Poor infrastructure Essay Example

Poor infrastructure Essay Mozambique is still relatively poor as a country in economic terms, although it is rich in others such as copious fishing waters that are underused in the global markets due to poor infrastructure. Mozambique was lead by the Portuguese government who were ill equipped to compete adequately on an international and global level. When globalisation took off in other African states, Mozambique was left behind, and never had an industrial revolution. This meant that although there was plenty of opportunity to further develop the country and equip it with the ability to trade on global levels, other capitalist states and markets were far more advanced, with a good infrastructure that opened them up to the markets. The people of Mozambique were poorly educated, many of them illiterate, and because of this they were exploited by other nations. Many of the countries inhabitants are rough peasants and this exploitation led to a fascist dictatorship. They did not have the opportunities like other countries such as Ghana under the leadership of Nkrumah. Places like this could colonise as the leaders had skewed their colonies and economies and bequeathed more education to its inhabitants. Mozambique was never going to be able to match the massive trading powers of France and Britain, as Portugal had never prepared it to do so. Portugal had exploited it but not developed it. The idea behind neocolonisation was to allow maintenance of economic control but allowing it no input. There were no representatives around the table to help with the management of decolonisation. We will write a custom essay sample on Poor infrastructure specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Poor infrastructure specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Poor infrastructure specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The only way that Portugal could decolonise Mozambique was through a bloody battle, often in a very vicious manner. The advancing system of France meant also meant that their military were stretched to the limits in trying to protect its country, but stood no chance and were often abandoned, as happened in the civil war. Prior to all this all decisions about the country had gone through the president in Paris, who operated in a Masonic way. Post-modern ideas of independence for Mozambique were hindered by the failure of the Westminster model of government, due to incompatibilities and ill equipped governments. There were often visible aspects of leaders becoming economy holders of the empire of entrepreneurship. Mozambiques problems were confounded and exacerbated by the civil aid programmes that supposedly came to help them. The growth centred approach to poverty only compounded this further. Targeted intervention was of no use as the poverty was so widespread. The average wage was well below the poverty line and there was an even harder exertion for the women to secure rewards that were commensurate with their contributions to the independence struggle. They were often given the opportunity to go to the markets with their produce but were then taxed heavily, and losing out on any sort of profit they may have made, basically a form of legalised extortion. Problems with landmines meant that the land was very dangerous to work on, with a high risk of injury or death. These also helped to slow down economic redevelopment. Many of us will remember the campaigns that were led by Princess Diana showing the terrible injuries that people had suffered through landmines detonating as they worked. There was a plea for international aid to be brought in to clear away the landmines and to give the people a fair chance to improve themselves and their towns. By implementing harsh and complicated economic pressures on its people, this is difficult enough in a wealthy modern state, the picture is even worse when we talk about African countries. The problems with a rapidly collapsing infrastructure, or as in the case of Mozambique, a non existent infrastructure, alongside its entrenched parastatal sector hostile to any change, which may threaten its interests, the problems not only escalate but become utterly formidable. In addition to this, the private sector becomes a strange amalgamation of disparate unrelated components. It consists of large multinationals, medium local sized organisations usually run by Asians, and a huge informal sector that largely comprises of peasant farmers. This means that the private sector is unbalanced and isolated to some extent. Considering all these points it is clear that there should be no rush for the imposition of multi party democracies and an unfettered market economy, even if it was possible to do so for Mozambique. Surely any change should be done gradually, with long term strategies that work alongside and slowly change the present systems. To sum up, arguments for structural adjustment policies of the International Monetary Fund, and lately on an increasing level in the World Bank, only focus on the microeconomic structures, and not the macroeconomic structures of all African countries including Mozambique. One must recognise the role played by recession in the West, due to declining terms of trade for primary products and the oil crisises. Those who believe in structural adjustment believe that the majority of african states share a common state corporatism that is economically corrosive and unproductive. Originally the motivation behind these programmes was to liberalise trade, reduce the role of government and parastate industries in the economy, and to end various subsidies to various sections of the population. It was believed that this would end the balance of payment crises and therefore promote economic growth. By the early 1990s it had been shown that this was not actually the case and that policy based lending had not acheived the intended goals. A new policy was now required to correct this, and the International Monetary Fund now decided that they needed to create a series of rational law based societies throughout sub-Saharan africa. This policy would need to make it clear that investment decisions were to be made on economic grounds, rather than on politically motivated grounds. This plainly put any emphasis of blame, due to previous policy failure, about the economic crisis in Mozambique and esoecially in Mozambique, was laregely a creation of the individual african states themselves. This removed any liability and responsibility on the west, protecting its own interests again. If there is no benefit to themselves there is a reluctance to become involved in the countries problems. The retention of these types of attitudes mean that Mozambiques problems are unlikely to see any significant change in the near future. There will be change but only very slowly as discussed earlier. In my beleif I think the Mozambique people have always been given a rough deal, and cannot see that it will change quickly, as the people who hold the power and capability to enforce change are fearful that they may lose some independance, i. e. the middle class bourguoise. The fear of a lack of control for those in the city, means that the poorer members of society are repressed continually, and because they do not have the capability or knowledge to do something about it, it is unlikely that it will change. I agree that the support given through international aid is necessary, but it should be helping the peasant farmers and the poorer members of society, not just the big boys in the city. This only extenuates the gap between the haves and have nots. Bibliography Tordoff W. Government and politics in Africa. (3rd ed) 1997. Macmillan press. London Clapham. C. Third World politics: an introduction. 1985. Croom Helm. London Chabal. P. Political Domination in Africa. Reflections on the limits of power. 1986. Canbridge University Press. London Cammack P. Capitalism and democracy in the Third . World. 1997. Leicester University Press. Leicester.. McLean. I. Concise dictionary of politics. 1996. Oxford University Press. Oxford. Webliography  https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office

Shylock From the Merchant of Venice Character Analysis

Shylock From the Merchant of Venice Character Analysis A  Shylock character analysis can tell us a lot about The Merchant of Venice. Shylock, the Jewish moneylender is the villain of the play and the audience response  depends on how he is portrayed in performance. An actor will hopefully be able to extract sympathy for Shylock from the audience, despite his vengeful bloodthirsty and greedy proclivities. Shylock  the Jew His position as a Jew is made much of in the play and in Shakespeare’s Britain some might argue, that this would have positioned him as a baddy, however, the Christian characters in the play are also open to criticism and as such Shakespeare is not necessarily judging him for his religious belief but demonstrating intolerance in both religions. Shylock refuses to eat with the Christians: Yes, to smell pork, to eat of the habitation which your prophet the Nazerite conjured the devil into! I will buy with you, sell with you, talk to you, walk with you, and so following, but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you. He also questions the Christians for their treatment of others: ...what these Christians are, Whose own hard dealings teaches them to suspect the thoughts of others! Could Shakespeare be commenting here on the way Christians converted the world to their religion or on the way that they treat other religions? Having said this, there are a lot of insults leveled at Shylock merely based on his being a Jew, many suggesting that he is akin to the devil: A modern audience may find these lines insulting. A modern audience would surely consider his religion to be of no consequence in terms of his status as a villain, he could be considered a reprehensible character who also happens to be a Jewish man. Must Jessica convert to Christianity in order to be accepted by Lorenzo and his friends? This is the implication. That the Christian characters are considered the goodies in this narrative and the Jewish character the baddy of the piece, suggests some judgment against being Jewish. However, Shylock is permitted to give as good as he gets against Christianity and is able to level similar insults as he receives. Shylock  the Victim To an extent, we feel sorry for Shylock’s victimization based solely on his Jewishness. Apart from Jessica who converts to Christianity, he is the only Jewish character and it feels he is somewhat ganged up on by all of the other characters. Had he just have been ‘Shylock’ without the religion, almost certainly one could argue a modern audience would have less sympathy for him? As a result of this assumption, would Shakespeare’s audience have had less sympathy for him because of his status as a Jew? Shylock  the Villain? Shylock’s position as a villain per se is possible to debate. Shylock is sticking to his bond to his word. He is true to his own code of conduct. Antonio signed that bond and promised that money, Shylock has been wronged; he has had his money stolen from him by his daughter and Lorenzo. However, Shylock is offered three times his money back and he still demands his pound of flesh; this moves him into the realms of villainy. It depends on his portrayal as to how much an audience has sympathy for his position and character as to how much he is judged at the end of the play. He is certainly left at the end of the play with very little to his name, although at least he is able to keep his property until his death. I think it would be difficult not to feel some sympathy for Shylock as all the characters celebrate at the end while he is all alone. It would be interesting to revisit Shylock in the years following and find out what he did next. â€Å"The devil can cite scripture for his purpose† (Act 1 Scene 3)â€Å"Certainly the Jew is the very devil incarnation;† (Act 2 Scene 2)

The 4 Different Types of Financial Aid Expert Guide

The 4 Different Types of Financial Aid Expert Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips There are so many different types of financial aid out there, with some serving you better than others. This guide will demystify everything you need to know about the types of aid available to students. I’ll start with the various options available to you and include examples that you can check out for yourself. Then, I’ll tell you exactly where and how you can get your hands on this financial aid money. Finally, I’ll explain which types of aid you should take advantage of - and which types you should stay away from. Let's get started! What Are the Different Types of Financial Aid? Tackling financial aid can be overwhelming, but you might be relieved to know that there are only a few different types of aid out there. Once you get the basic info on each category of aid, you’ll be much better informed when it comes to getting the most (and the best) funding. The main differentiating factors between each aid category are: How you get the money Why you get the money Whether you have to pay the money back Here are the main aid types you should know about before you start looking for funding for college: Grants Grants are monetary awards that are typically based on financial need. If you receive a grant, you don’t have to repay the money at any point. Example: Pell Grant Loans Loans are sums of money that you borrow and then pay back on a monthly basis after you graduate. In addition to the original amount that you borrow (the principle), you’ll also be responsible for paying back an extra percentage of the loan amount (interest). Examples: Direct loans (subsidized and unsubsidized), Stafford loan, Perkins loan, Private loan Scholarships Scholarships are monetary awards similar to grants - you don’t have to pay them back at any point. Unlike grants, however; they’re often based on factors other than financial need, although need may be taken into account. Ultimately, scholarship eligibility can be based on almost anything depending on the goals of the person or entity that’s funding the scholarship. To give you some examples, here are some student characteristics that many scholarship programs tend to look for in their applicants: Strong academic records Volunteer experience Particular ethnic background Artistic skill Sports prowess Entrepreneurial interests Political ambitions Career goals Some combination of the above Examples: Gates Millennium, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Tylenol, Florida Bright Futures, Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Minority scholarships Work-Study A work-study award is a type of need-based â€Å"self-help† financial aid in the form of a wage subsidy. Ultimately, it’s meant to help students get jobs (especially on campus) because the subsidy makes the students less expensive for certain employers to hire. Some student jobs only hire people who have work-study awards. The work-study award pays for part of your hourly salary, and your employer pays the rest. You only â€Å"get† the money if you get a student job, and you don’t get any extra funding on top of your salary. The average work-study award is about $1,500, but the annual maximum tops out at $7,000. Check out our guide to the federal work study program to learn more. A student job might not be the most exciting way to get financial aid, but it can come with some perks. What Are the Most Important Sources of Financial Aid? Although there are only a few types of aid, funding for school can come from a bunch of different sources. The way you go about getting aid depends, of course, on where the money’s coming from. The main sources of student aid in the US are the federal government, state governments, the schools themselves, private organizations, and banks. Here, I’ll break down how you’d go about getting aid funding from each of these sources. Federal Financial Aid Types of aid given:Grants, loans, and work-study Aid eligibilitycriteria:There are quite a few eligibility criteria when it comes to accessing federal student aid. Although they may seem complicated, most of them aren’t hard to meet - the big things are that you have to have a high school diploma or GED, and you have to be accepted to a degree or certificate program. To make sure you meet all the necessary eligibility criteria, read our comprehensive guide to getting federal financial aid. How to apply:You apply for federal aid with theFree Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. You only have to submit this one application in order to be considered for any and all forms of federal aid. You can even estimate your aid eligibility before you submit your FAFSA if you’re interested in knowing beforehand how much (and what types) of aid you’re likely to be awarded by using the FAFSA4caster. Examples: Pell Grant, federal loans State Financial Aid Different states have their own protocols, budgets, and eligibility criteria when it comes to state-based financial aid. Some states may use the FAFSA whereas others may have their own processes for determining aid eligibility (like Florida). You'll have to do your own research on your state of residency. Read moreabout state financial aid optionshere. Aid From Your School Types of aid given: Primarily grants and scholarships, sometimes loans Aid eligibility criteria:Some schools offer only need-based financial aid in the form of grants. If you get into the school, then you’re automatically eligible for need-based aid as determined by the school’s financial aid policies. The most generousfinancial aid policies are often based solely on need. Some schools offer need-based and merit-based financial aid. Eligibility criteria for merit-based scholarships might depend on your GPA, standardized test scores, or sports performance. How to apply:Many schools use the FAFSA to determine eligibility for need-based financial aid. Schools automatically get your FAFSA info if you list them on your application. Your college applications will also often serve as an automatic scholarship application - the admissions or financial aid office will offer scholarships to particularly competitive students in order to persuade them to attend that school. Some school-based scholarships have separate applications, however. I’d encourage you to check out theschool’s financial aid website (or contact theirfinancial aid officer) if you have questions about additional scholarship opportunities that might be available. Aid FromPrivate Organizations or Nonprofits Types of aid given: Primarily scholarships and grants Aid eligibility criteria:Eligibility criteria varies widely based on the type of student that each scholarship or grant program is targeting. The most common criteria centers around US citizenship and academic performance, but check out the scholarships listed earlierfor more examples. How to apply:There are some umbrella organizations where one application will allow you to beconsidered for multiple scholarships (e.g. the Hispanic Scholarship Fund). Most of the time, though, you have to submit a separate application for each scholarship program that you’re interested in. Often there’s overlap in what information scholarship applications ask for, so you may be able to recycle parts of your applications (like essays, for example). Examples:Check out our lists of top scholarships for high school juniors and seniors Aid From Banks and Financial Institutions Types of aid given:This is where you go if you need access to private loans Aid eligibility criteria:This will vary based on which institution you go to and how much money you’re looking to take out. Basically, you'll have to show that you’re responsible and reliable so that banks trust that you’ll pay themoney back. You can do this with a good credit history. The problem is that most young people don’t really have a credit history, which means that most students who want to take out private loans need someone else (usually a parent) with good credit to cosign on the loan. How to apply:You’d have to work directly with a bank to apply forthe student loans you hope to take out. It involves submitting personal and financial information to the financial institution. For more information, check out our step-by-step guide to getting a student loan. What Are the Best Types of Financial Aid? What Are the Worst? Although all of the above forms of financial aid can help you pay for school, not all of them come with the same perks and benefits. There are some types of aid that’ll serve you better in the long run. I’ve organized categories of aid into tiers, with Tier 1 being the most desirable and Tier 3 being the least desirable. You should pursue aid in this order - seek out Tier 1 aid first before filling any gaps with Tier 2 and 3. Think of your financial aid options like tiers on a really delicious cake: you shouldn't start cutting just anywhere! Tier 1: Grants and Scholarships Grants and scholarships are the most desirable forms of financial aid because they come in the form of free money, often with no strings attached. Some grants and scholarships are applied right to your bill - you often see this with federal and school-based aid. When this happens you don't actually see the money - you just see a lower (or even non-existent) bill. Other grants and scholarships are given directly to you. This means you have more freedom with how the money's spent, but it also means you haveto be responsible with money management. Ultimately, it's best to apply grant and scholarship money to academic bills first before using funds to pay for other things. Tier 2: Federal Loans and Federal Work Study Tier 2 offers some solid options for students and families who still need to cover costs after looking into grants and scholarships. These options don’t come in the form of â€Å"free† money, but that doesn’t mean they don’t come with some benefits. Federal Loans You have to pay federal loansback, so they’re obviously not as desirable as grants or scholarships. That being said, federal loans can come with perks that you won’t find with any other borrowing options. Many federal loan options come with competitive interest rates, lengthygrace periods, options for forgiveness or cancellation, and flexible repayment plans. If you have to borrow money, borrow federal loans first before turning to any private lenders. Work Study With a work study award, you don’t have to borrow any money at all. You do, however, have to get a job in order to see any cash. The good news is that the money you earn is yours to spend or save as you see fit. Check out our guide to the federal work study program to learn more. Tier 3: Private Loans You should only look into private loans if you can’t cover your expenses after getting as much Tier 1 and Tier 2 money as possible. You can borrow responsibly with private loans, but borrowing terms tend to be less favorable than what you’d see with federal loans. First, it'spretty much necessary to have a cosigner on a private loan if you don’t have a credit history - this means that someone else is on the hook for your debt if you're unable to pay back what you borrow. They don't comewithoptions for loan cancellation or forgiveness. Finally,private loans tend to have higher interest rates than federal loans because they're not subsidized. The bottom line: you ending up paying more in the long run with private loans than with other forms of financial aid. Final Thoughts: Paying for College Responsibly The average sticker price for a college education is pretty high these days - too high for the typical student to take on by herself. As a result, most US college students relies heavily on financial aid to help fund their education. Sometimes, it’s a bit too easy to take out large amounts of student loans (especially private loans) to cover high college expenses. Although this investment can pay off in the long run for some students, student loans can turn into a frustrating burden for many others. It’s important to take a long-term perspective when considering student loan options. For example, you may want to ask yourselfthe following: How much do you anticipate making after graduation, given your career goals? How much would your total monthly payment (principle + interest) be for all your loans after you graduate? Could you afford to make this monthly payment after covering all anticipated living expenses? Before you take on large student loans, talk to potential cosigners, parents, and guardians. Finally, it would be wise to get the perspective of a trusted college counselor orfinancial advisor before committing to paying back large sums of money. People with this type of experience may be able to point you in the rightdirection when it comes to paying for your education. "Paying for college responsibly" is code for "not taking out more loans than you can handle." What's Next? Now that you've covered the basics, you can start thinking strategically about how to budget for a college education. You might want to begin by learning about how, when, and why to save for college. After that, you should check out our complete guide to covering your college expenses. Knowing how to apply for financial aid is an important part of covering college expenses, of course. Maybe you have more complicated challenges ahead of you. If so, you might want to read more about how to pay for college without parents' help andhow to pay for college without loans. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Renaissance Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Renaissance Art - Essay Example He had a lot of interest in science and produced pieces of unprecedented work during his time. He sold a lyre that he had fashioned to Lorenzo de Medici that was in the shape of the skull of a horse. It was supposed to be sent to Ludovico Sforza of Milan (Worldly Goods 564). Instead of giving the piece of artwork to Lorenzo de Medici to deliver it, he decided to do it by himself. He was then persuaded to remain in Milan by his host and this is where he painted the famous mural The last Supper on the wall of the monastery. (Painting of the last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci) His work of Raphael was preferred by Pope Leo X and earned him the position of court painter in France. His greatest piece of work was the painting of the Mona Lisa, which remains outstanding up to date. Michaelangelo Buonarroti at the age of 23 carved the pieta which brought him to fame instantly. This was first followed by his sculptor of King David that was equally a success. This made him become the symbol of al l the prospering artists in Florence. His ceiling paintings also remain to be one of the greatest undertakings of all time. Raphael was the leading painter of the renaissance period and is credited with painting The school of Athens that depicted an imaginary meeting of all the famous philosophers. This piece of work earned him the chance to paint for papal commissions which he did for the rest of his life (Guido 360). The last of the greatest artists of the renaissance period is Titian who distinguished himself from the other artists through the use of new techniques that imbued the bright colors with greater depth and subtlety. Conclusion The artists of the high renaissance period picked their commissions and didn’t have to wander from... The major characteristic of the artists in this period is that they searched for human emotion and realism in art through the use of the human method.The artists of the early renaissance period aimed at portraying human forms that appeared as if they had life in order to keep up with the spirit of humanism. They had realistic expressions and clothing that were proportional to the human beings. New techniques were developed by these artists to give the paintings a more three dimensional appearance. In order for them to achieve this, they had to study human and animal anatomy to come up with a more realistic presentation. The artists of the high renaissance period picked their commissions and didn’t have to wander from one city to the other in search of commissions like their predecessors. Their work was more refined and was highly demanded thus earning them many contracts. They changed the order of things as they shifted away from the traditional art and came up with their own philosophy on how things should be done. Their paintings still remain significant up to date owing to their unique nature and stylistic devices employed. They gave art a whole different humanistic approach that completely changed the manner in which artists carried out their business.

Current Business Process Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Current Business Process Summary - Essay Example The network configuration has two segments linked by a network bridge (Apollo Group, 2013). administration network set up. The company uses an integrated method to satisfy their network requirement (Apollo Group, 2013). The network configuration is 1000BaseT and every department applies on different standard. For instance, the radiology utilizes 1000 BaseF. On the general idea of the logical network configurations, it is revealed that the hospital utilizes 1000 BaseT applying CAT6 cable to wards, labs, emergency room, and pharmacy. The 1000Base permits existing copper line to be utilized instead of having to re-cable with optical fiber. The 1000BaseT utilizing CAT6 is linked to 1000baseF with single mode fiber by a structure bridge. It provides more cabling strategy to assist a support cable setting up that is inexpensive (Apollo Group, 2013). Company applies 1000BaseT since they already utilize CAT-S wiring so 1000BaseT can be enforced easily. According to network work experts such as Healey (Tyler, 2007), 1000Base-T is intended to function over 4-pair UTP data cable. The 1000baseF is a 1000-Mbps bundle specification for Ethernet interconnection over optical fibers. The Hospital also utilize backbone network configuration of 1000 BaseT. The business process of the company is to expand and the network overview above gives bit the chance to implement such expansion. FPCH is currently opting to expand its functions and is faced with three choices: going communal through an IPO, acquisition or merging with a different hospital. In order for this health facility to make the best choices, the management must compare and contrast the diverse strategies by considering the subsequent: strengths and weaknesses, threats, opportunities and effects of globalization. The strength and opportunity that has been revealed in this paper is the present network capability that gives them advantage and also provides opportunities for

Impact of Human Capital on Economic Development

Impact of Human Capital on Economic Development How human capital contributes to economic development? Introduction The education of a country plays a fundamental role in the development and economic growth since its beginnings in the scientific and intellectual revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and then the age of enlightenment which corresponds to the eighteenth century where the idea of progress was transmitted, this philosophy comes from the last century. Human capital has been an issue that has caused controversy over its role in the Industrial Revolution. Most economists and economic historians have investigated how the human capital has a major impact on economic performance in a country. The main reason is that individuals invest in education, acquire skills and expertise. This means that everything that they have learned throughout their life is an investment in human capital which in turn seek an economic return. Education provides a high-income to the people and therefore to the economy of their country. It is essential to analyze the contribution of human capital in the economy. In the development of this essay we will explain two theories that are studied when analyzing education variable, these theories are the human capital theory and signaling theory. The question that comes to the mind is whether a high growth of general education generates high economic growth or vice versa? According to the theory and empirical evidence shows that education is leading a high level of economic growth, ie, that there is causality. There are different approaches to private and social returns to education but most empirical studies are based on private returns. The problems that arise in the measurement of education on economic growth of a country are omitted variables and reverse causality. Intellectual Origins of Modern Economic Growth In the sixteenth century the Baconian program diffused knowledge and natural philosophy was applied to solve problems with technology and get economic growth, in this century scientific advances were crucial for industrialization. While in the seventeenth century began the age of enlightenment where institutions encouraged and promoted knowledge and technological advancement, this process without the Industrial Revolution would not have had the same impact. After the the emergence of the countries in the Industrial Revolution some countries became members of the club convergence. Mokyr (2005) argues that the age of enlightenment produced a high level of technological progress. A great and interesting question that we discuss always is why not everyone is developed? According to history, economic growth has been dependent on the diffusion of knowledge. Since the Second World War is a phenomenon the growth of education in almost all countries. David Landes says that The heart of any process of industrialization and economic development is the intellectual. It is important to point out that the technology transfer can be considered as an educational process. Learning certainly depends on the priority to be given to education. Therefore, public policy should address strategies to improve the education system in a country. When laws are proposed to develop a quality educational system we seek the effect of education on economic growth or vice versa? According to the theory, economic growth is a cause of educational growth, but it has also happened independently. Effects of human capital in the economy and its relationship with other variables We ask ourselves whether the expansion of quality education contributes to the development and growth of a country or region? Bjorkland A. and Lindahl M. (2005) argue that the contribution of education to economic development is overestimated and that social returns are not as great as the individual returns (per capita), while others say that the individual returns are larger than social. The main reason is that the contribution of education to the production of the society is lower than the effects of individual income or per capita. There are contradictory arguments about the role of human capital on the development and economic growth, for example, that neither had a big impact nor was the cause of the Industrial Revolution. Baten and Zanden J. L. argue that countries with low human capital had no effect on the Industrial Revolution while countries with better conditions reached the level of Great Britain and other countries surpassed it. Before the seventeenth century, the formation of human capital had a positive impact. The great divergence occurred in the period 1800-1913 where countries with high levels of human capital participated in the Industrial Revolution while less developed countries had no impact. Traditional research has shown that human capital is directly related to individual earnings and aggregate economic growth rate of countries. The problem arises when the amount of education is a premature measure of human capital, especially when the level of human capital between countries is compared. Many of the empirical evidence on human capital until 1990 was based on the amount of education such as the number of years of education. There are discrepancies when data is used for comparisons between countries, it is more reliable to use data of regions within a country (Bjorklund A. Lindahl and M, 2005). The problems of such studies are data limitations that make it difficult to find comparable results across countries. For example if someone might think that a year of education in Ecuador is as productive as one year in Sweden. The person in mention would have to assume that the quality of the education system is identical in the two countries. This causes a problem in the estimation of the allocation of education on economic growth because information is omitted, which in turn generates biased and inconsistent estimates. This could have a negative impact to the educational policies of the countries. For the above reasons, it is necessary to incorporate the quality of education in order to have more reliable results using standardized data of math and science rather than years of schooling data. This variable allows us to consider aspects that are omitted in the measures of amount of education that are often used as proxy for human capital. This means that it is better to use quality indicators that quantity indicators of human capital. According to researchers, when education is measured by quality indicators that reflect the skills and abilities acquired in the work, is what really matters when the economic growth and development is analyzed. In the field of politics, this makes that educational policies be produced, focusing on improving educational attainment and teaching skills and technical knowledge. In addition to, the importance to identify the educational reforms that will need to be undertaken in order to be effective, so that will result in a widespread economic growth. Besides the problems of measures of skill, underestimation of income and consumption and heterogeneity of educational systems, the main topic of discussion among researchers is the inclusion of unobservable factors such as innate ability in the wage equation. Therefore, in order to determine the income of individuals is necessary to know their productivity levels, and assume that these depend only on the years of training and experience, but it is not fully adjusted to the reality. There is causality between education and economic growth? According to studies of comparisons among countries, it has its limitation in the database and we cannot know with certainty whether more education leads to an increase of the GDP or a high GDP causes an increase in the demand of education in the society. A high level of education increases innovation and therefore to a higher economic growth. . One of the main factors that causes an increase in the childrens education is the education of parents. In turn, there is a relationship between education and other variables such as health, life expectancy, crime and political participation. Bjorklund and Lindahl (2005) conclude that there are no external effects that have a great impact on education: on the other hand, they argue that there is empirical evidence demonstrating that education leads to an improvement on health, increases the life expectancy of people, has greater political participation, reduces the crime rate and that children of educated people become more productive. These authors argue that education may not be a variable that has a great impact on the economic development of a country and that the measure of GDP is too small to capture the full effects. Additionally, when analyzing variations among countries and regions is difficult to capture all the positive effects. Is education a sign? Human Capital Theory and Signaling Theory To know whether education is a sign, we should know about the human capital and signaling theories. These theories explain the human capital and inequality of wages earned by people. With Human Capital Theory wages through education and experience are determined. While signaling theory presents that people are educated to provide signals to employers according to their skills but it is not considered the education as a mechanism that generates stock of human capital. The implications of these two theories is the productivity of individuals and the social costs of education. Most authors agree that education generates increases in the productive capacity of individuals and also provide their information to entrepreneurs through signals concerning to education Wage differences are also differences in productivity? There is a causal effect that is used to differentiate between a low and a high educated workforce, Morette (2004). Entrepreneurs rely on indexes and individual signals to determine the marginal productivity of the individual and thus assign them a salary that matches the expectations from that information. According to the idea of signaling, individuals can create their chances of wages and job through education, due to the fact that they acquire signals that make them more attractive in the labor market. From the point of view of workers, since they perceive the possibility to increase profits through the information of their own abilities, they will try to increase the resources earmarked to acquire this information, Stiglitz (1975). Human capital theories have been developed to give an explanation of the formation of wages. Despite the limitations that still exist in the database, the continuous effort to include relevant variables in human capital investigations has allowed to confirm the initial hypothesis of human capital of Becker and Mincer. The assumptions of this theory are questioned when Spence proposes that education is used by individuals as signals that provide information about the skills of individuals. Both theories maintain that the effects that education has on earnings of life cycle are positive. While human capital theory argues that wage determinants are education and experience that enable to the individual to acquire the skills to do a job , the signaling hypothesis of authors like Arrow, Spence and Stiglitz raises education as a process providing labels to workers to present these labels to employers in the selection process , but not a process that increase the real productivity of individuals. In this difference in the implications of teaching on individual productivity of each of the two theories we find the interest in knowing about the theory that explains the formation of wages in labor markets. In the event that the signaling hypothesis is confirm, individuals would go to educate themselves for the sole purpose of obtaining signals to provide to employers, in this case they are not developing their skills to be more productive, and they do not generate stock of hum an capital. In contrast, the predictions of the theory of human capital imply that education is still profitable for individuals and for society probably. Los estudios tratan de discriminar entre las dos teorà ­as y asà ­ conocer la relevancia de las polà ­ticas educativas sobre la economà ­a, aunque descartar cualquiera de las dos limita la respuesta de conocer los elementos que determinan los salarios. Se han desarrollado en los à ºltimos aà ±os modelos que muestran que la educacià ³n sigue resultando una inversià ³n rentable para los individuos y para la sociedad y, a la vez, que los empleadores la toman como una informacià ³n disponible acerca de la habilidad de los individuos. Studies attempting to discriminate between the two theories and to know the importance of education policies on the economy, but discard any of the two theories, limits the response to know the elements that determine wages. It has been developed in recent years models showing that education is proving a profitable investment for individuals and for society and, at the same time, that employers take it as information available about the ability of individuals. Social and private returns to education The social return to education is broader and has its effect on the public budget. Finally, different authors have used different approaches to the analysis of the returns to education through private and social rates, average or marginal rates, depending on the purpose of the study. According to Psacharopoulos G. (1985) the returns are higher when primary education in a country is analyzed and private rates increase after the secondary level. He argues that private returns exceed social returns because public education is subsidized by the government. Returns to private education include all the benefits and costs incurred by an individual, while the social discount rate includes supported by institutions, in addition to the taxes associated with education. Studies tend to focus on the analysis of private returns to education, regardless of social profitability. Very few investigations have been done about the impact that has the public financing in the decision of individuals or the social impact of subsidies on education. The returns to education are overestimated when based on the income of workers in all sectors. There is overinvestment in all levels of education. Problems in measuring education Two problems are presented. When data of education and income at aggregate level is used, the estimations are larger due to external effects while when individual or per capita income estimates are used, the estimations are smaller. For the above reasons, there exist a presence of Reverse Causality, ie that rich countries invest heavily in education and has compulsory education while in other countries, individuals choose to educate themselves. The other problem is the omission of variables when making estimations of the effect of education on economic growth. In these cases high estimates for the omitted variables and reverse causality are produced. When measuring the impact of education on economic growth is very different when the level of GDP or the GDP growth is used, this latter variable measures the expected effect of growth on the level of education. Because problems arise when taking into account data from countries Krueger and Lindahl (2001) recommend using data between regions of a country. In addition to education, there are other factors that affect education and economic growth of a country, such as the level of capital-intensive and technology development. FINAL REMARKS The Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment had a great importance in the process of industrialization due to technological progress and knowledge and thus on economic growth of countries. In the nineteenth century, there was the Great Divergence where countries with high level of education had a great impact on the Industrial Revolution while countries with low human capital had no effect. Cuando se realizan las mediciones de la educacià ³n y su efecto en el crecimiento de la economà ­a se presentan dos problemas de estimacià ³n que es la omisià ³n de variables y el reverse causality. Hay que utilizar datos de buena calidad y todas las variables necesarias para que sea una estimacià ³n consistente. Es recomendable realizar el anà ¡lisis en base a un mismo paà ­s porque si se realizan comparaciones entre paà ­ses los datos tienen sus limitaciones. When measurements of education and its effect on the growth of the economy are performed, we find two estimation problems that are the omission of variables and reverse causality. It is important to use good quality data and also the most important variables in order to have consistent estimators. It is recommended that the analysis is based inside a country because if comparisons are made among countries, data have a lot of limitations. It is true that a high level of education generates high economic growth, but there is also evidence that progress occurs independently. If the population reaches a high achievement in the education level, the productivity in the economy will improve, achieving a high growth economy. Wage differentials reflect a greater productive value of human capital which is a component contributing to national production. Another effect on schooling as a result of good health positively affects education. Similar effects which would be obtained with increased productivity and growth. Education has an impact with the reduced growing in the population, meaning that much of the population reduces birth rates. The birth number of children affects the physical ability to work for women and their productivity. This is very approximate to the effect of the health variable. Education does not have a large effect on the agricultural sector because technology affects this sector. Education affects the labor market because it makes more people involved, increase the number of trained people and grow at a high rate of labor force participation. When an education policy aimed at improving the level of income distribution is implemented should consider the groups that will be affected, then the results may be different depending on the treatment group and the affected group. For developing economies is difficult to give an indication of the impact of education on productivity and growth but will be even more difficult in low-income countries. Given the inefficient and non-transparent political and economic systems of many of these countries the returns to private education are met through non-productive activities. This means that in order to increase the relevance of education to economic growth is necessary to undertake a restructuring of the political and economic framework. BIBLIOGRAPHY Baten J. Zanden J.L . â€Å"Book Production and the Onset of Modern Economic Growth†, Barcelona. Bjorklund A Lindahl M. (2005), â€Å"Education and Economic Developmrent. What does empirical show about causal relationships?†. Institution for Social Research Easterlin R. (1981), â€Å" Why Isn ´t the Whole World Development?†. Journal of Economic History, Vol.41, No. 1, pp. 1-19. Mokyr J. (2005), â€Å"The Intellectual Origins of Modern Economic Growth†. Journal of Economic History, Vol. 65, No. 2. Psacharopoulos G. (1985), â€Å" Returns to Education: A Further International Update and Implications†. Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 20, No. 4. Sianesi B y Van Reenen (2003), â€Å" The Returns to Education: Macroeconomics†. Journal of Economic Surveys, Vol.17, No. 2.

Leadership, Power and Politics

Conflict,   Management and leadership Conflict is a natural outcome originating due to individual and group interaction. It is a ‘friction’ produced due to emotions and behaviors of people working closely rubbing against each other. When people from various backgrounds and beliefs work together, consciously or unconsciously they try to pass their own principles in work aspects creates conflict. However, conflict is not always destructive or regressive. When well managed and directed, it has great utility in substantially improving an organization’s functional and production aspects, along with helping individuals to evolve a joint   philosophy of work and cooperation. However, poorly managed conflict situation impairs the organizational outcome, creating stress, introducing   dissatisfaction and reducing efficiency. Characteristics of Conflict The round the clock work schedules, trans-national nature of jobs, and strain in today’s world have worked together to make conflict an unavoidable part in life of people. Work related stress, with pressures of deadline, critical levels of responsibility, problems of resource allocation and management, setting, defining and achieving challenging goals, and all the time trying to coordinate with different individuals give rise to perfect conditions for   conflict to emerge within organizations (Bergman and Volkema, 1989). But before any attempt to resolve conflict it is important to understand the characteristics of conflict that an organization generally faces. According to Baron (1990), a study of various organizational parameters indicated towards five characteristics of conflict . These are 1. Conflict due to contrasting or opposing field of interests between or among individuals or groups. 2. Recognition of these opposing interests by the interested parties 3. Conflict centers on a perception by each side that its opposing party would injure its interests 4. Conflict is not a stage, rather a process and it results from the way individual and groups define their relations through the past interaction 5. Actions and efforts by each party with the intention of negating other’s goals. Conflict management and leadership Leadership has a great role to play in conflict resolution. A leader with qualities with excellent communication, understanding and negotiation can be instrumental in bringing the positive outcome through the issues involved in the conflict. As the business and corporate management has realized, leadership greatly helps to alleviate conflict situation due to its inspirational value. Leadership essentially about encouraging   people to pool themselves together towards achieving common goals and objectives (Rosenbach and Taylor, 1998, 1. Leadership further empowers individuals, helps them to rise above their rank and position within the organization to associate themselves and their colleagues with specific works, duties and responsibilities and enables them to identify and set their own directions, work on commitment and take challenges.   (Day and Halpin, 2004, 3). Its not surprising then that companies are ready to invest hugely in leadership development program, as a guaranteed way to emerge ahead than their competitors. Within every social, institutional or organizational structure, a leader is always looked upon the person with abilities to broach reconciliation and resolution in situation of conflict. Leadership entails elements of power and authority that are critical to acquire influence. There are five power bases for a leader, as identified by French and Raven (1959). They are 1. Legitimate power: the power that comes by virtue of the position and command to control behavior. 2. Coercive power: It is the leader’s control over persuasion and ability to take symbolic punitive actions in case of dissent 3. Reward power: It is the leader’s control over granting rewards 4. Expert power: These are the specialties that a leader attains due to knowledge and experience and that he is expected to possess and use in conflict resolution 5. Referent power: This is the power over over subordinate or group members to identify the leader Leaders may opt for one, some or   a combination or all of these power bases to attain conflict management and resolution by influencing the psychological and social dimension of conflict, trust, and authority (Johnson and Short, 1994 :Leadership (Power and Politics) Leadership is not a characteristic that exists in isolation. As it is defined, leadership implies establishing coordination, orientation, cooperation, and collaboration among the followers to accomplish designated objectives and goals. It is   possible when leaders can inspire their followers with respect, admiration, discipline, confidence in the abilities of the leader while being helped to envision themselves as empowered individuals (Brown and Lord, 2004, 2). A good leader has the ability to take over even most complex, demanding and otherwise impossible condition by exhibiting personal integrity, ethical and moral traits and values that other can relate to and aspire to imbibe in their own conduct (Laurie, 2000, 53). Here it is important to distinguish personal charisma from leadership, as personal charisma, being an person specific phenomena, can awe people but hardly give them impetus to follow in the footsteps of the leader. Leadership is also means natural acquisition of power and potential to change its equation affect over the leaders and their followers. There inherent dangers associated with power, and for most of the people, the timeless adage-‘power corrupts’ suits justly. Power contains a temptation that is hard to resist and has potential to become the ultimate goal for a person rather the tool that was designated in helping to achieve the goals.   But a genuine leader understands this irony of power and therefore believes that power should be shared with others so that it can grow. The real power of leaders is their   ability to inspire others with a sense of power and confidence (Champy and Nohria, 1999, 165). According to Reigel’s (1979) theory of development, the relevant categories to leadership practices and conflict management are: 1. Optimism-faith in goodness of humanity. It works on the principle of faith in inherent goodness of humanity with a sense that goals and objective are achievable. 2. Interconnectedness-responsibility for the whole. The principle is extension of sense of responsibility to greater issues affecting the world that connects individual with the entire humanity. 3. The contradictory nature of things. It teaches about recognizing and respecting that contradiction occurs in people, their experience and circumstances. 4. Life is characterized by crises. Recognition that crises and conflicts are inbuilt of component of life and progress is achieved by incorporating them in the philosophy towards life. 5. Kinship with others. It stresses on building associations and help in realizing that every one is important and deserves equal respect from others. 6. The opposition. It teaches about taking opposition as contradiction, instead of viewing it in negative perspective. 7. Acknowledging other’s contribution. It stresses on frank and appreciative acknowledgment of success and achievements of others Reference Baron, R. A. (1990). Conflict in organizations. In K. R. Murphy & F. E. Saal (Eds.), Psychology in organizations: Integrating science and practice (pp. 197–216). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Bergmann T. J., and   Volkema R. J. ( 1989). â€Å"Understanding and managing interpersonal conflict at work: Its issues, interactive processes, and consequences†. In M. A. Rahim (Ed.), Managing Conflict : An inter-disciplinary approach (pp. 7-19). New York: Praeger Brown DJ and   Lord, RG,   2004, Leadership Processes and Follower Self-Identity,   Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah, NJ. Champy J, Nohria N, 1999, The Arc of Ambition: Defining the Leadership Journey, Perseus Books (Current Publisher: Perseus PublishingCambridge, MA. Day DV and Halpin SM, 2004, Leader Development for Transforming Organizations: Growing Leaders for Tomorrow,   (edit) David V. Day, Stanley M. Halpin, Stephen J. Zaccaro, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,   Mahwah, NJ. French, Jr., J.R.P., & Raven, B. (1959). The bases social power. In Dorwin Cartwright (edit.), Studies in social power (pp. 150-157). Ann Arbor, MI: Researc Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan Johnson, P.E and Short, P.M (1994). Exploring the Links among Teacher Empowerment, Leader Power and Conflict. Education. Volume: 114. Issue: 4. Page Number: 581+. Laurie DL, 2000, The Real Work of Leaders: A Report from the Front Lines of Management, Perseus Books (Current Publisher: Perseus Publishing, Cambridge, MA Riegel KF. Foundations of Dialectical Psychology. New York: Academic Press, 1979. Rosenbach WE and Taylor RL, 1998, Contemporary Issues in Leadership, (edit) William E. Rosenbach, Robert L. Taylor, Westview Press,Boulder, CO.                   Leadership, Power and Politics Leadership is the process of influencing others to act to accomplish specific objectives. Leaders are the key movers of an organization and they are able to inspire and motivate their members to work towards the attainment of goals. In the past, leadership have been thought of as a quality that only the elite managers possess, however reality is, each one of us possess and may develop our leadership skills. Being a leader is not an easy job, it takes creativity, innovativeness, discipline, passion and an open mind. It is said that leaders emerge in times of change and turmoil; it is a fact that when the going gets tough, leaders are there to get things done. Opportunities for change however must be sought out and seized by the leader. It is a necessary element in the exercise of leadership, for leadership is at its best when there is an opportunity to grow, innovate and to improve. A leader can accomplish this by treating every job as an adventure, by deciding that each day is an opportunity to learn something new or to discover better ways of accomplishing things, the leader is more able to initiate changes that would be for the greater good of the group. When a leader seeks meaningful challenges, it allows the leader to work with passion and commitment that is personally gratifying and hence is able to effectively work for the group. With that, the leader also find and create meaningful challenges for others, when members feel that they are valued and trusted by their leaders to be able to accomplish realistic and challenging goals, they become more committed and become better workers. This means that the leader provides his/her members too become intrinsically motivated to rise to the challenge. As a leader, it is important that he/she make the workplace fun, happy people are more productive and they like going to work everyday because it is a happy place. as such, when an organization is so used to doing things in the same way, it leads to complacency and even deterioration, thus a leader must be able to question the status quo, this would mean that as a leader he/she must actively look for systems or programs that have outlived its usefulness and be creative enough to provide new ideas. Renewing teams in any organization is necessary in order to breathe new life to the team, a shuffling of departments or the movement of positions would reenergize the team and possibly generate new ideas and opportunities. Lastly, the leader should adopt an open approach to searching for opportunities. It is an acceptance of the leader that he/she does not have the monopoly of ideas and it is necessary to be aware of what is happening outside and inside the organization. Being an effective leader also takes the ability to experiment and takes risks and to learn from mistakes. Leaders if for some twist of fate have always been thought of as someone who can transform any organization form the brink of death to greater heights. But in reality, it is the scientific and objective leader who is able to appreciate the importance of carrying out mini experiments of new processes that would in the end be more cost-effective than to rush and implement a program or process that have not been tested. Experiments are for introducing new products while creating or developing models in specific departments of new processes will give the leader an objective assessment of the possibility of success or failure of the new process. The leader is not the sole experimenter, he/she must encourage other to experiment also, but at times it is faced with fear and apprehension, thus the leader should assure the members that it is safe to experiment. When a person is so set in his/her ways then it is difficult to initiate change, the leader therefore must be able to break the mind set of its people, to become more open to new ideas and change. An enormous change may be anxiety provoking for members, the leader thus should break up the changes into small challenges that members can accomplish one at a time. People work better if they know that their ideas and feelings are respected and that if what they are doing is of their own choice, a leader should give each person the opportunity to make their own choices. A leader must learn how to say yes to the ideas and opinions of its members, by saying yes more frequently than but or no, it would be easier for the leader to also solicit the cooperation of its people. A leader is not a Greek hero who has supernatural powers, he/she can make mistakes and a true leader has the grace and humility to accept his/her mistakes and to learn from it. Lastly, a leader should also be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the new programs or changes that he/she has carried out in the company and this exercise should be a collaborative effort with input from the different members of the organization. Knowing what may cause the failure of an innovation would go a long way in improving that product or process. It is true that leaders emerge out of the difficulties or major changes in an organization, and being a leader is no easy job, and one can always make use of information that would help enhance or develop our leadership skills. I found this as the advantage of the concepts, it provides true-to-life examples of how a leader is able to seize opportunities for change and why it is important to experiment and learn from mistakes. The disadvantages of the concepts however is that it is too abstract and sometimes it is difficult to relate to a job as mundane as selling cigarettes and that most of the examples involve large organizations wherein leaders are often the head of the department or the organization. Although the chapters do provide pointers on what an ordinary person could do to become a leader and it is a practical guide. The chapters present the concept as a series of things to do or things to learn, and not all could be applied at the same time to a single organization. In my experience as a cigarette store owner, I am limited by the products that sell the most; I may provide my customers with new brands or novel cigarettes but since smokers tend to stick to one brand. I may be able to innovate probably in giving freebies to loyal customers or be creative by using bonus coupons that they could exchange for premium brands. Moreover, I do not have a staff and hence my leadership skills are not harnessed. On the other hand I work part time in a gasoline station and work with other people but again a gasoline station is one of the most normal and stable organization there is. Thus, unless if the gasoline station gets sold or merged with another store, then maybe it would be time for me to rise to that challenge. On the other hand, learning about leadership has been exciting and very challenging, it tells me that I can be a leader someday; it also made me become aware of some of my personal characteristics that is akin to leaders. I would like to share to others what I have learned about leadership, sometimes we do not know that we possess the ability to be leaders if other people don’t acknowledge it, I would also tell them of the things that a good leader should be able to accomplish. That said, there are different leadership styles which a person may favor and use in different situations. Leadership styles include autocratic leadership, bureaucratic leadership charismatic leadership, participative leadership, Laissez-faire leadership, relations-oriented leadership, servant leadership, task-oriented leadership, transactional leadership and transformational leadership. Personally, I think that participative leadership is the best among the styles because although the leader has the final say in the decisions concerning issues on organizational change; it allows the members of the organization to contribute their ideas and thoughts. This communicate that the leader value and respects its members and thus increase job satisfaction of members and cultivates a culture of collaboration and cooperation that every organization needs to get things done. Reference Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (2002). The Leadership Challenge.   California: Jossey-Bass