Summary of Kant's theory of knowledge, and how it contributes to Essay

Summary of Kant's theory of knowledge, and how it contributes to our understanding of the mind-body problem - Essay Example These former theories that had been set before Kant’s Theory were majorly classified as Empiricism and Rationalism. The Empiricists had earlier argued that knowledge of the environment and reason required a prior experience. The Rationalists, on the other hand, had stated that knowledge had to come first before experience; that one needed to have a prior experience of something before having the knowledge of the same. As can be seen, these two classical theories contradict each other. Therefore, Immanuel Kant was motivated to try and reconcile the two sides and bring to an end, what he had seen as an era of primitive and unsupported theories of knowledge and human experience. At the same time, he wanted to oppose the concepts and perceptions of Skepticism. In coming up with a more plausible theory of knowledge, Kant combined the two previously contradicting school of thoughts and argued that the understanding of the world by the human required both knowledge and experience. According to him, the Experience depends on both perception of the objects in the environment and the prior knowledge acquired about the very objects. In this manner, the external environment is very essential for the ‘self’ establishment. Kant further stated that the human experiences are well structured by the vital features of the mind. This concept implies that the human mind plays the sole responsibility of shaping and structuring our experiences such that all experiences have certain structural designs in common. Kant’s theory of knowledge helps us to understand that every aspect of the human is all in the mind and that one cannot perceive what he or she cannot experience. In as much Kant’s theory of knowledge seems to stand on a neutral ground, it has its potential problems, biasness and objections from some of the most recent philosophers. For

Ten Commandments for CEOs Seeking Organizational Change Essay Example for Free

Ten Commandments for CEOs Seeking Organizational Change Essay In our ever-changing, fast-paced world, competitive relationships Can shift quickly when companies respond too slowly to increased competition in their industry group. Succeeding in such a competitive and changing environment demands that CEOs reshape their organization to meet todays challenges and competitive realities. But responding to change remains highly elusive because there is a natural resistance to change at all levels within the organization, including at the top. CEOs and other members of the executive suite need to take a hard look at their existing organization and culture, ask tough questions about its appropriateness for the current competitive environment, and take concrete, implemental steps to forge a preferred culture and drive it downward throughout the entire organization. But therein lies the challenge, for few management teams both establish a comprehensive strategy for remaining competitive and take a hands-on approach to implement change internally. By not getting involved, they signal to employees that the change really isnt very important. A key premise of this article is that cultural change or any organizational transformation is essentially a top-down activity. It cannot be delegated. If the CEO perceives the need for change, makes it a top priority, and gives it a great deal of time and attention, the organization will change. By the same token, if the CEO offers only limited lip service, needed changes just wont happen. This article outlines how the CEO can be an enthusiastic sponsor of change by paying enough attention to implementation to make the transformation take place. Reynierse and Leyden (1992) provide a case study incorporating these steps. 1. Strategy-Driven The process I am advocating will be relatively ineffective without a strategic framework to provide competitive advantage. This process is not a substitute for such a strategy. Rather, the strategy is the starting point that establishes the context for all other steps. However, strategies will be relatively ineffective when management pays insufficient attention to their impact on the work forcefor ultimately it is the work force who will implement the strategy and make it succeed or fail. The point is that unless such a strategic plan is implemented and executed effectively, it will not be fully realized in the competitive marketplace. An overview of this process is depicted in Figure 1. A companys business strategies, plans, and goals are the starting pointnot the endof this exercise. They formalize the CEOs vision, setting the tone and establishing direction for the company in both the long and short terms. They provide a context for all other activities and decisions, establishing the limits for making many choices along the way. In addition, they determine the direction and boundaries for building the new organizational culture, including molding employee expectations. Resources are scarce in every organization, and management must accept the fact that it cant do everything. Strategic choices reflect judgments about where companies think they have marketplace competitive advantage so that plans implemented here enable them to grow faster and earn more than their competitors in these market segments. Similarly, the resources dedicated to building the organization are determined by this strategic focus. 2. Top-Down Involvement If something is important, a good rule of thumb is to have a top-down approach to getting it done. Ideally, then, the CEO must get involved. If the CEO attends to the organization, it will improve and gain competitive advantage. Conversely, if the CEO gives it scant time and attention, little organizational growth will occur. In short, the CEO who enthusiastically sponsors a broadly conceived program for building the company is more likely to succeed and reap the benefits down the road. A company-wide initiative needs an enthusiastic and supportive CEO who does not hesitate to play a continuing role during the change process. But where is the top? And who is the CEO? Building organizations is often better served by dealing with chunk-sized bites rather than the whole company. Particularly for large companies, it often makes better sense to deal with natural strategic business units (SBUs) rather than the entire company. At one level, there are often unique problems or opportunities in a unit or company division. At another level, it is most meaningful for those involved to deal with issues that directly concern them and their business unit. The approach I am advocating includes determining the firms core values and mission. It is unlikely that every SBU or company division will share the same core values or mission. Individual business units often have unique customers, competitors, product maturity, strategies, and objectives. These units need the autonomy to develop their own focus. For such cases the division executive is functionally the CEO for that unit and can provide the vision, enthusiasm, and driving force for success. Throughout, however, the CEO must remain interested and provide broad support for what is taking place. Even when the primary leadership role resides elsewhere, the CEO must be an advocate for change and reinforce actions taken at these lower levels. 3. Organizational Assessment Periodically it is valuable to take an objective snapshot of the broader organization. This not only provides information about the companys strengths and limitations but can also identify how those strengths and limitations measure up to the mission and the core values. Effective organizations have employees who share these values, and a carefully conceived organizational assessment will identify pockets of agreement and resistance. Several techniques, including surveys, interviews, and focus groups, are used for these organizational assessments. The organizational dynamics survey (Reynierse and Harker 1986) has been particularly effective, because it provides an objective measure of the underlying values that mold organizations. For example, the surveys broad customer orientation category taps a cultural value related to making customers a priority and satisfying their needs. Surveys are particularly important because they get every employee involved; everyone has the chance to be heard. Surveys also provide an opportunity for management to pay attention to employees concerns and to build their trust. This is achieved when management openly communicates with employees regarding key issues and responds to problems by taking timely, corrective action. At the same time, establishing trust is the first step in getting employees to buy in to managements broader vision. 4. Clarify Core Values Peters Waterman (1982) have one all-purpose bit of advice for management figure out your value system. Decide what your company stands for. Today many frequently echo this management theme. Identifying and clarifying core values are central to this approach as well. When they are integrated with a companys business strategies, core values help provide a focused mission. All too often, companies or their natural business units lack focus; their employees are confused about what the company stands for and what it is trying to achieve. However, when the focus and the mission are clear, they can drive the entire organization or SBU. Mission statements ideally should be brief, concise, and to the point. They should identify primary business activities, integrate key strategies, and reflect the firms core values. When we speak about core values we are dealing with many attractive virtuesMcLaughlin, McLaughlin Lischick (1992), for example, identified more than 100and it is tempting to include as many as possible. In my experience, however, an organization can give proper attention to only a fewsay, three to fiveclearly stated core values. Anything more will be too diffuse and will only confuse employees and dilute managements efforts. In other words, management has to make some hard choices, and established strategies provide the context for focus. There are no shortcuts; there is no generic mission statement. To build a focused organization, the management team has to participate in the process. We use a value clarification exercise when working with top and senior management. This exercise consists of 30 corporate values that are relevant (and credible) for business and industry. Each is defined and serves as an effective probe, placing key issues on the table for discussion. Some representative examples are shown in Figure 2. Because many are presented with a different thrust or emphasis, they can generate a provocative and lively discussion. This value-clarification process gains agreement for key priorities and direction, and fosters team-building through shared values and mission. Similarly, it lays the groundwork for resolving internal differences between functional groups that may have varied goals or priorities. Finally, it sets the stage for driving the process downward through the entire work force so other employees can buy in and share the focused mission as well. The risk in all this, says Peters (1992), is that management does such a good job that these values become fixed, even though they no longer are appropriate. The necessary caveat here is to return to strategy and competitive marketplace reality. Very simply, if the strategy is no longer appropriate and requires changes, the core values and focused mission probably need to be changed as well. They must therefore be revisited and modified as necessary to be congruent with any new strategies. A case can be made that because clarifying core values is so central to this approach, it should occur earlier in the process. There are benefits, however, of having it follow the organizational assessment step because this gives management another opportunity to respond to the input and reactions of the work force. Their perceptions of what the company really values are important and may indicate that changes are needed. 5. Work Force Involvement and Participation One of the advantages of the employee survey approach to assessing an organization is that all employees have the opportunity to participate and express their opinion. In other words, at an early stage in the process they have the chance to level with management, provide an employee perspective, and establish an agenda for later stages. While we begin the more intensive activities at the top with senior management, we involve lower-level employees, particularly lower levels of management, as quickly as possible. Although every situation will be different and will require different solutions, management should be vigilant for opportunities to involve new participants. A valuable tool is the use of focused task forces to address any priority issues that may have emerged from the organizational assessments or team-building sessions. This permits additional employee involvement at the problem-solving and solution-generating stages of the exercise. A fundamental assumption is that a focused organization requires a work force that shares this focus. The key to successful implementation, then, is the steps that are taken to drive the process downwardto downstreamso that all employees feel they are a part of this focused mission. Implementing managements vision demands paying attention to employees, managing their expectations, and responding to their concerns. Building the firm requires taking action steps that promote the core values and focused mission. I call these steps the culture carriers. It is through them that senior management can reinforce values consistently and frequently. Put another way, the culture carriers provide direction for marketing the core values and mission with all employees. The five culture carriers we have identified are summarized in Figure 3 and will be discussed separately. 6. Inspirational leadership Our studies of corporate culture indicate that there are two ways management stays in touch with what is going on in the company: 1. By visiting work areas and being visible to their employees. This is inspirational leadership at its best and is similar to the idea of Managing by Walking Around (MBWA), as developed by Peters Waterman (1982) and Peters and Austin (1985). 2. Through the balance sheet and financial focus. In general, however, many top executives emphasize financial performance and focus to the extent that they neglect their leadership roles. The broad process for organizational change outlined here provides structure for MBWA and for being a cheerleader. Although executives tend to underestimate their leadership effectiveness, they in fact exert considerable power by virtue of their leadership positions. As DePree (1989) observed, Leaders need to be concerned with the institutional value system. Each time they go out to a work area and talk to an employee or group of employees represents an opportunity to exercise influence and reinforce the companys mission and core values. This clearly communicates to employees what is important to the organization and what is expected of them. When the CEO or division head is leading the charge, everyone quickly picks up on it, and any ambiguity regarding what is taking place is quickly removed. The results are multiplied when this leadership role is being exercised by the entire management team. As an example, the management team of one of my client organizations made a contract with one another during a planning retreat to spend 15 minutes a day walking around, getting to know employees, and talking with them in each of their subordinate organizations. Though initially they were ambivalent and self-conscious about their task, it soon became an accepted and high-priority activity. They would confront each other daily by asking, Have you spent your 15 minutes walking around yet today? This, together with several other steps, quickly led to a turn-around in an otherwise demoralized work force. It was an important step for management to become informed, get on top of operations, get in touch with its people, and communicate direction. 7. Communication Put as simply as possible, employees cannot accept or implement top managements vision if they are unaware of it. Frequent formal and informal channels of communication are needed with all employees to introduce the focused mission and core values and reinforce them over a period of time. Executives must make liberal use of meetings, video presentations, posters, newspaper articles, brochures, and so on. If there is a rule of thumb, it is that you cant do too much in this area. Some of our clients have successfully used kick-off meetings in which they celebrated the focused mission and core values, gave every employee a wallet-sized card containing the mission statement, and provided other symbolic itemspins, coffee mugs, pencils, hatsthat focused on elements within the mission and its values. Primarily held to share information, the meetings were also used to rally employees and build enthusiasm for the new organization. The informal mixing that occurs at such kick-offs is also a va luable time for management to energize employees and talk with them further about the focus. 8. Financial Focus Well-ran companies have a strong financial focus that emphasizes both profitability and cost containment. It can play a significant resource allocation role that simultaneously provides increased funds and resources to programs that support the core values while denying (or at least sharply reducing) funds and resources to established programs that are less important to the mission. How capital is invested and what activities are expended carry important messages to employees. It is necessary to examine investment decisions in terms of a strategic standard that includes the companys core values and focused mission. Having done so, it may be necessary to withhold capital or budgetary expense dollars for those projects that fail to qualify under this standard. When capital investments and highly visible expenses are consistent with the values and mission of the company, they will provide support for and reinforce this focused mission among employees. But when inconsistency abounds, emp loyees will be confused and may withhold their support.

Globalisation And The Impact Of The Internet Marketing Essay

Globalisation And The Impact Of The Internet Marketing Essay Globalization is the system of interaction among the countries of the world in order to develop the global economy. Globalization refers to the integration of economics and societies all over the world. Globalization involves technological, economic, political, and cultural exchanges made possible largely by advances in communication, transportation, and infrastructure. Internet is a global network connecting millions of computers. More than 10 countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions. Unlike online services, which are centrally controlled, the Internet is decentralized by design. Each Internet computerhttp://kona.kontera.com/javascript/lib/imgs/grey_loader.gif , called a host, is independent. Its operators can choose which Internet services http://kona.kontera.com/javascript/lib/imgs/grey_loader.gif to use and which local services to make available to the global Internet community. Remarkably, this anarchy by design works exceedingly well.   http://a.stanzapub.com/delivery/lg.php?bannerid=599campaignid=535zoneid=934source=acf=loc=1referer=http%3A%2F%2Fsocyberty.com%2Fissues%2Fthe-internet-and-globalization%2Fcb=48e48290e7 The internet has changed the way business is conducted . Through various web business applications, it has given great opportunities for business to increase their revenues, cut their cost and manage their daily operations in a more efficient and effective manners. Communication is the key of globalization.    Businesses large and small needed a way to advertise, sell, purchase, and enhance their product worldwide. What better way to accomplish this than through the use of the Internet.    The Internet provides a cheaper, faster and easier method of communication, an alternative that has created a global audience', as mentioned by Renato Ruggiero, Director General of the World Trade Organization. There has been a great deal of discussion in recent years about globalization, which can be defined as the intensification of economic, political, social and cultural relations across borders. Evidence of globalization is seen in our daily lives. We are being influenced by the on rush of economic and ecological forces that demand integration and uniformity and that mesmerize the world with fast music, fast computers and fast food with MTV, Macintosh and McDonalds, pressing nations into one commercially homogeneous global network: one Mc world tied together by technology, ecology, communication, and commerce. Technology is perhaps the most visible aspect of globalization and in many ways its driving force. Communication technology has revolutionized our information systems. Globalization tends to be most perceptible and observable in almost every facet of life mainly due to the emergence of internet technology. The internet technology is globally integrating and amalgamating the people of the world. The advent of the Internet in its unquantifiable shape and form has over the past decade provided a common platform upon which countries from all corners of the Earth are able to communicate and share information. Despite of the widespread usage and availability of new technology, the issue been brought to the forefront of the debate between advocates on both sides of the globalization aisle. According to economists, there are a lot of global events connected with globalization and integration. It is easy to identify the changes brought by globalization. 1.  Ã‚   Improvement of International Trade. Because of globalization, the number of countries where products can be sold or purchased has increased dramatically. 2.   Technological Progress. Because of the need to compete and be competitive globally, governments have upgraded their level of technology. 3.   Increasing Influence of Multinational Companies. A company that has subsidiaries in various countries is called a multinational. Often, the head office is found in the country where the company was established. An example is a car company whose head office is based in Japan. This company has branches in different countries. While the head office controls the subsidiaries, the subsidiaries decide on production. The subsidiaries are tasked to increase the production and profits. They are able to do it because they have already penetrated the local markets. The rise of multinational corporations began after World War II. Large companies refer to the countries where their subsidiaries reside as host countries. Globalization has a lot to do with the rise of multinational corporations. 4.  Ã‚   Power of the WTO, IMF, and WB. According to experts, another effect of globalization is the strengthening power and influence of international institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank (WB). 5.  Ã‚   Greater Mobility of Human Resources across Countries. Globalization allows countries to source their manpower in countries with cheap labor. For instance, the manpower shortages in Taiwan, South Korea, and Malaysia provide opportunities for labor exporting countries such as the Philippines to bring their human resources to those countries for employment. 6.  Ã‚   Greater Outsourcing of Business Processes to Other Countries. China, India, and the Philippines are tremendously benefiting from this trend of global business outsourcing. Global companies in the US and Europe take advantage of the cheaper labor and highly-skilled workers that countries like India and the Philippines can offer 7. Civil Society. An important trend in globalization is the increasing influence and broadening scope of the global civil society. Civil society often refers to NGOs (nongovernment organizations). There are institutions in a country that are established and run by citizens. The family, being an institution, is part of the society. In globalization, global civil society refers to organizations that advocate certain issue or cause. There are NGOs that support womens rights and there are those that promote environment preservation. These organizations dont work to counter government policies, but rather to establish policies that are beneficial to all. Both the government and NGOs have the same goal of serving the people. The spread of globalization led to greater influence of NGOs especially in areas of great concern like human rights, the environment, children, and workers. Together with the growing influence of NGOs is the increasing power of multinational corporations. If the trend continues, globalization will pave the way for the realization of the full potential of these two important global actors. The globalization that we intuitively know call centers in India, toy factories in China is just one piece of an increasingly competitive landscape. As manual work becomes more automated and trade barriers fall, companies chase knowledge workers and efficiency just as much as they do cheap labor and access to new markets. In this new calculus, it is often surprising who comes out ahead. According to the Business Competitive Index, the Global Competitive Indexs sibling measure developed by Harvard economist Michael Porter, the countries with the lowest wages relative to competitiveness that is, the best values as investment locations are Taiwan, Hong Kong and India, followed by Chile, Singapore, the Czech Republic and the US. And so we are left with a world that even just five years ago would have seemed topsy turvy: an Indian software firm that employs 500 people in Puerto Rico, a Chinese auto-parts maker with RD centers in Detroit and Ontario, Calif. If youre a region trying to hang on to business, geography offers little protection anymore, especially as free-trade zones proliferate in countries from Dubai to Mauritius, and burgeoning heavyweights like Turkey take out full-page ads in US magazines boasting about their university graduates and gains in GDP. Your competitors are in your backyard now in a way they never were before, says Alec Hansen, president of the Economic Competitiveness Group, an outfit that advises governments, companies and development organizations. The world has gotten a lot scarier. The best way for a region to overcome those fears and win out is to figure out how its talents best fit into the global supply chain, says Eduardo Tugendhat, president and CEO of Carana Corporation, a company which designs economic development programs. In Macedonia, a land-locked country with a small domestic market, Tuhendhats firm suggested harnessing the nations long tradition of metal working and pushing into the machining and automotive parts sectors in order to take advantage of the growing auto industry in neighboring Slovakia and Romania two countries that have become a hot spot because of their inexpensive labor and access to the markets of the European Union. But with transportation costs continuing to plummet and markets becoming freer, there are many more places for companies to set up shop, and traditional advantages such as cheap labor or a lack of tariffs mean less and less in many industries. Multinationals are increasingly opening major operations in second- and third-tier cities GlaxoSmithKline in Posnan, Poland, Google in Belo Horizonte, Brazil places that plenty of people have never even heard of. Companies are adopting an all-shore strategy, says Dennis Donovan, principal of Wadley Donovan Gutshaw Consulting, which helps companies decide where to locate. Searching for an edge, many regions are applying the concept of clustering with renewed zeal. The idea of focusing a geographic area on a particular industry in order to achieve economies of scale has been kicking around since at least 1890, when the economist Alfred Marshall coined the term industrial district to refer to neighborhoods that contained both factories and all their workers. In the 1990s, Harvards Porter started using the word cluster to get at the usefulness of companies in close proximity sharing infrastructure, ideas and employees like high performance cars in Germany. Some predicted that a globalized companys ability to cherry pick regions would kill the notion of clusters, but countries are trying to establish industrial niches for themselves more than ever. Turkey established a textiles cluster to try to fend off lower-cost rivals. Jordan has positioned itself a regional center for medical services. Singapore is making a play for biotechnology. Of course, there is always a risk in spending massive amounts of focus and money on one sector since so many factors have to align for economic development to work. Is Singapore really where the top scientists in the world want to be working? asks Carana Corp.s Tugendhat. Just because you build a great campus doesnt mean theyre going to come to it. When clustering does work, though, its gold. Consider Yokkaichi, Japan, a city of 300,000 people that is the premier place to make NAND flash memory, which is used in cell phones and MP3 players. Sandisk, a Milpitas, Calif.-based company that designs, manufactures and sells memory cards, moved its manufacturing base there from Manassas, Virginia a few years ago, partly to be closer to Toshiba, a company it partners with. Yokkaichi already had the infrastructure for both manufacturing and for the large RD outfit that goes along with making memory cards. By having it all in close proximity, it reduces overhead costs, says Sandisk president and COO Sanjay Mehrotra, and thats the name of the game, to be able to produce product at the lowest possible cost. (Notice that had nothing to do with cheap labor.) Now Sandisk is building a new factory in Yokkaichi to produce 40% more wafers a month, which will significantly increase the $1 to $1.5 billion the?company already annually invests to keep its fabs on the cutting edge. And that leads to another major reason Sandisk is in Japan: the countrys?advanced capital structure and low interest rates let the company borrow money cheaply. Clustering may work well, but other aspects of a countrys competitiveness like its macroeconomic fundamentals still matter. The bottom line, says the Economic Competitiveness Groups Hansen, is you have to do everything right. In todays economy, a big part of that everything is being able to produce a desirable workforce. If were hearing a mantra today, its workforce finding the qualified people, says Rob DeRocker, executive vice president of Development Counsellors International, a firm that helps regions position themselves. The global chase for talent is just as true for manufacturing workers you have to find skilled labor if all your machines are computer-controlled as it is for PhD scientists. Microsoft knows a thing or two about the latter. The Seattle computer giant has six high-end research centers three in the US, one in the UK (abutting the Cambridge University computer science department), and two newer outposts, in Beijing and Bangalore. The strategy is partly to go where the worlds great universities are: the Beijing lab is placed squarely between Beijing and Tsinghua universities, the so-called Harvard and MIT of China. But part of it is also a recognition that as more countries move from developing to developed, with the amenities and job opportunities that used to only be found elsewhere, the talent in many cases would rather stay home. We realize that increasingly we will not be successful in recruiting the best people in the world and getting them to come to and stay in the US, says Craig Mundie, Microsofts chief research and strategy officer. Of course, the world doesnt completely change over night. Many of the classic reasons companies set up shop in far-flung locales, like gaining a foothold in a new market, are still in the mix. Nissan, for instance, is among the carmakers now building a plant in Russia, a country flush with money from the skyrocketing price of oil. In 2003, Nissan sold 8,000 cars in Russia, a number that jumped to 24,000 in 2004, and to 50,000 in 2005. We started thinking, if this isnt a fluke, we need to think about localization, says Dominique Thormann, Nissans senior vice president for administration and finance in North America both because of how expensive cars are to ship and because of the 25% tariff charged at the border. Thats a very traditional way for a company to think about reaching overseas. But even the auto industry isnt immune from the evolution of globalization. These days, its not uncommon to source auto parts for a particular car from around the world: cast iron from India, seat fabric from Tunisia. The competition continues to deepen. The computerization of business and telecommunications has led to much talk about the new economy and, possibly, a related surge in productivity. A less recognized development is that information technology, particularly the Internet, is changing the labor market and labor organizations in important ways. internet has been largely felt by the business fraternity. In fact, with the introduction of internet, the definition of business development has gone for a permanent changeover. Unlike the past, today quality and quantity are not the only benchmarks for the growth and development of a business. Today visibility in the market is a bigger factor. Your brand should reach the global market. Your products should be visible everywhere. People across the world should recognize your brand. Today product promotion and campaigning are the most important criteria for achieving success in a business. And for successful prpoduct promotion and campaigning you need to improve your communication and interaction with people. With its modern tools, internet helps you to do that. The days of publishing advertisements in newspapers are over. You need to reach people faster and you can do that through online marketing. People can get to know about you, your company and every detail about it just with a click on the mouse at any time and from any place. Regular communication between all entities of the business, such as manufacturer, supplier, buyer, seller, wholesalers and dealers is very important. The modern interactive tools like chats, emails, SMSes helps a business organization to create a supply chain management that keeps all entities of the business closely linked with each other For one thing, the increased demand for those working with the Internet, and computers more broadly, has boosted both their wages and the hours they work, NBER Research Associate Richard Freeman finds. Further, the low cost of transmitting information over the Internet is shifting job search and recruitment activities to the Web, he adds. Third, the ease of communicating and interacting over the Internet has led unions to experiment with web-based modes of servicing members, perhaps thereby improving union democracy and reversing the long-run decline in membership, and carrying their message to the wider public. The new technologies, together with other important changes, such as the continued increase in the educational attainment of the work force, shift of employment to service sectors, and increased employment of women, are producing a labor market that differs greatly from the industrial labor market that characterized the 20th century, Freeman writes in The Labor Market in the New Information Economy Companies can use the Internet and Internet technologies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of particular value chain activities: a powerful tool for better supply chain management improving internal operations, e.g.: just-in-time inventory gear production schedules and production quantities to buyer orders more accurate monitoring of buyer preferences and shifts in demand introducing collaborative data sharing with distribution channel partners: online systems reduce transaction costs The impact of internet on globalization has both positive and negative aspects. The positive impact of the internet technology on globalization include the modernization and improvement in the business sector on a world wide basis. Businesses improve their global competitiveness and productivity with more efficient electronic transaction processing and instant access to information. New information and communication technologies (ICT) as well as radically changing international political and regulatory environments reshaped the nature of management consulting. It was during this period that ICT took center stage for global management consulting firms. The market is now more competitive with consumers having greater choices. With the advent of the internet technology work in the foreign countries is more available and accessible because the domestic laws are not as rigorous as they once were, thus assisting in the global nature of the business and allowing new consulting firms to establish a presence in countries that was once restricted. The services of the IT Professionals have been dramatically impacted by the explosive growth in Internet use and related technologies. In the 21st century, venerable trends in ITPS such as centralization and globalization are accelerating, and this is overturning and reversing the leverage ratios and thus introducing completely new capabilities. The Internet is impacting the way that services are bought, sold, and delivered, altering relationships among clients, firms, and employees and speeding the globalization of the consulting industry. There can be seen a better relationship between the clients and the firms through internet which is globally seen all over the world. Instead of face to face meetings the clients can easily deal with the big firms and industries via internet and thus developing a firm client relationship. With the use of the internet technology there can be seen a great positive force on globalization as it tends to increase the communication processes between people living in different parts of the world and also helps to promote the political, social, economic, and cultural aspects of a country. As there is a positive impact of internet on globalization there can be seen a negative impact of internet on globalization as well. While the interdependence and the internet technological advancement have increased in some parts of the world. The globalization of internet technology in the less developed countries typically is a one way proposition: the people do not control any of the information; they only receive it. It is also true that worldwide the ability to control or generate broadcasts rests in the hands of the tiny minority. This shows that in these countries the internet technology generally does not have a neutral application. The placement of the internet technology in developing countries often causes social costs, as well as costs in the form of urbanization, employment displacement, and the digital divide. There can be seen specific and particular risks in the global environment because the gain in power from the techno-economic progress is rapidly being overshadowed. Risks in this sense can be viewed as the probability of harm arising from technological and economic change. Hazards linked to industrial production, for example, can quickly spread beyond the immediate context in which they are generated. Although the current globalization system has different attributes, rules, incentives, and characteristics, but the system is as pervasive as the Cold War system. In order to create a balance in the application of the internet technology it must adhere to the specific standards. The internet technology no matter where it is applied, can only be understood and valued in relation to the social group that creates or uses it, because every model of society and development conceives of and uses a different kind of technology, which should neither give priority to community action nor to the local necessities. Thus the internet both has positive as well as negative effects on globalization and they play equally an important part in the financial and economic status of a specific country. The negative impact on the globalization can be reduced if an equilibrium and balance is created and developmental techniques and schemes of information technology are introduced in the less developing countries so that they may progress and pace forward in the 21st century. This current wave of globalization has been driven by policies that have opened economies domestically and internationally. In the years since the Second World War, and especially during the past two decades, many governments have adopted free-market economic systems, vastly increasing their own productive potential and creating myriad new opportunities for international trade and investment. Governments  also have negotiated dramatic reductions in barriers to commerce and have established international agreements to promote trade in goods, services, and investment. Taking advantage of new opportunities in foreign markets, corporations have built foreign factories and established production and marketing arrangements with foreign partners. A defining feature of globalization, therefore, is an international industrial and financial business structure. Technology has been the other principal driver of globalization. Advances in information technology, in particular, have dramatically transformed economic life. Information technologies have given all sorts of individual economic actors-consumers, investors, businesses-valuable new tools for identifying and pursuing economic opportunities, including faster and more informed analyses of economic trends around the world, easy transfers of assets, and collaboration with far-flung partners. Globalization is deeply controversial, however. Proponents of globalization argue that it allows poor countries and their citizens to develop economically and raise their standards of living, while opponents of globalization claim that the creation of an unfettered international free market has benefited multinational corporations in the Western world at the expense of local enterprises, local cultures, and common people. Resistance to globalization has therefore taken shape both at a popular and at a governmental level as people and governments try to manage the flow of capital, labor, goods, and ideas that constitute the current wave of globalization. So in a nutshell, the importance of internet in business development is immense. In fact, without this wonderful gift of technology, prosperity of business in todays world would have been a great challenge. For the business fraternity, internet has been the greatest support and will surely keep on serving it better in the future too. Importance of internet, business development, technology to mankind, online marketing The Internet has significantly affected globalization. The needs of the globalized world are the accelerator of Internet-related technologies.

American Indian Stories :: essays research papers

It was approaching dusk as the conspicuous line of dark vans entered the reservation. These vehicles served the purpose of furnishing transportation for about 30 members of a Cleveland area youth group, whose mission was “to bring good news to the badlands';. In short, the group was ministering to the Indian children of the Pine Ridge Reservation, which was in close vicinity to the natural wonder found in the foothills of “the badlands';. The trip became a tradition for my church and I traveled there on three separate occasions. Each year, the team received a welcoming that could be described as anything but inviting. In fact, the first year the trip fell on the Fourth of July and as we drove in, our vehicles were bombarded with fireworks. I could never really grasp why we were so despised. After all, our intentions were commendable. The matter became clearer after I read Zitkala-sa’s “American Indian Stories';. Within this text, a Native American expresses he r beliefs that actions similar to ours serve merely in altering culture.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main character’s civilization had religious beliefs long before the white man presented his ideas. Essentially, the Sioux religion was based on nature. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact beliefs of the group because of the deficiency of information. However from the text, some aspects can be gathered. First, it appears as though everything in nature is believed to retain a spirit. Zitkala-Sa is observing the flowers and personifies them, assuming they are possessive of a spirit by saying, “Their quaint round faces of varied hue convince the heart which leaps with glad surprise that they too, are living symbols of omnipotent thought.'; (102) Everything natural was incorporated into their religious beliefs. Thus, the people receive refreshment of the soul through companionship with the outdoors. The narrator describes a spiritual experience as, “to seek the level lands where grow the wild prairie flowers. And they, the lovely little folk, so oth my soul with their perfumed breath.'; (101) The Indian girl turns to nature to have her spiritual needs met, which is reflective of the behavior of her people. Thus, although the concept of spirituality as the white man understood it was not incorporated into the Indian culture, the Natives did, in fact have a religion, and maintained universal beliefs and practices.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With the introduction of the “paleface'; into the Indian culture, he brought with him different ideas about religion, which undoubtedly created tension.

Industrial Revolution Essay -- Technology, Inventions

Advancements in agriculture, textile, transportation and economic growth became possible only because of the Industrial Revolution. Taking place in the United States between 18th and 19th century, times went from separating the cotton from its seed to using an automated cotton gin made by an American inventor Eli Whitney. This allowed for the lower class citizens to be able to have the important goods such as medication and clothing. Before the American Industrial Revolution, people were mostly farmers and life went by slowly and tedious work was required for simple tasks. But with inventions like the cotton gin, and the assembly line, mass production evolved. The United States had one of the fastest economic growths than any other country during this time. The Industrial Revolution developed the world and how it produced its goods. There were numerous inventions that made everyday tasks easier to perform by eliminating the tedious work that people performed by replacing it with a m achine. The invention that fired up the Industrial Revolution was the steam engine, which was invented by James Watt in 1775. The steam engine made travel faster and more efficient, which is why it earned the name â€Å"Iron Horse†. The steam engine not only powered the trains, but it also powered the factories (The Industrial Revolution United State, page 27). This provided numerous factories and industries to transport their goods farther away and at a faster pace. The numerous inventions led to the radically increasing American economy. There would be more export of goods which would mean higher flow of money into the economy to boost the value of the American dollar. Mass production was cheap and it meant more goods can be produced, resulting in more pr... ...e busy cities and worked in the manufacturing and textile industries because the jobs altered from self – production to mass production. By constructing the road to a colossal economy, developing countless jobs with a better work ethic, and making life easier with innovative inventions, the American Industrial Revolution was a blessing to America’s progression. Inventions starting from the cotton gin by Eli Whitney to the Model T invented by Henry Ford, the American lives and economy changed drastically. Changing from the agrarian economy to the manufacturing and textile industries, it opened doors to most people to start a new job in a new economy. It would not have been possible to achieve the simplest tasks as we would have today if it was not for the Industrial Revolution. Thus, the Industrial Revolution was a remarkable phenomenon in America’s history.

Industrial Production and Capitalism Drivers of Social Change

Industrial Production and Capitalism: Drivers of social change in history Ho Xin Qian Louise In this essay, I will illustrate why industrial production and capitalism were major causes of social change in history by stating three main arguments. Firstly, I put forth the case that industrial production and capitalism have changed the role and nature of markets in history. In doing this, I trace how the market has become the central system of social coordination via market instruments, encompassing even the elements of industry like land, labor and money.In exemplification, I explain how industrial capitalism has brought about the rise of mass production and mass markets, enabling the market system to expand its influence. Secondly, I will illustrate how industrial capitalism has changed the social relations of production, as well as the social organization of work, resulting in class struggle and socio-economic stratification in history. Lastly, I touch on the changes in norms and cul ture within institutions due to industrial production and capitalism.For the purpose of this paper, I define industrial production as production brought about by mechanized technology and industrious labor in centralized locations. Capitalism is defined as a system of profit making commerce made possible by the usage of money, decentralized circulation of capital and the market exchange of commodities. I use the term industrial capitalism to denote the amalgamation of both forces. The Role and Nature of Markets in History It is my contention that industrial production has changed the role and nature of markets in history, placing it in the centre of society and economy.It is true that industrial capitalism presupposes the existence of a market system. However, the market system was never the dominant system of social control until the development of isolated markets by mercantilist means, and subsequently the transnational interaction and proliferation of markets into a market econo my, brought about by industrialization in the 18thC. It is due to this transcendence of boundaries and displacement of market activity that gives rise to the â€Å"market† as an abstract mechanism.According to Polyani, before the rise of markets, the society organizes itself via systems of redistribution, house-holding and reciprocity, of which operates on non-economic motives like social prestige and kinship (Polyani 1944: 46-58). After the rise of markets with long distance and local trade, markets have started to take on a more important role in providing necessities; however, they did not function for a majority of the population, who were still dependent upon common exchange and subsistence systems.Thereafter, mercantilism created isolated national markets which consolidated local economic activity and increased trade. However, it was not until the Industrial Revolution in the mid 18thC that the market system became the main driver of social change across different count ries through the creation of mass markets. The industrial revolution has brought about new forms of technology and power, transformed modes of production and created factories as centralized locations for mechanized production to take place.Mass production techniques like specialization, standardization, time-discipline, rational capital accounting and centralization allow for production costs to decrease with volume, thus generating a high amount of output, providing goods more cheaply than one could have done outside of the factory. As a result, people buy their essentials from these mass markets rather than produce by themselves. Also, they produce solely for the market, deriving income to purchase other goods in the circulation of commodities.Moreover, with industrial capitalism, the market mechanism has also come to allocate factors of production such as land, labor and money, which according to Polyani were not real commodities, but merely have exchange value because they beco me privately owned by use of legal contracts and sales (Polyani 1944: 68-76). Since then, mass markets have come to synchronize most economic activities like consumption, production, distribution and even finance in the most efficient fashion (Swedberg 2005:238-240).These markets become far reaching and displaced in light of industrial capitalism because of communicative and transport technology, the mobility of money and relations of free trade, which re-defined the notion of markets from a place to an abstract network of actors across national boundaries. Also, the nature of markets has changed from being state-controlled to being self-regulating. The market system becomes the center of economic and social life as it coordinates most economic activities not by state regulation but by economic instruments like the price mechanism, supply and demand aggregates.Social Relations of Production and Organization of Work Industrial capitalism has, with the change in material means of prod uction, brought about a change in the social relations of production and organization of work. In capitalistic societies, instead of directly interacting with nature in production, human beings depend on each other by exchanging their assets in place of producing for subsistence. Hence, they inevitably enter into social relations of production between those who own the means of production (capitalist) and those who do not but are economically compelled to sell their labor power (worker) for wages.In the circulation of capital, surplus value can be derived from the difference between capital invested and capital retrieved because capital (such as land, factory and machinery), only when combined with labor, transforms products to sell for higher exchange values, thereby generating surplus value and profit. This circulation of capital is durable because capitalists aim to invest their capital to make even more profits while workers can only increase their wages by working harder or by investing in their skills.Since then, the relationship between capitalists have become increasingly competitive due to the drive for profits while the worker-capitalist relation has replaced family (sexual division of labor) as the primary relation of production. According to Marx, as the ownership of means of production is exclusive and alienable, the society becomes separated into two distinct classes – the bourgeoisie (capitalist) and the proletarian (or worker), where between them is a relationship of domination and exploitation.Marx observed that the capitalists tend to exploit the workers by privately appropriating the surplus value produced by the workers, giving them much less than the use value of their time and effort invested in production (Marx 1848: 23). Also, the exploitation goes further by manifesting itself in the working conditions of factories, where workers were forced to work for long hours and children were also engaged as child labor. The exploitation a nd domination over workers exists because of the profit motive of decreasing costs and increasing revenue, as well as the fact that workers have less argaining power over their jobs than their employers. Capitalism has also re-defined the social organization of work by the formation of labor markets and complex division of labor. Prior to the onset of industrial capitalism, work was just defined as any effortful activity which attributes use value to commodities. However, with industrial capitalism, the formation of labor markets constituting workers, employers, jobs and networks is possible, and they function to allocate labor resources and allow capitalists to negotiate labor price and working conditions.Here, there is a clear demarcation of what is considered paid â€Å"work† and what lies outside of the labor market in the informal economy. Within the labor market, the exchange value of labor depends on the quantity and quality of labor, which denotes different labor proc esses and skills. The differentiation in wages is due to the complex division of labor brought about by industrial capitalism.Unlike the simple division of labor, where society is categorized into different occupations as in craftmanship, the capitalistic industry has a tendency to control and divide the mass production process into many simple tasks which all unskilled workers are capable of accomplishing. Workers are subdivided into different capabilities and made to specialize in simple tasks to be able to perform quickly and productively. This organization of work greatly improves the efficiency of the system, bringing costs down with more units of production.As seen in the Fordist model of mass production, workers as such are being â€Å"deskilled† and made interchangeable to the extent that they can be fired or hired according to production requirements (Womack 1990: 19-46). Thus, the market value of such menial labor is very low as opposed to professions (doctors) and skilled labor (technicians). The way work is being socially organized into skilled and unskilled labor has thus brought about socio-economic stratification in production relations. Marx has criticized this form of organization as being â€Å"alienating†, especially for the menial workers.As workers are being made interchangeable by the subdivided nature of production process, their labor is being looked upon only as a commodity, at their employer’s disposal. The worker loses control over his produce, the work process and his ability to creatively express himself. Moreover, their menial labor becomes cheapened in the process of unemployment and labor surplus. On the other hand, professionals are able to safeguard their interests by exclusive job administration channels, keeping their wages high due to marketable specialized knowledge.As a result, socio-economic stratification has also become defined by consumption relations such as occupational prestige and status group s. Norms and Culture Lastly, it is clear that industrial capitalism has brought about important changes in norms and culture. Most explicitly, industrial capitalism has changed the culture of work in the society. Prior to this time, work was characterized by disparate tasks that one is required to do in the day, and is oriented to what is necessary to be attended to. There is little divide between work and life.In industrial-capitalistic societies, work is characterized by a series of jobs which need to be synchronized in terms of sequence and speed. Time-discipline is important for work in the capitalist economies because productivity and time are highly correlated (Thompson 1967, 60:61). People are expected to use time allocated for work efficiently and solely for work. As the stimulus for work has changed from subsistence to wage incentives, there is potential of increasing wages by putting in more effort put into work.Thus, as competition for jobs and within jobs increase, peopl e are pushed to work harder and longer in their jobs. Also, in the 18thC, industrial capitalism has led to the trend of rapid urbanization due to rural urban migration and international migration in seek of factory jobs. This has led to a major restructuration of society within countries like England, where the working class poor tend to congregate near the city centre for employment and the more affluent middle class tend to decentralize away from these city centers, where living conditions are bad.The result is a case of socio-economic polarization within cities, where differences in standards of living are stark between gated communities and urban slums. In all, industrial capitalism tend to generate disparate levels of wealth and poverty amongst the working and capitalist classes. Lastly, industrial capitalism is likely to produce changes in habits and lifestyle which are oriented towards the market. The culture of consumerism is prevalent in many industrial and post-industrial societies, brought about by both producers and consumers.Producers aim to increase the capital return from their investment by either catering to existing needs or by creating new needs and wants. With the use of marketing strategies and production technology, they are able to sell their products at a high profit margin. Consumers, on the other hand, are faced with the proliferation of goods and services available at competitive prices. With the wages they have earned, they are able to afford more goods at a lower price. In all, this paper contends that industrial production and capitalism are major drivers of social change in three ways.Firstly, industrial capitalism has changed the role and nature of markets in history, from an auxiliary mechanism to the main instrument of social coordination. Secondly, industrial capitalism has revolutionized the social relations of production, from humanity’s struggle with nature to dependency on each other. It has also changed the social organization of work, by re-defining what is work and by organizing work into skilled and non-skilled categories with varying consequences. Thirdly, industrial capitalism has influenced the norms and culture of society through â€Å"industriousness†, urbanization and consumerism. (1991 Words)

Skimming is Winning

Skim reading could be what leads to the next epidemic for written works. This can be explained as the phenomenon in which readers pick out only what appear to be the most important and valuable pieces of information from a text. In â€Å"Skim reading is the new normal. The effect on society is profound.† Maryanne Wolf delineates the negative effects of skim reading on our intellectual processes such as; critical analysis, deep reading, and research surfacing as individuals move into digital based modes of reading. Wolf introduces the term â€Å"cognitive impatience† to explain how we are unable to take the time to concentrate because skimming has taken over most of our reading. This affects our ability to comprehend important information.† The argument states that humans are losing the ability to use their intellectual comprehension skills when it comes to reading. Skim reading is affecting the process to obtain information without analyzing the facts. This leaves the reader with â€Å"false information and demagoguery.† False information is obtained through skim reading as the â€Å"act† itself causes one to attain general information and words which can lead to misinterpretation. In addition, it adds a prejudice point of view as the reader fails to dive into facts which stand to be the main focus of the information being presented, and this can be explained as demagoguery. As a solution, she comes up with the idea of a â€Å"bi-literate† brain that will be capable to form the deepest of thoughts on either traditional or digital forms. It will benefit everyone as it will create a sustainable society by giving us the ability to seek more knowledge than we already have. Essentially, Wolf's essay is a warning of the dangers that skim reading has. It is leading individuals to misinterpret knowledge causing them to have false information. In her opening paragraphs, Wolf states (â€Å"The neuronal circuit that underlies the brain's ability to read is subtly, rapidly changing – a change with implications for everyone from the pre-reading toddler to the expert adult.†) The term â€Å"Cognitive impatience† is introduced and explained how individuals around the world are slowly becoming impatient when it comes to reading denser, more difficult texts. It is stated that what underlies â€Å"cognitive impatience† should be critically analyzed far more than the problem itself. Specific real-life examples are presented in relation to cognitive impatience, such as wills, contracts, and voting. For instance, contracts are essential when getting a job, purchasing a house, etc. If individuals fail to read the information correctly regarding the agreements or rules, it can cause them to miss out on specific information one may need to know to avoid unnecessary conflict. The author stresses the importance of deep reading by presenting real-life factors that rely on our growth as a society. The use of these examples in the article is a way of appealing to the reader's emotions, having them become more aware of the impacts skim reading can have even in situations we would not think of, such as the ones that were stated previously as well as digital skim reading. Technology has affected the ways in which we obtain information. As it becomes more advanced we are beginning to rely on technology to gain access to the information that we may require. However, various studies have proved that digital screen use may be causing troubling effects on reading comprehension in high school and college students. Ziming Liu from San Jose University conducted a study where he indicated that Skim reading is becoming the new â€Å"norm.† Many students began to glance at specific words and sentences for the rest of the text. When the brain skims likes this, it does not allow us to â€Å"to grasp complexity, understand others feelings, perceive beauty and for readers to have thoughts of their own.† By this, the author is trying to inform us that reading is comprised of more than just understanding the moral of a story. It is about being able to connect with the author and the emotions being presented, look at situations from a different perspective, as well as create thoughts of our own as we read in depth. Since technology has become a widely used tool in classrooms, this is seen as an opportunity to explain how it is affecting the information that we acquire. Negative effects of reading in digital modes can appear as early as the fourth or fifth grade. The author grasps the attention of the readers by informing them how early the effects of screen reading can affect the mental health of students. By this, she raises awareness to those who provide technology to their children or students constantly. For instance, parents giving their children technology to keep them occupied from a young age can cause them to rely on technology, hindering the development of basic reading skills leading to the underdevelopment of the child's brain. Scientific terms, such as circuit, neuroscience, and brain were present to stress and further explain the issue of skim reading. The author uses various studies conducted by psychologists as evidence to further support her argument. Anne Mangen, a psychologist from Stavanger, Norway came to a conclusion indicating (â€Å"That student's who read on print were superior in their comprehension to screen-reading peers.†) The reading circuit is a part in our brain that both psychology and science are parallel to. When our brain cannot comprehend information, or critically analyze along with various basic reading skills, it affects our brain which in turn affects psychological behaviours. The author references other neuroscientists which show the timeline the issue began, to stress the point that this is an issue across all age groups. Reading is a lot more than just being able to comprehend the text, It is being able to critically analyze and empathize, which is a crucial factor. It involves being able to understand the perspective of the author and the emotion they are trying to portray. Wolf also introduces a type of â€Å"bi-literate brain†, a brain capable of forming the deepest thoughts in traditional or digital mediums. The author does not only stress the importance of deep reading, perspective taking, analyzing, comparing etc. just for a simple book or text, but also indirectly tells us to have the same view towards our society and the way we live. The Bi-literate brain will help view life and certain situations in other perspectives, look at things and be appreciative of the beauty around us and also be able to create beauty with our imagination and ideas. Being able to go beyond our current knowledge and dig deeper to reach the knowledge, is necessary to sustain a good society. Wolf Indirectly states that using those same reading skills can also be used in real life to create a better future not only for literature but also our society. As the future moves society into a more digitized world, members are becoming unable to comprehend information accurately. â€Å"Cognitive impatience† the inability to take time and read, is leading readers to be unable to properly comprehend the information accurately because skimming has become a norm. This causes a prejudiced outlook due to readers being misinformed. It is no doubt that Wolf's article is a warning towards individuals in every age group to stress the point, how we are slowly diminishing in utilizing our basic reading skills such as critical thinking, analyzing, and deep reading. As Wolf presents real-life factors that are essential to our growth, we as members of society also have a duty to go beyond the knowledge that we already acquire and sustain a good society.