America s Declaration Of Independence - 1356 Words

Ever since the beginning of the â€Å"Land of the free and home of the brave†, America has held itself to a certain cluster of standards. The framework done by our founding fathers was not to form a country that would please the people in the beginning, but to be able to survive and thrive in the new upcoming and technological advancing world. Those standards that were so brilliantly written into the nation’s Declaration of Independence claimed that everyone was entitled to â€Å"certain unalienable rights† and these rights included â€Å"the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.† (Jefferson). Today the American government has the job of living up to the standards it set in the declaration, but also the organization of how government†¦show more content†¦(Sack) With this land they were to be able to do what they wanted without American government interference. So when the idea of repositioning the pipeline to travel through the Siou x tribe’s territory, it was seen to those of Sioux tribe and those well aware of their history, that this would be the government going back on a promise. Now that the problem of clashing ideals has been presented how does one review the situation the right way? In this case one must look back too what the ideas, beliefs, and precedents that the American country was founded upon. Some would say that if the construction took place that the government would be invalidating the Declaration of Independence, taking away the rights of Sioux nation to hold its land. To others who agree to the construction it might come down to, well doesn’t the federal government have the responsibility to do what is best for the country? Taking both of these into account, another reason this is seen as a bad government project is the â€Å"possibility of the oil damaging or poisoning the main water supply of the Sioux nation† (K., Adrienne). This is where the biggest reason for no con struction comes into play, because most who are protesting are focused on the importance of water. As protesting goes on emotions build up which can result in a public revolt thatShow MoreRelatedThe Declaration Of Independence : America s Political Philosophy And Its Way Of Life Essay1755 Words   |  8 PagesThe Declaration of Independence is still a profoundly relevant document for our time, in the political philosophy it espouses, as well as it’s keen view of human nature and its examination of our desire for freedom and happiness. It is also a known document that binds our nation together as one for â€Å"Life, Liberty and the  pursuit of Happiness.† I believe the Declaration of Independence still accurately reflects America’s political philosophy and its way of life as we see today. Because the DeclarationRead MoreThe Acceptance Of Blacks : America s Birth With The Signing Of The Declaration Of Independence1643 Words   |  7 PagesThe Acceptance of B lacks in White America From America s birth with the signing of the Declaration of Independence there have been few movements that have affected as many people as the Civil Rights movement. In a world where blacks were always seen as inferior, any other notion or conception of blacks was highly untolerated. Since Abraham Lincoln had freed the slaves in 1886, there had been no discernable change in the state of racial affairs in America. Not until Brown v. Board of EducationRead MoreWhite Privilege : An Integral Part Of America s Declaration Of Independence Essay1414 Words   |  6 Pages White Privilege Our country was founded on the notion that â€Å"all men are created equal,† while this concept is an integral part of America’s Declaration of Independence, the fundamental idea has never genuinely been practiced. Our country established a white supremacy culture in its founding days, and has accepted the concept since. White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of all other races. Although there have been valiant efforts, the inequality of the races has neverRead MoreWomen s Oppression During The Land Of The Free1336 Words   |  6 PagesWomen’s Oppression in the Supposedly Land of the Free The Declaration of Independence represents justice, equality, and natural human rights. Written to liberate American citizens from British control, the document stood for the colonists to live as freely as they wished. As grand as this document is, the pronouns and terminology used throughout this document is in the eye of controversy when the rights and status of women become involved. Mary Wollstonecraft, writer of A Vindication of the RightsRead MoreThe Declaration Of Independence : What Shaped And Provided The Freedom The United States Of America1030 Words   |  5 PagesAbstract The declaration of Independence is what shaped and provided the freedom the United States of America has today. The Declaration of Independence today is looked at a symbol for America to reflect on as it paved the way for most of the rights we have today. This document has been fundamental to american history longer than any other text because it was the first text to use â€Å"The United States of America† and in a sense the Declaration was the birth certificate of the American nationRead MoreReasons For Writing The Declaration Of Independence927 Words   |  4 PagesReasons for Writing the Declaration of Independence Every July 4, Americans celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but do we really understand why it was written in the first place? The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 is by far one of the most important historical documents for the United States of America (Stockdale, 2016). In Jefferson s words, the Declaration was written, In order to placeRead MoreA comparison of the United States Constitution And The Declaration of Independence712 Words   |  3 Pagesand The Declaration of Independence are two of America s most famous documents that laid the foundation for it s independence as a nation and separation from British rule. The following paper will compare these two documents and decipher the difference of the two. While both Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution contain important information regarding America s independence they are also different in many respects. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of is IndependenceRead MoreThe Declaration Of Independence : Uncovering Its Strategic Art1263 Words   |  6 PagesThe Declaration of Independence: Uncovering Its Strategic Art The fundamental purpose of America’s Declaration of Independence was to illustrate to foreign nations why the colonies had decided to detach and disassociate themselves from Great Britain. The Revolutionary War had already been in motion, and numerous major battles had occurred. The American colonies had already cut most major ties to England, and had established their very own currency, congress, army, and post office. On June 7, 1776Read MoreCompare And Contrast Patrick Henry And Thomas Jefferson1220 Words   |  5 PagesPeriod Compare and Contrast Essay 20 October 2017 The Demand for Independence vs Death The revolutionary period was the age of reason. It was the period in time when civilians wanted to take control of their unalienable rights; â€Å"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness† (Jefferson). Both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson took part in the revolutionary period. They were both leaders that took action to receive independence from Great Britain. The two revolutionary leaders are remarkably comparableRead MoreThe Declaration Of Independence By Thomas Jefferson1003 Words   |  5 Pagesof 1776, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania adopted the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson was the author of The Declaration of Independence, the document that stated the reasons that lead up to why the British colonies of North America wanted an searched for independence. It was then that it was adopted by the Second Continental Congress. June of 1776, the presentment of the Declaration to the continental Congress committee took place after ma ny series of debates

Target Corp Strategic Recommendation Essay - 9714 Words

Target Corp. Strategic Analysis MAN4720 Section 22 -Wednesdays 7:30pm Team: Risky Business Christine Majewski Jake Morgan Kristin Stearker Cory Verez Executive Summary The purpose of this analysis is to inform the board of team Risky Business’ strategic proposal related to Target Corporation’s Health Wellness category. Target is already a multi-million dollar company, but after analyzing the company, our team has come up with a few strategic recommendations to aid in the continued success of Target. We have found that Target strives to combine top of the line innovation, excellent customer service, and unparallel value at attractive prices to customers using their Expect More. Pay Less ® brand promise. The Target Corporation†¦show more content†¦Two branded credit cards, the Target Card and the Target Visa, and one Target branded debit card, offer credit to customers through the US Credit Card segment (Reuters, 2013). In 2012, the total REDCard penetration was 13.6%, up from 9.3% the prior year. Although more people are signing up for credit, the total revenue generated from this segment has been declining since 2010 (Tar get Corporation, 2013). See Exhibit 1 for US Credit Card segment details. The Canadian segment includes the recently acquired Zeller’s, Inc. store locations in Canada. Start-up costs for this segment were $272 million in 2011 and $74 million in 2012 (Target Corporation, 2013). The US Retail segment includes Target’s online business, its general merchandise stores, and SuperTargets (Reuters, 2013). Target.com is designed to allow guests to purchase products directly from online and/or to assist them in locating the product in a store near them. To aid in differentiating themselves, Target uses the web platform to sell not only its general merchandise, but also to introduce six brands sold exclusively through this medium (Target Brands, Inc., 2013c). The online presence aids in the vision of the company by offering multiple channels through which a customer can interact with Target. The brick and mortar stores of the US Retail segment offer general merchandise and groceries through the discount chain. Target and SuperTargets differ in that SuperTargets offer aShow MoreRelatedExecutive Summary : Gateway Computers1405 Words   |  6 PagesExecutive Summary Gateway computers was incorporated in the year 1985 and gained high popularity amongst the target audiences ever since then. The organization has always promised high technology to the customers and maximum value to the stakeholders (Azad, 2011). Gateway has been highly recognized as one of the first organizations to sell the computers online apart from its brick and mortar retail stores. This has also helped the organization to gain a competitive advantage in the market. With theRead MoreTorstar Case Study1600 Words   |  7 Pagessacrificing Torstars ability to acquire strategic investments to maintain capital expenditure requirements. This includes determining policies on dividend payouts, stock repurchases stock splits. This case will be analyzed from the point of view of Robert Steacy, Vice-President of Finance of Torstar Corporation. Background: On April 28th, 1998, Robert Steacy will meet with the board of directors to discuss his memorandum stating the pros, cons and recommendations with respect to the amount of regularRead MoreOccupational Stress, Employee s Health And Well Being, Ob Theories Essay1544 Words   |  7 Pagesexpressed as an ability) that helps an individual !2 maintain stable functioning during and following exposure to stressful situations (Windle,2011 ; Bonanno, 2004) . Resilient employees play a major role in achieving the organisational goals and targets effectively . They contribute to the firm’s ability to handle and tackle dynamic conditions, uncertainty and other changes successfully and efficiently (Lengnick-Hall, Beck Lengnick-Hall, 2011) . Therefore, in conclusion to the topic of resilienceRead MoreAir Defense Artillery On The Vietnam War Essay1469 Words   |  6 PagesArsenault, SSG Everett, SSG Powell, SGT Kencsan ADA ALC (INTRODUCTION) In August 1964, Vietnamese DRV torpedo boats attacked two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. President London B. Johnson ordered the retaliatory bombing of military targets in North Vietnam. Shortly after the incident, U.S. congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Johnson war-making powers, and U.S. planes began regular bombing raids (Reference http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-historyRead MoreFed-Ex Case Study2076 Words   |  9 PagesFed-Ex Case Study In 1971 FedEx Express developed the modern air/ground express industry; in 1998 the corporation was created as FDX Corp. and became FedEx Corp. in January of 2000. 1. History and Background of the company 2. Identifying the success in Management 3. Analysis and Evaluation 4. Action Plan and Recommendations 5. Fed-Ex Today History Throughout its history, FedEx has been a leader in the transportation and information industry. In 1965, YaleRead MoreSharp Corporation Essay1622 Words   |  7 PagesCORPORATION: BEYOND JAPAN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENT PROBLEM STATEMENT †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 ANALYSIS †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦............†¦ 3 DISCUSSION OF ALTERNATIVES †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4 RECOMMENDATION †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 CITATIONS †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7 EXHIBITS †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 PROBLEM STATEMENT Sharp Corporation needs a major overhaul of its business model. Sharp’s previous modelRead MoreThe Internal Environment Analysis : Wyndham Worldwide1590 Words   |  7 Pagesthe industry. An internal and external analysis of the company, opportunities, and threats faced by the firm, its competitive advantage, and a strategic focus reveal the issues that need to be addressed henceforth for it to remain relevant in an increasingly competitive global market. The paper provides a problem statement, alternatives, and recommendations that Wyndham Worldwide can engage. The internal environment analysis focuses on current marketing strategy and performance, present and anticipatedRead MoreEssay on Project Critique1355 Words   |  6 Pages Analysis and Critique The Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) project, undertaken by Electronic Data Communications (EDC) is the biggest government undertaking of its kind. It aims to provide a single seamless network which would provide a centralized communication to the Navy and Marine. It also aims to integrate the legacy systems with the new secured environment. The NMCI project aimed to connect about 400,000 desktops into a common network, which would provide a unified communicationRead MoreOld Navy Promotional Strategy: An Analysis and Recommendations1131 Words   |  5 PagesMarketing Programs Sirs: We understand you have some concerns regarding the Old Navy promotional strategy to use online video instead of television, particularly to focus on adult males as a key demographic. Below you will find our analysis and recommendations regarding the campaign and potential future programs. The definition of E-Commerce or E-Tailing is replacing the traditional relationship of buying and selling in person or the phone with the use of the Internet, Smart Phones and networking.Read MoreCase Studies1745 Words   |  7 Pagesa solid second-place position in the supermarket. There was no effort at umbrella brand identiï ¬ cation, so each product area was carried by its own brand. Joyce Stevenson had previously been in strategic planning, and reviewed the type of information and analysis that would be required to support a strategic decision like this one. She wrote down the following four sets of questions to guide the thinking of the research group: 1. Market analysis ââ€"   What are the size, current growth rate, and projected

The Marshall Plan Free Essays

THE MARSHALL PLAN By the end of World War II much of Europe was devastated. The region’s economic structure was ruined and the devastation to agriculture left millions starving and homeless. During the war, Axis powers targeted the transportation infrastructure, leaving railways, bridges, and roads in a state of severe disrepair. We will write a custom essay sample on The Marshall Plan or any similar topic only for you Order Now Much of the civilian merchant shipping industry had also suffered severe damage. Due to the economic strain placed on the European countries during the war, many had exhausted their treasuries. If not for The United State’s aid in the form of the Lend-Lease program during wartime efforts, this damage would have been much worse and the outcome may have been different. The United States however, did not suffer the same severity of destruction on its own territory. Consequently its massive agriculture and manufacturing base was still intact. For these reasons, The United States saw it necessary to offer goods, services, and monies to any European or Asian country, be it an Allied or Axis power. The U. S. continued providing aid after the war was over. Between 1945 and 1948, the U. S. ent $12 billion in aid to European Nations. The world’s major economies were crumbling and the U. S. realized the global impact. General George C. Marshall introduced a recovery plan in 1947, the European Recovery Plan or ERP. This plan, which later became known as the Marshall Plan, was the primary program for rebuilding and creating a stronger economic foundation for the countries of Western Europe during the post-war era, 1948-1952. The Marshall Plan provided an additional $13 billion in aid to European nations. Post-war relief from the U. S. totaled $25 billion. With a GDP of $258 billion, U. S. post-war investment in foreign countries totaled 10% of its GDP. For all Marshall Plan participants, the economic output was 35% higher in 1951 than the 1938 pre-war era. Poverty and starvation disappeared and Western Europe began two decades of growth in which it saw a drastic increase in the standards of living. This plan was a key element in European recovery and integration. It erased trade barriers and set up institutions to coordinate a global economy. Efforts were made to model European industrial and business practices using the more efficient American models. The Marshall Plan and the Bretton Woods system mandated free trade throughout the region. Through these acts, European nations standardized international exchange rates, set up the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which is now part of the World Bank Group. The European Coal and Steel Community which eventually became the European Union has roots in the Marshall Plan. Today, the term â€Å"Marshall Plan† has become a metaphor for any large scale government program that is designed to solve a specific social problem. It is usually used when calling for federal spending to correct a perceived failure of the private sector. The Marshall Plan has played an integral part in establishing a global economy. References http://www. polsci. ucsb. edu/faculty/cohen/inpress/bretton. html http://www. archives. gov/exhibits/featured_documents/marshall_plan/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Marshall_Plan#Criticism http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Marshall_Plan http://en. wikiquote. org/wiki/George_Marshall#Essentials_to_Peace_. 281953. 29 How to cite The Marshall Plan, Papers The Marshall Plan Free Essays string(128) " purported to involve Soviet subsidies and trade with eastern Europe, became known as the Molotov Plan, and later, the COMECON\." By the end of WWII the political map of the world was distinctly shaped. The former allies in anti-Hitler coalition entered into the era of ideological, military and industrial confrontation the humanity had never a chance to experience before; a confrontation used to be known as the Cold War with its iron curtain, unprecedented arm race and the support of various regimes including those which built their state doctrine on the ideology of terrorism. The political map of the post-war Europe was divided into two political camps, a pro-Soviet Eastern alliance and the Western Europe exhausted by the bloody war. We will write a custom essay sample on The Marshall Plan or any similar topic only for you Order Now The natural disasters of 1947-1947 ruined the agricultural infrastructure of some European countries. Especially damaged was transportation infrastructure, as railways, bridges, and roads had all been heavily targeted by air strikes, while much merchant shipping had been sunk. By and large the small towns and villages in Western Europe had suffered little damage, but the destruction of transportation left them economically isolated. None of these problems could be easily remedied, as most nations engaged in the war had exhausted their treasuries in its execution. With the formation of the confronting political camps the urgent political and economic actions were required first of all to reconstruct the economy of the countries opposed to the pro-Soviet block and secondly, to restrain the further expansion of the Soviet Union in Europe. The Marshall Plan (from its enactment, officially the European Recovery Program (ERP)) was the primary plan of the United States for rebuilding the allied countries of Europe and repelling communism after World War II. The initiative was named for United States Secretary of State George Marshall and was largely the creation of State Department officials, especially William L. Clayton and George F. Kennan. 1 In fact the Plan was offered to the Soviet Union if it accepted certain conditions like the changes in the political system and the outer control. It was understood that the conditions suggested by the US Administration would never be accepted by the Soviet rulers. The general idea of the Marshall Plan presupposed the elimination the tariffs, close economic integration and it could be said that the Plan was the beginning of the Euro integration process which is taking place nowadays. The attitude towards the idea of the European reconstruction was rather controversial in America. First of all such foreign policy was new for the United States and changed the foreign policy of the pre-war isolationism. At the same time the lessons of the WWII showed that the global security could not be provided under the isolationism doctrine. The State Department under Harry S. Truman was dedicated to pursuing an activist foreign policy, but the Congress was somewhat less interested. Originally, it was hoped that little would need to be done to rebuild Europe and that the United Kingdom and France, with the help of their colonies, would quickly rebuild their economies. By 1947 there was still little progress, however. A series of cold winters aggravated an already poor situation. The European economies did not seem to be growing as high unemployment and food shortages led to strikes and unrest in several nations. In 1947 the European economies were still well below their pre-war levels and were showing few signs of growth. Agricultural production was 83% of 1938 levels, industrial production was 88%, and exports only 59%. 2 It was the objective reality that the United States was the only country the economy of which was not seriously damaged by the war and the bipolar nature of the post WWII world needed some action restraining the Soviet influence. The ruinous effect of the WWII was the fertile soil for spreading the Communist ideas and consequently the influence of the USSR which was not limited by the ideology only but by the growing military, political and economic presence. On June, June 5, 1947 Secretary of State George Marshall gave the address to the graduating class of Harvard University in which he stated the preparedness of the United States to give the aid to European countries. The most important provision of the speech was that the Europeans should create their own plan of the economic reconstruction and the United States would finance such reconstruction. UK and France considered it necessary to invite the Soviet Union to join the European program of the post war reconstruction. Such appeal to Stalin would exclude possibly hostility from the USSR on one hand but on the other hand it was clear that the USSR would never accept the offer because the Cold War had already started by that time by the Soviet leaders. The major reason the aid was rejected by the Soviet rulers was that the Plan presupposed the creation of the unified European economy which was incompatible with the command economy of Soviet socialism. The US Administration considered the global economic stability to the guarantee of the political stability and security which was stated in Marshall Plan Speech in Harvard. â€Å"It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist†. 3 The position of the Soviet Union and it allies towards the Marshall Plan was rather predictable. Soviet rulers considered the Marshall Plan to be an attempt to destroy the Soviet domination in the Eastern Europe. The USSR allies influenced by the USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia rejected the offered aid. Finland also declined in order to avoid antagonizing the Soviets. The Soviet Union’s â€Å"alternative† to the Marshall plan, which was purported to involve Soviet subsidies and trade with eastern Europe, became known as the Molotov Plan, and later, the COMECON. You read "The Marshall Plan" in category "Papers" 4 Some scholars consider the Marshall Plan to be a milestone and even a starting point on the long term global confrontation known as the Cold War. â€Å"Our analysis of the Marshall Plan will show that it was American policies as much as (and perhaps more than) Soviet actions that finally led to the division of Europe and thus to the Cold War itself. Many historians will feel uncomfortable with this conclusion; and it is certainly not a point of view that is popular with American historians, especially now. Nor should this much surprise us. After all, the Marshall Plan has always tended to receive favorable reviews within the United States—partly because few appear inclined to think critically about an act of generosity involving something close to $13 billion;19 partly because in the context of 1947 the Marshall Plan stood in sharp contrast to its shrill predecessor, the Truman Doctrine; and partly because of the huge reputation of George Marshall, whose role in the Marshall Plan was commemorated by the British government with the scholarships that still bear his name. †5 Cox and Kennedy-Pipe suggest that the Marshall Plan was one of the major reasons of the division of Europe and it led to the Cold War. But this approach looks like that which is a little bit simplified. The confrontation of the USSR and USA was unavoidable no matter what political processes took place in the post WWII globe. First of all the confrontation was originally programmed in the ideological difference of the two systems. Nowadays we can observe the nominally Communist China and Vietnam integrating in the world market economy. The modern economies of China and Vietnam have nothing common with the traditional communist command economy. It could be said that the ideological basis of the modern China and Vietnam contradicts completely to the traditional communist approach to economy when the market and the competition according to classics of Marxism-Leninism are aimed to exploitation of the working class and prosperity of the ruling class. Nobody knows what kind of confrontation would be if the Marshall Plan were not introduced. One of the possible scenarios could be that the Europe remained in ruins, Soviets gained the unlimited influence and the greater part of Europe would get involved into the crazy arm race without any restrictive factor which would lead to the new global conflict. The Marxian ideologists interpreted the Marshall Plan as the manifestation of the US neo-colonial global policy. â€Å"US imperialism has never had need to operate in the traditional manner of the British, French or German imperialisms. These countries had to acquire direct political possession of the colonial areas in order to control, subjugate and exploit them. American imperialism, with its overwhelming capacity to produce, has always used economic penetration as its main weapon of gaining economic and political control over another country. †6 The American Marshall Plan was heavily criticized both in the United States and abroad. The opinions ranged from â€Å"the betrayal of the American interests† to â€Å"the attempt of global domination† but there was no any reasonable alternative suggested. The political aim of the Marshall Plan as it was stated above was to restrain the Soviet expansion and influence in the post War Europe and the entire world. The United States and the USSR were two global superpowers which defeated the Hitler block. At the same time as it was stated above they have basic system ideological differences which in their essence were incompatible. The United States and the USSR were destined to confrontation due to such differences. The first post – war political initiative of the USSR was the creation of the pro-Soviet block in Europe. Germany, Italy and Japan were destructed and demoralized to oppose the growing Soviet influence. The spread of the Soviet influence created the real threat to the entire world. What is more, the situation looked like paradox because the United States assisted to strengthen the position of its ideological opponent in the world. Due to its geopolitical position the United States could not provide the symmetric political presence in Europe. The Great Britain ran its traditional isolationist policy. France was not economically and politically strong enough to oppose the Soviet influence. â€Å"If Russia came to control Europe and Asia, this control could be founded only on communist dictatorships maintained against the will of the majorities of the peoples. The mere existence of a great free country like our own, to which anti-Soviet forces could gravitate, would then be a major danger (even more than it is today) to the security of the Soviet political structure. For this reason, the Russians would inevitably focus the full force of their economic and military power upon the destruction of our society, with a view to establishing here a regime subservient to themselves which would make no further trouble for them. They would hope that in this way the conscience of the world could be finally silenced†. 7 Such attitude towards position of Russia was a little bit exaggerated especially when Mr. Kennan said about the direct Russian aggression against the United States but still it indicated the real threat of Russian influence in the world. It is worth reminding that Mr. Kennan spoke about the Soviet threat to American society in 1948 when there were only two dominating military and political forces in the world, the USA and the USSR, one of which started forming the military and political block risking the superpower global balance. It is worth noting that the initial confrontation of the superpowers was the battle for minds. The Europeans with their destructed economies had the options to choose either the ideology of Communism with its dictatorship and command economy or find the way to rehabilitate their post-war economies on the basis of free market and the United States entered this battle for the sake of the Europeans. The post-war situation is similar to that of nowadays when the United States faces the problem of battling the global terrorism including the economic measures. As Gordon O. F. Johnson notes â€Å"Today we are fighting for the minds of those throughout the world who are inclined to support and sympathize with international terrorists. Just as the aim of the Marshall Plan was to â€Å"drain the swamps† where communism was drawing support, so we today must â€Å"drain the swamps† where international terrorism recruits and draws its support. †8 The outcomes of the Marshall Plan are of great significance for Europe and entire world. The most important of them is that the United States and the civilized community introduced and implemented the unprecedented tool of collective reconstruction. It is worth mentioning that the post-war European economies were rehabilitated by the Europeans themselves with the assistance of the United States. The essence of the Marshall speech at Harvard was that the European countries were supposed to reconstruct their countries themselves and the United States was not supposed to interfere into this process. That is, the United States provided only the tools for reconstruction without imposing any dictatorship. Another important outcome of the Marshall Plan was that the former enemies in the World War II succeeded to join their efforts in building the new Europe taking away the political, economic and ideological disagreements of the former enemies in the bloodiest war of the human history. The Marshall Plan apart from its economic value became the factor consolidating Europe. â€Å"The objective of the Marshall Plan was not to solve the problem of poverty by handouts and welfare systems, but rather to foster successful enterprises which would create productive jobs with a genuine future. Jobs and a strong middle class were key to fighting communism. They were key for Europeans to rebuild from the rubble and offer hope for their youth who were the most susceptible to the message of international communism. †8 The history of the mankind knows a lot of examples when the political and economic actions were imposed from outside. The Marshall Plan gave the brilliant example when the effective assistance program had the local character. It was taken as fair and sincere action because of its transparency and the complete lack of the outer dictatorship. It had a great ideological value as well indicating that people of the countries which were completely destructed by the devastating war were able to rehabilitate their economies and rebuild their home countries. Citation 1. Wikipedia 2. Ibid 3. Text of the Marshall Plan Speech 4. Wikipedia 5. Cox and Kennedy-Pipe 6. Homer Paxon 7. George F. Kennan 8. Gordon O. F. Johnson 9. Ibid Bibliography †¢ Marshall Plan, Wikipedia, available at http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Marshall_Plan#searchInput, retrieved 9. 11. 2006 †¢ Text of the Marshall Plan Speech, available at http://www. marshallfoundation. org/marshall_plan_speech_harvard. html#top, retrieved 9. 11. 2006 †¢ Cox and Kennedy-Pipe, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy? Rethinking the Marshall Plan, available at http://www. polisci. ucla. edu/faculty/trachtenberg/cv/jcws(marshall%20orig). pdf, retrieved 9. 11. 2006 †¢ Homer Paxon Marshall Plan: Road to Conquest Analysis of the American Way of Imperialism, From New International, Vol. 14 No. 5, July 1948, pp. 138-143. , available at http://www. marxists. org/history/etol/newspape/ni/vol14/no05/paxon. htm#top, retrieved 9. 11. 2006 †¢ George F. Kennan on the Strategic Background, available at http://www. marshallfoundation. org/marshall_plan_information. html, retrieved 9. 11. 2006 †¢ Gordon O. F. Johnson, Lessons for Today from the Marshall Plan, CIPE. ORG Feature Service: Technical Paper Series January 2002, available at CIPE. ORG, retrieved 9. 11. 2006. How to cite The Marshall Plan, Papers

Data Refers Different Types Of Algorithms †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Data Refers Different Types Of Algorithms? Answer: Introducation The case study has highlighted the issue related to big data security in the data storage systems. The term big data refers to different types of algorithms, technology and the infrastructure which can store and analyze massive amount of data. There are several and diversified sources of big data which are used for adoption and the development of big data applications. In the present times, big data applications are necessary to increase the efficiency and the effectiveness of the decision-making in large business organizations. In the present times, data and knowledge is considered as the most crucial asset for the business organizations. The applications of big data are ranging from the military, science and business intelligence (Lopez Saleem, 2017). Although big data has immense applications in different work and operations in business enterprises, it also bears several types of security and privacy risk for the users. Big data applications are becoming target of various threat agents and with time, several specialized attacks will also be devised to exploit the vulnerabilities and the threats of big data. It has been identified that the big data threat includes but is not limited to the theft of ordinary data and new breaches and degradation and threats have emerged which can impact the data which is collected with the help of big data collection method. The frequency of outsourcing in big data can introduce new type of breach, leakage and degradation threats. They can also impact on the privacy and data protection. In big data system, additional time is required for parallelization and ingestion; however, the requirement of additional time can increase the impact and frequency of data leakage and breach. In addition to it, sev eral security challenges and issues are aligned with big data asset owners and the interest of different asset owners are not aligned together and might be in conflict. The security countermeasures may be in conflicts which can create a difficult big data security landscape. The report has highlighted the security issues with the big data. Moreover, the report has identified the gaps between big threat and countermeasures in the big data. If the business organizations adopt basic privacy and security practices, it can decrease the privacy and security risks in big data organizations. The initial security arrangements can be beneficial for the organization and it will reduce the cost and effort required to provide ad hoc solutions later on (Sharvari, Solanki, Kumar, Nilanjan, 2017). The current countermeasure technique should adapt the existing solutions against the traditional data threats in the big data environment. It should also focus on adaptation of the existing solutions to the big data challenges. The report has provided several recommendations such as departure from the traditional data security methods to big data specific solutions. The business organizations should also identify the gaps and needs in the current standardization activities and focus on training and specialization of the professionals. The organization should define the tools and techniques for the security and the privacy protection and simplify or customize the solutions for mitigating risk and threats in the business organizations (Mather, Kumaraswamy, Latif, 2009). With the advent of big data, several new security and privacy threats have arisen. The threats refer to any event which may provide unauthorized access, damage or denial of service to a third party organization. According to the personal perception, the information leakage due to human error or sharing is the primary threat to the business organizations. The threats refer to all those security breaches which are caused by human errors, misconfiguration or clerical errors. The human errors refer to the misconfiguration, slips or errors due to skill disadvantage or use of simple or easy to guess user names, and mistakes related to software upgrading or procedural flaws (Craig Ludloff, 2011). Information leakage due to misconfiguration can be a common problem. There are several setups for system administration such as Redis, MongoDB, Memcache and ElesticSearch. The default settings do not have any configuration for authentication, encryption or authorization of the data. It means that the data can be easily accessed by a third party. It can be critiqued that the data breach due to human error is the biggest threat to a business organization. The organization invests a large amount of money in training employees to operate organizations device or equipment. However, still a large amount of employees make mistakes in operating it. The human error can be reduced by training; however, it cannot be completely vanished. Therefore, it is the most significant error in big data application. With negligence, the employees may reveal sensitive or confidential information of the organization (Katsikas, Lambrinoudakis Furnell, 2016). The threat agent is an entity which or who has the capabilities, intention or the past activities of threatening or causing damage to the data of an organization. The threat agents can be corporation, cyber criminals, cyber terrorists, social hackers or employees. The corporations refer to the organizations or entities which are engaged in offensive methods so that they can gain competitive advantage over their competitors or to obtain significant capabilities related to any specific area of expertise. The cyber criminals are hostile factors who want to obtain financial gain or any specific skill by breaching the security system of an organization. The cybercriminals operate in local, national or international level. On the other hand, cyber terrorists are engaged in numerous activities and the cybercrime or cyber-attacks are only a part of it. They are differentiated by their motivation which can be political or religious and their capability is usually high in nature. The cyber ter rorists focus on the critical infrastructure of the location which is public health, energy production or the telecommunication infrastructure of the organization. The cyber terrorists cause severe impact on the society or the government. The online social hackers refers to the socially or the politically motivated individuals who are motivated to use online mediums to promote or protest for their cause. Along with it, the employee can also pose significant threat to a business organization. They can access a companys resource and easily leak the sensitive information. The employees can be non-hostile threat agents or hostile threat agents. The non-hostile threat agents refers to the distracted employees whereas thee disgruntled employees are included in hostile threat agents (Wheeler Winburn, 2015). The nation agents have also become another significant threat agent which may use online capabilities to use against an adversary. In the recent years, several nation states have deplo yed sophisticated cyber-attacks to secure highly-sensitive information related to intelligence, military and other technological developments. There are several practices which can be adopted to secure the sensitive information of the organization to protect the big data assets of the organization. Cryptography can be used to protect the data from unintentional leakages and to prevent unauthorized access to the data and the system. However, encryption or cryptography can create additional complexity and require additional demand and requirement for the infrastructure. Other than that, information leakage due to incapability of the information system can be addressed by integrating the security features at the initial stage of development t lifecycle of the organization. The use of ad hoc key management tools can also be used to protect the data from eavesdropping, interception or hijacking of the information. In addition to it, the nefarious activities or abuse can be addressed by establishing access control in the organization. It means that the information should be provided an appropriate level of protection according to its importance to the organization. The security protocols should be implemented according to its importance to the organization. Several cyber-attackers attack other system prevent the owners access to the system. It is called denial of service and it can be mitigated with the help of network traffic monitoring, filtering, and rate limiting and general DNS services (Bunnik, Cawley, Lulqueen Zwitter, 2016). The major trends in cyber-security are due to threat to the privacy and the confidentiality of the data streams. The primary challenge for the business organizations is the issue of personal identification information and the confidentiality of the customers and the organization. The identity fraud can result due to traffic capture and data mining. The anonymity of the users is another issue for the organization. An organization can increase the privacy by the use of cryptography; however, there are several issues related to the cryptographic technique. It includes performance and scalability, protection of logical and physical fragments. Cryptography can increase the complexity of the system and negatively impacts on the performance. Several products and ad hoc solutions can be used instead of cryptography to increase the overall performance of the system. There are also several issues related to the computing infrastructure and storage models. There are several issues related to th e lack of standardization and the portability of security controls which may arise due to the poor design of the security features of the system (Pearson Yee, 2012). ENISA Threat Landscape (ETL) is an organization which identifies the threats and other contemporary security issues with the digital system and new technologies. The organization conducts a survey with the business managers and IT professionals in different organizations posted at different levels. The organization can use other primary data collection methods to access more information related to the information security risk. In the personal perception, the organization should conduct interview with the industry experts. It will provide the customers with in-depth information related to the information security challenges and they can also identify solutions regarding how to address these challenges. The organization should also conduct research on different companies in other nations regarding the information security breach and the current breach of information. With this, the organization will have first-hand knowledge regarding different kinds of data breach. They will also be possessing knowledge regarding what to do in such situations (Hu, 2016). The organization should also examine how other highly secure organizations are managing the security of their system. The organization should identify the issues specific to the business system and the operations of the organization. The report should also suggest the security measures and tactics which can be used by the organization to address the situation. The ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) is center for information security network which promoted information security in the private and the public sector organizations situated in EU and its member states. It provides recommendations and suggestions related to information security. It also assists the member states of the Union to develop legislations and policies to encourage information security of the business organizations. There are several public and private sector organizations which regularly deal with highly sensitive information; therefore, it is important that the organization have access to high level security arrangements. Currently, cloud and big data are frequently adopted by the business organizations as they are cost-effective method to store a large amount of information however, with emerging technologies, the security issues also evolve (ENISA, 2016). ENISA should be satisfied with its current state of IT security. It has been identified that the business organizations in European Union have developed resilient methods to protect the identity of the organization. The organization tries to maintain maximum security in private and public organizations by implementing various security measures and other tactics. Firstly, the organization implements regular analysis of the contemporary issues in the technological system of the organization. The organization has implemented cloud services for the database infrastructure and for information storage. It is a cost-effective method for information storage; however, with its implementation several security issues have also arisen. ENISA has also examined various methods related to IT infrastructure so that it can also uplift its current status of security (Halpert, 2011). It is recommended that the organization should also focus on research and development so that they can develop methods w hich can address the recent or novel security breaches. References Bunnik, A., Cawley, A., Lulqueen, M., Zwitter, A. (2016). Big Data Challenges: Society, Security, Innovation and Ethics. Springer. Craig, T., Ludloff, M. (2011). Privacy and Big Data. O'Reilly Media, Inc. ENISA. (2016). Big Data Threat Landscape and Good Practice Guide. European Union Agency For Network And Information Security. Retrieved On 10 September 2017 from https://www.enisa.europa.eu/publications/bigdata-threat-landscape Halpert, B. (2011). Auditing Cloud Computing: A Security and Privacy Guide. John Wiley Sons. Hu, F. (2016). Big Data: Storage, Sharing, and Security. CRC Press. Katsikas, S., Lambrinoudakis, C., Furnell, S. (2016). Trust, Privacy and Security in Digital Business: 13th International Conference, TrustBus 2016, Porto, Portugal, September 7-8, 2016, Proceedings. Springer. Lopez, D., Saleem, D.M.A. (2017). HCI Challenges and Privacy Preservation in Big Data Security. IGI Global. Mather, T., Kumaraswamy, S., Latif, S. (2009). Cloud Security and Privacy: An Enterprise Perspective on Risks and Compliance. "O'Reilly Media, Inc.". Pearson, S., Yee, G. (2012). Privacy and Security for Cloud Computing. Springer Science Business Media. Sharvari, T., Solanki, Kumar, Nilanjan, D. (2017). Privacy and Security Policies in Big Data. IGI Global. Wheeler, A., Winburn, M. (2015). Cloud Storage Security: A Practical Guide. Elsevier.

The Ethics of Selling Violent Video Games Research Paper Example

The Ethics of Selling Violent Video Games Paper Should Barry recommend that Take-Two go forward with the release of GTAG: Vice City? Yes, they should think deeply of the Impact that the game will game will have over the children who play It, not only the Impact the game will have over their company and also take Into account that many groups are already against them In the release of the game. 2. Given the contemplated video game is legal, is clearly marked as Mature for audiences over 17, and is targeted for audiences not particularly offended by the homes of GTAG: Vice City, is there an ethical issue of any kind in this case? Yes, because the game is already classified the game from 17 years up and is legal, so the choice of buying the game depends on the children who want it and of the parents who buy it to their kids. 3. Do video games producers bear any social responsibility whatsoever for the themes of gratuitous violence they reinforce or the messages they send about the treatment of women as sex objects? Yes completely, because they are transmitting to people who play their game Is that violence and women used as a sex object Is now a days normal and this will cause people to take that into reality. . If the answer of question 3 is yes, what steps do you recommend be taken to improve the current situation regarding the marketing of video games in the U. S. A? 1 . The government needs to be aware of what messages are video games are transmitting. 2. Video games producers need to take into account the damage that their video games will cause to their clients. 3. People need to take into account, hen b uying a video game, if they contain violence or sex. Firebombed Fitch 1. We will write a custom essay sample on The Ethics of Selling Violent Video Games specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Ethics of Selling Violent Video Games specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Ethics of Selling Violent Video Games specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Is AF really using Quarterly to generate free publicly and to create a dimension of controversy and rebellion sometimes important to their youthful target market? Yes, AF is making teenagers to think of living life in another dimension and that is being rebellion, having sex, drink, use drugs, etc. They are making think teenagers that doing that stuff is normal. 2. If you were called in as an advisor to Jiffies, what would you tell him to do about he Quarterly? I will tell him to stop promoting AF through Quarterly because the magazine is classified as a dirty magazine and that is the image that AF is showing while promoting themselves through that Quarterly. 3. How does this case relate to the ethical theories/frameworks we have discussed? Companies will do anything to Increase their profits and become popular. AF Is causing a lot of controversy but in that way many people is getting to know AF and Is a way to call ten attention.

3 Steps to Take Before You Quit Your Job

3 Steps to Take Before You Quit Your Job Ever dream of walking out and never looking back? Often wonder if you could ever pursue a career, degree, or dream you think might be too risky? Now might be the time. We spend too much of our lives afraid to make the big decision. But the vast majority of Americans aren’t fully engaged or enriched at work. Furthermore,  studies show that most pay raises come after a job switch. You could be happier and make more money, if only you were brave enough to take the leap!1. Make a financial planOf course, you’ll have to take a comprehensive look at your finances. If you don’t have a safety net to get you through a few months unemployed, then the time is not yet right. Consider making a quitting fund for next year, and start dreaming up what you’d rather be doing with your life. But if you do have the liquid to take the big risk, the possible rewards are overwhelming.2. Make a logistical planDo your homework. How long can you make it without work? What’ s your worst-case scenario should it all go wrong? Talk to the people who would be affected by your decision- spouse, kids, parents, business partners. Most importantly, start to rejigger your career identity so you won’t succumb to feeling like a drifter. Craft a preemptory answer to the dreaded cocktail party question, â€Å"So what do you do?† If you have an answer prepared, you’ll start to feel strong enough to use it.3. Don’t leap blindlyDo the usual networking and job searching, but make sure to make room in your schedule for some soul-searching. What did you actually love about the work you were doing? What are some features of your ideal job? What would you like to do with your life if you had one more chance and one big re-set button?There’s always time to make your life better. So go ahead and give yourself the option of being more fulfilled. One day, it might be too late for you to change, for one reason or another- but today is not that day.

LAND LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

LAND LAW - Essay Example The most common form is when a neighbor builds an establishment that crosses onto another person’s land although most severe scenarios the neighbor treats someone else land as if it were their own. In our case, Thomas built the garage before Edward bought the land but even then, Thomas was still encroaching on the council’s land even though they did not feel like taking any action against him. When Edward bought the property and he wants his fence to go through the right boundary, Thomas has no grounds to refuse him. The Land Registry Act public guide 19 states that in the interest of good relations between neighbors, "It is best to record the agreement formally. You can do this ... by setting your agreement down in a formal document" and they are referring to the case of boundary agreements. Thomas has the knowledge on where the boundary lies due to the formal agreement under existence since they bought the land from the previous owner. However, if the council land was unregistered, the law legislation LA 1980 s. 17, states that as far as the current squatter has been on the land for a long period of time (up to 12 years) and the land has been under good use, then he or she is supposed to request for a registration through the law. In Powell v McFarlane, Slade J it was alluded that the issue of land ownership could have been through a concept known as factual possession. Under such circumstances, the owner has a near exclusive control over the given parcel of land. The ownership at such times includes physical control. In terms of intrusion into a piece of land, it is apparent that the ownership cannot be claimed by two parties concurrently. Consequently, it ought to be acknowledged that the real control in terms of physical use lies in the terms that suit the prevailing circumstances. The considerations in such situations entail having an evaluation of what the parcel of land is used for in terms of commercial exploitation. In the case of Thomas and Edward, Edward was aware of Thomas’s long possession of the land under which he built the garage. Encroachment has numerous forms but only two countermeasures, legal hearing or ejectment. The decision that this case will take, is dependent on the two affected neighbors. In case they decide to go to court, each of them has a right to the land as the next if the land was unregistered and it is under proof beyond reasonable doubt. However, if the land belonged legally to the council and proper documents produced then Edward has the right to own the land. The twist comes in if Thomas decides he wants the land as well under the limitation act. If Thomas decides to pursue the land’s interest under claim of adverse possession, then he is liable to get it according to the law. Section 15(1) of the limitation acts(LA 1980) if a person encroaches on another person’s land and the latter is notified, the right to claim any legal action expires after 12 years since the owner got the information pertaining to this encroachment. Edward notified the council on Thomas’ encroachment but they did nothing and the countdown began in 1996 when Edward reported. However, in Buckinghamshire County Council v Moran, Slade LJ explained the concept of ‘adverse’ in reference to the possession of any parcel of land. This must bear relevance to the act that was passed in the 1980s. This is better explained through the quote "If, therefore, a person occupies or uses land by

Lisbon Treaty for the Working of the European Union (EU) Essay

Lisbon Treaty for the Working of the European Union (EU) - Essay Example This growth in the number of members is primarily attributed to reasons that vary from being conducive in nature, to security issues, while some scholars have even suggested standardised or digressive reasons for the rise in the number of member states of EU (McAllister, 2010). To enhance understanding, trust, and collaboration amongst the members, various treaties have been devised from time to time related to regional policies on economy and trade, immigration policies, social policies, defence polices, and home and justice affairs. Some such treaties were Treaty of Rome (1957), Treaty of Maastricht (1992), Treaties of Nice (2001), the treaty that tried establishing a European Constitution and failed in 2004, and lastly the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007 (made effective in 2009). The 2004 and 2007 treaties created a great deal of controversies, and many experts claimed that the last two treaties were aimed primarily at creating a collaborative European superpower. However, the supporters for these treaties contended that these were aiming at making way for a larger EU in the 21st  century (Church and Phinnemore, 2010). ... The critics point out the body’s lack of power within the arena of global or regional politics, and for this reason the body has been often labelled as ‘soft power’ (Fioramonti, and Lucarelli, 2008, 193-210). In the context of security issues, EU as a body is often perceived as being irresolute, ineffective, and inconsistent (ibid). Even though there is no doubt that a war between the any of the members of EU is unthinkable, the body’s response during an on-going war in the neighbourhood, in terms of ‘crisis management,’ has not been very effective, and the Union is still perceived as weak, in terms ‘unity’ amongst its members (Gilbert 2008, 641-658). In this context, to understand whether the Lisbon Treaty (LT) would really work towards creating a stronger union amongst the member states, it is necessary to examine the treaty from close quarters. The representatives from the 27 EU member states signed the Treaty of Lisbon on 18th December 2007, which modified the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) and the Treaty on European Union (TEU). There are seven Articles under the Treaty of Lisbon, where the modifications to TEC and TEU are listed under Articles 1 and 2 (Amendments to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty Establishing the European Community, 2007). Under Articles 3-7, we find that there are provisions for treaty duration, the process of ratification, and article renumbering (ibid). This is unlike the 2004 Treaty, which attempted to establish a European Constitution, and remained ineffective owing to negative referendum votes cast by Netherlands and France. The Lisbon Treaty however retrains itself from trying to replace any of the treaties

Domestic Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Domestic Violence - Essay Example The purpose of this paper is to analyze domestic violence in our society. Domestic violence is a serious problem that is hurting the quality of life of many American families. This social deviant behavior is a problem in the United States and abroad. Victims of domestic violence must speak out in order to get help. Domestic violence is a crime punishable by the law. Nobody deserves to be physically and emotionally abused by another person. It is better to get out of bad relationship than to continue to suffer from an abusive spouse. Women are five to eight times more likely to be victims of domestic violence (Aardvarc, 1998). In order to battle against domestic violence victims have to tell someone about the problem to then eventually get the courage to file formal charges against the abuser. Our society will be better place once domestic violence is eradicated forever. Aardvarc.org (1998). From â€Å"Violence by Inmates: Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or Former Spouses, Boyfriend and Girlfriends, U.S. Department of Justice, March 1998† Retrieved December 11, 2010 from http://www.aardvarc.org/dv/statistics.shtml Helpguide.org (2010). Domestic Violence and Abuse: Signs of Abuse and Abusive Relationships Retrieved December 12, 2010 from

Aegon Group International: Change Management Strategies

Aegon Group International: Change Management Strategies INTRODUCTION TO THE CHOOSEN ORGANIZATION: AEGON Group (AEGON N.V.), an international provider of life insurance, pensions and other long-term investment products. Based in The Hague, the Netherlands, AEGON has around 40 million policyholders and approximately 28,000 employees around the world. It has assets, including all revenue-generating investments, of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬405 billion ( £348 billion).* AEGONs mission is to help customers secure their long-term financial futures. AEGON has three main established markets: the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Recently, AEGON has expanded its international presence, pushing into new growth markets in the Americas, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. At present, AEGON has businesses in more than 20 markets across the globe. AEGON has a clear, well-defined strategy, aimed at creating long-term value for all the companys stakeholders. Committed to its core businesses (life insurance and pensions), AEGON seeks profitable, sustainable growth and pursues a multi-channel approach to distribution to give customers access to products and services in the way that best suits them. AEGON was created in 1983 the result of a merger between two Dutch insurance companies AGO and Ennia. And many of the companies who form AEGON have a long history. For example, in the United States, Monumental Life based in Baltimore has been insuring people since 1858, while in the United Kingdom, AEGON (a brand name of Scottish Equitable plc) has been in existence since the early 1830s. *Source: AEGON N.V. quarterly results, 30 September 2010 TASK 1; EXPLORE THE BACKGROUND TO CHANGE AFFECTING THE ORGANIZATION. (A) IDENTIFY A RANGE OF MODELS OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND EXPLAIN THE ANY THREE OF THESE MODELS IN DETAIL. McKINSEY 7-S MODEL: The McKinsey 7-S Model was created by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman whilst they were working for McKinsey Company in 1978 (12Manager, 2007. According to this model there are seven different factors that are a part of the model: Shared values Strategy Structure Systems Style Staff Skills Shared values are the centre of the model because it is what the organization believes in and stands for, such as the mission of the company. Strategy represents what the company plans to do react to any changes of its external surroundings (Recklies, 2007). The structure refers to the organizational structure of the company. Systems are the portion of the model that represents the procedures, processes and routines that characterize how the work should be done. Staff is quite obvious in the fact that it is a proper representation of who is employed by the organization and what they do within the organization (12Manage, 2007). Style signifies the organizational culture and management styles that are utilized within the organization (12Manage, 2007). Skills indicate the abilities and competencies of either the employees or the organization holistically. LEWINNS CHANGE MANAGEMENT MODEL: This model was developed in early 1950s by Kurt Lewin a psychologiest. Lewin recognized following three stages of change (Syque, 2007), Unfreeze Ttransition Refreeze The majority of people tends to stay within certain safe zones and is hesitant of change (Syque, 2007). These people tend to become comfortable in this unchanging environment and become uncomfortable when any change occurs, even if it is a minor one. In order to overcome this frozen state, we must initiate an unfreeze period, which is done through motivation (Mind Tools, 2007). Motivation is important in any organization, even when it is not changing. The transition period is when the change is occurring, which is a voyage and not a step.. The transition period takes time because people do not like change. At the end of the transitional voyage, comes the next stage: refreeze. This is the stage where the company once again becomes stable. Kotters Eight Step Change Model; According to this model there are eight steps that must be followed for successful change. Step One: Increase urgency for change Step Two: Build a team for the change Step Three: Construct the vision Step Four: Communicate Step Five: Empower Step Six: Create short term goals Step Seven: Be persistent Step Eight: Make the change permanent The first step is to create urgency for change. This means that we have to convince the employees that this change is necessary for the company to survive. This also means that we must communicate that the change is achievable without any detrimental effects on their jobs. The next step is to build a team for the change, which has to be of some respected employees within the company. The third step is to construct the vision, which will show clear direction to how the change will better the future of the company and their jobs (Rose, 2002). The fourth step is to communicate this vision. In order for the vision to work it must be fully understand by the employees, which means that it is necessary for the leaders of the change group to follow this vision. The fifth step it to empower the employees to execute the change. It is still important that the management follow the same guidelines as the employees are too. By creating short term goals, we assist the employees to accept the chang e by showing them progress. Rewards are very important at this step also. The seventh step is about persistence because we should influence more change even after the short term goals are met or the original plan for change will cease and die (Rose, 2002). The final step is to make the change permanent by moving fitting it into the companys culture and practices, such as promotion (Chapman, 2006). (B) IDENTIFY AND LIST THE FACTORS THAT ARE DRIVING YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZATION TO CHANGE, AND SUGGEST AN APPROPRIATE MODEL OF CHANGE FOR YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZAITON WITH REASONS FOR SUGGESTING THE MODEL. In case of AEGON UK following are the deriving forces for organizational change. Financial restructuring in the United Kingdom. Growth in population and changes in demographic attributes. Cultural diversification in the UK. Changes in social dimensions of the United Kingdom. Evolution of political orientation and policies. Increase in the domestic purchasing power. Institutional and policies neglect regarding the financial products. High competitiveness and consequent challenges. Deficient Management practices. Inefficiency in processes. In the personal opinion of the researcher the best choice of change model that should be applicable in case of AEGON UK is Kotters Eight Step Change Model. The researcher believes this is the best choice because it is simple mode. Researcher thinks in this way because it fully prepares the employees of the company before the vision is even created, which means that the actual transition will be much easier in the long run. There are fewer disadvantages to this model than others. Overall it is the best fit for most companies because substantial change is needed for the divisions because its history. This will also help ease the transition because the division has quite a history compared to the rest of the company, so people are not as set in the ways, as they would be if the division had been around longer. (C) IDENTIFY THE VALUE OF STRATEGIC INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES AND WHAT INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES WOULD YOU APPLY IN INTRODUCING CHANGE INTO YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZATION; There is no question that some form of strategic planning is key to an organizations future performance. However, there are several challenges to implementing this type of planning in an organization. Large group interventions are one set of methods for addressing these challenges. In case of AEGON UK strategic planning implies planning for the long-term. The time frame associated with this type of planning is from three to five years into the future. Due to this timeframe, there are several challenges associated with long-range planning. These include: creating a plan that is breakthrough in its orientation rather than more of the same, getting all stakeholders to commit to the organizations strategies and to follow through on implementation of critical activities, and decreasing cycle time in the planning process. In todays world, organizations cannot afford these challenges. To survive, they must be able to quickly create, deploy, and implement breakthrough strategies that help them to continually anticipate and meet current and future customer requirements. In doing so, they must be able to align all internal and external resources around the plan. This sort of orientation necessitates approaches to strategic planning that involve all employees and stakeholders in the planning process and a planning process that can occur within a shortened time frame. The researcher will prefer to adopt Large Group Interventions Technique to address the proposed change in the chosen organization AEGON. LARGE GROUP INTERVENTIONS: Over the past 20 years, a number of large group intervention techniques have emerged that more quickly effect large-scale change. As such, they have been effective tools in dealing with some of the issues associated with strategic planning. These intervention techniques include: Design, Participative Design, Simu-Real, Work-outs, and Open Space Technology. As summarized in the book, Large Group Interventions, by Barbara Benedict Bunker and Billie Alban, these approaches allow organizations to involve anywhere from 30 to hundreds, if not a few thousand, individuals in working together to accomplish a common outcome. They may come together for a single day or multiple days or events. In the process of working collaboratively, the organization can more quickly achieve what Kathleen Dannemiller has coined one heart and one mind-a key factor in organizational alignment. These approaches have several defining characteristics. They are best used when: Time is of the essence. The issue is complex. The purpose of the intervention is clear. There is committed and involved leadership. Benefits can be reaped from stakeholder involvement and ownership. A design team that is representative of the whole is engaged to develop the content and process pieces of the intervention as well as its follow-up, support, and communications plan. Real work occurs during the event. Large group interventions have been used successfully in diverse industries hence the researcher believes this type of strategic intervention technique will be effective for AEGON UK. TASK 2 UNDERSTAND ISSUSES RELATING TO STRATEGIC CHANGE IN THE ORGANIZATION (A) DISCUSS THE GENERIC BACKGROUND TO CHANGE THAT EXISTS IN TODAYS ECONOMY, AND THE SPECIFIC DRIVES THAT MOTIVATED YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZATION TO CONSIDER CHANGE. World appears to be integrating economically, politically and culturally. Irrespective of the national boundaries huge developments in information, communication and technology has taken place. Ownership patters of corporate sector all over the world have become more complex like joint ventures, cross-border acquisitions etc. Global strategies have emerged in the production of goods and services, distribution and management of labour. These have had an immense impact on business activities. The world economy is now more closely interlinked and the finance has become a global resource. In the current economic circumstances organizations are facing both external and internal forces that ultimately make change unavoidable. External forces such as new work force demographics; changing expectations about quality, productivity, and customer satisfaction; and new technologies are dramatically affecting the operating environment in organizations globe wise. Internally, financial limitations, the condition to do more with less, cross-functional groups, mergers and acquisitions and empowered employees all influences organizations position to compete in the global marketplace. Outsourcing, automation, best practices, downsizing, globalization, repositioning, re-engineering, and all other such terms refer towards change to your work force. It does not matter how do you define this change the fact is that challenge to the organization is inevitable; balancing the demands and hopes among the stakeholders including customer, employees, management and shareholders. Without balance, an organization risks an anxious work force that may yield declining output. The magnitude of the success of the organization depends how an organization decides to motive, correspond and incorporate change into the work force. So we can say that change is a process not an event. In the corporate world, when any or all of the factors such as; environment, technology, task, structure or people are altered fully or partially, the phenomenon is called as change. Whenever in the corporate environment deriving forces and restraining forces are not in equilibrium, there is a need for the change. In case of the AEGON UK there were many deriving forces that caused the background of change in AEGON UK. AEGON UK was although was bearing international repute but still it didnt had band awareness by the name of AEGON in the United Kingdom. The philosophy of the financial services products that were being sold by AEGON UK or its competitors were quite difficult to understand by the potential customers. Life expectancy in the United Kingdom has increased in the recent years so people can expect to be retired for longer age and similarly many individual never think it worthy to plan about their retirement properly, on the other hand there was a derive from the government to reduce dependency on the state in old age so there was a need to make a social awareness among the people for the benefits of having the financial products sold by the AEGON UK to secure there future because benefit of these investments usually realised in later years. AEGON was not well recognised in the areas ot her than pensions. Above stated reasons are the few of those that lead management to introduce change in the corporate structure and strategy of the AEGON UK Limited. (B) CONSIDER THE IMPLICAITONS IN TERMS OF RESOURCES, FOR YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZATION IF IT FAILED TO RESPOND TO THE NEED FOR STRATEGIC CHANGE. Human and other Capacity Requirements The human capacity and skills required to implement the strategy, current and potential sources of these resources. Also, other capacity needs required such as internal systems, management structures, engaged partners and Network NOs and POs, and a supportive legal framework etc. Financial Requirements The funding required implementing the proposed management strategy, current and potential sources of these funds, and the most critical resource and funding gaps. Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategy What risks exist and how they can be addressed. Estimate of Project Lifespan, Sustainability, and Exit Strategy How long the strategy will stand implemented, after how long and why strategy will require modifications (if feasible to do so), and how it will ensure sustainability of the corporate objective achievements. Strategic Change Management Plan may only be considered complete when these components have been defined, at least in broad terms. As the project moves into change implementation, several of these components are then defined in more detail and tested in reality. TASK 3 DEVELOP SYSTEMS FOR UNDERSTANDING AND INVOLVING OTHERS IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGE (A) IDENTIFY THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZATION AND PROPOSE SYSTEMS TO INVOLVE THOSE STAKEHOLDERS IN THE PLANNING OF CHANGE. Stake holders are the people who are directly affected by the decisions of an entity. Stake holder may be internal (management, employees etc.) or external (government, suppliers, banks, media, shareholders etc). Different stake holders have different expectations from the organization. In the process of change, stake holders can be involved in a number of ways suck as; Involve them in problem solving. Keep them up to date of standing towards corporate objectives? Take actions on feedback received by them? Mobilize the correct resources at the right moment to recognize the implementation plan? In order to involve the stake holders to the process of change the new chief executive officer of AEGON carried out the following actions; Simplification of Financial Services; for the purpose of involving the customers to the process of change the Chief Executive Officer of AEGON adopted a customer focused approach. The CEO simplified the ever complex financial services in terms of their understanding and it was now made very simple to understand. Now the customers know that what they are investing into and what return their investment is expected to yield at the end of the contract. Earlier customers have always been confused between the complex calculations. Now the customers are happy because they dont need any financial interpreter to understand the ins and outs of the products offered by the AEGON. Workforce Development; An-other very important stake holder of the organization is the employees. These are actually the people who are practically responsible for to make the change process successful or not. Before implementing the change the new CEO took the employees in confidence and brief them about the fact that what AEGON stands today and what AEGON wants to stand in the future and he also address the forces reasoning this change. Next step is to develop the new skilled required to implement the change, the CEO introduced job rotation which involves progression from one job to the other job. Hence it provided individual employees with a coherent career path. CEO also arranged a Management Development Programme in collaboration with a leading management college for the training of the workforce. Creating Distinct Market Place; To refresh the brand identity of AEGON into the minds of the people the CEO carried out an external promotional campaign to highlight the relationship between the locally famous Scottish Equitable and AEGON. Also the CEO spoke to the media stating the reasons for the change and how the change will be useful for the stakeholders. (B) ANALYSE AND EVALUATE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THESE SYSTEMS. The systems stated above in part (A) were used to involve the different people into the process of change. The need for this change was actually those external and internal forces that were affecting the performance of the AEGON. The AEGON business was not going well due to a number of key issues. Due to those issues the Chief Executive Officer had to bring some changes into the line of operation and the way of operations by AEGON. The Chief Executive Officer related this change programme being fully customer focused and associated this whole change project with certain behaviours which are; think customer; embrace change, encourage excellence, act with integrity, decisive action, work together, learn and grow relate and communicate. The employees were trained about these behaviours by a leading management institute. Another reason for this system of change relating to the problem that AEGON was facing was that the consumers were not aware about the products and services provided by AEGON. The customers had always been confused about understanding their investment policy. They had never been able to make comparison among the services provided by AEGON neither about the possible outcome if they invest into them. As to the reaction of the fact the Chief Executive Officer simplified the description of the product to the extent that every person could understand and calculate the financial flows regarding the products offered by AEGON. This strategy really worked and AEGON have a very positive response from its customers. The other system that the Chief Executive Officer developed was to train the workforce. First the employees were addressed about the need for the change and the possible proposed changes and before implementing the change it is very essential that the workforce is capable enough to perform their duties into the new environment. For the purpose workforce was developed with rotating job descriptions and Management Development Programme was conducted by a leading management college to train the employees about how to respond to the change. Finally the Chief Executive Officer had to respond to the most vital reason for the change that is the fact that AEGON was trading under many different trade names into the same geographical location. This was the greatest reason because of which AEGON had not taken a distinct market place despite of such a historical background and multinational presence. The CEO for the purpose spoke to the media and addressed the whole situation, besides that many others measures were taken to establish a brand position, for instance Scottish Equitable was changed to AEGON Scottish-Equitable representing the repute of the local company and the brand of AEGON similarly external promotional campaign was incorporated into the system. (C) EXPLAIN HOW WOULD YOU DEVELOP A CHANGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY WITH THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS. Stakeholder management is critical to the success of introducing change in the organization .The more people are being affected by change, the more likely it is that your actions will impact people who have power and influence over your projects. These people could be strong supporters of your work or they could block it. Stakeholder Management Strategy is an important discipline that successful people use to win support from others. It helps them ensure that their projects succeed where others fail. Stakeholder Analysis is the technique used to identify the key people who have to be won over. You then use Stakeholder Planning to build the support that helps you succeed. The benefits of using a stakeholder-based approach are that: The opinions of the most powerful stakeholders to shape change implementation at an early stage. Not only does this make it more likely that they will support you, their input can also improve the quality of your project Gaining support from powerful stakeholders can help you to win more resources this makes it more likely that your projects will be successful By communicating with stakeholders early and frequently, you can ensure that they fully understand what you are doing and understand the benefits of your project this means they can support you actively when necessary By anticipating what peoples reaction to your project may be, and build into your plan the actions that will win peoples support. (D) WHAT WOULD BE YOUR STRATEGY FOR MANAGING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE IN THIS ORGANIZATION? The researcher has developed following strategy for managing resistance to change in the AEGON. There will be a workflow process in order to achieve results for mutual benefits for employees and organization. There will be an Authority Process in order to direct behaviour in the interests of the organization and its participants. There would be a Reward and Penalty Process to induce people to behave in a way required by the interests of the organization and its participants and / or to behave in a way making associated activity possible. There will be a Perpetuation Process to maintain, replenish, and make adequate the quantity and quality of social and natural resources utilized by the organization and its participants. There must be an Identification Process to develop a concept of the wholeness, uniqueness and significance of the organization. This is usually accompanied by efforts to select and define clearly understood emotionally toned symbols, concepts, or other such factors which will help individual participants identify the uniqueness of the organization as a whole, which in turn automatically helps to define the uniqueness of the organization in the larger environment in which it is embedded. There will be a communication process to provide for the exchange of information, ideas, feelings and values etc utilized in all activities to the stake holders. There must be an evaluation process which establishes criteria for and defines levels of utility and value for people, materials, ideas, and activities and which rates them and allocates them to these levels. TASK 4 PLAN TO IMPLEMENT MODELS FOR ENSURING ONGOING CHANGE (A) IDENTIFY APPROPRIATE MODELS FOR IMPLEMENTING CHANGE THAT SUITE YOUR CHOSEN ORGANIZAITON. Model for change refers towards the overall strategy to incorporate change into the organizational environment. A model of change is usually implemented into the following steps; Access the necessity of change Forming a powerful alliance Creating an idea for change Communicate the vision Remove barriers Incorporate the change into organization The Chief Executive Officer implemented the same model to incorporate change into the organization. The CEO realised the need for the changed and he came to know that company is not doing well as compared to its competitors, the legislative restriction of price has decreased the profitability lack of brand awareness getting worst and difficulty of the customers understanding the soul of the services offered by the AEGON were the factors that required an immediate change into the organization at a large scale. It was what AEGON was at the moment. The CEO conducted a SWOT analysis of the firm. After getting the situation the CEO decided to develop a new behavioural framework for the staff which was known as 8 behaviours framework and also arranged managerial training for the workforce. The CEO further addressed to the stakeholders of the organization to communicate his vision to them by simplifying the financial services, developing a workforce and arranging a brand awareness campaign. The CEO also spoke to the media about this change process and the reasons for the change. Hence model implemented by the CEO of AEGON UK brought about considerable positive change to the organization and gave it a new line of direction towards the desired goals and objectives. (B) HOW WOULD YOU IMPLEMENT THIS MODEL IN CHOSEN ORGANIZATION WHAT IMPROVEMENTS DO YOU EXPECT TO ACHIEVE BY IMPLEMENTING YOUR CHOSEN MODEL AND HOW WOULD YOU MEASURE THESE? The plan for the change was implemented into the various steps such as discovery phase to analyze where the AEGON is right now, where it wants to be and what actions are required to meet the objectives set by the Chief Executive Officer to become the best long term saving and protection business into the United Kingdom. Discovery phase revealed the reasons for changes and weaknesses and strengths of the organization. After the discovery phase the next step was to involve the appropriate stake holders into the process of change. The chief executive officer involved various stakeholders in different effective manner as discussed previously. The CEO further redeveloped the organizational behavioural framework and arranged the training of the staff members. The outcomes of the efforts made by the CEO were extremely encouraging and rewarding for the company. Before the change there was confusion among the people about the recognition of AEGON but after the heavy promotion of the brand AEGON with Scottish-Equitable created a more reliable image of the AEGON into the minds of the people. Further to that the brand carried a new more powerful and prestigious look as AEGON Scottish-Equitable. The behaviour of the employees changed altogether, now they behave with more customer focused approach. Now the employees are concern to provide useful and relevant services to their existing and potential customers and the organization is always doing its level best to do what is really important to their customers. By the change into the structure of AEGON now the customers are being offered more choices of services. AEGON launched new and ground-breaking products like the 5 for Life annuity has facilitated to change the way in which consumers can look at their retirement income. AEGON providing the levels of return promised and being responsible for any risks associated with doing so it provides more certainty about levels of income for the consumer. In short as the result of the change implement by the CEO of AEGON the company rebuilt its brand reputation, became more customer focused, started to provide more innovative products and became more popular among the consumers and ultimately the business has grown to a gigantic extent. In order to become more customers focused the new Chief Executive Officer decided to develop a new organizational behaviour framework to support the brand values of AEGON. Behavioural framework is the structured pre-defined codes of behaviour how the individuals working within the organization are suppose to behave among themselves and to the people outside the organization. Presence of the behavioural framework gives rise to the similar behavioural and ethical values of all the individuals at all levels with in the organizational. Behavioural framework developed by the AEGON was mainly focusing 8 behavioural values which are; THINK CUSTOMER; EMBRACE CHANGE; ENCOURAGE EXCELLENCE; ACT WITH INTEGRITY; DECISIVE ACTIONS; WORK TOGETHER; LEARN GROW; RELATE COMMUNICATE As the part of their strategy AEGON also undertook an audit to look at the two aspects which were the internal position of the company and how AEGON was positioned internally into the market respectively. The audit revealed that AEGON was firmly positioned within the market. Its workforce was known for their considerable expertise, innovation and clarity of communication. The external audit also helped to determine where AEGON was placed in relation to its competitors. This audit provided a very important vision to the decisions that were needed to initiate the change process.

The Never Ending Drug War Essay -- Drugs Narcotics Politics Essays

Narcotics, guns and violence, the powerful elements of the never ending war. All these elements are part of the campaign to rid the world of the disaster that drugs so ferociously have inflicted upon America. The war, created by The United States’ demand and government circumstances, has been fighting drug lords and opportunists. The United States has for the past three decades declared that it is in a full fledged attack against drugs and the violence it fosters. For decades billions and billons of dollars have been justified through the infamous War on Drugs. The drug problem has not stopped. The money and military activity have not been enough, and the â€Å"urban problem,† has not been solved. It is that our governments do not have the strategic smarts to solve the problem? The United States has the largest demand of drugs in the world. While other countries also face the drug problem, The United States has spent the most and its effectiveness is questionable. Tod ay’s â€Å"War on Drugs,† is merely the justification to the apprehension of many U.S. interest enemies and has been a loop hole to exploit many developing countries in South and Central America. The commerce that the narcotics create transcends the social, economic, political and cultural aspects. The corruption that the United States is trying to fight will not end as long as the organized corruption and demand in the United States is in existence. The demand for narcotics in the United States has remained very strong, and even increased, since the War on Drugs was declared. The United States continually points to the suppliers of the narcotics and foreign mafia bosses who run organizations as the primary causes of the difficulty of the War. It is portrayed by the media... ... Department of Health and Human Resources. 29 May 2014 . PBS Online. Frontline: drug wars. 04 Feb 2000. PBS Online, wgbh/Frontline. 27 May 2014 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/interviews/ochoajorge.html. Robinson, Matthew B. Major Source of Data on Drug Use. JusticeBlind. 20 May 2014 . Stossel, John. Is it Time to End the War on Drugs? 30 Jul. 2004. ABCNews. 05 May 2014 Walters, John P. Drug Use Trends – Factsheet. 10 Dec. 2003 Executive Office of the President: Office of National Drug Control Policy. 27 May 2014 . Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. Monroe: Common Courage Press, 1980.

Language, Identity and Cultural Difference Essay

According to Hall (1997a), enunciation theories suggest that even though we may talk of ourselves from our experiences, the person who speaks and the subject being spoken of are never identical. Identity in this regard is to be conceived as a production which is never complete- â€Å"always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation†- (Hall, 1997a) as opposed to viewing it as a complete fact which is then represented by the new cultural practices. However, this view shakes the legitimacy and authority upon which the term cultural identity bases its claim. There are two ways in which cultural identity can be thought of. The first view sees it in terms of a single shared culture, some kind of a collective ‘one true self’ that is hiding inside many other more artificially imposed selves that people with a shared history and ancestry hold in common (Hall, 1997b). Within this view of description of cultural identity, our cultural identities mirrors those historical experiences that we hold in common and the shared cultural codes which offer us as a people, a stable, immutable and continuous frames of reference and meaning, under the shifting classes and fluctuations of our actual history (Hall, 1997a). Singapore was envisioned by her leaders as a multiethnic society in which the constituent ethnic groups shared participation in common institutions while at the same time retaining their distinct languages, customs and religions. The ethnic categories represented self-evident, natural groups that would continue their existence into the indefinite future. Singaporean identity therefore implies being an Indian, a Chinese, or a Malay but in relation to other groups. This model of ethnicity demands the denial of important internal variations for each ethnic group and the recognition of differences between the categories (Tsui & Tollefson, 2007). The second view of cultural identity recognizes that there are similarities and important differences which make up what we really are. We cannot persistently refer with exactness to one experience and one identity without recognizing the other dimension. This other dimension represents the rifts and discontinuities that comprise cultural uniqueness. In this second sense, cultural identity is viewed as an issue of both â€Å"becoming† and â€Å"being†, something that belongs to the future as much as it belongs to the past. Cultural identities in this regard have histories and therefore changes constantly. In other words, cultural identities are subject to the uninterrupted play of history, culture and power (Hall, 1997a). Identity is the name given to the different ways we are placed, and put ourselves within the tale of the past. This second conception of cultural identity is more disturbing and less familiar. How can the formation of identity be understood if does not proceed from a straight line or a fixed origin? The Singaporean identity can be thought of as composed of two vectors that operate simultaneously. These are the vectors of rift and difference, and similarity and continuity. The Singaporean identity can be seen with regard to the relationship between the two vectors.   Similarity and continuity brings to fore the realization that it is the experience of fundamental discontinuity that the Indians, Malays and Chinese share and among these are immigration, colonization and Asian origin. It is therefore interesting to look at how the concept of identity, language and cultural differences were created and how these concepts are related within the context of Singapore. The analysis herein presented will be based in Hall’s view of the link between language, identity and cultural difference. Relationship between Language, Identity and Cultural Difference The relationship between language, culture and identity has emerged to be a hotly contested topic in social sciences. The questions that mainly arise concern the apparent difference between cultural and ethnic identity. Are these types of identities similar or should they be differentiated conceptually. Various scholars hold varying views on the role of language in the definition of one’s identity. A major question that one may be compelled to ask is whether a culture or ethnic group can be considered to be unique if it does not have its own language or in the least its own rendition of a common tongue. Cultural identity is universal whether it is expressed with regard to humanity or otherwise since people from every part of the world are conscious of some kind of specificity that sets them apart from others. In contrast, ethnic identity only appear to take place within complex societies when it seems functional to separate individuals into categories founded upon something other than age, gender or occupation. Ethnicity is associated with cultural identity since one must make reference to cultural, linguistic or religious particularities in order to categorize individuals. According to Hall (1997b), culture is produced by representation. Culture concerns shared meaning and the medium through which we make sense out of things is through the use of language. It is through language that meaning is produced and exchanged. The only mechanism of sharing meaning is through a common access to language. In this regard, language is fundamental to meaning and culture and has always been conceived as the major bank of cultural values and meanings. However, one may be compelled to ask how meaning is constructed through language. According to Hall (1997b), language constructs meaning via its operation as a representational system. Language is one of the mechanisms through which ideas, thoughts and feelings are represented in culture. In this regard, representation through language is fundamental to the processes through which meaning is produced. Our sense of identity is derived from meaning and therefore meaning is linked with questions about how we use culture to define and maintain identity and difference within and between groups. In every social and personal relationship in which we participate, meaning is constantly being produced. Meaning is also produced through our expression in and consumption of relevant cultural materials. Our conducts and practices are also regulated and organized by meaning which help in the setting of rules, norms and conventions upon which social life is ordered and governed. The question of identity therefore emerges in relation to various other divergent moments or practices within the cultural circuits; in our construction of identity and the defining of difference, in the production and consumption and in the regulation of social conduct. In all these instances, language is one of the most important medium through which we produce and circulate meaning.