Corporate Irresponsibility and Corporate Social Responsibility: Competing Realities

Social Responsibility Journal Emerald Article: Corporate irresponsibility and corporate social responsibility: competing realities Brian Jones, Ryan Bowd, Ralph Tench Article information: To cite this document: Brian Jones, Ryan Bowd, Ralph Tench, (2009),†Corporate irresponsibility and corporate social responsibility: competing realities†, Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 5 Iss: 3 pp. 300 – 310 Permanent link to this document: http://dx. doi. org/10. 108/17471110910977249 Downloaded on: 14-10-2012 References: This document contains references to 45 other documents Citations: This document has been cited by 3 other documents To copy this document: [email  protected] com Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON For Authors: If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service. 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The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. *Related content and download information correct at time of download.Corporate irresponsibility and corporate social responsibility: competing realities Brian Jones, Ryan Bowd and Ralph Tench Brian Jones is a Senior Lecturer, Ryan Bowd is a Senior Lecturer and Ralph Tench is Professor in Communications Edu cation, all based at Leeds Business School, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK. Abstract Purpose – Building on the work of Carroll this article attempts to unravel, explore and explain corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a theoretical construct that has implications and consequences for corporate governance in particular, and more generally for the economy, business and society.It aims to extend Carroll’s work on de? nitional constructs by re-examining some of the theoretical frameworks that underpin, inform and guide CSR. Design/methodology/approach – Carroll identi? ed different levels, or a pyramid, of CSR and these are outlined and the advantages and disadvantages of a pyramid, levels-based approach discussed. The main contributions of this article lies is in its exploration of corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) as a concept in contrast to CSR.Bowd, Jones and Tench’s CSI-CSR model is described, explained, analysed and used as a concept ual tool to make the theoretical move from a pyramid or level-based approach to a more dynamic framework of analysis. Findings – The proposition that CSI is better suited to a shareholder business model and CSR sits more comfortably with a stakeholder business model is examined. It is contested that people often wrongly equate CSR with irresponsible corporate actions. The CSI-CSR model establishes a theoretical framework around which grounded empirical research can be undertaken, applied and on which it can be reported.Research limitations/implications – This is a new area of research that addresses a gap in the literature and puts forward innovative theoretical models. Discussing the concept of irresponsibility makes for an interesting theoretical move. It questions the idea that corporations and business per se are always or necessarily socially responsible. Originality/value – In looking at and developing existing theoretical models, concepts and frameworks a nd exploring their merits, shortcomings and limitations, the article will be of interest and relevance to the business and academic communities.If there is such a thing as CSR then the implication is that there is such a thing as CSI and it is on this issue that this article seeks to promote and stimulate discussion. Keywords Corporate social responsibility, Business ethics Paper type Research paper Introduction Corporations, their activities and governance have long been of interest to management and social scientists (see for example, Sampson, 1983). As it has gained a higher pro? le on the political, economic and business agendas in recent years (see for example, www. csr. gov. k; Commission of the European Communities, 2001, 2002), corporate social responsibility (CSR) has received increased attention from academics (see Whetten et al. , 2002; Arpan, 2005; Evuleocha, 2005; Riese, 2007; Birch, 2008). Corporate governance can be de? ned in a narrow and a broad way. For those who d e? ne it narrowly corporate governance is largely concerned with board level management issues. Reporting on the situation in the UK the Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance (1992, p. 15) described the term as ‘‘the system by which companies are directed and controlled’’.Such a narrow de? nition, adopting and advocating as it does a top The authors would like to thank David Crowther and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments in developing this paper. PAGE 300 j SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL j VOL. 5 NO. 3 2009, pp. 300-310, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1747-1117 DOI 10. 1108/17471110910977249 down approach to management, serves to demonstrate by example the inherent weaknesses of a command and control managerial style. Adopting both a bottom up and top down approach to management can better facilitate progress in regards to CSR.Corporate governance is at least in part about managerial compliance with legal requi rements surrounding CSR. Accepting the above, a more broad based de? nition might suggest that corporate governance permeates every level of the organisation, its activities and actual day-to-day operational workings. CSR is not con? ned to management but affects the whole organisation and its stakeholders (for a discussion of the stakeholder model of the corporation please see Donaldson and Preston, 1995; Cornelissen, 2004). This article adopts a broad-based de? nition of corporate governance. ‘Corporate citizenship’’ is a term commonly used in the same debates. There is lack of agreement on a common universal standardised de? nition of CSR and as a result there is confusion and overlap in the plethora of terms used (see Nielsen and Thomsen, 2007, p. 25) This article helps de? ne elements of CSR, thus aids understanding of the term and in so doing can better inform strategies for communication (Demetrious, 2008). CSR and corporate governance and citizenship are increasingly debated academic issues (see, for example, Schleifer and Vishny (1997); www. csr. gov. uk).Much of the emphasis has been placed upon businesses and business people to act in a more socially responsible manner and to acknowledge that shareholders are only one of a number of business stakeholders (Letza et al. , 2004). New and innovative ways to address and deal with issues emerging from the CSR and corporate governance agendas are increasingly being sought. This article stresses the difference between corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) and CSR and contests that the dualistic (or CSI-CSR bi-polar) model allows for greater clarity and understanding of the concepts that constitute and de? ne these terms.It is suggested that CSI is a term better suited to describing the workings of the ‘‘old’’ shareholder business model (Friedman, 1962) and that CSR is more applicable to the workings of the new and emerging stakeholder business model (Freeman, 1984). The CSI-CSR model allows for discussion and positioning of issues around CSR. Communication about issues of social responsibility (Demetrious, 2008) vary according to whether it is irresponsible or responsible corporate action being reported. A range of internal and external variables (see Figure 1), for example new technology, impact on businesses, what they do and how they perform.Such issues or variables may contain differing degrees of responsible and irresponsible actions and activities. On one issue a corporation might have exemplary behavior but on another it may perform poorly and need corrective action; for example, a business may have good policies, practices and procedures with regards to issues of diversity and equal opportunities but may be weak in terms of its commitment to Figure 1 CSI-CSR dichotomous model VOL. 5 NO. 3 2009 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 301 j j addressing pollution and environmental concerns. The ways in which CSI and CSR issues are commu nicated differ.Quite simply responsible actions are, or ought to be trumpeted and irresponsible actions should be acknowledged. This is not always so. Some companies doing well in regards to CSR fail to communicate this message effectively or meaningfully. Some companies either knowingly or unknowingly doing badly in regards to CSR, in other words they are at the CSI end of the spectrum, might have their practices exposed and thus be in need of a communication strategy to deal with such an event. The CSR pyramid and de? nitional constructs Corporate social responsibility is de? ned by the British government on their website www. csr. gov. uk/whatiscsr. html as being about how: business takes account of its economic, social and environmental impacts in the way it operates – maximising the bene? ts and minimising the downsides’’ (Crown copyright, 2004). However this de? nition is only one of numerous and in some cases apparently polarised viewpoints of how CSR is de? ned in academic and professional thought (see for example, Carroll, 1979, 1991). Furthermore it has been proposed that CSR can be seen to be a construct that is individual to the stakeholder that de? nes it, and has been referred to as the social contract organisations have with their stakeholders (Bowd et al. 2005). Tullberg (2005) suggested two approaches to CSR; one the ‘‘responsive’’ and the second the ‘‘autonomous’’ approach. The autonomous approach is described as more independent and involves the company ignoring other stakeholders’ opinions to formulate strategy. The responsive approach suggests organisations should aim at being as responsive as possible to the demands emanating from society for them to act responsibly. This approach allows managers to think about the hypothetical public reaction to situations and to consider strategies to deal with them. In carrying out an analysis of CSR de? itions in academic and professional literature Bowd et al. (2006, p. 150) captured a variety of points and attributes that are believed to make up CSR and suggest it involves: . . . proactive community involvement, philanthropy, corporate governance, corporate citizenship, addressing of social issues, a commitment to the quality of its products and services, human rights, health, safety and the environment. . . Carroll (1979, 1991) and Wood (1991) have contributed to building de? nitions of the different levels at which organisations respond to their corporate social responsibilities. These levels of responsibility are de? ed as follows: B Economic level. Organisation produces products and services that society wants and sells them at a pro? t. Legal level. Organisation obeys all the laws and rules applied by the state. (E. g. tax, regulation, etc. ) Ethical level. Organisation views it as its responsibility to satisfy society’s expectations of business to go beyond basic legal requirements and do what is just and fair, and their practice is re? ective of this. Discretionary level. Organisation goes beyond stakeholder views of what is just and fair, and is an exemplary corporate citizen (adapted from Carroll (1979, 1991)).B B B It is clear from the list above that Carroll’s (1991) pyramid has at its base starting point the economy and economic performance. This is seen as pivotal and from this the second level concerned as it is with the law and legal rights, duties, rules and obligations are built. The third level is focused on business ethics in a wide stakeholder context. Finally the discretionary level involves philanthropy and this is where an organisation typically goes beyond its everyday expected duty and is thus deemed to be a good corporate citizen. Carroll (1991, p. 2) cautions that: No metaphor is perfect, and the CSR pyramid is no exception. It is intended to portray that the total CSR of business comprises distinct components that, taken together, con stitute the whole. Though the components have been treated as separate concepts for discussion purposes, they PAGE 302 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 5 NO. 3 2009 j j are not mutually exclusive and are not intended to juxtapose a ? rm’s economic responsibilities with its other responsibilities. These points remain relevant to the circumstances of the 21st century.Nevertheless, Carroll’s (1991) model can be critiqued on a number of grounds. Firstly in adopting and applying a level based pyramid approach it appears as a staged hierarchy in which movement is based on ? xed criteria. It is contested here that this is not necessarily the case and that the concept of a levels based approach and ? xed criteria can act as a hindrance to further developing knowledge and understanding. Secondly the dynamism that characterises the social, economic and business world is only partially captured by the CSR pyramid.At times, like all models Carroll’s pyramid appears as a t heoretical abstract removed from the complex realities of the world it seeks to explain. Despite these criticisms Carroll’s (1991) pyramid of corporate social responsibility does have varying degrees of theoretical and practical utility. The application of the model, together with the context in which it operates and an understanding of what it seeks to achieve at both the abstract and practical levels are in a number of respects crucial in developing knowledge, making sense of and interpreting the world.The model is useful as it aids understanding of CSR, the issues that pertain to it and can therefore help improve communication. The model helps unravel the concept, establishes key elements and distinguishes itself in its exploration of CSR. For this alone Carroll’s (1979, 1991) pyramid deserves plaudits. Nevertheless, despite the merits of the model it is suggested here (see Figure 2) that it can be improved by addressing the staged level based hierarchy to make it a more ? uid concept better able to adapt to a world in a state of near perennial ? ux.Change is constant and theoretical models are required to re? ect this universal truism. The CSI-CSR framework The CSI-CSR model As previously discussed in relation to the various component parts and models available, CSR can mean different things to different people. It might be suggested that a clear de? nition of the term should be provided for policy makers, practitioners, activists, business and the community. This issue has already been alluded to in terms of the existing plethora of de? nitions in existence and it is unlikely that one unifying de? ition will be agreed upon given the competing agendas of different stakeholders. Figure 2 CSI-CSR environmental dynamic model VOL. 5 NO. 3 2009 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 303 j j It is contested here that traditionally CSR has been confused and equated with CSI. For many, CSR is understood as, or de? ned in relation to, CSI; for example dis cussion of social responsibility issues often occurs when things are perceived as having ‘‘gone wrong’’ such as the recent Bear Stearns and Northern Rock crises.It is therefore necessary at the level of policy and practice and important at a conceptual level to separate out and de? ne the terms. CSI can be de? ned in relation to the issues that encompass it. For the key differences between CSI and CSR please see Table I. CSI is about being reactive as opposed to proactive in addressing corporate issues and the ways and means by which they relate to wider society. At its extreme CSI may entail breaking the law (e. g. Conrad Black, Robert Maxwell, Ernest Saunders). Companies such as Enron, Worldcom, and amongst others Union Carbide typify CSI.Getting it wrong in relation to CSR, in other words operating in a CSI manner, can have disastrous social, economic and business consequences as the aforementioned companies demonstrate so well. The bi-polar model develo ped here is not a one-dimensional linear process, as depicted below, in which investors, producers and consumers move from being irresponsible to being socially responsible. The trajectory proposed in Figure 3, based as it is on the Whig view of history in which the march of progress is seen as inevitable, is an ideal to be striven towards. The Whig interpretation of history has been described by Marwick (1989, p. 05) as: Table I CSR-CSI positions CSI Environmental degradation and pollution are inevitable and little if anything can or should be done Employees are a resource to be exploited Minimal community consultation and involvement Failure to comply, or reluctant and only basic compliance with legislation pertaining to CSR Ethical issues, if relevant at all are on the periphery of organisational working CSR Environmental degradation and pollution are not inevitable, should not be tolerated and it is important to raise awareness and commit to action Employees are a resource to be valued Maximise opportunities for community consultation and involvement Compliance with, as well as policy and practical actions that go beyond the minimum legislative requirements for CSR Ethical issues are central to and at the heart of organisational working Social exclusion is an inevitable by product of the operation of the Social inclusion helps to correct market inef? ciencies market New technologies should be developed and introduced to the market Governance of companies is best left to shareholders and management Work with suppliers and customers on an unfair basis Pragmatic approach to CSR issues Sustainability de? ned in terms of business survival Pro? is the sole purpose of business and should be achieved at any cost New technologies should be developed, tested, evaluated and if harmless introduced to the market Governance of companies involves shareholders, managers and a wide range of stakeholders including unions, works councils etc Work fairly with suppliers and cu stomers Principled and pragmatic approach to CSR issues Sustainability de? ned in terms of business, environmental and community survival and mutual growth Pro? t is one of many purposes of business and should be achieved, but not at any cost Figure 3 Linear CSI-CSR model PAGE 304 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 5 NO. 3 2009 j j . . the view, prevalent in nineteenth century Britain, that history was steady progress towards liberal ideas and institutions. The reality of CSI and CSR is something of a more complex dynamic. It is contested here that CSI and CSR lie at opposite ends of a continuum. On the CSI-CSR continuum individuals, groups and organisations are not static but move between the two extremes. Movement between the positions is two directional and is driven by external environment factors such as legislation, politics, technology, ? nance, economics, culture and such like. One factor may prompt movement towards CSR whilst a counter prevailing factor may prompt movement towards CSI.The dichotomous CSI-CSR framework contains within it an inherent tension that is irreconcilable given that CSR is an ever-evolving concept; for example, the recent move towards bio-fuels intended to address the problem of climate change and global warming is now being called into question as a result of the in? ationary impact it is having on food prices. It is a two way variable process and movement is back, forwards and multi-directional depending on the factors driving the issues. CSI and CSR need to be unpackaged in order to better understand the complex nature of their components, function, operation and practice. The model outlined in Figure 1 depicts the two-way ? ow of CSI and CSR and has the potential to act as a tool for un-packaging and better understanding of the terms.The CSI-CSR model contributes to theoretical analysis and practical description and explanation. Depending on which side of the model businesses choose to operate within CSR can be either a â⠂¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬Ëœcore’’ or ‘‘add on’’ feature. For companies at the left of the spectrum and although there is other recent examples (e. g. Bear Stearns) nothing typi? es this better than Enron, CSR is an ‘‘add on’’ feature to their business operation – an afterthought rather than forethought. For companies at the right of the spectrum, such as the Co-operative Bank in the UK, CSR is a core feature that underpins, informs and guides their business strategy, operation and practice.Corporate communication practitioners could use the model to map and monitor CSR issues as they impact on their organisation. The model can be used in both a reactive and a proactive way. For example management might undertake a mapping and monitoring exercise, in other words a CSR audit, whereby they identify where their organisation lies on the CSI-CSR spectrum according to pro? t, ethical standards, human resources, community involvement and so on. Such an exercise will help practitioners identify areas in which their organisation is performing well with regards to CSR and identify areas for improvement. The model is useful in so far as it allows for the application of theory to communication practice.The CSI-CSR model provides for an analytical approach as opposed to a more prescriptive, staged approach to corporate citizenship (Mirvis and Googins, 2006). Some of the issues impacting on and shaping the changing dynamics of the CSI-CSR continuum are shown in Figure 1 and given more detail in Table I. Almost inevitably CSI and CSR are ideal types and as such have potential but also limits to their usefulness. As ideal types the two approaches shown in Table I serve to represent the extreme positions. Reality is often a complex mix of CSI and CSR modes of working. In a business, community or organisational setting CSR practice in part depends on various stakeholder requirements, customer and business needs.Whether wit h regards to customers, suppliers or the wider community a mix of CSI and CSR mode of working can operate comfortably alongside and within the various functional areas of management and the actual practices of the business itself. The CSI versus CSR framework allows managerial practitioners, theoreticians and others to discuss, contextualise and re? ect on their own practice in relation to CSR. In itself the model does not provide answers but as a managerial tool of analysis it allows for exploration of issues that may otherwise be ignored, or simply forgotten. Rochlin and Googins (2005, p. 2) write: Increasingly, businesses are becoming exposed to the risks associated with the gap between what they say and what they do. ‘What they say’’ might be equated with CSR and ‘‘what they do’’ might be equated with CSI. There is a gap between management rhetoric and reality as it is experienced and lived on the ground. The CSI-CSR framework allows management to acknowledge company VOL. 5 NO. 3 2009 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 305 j j mistakes, errors, as well as misjudgements and thereby help minimise reputation and substantive business damage from the rhetoric-reality gap. Increasingly business recognises the need to move from an irresponsible to a responsible position on CSR/corporate citizenship issues, such as community involvement. The CSI-CSR model can be described as a conduit of corporate governance in that it acts as an enabler to action.As a problem-solving tool it can assist planning and thus help facilitate a potentially better managed, more productive and socially responsible, pro? table business. As previously mentioned a CSR audit can help pre-empt and react to problems and in this sense the model acts as a problem-solving tool by identifying business and organisational areas for improvement. Having identi? ed areas that need addressing the business or organisation needs to establish a CSR plan of actio n to limit potential damage and maximise potential gain. The plan will need to be monitored and reviewed and ought to have short, medium and long-term aims and objectives.In all of this both internal and external communication is central to deliver effective corporate CSR change. It is suggested here that CSI is better suited to the workings of the ‘‘old’’ shareholder business model with the CSR approach being better suited to the needs of the new stakeholder business model (see for example, Hutton, 1995, 1999). The ‘‘old’’ shareholder business model (Friedman, 1962) with its overwhelming focus on pro? t and little or no regard to issues such as the environment is prone to the adoption of irresponsible business practices, a current example being the case of American banks and the sub-prime lending crisis. In contrast, the ‘‘new’’ stakeholder business model (Freeman, 1984) focuses on pro? but also seeks to address other issues of concern. As such, the CSI versus CSR model is representative of both broader and deeper structural change within the body politic, economy and society. Hutton et al. (1996, p. 88) write: Any civilised community should be justly concerned to create as much wealth as it can, to ensure that income and wealth are fairly shared and that centres of private and public power are properly accountable. The aim must be to build a free, moral, socially cohesive society based on universal membership, social inclusion and organised around the market economy. This is what we mean by the stakeholder economy and society.It can be argued that there has been a paradigmatic shift from a business model and way of working in which shareholder interests and issues such as return on investment reign supreme, to one whereby different stakeholders compete to in? uence and shape the business agenda, so that shareholder interests are simply one of many. Holding this thought in mind anot her way of conceptualising the CSI-CSR model and its relationship with internal and external environmental factors is detailed below. Figure 2 serves to show that internal and external variables as well as mixing with and affecting each other also interact and impact on the CSI-CSR continuum. The model conceived here is a rotating sphere intersected by its axis, the continuum. Business does not operate in a vacuum, it has rights as well as obligations and has competing needs to meet and address.Rights (see, amongst others, Locke, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1979 and Steiner, 1994), obligations (see Turner, 1986) and needs (see Ignatieff, 1990) change over time and between contexts. Customer needs do not always equate with supplier needs, for example in terms of delivery of goods. Compared to even the relatively recent past businesses today have obligations to address environmental and sustainability issues, for example by sourcing all or part of their energy needs from renewable sources. Busi nesses do have a right and are expected as well as encouraged to make a pro? t but not at any cost, for example by the use of child labour. Increasingly businesses have to meet increasing public expectations and to address legal obligations around environmental and sustainability issues. The need of business to make pro? can, and does at times, coincide as well as con? ict with its stated ethical aims and objectives. Competing stakeholders with differing needs, rights and obligations have to be managed to ensure con? ict is minimised, the business survives, grows and is able to meet its commitments to CSR. How needs, rights and obligations are prioritised and met in the context of changing internal and external environmental factors can determine business, life, death and growth. Rotating as it does on its axis serves to demonstrate that external as well as internal factors can at PAGE 306 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 5 NO. 3 2009 j j times buffet direction of the sphere and m ovement on the axis.Equally so, movement on the CSI-CSR continuum, or axis, can affect change and direction in the external and internal environment. Thus far the article has proposed a move away from a de? nition, explanation and analysis of CSR as a staged hierarchy; as espoused by Carroll (1991) in his pyramid of corporate social responsibility. Here, an alternative conceptualisation is suggested based on the notion that CSI should be separated out from CSR to facilitate greater understanding of the terms, their meaning, nature and purpose. Issues interspersed and feeding into the CSI-CSR continuum are affected by internal and external environmental factors. Such factors give shape, form and context to corporate governance and CSR.Placing Carroll’s (1991) pyramid of corporate social responsibility in a sphere (see above, Figure 2) as well as on and intersected by the CSI-CSR axis makes for an interesting theoretical and conceptual move. Putting the pyramid metaphorically i n the sphere recognises that the levels of responsibility are intrinsic to the way in which CSR is conceived. However, in suggesting that the pyramid and by implication the levels, can be rotated the inference is that the levels are neither hierarchical or static but ? uid and necessary to the other. In this model the levels move and take on differing degrees of importance according to internal and external environmental factors and the issues impacting on the directional movement of the CSI-CSR continuum.Contextual factors mean that economic, legal, ethical and discretionary levels change position inside the pyramid and that one cannot be fully understood without reference to the other. There is almost structured chaos within the model and thus lends itself to ideas emanating from chaos and complexity theories (see for example Marion, 1999; Byrne, 1998; Rowley and Roevens, 2000). The signi? cance of this article’s theoretical contribution is that it addresses the discussion and de? nition of CSR. By introducing the concept of CSI it counteracts the tendency to treat the concept of CSR as a one-dimensional single entity and unpacks the terms to reveal multi-faceted layers of complexity that are shaped by context. The idea of corporations acting irresponsibly is theoretically validated by the arguments posited here.As an analytical tool the CSI-CSR typology is of use to academics and practitioners as it facilitates the development of pro-active as well as re-active internal and external communication strategies. It is increasingly the case that CSR and CSI are issues about which corporations are required and expected to communicate. To do this effectively tools of analysis are required and herein lies the unique contribution of this article. Concluding remarks This article has explored and analysed CSR and its antithesis CSI. That businesses act both irresponsibly and responsibly is highlighted in the distinction made by the terms. The terms themselves a re often con? ated and a greater distinction ought to be drawn between CSR and CSI.It is wrong to equate irresponsible business practice with CSR. Writing about the issue of social responsibility Milton Friedman (1962:133) asserted that it was ‘‘fundamentally subversive’’. More than 40 years on since making those claims it is interesting to speculate as to how Friedman would describe the concept of CSI. The concept may act as an af? rmation of his original statement and could well be described by some as being ‘‘totally subversive’’. However, this description only tells part of the story, for the reality is that CSI allows for greater understanding and clarity of the processes and practices by which businesses operate in doing good as well as doing wrong.The CSI-CSR framework acts as a tool of support for management to identify issues that may do harm to the business, pre-empt or react to them, and thus not only place the business in a better position to survive but to also better meet customer needs. What some may deem to be a subversive concept is in fact a practical tool of analysis for an increasingly competitive business environment. The CSI-CSR framework enables businesses to better meet existing and emerging needs in a dynamic, highly competitive, ever-changing business environment. The proposed bi-polar, dualistic model enables analysis of CSR business practice and allows for change and measurement to be reported on in terms of a sliding scale of ‘‘doing good’’ as well as ‘‘doing bad’’. As well as operating as a theoretical conceptual model the VOL. 5 NO. 3 2009 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 307 j j roposed framework is also a tool of analysis that can be applied and used to enhance and make more transparent systems and practices of CSR. Analysed at a super? cial, linguistic level CSR is a concept that is hard to disagree with. It has a ‘à ¢â‚¬Ëœwarm’’ and ‘‘positive’’ feel to it and is something to which stakeholders are happy to sign up to in one way, shape or form. The sub-textual message inferred by the term CSR is that corporations are socially responsible. The term CSI challenges this CSR sub-text and poses questions around how corporations communicate these issues. That corporations can act irresponsibly is not something easily refuted.CSI and CSR are politically infused language based terms that surround and are about the roles of business, corporations and the politics and discourse of the workplace. The language used is soothing, calming and designed to ameliorate dissenting points of view. It is about building consent. At the same time however it is important for business to acknowledge when things go wrong in regards to issues of social responsibility, know how to deal with and manage the communication issues surrounding them with a view to mounting a damage limitati on exercise. One term cannot be conceived without the other, they are intertwined, belong to and are about each other. It is suggested here that CSI and CSR are part and parcel of the fabric of the ideal of a free, democratic, stakeholding, capitalist economy and society.As such, they are issues that require debate, monitoring and the engagement of individual and corporate active citizenship (see Marshall, 1963). Communication and dialogue are of critical importance for developing understanding and building knowledge of how to be a good individual and corporate citizen. For some the shift from a CSI to a CSR position is a perceptual rather than a substantive change. This critique of the CSR agenda is the voice of cynicism and belies what for others is an actual change in attitude and business practice. This of course is not to say that more could not be done. Such a critique is not without some merit in so far as CSI, even in today’s ‘‘open’’ and â⠂¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬Ëœtransparent’’ organisations, remains somewhat hidden from view.It should not be forgotten that CSI can impact on and harm companies’ bottom line and it is primarily for this reason that a conspiracy of silence pervades organisations and workplace cultures where irresponsible practices exist. Communication using open and transparent dialogue within organisations can facilitate the breaking of silence around irresponsible corporate practices and might limit future damage and/or create new business opportunities. The majority of companies are keen to embrace CSR issues and of their own volition go beyond legal minimum requirements. Not only do companies want to do well by doing good, but also some want to do good because they believe it to be the right and proper thing to do. Not all businesses are communicating what it is they do in regards to CSR to best effect.Regarding their social responsibility practices a CSI-CSR audit can help businesses identify areas of strength and areas for improvement. In itself such an exercise can act as a useful vehicle of and for communication. It is increasingly recognised that adopting a CSR approach can be both an ethical and pro? table way to manage a business. Ethics and pro? t are not mutually exclusive terms but have a symbiotic relationship in the form of CSR. Though nevertheless, at the end of the day and as Friedman (1962) rightly noted, the purpose of business is to make pro? t. In revisiting the work by Carroll (1979, 1991, 1999) and his exposition of CSR this article has sought to build on and further develop the concept, from both an academic and practitioner perspective.In applying the CSI-CSR framework as a legitimate tool of application and analysis it has established the premise that business does not always act in a responsible manner and does at times, given a particular set of circumstances, act irresponsibly. The import of the CSI-CSR model is in establishing this idea and rec ognising that from a theoretical and communication practice based world viewpoint action can be taken to address and minimise opportunities for irresponsible corporate actions and to maximise opportunities for responsible social behavior. The broad de? nition of good, ethically driven corporate governance strives towards CSR and away from CSI. Behaving in a CSR way makes sound business sense, as Enron, Worldcom and others bear testimony.The challenge for the future (http://www. foresight. gov. uk/) is to move mindsets away from CSI and to CSR proper. PAGE 308 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 5 NO. 3 2009 j j References Arpan, L. M. (2005), ‘‘Integration of information about corporate social performance’’, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 83-98. Birch, D. (2008), ‘‘Analysis of CSR: principles and concepts’’, Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 4 Nos 1-2, pp. 129-35. Bowd, R. , Bowd, L. and Har ris, P. (2006), ‘‘Communicating corporate social responsibility: an exploratory case study of a major UK retail centre’’, Journal of Public Affairs,, May, pp. 147-55. Bowd, R. , Jones, B. nd Tench, R. (2005), CSR and the Media, Summary Research Report, Leeds Metropolitan University and Connectpoint, Leeds. Byrne, D. (1998), Complexity Theory and the Social Sciences: An Introduction, Routledge, London. Carroll, A. (1979), ‘‘A three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance’’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 497-505. Carroll, A. (1991), ‘‘The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders’’, Business Horizons, July-August. Carroll, A. (1999), ‘‘Corporate social responsibility: evolution of a de? nitional construct’’, Business and Society, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 68-95. Commission of the European Communiti es (2001), Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility, Commission of the European Communities, Brussels. Commission of the European Communities (2002), Communication from the Commission Concerning; Corporate Social Responsibility: A Business Contribution to Sustainable Development, Commission of the European Communities, Brussels. Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance (1992), Cadbury Report, Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance, London. Cornelissen, J. (2004), Corporate Communications, Theory and Practice, Sage, London. Demetrious, K. 2008), ‘‘Corporate social responsibility, new activism and public relations’’, Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 41 Nos 1/2, pp. 104-19. Donaldson, T. and Preston, L. E. (1995), ‘‘Stakeholder theory of the corporation: concepts, evidence and implications’’, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 65-91. Evuleocha, S. U. (2005), ‘‘Managing indigenous relations corporate social responsibility in a new age of activism’’, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 328-40. Freeman, R. E. (1984), Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, Pitman, Boston, MA. Friedman, M. (1962), Capitalism and Freedom, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. Hutton, W. 1995), The State We’re in, Vintage, Colchester. Hutton, W. (1999) in Goldblatt, D. (Ed. ), The Stakeholding Society: Writings on Politics and Economics, Polity Press, Cambridge. Hutton, W. , Field, F. , Kay, J. , Marquand, D. and Gray, J. (1996), ‘‘Tony and the Tories: this is what we mean’’, Observer, 7 July 1996, pp. 88-92. Ignatieff, M. (1990), The Needs of Strangers, The Hogarth Press, London. Letza, S. , Sun, X. and Kirkbride, J. (2004), ‘‘Shareholding versus stakeholding: a critical review of corporate governance’’, Corporate Governan ce, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 242-62. Locke, J. (1958) in von Leyden, W. (Ed. ), Essays on the Law of Nature, Clarendon Press, Oxford. Locke, J. 1959), An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 2 vols, Dover, New York, NY. Locke, J. (1960) in Laslett, P. (Ed. ), Two Treatises of Government, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Locke, J. (1979) in Sherman, C. L. (Ed. ), Treatise on Civil Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration, Irvington, New York, NY. Marion, R. (1999), The Edge of Organisation: Chaos and Complexity Theories of Formal Social Systems, Sage, Newbury Park, CA. VOL. 5 NO. 3 2009 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL PAGE 309 j j Marwick, A. (1989), The Nature of History, 3rd ed. , Macmillan Press Ltd, Basingstoke. Marshall, T. H. (1963), Sociology at the Crossroads, Heinemann Educational Books, London. Mirvis, P. nd Googins, B. (2006), Stages of Corporate Citizenship: A Developmental Framework, The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA. Nielsen, A. E. and Thomsen, C. (2007), ‘‘Reporting CSR – what and how to say it? ’’, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 25-40. Riese, J. (2007), ‘‘Thou shalt not be good enough: (mis)understanding CSR’’, Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 15-20. Rochlin, S. A. and Googins, B. K. (2005), The Value Proposition for Corporate Citizenship, The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA. Rowley, R. M. and Roevens, J. J. 2000), Organise with Chaos: Putting Modern Chaos Theory to Work in Your Organisation, Management Books, Chalford. Sampson, A. (1983), The Sovereign State: Secret History of International Telephone and Telegraph, Coronet Books, Philadelphia, PA. Schleifer, A. and Vishny, R. W. (1997), ‘‘A survey of corporate governance’’, The Journal of Finance, Vol. 52, pp. 727-83. Steiner, H. (1994), An Essay on Rights, Blackwell, Oxford. Tullberg, J. (2005), ‘‘What should companies be responsible for? ’’, Business Ethics: A European View, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 261-3. Turner, B. S. (1986), Citizenship and Capitalism: The Debate over Reformism, Allen and Unwin, London. Wood, D. 1991), ‘‘Corporate social performance revisited’’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 758-69. Whetten, D. , Rands, G. and Godfrey, P. (2002), ‘‘What are the responsibilities of business to society’’, in Pettigrew, A. , Howard, T. and Whittington, R. (Eds), Handbook of Strategy and Management, Sage, pp. 373-408. Further reading Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College and The US Chamber of Commerce Center for Corporate Citizenship (2005), The State of Corporate Citizenship in the US Business Perspectives in 2005, The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA. European Commission (2004), European Multistakeholder Forum o n CSR, Final Report, 29 June.European Commission, Employment and Social Affairs, Industrial relations and industrial change, European Commission Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs (2004), ABC of the Main Instruments of Corporate Social Responsibility, European Commission. Little, A. D. (2003), The Business Case for Corporate Responsibility, Beacon Press, Uck? eld. Corresponding author Brian Jones can be contacted at: b. t. [email  protected] ac. uk To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email  protected] com Or visit our web site for further details: www. emeraldinsight. com/reprints PAGE 310 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY JOURNAL VOL. 5 NO. 3 2009 j j

Chomsky Transformational-Generative Linguistics and Halliday Systemic Functional Linguistics Essay

Prior to unfold the compassion, personally, I am continuing to appreciate that generative and systemic functional grammars persist as â€Å"non-overlapping magisteria.† Since they are not dichotomous or contrary, it should be accepted that it’s helpful to simply define one in terms of what the other is not, if we want to safely conclude one is advantageous than the other, there must be a criteria or purpose relating to it. Nevertheless, the primary function of language is communication, if for this purpose, we must doubt that which theory is more applicable when users actually produce or understand language. It is widely believed that, in the kind of society we live in, context is an important element we have to take into consideration in language study for the moment we understand the human language. And thus we admit that systemic functional grammar is more developed from TG grammar and has more advantages in terms of helping us use language, understand meanings and analyze discourses. In my observation, there are at least six differences between systemic functional grammar and TG grammar as follows. 1. TG grammar is the linguistic version that has been mostly influenced by and developed upon language form, whereas systemic functional grammar is the study of language through meaning, i.e. its function. Chomsky insisted that linguistics should go beyond merely describing syntactic structures, and aim to explain why language is structured in the way it is – which includes explaining why other kinds of structures are not found. TG grammar solves the long unsolved question of traditional grammar: the transformation process from active tense sentence to passive one. He thought that syntax is the center of linguistic study which consists of surface structure and deep structure. Chomsky also put forward two important concepts: competence and performance in his Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. The former refers to a language user’s underlying knowledge about the systems of rules, and the latter the actual use of language in concrete situations. For TG grammar, linguist’s task is primarily to describe competence because performance is impossible without competence. But, to Halliday, it’s more significant to describe actual sentences with many functions not the idealized deep structure. He was concerned with the function of the sentence, what the writer’s purpose is in writing the sentence – in other words, with the meaning. Language serves three major functions as the metafunction: the ideational, the interpersonal and the textual functions. However, any full analysis of the sentence will inevitably need to take account of both the meaning and the form. To summarize, Chomsky characterized form independently of meaning and function, while Halliday had good reasons to believe that meaning and function can help shape form. Both these approaches in linguistics have their advantages and disadvantages and they can interact with each other complementarily. In fact, both of them represent the two directions of linguistic studies at present: the vertical study of language in relation to thought and logic and the horizontal study of language with the social cultural framework. With both of them combined, we will have a full and complete view of language. 2. TG grammar is an abstract set of generalized rules, while systemic functional grammar concentrates on context-dependent usage. In the second half of the last century, there built up an immensely influential view of what the study of language should involve that insists that there is only one proper place to start – from a view of language as an abstract set of generalized rules detached from any particular context of use. This view, as we know today, is the TG grammar. TG grammars merely study the sentences that obey the rules of grammar. The meaning of sentence is manifested by its deep structure and the form of sentence by its surface structure. TG studies the relationship between the deep structure and the surface structure, the generation of grammatically correct sentences and transformational rules. Halliday held a different opinion that he suggested the primary function of language is communicating meanings in particular contexts. Linguists should study the language actually in use, not in imaginary so-called language ideal structure. Moreover, language in use includes both the spoken language and written language; both the regular rules of grammar and the irregular rules that can be understood and accepted. He considered language is a social semiotic which consists of field, tenor and mode. Language as social semiotic must be studied in social context. Functionalists choose meaning as objective of linguistic studies, which is closely linked to the world, so they focus on the relation between language and the world, thought and culture. 3, TG grammar takes linguistics towards biology, while systemic functional grammar takes it towards sociology. Simply to illustrate this point of view, TG grammar believes that language is innate: SF grammar believes that it is learned. TG grammar believes that all human beings possess a grammatical program hardwired into the brain: SF grammar does not – he believes that grammar mirrors function is mastered through experience. TG grammar believes in ‘Universal Grammar’: SF grammar does not. TG grammar believes that language exists separately from experience: SF grammar believes that language only develops through experience of other people and the world around us. TG grammar is biology oriented: SF grammar is towards sociology. More specifically, TG grammar believes that we are born with the required mental capacities. Thus a rigorously formal approach to the description of language leads us towards neurology and genetics. According to Chomsky, language is the preliminary state of language faculty existing in human mind and brain and a mental organ. It is a natural and innate object just like human heart or lung. Structuralists think children learn language through â€Å"stimulus and response†. Different from Chomsky’s views about the nature of language, Halliday considered language should be taken sociology and must be studied in social context. The systemic functional linguistics is a study of relevant features in the culture and society that form the context in which language is used, and which are at the same time constructed by the way in which language is used. To sum up, both approaches, through form and meaning, ask essentially the same question about language: how can we explain why language has the main features that it does. But, whereas the form-based approach finds the answer in the way our brains are structured, the meaning-based approach finds it in the way our social context is structured. Fourthly, TG grammar is a kind of transformational generative grammar, while systemic functional grammar is based on a kind of reflexivity – â€Å"construe†. By a generative grammar, Chomsky simply means â€Å"a system of rules that in some explicit and well-defined way assigns structural descriptions to sentences†. He believed that â€Å"every speaker of a language has mastered and internalized a generative grammar that expresses his knowledge of his language.† â€Å"Thus a generative grammar attempts to specify what the speaker actually knows, not what he may report about his knowledge†. Chomsky inclined that it is necessary to work out a grammar that, with a finite set of rules, can generate all the grammatical sentences in a language without generating a single non-grammatical sentence. One important implication of the functional view of language is that context and language are interdependent. On one hand, language could be seen as dependent on context, for example, when the speaker is in an informal context, he is likely to use informal language. On the other hand, the use of informal language also contributes to creating the informal context. We use the term ‘construe’ to talk about this kind of reflexivity. Halliday paid more attention on the wordings than meanings for the reason that it is wordings that we can use to express the meanings. Fifthly, in systemic functional grammar, there is a special term ‘choice’, while TG grammar has no choice because it is viewed as a set of rules detached from language use. From the point of view of systemic functional grammar, if we want to examine what a piece of language is intended to (i.e. its function), we cannot avoid thinking in terms of choice. Systemic functional grammar sets out to investigate what the range of relevant choices are, both in the kinds of meanings and in the kinds of wordings; and to match these two sets of choices. The language choice system provides a number of choices of wording and structure. The object of language choice is regarded as grammatical rules in functional linguistics. While studying the choices that are applied to meaning or function, Halliday established the systemic functional grammar, consisting of the ideational, the interpersonal and the textual functions. The last but not the least, TG grammar sets out to study language completely isolated from language use, focusing on propositional meaning, while systemic functional grammar applies to language use, emphasizing functional meaning. TG grammar is almost exclusively interested in what we can call ‘propositional meaning’, that is, the ‘content’ of the sentence. If two sentences have exactly the propositional content and have no difference in surface form, they can be regarded as the same. Chomsky made a decision to study language isolated from the context so that the aim is to discover the rules which govern how constituents can be put together to form grammatically correct sentences, and to arrange these rules in a general way; therefore each sentence is analyzed in complete isolation, both from other sentences and from the situation in which it might be used. To summarize, transformational-generative linguistics and systemic functional linguistics are two influential but quite contrasting approaches to linguistic study and reflect the two trends in linguistics development, providing an innovative value and important significance. TG grammar belongs to formalism which considers language and languages independently of other activities of communication, while systemic functional grammar inherits from functionalism which emphasizes that language are manifested in complex human activities closely linked with social interaction. They both play an important role in language teaching and learning.

Facebook faces up, for better or worse? Essay

Facebook started as a â€Å"collegiate social network† (Atal, 2007). In May 2007 it abandoned the college niche and opened its doors to everyone. ComScore noted that â€Å"71% of users are now outside the college age-bracket† (Atal, 2007). There’s no doubt that the move significantly increased the membership in the network, but is their decision to open to the public undisputedly for the better? Facebook made its mark by focusing on a college niche. Their decision to veer away from this market could have serious consequences to the network. One trade off is between size and significance. A niche encourages specific, familiar and private network. â€Å"Student-exclusive networks provide users with a sense of importance: It’s easy to become a big fish in a small, students-only pond† (Atal, 2007). It gives them the feeling of belonging; of being a part of a community they can call their own. It connects them to people they can relate to. While membership is limited to a specific class of people, size is compensated by closer and more meaningful interaction between the members. The downside is, applications are also restricted to the interests of the niche market. Public networks on the other hand can reach more people. A diverse crowd needs varied things, thus they have bigger room for improvement and development. They are not limited to specific programs, interests or advertisements. By shifting to a public social network, Facebook got rid of its boundaries. It opened its doors to serve more people. It embraced an opportunity for growth. One of the issues raised is the reaction of the original members to the upgrade. â€Å"Facebook has such a strong hold on the college social networking market† (Atal, 2007). The change in focus market did not seem to affect the support of students.   Original members remained loyal to Facebook despite the change. Going from a niche to a public network is a new ballgame for Facebook. They are up against giant networks. They need to perform on a higher level. They have to create a niche amidst the league of giants in order to stay on top. Leaving their niche opened opportunities for new networks to step in. CollegeOTR.com, CollegeTonight.com, and CollegeWikis.com are three of the websites that are likely to benefit from this. Capitalizing on the niche left by Facebook, these network aim to create networks that are â€Å"as specific as they could be† (Atal, 2007). Conclusion Facebook’s decision to abandon the college niche and upgrade to a public social network is beneficial to Facebook. It offered opportunity for growth without alienating the original members. While the focus expanded to include everyone interested in joining the community, they can still serve the need for smaller communities by developing applications suited for this purpose. By upgrading to a public social network, Facebook put an end to the competition between Facebook and other college networks and paved the way for collaboration. One example of this successful partnership as mentioned in the article is the SuperWall (Atal, 2007).   CollegeWikis.com sponsored Superwall, a Facebook â€Å"application where users post college-specific information that is instantly communicated to the virtual message walls of other registered users at their college† (Atal, 2007).   Collaborations like this not only promote cooperation among the networks but also present the best of both worlds to the users. Facebook gave up its niche market to give way to improved service, diverse membership and better partnership with other networks. The decision positioned the company to serve more people, produce more products and services well into the future. Reference Atal, Maja. (2007, August 8). Facebook Faces Up. Businessweek, 1-2.

A Look at Juvenile Deliquency Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

A Look at Juvenile Deliquency - Research Paper Example Juvenile delinquency, its causes, best strategies and interventions designed to stop juvenile delinquency and other such issues will be discussed in this paper. Around late 1800’s, the juvenile justice system was formed to amend the policies about the youth crimes. That time was crucial since the law has to protect the youth rights as well as provide a certain system of justice. By the time when the most of the world reformed socially, the juvenile justice system was also reformed (Brown, 1998). Before the progressive era, there was no law that separated a child from an adult. A child with an age of more than seven and an adult were imprisoned in a same cell. Nevertheless, as the society progressed, the social and political views towards the youth and child offenders changed. The contribution of psychologists and their researches during 1800 and 1900 helped the society to change their view regarding juvenile delinquents. Some reformers who disliked punishing the children tried to rehabilitate the children. New York house of refuge was build for the purpose of rehabilitation in 1824. In 1899, the policies about the youth imprisonment also reformed and some states started youth rehabilitation programs. Youth and adult offenders are not considered the same and different laws were there for youth offenders (Eadie & Morley, 2003). In 1960’s, a separate juvenile court listens all the matters related to the persons which have an age of more than eighteen years (Mulvey, Arthur & Reppucci, 1997). During the same period, the Supreme Court stressed upon the legal rights of youth and stressed upon the right to obtain charges notice, to receive legal advice, to obtain copy of the reports, records and trials, to legally appeal to review the decision of the lower court and to argue (Brown, 1998). The juvenile justice system emphasized on not to punish a child and young people but to correct the situation. To prevent children and young offenders from being involv ed in any crime, an act was passed in 1968. From 1968 to 1974, United States moved towards a more modern society that had a system to prevent juvenile delinquency. The act to prevent the youth offenders had a â€Å"National institute to juvenile justice and crime prevention† and â€Å"Runaway Youth Program† (Ryan & Lane, 1997). During 1980’s and 1990’s, there was an increase in the juvenile crime. The juvenile justice system was amended and for some cruel crimes, juveniles were treated as adults. Since then, there is a distinct decrease in the juvenile crime. In late 1990’s, the number of violent juvenile crimes increased but juvenile crimes is under control today (Regoli & Hewitt, 2006). The policies and laws are still concerned. Juvenile delinquency effect a number of people attached with juveniles. These people are close relations, the affecters of crime and society as a whole. Therefore, it can be said that juvenile delinquency is a threat for the whole society and everyone present in a society is a stakeholder. The most affected people are the close relations of the juveniles involved in any kind of crime (Regoli & Hewitt, 2006). There are many causes of juvenile delinquency and can be found at all social levels. One of the causes of juveniles to become criminal is their economic

Developing an action plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Developing an action plan - Essay Example In fact, the concern for the quality of care provided by a healthcare facility is as old as the field of medicine. Increasingly, governments, stakeholders in the industry, and regulatory agencies have identified the importance of ensuring that the quality of care was addressed. In effect, stakeholders have designed approaches that healthcare facilities can use in order to improve the quality of care they provided. In addition, stakeholders have identified the incentives to provide to healthcare facilities whose quality of care was in line with the requirements provided by the regulatory agencies and other stakeholders. While the need to improve the quality of care cannot be overemphasized, the healthcare industry has witnessed a number of measures that are pertinent in awarding healthcare institutions rankings after they met various standards. One such measure is the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores, which healthcare providers are supposed to implement in order for them to benefit from incentives accrued from its implementation and high ranking (Zusman, 2012; Jennings, 2010). The proviso of attaching HCAHPS scores to incentives of a healthcare provider has played an instrumental in the need to improve the quality of care. In this case, healthcare facilities have realized that improving the quality of care provided to their patients was an effective approach towards raising their HCAHPS scores. Improving the quality of care is an essential element of enhancing customers’ experience in the healthcare sector, which is crucial in creating a positive customer perception about a healthcare facility. Consequently, customers whose experiences in a healthcare facility were positive provided positive feedback regarding their perception based on their experiences during their time as patients in a healthcare institution, which improves the HCAHPS scores of a healthcare institution. In effect, a high ranking ensures that a n organization receives reimbursements and funding of its projects. In line with this, this article develops an action plan for improving HCAHPS scores in a healthcare facility. To carry out a comprehensive plan, the article will highlight the objectives of raising the HCAHPS scores, processes that will address improvement of HCAHPS scores, the implications of the plan on staff, patients, and resources, cost-benefit ratio, and the timeline for implementing the action plan. Objectives The specific objective of raising HCAHPS scores is to improve the quality of care provided by a healthcare facility. On the other hand, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) together with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which were instrumental in developing HCAHPS surveys, identified three goals for HCAHPS. In this case, the two organizations identified the first goal as the production of meaningful data regarding patients’ perceptions on healthcare facili

Topic in IR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Topic in IR - Essay Example Adam Smith opposed this communist theory and instead advanced the capitalist model of development. The Cold War, after the end of World War II saw a resurgence of this theory, with the capitalist economies and communist blocs advancing the theory of modernization, but within the framework of their ideologies (pg.17). Modernization involves five stages since all countries are at one of the development stages, that comprise of traditional society, transitional stage, take-off, drive to maturity and high mass consumption.(Rostow.W.W.1960), In its earliest forms, modernization had brought together masses of people leading to the establishment of either a democracy, communism or fascism. Modernization has shown people that strong democratic institutions lead to socio-economic development and cultural changes, which in turn lead to individual freedom and gender equality- all of which create a society whose main objective is to ensure human emancipation. The rise in self-expression makes society people- centered, and leads to the concept of freedom of choice. Modernization theory has thus created conditions conducive to the humanistic transformation of society, which is its biggest asset. Economic development is the avowed goal of all societies and ideologies. The development of a nation and its place on the larger world stage is determined by the economic strength that the nations wield. This development can be promoted through democratic means as also by creating an authoritarian regime. The modern world swears by the advantages of a democratic set-up, but the success rates of economics thriving under authoritarian rule cannot be ignored. When we put the economies of South-east Asian nations under a scanner, what projects forth is a kaleidoscope of nations, governed democratically as well as by authoritarian regimes. While all democratic economies are performing extremely well, authoritarian nations too show a remarkable vibrant economic

The Use Of Arched And Vaulted Forms In Architecture Has Occasioned The Essay

The Use Of Arched And Vaulted Forms In Architecture Has Occasioned The Development - Essay Example The iconic architectural figure of this time is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (Craven, 2003). Analysing the design of the hanging gardens, the material used to construct the building mainly consists of bricks piled up all together; forming a relatively quadrilateral form of figure. Arches can be seen in the gates of it. At the same time, it can be considered that the vaults are still not existent. Regular ceilings have been common for this kind of design. Nevertheless, one cannot deny that the Near East architecture, as exemplified by the Hanging Gardens, can be considered to be one of the foundations of developments in architecture. Egypt has been commonly known as one of the most powerful empires back then and almost started in the same way as the civilizations that boomed in the Fertile Crescent. In Egypt, during the flourish of its civilization, they have been able to develop architectural style of their own. One of the key architectural edifices that have used vaults is the Tom b of Amenemhet in Bani Hasan in Middle Egypt (Bleiberg 2005, p. 43). This is where the architraves are used to show vaults and arches inside the mausoleum of the king’s deathbed (Bleiberg 2005, p. 43). However, one cannot disregard the pyramids even if they have not been design arches. Simple technology is present for the Egyptians during the time that they have initiated the construction of these architectural edifices (Bleiberg 2005, p. 6). Given the same technological condition, the Egyptians are still using rocks formed in a quadrilateral shape and piled up altogether to create an architectural complex. It can be inferred that same building technology and material sources can be found in the two architectural timeframes. Ancient European Architecture is where the Classical Age of architecture boomed as stylistic standards have changed due to possible strong socio – political structure of the societies that promulgated the said art forms. This period is considered t o be one that is rich when it comes to development because of the pattern developed during the timeframe of this period. This period encompasses several architectural traditions and designs. This part of the paper shall focus on the following architectural conventions which includes the Greek Order of Architecture, the Early and Imperial Roman Architecture, the Byzantine, and the Romanesque Architecture styles. This is where the Classical Architecture plays a crucial role in the development of designs. There are Greek orders when it comes to the design of the columns for the temples structured for their deities. Doric columnar is the simplest of the forms and emerged as the first and basic form of design (Evans 2005, p. 5). The Ionic became the second one that focuses on ornamentations with the columnar while the Corinthian is last level of design the ornamentations are more elaborate, encompassing almost the Hellenistic period of Greece (Evans 2005, p. 5). During this period, not m uch concern can be placed on the use of arches but the roofing is designed accordingly to perfection. In terms of materials, marble and sandstones replaced the rocky structures that the two aforementioned architectural styles. At the same time, Hellenic and Hellenistic Architecture differs in terms of the ornamentation and style. It can be considered that Hellenic has been focused on a form while Hellenistic is

The Economics of Wheat in Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Economics of Wheat in Australia - Essay Example The essay "The Economics of Wheat in Australia" discusses the macroeconomic aspects of wheat production and consumption in Australia. The crop is grown on a large scale basis and accounts for a significant percentage of the global wheat exports. About 25,000 out of the 121,000 farms in Australia have wheat as one of the major crops planted by farmers. Crop land devoted to wheat in the country averages 2,250 acres. Domestic demand and consumption of wheat in Australia is much less than the country’s production. While the country accounts for only 3% of the global wheat production by volume, it meets 18% of the global export value. Clearly, the country exports a larger percentage of the cereal than the fraction of world’s wheat it produces. The Australian Bureau of Statistics noted that the country produced wheat worth $5.6 billion in the financial year 2003-2004, which made up 15% of all farm production in value. Over 60% of this was sold in overseas markets, underscorin g the significance of the country as a major player in the global wheat market. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, wheat accounted for 22% of the total crop production for the country in 2010. The volume of wheat produced in the country has been rising over the last four decades. Australia has a GDP ($ 999.6 billion; the equivalent of USD 1454 billion) and a GDP growth rate of 2.4%. Inflation (CPI) stands at 2.5% while unemployment is at 5.6%. Â  Statistics show that the GDP growth rate fell by a small margin towards 2015.

PHILOSOPHY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

PHILOSOPHY - Essay Example by ideas taken from particular beings, become general representatives of all of the same kind; and their names, general names, applicable to whatever exists conformable to such abstract ideas.† To make this simpler, according to Locke, for an average human, knowledge comes only from what he is able to perceive, and already has perceived. He is unable to imagine qualities, unless he has already not seen, or felt those qualities before. He gives the example of white, and how it would be impossible to perceive the white in chalk or snow if it had already not been seen in milk, and thus by association, the mind is able to conceive of qualities, even that which it has previously no knowledge of. Thus abstraction signifies distinguishing a particular characteristic of a substance in one’s mind from all its remaining characteristics and using it as a mean of comparison with all other materials. Up to that point Berkeley agrees,[Introduction, (9)] as he concedes that if one perceived a certain similarity between three men, the mind would emphasize (or abstract) that similarity, and diminish the differences. Yet he also criticizes using this theory on humanity in general, for it does not happen that we imagine a human of complete and utter indeterminacy; that is though we recognize the fact that he will have the required two arms, two legs, one head (even that he questions; as Berkeley states it is possible for him to imagine a man with two heads thus also canceling the very first idea of man being unable to perceive anything he already does not know) it is also necessary for the human mind to wonder about the color, the stature and the build of the man. In essence, it is impossible to imagine a man simply on a general abstract, it is necessary to wonder on the ‘particulars’. He further postulates that Man cannot distinguish himself from animals primarily because he considers himself born with the ability to create general abstract ideas; in fact, the only reason

Karl Marx's Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Karl Marx's Theory - Essay Example In this documentary Spurlock exposes the ugly truths of one of America's biggest fast food corporations and shows how it knowing endangers the lives of its customers in order to make a profit. Spurlock conducts an experiment, and plays the part, of what the corporation would consider to be its best customer. He allows the corporation's advertising and portion suggestions to make his decisions for him, and in doing so eats the fast food for every meal for thirty days. By the end of his experiment Spurlock finds that he has gained twenty five pounds and doctors warn him that his health is in ruin. The fast food corporation used in the experiment didn't purposely try and kill Spurlock, but it's advertising and unhealthy food was the direct cause in Spurlock's health deteriorating into a downward spiral. Marx says: "The development of Modern Industry, therefore, cuts from the under its feet the very foundation on which the bourgeoisie produces and appropriates products. What the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own grave diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable." The grave diggers Marx refers to in terms of Spurlock's experiment would be the exact same things that made the fast food corporation such a success in the fir... Therefore the corporation is responsible for its own demise. The grounding force behind the corporation's success is money. Marx's General Formula for Capital exposes how greed and a demand for profit can eventually drive a corporation into the ground. Marx argues when a corporation becomes so successful that it begins to exchange money for money instead of money for commodities that it destroys itself. When a corporation begins to buy in order to sell, it takes its first step towards demise. This exchange of money for money is never ending because according to Marx they "have the same vocations, to approach, by quantitative increase, as near as possible to absolute in wealth". The end result is money which in turn is also the beginning. Marx believes that the possessor of this money becomes the capitalist. Since the fast food corporation in "Supersize Me" encourages poor nutrition for a profit, it in turn makes an increasingly bigger profit for increasingly lesser valuable foods. The documentary brought Marxist ideas into modern society by showing that contemporary capitalism is not simply that it gives consumers what they want, but that it makes them want what it has to give. By advertising and offering food at a cheap price the fast food corporation forced itself upon its customers, making them want their products. Spurlock sums up his thoughts saying, "The bottom line, they're a business, no matter what they say, healthy food is good for you, they make millions, and no company wants to stop doing that." At the end of the documentary Spurlock asks his audience a question: "Who do you want to see go first, you or them" This question sums up Marx's thoughts on capitalism perfectly, showing that either way the

Can democracy emerge in any country or must there be some Essay

Can democracy emerge in any country or must there be some pre-requisites in place beforehand - Essay Example The paper tells that democracy as an operational political framework does not simply emerge in any country; it is built. Thus, there are bounds to the advantages of being informed by assumptions from historical sociology and pragmatic political analysis, which use retrospection, in recognising prerequisites for democracy. Three aspects act together to decide which direction a society will take throughout the course of regime change: the choices of the Defender and Challenger, the Defender’s reaction to the choices of the Mass Public, and the method of the Defender during the discussions. A Defender and a Challenger argue in the discussions about the form of political system that will be established as the result of the transition stage of the course of democratisation. According to Gill, each desires to gain a result for the process of regime choice that directly resembles their best regime. Even though it serves an important function in the process as a provider of knowledge or necessary resources, the Mass Public does not participate in the discussions. The Defender is the current player, and hence the adherent of the existing state of affair. It is either the totalitarian government whose power was destabilised by the passing of a major event or the entity that deposed the previous government as a part of the major event. The Challenger aims to seize control from the Defender. It may aim to set up a competitive democratic structure, or it may aim to establish a new totalitarian structure under its power. The Mass Public has choices as well about the form of political system it would want the process of regime choice to generate (Diamond & Gunther 2001). Such choices reveal the degree to which a negotiation among opposing motives is probable and thus how simple or complex the compromises will be. The response of the Defender to the Mass Public ideas reveals its evaluation of its opportunities to attain its most favoured result for the process (Gill 200 2). According to Gill (2002), the technique the Defender takes on during the compromises demonstrates whether or not it thinks it should negotiate with the Challenger. Thus, the process of regime choice may produce major results, namely, sustained totalitarianism and democratisation. There are particular directions through the process

Peak Oil Essay Example for Free

Peak Oil Essay In recent years various scientists, among them petroleum engineer Jean Laherrere and petrogeologists Colin Campbell, have argued that global oil production would peak in the early 2000s. This is known as peak oil, the tipping point in which oil production begins to decline, and is based primarily upon the work of M. King Hubbert, a petrogeologist who worked for Shell Oil Company from the 40s to 60s. (Deffeyes, 2001) Hubbert’s predictions of a dire future for oil were not unprecedented, and many individuals before him had raised alarm over the future of oil, but ultimately turned out to be Cassandras. As such, it is not entirely surprising that any succeeding warnings about oil have been dismissed by both the American public and oil companies themselves. However, controversy over the veracity of his claims ended when U. S. oil production began to decline, ultimately proving him correct. (Deffeyes, 2001) The model used in Hubbert’s peak oil theory has come to be known as the Hubbert curve or Hubbert’s peak. This is because his theory, as he presented it to the American Petroleum Institute, rests on the position that petroleum production in any given territory tends to follow a bell curve. Hubbert based this theory on the observation that the oil reserves in any production site are finite, and that when half of the reserves are gone, extraction rate begins to decline. (Hubbert, 1956) Any given curve has a point of maximum production where the initial pre-peak points on it are where production increases rapidly due to the combination of discovery rate and infrastructural developments, but after the peak, production declines due to the depletion of reserves. In effect, the cost of oil extraction decreases as production approaches peak, but after peak, the cost of oil extraction begins to increase as less oil can be extracted from the reserves. (Campbell Laherrere, 1998) Hubbert’s theory came into widespread currency not only after oil peaked in U. S, but when it was found that the curve fit production models in foreign oil states as well.

Yahoo Company: Strategic Analysis

Yahoo Company: Strategic Analysis How can issues facing Yahoo! Be described as strategic? To understand and do differentiate strategy from other issues facing Yahoo! We need to look at what Strategy is? What defines as strategy? Strategy is set of actions that managers take to increase their companys performance relative to rivals. However in the view to access Yahoo! a fuller definition would be helpful. Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectations. We have to identify if issues facing Yahoo! Is Yahoo! Concerned with the long-term direction of the company? What we clearly see is that Yahoo! Is lacking in a clear vision for the future, unfocused they have drifted way form what they are, no clear ownership and lack of accountability is eminent in the organization. Yahoos chief executive Terry Semel has said, Yahoo needs to refocus in order to maintain a leadership position in the face of strong challenges. Brad Garlinghouse mentions radical restructuring, which cannot be implemented over night it would take a considerable period of time, they need to achieve this in baby steps indicate that Yahoo is looking at long term, long term direction. Is Yahoo! Concerned with the scope of its operations? The issue of scope of activity is fundamental to strategy. This is about is Yahoo! Concentrate on one area of business activity, or they want to be in many. Currently its doing everything and be everything to everyone Brad Garlinghouse plans suggest to exit non-core business and eliminate duplicative projects and business, which is to concentrate on Yahoos strategic decision to few core activities. Compressing of the scope of activity is clearly a fundamental aspect of Yahoos plan. Is Yahoo! Trying to achieve some competitive advantage? Its about finding the competitive edge. Yahoo! Has a large audience, the company has a great customer loyalty. Brand has created instant attraction in the click market. But overlapping responsibilities coupled with trying to do too many things have increased Yahoos operating and maintaining cost is disadvantages for competitive advantage. Yahoo! Was forced to delay the introduction of a key upgrade to the technology in turn forcing it to lower revenue forecast. Is resource allocation one of the issues facing Yahoo!? Spreading peanut butter across myriad opportunity a clear strategic decision facing Yahoo! Its about company is not utilizing its massive resources financial, human and other assets. Careening into wide variety of new business ventures have left Yahoo! Unable to, compete effectively. Duplicating activities and giving different silo like Flicker and Yahoo Photos, 360 group and social group have being costly duplicating initiatives created unexpected cannibalization (eating its own market share). Are they trying to find a strategic fit with the environment? Strategy can be seen as the search for strategic fit with the business environment. Yahoo! Is looking for a stronger faster company, which means that the current over bureaucratic structure doesnt fit/match the quick changing highly competitive web market environment. Are they building on resources and competences? Its about exploiting the strategic capabilities, in terms of unique resources and core competences, to provide competitive advantage or to gain new opportunities. Yahoo! Is in the view to turn smoothly spread butter into a deliberately sculpted strategy, which indicated they want to take all the resources and competencies and concentrate and focus on few key business units. Is Yahoo! Concerned about stakeholder values and expectations? Strategy of an organization is affected by those who have the power in and around the organization, there values and attitudes influences strategy. Unclear ownership, argue and fight over ownership will have a negative impact on Yahoo! Intern will result in investors and employees values and expectations. Massive redundancies will alter employee expectations. Is there a transformational change? Delayer of Yahoo! To be efficient with, fewer people. Radical reductions in the head count by 15%-20% show that Yahoo! Is in for a transformational change. Therefore, as I have outlined above under each of the characteristics of a strategy and applied to Yahoo! Its clear that what Yahoo! Is facing is a strategic decision. A corporate strategic decision, which is concerned with the overall purpose of Yahoo and adding value to different part of the business. Which will impact Yahoos success or failure unlike with operational and tactical decisions the effects of which sometimes provide immediate feedback, likely results of corporate strategic decisions may not be evident for many years but, when felt could result in the failure of the entire business. The strategic decision to shift from advertisement income to charging users directly for personalized services like audio subscription and web page by Yahoo! Resulted in loss of revenue and plummeting of the share price. Strategy is a game about the future in which the whole company is at stake and which the possibilities for regretting a move or getting back are often not realistic or very costly. Therefore, strategy and strategy planning is the perhaps the most difficult but perhaps also the most important management tasks Yahoo is facing. (Exploring Corporate Strategy seventh edition page 7-9, by Jonson, Scholes and Whittington) To what extent do they differ from strategic issues facing your own organization? Strategic issues encountered by Yahoo more or less relevant to most organizations. However, it is likely that different strategic decision characteristic will be more important in some contexts and in some organizations than the other. Yahoo! Needs to be a stronger and faster company a company with clearer vision and clearer ownership and clearer accountability, it will need to understand the rapid development of technology, needs to continuously update and improve its search engine features and exploit new market opportunities. It gives a different emphasis for my company that of full service Hair salon providing haircuts, facial treatments and nail services to the needs of a local community. Hair Salon is operating in a single market, a small local community with a single or very limited product and services. Where as Yahoo! A global diverse company has its presence in all over the world. Its diverse not only with product and services but also with the geographical market. Therefore, the scope of the operation in my hair salon likely to be less of a strategic issue than of what Yahoo has to content with. The local community that I operate knows how I am and my service. I have created a great customer loyalty through experienced staff that I have carefully hired and try to expand my market share through word of mouth. A part from that I am the only salon in the 25-mile radius, which has given a great competitive advantage. Even though Yahoo! Has created a brand loyalty sustaining the competitive advantage and the market share would be very challenging with massive competitive nature of the market it operates in. Therefore, the ways in which the salon and Yahoo! Handle competitive advantage will differ in making a strategic decision. I started my business with the capital that I gained for sale of my property and bank debt that I still pay. I have utilized the capital and my exceptional talent in haircutting fully. I want to expand my business to include a tanning spa but my ability to raise capital has stopped me. Whereas if Yahoo! Is in hold of massive assets in terms of financial and human but the unfocused nature and lack of a cohesive vision have created problems to Yahoo! Therefore, the ability and allocation of resources are issues facing both companies but to what extent and access to capital will differ in terms of strategic decision. Yahoo! Is facing issues with values and expectations of the stakeholders due to unclear ownership. For a private enterprise like Yahoo the ultimate success criteria is value of the company to the owners: the stakeholder value. Therefore, in Yahoo stakeholder value is mother of strategic goals. I have to deal only to my customers and my self. As you can see even though values and expectations exist in both organizations to what extent it affects my salon and Yahoo! Makes a difference in the strategic context. Therefore, strategic issues facing Yahoo! Compared to my hair salon tend to be complex due to wide geographical scope and the wide range of products and services it has to offer to the differentiated market. The pace of change in the environment as well as competition yahoo is facing needs it to be fast, adaptive and customer responsive to the uncertainty. Strategic issues need to be integrated through out the value chain, a decision to decentralized managers have to cross functional and operational boundaries to deal with all over Yahoo! Critically examine how strategic issues differ between profit making and a non-profit oriented organization? There are similarities between for-profit and non-profit organizations. First and foremost, both types of organizations begin with a solid mission statement and a vision statement that drive the strategic planning process and remind all the members of the organization of their foundation. Both are organizations where assets are held and business transacted in the name of the corporation rather than the individuals occupied. To survive and grow, both need to create or bring in more revenue than they consume on operations. Both are involved in producing a good or service for customers. And, of course, both are managed and run by the people who are employed by the organization. We always hear about for profit companies, such as Yahoo! And the strategies they have developed. Even though, non-for profit organizations are not concerned with profit maximization they act to uplift the culture quality of life of the region they operate in, they too benefit from following good strategies since they need generate profits to survive and grow. However, it is the distribution of the remainder of the profits that is one of the differentiating characteristics between for profit and non-profit organizations. Therefore, the key strategic issues facing a, for profit company and non-for profit will differ. In a for profit organization the profits that are not re-invested in the organization are distributed to the owners of the company as cash. (If they do its to gain more return for the investment). The point is that the profits of a non-profit organization constantly go toward sustaining some cause that society deems as good and helpful and not into the pockets of the investors. We have to look at the values and expectations; values will be of central strategic significance and plays an important part in the development of strategy. Non-profit organizations charities, churches etc. the sources of funds will be linked to different objectives and expectations of the funder. The mere existence of the non-for profit lies in the hands of the funder or the funding body hence the long-term direction is depended. Therefore, funders are likely to have a stronger influence on the decision making process. These are mission-driven organizations working to increase the quality of life for a specific community or society Where, as a private company are looking at profit maximization working to the best interest of their stakeholders ROCI. There is no real measure of efficiency other than to carry out its mission and achieve its set out objectives within the money contribution it has raised or received. In contract profit organization are in inconstant need of achieving high efficiency and productivity to deal the customer expectations as well as maximizing in return on capital invested. A profit company is created when investors collectively transfer assets and talent to start the company. The company, which is in fact a fictitious individual in the eyes of the law, takes title and ownership of the assets, etc. and gives, in exchange for the assets, ownership shares in the company to those who contributed the assets. However, with a non-profit, individuals come together and provide assets and talent to start the corporation. But, these people who create the corporation do not receive any legal ownership in the corporation and, further, have no guarantee that they will be able to retain control of the corporation once formed. All of the assets are now to be used to advance that cause or provide the service for which the non-profit business was created Some characteristics are found in profit and no profit organizations but the frequency of strong impact is much higher on a no profit organization. Hence, the strategic decision that profit and no profit company makes will differ. We are reactive instead of charting an unwavering course tactics Critically analyze the accuracy of the statement that formal planning systems are irrelevant for firms. This is about strategy development process. Through which strategies actually develop in an organization. This process can be grouped into two main types. First is the notion of strategy development as deliberate management intent, which has been planned, that is formally created ahead of events. This is the concept of intended strategy. It is literally strategy as design. Second is emphasized on the emergence of strategy from internal and external factors existing in and around the organization. Where strategy emerge from day to day decisions and activities. This is the concept of emergent strategy. Quinn has termed it as logical incremental. Both approaches must be examined within the context of an increasingly dynamic, highly competitive and global business environment. The statement We are reactive suggest that Yahoo! Is following a planned or intended strategy. Being reactive is a characteristic of planned strategy. Which follows systematic process where analysis of organizations internal performance and external environment will result in long term plan. Senior management is in charge of defining the final objectives and the plan is then put into action. With logical and analytical analysis will allow organizations to formulate strategies to meet new opportunities and barriers. This approach will enable organizations to manage and organize complex activities on different business units quite effectively and efficiently. Intended strategic formulation is based on existing strengths and capabilities of an organization to optimize its growth. On the contrary, in times of rapid change and turbulence it fails to find alternatives and adapt that Yahoo! Is facing. Unplanned changers are a shock, so the strategy doesnt have a logical answer it tends to be reactive to change and the reaction this might not be timely as in the case of Yahoo! Or the result might be no action at all. The fact that logical approach implies that strategy development is always deliberate and everything strategy will be realized according to plan. Besides, perspective indented strategy formulations consist assumptions that are unsustainable to todays changing business world. Unpredictable acts of events will regularly force originally strategy of its course. Additionally, this method doesnt allow organizations to absorb any learned element to strategy so can limit organizations ability to response flexibly in todays changing environment. Further, this model fails to complement the modern team culture where everybody is part of a team and everyone can participate in the strategy building decisions that might result in dissatisfaction and low motivation. Charting an unwavering course implies that Yahoo! Need to follow a more emergent approach to strategy. Instead of meeting a premeditated plan; strategy evolves through a process of learning, adjustment and experimentation. An emergent approach leads to more creative and responsive strategy making which is well suited to the hyper-competitive and unpredictable environments of today this is what Brad Garlinghouse mentions in charting an unwavering course thats dealing with constantly changing market. In contrast with the prescriptive approach which focuses on creating a fit between established strengths and new opportunities, the emergent approach intentionally creating a misfit between these factors. Hence, its more suited to transformational change in organizations as well as managing helping to reduce resistance to change among employees. On the other side of the coin, when planning and implementation two simultaneous strategic process are taking place it runs the risk of confusion and being too slow. These mean valuable opportunities might be lost. Additionally, without analytical analysis objectives lack clarity and a basis of evaluating performance. Also conflicting strategic choices by different groups might hinder strategic development. Emergent strategies do not mean that management is out of control it is just more open, flexible, responsive and willing to learn. This is an important strategy in a complex, uncertain and changing environment. It best case scenario, it enables management to act before everything is fully understood. Nonetheless, such a strategy has the risk of lack of direction. A greater use of strategic planning tools for internal and external analysis would certainly facilitate improved organizational learning and enhance strategic thinking even while following an emergent approach. Deliberate strategies help to manage, to impose intentions on the organization and to provide a sense of direction. The prescriptive and emergent processes, rather than being mutually exclusive, can be complementary to each other. All in all, most viable strategies in todays business world should have customized elements of prescriptive and emergent characteristics in order to manage the complexities of their business. Analyze your own organizations approach to its strategic planning process. There are many different ways in which strategy could be understood, developed and implemented. All of these views have there own merit. Using analytical tools such an internal and external environment, research data like competitor analysis and planning systems like cash flow and budgeting will be useful to create design strategies. Which Yahoo! No doubt have used when developing its strategy. However, its critical to understand how experience and culture influences an organization. Like for my salon founder a naturally talented and creative individual is still a dominant influence on strategy. Strategy by idea is another concept, where a new idea might emerge through the organization from the variety of experience and behaviors that are found across the organization. Our salon, strategies are based on following of past strategies which has being influenced by the founder through his experience and the vast expertise, more of the same, we are in the view why fix when it isnt broken. We are driven by taken for granted assumption and the ways of doing things embedded in the culture of our salon. The best that can be expected is what Herbert Simon termed bounded rationality which results in managers satisficing rather than optimizing; they do the best they can within the limits of their circumstances, knowledge and experience. (Exploring corporate strategy seventh edition page 45) the strategies are developed as the outcome of the founder and his experience, which influence strategic decision. In order to grow and thrive in the future there has to be strategic planning with all aspects of people and salon management. Salons can often survive; certainly do well for periods of time in conditions of relative stability, low environmental turbulence and little competition. However, virtually none of these conditions prevail in the current world for great lengths of time. Investment in a process that leads to a well developed strategic plan will mean the difference between retaining your best clients and your best stylists and will mean the difference between successful profitable growth and steady decline. Therefore, we need to reassess our strategic thinking; we address our problems in much the same way as we dealt with a previous issue seen as similar. For example the recent profit downturn was interpreted, as decline in overall market condition where as the true fact being no new trend setting by our stylist. We lack hair-cutting techniques that are required by the Young Urban Professionals. It is therefore helps to understand of where innovative strategies come from and how organizations cope with dynamic environments. It also poses question about whether the top management really have control over strategic direction. Discuss ways in which the planning process could be improved? Whether you are a fan of Porters five forces or the concept of Blue oceans strategy or other relevant tools of analysis, a strategy process has simple logical sequence, like A comes before B, B before C. before you look for the blue ocean and sail out on it, its wise to know your limitations of your boat, and also practical to be able to navigate and know about the water you are about to experience. (Something about strategic panning by Bjarn Nielsen 2006) Systematic strategic assessment helps to find, and decide, the handful of really big issues facing the salon. It is the size and impact of these strategic issues that gives rise to the importance of the strategic plan and to improve their performance. Performance is about creating value for the main beneficiaries of the company. Strategic thinking and planning can help to keep the focus on value creation, and not on management tools or practices for their own sake. For example, a SWOT Analysis is a useful tool in one of the essential improving the salons planning processes. Our planning process has to follow, formal, well documented, clearly communicated, and simple procedures. 1. Commitment from people who will be affected by the plan This is the start and to ensure support for planning, and the implementation of the plan. Example stylist, the purchasing manger. 2. Long term strategic objectives to improve service of the salon These objectives should clearly promote the enduring purpose of the company. This means knowing and identifying for whom the salon exists, (the target market) and what services we seeks to provide. The intended clients must be defined in segments group. The services offered must also be client oriented. By creating a mission, vision statement to the salon. 3. Creating strategic options Analysis of key strategic issues and short-listing, according to worth and creating of alternative strategies. By examining alternatives, it is likely that the salon will find alternatives that are superior to the current approach. Our expert stylist spend to much time on washing client hair, we can analysis few alternative approaches to dealing either tell your clients to wash there hair and come, hire a new hair stylist, hire a trainee or cut the price and offer haircuts without wash. The business will encounter environmental changes; if Alternative, contingency, plans have been considered for these changes, the organization can respond more effectively. 4. Evaluate and Decide on strategies Effective formal planning uses systematic methods for evaluating the various alternatives. Evaluate to ensure that they do not go against any objectives. Ensure that all major strategic issues are addressed. 5. Monitoring of the strategies against the long-term objectives. Need a method of running the plans as it gets executed. The plan should provide for customer feedback. To allow for corrective action, the monitoring system should address the same objectives and factors determined as significant through the planning process. Too often there is a disconnection between the plan and its reality. Put simply find and decide what to do about the handful of really big issues facing the business. The strategic planning process and tools, such as SWOT analysis, will find the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, threats. These approaches, with their value-based management focus, will ensure that our business will have long run superior performance, and we will also be at less risk of failure.