Money Is the Root of Evil Essay

Money is the root of evil It could be said that money is one of the greatest inventions of mankind, which affects and changes wide and deep whole human society. It occurred when people had demand to exchange merchandise. Together with the process of development of society, money changed from too simple to complex and sophisticated forms to meet people’s needs in settlement. In its dawn, money was very simple things such as shells, fur and salt etc. When metal was discovered; iron, bronze, silver and gold were used in turn as the role of money. And now, we can use coins, note, card, and check and letter of credit etc. to buy goods in supermarket, pay water, electricity bills or even to settle imports. Money – even of its forms – this is a general parity object, does the role as means in settlement of merchandise and services. Doing the role of intermediary instrument in settlement, money contributes to the development of human society quickly in two aspects: economy and culture. As we know, money made exchange of goods more quickly and conveniently than any direct exchange way; since then trading industry came out into society and developed. In cultural aspect, the most typical features of an ethnic group or a nation will be chosen to make signs on money so by regarding money; we can see the basic features of an ethnic group or a nation. Specially, in our global time, money can be moved very easily between almost nations, it makes cultural exchange more advantageous. How do people think about money? There is a truth that many people value money too high, they think money is all and believe that â€Å"money is a passport to anything†. So they can do anything, even immoral and illegal things in order to have money. Robbers are ready to kill others cruelly for some tens of thousands of dong. Traders are ready to cheat in commerce to appropriate more money. Officials, who have large power and influence on society, themselves trample on their honor, others’ interests, their nation’s future etc. to take dirty money. With those evil acts, they make people believe that money is a cause of evil. Although there are many bad acts related to money; I always think that money couldn’t be the root of evil, money is just a victim of some people’s greed. Some people, with cruel and greedy character, did anything to have money; but is it true that their purpose is only about money? No, I don’t think so. I believe that their last aim is about things money can bring to them. So the deep reason of evil in society is cruelty and greed. It means people must bear full responsibility for their evil and they can’t blame anyone or anything. Until now, money is just a means in settlement.

Related text to whose life is it anyway?

Related text to whose life Is it anyway? – Power and the Individual What Ideas of power are represented In â€Å"whose life Is It anyway† and the related tested material you have chosen and how does the related text link to the prescribe text? There are many Ideas and reasons why My Sisters keeper and whose life is It anyway have similar relations to the power and the individual.For one the battle of individual rights, Both Anna and Ken fight for their individual rights to their Body and life. Ken doesn't want to live anymore because he thinks there is no point as he can't do anything for himself and need nurse to help. Anna wants individual rights to her body because she doesn't want to be cut open and have needles stuck in her time after time if its not going to help her sister and her sister wants Anna to win her rights so she can die because she is in a lot of pain and can't take it anymore.Another reason is Power of Law Ken wishes to die and due to his medical stat us he is unable to make this happen, the power of law Influences his situation as he asks he doctors multiple times to kill but due to the law they are unable to do this. Anna's situation Is Influenced by the power of law as she Is a child & her parents are her legal guardians therefore giving them the power to make her decisions for her.She Is mature enough to make her own decisions but she is too young, she seeks to be medically released so she is able to have the choice. The power of physical strength is also another reason; Ken has no power of physical strength because he is a quadriplegic. Anna, as a child has less physical strength than her parents, therefore their power is stronger.

True Freedom; Peace of Mind

True Freedom: Peace of Mind In A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Frederick Douglass sees true freedom as more than being a free man. Just because you are not owned by someone does not mean you are free; just because you are owned by someone does not mean you are enslaved. Douglass states, â€Å"I endured all the evils of a slave, and suffered all the care and anxiety of a freeman. I found it a hard bargain. But, hard as it was, I thought it better than the old mode of getting along. It was a step towards freedom to be allowed to bear the responsibilities of a freeman, and I was determined to hold upon it† (221).Douglass is referencing the time in his life that he was working for Master Hugh shortly before his escape into a free state. To Douglass slavery was not being owned by someone; freedom was not being able to work for your own wages; nor was freedom given to you by your master. Freedom is crafted by ones own willpower and inner self. Thoug h Douglass is still a slave he is able to make his own living by hiring himself to Master Hugh. Even though he is still enslaved to Hugh Douglass has his own freedoms in the form of being able to do the work as he pleases as long as he makes enough to pay his master every week.He is on the line of being free and being a slave at the same time. Douglass exemplifies his freedom of working on his own accord by saying, â€Å"I was ready to work at night as well as day, and by the most untiring perseverance and industry, I made enough to meet my expenses, and lay up a little money every week† (221). This is not the true freedom that Douglass wishes but it is a degree of freedom that must not be overlooked easily. The little freedom he is allocated allows him to make enough money to escape from his enslavement. Generating ones own profit and working to live has its own freedoms, but it is not truly being free.Douglass claims, â€Å"Rain or shine, work or no work, at the end of eac h week the money must be forthcoming, or I must give up my privilege† (221). He is expressing the fact that at any point in time the few freedoms that he has can be ripped from him like a lion stealing meat from the bones of its prey. He may not fight back against his master, he can only sit there, letting everything he worked so hard to achieve be taken from him as he watches it disappear. If at any point in time your freedoms can be stripped of you, then you are not truly free at all. To be truly free one must allow themselves to desire that freedom at any cost.Douglass is able to endure the hardships of this labor because it provides a means, in the form of currency, to escape. His wish to be free is not as much a desire for physical freedom as it is a desire of inner peace of mind. Douglass comes to this realization after he has escaped and is at an anti-slavery meeting. He says, â€Å"The truth was, I felt myself a slave, and the idea of speaking to white people weighed me down. I spoke but a few moments, when I felt a degree of freedom, and said what I desired with considerable ease† (235). It is not until the moment he allows the freedom the seep into his soul that he truly becomes a free man.He is able to open up his mind and express his views and experience only after his desires to be free are accepted by himself and he truly sees the meaning of being free. Slavery and freedom are more alike than one would presume. As in this day and age, a family living in the ghetto is similar to a family securing only enough money to pay for their housing; both are living similar lifestyles of poverty and without any luxury. The difference is that one family is working on their own to earn and provide that housing while the other is just being given it.Slavery, in itself, is being dependent on a higher power to provide for you while you do what they tell you to do. Freedom is the ability to earn what you receive and having the peace of mind that you d eserved it. Douglass worked hard to earn his freedom and supply for his own family on his own accord. To Douglass slavery was not being owned by someone; freedom was not being able to work for your own wages; nor was freedom given to you by your master. True freedom is what Douglass earned through his trials and deserved as a man who achieved his goals and finally has achieved freedom and peace in his own mind.

Essay Planning for Organizational culture is fundamentally about

Planning for Organizational culture is fundamentally about symbolic meaning and as such cannot be managed. Discuss. - Essay Example ance of organizational culture for a variety of organizational sizes and the natures of business they are involved in, identification of the various macro- and micro-cultural factors that affect an organization, and what qualifies as effective management of the organizational culture. I selected only the theories that provided a detailed and holistic perspective of organizational culture and were include manageable factors. I ensured the quality of my sources by using peer-reviewed sources that included but were not limited to books and journal articles. I used articles from good impact factor journals. I also used the sources only that were published in the last five years to ensure that my paper covers recent research and is updated on the latest findings in the subject. This reflects in the references section given at the end. I made sure not to include and to exclude retrieving any information whether in support of or to refute my argument from non-credible sources like Wikipedia and blogs. I had a plan in mind according to which I found the sources. I first I broke the statement down in different sections and phrases so that I would be able to reach the sources discussing particular aspects of the statement. For example, one of my phrases was â€Å"management of organizational culture† while another phrase that I used to search the sources on the Internet was â€Å"organizational culture’s symbolic meaning†. To make sure that I use credible sources, I preferred looking into journal papers and books than other kinds of sources available online. For instance, to find the relevant journal articles, I would write â€Å"journal filetype:pdf† after the phrase on the search bar. As a result, all I got was journal articles in pdf files online. Basically, the side of the argument I was on reflected in the statement of discussion i.e. â€Å"Organizational culture is fundamentally about symbolic meaning and as such cannot be managed.† I had four approaches in mind while

Managing for the Future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Managing for the Future - Essay Example Comparison of the competence that a company will need and the competence that the company is already endowed with 23 9. Conclusion from the comparison 24 Reference List 25 1.0 Introduction The competitive edge of an organization depends upon several contributing factors, and one of them is strategic plan for the future. The strategic plan for the future is a rough guide book that lets the organizations produce a rough sketch (Braithwaite and Hall, 2009). A sketch that may look very rough and unrecognizable but as time progresses the sketch begins to take a definitive shape. In the present context the research reports sheds light on the track record of the management of BP (British Petroleum) oil for the past years. The management strategies and the decisions of the BP management is critiqued and analyzed to reflect its effectiveness (Das and Teng, 2004). The research report then develops a rough sketch of future environmental condition. The environmental condition is prepared based o n the present state of condition, and also based on the way the future spans out. The research report indicates what the management of BP oil needs to do in order to position itself in a better way in the future (Gilbert and Gips, 2000). Lastly the research report produces a comparative picture of the competencies that BP oil is already endowed with and the competencies that BP need to develop. The research report delves into 3 separate areas, one is sustainability, another one is distribution and the third one is corporate social responsibility. 2. Historic analysis of the organization’s performance The historical performance of BP is traced across 3 important areas, which are sustainability, CSR and distribution. 2.1 Sustainability The sustainability of BP is measured across 4 different areas, which are safety, environment, people and performance. Over the last 8 years starting from 2007 to 2013, BP has developed its safety measures (Harland and Branchley, 2003). This led t o the decrease in the number of fatalities, the number of days away from work for the employees. Improved safety measures in the past 7 years also ensured that the numbers of oil spills decrease. Apart from that the amount of greenhouse gas emission has also decreased. The sustainability encompasses other important factors also like the people and performance. The last 7 years data indicate that the numbers of employees have increased sufficiently (John, 2010). Improved employee satisfaction led to the retention of more number of employees. Working in BP requires staying away from home for long durations. So the intake of women in this line of work was always few and in fact negligible. The inclusion of women in its work force indicated the bold stride of BP towards the expulsion of gender bias from the work culture (Kahnmann and Tversky, 2001). In case of performance, there has been tremendous increase in the amount of dividend paid to shareholders and the contribution towards the communities. The sustainability reports indicate that the company invested significantly to ensure that both the environment and the employees are kept from harm’s way. Although the recent oil spill of the BP in the Gulf of Mexico is an indication of the fact that BP has major gaping holes in its safety procedure. 2.2 Distribution The

Human Resource Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Resource Management - Case Study Example After an organizational diagnosis; interventions are developed. The diagnosis has to come up with interventions that will not be met by resistance from employees and most be attainable given the resources available in the organization. In addition to the intervention proposed in the case study; I propose that Steinway adopts a strategy to streamline its supply chain to increase its accessibility in the international market. Although the organization operates on an international scale; the diagnosis only proposed that the organization must be inclined politically to meet different governmental and country requirements. Steinway is faced with many competitors in America and could extend its operations by taking advantage of the emerging markets in Asia. Furthermore, supply chain helps to offer better customer service and therefore the organization can position itself to compete effectively with its competitors. A well designed supply chain is critical for organizational effectiveness. Supply chain would help the organization reach out to its suppliers of lumber and the customers. To streamline the supply chain, Steinway need to harmonize and standardize the operations in all its retail outlets in New York, New Jersey, London, Hamburg, Munich and Berlin. Further there should be coordination among these centers to ensure that the company’s products are accessed by the customers according to the demand. According to Richen and Steinhorst (2005), process standardization and harmonization can be achieved by setting a central institution to control business operations. In addition, use of information system can be used to streamline the supply chain thereby ensuring organizational effectiveness. The Steinway can develop a single system where customers can make their orders and the central process coordinating the business will arrange for the delivery of the products. This intervention is based on the hypothesis that a more responsive supply

Two models of the criminal process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Two models of the criminal process - Essay Example 12) The ways that the two systems intersect together are few but they do seem to work collaboratively within the adversarial system of justice.This statement is supported by the fact that the Constitution and the law prohibit authorities like the police and the public prosecutors from arresting or otherwise depriving a person's liberty unless there is probable cause to believe that such individual has committed crime and that such individual is probably guilty thereof. This does not authorize the prosecution of immoral acts, only illegal acts for criminal procedure is not based upon false imprisonment or individual harassment. It is axiomatic that there are limits within the system that must be adhered to.For instance, the government has limits as to its powers and abilities when investigating a crime or a person as enshrined in the Bill of Rights. (Criminal Procedure, p. 13) The government cannot go beyond the powers imposed upon them by the Constitution which vests upon individuals a right to a reasonable amount of privacy. The "alleged criminal" has in his favour a presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt (Criminal Procedure).

THE QUEST FOR FREEDOM Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

THE QUEST FOR FREEDOM - Thesis Example hand, Douglass’s narrative presents a vivid account of one of the darkest periods in American history, marked with â€Å"lawful† violence and suppression, outrageous cruelty to, and disregard for the human nature of millions of people, whose only fault was the color of their skin. On the other hand, the narrative depicts the bold quest for freedom of a man, born as a chattel, who passed through the whole spectrum of woes and humiliation one would imagine to become an â€Å"American icon† and â€Å"Representative American man† (Stauffer 201). Although Douglass’s quest for freedom was thorny and everlasting, i.e. having continued far beyond the point of achievement of physical freedom, one particular episode in it denotes the actual transformation of the slave into a free man – when a single act of resistance annihilated years of humiliation and century-long collective self-perception of inferiority. Frederick Douglass was born and grew up in slavery; being separated from his mother too early in his life – even before he knew her as his mother – he was unaware about who his father was (Douglass 9). That, in fact, was nothing unwonted in early-nineteenth-century America, especially in the South, where â€Å"the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs†, and more often than not â€Å"before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off† (Douglass 10). It had been a common practice by that time slaveholders to have children from slave-women, which engendered the paradox of being both masters and fathers of those children; which probably was the case of Douglass’s coming into the world – â€Å"the whisper that my master was my father may or may not be true† (Douglass 11). Another common occurrence in the South, also established by the law, was that those â€Å"fathers† had the right to and did torture, as well as sell their children to other

Problems of toxicology on the human organism Assignment

Problems of toxicology on the human organism - Assignment Example Basic functions of the liver being the largest organ in the digestive system, its functions include:†¢ It helps indigestion. Liver cells contain bile which produces bile juice that helps in digesting fats before they are absorbed in the small intestines. Bile also helps in the excretion of toxins from the liver detoxification processes.†¢ The liver helps in metabolic and synthetic functions. The liver regulates blood sugar level in the body.  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Liver deactivates hormones†¢ It helps in the synthesis and release of lipids, decomposition of fatty acids and the synthesis and transport of cholesterol.†¢ The liver helps in synthesizing blood clotting factors.†¢ The liver also helps in removal of toxins in the body.Characteristic of organochlorine pesticides. Organochloride pesticides are denser than water due to the higher weight of chlorine and they are good alkylating agents. They are also less biodegradable.Some pesticides cause inactivation of acety lcholinesterase.  Symptoms include fatigue, headache, dizziness, not seeing well, vomiting, chest discomfort and excessive sweating.The reason is that pesticides are chemicals that inhibit the work of an enzyme.The neurotransmitter is a chemical that transmits signals across a synapse from one neuron to another neuron. Examples include amino acids and peptides.  It is the circulation of substances, such as bile salts, which are absorbed from the intestines and carried to the liver for secretion into the liver then back to the intestines again.

Course Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Course Work - Essay Example The principle of equity is one of the most important criterions for reward allocation in individualistic culture. This principle gives significant importance towards individual performance and contribution. Here in this theory there is very low scope of free rider. Here employees get their rewards for their individual contributions towards attaining goal (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2014, pp. 34-41). To measure the individual performance, managers across the world use individual performance appraisals. On the other hand the principle of equality talks about equal shares to all individuals. This principle is significantly preferred by collectivist culture. This principle fits in the collectivists values quite nicely. In this principle there is enough scope of free rider. It is being noticed that Chinese managers believe in collectivists’ values and that is why they follow the principle of equality in their reward allocation. On the other hands American managers give more focus towards individual contributions that is why they follow equity principle for their reward allocation. Dirty tricks are cross cultural negotiation strategies generally used to pressurize opponents for accepting undesirable or unfair concessions or agreements. There are several dirty tricks. Deliberate deception is an example of dirty tricks. It is significantly inappropriate for the international negotiation. With the help of deliberate deception profitability can be earned for the short time. The deception cannot be fruitful for the long term business perspective. It can be exposed at any point of time (Moore & Woodrow, 2010, pp. 90-93). Negotiator should clearly point out all the details to avoid this dirty trick. Stalling is also an example of dirty tricks. This trick is not at all suitable for the cross cultural negotiation. It delays the whole negotiation process. Timeliness is an important factor for any negotiation. That important factor is intentionally ignored with

Urrent recessionary situation in the UK economy Essay

Urrent recessionary situation in the UK economy - Essay Example The most common among these are the Consumer price index and the retail price index. The simplest way to understand the mechanism behind changes to inflation is through Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply dynamics. Given the economy is in macroeconomic equilibrium, if there is a positive shock to demand, i.e., aggregate demand shifts up, the price level rises. This is known as demand pull inflation. This type of inflation is observed particularly during periods of economic expansion. This is shown in figure 1 below. Figure 1: Demand-pull inflation In the diagram, SRAD represents the short run dynamics of demand; it shows how changes to aggregate demand are related to changes in the price level or inflation. Similarly, SRAS represents the short run dynamics of aggregate supply. Because of an expansionary shock to short run aggregate demand (SRAD), inflation increases from Is to Id. Again, even if short run demand remains unchanged, inflation can increase due to supply side shocks. In the diagram, SRAD represents the short run dynamics of demand; it shows how changes to aggregate demand are related to changes in the price level or inflation. Similarly, SRAS represents the short run dynamics of aggregate supply. Because of an expansionary shock to short run aggregate demand (SRAD), inflation increases from Is to Id. Again, even if short run demand remains unchanged, inflation can increase due to supply side shocks. For instance if there are bottlenecks in the supply chain which leads to contraction of supply, the short run aggregate supply curve shifts up to the left. This leads to an increase in inflation as well. This is known as cost push inflation since this happens due to sudden increases in production costs. Well known examples of such inflation generating cost rises over the years have been oil price shocks, labor market strikes etc. This mechanism is illustrated in figure 2 below. In Figure 2: Cost push inflation In the graph above, the SRAS curve is hit by a temporary shock resulting from increases in costs. The resulting movement to the left and up leads to a rise in the inflation rate from Is to Ir. It should b e noted that all factors that influence demand and supply mechanics can therefore influence inflation rates. Particular note should be taken of inflation expectations. If inflation is expected to rise in future, people start buying immediately and such behavior leads to the prices being pushed up. This is a simple instance of how inflation expectations constitute self fulfilling prophecies. Being armed with an understanding of the basic mechanics of inflation, we now turn to the actual observed situation in the UK economy. The UK economy is undergoing a substantially adverse situation. Although the Bank of England sets 2% as inflation target, the annual percentage change in Consumer Prince Index reached a 2 year high of 5.2% in January 2011. Although it has come down since then to around 4.2% in recent months, it still is considerably higher compared to the declared target of the Bank of England (BBC, 2011). What makes this situation precarious is that this inflation has occurred at a time when the economy was already reeling from a strong recessionary pressure. The global economic crisis and the ensuing recessionary pressures had seem the inflation rate hit a low of almost 1% in 2009. The recession has led to significant stress on the economy and caused losses of employment. In all other advanced economies, the recession has been associated with a disinflation, if not a deflation. In the UK economy however the inflation rate has climbed up substantially to hit the aforementioned highs (Dwyer et al., 2010). There are alternative viewpoints to explain this phenomenon, and we turn to these various explanations in the rest of this article. Figure 3: Inflation in UK, ONS data Figure 1 traces the quarterly movements of

Class distinctions and dating Essay Example for Free

Class distinctions and dating Essay Willie Mossop started off at the beginning of this play as a shoemaker, in Hobsons Cellar. He was of a low class and had great potential but little ambition. His first step was when Mrs Hepworth said that she only wants her shoes to be made by Willie. The next step towards his final personality was when Maggie proposed to marry him. He then went off with Maggie and started off his own business and then, not only did he stand up to Hobson, his former master, but he also stood up to Maggie, his own wife. In this coursework I intend to explore the play from the perspective of Willie Mossops development. The shop windows and entrance from street occupy the left side. Facing the audience is the counter  The play starts off with a rather long description of the settings in the shop. This is because Harold Brighouse is making sure that the play should be in an entirely realistic scenery.  The first impression that we get of the family relationship is that the three daughters are quite friendly towards each other but together they all are against their father, Hobson. Maggie is the eldest of the children, all of whom are not yet married. Maggie has a stubborn nature and acts like a mother to the other two girls. She is strict, confident and she is very persuasive especially when she manages to get Albert out of the shop when it was very obvious in her mind that he wanted to speak to Alice. Hobson is fifty-five, successful, coarse, florid   When Hobson enters then for the first time we see the first time we see the whole family together. We can instantly tell that it is the girls that do the work in the shop and Hobson does nothing. His intention was to go to the Moonrakers which he usually spends most of the day, rather than working in the shop or being at home. He then feels very concerned about his family name, and about the daughters uppishness and bumptiousness so he doesnt go to the Moonrakers.  We see the three daughters dressed in nice clothes during the play. I find it hard to believe that Hobson actually cares about his daughters but rather he thinks that it is good for the business for the workers to wear nice clothes. When Hobson laughs at the thought of Maggie getting married and refers to her as being shelved, it is probable that she has been so busy looking after Hobson and her sisters that she did not have the time to get married.  The start of Willies success was when Mrs Hepworth comes in and instructs that her shoes are only going to be made by Willie. She then instructs further that she wants Willie to tell her if he is to ever move shops. During this episode Hobson manages to make a fool out of himself on numerous occasions. Firstly he tries to take the credit on himself, and then thinking the shoes were faulty made a further idiot out of himself. She then turns to Maggie ignoring Hobson and succeeds in getting an answer out of her. From this we see Mrs Hepworth as an upper class women and a well-respected customer in the Hobson shop. It is interesting to note that contrary to the belief of the times (that the husband was supposed to be in charge) Brighouse shows Maggie to champion the female sex and have total control over her husband. He cleverly reverses the commanding role from Willie to Maggie and represents her as the master of the house. Right from the beginning we see that Maggie has a very commanding and persuasive personality and as we move through the play we see Maggies persuasive nature winning. As she moves from minor things such as convincing Albert Prosser that he needed a new pair of boots to the outrageous act of marrying Willie and dismissing Ada Figgins whilst he was tokened to her. MAGGIE: Will Mossop, you take orders from me in this shop. Ive told you youll wed me.  WILLIE: Seems like theres no escape.  This was an innovative concept for those ages, for the daughter of a middle class bootmaker to marry a working class craftsman employed by her father. The social tradition was to marry into your own class or higher but certainly not into a lower class.  Another matter equally radical was her betrothal conflicting with her fathers views. It was particularly unusual in that period to marry without the consent and approval of ones parents. Here however Maggie exercises her views and would like to marry Willie Mossop ignoring all the social customs concerning class distinctions and dating. ALICE: I know, and if youre afraid to speak your thoughts, Im not. Look here, Maggie, what you do touches us and youre mistaken if you think Ill own Willie Mossop for my brother-in-law.MAGGIE: Is there supposed to be some disgrace in him?  ALICE: You ask father if theres disgrace. And look at me I had hopes of Albert Prosser till this happened.  MAGGIE: Youll marry Albert Prosser when hes able and that will be when he starts spending less on laundry bills and hair cream. Here we see her strong views concerning the elitists of the upper class. She strongly believes that they shouldnt be treated especially well because they have money, power and influence, unlike her sisters who grow into and marry upper class members. Maggie has clearly displayed her view on the stupidity of spending large sums of money on hair cream and laundry bills. The lower classes were unaccustomed to spending extensive amounts on these luxuries. She displays the honesty of her opinion by marring Willie, to the disgust of her relatives and succeeding to succeed over her father.

Performance Measurement System Of Tm Berhad

Performance Measurement System Of Tm Berhad Performance measurement system is defined as a set of measurable criteria and methodology to enable performance to be measured objectively. It comprises of financial and non-financial manners to establish and monitor the progress of organization towards its vision. In the past, organization used the financial measures to assess the performance of senior managements while non-financial measures were used to evaluate the performance of lower level of management. It is inappropriate to use the financial measure to examine the outcomes and not well-suited for predicting future prospect as the outcomes are the consequences of past performance. Thus, performance measurement systems were developed to merge the financial and non-financial measures at all level of the organization in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the management. The best known performance measurement framework is balanced scorecard introduced by Kaplan and Norton in early 1990s. The balanced scorecard approach retained measures of financial performance on past performance and supplemented them with the assessment on the strategic planning in order to drive the organization towards its vision. It maps an organizations strategic objectives into performance metrics in four perspectives: financial, internal processes, customers, and learning and growth. The term balanced signifies that the system is balanced between internal measures of business processes, innovation and learning and growth and external performance perspectives measures for customers and shareholders. It is then followed by the term scorecard which signifies quantified performance measures. In a nutshell, balanced scorecard contains four main processes. The process of balanced scorecard is begin with clarify and translate the organizations vision into strategy. Then, the strategic management will communicate and link strategic objectives and measures. Next process is planning, setting targets and aligning strategic initiatives. Lastly, balanced scorecard enhances strategic feedback and learning. Organization quantifies its current performance to identify where it is on its strategic capability building journey and predict possible changing business environment in future. This information provides relevant feedback as to how well the strategic plan is executing so that adjustments can be made as necessary. This article is primarily discussed on the growing importance of balanced scorecard performance systems and exploring the issues faced by the organization in building and implementing balance scorecard systems. b. Challenges in Performance Measurement System The used of balanced scorecard is very helpful in monitoring the management of the organization but it is very challenging as the implementation is very costly. It requires some cost in setting up this system such as software licenses expense and installation cost. This will results in large sum of money being expense before profit is generated. Besides, the needs of expertise to implement a comprehensive and proper system will consequently increases the cost of management as well. Different business unit using the different balanced scorecard measures to achieve its goal. In general, balanced scorecard consists of two types of measure. There are common measure (measures across all subsidiaries or units) and unique measure (measure each business unit). The use of unique measures in order to carry out the system is tough because unique measures are significant in capturing the units business strategy. If the manager does not actively participating in evaluating one units performance, thus significance of the unique measures may not be appreciated. The four perspectives in a well-designed balanced scorecard form a chain of cause-and-effect relationships that determine the effectiveness of the strategy implementation. Proper implementation will results in excellent performance. However, it is not easy to identify and establish the cause and effect relationship. Inappropriate measure will result in negative outcomes. Managers realize and understand that there are strong linkages between customer satisfactions, employees satisfactions, financial performance, internal business process and companys learning and growth activities. Nevertheless, the balanced scorecard system does not provide the detail guidelines on to how to improve performance to achieve organizations goals. In addition, balanced scorecard system need to be updated constantly. This update is useful as it requires repositioning with changing of strategies or company structure in order to keep in pace with the complex business environment. However, constant updating of balance scorecard may be tedious and time consuming. Lastly, lack of integration and communication of the objectives of the organization at difference level of management would cause the lower level of employees cant see the big picture of the system. Implementation of the balanced scorecard requires commitment from all management levels, especially companys top organizational structure. Most of them refuse to coordinate in the system because they may view the system as a threat that implies they have underperformed in the past. c. Advantages of Performance Measurement System First of all, balance scorecard is very reliable as it clearly defines financial and nonfinancial information to all parts of the organization. The traditional financial statements has failed to confine accurately the type of measurements those companies need around a profit sector. This is proven when all the intangible assets such as quality of services and skilful employees do not show on balance sheet compared with the balance scorecard that shows all those intangible assets in the balance sheet. The value of a company will be invisible to the workers, shareholders, customers and the society due to the unwritten intangible assets in the balance sheet. Secondly, balanced scorecard is useful in evaluating and planning for long-term strategy. In a traditional method, organizations only focus on short-term financial measures while balanced scorecard include customer, internal processes and the growth in societys needs. It is useful in a longer term strategic dimension as managers can measure performance in building key capabilities and examining on the overall strategic workability. Thirdly, balance scorecard enhances strategic feedback and learning. In this process of monitoring the system, the management evaluates the present performance of the company, how the strategies are going on in the company and identify the potential changes in the unpredictable surroundings. This information is useful for the purpose of decision making to ensure the organization is achieving towards its goal. Fourthly, balanced scorecard could be used as a measure of employees reward performance. When the individual exceeds the particular threshold levels, they will be rewarded for the excellent financial performance. It is proven that balanced scorecard makes some improvements if compared with the past performance measurements systems that did not often measure the employees performance which link to corporate strategy. Lastly, the balanced scorecard attempts to evaluate both the internal and external aspects of the organization. It is important to focus on the customers views and the contacts that have been established in the market-place on order to build long-term relationship with the potential customers. The learning and growth perspective encourage creativity and advance in information system in order to response quickly to the rapid changing in the global market. d. Central issue of the articles The first issue is the implementation of balanced scorecard in an organization. Each company should have its own version of the scorecard as different companies require different measurements, which are essential in achieving the company strategy. The most commonly used measurement categories are financial goals, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, productivity, and growth and innovation. A well-defined balanced scorecard should result in improved internal management system, greater customers satisfaction, educated employees and increased in financial usage. Identification, definition and integration of organizations capabilities with its objectives in all levels of the organization from top to down are essential to sustain long-term superior return in the competitive environment. Interaction within the organization is important to avoid optimizing the results of one business unit at the expense of others. In this stage of planning, setting targets and aligning strategic in itiatives, management will set ambitious but achievable targets for each perspective and initiatives are developed to align efforts to reach the targets. Lastly, the executives receive feedback on whether the strategy implementation is proceeding according to plan and evaluate whether the strategy itself is successful or control and corrective action is necessary to reflect real time learning. These four functions have made the Balanced Scorecard an effective management system for the implementation of short-term and long-term strategic planning. Besides, the four perspectives in the balanced scorecard are inter-dependent. It is not just a balance of measures in essential areas of the business, but also a balance of goals versus accountability. The reluctant of the people in the organization to accept accountability for achievement of the balanced measures and goals of the balanced scorecard will result in failure in balanced scorecard system. In the case study of Big W, has not only built competencies into each step of its performance management system but has now incorporated competencies in all position descriptions for store managers and buyers to extend their experience in areas other than that in which they are presently employed. Therefore, the human capital of the organization is the key to the success of the balanced scorecard system. The second issue is balanced scorecard will evolve as the culture change. Once the balanced scorecard is developed, it should immediately implement into the organizational system. It assists to link groups and individuals to the strategy by understanding the linkage of cause-and-effect relationship. This linkage enables them to understand the overall performance of the organization. For example, advanced in information system will leads to efficiency in information management and eventually save the cost of handling bulky information. Thus, the organizational culture is a one of the key factors of success or failure of implementation of balanced scorecard. Besides, organizational culture has also interceded entity learning. Entity learning is a driving force behind the successful implementation of balanced scorecard. The article mentions that there must be an understanding, commitment and support from the top levels of the company down to the lowest ranks. If there is any change in culture in any level of the organization, balanced scorecard performance will be affected. Therefore, new approach, new tings and new goals have to be developed and be adopted to make the balanced scorecard more balanced and effective. Management need to be alert with the changes in organization culture so that balanced scorecard system is designed in accordance with the culture. The next issue is customers play a significant role in determining the prospect of an organization. The customer perspectives in the balanced scorecard measure on how should the organization present itself to its customers in order to achieve its vision. The four perspectives that introduced by the balanced scorecard are useful to evaluate the overall performance of the business. In conjunction with this, customers are able to see the time dimension of the business that going from the bottom to top and the profitability of the past, present and future. Moreover, balanced scorecard includes the measurement of customers perspective aim to increase customer satisfaction to ensure the ultimate wants of customers are fulfilled. Thus, the objective of the organization must be always being designed according to the current market demand. Conclusion As we embark on the twenty-first century, managers are challenged by sweeping changes in the global arena. The implementation of balanced scorecard is essential to assists in the execution of corporate strategy in order to sustain in the competitive environment. Balanced scorecard encourages employees to act in accordance with desired goals of the company by reward them accordingly to their performance. Management has to be aware of the potential limitations of balanced scorecard and overcome the problems by designing the system that well-suited the organization. In a nutshell, balanced scorecard should be tailored for each part of the organization driven by the objective of the organization to make the balanced scorecard even more balanced and effective in supporting a living, growing, feasible organization in the competitive environment. 2. a. Introduction Telekom Malaysia is the largest integrated communications solutions provider in Malaysia and one of Asias leading Communications companies. Telekom Malaysia has officially changed its global brand from Telekom Malaysia to TM in 2005. The vision is to become Malaysias leading new generation communications by providing customers with innovative and excellent service environment. TM has a monopoly on the fixed line network, data, mobile, internet and multimedia. It combines satellite, terrestrial and submarine fibred-optic cable systems to facilitate the regional and international telecommunications. TMs core businesses are focused in Retail, Wholesale and Global Business. Besides, TM acquired Celcom and TMTouch to raise industry standards, provided product and service benchmarks in the country. Apart from that, TM Net is now the sole DSL broadband provider in the country. It offers a comprehensive range of services and solutions in broadband, data and fixed line. In addition, TMs investment philosophy is to play an active role in its international operations as well as to provide opportunities for wealth creation among the local population for social welfares purposes. b. Discussion of the Performance Measurement System used in the company. TM is using BSC to translate their visions and companys strategies into a set of measureable objectives that can be interpreted into some meaningful form as a check list to monitor the performance of the company. Basically, the BSC used by TM is an e-BSC where it uses an online system called MAPS (appendix) to allow employees to key in their performance according to different areas concerned in the scorecard and monitor by each division managers. The main concern of financial perspective will be to grow revenue profitably and to manage cost effectively, customer perspective is to delight the customers while creating the synergy with partners, internal business process is on execution of projects and plans on whether they are done effectively and the organizational learning and growth is to boost human capital execution capacity. The implementation of BSC in TM consists of three stages, which are business planning, performance cycle and then finally lead to a performance-based rewards system. In business planning, BSC and individual Key Performance Indicator (KPI) are developed in this stage where the KPI is used to measure the key performance in a specific division of the company. BSC is developed through a process of six steps which include: Firstly is to understand and develop the business strategic direction of TM and for example the vision of TM is to be Malaysias leading new generation communications provider, embracing customer needs through innovation and execution excellence and the mission is to strive towards customer service excellence, enrich consumer lifestyle and experience, deliver value to stakeholders and improve the performance of our business customers. From these two statements it is clear that TM is stressing highly on customers satisfaction and so its direction is clearly stated in its vision and mission statement (TM Annual Report, 2008). Next is to decompose those TMs visions and missions into smaller components called objectives that can drive the performance and measurable. With those components, TM Group top management now will be able to create a strategy map using cause-effect linkages for example, how an objective is dependent on another objective. A strategy map (appendix) is important in BSC as it is the fundamental part of it to achieve towards the objectives of the company and drive it towards the vision. In step 5 is to develop KPI (appendix) to measure and target to track strategic and operational progress of the company to see if it has achieved the desired outcomes of the objectives. Lastly is to identify the key strategic initiatives as a way to ensure the achievement of strategic objectives for example funding of resource and implementation mechanisms. In MAPS System, an individual employee will log into the system and key in their personal information and then the division scorecard will be displayed. This is the part where employees are required to submit their performance into the online system MAPS for the company to track their performance into a KPI template (appendix) provided in the system. Then, employees are required to choose the areas that are relevant to his/her field for each perspective. In the individual scorecard, the employee has to key in the target that is challenging but achievable. In performance cycle phase, he/she will then be required to key in the actual result and comment on the target. This performance scorecard will then linked to the reward system to reward the employees accordingly. c. Issues, Challenges and Advantages of BSC Issues The e-BSC used by TM is emphasizing a lot on the performance of its employees driving towards the vision and missions of the company which are mainly customers satisfaction and growth of the business. The biggest issue of BSC in TM is that it emphasizes too much on the internal business and performance rather than the quality of services provided to the customers. Each of the perspective emphasized by the BSC is not really focusing on the quality services. This is very important particularly for a service company like TM who provides telecommunication services to the public. For example does BSC implement by TM actually concern on the quality of its networks for the broadband services of TM Net, a division of TM? Measuring the quality of the services of TMs products is significantly important to be able to achieve the objectives of the company. Challenges A challenge faced by the BSC is where it could not answer some of the important question that a telecommunication company needs to know. For example, a manager can developed a set of measures for the scorecard, but it can never answer the question of what the competitors are doing out there (Andy Neely, 1995). This means that BSC has missed out one of the most important perspective which is the competitor perspective. In Malaysia, telecommunication industry is very competitive and TM is no longer the monopoly in the industry since the presence of other telecommunication companies such as Maxis and Digi. Thus, TM might risk itself if depend solely on the scorecard of not knowing what is happening with other competitors and might lose their market shares to them due to this reason. Advantages The BSC of TM has successfully provide a complete measurement on the four perspective which comprises of financial, customers, internal business control and organization and learning growth. Through the implementation using MAPS system, BSC in TM is done over the online system and electronically (e-BSC). The MAPS system provides a good way for the employees to set their own target, track their performance and finally evaluate their performance and give comments on whether is it hard to achieve the target. This is an advantage to TM as the managers from each division will be able to get direct feedback from the employees on their performance and able to report them to the top management to evaluate further on what can be done to improve and identify problems. This also enables long-term organizational learning at the same time to achieve continuous improvement on performance of the company. d. Recommendation Since the issue faced by TM is the quality of service, Total Quality Management (TQM) is able complement the shortcoming of BSC. A quality service is vital for a telecommunication company especially in such a competitive market in Malaysia. TQM is a type of performance system that is used as a long-term measure to reduce errors in a service or manufacturing process and focusing on customers satisfaction by ensuring workers have the highest level of training and modernization of equipment and limit errors to 1 per 1 million units produced. ISO 9000, the international standard defined that TQM as a management approach of an organization that centered on quality with participation of all members aiming at long term success through customers satisfaction and benefits to the members of the organization and society (Subburaj, 2005). TQM definitely benefits TM in many ways. It can apply this to the engineering of its telecommunication networks such as its fixed line division, cellular services division as well as the broadband division to improve the quality of services. Say for example, an uninterrupted broadband service for the customers that only allows 0.0001% of down time, same applies to the cellular networks and fixed line services. This definitely provides benefits and robust solutions to the company to enhance customers satisfactions on quality services. To achieve the TQM, TM must always from time to time send its engineers and other employees for training and make sure that they are experts in their field. Also, TM must spend more resources on its RD division, known as TMRND, to provide the latest equipment for the engineers to ensure that they have the best equipment to maintain the network to provide uninterrupted services. This is a long-term implementation for TM and it requires continuous improvement over time not only by the top management but also all the members of the organization working together. Also, TM will be benefited in the long run and enhanced its branding through attaining the TQM certification of ISO 9000. Conclusion In order for TM to remain dynamic in the globalization market, should always review its performance measurement system and constantly seek for improvement to better achieve its objectives and remain competitive. Performing well financially, increase in customers satisfaction, constantly improving the internal business process and improve in organizational learning and growth are equally important and TM has been doing well with its e-BSC and MAPS system. TM is also an innovative player in introducing new products and services such as the latest on the news, Unifi, a fiber optic solution for home and business which provide 5 to 20 Mbps of internet speed to the consumers and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) (TheStar Online, 2010). However, innovative products and services are nothing if the service quality is not good enough. Now is the time for TM to embark on a new challenge in providing quality service through the implementation of TQM in its organization to achieve long-term success and customers satisfaction.

Organisational Audit Of T Mobile Management Essay

Organisational Audit Of T Mobile Management Essay According to Kourdi, Business Strategy is the plans, choices and decisions used to guide a company to greater profitability and success. An inspired and clearly considered strategy provides the impetus for commercial success, whereas a weak or misunderstood strategy may lead to a company going out of business. Understanding what constitutes strategy is therefore crucial in developing a successful business, as is avoiding the tendency to label every plan and decision strategic when most are about implementing strategy rather than setting it. Equally important is for a strategy to be clear and effectively communicated to everyone with a role in implementing it, and to shareholders and other stakeholders. For the purpose of this assignment, my chosen company is the T-Mobile. History and Background of T-Mobile T-Mobile UK is a joint French and German-owned mobile network and mobile broadband operator in the United Kingdom. It is owned and operated by Everything Everywhere, the UKs largest mobile network. T-Mobile UK started life as Mercury One2One, a GSM mobile network operated by the now-defunct Mercury Communications. Later known simply as One2One, it was the worlds second GSM 1800 network when it was launched in September 1993. In its final days it was operated as a joint venture between Cables and Wireless and American cable provider Mediaone Group, which had a number of investments in Britain dating back to its days as the US West Media Group. One 2 One was purchased by Deutsche Telekom in 1999 and rebranded as T-Mobile in 2002. On 1 April 2010 Deutsche Telekom and France Telekom finalized the deal to merge their UK based operations, causing Orange UK and T-Mobile UK to cease to exist, although the brands was maintained for at least 18 months. On 11 May 2010 it was announced that both the Orange and T-Mobile brands would remain on British high streets, although their new merged parent company will be called Everything Everywhere  [1]  . The T-Mobile brand is present in 11 European countries   Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany (as Telekom), Hungary, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Globally, T-Mobile International subsidiaries have a combined total of approximately 150 million subscribers, making the company the worlds third-largest mobile-phone service provider by subscribers and the third-largest multinational after the UKs Vodafone and Spains Telefà ³nica. T-Mobile offers both pay-as-you-go and pay-monthly contract phones. The pay-monthly contracts consists of set amounts of minutes and flexible boosters which allow the customer to change them month-to-month depending on their needs. Prior to this T-Mobile had a contract option known as Flext, which gave the user an amount of money to use for calls, texts, MMS and mobile internet as necessary. (Wikipedia, 2012) 3.0 The challenge that T-mobile is facing T-Mobile is the largest mobile service providers in UK. They are at the moment facing severe competition from other service providers such as 3G, Vodafone, Virgin, O2. Competition is coupled with other environmental factors that create a very challenging market for them. The current situation (Riots August 2011) in UK, the increasing debt situation in US and Europe had further worsened the business environment, which makes it unsuitable for business like T-Mobile to grow. The situation is quite alarming and it is high time for T-Mobile to act and tackle the above serious problem. In delaying to do so, would definitely give opportunity to competitors to take the lead. 3.1 The Business Strategies for T-Mobile In reference to the problem above, several strategies can be implemented by T-Mobile during this recession period. Doing nothing is not an option and passivity will only make things worse. At a starting point, T-Mobile would have to make sure that all the strategies that would be agreed upon would have to be in line with its Mission and Vision. Mission and Vision are the inspiring words that would assist T-Mobile to focus in a particular direction by keeping its values. The following are the two business strategies of T-Mobile that need to be implemented. 3.1.1 Concentrate on continuous support to customers. T-Mobile is dependent on their revenue-paying customers and cannot afford to stand by while those customers decline. One-way to make sure T-Mobile survives the economic downturn is to keep focusing on the customers. In a down economy people focus their spending on companies they trust most, as they get choosy. Customers need to be valued, not just for their money, but also for whom they are. In order to do this, T-Mobile has to make sure that its staffs are addressing the customers need for a strong sense of belonging and significance. For instance, make sure that staffs are positive and proactive with complaints rather than negative and reactive. Leaders of a large consulting firm have told their staff that they should worry more about their clients than about themselves, thinking up ways their clients can survive, even if every microsecond isnt billable. Generosity might not bring anything now, but help to position for the future, hopefully with healthier customers and bigger ideas. The big threat to T-Mobile is its competitors such as; 3G, Virgin, Vodafone, O2 and others and without any doubt, the competitors are also working on strategies of how to survive the down turn. So, T-Mobile has to try its utmost in delivering outstanding services to its customers. 3.1.2 Expand in other countries. Other than the two strategies above, T-Mobile can consider expanding in other part of the planet where recession is not present and where the markets are on great demand and wide. The secret to survive a recession is opportunity recognition. The first step in opportunity recognition is to know and believe that there will always be opportunity for those who seek and pursue it. Having focussed a lot in the European market and USA since its existence, T-Mobile might consider penetrating the UAE and Asia markets. For instance, China and India with its high population are two countries that are developing at a rapid pace. T-Mobiles good reputation in the Europe and USA is a good reason for other countries to welcome its presence. Sometimes, it is best method to move away from the recession zone and built from scratch for a better result other than keep fighting in the bush with less profit or no profit at all. Having branches also around the globe would support other branches that are in trouble such as recession, high inflation, political and legal implication or even natural disasters. The strategic plan above addresses the what which is the answer for the challenges that T-Mobile are facing, the why and as from this point the implementation will address the: who, where, when, and how. The Organizational Audit of T-Mobile The first and foremost task that needs to be done in order to implement the above strategies is the gathering of information in relation to the strategic plan. Organisational audit or strategy audit is to arm T-Mobile managers with the tools, information, and commitment to evaluate the degree of advantage and focus provided by their current strategies. An audit produces the data needed to determine whether a change in strategy is necessary and exactly what changes should be made. T-Mobiles actual direction is the sum of what it does and does not do, how well it is internally aligned to support the strategy, and how viable the strategy is when compared to external market, competitor and financial realities. Thus, the internal assessment and the external or environmental assessment, make up the major elements of an organizational audit. The following are the steps that T-Mobile will have to analysed and at the same time make the necessary adjustment before venturing. Ammunition has to be made available before reaching the battlefield otherwise it will be a disaster before venturing. Before Implementation An analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threat of T-Mobile An analysis of the political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal aspect that can impact T-Mobile strategic plan An examination of T-Mobiles stakeholders and how to bring them more closer to achieve the goal as one body Making sure that resources such as: human, financial, physical and information resources are available and ready to achieve the objectives together During Implementation Ensuring an honest and solid integration between departments. All the elements in the business plan; the mission, vision, values, goals, strategy and behaviours need to be understood by each and everyone. Simultaneously, commitment and support are needed throughout the process at all management levels: strategic, tactical and operational level. After Implementation Proper monitoring to make certain that targets are achieving in the time frame set and rectifying any issues that may arise in order for the implementation to be a success The SWOT Analysis of T-Mobile An examination of the strengths weaknesses, opportunities and threats of T-Mobile, also called the SWOT analysis. Strengths (S) and Weaknesses (W) are considered to be internal factors over which T-Mobile have some measure of control whereas Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) are considered to be external factors over which it has essentially no control. SWOT analysis is the most renowned tool for audit and analysis of the overall strategic position of the business and its environment. Its key purpose is to identify the strategies that will create a firm specific business model that will best align an organizations resources and capabilities to the requirements of the environment in which the firm operates. According to David (2006) a SWOT analysis involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favourable and unfavourable to achieve that objective. (David, 2006) Strengths The qualities that enable T-mobile to accomplish its mission T-Mobile has been able to create strong brand equity and also made itself recognized across the Europe and the US. Customers are familiar with the T-Mobiles brand; they hold a strong positive and distinctive bond with its name. T-mobile has been able to establish 4G  [2]   network bases in Europe and the same is growing in US. Thus, having a step ahead over its competitors. T-Mobile has got numerous alliances with industry leading corporations in mobile services technologies, allowing it to offer better services to its customers accordingly. For instance, Comcast Cable and T-Mobile USA, Inc. has announced a strategic marketing alliance to offer the T-Mobile Hotspot Wi-Fi Internet service to Comcasts nearly five million high-speed Internet customers. Thus, Comcast customers can experience the convenience, reliability and value of a T-Mobile wireless broadband connection when theyre away from home, via Wi-Fi, at the more than 4,000 T-Mobile Hotspot locations nationwide. (newsroom.t-mobile.com,2012) T-Mobiles has been able to position itself as the third largest mobile company in the world. T-Mobile has rightly chosen its slogan Everything Everywhere. The two words define T-Mobile purpose on the planet, which instantly create some kind of attachment and curiosity to existing and new customers respectively. T-Mobile was first to introduce Google-based phone in the UK, using android technology Weaknesses Weaknesses are the qualities that prevent T-Mobile from accomplishing its mission and achieving its full potential. T-mobile has no presence in the key emerging markets of the world although it is classified as the third largest mobile company in the world. Customers have reported complaints in consumeraffair.com. They faced issue such as no signal and dropped calls on the roadside, where there was good coverage for other carriers. (theultimatewireless.com, 2011) Coverage of network is not prominent in some areas. It some areas it is intermittent where as in some areas it is simply dead coverage of network. Customers are moving from one mobile service to another and brand loyalty is not present in the customers. Retention of customers strategy is absence. Offering limited bandwidth to its customers. The cap of 500 MB restrained T-Mobile subscribers from using the Internet freely. Opportunities The environment within which T-Mobile operates presents Opportunities Increasing 4G-network coverage in the UK would make T-Mobile stand out from the crowd. 4G, also known as LTE (long term evolution), are the next evolution of mobile network technology. With the customer base that keeps growing steadily, T-Mobile can could easily surprised the world one day to climb the ladder from third to first largest mobile company in the world. T-Mobile could probably expand in ASIA, instead of concentrating only in Europe and the US. China, India and UAE are the key parts in ASIA that T-Mobile could consider expansion. T-Mobile could also amalgamate with other mobile company as it did with Orange mobile company. Thus, more mobile company under the same umbrella Everything Everywhere. Threats Threats arise when conditions in external environment jeopardize the reliability and profitability of T-Mobile Intensifying competition in the UK market. For instance, Virgin Company, 3G mobile Company, O2 and Vodafone Company are the direct rivals of T-Mobile, which T-Mobile has to be very vigilant of. Economic slowdown in the European Union and the US had an adverse effect on T-Mobile. People become very choosy and cautious when it comes to spend money during those economic crises. Proper strategy is important in order to retain and attract new customers. European Union regulation on cross-border cell phone usage by customers (managementparadise, 2011). Sometimes or most of the times Government regulations can be bad for business, such as T-Mobile. 6.0 PESTEL Analysis of T-Mobile After an examination of the SWOT analysis is done, a PESTEL analysis of T-Mobile is essential. They are both commonly used together to get a better understanding of the competitive and economic environment, but they represent two contrasting approaches. SWOT analysis differs from PESTEL in the sense that, it is more flexible and can be applied to various forms of business functions where as PESTEL analysis is more nonconforming, used only to fully understand the implications of entering a new market. PESTEL Analysis is a convenient tool to analyse the macro-environment, which is also called the far environment. PESTEL is an acronym that stands for Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal. It is used for determining the opportunities and risks of global expansion. Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal issues often differ domestically and even more so internationally. Hence, it provides a strong framework to set the stage to develop specific tactics to mitigate the risks involved in executing vision in unfamiliar environments such as in strategy (3.1.2) above, expansion in a different country. Political, Government and Legal Forces: Political influences relate to government or constitutional policies that may affect a business and so do legal forces. There were a number of regulatory hurdles that were overcome before the merger was agreed of T-Mobile and Orange. It was by no means guaranteed that UK competition authorities would have approved the deal without some stringent requirements, such as obliging the operators to help to provide rural broadband coverage. These were met and the merger took place back in 2010. (itvoir, 2011). The governments current policies are unable to handle the current riots, which is a direct threat for a healthy business environment, and may affect T-Mobile. So, the actual place of operation are experiencing political, governmental and legal issues representing a barrier for growth. Due to these, T-Mobile has to consider moving in other countries where their political, government and legal system are favourable to operate and grow without any hurdles. T-Mobile would have to make sure that the intended country is politically stable as well its legal system. Economical: With economic downturn, the interest rates are at low of 0.5pc. (telegraph, 2010). This is a great opportunity for the consumers in the form of low lending rates. The government is encouraging consumers, which would ignite the stagnant economy. Now this is a good sign for T-Mobile network in two ways. Firstly, they can borrow at lower rates and secondly, it will increase the consumer buying power as the low rates ignite the economy. But for now the market is quite stagnant and increasing market share looks a bit difficult. (123helpme, 2011) Infact, the strategy of expanding in another country has emerged due to the economic situation that are prevailing in the Europe. Companies including T-Mobile are finding themselves in turmoil to move a step ahead. The economic situation of the intended country needs to be analysed carefully before venturing. Socio-cultural: Socio-cultural influences encompass such factors as class, age and gender, demographics as well as issues such as culture   both local and international and diversity. When T-Mobile started with its Short Messaging Service (SMS), it was the beginning of the mobile multimedia era. T-Mobile also offers Multimedia Messaging (MMS) Service, which enables customers to send and receive picture messages. Both SMS and MMS are popular among women and are seen as a social tool for interact (Mintel, 2011) .In the summer of 2002, T-Mobile launched their GPRS (General Pocket Radio Service) which has seen great success ever since. Customers of T-Mobile generally gain access to the most up-to-date handsets, which are very admired for mobile-conscious people. With increasing trends towards the Android based mobiles and tablets, a new market has emerged. Online application stores require high-speed connectivity; this has increased the usage of Wi-Fi and Internet based services. Thus, a whole new market for T-Mobile to emerge. Approximately 20% of the population lives without a mobile phone. Not being heavy users of mobiles-by their nature, retired people need less mobile contact than those still going to work. Age groups beyond 55 figure little in to the marketing objectives and advertising targets of the mobile industry. But it will come a day where the older generation will be influenced and find the use of mobiles a necessity. (mintel, 2011) It is now easier to switch networks more frequently particularly because handsets are now offered free as part of the service when customers sign up to a 12, or more recently 18-month contract. Exceptionally with private customers (not businesses), they can sometimes have their line rental discounted for a number of months depending on the length of agreement. T-Mobile also offers Fix It option, which allows customer to choose their own free minutes and free text messages according to their usage. Technological: Better performance and faster mobile Internet speeds with T-Mobile supercharged 4G networks. Its three times faster than standard 3G.4G network that offers blazing-fast average download speeds of 10Mbps and peak speeds of up to 27Mbps. The market is competitive but T-Mobile is coping well and offering the best to its customers with new 4G networks. T-Mobile can also consider alliances with other companies that already have already a telecommunication backbone / structure. Both together, hand in hand can offer an excellent service to their subscribers. For instance, T-Mobile and COMCAST in USA came together to better serve their customers. A quote from (newsroom.tmobile, 2012): Comcast Cable and T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced a strategic marketing alliance to offer the T-Mobile Hotspot Wi-Fi Internet service to Comcasts nearly five million high-speed Internet customers. With todays announcement, Comcast customers can experience the convenience, reliability and value of a T-Mobile wireless broadband connection when theyre away from home, via Wi-Fi, at the more than 4,000 T-Mobile Hotspot locations nationwide. As part of this strategic marketing alliance, Comcast high-speed Internet customers will receive a special offer when they sign up for T-Mobile Hotspot through their Comcast portal homepage. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨Comcast customers who subscribe to the T-Mobile Hotspot service can surf the Web, check email or view streaming media at wireless broadband speeds with a Wi-Fi enabled laptop or PDA at T-Mobile Hotspot locations These kinds of alliances would rapidly spread the name of T-Mobile around the intended country. Environmental: Although there is no evidence that they are harmful to public health, transmitter masts are regarded by many as an unwelcome presence in the environment, especially when they are close to schools. Discarded handsets also constitute an environmental problem because of the hazardous materials they contain. For a better world for youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is T-Mobiles environmental motto (t-mobile, 2011). The aim is to minimize their business impact on the environment and all T-Mobile companies in Europe have implemented environmental management programs in order to reduce waste and energy consumption. Other solutions how to safeguard a green environment is continuously reviewed. As demands of new technology increases, more base stations is inevitable but T-Mobile recognizes genuine public concern over mobile communications phones and network infrastructure. Nevertheless, it is worth for T-Mobile to check if its presence would cause any environmental issues in the intended country. The significance of Stakeholders Diagram from Mindtools.com Having known the information about the macro-environment, it is also vital to analyse T-Mobiles microenvironment (Stakeholders), which is also referred to the near environment. As can be seen from the diagram, an organisation is surrounded by both the near and the far environment. Any alteration in them has an impact on the organisation. According to Ryan (2004), a stakeholder is anyone who has a financial interest in a particular business and according to businessdictionary.com (2009), a stakeholder is a person, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization. Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organizations actions, objectives and policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business draws its resources. T-Mobile has the following stakeholders: Customers Competitors Suppliers Staffs Investors and Shareholders Creditors 7.1 Loyal customers are the lifeblood of businesses and in order to retain them, T-Mobile has to spend time and listen to their customers when developing strategies. They have to get closer to their customers to better understand their needs and concerns and to anticipate their desires. Customer requirements are constantly changing as lifestyles keep on changing. Adding up to the down turn, attention should be more focussed as explain in strategy at (3.1.1) above. Customers should become the focal point as T-Mobile need them to at least survived in such a difficult period. Customers become choosy before spending a penny and their expectations are high too. So, T-mobile has to provide an outstanding and a unique service, which is not comparable to their competitors. Customers should not get the chance or should not at all attempt to make a complaint like in the examples in (3.1.1) instead all the good words should be heard from customers. Failure to do so would compel customers to look for other alternatives, such as looking for another providers, which can be done at a click on the Internet. In relation to the second strategy, the approach to customers would defer. T-Mobile has to research about the market, the culture, the buying pattern, the cost and standard of living. T-Mobile should get the trusts and build a good relationship of the new market right at the beginning. There should be proper marketing, deals and offers to attract the new market. 7.2 An awareness of the competitors position in the market place needs to be known. To do that, a competitive analysis needs to be performed and the diagram below might help. It analyses the strength in four important areas such as: Creativity, level of service, the cost that might incurred and the reputation position. Diagram from Managingabusiness.com Competitive analysis of the marketplace demonstrated that the major competitors had a poor reputation and were not perceived to be innovative or adding value. Hence, helping T-Mobile to be at the forefront of the game. For instance, the android technology was a good shot for T-Mobile. The latter is famously known to be the first provider to introduce it. 7.3 Other forces that can have an adverse effect on the changes are the suppliers. Without suppliers support, businesses including T-Mobile would not be able to survive or even exist. The bargaining power of suppliers and the actions they take can directly influence an organization. So, an excellent relationship is imperative and long terms reasonable contract should be maintained between T-Mobile and its different suppliers to gain competitive edge over its competitors. For examples, Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericson, Alcatel are among its suppliers. 7.4 Staffs sayings, interests and contribution are also vital to T-Mobile growth. Workforce is directly impacted on an organizations performance. In an economic downturn, employees become increasingly anxious about job security and financial worries, satisfaction with the job they have, commitment to their company and engagement with their work are all affected detrimentally. This trend could be self-fulfilling in that disengaged employees could have a negative impact on T-Mobiles products or services and lead to its decline, which would inevitably see the company failing. The employees concerned are about whether or not they would keep their jobs and whether or not they would be compensated if their company did not survive the recession. So, T-Mobile has serious reason to be concerned about the emotional well being of their employees by constantly motivating them, involving them, re-assuring them, appreciating them and rewarding them. 7.5 Investors and shareholders concern are necessary to consider, as they are injectors of capitals and cash into the business. Their main concern is the success of the business without interfering about the mechanisms to make it successful. All the answers about how to tackle potential risks need to be explained to them in order to reassure the return on their investments. Recently T-Mobile USA has failed to impress the MetroPCS Communications shareholders, which has disrupted a merger between them due to a fall in revenue by 5.9% to $ 4.9 billion. (new.investors.com, 2012). Well, thats a bad example to convince the other parties to join T-Mobile. Confidence is very important to investment in a recession. 5.6 Creditors are also important stakeholders who definitely have an interest in T-Mobile growth. If they were not willing to lend more money then the latter would be in deep dilemma. So, good credit scoring, positive financial statement such as profit loss account, balance sheet and cash flow statement would be desirable to convince creditors for the ongoing money borrowing. Good professional relationships with the stakeholders and regularly interacting with the stakeholders are crucial for project completion. Organizing regular meetings with stakeholders, accompanied by documentation, will help boost the confidence levels of shareholders. Lack of regular communication with stakeholders will instill in the minds of the stakeholders needless apprehensions and unfounded fears. Thus, the above stakeholders analysis is crucial to T-Mobile, as any sort of reluctance on their behalf would have an adverse effect, which may to lead to losing subscribers and goes bankrupt. 8.0 Resource Requirements to Implement the Strategy for T-Mobile Another aspect that is fundamental for T-Mobile to look at before actually implement the above strategy is the availability of resources and allocating them effectively for the benefit of the strategy. To organize the operational process of a Company, resource is a basic element of that company. A resource or set of resources helps organization to obtain competitive advantage. When the resources are combined they can lead to the formation of competencies and capabilities. According to Kourdi (2009), A better approach is to adopt a rigorous, dynamic and time-based view of resources, the factors driving success or failure. That is, success is determined by whether resources strengthen or decline. 8.1 Human resource: Having just a pool of staffs is not enough but a well trained and experience team is needed. The first stage of implementing the strategy plan is to make sure to have the right people on board. The right people include those individuals with required competencies and skills that are needed to support the plan. In the months following the planning process, expand employee skills through training, recruitment, or new hires to include new competencies required by the strategic plan. If T-Mobile cannot afford to recruit then to reinforce the workforce, re-shuffling of employees to perform different jobs is important. This can be done through job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment. It is also a mean to motivate staffs, as the latter feel valued in knowing and performing different tasks. T-Mobile has to ensure high morale at works, involving staffs in decision-making, creating team spirits, providing good working environment and friendly frequent meeting. In short, T-Mobile should create an environment that connects employees to the organizations mission and that makes them feel comfortable. To reinforce the importance of focusing on strategy and vision, reward success. The rewards may be big or small, as long as they lift the strategy above the day-to-day so people make it a priority. T-Mobile directly employs around 36,000 people. It has 300 retail shops and 13 million mobile customers. (T-Mobile, 2011). They are the part of the biggest mobile operator (Everything Everywhere) In UK. (bizyahoo, 2011). It has a young, enthusiastic and trained workforce across the country that can be re-shuffling to work in other countries if T-mobile is considering expanding in other countries like China. Since the workforce is young, they will be easily adept to the new technology of the merging company, for instance, Blackberry. 8.2 Financial resource: T-Mobile would need to have sufficient funds. The answer to this would be analysis of the Balance sheet. Stakeholders support like Shareholders, investors and creditors support are primary a

1950-1960 Essay -- Essays Papers

1950-1960 During the 1950's, the United States experienced great change with the end of World War II, making it difficult to label the busy decade. America was the most powerful nation in the world and it was a time of complacency. The United States accepted two new states, Hawaii and Alaska (www.fifties.com). The science world boomed with new inventions; televisions broadcast nationally; rock n' roll was popular; commercial hotel and fast food chains became common; the car industry exploded; vaccinations for measles and polio were discovered; and birth control pills were introduced (Layman VII). Another event in the 1950’s was the ratification of the 21st Amendment, which limited presidents to two terms in office. The 1950's "baby boom" was also an affect from World War II. The American population increased 19% throughout the 1950's. One-third of Americans was under the age of fifteen (Layman 262). Another issue for the United States in 1950 was the Civil Rights movement. There was one court case that changed history forever. On May 17, 1954 in Topeka, Kansas, a black third grade girl, Linda Brown, was denied admission to a school that was for white children. Schools stigmatized black children, thereby denying them the equal protection guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. The court finally agreed with Linda’s father and Thurgood Marshall. The United Sates was modernizing, however, discrimination was still a large problem (www.fifties.com). If American was a growing society, it was also a society on the move. Life was progressively getting faster. Drive-in business and shopping malls were convenient. Mass culture brought material wealth to America, but many wondered at what cost. Poorer citizens were ignored, and the work et... ...ed States was once again beginning to modernize and grow. This not only affected American attitude, but it affected art and literature throughout the world. WORKS CITED Berman, David. "Pop Art: An analysis of English and American Styles." (www.st.townson.edu/~dberma2/). Candace. "Index Fifties Web". March 15, 2001 (www.fiftiesweb.com). Ginsberg, Allen. "America." The American Tradition in Literature. Vol. 2. Ed. Perkins, George and Barbara. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. 1795. Hughes, Langston. "Feet Live Their Own Life." The American Tradition in Literature. Ed. Perkins, George and Barbara. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. 1604. IDA (15) University of Dayton Annual Reports. "Annual Reports of the President 1950." Layman, Richard. American Decades: 1950-1959. Detroit: Gale, 1994. Wehrle, William O. A History of the University of Dayton. Dayton, 1962.

Migrating: The Machine in the Garden :: Four Freedoms Roosevelt Essays

Migrating: The Machine in the Garden On January 6, 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress with a speech outlining the four freedoms that every American should have. In context, one must realize that this was before World War II - before the attack on Pearl Harbor that would occur in December of that year. His speech said that as Americans, we each should expect to have by right - freedom of speech; freedom to worship God in any way we choose; freedom from want - that is, the necessities of life such as food and shelter; and freedom from fear. The speech so moved artist Norman Rockwell that he went on to paint his famous series known as the "Four Freedoms." Rockwell's paintings would later be used to help in the war effort by advertising the sale of war bonds. The rhetoric of the day made Americans feel a responsibility to his or her country. When war broke, Americans were eager to help. Many left the comfort of their parents' homes to fight in the war effort. They left with the images of Rockwell and words of FDR fresh in their minds. In 1945, nine million American servicemen and women came home from war. No longer were they children - living in their parents' home - but young men and women eager to build their lives. Between 1946 and 1964 over seventy-six million baby boomers were born. There was a tremendous need for housing. People such as William Levitt understood that need. In 1947, he broke ground on the first of three towns he would build. He bought one thousand acres of potato farms on New York's Long Island and started building. Eventually he built 17,000 affordable homes in what became known as Levittown, New York. "The Rancher - A New House in Levittown - Special Introductory Price - $8,990 - $57 a month! No cash required from veterans!" Photo borrowed from Levittown, 2002. Levittown was the beginning of the mass migration to the suburbs, however, the idea dates to the 1930's with Roosevelt's "New Deal in the Suburbs" (Christensen, 1986, p. 72). The Greenbelt Program was designed to develop urban areas into garden cities. Not only would this model program show that a city could develop urban planning to incorporate ideals and alleviate housing problems of the day, but would translate into much needed jobs.

Police Shooting/Diallo Case :: essays research papers

In our society today, it is very sad that the African-American community has lost a great trust and respect for the Mayor, the police commissioner and the N.Y.P.D. Amadou Diallo's shooting was very upsetting for the African-American community. The shooting shock many people because an unarmed innocent black male was shot 41 times in front of his home by four officers that assume him to be a rapist. Amadou Diallo was a black man in a primarily black neighborhood who saw four guys in the middle of the night and perhaps he thought these four undercover police were somehow looking for trouble. He probably said," I don't want to be a part of this", and tried to leave the scene. If I were in the same particular situation as Amadou Diallo, I would be just as afraid and try to get out of the scene. No one actually knows what Diallo was thinking about, you can only imagine. People often say that if Amadou Diallo had listen to the cops he wouldn't have been killed. I also hear people say the he cause his own death because of his lack of submission. Personally, I know Amadou Diallo stood innocent before those cops. Diallo was in a situation that he had no clue about. There was an outrage when the verdict "Not Guilty" broke out. Many people were furious, astonished and stunned. When I heard that the case was not guilty I was so shocked because I felt that the evidence was perfectly clear that the four New York police officers was GUILTY. It was not fair to my community or me to see such a case misjudge like that. African-American communities has changed their hearts toward Police Dautruche Officers. Police Officers are the ones who we are suppose to trust and entrust with our lives. Obviously, in our world today, that is not the case. I have never had a dispute with an officer, though I have seen my friends go through events with police officers. For instance, I was in an elevator with my friend and when we got to the last floor, a police officer was right in front of the elevator. So when my (guy) friend and me came out, the P.O. Pointed his gun toward my friend's chest and ask him some questions. The P. O did not approach me or even acknowledge me.

History of Early Childhood Education – Comenius, Froebel, Montessori

Paper History of Early Childhood Education Comenius, Froebel, Montessori 1. John Amos Comenius John Amos Comenius (1592-1670) was a Czech theologian, philosopher, teacher and writer who thought education could improve society. He advocated universal textbooks & language and believed children would enjoy learning more if they were methodically taught in early years. Comenius thought instruction should move from general to specific, from easy to difficult and believed to engage children with nature. He taught that education began in the earliest days of childhood, and continued throughout life. Comenius believed in four different schools for different ages: -Nursery School – birth to 6 years of age, where hands-on learning, active experiences and sensory learning are of importance. 2 -Elementary (National) – ages 6 to 12 -Latin School (Gymnasium) – ages 13 -18 -Academy – gifted ages 19-24 From his point of view teachers should present lessons at a reasonable pace, use age-appropriate instruction, keep materials constantly before a child’s eyes and use a single method of instruction at all times.Comenius rejected the conventional wisdom that children were inherently bad and that teachers needed to use corporal punishment to discipline them. 3 He was the first to promote continuing education and the first to advocate equal education for all, including women and the poor. Furthermore he wrote the Great Didactic (a textbook for curriculum and education) and was the first to use pictures in text books for teaching children (Orbis Pictus). â€Å"His philosophy of Pansophism (meaning ‘all knowledge') attempted to incorporate theology, philosophy, and education into one. He believed that learning, spiritual, and emotional growth were all woven together† – especially in the teaching of children. â€Å"What Comenius referred to as the Via Lucis, or ‘way of light,' was the pursuit of higher learning and spiritual enlightenment bound together. † 4 In 1641/42 he was asked to completely restructure the school system of Sweden. As the Bishop of the Unitas Fratrum, the Moravian Church, Comenius was asked to be the first President of Harvard College, but declined. He died in Amsterdam in 1670. â€Å"Comenius's theory incorporated spiritual love of human beings with emphasis on Nature's goodness. 5 He was a naturalistic educator who believed children were innately good and learned most effectively and efficiently by examining objects in their immediate natural environment. â€Å"Comenius anticipated many practices associated with modern child-centered progressive education. † 6 He believed that teaching should build on children's interests and actively involve their senses. During his lifetime he published 154 books, mostly dealing with educational philosophy and theology. Known today as the ‘Father of Modern Education,' he pioneered modern educational methods. 1Comenius Founda tion, 2013, in: http://comeniusfoundation. org/pages/why-comenius/comenius-biography. php 2Essa & Young (1994), p. 36 3www. wou. edu/~girodm/foundations/pioneers. pdf, p. 106 4Comenius Foundation, 2013, in: http://comeniusfoundation. org/pages/why-comenius/comenius-biography. php 5www. wou. edu/~girodm/foundations/pioneers. pdf, p. 106 6www. wou. edu/~girodm/foundations/pioneers. pdf, p. 107 2. Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel The German educationalist Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel was born in 1782.From 1798 to 1800 he was an apprentice to a forester and surveyor in Neuhaus, and attended the University of Jena from 1800 to 1802. In 1805 Froebel briefly studied architecture in Frankfurt, got hired as a teacher and took a short course with Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi at Yverdon, where he interned from 1808 to 1810. Although he accepted certain aspects of Pestalozzi's method – the emphasis on nature, the permissive school atmosphere and the object lesson – he believed t hat Pestalozzi's theory lacked an adequate philosophical foundation.Froebel gave Pestalozzi's object lesson a more symbolic meaning by saying that the concrete object was to stimulate recall of a corresponding idea in the child's mind. He accepted Pestalozzi's general method that saw schools as emotionally secure places for children, but he elevated the concept to a highly spiritual level. Like Pestalozzi, he wanted to prepare teachers who would be sensitive to children's readiness and needs. 7 Furthermore Froebel studied languages and science at the University of Gottingen from 1810 to 1812 .He wanted to identify linguistic structures that could be applied to language instruction. From 1812 to 1816 Froebel studied mineralogy at the University of Berlin. He believed the process of crystallization, moving from simple to complex, reflected a universal cosmic law that also governed human growth and development. Froebel was influenced by two trends in the first half of the 19th century: a resurgence of philosophical idealism and the rising nationalism of the post-Napoleonic eras.Idealism emphasizes a spiritually based reality. Idealists saw the nation as embodying the world spirit on earth. During Froebel's life, there were efforts to unite the various small German kingdoms into one large nation. He believed that an education that emphasized German traditions and folk tales would advance this cause. Froebel's idealism was a reaction against the empiricism of Locke and Rosseau. However, his educational philosophy emphasized the dignity of child nature as recommended by Rousseau and Pestalozzi.In 1816 Froebel established the Universal German Educational Institute at Griesheim. He moved the institute to Keilhau in 1817 where it functioned until 1829. In 1818 Froebel married Henrietta Wilhelmine Hoffmeister (1780–1839), who assisted him until her death. In 1831 Froebel established an institute at Wartensee on Lake Sempach in Switzerland and then relocated the s chool to Willisau. Froebel next operated an orphanage and boarding school at Burgdorf. He believed that every child's inner self contained a spiritual essence that stimulated self-active learning.He therefore designed the kindergarten system for children under the age of six (1837) that would be a prepared environment to externalize children's interior spirituality through self-activity using play, songs, stories, and activities. He developed special materials (such as shaped wooden bricks and balls), a series of recommended activities (occupations) and movement activities (fine motor skills). This particular curriculum – now a standard part of early childhood education – stimulated children's cognitive, social, emotional, creative and physical development.Froebel's reputation as an early childhood educator increased and kindergartens were established throughout the German states. In 1852 Froebel passed away. By the end of the nineteenth century, kindergartens had been established throughout Europe and North America. 4 7http://education. stateuniversity. com/pages/1999/Froebel-Friedrich-1782-1852. html 3. Maria Montessori On August 31st, 1870 Maria Montessori was born at Chiaravalle, Italy. Her father, Alessandro Montessori, worked for the civil service, and her mother, Renilde Stoppani, came from an academic family and was well educated.The Montessori family moved to Rome in 1875, and the following year Maria enrolled in the local state school on the Via di San Nicolo da Tolentino. At 12, Montessori expressed her intention to attend what was called a technical school for her secondary education, which was unusual at the time as most girls who pursued secondary education studied the classics. From 1886 to 1890 she continued her studies at the Regio Instituto Tecnico Leonardo da Vinci, which she entered with the intention of becoming an engineer.This decision didn't find favor with her father, who believed that the education of females should be r estricted to certain subjects. Upon her graduation, Montessori was determined to enter medical school and become a doctor. Her father opposed this course—medical school was then an all-male preserve—and initially Maria was refused entry by the head of the school. 8 In 1890, with her mother's support, Montessori obtained her father's reluctant permission to attend the University of Rome to study physics, mathematics and natural sciences, receiving her diploma two years later.This and the Pope’s intercession enabled her to enter the College of Medicine, and she became the first woman to enter medical school in Italy. Montessori stood out not just because of her gender, but because she was actually intent on mastering the subject matter. She awarded for her work in pathology by winning a series of scholarships at medical school which, together with the money she earned through private tuition, enabled her to pay for most of her medical education. In 1895 she won a position as assistant in the University hospital.Montessori's time at medical school was a challenge, because her male colleagues showed their disapproval of her presence and she had to work alone on dissections since these were not allowed to be done in mixed classes. But she was a dedicated student and graduated in June 1896 at the top of her class as a specialist in surgery and in the diseases of women and children. She became the first woman to qualify as a doctor in Italy, and with this distinction also became known across the country. She was immediately employed in the San Giovanni Hospital attached to the University.Later that year she was asked to represent Italy at the International Congress for Women’s Rights in Berlin, where she talked about the progress of education for women in Italy. In November 1896 Montessori added the appointment as surgical assistant at Santo Spirito Hospital in Rome to her portfolio of tasks. In 1897 she volunteered to join a research prog ram at the psychiatric clinic of the University of Rome, and it was here that she worked alongside Giusseppe Montesano, with whom she would have a child a few years later.As part of her work at the clinic she would visit Rome’s asylums for the insane, seeking patients for treatment at the clinic. Montessori discovered that many children with mental, physical, or emotional disabilities, who couldn't stay at home or go to school or work, were being kept in asylums alongside adults with major psychiatric disorders. She came to realize that in such a bare, unfurnished environment the children were desperate for sensorial stimulation and activities for their hands, and that this deprivation was contributing to their condition.She began to read what others had published about working with children with various disabilities and in particular she studied the groundbreaking work of two early 19th century Frenchmen, Jean-Marc Itard and Edouard Seguin, his student. 5 8A Biography of Dr Maria Montessori, in: http://montessori. org. au/montessori/biography. htm Itard had developed a technique of education through the senses, which Seguin later tried to adapt to mainstream education. Seguin emphasized respect and understanding for each individual child.He created a practical apparatus and equipment to help develop the child’s sensory perceptions and motor skills, which Montessori was later to use in new ways. From 1897-98 she attended courses in pedagogy, studying the works of Rousseau, Pestalozzi and Froebel. In 1898 Montessori was becoming known for her work with and ideas about education for children with disabilities. In 1899, she began teaching at a college for the training of female teachers, and there she further explored and discussed ideas about education.Then, in 1900, as a result of her work with children in hospitals and asylums, Montessori was asked to become the co-director of the Orthophrenic School for children with various disabilities that pr evented them from doing well in regular schools. Montessori spent 2 years working at the Orthophrenic School, experimenting with and refining the materials devised by Itard and Seguin and bringing a scientific, analytical attitude to the work; teaching and observing the children by day and writing up her notes by night.In 1898 Maria gave birth to a child, a boy named Mario, who was given into the care of a family who lived in the countryside near Rome. In 1901 Montessori left the Orthophrenic School and immersed herself in her own studies of educational philosophy and anthropology. In 1904 she took up a post as a lecturer at the Pedagogic School of the University of Rome, which she held until 1908. 9 During this period Rome was experiencing rapid population growth and industrialization. In the fever of speculative development, some construction companies were going bankrupt, leaving unfinished building projects which quickly attracted squatters.One such development, which stood in t he San Lorenzo district, was rescued by a group of wealthy bankers who undertook a basic restoration, dividing larger apartments into small units for impoverished working families. Many children not old enough for school or work were being left alone while their parents went to work each day. These unsupervised children were vandalizing the newly renovated buildings and getting into other kinds of trouble. This prompted the developers to approach Dr. Montessori to provide ways of occupying the children during the day to prevent further damage to the premises.Montessori grasped the opportunity and established her first Casa dei Bambini or ‘Children’s House’. What Montessori came to realize was that children who were placed in an environment where activities were designed to support their natural development had the power to educate themselves (autoeducation). By the autumn of 1908 there were five Case dei Bambini operating, four in Rome and one in Milan. Children in a Casa dei Bambini made extraordinary progress, and soon 5-year-olds were writing and reading.In the summer of 1909 Montessori gave the first training course in her approach to around 100 students. He published her first book that same year in Italy, which appeared in translation in the United States in 1912 as The Montessori Method, reaching second place on the U. S. nonfiction bestseller list. Soon afterwards it was translated into 20 different languages and has become a major influence in the field of education. A period of great expansion in the Montessori approach now followed in Europe and America.By 1933 all Montessori schools in Germany had been closed. In the same year, after Montessori refused to cooperate with Mussolini’s plans to incorporate Italian Montessori schools into the fascist youth movement, he closed them all down. 9A Biography of Dr Maria Montessori, in: http://montessori. org. au/montessori/biography. htm 6 The outbreak of civil war in Spain forced the family to abandon their home in Barcelona, and they sailed to England in the summer of 1936. From England the refugees travelled to the Netherlands.In 1939 Montessori and her son Mario traveled to India to give a 3-month training course in Madras followed by a lecture tour; they were not to return for nearly 7 years. With the outbreak of war, as Italian citizens, Mario was interned and Montessori put under house arrest. She was well looked after in India, where she met Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore. Her 70th birthday request to the Indian government, that Mario should be released and restored to her, was granted. Together they trained over a thousand Indian teachers. In 1946 they returned to the Netherlands.A year later Montessori addressed UNESCO on the theme ‘Education and Peace’. In 1949 she received the first of three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. Her last public engagement was in London in 1951 when she attended the 9th International Montessori Congress. On May 6th 1952, at the holiday home of the Pierson family in the Netherlands, she passed away in the company of her son, Mario, to whom she bequeathed the legacy of her work. 10 10A Biography of Dr Maria Montessori, in: http://montessori. org. au/montessori/biography. htm 7 References: A Biography of Dr Maria Montessori, in: http://montessori. rg. au/montessori/biography. htm Comenius Foundation, 2013, in: http://comeniusfoundation. org/pages/why-comenius/comeniusbiography. php E. M. Standing, Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work (New York 1984), p. 38. Essa, E. & Young, R. (2003). Introduction to early childhood education (3rd Can. ed. ). Nelson: Canada Friedrich Froebel (1782–1852) – Biography, Froebel's Kindergarten Philosophy, The Kindergarten Curriculum, Diffusion of the Kindergarten, in: http://education. stateuniversity. com/pages/1999/Froebel-Friedrich-1782-1852. html Julia Maria, â€Å"’Le Feminisme Italien: entrevue avec Mlle. Montessori†,