Negotiation and Conflict Management Final Report Essay

â€Å"It’s time to go to the next level of my career,† I told myself a few months ago. Life and life experiences have put me in the right place at the right time to make my daydream a reality. As a natural born citizen of another country and as a newly-married person, I have a unique perspective as well as a set of obstacles and opportunities on the road ahead as I pursue my Executive MBA while being in transition. GOALS My current short-term goal professionally is to find a job that not only fulfills my current ambition of being technical leader but also a management leader in the IT world, where as my long-term goal is to start my own business (Repurposing and creatively painting old leather products into house decor) along with my life-partner in the next 3-4 years. My personal goal is to again relive my artistic side, paint and be creative and get my spouse involved in the artistic world that I like. I am at a juncture of my career where in both my personal goal of working with my life-partner coincides with my ambition of starting up a new business and apply whatever knowledge I gathered during class. My goal as far as EMBA classes is to actually be able to not only learn Finance and Accounting but actually try to master it is as much as possible because when my goal of opening up my business becomes a reality, I want to make sure I have command over that. NEGOTIATIONS In my previous company, I had the opportunity to be a part of some important negotiations which helped me as well as the project understand the various aspects that we had predominantly neglected at the start of some of these negotiation. One such negotiation was when a rival vendor was trying to sell their new software to our client which they claimed would be doing the same kind of work that we were doing for past few years. When the time came to negotiate the new contract for our project, the clients asked us to come up with a plan as to why they should consider our software v/s the rival vendor’s proposed software. When I tried to analyze the whole negotiation process that we went with the end clients and even though we managed to extend the contract, there were a lot of issues that were not par with the 3D negotiation which are as follows: We didn’t set up the right negotiation  as the right party and right interests were not set up. We never considered the No-De al option. Never paid attention to the six basic interpersonal skills that are essential for negotiation. My short term goal of being a technical as well as managerial leader in IT would require me to be a part of similar negotiations that I mentioned above. Right from extending contracts, to getting funding for maintenance and development of software, getting more business from different set of end clients which might be interested in similar software. Here are some of the important factors that needs to be considered while making these kind of negotiations. My long-term goal of opening my own business with my spouse is something that would require a lot of negotiations that needs to be done be it with the bankers or venture capitalists who might be interested in funding it, real-estate people who might be interested in selling or renting their property and the end clients/customers who would be interested in buying my end products. These are the three key area of people that I have to get involved with in-order to start my business successfully. While dealing with the Bankers/VC, one thing that we need to keep in mind is that we might have issues with one of them, so we need to keep more options and try to find the right new parties who might be interested (right players). With the Real-Estate people, you need to address the Twin tasks, namely, Learn about the true ZOPA and Shape your counterpart’s ZOPA perceptions to your advantage. New customers are more interested in creating and claiming value like discounted cash flows, creating relationships, reputation and being fair. We need to think long term for creating and claiming value as none of the parties should feel that they have been exploited or dealt with unfairly as the reputation would be at stake. All conflict management processes i.e. consensual negotiations, are based on information sharing and learning. In the process of sharing information, a party seeks to alter the knowledge, attitudes, preferences and strategies of its opponents. There are some conflict s that I might have to overcome during my business negotiations that can be summed up as: APPRAISAL As a successful negotiator the six basic interpersonal skills are utmost important but initially when I started negotiating in my previous company, I never paid real attention to some of those skills. The contract extension negotiation example above was finally approved but we had a lot of things that were not correct and that almost cost us the deal. Here are some of the key aspects of that deal: a) My company had this contract for past 9 years without any competition and hence I never expected a rival vendor to just come up with another proposal with the end client. b) I never really dealt with the topic of creating and claiming value as part of the negotiation. c) Had an incomplete/blurry information on the rival vendor and their product hence before proposing the deal, we never dug deep to rectify it. d) Never pressed on the issue of Your Interests / Their Interests. As this was a contract that was being extended every single year, this thing never came to my mind. The reason we got the extension on the contract was due to some of equally compelling strength that as a negotiator we had and they were as follows: a) Our ability to make sure the end clients understand their No-Deal option. Even though we weren’t aware that it was called the No-Deal option, we certainly went that route when we presented our merits in front of them and made sure they understood what they were losing in-case the contract was not extended. b) Even though we didn’t do our homework on the rival contractor, we made sure that we had all our facts and data right once we were in front on the clients. The data showed all the current savings that we were providing to the end clients and this was a major factor that earned us the good point. My Strengths Reasoning The quality and extent of my preparation The better you understand your interests (why you want what you want); and the better you understand the interests of other parties (why they want what they want), the greater the chance you will be able to reach an elegant solution which leaves the parties feeling as if each has achieved the major portion of their goals People walk away thinking they would be pleased to  negotiate again with me A negotiator’s relative strength can be measured by whether people walk away thinking they would be pleased to negotiate again with him/her. If people leave a negotiation with you thinking they never want to see you again, then you are a poor negotiator Good communication to other parties so they understand my top priority A negotiator needs to understand that different issues should be treated as having different priorities in different negotiations. Sometimes the relationship is most important; other times creativity is the measure of how well one negotiates; and it is always true that good communication is a fundamental measure of a negotiator’s strength. A good negotiator makes her/his points clearly understood by other parties. A better negotiator makes understanding other parties her/his top priority. In Moms.com case study, I was Terry Schiller and as my role was to sell the program, I made sure that for my preparation for the case, whether finding the right balance between the no. of re-runs v/s the licensing rate and making sure that this balance would give me as well as other party the max value. I had already calculated this before the negotiation started so that I knew what value would affect me as well as the other party. In Viking Investments case study, I was the person that run Viking investments and even though bankruptcy was the option for the other party, I not only made sure that it won’t happen but provided the other party with 3 different options and gave her the choice to choose which ever suited her bill. I believe in maintaining relationships and making sure that the other party feels the same way, hence when the other party walks away after the negotiation, they would want to do more business with me going forward. In Biopharm-Seltek case study, I repres ented Biopharm and my main goal was to make sure that the other party understood that I was not only interested in their company but was not interested in buying their patent. My Weakness Reasoning Dealing with negative emotions from the other side of the table Are my standards of fairness being violated? Is the common bias operating about my being cooperative and fair while the other party is hostile and competitive?  What rule or assumption that I hold is being violated by the other’s behavior? Controlling your emotions — commanding reasonable authority, managing your temper, etc. Has something been raised that questions what I tell myself I am or hope to be, such as Am I competent? Am I fair? Am I a good person? Knowing when to step away from the negotiation table — and being able to really do it No negotiator wants to enter into a poor agreement. But similarly, every negotiator should want to walk away from an unsatisfactory agreement towards a clearly defined, satisfactory BATNA In Viking Investments case study, there were times I couldn’t control my emotion because as per my own belief I was trying to go all the way out to help the other side not file for bankruptcy but in the middle I thought that I was fighting the battle alone. I was emotionally drained out to make the other understand the consequence of bankruptcy and helping them more than I should as a result of which I questioned my own self whether I am competent enough. This to me is a sign of weakness because I let my emotion take over the negotiation process. In Biopharm-Seltek case study, I was overwhelmed by the negative emotion from the other side as they were not ready to part away with the company without me buying the patent. It was their major walk away reason for them which I was not able to understand as they were being very hostile without being reasonable. I saw a very different take on this which was against my own personality and it was something I couldn’t overcome and need to work upon that. I still have a hard time to understand that you should never accept a proposal that is worse than your BATNA. Hence I couldn’t understand when to step away in case it didn’t work out. In the Moms.com, I didn’t get the proposal that I prepared so confidently before the negotiation started and I couldn’t find the courage to walk away from the table even though I knew the value created was not as much as what I had initially proposed. PLAN Here are the negotiation skills that I plan on improving and dealing with short term as well as my long term goals: 1. Do your research. Clarify your own objectives and make sure you understand what your opposite number wants from the deal. For example, by doing some basic research into a potential supplier, you can work out how valuable your custom is to them. 2. Plan your strategy in writing and decide what approach you will adopt before beginning negotiations. Be clear about the type of deal you want, set clear goals and work out where you will draw the line and walk away from the deal. 3. Ask questions and listen closely to answers. Asking questions will help you understand what your opposite number wants to achieve. You may be able to get them to reveal how flexible they are on certain issues. 4. Decide what is negotiable. Before you start to negotiate, draw up a list of factors that are most important to you. Decide what you are (and aren’t) prepared to compromise on. Key factors might include price, payment terms, volume or delivery dates. The key is to establish your preferred outcome, but remain realistic, because if you’re not prepared to compromise some negotiations won’t last long. 5. Don’t reveal your negotiating position and avoid making unnecessary concessions. If you have to make concessions – look for reciprocation. Concessions should only be made to help you get the things you value. You should also avoid appearing too keen to do a deal. Consider what offer the other party in the negotiations is likely to make and how you’ll respond. 6. Select the best team. Once you’ve decided on your strategy it is essential that you get your negotiating team right. Make sure it has skills in all the required areas and, where necessary, use a specialist to negotiate in areas outside your expertise 7. Drawing up a contract. Once all the points have been negotiated and a deal has been agreed, it’s best t o get a written contract drawn up and signed by both parties. While verbal contracts are legally binding – they are difficult to prove in court. 8. Choose the right time and place for negotiation. Ideally select a time and place where you are not under pressure to close the deal. My plan of being successful in negotiations Mapping the parties I would like to start with private talks with various individual parties  (bankers, customers, etc.) before bringing everyone together for public negotiations, or it may be better to immediately begin negotiation with all stakeholders. When developing the process, it is important to consider the role of third parties, special procedures and specific negotiation systems. This will likely require an understanding of the cultural norms and individual personalities of the parties involved. Further important considerations relevant to the process include how the process is to be determined and how it could be modified. The set up essentially ensures that the scope, sequence and process of a negotiation is consistent with my desired outcome for the negotiation. I need to ensure that the right parties have been involved, in the right sequence, to deal with the right issues that engage the right set of interests, at the right table or tables, at the right time, under the right expectations , facing the right consequences of walking away if there is no deal.

Minimising faiulures in the homeland intelligence security Essay

An intelligence community is a group or a coalition of organisation in the United State of America. It is part of the executive branch that is autonomous and works indipendently in matters related to security and investigation of crimes. The intelligence community is accountable to the president, the policy makers and other senior departments in the government of the united states to collect and gather the necessary information to ensure maximum security is maintained within the country as part of executing their mandate (Noftsinger at el, 2007). The intelligence community has a definate method of carrying out their duties. The first step involves the identification of the problem that need to be sorted as a matter of security concern. Then a plan is laid on how the process is to go and the necessary data is collected. The collected data is put under scrutiny and strictly analysed by the intelligence experts. Later a report is compiled giving the reccomedations and suggestions regarding the security concern matter. The report is then given to the president or the policy makers or even the millitary commanders depending on who required the investigation. However the intelligence community and especially the homeland intelligence security has not been without failures. To decreas the number of these failures the secrecy within the intelligence agents becomes very critical (Kivett, 2006). In this case the transmission of information from one point to the other should be guarded to the maximum to ensure that no leakage of information takes place. Consequently it is prefferd that information should not be transmitted at all if it is not secured. Nevertheless, the secrecy that should be maintained is not wholly on all facets of the government. The intelligence community needs to share some neccessary ideas with other experts and organisations all over. The sharing of corporate ideas does not pose any danger to the security agencies as it reveals more of the other rival intention. Sharing of ideas should only be restricted for the millitary concepts and guarding as well as security matters. Sharing of technological knowhow does not make the rival better than the intelligence community agencies in place (Beyer, 2004). The intelligence community in the united state have been very keen on the collection and sharing of the information. But the major failure is now involving connecting and understanding the intelligence. This failure can be reduced by ensuring that all high priority threats investigation are specifically and stictly assigned so that the responsibility can be shouldered on certain capacities. The investigation should be a an all time process. A gap also exists between the report by the inteligence community and the distribution of that information therefore leading to a failure in the intelligence service. This failure can be reduced by ensuring that any report which has potential threat is distributed more effectivelly and measures taken. Furthermore the analytical process for the reports given should be strengthened with the incorporation of the intelligence experts to enhace more reliable information for execution. A failure in the homeland security intelligence is also experienced due to the lack of up to date technological equipments. This leaves a gap for the threats and should be reduced by more advenced explosive detection capabilities at all points of interaction with other nations like the airports, the ports, and the boarder. For this to come to reality a great investment by the U. S government need to be done for the installations. The homeland intelligence security should also improve aviation screaning and security towards the international partnership. An improvement in the organisational or agencies system is also important for information to move smoothly and timely for actions to be taken before the damage occurs.

Colonized and Exploited People of Dune

Frank Herbert’s science fiction classic, Dune, is a stand-alone novel which introduces the world to the desert planet of Dune and the novels which follow, detailing the history of the people of a distant place and time. Dune is the only spot in the universe where the spice, Melange, is found. Dune has been colonized for 80 years by the House of Harkonnen. Dune is inhabited by the native Fremen and the soldiers and underlings of the Baron Harkonnen. The Fremen are lords of the desert and masters of the giant sand worms that live in the deep desert, but servants to the evil overlords.It is the presence of the worms that makes any travel or movement across those deserts very dangerous. The title of this paper refers to the Fremen and the Harkonnnen soldiers and people whose duty it is to keep Fremen in bondage. It is a paper on the colonized and exploited people of the novel Dune. The ongoing topic theme in the novel is the subjugation of the Fremen and how they are used, as the natives of most colonies are used, by their colonial masters. However, Herbert quickly shows the reader a different side of the Fremen.There is much more to them than what the Harkonnens or anyone else in the universe thinks. The Fremen are not the docile people it is thought that they are. They have secret stashes of weapons and water hidden in the desert and they are able to ride on the backs of the giant sand worms. It is made clear that they are waiting only for a leader who will organize them and send them against their evil overlords, the Harkonnens. Paul Atreides will be a holy warrior and a god to the native inhabitants.He will take their army and mold it to his will. This, in turn, will bring the Emperor of the universe and all of the leaders of the great houses to Arrakis, which is the real name of the planet Dune. They will come to protect their interest and the spice. They will underestimate the young Duke Paul Atreides and he will seize the Emperor’s crown for hi mself. Paul and the once exploited Fremen will rule the universe by overthrowing the House Harkonnen and forcing the abdication of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV.The Fremen, led by Paul Atredeides, prove that oppressed peoples, in bondage to colonial powers, can hope to overthrow those tyrants and control their own lives if they never accept their slavery. The House Harkonnen, ruled by the evil Baron, pretend to give up their colony on Dune and turn it over to the House Atreides and its benevolent Duke, Leto, though they plan in secret to overthrow the duke and return to retake Dune as soon as House Atreides gets too comfortable in their new role. They are patient and they pretend they have left the planet peacefully and have turned over everything on the planet to House Atreides.Instead they have left spies and traps everywhere in the palace they have abandoned. Their plan is to return in force, murder the duke, his wife and heir and regain control of the spice. Their plan almost succeeds and they think they have retaken the planet. What they have not taken into consideration is that the Duke’s son and his wife escaped them, fled to the desert and took refuge with the Fremen. So while they managed to kill Duke Leto, his son, who is now Duke Paul, is alive and under the protection of the wild unexploited and dangerous Fremen of the deep desert.They also have not considered that Duke Paul’s arrival has been predicted by the Fremen holy women for generations and they accept Paul as their leader immediately. It is not long until they come to accept him as their god. The shield walls of the fortress are breached by the use of the Atreides family atomic weapons. With the shield-walls down the Fremen can enter, riding on the backs of giant sand worms and fight the Emperor’s Sardaukar army hand-to-hand in their favorite method of killing enemies.â€Å"Onward toward the Emperor’s hutment they (Fremen) came while the House Sardaukar stood awed for the first time in their history by an onslaught their minds found difficult to accept,† (451). The Emperor retreated for his life as his praetorian guard fought to the death to save him. He and Baron Harkonnen believed they held Alia, the young sister of Paul Atreides, as their hostage, while in reality she was almost as powerful as her older brother and never in any danger from them in any way. It was she who then kills the evil Harkonnen with a poisoned needle that she jabs into his hand.He dies instantly and House Harkonnen is without a leader. â€Å" (The barron’s) eyes bulged as he stared at a red slash on his left palm. †¦He rolled sideways in his suspensors, a sagging mass of flesh, supported inches off the floor with head lolling and mouth hanging open,† (450). Paul himself kills the last Harkonnen in a knife duel in front of the Emperor he is about to depose. The Emperor becomes a prisoner of Duke Paul and his Fremen, who were once the exp loited indigenous peoples of Dune, enslaved by their Harkonnen colonial overlords.To make the Emperor’s punishment complete Paul Atreides demands the hand of Shaddam IV’s daughter, and the crown of empire which he wears. â€Å"The Emperor turned a stricken look upon his daughter. She touched his arm, spoke soothingly: ‘For this I was trained, Father,’†(473). Paul not only takes the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV’s daughter in marriage, and the crown that he wears, he also exiles the Emperor to a remote planet. â€Å"You shall have a throne on Salusa Secundu,† Paul tells him at the meeting immediately after the battle, as Paul was dictating the terms (472).Paul also takes away the Emperor’s source of wealth and divides it up among his loyal servants. He leaves the former Emperor with little but a palace and a throne chair on which he could sit and think about the past when he ruled the universe. â€Å"(Get for me) the Emperor†™s entire CHOAM company holdings as dowry, â€Å" Paul tells his mother (473). Paul Atreides, the young son of Duke Leto Atreides, begins his slow path to becoming a god of the Fremen of Dune in an odd way, as if anyone has ever become a god in a routine way.Along with his mother he is taken prisoner when House Harkonnen betrayed the House Atreides and overthrew their rule of the planet Dune. They are to be killed by being taken deep into the deserts of Dune in a flying ship, and there they are to be abandoned without food, water or shelter. They will either die of the elements, starvation, dehydration or become the prey of marauding giant sand worms which prowl the deep deserts and are attracted to the noise of people walking across the sand. Paul’s mother, the Lady Jessica, concubine to the Duke, is a Bene Gesserit witch with many powers.She is able to bend the minds of most men to her will by using her hypnotic voice. As she and Paul are bound and gagged and in a flying machine headed into the dessert Paul tries to use his own limited powers on the two Harkonnen men. Jessica understands what he is trying to do and helps him. He is able to get them to ungag his mother and she is able to use her full voice powers to convince them to unbind her son. Paul is able to overpower the two men and bring down the ship in the middle of the desert.He and his mother seek refuge in a rock outcrop when leads into a cavern. There they find the Fremen of the desert, the natives of Dune, the people they are exploiting. These Freemen are seen as a non-violent group, mostly serving their Harkonnen masters as servants and doing menial tasks for them. But they are cunning and adept at surviving. They spy on the Harkonnens and do all they can to upset the trade and livelihood of their masters. Deep in the remote deserts of Dune there are far more of them then anyone realizes and they are militant.They plan to change the face of their world because they have no free water . They envision creating rivers and lakes and even rain. They have spent years trapping reservoirs of water which they plan to release when the time is right. They are a very religious people and their holy women, those who can see visions by ingesting the spice, Melange, have prophesied that a man will come to them and lead them in a holy war across the face of the planet and even beyond. He will be what they call the ‘Kwisatz Haderach’ and he will be able to see the future.Paul and his mother join up with the Fremen and Jessica becomes their Reverend Mother. Paul quickly moves to lead in all areas. He fulfills the prophesies and they begin to recognize his abilities. The Water of Life is a fluid in which a baby sandworm has been soaked and preserved (423). It is deadly poisonous to humans unless they have the training and the power to convert this elixir to a harmless by-product inside their bodies. It is drank by women who wish to become holy and take their place as Reverend Mothers. No man has ever survived drinking it.Jessica drank of the liquid, and it changed her to a Reverend Mother, but she was pregnant with Paul’s sister, Alia, at the time. It also changed her as well and so she was born premature and a full Reverend Mother, with all the knowledge possessed by all of the Reverend Mothers who had gone before her. Paul then decided that if he was really the chosen one he could survive the drinking of the water. He did survive and he came out of the experiences as the Kwizatz Haderach (424), a much more powerful being than a Reverend Mother, and fulfills all of the prophesies of the Fremen.They call him Muad Dib and begin a cult that results in his deification (350). As the leader and god figure of the Freman, Paul Atreides begins a holy war across the face of the universe. His Fremen are religious fanatics. Graves wrote that Claudius I said that religious fanaticism is the most dangerous form of insanity. Paul was aware of his godhe ad and he understood that he lost friends when he became more god-like. As the Freman began to worship him they no longer could love him as a human being. â€Å"I’ve seen a friend become a worshipper,† he (Paul Atreides) thought (455).The truth-sayer and Reverend Mother of the Padishah Emperor understands what happened and she understands Paul’s godhead. She sees what will happen if this group of Fremen warriors were ordered into space to swarm across the universe in a holy war for the sake of spreading the religion of Paul Muad Dib. â€Å"She glimpsed the jihad and said: ‘You cannot loose these people upon the universe! ’ (473). The circle becomes complete. In the beginning the Fremen are the exploited natives of a planet that had the potential to rule the universe. All it needs is the right leader, which it finds in Paul Atreides.It is also equally clear that the leader who is prophesied to arrive is the son of their new overlord, Duke Leto Atrei des. It is proven that 15-year-old Paul is the chosen one, the man who will come and lead the Fremen in a jihad against the evil Harkonnens. Although he arrives on Dune as the rich son of the ruling Duke, he quickly moves to identify with the natives and become one of them. Paul overthrows the House Harkonnen and deposes the Emperor. He gains control of all spice production and becomes a god in the eyes of the Freman, who throw off the colonial yoke of servitude.These warriors spread his religion across the universe and he is worshipped as god and Emperor. Bibliography Graves, R. I, Claudius New York: Vintage Press 1989 Herbert, F. Dune New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons 1999 Answers. com Fremen Retrieved 3-32-07 from: http://www. answers. com/topic/fremen Farsector. com 2003 Desert Power Retrieved 3-30-07 from: http://www. farsector. com/media/4_2003. htm wikipedia. org Paul Atreides Retrieved 3-29-07 from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Paul_Atreides

Macro Economics - summary A Better Way Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Macro Economics - summary A Better Way - Essay Example Another beneficial factor for the increase in productivity is reorganization of labour force that has led to â€Å"fulfilling wants that had been unmet or may be even unknown.† (Page 5). Reorganization from trade also helps in creating more efficient deployment of labour economy wide as resources are shifted to their best uses as the producers seek comparative advantage in market place (following Ricardian comparative advantage). Higher productivity also helps in increasing the state of employment in the economy because higher productivity promises higher profits implying higher income for people. Higher income means higher demand and so there will be increase in investment and more creation of jobs. Furthermore, higher productivity provides the worker with more leisure and there by an opportunity to enjoy whatever they earn. This march to livelihood was not achieved in one day. After achieving self sufficiency in food grain with the advent of electrical appliances for cultiva tion, agriculture became capital intensive and freed up labor made their plunge to the industrial sector, thereby preparing a base for the tertiary sector to flourish. But the trend in productivity has been choppy. This has been â€Å"due to business cycle upturns and slowdowns as well as longer-term economic trends.†(Page 8). To make the increase in productivity continuing it is important that improvement in technology continues. With more improvement in technology there will be much more improvement in productivity. Technological improvement would bring in more sophisticated technologies which would help in improving the quality of work, save time and thus help in bringing down the costs. Again trade also makes a powerful impact on the overall efficiency of the economy. Productivity gains from trade stands for the operation of open markets. Due to expansion in trade it has now become possible to produce goods in those

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Summary - Essay Example The chapter addresses the ambiguous nature of the behaviors of basking sharks. Wells points out that very few facts are known about the basking sharks, which makes it almost impossible to come up with ways to preserve it. It is among the most sought fish species to an extent that it has been declared as an endangered species yet its mating and breeding habits are mysterious. This has made it almost impossible for zoologists to protect their young ones artificially. Irrespective of its large size, the basking shark has not been able to escape from the human impacts. It is quite unclear why the basking sharks choose to stay close to the water surface where planktons are minimal. Additionally this behavior exposes them to the danger of being fished. Though there have been regulations set to regulate the fishing of basking shark, it becomes impossible to avoid trapping the off springs of basking shark since it is hard to tell their whereabouts. However, Wells criticizes the enthusiasm wi th which humans harpoon the endangered species whenever they can. The mating habits of the basking sharks and their behaviors are incomprehensible to many. Even to the marine zoologists know too little to compile a history of this organism. One of the least understood behavior is the migration of the basking sharks to the bottom of the ocean during winter. ... Unlike other types of fish where age can be predicted by observing the scales, sharks have no scales. Vital information such as the rate of reproduction amongst the basking sharks remains unknown. Irrespective of the fact that basking sharks are often harpooned or netted, it is almost impossible to capture a pregnant female. According to Wells (76) the only pregnant female that has ever been captured, in 1936, gave birth to five living young ones ascertaining that basking sharks are viviparous like other sharks. This is quite strange and makes it hard to determine the growth rate of basking sharks. The ratio of males to females is unknown in addition to the unknown mating habits. It is hard to contemplate of an organism considered the second largest fish that is often harpooned, yet so little is known about it. The attempts made to track the movements of basking sharks to see if it could help reveal a little about their life history were unsuccessful. Wells attributes this to the unw illingness of any authorities to fund the operations. This is because most people view conservative efforts as irrelevant. Since animals migrate freely across territorial and economic boundaries, it becomes nobody’s business to ensure that they are protected. The same individual who do so little to protect the endangered species end up being the beneficiaries of the over exploitative fishing behaviors exhibited towards the species. Zoologists who are concerned with the welfare of animal species have little say particularly on issues regarding fishing of sharks for economic gain. Their efforts to give advice on measures that can be taken to protect endangered species are ignored by those who fear that

Groups and Teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Groups and Teams - Essay Example Several reasons were collected and comparison made. The major reasons that had affected the performance of the groups were: leadership, communication, perspective towards one another, and commitment. According to Tuckman, the issue of leadership can be resolved according to his model, which describes leadership in four stages namely; formation, forming, storming, norming, and adjourning. The latter being the end of the task. Leadership is the determinant of group success, and with Tuckman’s model, the team issues can be resolved. Keywords: Teams, Members, Communication, Leadership, Tuckman’s Model QUESTION ONE Factors that Caused Poor Functioning of Team A Lack of consistency in terms of attendance by 3 group members during the initial stages of project development, there was a lot of absenteeism. Lack of defined leadership; there was no right procedure for the appointment of leaders, in fact, there is the case where the caretaker and the organizer were appointed in the absence of some members. Poor communication approach: Due to various commitments of the members, it was difficult for them to meet; this was further affected by the methods of communication preferred by members. Some preferred face to face, while others preferred the use of discussion tools. Furthermore, these two methods had other challenges. For the case of face to face, there were conflicts on the meeting points, and at times failure by members to attend. For the case of discussion tools, some members did not have time to read what had been posted. These communication problems greatly affected the progress of the project. According to the statistics collected in the socio-gram, results showed that members could not work well with one another, since there were differences amongst them. Coping up with such an issue in a group is very difficult and usually leads to failure. Lenience of the members in dealing with defaulting members became a routine, and this resulted to overworking on the part of the other members, hence creation of imbalance of workloads. Lack of commitment: some members had taken lightly the task that was before them and therefore could not give it priority; ideas could not be well tapped and often, there was over reliance on a few individuals. Factors that led to Poor Functioning of Group B Late commencement of the project: the members dragged themselves too much, and this reduced their time to work, while they still had to beat the deadline. Poor communication: members rarely met and used discussion tools inadequately. Lack of commitment: this is seen through the two dropouts who earlier on showed some signs of commitment and later retreated. Internal conflicts: although some members denied this, it was still evident that misunderstandings prevailed; some were angry and stressed while doing the work, but could not communicate it out. Norms were not set to enable each member to have a guideline to follow. QUESTION TWO Comparison of Conflic ts in Group A and Group B Tickman’s stage two of group formation is regarded as the storming stage and is seen as the conflict stage. In terms of decision making, there are similarities between the two groups (group A and B). At one point, members agree on certain approaches, but fail to honor the decision. For the two groups, in most occasions, each member decides what to do, regardless of the impact on the project. The position of leadership differed in the two

The Impact of Automakers Demands on the Steel Industry Assignment

The Impact of Automakers Demands on the Steel Industry - Assignment Example Ford’s River Rouge factory’s partnership with steel mill has gone for a long time with the partnership leading to the construction of highly popular vehicles in America, ranging from the Model A to F-150 pickup truck. However, in 2014, Ford announced its switch to the use of Aluminum in the construction of its F-150 trucks. This is not just a concern to Steel mill but all steelmakers within the US as most of the car makers have turned their attention towards the use of aluminum in the construction of cars. Being the second vital source of revenue for steelmakers, only after the construction industry, the automakers constitute about 20 percent steel sales for the steel makers within the US on an annual basis. As such, a shift towards aluminum as a replacement of steel would have a great impact on the revenue of the steel industry. The automakers are pushed towards adopting the lighter steel as a major component of their cars as a result of the push by both the administra tion and the consumers to develop fuel-efficient vehicles. The steel industry has effectively and rapidly responded to this shift in consumer demands by developing lighter, high-strength steel that would meet the needs of the consumers. For Steel Mill, this has led to the adoption of the lighter steel by Ford in building the frame of its F-150 trucks. This type of steel is sold at a lower price than the initial steel, which has reduced the cost for the consumers while at the same time increasing the sales for the steel-makers. Other companies within the steel industry have also been forced to merge with other companies that have proficiency in the development of lighter steel, as a strategic move aimed at holding onto their consumers.

Manage people performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Manage people performance - Essay Example As the organization is already highly differentiated in terms of market segmentation the overarching company goals are expanding these market elements into larger markets, as well as creating more value for members. Still, within this context of understanding there are specific company goals that further articulate the organization’s strategic initiatives. In these regards, the first company goal has been indicated to be, â€Å"To deliver our core products and services to a standard and quality which meets or exceeds members’ expectations† (‘Racq’). In these regards, the company recognizes that while they achieved significant success, it’s necessary to continue to develop and create customer value in as effective and efficient way as possible. In ensuring that customer expectations are met and exceeded the organization can retain current customers and expand into new markets. A second primary company goal is to develop means of increasing the value of membership in a mutual gains approach for company and customer. While this may seem counter-intuitive, the company understands that in developing greater efficiency measures, strengthened partnerships, and greater strategy, membership can be both expanded as a means of offering greater value to the customer and still retaining an increased profit share. The final company goal is to develop new and sustainable income streams that function within the company’s brand and vision. Since it’s beginnings the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland has been highly successful in not simply gaining members, but also in expanding the membership benefits and sources of revenue. One considers that the company does not simply provide roadside assistance, but also gains revenue from car and automobile insurance. The company then desires to expand into even further markets as a means of gaining profit and developing the organization. There are a number of critical success factors for the

Chinese Values Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chinese Values - Essay Example Wisdom is virtues that enable one differentiate wrong from right. According to Confucius, wisdom understands other people. To love other people you must have a loving heart and to understand others you must have the wisdom to enable them to differentiate the good from evil this will help them promote good and control evil in the society. The Chinese leaders who had wisdom lead society to success.Honesty instills integrity, credibility, and trustworthiness. Businesses, which operated, honestly achieved the best. Loyalty to the motherland, family, and friends in terms of offering services faithfully. Protecting country and family is a sign of one’s loyalty. Filial piety is respect, especially to the elders. In Chinese culture, burial of elders was the duty of the young they believed in nurturing the young and caring for the old (Hsia). All these values have been incorporated in Chinas diplomacy, and since it worked wonders in Chinese society, the whole world must embrace these v alues to establish a mutually tolerant and universally embraceable world order. Unity in diversity is brought about by harmony. A harmonious person chooses to live harmoniously with others. For peaceful coexistence, one must choose to respect other territories and powers and chose never to interfere in other countries internal affairs. A harmonious person believes in equality and mutual benefit from each other. These principles have been employed by most countries due to the peaceful China.

Information systems for management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Information systems for management - Essay Example The report will conclude the contribution of Information Systems in an organization along with the importance of authentic data, as the information system is based on the quality and size of captured data that need to be processed. As mentioned in summary, report will demonstrate a role of an information system in an organization that will capture or collect the data related to students attending Friday classes. The group of students is specified as ‘surrogate users’. Consequently, the project sponsor of this group i.e. the tutor, constructed a data entry system that will collect information from surrogate users related to personal data, transport data and the data that is collected up to five weeks. Information system is defined as â€Å"data converted into something valuable and usable for certain user† (, DEFINITION OF INFORMATION SYSTEM). As for this project, a platform named as Joint Application Development (JAD) is constructed within the system consisting of members of the group. For making the process efficient, Tuchman’s model is the best option along with processing of three elements before performing i.e. storming, forming and norming. The project includes different roles of different JAD member within different stages of the project. The JAD members include users, Information technology professionals and consultants. The different roles at different stages of the project were helpful in terms of data capturing quality and authentication. Moreover, it also facilitated real world scenarios over and above the value. Data evaluation was conducted by collecting data from forms in order to use them to develop charts illustrating linkages between queries along with demographics and statistics of users of the system. Moreover, the charts and demographics also demonstrated patterns of human behavior on the system. Furthermore, continuous analyses were performed to examine the system for further improvements and suggestions. The name of the project will be titles as Transport System. Data Capture and Discussions If the data is not in an organized form, it will be difficult to retrieve information and knowledge from the data sources. In order to make the data useful, it must be easily accessible, quick retrievable and effectively manageable. In order to add these values to the data, it must be captures in a logical method. In figure 1, as shown in appendices, data capturing was processed through a personal detail form including attributes such as Full name, Gender and Date of birth. After entering the data, it was stored in the form of tables as Microsoft Access stores the data in the table and in a readable format, as shown in Figure 3 in appendices. After entering the data, daily student travel form was constructed, as shown in Figure 2 in appendices. On a weekly basis, the form was incorporated with travel modes, travel comments and travel modes. Quality The examination of data was based on its quality in ord er to portray real world scenarios to an extent. The system was efficient in demonstrating basic information related to the popular transport modes that were popular among specific genders. For instance, the tube was popular for males along with thirteen men using the tube. Although, tubes were most popular for females with twenty-two women using the tube. However, to adopt real world scenarios, detailed inputs were required. For instance, weather forecast information, travelling of someone from somewhere etc. As people were usually late to reach to destination for many different reasons, a data check box in the system indicating

Leadership, Team Building and Communication at Apple Inc Essay

Leadership, Team Building and Communication at Apple Inc - Essay Example The essay "Leadership, Team Building and Communication at Apple Inc" overviews the leadership, team building and communication strategies at Apple Inc, one of the top organizations, which are involving many workers who work in different teams. As the time passes, many things and concepts are modified according to the situation. Same is the case with the leadership style and theories. Leadership theories are modified according to the need of the hour. Traditionally there were trait leadership model, behavioral leadership, and the situational leadership theories. Then there comes a difference in the thought pattern of leaders and the organizations. The contemporary theories include transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and the charismatic leadership. In the 21st century, there are many new concepts, which are emerging according to the situation and the issues, which any leader may face. This includes expansive leadership, emotional intelligence and the system thinking from the leader perspective. Different types of powers can be classified based on interpersonal communication. This interpersonal power actually assists people and very much helpful for the people who are in leadership positions. Expert power, legitimate power, referent power and the most important information power, these are all kinds of interpersonal powers which actually help any leader. When two or more persons work anywhere, in the form of a team or a group, then the occurrence of conflicts is a common matter of fact.

Emotional Intelligence Essay Example for Free

Emotional Intelligence Essay The article titled, The Emotional Intelligence of Leaders, written by Daniel Goleman, emphasizes on the emotional intelligence aspect of leadership and discusses various points regarding emotional intelligence in leaders and in people in general. There is a clear separation of raw intelligence technical expertise from that of emotional intelligence. It is explained that raw intelligence and technical expertise are the basic skills and capabilities required of a leader, but that emotional intelligence is the element that, combined with the basic skills, makes up a successful leader. It involves demonstrating qualities of the heart, in that leaders should be able to connect with people on a human level, in addition to possessing the basic leadership skills. Following the discussion of the anatomy of emotions, the article describes that there are five main elements of emotional intelligence that are explained in the article, including self-awareness, managing emotions, motivating others, showing empathy, and staying connected, which is then proceeded by a discussion of raising your EQ. In the discussion of the anatomy of emotions, the amygdala is said to be a structure in the limbic system that stores emotional memory and perceptions. Some of these memories can include being happy, sad, and angry. When a situation occurs, you go back to your emotional memory to process a response or reaction. The first main element of emotional intelligence is self-awareness. In terms of leadership, self-awareness is described as a capability that allows one to have and to practice self-confidence and self-assessment. Self-assessment allows you to pay attention and properly assess the natural feelings that occur when faced with situations or decisions as a leader. It is important for a leader to have these natural gut feelings and to appropriately process and incorporate these feelings into leadership decisions. In doing so, a leader will possess a sense of self-confidence in their actions and decision making. It is what gives a person the sense of gallantry in their leadership role. The second element of emotional intelligence is managing emotions, which is explained as the ability to deal with ones own stress and impulsivity,  especially in terms of anger, anxiety, and sadness. In doing so, one can pay more attention to situations and decisions that they are faced with as a leader, and less attention on the emotional disturbance that is faced with being rudderless in managing their emotions. By managing your emotions and practicing self-control, leaders can avoid poor decision making and will demonstrate improved leadership abilities. The next element described is motivating others, which involves management and leaders to be able to emotionally motivate and inspire others. Optimism is explained to be an important aspect of motivating others. It is said that the optimist can deal with setbacks better than the pessimist. In the event of a setback, an optimist leader would be able to overcome the issue and try again, learning from the setback and striving to push forward toward the goal or mission. Whereas the pessimist would give up, demonstrating a lack of ability to motivate their team. The ability to motivate others is a strong quality of emotional intelligence in leadership. Another element described in the article is showing empathy, which is the ability to read emotions of others, and again, connecting with people on a human level. Empathy shows your team a sense of connection and that you care about what they are feeling. Often, when empathy is not present, people can feel unappreciated and disconnected, leaving them overwhelmed and probably not at their best performance. It is crucial that leaders stay connected and in tune with their workforce. The last element is staying connected, which describes the ability to make and maintain a connection with your people. A leader should demonstrate a positive presence, and show their keenness and optimistic attitudes as this will reflect on their team and, most likely, will have a direct affect on how their workforce reacts. Expressing these kinds of emotions will surely have an influence on the team. Additionally, this will also contribute to the teams potential and performance, which is always a goal of a manager or leader. The final section of the article explains the ability to raise your EQ or  emotional intelligence. It is the qualities of the heart that make up ones emotional intelligence, and although much of it comes naturally, some can still be taught. It takes desire, dedication, and coaching to successfully increase your emotional intelligence. In summary, it is emotional intelligence and the ability to connect with people on a human level, including understanding peoples emotions as well as expressing your own in an appropriate leadership manner, that gives leaders the fully rounded skill set to effectively lead people. Leaders should certainly possess raw intelligence and technical expertise, but more importantly, they must know how to connect with their teams and stay in touch with their emotions, as well as demonstrate positive emotions themselves. Emotional intelligence is something that can be learned, but is also a human ability that can come naturally to many at a young age. Leaders, in any environment, should understand the importance of emotional intelligence and the effects that it has on themselves, their teams, and the overall performance within their groups. The article titled, Thought Leadership: a radical departure from traditional, positional leadership, written by Mitch McCrimmon, discusses the differences of shared or distributed leadership, leaderful organizations, and thought leadership, while focusing on thought leadership as a new and emerging leadership style that is shaped differently from the traditional positional leadership style. There are three main sections of the article, including new leadership, what is thought leadership, and the key characteristics of thought leadership. In discussing _the new leadership_ style of thought leadership, the article explains that, unlike leaderful organizations and shared leadership, thought leadership does not involve the traditional managerial roles that are identified as leaders. Rather, the thought leadership involves individual innovative employees that demonstrate an ability to challenge a current status or process and provide new ideas to better a project or an organization as a whole. The discussion of _what is thought leadership_ provides insight of the abilities of a thought leader, and describes some skills that thought leaders do not need to possess. A though leader has the abilities to advocate new ideas that merit attention, whether by corporate management, co-workers, customers, and even market industries. An individual possessing this type of leadership style can be thought of as innovative individual and a thinker. Thought leaders, however, do not need to possess the traditional positional managerial skills, and can even lack the typical leadership skills, such and motivational skills. In fact, thought leaders to not need to oversee projects, be decision-makers, or manage task execution. The new idea can be presented in discussion, argument, and by presentation. It is usually up to a hierarchical management team to actually execute the new idea. The final section consisted of the _key characteristics of thought leadership_, in which some key points are identified. Just to name a few, thought leadership does not always start with management and work downward. In fact, it can start with employees and move upward to a management level. It is not limited to internal sources, and can originate from external sources outside of an organization. Thought leadership is typically not tasked or identified as a position in an organization, but is a naturally organic ability. However, in most cases, it requires some ability to influence or convince people that the new idea will provide value. In summary, thought leadership differs from the traditional positional leadership, such as shared leadership and leaderful organizations, in that it does not require the typical managerial and leadership skills. It relies on individual innovativeness and the ability to convey your new ideas and convince that your ideas will provide value. Of the two articles summarized, I believe that the article on emotional intelligence was more convincing. I say this because the article on thought leadership was more informational and provided a different outlook on leadership styles and abilities, whereas the article on emotional intelligence pointed out a type of intelligence that is required to be a  good leader. Emotional intelligence allows us to connect with our emotions, and the emotions of our teams, which I believe is critical in almost any leadership role where a group of people report to one first-line leader. That one leader should be able to relate to the human senses that drive people, and motivate them as employees and people, as well as encourage them to excel. In my own personal experiences, I have seen an extreme lack of ability in leaders to connect with people and deal with emotions, whether their own emotions or their teams emotions. This has surely led to my perception of incompetence in these particular leaders. In one situation, I had a leader that I felt very fond of and very confident in their ability to lead, until one day they showed a moment of breaking down (actually crying in the office) and it left me feeling a poor sense of morale in the organization and the leadership at hand. I think the emotional display was unnecessary and should have been handled privately. In this case, the individual lacked the ability to manage their emotions. With respect to thought leadership, I have not had any prior introduction to the topic, but in reading and understanding the article, I believe that I possess some thought leadership abilities. I say this because I often offer new ideas to improve processes and operations. In my most recent job, I came on board and within two weeks, identified several areas that needed improvement and offered ideas to improve these processes. With approval from management, I began to execute these new processes. Understanding that it is not necessarily up the thought leader to actually execute, I was faced with a lack of resources and decided to take the initiative to fully execute. In comparison, I believe that emotional intelligence is required to be a good leader, and a thought leader is not required to be emotionally intelligent; however; emotional intelligence should be a quality of most leaders. As stated in the Thought Leadership article, emotional intelligence is not essential for thought leadership. () As both aspects of leadership are great abilities to possess, they are not both required to be any particular type of leader. Personally, I believe that as a thought leader can live in  anyone, it takes a special ability to be in touch with your emotions and the emotions of the team, an ability that I believe is especially crucial in leading people. REFERENCES: Goleman, D. (1998). The Emotional Intelligence of Leaders. _Leader to Leader_, (10), 20-26. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database. McCrimmon, M. (2005). Thought leadership: a radical departure from traditional, positional leadership. _Management Decision_, 43(7/8), 1064-1070. Retrieved October 22, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.

Is Neoliberalism A Force For De Democratisation Politics Essay

Is Neoliberalism A Force For De Democratisation Politics Essay Critically discuss with reference to the writings of Wendy Brown and other theorists of your choice. I will be looking at whether this argument by Wendy Brown has any real foundation and what other theorists say about neoliberalism. Theorists that I have chosen to include in this discussion are: M. Foucault, D. Harvey and P. Bourdieu. I will venture arguments in favour and against. I shall start from providing a brief definition of neoliberalism. According to Brown: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Neoliberalism is equated with a radically free market: maximized competition and free trade achieved through economic deregulation, elimination of tariffs, and a range of monetary and social policies favourable to business and indifferent toward poverty, social deracination, cultural decimation, long term resource depletion, and environmental destruction. Neoliberalism is most often invoked in relation to the Third World, referring either to NAFTA-like schemes that increase the vulnerability of poor nations to the vicissitudes of globalization or to International Monetary Fund and World Bank policies that, through financing packages attached to restructuring requirements, yank the chains of every aspect of Third World existence, including political institutions and social formations. (Brown, 2006) The product of neoliberalisation is de-democratisation. It is a very interesting process, especially when many people are not even aware of its existence. It affects human rights and the rights of workers, freedom and equality, respect for law and legal process, and citizenship. North America is a good example. De-democratisation developed almost by stealth and they failed to recognize it until some of the effects became apparent their jobs, and job security began to disappear. De-democratisation is a process, which is a partial reversal of democratisation. An example of neoliberalism was witnessed in the years under M. Thatcher in England, or Regans, Clintons or Bushs administrations. I will be analysing Browns account of de-democratisation first. Wendy Brown is an author of: American Nightmare: Neoliberalism, Neoconservatism, and De-democratisation, and Edgework: critical essays on knowledge and politics. She presents a very descriptive account of how the ideology of neoliberalism exists alongside neoconservatism. According to her, those rationalities together and separately produce a process of de-democratisation. Brown suggested that Americans are under neoconservative influence which is strongly associated with fundamental Christianity. Interestingly, fundamental Christianity reflects a basically democratic system, with elections for its leadership roles deacons, elders, stewards, and vote selection for senior positions bishops, elders, ministers etc. Aligning with fundamental Christianity could be seen as preserving democratic integrity. Moreover, many states in the USA reflect fundamental religious values, like the Mid West Bible belt, Amish or Mormon regions, where they can express their beliefs because they participate in a free and democratic system. Therefore, it could be argued that Brown is incorrect, and Christian Fundamentalism is not necessarily an undemocratic movement. Drawing from this a political election candidate in these states would have to secure backing from these religious quarters. This is a tactic which President Bush and others successfully developed. Her argument that neoconservatism is inherently de-democratising is not as strong as first suggested. Brown is not trying to get us to understand whether the ideology of neoliberalism needed to occur in the USA, but she is sending a clear message of what damage its presence can do. The first point of her argument is contrasted with Halls theory referring to Freuds dreams, which suggest that neoliberalism is an accident rather than a conscious and deliberate choice. She feels that neoliberalism is not an unconscious movement and therefore dismisses Halls account, which others would not necessary agree with, as it could be seen that neoliberalism is a choice driven by greed, need, power and capitalism. She examines dreamwork in perspective of suitability of political analysis, which by the end she dismisses because is not coherent. She tries to understand the implications of neoliberalism from a political perspective not economic, and she briefly describes economic issues in a differently to the way that Harvey analyzed them. It should not be suggested that neoliberalism is limited to those two perspectives, as is it not. Another perspective which goes with this is environmental or political identity, which Brown does not really discuss. In her writings she refers to Regan, Clinton and Bush as those who are responsible for neoliberalism in the USA and abroad. In American Nightmare she asks whether democracy itself still has meaning in the modern world. She focuses on differences between neoliberalism and neoconservatism rather than trying to combine them and defining what works well and should be kept and what does not work and therefore should be challenged. There is a lack of deep economic and historical explanation, which we can see in Harveys account: A brief history of neoliberalism and Neoliberalism and the restoration of class power, although she touches on this in a limited manner. There is an immediate argument against Bushs administration, which delivers a one-sided view, effectively influencing the view rather then presenting positive and negative points in a balanced way so the reader can have an independent opinion. She seems to not see that neoliberalism could be seen as something which is already present in human nature. I would like to contrast her work with a quote from G. Becker, whose words were used by Foucault: Economics is the science which studies human behaviour as relationships between ends and scarce means which have alternate uses. Therefore: Everything for which human beings attempt to realize their ends, from marriage, to crime, to expenditures on children, can be understood economically according to a particular calculation of cost for benefit. This entails a massive redefinition of labour and the worker. The worker has become human capital. Salary or wages become the revenue that is earned on an initial investment, an investment in ones skills or abilities. Any activity that increases the capacity to earn income, to achieve satisfaction, even migration, the crossing of borders from one country to another, is an investment in human capital ( Foucault 2008).Because of this contra st it could be said that she might have ignored the effect on human nature or just simply omitted it in order to sustain her argument. Foucault sees a difference between liberalism and neoliberalism in the way that each of them focuses on economy. Classical liberalism focused on an exchange but neoliberalism focuses on competition. However, they share the general idea of homo economicus the consequence here is the shift between the exchange and competition, which has its own effects. Moreover, neoliberalism is not only a set of economic policies. Neoliberalism does bring some benefits, which are visible through privatized companies, especially if they are a manufacturer of similar goods. It offers consumers price competition. Businesses have to compete in order to survive, which results in a lowering of market prices. We are a consumer society. Brown(2006) says: But here it is important to remember that neoconservatism is also born in part as a response to capitalisms erosion of meaning and morality, and that the founding neoconservatives, while opposed to communism as a political and social form, were rarely ardent free marketeers According to Brown neoliberalism and neoconservatism go together. She suggested that Bushs administration, which originates in the Republican Party tries to be both the Party of Moral Values and Party of Big Business (Brown, 2006). She also says that imposing a moral order is undemocratic. Surely though, it could be argued that a moral order, imposed by a democratically elected government, for the overall good of the populace could be deemed as democratic. Surely, neoliberalism is only going to align with certain political persuasions not all are suitable such as extreme socialism, even if it is imposed by the IMF or World Bank or other external forces. In her opinion this does not work. Neoconservatism and neoliberalism fight against each other openly and ostentatiously. Big business comes before human beings. There also tensions in this relationship: about the sustainable level of federal debt generated by military expenditures: while neither rationality hews to the fiscal austerity and balanced federal checkbook promulgated by classic conservatives, neoliberals are more than a little unhappy about the military tab run up the neocons.(Brown, 2006) Another point that she touches on is that neoliberalism is reducing freedom of speech. Media sources such as newspapers and TV have come into the ownership of private individuals who have neoliberal persuasions. These individuals can influence media content to their own benefit. There is also a risk of media monopolisation. If we have corporate interest and free trade on one side and moral values on the other, this can create a dangerous mix which she describes as threats. There are different types of threats identified by her, such as threats to security for example seen in Irans nuclear program. Neoliberalism reduces human rights. She suggested China and Cuba as examples of countries who are violators of human rights. Of course, that is obvious, but it could be argued that human rights are being violated by the governing regime rather than neoliberalist rationality. Those countries do not value democratic ideals. The nature of the governance within those countries dictates how individuals are treated in society as a whole. In this sense her argument misses out depth of analysis within her examples, which can be contrasted with Harveys account on China. Harvey promulgates China as a strange case of neoliberalism. Firstly, the country is run under communist rules. However, the leadership of Deng Xiaoping brought significant changes to Chinas economy. Harvey (2009) says: This coincided and it is very hard to consider it as anything other than a conjunctural accident of world-historical significance with the turn to neoliberal solutions in Britain and the United States. The outcome has been a particular kind of neoliberalism interdigitated with authoritarian centralized control. As the formative case of Chile had early on demonstrated, dictatorship and neoliberalism were in no way incompatible with each other. Deng used a slogan: the concept of an ideal society that provides well for all its citizens in order to achieve his goal. He focused on specific areas to improve: industry, education, science, defense and agriculture. Harvey argues that the events which took place in China under Dengs rule were in their own way related to the rise of neoliberalism. But, in an interview he adds: Whether it was by an accident or design, I dont really know, but it certainly has made a huge difference to how the global economy is working today. (an interview with Harvey 2006). Another significant matter to be noticed here is that there was no involvement by the IMF, as was the case in Mexico, Chile and Bolivia. Harvey discussed many countries but for the sake of this argument I shall present the case of Mexico, as this illustrates a different type of neoliberalism to that of China. Moreover, the case of Mexico, Chile and Bolivia backs up the argument of Wendy Brown, who uses examples on how the powerful presidents of America influence other countries politics and economy in order to extract profit from them. And actually, the case of Mexico is important as it is the time when neoliberalism became a practical tool for Americas economy. The economy in 1974/75 was not doing well. Because of this economic depression a solution had to be found. So, the head of Citibank at the time; W. Wriston suggested that monies should be invested in countries, for a simple reason they cannot vanish. This seemed to be working for a time until fiscal crisis arrived. Subsequently, Volker increased interest rates. This was not everything, as the IMF was also imposing conditions which were in favour of the USA, on the countries which had taken loans. The agreement was that they will be helped out if they adopted neoliberal systems, which meant privatization and opening their markets to foreign investors. Initially, Mexicos interest rate was set at 5% but after the Volker changes, it rose to 17%. Mexico could not afford to service debts at this level. The country approached bankruptcy in 1982. Paradoxically, Mexico was suddenly on the Forbes list of countries with a significant number of personal billionaires. Neoliberalisation helps the rich increase their personal wealth, but at the expense of the poorer in society. Harvey is not saying that the USA forced neoliberalism on Mexico, but he says that the USA put pressure on Mexico and its elite classes, and they agreed that this is what they wanted to do. Therefore, this was a relationship between Mexicos elite and the IMF, and for this reason they both are responsible for the neoliberalisation of Mexico. Many years later, citizens in the Mexican city of Cochabamba faced a dilemma. In 1999 the Bolivian government was put under heavy pressure from the World Bank. As a result a water supply system was been privatised and placed under the control of a British company, owned by the US multinational Betchel. In this case there was no competition. A monopoly came into existence and prices were set at an exorbitantly high rate. The Director of the World Bank; Wolfensohn had the view that if public services were made free of charge to consumers, it would lead to considerable waste. Bolivians needed to pay a proper unsubsidised charge. He maintained that this was not designed to make poor people even poorer. People had different opinions about it, and protests ensued. Protest leader Oscar Olivera responded, In Mr. Wolfensohns view, requiring families who earn $100 per month to pay $20 for water may be a proper system of charging, but the thousands of people who filled the streets and shut down Cochabamba last week apparently felt otherwise. (Schultz, 2010) The World Bank again put profit before peoples welfare. This reflection of neoliberalist political economics proved once again that human beings have little value. After, this incident the Bolivian government was forced to reverse the privatization. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the democratic process must be allowed to take decisions on vital issues of service delivery, especially if the service is essential to the poor. (Coates, 2001) This message is being repeated on an ever more regular basis when people feel strongly enough, the democratic voice is powerful enough to overturn unpopular local decisions. This was also witnessed during the Thatcher years with the hugely unpopular riots against the Poll Tax in 1990. An additional account of neoliberalism could be illustrated by Bourdieus: Utopia of endless exploitation; the essence of neoliberalism In Bourdieus view he presents an abstract and ideological view which contradicts itself. If social welfare and workers rights are protected, neoliberalism by its definition can never succeed in its purest sense. For him (1998) neoliberalism is: A program for destroying collective structures which may impede the pure market logic. In neoliberalism rich people, whose political and economic needs are expressed, are able to exercise power within society. Moreover, those people have the knowledge that they would not face any consequences in the event that something went wrong. Thus, they also have a threat of losing their place in the market and the support of their stockholders, and because of this financial directives are needed in order to create rules in their favour. Flexibility is a keyword for them. Employees can be taken on with different types of contracts, specifically to fit in with a business need at time. Another condition is competition. It is not only on the business level but individual too. Competition also produces job insecurity in the work-place, which then produces the threat of unemployment. This is even more relevant at managerial level than at a basic job level. Bourdieu backs this up by saying: Organisational discourse has never talked as much of trust, co-operation, loyalty, and organisat ional culture as in an era when adherence to the organisation is obtained at each moment by eliminating all temporal guarantees of employment (three-quarters of hires are for fixed duration, the proportion of temporary employees keeps rising, employment at will and the right to fire an individual tend to be freed from any restriction). (Bourdieu,1998) Bourdieus (1998) words on the effects of neoliberalism: And yet the world is there, with the immediately visible effects of the implementation of the great neoliberal utopia: not only the poverty of an increasingly large segment of the most economically advanced societies, the extraordinary growth in income differences, the progressive disappearance of autonomous universes of cultural production, such as film, publishing, etc. through the intrusive imposition of commercial values, but also and above all two major trends. First is the destruction of all the collective institutions capable of counteracting the effects of the infernal machine, primarily those of the state, repository of all of the universal values associated with the idea of the public realm. Second is the imposition everywhere, in the upper spheres of the economy and the state as at the heart of corporations, of that sort of moral Darwinism that, with the cult of the winner, schooled in higher mathematics and bungee ju mping, institutes the struggle of all against all and cynicism as the norm of all action and behaviour. His account broadly goes with Browns. Harvey analyzed particular countries in depth and gives an explanation for their move to neoliberalism at the time. We know that neoliberalism works for a while, and it also works for some societies, and not all necessarily democratic. However, having said this we are living in a consumer society, which frequently places need before values. This is where Brown sees this contradiction of neoliberalism working with neoconservatism. Her example of Pfizers producing Viagra for its sex obsessed young society and yet at the same time dictating moral values emphasizes the dichotomy between neoliberalism and neoconservatism. Another issue that she raises involves political ethical scandals, such as that of Jack Abramoff. He was a former Republican lobbyist who was sentenced after pleading guilty to fraud, tax evasion and malfeasance. And the examples of corporate scandals such as Enron and World Com, where the banks made considerable loans, only to find that loose accounting procedures masked the real value of the businesses. The fact they were not discovered before is due to the effects of neoliberalism, which reduces the amount control and regulation of business. The banks lent them money until an error in accounting was discovered, which revealed a consider imbalance in stock value. However, since then, many more scandals have come to light. Browns account is very descriptive but seemed to look only from one perspective, which only underlined negative issues. She described very well how neoliberalism combines with neoconservatism. Moreover, it shows us how this duality is destroying the meaning of democracy. Decades of human history built a chain of separate events which when driven upon those economical, political, socio-psychological changes will develop a new form of governance. And this will fit in those strict contexts of that event and purpose of it. In her understanding democracy is endangered by neoliberalism and can be rebuilt by going back to values of classical liberalism. As we are now a consumer society the question here would be: Do all of people are happy to go back to classical liberalism? Classical liberalism is viewed in a positive light. However, the long and frequently unhappy history of liberal democracy in the USA has been littered with skeletons which seem to have been put firmly back in the cupboa rd. Or maybe people want something new? The majority of people still are happy to get cheaper and cheaper products and services. They do not necessary think that someone in a sweat shop in a developing country is competing with them. I can agree with Brown that because of neoliberal lack of regulation, financial scandals will frequently occur. My final point of this paper gives a recent example of the effect of neoliberalism in a democratic country but contrary to the perceived norm, democratic rule prevailed. Iceland is in financial crisis mainly because of a lack of regulation. The main bank operated a very competitive savings account, which took in billions of pounds from savers and investors. However, when the recent economic recession took hold, the bank failed. The Icelandic government were unable to assist the bank, so the governments of Britain and Holland provided financial assistance. The IMF also loaned them $10 billion. Moreover, they loaned monies under different conditions than they used to do in the past. The arrangement was that the Icelandic government would repay this loan at a later date. However, the people of Iceland felt that they should not be held responsible for the collapse of the bank, and objected to repaying the loans, which would amount to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬12,000 per head of population. In a way this is also reflecting the de-democratisating process, as certain groups of people benefited from neoliberal rationality, which resulted in losing jobs, reduced significance of union workers, and generally creating poverty. Citizens in a democratic manner protested, and their powerful voice was heard. Therefore, the Prime Minister, who was about to sign the repayment agreement, then refused ratification, and instead decided to put the issue to a public vote. At the end we can see that this is an exceptional example, which leads to the conclusion that neoliberalism is not always fully de-democratising. Icelandic Politician ValgarÃÆ' °sson said: Right now we have a chance to build a truly revolutionary society, which aims to benefit the whole of it, not just a privileged few, (Chataigne, 2009) He pointed out that the situation in his country is the beginning what will happen around the world in the near future. I think that he is indeed right. Another politician added:I hope this is the end of pure capitalism and we will see the rise of more humane policies. (Chataigne, 2009) In summary, it is clear that all presented accounts are emphasising consequences of neoliberalism. Harveys writings are more about connections between the power of specific classes, imperialism and capitalism, which concludes that this only benefits the minority at the expense of the majority. He analyses the theory and practice of neoliberalism purely on historical grounds. In Volkers and Wristons ideas, they were looking for a solution to political economics at the time. It cannot be argued that their intentions were to de-democratize societies. It is quite common in the history of humanity that society develops ideas which then turn into something very different than initially planned. Bourdieu is strong in his attack on neoliberalism. Bourdieu encouraged the emergence of some of the social movements in France, not only by writing but by action too. Finally, Brown strongly emphasises the negative issues associated with neoliberalism, without looking for any explanation of why this has occurred. I agree that neoliberalism is certainly de-democratizing. Media ownership, job security, worker and human rights, abrogation of the law are all de-democratising effects. However I feel that neoconservatism, which was born in part as a response to capitalisms erosion of meaning and morality. (Brown, 2006) has proven to be balancing and ameliorating force, even though not all of its effects can be seen as positive. Neoliberalism is a rolling bandwagon upon which many countries are jumping whether by intention or force protection of market share and jobs, or being pushed by external entities such IMF or World Bank. As neoliberalism gains strength, the danger is that the influence of neoconservatism will wane, leaving us open to the juggernaut of globalization and further devaluation of democratic influence. Eventually, as we have seen elsewhere, there must be a backlash against neoliberalism; an element of restraint must be introduced. Timing is crucial as neoliberalism eats away at the very fabric of democracy, the chances of a right and democratic change are reduced. Which neoliberal country would want to be the first to change direction? To deliberately put markets and trade at risk? To bring upon itself the spectre of unemployment, reduction of living standards, backlash from all classes of society against the medium-term austerity resultant on a conscious painful decision? What government would even survive? The change away from neoliberalism must surely be as gradual as the change to it. By stealth, and over time.

Position Of Women In India

Position Of Women In India Chapter-1 Introduction: Status and Social Position of Women The women are the soul of our community and they are self build and self trained human responsible for the morale development of their children, inspiration for the family and an example for the community to follow. As a wife, woman is his best friend and inspiration. The history conveys that, Each successful man has an inspiring woman responsible for success. According to Swami Vivekananda- That country and that nation that do not respect women have never become great, nor ever be in future. According to Historian Romilla Thapper- Within the Indian sub-continent there have been infinite variations on the status of women diverging according to culture malice, family structure, class, caste, property rights and morals. Tagores said, Womens are the ornaments of society. The society was male dominated and he ruled mainly by ethics and morals. But now a days womens are enjoying the topmost supremacy and these have won over intelligence and mental capacity of the men. Today if it was that the society was Male-Dominated then india wouldnt have produced highlighting examples such as P.T.Usha-The Women Athlete, Lata Mangeshkar-The Nightingale and the Singer, Sonia Gandhi-Political and Klpana Chawla-The Indian Astronaut. Today the proverb given above has proved true. A woman is the pillar of a family, and concussively that of a nation. The statue of liberty which is symbol of peace and liberty is none other than that of a woman. Therefore, respect women and every life. In spite of fifty percent of the population on the world wide, women were not in equal status with men. This differential position causes socialization raises from boys and girls are different roles. As a traditional form, the status and social role of the women in every society, specific Indian society have been women are weaker than men. Women are the teachers of the society and they are not competitors. Woman as the mother is the best friend and teacher for the child, especially girl child (Firestone, Catlett, 1993, the Mother-Daughter Bond). Woman as friend is an inspiring support for any task. Woman as wife is a best friend and supportive partner for the husband. Woman as a family member is a best family manager and care taker of family values and traditions. Women as a community member are an example of love, friendliness, inspiration and the best worker. These are the common roles and responsibilities performed by the women community around the world. Woman is an all-round pla yer in the game where, playground is family. The only difference is that, woman is an all-round player at almost all such play grounds around the world. In family, woman is an excellent manger cum worker. The social stratification of women in-India however leaves them as a second rate citizen. This is no more evident than the violence to which a woman is subjected in her domestic setup. Violence against woman is present is every society cutting boundaries of class, culture, education and age. Even though most societies proscribe violence against woman, the reality is that she is tortured physically, psychologically, sexually and economically, the right to equality, security dignity and self worth are denied to woman. At times the place where a woman seeks love, safety, security and shelter, becomes a place of terror and violence at the hands of somebody close to them whom they trust. If we visualize the multiple view of the, woman from various families working for her children, family and herself; we will find that there several women working for the development of their respective families. In broad sense, they are working for collectively development of the family, community and society in which they live because; community is the united from of varied families. A woman is never appreciated for her indirect contribution in this strong development and in the progress of her children, family or external community. She can be said as a silent and selfless leader. We take woman as a strong pillar on which the progress of the family and community depends. If she is educated enough to utilize and manage the family resources in smart manner and every woman does so, than such community will definitely progress irrespective of the variations in the religion, tradition, culture and financial background that are present in any community around the world. There can be many situations that can prevent woman from performing at her best. It can be lack of peer support, illiteracy, lack of knowledge, lack of resources or lack inspiration to name few. Crime, atrocity and violence against woman is a manifestation of the historically unequal power relations between man and woman, which led to the domination of a womans fuller advancement. Violence in the domestic spare is usually committed by them who are or who have been, is position of trust and intimacy and power-husbands father, brother, uncle sons or other relatives. It does not mean that women are not violent but their actions account for a small percentage of domestic violence. Such as outside homes these type activity boy friend and unknown person. The criminals, atrocious abuser and the abused are tied together because of emotional, physical, biological, familial, residential and financial ties, and are often their intimate partners.  Perpetrators of domestic violence seek power and control over their survivors. The factors which contribute to the continued prevalence of violence are mainly the womens lack of access to legal information, aid or protection and also the lack of laws that effectively prohibit violence against women.  There is also failure to reform existing laws and the efforts made on part of public authorities to promote awareness of and enforce existing laws are also inadequate. The absence of educational and other means to address the causes and consequences of violence is also the reason behind prevalence of violence. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) declares that Motherhood and childhood are entitled for special care whether born in or out of wedlock shall enjoy the same protection.  The Indian constitution enshrines in Art.14, 15, 39(a) (d) and (e) that the state shall ensure a just social order for women based on equality and dignity. In spite of all these, and on the sacred land of Sita, Sabitri and Damayanti it found that women are being seduced, tortured, and enjoyed and betrayed. In spite of Constitutional guarantees and legal protection there is a rise on the trend of committing offenses against women and the domestic violence is one of them. Women have always played a specific and crucial role which has been veiled in society and history. Traditionally, the Indian woman has been the keystone of the family and society in general. She creates life, nurtures it, guards and strengthens it. In her task as mother, she plays a vital role in the development of the nation.   Status and social position of women in India Women in India have been always topics of concern since ancient period. They can as a exact example of perfect home-makers. With their incomparable quality of the calm ness of mind they easily handle even toughest situation as well. The Indian women are fully devoted to their families. They are preached in the names like as Goddess Durga, Goddess Saraswati, Parvati and goddess Kali.  The evolution of the status and social position of women in India  has been a continuous process of ups and downs throughout history. For the purpose of depicting a brief survey of the changing position and role of women in India throughout history, four broad periods are considered: Ancient Period Medieval Period Modern India Period British-India Period. After Independence Period Brief described each period on following as:- A) Ancient Period Many women have comforted themselves with a view of many scholars that women were greatly honored in the ancient India from Vedic times. They enjoyed freedom good status and learning opportunities. In those days women must have had certainly freedom it appears that the Vedic women were probably comparable to modern women. Recently some women historians have attempted different interpretations of the original Brahmanical Texts. On the one hand Scriptures have glorifies womanhood. They have treated women as the equals of men. On the other hand some sacred texts held women not only disrespect but even in a positive hatred. There are contradictions and generalizations, which can be interpreted in either way. Women held very important position in ancient Indian society. It was a position superior to men. There are literary evidences to suggest that woman power destroyed kingdoms and mighty rulers.Elango Adigals Sillapathigaram mentioned that Madurai the capital of Pandyas was burnt when Pandyan ruler Nedunchezhiyan killed a womans husband by mistake. Veda Vyasas Mahabharata tells the story of fall of Kauravas because they humiliated queen Draupadi.Valmikis Ramyana is also about the wiping away of Ravana when he abducted and tried to marry Sita forcibly. The plethora of Goddesses in ancient period was created to instil respect for women. Ardhanareeshwar, which called God is half-man and half-woman, was highly worshipped. Women were allowed to have multiple husbands. For example:- 1. Manu has told that where women are honoured the Gods are leased but where they are not honoured, no sacred rite yields any reward. But it is as clear as day light that the same Manu has formulated the theory of sacred tutelage of women when he said that a woman has to depend on her father in her childhood, on her husband in youth and on her sons during her old age and no woman is fit for freedom. Pita rakshathi Kaumare Bhartha rakshathi yavvane Rakshanthi Putrah Stavire, na Sthree svatantram arhati. 2. Yagnavalkya had told that women are the embodiment of all divine virtues on earth. Soma has bestowed all his purity on them. Gandhrva has given them sweetness of speech and Agni has showered all his brilliance to make them most attractive. She is the goddess (Devata as well as a lurer (pramada). Manu says women are able to lead astray not only the ignorant but also even the learned men and make him a slave of lust and anger. Such lofty ideals about women have been repeated in Ramayana and Mahabharata also. B) Medieval Period Medieval India has not womens age it is supposed to be the dark age for them. Medieval India saw many foreign conquests, which resulted in the decline in womens status. When foreign conquerors like Muslims invaded India they brought with them their own culture. These period women was the sole property of her father, brother or husband and she does not have any will of her own. This type of thinking also crept into the minds of Indian people and they also began to treat their own women like this. One more reason for the decline in womens status and freedom was that original Indians wanted to shield their women folk from the barbarous Muslim invaders. As polygamy was a norm for these invaders they picked up any women they wanted and kept her in their harems. In order to protect them Indian women started using Purdah, (a veil), which covers body. Due to this reason their freedom also became affected. They were not allowed to move freely and this lead to the further deterioration of their status. These problems related with women resulted in changed attitude of people. Now they began to consider a girl as misery and a burden, which has to be shielded from the eyes of intruders and needs extra care. Whereas a boy child will not need such extra c are and instead will be helpful as an earning hand. Thus a nasty circle started in which women was at the receiving end. All this gave rise to some new evils such as Child Marriage, Sati, Jauhar, devdasi, restriction on widow marriage, Purdha system and restriction on girl education. Sati: Sati is known as the ritual of dying at the funeral pyre of the husband. According to some of the Hindu scriptures dying at the funeral pyre women of her husband go straight to heaven so its good to practice this ritual. Initially it was not obligatory for the women but if she practiced such a custom she was highly respected by the society. Sati was considered to be the better option than living as a widow as the plight of widows in Hindu society was even worse. Some of the scriptures like Medhatiti had different view it say that Sati is like committing suicide so one should avoid this. Jauhar: It is also more or less similar to Sati but it is a mass suicide. Jauhar was prevalent in the Rajput societies. In this custom wives immolated themselves while their husbands were still alive. Jauhar are also known to place a high profile on honour. When people of Rajput clan became sure that they were going to die at the hands of their enemy then all the women arrange a large pyre and set themselves afire, while their husband used to fight the last decisive battle known as Shaka, with the enemy. Thus are defending the sanctity of the women and the whole clan. Devadasis: Devadasi system is a religious practice in some parts of southern India, in which women are married to a deity or temple. The ritual was well established by the 10th century A.D. In the later period the illegitimate sexual exploitation of the Devadasis become a norm in some parts of India. Child Marriage: It was a norm in medieval India. Girls were married off at the age of 8-10. They were not allowed access to education and were treat as the material being. The plight of women can be imagined by one of the shloka of Tulsidas where he writes [r1] Dhol, gawar, shudra, pashu, nari, ye sab tadan ke adhikari. Meaning that are animals, illiterates, lower castes and women should be subjected to beating. Thus women were compared with animals and were married off at an early age. The child marriage along with it bring some more problems such as increased birth rate, poor health of women due to repeated child bearing and high mortality rate of women and children. Restriction on Widow Remarriage: The condition of widows in medieval India was very bad. They were not treating as human being and were subjected to a large number of restrictions. They were imaginary to live religious life after their husband died and were not allowed entry in any celebration. Their being there in any good work was considered to be a bad omen. Sometimes heads of widows were also shaved down. They were not allowed to remarry. Any woman remarrying was looked down by the society. This cruelty on widows was one of the main reasons for the large number of women committing Sati. In medieval India living as a Hindu widow was a sort of a curse. Purdah System: Purdah system is the practice among some communities of requiring women to cover their bodies so as to cover their skin and conceal their form. It imposes restrictions on the mobility of women, it is curtails their right to interact freely and a symbolic of the subordination of women. It does not reflect the religious teachings of either Hinduism or Islam, contrary to common belief, although misconceptions are occurred due to the ignorance and prejudices of religious leaders of both are faiths. Girl Education: The girls of medieval India and above all Hindu society be not given formal education. They were given education related to household chores. But a famous Indian philosopher Vatsyayana write that women were supposed to be perfect in sixty four arts which included cooking, spinning, grinding, knowledge of medicine, recitation and many more. C) Modern India Period Modern India witnessed some developments in the status and social position of women. There were many reformers in India who worked for the betterment and upliftment of their other female counterparts. The Begum of Bhopal discarded the purdha and fought in the revolt of 1857. Many reformers measures to eradicate social stigmas from the society. Sir Sayyid Ahamad Khan established the Aligarh Muslim University for the spread of education among the Muslims. Among many the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 was important. The education system was also elevated. English was introduced in this period. Various female English writers like Sarojiini Naidu, Kamala Das made their presence felt in this period. In the modern times, women in India are given freedom and right such as freedom of expression and equality, as well as right to get education. Women in Contemporary India are doing the same what a male can do. Various prestigious positions are held by Indian women. They are enjoying the ladies first facility in various fields. But still problems like dowry, female infanticide, sex selective abortion, health, domestic violence, crime and atrocities are prevalent in the society. Several acts have been passed to demolish all these problems. But illiteracy and lack of awareness are the obstacles in the path of Indian women to stand against these follies. British India Period Womens Struggle and Reforms Though women of India are not at par among her counterpart in Western world but she is struggling hard to make her mark in mens world. We can count on certain names from the British India where women put the example of extraordinary bravery which even men might not be able to show. Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi was the one such woman. She was the one who put even British rulers to dishonour with her extraordinary feat in battle. She fought for her kingdom, which Dalhousie, British Governor General, had unlawfully annexed. She was in a true sense the leader of uprising of 1857. There are certain men who took the cause of women in India. There have been social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekanand, Swami Dayananda Saraswati who have helped women gain their previous status in society. Raja Ram Mohan Roy Born on 22nd may 1772 he was the torchbearer of social reforms for the women. He was strictly against the evils prevalent in society in his time. He is the one who has done women a great favour by abolishing Sati lawfully. It was due to his efforts that Lord William Bentinck banned the custom of Sati in 1829. Though this law was not a great deterrent but it changed mindset of people to some extent. Ram Mohan Roy also did great work in the field of women education. He was against child marriage and favoured widow remarriage. He himself married a widow thus setting the example for the whole society. Along with Dwarka Nath Tagore he founded Brahmo Samaj for the reform of Indian society and emancipation of women. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was popularly well-known as Vidyasager, which means sea of knowledge. Testifying to his name he was truly the sea of knowledge. He was a pillar of social reform movement of Bengal in 19th century. He broadly read ancient Hindu scriptures and came to know that the gender divide which was prevalent in Bengal was not encoded in our ancient texts instead it is the politics to keep women subordinate to men. He strongly supported women education in Bengal and went door to door to persuade people to send their girl child to school. He also did a lot in the field of widow remarriage. He opened many schools for girls. Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Born on April 11, 1827, Pune, Jyotirao Govindrao Phule was a genuine philanthropist. He was the one to open first girl school in India. He is also credited with opening first home for widows of the upper caste and a home for newborn girl children so that they can be saved from female infanticide. Swami Dayanand Saraswati He was the founder of Arya Samaj and gave a cry, back to Vedas. He translated Vedas from Sanskrit to Hindi so that a common man can read it and understand that the Vedic Hindu scriptures gave utmost importance to women. He emphasize for the equal rights for women in every field. He tried to change the mindset of people with his Vedic teachings. Mahatma Gandhi The social reformers of 19th century laid down the stage for the emancipation of women but it was Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi under whose influence these reforms reached masses. He was the one who liberated Indian women from the rule of Purdah and other social evils. He brings them from their confinement and asked them to participate in the struggle for independence. According to him women should survive liberated from the slavery of kitchen only then their true potential could be realized. He said that liability of household is important for women but it should not be the only one. In fact she should arrive forward to share the responsibilities of nation. When Gandhi come to the step of Indian struggle for independence then the average life span of Indian women was 27 years and only 2%women were educated this shows what a Herculean task it was to bring the women of India who was not getting her basic rights to fight for the cause of the nation. But it was due to his efforts that so a lot of women like Sarojini Naidu, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Aruna Asaf Ali, Sucheta Kriplani and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur came forward. He spread the message of equality of the gender to the masses and criticized the desire of Indian people to have male child instead of a female. Gandhiji was strictly beside the child marriage and favoured widow remarriage. He urged the youth to come forward and accept young widows as their life partner. He said that the girls are also capable of everything boys can do but the need of the time is to give them opportunities so that they can prove themselves. It was mostly due to his efforts that when India get independence right t o vote came naturally to Indian women whereas in other developed nations like England and America women got this right very late and that too after lot of protest. Spread of Education The idea of imparting education to women emerged in the British period. Earlier, it was almost universally hailed that since women need not earn their livelihood, there was no need of education for them. After the Bhakti Movement, the Christian Missionaries took interest in the education of the girls. The Hunter Commission too emphasized on the need for female education in 1882. The Calcutta, Bombay and Madras institutions did not permit the admission of girls till 1875. It was only after 1882 that girls were allowed to go for higher education. Since then, there has been a continuous progress in the extend of education among females. Though the number of girls studying at various levels was low, yet there has been a marked increase in the number of female students at every level from 1941 onwards. After Independence Period The status of women in modern India is a sort of a paradox. If on one hand she is at the peak of ladder of success, on the other hand she is mutely suffering the violence afflicted on her by her own family members. As compared with past women in modern times have achieved a lot but in reality they have to still travel a long way. Their path is full of roadblocks. The women have left the secured domain of their home and are now in the battlefield of life, fully armoured with their talent. They had proven themselves. But in India they are yet to get their dues. The sex ratio of India shows that the Indian society is still prejudiced against female. There are 933 females per thousand males in India according to the census of 2001, which is much below the world average of 990 females. There are many problems which women in India have to go through daily. These problems have become the part and parcel of life of Indian women and some of them have accepted them as their fate. The main problems of Indian womens are includes:- Malnutrition, Poor Health, Maternal Mortality, Lack of education, Mistreatment, Overworked, Lack of Power, Marriage, Dowry, Female infanticide/foeticide. Malnutrition Generally in India, women are the one who eat last and least in the whole family. So they eat whatever is left after men folk are satiated. As a result most of the times their food intake does not contain the nutritional value required in maintaining the healthy body. In villages, sometimes women do not get to eat the whole meal due to poverty. The UNICEF report of 1996 clearly states that the women of South Asia are not given proper care, which results in higher level of malnutrition among the women of South Asia than anywhere else in the world. This nutritional deficiency has two major consequences for women first they become anaemic and second they never achieve their full growth, which leads to an unending cycle of undergrowth as malnourished women cannot give birth to a healthy baby. Poor Health The malnutrition results in poor health of women. The women of India are prejudiced from the birth itself. They are not breastfed for long. In the want of a son the women wants to get pregnant as soon as possible which decreases the caring period to the girl child whereas the male members get adequate care and nutrition. Women are not given the right to free movement that means that they cannot go anywhere on their own if they want and they have to take the permission of male member of family or have to take them along. This results in decrease in womens visit to doctor and she could not pay attention to her health as a result. Maternal Mortality The mortality rate in India is among highest in the world. As females are not given proper attention, which results in the malnutrition and then they are married at an early age which leads to pregnancies at younger age when the body is not ready to bear the burden of a child. All this results in complications, which may lead to gynecological problems, which may become serious with time and may ultimately, lead to death. Lack of education In India women education never get its due share of awareness. From the medieval India women are debarred from the educational field. According to medieval awareness women require just household education and this perception of medieval India still persists in villages of India even today. Girls are supposed to fulfil domestic duties and education becomes secondary for them whereas it is considered to be important for boys. Although scenario in urban areas has changed a lot and women are opting for higher education but majority of Indian population residing in villages still live in medieval times. The people of villages consider girls to be curse and they do not want to waste money and time on them as they think that women should be wedded off as soon as possible. The main reason for not sending girls to school is the poor economic condition. Another reason is far off location of schools. In Indian society virginity and purity is given extreme importance during marriage and people are afraid to send their girl child to far off schools were male teacher teach them along with boys. The lack of education is the root reason for many other problems. An uneducated mother cannot look after her children properly and she is not aware of the fatal diseases and their cure, which leads to the poor health of the children. Uneducated people do not know about hygiene this lack of knowledge of hygiene may lead to poor health of the whole family. Mistreatment In India violence against women is a common evil. Not just in remote part but in cities also women bear the brunt. They are subjected to physical and mental violence. They are the one who work most but are not given their due. Women are safe anywhere neither at home nor at workplace. An hour a woman is raped in India and every 93 minutes a woman is burnt to death due to dowry problem. There are a lot of laws such as The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, The Hindu Succession Act of 1956, The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856, The Hindu Women Right to Property Act of 1937, The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, to protect women and punishment is severe but the conviction rate of crime, atrocities and violence against women is very low in India. Overworked Indian women work more than men of India but their work is hardly recognized as they mainly do unskilled work. Their household chores is never counted as a work, if a woman is working in a field to help her husband it will also be not counted as a work. A study conducted by Mies in 1986 states that in Andhra Pradesh a woman works around 15 hours a day during the agricultural season whereas a male on an average works for around 7-8 hours. Lack of Power In India a large percentage of women do not have power. They cannot take decisions independently not even related to their own life. They have to take permission of male members for each and every issue. They dont have any say in important household matters and not in matter of their own marriage. Marriage The family mainly fixes the marriages in India. The scenario in villages is very bad. The girl is not consulted but is told to marry a guy whom her family has chosen for him. They are taught to abide by the whims and fancies of their husbands. Going against the wishes of husband is considered to be a sin. In marriage husband always has the upper hand. The groom and his parents show as if they are obliging the girl by marrying her and in return they demand hefty dowry. Dowry Its a serious issue. Courts are flooded with cases related to death due to dowry harassment by husband and in laws. In ancient times women were given Stridhan when they departed from the house of their parents. This amount of money was given to her as a gift which she can use on her and her children but her in-laws did not have any right on that amount. This amount was supposed to help the girl in time of need. Slowly this tradition became obligatory and took the form of dowry. Nowadays parents have to give hefty amount in dowry, the in laws of their girl are not concerned whether they can afford it or not. If a girl brings large amount of dowry she is given respect and is treated well in her new home and if she does not bring dowry according to expectations of her in laws then she has to suffer harassment. Due to this evil practice many newlywed women of India have to lose their lives. Female infanticide/foeticide As women were supposed to be and in some areas of India are still considered to be curse by some strata of society their birth was taken as a burden. So in past times they were killed as soon as they were born. In some of the Rajput clans of Rajasthan newly born girl child was dropped in a large bowl of milk and was killed. Today with the help of technology the sex of the unborn baby is determined and if it is a girl child then it is aborted down. In all this procedure women do not have any say they have to do according to the wish of their husbands even if she does not want to abort she have any choice. Divorce The divorce rate in India is not accordingly high compared to western countries but it does not mean that marriages are more successful here. The cause behind low level of divorce rate is that it is look down by the society. It is regard as the sign of breakdown of marriage, especially of women. She is treating as but she has committed some crime by divorcing her husband. In some community like Muslim women did not have the right to divorce their husband they were divorced at just the pronouncement of I divorce you by their husband thrice and they could not do anything except to be the mute spectator. Recently Muslim Law Board has given right of divorce to women. After divorce women is entitled to get her Mehr for herself and her childrens sustenance. In Hindu society women obtain maintenance for themselves and their children after divorce. WOMENS MOVEMENT That is evident fr