African American Studies Notes Essay

1. Discuss the four basic thrusts of the student movement which led to the founding of Black Studies * The Civil Rights Movement (1960) * Break down the barriers of legal separation in public accommodations * Achieve equality and justice for Blacks * Organize Blacks into a self-conscious social force capable of defining, defending and advancing their interests * SNCC emerged as a vanguard group in the CR struggle. * Mobilized, organized and politicized thousands of Black students * Politicized many White students and their leaders through recruiting and training them and bringing them to the South to work in the struggle * The Free Speech Movement (UC Berkeley, 1964) * White student protest against the rigid, restrictive and unresponsive character of the university * Demand for civil rights on campus. * The Anti-Vietnam War Movement (1965) * General student protest against the Vietnam war and university complicity in it through its cooperation with the government in recruitment and research and development programs * Launched by new leftists, especially the Students for a Democratic Society * SNCC, Us, the Congress of Racial Equality participated * Based on opposition to: * The threat the draft posed to Blacks and other males of color not covered by student deferment and especially vulnerable in the South * The government’s war against Third World liberation movements and peoples in general and Vietnam in particular * Fighting an unjust war for a nation depriving Blacks of basic and human rights * The Black Power Movement (1965) * Led to direct establishment of Black Studies * The Watts Revolt in Los Angeles. * Ushered in a new dialog about relations of power in society and the university, the pervasive character of racism, and the need for struggle to overturn the establish order and create a more just society * Stressed the importance of self-determination, need for power, relevant education, cultural grounding, studying and recovering African culture * Organizations stressed the need for the university and society to recognize the diverse cultures of the U. S. * Called on students to engage in struggle in the classrooms, on campus in general and in society to improve life of African people and society itself 2. Discuss the emergence of Black Studies at SFSU * It began in 1966 * Led by black students * It was the rising tide of the black power movement and reflected its sense of social mission and urgency * Black students at SFSC and other campuses responded to the national activism of the Black Power Movement and the Watts Revolt. * 1966 changed their name to Black Student Union (BSU) to indicate a new identity and direction. * Black students developed a black arts an culture series * BSU demanded a legitimate Black Studies Department funded by the college and controlled by black people brought stiff resistance * BSU also demanded special admissions programs for a given number of black studies but it was also resisted. 3. Identify the major groups involved and the contribution of Dr. Nathan Hare * In 1968, Dr. Hare, an author and former professor, was appointed to be coordinator of Black Studies * He was given the task to formulate an autonomous Black Studies Department * He was fired from Howard University for his activism in support of students and the struggle of â€Å"relevant education† * He continued to stress on â€Å"relevant education† when he came to SFSU * By April 1968, Hare had completed his proposal and a program for special admission for Black students * The board of trustees continually delayed implementation of the program and it is this which led to the student’s strike * The university was shut down. * Eventually the students won the strike, which ended march 1969 * San Francisco State (SFSU) became the first institution of education to establish a Black Studies program and department. * GROUPS INVOLVED: Black Power Movement, Civil Rights Movement, Free Speech Movement, Anti-Vietnam War Movement 4. What were the early academic and political concerns of the advocates of Black Studies * Academic 1) concerned with traditional white studies. White studies was seen as inadequate and a distortion of the lives and culture of African people. White studies posed whites as the exemplary model for everyone, was seen as Eurocentric. 2) White studies was also seen as resistant to change which was necessary for relevant education. Black Studies argued for the need to teach Black Studies from a black frame of mind. This later became known as Afrocentric perspective. * Political 1) concerned with the low number of blacks on campus, which was seen as racist exclusion to maintain a white monopoly. So it was demanded that special admission and recruitment efforts were made to solve this problem. 2) Concerned with the treatment of racism. Sought out to make blacks respected and politically involved on campus. 3) Concerned with social problems of the black community and how black students and black studies could address and solve them. 5. What were the early objectives of Black Studies * To teach the Black experience in all its variedness and with special attention to history, culture, and current issues. * Black Studies assemble and create a body of knowledge that contributed to intellectual and political emancipation. (Developing an intellectual and dependent mind and using that knowledge in the interest of Black and human freedom). * Create intellectuals who were dedicated to community service and stressed the importance for Black intellectuals who were conscious, capable, and committed to Black liberation and a higher level of human life. * To nurture, maintain, and continue expansion of an equally beneficial relationship between the campus and the community. Dr. Nathan Hare â€Å" We must bring community to the campus and the campus to the community†. * To establish and confirm its position in the academy as a discipline essential to the educational project and to any real conception of a quality education. (Both an academic and political challenge). Chapter Two Study Questions 4. Discuss the emergence of the Afrocentric initiative and Molefi Asante’s founding role in it. * Emerging in the late 70s and finding its theoretical foundation in a work by Molefi Asante titled Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change and published in 1980 * Asante introduced Afrocentricity as the indispensable perspective of the Black Studies project and initiated a wide-ranging discourse which had both academic and social implications and consequences * Asante energized Black Studies discourse and gave a fresh and added thrust to the pursuit of new research directions in Black Studies with his insistence on African location or centeredness, African agency, and an African frame of reference in research and methodology and intellectual production * He became a much sought after lecturer and commentator * He defines Afrocentrism as a term used to negate and miscast Afrocentricity by its opponents 5. What does multiculturalism and pluralism have in common? * Multiculturalism can be defined as thought and practice organized around respect for human diversity * Expression in four basic ways: * Mutual respect for each people and culture as a unique and equally valuable way of being human in the world * Mutual respect for each people’s right and responsibility to speak their own special cultural truth and make their own unique contribution to society and the world * Mutual commitment to the constant search for common ground in the midst of our diversity * Mutual commitment to an ethics of sharing in order to build the world we all want and deserve to live in * Pluralism * Based on exceptional values as determined by the host of society Chapter Four Studying Questions 1. What arguments does Van Sertima make to prove African presence in Olmec civilization? * Unearthed evidence like more Olmec heads, especially one at tres zapotes showing Ethiopian type braids; more clay sculptures of African types which reflect the coloration and texture of African hair; reaffirmation of skeletal evidence; new evidence from ancient maps; new comparisons of African and south African pyramids; and further discussion on dating of the voyages. 2. What are some basic misconceptions about the holocaust of enslavement? Discuss its impact. * The enslavement was not a â€Å"trade† but instead the whole process by which captives were obtained on African soil was through warfare, trickery, banditry and kidnapping. * Europeans blame Arabs and Africans for participation in the process of enslavement, however they were always the ones benefitting from it. Basically, what looked like an Arab-controlled â€Å"trade† was in fact a European dominated â€Å"trade† with Europeans using Arabs as middlemen. * Although some Africans enslaved others, it was a part of their culture and they were able to be civil with the rest of society. * Impact: depopulation through mass murder, societal disruption/destruction, forced transfer of populations, caused loss of youth and skilled personnel, thus affected scientific, technological and cultural progress of africs. Economic destruction. 3. What was the basis for enslavement and some of its basic aspects? * Based on brutality, cultural genocide, and machinery of control. * Brutality: physical, psychological, sexual * Cultural genocide: destruction of political identities and ethnic units, families, cultural leaders, the outlawing of African languages. * Machinery of control: involved five mechanisms of control- laws, coercive bodies, the church, politically divisive strategies, plantation punishments * 4. List and discuss the major forms of resistance to enslavement * Day-to-day resistance: daily refusal and challenge with which Africans confronted the enslavement system. Included sabotage, breaking tools, destroying crops etc. * Abolitionism (underground railroad). * Emigrationism: the push to emigrate back to Africa or go elsewhere where Africans could be free. * Armed resistance: revolts, ship mutinies, etc. * Cultural resistance: used culture to inspire and maintain one’s humanity through dances, moral narratives, music etc. 5. What were some of the basic reasons for the failure of reconstruction? * White terrorist societies intensified. Ex: ku klux klan * Congress did not give blacks the support they needed and they were essentially reintegrated back into the southern economy under semi-enslaved conditions as sharecroppers. * â€Å"Black codes† (segregation and discrimination) and they didn’t receive land, forcing them back to the plantation. * Supreme court’s benefit through rulings favorable to the south * The Hayes-Tilden compromise in 1877- president hayes granted south federal troop withdrawal, leaving blacks to fend for themselves in racist society 6. What were some of the reasons for the great migration? * To escape the racist south * Wanted to escape crop failures, natural disasters like floods in the south * Growth of industry in the north, labor demands due to WWI * No more immigration from Europe, therefore no more unskilled laborers and domestic servants * The north promised blacks greater opportunities- recruited them 7. What were some of the major organizations founded to struggle against injustice in the early 1900s? Discuss the black womens club movement. * Rose out of African cultural traditions which stressed responsibility to family and community which led to free black women and men establishing numerous mutual aid societies during enslavement * Founded first national conference of the colored women of America which established the national association of colored women * Also the Niagra movement, the NAACP and the urban league 8. Identify the major groups and leaders of the 60s * Booker T. Washington: â€Å"major black leader of his time† * W. E. B. DuBois: white activist-scholar * Marcus Garvey: pan-africanist dedicated to building a nation-state in Africa * Ida B. Wells-Barnett: journalist, organizer, lecturer and teacher 9. What are some major challenges and achievements of the 70s, 80s and 90s? * 70s: 1. Challenges- began with recovery from the massive suppression on the black movement by COINTELRO (counterintelligence program launched by the FBI by director J. Edgar Hoover) 2. Hoover tried to stifle any form of a black revolution 3. Affirmative action- â€Å"reverse discrimination† 4. Achievements- blacks penetration and victories in electoral politics 5. Sought to build national independent power structures 6. Resurgence of pan-africanism * *80s: 1. Challenges- continuing crisis of US society, rise of the vulgar and â€Å"respectable† right, continuing struggle to rebuild a black mass movement and appropriate alliances and coalitions in order to defend black gains, win new ones and minimize losses 2. Problem of alliance and coalition 3. Achievements- heightened level of electoral political activity among blacks 4. First black governor (Virginia) * 90s: 1. Challenges- increasing negative attitude of the Supreme Court to racial injustice and affirmative action, continuation of hate crimes, veto and later passage of 1991 civil rights act, increase in poverty 2. Achievements- election of Bill Clinton and 39 blacks on congress and one black senator 10. Discuss the million persons marches. What were their similar concerns and their effect on the black community? * **Million man march/ day of absence- voiced concern about increasing racism, deteriorating social conditions, etc.and the impact on the world * -Day of absence: women organized communities to stay away from business/ school and to register people to vote and empower the community as a whole * -Created a sense of possibility and promise; after there were increases in membership in organizations, adoption rates, mentoring programs and social activism * Million woman march- needed to energize the lives and struggles of black women *. Million youth march- same thing, but with youths (not a huge turnout) * –All of these marches were a statement for self-consciousness as black men, women, and youth and the responsibility to community and struggle which this implies and requires 11. What are some major challenges of the beginning 21st century? * 2000 presidential election and voter suppression (gore and bush), tragedy and aftermath of hurricane Katrina, HIV/AIDS epidemic, continuing police abuse, deteriorating socio-economic conditions.

Current State of Education in Nigeria

CURRENT STATE OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: Education can be referred to as an act or process of developing and cultivating, whether physically, mentally or mortally, ones mental activities or senses; the expansion, strengthening and discipline of ones mind, faculty etc; the forming and regulation of principles and character in order to prepare and fit for any calling or business by systematic instruction.The result of these is determine by the knowledge/’skill acquired, the discipline of character acquired, the act/process of training by a prescribed or customary course of study discipline. Education is also seen as a means towards understanding, awareness creation, enlightenment, controlling, altering and re-designing human destiny and environment with a view to achieving and sustaining a better quality of life for the individual and towards the full integration of the individual into his environment in particular and then his nation in general; making rea sonable contributions towards national developments.The nation’s view on education is government’s way of realizing that part of the national goals that can be achieved by using education as a tool. No views on education can however be formulated without first identifying the overall philosophy and goals of the nation viz: I. To live in unity and harmony as one indivisible, indissoluble, democratic and Sovereign nation founded on the principles of understanding. Freedom, equality and justice. II. To promote inter-African solidarity and world peace through mutual understandings and interactions.The main goals of education in Nigeria which have even been endorsed As the necessary foundation for the National policy on education are towards the building of: i. A fair, equitable and democratic society ii. A just and egalitarian society iii. A united, strong and self- reliant nation iv. A great and dynamic economy and v. A land full of bright opportunities for all citizens. In Nigeria’s own philosophy of education, we collectively believe that: i. Education is an instrument for national development and to this end, the formulation f ideas, their integration for national development and the interaction of persons and ideas are all aspects of education. ii. Education fosters the worth and development of the individual, for each individuals sake and for the general development of the society/nation iii. Every Nigerian child shall have a right to equal educational opportunities irrespective of any real or imagined disabilities and each according to his/her own ability. iv. There is the need for functional education for the promotion of a progressive and United Nigeria.To this end therefore, school programmes need to be relevant, practical, comprehensive and research oriented while interests and ability should determine the individual’s direction in education, which is an aspect of sustainability. STAGES OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: EARLY CHILDHOO D/ PRE PRIMARY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: Early childhood/Pre-primary education refers to the education given in an educational refers to the education given in an educational institution to children prior to their entering the primary school. It includes: the creche, the nursery and the kindergarten stages.In Nigeria, the purpose of pre-primary education shall be to: i. Effect a smooth transition from the home to the school. ii. Prepare the child for the primary level of education. iii. Provide adequate care and supervision for the children while their parents are at work iv. Inculcate social norms into the children even from the earliest stages v. Inculcate into the child, the spirit of enquiry and creativity through the exploration of nature, the environment, art, music and playing with toys etc. vi. Develop a sense of co-operation and team spirit ii. Learn good habits, especially good health habits and viii. Teach the rudiments of numbers, letter, colours, shapes, forms etc through p lay. The responsibilities of government and other stakeholders for pre-primary education in Nigeria shall be to promote the training of qualified pre-primary school teachers in adequate number; contribute to the development of suitable curriculum, supervise and control the quality of such institutions as well as establish pre-primary sections in all existing public schools.In specific terms therefore, government shall: i. Establish pre-primary sections in all existing public schools and encourage both community and private/corporate efforts in the provision of pre-primary education. ii. Make provision in teacher education programmes for specialization in early childhood education. iii. Ensure that the medium of instruction is principally the mother-tongue or the language of the immediate community. And to this end, develop the orthography of many more Nigerians languages and produce textbooks in Nigerian languages. v. Ensure that the main methods/medium of teaching play and that the curriculum of teacher education is oriented to achieve thuis. v. Regulate and control the operation of pre-primary education in Nigeria by setting and monitoring minimum standards for early childcare centres in the country. vi. Ensure full participation of government corporate organizations, entrepreneurs communities and teachers associations in the running and maintenance of early childhood education and educational facilities throughout the country BASIC EDUCATION:In Nigeria, basi education shall be of 9- years duration comprising 6-years of primary education and 3-years of junior secondary education. It shall be free and compulsory. It shall also include adult and non-formal education programmes at primary and junior secondary education levels for the adults and out-of-school youths. The specific objectives of basic education in Nigeria shall be the same as the goals of the levels of education to which it applies (ie primary education, junior secondary education and adult /non à ¢â‚¬â€œ formal education). 1) PRIMARY EDUCATION IN NIGERIAPrimary education in nigeria as referred to on this document is the education given in institutions for children between the ages of 6 – 11 years and above. Pupils spend six years in the primary school level in Nigeria and graduate with a school-leaving certificate. And since the rest of the education system is built upon it, primary level is the key to the success or failure of the whole system. This being the case, the goals and objectives of primary education in Nigeria are to: i. Inculcate permanent literacy and numeracy as well as the ability to communicate effectively. i. Lay a sound foundation for scientific and reflective thinking iii. Give citizenship education as a basis for effective participation in and contribution to the life of the people in the society. iv. Mould the character and develop sounds attitude as well as morals in the child. v. Develop in the child, the ability to adopt the child’s cha nging environment. vi. Give the child opportunities foe developing manipulative skills that will enable the child function effectively in the society within the limits of his capacity and capability. vii.Provide the child with basic tools for further educational advancement, including preparation for trades and crafts of the locality. these goals from the basis of primary education in all the states of the federation and, in pursuance of the above goals, primary education in Nigeria shall be tuition free and compulsory. The curriculum for primary education therefore include: language (language of the environment, English, French and Health Education, Religious Knowledge, Agriculture/Home Economics, Social Studies/citizenship Education, Culture and Creative arts (ie Drawing, Handicraft, music and cultural activities), Computer Education etc.Teaching at the primary level shall be by practical, explanatory and experimental methods and the following educational services are expected to be provided: school library, basic health scheme, counseling, educational resource centre, specialist teachers of particular subjects like: mathematics, science, physical Education, language Arts (in relation to English, French, Sign language and Nigerian languages), librarians, music, Fine Arts and Home Economics. Primary school students are required to take a Common Entrance Examination to qualify for admission into the Federal and State Government Secondary Schools.The UBE came as a replacement for Nigeria’s universal primary education scheme of the 6-3-3-4 system of primary Education. The 9 – 3 – 3 – 4 system of primary education. The 9 – 3 – 4 system of education was designed in conformity with the MDG’s and education for all. The UBE involves 6years of primary school and 3 years of junior secondary school. Culminating into 9 years of uninterrupted schooling. Transition from one class to another is automatic but assessed through continuous assessment.This scheme is however monitored by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and has been made free as well as a right of every child in Nigeria. To law stipulates a 9 –years formal schooling, adult literacy and non-formal education, skill acquisition programmes as well as the education of special groups such as: nomads and migrants, girl-child and women, Al-majiri, street children and the physically challenged. SUSTAINABILITY OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: To these effects, i. Special efforts shall be made by all appropriate agencies to encourage parents to send their children, especially, their daughters to school ii.Everything possible shall be done to discourage the incidence of dropping out at the primary level of education. But where this occurs, provisions shall be made in the context of adult and non-formal education to enable such early leavers to continue with their education. iii. Government therefore welcomes the contributions of vol untary agencies, communities and private individuals in the establishment and management of primary schools alongside those provided by the states and local governments as long as they meet the minimum standards laid down by the federal government. v. In recognition of the prominent role of Information and Communication Technology in advancing knowledge and skills necessary for effective functioning in the modern world, there is therefore urgent needs to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into education in Nigeria even at the primary level. v. Government shall therefore strive to provide basic infrastructure enabling environment and training facilities for the realization of all these goals at the primary school level. SECONDARY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA:Secondary education in Nigeria is the education children receive after primary education but before the tertiary stage. The Federal Republic of Nigeria is made up of thirty six states and the federal capital territo ry. There are about two federal government colleges in each state and these schools are funded and managed directly by the Federal Government through the ministry of Education. Teachers and staff of these schools are Federal Government employees and they possess at least, a bachelors degree in Education and/or in any particular subject area such as mathematics, physics etc. hese schools are supposed to be model schools carrying and maintaining the ideals of secondary education for Nigerian students. Admission is based on merit and determined by the national Common Entrance Examination taken by all final year elementary school pupils tuition and fees are very low, appropriately one hundred dollars ($100. ), because funding comes from the Federal Government State owned cesondary schools are funded by each state government and are not comparable to the Federal Government colleges.Although education Is supposed to be free in the majority of the state owned institutions, students are req uired to purchase books and uniforms costing them an average of two hundred dollars ($200). Teachers in state owned institutions usually have a National Certificate if Education or a Bachelor’s degree. Often, these schools are understaffed due to low state budgets, lack of incentives and irregularities in the payment of staff salaries Private secondary schools in Nigeria tend to be more expensive with average annual fees averaging from one to two thousand dollars ($100 – $200).These schools however have smaller classes, modern equipment cand better environments. Teachers n these schools all posses at least, a Bachelors degree in specific course areas and are sent for workshops or short – term programmes on a regular basis. The broad include the preparation of the student for: i. Useful living within the society ii. Higher education IN SPECIFIC TERMS HOWEVER, SECONDARY EDUCATION SHALL: i. Provide all primary school leavers with the opportunity fo education of a h igher level, irrespective of sex, social states religious and /or ethnic background. i. Offer diversified curriculum to cater for the differences in talents, opportunities and future roles. iii. Provide trained manpower in the applied science, technology and commerce at sub-professional grades. iv. Develop and promote Nigerian languages, art and culture in the content of world’s cultural heritage. v. Inspire students with a desire for self improvement and achievement of excellence. vi. Foster National unity with an emphasis on the common things that unite us in our diversity. vii.Raise a generation og people who can think for themselves, respect the views and feelings of others, respect the dignity of labour, appreciate those values specified under our THE PLANNING AND GUIDING EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. Educational research and development in this context refers to all efforts aimed at facilitating the implementation of educational polices in the country, the attai nment of policy goals the promotion of effectiveness as well as the broadening of the entire educational system.STRATEGIES AND SUSTAINABILITY OF PLANNING AND GUIDING EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA. The strategies for the planning and guiding of educational research will include the following: i. Develop, assess, improve and expand educational programmes in line with what is obtained in the developed economies. ii. Enhancement of the teaching and then, improve the competence of teachers with state of the art equipments. iii. Making education more cost-effective. iv. Promoting in-service education v. Development and promoting effective use of innovative materials in schools and vi.Making learning experience more pragmatic and more meaningful for students so that the entire economy will be served with a more focused and committed labour force. In terms of sustainability, we suggest the following: i. State and local governments shall establish Teacher’s Resource centres where teachers will meet for discussions, investigations, study workshops, short courses and conferences. ii. Federal and state governments shall establish Educational Resource cntres whose activities would be multi-disciplinary. iii. Federal, state and local governments hall set aside a pre-determined percentage of their allocations to support research and development in line with UN resolutions. iv. Federal, state and local governments shall establish more public/mobile libraries as well as actively promote readership. v. Private establishments and proprietors shall also support research and development efforts in education especially in the establishment of state of the art libraries with established standards. They shall also provide for the training of librarians and library assistants for this service. i.MONITORING PROGRESS IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AMONG THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITIES/ESTABLISHMENTS. This concerns itself with all efforts by the concerned authorities in the education ministries in ensuring that R/D efforts are strictly adhered to by educational establishments and even industrial organizations. STRATEGIES AND SUSTAINABILITY: All educational authorities in the country from the local to the federal levels should be held responsible for: I. Enunciating a National Policy on Education II. Setting-up and maintaining uniform standardsIII. Co-ordinating sound educational practices in Nigeria IV. Establishing a federal Inspectorate services would responsibities amongst others would include: to encourage the dissemination of information on innovations and progressive educational and research principles practices in the school system through publications, workshops, meetings, seminars, conferences and other means of interactions between and among the industrial and educational communities. V. Planning and organizing educational research on a national scale. VI.Acquiring storing and disseminating national educational data and ag encies research finding to communities, and industrial organizations. VII. Co –ordinating non-formal education including adult education, vocational improvement centres, correspondence cources etc etc. VIII. Co-ordinationg international co-operation in educational researches. For all the above strategies to be sustained, I. Special and adequate inducement shall be provided for all teachers and researchers even in the rural areas so as to make them stay on their jobs.II. Government must establish efficient services at federal, state and local government levels for the monitoring and maintaining standards at all levels of education and research III. Government must also establish an efficient research control and monitoring body to ensure that the findings of quality researches are dessimated to all desening communities agencies institutes and industrial organizations ii. ENSURING THAT PUBLIC AND EDUCATIONAL (R/D) EFFORTS WITH THE OVERALL DEVELOPMENTAL PLANNING OF THE NATION.It has already been stated that Nigeria’s philosophy of education believes that education is an instrument for national development. And to this end, the formulation of researches towards the development of ideas, their integration for national development and the interaction of persons/ideas are all aspects of effective education. STRATEGIES AND SUSTAINABILITY: The recommended strategies here would be to align our educational system so as to: i. Foster the worth and development of the individual for each individual’s sake and for the general development of our society. i. Ensure that every Nigerian child has a right to equal educational opportunities irrespective of any real or imagined disabilities, hindrances and shortcomings, each according to his/her ability. iii. Foster functional education for the promotion of a progressive and united Nigeria. And, to this end, school programmes need to be made relevant, practical and comprehensive while interest and ability shoul d determine the individual’s direction in his/her educational pursuit.For the above aim/objective to be sustainable in view with proper alignment with the overall development al planning of the nation as well as to be in harmony with Nigeria’s national goals, educational research and development has to be geared towards self realization of the students, better human relationship, individual and national efficiency, effective citizenship, national consciousness, national unity as well as towards social, cultural, economic, political, scientific and technological progress. All these will involve the following: i.Thorough inculcation of national consciousness and national unity into the students. ii. Through the inculcation of the right type of values and attitudes for the survival of the individual and the Nigerian society. iii. Through the training and re- training of the mind in the understanding of the world around and iv. Through the acquisition of appropriate and re quisite skills as well as the development of mental, physical and social abilities and competencies as equipment for the individual to live in and contribute to the development of the society. iii.LINKING RESEARCHERS WITH ENTREPRENEURS FOR THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF R/D RESULTS. Academic institutions the world over, are set up to provide an environment for teaching, research, community participation and the moulding of characters. Unfortunately, they have failed, in the case of Nigeria to meet the needs of the individuals in the promotion of economic self-reliance and self sufficiency. The starting point of research here would be on such educational services that would offer a range of educational experiences which would depend on the needs of the individual and the requirements of potential work places.Also, it must emphasize on the development of the job skills and work behaviours directed towards specific occupational requirements. Having done the above, a rapport would have been e stablished between researchers , their finding/ results and industrialists/entrepreneurs with a view towards the commercialization of R&D results. It is however expected that the concept of entrepreneurial skill development recently introduced by the NUC will be imbibed by all institutions of learning in Nigeria. Some of the mandates of the entrepreneurship section of the NUC is to: i.Promote linkage between academic institutions researches on the one hand and industrial/financial institutions on the other hand. ii. Promote the exhibitions of commercialized researches in Nigerian institutions of learning and. iii. Promote Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between Nigerian Universities and the individual, manufacturing and service sectors etc. For sustainability, the following are proposed: i. A serious partnership between our institutions of learning industrialists, entrepreneurs etc so that the findings of the volumes of researches conducted in our institutions will definitely g et to the end users. i. Findings/results of researches in our institutions should be collected and published periodically so that individuals, organizations and the government at all its tiers, levels and agencies would study and where necessary adopt such findings in their policy making processes iii. Our institutions of learning should be upgraded to become more research oriented. And to the effect, government and the organized private sector should advance more funds in upgrading our libraries, laboratories and research institutions across the country. iv.NURTURING PROJECTS BY THE USE OF FACILITIES OF TECHNOLOGY INCUBATION AND EDUCATIONAL PARKS. A project by definition is an optimum set of investment oriented activates by means of which a defined combination of human and material resources are expected to bring about a determined amount of economic and developmental benefits. It is also, an agreed fact in both private and government/public circles that a project involves the use of one or more scare resources within a specific period of time snd for the purpose of yielding some economic and social benefits/returns at a much later time.Projects are usually classified into: i. Current and/or capital projects ii. Private sector and /or public sector projects Men invest for the purpose of profit maximization, share holders wealth maximization, stock value maximization, market share maximization, capital gains and other intrinsic ownership/personal reason. Government on the other hand invests so as to improve peoples standard of living, provision of security, protection, social welfare, employment provision, health, education etc. No matter the type or form of a project, it involves the covering of several tages, each involving a different set of decisional processes too. While the starting point of any project is known as its â€Å"operation stage†. However, the entire series of activities that must be covered for the idea to the operation stage is refer red to as the â€Å"project Cycle†. Projects, either of the private or of the public sector type are most inevitable for the growth and development of any nation. It is also said that ideas rule the world, and this is the reason why our educational institutions are veritable breeding grounds for fresh ideas via technology incubation and educational parks.Technology education however incorporates post secondary education in technology offered in polytechnics, Monotechnics and Colleges of Education Technical. And the strategy here shall include: i. The provision of full-time and part time courses of instruction and training in engineering, other technologies, applied sciences business and management, leading to the production of trained manpower. ii. The provision of technical knowledge and skills necessary for agricultural, industrial, commercial and economic development in Nigeria. iii.Giving training and imparting the necessary skills for the production of technicians, techn ologists and other skilled personnel who shall be enterprising and self – reliant. iv. Training people who can apply scientific knowledge to solve environment problems for the convenience of man and v. Giving exposure on professional studies in the technologies. In the pursuance of the above goals and for the purpose of sustainability, Government shall adopt the following measures: In the pursuance of the above goals and for the purposes of sustainability, government shall adopt the following measures: i.Develop and encourage the ideas of polytechnic education through student’s industrial work experiences. ii. Improve upon immediate and long term prospects of polytechnic graduates and other professionals with respect to their status and remuneration. iii. At the very early phase of the education system, efforts shall be made to include an attitude of respect for and appreciation of the role of technology in society iv. Students shall be made to appreciate the dignity o f labour by using their hands in making repairing and assembling things. v.Polytechnics shall be encourage to conduct applied research relevant to the needs and aspirations of the nation. vi. polytechnics shall continue to maintain a two-tier programme of the National Diploma (ND) and the Higher National Diploma (HND) with one year period of Industrial experience. Serving as one of the pre-requisites for entry into the HND programmes. vii. Polytechnics that meet the requirement above shall be allowed to run post professional HND programmes. viii. The modes and operations of polytechnics shall be the same as in the monotechnics 6.PROMOTING STRATEGIC PROJECTS THROUGH DIRECT INTERVENTION WOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BODIES: INTERACTION We had previously and comprehensively explained what public and private projects are. However, Strategic projects are those that expected to have far reaching effects on the life of the ordinary man, Corporate organizations and even the government. These proj ects are also those that are expected to impart positively on the development processes of the nation. Some of them would include: health educational, Transport, Aviation, Military and para-military, Information, Telecommunication and even space related projects.The importance of these projects permeated both the private and public sectprs of any nation and the need to promote and facilitate such projects require the simultaneous interation of our educational/research –based institutions with both the organized private sector and appropriate government agencies. Strategies for the achievement of the above would include the following: i. The government to understand that the success of any system of education research institute is hinged upon proper planning, efficient administration and adequate financing. ii.That administration is a function of organization and structure, proprietorship and control as well as inspection/ supervision. iii. School systems and research institut es as well as their management and administration shall grow out of the life and social ethos of the communities which they serve. iv. Shared responsibility for the funding and management of all educational research facilities by the three tires of government. v. Close participation and corporate organization at even he local levels in the administration and management of all educational research facilities. vi. Effective line of ommunication between local communities and government on the one hand and then educational/ research institutes and corporate organizations on the other hand vii. The integration of educational and research development policies with national objectives and programmes especially, as it concerns the evolution of strategic national projects. Sustainability here will require the following: i. Ensuring adequate and effective planning management and monitoring of educational/research services ii. Provide efficient administrative and management control for the mai ntenance and improvement of the entire systems. ii. Ensuring quality control through regular and continuous of supervision of instructional and other research related services. iv. Providing adequate and balanced financial support for all educational/research related services. v. Ensuring that the findings of all these research instituted are disseminated to the necessary public and private institutes that would need them. vi. The organized private sector to be more responsible to the needs of our academic/research institutes in partnership with government. 7. ADVISING THE GOVERNMENT ON EDUCATIONAL MATTERS AND IMPLEMENTING THESE POLICIES AND PROJECTSEducation all over the world is an expensive social services that require adequate financial provision from all tiers of government and even the private sector for the successful implementation of all the educational programmes and for the expected end results to be achieved. Government ultimate goal is to make education free at all leve ls and for the dividends of education to permeate across the strata of the entire society. The financing of education should be a joint responsibility of the faderal, state and local governments on the one hand, and the organized private sector, communities and even religious organizations on the other.In this vain and while government welcomes and encourages the participation of local communities, individuals and other organization. She must be adviced along the following lines: I. That the curricula of all the academic programmes taught in all our educational institutions need to be updated in order to reposition Nigeria’s manpower requirements to be able to keep-up with the constant dynamics of technological advances globally. II. There hould be an inclusion of a course on â€Å"entrepreneurship development† in allour institutions of higher learning so as to encourage corporate sector participation, encourage corporate sector participation, encourage corporate secto r participation, encourage self-employment and boost the ability of graduates to create jobs. III. Institutions should adhere to the quaota assigned to them for admission so as to portray national policy prescription with regards to the science/Arts ratio of 60% for science and 40% for Arts. IV.Youths and fresh graduates should be empowered primarily through the development of new government and corporate development of new governmental and corporate strategies/policies to teach, mentor, monitor and create new platforms for adequate self-expression and socio-economic mental alertness. V. Higher institution should strengthen their practical training programmes and skills acquisition through industrial attachment, field/practical training, university – industry interaction forum and adequate supervision of students on industrial attachment.VI. There should be a strong linkage between entrepreneurship and technology so that entrepreneurs can benefits form research and developmen t (R/D) outputs of our educational and research institutes VII. Research must be intensified on the various aspects of entrepreneurship such as educational, training, new ventures, finance, marketing, organizational strategies, technology, entrepreneurship characteristics and behavior, citizenship education etc. VIII.The public and private sectors should establish an effective feedback mechanism with graduates and their prospective employers so as to monitor graduate performance at work/industrial attachments in terms of knowledge, skills and adaptability that are needed in addition to the provision of adequate funding for institutions so as to enable them revitalize their academic and physical facilities/laboratories and equipments on a continuous basis in order to maintain high academic/research standards.IX. Finally and for all the above to be both possible and feasible, government should adhere strictly to the 25% of annual budgetary allocation to the educational sector of the e conomy. This however is in line with the UN budgetary prescription for educational. The will ensure adequate availability of funds for education at all levels and will also ensure that our educational institutions would bounce back to the days of glory when they were the veritable centres for urturing private and public projects with the use of the facilities of improved facilities of technology incubation and educational parks. This is exactly how it is in the developed countries of the world. Government must stop destroying itself will inconsequential issues of tenure elongation and financial indiscipline/corruption and set the pace for our technological breakthrough via spiritual ad serious improvements in our educational sector in all ramifications.

Why would satanism be called magic Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Why would satanism be called magic - Assignment Example Satanism controls the world. It is the defining platform for all entertainment sources on Earth. The movie industry is under the satanic forces that help it grow. The satanic forces make use of supernatural powers to influence thinking that leads to liking particular issues and disliking others. It is manipulative in nature. The invoking of satanic influence requires that someone have a special connection with the satanic forces before invoking. For that reason, Satanism only works for those who establish communion with the satanic power proprietors. There will be a desirable outcome if the one was invoking or calling upon the satanic powers to take over their line of duty, has that establishment of a connection to effect the communication. In addition to that, Satanism effectively works with previous connections that were a quality establishment pathways of communication. The music industry predominantly works under some satanic powers. Most artists who establish their names on the international platform get promotions through satanic influence. The artists use mind-influencing powers to make their fans like their compositions and poems. The Satanism itself requires that someone becomes a slave of their own and that they pay tribute to the sanctity of darkness and give in to the demands of the skin rather that control the dignity of the soul. Magic is virtually the definition upon which Satanism takes basis. Magic conforms to two types of manifestations.

Fashion as a Culture and Identity Expression Tool Essay

Fashion as a Culture and Identity Expression Tool - Essay Example The essay "Fashion as a Culture and Identity Expression Tool" discovers the culture and identity expression tool of fashion. Travelling and interacting with the outside world exposes individuals to the multicultural nature of the world and the way different people in the globe dress. Through fashion, a Vietnamese is presented with an opportunity to represent his culture through construct and expressive identities in bigger cities across the world where they mingle with strangers. Through fashion, expressive statement about one’s individual culture and identities is enhanced as the accessories and nature of the clothing can only be directly associated with their clothing type. In this essay, the impacts of traditional and cultural wear in representing the identity and culture of a given group of people will be discussed. One example of a traditional wear that has been used to represent identities and make expressive statements about identities is the Indian women swear. Indian women have specific traditional wears such as the sari that is known and associated with the Indian women across the globe. This fashion has enabled the Indian women to make expressive statements about their individual identities and personality. The development of the world fashion can be described as a contemporary and cosmopolitan fashion that is exposed to the dynamics of changes blended by the different cultures. As a result, different new dresses and fashions are created daily and these include the use of the trench coats.

Understanding customer service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Understanding customer service - Essay Example While these moments keep occurring within a business, capturing these moments remains essential in enhancing business performance. The identification of such moments therefore becomes essential in reacting to the moment of truth presented to a businessperson. Jan Carlzon’s moment of truth focused on instances when businesspersons came into contact with customers. While the customer remains the most influential stakeholder to the success of business, this might not be the only moment of truth. Coming into contact with customer, however, remains a significant moment because the business becomes enabled to learn about the perceptions of the customer (Carlzon 1989). Understanding these feeling and perceptions remains essential in making customer service better. Within service focused businesses, this aspect of contacting the customer remains essential as the customer consumes the services directly. Within a manufacturing industry the instances of making such contact become increasingly limited. Customers rarely have direct contact with the company and the moment of truth could be encountered through the products delivered. Encounters with realistic experiences enable visualization of experiences based on the perceptions of other individuals. Companies can improve their performance through addressing various issues occurring within a moment of truth, by initiating essential changes into business operations. Not all interactions with customers could be defined as moments of truth. Increased focus on customer interactions could provide misleading information regarding the expectations of other people regarding the business products and services. Business products can enable business customers to make decisions regarding company products or services. Moments of truth can be established through analysis of company performance, based on the vision and mission of the company. This aspect defines

Issues in the natural environment created by business Essay

Issues in the natural environment created by business - Essay Example Unfortunately, as Mahatma Gandhi said, â€Å"This world has enough for everyone’s needs but not for everyone’ s greed.’ Fortunately now, the relation between economic growth and its adverse impact on natural environment has been widely recognized, and corrective steps are being taken. Our environment is a complete natural system evolved over the ages and held in fine balance that promoted life on this planet. Human beings are but one part of this intricate ecosystem. All species of life, with the marked exception of human beings, follow the natural process of evolution to the extent the environment permits. On the other hand, the same environment that promoted the human race, has also given it the genius to explore and exploit it for a variety of reasons. People have basic needs in food, shelter and clothing and once these basic needs are satisfied, they aspire for higher needs viz., a better standard of living, leisure and recreation. Businesses meet these demands by exploiting resources found in nature. With the world population rising continuously, the demand for goods and services is increasing faster than the can be sustained by the fragile ecosystem. While there is a limit to the exploitation of the natural resources, there appears to be no limit for the avarice. What started as a welcome industrial revolution in the 20th century, soon gave rise to the much-discussed environmental issues like pollution of air and water, ozone layer depletion, greenhouse gases, global warming, climate change etc. Every business impacts the environment in some way or the other; yet there is also no escaping from business growth. Here lies the dilemma of demand for goods and services from growing economies coupled with their lesser concern for environmental issues on the one hand, and, serious environmental concern from the developed countries, which is impacting their businesses! The all-encompassing word for environmental issues is ‘sustainability’, which is

MAJOR PROJECT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

MAJOR PROJECT - Essay Example ult, millions of visitors globally are invading the nation to view its unique natural environments and promote the spectacular views available in Asia. In addition, China has also identified and defined an agency or China National Tourism Administration or CNTA to take charge of promoting tourism both nationally and internationally and this has been effective in promoting tourism awareness locally and internationally. Like the world, China is has taken up ecotourism which encourages travelers to walk calmly or give back to the communities and environments that they visit. In China, 2009 became the ecotourism year as designated by CNTA, where travelers were encouraged to exercise green travelling and experience eco-evolution. Although the aspect of ecotourism has remained amongst Chinese people and the world for long, CNTA is actively engaged in promoting eco-tourism in China as a free arrangement of tourism, environmental preservation and bridging cultural understanding. Consequently , tourists are not just visitors but also people who actively fight to preserve the setting (Ruan). In China, regardless of the favorable conditions required for ecotourism like plenty of biodiversity and beauty, the extent of success in ecotourism development is limited but the future is brighter in the presence of CNTA agency in promoting ecotourism it attracts visitors to Asia with the aim of leaving positive impact. In this case travelers are not just involved in looking through the window of a tour bus but getting muddy under your finger nails thereby experiencing a place by involving in the issues in that place. In order to explore eco-tourism in China, the discussion in this paper focuses on one ecotourism site named Wenhai Ecolodge as one of the eco-tourism venues in the Southwestern region of China. The rationale for studying Wenhai Ecolodge is the fact that it is the first of Chinese â€Å"Green Resorts†(Fodors Travel n.p). It is located near Lake Wenhai and this contributes

Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook Essay

Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook - Essay Example Section 9(a) of OSHA provides that all citations should reasonably be issued promptly. The limitation period for issuing citations is six months. Therefore, no citation can be vacated within the period unless the delay prejudiced the employer1. The employer has the burden of proving that the delay hindered his preparation and presentation of the defense. The second defense available to an employer is that the affected employees were not vulnerable to the condition cited (Schneid & Schumann, 2007). The Act requires that any citation must establish that either the employees were exposed to, or there was a potential for their exposure to the hazard in question. Furthermore, the Act requires that either the employer be in control of the hazard or create it. On this latter requirement, the employer could argue that he was unaware of the condition or could not have known the same despite exercising due diligence2. It could also suffice to argue that no hazardous condition prevails at the workplace. There is the assumption that a hazardous condition exists at the workplace if what is violated is a â€Å"specification† standard (e.g. a guardrail in all working surfaces above four feet). Therefore, OSHA must prove that there existed a hazardous condition to justify the citation (Schneid & Schumann, 2007). The level of risk must be significant, which means that the employer should know of the hazardous condition requiring protective equipment3. Therefore, the employer has to be a reasonable person conversant with the industry and safety requirements. If OSHA does not prove this standard, the citation is bound to

Strategic Information System Essay Example for Free

Strategic Information System Essay 1. Introduction Given the rise of competition in the modern business industry, it is essential for firms to apply strategic use of information system (IS) to achieve competitive advantage (CA). In the recent years, top management of firms have little interest in the relationship between IS functions and corporate strategy leading to many problems because of failure in achieving strategies. According to Holsapple (2000), modern organizations are increasingly seen as knowledge-based enterprises in which proactive knowledge management is important for competitiveness. One of the major factors in competitive environment is knowledge management and companies for achieving the competitive advantage should concentrate in its IS. IS plays an important role in business operations as well as financial and non-financial aspects of the firm such as decision making as a big role of management. There has a growing realization to make ISs of strategic importance to an organization in the 80’s and 90’s. Systems that shape or support business unit’s competitive strategy are known as Strategic IS (Callon 1996, an Neumann 1994). According to Turban et al (2006), SIS is the ability to significantly change the manner in which business is conducted in order to give the firm strategic advantage. Porter (1996) believes that competitive advantage is at the core of a firm success or failure, such advantage seeks lead to control the market and to larger-than-average profits. This research paper provides information on how organizations apply strategic use of IS/It to achieve competitive advantage over its competitors. This paper pays particular attention to factors influencing the success or failure of organization attempts at gaining or enhancing competitive advantages, and how competitive advantages can be sustained. 1.1Background IS is a set of interrelated elements that collect (input), manipulate (process), store, and disseminate (output) data and information and provide a reaction (feedback mechanism) to meet an objective (refer to Figure 1). Figure 1.1: The Components of an Information System IS is a combination of people’s activities and information technologies that supports organisation’s operation and decisions making and strategies for competitive advantage. IS plays a vital role in business operation and financial and non-financial aspect such as decision-making. IS are classified either operations or management information systems. They are being grouped this way to identify the major roles each plays in the operations and managements of a business. An Information System consists of five basic resources: i) People Resources (end users and IS specialist) ii) Software Resources (programs and procedures) iii) Hardware Resources (machines and medias) iv) Data Resources (data and knowledge bases) v) Network Resources (communications media and network support) SISs are systems used to supports or shape a business unit’s competitive strategy (Callon, 1996, and Nerumann, 1944). It is characterised by its ability significantly revamp the way in which a business is conducted in order to provide the firm strategic advantage. SIS is classified by its ability to change the manner a business is conducted, in order to achieve strategic advantage for the firm (Turban et al, 2006). SISs play strategic roles helping firm to gain competitive advantage or reduces competitive disadvantage by changing goals, products or processes through information systems. A competitive strategy is a broad-based formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be, and what plans and policies will be required to carry out those goals (Porter, 1985). Through its competitive strategy, firms seek a competitive advantage in the industry advantage over competitors in measures such as cost, quality, or speed. The success or failure of a firm fully depends on its competitive advantage against its competitors (Porter and Millar, 1985, and Porter, 1996), such advantage seeks to lead to control of the marker and to larger-than-average profits. Through contribution to strategic goals of an organization and ability to increase performance and productivity, SIS aids an organization gain a competitive advantage over its competitors. SISs enable firms to gain competitive advantage and benefit greatly at the expense of those subjected to competitive disadvantage (Turban et al, 2006). SIS focus on improving the firm’s competitive position through increasing employees’ productivity, streamlining business processes and making better decisions (Turban et al, 2006). An organization can survive and succeed in the long run as long as it have effectively develops strategies to go up against the five competitive forces that shape the structure of competition in its industry. The Porter five competitive forces are: Businesses can counter the threat of competitive forces in which they face by implementing one or more of the five basic competitive strategies. The five basic competitive strategies are: i) Cost Leadership Strategy ii) Differentiation Strategy iii) Innovation Strategy iv) Growth Strategies v) Alliance Strategy An organization can counter the forces of competition from its competitors by implementing one, some or all the strategies in different degrees. 2.Companies using IS/IT to gain competitive advantages 2.1Cigna HealthCare CRM System In 1999, Cigna HealthCare decided to upgrade its outdated and almost extinct CRM system to improve the efficiency of business operations and then improving customer satisfaction. Cigna was operating nearly two-decade-old CRM systems to handle its daily operation needs. It had multiple units for different roles such as membership enrollment, processing medical claims and verifying customer eligibility and they were not interconnected. Furthermore, Cigna received numerous complaints from doctors as the old and disintegrating processing systems delayed their medical benefits claim payment and was heftily slapped with a US$ 300,000 fine on 29th January 2001. Cigna’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), Andrea Anania planned to combine the information from the different information systems and develops a new integrated systems to handle all the process. Anania goal was for the CRM system to act like a â€Å"one-stop† portal, thus improving efficiency. Cigna awarded a budget of US$ 1 billion to develop the CRM system, which aims to reduce human intervention while speeding up the processing time of medical claims. During the implementation of the CRM, Cigna had a net loss of US$ 398 million for fiscal year 2002. This project had already exceeded the original budget of US$1 billion and had done substantial financial damaged to Cigna. 2.2Bank of America – MasterNet System Bank of America (BoA) developed Master Net trust accounting system in 1982 with a plan completion date of 31 December 1984. MasterNet consist of a large trust accounting system, TrustPlus, and eight smaller systems that augmented the core system. In 1986, migration process was greatly affected by technical problems such as poor response time and day long system crashes. In 1988, BoA announced that its trust business was being given to a subsidiary as it could no longer handle the operation requirements after a $78 million loss in the MasterNet project . 2.3 American Airlines – Knowledge Management System American Airlines understand the needs to analyze data collected through their computer reservation system, SABRE, an automated system with the ability to check flight and seats availability and making a reservation for customer developed in 1960s with IBM. In 1990, AA developed a knowledge management system, SMARTSTM (Sales Management and Report Tracking System) as a tool to leverage CRS reservation data and AA internal historical data on performance and bookings. SMARTS is able to run analysis for AA to develop finely tailored scheme based on AA’s market shares. The combination of SABRE and SMARTS creates the expertise exploitation capability for AA whose impact can be systematically assessed against the access to reservation system, which has become market-standard for competitive parity. 2.4 Wal-Mart – Point-of-Sale System Successful implementations of IS into daily practices have aided Wal-Mart in their quest to maintain the position of low cost leader (Thomas Wailgum, 2007). Wal-Mart had adopted the â€Å"point-of-sale† system; a computerized system which identifies sales of individual items, updates information into its server and modifies the on-hand quantity automatically. The system also analyzed data mined from the universal bar code and effectively transformed data collected from bar codes to useful information such as keeping track of sales trends for individual items as they are identified as an individual entity. 2.5Lesson Learned and Success Factors The author believed that the failure of Cigna CRM system was due to poor leadership and communication skills of Cigna’s CIO. Anania did not consulted professional to design the IT systems architecture required for transformation, instead she pooled 1400 employees from Cigna’s IT department and formed a team, made up of experienced project managers and new hires. Anania made an unethical decision to migrate 3.5 million customer’s data at one go instead of 10,000 per group to the new platform with out testing the integrity of the system due to pressing date lines leading to serious customer service problems surfacing immediately. As Cigna had lay off majority of its service center employee, believing that the new CRM will improved its productivity with lesser human input therefore leading to a shortage of experience staffs. Feedbacks and input from stakeholders was ignored by the managements during the development of the system, thus leading to the down fall of the CRM system and hitting Cigna with substantial financial damaged. The author feels if Cigna’s management culture had led to the failure of the IS. MasterNet have a leader who have a vision of technology but was not well versed technically and was too involve in other problems to focus on the project. BoA made two critical mistakes in handling of MasterNet. Firstly, BoA did not understand the difficulty involved and scope of MasterNet and sufficiently assess it risks when it was proposed. Secondly, BoA failed to take necessary fire-fighting actions when the project rolled out of control to minimize damage. The management only took notice of MasterNet when it performed so badly that it merited $23 million loss. Many mistakes made with respect to MasterNet were not specifically related to IS. The combinations of SMARTS and SABRE have assisted AA to become a market-standard for competitive parity. SMARTS is a system with ability to organize data by city, zone and territory of sales representative with analytical and presentation capabilities. SMARTS was design to provide reliable detailed information to sales representatives to influence travel agencies behavior strategically. Previously, sales representatives doesn’t have complete information about market shares and performance data of travel agencies in his territory and the job consisted mainly preserving a good working relationship with the travel agent. With the aid of SMARTS, the sales representatives are able to analyse market trends in detail and could easily identify opportunities than before, thus maximising productivity. Through the use of SMARTS system, AA’s intangible sales knowledge is enhanced as it is able to interpret movements in share and market. Aside to that, SMARTS help representatives highlight weak markets to the travel agency mangers to focus on. According to Mr. Jack Williams, Senior Vice-President of AA, SMARTS have introduced a huge culture change in their sales-force associated with the leveraging of the expertise as a result of the information in the system thus bringing an enormous advantage to AA, not easily copied by their competitors. The introduction of the barcode system have help Wal-Mart to maintain its low cost leadership. This system helped Wal-Mart to speed up its checkout cashier efficiency and eliminate problems of cashier keying in the wrong price for a product by scanning the barcode as previously the cashier have to manually key in the prices of all the goods according to the price tag. Aside to that, Wal-Mart was able to track its stock level and placed order when required. The system also has the ability to identify slow running products and prevents Wal-Mart from overstocking them. Through improving its information system, Wal-Mart has created a high barrier of entry for any company who wishes to enter the chain hyper-market industry. 3.Discussion Factors influencing organization to use IS as it business strategy are relatively dependent on internal and external forces of the business surrounding environment (Bob William, 2009). Internal forces that require considered and looked into are the current financial position of the firm. Budget required for IS implementation are considerably high, management allocating the funds for investment must be ensured minimal or perfect deployment of the IS. On top of that, employees capabilities also plays an important role during IS implementation. Firm needs to ensure that employees are at least computer literate and will have no problem operating or accessing the new system, else additional cost may be bared by the firm for training. The firm also needs to access the efficiency and effectiveness of its existing system and whether there is a need to upgrade or revise the current system to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors. Changes in consumer tastes, preference and purchasing pattern are external factors driving organization to implement IS. Consumers are becoming more IT savvy and surveys have shown customer swaying their purchasing pattern to electronic purchase due to convenient and time saving (James D. Gwartney, 2006). Companies need to understand and study consumer expectation and needs in order to analyse and implement business strategies to ensure business growth. Therefore, both internal and external factors are important consideration for implementation of IS to gain a competitive advantage as they complement each other. From the above examples, correct implementation of IS will give the firm a competitive advantage over its competition. Firms must understand their position from Porter’s five competitive forces and develop strategies and counter it to maintain competitive. As Howard et al, (1999) believed that competitive advantage could be gained if strategy development and ISs design are addressed simultaneously. Porter’s model identifies five competitive forces that affect competitive advantage in the market place. In order to establish a profitable and sustainable position, company needs to develop strategies of performing activities differently from its competitors to overcome these five forces. Strategy| Definition| Example| Strategic use of IS| Business Benefits| Cost Leadership| Produce products and/or services at the lowest cost in the industry| Dell Computer| Online build to order| Lowest-cost producer| Differentiation| Offer different products, services, or product features| Moen Inc| Online customer design| Increase in market share| Innovation| Introduce new products and services, put new features into existing products and services, or develop new ways to produce them| American Airlines| Analyse data| Market Leadership| Growth| Increase market share, acquire more customers, or sell more products| Wal-Mart| Merchandise ordering by global satellite network| Market Leadership| Alliance| Work with business partners in partnerships, alliances, joint ventures, or virtual companies| Wal-Mart/ Procter Gamble| Auto inventory replenishment by supplier| Reduced inventory cost/increased sales| Information systems can be used to help firms gain competitive advantage with the help of Porter’s competitive forces model for analyzing competitiveness and proper implementation of IS. According to Michael Porter, the main types of competitive advantage are low cost provider, differentiation and focus. Companies have use porter’s model to increase competitive edge and also demonstrated how IS can enhance competitiveness of corporation (Turban et al. 2006). Finally, firms need to sustain competitive advantages gained from the implementation of IS. In the real world, competitive advantage doesn’t normally last very long and is generally not sustainable over the long term (O’Brien 2011). When a firm gains competitive advantage over its competitors through innovation, competitors figure out how it was done through organizational learning. To neutralize the effect, competitors adopt the same or similar innovation and what was once a competitive advantage is now a competitive necessity. When these occur, firm needs to figure out new innovation to gain a competitive edge and the cycle starts. 4.Conclusion Technologies have changed the way business operates today. Manual processes in the past are now being automated and electronic communications have been heavily introduced in today’s business world. IS have evolved over the years and offer new possibilities to gain competitive advantage. Many businesses today have realized the important of technology and power it possess, but fail to understand the possible benefit achievable. The author learned that through proper planning and implementation of IS will lead to a competitive advantage gain for the organization. With the aid of IS, it will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of staff in the organization which in turn will save labor and consumable cost. 5.Reference Ahlemann Frederik. (2009). Towards a conceptual reference model for project management information system. International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 27, No.1, pp. 19-30 Ankit Bhatnagar. (2006). Strategic Information System Planning: Alignment of ‘IS/IT’ Planning and Business Planning, Unitee New Zealand. Amber S., Brooke W., Cheri E., Ismael M. Wesley B. (2011). Wal-Mart Information System Benjamin, R.I., D.W. Long, and M.S. Moron (1990). Electronic Data Interchange: How Much Competitive Advantage?. Long Range Planning, 23:1, pp. 29-40. Bruns, W,J, and F,W, McFarlan (1987). Information Technology Puts Power in Control Systems, Harvard Business Review, Sep-Oct, pp. 89-94 Callon, J. D., (1996). Competitive Advantage through Information Technology. New York: McGraw Hill, USA. Christiaanse, Ellen., Venkatraman, N. (2002). Beyand Sabre: An empricial test of expertise exploitation in electronic channels. MIS Quarterly, Vol. 26, No.1, pp. 15.38. Davenport, T.H., M. Hammer, and T.J. Metisto (1989). How Executives Can Shape Their Company’s Information Systems, Harvard Business Review. H. Russell Johnston and Michael R. Vitale (1988). Creating Competitive Advantage With Inter-organizational Information Systems. MIS Quartely, Jun 1988, pp. 153-165. Ives B., and G. P. Learmouth (1984). The Information System as a Competitive Weapon. Communication of the ACM Jeffery. G. Szilagyi. Bank of America’s Masternet System: A Case study in Risk Assessment Jeremy A. (2011). Supply Chain Management at Wal-Mart Johnston, H.R. and Carrico, S. R. (1988). Developing Capabilities to use Information Strategically. MIS Quarterly, pp. 37-48. Mahmood Hemmatfar (2010). Competitive Advantages and Strategic Information System. International Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 5, No 7, pp 158-169 M. Vinaya Kumar (2007). CRM Implementation Failure at Cigna Corporation, ICFAI Center for Management Research. Porter, M. E. (1996). What is a Strategy? Harvard Business Review, November – December 1996, pp 45-59. Porter, M. E. (2001). Strategic and the Internet. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 79, No. 3, pp 62-74. Porter, M.E., and V. E. Millar (1985). How information gives you competitive advantage. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 149-158. Ross, J. W. et al. (1996). Develop Long-Term Competitiveness through IT Assets. Sloan Management Review, Vol. 60, No 4, pp. 132-148. Teo, T. S. H. (2000). Using the Internet for Competitve Intelligence in Singapore. Competitive Intelligence Review, Vol. 8 Issue 2, pp. 16-23.

The problem of dukkha as outlined in the sermon on the Four Noble Truths Essay Example for Free

The problem of dukkha as outlined in the sermon on the Four Noble Truths Essay Dukkha is one of the main concepts in Buddhism which in English terms corresponds to pain, dissatisfaction, suffering, anguish, discomfort, stress, affliction, sorrow, frustration and anxiety. It is a term derived from certain instances that relates to uneasiness. The teachings about Buddha are based on concrete foundation of truth as is reflected in the Four Noble Truths. The teachings on the Four Noble Truths are known by all and the beliefs have a known basis acceptable on mere faith. The Four Noble Truths therefore are said to be fundamental teachings of Buddhism taught as the first lessons to an individual being introduced to such a religion. It is considered as a doctrine which contains way of life which followers assert that it can lead to suffering. From the Buddha’s point of enlightenment, the teachings are said to have strong psychological insight and a cognitive methodology. Accordingly, the Four Noble Truths provide that suffering as part of human life can be eliminated through devotion to such teachings. The interest of Buddha was to show interest in the direct path to true happiness. The Four Noble Truths form part of Buddha’s teachings and are said to be noble as they are taught by Noble individuals. The people involved in the teachings have strong perceptions about reality and thus understanding such teachings makes one ennobled. Buddha became enlightened about the profound truth in relation to the nature of life after seeing the light under Bodhi tree. The Four Noble Truths include the noble truth about suffering, origin of suffering, cessation of suffering and way leading to cessation of suffering. The first teaching about the Four Noble Truths clearly indicates that life is characterized by frustration, suffering and dissatisfaction. Dukkha promotes individuals existence with implications on matters affecting body and mind. The human body is complex and it is affected by issues such as old age, pain, sickness, war and death. The frustration and pain which is caused by impermanence as individuals struggle with life to be happy and stay a comfortable life. During this time of seeking for comfort, finding pleasure becomes invariable hence turning to pain. In other instances, suffering becomes inevitable as much as people live according to Dukkha’s teachings. The mind is affected by matters such as failing to acquire what one likes in life, staying away from things or people a person likes most or being in a life situation which is not pleasant. Individuals suffer as a result of hopelessness which is related to lack of satisfaction in life caused by desire. IN this aspect the first provision of the Four Nobel Truths corresponds to reality about human suffering. Second teaching according to Four Nobel Truths relates to origin of suffering which results from engagement of individuals in day to day activities. Three main unsatisfactory experiences identified as causes of dissatisfactions include craving, aversion and ignorance. In this aspect, craving is a constituent of wanting more or greed. Individuals always are unsatisfied with what they have and hence want to engage in activities that lead to suffering. Aversion in its category relates to hatred or failure to engage with others hence making an individual suffer. Ignorance is a common element in the lives of many individuals which is attributable to lack of wisdom. Ending of suffering is the third component in which case life can be without dissatisfactions leading to peaceful state. Suffering can be eliminated from the life of individuals as per teachings of Buddhism. Elimination of suffering from human life is a concept that can be eliminated through being devoid of feeling and passion. Buddhism taught about an appropriate approach towards elimination of suffering which involves mortification and indulgence. Elimination of suffering from an individual’s life is therefore achieved through extinguishment of aversion, craving and ignorance. The truth of the path leading to end of suffering is the final concept of the Fourth Nobel Truths. This means a way of life without dissatisfactions which led to peace of mind and happiness. The most important aspect that leads to cessation of suffering is through following of the middle path. This is done without consideration of subsidence of extreme desire which results to full release of occurrence. According to teachings by Buddha there is the Noble Eightfold path used as a way of eliminating suffering from individual’s life resulting to achievement in one’s life. The foundation of Buddhism is rooted in Eightfold path which was first enumerated by Buddha. These provisions are considered s measures towards enlightenment and should be put into consideration to end suffering. The Eightfold path is a practical guideline that considers ethical and mental development in human life for purpose of freeing a person from delusions. The principles are classified in three categories which relates to wisdom, ethical conduct and mental development. Wisdom constitutes of right view and right intention, Ethical conduct is a constituent of right speech, right action and right livelihood. Finally, mental development constitutes of right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Right view is the first principle in Eightfold path which means to see and understand issues in reality as a way of realizing the Four Noble Truth. It is one of the most critical component of wisdom which makes an individual to understand the law in relation to karma and karmic. Right view is attained, enhanced and sustained in all mind capacities. Right intention is another main principle in the category of wisdom which refers to mental energy in control of individual’s actions. Basically, right intention is described as commitment to mental and ethical considerations for purpose of self-improvement. Three main types of right intentions recognized by Buddha include intention of renunciation, good will and harmlessness. In the category of ethical conduct there is right speech which clearly reflects the teachings of Buddha in which words can lead to creation of enemies, breaking or saving of life, and creation of peace or start of war. Right action is another aspect of ethical conduct which involves the entire body as a means of expressing feelings. Buddha’s teachings advocate for right action which results to respect of others for the purpose of a peaceful existence. Right livelihood is the other right of ethical conduct whereby an individual is deemed to live a righteous life. Right livelihood should be achieved through proper means which does not harm others. Mental development is the final concept of the Eightfold path which constitutes of first, right effort which is an act of will achieve through mental energy. The energy that fuels envy, desire and aggression can on the other hand promote honesty, kindness and self discipline. Right mindfulness is another principle controlled and perfected by cognition. The main principle of this concept is seeing things as they are through a clear consciousness. Right mindfulness is a concept which creates awareness on the way of individuals thought. Finally, right concentration refers to mental development occurring as a concept of natural consciousness. Right concentration according to Buddhist teachings is achieved through mediation. All these rights reflect the main issues underlying individual’s life in the concept of suffering. References Hommel, W. (2007) Budha and the Four Noble Truths: Dukkha, Rising of Dukkha, Nirvana and the Path Leading to Nirvana. Retrieved on 25th July 2010 from http://buddhismtaoism. suite101. com/article. cfm/main_buddhist_concepts Hommel, W. (2007) Budha and the Four Noble Truths: Dukkha, Rising of Dukkha, Nirvana and the Path Leading to Nirvana. Retrieved on 25th July 2010 from http://buddhismtaoism. suite101. com/article. cfm/main_buddhist_concepts

The Concept Of Headhunting In HR

The Concept Of Headhunting In HR Headhunting refers to the approach of finding and attracting the best experienced person with the required skill set. Headhunting is also a recruitment process involves convincing the person to join your organization. This is very use full process in every organization at this time many companies follow headhunting process from this process hr manager recruit only experience and skilled labour for getting information about current market situation and how to manage the our customer so this process is important for companies. Headhunting Process For the headhunting process we apply three fundamental steps: 1- Defining a search strategy In collaboration with clients, we evaluate the assignment parameters and requirements and determine a specific search strategy for finding the best candidate. Paramount to this process is an acute understanding of the clients culture, the position responsibilities and the necessary qualifications. Once a search strategy is defined we generate a list of target sectors, companies, networks and relevant associations. 2-Candidate identification and evaluation We conduct preliminary research for developing an initial candidate list. We screen, meet and assess a short list of potential candidates through telephone and face-to-face interviews. When applicable, we facilitate all interviews, assessment centres, psychometric testing and medicals. 3-Search report and follow-up We consult with our clients to review preferred candidates and assist in the selection process. When a preferred candidate(s) is selected, we will then conduct reference checks in consultation with the client. Once the position is filled, we will conduct ongoing follow-up with both client and candidate. Advantages of using a headhunting Discretion and confidentiality is obviously one of the biggest advantages: When retaining the services of a headhunter you should be assured that only a very few people will know you are seeking to have a particular position filled. Experience and knowledge and know how is another advantage:- A good headhunter will be a good researcher, they will be able to fully understand the attributes you need and will be able to understand the culture and climate of your organisation and so be able to identify key individuals that will really make a difference to your firm. They will be skilled at approaching people, offering concise explanations, will be skilled negotiators with high emotional intelligence and empathy skills and will be able to differentiate between the merely good and the really great candidates. Disadvantage of head hunting A headhunter cannot afford to devote his/her attention to just one client. Headhunters are often commission-paid and under pressure to meet hiring quotas for the recruitment companies they work for. Hires salary paid of headhunter. Difficult in headhunting process to determine the best headhunter. After the complete headhunting process headhunter maybe give wrong information about competitor and market situation Five points every recruiter should adopt to achieve effective headhunting results Identify your candidates Name gathering Overcoming obstacles Identifying the desire to change Manage the resignation REVIEW OF LITRATURE Understand Head Hunting Various companies and firms have chosen to enhance their human resource by using the expertise that headhunters bring to recruitment. The boom in the headhunting industry can be attributed to the headhunters superior understanding of the industry and market norms, job profiles, people skills etc. It is imperative to have an in-depth specialised knowledge of the industry, the job requirements, work culture, HR policies etc. Several factors need to be considered. The headhunter takes into consideration the candidates values, job preferences, skills, background, family commitments etc. These are the guiding parameters by which the headhunter analyses the candidates suitability to the requirements of the recruiter. The headhunter should guide the candidates in interview handling skills. A headhunter stakes his reputation on the competencies of his candidate.A headhunter can be tuned to success in the corporate scenario. The intense competition in the recruitment procedures has led to several headhunters working round the clock. The Future of Headhunting It depends on whom you ask and, maybe more importantly, what level of executive you want to recruit. On one hand are those who argue that the Internet and other innovations are transforming todays headhunting firms and recruitment strategies. Internet career cites such as Monster.com are moving into the executive market, threatening to compete against old-style headhunters in a lucrative market. High-potential candidates are located, tracked and monitored as they move through their careers in other companies. When the time is right, these people are offered a job.Its hard to argue that these trends are not having an impact on executive recruitment, but it may also be premature to imply that most top-notch global executives are suddenly going to put their resumes online or allow their skills to be evaluated by software Head Hunter Can Do For Company Head hunting is not just about getting the top performer from another company, it is also about hunting for people with a specific set of talents to work for them.Talent skills that are not being recognized by the company that you are working with right now, and another company might see a valuable potential in you. People all over the world are stuck in the situation that they are being under utilized and because of the fact that they are being under utilized and their talents are not being channeled effectively. The whole point of a resume and the list of talents are for it to get the air space that it needs. Companies who are interested in one thing and is to get the best talents and the employees with the most potential. Aviation Headhunting Initially conduct an on-site visit at the clients HQ to establish working conditions, meet key decision makers and gather a view of the environment, which prospective candidates can expect to enter. Together with the client we produce a draft job profile and person specification, agree on timescale for delivery and draw up contracts. Advertising copy is expertly written and the advert drawn up by a Marlborough consultant he is designed to ensure maximum response. Having created a talent pool of suitable candidates, he arranges face-to-face interviews and via a process of elimination produce a short list worthy of presentation to the client. Marlborough provides the client with an in-house generated assessment report detailing our opinions and comments on the relative capabilities of each of the short-listed candidates. Marlborough arranges an interview agenda with the client and manages short-listed candidates. Following is the detailed feedback sessions, Marlborough gathers in-dep th reference and after this contract signature with the selected individual we personally write to unsuccessful candidates. Headhunting has evolved Dont get left behind Critical lack of leadership talent available globally and a demanding top level candidate, the headhunting climate has become more sophisticated and challenging. Extended hiring time and losing quality candidates, leading to an expensive process and a dissatisfied client and candidates. A top headhunter does not compromise its executive network, but focuses on connecting top-end talent with reputable screened employers of choice. Getting the Best and the Brightest Headhunters often belong to professional and trade organizations. Their directories are a rich source of who are up and coming. The approach to the candidate is important and to make it known that would be treated in a confidential manner. Worldwide, retained firms account only for US$2 billion out of the entire US$10-billion executive search industry. A guarantee period, usually six months, within which candidates are replaced at no additional cost should they leave for whatever reason. And a headhunter cannot tap a candidate for another job offer after placing him in one job for a specified period of time. Headhunting the Old-fashioned Way: A Case for the Human Touch in a Dot-Com World Many of the sites say they provide employers with turn-key recruitment solutions. Monster.com, for example, says on their homepage that they deliver cost-effective and efficient recruiting solutions, including real-time job postings, complete company profiles and resume screening .Recruitment made easy. Nor has it ever been easier to peruse career opportunities at companies across the country. That being said, the main thing Internet recruiting has done is create a flood of resumes for employers and a revenue stream for the likes of www.monster.com. Not surprisingly, this recruitment-made-easy environment is also a turn-over-made-easy environment. The demand for talent goes up; the supply of it is going down. Seventy five percent of top corporate executives surveyed said that their companies are either chronically short of talent or suffer talent droughts. Finding and keeping your next new hire will require a good bit more from the organization than the Monster Board can do for compa ny. The World of the Headhunter Usually the headhunter will be employed to find individuals from competitor companies, poaching the top industry talent and in doing so, giving their client a competitor advantage over one of their rivals. Within financial services, the very best employees can often help to generate millions of pounds in profits for a company. This means that headhunters, although popular with companies looking to hire, are feared and loathed by companies who are worried that their best employees could be poached. How are Headhunters Paid? Good headhunters are highly-respected professionals in their chosen field, and are able to charge clients large fees for their services like any other professional, such as lawyers or accountants. The rewards on offer for headhunters are high. Types of Headhunting Company There are three distinctive types of headhunting firm. Right at the top of the pecking order are the search companies. The tend to focus on recruiting at the most senior level, for managing directors, chief financial officers and chief executives. Search companies keep detailed profiles on clients and also on high-level employees they believe could be of interest. Once a client contacts them to fill a role (for example after a chief executive has informed the company board of their intention to leave), the search company will draw up a shortlist of candidates, discuss them with the client and then make their approaches. Boutique headhunters take a more varied approach. They will use a number of different methods to find good potential employees, including advertising roles, conducting informal searches and trawling through company records for the names of likely personnel. Boutiques often cultivate lists of contacts within an industry and then contact those people to ask if they know of any colleagues who may fit a certain role. The lowest level of headhunters are those that work on a contingent basis, and are most similar to standard recruitment agencies. They will advertise a range of roles within a specific company and get paid for each role What Training is Required to be a Headhunter? Headhunting is not just a more expensive version of recruitment, although entry into the field is similar. Most headhunting firms expect their employees to have a good first class or 2:1 degree. More importantly, a headhunter will need to be confident, good at problem solving, highly motivated to succeed, able to demonstrate good communication skills and possess the ability to network. What Should you do if a Headhunter Contacts You? If you are contacted by a headhunter, it is nearly always worth giving them a few minutes of your time, even if it means calling them back at a more convenient time to talk. In todays volatile jobs market, it always pays to remain on the radar of headhunters. Headhunting 101 The modern business of executive headhunting remains a mystery to most business people, this despite its routes trace back to the days soon after the armistice of World War 1 when it was first practiced and conceived within the walls of the earliest management consulting firms. If you are unaware our remain unconvinced about the influence of todays corporate headhunters, HeadHYPERLINK http://hubpages.com/hub/When-A-Headhunter-Calls HYPERLINK http://hubpages.com/hub/When-A-Headhunter-Callshunters are especially powerful facilitators of executive mobility and management career opportunity, they work as agents of both creative and destructive influence on hiring organizations, their brands, leadership, culture and financial performance. SECTORS IN WHICH HEAD HUNTING IS FOLLOWED INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY The Indian information technology (IT) industry has played a key role in putting India on the global map. Thanks to the success of the IT industry, India is now a power to reckon with. According to the Department of Information Technology (DIT), the overall Indian software and services industry revenue is estimated to have grown from US$ 10.2 billion in 2001-02 to reach US$ 58.7 billion in 2008-09-translating to a CAGR of about 26.9 per cent. The industry grew at 12.9 per cent in 2008-09. According to DIT, exports continue to dominate the revenues earned by the Indian software and services industry. The export intensity (the share of IT-ITeS exports to total IT-ITeS revenue) of Indian software and services industry has grown from 74.5 per cent in 2001-02 to 78.9 per cent in 2008-09. Total software and services exports are estimated to have grown from US$ 7.6 billion to US$ 46.3 billion in 2008-09, a CAGR of 28.6 per cent. The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) is the apex body for software services in India.As per its Strategic Review 2010 published in February 2010, the India IT-BPO industry is estimated to aggregate revenues of US$ 73.1 billion in FY 2010, with the IT software and services industry accounting for US$ 63.7 billion of revenue. Moreover, according to a study by Springboard Research published in February 2010, the Indian information technology (IT) market is expected to grow at around 15.5 per cent in 2010, on the back of growing investor confidence and favourable initiatives taken by the government. EXAMPLES Tony started his working career in 1989 after completing a Diploma in Computer Programming, working for a freight and transport company developing various business applications. He then moved to a software consulting company and consulted to clients as diverse as local government, manufacturing and direct marketing. Tony headed up a development team at this company and assisted a number of clients progress their business requirements through to implementation of technical solutions.Tony followed this with a role at a leading financial services company where he spent time learning the retirement industry, detailed database design techniques and business management. During his four years at this company Tony consulted to and dealt with all levels of management. Management Strategy Experience He was head-hunted to join a leading technology company to build their professional services capacity and Tony built and managed this team for the next 3 years. Tony undertook various training courses in sales and marketing and was responsible for market strategy, research and development, pre-sales consulting, and liaison with the EMEA region of the international market. He gained extensive knowledge in the facilitation of business process development. David Taylor says get headhunted again and again-There is a shortage of outstanding IT directors and CIOs. Companies who value their incumbents must ensure they put in place a retention plan that rewards well above the average in terms of both salary and influence. Board level membership will be a given for IT leaders who are prepared to take their companies into the new, virtual battleground, and lead the fight against the new competitors that are emerging every week. If you are an IT director who has the right skills, and you share this with a belief in your own ability as a leader, the choice is yours. You can take on a similar role in a new company, or join an IT service provider in a senior role, or start out as an entrepreneur. When Kevin Murphy was headhunted he decided to leave his comfortable job at media firm Emap for Excel many of his friends thought he was mad.In heavy debt and in danger of becoming east Londons very own white elephant, the exhibition centre was struggling. Despite that, after Kevin was offered the deputy chief executive role at the Royal Docks venue, he said yes without a second thought. After the last chaotic 15 months which included a takeover by Middle Eastern billionaires, plans unveiled for mass expansion, and, last month, Excel being revealed as the centrepiece of a business tourism masterplan which could give London the financial boost needed to rise from economic gloom he could well be right.Now Kevin, who was appointed chief executive of Excel last year, got here is an interesting tale in itself, and is not typical of most CEOs. INTRODUCTION TO RETAIL INDUSTRY The economy is growing by 8% a year, its stock market rose by nearly 40% in 2005 and foreign investors are flooding in. There are about nine million small grocery shops in India Whichever way you measure it, business in India is booming. And as the economy grows, so does Indias middle class. It is estimated that 70 million Indians in a population of about 1 billion now earn a salary of $18,000 a year, a figure that is set to rise to 140 million by 2011. Many of these people are looking for more choice in where to spend their new-found wealth. The Indian retail sector is now worth about $250bn ( £140bn) a year, but it is heavily underdeveloped. Well over 95% of the market is made up of small, uncomputerised family-run stores. Now there are finally signs that the Indian government is dropping its traditionally protectionist stance and opening up its retail market to greater overseas investment. Last month it eased restrictions on foreign investment, allowing overseas retailers to own 51% of outlets as long as they sell only single-brand goods. For the first time, chains like McDonalds, Marks Spencer, Body Shop and Ikea can, if they want to, open and control their own operations in India. Previously, many of them had gone down the path of working with franchise partners, a policy followed by MS which supplies clothes to eight Planet Sports stores. They look like MS stores on the inside, but they are owned by local retailers, and the UK retailer has no plans for that to change. Lots of employment generation by Indian Organized Retail Sector in the near future. India is going through a radical economic change. Though it is very infant stage, people can feel the climate is changing. The unorganized retailers takes the lions share in the Indian retail sector, but the organized retailers are growing at a good pace, and promises an increase of proportion of 9 10% by 2010. This is to be the largest sector after the agricultural sector. The present employment in the retail business is nearly 4 crores and around 20 crores depends on this sector. There is a scope of better exposure to the international standards with the entry of transnational companies, which in turn is encouraging more more retail management programs to open up and help bridging the gap of supply demand of talented professionals for management. EXAMPLES The Reliance recruitment bandwagon for its retail venture rolls on. The latest experienced retailing hand likely to join Reliance soon is Mr K. Radhakrishnan, Vice-President (Merchandising), Spencers Retail of the RPG group, and part of the original team that put FoodWorld operations in place. He has been roped in as CEO of Reliances hypermarket vertical. The group has plans to set up hundreds of hypermarkets around the country and he will be responsible for its rollout. Mr Radhakrishnan, who had quit the RPG group after an over-seven-year stint, a couple of months ago, was to have spearheaded the retail business of diamond trading company Dimexon. However, he will now be a Reliance hand. Microsoft is reportedly trying to hire away Apples retail employees by bribing them withà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ wait for it, better wages. People that have spoken to The Loop on condition of anonymity confirm that Microsoft has contacted a number of Apples retail store managers to work in their stores. In addition to significant raises, the managers have also been offered moving expenses in some cases. It doesnt end there: once the ex-Apple managers have jumped ship, they are asked to contact their top sales employees at their old workplaces and offer them similar positions at Microsofts retail stores, also with higher pay. An outstanding employee in his first job working in marketing for Xerox, Schultz was headhunted by the Swedish company Perstorp AB. He became the houseware firms vice president at twenty-six and oversaw their American subsidiary, Hammerplast USA. As with Ray Kroc, founder of McDonalds, who took an interest in the original McDonalds buying up so many milkshake mixers, Schultzs interest was piqued by the large number of espresso machines that a company called Starbucks was buying from Hammerplast. CONCLUSION The practical use of head hunting through head hunter such as china head hunter how to regulate and how, why and when use of head hunter: The regulation of head hunting: 1. Keep secret Keeping secret is the most important in headhunting China industry because it not only relates with our head hunter in China commodity secrets it also relating with the clients commodity secrets and candidates secrets. 2. Provide favorable head hunting The nature of china head hunting industry is service. 3. China head hunter proper elite. This means elite that we headhunting China is advanced and professional elite 4. Abide by the law. It often contacts with famous firm and elite, so we must abide by the law. 5. Profession Headhunting Company holds the evaluating ways and comprehends every industry. 6. Stabilization China head hunter company will set up long time tracking service. How to choose a head hunting company Modern enterprises are faced with increasingly intense talent competition, especially the competition of senior management talents. When an enterprise chooses the approach to the acquisition of senior management talents the recommendation by the head hunting company is an effective way worth consideration. Thus, upon choosing head hunting companies the review of the historical background of head hunting companies is conducive to the finding of competent Knowing the specialized field of the head hunting company: A head hunting company proficiency in a certain field can provide the most suitable candidate within the shortest time. Although the people in other industries looks headhunting as one industry. Only by doing so can the head hunting company find the right candidate within the minimum time. Interview with consultants in charge of certain business: The background of head hunting company is certainly important, and the quality of the consultant is important too. The reason why sometimes many candidates recommended by head hunting company seem a little different from the requirement of the enterprise is the gap of its consultant in the understanding apcity of the position. Learning about the operation flow of the head hunting company: Now many head hunting companies are actually agency companies, who may tell you they hold thousands of talents data, when you entrust them with the job recruitment, they will just search the data in the database and may recommend candidates to you without basic interview. Looking at the website of the head hunting company: Many head hunting companies have established their own websites, so viewing their client group and historical records can be helpful to your grasp of their specialized fields. The websites of head hunting companies are different from those of talent agency companies. How to use headhunter It Very often the best candidates are already happily employed. They are not thinking of moving and they wont respond to an advert. Head-hunters role is to source these people for difficult-to-fill positions. They differ from agencies because they focus exclusively on approaching people already working rather than considering people looking for work. Why to use headhunter Headhunters are used for varied reasons, including and most especially for people looking for middle management and executive positions within their chosen industry. Headhunters or contingency executive recruiters are not as widely regarded, respected or considered to be as reputable as retainment executive recruiters. Generally speaking companies such as consultants and staffing agencies use headhunters to find people for contract or full-time/permanent jobs. Headhunters are useful when looking for more generalized positions, including general management, but their focus is helping their client to find potential candidates that the client themselves were unable to find despite all their efforts. This is one of the reasons that they have received such bad press. There have been cases where candidates have worked with headhunters and ended up not getting a position at all. In fact, the worst type of headhunter will forward any and every resume to their clients with total disregard to whether or not the candidate is suitable or not. This wastes time, money and sometimes contracts with clients. When to use a headhunter: When using a headhunter it is important to find someone that can be trusted before engaging them in a contract. This is best done by finding another firm that has used their services before and getting a recommendation. Also, it is critical for a company to insist that they are not sent every resume in sight and that they are kept totally informed of the work the headhunter is doing. The most important things to keep in mind when using a headhunter are: Quality work for a reasonable price Good communication policies References and recommendations from other companies that have used their services An ability to do a proper candidate search for people who are suited to a job position and not just anyone and any resume