in the population), # select the research methods (interviews, surveys, observations) for each of the research populations that will be used to extract the information, # then select the sampling method (probability, or non-probability sampling) for each of the research populations. # observations/interviews/survey with questionnaires: Student should explain briefly why methods are chosen for each of the research populations. Sampling method for each of the research populations: # probability sampling (simple-random/ systematic/stratified-random/cluster sampling): Student should explain briefly which sampling methods have been chosen for each of the research populations and why. # non-probability sampling (quota/purposive/ snowball/self-selecting/convenience sampling): Student should explain briefly which sampling methods have been chosen for each of the research populations and why. # sample size: Student should explain why sample sizes haven been set, and how. # reliability/validity: Student should reflect on the consistency and representativeness of potential findings from the research populations that have been identified, and the truthfulness of potential findings. Empirical framework # environment of field research: Sponsor company provides access to empirical data. Student should briefly describe the environment of their field research, the sponsor company, and the research populations. # research populations (sources of primary data): Students describe the research populations of their field research which may consist of the sponsor company, representatives of departments, experts, customers, suppliers, competitors, etc. In the empirical framework more detailed information is provided about the research methods, observations, the type of the interviews and the questionnaires used in the survey (if applicable), and the type of data that is expected to be collected. Note: There is redundancy in some of the issues presented in the checklist under field research, research populations, sampling, and empirical environment. Students may refer to earlier parts. # observations: Observation is systematically observing people and/or processes. Observation might be an option for students doing a case study, but is often difficult to organize. # interviews: fully structured/semi-structured/ unstructured: Student should provide details about the type of interviews for each of the research populations. # surveys: self-administered/ interviewer administered questionnaires: Student should provide details about the type of surveys for each of the research populations. # opinion/behavior/attribute data: Student should provide details about the types of data will be collected from each of the research populations. Time table: Is time-table realistic and meeting deadlines?

Blozis Company

Part 1 – Executive Summary My decision, as the supply manager of the Blozis company, is to implement new processes and procedures in the supply department. One of the changes to be made in the processes and procedures will include having the expediter’s role primarily limited to the expedition of materials. An expediter is the person in charge of scheduling purchases, purchasing and scheduling the delivery of materials and services, as well as checking orders and speeding up the arrival of materials needed to meet production schedules. The current expediter, besides undertaking these responsibilities, is also taking on a number of other responsibilities that are taking away from his abilities to properly complete his core job responsibilities. In addition, the process for the receiving of products and materials will be improved so that items received into inventory are properly accounted for, as well as properly accounted for once they leave inventory, so that they are charged to the correct departmental budget and are paid for in a timely manner so that early payment discounts are taken advantage of. A current and accurate inventory is necessary in order to properly manage the supply department. In regards to approval of requisitions, despite the fact the president likes to operate â€Å"informally† it is important to ensure that the required signatures are obtained on all requisitions as this helps to hold people accountable for their purchases and to control costs and remain within budget. Even though purchases over $10,000.00 may have technically been approved by the president in the budget, they are not realized purchases and in order to ensure they do fall within budget requirements, the president still should be required to execute these requisitions. As well to ensure managers are informed and can be held accountable to what items are charged to their departments, it is prudent to include on the requisition the signature of the manager of the department for which the purchase is being made. Finally the engineering department should be required to be as detailed and accurate in their descriptions and specifications on all purchase orders. While the current expeditor has some technical background, all purchase orders should be supplied to the supply department with detailed specifications to ensure the correct materials and parts are purchased and supplied. Even though the main responsibility for this should still fall to the engineering department, there is no reason why the continued process of discussing the details of purchase orders with the expeditor could not continue as well, as this will ensure greater accuracy in the specifications detailed on their purchase orders together with greater accuracy in the fulfillment of the purchase orders. Part 2 – Immediate Issue with Impact Analysis Besides expediting parts and materials throughout the company, the expeditor was also writing purchase requisitions and purchase orders. At times the expeditor would just pick up parts and advise suppliers that they would receive â€Å"confirming orders† that never followed. This resulted in the supply department at times receiving invoices for items that could not be matched to a corresponding purchase order. In order to control costs, remain within budget and to ensure accurate inventory and purchases, this process cannot continue. The Blozis Company needs to have their expeditor doing just that, expediting items throughout the company and not writing purchase requisitions and orders. The writing of purchase requisitions and orders should be limited to the engineering and production personnel. The current inventory and purchasing process within the Blozis Company is allowing for inventory to go missing, payments for materials and items received to be missed, as well as the receiving of invoices for payments to suppliers that are not supported by purchase orders. The current processes or lack of processes are not allowing for the proper tracking and accounting of inventory; the control of cost as purchasing discounts are being missed and invoicing is being received and paid for without proper documentation that the items were in fact ordered and received. This lax in documentation and recording of items is also impacting on the ability of each department to remain within budget. The company, as well, can no longer function without proper processes that are diligently followed in regards to signatures on purchase requisitions. Again this allows for greater control over costs, purchasing accountability and adherence to budget restrictions. As a whole the company needs to completely overhaul their current processes and procedures in their supply department in order to address the issues as detailed above. Part 3 – Environmental and Root Cause Analysis Under the current processes in the supply department the expeditor is spending too much time handling technical orders. While his involvement in technical orders to a degree does assist with greater accuracy in the fulfillment of these purchase orders, it is taking away from his time to expedite materials and items throughout the company. This has resulted in corners being cut which have cost the company money. For example, two special micrometers disappeared within the plant after the Blozis Company had waited six months to receive them. The supplier of these micrometers was able to prove that Blozis did receive these items as evidenced by a signed bill of lading, but it appears the expeditor, in an attempt to get these items to the engineers as quickly as possible, may have just picked up the micrometers on the receiving dock and taken them directly to the engineers. The expeditor on the other hand claims to never have seen the micrometers. Since no documentation was in place to evidence what happened, it became a he said she said situation, but in the end the two special micrometers were still gone at a financial loss to the company. In addition, when the expeditor was pressed for time, instead of completing the necessary purchase order, he would just pick up a desired item from a suppler and advise the supplier that they would be receiving a â€Å"confirming order† for the item or items he picked up. A number of times the expeditor would forget to ask supply for a confirming order and when the invoice arrived from the supplier for payment, the supply department was faced with an invoice for which they had no confirming order documentation to support the payment of. Besides the aforementioned issues relating to the lack of completed receiving reports, there was also the issue of suppliers claiming long overdue payments on materials that have been received by the Blozis Company. The supply department would not pass on a bill for payment until they had received the receiving report, which is a good process as this controlled the possibility of paying for materials that were never received. On the other hand, the lax of completion and/or the timely submission of the receiving reports to the supply department resulted in the delay of bills submitted for payment that included sizable discounts for early payment as well as not meeting the net date on several bills. This lax in the necessity of following process and procedures in order to ensure the correct documentation was in place to record and support purchases, was not only exercised by the supply department. The president of the company liked to operate â€Å"informally† and allowed anyone in the company to initiate requisitions with only the signature of the supply manager for any orders up to a value of $10,000.00. Many managers were complaining they were unaware of what was being charged to their departments until the monthly accounting statement came out. Changes need to be made to include, on each requisition, the signature of the manager of the department to which the requisition is being made. This allows for more managerial accountability in the control of their budgets. Part 4 – Alternatives and/or Options Based on the information that has been provided to the writer, it is their position that the issues are clearly identifiable and that solutions in regards to addressing these issues are contained herein. Despite the fact that specific issues have been identified, as with any process there could be room for more improvement in other areas that are not the subject matter of this report. Bearing this in mind, the supply department may also wish to conduct a process mapping session which will detail the entire process as it exists today and from this be able to indentify other areas of the process that require improvement. I do not believe there are any other viable alternative in regards to the solutions that have been presented herein, but the conducting of a process mapping session will only build upon and possibly lead to the discovery of more issues so that the process can be improved even further. Part 5 – Recommendation and Implementation In regards to the role of the expeditor, it should be mainly limited to the expediting of materials and items throughout the company. His role in the handling of technical orders should be decreased with more responsibility in this regard falling on the engineering department. If purchase requisitions are written with greater specifications without as much reliance on the expeditor to assist in the writing of same, another individual within the supply department could be trained to assist with these technical orders. The implementation of these changes will begin with the manager of the engineering department meeting with his group as well as the manager of the expeditor meeting with him to ascertain what their current involvement is in regard to technical orders. Once this information is obtained, then all managers will meet in order to discuss how these job responsibilities will be allocated between the engineering department and th e expeditor. Once this have been finalized, a further meeting will be held that will include all managers, the engineering department and the expeditor so that everyone can be advised of the changes in their job responsibilities going forward. In regards to inventory control all products received must be documented and signed off on by the receiving clerk and there must be a matching purchase order to go along with the bill of lading and/or packing slip. No items should be received into inventory in the supply department without a corresponding approved purchase order. The supply department at all times is to receive a receiving report so that they can arrange for the timely payment of invoices in order to take advantage of purchasing discounts. The process for this is to be implemented by the supply manager. To provide for further control, no one, including the expediter should be allowed to take a product or item out of inventory without providing a requisition for same. Again the process for this will be implemented by the supply manager. In order to facilitate communication of when products and materials have arrived and are in inventory, the company should purchase inventory software that all interested parties will have access to, so that they can check for themselves when products have arrived. A meeting will be held between all managers of all departments in order to discuss which software will meet their needs and once decided the software will be purchased and put into use. To assist managers being made aware of what materials are being charged to their departments, all purchase requisitions should also require the signature of the manager of the respective department for which the purchase is made in addition to the supply manager’s. The supply manager should never receive and process a purchase requisition unless the signature of the applicable department manager is contained on the requisitions. This process will be implemented by the supply manager. Part 6 – Monitor and Control In regards to monitoring and controlling the success of the changes in the job responsibilities of the expeditor, there will be a follow up meetings between all parties affected, within 2 weeks of the changes taking place just to ensure things are still in place and that no one has slipped back into their old roles. After this for a further 6 month period there will again be mnthly meetings to monitor that everything is still on track in regard to the changes. In regards to the change in the process to bring around greater inventory control, a person outside of the supply department will be assigned various audit responsibilities and will attend in the supply department, initially, on a monthly basis to ensure the controls put in place are being complied with, for example that all necessary documentation has been completed so that all inventory is recorded being received and taken out of inventory. After each audit session the auditor will be required to complete an audit report that will be delivered to the supply manager. The report will detail all areas where they have discovered non-compliance with a time line presented to the area affected to bring the process and department into compliance. It is the expectation of the writer, that if the recommendations as detailed herein are fully and accurately followed, there will be substantial improvement in the operations of the supply department and within Blozis as a whole.