My Country †Dorothea Mackellar Analysis Essay

My Country is an iconic nationalistic poem about Australia written by Dorothea Mackellar in 1908. Dorothea Mackellar was born in Sydney in 1885. Her education was comprised of private home tutoring until she attended University of Sydney. She travelled broadly with her parents and also become fluent in Spanish, French, German and Italian. She highly educated and lived an adventurous life. Though raised in a professional urban family, Mackellar’s poetry is usually considered as typical bush poetry, inspired by her experience on her brothers’ farms near Gunnedah, North-West of New South Wales. Dorothea began writing at a young age and astonished her family when magazines paid to buy the rights to publish her prose pieces of literature. On September 1908 a poem, ‘Core of My Heart’, appeared in the London Spectator. It also reappeared several times in Australia before being renamed as ‘My Country’ in her first book, ‘The Closed Door and Other Verses’. During World War I ‘My Country’ became one of the best-known Australian poems which successfully appealed to the sense of loyalty nurtured by the war and post-war patriotism. This was all because of its frequent inclusion in anthologies. The Mackellar family owned several properties in the Gunnedah area in New South Wales, and it is this country that inspired her writing career. An Anthology is a collection of priceless pieces of literature. An anthology will include all types of literature; fiction, poetry and drama to journals, letters, essays and speeches. An anthology records the enhancement of one of the great literatures in all its energy and variety. Hence, ‘My Country’ deserves a place in such as collection because there is a strong contrast between the Australia she saw from the current one. ‘My Country’ is a rhyming poem which consists of fourteen stanzas. The descriptive language is evocative/ expressive of various Australian landscapes and will attract readers of all ages. The poem has been brought to life as a magnificently exemplified picture book. Mackellar introduces the idea of Australia’s uniqueness firstly in the first two stanzas, with a juxtaposition of Australia’s wild landscape compared to England’s local landscape. England’s scenery is described as ‘grey-blue distance, brown streams and soft, dim skies’; While Australia’s landscape is portrayed as ‘a land of sweeping plains, of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains’. This description of the two countries suggests that the Dorothea’s persona believes that Australia’s remoteness makes it beautiful and incomparable to England’s landscape. This informs the reader that she prefers the sunburned land of Australia with its savannahs and mountains and ever-changing weather. It is not a calm land; it is a challenging one, harsh in times of drought, unpredictable in rainy season. Flood and fire are part of the landscape and can be overwhelming. Yet for all the wildness, all its fi erceness, it can be a generous land and a magnificent one, and those who call it home have an innate connection to the land. From ‘I love a sunburnt country’, which presents the following stanzas on Australia, Mackellar begins inducing the idea of Australia not just being a dead piece of land but equivalent and featuring similar characteristics of a person. This idea is deliberated through personification by denoting to the land as she or her. For e.g. the poem reads, ‘I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, and’ -‘for flood and fire and famine she pays us back threefold’. By utilising this technique, Mackellar is able to express the deepness of her relationship and passion for her land truly is. There is a steady rhythm in the poem, which exemplifies some sort of flow of life, for example, ‘floating rains’, or it’s running in your veins’, which present this method deliberately. The reader can imagine how vivid, detailed and erratic the country is due to the thorough detail that Mackellar uses to describe it. This enables the reader to identify and relate to it in some way. For example, ‘my homing thoughts will fly’, informs the reader that she is thinking of her home, and also ‘opal hearted country’. Mackellar uses simple vocabulary that everybody can understand and appreciate, but often some the verses and words have other meanings. For example, she repeatedly says; ‘core of my heart, my country’. Mackellar uses romantic words in her poem, ‘I love her jewel like sea’, and the reader can visualise the image she produces in their head. These images include, ‘a land of sweeping plains, of ragged mountain ranges’ and ‘my heart, my country’. Words like these appeal to the reader’s emotions and have a strong effect. Consequently, she also writes about negative points in life ‘when sick at heart, around us, we see the cattle die’ and especially on this continent ‘of droughts and flooding rains’. Nature disasters like ‘flood and fire’ are in contrast to ‘the hot gold hush of moon’ .The poet describes the contrast with the conflicting words ‘her beauty and her terror’. In addition, she also illustrates images through the expressive colours; Descriptions such as ‘Sapphire misted mountains’ and ‘opal hearted country’, display a special exclusivity that only her love of country reflects. She presents emotion with verses such as, ‘my country’ and ‘my Heart’, which signify her love and nationalism towards Australia. Many of the previous Australian anthologies consist of vivid, descriptive lively pieces of literature which highlight certain moments or events. ‘My Country’ has been included in many Australian anthologies which were published after the First World War. It’s important to publish this poem into this current era’s anthology as well because, it will educate future generations about Australia’s landscapes, physical aesthetics and how it was received by the people during that time. Dorothea Mackellar’s poem deserves a place in the current era’s anthology because; the verses of the poem carry deep meaning. Mackellar has also lived in the Australian country side for a while and she has included every moment of her experiences and love she had in her heart, for her country. To conclude, ‘My Country’ has been the greatest iconic, patriotic poem about Australia. Since it was written by an Australian with English ancestry, it includes a comparison of Australia and Great Britain. Her poem has won many awards and has been received well by readers across the nation. Also, it lets the reader open his/her heart and establish a strong connection with Australia. Therefore, it surely deserves a place in the upcoming anthology about Australia.

Feedback Loops to Enhance Software Capability Essay

Feedback loops are a part of the systems we examine in systems thinking. Our first text book Thinking in Systems tells us we can see the existence of a feedback loop when â€Å"the consistent behavior pattern over a long period of time† is observed. My own interpretation is that feedback loops provide information in real time (or something close to real time) to provide the opportunity to make adjustments, pushing toward improvement. Even more simply stated action= information=reaction. Systems thinking is a methodology for us to analyze and predict behavior by developing an in-depth understanding of the underlying components in the system. The majority of real world problems are complex, and due to this complexity the systems models for these problems will be complex as well. It will be impossible to formulate solutions to complex issues without understanding the feedback loops that influence the systems we are studying. For example, the Internet is an information system with feedback loops. I began to notice feedback loops at work on the internet this week while I was on my Facebook page. Earlier in the day I had been looking at Hotel options in Las Vegas as I will be travelling to Nevada for a trade show in April. One of the hotels I looked at via their website was the Golden Nugget on Fremont Street. A few minutes later when I visited my Facebook page, one of the ads on the side of my page was for the Golden Nugget hotel in Las Vegas. Obviously there is some correlation between the ads on your Facebook page and websites you have visited, I just had never noticed it before. This has to be based on a feedback loop where Facebook is receiving information as to your browsing habits and then customizing advertising based on these habits. If we take this a step further this could also be used as a predictive tool as well. If you think you might like the Golden Nugget, you’ll really love the Mirage. That sort of suggestive selling could be a major revenue generator for Facebook assuming they receive a fee when a consumer purchases based upon their ads. I’d have to say this is a reinforcing feedback loop. The more Facebook knows about you the more it can customize your ads and this will continue to build upon itself with ni limitation other than your own habits. Feedback loops are also being used to enhance software capability. Patikirikorala stated â€Å"The feedback control loop has been one of the key concepts used in building self-adaptive software systems to manage their performance among other quality aspects† (2678). All of us who use and depend on software on a daily basis know that it is unpredictable. It can also at times be unstable, sometimes due to user error and other times due to real product deficiencies. The concept with using feedback loops is to help the software be able to fine tune itself in order to help create better performance and also reduce on going administrative costs. It appears one of the major stumbling blocks with this approach at the moment is that software systems are complex and their problems are not easily reproduced through modeling and systems thinking. Patikirikorala explores this issue when he says â€Å"For instance, an e-commerce system may face sudden intensive workloads when promotional offers are run or when referenced by a high-traffic site (the so-called ‘slash-dot’ effect). The workloads may also vary dramatically depending on the time of day (e.g., stock market applications) or the time of year (e.g., tax office sites). Third, if the application evolves due to new feature additions, bug fixes or system configuration changes, the constructed model has to be changed as well for accurate representation. The resultant behavior of the software application therefore depends on a combination of the operating states or conditions of the underlying software layers, the current environmental workloads, and the current configuration of the application architecture. Depending on what combination of the above factors occurs, the behavior of the software application can be characterized by a number of distinct operating regions. However, the complexity of interactions between these factors means that creating a single model of the system is very difficult if not virtually impossible.† (2679). One may only need to examine the stated issues above however to see the potential benefits by software that can self-regulate through a feedback loop. For instance, what if the system software used for on-line trading of stocks could execute a scenario during peak hours to allow the maximum number of users higher throughput, in order to execute their trades quickly and accurately without a slowdown in performance? This must have been the effect Windows was looking for when it enabled the real time reporting of bugs and crashes into its operating systems. The next logical evolution will be when the software itself tracks these issues and makes the adjustments without user intervention or reporting. This methodology need not be limited to software either, the race appears to be on from network hardware providers such as Cisco and Enterasys to provide network infrastructure that is self-healing, self-configuring, and self-adapting. Networks that can distinguish between different types of threats, discriminate between devices attempting to connect and self-install patches or security measures are the next generation of hardware. This is also all accomplished through the use of feedback loops. One thing is certain, without the feedback loop, and our ability to understand them. Our ability to formulate solutions via the use of Systems Thinking is severely limted. References: Patikirikorala, T., Colman, A., Han, J., & Wang, L. (2012). An evaluation of multi-model self-managing control schemes for adaptive performance management of software systems. Journal Of Systems & Software, 85(12), 2678-2696. doi:10.1016/j.jss.2012.05.077 Boehmer, W. (2012). Toward a target and coupling function of three different Information Security Management Systems. Concurrency & Computation: Practice & Experience, 24(15), 1708-1725. doi:10.1002/cpe.1873 Meadows, Donella H., (2008), Thinking in Systems. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing

Business strategy, researching tesco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business strategy, researching tesco - Essay Example It is clear that the high standards set by those in leadership and management positions at Tesco have tremendously contributed to the company’s success. The company’s ‘Every Little Helps’ philosophy ensures that its customers, the community, and company employees form an integral part of its operations. 1.1 Company Core Values and Objectives The most outstanding values of the company are its commitment to providing high standards of service and quality products to its customers by being a responsible retailer. The company continues to offer a great shopping experience to its customers who shop online or it its many other service provisions. This is manifest in the company’s desired future strategic position of reaching zero-carbon operations by the year 2050. In order to do so, the company opened the initial zero-carbon hypermarket in Ramsey in 2010, which led to Tesco winning the tribute as the Green Retailer of the Year in 2012. The continued succe ss the giant retailer enjoys depends on the reassessment and formulation of business strategies in order to remain competitive and increase profitability (David, 2011). Tesco aspires to improve customer loyalty and its core UK business base through various programs such as the club card program introduced in 1995 and is currently the most popular card in the UK. The company also continues to develop various strategies aimed at improving competitiveness and such strategies are mainly driven by price, quality, range of products and innovation. This paper examines corporate strategies at Tesco, the reasons informing each component, how vision and company values interrelate to make the strategies successful, and finally draws on a conclusion on the best alternative strategies that the company can adopt by giving recommendations based on the evaluation. 2.0 Tesco’s Corporate Strategic Position Over the years since it started operations, Tesco has developed a firm and deeply rooted strategy for growth, which is mainly focused on reinforcing the company’s core UK business operations and growth thrust in new markets. The primary tenet of the giant retailer’s strategy, formulated in 1997, encompasses the expansion of scope of operations that allows delivery of a robust and sustained long-term growth. To realize such an expansion of scope of business operations, Tesco constantly pursues existing customers with the aim of introducing them to various other Tesco products and services such as non-food, telecommunications, and financial services. Tesco’s business strategy is based on five principles including desire to remain successful in its global retail business while at the same time developing its core UK business. The company also aims to sustain its business strength both in the food and non-food sectors. Moreover, the company develops strategies that will enhance expansion of other retailing and financial services, and place its customer s and communities at the heart of its operations. 2.1 Customer Loyalty Despite the fact that Tesco Clubcard was introduced to the customers in 1995, there has been a higher degree of data collection especially over the last decade manly due to the company’s embracement of technological advances. Currently, the card can collect essential information

Business Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Managment - Essay Example In this way, we can examine applications in the business context, thus drawing conclusions about their roles in strategy. Strategic ethics "comprises principles and standards that guide behaviour in the world of business" Ferrell and Fraedrich (2000:6). Social responsibility on the other hand is the obligation a business assumes toward society. Jennings (2003:6) defines these responsibilities as being economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. A business' economic responsibilities are to produce goods and services that society needs and wants at a price that can perpetrate the business and satisfy its obligation to investors. The legal responsibilities are the laws that they must obey. Ethical responsibilities are defined as behaviours or activities that are expected of business by society but are not codified in law. Philanthropic responsibilities are those behaviours and activities that society desires and business values dictate. Social responsibility then can be viewed as a contract with society, whereas business ethics involves carefully thought out rules of business organizational conduct that guide decision making. Business ethics relates to rules and principles that guide individual and work group decisions, whereas social responsibility concerns the effect of organizational decisions on society. When a corporation's values and ethics support its strategy, the company's stability and success i

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 11

Marketing - Essay Example However doing so does mean putting the business’s long term strategy at risk as the customers and the remaining stakeholders would not appreciate the fact that the enterprise does not value their concerns rather goes after the financial side. The need and thus the opportunity in the business world of present times is to get ourselves noticed and make the companies realize of their responsibilities that they owe to the customers. The companies that have been marred by the high-spate abuses in the business scene of present times have included the Ford-Firestone debacle, the California energy crisis where it did its worst possible bit ant changing and altering the flow of power supply and in the end, the same resulted in huge power bills as well as blackouts. Also, the example is of the telecommunications’ failures that have hit the American business panorama like anything. The slips in the airline industry owing to the 9/11 episode and the aftermath is also one such example that comes to mind and last but not the least, the ever famous whistle blowing story related with Enron and the Arthur Andersen accounting firm. These companies and enterprises suggest just a fraction of the amount of malpractices that are rampant in the American business scenario. All these have more or less focused more on attaining the financial needs and meeting economic goals rather than doing one thing or the other (positively) towards the end consumers, which at the end of the day bring in all the sales, revenues and long term stability of the companies as well. Consumer movements could be first step in educating the companies towards their regression of consumer values. [Guest, 2002] This requires a clear fore vision and one that looks at restoring the positive link and relationship between all the parties, players and individual partners, to state as a matter of fact. Another option could be to go for effective

Cover letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Cover letter - Essay Example I have also learnt communication skills which have not only improved my pronunciation but also enhanced my good command in speaking English. I took English 105 as a unit in the university and one of the objectives required is to be able to attain good writing skills. The course entails the use of four topics in learning English, which include; Media review, Observation, Contact zone and banking of concept education. An improvement of overall quality of work entails summary that is not only clear and precise but also give an overview or try to analyze a wider point of what the topic elaborates. This skill was enhanced through a review of a movie about Chinese history especially about the last Emperor. The movie shows how the last king Pu Yi could not rule the empire as forerunners did and ended up lonely in the Forbidden City. The review of this story enabled me to test my recollection ability of what I watched and how easy I can remember an event that occurred. It also enabled me to be creative on writing a story. The major corrections done here mostly were on punctuations, sentences construction, and general flow of ideas to make the story flow chronologically. Observation is a skill that is of greater importance to a writer or student. An essay written about the Miami children’s hospital describes how the observer was involved in noting the behavior of patient’s parent, nurse and the child who was a patient. The writer describes the scenario as it is. This skill of describing a behavior requires detailed analysis of specific event without generalization. The details described make it provable by the presenter. My third essay was majored on contact with the situation or community around this enabled understanding of myself in relation to the community I interacted with an exemplary way of revealing yourself is by writing of how you became aware of something, how to gain a way of new world and a new

Life Since Class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Life Since Class - Essay Example German cockroaches go through three distinct phases in their life cycle, namely, egg, nymph and adult (Piper and Antonelli). Cockroaches molt about 12-15 times during the nymph stage of their development. German cockroaches are especially difficult to get rid of because they reproduce quickly, having about four full generations in one year. They also have a habit of protecting their egg sacks better than other cockroaches. This leads to lower mortality rates for newly hatched cockroaches. Cockroaches are rarely studied for their beauty or cuddly nature. Most research that features cockroaches soon has suggestions on how to get rid of them if they are in your house. There are many different solutions that are commercially available. The most effective appears to be poisoned bait that can be applied to areas of infestation. This coupled with boric acid powder applied to cracks and hiding places will often be effective. This is especially true if the cockroaches are deprived of hiding areas, food and water. Prevention of reproduction by depriving the insects of food and water is key to eliminating these insects from your home. Piper, G. L., and A. L. Antonelli. "Cockroaches: Identification, Biology and Control." Cooperative Extension Washington State University. Washington State University. Web. 7 Nov. 2011.

The Culture of Gift and Bribe in Business Research Paper - 1

The Culture of Gift and Bribe in Business - Research Paper Example There has been increasing calls for managers to ensure that they keep to the code of ethics in their work. As the leader of the organizations, managers are given special duty of looking at the needs of the organization in the sense that they have to take care of all the activities of the organization. Therefore they are expected to lead by example and show others where they are supposed to take the organization. The duties of a manager have been increasing in the recent past to include the factor of ensuring that there is fairness in business practice. One of the most recent ethical controversies that have engulfed the business world has been the issue of culture giving of gift and bribes. It has been shown that the culture of giving bribes and gifts has become one of the most commonly practiced business practice. The debate on whether gifts and bribes in business are justified or not is been centered on several issues. This has been dictated by the cultural practices of different communities in the world. Let us look closely at the concept of giving of bribes and gifts in business. (Iniobong 2007, p. 4) In the operation of the business, a manager is likely to come into contact with many people. These people are of diverse cultural practice and have different values that are attached to the cultural practices. This has become a dilemma in the modern market which has been dictated by the increasing rate of globalization which has been marked by the increased movement of people and increased interaction as well. The culture of gifts and bribes is taken differently according to a different society. For example, the culture of giving gifts is very common in China and from time to time people will give different gifts in different occasion. This is also extended to the business world and is not limited to the social life of the people. Reeling from a socialist economy, Chinese have not been fully embraced by the capitalist world and there is still a sense of community or togetherness that usually characterizes these regimes. On the other hand the culture of giving gifts in America is very rare. In the western world gift are only given in special occasion. Therefore they are limited to the social life of the people and in the business world they are only limited to the end year party and usually meant to raise the morale of the employees. Therefore when the Chinese businesses come to America, they come with their gift-giving culture. On the other hand when the American business goes to China they take with them limited gift-giving culture. This has been a source of conflict for a long time now for businesses operating under the above mentioned condition. (Scott 2005, p.2) But in the business world it is the intention of giving that gift that matter. Though you may give someone a gift with good intention they may receive the gift with another intention rather than that one that you meant. Therefore there has been a notion that these gifts are meant to bribe the one receiving them in order to grant some favor. In the business context, this has become a major issue that has brought about a ranging debate. It has been seen that there has been increased gift giving especially between the public official who is in power and the business manager who seek to have favor in the business process.  

Pharmacy Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pharmacy - Personal Statement Example I believe taking up the field of Health Science and Medicine Pharmacy shall allow me to make a positive contribution towards health science. Therefore, the significance of Health Science and Medicine Pharmacy cannot be underestimated as we can learn from Louis Pasteur’s work that played a major role to save lives of million people against the infection. I believe as we progress further into the twentieth first century the field of health science will face several challenges and I want to play may part to tackle these challenges. I love to work, understand different types of drugs and their contents that may affect people’s health to transform their lives. In my opinion, the field of medicine is a vast field, and by enrolling in the course I shall be able to enhance my knowledge and apply it to make other’s lives better. I have always dreamt of running my own business for Aurvedic medicines, and I believe that by enrolling in the course, I shall be able to accompl ish my dream. The field of Health Science and Medicine Pharmacy is a tough field, which requires students to work with a higher dedication. Though, I have encountered several difficulties during the course of my A-level, my aspiration and hard work towards the field assessed me to gain good grade in the next round. I believe my determination and interest in the fields of sciences shall persuade me to the course more effectively with good grades. For me, the field of Health Science and Medicine Pharmacy is more a passion to me, since my sixth grade. I was always curious to know how these small pills can actually work to fight diseases. In addition, the dream to work in a place where I can dedicate myself to serve the humanity drove me to work harder to acquire good grades in the second round of A levels. I have worded as HSE Assistant Trainee in a Marine company. It allowed me to enhance my knowledge regarding Health and Safety Environment. In addition, it also provides me

To the Lighthouse Essay Example for Free

To the Lighthouse Essay Style for the writer as well as for the painter is a question not of technique, but of vision, says French writer Marcel Proust in his book Le Temps Retrouve. Proust belongs to the league of early 20th century writers who rebelled against the structures of Classicism on prose by employing revolutionary styles in the narrative. Critics of Virginia Woolf trace her influence to Proust, among other figures who share her distinct conception of reality and experience albeit the fact that there was no direct correspondence between the two writers. Virginia Woolf is a very individualistic and visionary writer (Friedman, 1955). The apparent similarity between her theory of reality and experience and that of the popular claims of some of her contemporaries can only be accounted for by the fact that Woolf draws much from the zeitgeist. The idea of stream of consciousness, for instance, is not unique to her as Bergson, who authored ‘durational flux’, proposes the same idea that time is a continuous flux which is the theoretical basis for stream of consciousness (Friedman, 1955). Nonetheless, her work remained distinctly hers specifically in terms of her style. It is because for Woolf the creation and fulfillment of a vision rather than a practice of technique matters most. Her bearing as a writer naturally followed her vision, her philosophy on life, reality and truth. In her body of work, she demonstrated what Proust claims to be the fountainhead of style. A very critical essayist, Woolf was very vocal about her vision. In her essay, Modern Fiction, published in 1925, she voices out her opinion on the issue of spiritualism versus materialism by critiquing her contemporary English authors H. G. Wells, Arnold Bennett and John Galsworthy. She coined the label ‘Materialists’ from their apparent lack of vision, their concern for trivial, temporal things, which to her escapes Life. She regarded their craft with respect but it was the objective to which their efforts were directed that she strongly opposed. She emphasizes the capturing of the spirit (or, as she put it, â€Å"life or truth or reality, whatever we call it†) to be the essence of art. The absence thereof incites the question whether that piece of literature is worthwhile and enduring. Woolf believes the preoccupation with trivialities is a manifest submission to the tyranny of the classics, the tradition and the canon. This would mean stagnation and death. Woolf puts it better when she writes: â€Å"Movement and change are the essence of our being. Rigidity is death, conformity is death† (Woolf, â€Å"The Common Reader†). Described as essentially a â€Å"lyrical novel†, To the Lighthouse reflects the totality of Woolf’s vision of capturing the evanescence of life into prose (Mayoux 214). Critics of the novel refer to its non-prose qualities, i. e. its deviation from the conventions of unity of time, characterization and linear plot development, to describe novel which has a very thin plot. Williams (204) writes that the novel is more akin to poetry than prose because it attempts to ‘[make] the moment something permanent. † According to him, this is a province of poets, musicians and painters and not of novelists (Williams 204). Interestingly, one of the characters in the novel, Lily Briscoe, is an actual painter and her character gives insight into the workings of the novel. The external plot of the novel is unusually thin for its length. Bennett aptly constructs the summary: â€Å"a group of people plan to sail in a small boat to a lighthouse. At the end some of them reach the lighthouse in a small boat†(200). The novel is divided in three chapters. The first chapter, The Window, begins in summer at a vacation house by the sea, owned by Mr. and Mrs.Ramsay. On that occasion, their family along with a few friends gathered in the house for a party prepared by Mrs. Ramsay. Mrs. Ramsay’s son insists on going to the lighthouse, but Mr. Ramsay disappoints him by announcing that the weather would not permit them. The rest of chapter describes the dinner interspersed with the thoughts of each character. The second chapter, Time Passes, is a description of the house and the memory imprinted in it after the characters introduced in the first chapter went their separate ways. The chapter is devoid of character action except for the incidental visitation of the house cleaners. In the second chapter, Mrs. Ramsay’s death is announced. The third chapter, The Lighthouse, happens years after the first chapter. Mr. Ramsay, together with his children and two of their guests, including Lily Briscoe, revisits the summer house. Lily contemplates the completion of her painting as Mr. Ramsay leads his children on a boat ride to the lighthouse. The novel ends as Lily completes her work.

Private Sector Participation in Indias Defence Production

Private Sector Participation in Indias Defence Production Security of the state is of paramount importance since time immemorial, and a certain amount of military expenditure becomes a fundamental necessity irrespective of a point whether a nation is rich or poor. A nations strength revolved around maintaining steady un-hindered economic progress with the presence of mighty armies possessing proper stock of ordnance and armour to uphold the solidarity and sovereignty of that particular country. Accordingly, all over the world the rulers (including in India) had always dealt military and military associated equipments, policies, and personnel clandestinely and with great care. Scrutiny of the history reveals that, production of ordnance and armour was never pressed into the hands of private personnel. Even in India, the production/stocking of military equipment always had the element of secrecy and had always remained as a state-led organisation. Kautilyas Arthasastra emphasises, The Chief of Ordnance shall establish factories staffed with craftsmen for the manufacture of machines for attacking in battles(Verse 2.18.1). All equipments brought out into the armoury shall be stamped with the Kings seal and would be properly stocked(Verse 2.18.4).The Moghuls had canon factories under the control of Emperor called as TOP-KHAANAS with KHANSMAN or Lord Steward as an In-charge. Historian Robert Home recorded that, even Tipu Sultan took a keen interest in the production of firearms totally under the control of the state, and established at Seringapatam 11 armouries for making and finishing small arms; 4 large arsenals and 3 buildings housing machines for boring gun s. Post Independence-Neutral Attitude. In tune with the age old concept and belief of Defence Industry to be controlled only by State, the Planning Memorandum (PM) of 1945 and the Industrial Policy Resolution( IPR) of 1948 and 1956 placed the munitions , aircraft and ship building industries in the public sector under the control of the Central Government. There was a wide spread feeling that it was improper for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to go in for collaboration with the private sector. Parliament did not permit any move in this direction. Secondly, in the area of defence production, profit making by private individuals in times of war and peace was considered undesirable. Post independence, Nehru commissioned PMS Blackett, a British physicist to prepare a report outlining the measures necessary for India to become near self sufficient in defence production. Though self reliance and self sufficiency were on the Blacketts report, there was a lukewarm attitude towards military requi rements due to the political philosophies of Indian National Congress and Nehrus strong postulated neutrality in the form of Non -Align Movement (NAM). Chinese Aggression. The real impetus for the military was only received in the aftermath of the 1962 Chinese aggression. The ordnance factories, which until then were being gainfully employed to produce coffee percolators and film projectors, were revitalised. At the same time, the geopolitical developments all over the world have critically affected developing countries like India. The need to maintain qualitatively better armed forces, and consequently equipment and infrastructure, has become the need of the hour. It was also evident that the nation will have to be progressively being more reliant on its own capabilities and build a credible defence industrial base to cater the needs of armed forces. Despite the will to contribute, the private sector at that juncture could not contribute much due to lack of expertise, infrastructure and opposition from Govt policies and was confined to play a subordinate role. The Yawning Gap. In the absence of worthwhile players in the private sector, massive investments by the government to raise infrastructure for defence RD in the sixties and seventies was a wise decision. However, due to the changing military environment, the needs of armed forces towards sophisticated ordnance and equipment were ever growing and could never be fulfilled by the inadequate indigenous production rendered by the public sector despite heavy investments. Therefore to fill the yawning gap of projected requirements of armed forces and available limited resources there come up an inevitable need for import of the necessary ordnance and equipments by spending Crores worth of foreign exchange. Foreign Exchange Spending. Indias spending on arms imports since 1999 Kargil conflict have risen to $ 25 billion and is likely to further rise beyond $ 30 billion by 2012. Indias import of defence articles as on today consists about 70% of the procurement in value terms from foreign sources because the Indian public sector cannot deliver in terms of quality or speed on either research or production of military stores. It would be astonishing to note that, India is currently the worlds biggest importer of arms worth 3% of GDP or $ 30 billion. This does not augur well for a country that seeks self reliance and aspires to be a global power. Change in Policies. Rising to the occasion, the govt has started to woo the private sector by announcing various policy changes, liberalisations for the active participation in the defence production, and thereby to reduce dependency on the other nations. These include 100% participation of the private sector in defence production with FDI to the extent of 26 % subject to licensing from the Dept of Industry Policy and Promotion (DIPP), funding research and development, as well as appropriate provisions in Defence Procurement Procedures (DPP) of 2005, 2006 and 2008 along with some amendments to DPP-2008 that came effective from 01 Nov 2009. AIM Aim of this paper is to analyse the role of private sector participation in the defence production in the light of growing needs of sophisticated ordnance and equipment by the armed forces vis-Ã  -vis the incapability of public sector to meet the challenges. PUBLIC SECTOR AND PRESENT STATUS Indian Ordnance Factories Organisation Formation. In order to meet the increased, simultaneous requirement of armaments and military equipment in the European and Eastern theatres of war and consequent British inability to ship the requisite quantities of arms and ammunition, a number of defence oriented industries were set up in India by the British. The rifle factory at Ishapore (oldest established in 1801), ammunition factory at Kirkee, shells and gun carriage factory at Jabalpur and saddler factory at Shajahanpur are a few in instance. Presently, there are 39 Ordnance Factories geographically distributed all over the country at 24 different locations and are running under the Department of Defence Production under Ministry of Defence. Role of Ordnance Factories. The organisation is primarily engaged in manufacture of Arms, Ammunitions, Equipment, Armoured Vehicles Personnel Carriers, Transport Vehicles, Clothing and General Stores items. After meeting the primary requirement of the Armed Forces, spare capacities are utilised for supply to non-defence sector and exports. The gross production of Ordnance factories during the year 2005-06 was Rs 8811.59 Crores. Total sales including issues to armed forces and other agencies and civil trade in the same year was Rs 6891.68 Crores. This constitutes approximately 40 percent of domestic supplies to the armed forces. Whereas, the contribution of OFB to IN in the year 2009-10 was a meagre one and half percent. The projected target was 11,000 Crores and delivered was only 6,000 Crores. Innate Challenges. The traditional challenges to the management of Ordnance Factories have been explained in the following sub paragraphs. However, the point to note is that the Ordnance Factories perceptibly have not done well except in the case of the last of these challenges, i.e. they have not been taking any net budgetary support from the government since 1999-2000:- (a) Significant reduction in the over head cost through reduction of excessive staff while at the same time retaining quality man power. (b) Speed up production to meet the expectations of the prime customers. (c) Faster absorption of imported new technologies either from abroad under license production or from the DRDO. (d) Reduced budgetary support from the Govt. Utter Fiasco. It is obvious that owing to the continuous monopoly they have enjoyed over a period of years as state pampered organisations they could not sustain in the race with foreign counter parts in producing sophisticated goods warranted by armed forces or at least in showcasing such capabilities. With the continuous dependency on DRDO, and total neglect of in-house R D facilities they miserably failed to deliver the desired goods in time. The Ordnance Factories are plagued with slackness due to lack of competition, multiple internal human resource problems. A brief note on DRDO is worth mentioning in this back drop to appreciate the close link between these two mutually failed organisations. DRDO Organisation Formation of DRDO Organisation. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was formed in 1958 and since then, DRDO has risen from a few laboratories to a large organisation with fifty one well-established laboratories spread throughout the country. The DRDO is engaged in pursuit of state of the art technologies so as to achieve progressive self-reliance in defence weapons and equipment. Every year about 200 plus scientists join the DRDO. The workforce of the DRDO is over 25,000 personnel with 6750 scientists in its Defence Research Development Service (DRDS) cadre. Achievements of DRDO Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. The most significant breakthrough in the field of high technology that DRDO can boast off is the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme(IGMDP). Government of India approved the IGMDP in 1983-84 with the aim of producing a wide range of guided missiles. Supersonic anti-ship cruise missile BRAHMOS is yet another (although it is a joint venture with Russia) success story. Besides these, achievements in other fields they claim are Main Battle Tank Arjun , Advanced Light Helicopter, Pilot less target aircraft, radar systems like the INDRA I and II, special steels, packed foods, snow clothing, vehicles, bridge layers, naval sonars and EW consoles to name a few. Failure of DRDO Gp Capt A G Bewoor anguishes in his article as, whenever the armed forces want a weapon system, the DRDO invariably says they can make it, and they have an unassailable record of never delivering. Ultimately, we import that same equipment at ten times the cost. Stories of such perfidy are too many to enumerate. Every indigenisation project of DRDO/OFB is much behind the schedule with success stories limited to few technology demonstrators. The classic examples of our R D failures are the Arjun tank, INSAS rifles, Saras, Kaveri, Akaash, Nag , Indra Radar and so many . Absence of Perspective Plan. The lackadaisical attitude of Ordnance Factories left indelible blemishes on the public sector technological front despite being the largest employer of man power, and pushed it towards incompetence and organisational failure. In the absence of any road map of their future perspective, they even cannot provide any assurance that they can meet the projected needs of armed forces and thus fail to generate any further faith of the user. Another noteworthy feature is while the defence public sector under takings outsource to the extent of 30 percent, this figure is about 80 percent in the case of ordnance factories. Thus, it was evident that, the ordnance factories in turn are dependent on private sector and the role of private sector cannot be under estimated though for the time being they are restricted to a secondary role. DPSUs AND PRESENT STATUS The countrys defence industrial capacity was concentrated in another class of enterprise, the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) besides Ordnance Factories. The DPSUs are organised under the Department of Defence production within the Ministry of Defence. With increased production of armaments during the 1960-70s the number of DPSUs had grown to nine by the 1980s. This was reduced to eight in 1986 by the transfer of Praga Machine Tools limited to the Ministry of Industry. The DPSUs involves themselves in the manufacture of modern sophisticated weapon systems, in advanced electronics, and in the production of exotic metal alloys for aerospace projects. The eight DPSUs are M/s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, M/s Bharat Electronics Limited , M/s Bharat Earth Movers Limited, M/s Mazagon Dock Limited, M/s Goa Shipyard Limited, M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited , M/s Bharat Dynamics Limited and M/s Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited. DPSU Summary. The DPSUs have been developing a wide variety of weapon systems and equipment under licence production. This large industrial effort should, in theory, provide the means to produce maintain and repair significant portions of the Indias military equipment, providing leverage against dependency on foreign supply and the means to ensure sustained military operations. However, as brought out by Baidya Bikasha Basu, there has been a little or no attempt in this direction. OFs/DPSUs and the private sector should involve themselves in experimentation and developing defence equipment in totality of defence requirements. In this venture, where collaboration and cooperation lead to innovation or failures, the OFs / DPSUs should be prepared to accept both. Emerging challenges offer opportunities to look at change. The defence industry by virtue of its technological edge and security applications is a crucial strategic industry. National governments in the west have long recognised this linkage and continue to evolve policies that both support the industry and retain its competitiveness. In contrast, the Indian government, while treating all defence PSUs as security related, has done precious little to prepare these vital industries to meet global challenges. India therefore, frequently falls prey to the games that developed nations play. Realising the damage , Govt has woken up and started reforms by promulgating various liberalisations and policies to encourage the private sector thereby to curtail the dependency on foreign resources. GOVT POLICIES Defence Offset Policy Defence Procurement Procedure 2005. Inclusions of provisions related to off sets in DPP 2005 was only a modest beginning. Except for specifying the contract threshold of Rs 300 Crore and prescribing an offset limit of 30 percent of the contract, there was not too much of elaboration on the modalities and other conditinalities for discharging the offset obligations. The procedure was vague with regards to inclusion of private sector industry for discharging offset obligations. Although symbolically a good beginning was made through the inclusion of an offset policy in the DPP 2005, it remained as a non-starter primarily owing to lack of clarity. Defence Procurement Procedure 2006. In 2006 the scope of the policy was clearly defined and the areas for discharging the offset obligations were clearly enunciated. The defence offsets were mandatory for all capital acquisitions under the category of buy (outright purchase), buy and make (purchase from a foreign vendor followed by licensed production), where ever the cost of acquisition in the RFP exceeds Rs 300 Crore (about $ 70 million). The minimum requirement of offsets at 30 percent under the buy category and a minimum of 30 percent of foreign exchange component under the buy and make category was prescribed. In terms of areas for discharge of offset obligations, the policy was specific namely:- (a) Direct purchase of, or executing export orders for defence products and components manufactured by, or services ordered by the Indian Defence Industries. (b) FDI in Indian Defence Industries, and (c) FDI in Indian Organisations engaged in defence. Defence Offset Facilitation Agency (DOFA). The most important feature of the 2006 policy was in terms of creation of an organisational structure for implementation of Offsets viz, Defence Offset Facilitation Agency (DOFA). Defence Procurement Procedure 2008. The Defence Offset Policy 2008 came into effect on Sep 01, 2008. Based on the inputs from all quarters the provisions related to banking of offset credits were incorporated, the licensing requirement from MoD for the manufacture of defence products was done away with. Instead, adherence to the procedure stipulated for the defence industrial licensing requirement as mandated by the Dept of Industry Policy and Promotion ( DIPP) , procedure of Min of Industry is now required to complied with. However, the revised procedure of 2008 remains silent on the issue of multipliers. Besides this, a new clause has been included (as an aftermath of 26/11 incident) that, the provisions will not be made applicable to the procurements made under the Fast Track Procedure (FTP) in all probabilities to obviate the delays involved in entering into execution of offset contracts. Draw Backs of Defence Offset Policy Lack of Universally Accepted Definitions. In its current form the offset procedure is limited to direct offsets. However, the direct offset procedures are not exactly in sync with the internationally practised definition of direct offsets. Therefore, adoption of universally accepted or acknowledged definitions for clarity of thought among all the stake holders is the need of the hour. Banking Offset Credits. Provisions on banking of offset credits facilitate the vendor to commence business operations in the buyer country without waiting for the award of a procurement contract. However, due to rigidity of the provisions in the policy, if a vendor is able to create more offsets than his obligations under a particular contact, the suppliers credit can be banked and would remain valid only for a period of two years after conclusion of the contract, and due to this the efforts put in by the vendor goes in vain and acts a disincentive. Offset multipliers. There is no mention of Offset Multipliers in 2008. Although DPP 2006 states that, the availability of giving additional weights to offset having multiplier effects in terms of exports generated or building indigenous capability in strategic technology products, or other issues may be considered after reviewing the experience of implementing the above policy. It would therefore be appropriate to accord a higher multiplier factor for a developing country like India, purring the core objective of defence industrial base through defence offsets. PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION PRESENT STATUS The extent of private sector involvement vis-Ã  -vis the defence outlay has been comparatively limited this far. On the other hand, the private sector often looks at short-term investment and returns, which inhibit strategic investments. The inability to export is another constraint; since the quantities required may often be restricted, there have to be concerted efforts to promote exports, within the bounds of national security.The contribution of the private sector to the Indian defence industry has always been significant albeit in a piece meal basis. The major defence related initiatives and achievements of the private sector companies are enumerated in the following sub -paragraphs:- (a) Tata Group. The Tata group is supplying full systems for DRDO-developed Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher, building a launch vehicle for Akash missile system and a major participant in an electronic warfare programme. Tata Motors has developed an indigenous light specialist vehicle (LSV) that is currently being tested by the Indian Army. Tatas emergence as a major force bodes well for the Indian defence industry, which is otherwise characterised by monopolistic enterprises and high import-dependency. Its presence in the industry will also enhance Indias self-reliance in defence production . (b) Larsen Toubro (LT). Licences have been given to LT, one of Indias largest engineering and construction companies, to build warships, submarines, weapon platforms (offshore, floating and submerged), high speed boats, radar, sonar, electronic warfare equipment, armoured and combat vehicles including associated systems and sub-systems such as turrets and bridge-layers. The Boeing Company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Larsen Toubro Limited (LT) for joint exploration of business opportunities in the Indian defence sector. (c) Mahindra Mahindra (MM). Mahindra Mahindra has set up the Mahindra Defence Systems. The Mahindra Striker, a light weight combat vehicle, is considered ideal for armed reconnaissance and mounted patrols. Mahindra Defence Systems recently unveiled their Light Specialist Vehicle Axe, the all-terrain vehicle, which can accommodate six/nine soldiers. They are venturing in to developing various under water delivery systems . (d) Ashok Leyland. Truck-maker Ashok Leyland started out with supplies of Hippo, the popular heavy trucks for a general service role way back in the seventies. Since then, the company has produced field artillery tractors, high mobility vehicles, light recovery vehicles and water carriers. (e) Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. It specialises in ship engines and has been participating in many programmes with the Indian Navy. (f) Godrej Aerospace. Godrej Aerospace, a company under Godrej Boyce provides a critical application for the Agni missiles. It has also contributed to the production of hardware and sub-systems for Indias cryogenic engine programme. The company is also actively involved in habitability solutions for naval warships. Indigenisation Towards Self Reliance. As the Defence Secretary stated, The Indian Defence Industry in the private sector is now gradually assuming the role of system integrator and manufacturer of complete defence equipment and systems. Indigenisation in defence production is now one of the major thrust areas of the Government. Consequently, our efforts are now directed towards reduction of defence imports and promoting indigenisation in defence production sector with the active support of the Indian Defence Industry, both in the public as well as in the private sector . The issue of indigenisation is a double edged weapon. On the one hand there can be little debate that this is indeed the way ahead; but the factor of cost disadvantages in indigenous production and the rate of absorption of modern technology are indeed despairing factors. This policy needs to be dovetailed with a larger training component in the induction package and as far as possible a Transfer of Technology (TOT) option. Transfer of Technology (ToT). The ToT as part of offsets has been deliberately let off of the purview of the offset policy. As a distinguished Scientist of DRDO puts in Critical defence technologies are either denied or controlled through various control regimes. These are never offered and therefore can never be obtained through the RFP route even if the country is prepared to pay. Therefore, often it is not possible to get the technology through contracts and leveraging our purchase power though offset policy proves to be only sure way for acquisition of denied technology. Steps Galore. Various steps have been taken in this direction. The recent introduction of buy and Make (Indian) category in the defence acquisition process has been designed to enhance participation by the Indian industry, meeting requirements for state of the art defence systems and platforms by getting into tie ups with technology providers through mechanism of technology transfers in joint ventures. In capital acquisition cases categorised as Buy and Make (Indian), the RFP will be issued to those Indian industries that have requisite financial and technical capabilities to enter into Joint Ventures, as also absorb technology and undertake indigenous manufacture. The procedure to be followed in this regard will be akin to the existing Make procedure with a difference that the production and development by the Indian industry will be through Transfer of Technology and not through Research and Development. Indigenisation Plan. The Navy had prepared a 15-year indigenisation plan that was well received by the industry. A Science and Technology roadmap has been drawn up for the Navy that identifies the end-product capabilities that needs to be built over the next 20 years. This roadmap gives a clear picture of technologies and products that are foreseen for induction and will further help define what can be taken up by civil industry. Possible Key Areas for Participation of Private Sector. Areas where the private sector can participate and where indigenisation is feasible are indicated in Appendix A. Mr Gurpal Singh, Deputy Director General, CII, stated that, CII wish to accelerate the reform process in the defence sector. He said that the effective implementation of the defence offset policy can facilitate the absorption and indigenisation of foreign aeronautic technologies that accrue to the country by way of offset deals. It would be appropriate here to discuss the role played by the Confederation of Indian Industries in realising this feat by the private sector. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Role of CII. The Confederation of Indian industries (CII) has played a significant role in trying to build up a partnership between the Industry and Defence. The CII have been the pioneers in organising interactive sessions between the defence forces and the industries and conducting several events like the NIP (Navy Industry Partnership meet), DEFCOM(Defence Communication Seminar), Defence IT Conventions and The Defexpo India (Asias largest land and Naval Systems) exhibitions. It had formed the Defence Division in 1993 to catalyse change in the Defence sector by pursuing the Government to liberalise Defence Production and by initiating the process of partnering with the Defence establishments in organising interactive meetings with the end users, i.e. the Armed Forces. The objective of this division is to Establish a strong partnership between Defence Services and Industry and enlarge the role and scope of Indian industry in defence production for mutual benefit and enhance the National Security. Activities of the CII. Activities of the CII National Committee on Defence are divided under the following major heads: (a) Defence Industrial Policy and Procurement Procedures (b) Trade Promotion (c) International Linkages for Joint Ventures, Technology Tie-Ups and (d) Export (e) Advocacy / Consulting / Training Services ROAD MAP Can the Indian Industry Deliver? Indian private industry should move from fringes to mainstream, observes Air Chief Marshall, PV Naik, Chief of Air Staff while speaking at the brochure release ceremony of the 5th International Conference on Energising Indian Aerospace: Achievements and Future Strategies, organised by the CII. He further said that Indian Air Force has been recommending private sectors participation in defence industrial base and indigenisation. However, the progress has been a restrained one. Private sector entrepreneurship and innovation can help augmentation of RD base and creation of system integration capabilities. In fact, the country will enjoy two advantages by permitting greater civilian industrial sectors participation in defence production. First, on account of its complimentary character with state units, defence production will become more efficient and second the contribution of R D more tangible. Gearing Up for Challenges. The Indian Industry today is ready to assume such greater responsibility in making the country self-sufficient in defence production. As stated by the Defence Secretary India is a growing market and emerging as a strong economy. With the projected growth of the Indian economy, its defence needs are also correspondingly growing. India, therefore, offers excellent opportunities, both for domestic as well as foreign companies, to forge new alliances and partnerships in the form of joint venture, co-production and co-development arrangements in the Defence sector. Identification of Specific Thrust Areas. To move ahead, there is a clear need for dedicated groups comprising representatives from the Services, Department of Defence Production, DRDO and the Private Sector to address specific thrust areas identified by each of the Services. These groups would be better able to define requirements, identify the model and extent of participation of the private sector, and work out the methodology for meshing in with current acquisition procedures and processes. Publishing the Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap, covering a period of 15 years, to share the future needs of our armed forces as brought out by the Defence Minister could be a right move. Kelkar Committee Raksha Udyog Ratnas. The Vijay kelkar Comittee recommended to nominate a dozen Indian private sector companies as Rakhsa Udyog Ratna (RUR)s with a status equivalent to that of the defence PSUs when it comes to bidding for major defence contracts. The RUR Policy is an encouraging step in the right direction. Once the government identifies those Indian companies to be treated as RURs, the private sector would get a further push towards establishing itself as a viable alternate to defence units in the sphere. RURs will not only bring parity with State industries in terms of treatment, getting R D support, forging partnership with others but with their expertise and resources they can take India towards self -reliance. RECOMMENDATIONS To ensure that the country maintains a credible defence capability, there is an urgent need for the government to step in and reform the existing administrative set-up and also to put in place a defence spending apparatus to ensure optimum utilisation of funds and long term perspective planning for both procurement and production. Very often the ills of defence procurement and production point towards red tapeism and the MoD. The IN Maritime Strategy clearly states, We must sustain our futuristic initiatives and harness the available capability, infrastructure and resources, including intellectual capital, to the fullest extent to develop a vibrant and proactive Defence Industry. A strong and healthy partnership between the public and private sectors alone will enable India to sustain a powerful defence industrial base for the future, setting us firmly on the path of self-reliance. Efforts to create synergy between private and public-owned industry, would be based upon the exploitation of core competence of each sector. Keeping in view these dogmas recommendations are made in the subsequent paragraphs for the effective participation of private sector in the defence industry. Need for Collaborative Approach. In the words of Def Secretary, We are also looking for collaborations in the field of Defence RD and tie-ups in critical technology areas in order to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces through indigenous sources to the extent possible. Joint Ventures. The exponentially expanding Indias defence industry base needs joint ventures to sustain the phase and to carve a niche, and to claim a spot in the global arena of armament/defence production. Conducting Awareness Campaigns. More Seminars, Work Shops, Def Expos be conducted on a regular basis for more interaction between the user ( armed forces) and the producer ( private industry)to bring significant awareness amongst each other and for better appreciation of each others needs. Amendments to Defence Offset Policy. Necessary amendments regarding the introduction of multipliers and endorsing accountabili

Changing the Way a Person Thinks :: Sociology Cultural Essays

Changing the Way a Person Thinks If you ever happen to pass through the small town of Fairfield, IA, you would probably just think it to be just another normal, rural Iowa town. But like many other towns, there is a conflict hidden beneath the pleasant exterior. Two totally different groups of people have been meshed together in this town. The claim I’ll be making is that one group is counterproductive, but their presence still essential to the town economy. First let me give you some background on the two groups of people. Fairfield was originally the typical rural Iowa town. I see a typical Iowa town as a town in which has a strong agriculture background and yet is striving to become ever larger. Most of the families are in the middle-income division, with a large part of the town also depending on the industrial factories in town. Although most people will accept a gradual growth, many would find it hard to adjust to a sudden, large change. This is what I would call the typical Iowan. The other group of people involved in this situation is a more flamboyant group. I will refer to them as the Meditators. Most are highly religious, with their faith placed in the Maharishi. Most of these people will follow wherever their leader tells them to go. I estimate that this group of people has three thousand people in Fairfield. That means that they take up about one third of the population. These people first moved to Fairfield soon after a local college had been vacated. They used this college by turning it into both a university and primary education facility. They called it the Maharishi International University (MIU). As you can imagine, this increase in population also caused an increase in the local economy. Most of the meditators belong to the upper class and have plenty of money to spend. Many of the meditators are also business entupenuers. MIU has created multi-million dollar businesses in Fairfield that hire from both pools of people. All this seems fine and dandy for the town of Fairfield, but there is actually an underlying problem. Meditators have strong conflicting values with the first group of people. Conflicts of values range from religion to food preference. I will focus on their counter-productiveness. Most of the meditators are vegetarians, which sometimes conflicts with the area farmers. I’m now speaking from personal experience.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 Essay -- students, academic progre

On January 8, 2002, President George Bush signed into law The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which was a reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which was designed to help disadvantaged students achieve success in school (Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 2011) The components of The No Child Left Behind included annual testing, academic progress, report cards, teacher qualifications, and funding changes. These measures were â€Å"designed to drive broad gains in student achievement and to hold states and schools more accountable for student progress† (Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 2011, para. 3). NCLB also promised to close the achievement gap and increase student learning (Hursh 2007). By the year 2005-2006, the states were required to assess all students annually in grades 3-8, and these tests had to be aligned with the state standards (Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 2011). In addition, a representative sample of 4th graders and 8th graders had to participate in National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) testing program in order to be compared to other students nationally (Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 2011). For a school to meet academic progress, certain subgroups and the school has a whole had to make adequate yearly progress. If the school failed to make AYP, then the school could receive supplemental services and parents could send their children to another school. If the school continued to not make AYP, then the school could receive punitive government sanctions. Teachers had to be deemed highly qualified in their subject matter, and school report cards had to be released each year to illustrate student achievement data and scho... ...lenge them as well as help them to learn, the students are able to achieve academic progress. References Dee, B. and Jacob, T.S. (2011). The impact of no child left behind on student achievement. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 30 (3), 418–446. Retrieved from http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/86808/20586_ftp.pdf?sequence= Editorial Projects in Education Research Center. (2011, September 19). Issues A-Z: No Child Left Behind. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/no-child-left-behind/ Hursh, D. (2007 September). Exacerbating inequality: The failed promise of the no child left behind act. Race, Ethnicity, and Education.10 (3), 295-308. Retrieved from http://www.wou.edu/~girodm/foundations/Hursh.pdf Tatum, A. (2006) Engaging African-american males in reading. Educational Leadership, 63(5), 44-49.

Poetry vs. Prose in Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- Shakespeare Hamlet

Poetry vs. Prose in Shakespeare's Hamlet In any discussion of poetry vs. prose worth it's stanzas, questions regarding such tools as meter, rhyme, and format must come into play. These are, after all, the most obvious distinguishing features of poetry, and they must certainly be key in determining the definition, and in fact nature, of poetry. Yet a term as broad as "poetry" is not so easily quantified as to simply attribute physical characteristics to it and let all writing either fall into or out of that category. Poetry is determined by the effect upon the reader. It is an individual opinion, and thus defined by the collected (individual) reactions. Queen. There is a willow grows askaunt the brook, That shows his hoary leaves on the glassy stream, Therewith fantastic garlands did she make Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, But our cull-cold maids do dead men's fingers call them. There on the pendant boughs her crownet weeds Clamb'ring to hand, an envious sliver broke, When down her weedy trophies and herself Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide, And mermaid-like awhile they bore her up, Which time she chaunted snatches of old lauds, As one incapable of her own distress, Or like a creature native and indued Unto that element. But long it could not be Till that her garments heavy with their drink, Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay To muddy death. -Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act IV Scene VII Take, for example, the above text from Hamlet. One of the more stirring monologues of the play, it describes the death of Ophelia in specific, touching terms. Think of the audience re... ...cess. One can only hope that it is better than, "You know, to muddy death." Poetry is the feeling that comes when a person sees something that strikes a chord in their chest which reverberates in the rhythm struck. How often have you heard something other than line poetry described passionately as "poetic"? It is a common word because it is descriptive of that wonder we have when we read truly good verse. It is a common word because after we feel it once (in that poetry), we know it again in other forms. Not all of those forms rhyme. The poetry is not the line placement, it is what the line placement helps express. It is simply a more effective (and more technically difficult) thing to accomplish when placed in meter. Poetry is that song that finds its way from within when we see it in some form before us, regardless of line or verse.

Information System in Global Business Today Essay

1. What are the inputs, processing, and outputs of UPS’s package tracking system? Inputs: firstly, the scannable bar-coded should be pasted to the package, there are some information on the scannable bar-coded, like the sender, the destination, and the time of the package arrive. And then, customer could get own labels by UPS. For example, people could go to the UPS web site and use special software to download this information. The data off labels would be delivered to the UPS’s computer centre that nearest final destination, before the package pick up. Furthermore, workers should download these labels information by using UPS software and establish some special delivery route for every driver; people should consider some factors that affect package transmission, like traffic, weather conditions, and the location of every stop. Processing: there are some points that through from the sender and the receiver. Bar code equipment could scan labels to get some package information and send these data to the centre computer. By this way, customer also could check package information from web site, customer could check the data that extreme detailed, it contains delivery routes, calculates hipping route, determining time in transit, and so on. Outputs: first of all, the data that collected from web site are transported to the centre computer and back to the customers. Moreover, UPS also provides some tools that convenient customer to visit own web site, like Cisco system, it can be embed UPS function.

Capitol Lake

The history Of the lake goes all the way back to 1951 , when a dam was built, as well as a concrete passage on 5th Avenue. The initial design was too construct a man-made lake though a dam with underwater mudflats. The dam was finally constructed to help renew a part of Bud Inlet shores that was in deterioration. Many years later in the year of 1997, a team of representatives was formed to study the problems of the lake. In 2009, an endorsement was made for the future of preserving the lake. One issue among Capitol Lake is the sediment that comes and reconciles to he bottom of the lake.Over 35,000 cubic yards a year of sediment travel into the lake a year! This means now that the lake is 21 % smaller than it was when it was created. This small amount of water is turning the lake into a swamp. Since the capacity of water in the Capitol Lake is much smaller than it was before, the temperature in the lake is getting much higher. The shallow waters cause the lake to heat up much quicker. These high temperatures support aquatic weeds to grow in abundance, and put anxiety on the fish and other marine life.Another problem among Capitol Lake is the water quality. Phosphorus and bacteria are both found in the water, posing a negative effect to the lake. The high levels of phosphorus promote the growth of algae. Oxygen is also used up for marine life in the lake, by algae that putrefy. As well as fecal chloroform bacteria are found among the lake, that wash into the lake and can be very harmful to health. Lastly, the lake has invasive species. Eurasian million weeds crowd the shoreline for native plants, reducing populations of native fish and other species.The New Zealand Mutandis is also another invasive species which is taking over the habitat and native snails which depend on food. As you can see Capitol Lake is very polluted and unhealthy. But there are solutions. The Descartes Estuary Restoration Team (DEER) and the Capitol Lake Improvement & Protective Association (CLIP) have both proposed suitable ideas to save the future of Capitol Lake. The first possibility by DEER would be to remove the dam, letting Capitol Lake and the Descartes River to meet and create an estuary, like it was back in the sass.The benefits of an estuary are that it would return everything to a natural presence. An estuary would give the lake and opportunity to flush and purify. It would also result in the temperature of the water to drop, greatly reducing algae population. Removal of the dam would also result in a possibility of the invasive species not surviving as well as young salmon would be able to access the estuary. Water quality would improve, as bacteria would decrease. Lastly, it would show an increase in native wildlife and different recreation.Establishing the estuary would result in over 114 million dollars, and without sediment rearrangements. Further cost details and endowments are still being inquired. The idea by CLIP would be to keep the lake as a lak e, but to dredge and clean it as needed; this would tidy the lake without having to remove the dam. The benefits of keeping the lake, would be hold the lake as one of the â€Å"Jewels of Thornton County as well as a major part of the State Capitol Campus. The lake very much protects the downtown area of Olympia by controlling floods.Opening the dam would result in smelly mudflats, as well as change the Marina and Boating Recreation. Keeping the lake as it is also would prevent an increase of sediment flow into the Bud Inlet. Culpa also believes that keeping the lake would prevent Nitrogen and Phosphorus from accessing the river. The also lake supports the local economy and local events such as Lake Fair, and is a key location for tourism in the Olympia area. Financially, this plan would cost about million dollars over a fifty year period. This includes mainly dredging, renewal of habitat, and dredging.This project would be paid from partnerships and state funding such as the City o f Olympia, Marine and Yacht Club, and Port of Olympia. So as you can see both proposals, have their pros and cons. Based on these two main ideas have researched about, I believe that the Capitol Lake Improvement & Protection Association (CLIP) is the best plan for the future of Capitol Lake. The lake is truly a major icon to Olympia and if an estuary were to open, the beauty and tourist attraction the lake delivers would greatly reduce.For example, if the dam were to be taken away, what would happen o Likelier and other large city events? Traditional events and activities by the lake might not even happen anymore if it becomes an estuary. But most importantly based off scientific evidence, removing the dam, would result in smelly tidal mudflats. Nobody wants a stench that will wander the air every time they go outside. As World War II veteran who grew up in Olympia (who has experienced these mudflats), Dick Seward, explains â€Å"The Mudflats and any water in the area had a stench that I'll never forget.All this pollution is what nearly killed off the Oysters†. So as you can see the smell really isn't pleasing. Creating an estuary would also greatly increase the flow of sediment, and Nitrogen into Bud Inlet, which shouldn't be there. CLIP'S proposal is half the price as well, and will save a lot of money. So who wants an unbearable terrible stench that will fill up the atmosphere? Why should the harmful chemicals be brought up to Bud Inlet and the Descartes River? Why should we risk the future of our economy and one of our main tourist attractions?

Amoco Case Write Up Essay

As long-term valuation is assumed, risk free rate is set as 30-year treasury rate, 5.73%. Cost of debt is 6.72% reflecting Amoco’s credit level. Cost of equity is calculated as 10.63%, leading to final WACC at 8.85% (Chart 1). In DCF valuation (Chart 2), long-term growth rate is assumed to be 4%. Change in working capital is calculated as the average of 1997 and 1996 figure and is assumed to be constant for simplicity. Terminal value is valued at $69,398.1 million and NPV is $51,525 million. Stock price will be $37.07, indicating an exchange ratio at 0.46. This is a very conservative valuation as our DCF price is lower than Amoco’s current market price. Regarding of multiple valuation (Chart 3), P/E ratio from comparable firms are used, which leads us to an exchange ratio at 0.68. Thus, our estimation for Amoco’s stand-alone value is from $37.07 to $54.69 per share, i.e. 0.46 to 0.68-exchange ratio. As the acquirer, our basic negotiating strategy is to low the exchange ratio as much as possible. Based on our conservative evaluation of Amoco, our opening exchange ratio is 0.46. For Amoco sides, their opening exchange ratio is 1. The big difference between our opening prices indicates this negotiating process should be tough. First, we checked the discount rate. For us, BP company, we use 8.83%, however, Amoco they use a higher one around 9%. The main difference to calculate the discount rate is that we use the 30-year Treasury rate as risk free rate compared to Amoco used 20-year Treasury rate. Moreover, we use the debt to debt plus equity but they use debt to equity to calculate WACC. To compromise these differences, we agree to use the average discount rate that doesn’t make a large influence of the valuation price. After this, we discussed the most important factor –growth rate. Based on the assumption in the case, we use 4% as terminal growth rate, 2% annual oil demand growth rate plus 2% inflation rate. However, Amoco hold the view that the oil price would grow at 6% in long-term, and it’s hard for both of us to get a compromising rate. Therefore, we jumped to synergy and currency questions, and we agreed on the synergy that Amoco would bring BP the North America  market and BP would use US currency to acquire Amoco’s share. After discussed all these details, we came back to the final offer price. We offered a higher one as exchange rate 0.6. Amoco rejected. Finally, after they thoughtful discussion they offered 0.66 exchange rate or price 52.965 as their final offer, which for us is lower than our walk-away price 65.94. Therefore, we accepted this offer and we both reach our goals to reach the deal and build a good relationship with the other management team. The previous 959.6m Amoco shares will convert into 633.336m shares of BP ADS equivalent, with the previous 965.6m ADS shares, BP shareholders will take part 60% of the new company, still have majority control over the firm. In this deal, we paid for about 20% premium, which is quite standard and normal. Because synergies from revenue and chemical divisions’ combination are not estimated nor not expected to bring benefit, the main synergy from the merge is 2 billion dollars saving of pretax operating cost. The value we create for our shareholders is $14,840.06 million (Amoco stand-alone value $46,430 million+ synergy $2 billion – price paid for Amoco $33,538.94). But this number is quite sensitive to a lot of factors, such as future energy demand, oil and gas price, industry growth potentials, ultimately affecting Amoco’s stand-alone and synergy valuation. Please see the chart 4 of sensitive analysis of Amoco’s stand-alone value according to the change of terminal growth rate in the appendices. But even modest assumptions still can lead to positive value created in this deal.

Road use charges should be introduced in the UK both for motorways and for urban areas

Whenever we hear today about the problems facing this country and how the government intends to solve them, arguably the three most commonly occurring points for debate on the government's agenda are education, the health system and transport. Transport often comes into focus when high profile incidences involving sub-standard public transport (most notably in recent times involving the railway network) are brought to light. And all this does is reinforce the reasons why many of us choose to use a car to travel in, rather than public transport. Due to the increasing need to use cars, our roads are becoming more and more congested. Now the government, in its position of trying to improve the situation, has to find a solution, which will at least ease the problem. Congestion arises when the volume of traffic exceeds road capacity. This reduces the speed of all vehicles and so increases the average time it takes to complete a particular journey. The congestion mainly occurs at peak times where the demand for the road is at its highest. Particularly when queuing in traffic jams, more people are using the roads, which increases the (marginal) cost of time to other people. Congestion occurs due to the fact that roads are a â€Å"nonexcludable† public good, i.e. no one is excluded from using the roads (based on the assumption that everyone can afford a vehicle, can drive a vehicle, and can afford the additional costs to run a vehicle.) By its definition, when a nonexcludable public good is provided, it affects the welfare of every person in the society. A public good is one where another individual using it will have no effect on the benefits received by others using it (i.e. the marginal cost of someone else consuming it is zero) and theref ore there is no competition for the service). Figure 1;The speed flow curve (Inverse relationship between the number of vehicles on a road and the average speed of vehicles) There are many causes of congestion, which all lead to some economic costs and therefore affect businesses and users of the roads. For a business the consequences of congestion are most likely to be incurred when transporting the goods and raw materials to and from factories and retail outlets. Congestion increases firms' costs, resulting in a lower comparable profit (to the value of profit without congestion) for the firm. Providing the price is inelastic these extra costs could be passed on to consumers in the form of higher market prices (whereby demand for the good is not too sensitive to a change in price). These extra costs can be incurred by either the opportunity cost of time (delays) or direct costs of extra fuel being burned travelling at lower speed. Figure 2: Supply and Demand during congestion for a price elastic good (Congestion costs shift the supply curve to the left, resulting in higher selling price and therefore lower quantity demanded) Supply curve with congestion charges Supply curve without congestion charges Demand curve Congestion may cause delays in delivery, which in turn may lead to various negative impacts on the business itself. For instance this may adversely effect the reputation of the business. Furthermore suppliers to the business may be delayed causing the firm to be less productive incurring unnecessary costs from staff becoming idle. These consequences are an adverse affect on the welfare of the other motorists, (i.e. people most likely become more irritated). Since there is a direct effect here of the actions of one person on the welfare of another person or persons in a way that is not transmitted by market prices, we have the definition of an effect that is called an externality. In economics, public goods and externalities are closely related and are often associated with efficiency problems. Thus this is part of the reason why our roads are â€Å"inefficient†. Congestion also causes the road network to become an impure public good. A public good is defined as one where another individual using it will have no effect on the benefits received by others using it (i.e. the marginal cost of someone else consuming it is zero) and therefore there is no competition for the service. An impure good is one where the consumption of the commodity is to some extent rival. When congestion occurs the use of the road network becomes competitive (especially during the rush hour) and therefore the good becomes impure. This allows the public good to be given a price and so allows schemes such as congestion charging and toll roads to be introduced. Governments across the world are introducing road charges with the goal of reducing road use and minimising the negative effects of road usage. An important decision that the government will take into consideration will be whether introducing road charges would have a negative impact upon the environment. In the capital the Mayor of London, Ken Livingston, is currently asking for the views of 300 groups likely to be affected by road charges to enter London. Despite a London report suggesting a 12% reduction in traffic, opposing parties believe it would cause chaos and adversely effect families and small businesses. Transport is a derived demand as it comes from the needs of the people (whether they are travelling to work, going shopping or meeting socially) and needs of businesses (transportation of goods and industrial materials). However the increasing demand for road use over the years has added to the number of vehicles on the road, and in turn, increases the damaging effects upon the environment. The obvious aim of introducing road charges for using motorways or entering urban areas in private vehicles are that fewer people will choose to do so, thus decreasing the harmful gas engine emissions as a result. Noise and sight pollution, along with air pollution, should also be seen as a result of reduced traffic and congestion. This would rely on the fact that roads have an elasticity that is either inelastic or elastic. The greater the elasticity (value) of these road charges would indicate higher price sensitivity in using the road in question. Establishing the elasticity will enable us to identify the extent to which the environment will benefit from a reduction in pollution (air, gas and noise). From a report by Button (1993) the ‘trip type' significantly affects the price elasticity. For instance travelling to urban areas for shopping purposes has a high elasticity, so if road charges become applicable it is likely that fewer people will decide to make the journey using private vehicles. From an environmental perspective fewer cars entering these urban areas will reduce congestion and vehicle pollution levels. When looking into the decrease of CO emissions for particular areas, such as Hereford as shown above, this illustrates the dramatic reduction in air pollution levels when a charge is applied. This does however depend on price elasticity of demand for the road. This is in comparison to the minimum elasticity for urban commuting (travelling to work) which is much lower. Any road charges imposed on these people will have a minimal effect, as it is more essential for them to travel into the urban area. An additional advantage of road charges is the extra revenue that would be generated through payment of those people who continue to use the particular (charged) road. This has seen positive results in Norway where the funds collected are being used to support the successful public transport areas of Oslo and Trondheim. The biggest environmental concern that road charges are associated with, specifically with motorways, is the likelihood that car drivers would take alternate routes (not charged) such as country roads. These roads that were previously quiet would then be subjected to noise and gas emissions as well as congestion problems. This is an example of the substitution effect as both the main roads and the rural roads could satisfy the needs of the public. The introduction of payment for using the main roads would result in an increase in the quantity demanded of the substitute, that is the rural roads where no charges are being imposed. How elasticity effects the demand for motorways with/without alternative routes (Motorways without alternative routes) (Motorways with alternative routes) From an environmental perspective road charges should be introduced for the vehicles entering the urban areas. This is because there is significant evidence that motor vehicle usage will drop significantly (as shown in the Button 1993 table). The additional revenue raised can be used to fund the much-needed public transport services. Therefore those who will no longer use their own private vehicles will potentially benefit from an improved transport service. Evidence showed that those who continue to travel into the urban areas using private vehicles are also more satisfied if the money they are charged goes into improving public transport (as shown in the MORI diagram). For motorways the decision from an environmental perspective is split between those motorways that have alternative routes and those that do not. On those motorways with possible alternative routes the disadvantages (such as the possible movement of traffic as opposed to reduction) outweighs the potential benefit of the additional revenue. Where alternative routes are unavailable road charges are appropriate as the disadvantages stated above and in the report are much less of a problem. Revenue generated from these charges can then help urban areas with the possible improvement of public transport (like the Norwegian example). If roads were a â€Å"typical† competitive commodity, supply and demand would determine its price and an organization or business would own it. However there isn't a market for roads, and (in places where there are no toll systems in place) people can use the roads for free (i.e. its price is treated as if it was zero). Added to the fact that no one actually owns the roads (the government only has a requirement to maintain them), we have a demand for the usage of the roads by the public, but a failure of a market to emerge. Therefore there is no mechanism to ensure that the resource of roads is used efficiently. Therefore if someone owned the roads and could charge a price for their use, a market would emerge leading to an efficient use of the commodity, because the price reflects the value for alternative uses. Thus through the understanding of how a road is economically defined and the fact that at the moment, it is economically â€Å"inefficient†, a measure has to be taken. Therefore we will now explain using the defining economic principles why road use charges should be introduced for motorways and for urban areas. Arguably, though, the notion of congestion charges is more readily available to be implemented than road tolls, but the economic principles that should guide the design of this policy towards taxing and charging road users also applies to road tolls. The aim of the policy is to find an equilibrium position, where the marginal cost of using the resource is equal to the marginal cost of providing the resource. Figure 4: The equilibrium position and the effect of road charges The graph is labelled with â€Å"level of traffic† on the x-axis and â€Å"generalised cost of driving† (this means that the generalised costs are time and money spent on making the journey) on the y-axis. The first line drawn in was the demand curve (D), which is also the marginal benefit (MB) curve, (which is a straight line). The easiest way to describe it's negative gradient is as the number of people using the road increases, the marginal driver will have a lower benefit from the road than the previous one. There are two costs curves to be added to the diagram. The private marginal costs (PMC) are the direct costs to the driver. The PMC curve is also the supply curve (S). It is an upward sloping curve because with low traffic densities, the only cost to the driver is petrol. However as levels of traffic increase, congestion increases, and thus the driver incurs time costs as well. The social marginal costs (SMC) has the same base as the PMC (i.e. petrol costs) but as traffic increases, not only does it represent the time cost to that one particular driver, there is also the time costs that each driver imposes on every other driver. As is to be expected, at the moment, drivers act according to their PMC curve and the level of traffic on the road increases to the point (Xo), where the PMC is equal to the MB. Thus as the economic theory states, we are at a level of traffic above the social optimum, because the social optimum occurs when the SMC is equal to the MB. This is shown at the point X*, which is the social optimum and the optimal level of traffic. To get the level of traffic reduced from Xo to X*, we have to impose an extra charge or tax â€Å"P† (= P*-Po). This is referred to as the Pigouvian tax amount. This amount (P) forces the road user to take into account the costs of the externality that they are generating, and thus induces them to operate at the efficient level. Since this â€Å"tax† is a congestion charge, it should only be imposed where congestion arises, and the level of charge should be directly related to the amount of congestion. Therefore the inner cities (i.e. urban areas) and motorways, having high levels of traffic, should have higher charges than areas with low levels of traffic. Traffic imposes a cost on society over and above the PMC. To achieve the socially optimal solution, these costs should be passed on to the driver. In doing this, only those drivers who were willing to pay society for the externalities they cause would use the road network. Thus levels of traffic would fall to the optimal output level, reducing congestion and pollution in the desired areas of urban areas and the motorways. It could be argued that if drivers were charged for the delays and road congestion they impose on one another, some of them would arrange to travel at different times, by different means e.g. rail and bus, or arrange to use different routes where road use charges can be avoided completely. There are various technological methods of charging for road uses. The simplest method is buying a license to enter a zone at certain times. The license, like a tax disc, would be prominently displayed with traffic wardens policing the system. However this would mean that only people parked in these zones would get checked; it would not include people just driving through them. To do this, traffic wardens would somehow have to physically stop cars and charge them for entrance into the area. To set this up in the UK would be very difficult with our complicated network of motorways, urban and rural roads and actually stopping cars would cause more congestion rather than reducing it. Another method that uses the new technology of electronic tolls/beacons, no longer requires motorists to halt at tollbooths. As motorists drive past these tollbooths, the toll registers the electronic number plate and sends a signal to a recording computer. This is a very direct way to charge the amount specific to the road and to the time of day with the amount due being deducted from their bank account. However, this would infringe on privacy rights, as it would enable people to derive individuals' locations. Hence the use of smartcards would be more preferable like the method used in Hong Kong. The driver inserts a prepaid card, like a telephone card, into the electronic number plate and payments are debited from it when a tollbooth is passed. Only in a case where the card runs out of credit do the central computer monitors start charging directly for road use. The installation of electronic technology would have the drawbacks of being time consuming and very costly. Not only is there the construction of tollbooths, the installation of smartcards on every single car, but maintenance as well. A type of security system would also be needed to prevent free riders1, for example they could remove the smartcard or tamper with it. A method of overcoming this would be the use of cameras on each booth to capture an image of the license plate if a smart card was not detected. The most technical method, and therefore probably the most expensive, would be satellite car tracking technology. This uses existing Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to track vehicles via electronic black boxes fixed to the dashboard of all vehicles. The problems associated with using satellites are similar to that of the above; that is the infringement on privacy rights and costs of setup and maintenance. However one possibility with this method is that it can also be used in conjunction with locating stolen cars. From a technical point of view smartcards seem to be the most sensible option. Although it would be more costly than just buying licenses, this method would lead to less congestion, as there is no stopping to enter the areas being charged. It is less expensive than using satellites and would not infringe on privacy rights. However there are difficulties and limitations with implementing any of these road use charging methods; the general public will have to be educated in the use of them, which will be quite complicated due to different regions and the specific times of the day having varying charges. The aim of this report was to analyse the argument that as elsewhere in the world, road charges should be introduced in the UK, both for motorways and for urban areas. On addressing the argument the environmental and the consequential factors of congestion needed to be considered. On considering the environmental factors the conclusion is that the reduction in pollution levels would only occur if the road charges reduced private road use and increased the use for public transport (i.e. there were no alternative routes that people had switched to avoid the charges). However a reduction in congestion on motorways and urban areas could certainly improve a firm's economic profit as the investigation into consequences of congestion revealed. Having decided the obvious need for charges with the economic principles supporting this, whether the application of schemes is technically possible became important. For this factor the smartcard road-charging scheme emerged as the best option. On bringing all these points together road charges are both necessary and feasible for UK motorways and urban areas. Except by environmental perspectives where additionally there have to be few alternative routes, thus preventing people congesting other roads and avoid payment.