Moral absolutism Essay

When we speak of â€Å"Morality† we think of the difference between right and wrong, the difference between the good and the evil. We use morality to justify our actions and decisions. More often than not, people impose their morality on others and expect them to act in the way they find fit. They believe that the idea of right and wrong is universal. In her essay â€Å"On Morality†, Didion contradicts this theory and believes that everyone can have different ideas of morality based on their own perception. To make her point, Didion uses the examples of Klaus Fuchs and Alfred Rosenberg. Fuchs was a British traitor who leaked nuclear secrets to the Soviets, and Rosenberg was the Nazi administrator of Eastern Europe, where the Germans committed their most heinous and most murderous acts during World War II. Both of them claimed that what they did were morally appropriate. She then goes on to say that Jesus justifies what he did based on morality. The juxtaposition of these ideas affirms Didion’s theory that the conviction of morality is vastly based on perspective. This juxtaposition also helps prove that people use morality to justify almost anything. Osama Bin Laden believed that it was morally right to take the lives of millions of innocent civilians in the name of religion. President Snow, along with the Capitol, in The Hunger Games saw it fit to throw 24 teenagers in a battlefield and let them fight until only one remains. Morality does not seem like a tool to distinguish right from wrong, but a method to have a clean conscious, irrespective of whether one’s acts are good or bad. Didion also says, â€Å"For better or for worse, we are what we learned as children. † (158) This shows that the ideas we have of good and bad and the so-called â€Å"morality† is part of what we’ve learnt growing up. A lot of people might find it pointless to stay with a corpse on a highway. But to Didion, it is the moral thing to do. We do not leave behind our dead. Friedrich Nietzsche said, â€Å"Fear is the mother of morality. † Didion maintains that morality might differ from person to person. In my opinion, a lot of factors influence the decisions we make and then blame them on morality. â€Å"The right thing† is too abstract to be universal. Didion debates about the cannibalism acts and talks about the vestigial taboo that no one should eat their own blood kin. This might seem appalling to some while being a being of another’s culture. Didion says that morality has â€Å"the most potentially mendacious meaning. † (159) And I couldn’t agree more. There is a very thin line between right and wrong, and morality is what shows one where to draw it. But the basis of that line is so ambiguous, that people end up using morality to cover up their actions. The idea Didion presents is that humans are not equipped to distinguish between the good and the bad. We think that all actions are sound as long as they don’t hurt another person. But then we see people like Adolf Hitler. The man murdered millions of people. Yet, he had a bunch of supporters who helped him with these inhumane acts. But he did what he did in the name of morality, in the name of ‘respect for the greater race. ’ The central idea of this essay is that morality depends largely on perception. What one finds wrong may not necessarily be seen as inappropriate by another. â€Å"I followed my own conscience. † â€Å"I did what I thought was right. † Didion questions the reader how many madmen have said this and meant it? Didion doesn’t believe that these men shelter themselves under the illusion of morality but actually believe their actions are moral and justified. Maybe we ourselves have said it before and been wrong. Our conscience isn’t always the best judge of things. But the concept of morality makes it okay to just be impulsive and do what we think is correct in the moment. The relevance of our logic lacks frequency. One might not kill people on a daily basis but one might find it moral to do it someday and go ahead with it. Does this make them immoral? Is the act of killing immoral? What if the victim is a killer? The answers to questions relating to morality are not black or white. There could be various different instances where individuals might have different stands on issues. All of which they might believe to be morally correct. So the question is, who decides what is moral and what is not? What gives them the power to do so? Should the morality of one person be forced on another? Clearly, universal standards of right and wrong do not exist. The evidence Didion provided as well as instances we see around the world proves that fact. A lot of people do not agree with Didion’s idea of differing morality. The people who adhere themselves to a supposedly universal moral code can delude themselves into thinking people who do not follow that code are less humane. People need to stop fretting over moral absolutes and let morality run their life and effect every decision they make in order to ensure the future is safe from oppression and terrorism.

The John Dewy Principles

â€Å"The correlate in thinking of facts, data, knowledge, already acquired, is suggestions, inferences, conjectured meanings, suppositions, tentative explanations:–ideas, in short. † Out of the authors that I have read this year, Alfred North Whitehead and John Dewey are the two that I have found the greatest commonality with in the subject of obtaining and gaining information. Whitehead speaks on education relating back to Life. It seems to be the only way to become a person that can understand the world around him/her is to be a person who learned using life as the main force in education. â€Å"There is a proverb about the difficulty of seeing the wood because of the tress†¦ The problem of education is to make the pupil see the wood by means of the trees. † I think that he and I touch base with the idea of life being the driving force in education. Whitehead continues with distaste for formulated subjects and views Life as the only subject matter for education. Dewey seems to feel as though life should be the main subject matter for education. Dewey expresses an interest very similar to Whiteheads in the three stages in which education travels. Whitehead felt that romance was the first stage of education. Dewey stated that the pupil must first † have a genuine situation of experience-that there be a continuous activity in which he is interested for its own sake. † He continues with the methods that would best help the pupil to formulate their own conclusions. Secondly, that a genuine problem develop within this situation as a stimulus to thought; third, that he process the information and make the observations needed to deal with it; fourth, that suggested solutions occur to him which he shall be responsible for developing in an orderly way; fifth, that he have opportunity and occasion to test his ideas by application, to make their meaning clear and to discover for himself their validity. † This brings us to the scientific method. Now, instead of being fed information, we begin to formulate knowledge. There is a problem (noticed detail), thinking, hypothesis (educated idea), experiment, conclusion which compares to the hypothesis and reaches for a proof or disproof. We have created proof or even a habit. Whitehead expresses the danger of the implantation of inert ideas. Dewey wrote that â€Å"†¦ ideas are anticipations of possible solutions†¦ and tested by the operation of acting upon them. † Dewey was concerned with the school problems that are assigned to students becoming empty pointless problems that importance ends with the beginning of the pupil as a human. An idea that came to mind was to have a basic break down as far as the needed subject matter that has to be covered yet letting the pupil†s go out and find it in their lives as human beings. Dewey would describe this as an unscholastic approach. A problem that can lie here, is insufficient material being covered or students not fulfilling their part. Another potential problem would lie in the size of the class. A larger class size would have the great possibility of some student's ideas being left uncovered. I considered how that might have a worse effect than inert ideas. Their ideas being left uncovered leave them with a lack! on the information as a whole. The realism of the situation is another factor to consider as well as the time prospective. In closing, I understand and agree with both Whitehead and Dewey's propositions for a more efficient style of acquiring a more fruitful, long term, though process, it would take more than I think is possible without lengthening the academic year. And what student would really want that?

Is the future of the EMU threatened by recent events Discuss Essay

Is the future of the EMU threatened by recent events Discuss - Essay Example World War; the legal, economic and political framework of the EU is rooted in the Franco-German tradition, which has lent itself to EU tensions with the political agendas of certain other member states such as Britain (Lippert, 2001, p.114). This intrinsic conflict at the heart of the European Monetary Union (EMU) has been further underlined by the recent European Union and International Monetary Fund’s Irish and Greek bailout. Additionally, some analytical forecasts suggest that Spain and Portugal bailouts are on the horizon, which not only questions the future of the Euro but also brings renewed attention to the long term sustainability of the EMU. The fragmentation of the single monetary union and the EU agenda with national political agendas has become increasingly prominent in relation to the EU enlargement programme (Lahav, 2004, p.113). Indeed, Artis & Nixon suggest that the EU’s economic objectives in the last decade have reached crisis (Artis & Nixon, 2007, p.1). They further argue that the EU relies on co-ordination and mutual co-operation of states and that the enlargement of the EU and free movement has led to many member states opting out, derogating or suspending certain obligations to address national political agendas (2007). With regard to the latter, the continuation of the sensitivity over Turkey and reality of corruption and political agenda in EU friendly Ukraine clearly fuels the debate as to how far national objectives can successfully operate in conjunction with EU economic policy (Wesley Scott, 2006, p.99). As such, Artis and Nixon argue that the root of the Union and mutual objectives are becoming secondary to national political interests, which in turn risks negating the Union’s objectives of a monetary union (2007). The focus of this paper is to critically evaluate the extent to which the EMU is threatened by recent events and it is submitted that a central consideration in this issue is the extent to which the efficacy of

The Civil Rights Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Civil Rights Movement - Essay Example Through reading the available resources, it is clear that the movement was mainly centered in the South in regions that had a heavy population of African Americans and where there was blatant racial inequality in legal, political, economic, and education opportunities. Local and state governments had passed the Jim Crow laws in the 19th century that had restricted qualifications to vote for African Americans, which ensured they were politically and economically powerless1. In my view, therefore, I will argue that the civil rights movement addressed the primary areas of voting rights, social segregation, and education discrimination. The Brown Decision A new era in the civil rights movement was ushered in by the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Education Board of Topeka in Kansas2. This decision outlawed segregation based on race. The decision outlawed this in public schools, which was condemned by whites and supremacist groups in the South such as the Citizen’s Council and the Ku Klux Klan for the resistance of desegregation, which resorted to violence at times. From the readings, I deciphered that one of the targets fro this groups was the NAACP. I also believe that the NAACP had taken a leading role in the US national struggle for desegregation of education, as it had done at the local level. Here, evidence shows that African Americans had organized branches to fight societal discrimination. The first attempt to comply with this decision was in Little Rock, in 19573. A local school admitted nine African American students to a school that was all white, which I can see propelled the escalation of violence from whites and led to President Eisenhower sending federal troops to protect African American students. Social Segregation From my reading, an organized boycott, led by Rosa Parks and lasting 381 days, was a turning point against segregated seating. I believe this sitting was an important occurrence in the civil rights movement because it led to th e Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957 to be presided over by Martin Luther King Jr., who was to become a central figure in the movement4. The movement’s participants were also expanded with the inclusion of the college-age blacks who initiated sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Greensboro. Most SNCC members joined up with the CORE that had organized the 1961 Freedom Rides in Chicago. I find that white and black Freedom Riders began the ride in Washington D.C., and rode south to test the Boynton v. Virginian Supreme Court ruling that had outlawed segregation at transport terminals5. While they were arrested, beaten and even had their bus burnt, I find that, ultimately, they succeeded in enforcing the Boynton ruling. I think that Albany in Georgia was one of the significant towns in this movement as MLK and the SCLC joined in their struggle, although they were unable to get any significant victories and I find this to have been one of MLK’s most humilia ting defeats6. This turned the spotlight to Birmingham where I found that the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, through Rev. Shuttlesworth had led the struggle against social discrimination. The local African Americans had come up against segregationist policies. In my view, Eugene Connor, Birmingham’s public safety commissioner, was responsible for the town’s reputation as thoroughly segregated. MLK got there in 1963 and, together with

Policy paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Policy - Research Paper Example Both of these policies, working in consort, and in spite of a polarizing political climate, did manage to turn the American economy around. However, it was because of the desperate political climate that the ARRA was made to suffer less than a full effect on the American economy. It could have done much more, but the damaging political climate refused to allow deeper systemic problems to be addressed. Introduction The UN International Labor Organization estimated that the recent global regression resulted in worldwide job losses at 50 million by the end of 2009 (Taylor and Weepapana, 2009). With demand of goods falling worldwide, global economic growth was expected to shrink by 2 percent, effecting emerging economics as far as in Eastern Europe and in mainland China. Taiwan saw its exports fall 42.9 percent. Unemployment in the United Kingdom which was 4.7 in 2000 and grew to 5.0 in 2008, reached 7.9 by December 2010. In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics charted unemp loyment rates that varied between 4.1 and 5.0 percent 2000 through November 2005. These rates begin to worsen by September 2008, reaching 6.5 by October 2008 and the highest level of 10.0, 15.4 million people out of work, by November 2009. A total of 750,000 jobs was being lost per month in an economy that was contracting 6 percent annually (CEA). Clearly, economic policy had faltered worldwide and particularly in the United States. By December 2008, the National Bureau of Economic Research had finally declared the U.S. had been in a recession since December 2007. Growth in the fourth quarter of 2008 had shrunk to a negative 6.2%, the lowest since 1982. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Immediately after his election, President Barak Obama led the 111th United States Congress through a series of emergency measures. These measures capitalized to his signing into law, on February 17 2009, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, Pub.L. 111-5), referred to as the Stimulus or the Recovery Act. This $787 billion spending program consisted of $286 billion in tax cuts to stimulate the economy and expenditures for spending on infrastructure, State, revenue sharing, unemployment benefits, food stamps, and business and middle class tax cuts. Specifically the ARRA directed $88 billion for direct purchase of goods; $44 billion for infrastructure transfers to state and local governments; $215 billion for non-infrastructure transfers to state and local governments, accounting for such as public safety and education spending; $100 billion for direction transfers to persons in form of unemployment insurance benefits, and student loans; $18 billion to retirees; and tax cuts totaling $266 billion that covered business tax provisions and such as the first-time homebuyer tax credit (Berger and Gaffney, 2009). The ARRA funded many specific programs that sought to influence change in greenhouse technology, rapid transit, electronic medical health records a mong a large number of broad base initiatives. For education, the ARRA allocated $5 billion to the Department of Education to fund programs under the Race to the Top program that closed the achievement gap and improved student achievement. The DoE allowed successful programs to compete for grants from a $650 million fund that would enable them to

Describe a major result of the Civil War on the U.S and assess whether Essay

Describe a major result of the Civil War on the U.S and assess whether the result was good or bad for the country - Essay Example Their money was no good and their homes, buildings and infrastructure demolished. It is estimated that one in four males of military age in the South either died or suffered a crippling injuring during the war (â€Å"The Civil War†, n.d.). There is no credible argument regarding these two outcomes as to whether they were good or bad for the nation. Though rejoining the country is still today a celebrated event in U.S. history, it ultimately caused a negative outcome. The main reason that the Confederacy succeeded from the Union was the issue of States’ rights which are guaranteed by the Constitution but were almost completely lost following the Civil War. In most instances, individual states have the primary legal authority to nullify any actions taken by the federal government as described in the U.S. Constitution. This includes many legal rights up to and including the right to succeed. The Founding Fathers drafted this concept into the Constitution because they knew all too well that a decentralized federal government is less likely to become tyrannical because the people are better able to hold it accountable. The Founders’ intent was not necessarily to give the states additional powers but to limit the authority of the federal government and to alleviate the fear that it would exercise powers it was not given. This concept was understood by the Founders, the Confederacy and many of both conservative and liberal ideology since the earliest beginnings of the nation (Epstein, 2003). Within Article I, Section Eight of the Constitution is a purposely restricted set of responsibilities allocated to the federal government. It prints the money, regulates commerce and provides for the common defense, in other words, funds the military. The 1819 U.S. Supreme Court decided that the federal government also possessed certain ‘implied powers’ in the McCulloch v. Maryland

She walks in Beauty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

She walks in Beauty - Essay Example An insatiable urge to know the full details of her beauty grips the reader. However, the comparison of her beauty to the night immediately casts doubts, because the conventional attitude in literature has been to compare beauty to something which is bright. This confusion is immediately lifted with words like â€Å"cloudless† and â€Å"stars†. The third and fourth lines of the poem, â€Å"And all thats best of dark and bright/ Meet in her aspect and her eyes† (Byron), give an excellent description of her superb beauty. Darkness helps the stars to project their glow to their best. Similarly, the dark dress the lady wears promotes the glow of her face. There is a heavenly grace, says the poet, in the glow of her face. The poet now tries to convey the personality of the lady which her external beauty reflects. â€Å"One shade the more, one ray the less† (Byron) would have made her beauty slightly imperfect. The word â€Å"grace† now replaces the word â€Å"beauty†, because the poet moves from describing the outer features to express her inner qualities. The poet says that â€Å"the nameless grace/ Which waves in every raven tress† only shows â€Å"how dear their dwelling-place† is (Byron). Her thoughts are â€Å"pure†, and they are â€Å"serenely and â€Å"sweetly† expressed through her face. Thus, the poet has succeeded in turning the attention of the readers from their initial impression. They now realize that the lady not only walks with her physical beauty, but also carries with her a graceful soul. In the last stanza, the poet devotes three lines to repeat the greatness of her physical beauty by using the word â€Å"glow†, in stead of â€Å"â€Å"beauty†, and then spends the last three lines to explain her moral nature. On â€Å"that cheek, and oer that brow/ So soft, so calm, yet eloquent† (Byron) sit the smiles and glow. They speak about her human nature, of her â€Å"days in goodness spent†. She has â€Å"A mind at peace with all

Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Democracy - Essay Example Plutocracy is less idealistic than democracy in that it is not the people’s voice but the will of the institutions that holds sway over policy. But plutocracy is still better than a totalitarian society where power is concentrated in the hands of small ruling elite with no accountability. Dahl classifies political systems under a spectrum of five gradations. At the top of the scale are the fairest systems that employ ‘rational persuasion’ for gathering public consensus. At the bottom of the scale are brutal autocracies that regularly resort to ‘physical force’ to keep the population under control. But Dahl admits that even in the most fair of existing systems the power is wielded from top-down. This means that the notion of democracy as a people-inspired and people-regulated governing system does not exist anywhere today. Professor Charles Hauss understands democracy in terms of functioning electoral politics. Any nation-state that conducts free and f air elections periodically would qualify as democratic under this view. In Hauss’ own words â€Å"free, open and competitive elections are central conditions for a democracy†. (Hauss, as quoted in Edwards 2010) Also important to this setup is the credibility of ‘rule of law’. ... To this extent this latter category of countries would only be nominal democratic societies. When we analyze the American political system in the backdrop of the definitions of Hauss and Dahl, we can note a few divergences. What Dahl’s list of options for population control does not mention is ‘propaganda’. The Chomsky-Herman propaganda model fills the gap left by Dahl’s conceptualization. Given that America is the birthplace for modern advertising and the Public Relations industry (PR) in the country is billions of dollars worth, it is fair to claim that PR is the foremost method here for the control of public minds. It is difficult to place the American style of governance in the gradation offered by Dahl. The most benign method of generating public consensus proposed by Dahl is ‘rational persuasion’. America is an exception to even this benign form of manufactured consent, for what the PR industry does is irrational persuasion. As Chomsky-He rman note, advertising is all about â€Å"misinforming people so that they make irrational choices†. (Chomsky, quoted in Wilson 2010) There is less divergence with Hauss’ understanding of democracy, for he links it with the capitalist economy. America being the leading practitioner of capitalism qualifies under Hauss’ classification. Moreover, there is competent enforcement of law within the country, although America is well-known for breaching international law, especially under the auspices of the United Nations. Seymour Martin Lipset, on the other hand, would have found the American political system disappointing in terms of how democratic he found it to be. He believed that â€Å"the more well-to-do a nation, the greater the chances that it will sustain democracy†. (Lipset, quoted in Edwards

A Strategy To Reach The Unchurced Essay Example for Free

A Strategy To Reach The Unchurced Essay Jesus commanded us to go and tell. The passage in Matthew 10 gives us words of conviction, instruction, preparation and finally expectation. We need to absorb this and as we do I believe that it will become clear what we are to do. And ways to reach the unchurch is making strategy. There are many church now answering the call to reach the Unchurch but to how to reach it we will find in the next paragraph. Giving Time The strategy of Sunset Presbyterian Church take the time needed to keep their circle of unchurch friends. Feil states, â€Å"I think everyone on our pastoral staff places a high priority on giving our people the time and the freedom to maintain their connections with their workplace, their marketplace, with nonchurched neighbors and friends. That is a high priority for us. They have to keep that circle of influence, that network of friends. We try to communicate clearly that we want to partner with them in reaching those people for Christ. And the primary way we want to partner with them is make our church a place where those people can come. Not just for some special evangelistic event but any Sunday and to any program or ministry. † (Feil, 2001). Start New Ministry The American Missionary Fellowship(2006) develop new ministries in every community possible using our new evangelistic tool, the Learning Community. A Learning Community is an evangelistic effort to bring together unchurched people with common interests in order to study the Bible and to equip lay teachers/leaders. Start New Bible Study Groups The LifeWay Church Resources ( 2005) Churches will be able to accommodate new people and the return of non-attending members primarily by enlarging the tent (Isaiah 54:2-3) of its open groups strategy through the expansion of its Sunday School ministry. These groups and classes usually are designed to target persons who ordinarily do not participate in church; many of these new units become the entry point for unchurched persons into the church and a relationship with Jesus Christ. This training will also help focus on the need and opportunities to start new churches in locations where people are not being reached by existing churches. Reaching people in crisis One factor is certain about the leaders of these churches that reach the unchurched: they are highly creative in their attempts to reach the unchurched. A Baptist church in West Virginia has a hospital ministry to new mothers, an attempt to reach these young families in their positive crisis. A West Coast Evangelical Free Church has reached more unchurched through its crisis pregnancy ministry than any another approach. And a Wesleyan church in the Midwest offers its beautiful sanctuary to prospective newlyweds at a very modest fee but only if they agree to four sessions of premarital counseling. The lesson is clear: the unchurched are more likely to seek a church at a point of crisis. Innovative churches have discovered ways to have a presence in these crisis moments. ( Rainer,Thom S. ) Welcoming Atmosphere Creating a welcoming atmosphere by encouraging everyone, including the pastoral staff, to wear â€Å"stick on† name tags. They also pass a â€Å"Friendship Register† down the aisle each week, allowing members and visitors to sign in. Visitors usually sign-in this way, first, in order to let themselves be known. Visitors are also invited to identify themselves in the public worship services by simply raising their hand so that the ushers can give them a tape and brochure. â€Å"Our regular people know that the reason we are asking people to raise their hands is so they can identify them,† explains Pastor Feil. â€Å"I have had many first time visitors tell me that when they raised their hand three or four people around them said ‘hello, I’m so and so, who are you and welcome, we’re glad you are here, can I answer any questions. ’ So, they have been greeted as a result of that. That has worked for us. † (Barbara Feil. 2001). Reaching the unchurched through quality childcare Parents today want the best for their children, said an independent Baptist pastor from Louisiana. It is amazing how much they care for the spiritual well-being of their children but neglect themselves in this area, he said. We decided to allocate heavy dollar resources into updating our preschool and childrens wing. Boy, has it paid off! Were now reaching many of these young families who have no church background, he exclaimed. ( Rainer,Thom S. ) Reaching through Shepherding and Discipleship Throughout all the ministries the focus is on shepherding and discipleship—the whole culture is aimed at this process. Feil states, â€Å"From the time someone becomes a believer here at Sunset the rest of what we do is aimed at that, to help them grow in their faith. That’s what we are concerned about, that everyone grows in his or her faith. So the purpose of every ministry, across the board, is to help disciple people. † (Barbara Feil. 2001). Focus Evangelistic Efforts on Children and Youth The Central Church dont neglect the adults, said a nondenominational church pastor from Minnesota, but we have seven specific ministries a year designed to reach teens and children. More than one-half of the pastors indicated that their churches had specific strategies to reach children and youth, the largest unchurched group in America. ( Rainer,Thom S. )

Social Phenomenon Warrants Sociological Research Essay Example for Free

Social Phenomenon Warrants Sociological Research Essay There are several social phenomenon’s and social problems that warrant sociological research however, there is one that stands out more in this mind than in any other one. Being a church going individual something that truly needs sociological research are the Mega Churches. What defines a mega church? Its basic description is â€Å"a congregation which has two thousand or more worship attendees in a week† (Thumma, 2007, para. 1). The megachurch is an organization unlike any other. In order to fully the megachurch, it must be viewed as a phenomenon rather than incredible growth or outstanding successful spiritual ventures. After investigating the megachurch there are several common characteristics that appeared. One of these common characteristics is obviously size, which is the most common characteristic; however, the list of traits is much longer. There are three distinctive ways of expressing the megachurch message. They are nontraditional, the conventional, and the composite. Just like all general descriptions of social phenomena, any megachurch will vary in its characteristics. On the other hand, these congregations have too much in common not to be seen as a distinctive social and religious reality. Megachurches are a new phenomenon. The megachurch is more than a church with a massive attendance. â€Å"It is a congregation with a distinctive pattern of organization, programmatic ministries, and membership relations† (Thumma, 2007, para. 5). The rapid growth of this form of congregations has become more and more within the last several decades. Almost all the current megachurches were founded after 1955; however, they mainly came about more around the decade of the eighties. Since Durkheim, sociologists have been interested in the church as a social phenomenon. Now Mega churches are a growing phenomenon in U. S. ociety. They attract the attention of scholars, religious leaders and journalists. Although most churchgoers in the United States still attend smaller churches, the attention of religious practice into large associations is an issue for sociologists studying religion and organizations. The problem with the megachurch is that there is a social issue there, such as questions like how do such large organizations function and survive? How does one minister, pastor, or reverend, attend to the need of so many people? I would research this social phenomenon by using the scientific method. The only real way to do it. I identified the problem, which is how do such large organizations function and survive? and how does one minister, pastor, or reverend, attend to the need of so many people? I then formulated the hypothesis of them having several associate pastors, and leaders in the church to help out with different activities and sections of the church. Then, I reviewed different literature on megachurches and how they operate and function. Lastly, I drew the conclusion to the research and found out how they function and hold things together. It turns out that the main or senior minister or pastor is not the only leader of the church. It turns out that there are large numbers of staff and volunteers. As the church grows, the number of â€Å"employees† so to speak grows too. They help coordinate and facilitate through the week and on the weekends. In my research I found out that â€Å"megachurches average 20 full-time paid leadership staff positions and 9 part-time positions. These churches also have on average 22 paid full-time and 15 paid part-time administrative or support staff positions† (Thumma, 2007, para. 36). On average there are more than 284 volunteers that put in more than five hours of work a week. More than 50% of these volunteers put in between 20 to 40 hours a week in service to the church. This therefore, supports my hypothesis that the minister has help in running the megachurch. In conclusion, based upon the research done a megachurch is a social phenomenon. Having so many people who socialize, sociologists have so much to research so that others can understand how things like this work. Through sociological research American society can get a better perspective on how different things go that not everyone is a part of. Therefore, giving sociologists a great demand.

Government Influence On Travel And Tourism

Government Influence On Travel And Tourism The Travel and Tourism business demands an effective policy and co-ordination the following framework offered using examples at local and regional level provides some indication of what efforts are being made to this end. CATEGORIES OF ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED: The tourist organisation I have selected is SAMLESBURY HALL a 1325 black and white timbered medieval manor house Organisations that could interact with this attraction are, from a range of levels. The local tourist information centre situated at Guild Hall Lancaster Road, Preston. The sub-regional organisation(known as a Destination Marketing Organisation) which is the Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board. The regional organisation is the Northwest Regional Development Agency. The North has an umbrella marketing group that promotes the whole region overseas,this is known as Englands North Country. The national tourist board/agency is VisitBritain responsible in conjunction with the national tourist boards of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales for promoting England and Great Britain to both domestic and overseas visitors. It has a network of overseas offices eg Poland, Russia, China. It is funded by its partners and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport which is responsible for implementation of Government policy on tourism; part of whose work is to assist the diverse businesses to identify a common interest in working together. The England Marketing Advisory Board(EMAB) is the overseer of Marketing Strategy for England. VisitBritain may encourage or influence attention to such organisations as English Heritage, committed to preserving selected historical monuments and environments while supporting research to preserve archival material. The international organisation involved in tourism is the European Union which operates with a hybrid system of supranationalism(e.g. majority voting and directly applicable laws) and intergovernmentalism(e.g. consensus bargaining by states)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union OTHER ORGANISATIONS: There are also some international agencies that also possess the capability of influencing tourism in a number of ways. These involve the matter of international travel. There is The International Air Transport Association(IATA) with over 240 airlines as members. It has 94% of international scheduled air traffic. The IATA guides and serves the airline industry in general aspects. Then there is The International Civil Aviation Organisation(ICAO)It is an agency of the UN; functioning to ensure safety and orderly growth of the air skies; international navigation being regulated with advancement of planning and development of international air transport. Air transport is first and foremost a dynamic industry. IATA represents the interests of world airlines.It will challenge anything unreasonable in rules or charges,checking governments and pinning down for what is considered to be sensible regulation. IATA nurtures a self-help philosophy with its airlines. Always seeking to simplify processing for the convenience of the passenger,seeking to keep down rising costs as well as improving efficiency.Safety is certainly of prime importance to the IATA and ways of improvement are continually being sought. Also a concern that has rapidly come to the fore is impact on environment which the IATA seeks to minimise. The flow of airline passengers needs to be seamless as if it were only one airline operating within one country;this being the aim. Professional expertise is available for investment in publications,training and consulting. Financial systems assist carriers and the travel industry to increase revenue. The IATA requires sensible forecasting delivered with foresight from Governments and therefore ensures they are kept well informed concerning complexities surrounding the aircraft industry. Many of the aims of the European Union require for realisation quite close links between the EU and national and regional levels of government. The following,outlines the influences that each of the organisations referred to above could possibly have on Samlesbury Hall that possesses a location ideal for short breaks,business trips and overnight stays. It consists of extensive Tudor grounds and wildflower beds with a miniature farm. t has a full calendar for events, business functions and exhibitions. There is an evening ghost hunt and contrary to such a theme it is a beautiful setting for a wedding. There is self-catering accommodation available. THE TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE(TIC): The Tourist Information Centre provides accurate and useful information to the traveller/visitor/tourist. The visitors need correct, precise, relevant and immediate up-to-date information the TIC provides this. Tourists are catered for in their search for hotels, bed and breakfast or self-catering accommodation.Queries involving local transport can all be answered. Tourist Information Centres should be regarded as the lifeblood for tourism activity, originating from the regional boards in this case the North West Regional Development Agency and funded from local authorities together with private investment. It has been argued that Tourist Information Centres have no real significance or role. That most purchasing decisions are made before leavetaking-arrangements such as accommodation, car hire and what to do; where to eat, where to shop or where to drink and the rest being left to time of arrival; but rarely upon advice from a TIC. You would ask reception,or seek assistance from a cab driver or a shop assistant. It is not thought that many people make a beeline for the TIC. There would be more suitable ways of booking for the next destination.Hotels and guest houses are now all online with many many online travel agents;with rooms available all over the country. A very small amount of visitors would be influenced into making a decision based on the TICs.Literature is made freely available by distribution companies; there is wifi to be found in the hotels and restaurants. The BBs,public houses,all are mines of information available all hours of the day. The mobile phone and laptop add the finishing touches. Upon arrival at attractions the reception area contains a plethora of information outweighing that available from TICs. Yet if it be asked as one reads this what is the explanation it is considered to be that of the political.It is considered that such would be local reaction to any prospect of closing that the ensuing struggle would simply not be worth it. Councils would retaliate and declare that with reduction of services tourism would be killed of f. Is this so? Yet what has been inferred is that the information required can be obtained quite easily from any hotel,high street shop at no extra cost to public funds.Can it also be inferred that given a choice of deployment in funding,that there would be immediate choosing of international marketing instead of providing information in a local context. Refurbishment is being carried out on TICs that have received no investment since the 80s.The object is of course to provide that world class information system required by visitors to our country,and extensive customer research backs this up.Accomodation bookings are not now the priority or function although still present.The main aim of all TICs is to encourage visitors to explore more of the area in which they have found themselves,thereby persuading free spending that will ultimately benefit the people locally. Research has shown that visitors still need the personal touch in such matters.Of course it is easy and natural to elicit information required immediately from those in proximity,taxi drivers shop keepers etc; but it is the prospect of experiencing something extra some inner desire from being able to refer to a focal point wherein they are encouraged and directed to acquire such an experience, and this is how the TICs come to the fore. It has been found that receipts are indeed higher with the application of local professional advisers to assist the visitors. There is the factor of arrival marketing where the visitor expects to find assistance upon arrival. A DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANISATION(DMO)-THE LANCASHIRE AND BLACKPOOL TOURIST BOARD: The next organisation that is able to influence activities to do with Samlesbury Hall is a sub-regional organisation;known as a Destination Marketing Organisation.This happens to be for Samlesbury Hall the Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board. The official tourism website representing Lancashire and Blackpool is visitlancashire.com. It is promoted both nationally and internationally. The tourist board possesses a powerful DMS(Destination Management System) with an extensive data bank to serve all visitors. Samlesbury Hall with VisitBritain,the local Tourist Information Centre, the local authority, and the Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board all cooperate in promoting elements of their business effectively and are able to respond effectively efficiently and rapidly to any queries from the public or press. Samlesbury Hall has accommodation apart from its unique attractions so it would benefit from the banner advertising promoted on www.lancashireandblackpool.com website.Their target market is visitors worldwide;also corporate and leisure concerns.Unique visits to the site amount to a 40% increase each month.E-marketing slots are also available with some 25,000 opt-in consumers who must be continuously trawling for informa tion as to whatever is happening in Lancashire throughout the region. Online marketing offered includes any marketing opportunities, campaigns, publications and exhibitions. The Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board is concerns itself with support and advice for businesses and development.It is an objective that the sub-region and Blackpool will have undergone transformation into a world-class destination.Lancashire being the destination for the mature and discerning.Salmesbury Hall can be part of this vision. A Business Development Team is available for staff development and local contacts. They are also available to assist in any funding requirements for projects. Key strategy for the Northwest concerns development and management of its economy. There is a Visitor Economy Strategy(VES) for 2006-2016 that outlines principles and priorities for the regions approach to destination management and development. A three year action plan (2006-2009) supports the VES.A Destination Management Plan(DMP)has been constructed with the assistance from a number of prominent partners and investors.The Lancashire Economic strategy(LEP) enables Partners and supporters to have a framework within which future development will happen. Included within this is the Preston City Vision. Salmesbury Hall will be supporting this. THE NORTHWEST REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY(RDA): The Regional organisation for tourism is the Northwest Regional Development Agency. It serves a useful link between business needs within the region and Government policies.As an RDA(Regional Development Agency) is pushes for economic vigor and development, and regeneration. The Northwest Regional Development Agency liaise with partners within the public, private, voluntary and academic sectors both at regional and local levels. Investment and enterprise are prime factors in its impact as an influencing organisation. RDAs work with the Government but are not party affiliated. It has a role to play in support of the RES,Regional Economic Strategy to transform the region into vibrant growth. Issues of Equality and Diversity, Climate Change and Europe need a unified and sustained response for implementation of any national Government policy prevailing. Yet it is concerned with all kinds of local issues requiring consultation.The RES supplies a twenty year foresight for development of economic strategy with more immediate actions to happen within the next three years. It provides therefore a framework for regional, sub-regional and local action.The current RES was launched in March 2006. The action plan was the resultant of an extensive consultation between 25 private and public sector partners with feedback from over 4,000 organisations. The next RES will be presented in 2010. In 2007 visitors generated  £13.6billion for the regional economy. This represents a 4% growth in spending compared to 2006. To improve this figure there is focus upon tourism development and tourism marketing.Also in place is a Major Events strategy to maximise revenue from one-off events and others. THE NATIONAL TOURIST BOARD/AGENCY -VisitBritain: The national tourist board/agency is VisitBritain responsible in conjunction with the national boards of Northern Ireland,Scotland and Wales for promoting England and Great Britain to both domestic and overseas visitors. It promotes Britain as a visitor destination to overseas markets. There is a rapidly developing domestic tourist market in the UK and the organisation is eager to encourage short-break holidays and more of them.VisitBritain is able to influence both international and domestic markets more effectively with astute marketing and themes. Anything concerning or involving tourism the organisation is available for consultation. There is active partnership participation throughout the tourism framework with the devolved boards and the industry itself. It aims to achieve goals with economy, efficiency and right communication. It is funded by the Department of Culture, Media,and Sport. VisitBritain promotes England both within Britain itself and also to France, Germany, Ireland and The Netherlands. VisitBritain works closely with a range of investors and may encourage or influence attention towards such an organisation as English Heritage. It is a statutory adviser to the Government on matters of conservation and policy issuing grants for repairs to ancient buildings and ancient monuments.It receives about 75% of its income from the Government; the rest from revenue obtained from membership fees, properties in its care and other sources such as legacies. The Government Department(DCMS) assumes responsibility for the implementation of a policy seeking to nurture a common response for the well-being of tourism. The England Marketing Advisory Board(EMAB) is the overseer for marketing strategy in England. CONCERNING THE EUROPEAN UNION: The international organisation that could possibly be an influencing agent affecting Samlesbury Hall is the European Union which operates under an amalgam of international agreements consisting of majority voting with directly applicable laws and interstate bargaining. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European Union. The Northwest region is directly affected by European policy,influencing the prosperity of the north west.Regional business receives impact over a wide range of areas e.g.environment, employment, with other legislation. The EU is a vital agent for schemes of regeneration within the region. Markets and employment opportunities either through the agencies companies or from financial support from structural funds, the Common Agricultural Policy(CAP)or RD budgets. CONCLUSION: Many of the aims of the EU need quite close linkage between itself and national and regional levels of governments.The European Priorities has a number of thematic issues while looking forward beyond 2013. Englands Northwest intends to deliver such priorities by access of EU programmes that lie outside the European Regional Development Fund(ERDF). Any organisations within the northwest region with a special interest in such areas should become involved in supporting this.O verseeing this will be the North West Regional European Partnership(NWREP), a regional stakeholder forum. Apart from pursuing such thematic priorities, the Northwest will position itself to take part in debating on the future of the EU and its policies.In October 2006 it was confirmed by Government that the RDAs should have the responsibility for managing the ERDF programmes in England for the 2007-2013 period. There will be only one ERDF Programme for the region, named the Northwest Operational Programme(NWOP). BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sharpley,R.(1999) Tourism,Tourists and Society.ELM Publications Page,S.(2003) Tourism Management:Managing for Change.Butterworth-Heinemann Cooper,C et al(2005) Tourism:Principles and practice.FT Prentice Hall Holloway J C(2006) The Business of Tourism. FT Prentice Hall

Desertification And Deforestation Essays -- Environment Environmental

Desertification And Deforestation The Amazon Rainforest is probably the most important region that is threatened by deforestation. With over four million squared kilometers it is roughly the size of the United States. The Amazon spreads across nine South American Countries and contains one-fifth of the Worlds fresh water and one-third of the known living species. The land is home to hundreds of indigenous groups and is considered by many to be â€Å"the lungs of the planet†. Most of the Amazon is still pristine, but the region is being destroyed at an alarming rate. Over 8 million acres of the rainforest are lost every year. Between 1978 to 1996, 12.5 percent of the irreplacable rainforest was destroyed. Eighty-five percent of the trees that are being cut down are old growth. Old growth forests are forests that provide a crucial habitat for wildlife, cleanse toxins out of the air and water, are the home to the cultural heritage of many indigenous groups and are the source of many useful plants. Only twenty-two percent of the world’s old growth remains intact. In the United States, less than four percent of its old growth forests are still standing. Brazil contains 65 percent of the Amazon Basin. The deforestation rate in Brazil makes up 36.1 percent of the total biozone area lost each year. This is the highest in the world. Indonesia is second with 8.7 percent. This is the reason that Brazil is the focus of most political and social efforts to perserve primary tropical and sub-tropical biozones. One of the main causes of deforestation in the Amazon is the logging industry which produces plywood and mahagony products like toilet paper, rayon, camera film and cigerette filters. E... ...P., eds. World Deforestation in the Twentieth Century. Duke University Press. Durham and London: 1988. Sponsel, Leslie E., Healdland, Thomas N., Bailey, Robert C. Tropical Deforestation: The Human Dimension. Colombia University Press. New York: 1996. http://africalibrary.org/env__reading#.html. â€Å"The Africa Library† Internet article. http://africalibrary.org/env_reading2.html. â€Å"The Africa Library† (What is Desertification?† Internet Article. http://www.reast.demon.co.uk/ch954.htm#TARGET4. â€Å"Conservation: Habitat ED 1995.† Internet Article. http://www.panda.org/resources/factsheets/general/57desert.html. â€Å"DESERTIFICATION.† Internet Article. http://grid2.cr.usgs.gov/des/uncedp1/html#j. â€Å"Part I† Internet Article. http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/sd/analya/sdvol10no4e.html. â€Å"Sustainable Developments Vol. 10 No. 4.† Internet Article.

History of Marriage Law Essay -- Essays Papers

History of Marriage Law While abortion law is a lot more straightforward and the patterns are obvious, marriage law in the United States is a bit more complicated. -English common law, and early American law, before the 1820's treated marriages like business mergers. The fathers paid dowries and often arranged marriages for their daughters. In the early 1800's fathers could contract their daughters to marriage as early as age 12 and there was no consent on her part. Boys had to be 14 before they could enter into a marriage contract. -The age at which a woman could enter into marriage in the mid-nineteenth century varied widely from state to state, and therefore a timeline of laws is very difficult to accomplish. -Throughout the 19th century and the early 20th century the age at which women could legally marry rose slowly to anywhere from 16-18 years of age by the mid 20th century. -States differed widely on what rights women had in a marriage. Until 1873 women had absolutely no claim to custody of their children unless proof of abuse of the children was offered and corroborated. -This is about the time that women began to get property rights as well in some states. The responsibilities that came with these rights, however, were huge and not all states were universal in their protection of a woman's property. If a woman did own anything, she had the legal obligation to use it to support completely any illegitimate children, all of her children from her marriage, her husband, her grandchildren, and her parents. So if any of these people asked her to support them she could not legally refuse. -Coming into World War I women could not divorce a husband for adultery, even though he could divorce his wife for the ... ...d so much about the decision, about the issue, and about the legality that reproductive choice makes even more sense to me now than it did originally. I recommend that anyone very interested in the issue of choice read the decision and look into the Griswold case and the issue of Right to Privacy. Bibliography "About.com Women's History: Comstock Law." Available online at www.about.com. "About.com Women's History: Man and Wife" available online at www.about.com Blackmun, Supreme Court Justice. Majority Decision in the Case of Roe v. Wade. Delivered January 22, 1973. "Brief History of the Emergence of the Crime of Rape" available online at Hansel.mnstate.edu/classes/CJ400/Monograph/Oldlaw21.html "History of Marriage" available online at www.2-in-2-1 co.uk/university/brhistory/index2.html Schwartz, Bernard. A History of the Supreme Court. 1993.

Chemical Kinetics Lab Raport Paper

FE 106 GENERAL CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT-3 CHEMICAL KINETICS PREPARED BY BURAK COBAN PURPOSE: In this experiment we will study the rate of decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to form oxygen according to the net equation: 2H2O2 (aq) 2H2O(l) + O2 by measuring the rate at which oxygen evolved, we will investigate how the rate changes with varying initial concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and iodide catalyst. After we will study the affect of changing its concentration the rate oxygen evolution.At the end of experiment we will summarize our results by attempting to write a rate law for the reaction, showing the defences on the concentrations of H2O2 and I. THEORY: Chemical reactions can be fast (think of any explosion ) or slow . It is very important to understand what is affecting the rate of the reaction and what is the mechanism of the reaction with such knowledge, we can often control a reaction to proceed at just the speed we need. we can thus avoid an explosion or speed up a reaction t hat seems too slow. In this chapter we start out by discussing rates of reactions and the rate law.The rate law indicates the affect that the concentration of the reactants has on the reaction rate. In general, adding more of a reactant speeds things up (rather like pushing the gas pedal to put more gas into the car engine ). But how much faster is the reaction if say the concentration of a reactant is doubled ? the rate law will help us answer such equations. Another way to affect the rate of a reaction is to change the temperature. We refrigerate food to slow the rate of bacterial metabolism that can cause food to spoil. If we want food to cook faster, we increase the heat.We also look at why some reactions seem to need a â€Å"kick start,† although once started, they continue to react. We will examine the activation barrier to reactions and its implications. Rate laws and kinetics experiments also tell us a lot about the mechanism by which a reaction occurs. Understanding the mechanism gives us another way to control the reaction. This knowledge enables us to design better catalyst or to create new compounds (such as new pharmaceuticals) that will be more effective. Differential Rate Laws: In many reactions, the rate of reactions changes as the reaction progresses.Initially the rate of reaction is relatively large, while at very long times the rate of reaction decreases to zero. In order to characterize the kinetic behaviour of a reaction, it is desirable to determine how the rate of reaction varies as the reaction progresses. A rate law is a mathematical equation that describes the progress of the reaction. There are two forms of a rate law for chemical kinetics: the differential rate law and the integrated rate law. The differential rate law relates the rate of the reaction to the concentrations of the various species in the system.Differential rate laws can take on many different forms, especially for complicated chemical reaction. However, most c hemical reactions obey one of three differential rate laws. Each rate law contains a constant, k, called rate constant. The units for the rate constant depend upon the rate law, because the rate always has units of mole L-1 sec-1 and the concentration always has units of mole L-1. Zero – Order Reaction: For a zero order reaction, the rate of reaction is a constant. When the limiting reactant is completely consumed, the reaction abrupt stops. Differential rate law: R=k The rate constant. k , has units of mole L-1 sec-1. First – Order Reaction: For first order reaction, the rate of reaction is directly proportional to the concentration of ane of the reactants. Differential rate law: R = k[A] The rate constant, k, has units of sec-1. Second – Order Reaction: For a second reaction, the rate of reaction is directly proportional to the square of the concentration of one of the reactants. Differential rate law : R = k [A]2 The rate constant, k, has units of L-1 sec-1. MATERIALS: ? Funnel, Florence flask, Beaker, Pipette ? Thermometer, ring stand, ? Distilled water 0,2M KI, H2O and H2O2 ? Burette, Rubber stopper, rubber tubes. PROCEDURE: Part A: ? 10 ml 0,2M KI and 15 ml distilled water was taken the flask. ? Flask was swirled until the solution comes to the bath temperature. ? After that 5 ml % 3 H2O2 was added quickly and stopper the flask. ? One of us swirled the flask in the bath, other one observed the change of the volume. ? Other one recorded the time when approximately 2 ml of the gas was evolved. Part B: ? Same experiment was done by using; 10 ml of KI + 10 ml of H2O + 10 ml of H2O2 Part C: ? Same experiment was done by using; 20 ml of KI + 5 ml of H2O + 5 ml of H2O2DISCUSSION: In this experiment, we discussed the rate of reactions. Reaction rate changed with kinds of reactant. For example in part A we put 10 ml KI and 15 ml distilled water an the other hand; in part B we put 10 ml KI ,10 ml H2O and 10 ml H2O2. After we determined. We saw that part A is slower than part B for this reason we can say rate is changed by nature of reactants. Another important effect is temperature. If temperature is high value reaction finish quickly. Maybe our results were effected temperature Because we put flask in heat water and rate of reaction is faster than low temperature. REFERENCES: GENERAL CHEMISTRY:PETRUCCI & HARWOOD = QUESTIONS = 1. Chemical kinetics is the study of the speeds, or rates, of the chemical reactions. A small number of factors control how fast a reaction will occur. Investigation of these factors provides clues to the ways in which reactants are transformed into products in chemical reactions. Some of the factors that influence the rate of a reaction are: ? Concentration; ? Pressure (particularly for reactions involving gases); ? Temperature; ? Surface area (for reactions involving solids); ? Catalyst; 2. The rate of reaction; R= 1/3*[d[A] / dt] = -1/2 *[d[B] / dt] =1/4* [d[C] / dt] = d[D] / dt . in this experi ment we will investigate concentration of substance according to the rate of reaction. The rate of reactions are effected temperature, pressure of gases, concentrations and volume when one of products appears or one of the reactant is wed up. 4. 50 ml 2 MA 20 ml water added 30 ml 4 MB Initial conc. Of [A] =M=n/V n= 0,05*2=0,1 mol A Initial conc. Of [B] M = n/V n= 0,03*0,12 mol B After mixing; V total =100 ml = 0,1 L Final conc. Of [A] M= 0,1 / 0,1 = 1M A Final conc. Of [B] M =0,12 / 0,1 =1,2M B ———————– R= k R= k[A] R = k[A]2

6. “It Is More Important to Discover New Ways of Thinking Essay

Developing new ways of thinking about what we already know is very important as it helps us to develop a better understanding of that which we already know so to some extent the above statement is true. However it is as significant to discover new data or facts. In fact these two concepts go hand in hand; it is because of some discoveries that we knew when they first came to light that we have something we call existing knowledge to think about and sometimes it is through trying to develop new ways of thinking about a certain issue without a solution that we finally decide it is best to find a new explanation or concept of looking at it. A student who goes from lower to higher school both learns new and advanced ways of thinking about the information they have gathered in previous grades as well as some new data they have never come across before which further stresses that both concepts are important. We cannot learn everything at once nor can we know all sbout those things we know, which is why both developing what we already know and leaarning some new things are equally important. In some cases one may find that discussing and thinking about what we already know but in a new clearer way can help us reach a conclusion whereas if we had chosen to discover new facts about it instead, our horizon of confusion would have been broadened and we find ourselves with yet another mystery to solve. A good example of a case like this is death. Unless someone dies and comes back and tells us exactly what happens after death, no one can ever really know what happens. Any information we all have of life after death is based on assumptions that is if there is even life after death. Discovering new facts about the so called life after death isn’t but going to cause even more confusion, so really in my view I would say it is rather best that one sticks to the knowledge and believe they have over this issue, and if anything, find new ways of thinking about instead of creating yet another confusing phenomena based on assumptions. But such fields as Science motivate constant discovery of new knowledge because this is one area of knowledge where falsification is the only method used to prove the theories because we cannot verify, in other words prove a Scientific theory to be true in any way but we can pfove it fo be wrong. In this case it is clear then that in Science it is more important to discover new facts or data than to think about that which we already have as we need new discoveries to falsify old theories. However sometimes it may be thinking hard and deep into a scientific theory that makes one see fault in it as a result make new discoveries in which case both thinking of something in a new way and making new discoveries would have been equally important. We can for instance look into the famous example of the falsification of Newton’s theory of gravitation by Einstein’s theory of relativity. Einstein like all other Scientists of that time saw nothing wrong with Newton’s model until a crisis came when Newton’s theory of gravity failed to account for the behavior of light. Obviously this had to be a result of scientists thinking of new ways of applying Newton’s model. No one expected the negative outcome they came out with but it was negative and the Scientists were faced with a dilemma they had to solve. That it is when Einstein invented his theory of relativity, a whole new theory, which could work even for those discoveries that Newton’s model failed to. In any case, the point is to show that finding new ways to think of something can actually lead to the discovery of new information which in turn gives us something new to think about and in new ways if we please. Living only by developing things we already know would be depriving ourselves off so much knowledge. Had the people who lived before our generation decided they wanted to live only on what they knew, there would be so much we do not know. Generations like that of Newton or Einstein, generations like that of Priestley or Lavoisier who made discoveries about oxygen and those of people who learned the word of God and passed it on from generation to generation till the bible was written we would not have the knowledge we have today. And the knowledge does not end there and like the paradigm shifts suggest, there will always be new information, new theories and new ways of thinking as the world revolves that will override the current theories but should we decide to live only by the data that already exists, we may find that we are making experiments with 90% errors all the time.

Applied Research Case Study Essay

Global Innovation’s Challenges On June 5, 2006, Peter Vyas paced his office as he grappled with a request for $2 million to relaunch a mini water-oxidation product. Despite two failures to bring this product to market over the past three years, his team was confident this latest iteration was a winner. For Vyas, general manager of the Filtration Unit of Applied Research Technologies (ART), the request presented a major challenge. He recognized that his team had worked tirelessly to make this project a reality and strongly believed they were now headed in the right direction. But he also understood that the Filtration Unit’s track record of failure during this product’s development had hurt its credibility. If he supported the proposal, he knew he would be putting on the line not only his own personal credibility but also that of the entire unit. Due to the project’s size, final approval would be made by Vyas’s boss, Cynthia Jackson—the newly appointed vice president of ARTâ€℠¢s Water Management Division. Jackson was acutely aware of the mounting losses in the Filtration Unit, and she had already devoted a significant amount of time trying to get them back on track. She had confided to one of her colleagues: When I took on this assignment, I was told my first task was to â€Å"fix† the Filtration Unit. The unit only had one revenue-generating product line and had failed to bring a profitable new product to market in five years. It was clear that I was expected to either turn it around or shut it down. I’m trying to protect them and ensure they get support, but my initial feeling is if they are to survive, they must become much more disciplined. They seem to be making progress on that front, but in all honesty, I sometimes wonder if it is time to cut our losses and initiate a harvest strategy for the unit. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HBS Professor Christopher A. Bartlett and Heather Beckham prepared this case solely as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. This case, though based on real events, is fictionalized, and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. There are occasional references to actual companies in the narration. Copyright  © 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business Publishing. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. ART was one of the technology world’s emerging giants. The company had grown through the merger and acquisition of numerous technology-based industrial companies, acquired in the LBO buyout waves of the 1980s and 1990s. By 2006, ART consisted of a portfolio of about 60 business units, each of which operated as a profit center. Total corporate revenue was $11 billion in 2006.1 Major divisions in the corporation included Healthcare (medical diagnostic equipment), Industrial Automation (robotics), Energy (extraction, conversion, and transportation solutions for the oil and gas industry—–including the Water Management Division), and HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning, including climate control solutions for residential, commercial, and industrial markets). Exhibit 1 shows the organization structure of the company. The company’s success had been built on its innovative and entrepreneurial culture, coupled with a decentralized management philosophy. ART’s vision statement, proudly displayed in almost every office and cubicle, stated: ‘‘We aim to change the world through innovation, and to grow our place in it through entrepreneurship.† Culture and Practices ART was dedicated to supporting innovation not only with funding (the company’s R&D spending was double the rate for U.S. industrial companies), but also in its practices, several of which were deeply embedded in the company’s culture. ART encouraged employees to spend a half day each week ‘‘experimenting, brainstorming, and thinking outside the box.’’ It was a practice that the company’s visionary founder and current CEO, David Hall, referred to as ‘‘tinker time.’’ He explained the concept: Innovation and entrepreneurship are the twin engines driving this company. It’s the reason we’ve ingrained â€Å"tinker time† in our culture†¦I expect all our managers, and particularly those on the front line, to create, promote, and back promising ideas. But we understand that when you go for the big leap, you won’t always clear the bar. So there is no shame in failure when you are stretching for big objectives. Around here we routinely celebrate what we call â€Å"worthy attempts†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ even when they are unsuccessful. Knowledge sharing and dissemination was another key part of ART’s business philosophy, and despite the high level of decentralization and profit accountability, technology and human capital were both widely shared among divisions. For example, experts in one division routinely served as advisors on project committees for other divisions, and it was not uncommon for employees to go ‘‘on loan’’ to help another unit with a promising product idea or technology. The company also moved quickly to bring products to market. If an idea showed promise, funding was usually available for small ‘‘beta batch’’ productions, which often allowed market testing to achieve what was called ‘‘proof of concept’’ within ART. Once an innovation was proven, significant investment was quickly put behind it. Objectives and Priorities To infuse discipline into its decentralized organization, ART’s top management set highly aggressive performance objectives and tied executive compensation tightly to them. In 2006, as in 1 Of that total, Water Management Division sales were $560 million and Filtration Unit sales were $38 million  any other year, each division was expected to deliver sales growth of 10%, pretax margins of 15%, and return on invested capital of 20%, referred to as the ‘‘10/15/20 Target.’’ The belief that innovative products were the source of the company’s ongoing competitive advantage was reflected in a companywide metric requiring 30% of each division’s total sales come from products developed in the last four years.2 Hall also continually emphasized that to be competitive, ART had to shorten the life cycle between a new technology’s conception and its commercialization. In response, the company had introduced the ‘‘Fast Track Pipeline,’’ a program that focused on the highest priority projects by providing them with additional resources and management attention. ART currently had 67 such projects in the pipeline, six in the Water Division, but none in the Filtration Unit. (The mini oxidation unit had not been identified as a ‘‘Fast Track’’ project). In the late 1990s, Hall began pushing to grow ART’s global presence. â€Å"It’s important not just to expand our market access, but also to broaden our talent access,† he insisted. ‘‘Innovation and entrepreneurship know no national boundaries.† In the quest to meet this challenge ‘‘to attract the best and the brightest wherever they live,â€⠄¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ in 2000, the corporate R&D group opened the India Technical Center (ITC)—–a substantial operation that Hall hoped would become a model for  other R&D centers he planned to open up around the globe. The Filtration Business Unit The Filtration Unit was part of a business ART acquired from an oil and gas services company in 1996. Its core product line was in mobile water treatment that allowed oil and gas exploration companies to meet government water recycling requirements at well heads and drilling sites. These products were still the unit’s core line, but in the late 1990s, new competition from Chinese manufacturers had led to a commoditization of the business and an erosion of margins. ART’s newly acquired filtration business had tried to develop the next generation of products and technologies, but after two high-profile new product failures, the unit had lost confidence. By 2006, it was losing about $6 million annually. New Management, New Energy In a promotion from his role as a lab manager in the HVAC Division, the 32-year-old Vyas had assumed the role of business manager for the Filtration Unit in June 2001. He immediately confronted the unit’s twin organizational problems of low morale and growing turnover, and in his first year, rebuilt the team by carefully selecting entrepreneurial-minded individuals to fill the vacancies left by turnover in the unit. One of his key recruits was Janice Wagner, whom he knew from her five years as a marketing manager in the HVAC Division. She was excited to join a unit that had an opportunity to develop a new business from scratch. Convinced that survival depended on innovative growth, Vyas appointed a technology evaluation team early in his tenure, charging them with the responsibility to focus on technologies with the potential to turn the unit around. In one of his first reviews with that team, Vyas learned that for almost a year, the filtration unit had been working with ITC technicians on an exciting new technology the young Indian team had developed based on a license obtained from a Delhi-based start-up company. Developed as a potential solution to the widespread Third World problem of obtaining clean water in remote regions, this small-scale oxidation system was thought to have 2 Hall had recently increased this target from 25% of each unit’s sales from products developed in the last five years.  application in many less-developed markets. But in an effort to cut costs, the filtration unit’s previous management had decided to abandon the collaboration a year earlier. After reviewing the technology, Vyas became convinced that this had been a mistake and encouraged his evaluation team to pursue the project. Working closely with the ITC technologists, the team concluded that the oxidation technology was the most promising opportunity in their portfolio, and recommended developing a small-scale oxidation system that enabled waste-water disinfection in small batches. ‘‘We were so excited by that decision,† said Div Verma, the ITC technologist in charge of the project. ‘‘We believe this project can make a huge difference to the lives of millions.† Motivated by the support they received, the ITC technicians devel oped a promising initial design. Without bulky equipment (the equipment was a 26-inch cube) or an electrical power source (it utilized battery power), this small system could transform waste water into potable water without chemicals in minutes. A single unit had the capacity to process approximately 2,000 liters of contaminated water per day. With pride, they took their design to Vyas. But Vyas wanted to understand the business opportunity and asked Wagner to prepare a brief overview. Wagner learned that only about 2.5% of the world’s water was fresh, and most of that was frozen. Population growth, industrial development, and agricultural expansion were all putting pressure on fresh-water supplies in both developed and developing countries. Indeed, the World Resources Institute found that demand for water was growing at twice the rate of the population. As a result, the World Health Organization estimated that over 1.1 billion people lacked access to clean water, and that 2. 4 billion lacked access to  basic sanitation. The research also revealed that waterborne diseases accounted for 80% of infections in the developing world, and in 2002, 3.1 million deaths occurred (90% children) as a result of diarrheal diseases and malaria. As countries such as India and China industrialized, they used more fresh water and added more pollution to existing water sources. Wagner concluded that the scarcity of clean water was reaching crisis levels in developing nations, and that the mini-oxidation system could help avert some of the catastrophic effects. But she also reported comparable R&D efforts also underway in the government and private sectors in China and Europe, and that several companies in the United States and Canada were researching the technology. Nevertheless, her analysis suggested the ITC team’s product was further along and probably superior to anything else in the space. New Opportunities, New Initiatives Vyas decided to pursue the project and convinced the VP of Corporate R&D who had ITC oversight to allow the three ITC technologists working on it to become members of his technical team—–a move that would allow them to focus on developing commercial designs for the oxidation technology. Simultaneously, he asked Wagner to do a first-cut market assessment to identify potential opportunities for the technology. Over the next few weeks, through focus groups and interviews with potential customers, she uncovered several promising applications. (See Exhibit 2). But while the market research was exciting, progress in bringing a product to market proved to be slow and difficult. From January 2003 to February 2006, the technology team coordinated with separate manufacturing and marketing teams located in the United States to work through two complete cycles of product development, beta batch productions, and test marketing of two different versions of the mini-oxidation system. Both failed due to what were subsequently revealed to be defects in the design and lack of interest in the marketplace. The first-generation product was aimed at the application for which the technology was originally developed—–to provide developing nations with safe drinking water. Largely supported by foreign aid, the mini-oxidation system was field-tested by representatives from funding agencies. Unfortunately, the output water had a detectable odor which the funders found unacceptable. Despite assurances that ITC technicians could fix the problem, the trials failed to convert into orders. The team decided to refocus a second-generation product on specialized applications in Western countries where funding was more available. The plan was to develop a slightly modified version of the product and aim it at a potential market for military use and NGO disaster relief activities that Wagner had identified in her initial analysis. This decision was enormously disappointing to the Indian technologists who had developed the initial prototypes, and Vyas had to work hard to keep them on board . The second-generation product fixed the odor problem, but field trials showed that the solution caused the unit to consume too much power, requiring frequent battery replacement. Once again, no orders were forthcoming. While these trials were occurring, the filtration unit’s small R&D team in the United States persuaded Vyas to allow them to work with corporate R&D on an entirely new version of the product that would utilize ultrasound waves for water disinfection. High frequency vibrations were shown to control the growth of algae, organic waste, and bacteria such as E. coli. Market applications for this technology included treatment for clean water storage receptacles, public/private ponds, fish tanks, and ballast water. However, in 2006 this technology was still in the earliest stages of research and testing. New Oversight, New Discipline In January 2006, just as Vyas and the rest of the mini-oxidation team were launching their secondgeneration system, Cynthia Jackson was appointed vice president of the Water Management Division. Jackson’s attention was soon drawn to the troubled Filtration Unit which she felt needed to put much more rigor into the planning and analysis that supported their product development activities. According to Jackson: Peter Vyas seems to be an excellent talent manager. He was able to recruit and retain good people to his unit, and then build them into highly motivated teams on two different continents. He’s also shown himself to be an outstanding advocate for the group’s ideas -skilled at managing upward, gaining support, and running interference so his team can concentrate on the task at hand. And I’m aware that the company has high hopes for the Filtration Unit, but the results just are not there. In my view, the unit lacks discipline. They had a promising technology that was in search of a market, but had not done the work to nail down either. In the first meeting I had with them I explained that they would be developing any future proposals using a rigorous three-phase process linking market analysis and technological development to business planning. In her first meeting with Vyas, Jackson also made it clear that the unit’s continued existence was in jeopardy if they did not turn things around. Mini-Oxidation’s Third Launch Attempt To coordinate the third launch of the mini-oxidation system, Vyas assembled a single six-person development team with representatives from various functions located in the United States and India. Because Janice Wagner had demonstrated strong project management skills, Vyas named her  as the team leader. (Exhibit 3 details committee membership.) From the outset, the team was highly committed to the product and worked tirelessly  to complete Jackson’s three-phase process. Phase 1: General Product Concept and Market Analysis Wagner took the lead in preparing the Phase 1 requirement ‘‘to develop a general product concept supported by market research.’’ Having learned that the unit lacked the expertise to sell to developing markets, governments, and NGOs, she decided to focus additional research on U.S. data that seemed to indicate strong potential for a residential water purification system. She also decided to see if opportunities might exist in domestic agricultural applications. According to the Palmer Drought Index from April of 2006, 26% of the United States was considered in moderate to extreme drought conditions, and Wagner’s research showed that low rainfall, high wind, and rapid population growth in the Western and Southeastern regions of the country caused a major water scarcity problem for these areas. The resulting government-imposed water restrictions often led to severe limitations or outright bans of water used in residential landscape irrigation. Because re-use of waste water would serve conservation efforts while preserving residential landscaping, Wagner felt that the mini-oxidation system offered a perfect solution for the needs of homeowners in these drought-stricken areas. In addition, since the product would be used for irrigation and not for drinking water, the disinfection quality could be lowered and energy consumption would therefore be reduced compared to past product iterations. Wagner’s research on the U.S. water industry indicated that the domestic water-treatment equipment market generated sales of over $9 billion. (Exhibit 4 provides selected data from the research.) Residential water treatment products ranged from water filters that reduced sediment, rust, and chlorine odor (average retail price $50) to systems that provided more comprehensive household water purification (retail price $1,500 to $3,000). The research also showed that in-ground sprinkler systems cost between $1,800 and $4,000, and after conducting some industry interviews and focus groups, Wagner felt this was a good barometer of what a homeowner was willing to pay for a lush, green lawn. After discussing the product concept with the development committee members, the team decided to recommend a retail price of $2,000 ($1,000 wholesale price) for a residential irrigation mini-oxidation system (RIMOS) capable of supporting a 10,000 square-foot lawn. Pricing for an agricultural irrigation large oxidation system (AILOS) would be significantly less on a per-acre basis, with details to be developed only after further research had been done. Wagner and Vyas compiled the data and product concept information in a formal proposal for Jackson to approve. Jackson responded to the team’s Phase 1 proposal with a flurry of questions and challenges. She highlighted the sparseness of concrete market numbers and their lack of data on target markets. And when the team floated the idea of designing a larger-scale agricultural version of the system, she asked them to think about whether that would stretch resources too thin. With the whole company under pressure to trim budgets, J ackson asked the team to consider reducing the project’s costs by eliminating either the RIMOS or AILOS product. After some discussion, Vyas and his team agreed to focus future product development and marketing efforts on the RIMOS product for the U.S. market. Phase 2: Technical Specifications and Prototype Having won the approval of Phase 1, the team was now ready to begin the second phase of Jackson’s product development process. This involved designing actual product specifications and determining how to do this within the $1,000 wholesale price point that the group had determined was appropriate. A working prototype was also to be created as part of this phase. The team relied heavily on ITC expertise to adapt the existing product originally designed to provide potable water in remote locations, to one capable of processing wastewater for lawn irrigation. During this phase, several misunderstandings surfaced between team members in the United States and India. For example, Wagner became concerned when the Indian team  repeatedly missed design deadlines she had requested. When she confronted Div Verma, the lab leader responsible for the project, he responded tersely: Peter told us he wanted the new design to be flawless. I take that as my number one priority. We can’t meet this deliverable without proper testing. Why is everything so rushed with you? If we don’t have a perfect design, then we run the risk of failing a third time and that is not acceptable. My team will not provide designs for a prototype until we are sure that all the bugs have been worked out. We don’t want to be involved in another failure. Emphasizing the mandate to move quickly while ensuring product quality, Vyas mediated the disagreement by crafting a compromise that gave the Indian technical team a formal schedule allowing them two weeks of extra testing time. ‘‘I felt there was a mix of disappointment and pride that had to be dealt with,† said Vias. ‘‘I also told Div that this third generation product would give us the credibility to return to the developing world project.† Once the prototype was finished, the final designs and specs were again submitted for review. Jackson was impressed by the attention to detail in this latest iteration, but wanted to ensure that the team was fully utilizing the internal expertise available at ART. With Jackson’s help, Vyas tapped engineers and manufacturing managers from the HVAC and Healthcare Divisions who had expertise his team was lacking. He invited them to join his development team, and they quickly became deeply engaged in the project. They identified several design changes and production specifications that increased efficiency and lowered manufacturing costs. Phase 3: Business Plan The development of the business plan was the most difficult phase for Vyas and his team. They were unaccustomed to creating complex sales forecast models and cost estimates. But eventually they developed a detailed product concept, marketing approach, and manufacturing strategy for RIMOS, as well as sales forecasts, cost projections, and expense estimates. They also acknowledged that they still believed there was a significant market in water treatment for the developing world and in emergency relief work, but  these future options had not been included in the current forecasts or business plan. They hoped to explore these with the help of the Oil and Gas Division which had excellent international contacts. Jackson challenged the team’s pro forma financials which she felt lacked the data to support their assumptions. She asked the team to perform additional due diligence and to justify their assumptions. She also pushed back on the projected sales assumptions and suggested that the pro forma financials needed to be stress-tested. But after testing the analysis, Wagner felt her research was sound and was adamant about the size of the opportunity and their ability to capture the market. Vyas stood by Wagner and also defended the financial data which he felt had been carefully developed by the manufacturing and technology experts. Exhibit 5 summarizes the team’s sales and operating margin forecasts. The team acknowledged that its assumptions relied on the ability to gain access to the HVAC Group’s Residential Market Division. As Wagner pointed out, ART’s norms encouraged them to take advantage of these types of synergies, and they had good contacts in the division. However, the HVAC Residential Market Division’s senior executives had full discretion regarding the products distributed through its channels, and they had not yet made a formal decision about  Jackson also expressed her concerns with the $2,000 retail price point and pushed Vyas to clearly identify the risks associated with the plan. After further consideration, the team developed a risk assessment and response matrix, which they included in the business plan (Exhibit 6). The business plan revealed the need for $2 million in funding for beta batch production of RIMOS and the marketing budget to support its distribution and promotion. Toward a Decision: Go or No Go? An hour after receiving the investment proposal from his team, Vyas was still pacing back and forth trying to decide whether to support or reject their request for the $2 million in funding for RIMOS. He knew his development team was absolutely convinced it could succeed, but he also realized that the unit’s existence and even his own career were being openly questioned. Two floors above Vyas’s office, Jackson was also contemplating the RIMOS project. Having heard through the company grapevine that a funding request had been submitted to Vyas, she began to think about how she would handle the request if it was sent up to her. She had heard rumblings from other managers in her division that the Filtration Unit was a drain on division resources and that it was time to pull the plug on any additional funding. As a newly promoted division VP, Jackson understood that her actions would be closely watched. She wanted to make sure she did not drop the ball. Exhibit 1 ART Organization with Filtration Unit Detail Finance Engineering Legal R&D HR David Hall CEO Healthcare Executive VP Energy 3 divisions 17 business units 2 divisions 13 business units Power Generation Oil/Gas Extraction 4 business units 2 direct reports T. Smith Administration Cynthia Jackson VP Water Management Division 5 business units 3 other business units B. Brady R&D USA Industrial Automation W. Steilow Plant Superintendent 5 direct reports 40 plant personnel HVAC 3 divisions 14 business units Power Distribution 3 business units Peter Vyas Manager Filtration Unit J. Wagner Sales and Marketing 2 direct reports B. Wang Production Control P. Gupta Indian Technical Center Team 2 direct reports 3 direct reports Exhibit 2 Wagner’s List of Potential Markets Developing Nations †¢ Provide potable water solutions for areas with unsafe drinking water U.S. Residential †¢ Landscape irrigation †¢ Pools †¢ In-house water recirculation for non-drinking purposes (e.g., laundry, dishwashers, etc.) U.S. Commercial †¢ Restaurants †¢ Grocery stores †¢ Laundromats †¢ Linen/Uniform companies †¢ Farms †¢ Landscape irrigation U.S. and Overseas Emergency Units †¢ Disaster relief †¢ Military Exhibit 3 ART Mini Water Oxidation System—–Development Committee Team Structure New Product Introduction Team Members D. Verma R. Patel B. Wang H. Lewis J. Wagner T. Smith C. Corteza G. Steinberga Laboratory Leader—–Indian Technical Center Product Development—–Indian Technical Center Manufacturing Quality Assurance Marketing (TEAM LEADER) Project Administration HVAC Division Representative Healthcare Division Representative a Member from another unit of ART added in Phase 2 Exhibit 4 Market Research: Summary Data The U.S. Water Industry (Revenues in millions)a Water Treatment Equipment Delivery Equipment Chemicals Contract Operations Consulting/Engineering Maintenance Services Instruments and Testing Wastewater Utilities Drinking Water Utilities Total U.S. Water Industry $9,110 $11,660 $4,020 $2,350 $7,460 $1,780 $1,400 $34,130 $35,070 $106,980 s U.S. Residences (2000 Census) Total Housing Units Single-Family Detached Homes 116 million 70 million Drought Indicators (Palmer Drought Index 4/10/2006) % of the continuous U.S. in severe to extreme drought % of the continuous U.S. in moderate to extreme drought 13% 26% NOTE: Mini-Oxidation Systems are a â€Å"new-to-the-world† product with unknown market potential. a Source: Adapted from the Environmental Business Journal, 2006 Exhibit 5 Summary Sales and Profit Forecast for RIMOS 2007 Forecast Sales ( $ millions) Forecast Operating Income (%) Exhibit 6 2008 2009 2010 2011 $ 5.45 10% $ 7.08 15% $ 8.86 20% $ 10.89 20% $ 13.07 20% Summary Risk Analysis and Risk Mitigation for RIMOS Risk Level Plan May not gain market acceptance High – Ensure HVAC distribution support Highlight ART name Supplement marketing budget for product launch Product design flaws Medium – Monitor beta batch closely Price point too high Medium – Quantify customer savings from increased water efficiency Provide sales training to distributors Emerging competition Low – Get to market first Leverage ART global presence, technical support, supplier relationships, and distribution network

Innovation Essay Essay

Tom Scott and Tom First founded Nantucket Nectars in 1990 as a small side-business on Nantucket’s Straight Wharf. A peach fruit juice drink that Tom First discovered while visiting Spain inspired him and his partner to embark upon the journey of building their juice company. After only six years, the two entrepreneurs built a business that was generating $29,493,000 per year in revenue and $969,000 in EBITDA. With remarkable success came exciting opportunities, as well as challenging decisions. Specifically, Tom and Tom were faced with the dilemma of taking the company down one of three roads including: taking the company public via IPO, selling the business, or continuing to grow and run the business independently. Tantamount to these decisions, the founders had additional questions on their minds – How should the company be valued? How could they ensure price maximization? How would the negotiations be handled? Could they engage potential buyers without existing employees find out? At the end of the day, the decision was more personal than anything. It’s never easy for an Entrepreneur to rationalize â€Å"selling out† after they’ve spent so much time building and developing their baby. Nevertheless, it’s often the best decision. In this paper I will explore the Pros and Cons of selling Nantucket Nectar, along with how to determine an appropriate value for the company. The first option to be explored was remaining independent. One of their concerns was management involvement of any potential strategic partner, or buyer. Tom and Tom wanted to run the company, if possible. If they remained independent then they would still be the autonomous owners of Nantucket Nectars and they wouldn’t have to worry about listening to anybody else telling them how to operate, or grow the company. Also, a benefit of remaining independent was the preservation of the company’s brand which was built upon two entrepreneurs, Tom and Tom. They used their story as part of the branding and the market enjoyed it. Selling out could create some negative public relations. Remaining independent was an opportunity to remain in control of their public image. Independence isn’t entirely positive, though. A negative aspect of remaining independent would be the lack of distribution support – their growth capabilities would be limited. In contract, if they were to sell to a larger organization with robust infrastructure they could enlarge their footprint more rapidly. Another con of remaining independent would limit the founders from entering into new ventures that might be more appealing to their sense of entrepreneurialism. Remaining with Nantucket Nectars, to some, could be stifling. Regardless, it would certainly limit their ability to grow from within. Capital was less readily available to Tom and Tom and the support of a larger scale investor could bring some immediate excitement. Another con of remaining independent is the insulation against catastrophic events, or litigation. As a small, independently owned business there is typically more risk involved from a litigation standpoint. Although companies are insured, the sheer expense of seeking legal counsel has a greater negative impact upon smaller businesses than larger conglomerates like Tropicana, or Pepsi, who have large departments of in house counsels. The second option available to Nantucket Nectar is to sell the business. In reviewing their financial performance (see Exhibit 1), we notice that the business has had several years where they were profitable. Their EBTIDA was strong over the past two years (1995 & 1996), thus making them more marketable. From a seller’s perspective, this might be n favorable time to sell. Also, a benefit of selling is the immediate influx of cash that would be available as a result of the buyout. Tom and Tom would have financial independence which, for an entrepreneur, can be the greatest state of being. This would afford them both an opportunity to regroup, reenergize, and focus on new business ventures. Many entrepreneurs enjoy the early â€Å"start-up† phases of the business cycle. Of course, selling a business has its drawbacks, as well. First, the buyer often requires that the management team from the acquisition target stay on board for a specific period of time and achieve certain key performance indicators before receiving the entire payout. Often, there is a lump sum delivered up front, and then incremental payouts upon achieving KPI’s. This could be frustrating to Tom and Tom, as they would relinquish all of their independent decision-making powers and have to take the back seat as employees. Typically, this is not a comfortable position for entrepreneurs to take. Also, Tom and Tom built up a loyal and talented staff of employees at Nantucket Nectar. Acquisitions are typically driven by synergies and, as a result, certain employees could be terminated in pursuit of cost savings. Finally, Tom and Tom would have to deal with the fact that their company culture would be at risk. Often, the buyers culture engulfs that of the company being acquired. The third option available to Tom and Tom is taking the company public, or an IPO (Initial Public Offering). The most obvious advantage of going public is that Nantucket Nectar would have an immediate influx of capital available due to the sale of its stock. With excess capital available, they could purchase assets for distribution and manufacturing, invest in advertising and marketing, and continue to fuel the expansion of the business. Going public also creates a type of currency in the form of its stock that Nantucket Nectar can use to make acquisitions. In addition, they will likely have access to capital markets for future financing needs. As is typically the case, Nantucket Nectar’s debt-to-equity ratio will improve after the IPO, allowing them to obtain more favorable loan terms from lenders. Another benefit of going public is that Tom and Tom may be able to retain a certain degree of control. If they opted to sell common stock to venture capitalists to raise money rather than doing an IPO, the purchasers would probably require some decision-making authority. As entrepreneurs, Tom and Tom would have a hard time relinquishing decision making authority. 1 Initial public offerings have negative aspects, as well. First, going public is not inexpensive. Multiple areas of expertise are required to execute the process, including lawyers, accountants, and consultants. This could get expensive for Nantucket Nectar. Another disadvantage of going public is that public companies operate under close scrutiny. The prospectus reveals substantial information about the company including transactions with management, executive compensation and prior violations of securities laws. This may be information the company would prefer to keep private. In my opinion, the most difficult thing for Tom and Tom to deal with would be the decision-making process. From the case study, we see that they are informal, salt-of-the-earth individuals. Taking the company public would mean that they would have to become more formal and less flexible due to the shareholders. They would no longer have complete control of the company. They would have to share in the decision making process2 VALUATION As an adviser to Nantucket Nectar, there are several approaches that can be taken toward determining the worth of the business. Ultimately, the value of the business is whatever a buyer is willing to pay for it. From a negotiating standpoint, Tom and Tom need to determine what they believe is the value in order to set an expectation upon engaging in negotiations. Multiple companies are expressing interest due to the boom in the New Age beverage market and Nantucket Nectar’s competitive advantages. The first thing to understand when determining the value of a business is their brand equity. Nantucket Nectar has a lot of value in the brand they’ve created and the value drivers, as determined by Tom and Tom, are listed in Exhibit 2. Nantucket Nectar created a fun and memorable story – the â€Å"juice guys† are unforgettable. The value drivers go beyond financial figures found on the P&L, balance sheet and cash flow statement. They are the intangible assets that management has built on their own – also referred to as Goodwill. Goodwill is seen as an intangible asset on the balance sheet because it is not a physical asset like buildings or equipment. Goodwill typically reflects the value of intangible assets such as a strong brand name (ie Nantucket Nectars), good customer relations, good employee relations and any patents or proprietary technology. 3 These intangible assets can be the most important valuation drivers to consider when placing a value upon a business. I used several methods to determine the value of Nantucket Nectar. First, I utilized the Market Approach. The Market Approach is a multi-step process. In the initial step, we compute the average Price-Earnings (P-E) Ratio for as many similar businesses as possible. Then, you multiply the average P-E Ratio by next year’s forecasted earnings. I used 26. 9x (see Exhibit 3) as the P-E Ratio and multiplied it times $2,234 (see Exhibit 4), which is Nantucket’s forecasted earnings for 1997. The value equals $60,094,600. This would be a good starting point for Tom and Tom to being their negotiations. The second method I used is the Capitalized Earnings Method which is the Net Earnings divided by the Rate of Return. However, I used the forecasted earnings for the upcoming year, $2,234,000. I used a discount rate of 12% based upon the rates utilized in the Discounted Future Earnings model (see Exhibit 5). If we divide $2,234,000 by 12% it gives us a value of $18,616,667. More than likely, this is the number that an investment bank would place upon the business, as a starting point for negotiations. I also calculated the book value of Nantucket Nectar, and then integrated â€Å"goodwill† for the value drivers in Exhibit 2. The book value is $12,747,000, however I don’t believe the goodwill is correctly accounted for. This need to be reevaluated. Nantucket Nectar would be selling their business, on a large part, due to their intangible brand value. This could justify a 2x or 3x multiple times book value, to arrive at an adjusted book value rate. My recommendation to Tom and Tom would be to sell their business and use the Market Rate approach towards determining the value. I think this is a fair way to view the business because it helps to frame the perspective in a similar light to other companies who have follow a similar course within the same business segment. I would not advocate an IPO due to the scrutiny the shareholders will place upon the business. I believe selling the business presents an ideal scenario because they could negotiation the level of involvement they want in the future while, at the same time, they would have enough cash to pursue other entrepreneurial ventures. Exhibit 2 – Value Drivers (determined by founders) Great product: great tasting, all natural product Ability to exploit small, rapidly changing market opportunities Current Management Team A more appealing story than any other juice beverage company (great material for a company with a large marketing budget and more distribution power) Value of the brand: quirky, eccentric and memorable A stabilizing cost structure Geographic expansion capabilities: current sales base and future sales base Access to the 18-34 market Management’s knowledge of and experience with the single-serve business: ability to add value to large player rolling out new single serve products Last good access to single-serve distribution in the New Age beverage market Guerrilla marketing skills Best vehicle for juice companies to expand into juice cocktail category without risking their own brand equity