Failure or success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Failure or success - Essay Example Gatto’s opinion on the effects of schooling is extremely intense. In â€Å"Against School†, he stirs up a discussion on whether ‘boredom’ is the perfect term to describe the experience of modern day students. From his personal experience, most students feel bored with the education system and think their teachers do not seem to understand their subjects and probably aren’t interested in learning more (Breton and Largent 25). Gatto brings up the question of who should be blamed for the critical mess in the education system. Ideally, teachers often appear bored and keep blaming their students for feeling disinterested in taking their studies seriously (Breton and Largent 157). He offers a solution to boredom and encourages students to amuse themselves in the classroom. Also, he encourages teachers to provide students with adequate education rather than stirring regular schooling. Gatto also scrutinizes whether the existing school system is meant to spearhead forced schooling. He goes ahead to compare the school system to the Prussian culture and refers to it as an educational system that is meant to nurture mediocre intellects. With such an educational system, students are denied the opportunity to develop appreciable leadership skills. Also, he states that most people connect ‘successes to ‘schooling’. According to him, important people like Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson never subjected their lives to the strenuous schooling system, but still made it in life (Breton and Largent 241). In addition, Gatto believes that schools were designed to make good citizens at their personal best. Gatto thinks that the public school system is designed to fulfill the major covert functions of a school. He outlines the covert functions by revisiting Alexander Inglis’s basic functions of a modern school.

The Disadvantages of Full Day Schools Essay Example for Free

The Disadvantages of Full Day Schools Essay Introduction Full day schooling refers to a longer day at preschool where they not only learn but are also given time for play. (Lamphere, 2009) Full day preschools run for five hours or longer for five days a week. Half day preschools run for approximately 3 hours for five days a week. (Rosamilia, 2008) Researchers have constantly compared these two types of schooling and most studies came to a conclusion that full day schools are better than half day schools. There are a few example of studies conducted to show this. Some examples include: A study conducted by Cryan et al.  in 1992 in two phases on the effects of half-day and all-day kindergarten programs on childrens academic and behavioral success in school and another study by Hough and Bryde in 1996 which looked at the student achievement data of children enrolled in half day and full day schools. Both studies showed that full day kindergartens benefit children in terms of academic successes, attendance and there are also fewer cases of retention for them. (Clark, 2013) Even though full day schools has its benefits, it also has its disadvantages. This literature review would be focusing on the disadvantages of full day school, be it long term or short term and it would also look into the benefits of other schooling programmes such as half day programs. This review is important it would give a better idea to parents and teacher as to why they should carefully consider other options other than just focusing on full day schools. Due to the limited resources on full day schools and case studies on full day schools, the countries this literature review would be focusing on would be US and Canada. Disadvantages of Full Day Kindergarten According to research, there are a number of disadvantages for Full Day kindergarten. Firstly, there is a lack of spaces for children. According to an article, in Canada, there is a lack of space to accommodate the rising number of children if they change their program to full-day kindergartens. In Calgary, Canada, it is believed that 50 out of 137 elementary schools would not be able to accommodate more than their current half-day school and the implementation of full-day programs would force some grades to be reshuffled to other schools. (Cuthbertson Herald, 2012) In some other articles, in United States, there has been lack of space to set up full-day kindergarten. (Martinez, Stuber, and Snider, 2006; Haglund, n. d. ) Thus, there have been talks going on as to whether they should set up full-day kindergartens in that district. (Placek, 2012) Another disadvantage would be the high cost for full-day programs. This includes the expenses for equipment, staff and space. In the article regarding the changing to the full day program in Canada, they mentioned that the cost of funding it for a year would be around $200 million. Another article stated that it would cost $2 million annually after an initial startup cost of $505,600. And, it would have required another $7 million from the districts reserves to pay for construction of additional classrooms and multipurpose rooms. (Placek, 2012) Another article by a graduate from East Stroudsburg University also states that the amount of money spent on the teachers’ salaries are also high because they now have to hire more teachers for full-day kindergartens. An average teacher in the US would earn about $33,000 a year. Thus, in the case that the kindergarten hires more teachers, they would have to spend about $132,000 to $165,000 per annum just on salaries. This would increase the burden on the taxpayers. (Morse, 2008) This point is also further supported by research conducted previously. (Martinez, Stuber, and Snider, 2006; Hugland, N. A. ; Guilderland Central School District Early Childhood Advisory Committee, 2008) The third disadvantage of full-day kindergarten is that it requires more staff and staff aides. Many articles stating the disadvantages of full day support this point. For example, in one article, it states that when there are half day sessions, one teacher can teach two sessions: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. However, if it is a full-day session, it requires more teachers to teach. They would also need more teacher aides. In the case where the kindergarten does not want to hire more teachers, they would expand each class and add in more teacher aides to balance the teacher-child ratio. In a study conducted at the Guilderland central school district, it also states that they would require more teachers to teach and balance the teacher-child ratio. (Early Childhood Advisory Committee, 2008). Besides these, there are a few more disadvantages to full day kindergartens. They include having more time at school and less time for ‘kids to be kids’. (Circele, 2009; Brower, 2013). It also includes teaching children academic and skills before they are ready for it. (Haglund, N. A. ; Morse, 2008) One of the articles found went on to explain that the kindergarten may teach too advanced skills for children instead of teaching them minor skills which are important. In summary, even though full-day seems like a good option for everyone, it does have its disadvantages. Benefits of Half Day Kindergartens Likewise, half-day school has its benefits. Firstly, half day kindergarten programs are less stressful. According to Walsh (2013), children would feel relaxed while trying to adjust to the structured classroom environment. Furthermore, they are able to make good transitions from kindergarten to first grade. Another source states that half-day programs are viewed as providing continuity and systematic experience with less probability of stress than full-day programs. (Rothenberg, 2009) Secondly, the children also receive the same quality of education as those in full day preschools or kindergartens. (Ast, 2010;Rothernberg, 2009) The children go through similar experiences but just that one is longer and the other is shorter. These show that there are other programs besides full day kindergartens which young chidren can benefit from. Conclusion In the context of Singapore, there isn’t much of an issue about half day versus full day kindergarten. This is because Singapore has mainly focused on half day kindergartens. Some of the reasons as to why that might be the case is similar to the disadvantages stated above. Just like in some parts of Canada and US, Singapore has limited space to set up full-day kindergarten and it requires more sources, equipment and etc. Singapore’s space is already limited in space and it requires more space for other more important things thus, it can’t be used just for kindergartens. Statistics have shown that 15% of Singapore’s land has been located for housing, 17% for recreational and community needs. The rest of the land is used for commerce, industry, infrastructure, utilities and transport and reservoirs, defense facilities and cemetery and undeveloped land. (Yearbook of Statistics Singapore, department of Statistics Singapore[online], 2012) This shows that there isn’t sufficient space to build more kindergartens or expand it. If Singapore was to expand or make kindergartens full day, it would require more teachers or teacher aides. There is also a lack in kindergarten teachers now. Recently, along the roads, many jobs offers for preschool teachers were noticed. This is also supported by a Strait Times article on 20 July 2012. It stated that there is already a shortage of teachers. (Vadaketh, 2012)Thus, if full day kindergartens were established, there would not be enough teachers. Depending on these reasons, I believe that full day kindergarten programs are not applicable really in Singapore. However, if you look at Singapore’s context carefully, full day kindergarten programs are somewhat similar to childcare programmes in Singapore. In this context, Singaporeans can choose what kind of schooling programs they want to send their child to. The kindergarten programmes are standardized by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to be 3 hours per session. (MOE,2013) As for Childcare, it is a full day program and is also available for half day on Saturdays. The two main factors determining which programme they would send their child to would be whether they are working and the cost of the programme. Parents of children these days are usually working adults. They do not have time to take care of their children because they are working. Thus, they would rather send them to childcares because it is more convenient and safe. If they were working and they send their child to half day kindergartens, they have to make other arrangements for their child so that the child would not be left alone. While full day kindergartens may be more convenient for working adults, half day schools (kindergartens) are cheaper. According to the list of kindergartens found on the Investmentfriend. com forum, the pricing ranges from as low as $80 to $500. However, the costs of childcare centres are about $700 and above, depending on the childcare. Thus, some parents might not be able to afford childcare and would send their child to half day kindergartens. Thus, all in all I believe that the choice of schooling depends on each family and individual if childcare was seen as an full day kindergarten program. References Clark, P. (2013). Recent research on all-day kindergarten | education. com. Retrieved from http://www. education. com/reference/article/Ref_Recent_Research_All/? Lamphere, M. (2009). Full day kindergarten. Retrieved from http://www. slideshare. net/lamph1ml/full-day-kindergarten Haglund, J. (n. d. ). Full-day kindergarten advantages disadvantages | early childhood. Retrieved from http://ec. dpi. wi.gov/ec_ecadflpg Morse, J. (2008). The disadvantages of all-day kindergarten yahoo! voices voice. yahoo. com. Retrieved from http://voices. yahoo. com/the-disadvantages-all-day-kindergarten-1337569. html? cat=25 Placek,C. (2012). No full daykindergarten for all in dist. 203 dailyherald. com. Retrieved from http://www. dailyherald. com/article/20121105/news/711059666/ Cuthbertson , R. , Herald, C. (2012). School promise under threat. Retrieved from http://www2. canada. com/calgaryherald/news/story. html? id=c1b76975-1366-45e4-9bc2d33d7a3ab1b6p=1 Brower, C. (2013). The cons of full-day kindergarten | ehow. com. Retrieved from http://www. ehow. com/info_8660784_cons-full-day-kindergarten-programs. html Guilderland Central School District Early Childhood Advisory Committee. (2009). Report on full-day kindergarten. Retrieved from http://www. guilderlandschools. org/district/boe/PDFs/reports/FDKPPT110508. pdf Ast, A. (2010). Half day vs full day kindergarten: Is there really a difference? yahoo! voices voices. yahoo. com. Retrieved from http://voices. yahoo. com/half-day-vs-full-day-kindergarten-there-really-6839874. html? cat=25 Walsh, K. (2013). Pros cons of half day kindergarten | ehow. com. Retrieved from http://www. ehow. com/info_8502607_pros-cons-halfday-kindergarten. html Kindergarten fees list. (2011). Retrieved from http://investmentfriend. com/forum/showthread. php/25-Kindergarten-Fees-List Vadaketh, S. T. (2012). Tackling preschool challenges in Singapore. The StraitTimes. Retrieved from http://ifonlysingaporeans. blogspot. sg/2012/07/tackling-preschool-challenges-in. html MOE. (2013). Ministry of education, Singapore education system: Pre-school Education. Retrieved from http://www. moe. gov. sg/education/preschool/

The Criticisms of Kohlbergs Moral Development Stages Essay -- Moral D

The Criticisms of Kohlberg's Moral Development Stages Part One:The criticisms of Kohlberg's moral development stages seem to center around three major points, his research methods, the "regression" of stage four, and finally his goals.The first criticism that I would like to address is that of his research methods. Kohlberg is often criticized for not only his subject selection, but also the methods by which he tries to extricate data from those subjects. His initial study consisted of school boys from a private institution in Chicago. The problem with this is fairly obvious, that this does not represent a significant portion of the population to allow for generalized conclusions. In other words, how can we test some boys from Chicago and ascertain that this is how all people develop worldwide?I believe that the answer to this criticism comes from the theory that it relates to. Kohlberg's moral development schema is highly dependent upon the idea that there are fundamental truths that cannot be dismissed. These ideas are "in the ether", wound into the very fabric that constructs human nature. Granted, his descriptions of the various stages also seem very dependent upon the surroundings and social institutions that an individual would be subjected to. Yet these institutions would be have to be built upon people, all of whom would share these ideological truths. It seems fairly obvious that all people have undeniable needs, survival and some group membership. Kohlberg's stages are merely methods by which one could fulfill these needs. For instance, Spartan societies were adamant about maintaining the purity and strength of the civilization. Citizens saw no wrong in exposing a sick or lame baby to the elements so that it might die. Surely an act of cruelty today, but in that society, a necessary evil The prosperity and wealth of the whole was of greater importance than that of the individual.In addition to these justifications, additional research substantiated Kohlberg's claims. Different subjects were tested, from all ages and regions, and the same conclusions were drawn from the data. Assuming that these conclusions are correct, and the data leads to the same interpretation, is there any other possibility? This argument seems most impressive, especially considering the differences between people that are evident in everyday life. Similarities ... ...o a small compromise to fit their needs. In conclusion, it seems that there is definitely a way to combine the Kohlberg justice theme and the Gilligan caring theme of moral development. Mr. Kohlberg provides a method to police a society that does not include 100 percent utopian citizens. Ms. Gilligan gives us the ability to relate to each and every person, as a person. She indicates ways that we can identify with their perspectives, understand their needs, and compromise. Although the real world seems infinitely more complex than either of these models, they bear a frightening resemblance to real societies and real people. Maybe someday, a perfect model will be constructed, judged by a perfect path of moral development. Until then, I hope that I have found a good combination of these two ideas. One last side note: I think I could spend weeks typing a paper on this subject. There are thousands of facets of each system that could fit into the other's potential flaws. However, I think I've been long-winded enough as it is. I have tried to make my points as succinct and reasonable as possible, but without sacrificing exactly what I wanted to say. Thank you for your patience.

Baltimore Museum of Art: Photography of the 1960’s

The exhibit we went to see was a gallery walk. It was an exhibit of pictures and the artists who produced the photos, and the meaning of the photos. We enjoyed it because it was particularly interesting how the 1960’s was portrayed through photography. It showed not only white Americans but African-Americans making it easily relatable. It showed hard times, fun times and how they made the hard times fun times. The strengths in the exhibit were the realistic ideas. These were some of the earliest photographs in history they weren’t just paintings or portrayal of the good life in these times.You always read about history and what happened in what times, but these photos in this exhibit showed it firsthand. A lot of the photos were open for interpretation. When you first walk into the exhibit a particular set of photos catch your eye. The photographer was Carrie Mae Weems, and the photos were entitled â€Å"From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried† along with †Å"House/Field/Yard/Kitchen†. The photos were red and appeared to be African American slaves. Each had a word on top of it â€Å"house, field, yard or kitchen† and on each side of the sets of photos appears to be an African woman with the text â€Å"I Cried†.Weems wanted it to be interpreted as the racial oppression and suffering. She also wanted it to be reinterpreted by the generations. We saw it as how far African-Americans had come along while others in the past may have seen it as sad and dreary because of everything African-Americans went through to get where they are now. A weakness of the exhibit, in our opinions which can be debated was the experimentation with photography. Although it may seem interesting to a few, a stabbed up, burned up paper did not exactly fit in with the ideas of the other photos.Photographer Marco Breur in his photo Shot (C-917) used glue guns, blow torches and razor blades to photosensitive paper. It was a unique work of art and a s he aimed cannot be reproduced but took away from the actual meaning of the photography in this exhibit which was to emphasize the times and living in the 1960’s. This exhibit can relate a lot to what we have recently been learning in class. It can also relate to past readings. This photography shows things from slavery all the way out to liberalism.There were also a lot of photos displaying gender roles. There is a photo of a house with legs and high heels. It was entitled, â€Å"The Walking House†. This photo can be interpreted many ways. The photographer Laurie Simmons was trying to display that women in this time were inseparable to their domestic roles at home. Even though this exhibit was entitled, â€Å"Photography of the 1960’s† a lot of the photos displayed the changing of generations. It went from slavery up until the 1970’s. It was a very interesting exhibit.We observed all the people who were around us. It wasn’t only field trip s of academics; people actually came to the museum just to see this particular exhibit. We would recommend it to others but only this exhibit. Although it wasn’t required after we viewed this exhibit we explored the rest of the museum and it was boring. It was all statues and artifacts from different countries. This particular exhibit explored American History. It wasn’t just textbook reading and lectures, we got to view it and interpret it as if we were there.

The Opium War

In this descriptive essay the movement for china to prohibit opium and the formation and the devolution of the first opium war from 1839 till 1842 and its aftermaths for china will be shown. The Opium War was one of the most important points of inflexion in the history of china. Before this war, china was an autonomous feudal state that administrates the state without interventions of other states. After the repression of the Qing Dynasty by the British and the signing of the disparate contract of Nanjing in 1842, china converted step by step to a half feudal and half colonial state.Already in the forties of the 19th century, Great Britain was a high developed, capitalistic State. After it has tightened its colonial control about India, their aggressions adjust against china. In this time china was still a self isolated feudal state with a dominant autarkic agricultural economic system. British industrial goods were not liked and couldn’t be sold in china in this time, so that Britain had to pay big amounts of silver to buy Chinese products like silk and tea.To avoid these high costs, Britain starts to bribe Chinese functionaries by opium. It was brought in rising high amounts to china. For example in contrast to 1820 where they brought 4000 cases with 600 kilo of opium for each to china, they transported 40000 cases of that in 1838 to the empire of the middle, which means that a very high amount of silver leaves china in this years. The price of silver was rising high so that the burden of the Farmers gains and the Qing Dynasty get into financial problems consequently.Thereby the number of opium smokers elevates, the feudal functionaries getting more and more corrupt and the fighting power of the Chinese army was enervated. Finally the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty Daoguang (from 1821 till 1850) was frightened of his authority. Because of that he sends the general governor of Hunan and Hubei, Lin Zexu, as a special representative to Guangzhou to eliminate dealing with opium. In Guangzhou he let arrested the dealers, punished corrupt functionaries and ordered the foreign traders to surrender their opium to him.The foreign traders also had to sign a commitment that they never would deliver opium to china again. The counteraction of Charles Elliot, the British inspector for trade in China, attempts to perforate the prohibition and told the foreign traders that they don’t have to sign the commitment and don’t have to surrender their opium to the Chinese governor. He also commands the trade ships which anchor in front of the Pearl River to get away. After those actions Lin Zexu prohibited all trading actions between Chinese and British people and let guard the British residential area by the army.On the 3rd of June in 1839 he gave the order to a public burn down of 1,15 million kilogram of the surrendered opium at the beach of Humen. Thereafter he wanted to go back to the normal trade between china and Britain with a genera l prohibition for opium. After the public burn down, Charles Elliot pressures the British government to start a vengeance war against china. In April of 1840 the British parliament declares a resolution for a war against china on what they started an offense in June. They first attacked the coast of Guangzhou with 40 warships and about 4000 army soldiers.That was the beginning of the opium war. The Chinese army was prepared well for this offense so that they can kickback the attacks in Guangzhou and later also in Xiamen in the province of Fujian. Later they charged Dinghai in the province of Zhejiang and push along to the north where they accomplished the harbor of Tianjing and menace the capital Beijing. The Qing administration was afraid about this development so that they sent Qishan, general governor of Zhili (today called Hebei), to Guangzhou to start negotiations for peace.But during the negotiations in January of 1841, the British army attacks the fort in front of Humen and c aptured it. Because of that Qishan was affected to sign the convention of Chuanbi which declares the abandonment of Hongkong to Great Britain and the payment of reparations for the burned opium. This convention was an affront for the Emperor Daoguang which threatened his authority. Because of that he declared the war against Great Britain. He sent his nephew Yishan to Guangzhou who should direct this military act. But even before he arrived the British army captured Humen that were protected by admiral Guan Tianpei and 400 soldiers.If they also blast to Guangzhou by cannon, Yishan capitulates, asked for peace and signed the convention of Guangzhou which obligates him to pay 6 million silver dollars as reparation for the war. But the Britain government was disaffected with the advantages of the provisional convention of Chuanbi so that they sent again 26 warships with 3500 soldiers to expand the war of aggressions. In august of 1841 they captured Xiamen and later in October Dinghai, Zhenhai and Ningbo in the province of Zhejiang. In June of 1942 they ineffectively attacked Wusong nearby shanghai and captured later shanghai itself and Zhejiang.In August the British warships advanced the Yangtzekiang River to ship to Nanjing. If they arrived at Nanjing the Qing administration sent a diplomatic, called Qiying, to a British ship for negotiate peace. On the 29th of August in 1842 he signed the infamous Chinese – British contract of Nanjing which was the first disparate Contract of the modern Chinese history. The contract, which includes 13 articles, orders China to open Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai as trade harbors, to assign Hongkong to Great Britain and pay a reparation of 21 million silver dollars.In the following year Great Britain compel the Qing administration to sign the abstract rules for the British – Chinese trade in five free trade harbors and also to sign the contract of Humen as accessory to the contract of Nanjing, which includes that the maximum duty for British goods is constricted on 5%. It also declares that British people are able to build up houses for permanent living. Through the Nanjing contract and other disparate contracts in the following years china lost its political independence.The inflow of foreign goods started to corrode the Chinese feudal economy. Because of that china developed into a half feudal and half colonial society in these years. In my opinion the opium war was a very important and influencing part of the Chinese history. I made the experience that you can find these influences till today. It especially affects Hong Kong which is a part of china again since 1997 but till 2047 declared as a special administrative region with an own currency and own rules. You can make this experience if you know different parts of china.In Hong Kong you can find many European looking buildings, a lot of western food and about 19. 000 Britain’s. It is a very international, intercul tural city and nearly everybody speaks English. But you can also see the differences if you visit some other cities which were colonized before a long time. For example in Shanghai or Qindao. But every region which was colonized is again a part of china today. In the time of international trade and globalization a European people like me can’t imagine that in our days a region of a country is colonized by another country.And I also think that Daoguang, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty in the time of the opium war, reacts completely correct to this situation because no emperor in this world allow another country to make his nation addicted to drugs and cheat to them about the income of the international trade. So that I can say that I think that the events which happened turned into a negative light only because of the arrogance and presumption of the Britain’s, that captured parts of china, despite to the big resistance of China, to acquire things which were not owned b y them and to browbeat a country which is cultural known for harmony till today.

The Progressive Conservatives for the Ontario Government essays

The Progressive Conservatives for the Ontario Government essays It is, of course, important to vote but quite frankly all of the parties have large disadvantages and are being lead by people who are clearly incompetent. The Liberals Dalton McGinty often seems uncomfortable with the public and many of his policies seem ill conceived with little input from himself. Howard Hampton of the NDP seems to have some popular notions at face value but some tax payers are concerned that an NDP government would just create higher levels of debt and weaken our economic standing. The Ernie Eves conservative government has gone from problem to problem, putting out political fires on an on going basis, while always saying the wrong things and offending people. The Progressive Conservative government has shown, from their run with Ernie Eves, Mike Harris and others that they have trouble choosing the right person to represent them. However, in my opinion, the PC party itself, stands for and believes in the things that I feel are right like supporting business, re ducing welfare programs for those who dont need them, and reducing government interference. For these reasons, the progressive conservative government would be the party I would vote for. The Conservatives support businesses while the other parties place unfair burdens on them (raising minimum wage, taxing them much more). The other parties seem to keep forgetting that business is what keeps everything running because they are too busy thinking that businesses are out to take all the money they can. They believe that as the rich businesses get richer, the poor will get poorer. This is partly true, there are always going to be poorer people and the wealthier business people, but it works well - the greedy businesses make the jobs, the jobs that the lower or middle class people need to make a living. Instead of trying to hurt business, the Conservative party fully supports business, therefore supporting the economy, which even...

International Environmental Analysis a Case of Tata Group

International Environmental Analysis a Case of Tata Group Tata is one of the Indian business giants that have been seen to expand drastically, acquiring different businesses abroad. These range from manufacturing businesses to consultancy services. For instance, Tata Motors (2006) acquired the truck division of the beaten Daewoo of Korea in 2003.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on International Environmental Analysis: a Case of Tata Group specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Tata steel has acquired steel mills in many places including Europe. Tata Tea bought Tetley Tea in 2000 while Tata consultancy has spread its tentacles all over. In UK for instance, Tata employs at least 45,000 workers; Tata consultancy employs over 5000 staff while Tata UK is the country’s biggest manufacturer and employs over 40,000 workers. The steelworks at Stockbridge are currently under the ownership of Tata. In a recent business move, Land Rover which had earlier been taken by Tata launched the E voque, which is a mini sports utility vehicle. This is a vehicle that drew the admiration of many leading to placement of up to 20,000 orders prior to opening of its sale. This is just a glimpse of Tata’s spread of its tentacles. Tata’s Environment The internal environment includes its strengths and weaknesses in management, strategy, and products. In their internalization strategy, TATA envisages to always retain managers that were already in place in the acquired company and combine them with some senior managers from the Indian constituent. By retaining management staff of the acquired companies, Tata will be able to face the possible management challenges that would especially relate to human resources. Some of these challenges are developing HR initiatives to manage employee morale in a new environment and managing their productivity and insecurity (Shah 2006). The company also is keen on management development of the leaders. They have programs intended to improv e the skills of the managers. In its alliances, the company enhances product portfolios for the two companies (Greer 2002). For instance, it made an agreement with Fiat to build a pickup together that was designed for its Central and South American market in 2007. One of their weaknesses is that the passenger cars that offer Tata Motors are often produced on lower generation platforms which would not allow it compete strongly in a market where competition is strong. Tata has also not been able to enter luxury car segment even after acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover. This is perhaps because people associate it with heavy commercial vehicles. The external environment too consists of strengths and weaknesses.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The increase in oil products for instance can be considered to be a blessing in disguise, especially in America. As Tata corporatio n intends to introduce the low consumption Tata Nano. The economic challenges facing America calls for more jobs and the entry of Tata could not be such timely as now (Green 2002). In globalizing, Tata is a fast learner and takes its lessons from among others, Daewoo. It is able to diversify from metal to tea, from chemicals to hotels and several other lines of investments. One of the big threats is the shift from big cars to smaller compact cars that is becoming the trend of many manufacturers. The emergence of new technology electrical engine by Chevrolet is a looming threat. Since it is a home car, Americans might favor the Chevrolet over the Indian Tata even though they have the same specifications. The electric engine might also receive more attention with greater environmental awareness today. The company also faces serious problems in parochialism where the top management is dominated by Indians. The diversification could also be counted as a disadvantage; Tata seems to be dr agging both performing and non-performing sectors along. Some examples are Tata Teleservices and Tata Financial services (Windecker 2011). On the side of human resources, the challenge comes in developing equitable pay plans for individuals working in different countries. There would also need some extra knowledge in identifying and training expatriate managers to do overseas assignments and developing some human resource initiatives that will be directed towards workforce diversity, which means there would be need for diversity training programmes (Green 2002). There is a threat in TATA being a family business. It would seem also that its chairman, Ratan Tata, is one of a major investment himself. Replacing him would not be easy considering that he has led the company through major transformations right from its restructuring to innovations. Being a family business, it would mean that the other one in line is also a family member which raises the question whether this concept would continue working wonders in it internalization and its survival in the developed world markets. Rattan Tata retires in the end of 2012. There is no obvious heir of the business as Ratan has no children. If it becomes the end of a trend of inheritance, it is not yet the end of the company strategy and it will depend much on the direction in which the company is driven (Shah 2006). PESTLE Analysis of TATA In terms of entry barriers there may not be much lobbying to do to enter the American market even though they will have to have their cars approved by the appropriate agencies before they are allowed to enter. This may include some modifications as specified by the agencies. A company that is trying to keep a competitive advantage may not succeed well especially if they are also trying to be among the cheapest (Chaudhuri Muthukumar 2004).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on International Environmental Analysis: a Case of Tata Group specifically for you for o nly $16.05 $11/page Learn More Even though the economic crisis can be used to market cheaper cars, Tata may have to adapt its strategy keeping in mind that this will also affect their business in other ways. For instance, the exchange rates, inflation, and GDP trends. This is a crisis in itself because the company might be considering the job creation it will bring through entering the market (Biswas 2005). Tata will have to look into the environmental footprint since there are current trends of higher environmental requirements. If their car is not environmentally friendly, it may receive a cold reception from an environmentally aware clientele. The company may therefore have much to do with corporate social responsibility (Nieuwenhuis Wells 2003). The company might need to do something about its image as compared to the home brands so as to counter the sour attitude or comparison of home versus Indian product (Encarnation 1982). Due to the presence of the electric Chevrolet Spark, more research and development will be required to bring such a product into the market if it will have to be competitive in the long run. Engine technologies are also changing fast and they need to adapt to this so that they do not become obsolete in the fast changing arena (Chaudhuri Muthukumar 2004). Indian policy towards investments abroad had always been a dilemma for the government. It was highly restrictive but in the recent times, investments abroad have been seen as India’s way of promoting its exports. The general guidelines that governed Indian company participation in joint investments abroad by 1995 had the following specifications: Only industrial ventures; the Indian participation could only be minority; there should be no cash remittances to start up the companies; There should be Indian participation in terms of machines, equipment and technical know-how; and the reserve bank of India should be the single window clearance agency and many oth er regulations (Encarnation 1982). All these guidelines were restrictive, reflecting that effort was to conserve foreign exchange. These policies were to ensure that the investments abroad would lead to increased export of Indian-made machinery. After 1995, the government policies were liberalized and it saw a wave of increased investments abroad. However, an annual ceiling of $500 million was introduced as a precaution. April 2003 saw the ceiling abolished and the companies were now free to invest abroad (Biswas 2005). In contrast to earlier waves of investments abroad, the current wave seems to be focused on developed nations like U.S and U.K. some investment projects are still directed towards other developing countries of the world (Agmon Kindieberger 1977). India is now in joint ventures in such areas like light engineering, oil and seed crushing, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, glass and glass products, commercial vehicles, cement and other manufacturing, consultancy and many other fields (Dunning 1981). Statistical evidence shows that most of these investments have taken the form of acquisitions.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Dunning’s theory Dunning’s theory of investment development path shows that outward investments and also inward investments create more structural development in the home economy as compared to the countries of destination. According to the theory, as a country develops it may be able to expand its industries further to neighboring countries or to other countries that are behind it in terms of development. As development becomes advanced, it becomes possible to invest even in countries that are more developed than that investing country (Dunning, Hoesel Narula 1998). It would be expected that after India liberalizing its policy, there would be more concentration on its domestic market instead of concentrating on other markets where percentage growth is lower than in India. The explanation could be that India seems to follow the theory of investment development path (Ruta 2005). These investments eventually culminate to India’s development. With India’s p reoccupation with foreign currency reserves, it would be expected therefore that the outward flow of investments will fluctuate with the level of foreign currency reserves (Bhat 1973). TATA’s UK Environment The UK market is highly influenced by the bargaining power of competitors. The presence of powerful competitors in the UK like Ford, GM, Toyota, Peugeot and others makes it a highly consolidated market. Intense price wars would therefore arise and necessitate differentiation of products (Windecker 2011). The bargaining power of the buyers in the UK market also characterizes TATA’s UK environment. Due to the high competition of the several companies in UK, buyers also have immense bargaining power. They have also in the recent times exhibited high level of bargain seeking behavior. One cannot also fail to recognize the bargaining power of the suppliers. Even with the consolidation of the vehicle manufacturers, suppliers groups have also consolidated and so car dealer s experience a lot of bargaining power due to the overcapacity problem. TATA’s UK environment is also determined by threat of new entrants into the market. There is future potential of Chinese manufacturers flooding the EU markets if there is no protection measures implemented in the near future. Even when the threat is minimized by the entry barriers of value, investment capability and product development, the globalized nature of the industry makes entry of new competitors not clear cut (Aggarwal Johann 1998). The UK market is characterized by slow pace of market entry. The high competition in the UK market means that the market window for Tata Motors is narrow. This may undermine that company’s success on this market (Shah 2006). Despite the threat posed by these challenges Tata could position itself strategically and not only concentrate on low cost cars but also SUVs since after market recovery, there would be high demand for them. They could also take advantage of the expansion of the EU market. Why UK? TATA chose UK due to presence of several favorable business and environmental factors like economic stability, medium entry barriers, growth of the car market segments and the future market expansion prospects into the EU, using UK as the base. Fast entry mode was chosen where there was establishment of contractual relationships with UK operating market agents through joint ventures (Windecker 2011). This would guarantee Tata fast market penetration and market knowledge. There was a negative aspect that had to be counterbalanced. The fact that Tata heavily relied on its Indian success undermined its competitive pressure. In order to counter this, Tata proposed to focus on building customer relations and enhance customer loyalty. A consideration is being given by Tata to come up with a SUV model to suit customers who are looking for sports type, environmentally friendly high quality but cheap cars. This is a large market that Tata could focu s on. It would use price as one of the attractive factors and this would work wonders for price sensitive individuals. In its strategy, the company will launch advertising campaigns to create awareness about the car. The company also intends to cooperate with different car dealers and develop e-commerce to ensure the products are available. In a very recent research study of Tata by a branch of its UK consultancy segment, some sustainability strategy tailored to the UK segment was proposed. The ten year sustainability strategy is designed to complement its growth and expansion. The areas addressed were steel, automobile, software consulting, chemicals, tea and other major interests it invests in. First, creation of a Tata Sustainability Solutions (TSS) was proposed. While much of its operational details will not be discussed here, TSS will ensure centralized consulting support for all business units, increased transparency, financial independence, and management development, ease of raising funds, strategic continuity and consistency of business practices. In this research it was suggested that when the support structures are in place alongside TSS, the initiatives that reflect each unit’s target market needs, business expertise needed and such variables can start being looked at. The initiatives should be tracked in aggregate by TSS perhaps with an exception of the Corporate Social Responsibility. All details should be addressed using a specific timeline to avoid jumping the gun. If Tata was to adopt such strategy, several current strategies could be affected right from human resource practices to operations (Windecker 2011). What does internalization mean to UK stakeholders? Even if capital gains are not channeled to the UK, accommodation of such investments as those coming from the East is crucial for its economy too. The advantages could be counted especially on job creation. Counting Tata only, it has been confirmed that there are 40,000 jobs in UK only coming from such an investment. This would mean that if the acquired companies were still under previous management, there would perhaps be downsizing owing to the poor performance of these companies. Allowing such foreign investments also brings in new ideas into already existing knowledge base (Shah 2006). Such investments also make UK the hub of activity in the EU and bring market not only for the foreign company products but also for home products. It brings business to such other industries like the flight industry, freight, outsourcing and others (Windecker 2011). The presence of competition also can be considered an advantage in that it brings product improvement, differentiation and makes prices affordable for the customers. Company standards also rise due to the competition bringing aspects like HR practices and services to a new level. All these combined are a plus to the local economy. The competition it brings can however be considered a negative in the sense that it takes business away from local producers. This compared to other advantages that foreign investments bring, can be considered as healthy competition (Green 2002). The stockholders are above all better positioned to benefit from the diversified investments. The internalization of companies especially from the developing countries of the East and their entry into the UK can therefore be regarded as important for the UK. List of References Aggarwal, R., and Johann, K., 1982. Foreign operations of third world multinationals: A literature review and analysis of Indian companies. Journal of Developing Areas, 17(1), 13-29. Agmon, T., Kindieberger, C. P., 1977. Multinationals from small countries. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Bhat, V. M., 1973. â€Å"Indian investment and collaboration in foreign countries.† In C. N. Vakil (ed.), Industrial development of India: policy and problems. New Delhi: Orient Longman. Biswas, S., 2005. Knowledge services sector to generate $ 200-b economy by 20. The Economic Times, New Delhi, 12 April, p. 16. Chaudhuri, A.R., and K. Muthukumar, 2004. The Worlds Ageing, and its an Old hand at Work All around You, The Economic Times, New Delhi, 15 June, p. 9. Dunning, J. H., 1981. Explaining the international direct investment position of countries: towards a dynamic or developmental approach. Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv., 117(1), 30-64. Dunning, J. H., Hoesel, V., Narula, R., 1998. Third world multinationals revisited: New developments and theoretical implications, in J. H. Dunning (Ed.). Globalization: Trade and foreign direct investment. Amsterdam: Elsevier Encarnation, D., 1982. The political economy of Indian joint industrial ventures abroad. International Organization, 36(1), 31-59. Greer, C. R., 2002. Strategic human resource management: A general managerial approach, 2nd edition. Singapore: Pearson Education. Nieuwenhuis, P., Wells, P. E., 2003. The automotive industry and the environment: A technical, business and social futur e. Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing Ruta, C. D., 2005. The application of change management theory to HR portal implementation in subsidiaries of Multinational Corporation. Human Resource Management, 44(1), 35-53. Shah, K., 2006. â€Å"The Dream Nightmare. The Economic Times. New Delhi, 10 June, p.7 Tata Motors, 2006. Annual report. Tata Motors. [online] Web. Windecker, R., 2011. Upsize and upscale lead the way. Automotive Industries, 184(6), 18