Environmental Data Analysis literature Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

Environmental Data Analysis - Literature review Example foundations into the concept of interdependence of all the entities on this planet, where everyone is dependent on each other to some extent that arises the integration of all these entities into one single place to fulfil all the needs, as argued by (Steger, 2013). However, it happened in a number of years and will be going on further, while it was appeared as a concept for the first time in the nineties (Steger, 2013). The concept of Globalisation has many notions and variants that are significant to study, and the purpose of this review is to elaborate this phenomenon from different perspectives existing on the concept, its variants and conceptions, and to evaluate how it has affected the world’s economy. The review has divided into different sections, where the first section has elaborated the time when the concept of globalisation was emerged. Then further sections have detailed different viewpoints existing in the literature over this phenomenon, where it is comprehended that how different scholars and practitioners have viewed the basics of these concepts. After reviewing the literature regarding the different perspectives of globalisation, the next sections have detailed the changings and alterations that have happened due to this phenomenon, where the impact of globalization in every aspect of life is evaluated either it is positive or negative. The concept of globalisation has been much prevalent for last two decades, however, it has happened as a phenomenon for many years ago (Modelski, 1972). It can be argued that the globalisation laid its foundation when there was happened a first exchange of goods or services between the two countries. The emergence of the phenomenon of globalisation was started right after the World War II, when a number of nations required US experience and expertise in the field of technology and industrial development due to the fact that these nations were much affected by the World War II (Dallmayr, 1998). While Massey

The Geopolitics of Oil Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Geopolitics of Oil - Assignment Example Hence, it got imperative for the West to dominate the politics and economy in the Middle East, a resolve that only strengthened with time. As the world began to reap the benefits of industrialization signified by mechanization and automation of most of the salient aspects of social, industrial and economic existence, oil and natural gas emerged to be the primary drivers of industrial growth, economic progress and social mobility in the developed world. The developing nations were still marred by colonial suppression, conventional economies, poverty, political marginalization and scientific backwardness. Thereby, the expected outcome of this scenario was that if on the one side the industrialized West became the primary consumer of the world oil and gas resources, the concentration of the world petroleum reserves in the Middle East made it a strategic imperative to tighten the Western grip over the region. The following decades only saw a continuation and expansion of this planned Western hegemony. The meddlesome mentality adopted by the political class in Europe and the US was conveniently followed by the Western corpo rations, once they realized that petro resources surpassed any other sector, when it came to maximizing returns on investment. In a post World War II scenario, the victorious powers that are the UK, France, and the US did assure that the nations they had artificially carved out of their erstwhile fiefdoms were governed by autocratic rulers, who relied on their military and political backing to hold on to power. In contrast, the common populace in the region deeply resented these West backed dictators. Consequently in many Middle Eastern nations, this popular aversion for the meddlesome, oil hungry West led to the rise of nationalist, Islamic or socialist political forces, the most salient examples being Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Egypt. This didn’t change the Western mentality or the urge to control petroleum wealth in the

Is Social Trust a Cause for Civic Disengagement?

Is Social Trust a Cause for Civic Disengagement? Is social trust a cause for civic disengagement in the last few decades? Research question In the last few decades since the Post War period, there has been a sharp decline in civic engagement in world democracies. Civic disengagement is mostly reflected in low levels of electoral turnout, low volunteering activity, low levels of social capital and social trust. This research focuses on low levels of social trust as a crucial cause for low civic engagement. Social trust refers to the level of trust each individual has towards other individuals in a community, organizations and authorities inside a community. Levels of social trust are often associated with levels of social capital. Social capital is the network of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively. The decline in social capital erodes civic participation, impersonal trust, social and political trust. This research will base its literature review upon two different theoretical arguments; one theory based on Robert Putnam, Dietlind Stolle et al., argue that the main cause for low social trust levels rests on ethnic diversity and that more homogenous communities have higher levels of social trust which in turn leads to more social capital. Whereas Natalia Letki develops a counterargument in which refers to social deprivation being the main cause for low levels of social trust but nevertheless it is neglected by many analysts which primarily focus on ethnic diversity. Based on the methodology, the research will conclude whether to accept the working hypotheses and reject null hypothesis and decide which theoretical argument fits better based on the results. The topic raised by this research is of great significance as the rise of civic disengagement is a problematic evidence in world societies that needs to be addressed and be given importance. The absence of social trust causes setbacks to social cooperation, civic activity and creates individuality and social divisions in a community. This research attempts to raise awareness by analysing these problems and provide a series of solutions that could be used to boost higher levels of social trust in a community in order to increase civic engagement. Literature Review Social trust is strongly associated with many other forms of civic engagement and social capital; people who trust their fellow citizens volunteer more often, contribute more to charity, are more engaged and participate more often in community organizations, serve more readily on juries, comply more fully with their tax obligations, are more tolerant of minority views and display many other forms of civic virtue (Putnam , 2000, p. 136). The issue of diversity in relation to trust is widely discussed between political analysts. Robert Putnam, Dietlind Stolle et al., argue that social and all elements of social capital are unlikely to happen in multi-ethnic community as neighbourhoods, regions or states with more ethnic, racial experience substantially low levels of social capital and cooperation which hinder collective action and social welfare. According to Putnam trust should prosper in homogenous settings and suffer when faced with heterogeneity. ‘Trust seems easier to develop when we are familiar with the people around us, and particularly when they appear similar to ourselves’ (Stolle , et al., 2008, p. 58). This theory argues that ethnic and racial differences discourage reliance on the behaviour of one’s neighbours, friends and colleagues, thereby reducing levels of interpersonal trust, the capacity for cooperation and support for collective action. On the other hand Natalia Letki, counter argues that the main factor undermining all types of interactions and positive attitudes among neighbours is low-socio economic status as opposed to ethnic diversity. She further develops that many analysts often combine ethnic diversity with social deprivation which leads them to cause a direct correlation between ethnic diversity and low levels of social capital; deprivation is the major factor eroding community relations and negatively tinting ethnic diversity due to correlation of ethnic diversity and social deprivation (Letkin, 2008, p. 101). She agrees with Putnam’s theory that diversity may well have a negative effect on individuals’ propensity to interact with fellow neighbours; however, once the interaction takes place, its effect is positive: the attitudes of racial hostility, distrust and prejudice are overcome and an individual becomes more favourable towards other people in general (Letkin, 2008, p. 105). According t o her, common principles and shared values can also be founded in multi-ethnic, multi-faith and multi-cultural societies (Letkin, 2008, p. 103). Hypotheses As for this multivariate analysis, the main dependent variable of the model tested in this research is neighbourhood social trust, which is regressed at the individual level on social volunteering, ethnic diversity, social deprivation, education and age. This research hypothesises that low social trust levels are mainly affected by social deprivation rather than ethnic diversity, therefore supporting the theoretical argument from Natalia Letki. It also hypothesises that the ethnic diversity can also have a significant impact on social trust level in a short term period, but it is unlikely that this variable will continue to have a significant impact in the long run once the interaction between diverse ethnicities takes place, its effect is positive: the attitudes of racial hostility and prejudice are overcome, and an individual becomes more favourable towards other people in general, increasing levels of social trust. Therefore, the association between ethnic diversity and social trust is a spurious association. In a spurious association, the confounding variable acts as obscure in the true relationship between two variables. The confounding variable in this case is ethnic diversity (X variable) which has a direct relationship with social trust (Y variable), however, because social deprivation (Z variable) is also considered, the significance of the direct relationship between ethnic diversity and social trust disappears. Therefore the association between ethnic diversity (variable X) and social trust (variable Y) is due to both of them being influenced by class deprivation (variable Z) as illustrated in figure 1. Methodology To answer this research question it is necessary to use statistical data to support the argument. The raw data supplied is from SPSS statistics which this research will work with. The table below shows the data results accounted for each variable in the model. Data results were coded from respondents which were asked how much they are likely to trust an individual based on nine different variables in the model. Note that only the most important/significant variables are illustrated graphically. Volunteering measures social capital levels. Its P-value is smaller than 0.05 and therefore, we reject the null hypothesis as there is an association between social trust and social capital controlling for all other variables in model. The association is positive as B coefficient is 0.492 and this means that as volunteering levels increase social trust is also increasing. This positive relationship is illustrated graphically in figure 2 and through the slope of the line of best fit, it is possible to see the type of relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Ethnicity-white, measures the white population density where respondents live in relation to social trust. P-value is bigger than 0.05 and so we accept the null hypothesis as there is no association between white ethnic density and social trust when we control for all other variables in the model. Social deprivation is measured through social class and professional occupation. P-value is less than 0.05 and so the null hypothesis is rejected as there is an association between social deprivation and social trust when we control for all other variables in the model. The relationship is positive as B coefficient is 0.40 meaning that as the levels of social status increase, social trust also increases. This is graphically illustrated in figure 4, as the slope of the line is upwards. Ethnicity measures the ethnicity of the respondent against social trust. It is a dummy variable 0= white, 1= ethnic minority. Its P-value is less than 0.05 and the relationship is negative as B coefficient is -0.548. We reject the null hypothesis as the there is an association when we control these two variables in the model. This is graphically illustrated in figure 5. Graduate measures the level of education against social trust. Its P-value is smaller 0.05 and there is a positive association between the two variables when we control the two variables in the model as B coefficient is 0.775. This means that as number of graduates increase social trust levels will also increase. This is graphically illustrated in figure 6 through the slope of the line of best fit. The P-value is smaller than 0.05 when age and social trust are measured. There is a positive association when we control both variables in the model as B value is 0.21. As age increases social trust also increases and this is graphically illustrated in figure 7 through the slope of the line of best fit. Conclusion To conclude this research, it is important to link the results from the data with the two distinct theoretical arguments from Putnam, Stolle et al. Based on the results, it is more plausible to accept Letki’s argument in which social deprivation has a bigger impact on social trust levels than ethnic diversity. The B coefficient for social deprivation is 0.40 and 0.004 for white ethnic density when both are measured against social trust. The slope of the line is more positive for social deprivation meaning that the higher the levels of social status the higher impact it has on social trust levels, if social status decrease then social trust will immediately decrease. Therefore we agree with the argument Letki makes on social inequality affecting social cohesion – ‘Individual-level deprivation, regardless of one’s ethnic background, limits opportunities to participate in social life and exercise civic rights and neighbourhood deprivation is associated with po or living conditions and disorder’ (Letkin, 2008, p. 101). It is also important to name a few solutions that could be used to increase social trust levels in a community. Firstly, we need to mobilise people to engage. Mobilisation is a very consistent influence on civic engagement. People who are asked to undertake a particular action are more likely to be civically active than those who are not, particularly if they are asked by a close acquaintance. Therefore, people respond most readily to requests from friends and family. But failing that, they are also responsive to requests from more distant acquaintances – better to be asked than not to be asked at all (Pattie, et al., 2003, p. 461). Also people also need to be persuaded to take more actions inside a community, as Putnam suggests it seems that encouraging people to join clubs, societies and voluntary organisations helps engender some form of civic action. Social trust is often emerged through collective activism, as individuals interact more with each other in any kind of socia l activity they become more familiar and confident with the surroundings and other individuals around them. Bibliography Halperin , S. Heath, O., (2012) Political Research: Methods and Pratical Skills. 1st ed. New York: Oxford University Press. Letkin, N., (2008) Does diversity erode social cohesion? Social capital and Race in British neighbourhoods. Political studies , 56(1), pp. 99-121. Pattie, C., Seyd, P. Whiteley, P., (2003) Citizenship ad Civic Engagement: Attitudes and Behaviour in Britain. Political Studies, 51(3), pp. 443-466. Putnam , R., (2000) Bowling Alone: The collapse and revival of American community. 1st ed. New York : Simon Schuster Paperbacks. Stolle , D., Soroka, S. Johnston, R., (2008) When Does Diversity Rrode Trust? Neighbourhood Diversity, Interperonal Trust and Mediating Effect of Social Interaction. Poltiical Studies, 56(1st), pp. 56-71. 1

SWAT analysis for Victoria Station Restaurants Essay -- essays researc

Victoria Station Strengths   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Concept uniqueness- Concept based restaurants’ rely on dà ©cor and novelty themes, which are appealing enough to the customers to draw in business. For example: Hard Rock Cafà ©, Applebee’s, Rolling Rock Cafà ©, or Outback Steakhouse. The Victoria Station utilized the English depot paraphernalia to support the theme; gas lights, a red English telephone booth, and a London taxi.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Quality control- The beef was cut to specifications, used controlled- portion fillets/top sirloin butts, and a computerized checking system to verify that unapproved vendors would be brought to management’s attention should any items be purchased off of the approved purveyor list. Appearance, food preparation and service, beverage, atmosphere, equipment, safety, and inventory control were set in detail with complete job descriptions for all managers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Financial control –detailed reports and daily inventories.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  No advertising or paid promotion- they were successful in the beginning with just relying on word of mouth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Promotions- one of the more profitable promo was the rib promotion. Weaknesses   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over expansion- Victoria Station went against it’s own policy bases on building in areas with population of 1million or more. Even with expansion with the hopes of creating more volume, Victoria Station was still unable to cover the fixed-cost percentages. They had roughly 100 restaurants in more than 50 markets. ()   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Inflexible concept design- The boxcar, compared to traditional restaurants created high occupancy costs due to its expensive building and the maintenance. It also hindered the liquidation of assets to cover debts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Limited menu- Did not leave any allowances for customer change, dietary developments, or market swings for beef industry. Poor reaction skills- When V.S. sales started to lessen their reaction was to raise prices which ended up going against the original concept of prime rib at a good price.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Identity crisis- When change was necessary they ended up only to created confusion for their market segment; is it casual, family, fine dining, steak/burger, etc.. Opportunities   Ã‚  Ã‚  &n... ... the mercy of the beef industry and their prices and a at the same time not relaying the prices to the customers, who’s tastes are changing as well. But overall, no these problems correspond with the initiation of this chain. 4) To save Victoria Station Restaurants, they should have either stuck to their business plan or at the point of decline in the life cycle, just cut their losses and start completely fresh, including the building. Otherwise, I would have moved away from concept- type marketing to a value based marketing system on service, quality, and cost. Bibliography 1) Lewis C. Robert. Cases in Hospitality Marketing & Management. John Wiley & Sons. New York. 1997. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Martin, Richard. â€Å"Victoria Station Seeks Survival Options† Nation’s Restaurant News. Sept 10, 1984. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kochak, White Jacque. â€Å"Running out of Lives.† Restaurant business. July 20, 1987 v86 p104 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Strenk, Tom. â€Å"Bets on Bonkers† Restaurant Business. October 10, 1984 v83 p176 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bernstein, Charles. â€Å"The Classic lesson: success breeds failure.† Nation’s Restaurant News. June 16, 1986

Paper on Stock Shareholders

In an October 1998 issue of â€Å"Fortune Magazine† in the finance section, an article entitled â€Å"Cash Out on Your Own Terms† speaks about a relatively old concept refined for a new market. In the centuries past, wealthy landowners would allow working farmers to live and work on their land and tend the crops and cattle for a portion of the goods and maybe a portion of the profit. The farmer was happy because he didn't have enough money to buy his own land yet he could still do what he loved and support his family. The wealthy landowner was happy because he had his land working for him and was getting fairly cheap labor and a good return on his goods. Today the same concept applies to owners of family businesses. When a CEO of a company either needs liquidity or has no relative or partner to pass the ownership to is the main time that owners think about where their business might be going. Many owners of a family business don†t do estate planning or strategy until it†s too late. Even when the owner tries to plan for the inevitable, he has minority shareholders or kids who don†t want to run the business. Every option for the owner has a downside. Selling usually means the owner must give up control. Going public often creates an orphan stock. Employee-stock-ownership plans can burden the CEO with â€Å"onerous regulatory-compliance issues,† and leveraged recaps can load the firm with debt. Company owners come to firms such as Heritage Partners because they want to cash out but at the same time keep management control of their company and the Heritage system allows them to do that and help them grow the business too. Investing in family businesses and then letting owners keep control of their companies after the sale is a novel concept but it†s risky. Heritage Partners plan gives cash to owners which usually amounts to about 85% of what their companies are worth, providing new money for growth while leaving them 51% of their firm†s stock. Since introducing the plan in 1988, Heritage Partners has invested $250 million in 37 companies whose combined revenues exceed $2 billion. While many are companies with market caps of $50 million, sixteen are small businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Their goal is to stay very involved in a company for about five years, helping it reach its maximum growth potential, then sell it, possibly back to the original owners, or take it public. In order to make their company attractive to buyers, owners should begin to develop and put in place a real management team. The CEO should be a dynamic, visionary leader. The chief financial officer should be able to offer â€Å"instant reporting of data and be a strategic thinker,† and should have a well-known CPA firm begin auditing their financial statements if they haven†t already. Small-businesses should beware of the investor who comes in at a huge price, because it†s likely he will retrade the deal. â€Å"Does he intend to make money by building the value of the company through growth or financial engineering? â€Å"Tremendously resist pressure from investment bankers to provide unattainable projections. When you tell people you†re going to hit certain numbers, you†d better hit them. Nobody wins if you come in too aggressively. † This is a prime example of conservatism in the real world. Investors are looking for unique companies in every area â€Å"from the educational toy market to a company that manufactures products for industrial cleaning just as long as the family really believes in their company, and they feel passionately about it. † This system, in my opinion, is an outstanding philosophy of the business world in America. When a company like Heritage Partners can come in and save a potential death of a company from any certain situation, it becomes a win-win position. Unlike the old days with the wealthy landowner and the poor farmer, today the relationship between companies like Heritage and small-business owners can be a beneficial and fair one. Many sole business owners are of the entrepreneurial background and may have even built their company from the ground up. These people have to be hard working people with the strength to go into the world and create something like a business and nurse it into success. When times go sour, weather it be financially or even emotionally, sometimes these owners can pull their company out of the dungeon and other times there is just nothing they can do. When times like these arise these hard working people would never want to see all their work leave their grasps, and that is when companies like Heritage Partners can be a saving grace to the companies life and even the owners life. When a company has been in a family for years it is the identity of that family and it portrays a sense of pride and when situations jump out where that identity and control could be jeopardized, the help of Heritage is an outstanding one. Just as this option is beneficial for the company owner it is, without a doubt, a marvelous opportunity for the larger business such as Heritage to buy out and be involved as long as they are fair and reasonable. I had heard of this market idea before in companies like Venture Capital but it wasn't until I read this â€Å"Fortune† article that I grasped the whole concept. From what I had perceived before this market niche isn't looked highly upon by many people. Some small-businesses may think that these companies perform forceful buyouts and therefore big business destroys small-business. My reason for selecting this topic is because I now realize after researching this subject that it is because of market inventions like this one that our country is the land of opportunity.

New Public Management Approach

The Concept of ‘New public management Approach’ New public management (NPM) denotes broadly the government policies, since the 1980s, which aimed to modernize and render more effective the public sector. The basic hypothesis holds that market oriented management of the public sector will lead to greater cost-efficiency for governments, without having negative side-effects on other objectives and considerations.The last two decades to 2006 have been associated with a fundamental shift in the principles of public sector management in all industrialized countries. This had, in turn, been a product of a general reinvention of the role of government, its agencies, the means by which services are delivered, and employment practices within public sector organizations. At its core, this has been associated with a move away from a traditional model of public administration towards variants of the ‘new public sector management’ model.The traditional model of public ad ministration, based on the doctrine of the separation of powers, was associated with the delegation of a specific set of functions to public administrators in the implementation of policy and the expenditure of public funds. A central principle associated with this model was the idea that public service employees were independent from the political process. Their role was encapsulated by the maxim of providing advice ‘without fear or favour’. This capacity for independent advice was assured through the idea of a career in the public service and explicit norms of behaviour and professional conduct.It has also been presumed that public service employees were less likely to be motivated by extrinsic rewards, more likely to identify with value of service to the public and the provision of public goods, and have a strong commitment to principles of justice, fairness and equity in discharging their duties. This traditional model of public administration was associated with an expansive view of the role of government, which prevailed throughout much of the twentieth century.This view produced a significant role for government in regulating economic and social relations, owning productive assets and producing goods and services, in a range of areas in the period until the mid to late 1970s. From that time, the role of government and public sector organisations came under sustained scrutiny, with the result that governments privatised production of many goods and services previously seen as the natural domain of government, such as essential services; withdrew from the direct control f production of goods and services funded by the public purse through corporatization and outsourcing; and encouraged the contestability of markets in which the government had previously been a monopoly producer. This general reorientation of the role of government has been associated with changes to internal organizational attributes and management practices within public sec tor organizations. This ‘new public management’ has shifted the focus from public service to service delivery.The principles associated with new public management have been informed by the idea that public service needs to be more responsive to both the preferences of beneficiaries, citizens who pay for service provision through tax, and politicians who represent the collective will and make policy choices. From this perspective, ministers are seen as analogous to customers, and citizens to consumers. New public management has been informed by economic doctrines that have advocated privatization, contestability in the delivery of public goods and services and, where possible, the provision of these goods and services through the private sector.For the core public service, this has also been associated with significant reforms to public employment systems and the norms of what constitutes professional public service. For Australian public service employees, this shift ha s involved the displacement of core legislative protections associated with independence by ‘value statements’ and ‘codes of ethical conduct’, along with protective legislation for whistleblowers. More generally, this shift has occurred within the context of a decentralization of managerial responsibilities for workforce planning and human resource management to individual departments and agencies.For middle managers, this has meant a significant increase in responsibility for both ensuring probity in managerial practice and dealing with the ethical issues and conflicts that arise in dealing with ministers and stakeholders, the responsible expenditure of public money and the fair and just delivery of services to the community. Developments Some modern authors define NPM as a combination of splitting large bureaucracies into smaller, more fragmented ones, competition between different public agencies, and between public agencies and private firms and incenti vization on more economic lines.Defined in this way, NPM has been a significant driver in public management policy around the world, from the early 1980s to at least the early 2000s. NPM, compared to other public management theories, is oriented towards outcomes and efficiency, through better management of public budget. It is considered to be achieved by applying competition, as it is known in the private sector, to organizations in the public sector, emphasizing economic and leadership principles. New public management addresses beneficiaries of public services much like customers, and conversely citizens as shareholders.In 2007, the European Commission produced a white book on governance issues whose objective was to propose a new kind of â€Å"relationship between the state and the citizens,† reform governance, improve public management and render decision-making â€Å"more flexible. † Criticism Some authors say NPM has peaked and is now in decline. Critics like Du nleavy proclaim that NPM is ‘dead' and argue that the cutting edge of change has moved on to digital era governance focusing on reintegrating concerns into government control, holistic (or joined-up) government and digitalization (exploiting the Web and digital storage and communication within government).In the UK and US NPM has been challenged since the turn of the century by a range of related critiques such as Third Way thinking (see Anthony Giddens) and particularly the rise of ideas associated with Public Value Theory (Mark Moore, Kennedy Business School, John Benington, Warwick Business School) which have re-asserted a focus on citizenship, networked governance and the role of public agencies in working with citizens to co-create public value, generate democratic authorisation, legitimacy and trust, and stress the domains within which public managers are working as complex adaptive systems with characteristics which are qualitatively different from simple market forms, or private sector business principles.In his book Bad Samaritans, economist Ha-Joon Chang claims that â€Å"increased NPM-inspired reforms have often increased, rather than reduced, corruption,† as a result of â€Å"more contacts [of state-sector functionaries] with the private sector, creating new opportunities for bribes† and future, direct or indirect, employment in the private sector. Chang claims that â€Å"corruption often exists because there are too many market forces; not too few. † Robert Nield, a retired Cambridge economics professor and a member of the 1968 Fulton civil service reform committee, has stated, in reference to civil sector reforms implemented by British PM Margaret Thatcher, a pioneer and strong proponent of NPM, â€Å"I cannot think of another instance where a modern democracy has systematically undone the system by which incorrupt public services were brought into being. â€Å"