Juvenile Delinquency Essay

There are numerous theories to why a person becomes who they are and how they got there, what makes it difficult to understand is which correct theory to follow and believe. Listed are a brief analysis of a few theories and two case studies of two troubled youths that will help to open a window to witness what is happening to society’s youth and how they contribute to adulthood. Although, several theories are around regarding juvenile delinquency, tapering them down to one solution is nearly impracticable. Knowing that a theory is simply an educated guess, one can see there is not one single cause for delinquency in society today . However, there are several theories that should be considered and explored. We should make a more in-depth look at figures and determine where crime actually begins. The following are two separate crimes and for many, the correct theories surrounding them. I will explore theories such as the Robert Agnu’s General Strain Theory which suggest that anger, frustration and adverse emotions are linked to negative and destructive relationships. I will also explore Sigmund Freud’s psychodynamic theory which suggests delinquent behavior is a product of abnormal personality structure formed early in life which consciously controls her choices. Juvenile Delinquency I will begin with Lakeisha McCoy a 16 year old girl living in Malvern Arkansas, a rural area in county seat of Hot Springs with the population of 9,021; (Wikipedia 2000) Lakeisha is from a single parent home with her mother and three other your female siblings surviving on the income $ 375 a week and no father figure in the home. Lakeisha’s mother works 40-50 hours per week at the Waffle House and has no daycare for the younger children . Therefore Lakeisha is unsupervised for better part of (6) hours after school due to her mother’s schedule. Lakiesha’s mother has an extensive criminal record possible mental illness, and was a troubled youth. She chooses boyfriends are less than desirable citizens most have little job security as well as drug and alcohol tendencies. Lakiesha was recently arrested for shoplifting at the local dollar store after stealing two pairs of shoes and three shirts. Next subject is Martin, a 14 year old male who lives in Dallas Texas, a large metropolitan city with the population of 1,299,543; (Wikipedia 2008) Martin is from a two parent household with one younger sister living on the annual income of $100,000. 00 a year. Martin’s parents are both employed, however, they work opposite shifts to ensure at least one parent is available for supervision at all times. Both parents keep the children at home after school and they are not involved with any after school or extra family functions. Martin was arrested for breaking and entering into a neighbor’s home during the day when his mother was a doctor’s appointment with his younger sister. What would society believe to be the reasoning behind both Lakeisha and Martins crimes? Some would say â€Å"There just troubled kids† or maybe would say â€Å"It’s because neither had supervision†. However, research and theorists view it in a completely different way. Let’s look at Sigmund Freud’s psychodynamic theory which suggests delinquent behavior is a bi product of abnormal personality structure formed early during the beginning stages of life. This theory would then explain her choices in relationships and how she feels about herself . Example mental torment can lead children into violence and aggression . An neglected child attention from peers will introduce them to a family structure or gang. This theory indicates that children act on unconscious needs and desires. With id, egos ,and super ego functioning together a child can live a normal in the aspects of personality if one becomes dominate then abnormal personality traits can be viewed in a â€Å"God† like complex. (Siegel et al. † 2003). Arousal theorists believe that obtaining thrills is a motivation of committing crimes. They believe children commit crimes like shoplifting for the thrill of possibly getting away with it . They also believe this directly linked environmental and genetic reasons and this group responds to a different brain stimuli. This might indicate that some children need more stimuli to feel comfortable which links higher degrees of excitement . The theories do not stop with just a chemical thrill seeking side of these children; there are a few other facts to consider. (Siegel et al., 2003). Robert Agnu’s General Strain Theory explores the notion that anger, frustration and adverse emotions are directly linked to negative and destructive relationships. Example, Lakeisha’s mother is one with abusive tendencies, she is ridiculed and called names which affects her behaviors both inside and outside the home by harboring a since of fear. Disappointment and anger. This eventually leads to antisocial behavior. He indicates that the negative behavior is linked to a certain peer group which might lead the adolescent to riskier behavior such as drug use. (Siegel et al. , 2003). Also Edwin Sutherland’s differential association theory suggest children exposed to and learn prosocial and antisocial attitudes and behavior ;meaning that the definitions of violating the law outweigh the definitions of being law abiding . Lakeisha’s mother has a long criminal record including , shoplifting , robbery and drug dealing. Since Lakeisha was exposed to this behavior most of her life, she begin to understand the law differently than a child whose parents were law abiding citizens. Terrence Thornberry’s interactional theory suggests most onset of criminal activity is linked to the weakening of social bonds during adolescence; marked by the deterioration of attachments of function within a society. It also believes that seriously delinquent children form a counter cultural belief system that justifies their behavior they interact with peer groups that that reinforce the same type of behavior and beliefs. This reinforces the term â€Å"Birds of a feather flock together† . Together they may look for excitement and engage reckless behavior and by doing so; they will justify their actions by stating â€Å"we have to do something for enjoyment† (Siegel et al, 2002). In Lakeisha’s case all three theories can be tied to her behavior, individual sociological and developmental stages have all been tainted . From birth Lakeisha was statistically predisposed to commit crimes and have a delinquent youth. Today, there are 100,000 children incarcerated throughout the United States and the number in continuing to rise. Studies show that in 19999 there were nearly (2) million juvenile adjudicated in the United States courts. That is an increase of 27% since 1990. The number of drug law violations increased by 168% public order increased by 74% and offenses of a person increased by 55% (Puzzanchera, 1999). Martins’ case is linked more towards the interactional theory and arousal theory than the opposite. His behaviors seem easier to turn towards the positive aspect than the latter. After several years of juvenile justice the general consensus should consider exploring there issues first. look in and around all the theories and perhaps children can avoid obstacles in their way. REFERENCES Foster care and juvenile delinquency (n. d. ) Retrieved July 24, 2010 , from http;// www,ark. edu/psyc112/fostercare/. Pussanchera, C (1999) The national juvenile court data archives. Retrived Oct 19, 2005 from Juvenile Court Statistics Web site: http//www. ncjrs. org/pdffiles I /ojjdp/201141. pdf#search=Juvenile%20statistics Siegel, L (2002) Juvenile delinquency, The Core, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Sigel. J. , Welsh, B, C, & Senna, J. J. (2003) Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, practice, and law (8th Ed. ). United States: Thomson Wikipedia (2002). Retrieved July 27, 2010 from the free Encyclopedia Website: Wikipedia (2006) Retrieved July 27, 2010 from The free Encyclopedia Website

Multi-Level Organizational Research

Organization is central to human achievement. The most accomplished individuals tend to have supporting groups and structures, which have major roles in celebrated successes, though they may remain hidden from superficial views. Organizations date back to the dawn of civilization, with religious institutions and military forces being enduring examples. Organizations are inherently multi-level (Klein, & Kozlowski, 2003). Each level is connected with and dependent on the others. The individual, teams, and the organization as a whole, are the 3 significant parts of a typical structure. Organizations, though they exist in kaleidoscopic varieties of purposes, sizes, and natures, share common issues when they become subjects of systematic inquiry. Performance and effectiveness are the two most important motivations for organizational research, though the interactions between individuals and groups are matters of primary interests in fields of sociology and psychology. This document reflects on the inevitable implications of multiple levels in organizations, and suggests best practices with respect to studying such structures and the people who function within them. The focus is on how to incorporate multi-level realities in to organizational research, Stating the Obvious It is common knowledge that organizations are made of individuals, and that groups of people have to function as teams. However, the implications of the obvious on how organizations should be studied and measured are complex and certainly not as obvious. It may be tempting to resort to over-simplification and ignore multi-level aspects of organizations when designing research projects to study them. Interplay between individual perceptions and organizations are common to all types of organizations. Multi level variations have been found even in the prison structure (Camp, et al. 1997), where institutional operations and satisfaction with immediate supervision have equal influences on the social climate. The implication is that any research in to the functioning and performance of a large structure with branches at multiple levels has to incorporate distinct phases of research for individuals at the periphery, for teams that operate within the body of structures, and for the entire organization as an entity. Each of these levels will be in dynamic inter-play with the other two. A phenomenon at a lower level, for example,   may not connect with theory validation at a higher level (Crowston, 2002). There are many examples of technologies being integrated in to organizations at lower levels, without incontrovertible evidence of the benefits at higher levels. That is why conclusions from research at a single level may not yield entirely relevant conclusions. The best individual technical skills may come to naught if a person cannot deal with others; similarly, the best teams cannot function without adequate resources and support from above (Loo, 2003). No level of organization can be independent, take all the credit, or be assigned all of the blame. Investigative research, which aims to diagnose why an organization functions below par, or which seeks to make recommendations for improvement, has to validate its suggestions for feasibility and appropriateness at each of the multiple levels. Past organizational research has focused more on the individual level, and not enough on teams and the organization as a unit, or on the interactions between these levels (Schnake, and Dumler, 2003). However, this trend has begun to change and researchers of today can no longer the multiple level structures of organizations they may wish to study. Organization science needs to match the integration which marks literature on the existence of multiple levels (Klein, & Kozlowski, 2003). Mixed level research needs methods and measurements of their own (Schnake, and Dumler, 2003); the levels of data collection and analysis are often not the same.   Pluralistic ignorance, in which each individual has a special perception of the self versus that of others and of the organization, commonly plagues organizational research. That is why projects should not be based solely on the surveyed and perceived opinions of individual members about their peers, superior, subordinates, and groups. Bottom up models which draw inferences from lower levels for the higher will yield different conclusions if a top down approach is used (Klein, & Kozlowski, 2003). Research methods must account for how perspectives change with levels. It may be best to adopt an iterative approach, thinking not micro or macro, but both micro and macro (Klein, & Kozlowski, 2003). Research Objectives as Determinants Given that multiple levels are ubiquitous in organizations of all types and sizes, all research in this area should take the phenomenon in to account. Organizational research may vary by objectives, and this factor of difference can help in dealing with multiple levels. The People and Process elements of the Marketing Mix for Services (Payne, 2002) play important roles in determining strategies followed by organizations which do not have concrete or tangible product features in their offers. Research in to the internal workings of such organizations may focus on the lower levels of individual capabilities, and small team functioning, rather than concern itself with organization-level matters. Conversely, stock market analysts who are concerned with specific financial outcomes may prefer to dwell on effectiveness of organizations as a whole (Huber and Glick, 1993), rather than bother with details of issues at micro levels. Downsizing and new designs are some major concerns of contemporary organizational research. These phenomena create most strains on the individual (Huber, and Glick, 1993) and hence projects which seek to study the effects of integration and different hierarchies should focus on the lowest level of individual members of staff. The simplistic approach of focusing on just one level of organization will not work in all cases. Communication issues, matters related to diversity in the work force and matters concerning global organizations, all require work to be done at all levels (Huber, and Glick, 1993). Social climate studies also have to take all levels in to account, since institutional initiatives can have variations at its spatially separated sites, and individual variations as well with regard to job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Camp, et al. 1997). Some of the research problems of multiple levels in organizations arose in the past because of the paucity of prior work in similar areas. However, there has been a cascade of organizational research in recent times, with multiple level enquiries (Huber and Glick, 1993). This new body of work can be used as templates when fresh research projects in organizational behavior are undertaken. The Effects of Organizational Labeling Organizations tend to fit in to stereotypes which have been created in public minds over time. Professionally managed corporations, political parties, religious institutions, and bureaucracies, are a few examples of such set patterns of our collective minds. Simultaneously, organizations are more than just people who control or work in them. Suppliers, financiers, regulators, franchisees, and customers are some of the other categories of stake holders. All organizations do not have to be equally responsive to the environment (Huber and Glick, 1993). Monolithic, powerful, and strongly entrenched organizations may demand research of how to further their aims, but worry less about the proclivities of employees and suppliers of goods and services at the bottoms and fringes of their hierarchies. A highly evolved organization will be dynamic and open minded: it deserves and needs organizational research at multiple levels, with plenty of iteration, and the objective validation of hypotheses. Others will be directive and in a hurry for results: they may appreciate the values of enquiries at multiple levels less or not at all. Organizational research driven by purely scholastic intent is a rare privilege. The professional researcher will more often have a restrictive brief set by a paying client with a specific and selfish perspective. Organizational studies may mention all the levels in passing or for the sake of completeness, rather than address each of them in detail and in concert. The multiple levels within organizations should always be kept in mind when studying structures and group working. Even though studies may be sponsored by the most apical level of organization, valid findings and scientific rigor require that the study extends to teams and to individuals as well. Towards Best Practices Multiple levels are inevitable in organizational studies. How can the complexities of this reality be incorporated for better research project design, and to ensure findings on which sponsors can rely? It is best to start with the environment in which the organization operates (Huber, and Glick, 1993). Such a prior effort will put research fully in context. It is necessary to spend time to collect primary data on how the organization functions; and to focus on processes which link the various levels (Crowston, 2002). It is risky to plunge headlong in to researching an organization: every investment in understanding its needs and to profile it accurately, will pay off in terms of relevant findings on which action can be taken. Levels in organizations can be conceived in terms of internal customers. This is a standard concept in Services Marketing (Payne, 2002). A higher level in an organization, or a branch of the same level, is a customer of a team which supports it through its function. Thus, a Sales Manager is a customer of his or her sales people, and the entire sales function is a customer of the production or manufacturing department. Since dealing with all levels can make organizational research very complicated, a workable option is to use the internal customer concept to delineate levels of research. Another approach is to set up microcosms of the organization in external settings, to act as laboratories for experimentation. Groups of employees may be placed on extended sabbaticals, and asked to play roles equivalent to the levels of their parent organizations. This approach has the advantage of eliciting more objective input data from people inside the organization, but can be expensive and time consuming. Research projects which adopt this ‘laboratory’ approach require patience and sustained support, but yield better and more applicable findings at the same time. A relatively quick and simple compromise could be to adopt a problem-solving approach (Loo, 2003). The median level is a good optimum in such cases, with a focus on actual teams from the structure, with additional participation by representatives from other levels and branches. This team approach can use direct and indirect benchmarking to support its recommendations. Wherever a choice is available, the organizational researcher should try to go as micro as possible as uncontrollable factors and complexities keep increasing as the analysis goes to higher levels (Camp, et al. 1997). Aggregate measures tend to mislead, and reduce the chances of useful and valid findings. Regardless of how organizational research is approached, a common requirement is to specify qualitative organizational performance measures as closely as possible. What for example is motivation or how will supervision be assessed? This will also address the issue of phenomena at lower levels not being confirmed by theories at higher levels-perhaps the higher level has not specified the benefits it seeks (Crowston, 2002). Such specification will also reduce the pitfalls of data from a lower level from pluralistic ignorance, affecting analysis of a higher level (Schnake, and Dumler, 2003). Finally, the organizational researcher must always think of multi-level implications of proposed work and suggestive conclusions whether or not all levels are included in the work (Klein, & Kozlowski, 2003). Such an approach should persist throughout the research, including the critical stage of sampling. Conclusions While multiple levels in organizations and their influences cannot be denied, including all of them comprehensively in actual projects may present.   It may often be best to make research manageable with clear statements of assumptions and limitations. Organizations are in flux in any case and will evolve towards the median level. This is the historic trend (Huber, and Glick, 1993). Excellence and thoroughness in studying the team level may be a good compromise. The perspective of each category of stake holders is distinct, yet valid. The researcher would do well to keep the expectations and profile of his or her customer in mind! Multiple levels, in the end, are integral to all significant organizations, and all research in to such groupings must take these multiple levels in to account. References Camp, R. et al. (1997) Aggregating Individual-Level Evaluations of the Organizational Social Climate: A Multilevel Investigation of the Work Environment at the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Justice Quarterly 14: 4: 739-762. Crowston, K, (2002) Process as theory in information systems research, Proceedings of The IFIP WG 8.2 International Conference: The Social and Organizational Perspective on Research and Practice in Information Technology, 10–12 June 2000, Aalborg, Denmark. Huber, G, and Glick, W, (1993) Organizational Change and Redesign: Ideas and Insights for Improving Performance, Oxford University Press Klein, K & Kozlowski, S, (2003) A Multilevel Approach to Theory and Research in Organizations: Contextual, Temporal, and Emergent Processes, Chapter 1 in Multilevel Theory, Research, and Methods in Organizations: Foundations, Extensions, and New Directions, JOSSEY BASS Loo, Robert (2003) A multi-level causal model for best practices in project management, Benchmarking, Vol10, Issue 1; pg. 29, 8 pgs Payne, A, (2002), The Essentials of Services Marketing, Prentice-Hall Schnake, M. and Dumler, M. (2003) Levels of measurement and analysis issues in organizational citizenship behavior research, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 76(3):283         

Unit Length Mix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Unit Length Mix - Essay Example Furthermore, more and more studies were conducted to find out the effectiveness of the :15s in comparison to the :30s. This situation resulted from the rumors in 1983 as an effect of the Burke Research report that said 15-seconder commercials are 91% as effective as the 30-seconder ads. (Pre-Testing Co., 2004) Industries are continuously considering the use of :15s for introducing new products. According to the ARS Group's integrated database, 18% of the top 50 new product ads of 2000 were :15s, and had risen to 24% in 2001. (Better Practices in Advertising, 2002) And recently, according to the Media IQ evaluation, :15s now account for more than 36% of all commercial inventory sold by the broadcast networks for which the range increases to nearly two-thirds of all units sold in some dayparts - particularly the daytime. (Bergantini-Grillo, 2005) However, 15-seconder advertisements are not yet the shortest of commercials aired over the television. Ten-seconder, as well as 5-seconder ads are at the same time attracting the attention of the advertisers and the industries, such that of the General Motors Corporation's Cadillac. But along with these changes in the pod length, pod position is also considered as it is found significant in attaining the goals of the advertisers - an increase in the product recall and especially an increase in the product sales. (Steinberg, 2005) Automotive indus... are becoming more involved in developing the most effective advertising techniques in increasing recall and revenue such that the products they sell are not as easily purchased as other products. Moreover, other industries follow suit which includes even the fast foods and restaurants, retail and wireless that were as well attracted to considering shorter pod length and the use of cable televisions as advertising medium in order to reach more of its target audience. (Bergantini-Grillo, 2005) Studies showed that there is an expected 60% of televiewers fast-forward commercials with DVRs. (Haugsted, 2005) Resulting from this technological shift among the viewers and attitudes toward pre-recorded programs, advertisers are becoming more interested in producing and sponsoring mini-movies and cable programs. (Stanley, 2004; Bergantini-Grillo, 2005 & "Media Firm") The rising prices for the traditional 30-second ads led companies in looking for other alternatives in producing equally effective TV commercials as the :30s. (Friedman, 2005) Thus, researches and studies are conducted concerning the effectiveness of pods - its length and its proper positioning. Results showed that the effectiveness of advertisements decreases as the number of commercials in the break increases. (Pre-Testing Co., Inc., 2004) The recent result of the CAB/Nielsen study that showed a recall of :15s having half that of :30s, with the same difference in price had set industries into an inclination in shorter ads considering the big difference in its expenditures in producing and airing of the commercial. (Ephron, n.d.) Moreover, as this trend continues to develop, ten-second commercials has become more attractive for the advertising agencies. But the hope is for a more long-lasting business. The current

European Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

European Law - Essay Example The European Union law is a set of treaties, law and court judgments. These operate alongside the legal systems of the member states of the European Union. It has a direct effect among within the member states of the European Union. When conflicts occur this law takes precedence over national laws. The primary source of the European law is the European Union treaties. These treaties are set on broad policy goals and establish institutions that can enact various types of legislations in order to achieve these goals. There are two types of legislative acts of the European Union, they are regulations and directives. Regulations become law when they come into force in member countries. They do not require any implementing measures and automatically overrides conflicting domestic provisions. The directives of the European Union require member states to achieve a certain result. Meanwhile it is left to the member countries how they are to be implemented. All the European Union legislations derive from the decisions that are taken at the European Union level. But the implementation largely occurs on the national level. Therefore the principle of uniformity is one of the central themes in the decisions made by the European court of justice. This court aims to ensure that the application and interpretation of the European Union laws does not differ between the member states (Application of EU law. 2010). The general principle of the law is found in almost every legal systems of Europe. Moreover the European court of justice has induced them into the legal orders to supplement all the written sources of the law and the treaties that are used as an aid for interpretation. The main principles of this law are protection of fundamental rights of citizens, principle of equality and discrimination, right of defense, principle of legal certainty, principle of

History (western civilization) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

History (western civilization) - Essay Example Ancient civilization is built on the ruins of over ten thousand years of advanced cultures. Medieval era is the longest major period in the history of Europe. It set in from the 5th century through the 15th century. Civilization is taken to refer to the duration of time immediate subsequent to the Iron Age. It is also that period which witnessed the caving in of the renowned Western Roman Empire as well as the big European migration. It precedes the early modern era. It is overly complex and the developments that took place during these times form key elements that separate it from the classical civilization of Greece and Rome that it replaced and today’s world. Life during the medieval era was perceived to be ruder and primitive than that of periods of classical civilization. During the medieval era, the society was dominated by a militant, single exclusive religion, there was great difference given to authority and there was a decline of the centralized rule which led to the development of petty principalities. (histclo.com, 2010) POLITICAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS OVER THE PERIOD OF ANCIENT AS WELL AS MEDIEVAL TIMES The medieval as well as the ancient eras are taken to mean not only a period of time but also a situation of consciousness; that is, a cultural situation of humans. Three preeminent cultural influences were experienced in western civilization between BC 3250 and AD 1500. The early civilization of imperial Rome left traces of a cultural impact that was proven very powerful. The Germanic tribes also left a major cultural imprint forming the hallmarks of western civilization. The church-The coming of the religion of Christianity The historical Rome Empire is regarded the core of the Christian Church founding. During the reigns of emperors, Christians were constantly suppressed. The old fathers of the church carried out their operations in this chaotic environment. With the Constantine’s arrival, the church started being the official r eligion practiced in that empire. The church, being the official religion, started suppressing other rival creeds. It brought about new ethical concepts which resulted into moral responsibilities for individuals which were previously missing. The worldliness of pagan culture was strongly rejected by the church’s asceticism because of the influence the church got from the empire. Most of the aspects of the church’s organization were a mirror to the empire’s organization. The setting of Christian dioceses clearly represented the political structure of the empire. Important local officials found it necessary to have powerhouses in their territories. The winning barbarian side took over Christianity which happened apparently be a religion losers’ empire. This happened as on of the most remarkable of the triumphs by Christianity. Leaders were converted to Christianity through persuasion in the form of princely fiat, election, shamanistic vision and missionary zeal. Only a few Europeans were Christianized by conquest. Many features of the church differed from those of the ancient church. The cult of saints and the confessions were some of the major differences. Previously, confessions were done by the most deeply pious and it had the aspect of tarriffed penances based on penitentials. The survival of medieval penitential’s provided a wealthy source of information to socialists concerning the intimates

Supply Chain Management (operations management)2 Assignment

Supply Chain Management (operations management)2 - Assignment Example In order to maximize revenue, an organization has to consider the net worth of a product to the customers and what the supply chain tends to accomplish is to get the exact requests of the consumers. Supply chain management is basically concerned with issues of who is involved, cost and service in addition to integration of such kind of services (Jacoby, 2010). Supply chain strategies are directly affected by other chains available within the organizations. This includes an activity that comes up with the introduction of new products to the firm. Supply chain should also be integrated with other goals of the organization like the ones which leads to maximization of profit margin thus giving a lot of returns. Supply chains needs to be designed to eliminate unnecessary uncertainty and risks at all levels of production. Some of the risks that may come in the course of production include the risks associated with machines, logistics amongst others. Organization can optimize supply chain management to improve results and remove obstacles in several ways such as the global optimization. Having a complex network, the supply chain management have so far been developed to enable integration of products from the point it comes from the supplier to the point delivery is done. A good example is whereby an organization can be able to get a supply and directly deliver it to consumer without having to actually stock it and then goes ahead to make payments through electronic money transfer. Supply chain is considered dynamic in nature. Customers’ demands and suppliers’ potentiality will always change after sometimes. This will in turn leads to evolution in supply chain relationships. For instance, when a customer potentials increases, this will impact more pressure on the supplier to increase the rate of productivity in quantity and quality. Organizations should be able to project any risk that might come in the line of production of commodities to the

IT in Businesses. Week Six Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IT in Businesses. Week Six - Essay Example It began with the Harvard Mark I electromechanical calculator in World War Two weighing five tons and 50 feet long. It was then replaced by the 30 ton Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, having 18,000 vacuum tubes and occupying a large space. The invention of the transistor in 1947 gave way for the development of smaller, powerful and more resourceful computers. Input-output tools changed to magnetic tape from punch cards, and new computer languages were developed to interact with the new technology (Laudon & Laudon, 2010). The second stage started in the 1970s when processors on chips and magnetic discs were built. They decentralized computing power from bulky data centers to smaller offices. Steve Jobs and Steve Wosniak sold Apple II machines and Bill Gates founded Microsoft. IBM launched the Personal Computer in 1981 (O’Brien, 1999). The third stage involved embedding microprocessors in electronic products. As the complexity of technology grew and the costs reduced, the need for information sharing within enterprises also increased, giving rise to client/server era in which networked computers could access shared information on a server (O’Brien, 1999). The fourth stage of IT evolution originated from the US Department of Defense. It enabled high speed networks and coupled portions of the business enterprise together giving information access encircling the entire management structure. Universities linked up to this system and used it to deliver messages. The US National Science Foundation and several universities set up their own networks, leading to the onset of the popular World Wide Web and broadband (Laudon & Laudon, 2010). The fifth, which is the latest stage, is the wireless one and includes cloud computing. It incorporates the use of cell phones and wifi networks. It gives rise to high levels of mobility independent of location, configuration and nature of the hardware. This phase began with the invention of the mobile phone. It

Examine a global supply chain of clothing industries emphasizing Essay

Examine a global supply chain of clothing industries emphasizing relations of power among main actors - Essay Example The first one was the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) a regulatory framework that created preferential tariffs and quotas on the apparel industry on the commodities that imported by the developed nations such as U.S., EU states and Canada (Gereffi, & Frederick, 2010). However, in the period 1995-2005, the MFA quotas and tariffs were replaced by the World Trade Organisation’ (WTO) agreement on clothing and textile (Brambilla, Khandelwal, & Schott, 2010). The second crisis was the financial crisis of 2008, which hit the apparel industry resulting in the unemployment, increased social unrests and factory shutdowns due to decreased demand in the developed economies. Zara is one of the giant global retailers in the fast fashion industry incepted in 1975. The company is an entity of the Spanish group Inditex. By 1990, Zara had expanded globally into a number of states including New York, U.S., Paris, France and Oporto in Portugal. Currently, the company operates over 1830 outlets in 82 nations globally, located in Africa, America, Europe and Asia (Inditex, 2011). Zara considers itself as fast fashion retail chain rather than a high fashion brand, which has enabled it to expand and achieve high growth levels. Zara unlike other brands in the apparel industry uses a vertical integration model that encompasses just-in-time, design, sales and marketing (The Economist, 2001). For this reason, the company can respond to consumers demands in a prompt way, and this has been the key driving force for the accelerated growth of the company in the industry. Labour Intensive-This is because it requires a large number of labour forces to produce its goods or services. The degree of labour intensity is measured in proportion to the amount of capital required to produce goods or services; the higher the proportion of labour costs required, the more labour intensive the business (Bartley, 2005). The clothing

Discuss some of the treats that Cyberterrorism pose. How can Essay

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