Friday, July 26, 2019
Consider the extent to which burden of proofs conflict with the Essay
Consider the extent to which burden of proofs conflict with the presumption of innocence in English Law - Essay Example In English Law, the judges use legal precedent and their common sense to formulate the laws. In England, it is possible to amend or revoke the English common law by the Parliament. A few of the oldest English laws which still exist today include the Distress Act of 1267 and a few sections of the Magna Carta of 1215. W. M. Geldart( p.7, 1918) states We commonly speak both of law and lawsââ¬âthe English Law, or the Laws of England ; and these terms, though not used with precision, point to two different aspects under which legal science may be approached. The laws of a country are thought of as separate, distinct, individual rules; the law of a country, however much we may analyze it into separate rules, is something more than the mere sum of such rules. It is rather a whole, a system which orders our conduct ; in which the separate rules have their place and their relation to each other and to the whole ; which is never completely exhausted by any analysis, however far the analysi s may be pushed, and however much the analysis may be necessary to our understanding of the whole. The Presumption of Innocence and the Burden of Proof are two very important laws which belong to the English Law. The Presumption of Innocence is the right that an accused gets in most modern countries of the world. Hence, until the persecution can gather further evidence to prove that the accused is guilty, the accused will be deemed as innocent. The prosecution on the other hand has a job which directly conflicts with the ââ¬ËPresumption of innocenceââ¬â¢. Their job is to obtain the ââ¬ËThe Burden of Proofââ¬â¢. So the proof that the prosecution needs to gather has to be convincing enough. This would make the jury pronounce that the accused is guilty without any doubt. But if there are certain doubts, the accused will be acquitted. The Presumption of Innocence is very similar to the Latin principle ââ¬ËEi incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negatââ¬â¢, hence many consider it to be based on this
Thursday, July 25, 2019
September 11 as A Turning Point In International Law Essay
September 11 as A Turning Point In International Law - Essay Example 2, para 4. cited in Schmitt 521) "as the events of 9/11 tragically demonstrated, domestic or international law enforcement may prove an insufficient tool in effectively defending against non-State actors, such as terrorists" (Schmitt 539). "the attack directly against the Taliban on October 7, 2001 challenged then-existing legal understandings of the quality and quantity of support necessary to attribute an armed attack by a non-State actor to its State sponsor" Schmitt (547). The United States approached the UN Security Council to determine the extent of military and non-military reaction to the September 11 attacks. The UN, in response, issued two new resolutions in the same month viz. Resolution 1368 and Resolution 1373. The latter explicitly declared those terrorist attacks as detrimental to international peace and security (McWhinney 280). "the administration blurs the distinction between "rouge states" and terrorists, essentially erasing the difference between terrorists and those states in which they reside. But these distinctions do indeed make a difference" (Crawford 31) Crawford (31) delineates four indispensable conditions in order for a pre-emptive action to be justified under international law. These conditions implicate that any country should not undertake such motives to advance their "imperial interests", they should be certain and be able to demonstrate potent evidence about the imminence of threat, pre-emptive strategies should be undertaken with sheer certainty that it would successfully reduce the threat and finally any intended military action against the threatening forces should be inevitable for a country to protect itself. Also, it is very important not to identify any state or organisation as imminent threat on the mere ground that it possesses the capability to harm another country. "a conception of self that justifies legitimate pre-emption in self-defence must be narrowly confined to immediate risks to life and health within borders or to life and health of citizens aboard" (Crawford 32) "not preemption, but paranoid aggression" (Crawford 32) "a preemptive-preventive doctrine moves us closer to a state of nature than to a state of international law" (Crawford 34) "When responding to a situation involves the use of force, it can
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
War and Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
War and Terrorism - Essay Example These are some of the factors that the US could have put into consideration before making the decision to get into war with these two countries. The decision to get into war in Afghanistan and Iraq was a reactionary move rather than one that was based on a plan. As a result, United States committed many mistakes which gave the enemies an upper hand in the fight. This explains the reason why there were very many casualties among the US soldiers, an aspect that was not anticipated when the decision was being made. After the September 11 attack, the US was under intense pressure to apprehend the people behind the attack (Boss, 2010). However, the planners never took into consideration the experience of the local fighters in the hostile terrain. Instead, they based their decision on the military power. Furthermore, the US used force rather than intelligence. This made it hard for the US to win the war in both countries. According to Just War Theory, taking human life is wrong and states have a duty to defend their citizens and justice. However, going to war against Iraq and Afghanistan was not the right thing because it led to a war of religions (Boss, 2010). It led to massive killing of innocent people especially women and children, an aspect that increased hatred between people emanating from different religious backgrounds. Initially, people used to exist freely without taking into consideration the religion affiliation of others. However, since the insurgence, the Muslims have taken it upon themselves to protect their religion. Although the war against the two countries was not meant to divide Christians and Muslims, the terrorist groups have been able to win the hearts of some of their fellow Muslim brothers and sisters. As a result, they have been able to use the religion issue to attract more followers and fighters to these groups. Therefore, poor planning by the US escalated the war, an asp ect that explains why the
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Exam questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Exam questions - Essay Example Furthermore, the chapter reviews the success of fixed capital requirements in terms of maintaining the relations between desired capital and risk taking. It also analyzes ways through which banks reduce effectiveness by taking to riskier assets. Capital requirements are also referred to as capital adequacy or regulatory capital. This is the amount of capital that commercial banks hold due to the requirements of the financial regulator. These requirements are necessary for the financial industry; to ensure that commercial banks do not accumulate excess leverage which leads to insolvency. Commercial banks have some behavioral preference when allocating loans to individuals. However, the capital constraints can make the banks to review the behavioral preference. This means that the financial regulator could utilize the strong constraints in capital adequacy to; review the fluctuations of the Micro economy and direct the economy to the required direction through the financial intermediaries like banks (Altunbas)1. Based on the approval of the Basel II model, this discourse defines the research question in the following way: Are rigid pressures exerted by minimum capital requirements efficient in minimizing the risk-taking behavior of banks? The framework of the Basel II structure in the subprime crisis forms the basis within which professionals question the proposals. This area covers the inadequacy of the level of capital requirements. The focus on examining the efficiency of regulatory capital requirements during the implementation of the proposals in Basel I model report executed from 2002 is part of the entire discourse. However, the discourse does not aim at testing the Basel I framework. Instead, it assess the efficiency of the regulatory pressure in relation to the degree of capital cushion in cutting down on the risk-taking behavior of financial institutions in the
Monday, July 22, 2019
Book Review on Urban Poverty Essay Example for Free
Book Review on Urban Poverty Essay Urban poverty is the outcome of urban-bias development projects being predominantly financed by the external capital, either in the form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) or Aid. The urban-bias industrialization strategy performed as a pull factor for the rural unemployed. This strategy contributed to the expanding of urban informal sectors where unskilled as well as highly unorganized day labours remain concentrated in the urban and semi-urban areas. It is also debated that the redistribution of capital investment towards the rural based agricultural activities including plantation sectors through the coordinated efforts of both public and private sectors such as civil and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can go a long way to break the growing negative effects of over urbanization on poverty, moral and social crimes as consequent of unequal economic growth. The author, Pramanik discusses urban poverty in Malaysia cases. He begins with the overview of the poverty scenario followed by research methods and research findings along with summarization policy suggestions. This book contented five chapters including appendices, references and index. In the introductory chapter (pp. 1-5), Pramanik says poverty is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that is hard to come up with a universally acceptable definition of poverty. Most commonly argued issue on poverty is whether poverty should be looked at from absolute or relative perspective. Absolute poverty based on specific income level called poverty line income (PLI) that can be calculated either using the market value of a basket full of goods and services considered essential for reasonably acceptable standard of living. On the contrary, relative poverty arises when we talk about how good or bad one member is doing in relation to another member living in the same society. According to Oââ¬â¢Boyle, poverty is a concept that is both absolute and relative because human beings are at the same time individual and social (Oââ¬â¢Boyle E.à J, 1990). In chapter two (pp. 7-20), Pramanik talks about poverty scenario in Malaysia. He argues that the income poverty using official poverty line income seems near to the absolute poverty whereas the human poverty based on the degree of human deprivation resembles relative poverty, which is ensuing of unequal access to income earning opportunity. Because of this, the author focuses more on human aspect of poverty in terms of its long term implications of social factors. Micro level study (Pramanik, 2004) do suggest that family size either in urban or rural areas of the four concentrated states namely, Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perak is quite above the family size used for the national level. Pramanik (1997 2000) examined that rural poverty in the four poverty-concentrated states on multi dimensional aspects of the problem such as, social, economic, demographic, psychological, political, moral, historical, attitudinal, and natural factors. In chapter three (pp. 5-20), the author discusses regarding research methodology. The study is based on the primary data as well as secondary information. The primary data collected through the administration of well-structured questionnaire in the middle of 2006. The sampling technique used is purposive as well as random and based on participatory observation method. Around 3112 households from 8 major cities living in poverty concentrated areas classified by squatters, low-cost buildings, longhouses etc. were selected for data collection. He defined ââ¬Å"householdâ⬠as an entity of those living under the same roof as well as eating from the same kitchen. In chapter four (pp. 21-97), he talks about the research findings. The author uses purposive and collecting sampling technique to identify the level of poverty suffered by those living in the squatters and in the area/blocks/buildings designed for the lower income groups in the major cities of Malaysia. This is because those who are living in these areas suffer different degrees and types of poverty measured by the level of deprivations. The household having less than RM 398(less than half of the poverty line) is called hardcore poor, household earning equal to RM 398 but less than 663 is called overall poor and more than RM 663 is called non-poor. The best performing state in terms of lowest incidence of overall poverty (0. 9) with no hardcore poor followed by KL (2. 6) and JB (8. 1) inclusive of hardcore and overall poor. While less developed states- KB, KT, and AS, KB experiences the highest incidence of poverty hardcore poor and overall poor of 33. 7 followed by KT (23. 4) and AS (14). On the other hand, Sabah and Sarawak are worst performing states reported in 9MP and his survey data. The author suggests that as far as poverty reduction is concerned Sabah and Sarawak are still the worst among all other regions states in Malaysia in 2007. The poverty is gender bias is a universal when hardcore poverty is concerned. In terms of hardcore and overall poverty, the female ââ¬âheaded households are more likely to be poorer by 50 percent compared the male-headed households. The higher dependency of more members on a few incomes of earners in the households also creates a constraint on resources allocation by the poor households. Approximately 60 percent of poor householdââ¬â¢s more than two members depend on the income of one earner. The lower dependency has implication for the ability of the poor households to hold out poverty at times of economic recession or downturn since higher dependency manifest through the lower dependency ratio is positively related to higher unemployment. Pramanik found on the distribution of households based on the dependency ratio and cities seem to suggest that the relatively higher percentages of households (68. 8) from LDS are associated with higher dependency as emerged through the lower coefficients of DR (0. ) as opposed to a lower percentage of households from MDS (53. 3) experiencing lower dependency ratio. Human capital is considered as the most fundamental asset. The presence of economic opportunities created by the growth, an individual with one additional year of education acquires more ability to compete and derive benefits from the market. As for as the illiterac y, the author suggests that the percentage of households having no education in much higher for the three Least Developed States( LDS) as compare to the More Developed States (MDS). If the education level exceeding 6 years but less than 12 year are considered as a measure of better educational standard, the highest percentage of household members (72. 7) come from 3 MDS followed by the lowest (57) from the two LDS. The better quality of life achievable through higher level of education has convinced the younger generation regardless of race or geographical distribution of population to pursue education by all possible means. So that government spends money for education, skills and training. Dr. Muhammad Yunus claims that access to credit should be treated as a part of human rights. The access to credit empowers the poor households to make use of their survival skills thus unleashing their productive potentials. Every human being is imparted with some sorts of surviving skills by the Almighty ââ¬âthe creator. Dr. Yunus has proven that an access to small credit can significantly help the asset less poor to unleash their hidden potentials to earn more and combat poverty. The poor have nobody to talk to and no place to go. Sometimes, they have no work to do and no food to eat and finally none to depend on. They are always by-passed and looked down upon (Narayan, 2000). The poor are not even trusted because of lack of social status. Of the three races the Chinese seem to be more satisfied with their neighbors (69 percent as very helpful) followed by the Indians (46 percent) and Malays take a middle position (64 percent). The criteria of social capital there appear to be a positive relationship between the lower Mean Monthly Household Income (MMHY) of the Indians and the lower level of trustworthiness as a proxy for very helpful neighbors. The relationship between trustworthiness and success in trade seems quite obvious among the Chinese compared to the Malays and the Indians. There are lots of arguments regarding poverty. ââ¬Å"We are so rich, because they are so poorâ⬠(Landes, 1998). It means the existence of poor is essential for survival for rich. Yunus believes that the poverty is created by the system (Yunus with Jolis, 1998). The poor in any society are best known for their simplicity, altruism, moderation, complacency, peaceful coexistence, moral, conservative as well as traditional values. The presence of high morality and the future uncertainty, the poverty stricken parents never consider additional babies as a liability. For the poor, children are always considered as assets and blessing of God because they are the ones the poor parents can really depend on in their old age. Old ââ¬âage pension or insurance for all are hardly found in the developing world, traditional babies are always treated as insurance for the old age. The author found that in general, the respondents from low income urban households give higher priority to good values like the spirit of tolerance reflected through ability to respect other races or religion, ability to maintain oneââ¬â¢s own culture, ability to live like a good human being, having good moral standard. The findings clearly suggest that they show least preference for blindly imitating the life style of the better-off. So, the poor who are known for their simple and moderate life are not the victim of the demonstration effects. Concentration of power, lack of transparency and good governance among many others, interact to perpetual corruption in less developed countries (Pramanik, 2003 2007). In last chapter in his book (pp. 97-106), the author summarizes his findings and gives policy suggestions. Firstly, poverty is gender based. As far as poor, inclusive of hardcore and overall poor are concerned the female headed households far outweigh the male headed households. Secondly, there is an inverse relationship between family size and incidence of poverty. Thirdly, higher dependency measured by lower dependency ratio seems to be positively related to the incidence of poverty across the regions. Fourth, the access to human capital in terms of level of education emerges as one of the most important determinants of poverty. Fifth, the access to financial capital in the form of loan made seems to be a good determinant of household income regardless of regional or racial consideration. Finally, based on the perception of the urban poor about development, Pramanik findings suggest that, the human capital such as easy access to education, social overhead capital encompassing good roads, good and owned house, water and electricity deserve the highest priority. The author gives some policy suggestions relevant to the policy-makers, planners and administrators. First, in line with three major strategies such as, enhancing the nationââ¬â¢s competitiveness, strengthening human capital development and ensuring the well-being of all Malaysians within the contexts of elaborate policy strategies under ninth Malaysian plan, that will be to help the primary and secondary level students from broken families, unemployed parents, low income households living in crammed and unhealthy housing conditions. Second, the plan to establish different growth corridors covering the less and the least developed states. Four, having the good record of NGOs in eradicating poverty and enhancing social-economic well-being of the target groups, the existing public level institutions may gradually encourage the NGOs/welfare organization/civil societies supported either publicly or privately to shoulder responsibility in overcoming poverty. Finally, efforts can be made to raise the status of Aim as a full-pledge bank for the poor as like Grameen bank of Bangladesh to deal with poverty eradication. In conclusion it can be said that the author, Pramanik expounded very well regarding the poverty of Malaysia. The urban poverty is indistinguishably linked to rural poverty. In fact, the former is caused by the latter. The Pull and Push factors can significantly explain the prevailing dismal conditions associated with urban poverty. Based on the details findings on the multi-dimensional aspects of urban poverty, it can be suggested that the development should be taken to the people and not the people to the development which is mostly confined to the urban areas.
My Journey through Essay Example for Free
My Journey through Essay Interviewing my sonââ¬â¢s preschool teacher, Ms. Contreras, was a wonderful experience. I learned so much about the field and I was able to connect understand her as not only an educator but as a person; as the type of person who does well in this career field. Ms. Contreras is a California state preschool teacher and has been for 20 years. She holds an AA and a BS in Early Childhood Development and loves her job very much, and has decided to stay at the preschool level until she retires. Like any educator, she believes that it is important for parents to be involved with their childrenââ¬â¢s education. She encourages parents to come and volunteer whenever they are able, and has monthly parent meeting so that the parents are up to date with what is going on in the class room. To Ms. Contreras, the most important thing about being an early childhood educator is that you are an advocate; and advocate for children and their education. That you have and need to understand that children are all different and unique and they all deserve to be in a preschool program no matter what their income or background. Her favorite thing about being a teacher is the innocence of the children at this age; she loves how pure the minds are of her students are. She wishes she can change the fact that preschool is only three hours long, but with state funding so low, that is all she is able to do, and less assessing. She feels that is keeps her from understanding her students and attending to what they need help in. Family is very important to Ms. Contreras so when she had her children, she knew that she needed a career that will work around her children, thus leading her to pick the field in education. She loved the idea of being a break as her children were on break, home when their home at school when theyââ¬â¢re at school is how she put it. While conducting the interview, I sensed a vibe that she truly loves what she does and care very much about her students. And as one of the parent volunteers in her class, I can see it when a student randomly give her hugs, or in their eyes as they walk in the door on a Monday morning from what seems like a long weekend without her. One thing that I learned about the professional field of early childhood education from this interview is that you really have to love and understand children to be in the profession. Patience is a big part of this job when you have 24 to 30 preschool all needing your undivided attention. I learned that you need to understand your individual students in order to help them succeed and do your job to the best you can. Having a job in this profession may be hard at times, especially when you have so many students but at the end of the day, if it is truly made for you, the job can be very rewarding. Technology is a big trend now, in not only in the early childhood education field, but in education period. There are many pros and cons about applying technology to the early childhood classroom. Technology today, consists of TV, computers, video games, and now smart phones and wireless tablets. ââ¬Å"Technologyââ¬â¢s long-term history includes everything from primitive hewn-rock weapons to wood pencils to drone aircraft and smart phones.â⬠(Estes, 2012) It is no secret that almost every house now has a computer and probably access to the internet, so many young children might be exposed to one or more of these even before preschool starts. The question is whether impacts the education of young children, and I believe that it does. Technology impacts the education of young children in many ways and I believe that technology should be applied to the early childhood classroom. In the preschool and kindergarten ages, technology needs to be developmentally appropriate. Once these technological activities are developmentally appropriate ââ¬Å" technology-supported activities can be justified by a constructivist philosophy because engagement, active learning, creativity, and social interaction are all part of what goes on in the classroomâ⬠(Estes, 2012) Activities such as using the computer and its accessories such as the keyboard and mouse can improve fine motor skills by pushing keys and moving the mouse around. ââ¬Å"These fine-motor movements also hone eye-hand coordination, and thatââ¬â¢ll pay off for years to come as your little one learns to catch a ball, use scissors, or put together a tricky puzzle.â⬠(Folds, 1999) This type of technology will be used in the future of each child and will be beneficial to the early childhood classroom, not only for the future but for their development. There are many concerns about the effects of technology for the little ones and to be honest I at one point I thought the same. In our text, many parents agree that it is insane to believe that a tablet app or an iPhone app can better teach a child to read or teach them math. (Estes, 2012) An when it come to video games, many believe that it isolates and can be one of the causes of another trend, childhood obesity. In my personal opinion, technology has come a long way and there will always be an opposing side. Video games, although may never be used in the classroom, do have some benefits to young children. Some video games can teach kids strategy and with video game consoles such as the new Nintendo Wii, force you to get up and move your body in order to play the game. By getting up and moving your body you are exercising. For different grade levels I think different teaching approaches are more appropriate. For the younger grades such as preschool and kindergarten I think the creative curriculum approach is more appropriate. This is the grade that I wish to teach. Having several interest areas or stations throughout the classroom will stimulate the minds of the students into wanting to learn, through play. This is the set up at my sonââ¬â¢s preschool and it does seem to work very well with this age group. His classroom is small but he has a block section, library, home living area, an area for puzzle solving, computer play, and tables where the students can make art and a table to play with clay and play dough and eat lunch and snacks. Children age four or younger lack the capacity to sit still for long periods of time so having many options for them to self learn is always great. Children at this age learn through play and I think that the creative curriculum approach is perfect for this age group. I do believe that preschool aged students will benefit from direct instruction, but a limited amount. Maybe a little lecture time before class to discuss small topics such as counting to ten, or practicing letters but all through song, or to lay out the schedule for the day. Songs tend to catch the attention on the younger kids, plus song is easier for kids to remember, especially those who learn more through music. There are many different beliefs about how to properly teach a young child. These beliefs go way back to before we were even a country. In my opinion, Children need hands-on experiences that are linked to more than one sense to learn. They need to feel, do, see, (Piagetââ¬â¢s sensorimotor stage) etc. They should be taught concepts in more than one way (multiple intelligences), and it should be fun. Children should not be made to participate in direct instruction lessons. They should have a choice on whether or not they want to participate and be rewarded for positive behavior. Learning should be play based and overall fun. Early childhood education starts before the young child enters the classroom, it starts from the time the child is born, and many believe that it starts even in the womb. It is then that a young child begins to learn and see the world. Jean Piaget believes and I agree that cognitive development occurs in stages. The first stage is known as the sensorimotor stage and is a blend between a childââ¬â¢s motor skills and improvements to the understanding of their senses. (Estes, 2012) This stage takes place from birth to about age two. The second stage of Piagetââ¬â¢s cognitive development is the preoperational stage. During this stage, usually 18 months to two years, children begin to use symbolic gestures or movements to link to words. (Estes, 2012) In the classroom, I will encourage my students to use their five senses and motor skills to learn about the world around them. In the early childhood classroom, play takes up a big part of the day. According to many early childhood philosophers and educators, children learn through play. Not only is play beneficial to the classroom but to the childââ¬â¢s overall health. Erick Erikson believed that play helped individuals cope with a traumatic or emotional past. In my classroom, there will be centers and they will all be play based. Different type of playing will take place at each center, by doing this I hope to encourage children to play freely and be themselves but also helping them as individuals. Because each child is different, I think that concepts should be taught in many different ways. According to Howard Gardiner, there are seven different intelligences; linguistic, logical-mathematic, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. One childââ¬â¢s strength will be in logical-mathematical, for example, and another childââ¬â¢s strength in musical. As an early childhood educator I will teach concepts in many different ways to ensure my students are grasping the information provided and having fun with it. Lastly, I think that children need to be rewarded and praised often. I feel like it encourages them to continue to do well. American psychologist, B.F. Skinner, called this operant conditioning. The idea behind this theory is basically that if one changes their behavior they are indeed learning. (Estes, 2012)The theory is simple, if you are doing something good, you will be rewarded. For example, in my classroom I will do this by rewarding with stickers or treats after lunch time. I see myself in the near future substituting at my sonââ¬â¢s school district. Although I cannot teach yet I will be able to sub once I finish a couple more core classes. After I do obtain my degree in Early Childhood Education, I plan on becoming a preschool teacher. I have wanted a job working with kids for as long as I can remember and being a mom I feel like being a teacher will work great around my family life, as I am able to be available to my son as much as possible. I currently live in California, where school funding is low and has been low for a while especially for education. Because of this I think that I will need to start off my career working in or for another preschool program for better financial stability. It has been a dream for me to also become a special education teacher, so I am hoping to go back to school once I have been a preschool teacher for a couple of years and start my journey toward that field. I hear that early childhood special education is a wonderful and rewarding field as well. I think at the end of the day, I want to do something that I love and something that I am confident in. Something that I will be happy to wake up to and look forward to every day and working with kids is just that. References Estes, L. K. (2012). Pathways to teaching young children: An introduction to early childhood education. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Folds, D. V. (1999, Feb 22). Technology for Toddlers. PR Newswire , 1.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Bolman And Deals Four Framework Approach
Bolman And Deals Four Framework Approach Leadership was once about hard skills such as planning, finance and business analysis. When command and control ruled the corporate world, the leaders were heroic rationalists who moved people around like pawns and fought like stags. When they spoke, the company employees jumped. The entire career system in some organizations is based on using hard functional skills to progress. But when executives reach the top of the organization, many different skills are required. Corporate leaders may find that although they can do the financial analysis and the strategic planning, they are poor at communicating ideas to employees or colleagues, or have little insight into how to motivate people. The modern CEO requires an array of skills. Some suggest that people expect too much of leaders. Indeed, renaissance men and women are rare. Leadership in a modern organization is highly complex and it is increasingly difficult. It is sometimes impossible for finding all the necessary traits in a single person. Among the most crucial skills is the ability to capture audiences. Richard Branson, the funder of Virgin Group and Virgin Atlantic Airline could be one of best leader in the industry. Biography According to Virgin group website, Richard Branson was born in July 18, 1950 in Surrey, England. He is the son of a lawyer and an airline stewardess. He was educated at the exclusive Stowe School, but did not excel, possibly due to his nearsightedness and dyslexia. In his teens he developed a national magazine, Student at the Age of Sixteen. At seventeen he began a student advisory service. After leaving school, Branson entered the music industry. Considering that he could sell records cheaper than the existing average, he started a mail-order catalogue with friends. It was a success, and they opened a record discount shop. They named the business Virgin, because it was their first venture. Virgin Airlines is one of Bransons main businesses. Formed in 1984, it is part owned by Singapore Airlines, and it is the second largest British long haul international airline, and has won many awards. During the 1990s the fleet and the air route network expanded and a Premium Economy service was introduced. In 2003 Virgin Atlantic launched the innovative Upper Class Suite with a flat bed and seat, and in 2006 the Virgin Clubhouse opened at Heathrow with a spa, brasserie, cocktail bar, hair salon and games room. Branson is also well known for his personal adventures by Virgin Atlantic Flyer. In 2010, and less than 40 years after the original conception of the Branson Virgin businesses, Branson boasted over 200 Virgin Megastores worldwide. All told, Branson employed 24,000 employees in 150 companies, with revenues totaling an estimated five billion dollars each year from the entire Virgin Group including the music stores and airline. The Virgin empire was is the largest privately owned business in England (Virgin Atlantic Airways, 2010). Bolman and Deals Four Framework Approach to Richard Branson Leadership models can also help us to understand a leaders organizational influence. Bolman and Deal, in Four Framework Approach, suggest that leaders display behaviors in one of four frameworks: Structural, Human Resource, Political, or Symbolic. Each requires a specific organizational setting to be successful. The Structural Framework From the rational perspective, organizations are instruments designed to achieve specified goals. Organizations are purposeful in the sense that the activities and interactions of participants are centrally coordinated to achieve common objectives; behaviors in organizations are rational in the sense that roles and role relations are prescribed independently of the personal attributes of the individuals in the structure (Richard, 1992). In the rational domain, organizations are driven by strategies, and the role of management is to align strategies and structure with the external environment. Strategy development includes two kinds of approaches mainly. The first one is prescriptive approach which is the firm defined the objective and/or the main elements before brainstorm the strategy; vice versa, another one is have no clear objective and/or elements, all the strategy will be developing during the process, which call emergent approach. Finally, what people and task performed base on above approaches that will generate the strategic change by formal or informal organizational structure from the managers, because of environment, business relationship, technology, people, life cycle, political power, etc (Tichy, 1983). The importance of strategic change is that may occur considerable disruption, but this practice is also useful to analysis the specific causes for planning the best direction on Bransons management change. Bransons Corporate Level Strategy Diversification: The core business of Virgin Group is travel, but since early 1990, it has begun to involve in many other different businesses, such businesses are no directly or substantial relationships between each other. Such businesses include mass media, entertainment, beverage, finance, weight industries and more, all these small business units (SBUs) enriched the Virgins portfolio. Brand Extension: Branson built its red brand to represent value for money, quality, fun, innovation, success and trust. This idea is developed and applied on its whole range of businesses. Joint-Venture: In the flight service, each airline have to get the permission for access paths by during with local governments, this process is very complicated and consume a lot of resources in terms of human, money and time. Joint-venture is the method that can be easy to get this permission, also could be easy to meet the economic of scale to reduce cost, and share or lower the risk. Bransons SBUs Level Strategy Differentiation: Branson provides the offer which other firms no. The very common example is, Virgin Atlantics souvenirs are always different and united. Another one example is Virgin Atlantic keeps its safety record is zero accident, to increase the confidence to its passengers, or customers though its air ticket is expensive then others in generally. The Human Resource Framework Although people are intentionally rational, not all human behavior is the result of rationality. People do not leave their emotions and feelings at home when they come to work in the morning, and noneconomic objectives are pursued alongside economic objectives (Powell, 1999). In the human domain, the central issue is how to integrate human needs with organizational rationality. Virgin Group considers peoples as the important assets, so it pays attention on peoples motivation, culture and even the individual desires to manage and maintain peoples work well and comfortable. Branson also thinks staff first, then customers and shareholders, therefore the chairperson, staff, customers and shareholders could be considered as the key stakeholders. Chairperson Shareholders: Branson is as a leader in Virgin which has used the corporate brand name across its entire product, the whole Virgin Group is influenced by him, and he is the greater single asset in the group (Ensor Drummond, 2001). Meanwhile, Branson is one of the shareholder of Virgin Group companies, so as same as other shareholder, his values will be added into the group and will be implemented in running the business. Bransons values are innocence, innovation, quality, fun and irreverence of authority, all of such values could be found in his choices of new ventures. Investor: The investors mainly focus on the profit and the return of investment (ROI). This issue makes the conflict between investor and customers, because customers want to have better services that will increase the cost and decrease the maximization level of the profit Staff: The skills, knowledge and suggestions of the staff are important to the company, Branson also understand this point so that he wants his best people will stay in his company for venturing (Grant, 2003). Example: Julie Bower, Virgin Atlantic Project Manager, response to source alternative customer relations management (CRM) software, then experienced partially customized system with Virgin Atlantics own data. Finally, Saratoga System has been chosen as the provider of CRM system (Thomson Corporation Company, 2005). This example shows the valuable staff will affect the strategic development. Customers: The best products or services are always seeking by customer, in order words, firms are required to provide best product or service for maintaining current customers and exploring new customers. Companies that survive profitably in a competitive environment must be providing value for money (Johnson et al, 2005). Therefore, customers also influence the strategies of the company. Our first time with Virgin Atlantic, and out last! Chaotic queue at LHR took three hours to reach check in desk. The cabin crews were arrogant and more interested in putting on more make up than serving passengers. Virgin relies on their reputation from the eighties, but they have lost it big time. Want to travel and enjoy the experience avoid Virgin at all costs (Skytrax, 2008). This example not only explains how customers influence the strategy development, also explains to provide the certain products to customer can reduce the probability of finical loss. The Political Framework From the political perspective, organizations are coalitions of diverse individuals and groups with enduring differences in values and preferences. They are governed not by a single center, as is assumed in the rational perspective, but by a dominant coalition of interest groups. As such, organizations often operate with unresolved conflicts in goals (March Shapiro, 1992). From the human domain perspective, malfunctions arise from structural misalignment or from personal deficiency; while from the political perspective, divergent interests and resource scarcity inevitably turn organizations political. Government: The core business of Virgin Group is transport service, and this business is highly regulated by the government. In the result, government policy is very import to the Branson and company as well, like policy on safety, route, franchise etc. These factors are about the change in government or government policy. The airline industry in UK has been privatized already, this action is initiated by UK Government. Branson got the opportunity to run the airline services from this political change to be a franchisee. Branson entered the markets or industries that have large, well established competitors, for instance, David is one of his favorite roles who against Goliaths, it is the example that the corporate against a big business. Now, the airline industry is run by two parts, Virgin Atlantic and British airways, provide flight and airline services respectively. Moreover, British Airways is the main competitor for Virgin Atlantic that leaded Virgin Atlantic always played the underdog role in competing with British Airways. Though Virgin Atlantic and British Airways had been role as underdog and bully respectively, in 1992, Virgin Atlantic had been success to claim one and half million dollars from British Airways (Aker, 2005 Grant, 2003). The Symbolic Framework Symbolism plays a critical role in human experience. In the rational domain, the point of life is choice. However, organizational life is only partly concerned with making decisions (March Shapiro 1992). Decision making is often an arena for symbolic actions. Many events and processes are more important for what is expressed than for what is produced (Bolman Deal, 2008). The leaders use symbols to capture attention; they try to frame experience by providing plausible interpretations of experiences; they discover and communicate a vision. Innovation: Branson understands the new matters could attack the new customers and maintain the current customers, but its competitors also understand this simple theory. Therefore Virgin Atlantic based on the existed offers with new concepts or packages as a new products or services to get the competitive advantage in the industry. These factors are about the application of new inventors or ideas. The technology in air applies to the development of safe airplane, or reliable engine. Virgin Atlantic is the pioneer in this area, Branson introduced the Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines to power its new Airbus fleet of 10 A330-300s has triggered a big switch from polution to green eco-friendly travel on the route. The Trent 700 is the first engine in the highly successful Trent family. The 72,000lb thrust engine has lower maintenance costs, lower weight and better performance retention. With the lowest lifecycle fuel burn, lowest cumulative emissions and lowest noise levels the Trent 700 has the lowest environmental impact of any engine on the A330 (TravelDailyNews, 2009). Branson reduces the time taken for long distance travel and efficiency in helping to customers. Except the improvement on speed, Branson also increased number of channels for passenger to buy tickets by web and machine. The software was designed to link customer details, flight information and limo service details together and provides Virgin Atlantic staff with accurate information and tools to efficiently and effectively manage the Upper Class Wing operation (Journalism UK, 2008). Virgin Atlantic has got the opportunity to operate the UK and World air service by the government policy. The inflection perhaps people will be willing to expand more on the travelling. The change of working place also affects the demand on all the modes of transport. The new channels have been developed through the web and new machine system. The market still has space to operate obviously, but the most important consideration of a transport services provider is safety. So the most strength of Branson and Virgin Atlantic has been improving its reputation especially in safety and on-time to get confidence of passengers. Comparison of Richard Bransons corporate strategy decision In the stage of setting up the strategies, Branson definitely understand the strategies of which are the ways in which strategy develops in organization. Bransons Virgin Atlantic Airline Strategic Development Command View and Culture View are highlighted by Virgin Atlantic The culture view is that it occurs as the outcome of the taken-for-granted assumptions and behaviors in organizations. (Johnson et al, 2005) Branson founded Virgin Atlantic in 1984; in fact, Virgin Atlantics success highly depends on the founders principles to provide the highest quality innovative service at excellent value for money for all classes of air travelers. This principle created and established the culture of Virgin Atlantic, because all Virgin companies also maintain an entrepreneurial culture based on Bransons principle. There are four strategic developments have been found out and will be further described in following: Strategy One: Differentiation Branson also has another philosophy in his principle which is to be a pioneer rather then a follower of the leader. In order to reach this point, Virgin Atlantic must offer highest quality innovative service for its air travelers. Its innovative actions include: 1986, the 1st airline provided sleeper seats in upper class 1990, the 1st airline brought in the automatic defibrillators, trained the staff to help in-flight cardiac arrest victims The 1st airline installed individual TVs to all classes of passenger on the wide-bodied aircraft 2005, won the RFID Breakthrough Integration Award since it is as a leader in RFID 2005 Virgin Atlantic applied RFID tag on the important parts that used in aircraft maintenance and repairs at Heathrow Airport warehouse, UK. The technological advancement is always the advantage taking for Virgin and the customers, said by Mark Butler, System Implementation Manager, Engineering Department, Virgin Atlantic (Tata Consultancy Services Limited, 2007). Strategy Two: Jointing Alliance Virgin Atlantic has jointed an alliance with many airlines until 2006 that providing better choice on where and when for its customers flights, the member of that alliance includes Singapore Airline, Bmi British Midland, Continental Airline, South African Airways, US Airways, Virgin Blue and Air China. All above airlines also signed Codeshare Agreement, so the connections between partners services become closer, customers could enjoy better service and value, such as checking customers and their luggage over to their final destination and synchronizing their schedules with Virgin Atlantics partners. Turn out the customers of Virgin Atlantic could enjoy the shortest possible connections between their services (Virgin Atlantic Airways, 2010). The crises of 11th September, 2001 that affected the worldwide economy, Virgin Atlantic also got heavy losses in financial aspect. The alliance strategy was significantly assisted the recovery, because it reduced the investment and the accompanying inflexibility and risk during the uncertainties of operating in other countries (Aaker, 2005). Strategy Three: Partnership In 1999, Singapore Airline acquired 49% Virgin Atlantic stake that can reinforce to provide the highest quality innovative service at excellent value for money for all classes of air travellers. Singapore Airline is a unique global partner, this is a perfect collaboration since both two airlines have an incomparable reputation for quality and innovation, and have own numerous awards from the travel industry. According to the terms of the dealing, both two airlines routes will not overlap each other and are uniquely complementary, also they keep independent managements, and the rights to develop their own products. This partnership action generated greater benefits to both companies passengers, such as fare, access to lounges world-wide and an increasingly seamless travel experience across their airlines network (Virgin Atlantic Airways, 2010). Japan Airline Strategic Development In terms of strategic management, the major contrast between Virgin Atlantic and Japan Airline is, Japan Airline is the one managed by traditional state-run or government hierarchy, so its companies strategy was established by country leader and the board, as same as or followed by the strategy of government, often the goal or the result is extremely unrealistic to the commercial. The gap occurs in between the top management board and the tactical managers which more strengthen the difficulties in implementation and lessen the competitiveness in international airline market. Moreover, Virgin Atlantic emphasizes on command view and culture view; in this session, Japan Airline emphasizes on planning view to develop its strategies. In the planning view, strategic planning is to use a formal planning system for the development and implementation of the strategies related to mission and objectives of the organization. (Lynch, 2000) Japan Airlines Background Japan Airline is a joint-venture company which was founded by one governmental company and two private companies, Japan Airline Company, Philippine Airlines and Northwest Airlines in 1951. Japanese Government bought the share from Northwest Airlines that leaded to Japan Airline totally transfer to Japanese Government. Nowadays, all decisions are made by the Board of Directors and their strategic development is mainly focused on strategic planning (Fundinguniverse, 2010). Japan Airlines Planning Procedure One of the Japan Airlines department, Corporate Planning Information Technology Services is established in Japan Airline for responsible to suggest strategies for Japan Airline. After the seminar in 1987, this department suggested five corporate strategies for planning strategies and implementation, one of the strategies is about operational. The Board of Directors and the management group suggest that it (the operational strategy) is now a matter of urgency that Japan Airline must speed up the development of the airlines state enterprise plan in compliance with the policy and guidelines., Minister Shintaro Ishihara, Tokyo Conference, Nov 6, 1987. Then, Minister Ishihara grouped Japan Airlines problems for Japan Airlines management group to take actions (Sanchanta Takahashi,2010). Although this company is now privatized, but used to be country-owned and running by Government long time, the country leaders provide comments and policies on commercial-based company. This manner had been intervened the flexibility of Japan Airline. In 2006, Japan Airlines Chairperson, Haruka Nishimatsu established three committees, Strategic Steering Committee, Project Management Committee and Task Force Committee to increase competitiveness and the value of shareholder (Sanchanta Takahashi,2010). Today, Japan Airline failed to be effectively competing with other airlines because of such time-consuming and not really flexible to implement in Japan Airlines planning. Conclusion Leaders establish goals, assumptions, policies, strategies, and accepted norms of behavior. They usually recruit and promote managers who conform to their own values and expectations. While a leaders influence is evident in all organizations, it will apply more to small, highly centralized firms, or young, owner run businesses, and can increase with tenure. In the addition, the most relevant contrasts between Virgin Atlantic and Japan Airline are: Virgin Atlantic emphasizes on culture and command view because of following the principle that provided by Branson that it is controlled by the company. Japan Airline emphasizes on planning view which is controlled by Government so almost every strategies development is produced follow the planning procedure to lead the company more systematic. In theory it should not only focus on single view, but these two companies are only focused one or two views, that led some limitations in Virgin Atlantic and Japan Airline. For Virgin Atlantic, it is highly depends on the principles of Branson, he almost becomes the only one and unique person that can decide the future of Virgin Atlantic, includes stay in the market or shut down the business. Another side, for Japan Airline, it involves more procedures for making decision that could be enhances and smoothen the running for a company. As mentioned, there is only Branson is the key person for Virgin Atlantic or the whole Virgin Group, for the future, Virgin Group is suggested to established a number of rules or methods to maintain and investigate the current saturation of its businesses or the new ventures. After that, Branson is the most key person that affects all the things in Virgin Group, then is the staff, last is the customers. Last but not least, whether success to run a business depends on the policy, economy, society and technology in the place where located or plan to locate the business. In the result, the leader should aware all Structural, Human Resource, Political, and Symbolic framework in mind for coping the political, social, economic and technology factors positively. So, the finial suggestion is Richard Branson have to establish a committee to share and continue his great work.
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