Interchangeable Manufacturing

Interchangeable Manufacturing and Technical Drawings Until the 1700-1800’s industrial productions was like custom fitting sections in a product. Assembly would consist of craftsman hand filing and grinding roughly shaped parts and putting them together. The invention of interchangeable parts allowed the assembly of products to be done a lot quicker, and without training of a craftsperson. To be able to make the parts there had to be improvements to the technology in the machine had to be made.This led to a mass production of different products such as, cars, appliances, electronics etc. The products can be made in larger numbers then if each one needed to be hand made. With the development of interchangeable manufacturing, technical drawings have become a very important part of the process. Before interchangeable parts were developed the manufacturer would create a part that worked or fit the machine and just kept producing that part.A technical drawing done by draftsmen conta ining known symbols and labels that when sent to the manufacturer they could interpret them and send back a finished product the drafter wanted. Most technical drawings used are simple wire frame views showing the information for production. Technical illustrations are a set of more complex drawings; they contain coloured sections reveling the operating mechanics. Technical drawings are used to convey ideas to others. There function is to communicate descriptions specifications, and instructions to the manufacturer.This is so the three dimensional objects and systems can be made and assembled correctly. The technical drawing shows many important elements that are needed and how they are assembled. They are also made to show each part of the product and the instructions needed. Technical drawings are an essential process of the interchangeable parts assembly. They help the manufacturer know what specifications are required for the product. Without the drawings the assembly would not be able to run as efficiently as it does today.

Insider Trading Essay

Watching â€Å"Martha, Inc. : The Story of Martha Stewart† finally made me realize what the whole scandal of Martha Stewart was all about. From what I learned, Martha Stewart, known as a television personality and famous multimillionaire, was â€Å"indicted on securities fraud, obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges in an insider trading scandal†. Before this all started, she was happily baking cookies for children and making homemade arts and crafts for her friends. At the middle of 2003, she was sent for a five month term of prison. Insider trading was the crime Martha Stewart committed; she basically wanted to get ahead as CEO of her company.By definition, insider training is â€Å"the illegal practice of trading on the stock exchange to one's advantage through having access to confidential information†. â€Å"Insider trading† is a term that most investors would usually associate with illegal conduct. Illegal insider trading â€Å"refers to buyi ng or selling a security while in possession of nonpublic information about the security†. Apparently, based on articles I have read, Martha Stewart was told by her friend Sam Waksal that his company ImClone’s cancer drug had been rejected by the Food and Drug Administration before this information was made public.Because of this, the price of his company's stock diminished quickly. â€Å"The (Securities and Exchange Commission) SEC’s job is to make sure that all investors are making decisions based on the same information. Insider trading can be illegal because it destroys this level playing field. Insider trading is only illegal when a person bases their trade of stocks in a public company on information that the public does not know. † Clearly, Martha Stewart was a huge symbol of corporate greed. She wanted more money even when she had reached one billion dollars as her net worth.Stewart had lost about $400 million â€Å"because of the company's declin ing value, legal fees and lost business opportunities†. To make a comeback, she made a camp again in 2005 which led to profits a year later. Stewart then rejoined the board of directors and became chairman of her namesake company again this year. She hasn't reached her full potential from before but is still catching up to it. (Sentences in quotes are from several Internet sources. No copyright infringement intended. )

Analyzing Jealousy In Othello English Literature Essay

Analyzing Jealousy In Othello English Literature Essay Shakespeare’s play of Othello is largely driven by a grand love story, and filled with jealousy. Through the juxtaposition of Othello’s credulous nature and Iago’s pernicious villainy, the image of jealousy is truly personified as an all-consuming â€Å"green-eyed monster†. Because of this venomous nature of the beast of jealousy, the events of the play manage to unfold in Iago’s lustful authority, which bring down the eponymous character to his tragic downfall. In human psychology today, the modern definition of jealousy remains relatively unchanged from Shakespeare’s time, albeit being expressed in more modern scientific terms. It is defined as â€Å"a complex of thoughts, feelings, and actions which follow threats to self-esteem and/or threats to the existence or quality of the relationship †¦ generated by the perception of a real or potential attraction between one’s partner and a (perhaps imaginary) rival.† (White, 19 81, p. 24). In scenes of jealousy, there are typically a triad of people involved: a jealous and threatened individual, a partner of the opposite gender, and his/her third party rival. In the case of Othello, there are certainly three important people involved at the beginning: Iago being the jealous individual, Desdemona being the partner, and Othello being the third party rival. Iago definitely feels threatened by Othello’s dominance over him, both in his military rank and his relationship with Desdemona, as portrayed upon Iago’s words, â€Å"I hate the Moor!† (I,iii,377). Iago then manages to spread his jealousy to his impending victims, such as Othello; as the subject of his jealousy is partly the sheer beauty of Desdemona. In the plot of Othello, the most devious and perfect example of a human incarnation of the â€Å"green-eyed monster† is Iago. Iago originally becomes jealous when Othello succeeds in convincing Desdemona to marry him. Iago’s searing hate of Othello deep within him also contributes to his extreme jealousy. He is also very envious of Othello’s military rank of the General of the Venetian Army – in military terms, Iago is ranked two levels below him. The jealous Iago crafts his plans with the intention to bring down Othello exactly in these two areas: to eventually force Othello to lose his position as General (I,iii,395), and to create distrust within him and Desdemona, such that the two will eventually split (I,iii,339). Iago’s inner personality is ideal for a villain; he is innately a very sly, manipulative and venomous man, who is willing to take every risk to ensure that his plans are carried out successfully. However, despite his intense jealousy, Iago astutely manages to control his feelings and hide his jealousy, such to the degree he earns the informal title â€Å"honest Iago† among the characters of the play. Because of Iago’s pernicious and duplicitous charact er, his kind of jealousy can be perfectly portrayed as the pernicious â€Å"green eyed monster† – it strikes slowly, stealthily and deceptively, but once it hits, it is lethal and very contagious. A direct example of how Iago’s jealousy is key in giving his schemes their devious characteristics is shown in a crucial scene in Act 3, when Cassio spontaneously finds an anonymous handkerchief on his bed. That scene, in short, is a perfect testament to Iago’s manipulative genius and sly deceptiveness. From the pure coincidence of Emilia placing the handkerchief onto Cassio’s bed, to Iago’s luck of Bianca scolding Cassio and assuming him of leaving her to another woman, we can see how intricately weaved and devious, yet perfectly planned Iago’s scheme is; he is ALWAYS thinking. Yet, Iago is very patient in his scheme – the whole episode evolves not in seconds or in minutes, but in a matter of hours or even days. In addition, Iago man ages to see this part of his scheme unroll successfully, without even being noticed or brought into the picture at all! As such, from the flawless manner in which Iago’s scheme unrolls in this episode, we can perfectly see how and why Iago seems like the ideal, pernicious villain, whose intense jealousy strikes not unlike Shakespeare’s â€Å"green eyed monster† – slowly, stealthily, but lethally.

Group Media Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Group Media Assignment - Essay Example As a result, the oil and gasoline prices have plunged down significantly. The focus of the world has been on the United States since it is providing half of the total reserves that are to be released and the US government too has been proactive in justifying its decision; proclaiming that the move was not based on any political motives. Though this decision has faced a great deal of criticism from all corners, the US believes that the release would help in lessening the gap between demand and supply of oil. The article is very appositely related to the concepts of Demand and Supply. Before the political explosion in Libya, the supply and demand of crude oil were relatively stable and a reasonable equilibrium existed between price and quantity, but as soon as the oil production in Libya cut down, the supply fell tremendously, whereas the demand remained almost unchanged. This led to a higher equilibrium price and lower quantity. Now, with oil being released by US and its allies, the s upply would rise to counter the demand. The current decline in oil prices is its confirmation. The reduction in the supply of crude oil from Libya can also be understood in terms of the effects of one of the Supply determinants, namely Number of Suppliers. Since the number of crude oil suppliers in the world are limited, so when Libya, which is one of the major suppliers, departed from the scene, the supply automatically plummeted. Moreover, the demand remained unchanged due to an important Demand determinant, namely Price of Related of Goods. Since, crude oil has numerous complements whereas nearly no substitutes its demand never fell. (400 words) China Investigates Pricing by 2 Broadband Companies The article ‘China Investigates Pricing by 2 Broadband Companies’ by Barboza (2011) published in the New York Times reports about the monopolistic behavior of two of the largest government owned telecommunication firms, China Telecom and China Unicom. With regular grievances from customers that the two companies overcharge them and deliver comparatively low speeds for Broadband Internet, the National Development and Reform Commission has decided to examine whether the companies have violated the Antimonopoly Law. Analysts believe that this enquiry has come about mainly due to consumer pressure because in China, the state has always supported oligopolies with little contest and huge profits. Li Qing who works as the deputy director of the bureau of price monitoring and antimonopolization at the National Development and Reform Commission reported the fact that combined revenues of Telecom and Unicom were $10 billion in 2010 and greater than 66% of the market share belonged to the two giants. Zhang Bin, a telecommunication expert provides a different view, saying that the government did try to create competition in the industry among a few major firms; however, the outcome was not as expected and the oligopoly continues to thrive. The article pertinently relates to the concept of oligopoly. Since there are only two companies, Telecom and Unicom, involved in the oligopoly, hence, it can also be called a duopoly. These two giant telecommunication companies satisfy all the characteristics of an

Debate speech for filibuster protocol Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Debate speech for filibuster protocol - Essay Example However, is it plausible to argue that filibusters are bad in any debate? Filibusters cause delays to confirmations since at least 60% are from the oppositions as Sinclair 5. In these holds, the opponents always create opponents hostages. This inconsistency impose barring of nominees. In cases of partisanship rising, filibusters if not continuity that is coupled to consensus, bring about moderation. This is has been protecting public interests especially among the minority. It provides leverage that premise exhaustive examination of federal branch candidates. For instance, Davis Filibuster was a thirteen-hour speech to stop this controversial bill from approval by senate. Although senate republicans were unhappy with his breaking the filibuster rules, a commotion arose and votes could not be held ("Wendy Davis Filibuster to Block Abortion Bill") In this instance, Davies Wendy, prevented desperate measures of endings safe abortions and indeed there was need for clinics to upgrade their services to serving the public better. Briefly, it is important to impose a filibuster when a contradictory bill is brought to parliament to allow for necessary corrections on it to safeguard the interests of the

E-Business In Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

E-Business In Practice - Essay Example This paper begins with conducting market analysis of e-books and e-readers. It then proceeds to evaluate the needs of customers with regards to e-books and e-readers. Further, the paper continues to analyse the disruptive effect of this technology to the publishing industry’s value chain. Finally, the paper conducts a strategic analysis of the future direction of this market and makes recommendations for conventional publishers to undertake in order to remain competitive in future.   This paper highlights that books are big business. According to PwC in 2009 people globally spent $108 billion on books. Already, readers in the twenty-first century use an increasing amount of electronic texts in the form of e-mails, web pages, text-messages, online catalogues, databases and e-newspapers. E-books are a natural extension to this move towards electronic text. In the United States the Association of American publishers reported revenues of   $969.9 million in 2011 for e-books excluding the religious category and sales from smaller, independent publishers. In Europe, the e-book and e-reader market is still in its infancy though it holds promise, especially in the UK, which stands to benefit from the extensive range of English-language e-books available.  The growth of e-books in the UK is expected to be driven by two factors: the proliferation of multifunctional devices, such as tablets and smartphones that can be used to access e-books, and the rising importance of the electronic special interest book market.  

Managing Absence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Managing Absence - Assignment Example This leads to poor and staggered service to customers, as agency employees, being untrained and raw, could never do justice to customers without bungling or making glaring mistakes. Problem of delayed service is very common and Line managers have to deal with unpleasant customer complaints, which sometimes, run for days and months, causing immense man-hour loss over trivia. If not attended sincerely and find suitable solutions, Company will lose the carefully nurtured image and goodwill in the market, not to mention facing the unpleasant and enraged reactions from the customers. Temporary staff is unsuitable for another reason that it needs more guidance and managers have to frequently accompany them to see that serious errors do not occur. This naturally results in distraction and wastage of managers' precious working time. Recruitment and staff turnover of the Company in recent years has become noticeably frequent and this is financially undesirable1. It is a matter of serious concern that unforeseen absences are creating major problems to management and managers and hence, are unpleasant to the image of the Company. The gravity of the situation is acute as absenteeism can result in service failures, recovery actions, implications etc. There are instances when Company was even drawn into unpleasant legal battles and this shows that prevention and solution both are immediately needed. Managing absence and its effect on productivity and efficiency is no small concern, and it is desirable to get practical advice to deal with long and short-term absences, ill health and absence resulting from working stress. It is essential to assess the damage to Company and inconvenience to managers who are forced to reorganise the entire group to set it rolling. Costs of frequent re-organisations cannot be ignored either. The downward trend in Company performance is creating an unhealthy atmosphere2. Reasons and excuses of sickness should be considered against the real sickness, manager bullying, children responsibility, exhaustion, depression, old relatives and their responsibility, their hospitalisation, sickness of tiny children and partner or husband etc. Handling absenteeism with professional help and on the basis of research already done is essential. Diagnosing problems, identifying weak spots, controlling systems and spotting training requirements for heads of department, line managers and team managers on how to deal with persistent absentees is important. Consulting employment law consultants and human resource professionals and frequent meetings with employee relations officers is another form of tackling this evil. In house legal advisers should be consulted for further actions against the absentees. Possibilities of future damage repair like in-house training; continuing professional development focussed on developing the employee's full potential, encouraging interactions, advising on employment law issues and practical law issues could guide strategy mapping. This will also involve line management solutions, return to work interviews, and frequent monitoring. It is better to involve employee work commitment, peer pressure, and medical opinion etc. and arrive at a decision after going through every aspect of absenteeism including from the

Critique and Development of Research Questions Essay

Critique and Development of Research Questions - Essay Example onsidered as a chief method of ensuring national security and the employment of Polygraph interviews as part of security clearance procedures in different branches of the American government has been widely criticized. Thus, in the background of ongoing debates on the utility of polygraph in national security, the scope and relevance of a profound research on the topic is categorical. In this research paper, the focal attempt has been to make a scrupulous investigation on ‘the utility of polygraph in national security’. The psycho-physiological detection of deception (PDD) including polygraph testing should be given more crucial attention in current researches. â€Å"In stark contrast to the scientific literature on forensic use of PDD, the use of FDD in employment and for screening, including screening for national security, is the subject of relatively little published research. Initial commentary on the use of polygraphs for national security screening focused on pro blems that all diagnostic tests experience when attempting to diagnose a rare condition.† (Granhag and Strà ¶mwall, 2004, p 118). In the background of serious debates on the question, it is of central implication to have a precise analysis of the matters and to come up with the most sagacious findings on the question. Therefore, the importance of this research paper is greater and the potential findings of this investigation on ‘the utility of polygraph in national security’ also justify the scope of the study. The utility of polygraph in national security has been a critical topic which has attained enormous focus and invited national interest in the modern American context. The paper attempts to undertake a profound investigation into the topic ‘The Utility of Polygraph in National Security’ and come up with the most sagacious findings on the questions which attract the current debates. Polygraph testing has been a serious technique of security assurance for a long time, in spite of the

THEMES IN U.S. & WORLD HISTORY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

THEMES IN U.S. & WORLD HISTORY - Essay Example B. Justify your choice of the one most significant environmental/geographic factor that contributed to the development or diffusion of one human society from the following list:Â   Prosperity of the Mesopotamian society was predetermined by the fertile soil and developed system of irrigation that in turn allowed keeping the large number of cattle. These were the crucial factors for the prosperity of the civilization, as well as the presence of the favorable climate. Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations differed in many ways, yet both of them were dependent on the river systems. However, Egyptians mainly populated the Nile River valley, while Mesopotamians settled all across the Middle East. C. Justify your choice of the two most significant social and/or political changes that occurred as a result of the actions of one individual from the following list of world leaders:Â   Nelson Mandela represents an example of a bright leader who inspired millions of people around the world. First of all Mandela won the first multi-racial elections in South Africa thus creating a significant change in perception and building of a color blind society in Africa and around the world. Prior to becoming a president Mandela was known for his anti-apartheid violent actions, his actions attracted attention to the existing problem. D. Justify your choice of the two most significant social and/or political changes that occurred as a result of the actions of one individual from the following list of United States leaders:Â   I suppose that Martin Luther King became an iconic figure, whose courage inspired countless people. First of all Martin Luther King advocated for civil rights by means of the peaceful methods and never encouraged using violence for achieving the goals. His speech I Have a Dream encouraged creation of a color blind society and society based on equality. He actively addressed issues of poverty and contributed to the end of the War in Vietnam. E. Discuss the ris e of imperialism or colonialism in one area of the world from the following list:Â   Western countries were interested in expanding their influence beyond the borders of Europe. South East Asia became one of the victims of this imperialism. In the 19th century China was particularly vulnerable and could not resist the imperialism from Japan, Russia and different Western countries. Most importantly Chinese markets opened for trade – Britain was precisely interested in this measure. Two Opium Wars, countless disputes and conflicts led to a total subjugation of China. Since Japan was an Asian country that led an aggressive expansionist policy in the region, local population highly resisted its actions. The aggressive Japanese policy predetermined negative perception of the country’s actions in the region for decades. F. Compare the tactics of one violent revolution and one nonviolent revolution from the following list:Â   I would like to address the two brightest exampl es of revolutions from the Eastern European countries: Russian Revolution of 1917 and Orange Revolution in Ukraine from late 2004 early 2005. Russian Revolution is clearly the case of a violent change of the regime in the country, followed by the execution of the Tsar’s family and destruction of all previous existing institution and intelligentsia. To the contrary, Orange Revolution in Ukraine, almost a century after the Russian one, represents a nonviolent scenario of a revolution, when people were able to achieve

Kmart and Sears Merger Essay Example for Free

Kmart and Sears Merger Essay Kmart had been established in 1962 by its parent company S. S. Kresge as a discount department store offering the most variety of goods at the lowest prices. Un- like Sears, the company chose not to locate in large shopping malls but to establish its discount stores in highly visible corner locations. During the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, Kmart prospered. Retail formats in operation Kmart – is a chain of discount stores that are usually free standing or located in a strip malls. Big Kmart – signals a different kind of Kmart. These stores are bigger, brighter and offer big savings, big value, big selection and big convenience. Big Kmart stores are designed to increase store sales by increasing the frequency of customer visits. The format focuses on three distinct businesses – home fashions, children’s apparel and consumables – and features an expanded food area known as the â€Å"Pantry†. Kmart Super Center is a chain of hypermarkets that carry everything a regular Kmart carries, but also have a full grocery section with meat and poultry, baked goods, a delicatessen, garden produce, and fresh seafood. Most Kmart Super Centers operate 24-hours a day and offer special services. In 1999 Kmart began offering a dial-up internet service called BlueLight, which was eventually spun off as an independent company. BlueLight was initially free and supported by banner ads. BlueLight dropped the free service in February 2001 and was reacquired by Kmart in July 2001. In 2002 United Online, which also owns NetZero and Juno, bought the BlueLight service after Kmart filed for bankruptcy. In August 2006, Bluelight dropped the banners. As of August 2006, the service costs $14. 95 a month and has around 165,000 subscribers. Promotional Pricing model Promotional pricing had always been the forte at Kmart. Offering a lower price temporarily in order to enhance the effectiveness of product sales efforts to cost sensitive consumer. In 1990, Wal-Mart overtook Kmart in sales, they tried to wean the company away from this strategy. Kmart cut process on 38,000 items and promoted the with expensive television commercials, which failed to lure younger shoppers. Then Wal-Mart countered by using its greater efficiency and economies of scale to fight back on pricing. The outcome was 1% drop in Kmart’s sales in December and 8% increase in those of Wal-Mart. Financial Analysis Prior to 2001, company was making continues losses, in order to understand scenario; we first analyze the period from 1995 to 1998. Here, Kmart started making some profit. And the second part from the year 1998 to 2002, where they actually went bankrupts. In 1995, the firm suffered a huge loss of $571 million. This was because of the non-performance of 127 international stores. It was in the same year that COGS as a percentage of sales were too high as 78%. Operating expenses as a percentage was in proportion to that of the industry. However due to the low performance of the international stores, stores outside t United States, Kmart had a bad financial year in 1995. It was the same year that the management decided to do away with the non preforming stores and thereby closed all its international stores and started four new stores in the home market. The list of stores by Kmart during the period can be seen as under: In 1999, COGS was 78% of sales as compared to 72 % of sales in the year 1998. Also, COGS increased drastically compared to increase in sales. Sales in 1999 increased by 6. 26%, however COGS increased by 12. 23%. Thus, there was a major decrease in the grow profit from 27% of sales to 21% of sales. This was the beginning of the downfall of Kmart. From here on, COGS kept on increasing. In 2002 COG reached 85%, thus gross margin reduced from 21% in 1999 to 14% in 2002. During the same time, Kmart’s operational efficiency too decreased and it increased from 18% in the year 1999 to 21% in 2002. Thus, increase in the COGS, lowering of the gross margin and increase in the operational costs, all contributes to the fall of Kmart. Competitors within the industry Its primary competitors were Wal-Mart, Sears, Target, Kohl’s, and J.  C. Penney, with secondary competitors in certain categories. Wal-Mart Wal-Mart followed the lower cost competitive strategy of cost leadership. According to our textbook cost leadership aims at the broad mass market and requires efficient scale facilities, cost reductions, cost and overhead control; avoids marginal customers, cost minimization in RD, service, sales force and advertising. Therefore Wal-Mart could get following benefits: this strategy provided defense against competitors, provides a barrier to entry for new competitors and generate increased market share. Wal-Mart managed to maintain â€Å"everyday low prices† and achieve highest sales in the industry. It should be noted that Wal-Mart’s 2005 revenues exceeded that of the next ? ve U. S. retailers combined: these are Home Depot, Kroger, Sears Holding Company (which includes Sears and Kmart), Costco, and Target. Wal-Mart’s technological edge is in its logistics, distribution, and inventory control helped it reduce cost and offer customers product cheaper than its competitors. Moreover it could benefit from economies of scale. Wal-Mart also used differentiation focus strategy by creating a product and service unique to customers, according to ReferenceForBusiness. com. It could be argued that this feature is not real and just in the mind of the customer; customers believed they were being offered something special. Wal-Mart achieved this strategy by offering unique warranties and brand images. Wal-Mart customers believed they were being provided with something that they cannot find at any of the stores competitors. Wall-mart’s value chain worked in following way: Vendors, Wal-Marts suppliers delivered products to Wal-Marts distribution center or directly to one of the stores. Wal-Mart was able to bargain for the lowest possible price because of the high volume of sales. Therefore, Wal-Mart could pass this savings to its customers. After that once the products were delivered to the distribution center, they were sorted and placed on trucks to be delivered to stores. This allows for less than 48 hour deliveries to stores and increased efficiency on trucks with backhauls. After products were delivered to the stores, they were placed on the appropriate shelf location for customers to view. Store locations were located throughout the U. S. in rural and urban towns. Moreover customers could purchase products at very low prices and have the ability to return any item. These were the key elements of Wal-Mart value chain. Overall Wal-Mart’s competitive advantage over its competitors was efficient supply chain management and lower prices achieved through maintaining low costs. Sears Sears, with the second-highest annual sales, had a strong position in hard goods, such as home appliances and tools. Around 40% of all major home appliance sales continued to be controlled by Sears. Nevertheless, Sears was struggling with slumping sales as customers turned from Sears mall stores to stand-alone, big-box retailers, such as Lowe’s and Home Depot, to buy their hard goods. Sears main competitive disadvantage was its store locations. Sears has been too slow to expand away from mall locations, industry analysts said. As Sears Chairman Alan Lacy said: â€Å"Our service and products are as good as our competitors but theyre not where our customers are. † Target Target was third in sales but second in profits, behind Wal-Mart. It used differentiation strategy and tried to offer customers quality products and had distinguished itself as a merchandiser of stylish upscale products. Targets mission statement focused on great guest service, clean stores and speedy checkouts. Along with Wal-Mart, Target had flourished to such an extent that Dayton-Hudson, its parent company, had changed its corporate name to Target. Its main focus was statically higher income consumers and early internet adopters. Target’s main competitive advantage was good customer service and quality product. This is where it creates value for its customers. Kohl’s, and J. C. Penney Both Kohl’s and J. C. Penney emphasized on soft goods, such as clothing and related items. They both chose differentiation strategy. Kohl’s concentrated on selling both private and exclusive brands which were â€Å"only at Kohl’s† as well as national brands like Nike, Adidas, Lee, Levi’s, Jockey, Van Heusen. Private and exclusive brands contributed a lot more to the gross margin as Kohl’s has significant control over the production, manufacturing and marketing expense of these brands. Keeping this in mind, Kohl’s has shifted its merchandise gradually towards this section of merchandise. In 2004, Kohl’s carried 25% in Private and Exclusive Brands, and this figure rose to 50% in 2011. Moreover it tried to provide â€Å"convenience† promise to customers an easy and satisfying shopping experience. Kohl’s organized departments by lifestyle, added signage and graphics depicting key trends, and presented merchandise to suggest how customers can create new looks. They also continued to improve inventory management to deliver more new product more often, to differentiate line mixes according to geographic preferences, and to assure a â€Å"shelf never empty† of products the consumer desires. J. C Penney targeted moderate income customs, mainly women who as company executive said that were with, â€Å"too little time, too little money, and two little kids. † Kmart versus Competitors Kmart’s main problem was that it did not have clearly defined competitive strategy. In 2001, Kmart proclaimed a new retailing strategy that included less advertising, fewer advertised specials, and lower daily prices on many items. In short, Kmart tried to challenge Wal-Mart as the everyday low-price leader. Wal-Mart responded to the Kmart challenge with still lower prices. These new initiatives further weakened the ? nancial position of Kmart Corporation. The Kmart assault on the Wal-Mart image as the low-price leader failed, and Kmart was left with huge volumes of unsold merchandise (Turner 2003, 71–72). Kmart forgot to take into consideration that its capacity to lower prices was limited because of its poor supply chain management, often popular products would be out of stock, in some cases stored in trailors outside of the stores. Kmart was not successful in using differentiation competitive strategy either. While Wal-Mart reigned supreme as the low cost leader, Target was perceived as being a â€Å"higher quality† retailer. There was basically nothing left for Kmart. In attempt to pursue differentiation strategy Kmart updated and enlarged the stores, added name brands, however this was not successful either, acquisitions all performed poorly posting minimal net income or losses and distracted management from core business. Kmart’s main competitive disadvantages were problems in value proposition, poor supply chain/inventory management and poor customer service. It needed to choose competitive strategy suitable for it and concentrate on it.

Conflict Between Mole National Park And Larabanga Community Politics Essay

Conflict Between Mole National Park And Larabanga Community Politics Essay Historically, conservation strategies have been dominated by exclusive management approaches, reserving places for nature, and to separate humans and other species. According to Adams and McShane (1996) the method for establishing parks has always involved the expensive operation of removing those people living on the newly protected land. In almost all cases, the result is a park surrounded by people who were excluded from the planning of the area, do not understand its purpose, receive little or no benefit sharing and hence do not support its existence. As a result, local communities develop a lasting distrust of park authorities, in part because of the glaring lack of attention those authorities, supported by conservationists, have traditionally paid to the link between park ecology, the survival of wildlife and the livelihood of the displaced people. In the longer term the effect of the de-linkage of park wildlife from village livelihoods, encouraged by the preservationist views of nature on which the national park as an institution is founded, is to make local people hostile to wildlife conservation (Knight, 2000). In Ghana, the Mole National Park and one of its surrounding communities, Larabanga, have for a long time being involved in a series of conflicts that have negatively affected the peaceful co-existence of man and nature. This paper explores the causes of the conflict and the values, interests and positions of the key stakeholders involved in the conflict. An analysis of the conflict using the social conflict theory and various techniques in conflict management is also employed. The authors also present a new view of the conflict and present alternative dispute resolution methods that are applicable in resolving the conflict. Inclusive governance as a key participatory process is also discussed in the paper. Key words: Environmental Conflict, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Inclusive Governance, Protected Area, Stakeholders Introduction National parks and other wildlife reserves are a major source wildlife conservation conflicts in most parts of the world. In Ghana, wildlife conservation conflicts are prevailing in the north of the country between the park authorities of the Mole National Park (NP) and the park-adjacent communities especially Larabanga (Marseille, 2004). Mole NP is a typical example of coercive conservation or exclusive management, during its creation a policy of externally enforced exclusion was pursued and no serious attempts were made to involve the local communities in the management of the park (Marseille, 2004). The control of Mole NP is vested in central government by means of the Ghanaian Wildlife Division [WD]. Throughout the years the WD and the communities have been engaging in a poor relationship which created a breeding chamber for different conflict situations (Marfo, 2003). Marfo (2003) however states that recently there has been a shift from the traditional preservation approach in p rotected area management to the more flexible concept of conservation through sustainable use. Despite a range of protected area [PA] outreach strategies targeted at improving the relationship with the local communities and reducing the conflicts tension still exists. The lack of communication and the tension between local people and park staff is a common theme from different parks (Newmark et al 1993 in Bergin 2001). The WD holds the view that local communities have done little to change their negative perceptions about the activities of the Park. Particularly the communities surrounding the Mole NP are notorious in violating park boundaries and regulations. Among the local communities both suspicion and mistrust for wildlife staff and bitterness over the process by which the Park was created is prevailing. Hulme and Infield (2001) found that the community attitudes towards protected areas is influenced by the nature of community use of park resources, the physical proximity to the park, influencing both problems caused by wild animals and negative interactions with game officials, and the history of both positive and negative interactions with park staff. Problem statement Though the Mole NP authorities have made efforts to reduce local conflicts there appears to have been little concerted effort to apply the principles of conflict management to protected area-people relationships (Hough, 1988). It is almost universally evident that the question of power and how it plays itself in specific conflict setting is an important dimension to the conflict management problem. The crucial role of power in natural resource conflict management has driven the debate in search for its dynamics and how to deal with it in policy and practice. Conflict is a complex phenomenon, with the possibility of involving several actors. However, at a superficial level there are only two actors involved in wildlife conservation conflict, namely the local national park administration and the local communities (Hough, 1988). Within natural resource management one major reoccurring issue relates to the question of how to control and manage natural resources on an official level while simultaneously taking into account the needs of the local population (Caspary, 1999). The emerging challenge is to encourage a scientific and policy rethinking of wildlife conservation conflict management intervention processes, guiding wildlife conservation conflict towards constructive rather than destructive results favors both the communities living on the fringes of the Mole NP as well as the park management. 1.3 Aim of the study The aim of the study is formulated as follows: To explore conflict management strategies in wildlife conservation conflict using Mole National Park and the Larabanga Community in Ghana as a case with a view to making appropriate recommendations for wildlife conservation conflict management Objectives In order to achieve this aim, the following specific objectives are formulated: To identify the background and basics of the conflict To explore the positions, interests and values of the key actors and the strategic action exercised during the conflict To examine the linkages of the conflict to the foundations and theories of conflict and conflict management By identify conflict management approaches that are currently being used to address the conflict To propose alternative conflict management and participatory approaches that could be used Research questions What is the basis of the conflict? Why? Which actors are involved in the conflict? Why? What conflict management approaches are being used or could be used Which concept(s) of inclusive governance, which theories of democracy, is Is the governance process participatory and which theory of democracy is it built on? The analysis of this case study will focus clearly on conflict management techniques and interventionist strategies. A third party intervention strategy will focus on understanding the strategies different actors use to empower themselves during conflict and providing alternative ways of resolving the conflict towards a constructive end. Mole National Park The Ghanaian Wildlife Division is responsible for 15 integrated protected areas covering a total area of 13,489 sq. km under which Mole National Park, see map of Mole NP in figure 1. Mole NP is one of the six national parks in Ghana and one of the three established in the interior savannah. Fig. 1: Map of Ghana showing Mole NP and LarabangaThe IUCN defines a National Park as a protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation. Mole NP is a category II park by IUCN classification of protected areas (IUCN, 2010). A National Park is a national asset and as such remains under the jurisdiction of a central authority personified by the WD (Symonds and Hurst, 1998). The Mole NP Protected Area in Ghana and it is considered to be the most prestigious in terms of its attraction to visitors facilities for visitors (IUCN, 2010). The protected areas system in Ghana is designed to conserve key representative areas of Ghanas varied wildlife habitat (Symonds and Hurst, 1998). ontextMole National Park (4840 km2) is found in the western half of the Northern Region in the Guinea grassland zone (see figure 1). Mole is named after the river Mole which runs through the conserved area. In the 1930s about 2330 km of Mole was initially designated a Game clearance area for purposes of tsetse control. The policy of game clearance was abandoned and in 1958 an area of 1,916 sq. km. was officially constituted as the Mole Game Reserve and placed under the Forestry Department (FC, 2010) In 1971, the reserve was almost doubled in size (4912 km) and gazetted a National park under legislative instrument 710 of the wildlife reserves regulations. In 1992, with the removal of another village in the North west the park (Gbantariga), Mole NP was subsequently extended to the present 4840 km (Marseille, 2004). The park is very popular with tourists visiting northern Ghana, 93 mammals, 33 reptiles, 9 amphibians and 304 bird species have been recorded at Mole. The dominant faunal species are elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis), buffalo (Syncerus caffer), waterbuck (Kobus defassa), roan antelope (Hippotragus equnus), kob antelope (Kobus kob), bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), warthog (Phacochoerus aethipicus), green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops), patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas) and olive baboon (Papio anubis) (FC, 2010). Larabanga community Approximately 4 kilometres from the entrance gate of Mole NP lies the village of Larabanga, or Home of the Arabs as its name signifies. The Larabanga community is a 100% Muslim which has being in existence since the 15th century and originally a hunting tribe (Marseille, 2004). Larabanga is poor rural community whose main source of livelihood is farming closely followed in importance by hunting and fishing. Basic social amenities and infrastructure are critically lacking in the community (UNDP, 2007). Larabanga has a population size of about 3800 people, most community members are engaged in farming subsistence crops such as yam, maize, guinea corn and cassava (UNDP, 2007). The farm lands surround the village in all directions and are communally owned with most farmers practicing shifting cultivation. The ancient mosque of Larabanga is of Sudanese architectural style and is recognized officially as a World Heritage Site. A few retailers in the village also generate some profit by selling provisions to visiting tourists. In Larabanga 99% of the community is illiterate, the same situation counts for all other fringed communities (Marseille, 2004). Causes of the Conflict Knight (2002) describes human-wildlife conflict as relations of rivalry or antagonism between human beings and wild animals which typically arise from territorial proximity and involve reliance on the same resources or a threat to human well-being or safety. It is proposed there are two dimensions of human-wildlife conflicts: political and social. Political An increasingly important factor in the political determination of wildlife conservation conflict is the role of the established political actor, the state. Many wildlife conservation conflicts are informed by people-state conflict. When wild animals become the object of official protection measures whether in the name of game management or wildlife conservation, local victims of wildlife damage may well attribute blame to and seek political redress from, state authorities (Knight, 2000). In this case study wildlife conservation conflict is defined as follows: a situation where an actor experiences the action of other actors in the use and management of wildlife resources as an impairment to their interest in those wildlife resources The state through the Wildlife Department (WD) has adopted a preservationist approach in managing the Mole NP (Jachmann, 2008). This has resulted in the alienation of local communities and has excluded opportunities for participatory rural development activities and the sustainable use of the reserves resources, thus generating antagonism resulting in conflicts between local communities and wildlife/forestry officers (Marseille, 2008). One of the key obstacles to establishing key processes for the effective management of national park-people conflict identified by Hough (1988) is the large difference in power between government-backed parks and local people in rural areas. Central government has the weight of the legal and enforcement mechanisms of the nation state. The key infraction during the creation of the park was the compulsory acquisition of land without due compensation being paid to the evicted communities. The state has also being accused of using its power to expand the park several times without the consent of the local communities (Bosu, 2010). The local communities however are relatively powerless, the villagers try to get something back by poaching park animals or by collecting inside the park and thereby restore some degree of balance in the village-park relationship. According to Hough (1988) this difference in power is the root cause of the conflict in that the desires of central government were initially forced on the relatively powerless resident populations. Social The conflict is manifested through three major social conflict bases; issues of illegal hunting, crop damage and land access into Mole NP (Marseille, 2004). Source: Marseille, 2004 Illegal hunting Illegal hunting can be defined as the unauthorised harvesting of any wildlife species for either subsistence or commercial purposes (FC, 1994). Regulation 2 of the wildlife reserves regulations of 1971 (L.I. 710) prohibit any person at any time to hunt, capture or destroy any animal or collect or destroy any plant within the reserve (FC, 2010). Group hunting, a group of two or more individuals hunting together, is with or without a license prohibited. Nearly all hunters surrounding the park however do not carry valid licenses and hunt mainly inside the park (Marseille, 2010).Once hunters and patrolling scouts clash with each other conflict is initiated, this practically means that causing arrest is similar to causing conflict Crop damage Crop damage occurs when animals cross the boundaries and move into the farm fields to feed on the cultivated crops like maize, millet, cassava, yam, guinea corn and ground nuts. The most troublesome animals are elephants, baboons, green monkeys and red monkeys. The WD is seriously concerned about crop damage and problem animals but does not have financial resources available to grant compensation for lost crops (Wildlife Division, 2001). The current legislation does not provide sufficient incentive for farmers to care and protect wildlife on their properties. The result is that wildlife for most farmers is considered a pest that in many cases is directly competing with their agricultural activities (Wildlife Division, 2001). The farmers feel the WD should take responsibility of their animals to reduce the amount of damage. The WD has the opinion that the farmers are exaggerating the actual amount and frequency of damage, farmers are using crop damage only to create resentment (Wildlife Division, 2001). Resource access The wildlife reserves regulations of 1971 (L.I. 710) states that no person at any time can enter a reserve except with the consent of the Senior Wildlife Officer. It is thus illegal to enter Mole NP without official permission. The denial of land access is the third identified social conflict base, meaning that the villagers are not allowed to enter the reserves, also for purposes other than hunting such as fetching water, collecting fire wood and NTFPs as well as visiting sacred groves (Marseille, 2004). The sacred stream case for example is a conflict relating to the issue of land access. Villagers are not permitted access to the stream creating disagreement which is primarily values and interest-based. The villagers value the stream based on its traditional and spiritual importance whereas the WD values the stream for its biological and ecological features. The villagers also have a different interest in the stream, they would like to use the stream for both swimming and fishing purposes as well as the fetching of water. The interest of the WD in the stream is linked to conservation purposes (Marseille, 2004). Also, more indirectly the conflict is history-based, culture-based due to the way the park was created and the influence of government institutions. The situational circumstances that surround the initial conflict setting determine the actual conflict base. The identified conflict bases are the surfacing fundamentals of the wildlife conservation conflict in general, however, these conflict bases have by no means static characteristics. As the conflict evolves the initial conflict base might develop into another conflict base. Conflict bases are also interrelated with each other. Ghana ´s Wildlife laws Ghana ´s wildlife policy states that although the Government cannot be liable for damage caused by wildlife, it will take reasonable measures to protect people, crops and property against wild animal damage. The 11th and 12th item of the Policy states that the conservation of wildlife within Parks and Reserves will over-ride all other interests in them (FC, 2010). No use of Parks and Reserves that will conflict materially with wildlife conservation will be allowed. It presents specific principles on rights of local access to basic natural resources, local democracy, participatory management and protection of forest and wildlife resources (Kotey et al, 1999). The policy entrenches a biocentric approach to wildlife conservation which is reflected in exclusive management and thus denies human access to resources because degradation of biodiversity has been verified (Caspary, 1999) Stakeholder analysis The stakeholders, generally referring to all the people who affect and/or are affected in the conflict situation, are hereby classified into these three broad groups namely; government, local community and third party. By analyzing using the conflict onion, the positions, interests, needs and fears/hopes of these stakeholder groups were identified and presented in the table 1 below. Table 1: Stakeholder classification using the conflict onion Elements of conflict Stakeholder Government Local Community Third party Position In favour of the national park Against the national park In favour of the national park Interest Biodiversity conservation Exertion of authority Access to resource Protection of heritage Resource conservation Social justice need Income (tourism) International convention Subsistence Employment Cultural values Sustainable resource management Political success Fear/hope Biodiversity loss Loss of land and cultural heritage funding The government being in favour of the creation and maintenance of the national park could be considered as the proponent in contrast with the local community as opponents in this conflict situation. The third party could be regarded as social based group which is also in favour of the national park in terms of position in the conflict. There are varying interests from the stakeholder groups with only resource conservation overlapping between the government and the third party as opposed to resource access by community. However, while the governments interest is to show that it holds the final authority over all forest and natural resources, the local community is also interested in preserving the heritage their ancestors had handed over to them from generation to generation and the third party is also interested in social justice for the local community. Power structure of stakeholders The government represents all agencies in favour of the national park comprising the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources (MLNR), Forestry Commission (FC), Wildlife Division (WD). These are state agencies are mandated by law to manage the forest and wildlife resources for the common good of all Ghanaians. With the decentralized system of governance, the Ministry of Local Government (MLG) and the District Assembly (DA) form an allied group that supports the government in its decision. Though the MLG and the DA have the mandate to see to the sustainable development of the district, with respect to forest and wildlife resources the MLNR and the FC wield more power in this conflict situation. Hence, the DA is seen to be indifferent in this situation. The local community comprises farmers, hunters, youth group, women group and community-based organizations. These are mostly individuals and informal community associations which are easily alienated from any formal decision making processes. The third party in this conflict case is the Netherlands Development Cooperation (SNV) and other local and international non-governmental organizations such as Plan Ghana. These are considered to be social based group which operate as watch dog to ensure social justice. They serve as intermediary between the government and the local community. The power relation is depicted in the figure 1 below. Figure 3: Relationship between key stakeholders in the conflict Conflict Theory The power relation between the stakeholders is asymmetrical and could be analysed with the social conflict theory. This theory argues that in any conflict situation where power is unevenly distributed, the stakeholder group with more power exploits those with less power (Bartos and Wehr, 2002). This is the case where the government by executive instrument forcefully evicted the inhabitants during the creation of the national park without adequate compensation and resettlement plan. Type of conflict The conflict is basically over the forest and wildlife resource. The land and the wildlife resources served as the source of livelihood to the local community. The denial of access and use right to the park signifies the removal of the local communitys source of livelihood and threat to their lives. The use of arms to guard the borders of the park and ward off entry by local community members has resulted in the conflict taking on a relational dimension. Hatred and unfriendly relation between local community and staff of the park is a key factor in the conflict. Moreover, the conflict encompasses different form and nature of incompatibility. These interconnected elements culminate in the complexity of the conflict. The different bases of incompatibility (Wehr, 1979 in Walker and Daniels, 1997)), see table 2, are all to a varying degree included within the different conflict bases. Table 2: examples of incompatibility in the conflict Nature of incompatibility: Example: Fact-based The actual amount of crop damage reported by farmers Value-based The elephant :a farm pest or a valuable species Interest-based The presence of fertile arable land within the park Person-based Suspicion and mistrust among villagers about the wildlife staff History-based The way the park was created; exclusive management Culture-based Traditional linkages with sacred places within the park It could be seen that this case of a resource conflict is multifaceted and all these elements presented in table 2 above must be addressed and an acceptable agreement achieved through a participatory decision making process. The conflict phases Using the conflict escalation model, the conflict has been a long standing one with multiple phases. The resource area was first created as a wildlife reserve in 1958 and later re-designated at a national park in 1971 (FC, 2010). The period between 1958 and 1971 could be considered as the pre-conflict phase because during this period the local community started to sense the threats to its very existence. Though during this period the local community members could have access into the reserve and some communities were actually sited in the reserve, they were not allowed to engage in any commercial activity from the resources they have customary rights over (Marseille, 2010). However in 1971 when the reserve was re-designated as a national park, all the local communities within the area were forcefully evicted by the use of state security apparatus and that led to the first eruption of conflict (Marseille, 2004 ). Prior notices had been given to the local communities to evacuate from the area where they lived to outside the borders of the national park without any resettlement plan by the government for the local communities. Hence, the community readied itself to engage in open confrontation and the government knowing this also deployed the military to maintain order. The violence continued because the local communities were not ready to give up the historical heritage but with the heavy presence of military forces the violence finally calmed down (Marseille, 2004). After the eruption of the first conflict, no efforts were made to address the concerns of the local communities but between 1971 and 1992 the conflict became latent largely due to the military political regime. However, from 1992 when Ghana became a multi-party democratic state the local communities started to mobilize themselves for an action to attract attention to their plight. In 2004, an invasion of local community farmlands by wild animals, particularly elephants, triggered a massive community protest with attack on the national park through killing of animals and bushfires (Marseille, 2004). This represents the second eruption of conflict and being a democratic society, a peaceful solution was sought to resolve the conflict this time. This brought in the third party group in 2005 to address the conflict situation. Hence, the conflict is in its second post-conflict phase till date. The figure 2 below gives a representation of the stages of the conflict. Fig.4: Phases of the conflict between Larabanga and Mole NP Previous conflict resolution approaches The first formal process of conflict resolution started in 2005 with the coming in of the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) as a third party to bring the opposing sides together to find a peaceful agreement between them. Two alternative dispute resolution (ADR) approaches were employed; namely facilitation and mediation. The facilitation process sought to deal with the strong emotions and to prepare the two sides to engage in a formal process of dialogue towards finding a common solution to the conflict. This was followed by a mediation process where the opposing sides presented their cases to the neutral mediator. In the end, the mediation process saw to the shifting of the position of the local community from opposing the existence of the national park to a new position of acceptance for the common good of the whole country (Marseille, 2004). Consequently, a agreement was successfully negotiated with the local community demanding adequate compensation, proper resettlement plan and participation in the management of the national park. (Mason and Danso, 1995) Challenges of the conflict resolution process It is indisputable that the facilitation and mediation processes employed by SNV were successful in dealing with the strong emotions and bringing these opposing sides to sit down to dialogue. Also, a peaceful agreement was reached with some level of satisfaction by both sides at the end of the negotiation (Marseille, 2004). However, the implementation of the outcomes and the action plan of the mediation process were faced with some challenges that were overlooked during the negotiation process. Stakeholder representation: from the stakeholder analysis above it could be realized that not all stakeholders were represented at the negotiation process. Typically, only the leaders of the community and the park managers were brought at the table. Hence the issue of legitimization became a limiting factor to the implementation of the outcome of the process. The park managers do not have the constitutional mandate to pay compensation and to meet the other demands of the local community. It is not clear the strategic behaviour of the MLNR, which have the ultimate authority to implement the outcomes, to stay out of the negotiation process. The legitimacy of the outcome was questioned since the creation of the national park was by executive instrument and the conflict transcends the domain of the local community and the park management team to the bigger domain of national politics. Non-binding agreement: the non-binding agreement was not appropriate for the conflict resolution process since the outcome required more of a legislative or executive instrument to implement. Again, because the agreement is non-binding, with every change of government the new administration tends not to continue with any programme of the previous government if it is not legally binding. It must be emphasized that when a new government comes to power, certain positions in the state organizations, mostly the Ministers, Chief Executives and directors, are replaced by new ones for political reasons. A new view of the problem A theoretical approach to the conflict Conflict may involve various kinds of issues: substantive, procedural and relationship. Substantive issues refers to interests that relate to tangible (observable, definable, measurable) products such as availability of firewood, protection of crop-raiding animals or stopping illegal hunting activities (Walker and Daniels, 1997). Procedural issues include a groups need to be included in decision-making, to have their opinions heard and to be respected as a social entity (Borrini-Feyerabend et al, 2000). Conflict management involves making progress on these three fundamental dimensions of a conflict situation. Any conflict situation includes substantive, procedural and relationship dimensions (the type of conflict) and a conflict situation is initially addressed through any of the three dimensions. Natural resource policy conflicts are complex; they arise within some context which typically is defined by a complex array of factors, such as numerous parties, multiple issues, deeply held values, cultural differences, scientific and technical uncertainty and legal and jurisdictional constraints (Walker and Daniels, 1997). It has been contended that natural resource conflicts are inevitable and unavoidable but also desirable to the extent that it can lead to negotiated, innovative agreements among stakeholders (Daniels and Walker, 1997). While conflicts over resource use are never favourable, when they do occur they can be used to demonstrate the need for a conflict management approach. According to Walker and Daniels (1997) well-managed natural resource conflicts can lead to better decisions, improve social cohesion, stimulate innovation and increase morale. Complex conflict situations may never be resolved, so that an agreement is reached that puts an end to those incompatibilities that caused the conflict. Whatever the conflict situation and how it is characterized, co