Effects of Guidance And Counseling Essay

2.1 Introduction This chapter will focus on the review of the existing literature to the specific idea of effects of guidance and counseling on academic performance in secondary school level. The information gathered from the literature will be used to define a benchmark against which the SGC services may be measured. 2.2 Review of Related Studies Few topics have been identified as per the problem, effects of guidance and counseling on academic performance in secondary schools. 2.2.1 Importance of Guidance and Counseling in Secondary Schools. Kottman (1995) came up with the following as to why guidance and counseling is important. An individual experiences positive feelings from his/her teachers, parents and adults. They derive personal meaning from their learning activities and are able to develop and enhance academic skills to the maximum of their ability. Guidance and counseling programs help the learner to be able to learn necessary coping skills so that they can be able to deal with the normal developmental concerns and problems that they will encounter. Learners should be able to realize that they are responsible for their own behaviors and so they have to work with parents in variety of planned programes to assist them to develop attitudes and skills to enhance the academic and social development. According to Krumboltz(2002), the objective of the program is to bring about the maximum development and self realization of human potential for the benefit of individual and society. Kileen et al (1992), states that career guidance foster efficiency and social equity. It is important in supporting individual decisions, reduces  drop outs and mismatch contribution in performance especially in academics. By having guidance and counseling programs, it promotes self understanding, helps one to make realistic decisions and overcome personality deficits. It is the process of helping individuals to learn to deal with difficulties and to think critically about themselves and their future. Hattie et al (199), advocacy that helps one to develop personal discipline, proper use and management of time, work, leisure and self reliance. The program aimed at helping the students to harmonize. Killeen et al (2001) states that it is important, in supporting individual decisions, reduce drop outs and mismatch contribution in performance especially in academics. On the other hand Hattie et al (1999) agrees that guidance and counseling in high schools helps to develop personal disc ipline, proper management of time and self reliance. 2.2.2 Organizing Guidance and Counseling Program. According to Lutomia and Sikollia(2002) the head teachers are supposed to give room or provide room for the teacher/lecturer in charge of guidance and counseling . This is because some problems faced by students are personal and they may need private discussions. The room should be in conducive environment and confidentiality should be of high degree. The coordinator should be the guidance and counseling teacher assisted by other members i.e. boarding master/mistress, games master and house master/mistress. According to Kottman (1995), guidance and counseling programs in schools is that programs developed in district wide, counselor have to include the personnel from superintended office if it has numbers of schools in the district, the principal and other specialists are involved, but for a single individual school, the principal is the only person involved. Makinde (1983) had a problem in implementing the guidance and counseling programs because there is a natural resistance from c hange. There is also lack of clarity about the new role. 2.2.3 Qualification of a Good Counselor. Durlk (2005), in review studies reports that the evidence indicated that lay or non-professional counselors tend to be more effective than highly trained experts practioners. Hattie et al (1999) argues that pra-professional are  more effective than trained therapist and Berman and Norton (2000), using vigorous criteria for accepting studies as methodology adequately conducted that there is no overall difference in effectiveness between professional and nonprofessional therapist. Pattern (1973) affirms that the non professional helpers have included adult volunteers, parents of children and college student’s models of treatment have received more training to achieve better results. Non professional do better with long term counseling while professional are comparatively more effective short team work. Durlak (2005) adds that non professional such as volunteers achieve good results because of the following factors: a) Able to offer difficult cases to professionals. b) Restrict themselves to straight forward. c) Limited cases load. d) High motivated to help. e) Perceived by clients to be more genuine. Corey (2004) indicates that they are advantages in no professional status and relative lack of experience and advanced training. Some of the disadvantages associated with expertise include the danger of burn out due to overwork. Towbin (2006) postulates that possible explanation for the effectiveness of non professional counselor that they are selected from a pool of naturally talented untrained listeners in the community. 2.2.4 Qualities of a Good Counselor A capable counselor must possess a number of personal qualities and develop the proper attitudes to make a client feel at ease and to build rapport so that a client can self-disclose. Makinde (1983), states that counselors are supposed to be patient, should be a good listener, observe the client speech when he is talking. As a counselor you should not develop any intimate between yourself and the student. The counselor must be confidential in the sense that must always respect and keep the secret of their clients as much as the ethical code allows. The counselor should be honesty if he cannot solve the problem and refer the client to the more experienced professional. Lutomiaa and Skolia (2002), comments that in schools and colleges the person chosen as a counselor should be mature so that he can accept responsibility  in schools and society. The counselor should be honest and also conversant with other people’s problems. He should be able to keep secrets, keep records and s hould not be a gossiper. 2.2.5 Clients Attention Lutomia and Sikolia (2002), states that a counselor has to be patient to listen to them a let him/her show the learners that he is not in a hurry. The counselor has to give the client adequate time so that he/she can be able to express the problems they are encountered with. Facial expressions and gestures is another factor that strengthens the process of listening and this makes them to be appreciated. The skills of listening Active listening and responding appropriately are two of the key skills a counselor must have. Listening makes the person who is talking feel worthy, appreciated and respected. When we give someone all of our attention the speaker responds positively by interacting on a deeper level, perhaps by disclosing personal information or by becoming more relaxed. When a counselor pays particular attention to what the client is saying they are encouraging the client to continue talking, as well as ensuring communication remains open and positive 2.2.6 Guidance and Counseling Services Offered in Schools. Makinde (1983), states that orientation helps students adjust well in any new environment. Appraisal of inventory services and information whereby you aim at providing students with better knowledge of educational, vocational and social opportunities so that they can make informed choices and decisions. 2.2.7 Challenges in Provision of Guidance and Counseling Makinde (1983), says that in developing countries, guidance and counseling will become meaning to individual if it focuses on imparting decision making skills, career planning skills, enhancement teacher and parent effectiveness and value clarifications. Parten (1973), adds that problems that face the provision of guidance and counseling are attitudinal, structural, human and cultural. These include failure to engage in careful diagnosis of the  organizational problems that guidance and counseling was designed to solve. There is also lack of trained counselors in institutions of learning, lack of enough time and facilities for use by counselors, lack of research work in the guidance and counseling area. 2.2.8 How to Identify Student’s Problems Tolbert (1959), states that for one to identify a problem in a student is through the lecturer or class teacher. If it is a boarding school, the matron and catering unit can be of great use since they always interact with students. In school records, it is always important when students are admitted to an institution, a file of each should be opened and all the information about the student entered so that incase of a recurring problem, the counselor can refer to the file and find the required information. Patern (1973) argues that other people who know of the student can be approached and information about the student problem can be identified. He adds that some students confide in friends and it is tricky because if the students learn that people are discussing him/her he/she can easily keep off. Therefore a good counselor should be careful when discussing one student with another. 2.2.9 Difficulties in Guidance and Counseling Krumboltz (2001), states that mass media offer many negative influence and the children/learners are exposed to it than ever before. Some advertisement encourage bad behaviors i.e. the advertisement of some cigarettes, alcohol companies are so colorful that students would like to cope that image or wants to be the same as that person using it and when a counselor tries to discourage it, students will tell him that they have seen people who smoke and drink and yet they are successful. Also televisions encourage students to do wrong because they show romantic movies which young people will enjoy watching. Oketch (1999), agrees that company and influence from peer group is one of the challenges. The counselor will be aware when there is bad influence from such company and try to persuade the student to avoid it, but the affected students will think of the teacher concerned as the one on the wrong and will become rebellious. Shertzer and Stone (1981), states that the wide curriculum in the current 8-4-4 system of education has many subjects  that students need to cover between 8 am-4pm. This makes it difficult because there is always a pressure on the student’s mind which is a problem. On the other hand, the counselor has got no time for counseling because he is always in class or the student is always in class and at 4.00 o’clock the only time left, the student is on the field with games master hence making it difficult for the counselor to operate effectively. Fuster (1990) suggests that pornographic is another hindrance to acceptance of counseling in secondary schools. There are many pornographic materials in circulation and they land into the hands of the innocent girls and boys who end up in participating. 2.2.10 How to draw facts from a student Patern (1973), writes that a counselor should show interest into discussion by possibly making brief comments, he/she should avoid interrupting a student before he completes his train on thoughts, he/she should always listen to major facts. According to Makinde (1983), he claims that a counselor should not get tired while listening to a student. He/she should listen attentively because this will make the students be willing to listen and contribute. According to Fuster (1990), the counselor should always check his/her opposing opinion and every step confirm if they are together with the students. 2.3 Summary Having discussed different literature on guidance and counseling in secondary schools coupled with the researcher own experience as one time student, it is evident enough that there is need for effective counseling model in secondary schools. The many strikes that rocks most of the government secondary schools in 2008 are examples that are still fresh in most peoples mind. This shows that something is very wrong and needs to be addressed as soon as possible. It is in hope that the findings of this study will go along way in addressing most of the recommendations provision of guidance and counseling services in learning institutions. In general there is need for guidance and counseling that necessitates a search for truth. There is need to look at problems that students face in schools and how guidance and counseling may be effective to them.

Cafs Summary on Parenting and Caring

Parenting- the process of raising and nurturing children in a family Caring- the process of looking after the needs and wellbeing of another person due to their age, illness or disability Biological parents- the parent who has provided the genetic material, either sperm or an ovum, to create a foetus Pregnancy Planned- involves a strategic choice on when to parent. There are physical, emotional and economic impacts that result from this decision Unplanned- may result from poor knowledge about contraception, the fertility cycle or failure with contraception such as a condom tearing IVF and GIFT In-vitro fertilisation †¢Occurs outside the body †¢Drug treatment is used to stimulate the maturation and number of ova †¢Egg follicles are monitored through ultrasound †¢Eggs are collected under general anaesthetic †¢Fresh sperm sample is obtained †¢Egg and sperm is prepared and cultured, combined and then fertilisation takes place †¢Following microscopic examination, viable embryos are transferred back into the uterus †¢Once implanted, pregnancy has occurred †¢Spare eggs are frozen for the future †¢Success depends on age, viability of sperm and level of expertise Gamete intra-fallopian transfer Occurs inside female body †¢Drug treatment is used to stimulate the maturation and number of ova †¢Egg follicles are monitored via ultrasound †¢Eggs are collected under local anaesthetic †¢Eggs are combined with fresh sperm sample †¢They are returned to the fallopian tubes where fertilisation may occur †¢Once fer tilisation occurs, embryo implants in uterus and pregnancy is monitored †¢Fertilisation occurs inside the body †¢Much more successful Social parents- individuals with a parenting responsibility towards a child whom they do not share a genetic relationship with. Social implications are the positive and negative effects on an individual or group that occurs as a result of an action or choice made either by the individual, themself or by another person or group Legal implications are the positive and negative legal consequences or commitments that occurs as a result of an action or choice made b an individual or group FASS Fostering- an alternative living arrangement for children whose parents are temporarily unable to care for them in their family home Legal implications Children and young persons (care and protection Act) 1998 (NSW) †¢Any person fostering children who is not related to them msut have a license to foster issued by the Department of Family and Community Services †¢Foster carers must consult with the DCS about various parenting issues such as type of school the child will attend and faith practices †¢The foster cannot make medical decisions †¢The foster parents may be compensated for deliberate damage to chi ld Social implications Carers must encourage contact with the young person’s birth family and accept that he or she will probably return to their birth family †¢carers and their family may have mixed feelings about this especially if the young person has become part of their family †¢when allocating foster placements, families are sometimes split up as all children cannot be accommodated and stay together †¢foster children may been to have multiple placement changes such as schools and new siblings influencing their satisfaction of emotional, social and intellectual needs †¢30% of foster children have been abused by biological family, affecting how they meet new people as they feel angry and abandoned †¢problems between biological family and foster child may result in a restraining order by fostering family Adoption- the process by which the legal responsibility of parenting a child is given to a family mother than the than the biological family Legal implications Regulated by the legislation, including Adoption Act 2000 (NSW) and Family Law Act 1975 (cth) †¢All legal rights and responsibilities are transferred to the adoptive parents †¢Change in parenting is permanent; birth parents lose all rights to the child. However they may maintain the right of information and contact, if permitted by the Family Court †¢If the child is older than 12 they must consent the adoption. If the person is from an ATSI background, they must receive counselling about their customs and culture †¢Step parents must be married or in a de-facto relationship or a child whose lived with them for 2 years †¢Needs to be assurance from governing bodies such as DOCS that all aspects of the wellbeing of the child can be met Social implications Societies changing attitudes have resulted in fewer adoptions, the use of the contraceptive pill and development of birth technologies †¢Family relationships change, which can be significant as the child ages †¢The decision to tell a child they are adopted may be distressing †¢May cause different emotions for adopted child as they have the right to know their origins †¢The child must overcome feelings of being rejected by birth parents. May impact on sense of identity and self esteem †¢No knowledge of child’s medical history which can cause problems in diagnosing illness or most appropriate medical treatment †¢Family and community acceptance, example if the child looks different to parents the adoptive relationship is apparent †¢Child should have the opportunity to maintain cultural heritage †¢Acceptance of adoptive child if parents have biological children Step-parenting- when a man or woman marries or forms a de-facto relationship with a partner who has a child or children from a previous relationship Legal implications A step parent has no legal responsibilities towards the child †¢A step parent who has acted as a parent to a child for a long time, and is now being divorced from the biological parents, may have visitation rights if a judge decides its in the Childs best interest †¢In the event of the death of a step-parent the rights of the step child are different from those of a biological child in regard to inheritance, child support and making decisions †¢If a child is adopted by step-parents, rights to inheritance from biological parent are lost Social implications †¢Community perception holds that an intact original nuclear family is superior as blended or step may be seen as deficient †¢There is often a ower struggle between the child/ren and step parent, which may lead to issues for their relationship and the family †¢Conflict can occur between the children and step parent and between step children from both partners. Primary relationships and responsibilities can become blurred †¢Old family traditions may be changes. This can be difficult for all †¢Partne rs may have different visions of family life and parenting styles that need to be reviewed, discussed and adjusted †¢Poor relationships with step parents are recognised as a significant factor in causing young people to leave home and decrease in academic performance and self esteem and depression Surrogacy- an arrangement made between a couple who cannot have a baby and a woman who gets pregnant on the couple’s behalf. The child is handed to the couple after delivery Legal implications †¢It is legally a grey area as it is neither prohibited nor encouraged †¢Very specific criteria needs to be established for both parties based on an honour agreement that is not legally binding †¢Payment cannot be made †¢Adoption process needs to be successfully undertaken †¢Egg and sperm must be from commissioning couple †¢Commercial couple must be able to prove medical reasons as to why they can’t biologically conceive and that they’ve been trying to conceive for 3 years with unprotected intercourse, and still cant conceive Social implications The surrogate mother may have an ongoing attachment to the baby after birth †¢Emotional pain may be experienced by the surrogate mother and her family by giving up the child †¢If the surrogate mother goes back on the agreement, there may be disappointment and animosity between parties †¢Community acceptance may be mixed as surrogacy isn’t a widely accepted practice †¢Surrogacy is very costly and may affect the social parents economic status †¢Surrogacy is a long, exhaustive process †¢Social parents may change their mind, leaving the baby with the surrogate mother whom may not have adequate resources or family support †¢The woman’s body is not an object, it’s a form of prostitution †¢It’s unethical and unmoral Carer relationships Carers are people who look after the needs and wellbeing of another person due to their age, illness and/or disability. Carers may be paid or unpaid. Many circumstances may lead to a person requiring care. Some circumstances are planned and may have been anticipated. Example: a planned pregnancy, adoption or fostering, grand parenting, looking after an ageing parent. Unplanned circumstances are unexpected and thus afford a few preparations in the short term such as: a unplanned pregnancy, grand parenting, a health problem such as operation failures, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, AIDS, multiple sclerosis or cancer, an accident, birth abnormalities and unexpected age deterioration. Some of the implications of caring will relate to management of: was there time to prepare or not? What is the expected financial expenditure>> how will it impact on the satisfaction of needs and overall wellbeing? What will be, and who will take on, the roles and responsibilities associated with caring? Voluntary They are unpaid. They are usually family members such as parents, partners, brothers, sisters, friends or children. They provide care and support to children or adults who have disability, mental health problems, chronic condition or a temporary illness. Some are eligible for government benefits, while others are employed in their usual job and undertake caring responsibilities after work and on weekends. The burden of caring can affect the satisfaction on physical, intellectual, social and emotional needs. Paid They take on the role of caring as a form of employment and therefore receive financial payment. Type of paid carerDescription Family day careProvides home-based care up to five children in a family setting Nanny Provides home-based care to children in their family home Doctor Provides medical advice, treatment and assistance to those in care Foster carerIs licensed to provide care in their own family home Teacher Has a duty of care and primarily encourages learning skills, knowledge and behaviours; plays a valuable tole in socialisation Nurse Provides medical assistance in community centres, homes, hospitals and nursing homes Palliative carerProvides assistance to people who are terminally ill, as well as support to family members

AP English III

In this mock press release from The Onion, the author satirizes the way products are marketed to consumers. He seems to think that the methods used by advertisers are exaggerated and manipulative. The author shows his contempt for marketing techniques by using Irony, diction, and hyperboles. The use of Irony Is evident In this mock press release. The author uses this Irony to point out logical flaws sometimes seen In advertisements. For instance, a woman claims that â€Å"after wearing MagnaSoles for seven weeks, [she's] noticed a significant decrease in pain† (lines 59-60).Customer testimonials are often used as an advertising technique. However, this particular one is showing irony because the injury of a sprained ankle could clearly be healed by time in seven weeks†not necessarily because of some miracle product. The audience recognizes this irony and finds it humorous. Another irony that the author is showing is the description of an â€Å"intelligent-looking man in a white lab coat† (lines 67-68). This is ironic because he is not necessarily intelligent, he merely appears to be intelligent.This parodies the advertising technique of using actors to sell products, as opposed to actual certified pecialists. All of these examples of Irony clearly show misleading tactics of marketers. The authors use of comical dlctlon emphasizes the audacious tone that real advertisements use to sell their products. However, this author flouts that bold tone by use of sarcastic and exaggerated word choice. For example, he mocks the scientific words typically used by using made up words. He creates terms like â€Å"pain nuclei,† â€Å"kilofrankels,† and â€Å"comfortrons. By inserting this satirical diction, the author is creating a connection to scientific vocabulary typically used in advertising. Consumers are often misled by vocabulary that they are unfamiliar with, and this author is satirically proving that. Specifically, he uses the term â€Å"pseudoscience† which sounds, to an uninformed ear, like a legitimate field of study. However, a clever reader will understand that â€Å"pseudff' means fake, and therefore the very term means â€Å"fake science† (not legitimate). By using such exaggerated diction, the author proves his satirical point that people will believe anything that sounds scientific.The author of this mock press release also uses hyperbole to mock real advertisements by ointing out their exaggerations. The article contains a quote by the product's creator that claims it is â€Å"not just a shoe insert†it's a total foot rejuvenation system† (line 16-17). This is an exaggeration of what typical advertisements say about their product. All advertisers want to sell their product as a â€Å"cure-all. † Through hyperbole, this article is mocking this convention. In addition, the article claims that â€Å"if the frequency of one's foot is out of alignment with the Earth, th e entire body will suffer† (lines 43-45).This is clearly a fantasy fact because we know that your entire ody is not necessarily Impacted by the biomagnetic connection of your foot to the ground. The author's hyperbole serves to further prove that advertisements often use bombastic exaggeration. The satirical devices used by the author poke fun at real advertising techniques. Through scientific-sounding diction, strong, humorous hyperbole, and ludicrous Irony, the author effectively makes his point that marketing techniques are deceptive and somewhat shady. techniques by using irony, diction, and hyperboles. The use of irony is evident in this mock press release.The author uses this irony o point out logical flaws sometimes seen in advertisements. For instance, a woman specialists. All of these examples of irony clearly show misleading tactics of marketers. The author's use of comical diction emphasizes the audacious tone that reader will understand that â€Å"pseudo' means fa ke, and therefore the very term means that claims it is â€Å"not Just a shoe insert†it's a total foot rejuvenation system† (line body is not necessarily impacted by the biomagnetic connection of your foot to the hyperbole, and ludicrous irony, the author effectively makes his point that marketing

Culture and Mental Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Culture and Mental Health - Essay Example The definition of normality is undoubtedly value laden; the issue of culture must be addressed, not only in the treatment process, but in evaluation and diagnosis as well. Embedded in one's culture are beliefs and attitudes regarding spirituality, family structure, gender roles, and health care, all of which affect relationships, the choice of activity, and the preferred environment. In addition, cultural values vary tremendously and must be taken into account when planning any aspect of intervention. The effects of mental illness reach far and beyond the afflicted individual. They touch the family, friends, and caregivers as well. How the symptoms are managed depends on a great degree on the amount of information provided by the mental health professional. In addition, the cultural perspective will often dictate the level of shame and stigma that must be overcome and how treatment will be provided by the mental health system. Russia acknowledges their need for development in terms of their mental health system's community-based programs due to the country's diverse regional contexts. Since 1997, a series of projects were undertaken by Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies and Moscow Research Institute of Psychiatry are working hand in hand to facilitate the country's need for more community-based programs. Projects are being implemented in Central and South Russia and Siberia regions. The joint venture introduced the ideas and most outstanding performance of community mental health rehabilitation through specialized education and developing local pilot schemes, and assisted growth of parent and consumer support associations. The mental health system in Russia is at a premature phase of modification from an institution-based to a community-based practice. The modification is being strengthened by two factors: a rising perception that community behavior and maintenance is much more pleasing than extensive hospitalization; and, the monetary obligation to augment the proportion of outpatients getting psychiatric care, in opposition to those who are hospitalized. With a growing quantity of people with psychiatric illnesses, the demands upon the existing system of institutionalized care are at an all time elevation. About one fourth of all inpatients in Russia have been hospitalized for more than 12 months and this speed remains fairly steady. Among the patients who were hospitalized less than 12 months, the regular length of their infirmary stay go beyond 70 days per admittance, a very extended time in association with Western nations, with yearly readmission charges relatively high at roughly 23% (Moscow Research Institute of Psychiatry statistics). Given the nonexistence of substitute community service models, there is no choice but to relocate a considerable fraction of long-term inpatients to specialized nursing homes for chronic mental patients, resulting in a course of 'transinstitutionalization' as a replacement for the more desirable 'deinstitutionalization'. An added problem is that existing federal health policies forbid transmittal of finances from institutional services to community alternatives, and no capital has been owed to the improvement of latest community services. Such strategies limit the potential for modification in the mental health system, and will have to be altered. The reform is progressing in the context of very limited knowledge of effective means whereby community-based services might be

Organizational Change & Change Management Assignment

Organizational Change & Change Management - Assignment Example (Turner, 2011) This paper seeks to highlight how organizations manage change and strive hard to become more sustainable after implementing change because the condition of most of the organization becomes vulnerable after applying change. This paper also mentions some methods and techniques by which organizations can cope up in handling change successfully. Organizational change helps an organization in agreeing on a unified vision. Strong level of leadership is required for communicating the vision to each employee of the organization. Change can affect day to day strategies and activities of an organization. Moreover, a concrete plan is required to measure the degree of success of change. Monetary and social rewards are awarded to employees so as to encourage their new responsibilities and roles. (Turner, 2011) This paper seeks to highlight how organizations manage change and strive hard to become more sustainable after implementing change because the condition of most of the organization becomes vulnerable after applying change. This paper also mentions some methods and techniques by which organizations can cope up in handling change successfully. Organizational change helps an organization in agreeing on a unified vision. Strong level of leadership is required for communicating the vision to each employee of the organization. Change can affect day to day strategies and activities of an organization. Moreover, a concrete plan is required to measure the degree of success of change. Monetary and social rewards are awarded to employees so as to encourage their new responsibilities and roles. (Turner, 2011) 2. Briefly discuss methods & techniques to identify and solve problems and how it would affect after implementing the change.   Change doesn’t happen by change but in fact organiza tions invest huge amounts in research and development in order to determine if the change is necessary or not. Change comes along with many challenges and problems to tackle. In order to solve those problems, some wide range of applications is required. The most common problems and solution are mentioned in subsequent paragraphs. They include: Problems: Ineffective management of change can cause lower level of job satisfaction and confidence Organizations failing to manage change are four times high at the risk of losing talents Ineffective management of change adversely affect the ability of an organization to attract new talent Just less than half of the total employees feel confident in the change process of the organization Solutions: Organizations require to utilize assessment tools to measure the readiness of change among employees Leaders need to cultivate key behaviors which are required for managing change in an effective manner Leaders need to ensure that employee engageme nt is very high in the process of change management 3. Discuss how to develop a change strategy by using different types of methods and techniques.   3.1 Change methods in general. Countless techniques, models, theories and tools have been established in order to implement change in organizations in a successful manner. There is no hard and fast rule in implementing a specific theory, method or model because the internal structure, condition, financial position and culture of every organization differ from others. In this regard, it depends upon organization what method or technique is suitable as per the given condition of an organizatio

Accounting and society--litarature review Essay - 2

Accounting and society--litarature review - Essay Example In this case, the two environmental approaches that accounting practices can be conducted include the free market and the pro-regulatory approaches. These approaches have been interchangeably used for the interests of the society (Buckley & Weston 2006, p.16). In the recent past, the adoption of the free market was considered ideal but until the world economic crisis experienced in 2008, several issues have been aroused which necessitate the adoption of regulation approaches. However, the consideration of the ideal environmental approach necessitates the analysis of their effects in the economy. The free-market approach to accounting information entails the treatment of the information as normal goods and services, which are impacted by the forces of demand and supply. For this reason, the preparation and utilization of the accounting information would yield optimal output. For any business entity, they will offer financial information that would address the needs of the economic demand (Flegm 2004, p.56). In addition, business entities would be required to provide the expected financial information without the imposition of any regulation. For instance, when companies would be required to offer the shares in order to be listed, they would be necessitated to offer the required financial information to attract investors. On the other hand, the implementation of the pro-regulatory approach involves the incorporation of regulation that would necessitate all business entities, especially companies so as to offer their accounting information freely to the public. In this regard, the accounting information is considered to be a public need, and for that reason, companies have to set some finances for the preparation and presentation of the accounting information. After the accounting information have been produced, it is essential to realize that they become free and everyone can access them. Through this practice, there is a conception that

FSAs Role towards the Collapse of Global Financial Services Industry Essay

FSAs Role towards the Collapse of Global Financial Services Industry - Essay Example It resulted in the failure of the key businesses, downturn in the economic activity directing to the 2008-12 global recessions and the decline in the consumer wealth. During this period economies globally slowed, as international trade declined and credit tightened. The explanation of the financial crisis is that hasty loans in the form of mortgages were made to people who do not have any possibility of paying them back. These loans were enclosed up into exotic financial products that were specified with high ratings by credit rating agencies, and were sold to investors thus looking for high yields at low risk. When default on the mortgages began to grow in large numbers, it led to unexpected losses on the products. A chain of bankruptcies, government providing emergency credit lines, balance sheet write downs, insurance and nationalisation of several institutions followed. Investors were inattentive in their understanding of what they were actually purchasing and sub-prime borrowers were insincere in taking out loans that they should have known they could not finally meet the repayments on. The crash reveals a quick drying up of liquidity following a huge expansion in credit issued to consumers and financial institutions in a number of countries. The investors have suffered harsh experiences with currency attacks and collapses, thereby negatively affecting the balance sheet of their financial institutions and corporations due to high degree of liability dollarization, therefore deepening the crisis further. Enormously disruptive to economic development and growth, in emerging market economies, these experiences have made policy makers aware of the massive cost that they have to bear by participating in the financial globalization process. By the middle of 2007, over dependence on market forces without proper regulatory systems and mechanisms in place to govern the globalization process led to emergence of huge cracks intimidating the stability of world economy on the two fronts: global financial crisis and the sharp increase of the primary commodity prices. The commodities have registered a sharp rise in prices in 2007, with extreme volatility. The increased prices of commodity hit the world when most Western economies were making effort to get away from recession and a sharp economic downturn amidst the credit crunch that had engrossed the financial institution and markets in the Western Europe and United States. There was a huge fear that the on-going financial crisis may turn into global depression of the 21st century. However, Central banks and governments responded with monetary policy expansion, unprecedented fiscal stimulus and institutional bailouts. Having lost room for additional interest rate cuts like a monetary policy instrument, most of the Central banks have engaged in hostile quantitative easing, through purchasing commercial securities and government bonds and generating an asset in the central bank account against which bank lending can be continued. By increasing money supply through this channel, it is expected to re-establish confidence in financial markets and institutions and unlock frozen credit lines. This paper will focus on the role of UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) for the reform of financial markets in the UK. It will lead to the build-up of the UK economy and the international economy. Effects of the Global Financial Crisis on UK Economy The effect of the financial crisis is on both the commercial and residential property markets in the UK. Over the first half of 2008, the economic activity in the UK had slowed down, thereby reaching at decline stage by the end of second quarter. Initially the government investment has provided some stimulus but

Organisations and Behaviour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Organisations and Behaviour - Assignment Example Since every department is branching out into many sub divisions and vertical as well as horizontal branches, cross communication has seen an enormous rise. Thus looking at the present scenario, a hierarchal organisational structure will lead to a lack in communication and the resultant organisational will be more bureaucratic in nature. In the given case study, Hawk Company has been observed following taylorist methods of production. A taylorist method can be described as a production process, in which the assigned tasks and works are broken down further into segments or smaller clusters, with the objective of monitoring the process and correcting any action. This can be regarded as a rigorous method of production where each and every action is flowed by strict monitoring. A taylorist approach can be accompanied by many methods of organisational structure. These can be bureaucratic, hierarchal or specialised structure. In the bureaucratic, structure, strict rules and regulations are followed and procedures are delegated in order to achieve compliance and control of subordinated from those who give orders. The second one is hierarchical in which decision makers are separated from employees who implement. Traditional methods of taylorism are highly dysfunctional and lead decrease in motivation of employees and workers. In order to achieve control and compliance in an organisation, a beurocratic structure follows strict rules and regulations and controls of all functioning within the organisation. From the above theories of organisation structure, we can conclude that because of the strict hierarchical structure and taylorist methods, the organisation faced many issues and problems. It is also evident that the arising issues and complications from the traditional methods of organisational structure and production process lead to the subsequent changes, which were implemented in the organisation. As a result of the perennial problems occurring in the organisation, the management decided to take necessary steps. The first action was to consult the workers and other staff members of the organisation and take relevant feedback about the organisation structure and satisfaction level. With the help of workers and employee feedback, many changes were made. The first change was made in the workshop and the factory. Old and traditional machinery were replaced by new and more advanced equipments. Special training was also provided to the workers for making them acquainted with the latest machinery. The traditional assembly line was changed to a more collaborative and compatible group. The new task assembly was divided into teams of workers, performing a specific job, rather than working haphazardly and simultaneously at different places. The workers were also invited to take part in management decisions and this helped in increasing their motivation to a great extent. Thus, by removing bureaucratic structure form their organisational portfolio, the ma nufacturing company was able to increase motivation and commitment level from their employees. With the implementation of teams in the factory, the traditional hierarchal structure also became dysfunctional, and the workers as well as the employees were able to communicate as well as contribute in

Illiteracy in Prison Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Illiteracy in Prison - Research Paper Example It is important to understand the notion of illiteracy when related to the prison system. Contemporary research has shown a very high rate of illiteracy in the prison system and it is well to inquire whether this is a consequence of various factors or it is just a mere coincidence. The prison system that the country uses today and in the 20th century is the same. In the 20th century, the prisons experienced major reforms in terms of the structure and the staffing. However, one major aspect that the system did not accommodate was the technological characteristic. Technology in major institutions is one very important characteristic as in the 21st century; most of the education relayed to students is through technology. For example, calculators have come in as a great deal to serve the contemporary students with faster ways of calculating in fields such as chemistry, physics and mathematics. The fact that there has not been any introduction of the new technology devices in the prison s ystem is a factor showing that it is not a coincidence that there is a lack of literacy in the prison system. Where there are these gadgets in the prison system, many inmates would develop professional knowledge that would assist them in the advancements of a career. Upon release from the system, they would get proper jobs that would help them shun all criminal activities thus making the environment a safer place. Lack of the gadgets in the prisons encourages the prisoners to engage in or form illegal groups in prisons (Haigler, O'Connor, and Campbell, 2008). The economic condition in the outside world is one other factor linked to the high amount of illiteracy in the prisons. In the contemporary times, the rates of recession have been steadily on the rise and thus making people engage in activities that will serve to help them gain a meal for the day. The economic factors extend so far such as even professionals such as doctors engage in activities that do not fit their job descrip tion. An example of this is a doctor who may go way out of his career path to sell prescription drugs to addicts in an effort to make the extra cash. These conditions affect the professionalism of people and when they stray to carry out activities that do not suit them, the resulting factor is the lack of essence to the career that a person has. With the lack of essence, it is common to find the person forfeiting his job and concentrating on the illegal side job as a whole. Through this, the person may lose certain concepts taught in the professional school attended due to lack of practice and this would eventually render a former literate person illiterate. In the connection to the prison system, the person is sent to prison and hence the high number of illiteracy in the facilities. Other factors that lead to illiteracy in prison are political factors. In the community, the high rate of unemployment leads to people suffering and searching for means to gain income. One of the most c ommon times that people engage in these activities is during political campaigns. Political campaigns are a very noticeable aspect of the community and politicians often go ahead to look for people to spread their popularity in various regions with the promise of a certain amount of fund. Many of the politicians do not pay the campaigners until the campaign is over and the results announced. This one factor motivates campaigners to work very hard in an effort to please the party candidate. Many

Issues Regarding Ranking of People Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Issues Regarding Ranking of People - Term Paper Example hoot-out, Zimmerman was arrested by the police; the police arrived at the scene about two minutes after the shooting, in response to a distress call made by Zimmerman (Bell et al. 89). After his arrest, Zimmerman was put under police custody, treated for the head injuries that he claimed were inflicted on him by Trayvon, and was later questioned for five hours, regarding the events leading to the shooting. However, after a few hours, Zimmerman was released, and the police chief in charge of the case gave a variety of reasons for the release, including that he had acted in self-defense (Bell et al. 88-89). The police chief also maintained that the â€Å"stand your ground statute† did not allow the police to arrest Zimmerman for the controversial murder of the teenager, irrespective of the victim’s civil rights as well as the human rights of all Americans (Hancock 1). This paper will explore the event of Trayvon’s killing, with the aim of showing how the event led to an inequitable society, the resolution of the event and its effects. Despite the fact that Zimmerman, a Hispanic had shot Trayvon, an African-American dead, and despite the fact that the case was evidently an extreme one, Zimmerman was relelased after a few hours. The social stratification between the African-Americans and Americans of American descent demonstrated the social construction of social stratification for the different classes, and the case ended with an inadequacy of the attention warranted by the murder of Trayvon (Day-Vines et al. 401). The lack of equitability in society was evidenced by the responses offered to the murder, including that little attention paid to the fact that the police had ordered Zimmerman to stop pursuing Trayvon, yet he went ahead to shoot him dead. Secondly, there was the issue that, despite the fact that Zimmerman did not have any credible reasons to suspect that Trayvon was planning or in the process of committing a crime, the investigating officers paid

Why woman should not ever have an Abortion Essay

Why woman should not ever have an Abortion - Essay Example God condemns abortion. The reason abortion is prohibited is not just the fact that it is murder, but also because of a whole range of consequences that it causes. In many cases, abortion poses risk to the life of the mother. Even if the mother survives the initial risk, she is quite susceptible to bearing the huge burden of guilt of having killed her own child. Many mothers experience many negative emotional and psychological effects of abortion for a long time in their life. Owing to the fact that life starts at conception, every abortion results in the killing of a human being. To make it even worse, that human being cannot even speak for his/her rights, he/she does not even know about any rights, and is in the most innocent form. The moment a child starts developing inside the mother’s womb, the mother’s body does not remain just her body, but also becomes a home shared by her child. All these points lead to the conclusion that abortion should be

The Definition of Success Essay Example for Free

The Definition of Success Essay Success The American Dream is a large house, a speedy car, and financial freedom. For some, it includes a boat, a RV, and a cottage by the lake. However, another definition of success doesn’t list any of these. Success does not have anything to do with material goods but is rather tied to broader concepts. One measure of success is how happy a person is. For some people, they might feel their happiest when they have luxurious items. However, this is not universally true and is consequently not a true measure of success. Happiness for most people is a happy and loving family. If this is someone’s definition of success, then their family is what defines their success. For some, this success might mean trying new things and a lifestyle that supports it. Success is tied in with happiness because they are both highly subjective. Health can also be considered a defining factor in success. People feel unsuccessful if they, or someone they love, are not healthy. For instance, can father feel successful if his child is ill? This is why doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and hospitals are so important. Not only do they allow people to live longer, but they also allow people to feel successful in their life. Finally, success can mean overcoming hardships. No one likes hard and rough times with tears and pain. Someone who has come through the pain often feels like he or she has accomplished something. An individual that has overcome an obstacle achieves a measure of success. As David Brinkley has stated, a man can be proud if he has laid â€Å"a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.† The most valuable lessons can come from failures. Like Dale Carnegie said, â€Å"Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.† And who could understand the meaning of success if they did not experience disappointment? Light would not exist without darkness and success would not be truly achieved without failure. But we all hope that this failure is only temporary. People want to achieve success and make plans to reach it. However, with a  narrow interpretation of success, many people have no chance of finding it. They will continue to find themselves going the wrong way, missing out on opportunities, and happy moments along the way.

Risk-based Access Control Model for the Internet of Things

Risk-based Access Control Model for the Internet of Things Developing an adaptive Risk-based access control model for the Internet of Things Hany F. Atlam a, c Gary B. Wills a, Robert J. Walters a, Joshua Daniel c a Electronic and Computer Science Dept., University of Southampton, UK b Security Futures Practice, BT Research Innovation, Ipswich, UK c Computer Science and Engineering Dept., Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Menoufia University, Egypt Abstract The Internet of Things (IoT) is creating a revolution in the number of connected devices. Cisco reported that there were 25 billion IoT devices in 2015 and modest estimation that this number will almost double by 2020. Society has become dependent on these billions of devices, devices that are connected and communicating with each other all the time with information constantly share between users, services, and internet providers. The emergent IoT devices as a technology are creating a huge security rift between users and usability, sacrificing usability for security created a number of major issues. First, IoT devices are classified under Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) that blows any organization security boundary and make them a target for espionage or tracking. Second, the size of the data generated from IoT makes big data problems pale in comparison not to mention IoT devices need a real-time response. Third, is incorporating secure access and control for IoT devices ranging from edge nodes devices to application level (business intelligence reporting tools) is a challenge because it has to account for several hardware and application levels. Establishing a secure access control model between different IoT devices and services is a major milestone for the IoT. This is important because data leakage and unauthorized access to data have a high impact on our IoT devices. However, traditional access control mode ls with the static and rigid infrastructure cannot provide the required security for the IoT infrastructure. Therefore, this paper proposes a risk-based access control model for IoT technology that takes into account real-time data information request for IoT devices and gives dynamic feedback. The proposed model uses IoT environment features to estimate the security risk associated with each access request using user context, resource sensitivity, action severity and risk history as inputs for security risk estimation algorithm that is responsible for access decision. Then the proposed model uses smart contracts to provide adaptive features in which the user behavior is monitored to detect any abnormal actions from authorized users. Keywords Security, Internet of Things, Risk, access control, Adaptive, Context. The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing in different ways. The adoption rate of the IoT is at least five times faster than the adoption of electricity and telephony [1]. Moreover, it is becoming the backbone of the future of the Internet that encompasses various applications and devices. The IoT devices are interconnected using different communication technologies such as wireless, wired and mobile networks [2]. The concept of the IoT was first mentioned by Kevin Ashton in 1999 [3]. He has said, The Internet of Things has the potential to change the world, just as the Internet did. Maybe even more so. Later, the IoT was formally presented by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2005 [4]. The ITU defines the IoT as: a global infrastructure for the Information Society, enabling advanced services by interconnecting (physical and virtual) things based on, existing and evolving, interoperable information and communication technologies[5]. The IoT faces many challenges that stand as a barrier to the successful implementation of IoT applications. The security is considered the most difficult challenge that needs to be addressed. This challenge is more complicated due to the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of the IoT system [6], [7]. Authentication and access control models are the essential elements to address the security issue in the IoT. They can prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to system resources, prevent authorized users from accessing resources in an unauthorized manner and allow authorized users to access resources in an authorized manner [8], [9]. The main purpose of the access control is to reject unauthorized users and limit operations of authorized users using a certain device. In addition, it tries to prevent the activity that could cause a security breach [7]. A powerful access control model should satisfy security requirements of confidentiality, integrity, and availability [10]. Traditional access control approaches are static in nature as they depend on predefined policies that always give the same outcome regardless of the situation. They are context insensitive. Furthermore, they require a rigid authentication infrastructure [11], [12]. So they cannot provide for distributed and dynamic environment as the IoT systems [13]. Dynamic access control approaches are more appropriate to the IoT. This is because they are characterized by using not only the policies but also environment features that are estimated in real-time to determine access decisions. The dynamic features can include trust, risk, context, history and op erational need [14], [15]. This paper presents an adaptive risk-based access control model for the IoT. This model can dynamically estimate the security risk associated with each access request to make the access decision. It uses real-time user context attributes, resource sensitivity, action severity and risk history as inputs to estimate the security risk value of each access request. In addition, the user behavior is monitored to detect any abnormal misuse. This paper will start by discussing concepts of access control in the IoT in section II; Section III presents access control challenges in the IoT; Section IV introduces different access control models; Section V discusses the concept of risk-based access control model; Section VI presents the proposed model; Section VII illustrates the process flow of the proposed model; Section VIII presents the related works, and Section IX is the conclusion The IoT devices send and receive a variety of information about owners behavior. Therefore, it is important to protect not only the communication process between IoT devices but also authentication and access control of IoT devices [16]. The access control process works with many layers of the IoT reference model that is shown in figure 1. The control process flows from top to down. Therefore, the access control works with different data whether at storage, at motion, or at IoT device itself. Therefore, the access control is a big issue in the IoT that need addressing. Fig. 1. The IoT reference model [16] The main function of access control is to grant access rights only to authorized users. Also, it prevents authorized users from accessing system resources in an unauthorized manner [7]. A powerful access control model should fulfill security demands of confidentiality, integrity, and availability [10]. In the IoT, the access control is required to ensure that only authorized users can update device software, access sensor data or command the actuators to perform an operation [17]. There are three ways to implement access control in the IoT systems; centralized, centralized and contextual, and distributed [18]. In the centralized approach, the access control logic is implemented at a central entity. This entity could be a server with direct communication to IoT devices that it manages or another entity in a different location. Therefore, IoT devices send their data to the central entity that is responsible for making access control decisions [18]. In the centralized and contextual approach, IoT devices are not completely passive entities; this is because they participate in the access control decisions. The access control logic is implemented at a central entity as in centralized approach, but the contextual features from IoT devices are sent to the central entity. These features are used to make access decisions [18]. In the distributed approach, all the access control logic is embedded into IoT devices. These devices are being provided with necessary resources to process and send information to other services and devices. Therefore, IoT devices have to have the ability to perform the authorization process without the need for a central entity [18]. Due to the distributed and dynamic nature of the IoT, there are many challenges that should be addressed when implementing an access control model. These requirements include; Interoperability with multiple users: Access control policies should be designed to support multiple organizations. For instance, each organization creates its own policies and respect other collaborating organizations policies [24]. Dynamic interaction: Access control policies should be predictable and specified in a dynamic and continuous way by considering context changing during the access control process [25]. Context awareness: The context is considered one of the core features since it enables intelligent interactions between users and IoT devices. Using the context will make access decisions dynamically determined based on surrounding environment features [17]. Usability: The access control model should be easily administrated, expressed and modified. It also should provide suitable easy to use interfaces for both consumers and devices needs [26]. Limited resources: The resources associated with IoT devices such as energy, memory, and processing power are limited due to devices lightweight. Therefore, the access control model designed for the loT should support efficient solutions [17]. Scalability: The IoT connects billions of devices. The access control model should be extensible in size, structure, and number of devices [17]. Delegation of authority: In many IoT scenarios, there are many devices that are operating on behalf of a user and other scenarios where a device may operate on a third partys behalf for a specific period of time. The access control model should implement delegation of authority to provide more usability and flexibility to the IoT system [24]. Auditability: Any and every access control needs to be auditable. Hence, collection and storage of evidence necessary for context awareness. This becomes a challenge when utilizing a distributed approach [17]. To ensure confidentiality and integrity of system resources, the access control is used to guarantee that only authorized users granted the appropriate access permissions. There are several access control models which can be divided into two classes; traditional and dynamic access control models [19]. Traditional access control approaches are based on policies that are static and rigid in nature. These policies are predefined and always give the same outcome regardless of the situation. Therefore, this static approach fails to adapt to varied and changing conditions during making access decisions [20]. There are three main traditional access control models; Discretionary Access Control (DAC), Mandatory Access Control (MAC) and Role-based Access Control (RBAC). DAC model was designed for multi-user databases and systems with a few previously known users. All the system resources are under full control from the user. DAC grants access depending on the user identity and authorization, which is defined for open policies. The owner of the resource can grant the access to any user [19]. While MAC model is concerned with confidentiality and integrity of information, so it mainly used in military and government applications. In MAC, the security policy is controlled by a security policy administrator and the user does not have the capability to override it [19]. RBAC model is consists of three elements: users (subjects requesting access), roles (collection of permission) and operations (actions on target resource). Access permissions are related to roles and the appropriate role is granted to the user. A single user can be associated with one or more roles, and a single role can include one or more user. RBAC provides a classification of users bas ed on their roles [21]. Dynamic access control models are characterized by using not only the access policies but also dynamic contextual features which are estimated in real-time at the time of the request [22]. These real-time features can include trust, risk, context, history and operational need [23], [14]. In this paper, we propose a risk-based access control model that uses the security risk as the main criterion for making the access permissions. The risk can be defined as the possibility of loss or injury. Generally, the risk is about some event that may occur in the future and cause losses. One such risk is the leakage of sensitive information by users. The access control is one of the approaches used to mitigate against the security risk [27]. Risk-based access control model permits or denies access requests dynamically based on the estimated risk of each access request [20]. This model performs a risk analysis on each user access request to make the access decision [7]. Mathematically, the most common formula to represent the risk in quantitative terms is: (1) Where likelihood represents the probability of an incident to happen while impact represents the estimation of the value of the damage regarding that incident [20]. Quantified risk-based access control models are divided into two types: non-adaptive and adaptive. The fundamental distinction between adaptive and non-adaptive approaches is that the adaptive model requires a system monitoring process and the risk estimation module adaptively adjusts user permissions based on the users activities during access sessions. While non-adaptive approach only calculates the risk during each session creation and does not have run-time monitoring and abnormality detection capability [11]. Dynamic access control approaches use real-time environment features to make the access decision. One of these features is the security risk associated with the access request, which will be used in our proposed model to make the access decision. The proposed model is shown in figure 2. The proposed model has four inputs: user/agent context, resource sensitivity, action severity and risk history. These inputs/risk factors are used to estimate the security risk value associated with each access request. The final risk value is then compared with risk policies to make the access decision. To make the model adaptive, the user behavior is monitored to detect any abnormal actions from authorized users. This model can provide an appropriate security level while ensuring flexibility and scalability to the IoT system. Fig. 2. The proposed adaptive risk-based access control model As shown in figure 2, the user/agent context represents the environmental features that are embedded with the user/agent at the time of making the access request. These contexts are used to determine the security risk value associated with the user requesting the access to the system. Location and time are the most common user contexts [28]. Resource sensitivity represents how valuable the resource/data is to the owner or to the service provider. Data is assigned a level of sensitivity based on who should have access to it and how much damage would be done if it were disclosed. A risk metric is assigned to each resource in the IoT system depending on how valuable the resource data is to the owner. For instance, the higher the data sensitivity, the higher the risk metric associated with the resource. Action severity represents the consequences of a certain action on a particular resource in terms of security requirements of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Different opera tions have different impacts and so have different risk values. For instance, the risk of a view operation is lower than the risk of a delete operation. The user risk history is used to estimate the risk value of each access request. This is because the risk history reflects previous users behavior patterns. Moreover, it is used to identify good and bad authorized users and predict the user future behavior. Risk estimation module is responsible for taking the input features to quantify the risk value that is associated with the access request. The ultimate goal is to develop an efficient risk estimation process. The access decision determines whether access is granted or denied according to the risk policies. Risk policies or access control policies are mainly used by the risk estimation module to make the access decisions. These policies are created by the resource owner to identify terms and conditions of granting or denying the access. The overall risk value is examined with the risk policies to determine the access decision. The proposed model is trying to improve the flexibility of access control by monitoring the user behavior during the access session. In current access control models, if the decision is to grant access to the user, then there is no way to prevent any abnormal and unusual data access from the authorized user. So a monitoring module is needed to adaptively adjust the risk value based on the user behavior during the access session. Applying smart contracts to accomplish this process is a big challenge especially it will be the first time to use the smart contracts in this context. Smart contracts are treated as a software code that runs on a blockchain [29]. It can force a functional implementation of particular demands and can confirm that certain conditions or terms were met or not [30]. Hence, the monitored user behavior information will be compared with the smart contract to ensure that the user acts according to the terms of the smart contract so as to prevent any potential securit y breach during the access sessions. The process flow of the proposed model is shown in figure 3. The flow starts when the access control manager receives an access request from a user. After that, the access control manager asks for the system contexts (user/agent, resource, and action) of the requested user in addition to the user risk history. The risk estimation module uses these contexts with the risk history to estimate the overall access risk value related to the requested user, then the estimated risk value is compared with risk policies to determine the access decision. At this point, we have two decisions: a) If the access is granted, then the monitoring module will track the user behavior. The smart contract will use the monitored data to determine if the user follows the contract terms or not. If yes, then it will keep monitoring the user behavior, while if not, then it will return to the risk estimation module to reduce user permissions or terminate the access session to stop any security breach. b) If the access is denied, then the system asks the user to provide additional proof of identification so as not to block an authorized user and reduce the false-positive rate. If the user provides the required identification, then the access is granted and the flow continues as in the first decision, while if not, the system denies the access. Fig. 3. The process flow of the adaptive risk-based access control model This section provides a brief summary of the models that are related to the proposed model. A number of studies have been conducted the security risk for dynamic access control models. The JASON report [31] proposed three main elements for a risk-based access control model: estimating the risk value associated with each access request, identifying acceptance levels of risk in a certain domain, and controlling information sharing based on the estimated risk and access control policies. Risk Adaptable Access Control (RAdAC) model has been proposed by McGraw [32]. It is based on estimating the security risk and operational needs to grant or deny the access. This model estimates the risk associated with each access request then compares it with the access control policy. After that, the system verifies the operational needs; if the associated operational needs and the policy are met then access is granted. However, the author did not provide details about how to quantitatively estimate risk and operational needs. Also, Kandala et al. [33] have provided an approach that identifies different risk components of the RAdAC model using attribute-based access control approach. A dynamic and flexible risk-based access control model has been proposed by Diep et al. [12]. This model uses the risk assessment to estimate the risk value depending on outcomes of actions in term of availability, confidentiality, and integrity. However, this model did not provide a standard about how to evaluate the risk value for each state of the environment and for each outcome of action, did not use user context, and lacked risk adaptive features. A framework proposed by Khambhammettu et al. [34] that based on estimating object sensitivity, subject trustworthiness, and the difference between object sensitivity and subject trustworthiness using a risk assessment. However, the model did not provide how to estimate the risk value for each situation of the environment. Besides, the model requires a system administrator to give a reasonable value for each input feature in the early state of the risk assessment process and lacked risk adaptive features. A fuzzy Multi-Level Security (MLS) access control model has been proposed to manage risk information flows based on estimating its operational needs, risk possibility and environment features [20]. It estimates the risk based on the difference between subject security level and object security level. Similarly, Ni, Bertino, Lobo [35] have proposed a risk-based access control model that based on fuzzy inferences. It showed that fuzzy inference is a good approach for estimating access security risks. However, both models ignored the past behavior of users in the risk estimation process, lacked risk adaptive features and time overhead of fuzzy inference system is high. A fuzzy-based risk access control model has been proposed by J. Li, Bai, Zaman [27] to estimate the risk of healthcare information access. A risk metric is associated with data sensitivity, action severity, and risk history as a fuzzy value to determine the appropriate control of healthcare information access in a cloud computing. However, this model did not provide how to quantitatively estimate the risk. Also, no clear risk boundaries are defined and lacked risk adaptive features. A dynamic risk-based decision method has been proposed by Shaikh et al. [14]. This method is based on using the past behavior to identify good and bad authorized users. It depends on granting reward and penalty points to users after the completion of transactions. However, the past user behavior (reward/penalty) values are not enough to decide the access decision. Besides, no risk prediction technique is used and lacked risk adaptive features. A risk analysis approach has been proposed by Rajbhandari Snekkenes [36] to provide access decisions dynamically. This approach is based on preferences or values of benefit which subjects can provide rather than subjective probability using the game theory. A simple privacy scenario between a user and an online bookstore is introduced to provide an initial perception of the concept. However, using only benefits of the subject to determine the access decision is not enough to develop a flexible and scalable access control model. Also, it lacked risk adaptive features. A task-based access control model has been proposed by Sharma et al. [37] to estimate the risk value using functions that based on the action a user wants to perform. The risk value is computed in terms of different actions and corresponding outcomes. The outcomes and the risk probability are determined along with the level of data sensitivity. The previous users behavior patterns are then used to estimate the overall risk value. The estimated risk value is compared with the risk threshold to determine the access decision. However, it lacked risk adaptive features. A contextual risk-based access control model has been proposed by Lee et al. [13]. The model gathers all useful information from the environment and evaluates them from the security perspective. Risk assessment with multifactor evaluation process (MFEP) technique is applied to estimate the associated risk value. The risk value is based on outcomes of actions in term of availability, confidentiality, and integrity. This model is evaluated to manage the access control in a hospital. However, this model ignored the past user behavior and risk adaptive features as well. A risk-based access control model has been proposed by Dos Santos et al. [7]. This model employed the notion of quantifying risk metrics and aggregating them. It is based on the idea of risk policies, which allow service providers and resource owners to define their own metrics, allowing greater flexibility to the access control system. However, this model requires a system administrator to ensure the minimum security is achieved. Table 1 provides a summary of the related risk-based access control models. It contains the risk estimation technique used to estimate the risk value in each model, risk factors used to estimate the risk value and the limitations of each model regarding our proposed model. In summary, one can say that the problem of the access control, especially in the IoT, needs more investigation. Current access control models concentrate only on providing access decisions without providing any way to prevent any abnormal and unusual data access from authorized users, whereas our approach is based on providing the access decision and monitoring the user behavior to detect any abnormal actions. The novelty of our approach is based on providing the adaptive features and requesting user context attributes to the risk-based access control in the IoT system. To the best of my knowledge, using smart contracts to monitor the user access behavior will be the first try. Table 1. Some of the risk-based access control models Previous work Risk Estimation method Risk factors Limitations [20] Fuzzy MLS Model Difference between subject security level and object security level The user past behavior has not been used to detect user future behavior and lacked adaptive features. [27] Fuzzy Model Data sensitivity, action severity, and user risk history No clear risk boundaries are defined and lacked adaptive features. [35] Fuzzy Inference Object security level and subject security level Time overhead of fuzzy inference is high and lacked adaptive features. [34] Risk Assessment Object sensitivity, subject trust and difference between them User risk history has not been used and lacked adaptive features. [14] Risk Assessment History of reward and penalty points Limited risk factors, no risk prediction technique is used and lacked adaptive features. [36] Game Theory Access benefits of the subject Limited risk factors and lacked adaptive features. [37] Mathematics Functions Data Sensitivity, action severity, and risk history No risk prediction technique has not been used, lacked adaptive features and user context. [13] Risk Assessment Outcomes of actions Limited risk factors, lacked adaptive features and user context. [12] Risk Assessment Outcomes of actions Limited risk factors, no risk prediction technique has been used, lacked adaptive features and user context. [7] Mathematics Functions Risk policies Limited risk factors and lacked adaptive features. The IoT has become a widely examined subject that takes the attention of many researchers, specialists, and experts. Due to the dynamic nature of the IoT, traditional access control approaches cannot provide required security levels as they are based on a static and complex authentication infrastructure. Therefore, the scope of this paper is to develop a dynamic and adaptive risk-based access control model for the IoT. This model can adapt to IoT changing conditions. The proposed model can be realized by estimating the security risk using IoT real-time features at the time of the access request to make the access decision. The model uses user context, resource sensitivity, action severity and risk history as inputs to estimate the overall risk value associated with each access request. The model provides adaptive features to monitor user behavior and prevents any misuses from authorized users using smart contracts. The above work is still in the first stage. In future work, choosing the most appropriate risk estimation technique for a specific IoT context is our highest priority to proceed to implement the model as well as creating different IoT access control case studies with data to evaluate the model. Acknowledgment We acknowledge Egyptian cultural affairs and mission sector and Menoufia University for their scholarship to Hany Atlam that allows the research to be undertaken. References [1]S. Li, L. Da Xu, and S. Zhao, The internet of things: a survey, Inf. Syst. Front., vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 243-259, 2015. [2]M. Elkhodr, S. Shahrestani, and H. Cheung, The Internet of Things: Vision challenges, IEEE 2013 Tencon Spring, TENCONSpring 2013 Conf. Proc., pp. 218-222, 2013. [3]K. Ashton, That Internet of Things Thing, RFID J., p. 4986, 2

Strategic Analysis Of John Lewis Partnership Limited Marketing Essay

Strategic Analysis Of John Lewis Partnership Limited Marketing Essay The following report will provide a detailed analysis of John Lewis Partnership. The retailer has been very successful in the UK and has performed extremely well in spite of more negative financial issues and other dynamics impacting upon the retail sector at large, predominantly in light of declining consumer income, technological advances such as the internet and increased competition. The reason the company was able to achieve these was because of their commitment towards their clients in providing innovative solutions as well as improved awareness of customer needs and the significance of creating a reliable customer base which ensures positive word-of-mouth and the company has achieved this due to its commitment to providing innovative solutions to clients as well as a heightened awareness of customer needs and further recommendations to increase new revenue streams through an appropriate CRM system in place. Therefore, the reports provides an evaluation of the companys current marketing environment assessing how the external factors impact the retail sector largely and specifically on the strategies that John Lewis chooses to adopt. The report will also evaluate the strengths and weaknesses as well as the threats and opportunities that the company is presented with and how best it can achieve a match with its own internal capabilities to the dynamics at play. The report will also look at how the John Lewis brand and customer proposition is placed in the UK market in comparison to other competitors, with an attempt to provide understanding in to how the company gains advantage through differentiation from other competitors, essentially highlighting how the company implements a differentiated strategy which allows it to maintain advantage. At the same time, the analysis has drawn attention to how the uncertainty which prevails and the continuous rate of change in the external market highlights the implications of continuous observation and continuous re-evaluation of the strategic options applied. Ultimately, the aim is to provide recommendations as to how the company can increase the probability of its advantage over the longer term. The John Lewis Partnerships 81,000 Partners own the leading UK retail businesses John Lewis and Waitrose. Our founders vision of a successful business powered by its people and its principles defines our unique company today. The profits and benefits created by our success are shared by all our Partners (John Lewis, 2012). Write the report as if you were working for an external management consultancy firm, reporting to the Board of Directors of your chosen company. The report should contain sections that address ALL of the main aspects of the module syllabus: that is the report should cover both strategic analysis (internal and external) and strategy formulation. It is essential that in undertaking your research and writing your report you make appropriate use of the strategic management tools and models to conduct internal and external strategic analysis and strategy formulation that you have encountered in this module. Credit will be given for analysis, evaluation and synthesis, and the appropriate selection and use of strategic management tools and models. 2.0 Introduction This report will discuss the strategic management tools demonstrating skills of analysis evaluation and synthesis of John Lewis. The report includes strategic analysis and an External Environmental analysis. The report also covers the strategy formulation in which the SWOT analysis and BCG Matrix will be discussed. John Lewis Partnership plc is one of the UKs top ten retail businesses. They operate amongst 2 sectors known as John Lewis and Waitrose. The company offers food as well as household products i.e. baked foods, fresh fruit veg, wines, household items, furniture, electronic items etc. The company functions in a chain of 287 Waitrose supermarkets, 39 John Lewis shops that include 30 departmental stores and 8 of them at home John Lewis stores. The company operates throughout the UK and is headquartered in London, they sell their products through retail stores, catalogues, and websites. The companys strategic focus is to accomplish its non-core business strategies through partnership with other firms. There are around 81,000 employees working in John Lewis stores who are partners in the business, they have a share in the companys profits and are given the opportunity to participate in the companys progress and growth. This is their unique source of competitive advantage as it encourages staff loyalty through being business partners (John Lewis 2012) 3.0 Strategic analysis 3.1 Mission statement The mission of an organisation highlights the broad directions they need to follow and provides a brief summary of the values and reasons that lie behind it (Lynch 2012). Like other organisations John Lewis also have a mission statement, it highlights their reputation established through their ownership structure as it is unique and they are very successful in being a profitable business. John Lewis aim to keep their staff satisfied so that their business can be a success. Their strategy is based on three key elements partners, customers and profit. (Refer to appendix 1) to see their full mission statement. 4.0 External Environmental analysis 4.1 PESTEL Analysis The PESTEL analysis examines the macro-environment in which the business exists in. It is a helpful tool for understanding market growth or decline as well as the position, potential and the direction for business. It is also used for evaluating the Political, Economic, Social Technological, Environmental and Legal factors that a business operates in. The Political factors discuss government regulations such as employment laws, environmental regulations, tax policy and political stability. The Economic factors affect the cost of capital and purchasing power of an organisation. These factors also include economic growth, interest rates and inflation. The Social factors impact customers needs, potential market size such as John Lewiss goods and services, population growth and age demographics. Technological factors of John Lewis will discuss barriers to entry, making or buying decisions, investment and innovation and the technological change. Environmental factors include weather, clim ate and climate change. Climate change affects how John Lewis operates and the products they offer. Lastly Legal Factors include discrimination law, employment law and health and safety law. These factors can affect the way John Lewis operate their costs and the demand for their products. 4.2 Macro- environmental Factors It is commonly known, that those prevailing in the external environment of any firm shall have a significant influence in terms of decision making in the strategic options. Such analysis is known as PESTEL analysis and usually suggested as the first stage in the strategic planning process (Lynch, 2006). As Johnson et al (2008, pg.56) rightly declared, The key drivers for change are environmental factors that are likely to have a high impact on the success or failure of strategy. (Refer to appendix 2) to see the PESTEL analysis for John Lewis. It can be concluded that each factor of the PESTEL has had an effect on John Lewiss actions, some of them are now stated in their mission statement. Previous factors are used to analyse different factors, furthermore, these factors can give a prediction for the future, so can be quiet effective if they are applied correctly. There are also some restrictions in this model, e.g. when the procedure of the checklist is applied to John Lewis it may be tough. The emergent corporate strategies may well comment that the future is so uncertain that prediction is useless (Lynch 2012 page 84), however, some may still give words of caution but still predict the future. The PESTEL analysis isnt the only framework that John Lewis take into consideration, their organisation has many other internal and external factors that also have an effect on the strategy formulation, this is why Porters five Forces framework is applied. The PESTEL analysis has a lot of information but yet doesnt offer a detailed analysis of the business. Porters Five Forces (1985) observes factors that have an impact on competition in the organisation. 4.3 Strategic Options The external analysis undertaken has underlined how the focus and the landscape of the UK retail sector has changed dramatically over the last decade or so. Such developments clearly present both threats, primarily from new entrants and modes of distribution, as well as opportunities such as the increasing utilisation of technology within the current offering to customers. As Johnson et al (2008, pg.3) highlights, strategy is about exploiting the strategic capability of an organisation, in terms of its resources and competences, to provide competitive advantage and/or yield new opportunities. However, many competitors in the retail sector at large have managed to expand into other range of products as well as expanding internationally, John Lewis seems to have adopted a more thoughtful approach and stayed loyal to its customers as well as confident in terms of its offering to the market. At the same time it has also developed a wide range of products as a lower price range to attract more customers across a wider range of segments in society. In times of economic uncertainty this also appears to be a sensible strategy in terms of situations where its loyal customer base may be experiencing declines in disposable income, thus enabling John Lewis to maintain their business through customers trading down to less expensive ranges in store. The recent introduction for its Essential Waitrose Range in 2009 was both a reaction to external events including activities of competitors but was viewed as an effective strategy highlighting the companys attention to external research as well as its innovative approach to dealing with such negative events. Furthermore, Porter put forward the idea that there were three generic strategies; cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy and the focus strategy, which companies follow. It is clear that John Lewis has embraced a combination of these, but essentially, differentiation has remained key to its business model which positions more favourably when compared to other competitors, particularly given the range and extent of the goods and services it provides as well as its highly effective branding and promotional events which appeal directly to customers and incite purchase. Its decision to introduce its Essentials range within its Waitrose stores may have been considered by some as an indication it was lowering its standards, but on the contrary, despite offering a cheaper alternative, quality remained key which ultimately implied that its position in the market would not be negotiated. 4.4 Porters Five Forces Porters Five Forces framework highlights that the environment John Lewis is competing in is constantly changing, (refer to appendix 5). In this model it is believed that customers dont have more importance than any other aspect, however Aker, Baker and Harvey Jones argue that customers are more important than any other aspect of strategy development (Lynch 2012). Porters Five Forces of competition (1985) is a common tool often applied within the strategic management process to firms across several sectors. It is similar to the PESTLE analysis as it takes a predominantly external perspective of the firm within its given industry looking at how it is positioned against other competitors in the same sector. Recently many have criticised the ensuring importance of the framework given the changes that have risen, particularly with regard to the diversification of business which has ultimately created blurring across many previously distinct sectors. This is emphasized by the supermarkets entering into the clothing and electronics sector for example, as well as retailers including John Lewis expanding into financial services through insurance and credit facilities to customers. Barney (1995) and Henry (2008) underlined how Porters model is more helpful when it is applied at a strategic business unit level rather than at higher levels of industry analysis such as the sector at large as it cannot be expected that all competitors will be competing against one another. This tool is also believed to be useful in terms of assessing a companys strengths and weaknesses in light of how it stacks up against competition. As Barney (1995, pg.49) highlights, A complete understanding of sources of competitive advantage requires the analysis of a firms internal strengths and weaknesses as well. The importance of integrating internal with environmental analyses can be seen when evaluating the sources of competitive advantage of many firms. Looking at Porters five forces of competition, it is clear that John Lewis has attempted to not to just react to the external dynamics and actions of competitors, but actively be a step ahead. It has constantly adapted its business model, such as the introduction of store cards, its online offering and the Waitrose Essentials range in order to provide its business with a more appropriate fit to the market in line with Mintzbergs (1994) theory. A major element of its strategy however, is its reputation, branding and subsequent positioning in the market and how consumers view the business in its entirety. It has remained rather committed to its original proposition and further enhanced its appeal through appropriate branding and its reputation for quality and enhanced service to customers. 5.0 Internal Resource analysis 5.1 Value analysis chain StratISTh3 Source: Porter, Competitive Advantage, 1985 The term Value Chain was used by Michael Porter (1985), the purpose of the value chain is to analyse the activities that are performed by the business, linking them to the competitive position. It also evaluates the particular activities to see which add value to the businesses products or services (quickmba 1999-2010) While many critics and leading authorities dispute the validity of Porters earlier theories, many of his ideas do still appear useful from the perspective of strategic analysis, particularly the notion of the value chain. Ultimately, it is within the value chain which John Lewis has created that it has succeeded in terms of sustaining advantage in its market sector. It has created efficiencies and synergies through the interrelationships within (Mintzberg and Ghoshal, 2003). Value Chain Analysis which is often compared to the RBV of the firm as it looks to both internal and external dynamics impacting an organisation. In recent years importance has also been given to joint ventures, collaborations and relationships which add value to the companys positioning. Elements of the chain such as HR which were previously considered as supporting elements are now viewed as core and this is demonstrated by John Lewis in terms of its commitment to and investment in staff. By enhancing the quality of its internal resources it can achieve distinctive competencies which are difficult to emulate by other competitors (Teece et al, 1997; Terwiesch and Ulrich, 2009). As Porter (1985, pg.36) emphasises, the way it performs individual activities are a reflection of its history, its strategy, its approach to implementing its strategy, and the underlying economics of the activities themselves. 6.0 Strategy formulation 6.1 SWOT Analysis: John Lewis Partnership A SWOT analysis is a useful tool for understanding and decision-making, businesses such as John Lewis use this tool in all sorts of situations, a SWOT summarizes the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This framework covers a crucial part of the strategic planning process a scan of the internal and external environment. Strength, Weaknesses are considered to be internal to the business whereas, Opportunities and Threats are part of the external environment. Looking at the SWOT analysis (refer to appendix 6) it can be concluded that John Lewis take this tool into consideration when making business decisions based on their customers. However, John Lewis need to expand their target audience because at the moment they are only targeting an older audience need to improve the diagnostic power of a SWOT analysis is to define the elements from a customer perspective rather than the organizational point of view. (Baker 2007, pg.267). By doing this they will generate a higher profit margin. If john Lewis wants to stay ahead of their competition they need focus on their weaknesses such as they need to ensure their prices are similar to their competitors. Also John Lewis need to focus on threats the business may have to face but they can avoid such matters by acting upon the threat before it occurs. Although the SWOT analysis tool is useful to businesses when making decisions, it has been criticized due to its simplicity and possible misleading approach to strategic analysis. This is because companies have failed to follow a few simple procedures. The SWOT analysis is a focused methodology (Baker 2007), therefore, when John Lewis the using this tool they need to ensure they are able to follow correct procedures of this tool to ensure they are able to achieve success. 6.2 BCG Growth-share Matrix The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) growth-share matrix was developed by Bruce Henderson, founder of BCG, in the late 1960s (Baker 2007, pg.125). The BCG Matrix is a simple tool used to assess a companys position in terms of its product range. It simplifies how a companys thinks about the products and services and makes decisions about which it should keep and let go and which products to invest in further. It provides a useful way of seeing the opportunities that are open to the company and also helps to consider how the company can maximise the profits in the future. Below is the BCG Matrix for John Lewis, highlighting where in the market the different departments of John Lewis are positioned. John Lewis was voted Britains best retailer in 2009 and have won awards House Beautiful Awards 2008: Online Home Retailer of the Year Gold Award (washerhelp 2012), making them leaders in departments such as House and Garden, Electrical Appliances, Fashion, Gifts and Toys. They now have a high growth and a high market share in this segment, thus putting them in the star category. Further, technology and baby departments are between the star and question mark category this could be due to high growth and market share or high growth and low market share as they are faced with high demands but have low returns. Moving on to the sport department as it is in the cash cow category, as a markets it isnt growing but yet the market share for the products is high. Looking at the final category it can be said that John Lewis are safe as there isnt any products in the dog category. The BCG Growth-Share Matrix 7.0 conclusion Overall, the company has responded admirably to the changing dynamics impacting upon its market and customers, it is also clear that going forward, more challenges and threats shall be presented to it, particularly given persistent uncertainty relating to the global economy as consumer confidence within the UK. It would appear that in addition to a thorough and consistent approach to its markets in relation to external analysis of those factors deemed to impact most significantly; the company also adopts an internal approach, evaluating its inherent resources and competencies within the business. In line with the resource based view of the firm (Barney, 1991) and subsequent research by other authors such as Grant (2005), this analysis is often viewed as a more appropriate approach to the task of strategic management as ultimately, organisations have much more control over their internal resources than external market variables. Such an approach enables companies to incite the innovat ion process and thus create change in the wider environment as well as improvements to its value chain. This appears to be exactly what John Lewis has done to date through its expansion into other areas, as well as extending its range to customers through on-line facilities as well as credit, insurance etc. References Arnold, G. (2012). Corporate financial management. 3d. ed.Essex: Prentice Hall. Baker M (2007). Marketing strategy and management. 4th ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Barney, J. and Hesterly, W.S., 2008. Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases: International Edition. London: Prentice Hall. Barney, J.B., 1991. Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management; 17, (1) Chloe. (2012). ANALYSIS Waitrose and John Lewis move closer together, offline as well as online. Available: http://internetretailing.net/2012/11/analysis-waitrose-and-john-lewis-move-closer-together-offline-as-well-as-online/. Last accessed 20th Nov 2012. Davey, J and Laurance, B (2008). John Lewis under fire: how the City turned against Rose. The Sunday Times. 16 March 2008, p.12-13 The Economist (2012). A Rose by any other name. A retailing star ticks off investors at an awkward time. 13 March 2012, p58-60 The Economist (2012). The world in figures: industries. The world in 2012. p124, 126 Gartner. (2011). Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2011. Available: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1454221. Last accessed 25th Nov 2012. Grant, R.M., 2005. Contemporary Strategy Analysis. London: Wiley-Blackwell Henry, A., 2008. Understanding Strategic Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Johnson, G, Scholes, K and Whittington, R, 2008. Exploring Corporate Strategy. London: Prentice Hall. Keynote, 2008. Clothing Manufacturing, Keynote. Keynote, 2009. Clothing Retailing. Keynote Levitt, T, 1983. The Globalization of Markets. Harvard Business Review, May-June. Lewis J. (2012). John Lewis Partnership. Available: http://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/about.html. Last accessed 18th Nov 2012. Lynch R (2006). Corporate strategy . 4th ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Lynch, R (2012). Strategic Management .6th ed. Harlow: Pearson Mintzberg, H., Quinn, J., and Ghoshal, S, 2003. The Strategy Process. London: Prentice Hall Mintzberg, Henry, 1994. The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning: Reconceiving the Roles for Planning, Plans, Planners. New York: Free Press Nugent, H and Hawkes, S (2012). George follows Jeremy Paxman as John Lewis faces another brief challenge. 20 March 2012. www.timesonline.co.uk (Accessed 24/11/2012) Ohmae, Kenichi, 1989. Managing in a Borderless World. Harvard Business Review, May-June. Porter, M., 1979. How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review, March/April. Porter, M.E., 1980. Competitive Strategy. New York: The Free Press. Porter, M.E., 1985. Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. New York: Free Press. QuickMBA. (1999-2010). The Value Chain. Available: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/value-chain/. Last accessed 20th Nov 2012. Reynolds, A., 2012. John Lewis Partnership on Target to Cut Emissions. Supply Management, 17 October, available at http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2012/john-lewis-partnership-on-target-to-cut-emissions/, accessed 12/11/12 Teece,D.J., Pisano, G. And Shuen, A., 1997. Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management. Strategic Management Journal, Vol.18, No.7, pp.509-533. Terwiesch, C. and Ulrich, K., 2009. Innovation Tournaments: Creating and Selecting Exceptional Opportunities. Boston: Harvard Business Press. Washerhelp. (2012). John Lewis. Available: http://www.washerhelp.co.uk/Retailers/John-Lewis.html. Last accessed 20th Nov 2012. Appendix 1 John Lewis mission statement The John Lewis Partnerships reputation is founded on the uniqueness of our ownership structure and our commercial success. Our purpose is the happiness of all our members, through their worthwhile, satisfying employment in a successful business, with success measured on our ability to sustain and enhance our position both as an outstanding retailer and as a thriving example of employee ownership. With this in mind, our strategy is based on three interdependent objectives Partners, customers and profit. Appendix 2 PESTEL Analysis for John Lewis Political Factors John Lewis operates within the UK market and therefore changes in the policy related to the governance of UK business, as well as advanced policies in the context of the UK, have an impact on the business. The laws and codes of conduct relating to ethical business practices and CSR initiatives particularly impact John Lewis. Subsequently, there has been conscious effort on the role of the retailers to combine relevant Codes of Conduct concerning the supply chain as well as giving a guarantee to customers that have been sourced in an ethical manner. It is likely that changes such as this will continue to impact going ahead but at the same time as this, pricing will be raised as a concern for the retailers as margins will certainly be eroded as prices are put higher, epically where the products may be obtained from developing markets. Economic factors It is obvious that economic factors have a major effect on the strategy implemented by John Lewis; such factors have had a negative impact on the UK. However, when the government took the decision to decrease the VAT rate temporarily in 2008 due to financial crisis, this had a direct positive impact on the retail sector. The company faced major setbacks in relation to its revenue and performance in 2001. The company was successful in reversing its fortunes through a complete re-evaluation of its supply chain practices; they improved the company model so that it met the needs of customers. The company is still conscious that the confidence levels of customers are slightly unstable, this is highlighted in its current financial results, (refer to appendix 3). Such uncertainty has an obvious impact on which strategies companies can follow and directly influences which marketing strategy John Lewis decide to apply in relation to pricing, advertising and other variables of the mix. Increas ed global uncertainty also influences their operations which are mainly UK based. This is especially true regarding the price of raw materials that has been changed considerably over the past few months, with products such as cotton, coffee and oil being a great concern. Such fluctuations put pressures on retailers as well as customers whereby margins shall be reduced and costs passed on to consumers who may in fact seek cheaper alternatives as their own incomes may decline. A full appraisal of all elements of the supply and distribution chain is needed to ensure that efficiencies are being formed and improvements are made to the overall value chain (Porter, 1980; 1985). This may also clarify the companys latest challenges in integrating its business with Waitrose, John Lewis are becoming much more aligned over the past months (refer to appendix 4) Events overseas such as Spain and Greece could also have more implications for the sourcing policies the company accepts as well as its foreign currency payment methods etc. to suppliers given the weakening Euro currency. Social Factors Social factors for John Lewis are very important across the business as they are considered to have a direct effect on how successful the customer behaviour is and the preference towards the items or brands. While many have pointed out that overtime as consumers we have slowly become more similar across country borders (Ohmae, 1989; Levitt, 1983), latest indications actually highlight much divergence in consumer buying habits. Much of this might also be attributed to progress in internet trading whereby consumers have further choice as well as getting updated and having more knowledge about the alternatives available in the market. This has increased the competition which has therefore, put pressure on prices, mostly in the case of stores as there are much higher fixed costs involved. Another major progress relating to the retail sector in the UK has been the success of the supermarket chains in growing into non-food items with shares of the clothing market increasing every year from competitors such as Asda, Tesco, and Sainsburys. a report from Keynote in 2009 outlined how supermarkets share of the clothing market increased from around 10% in 2000 10 23% in 2008, and this expansion is likely to continue as the major multiples devote increasing amounts of floor space to non-food items such as clothes such growth has completely changed the retail space in the UK and certainly, many have attributed the demise of many High Street incumbents directly to the strategies pursued by supermarkets. At the same time, it is also clear that John Lewis has followed somewhat of a different method and thus located itself apart from these competitors and is seen being more exclusive, of higher quality as well as providing higher levels of service to customers. Technological Factors It is impossible to ignore the progress that occurred in technology over the decade or so. Such advances have completely changed and improved all features of the supply and distribution chain particular with regard to online shopping. Over the past few months John Lewis have become more of this and adapted its business model appropriately so that they are capable of understanding customer expectations, with regards to convince and availability. Another major development has been the increasing use of media and subsequent positive word-of-mouth recommendations. Such tools are viewed by companies as an important ingredient to their overall strategy, not just in terms of communicating with customers but also in gaining further knowledge through customer feedback which can assist them in gaining further knowledge through customer feedback which can assist them in engaging more with their customer base and addressing any potential problems or other threats. Technology is considered as pro viding more choice to customers but increasingly is being embraced within the overall customer management strategy and is likely that this will intensify going forward and further facilitated by new developments such as improvements in text analytics and the capture of real-time data (Gartner, 2011) Environmental Factors Making the right long term decision is one of John Lewiss founding principle, environmental sustainability is key to this approach. There are programmes, processes and targets in place to ensure that environmental commitments are delivered (John Lewis 2009) John Lewis recently revealed new plans where their key aim is to cast their CO2 emissions to 15% by 2020 (Reynolds, 2012) Legal Factors John Lewis is also impacted by changes to employment regulations as well as procedures guarding trading standards. Over the recent years many retail competitors such as Primark and Gap have been negatively criticised due to concerns on the unethical sourcing and manufacturing of products. Primark, a leading High-street label attracted unpleasant headlines in the media in response to claims they were using child labour, consequently affecting their position in the market. Other changes in the economic framework of overseas markets on which John Lewis depends on depend on