The Sullivans matrix report Essay Example

The Sullivans matrix report Essay Sullivans matrix introduces different ways to classify the IT/IS environment of an organisation. Within this matrix, there are four environments: Traditional, Opportunistic, Complex and Backbone. The idea of this report is to describe how the IS/IT environment of Inditex fits into Sullivans matrix. According to Ward Peppard (2002) organisations with a traditional IT/IS environment have a highly centralised control of their IT resources. IS is not critical to the business and IT is solely used to improve efficiency on a system-by-system basis. McAfee (2004) raises many points in his article to suggest that the IT/IS of Inditex fits into this Traditional environment. Inditex see IT as merely an enabler for their business. McAfee (2004) confirms this theory as he states that The role of IT, then, is to support the process (McAfee, 2004). Ward Peppard state that within a Traditional environment, IT is simply used to support business processes and to improve the efficiency of the organisation. Another point which supports the theory is that Inditex have an excellent IT and business alignment. business goals always shape the companys use of technology, never vice versa (McAfee, 2004). This portrays Inditex as being entirely business-led where organisational goals invariably define technological innovation. This ethos confirms their desire not to waste money on new systems which do not provide a business value or solution to a specific business problem. McAfee relates to this theory as an inside-out approach. To sum up the arguments, Inditex has one principle which fully shows that their IT/IS environment is Traditional: computerisation is standardised and targeted. You can see this on the low IT budget which is estimated 0. We will write a custom essay sample on The Sullivans matrix report specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Sullivans matrix report specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Sullivans matrix report specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer 5% of revenue and the IT staff of 50. Despite Inditexs focus on the Traditional environment, there are also subtle undertones of Sullivans other three IT/IS environments displayed within the organisation. For example, there are factors which show that elements of Inditexs IT/IS environment is Complex. They are dependent on their PDAs which can also be difficult to manage. In addition they are also largely decentralized, because each store manager has to manage his PDA. This is also the case with regards to their POS systems. Inditex is a company with branches around the world. This makes it difficult to manage each POS in every store. In some points, the IT/IS environment of Inditex also displays Opportunistic aspects. In the case of Inditex the attributes for a Complex and Opportunistic environment are very similar. However, one of the more important factors to consider is the teamwork and cooperation conducted within Inditex. Their success is mainly based on the decision making abilities of their staff. This strategy is ensured as technologists work with line managers to understand what the business requires and then start proposing solutions which shows that the workforce is closely integrated and dependent more upon teamwork and decision making than IT capabilities. This type of culture is defined by Ward Peppard (2002) as being an Opportunistic trait as they state that integration of systems occurs due to user-user cooperation occurs within this type of environment. We also examined whether Inditex had aspects of a Backbone IS/IT environment. This may be a factor as the business processes are highly customised, thus the stores may be dependent on PDAs for instance. However, we do not have enough information from the article to be sure whether traits of the Backbone environment exist within their structure. In the late 1990s when other organisations spent vast sums of money on new technologies, Inditex withheld a Traditional framework. Great success has ultimately been achieved while The relative absence of computers throughout Inditex is nothing short of amazing (McAfee, 2004). Inditex has minimized the use of technology to their business needs and therefore they perform efficiently. In our opinion it is not important to classify which IT/IS environment Inditex has. It is more important that the IT/IS environment matches the business environment and the business needs so that IT can become a value creator in the organisation. There are different types of information, which organisations have to handle. Examples of such information types include business process information (which documents any information about the processes of the organisation), information relating to physical-world observations (which relies on new technologies like GPS or RFID) and biological data containing biometrical information of their customers or employees. Government institutions also use public data like CCTV for public surveillance but the most important data types are those which indicates personal preferences or intentions which is often used by those within the retail market. Once these types of information have been collated, an organisational culture must be established to determine the way in which information should be stored, managed and shared within the organisation to adhere to the goals and objectives set out within the information strategy. Essential for the success of any information management strategy is the existence of an appropriate information culture. An information culture can be defined as the values, attitudes and behaviours that influence the way employees at all levels in the organization sense, collect, organize, process, communicate and use information. (Ward Peppard, 2002 p470) There are four types of information culture defined by Marchand (1995): Functional Culture Within this culture it is the managers prerogative regarding which information is made available to the staff. It also follows a hierarchical structure regarding information sharing. Sharing Culture In this culture there is flat structure which is utilised to encourage trust and openness in order to share information between management and staff members. This culture is based on emotions such as trust which can be either advantageous or detrimental to the operation of the organisation or department as these emotions can frequently change. Enquiring Culture This culture may be used as an effective prediction to provide guidance for future developments. It is based on a sharing culture where managers and staff collaborate while it enables the organisation to reduce the time-to-market of their products. Discovery Culture This culture adds to the enquiring culture and focuses on analysing the gathered information. This helps to provide the organisation with a view of changing environments, competitor performance, areas of possible expansion and potential market entry for the future etc. These cultures are mostly found as combinations in organisations. Organisations have different information assets and their staff members have different information needs. Therefore, in order to use these information assets appropriately you need a customised culture which is aligned to the information needs of the organisation. Tesco provide us with a good example of this cross-over in culture definition as information is generally produced at the managerial level and distributed amongst the workforce while it can also be shared amongst line managers and employees at all levels throughout the organisation. An enquiring culture is also used to develop certain areas of the business to enable future profitability while a discovery culture is in place for Tescos attempted entry into markets such as insurance, banking and Internet broadband. All of these points convey Tesco as a multi-culture organisation where different sectors of their business follow different cultures. As we have discussed, the behaviours and attitudes of a workforce can have a profound effect on the success of an organisations performance. For this reason, the information culture must match the requirements of employees in order to facilitate a successful information strategy. Trust and receptiveness are just two behavioural traits which must be monitored in order for employee acceptance. The importance of considering these factors is agreed by Ferguson et al. who state that sustainable competitive advantage will rely on two very human characteristics: insight and trust (Ferguson et al. , 2005 p58). From this point, we can conclude that the consideration of human aspects is vital for the strategic success of information and without an information culture, it can be very difficult to monitor and influence the behaviour and attitudes of the workforce. References Ferguson, G., Mathur, S., Shah, B. (2005). Evolving From Information to Insight. MIT Sloan Management Review, 46(2), 51-58. Marchand, D.A. (1995, 8 December). What is your companys information culture? Financial Times, pp. 10-11. Ward, J., Peppard, J. (2002). Strategic Planning for Information Systems. West Sussex, England: John Wiley Sons

Indian Castes and Feudal Japanese Classes (Comparison)

Indian Castes and Feudal Japanese Classes (Comparison) Although they arose from very different sources, the Indian caste system and the feudal Japanese class system have many features in common. Yet the two social systems are dissimilar in important ways, as well. Are they more alike, or more different? The Essentials Both the Indian caste system and the Japanese feudal class system have four main categories of people, with others falling below the system entirely. In the Indian system, the four primary castes are: Brahmins:  Hindu priestsKshatriyas:  the kings and warriorsVaisyas:  farmers, traders, and skilled artisans  Shudras  tenant farmers and servants. Below the caste system there were the untouchables, who were considered so impure that they could contaminate people from the four castes just by touching them or even being too close to them. They did unclean jobs such as scavenging animal carcasses, tanning leather, etc. The untouchables are also known as dalits or harijans. Under the feudal Japanese system, the four classes are: Samurai, the warriors​FarmersArtisansMerchants. As with Indias untouchables, some Japanese people fell below the four-tier system. These were the burakumin and hinin. The burakumin served essentially the same purpose as untouchables in India; they did butchering, leather tanning, and other unclean jobs, but also prepared human burials. The hinin were actors, wandering musicians, and convicted criminals. Origins of the Two Systems Indias caste system arose out of the Hindu belief in reincarnation. A souls behavior in its previous life determined the status it would have in its next life. Castes were hereditary and fairly inflexible; the only way to escape a low caste was to be very virtuous in this life, and hope to be reborn in a higher station the next time. Japans four-tier social system came out of Confucian philosophy, rather than religion. According to Confucian principles, everyone in a well-ordered society knew their place  and paid respect to those stationed above them. Men were higher than women; elders were higher than young people. Farmers ranked just after the ruling samurai class  because they produced the food that everyone else depended upon. Thus, though the two systems seem quite similar, the beliefs from which they arose were rather different. Differences between Indian Castes and Japanese Classes In the feudal Japanese social system, the shogun and the imperial family were above the class system. Nobody was above the Indian caste system, though. In fact, kings and warriors were lumped together in the second caste - the Kshatriyas. Indias four castes were actually sub-divided into literally thousands of sub-castes, each with a very specific job description. The Japanese classes were not divided in this way, perhaps because Japans population was smaller and much less ethnically and religiously diverse. In Japans class system, Buddhist monks and nuns were outside of the social structure. They were not considered lowly or unclean, just detached from the social ladder. In the Indian caste system, in contrast, the Hindu priestly class were the highest caste - the Brahmins. According to Confucius, farmers were far more important than merchants, because they produced food for everyone in society. Merchants, on the other hand, did not make anything - they simply profited off of trade in other peoples products. Thus, farmers were in the second tier of Japans four-tier system, while merchants were at the bottom. In the Indian caste system, however, merchants and land-holding farmers were lumped together in the Vaisya caste, which was the third of the four varnas or primary castes. Similarities between the Two Systems In both the Japanese and Indian social structures, the warriors and rulers were one and the same. Obviously, both systems had four primary categories of people, and these categories determined the sort of work that people did. Both the Indian caste system and Japanese feudal social structure had unclean people who were below the lowest rung on the social ladder. In both cases, though their descendants have much brighter prospects today, there continues to be discrimination against people who are perceived as belonging to these outcast groups. Japanese samurai and Indian Brahmins were both considered to be well above the next group down. In other words, the space between the first and second rungs on the social ladder was much wider than that between the second and third rungs. Finally, both the Indian caste system and Japans four-tiered social structure served the same purpose: they imposed order and controlled the social interactions among people in two complex societies. The Two Social Systems Tier Japan India Above the System Emperor, Shogun Nobody 1 Samurai Warriors Brahmin Priests 2 Farmers Kings, Warriors 3 Artisans Merchants, Farmers, Artisans 4 Merchants Servants, Tenant Farmers Below the System Burakumin, Hinin Untouchables

Security in the age of globlisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Security in the age of globlisation - Essay Example fight’ of realist, liberal and constructionist research programmes, the latter had been discussed with major focus on its social and economic processes. Since globalization is a spatial progress, it does not accommodate the principles of interdependence. Globalization materializes the circulation and interpenetration of people and ideas along with its material exchanges across cultures. The private and public spheres merge and collide in such an environment. Unlike in the case of economic and social aspects of globalization, the effects of security are harder to conceptualize and measure. It has to be analyzed and comprehended in contrast with the Cold War effects on security. The agency and scope of threat in the globalized world has grown out of all expectations that terms like global violence and human security has become common parlance. The security constituencies are defined at every level from the global to the regional to the individual. While the security providers remain nationally defined, the dimensions of threat in the international sphere have grown much beyond its aegis. However the scope of security is also widened in the age of globalization, since the post Cold War security precepts expand beyond national constrictions. The issues that are brought under such expanded security comprise diseases, global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, bio-diversity loss and radioactive contamination. The ‘skill revolution’ among prospective terrorists has begun to pose a great threat as well. On a general societal level, despite the changing norms of security, globalization has made people both more aware and less decisive about intervent ion in ethnic conflicts. Non-Physical Security is the novel concept that had originated from globalization. When the existing security concepts are expanded to protection of information and technology assets, it gains a non-physical status. This includes greater information technology and smartness of weapons. Selling

How does a restaurant franchisor train their foreign franchisees Essay

How does a restaurant franchisor train their foreign franchisees - Essay Example A franchiser has to ensure that the trainings are aligned with the business laws in each country. Addressing this issue through training is vital because it prevents international business from experiencing legal issues related to business activities in other countries. Issues related to business laws in different countries affect both franchiser and franchisees (Asill & Goldman 24). Failure to address differences in business laws may make both franchiser and franchises to experience labor issues. For instance, different countries have different payment standards for workers in franchises. For instance, the minimum pay for workers in the US restaurants is 7 dollars per hour. Such standards cannot be equally applied in other countries. Apart from payments, labor laws may differ on how workers are compensated in case of injuries and other work related problems. Failure to train franchisees on such issues may lead to issues such as underpayment or exploitation of workers by the franchiser and franchisees. Failure to train franchisers effectively on specific foreign business laws may make the franchisers and franchisees to experience unhealthy competition issues (Asill & Goldman 24). The franchiser has to ensure that differences in competition laws in foreign countries are effectively addressed. For instance, different countries have different market regulations that protect the local business persons from unhealthy competition. Failure to address this during training may make both the franchiser and franchisees to incur huge legal penalties. In addition, it is important to know how the franchiser and its franchisee are protected in other countries. For instance, failure to addresses the difference in trademark laws and other related business laws such as intellectual property laws in other countries during training may make a business and its franchisees to suffer unhealthy competition in foreign countries. Failure to address

Human Resource Management (CASE STUDY) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resource Management (CASE STUDY) - Essay Example y the Greater Manchester Police, through unreasonable behaviors and practices like racial profiling and race-based surveillance, which are based on stereotypes. This belief that is characterized by or based on the attitude that ones own group is superior is also a sideline highlighting the tendency of some individuals to view other groups as being a threat, due largely to pervasive stereotyping stemming from lack of experience with the perceived groups. In the case, the police used internal prejudice to advance their own stereotypes at the expense of Mr. Singh-Barker, who was singled out as an immigrant for non promotion. Many people who are prejudiced about their own groups have little contact or experience with the groups they are consciously or unconsciously persecuting. Although people from different races can work together and form alliances in many cases (like different minority students from different populations coming together to protest prejudice at a school), which seek to combat stereotyping and promote unity and understanding between superficially different groups. In this type of setting, cross cultural understanding becomes important. There is a clear line to be drawn between discretion and racial profiling when it comes to a law enforcement officers’ making the decision to investigate a crime or suspect on positive grounds of incongruity, suspicion, or report, not race or ethnicity; this works internally, as well. In practice, unfortunately, this theory does not always stick. In practice, police often color-code their targets and look for immigrant individuals like Singh Bhacke r. The Manchester Police, therefore, are being unreasonable. The Manchester Police force is also guilty of labeling in the case. Labeling is a psycho/sociological theory of deviance, and it is also important to consider biological classifications and their implications. Ethnocentrism is characterized by the attitude that one’s own group is superior to another

Poverty Elimination by NGOs

Poverty Elimination by NGOs Assessing NGOs performance in poverty reduction is a difficult task. However, it is worth learning from other observations conducted on NGO performance in alleviating poverty NGOs have increased the scale on the type of roles they play. In this contemporary time, NGOs are tremendously working, and helping government, institutions, and the rural poor in the fight against poverty in Sub-Saharan African, which was their traditional role during the World Wars. Although NGOs are appraised for their tremendous work, other scholars have opined that they do not see their essence due to the fact that many have fallen below expectations. In this Chapter, however, researchers task is to review the literature of other scholarly works as it relate to NGOs roles in poverty alleviation. Desai (2005) has mentioned that NGOs have an important role to play in supporting women, men and households, community groups, civil society groups and expected that they can meet the welfare. She accounted some role and functions for NGOs, such as counseling and support service, awareness raising and advocacy, legal aid and microfinance. These services help the people to achieve their ability, skill and knowledge, and take control over their own lives and finally become empowered and self-reliance. I agree with the author, because if a project like microfinance is enforced, the living standard of people will be improved. This evidence will be seen in the next chapter. Strom quits (2002) has also noted three major functions for NGOs such as (service delivery (e.g. relief, welfare, basic skills); educational provision (e.g. basic skills and often critical analysis of social environments); and public policy advocacy as this is the case with NGOs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Baccaro (2001), in his writing depicted how particular NGOs with a definite mission statements can promote the organization and empowerment of the poor, particularly poor women, through a combination of micro-credit, awareness-raising, training for group members which is capacity building and other social services, with an aim to reduce poverty among societies. NGOs general aim is to alleviate poverty through activities that promote capacity building and self-reliance. Langran (2002) has mentioned that NGOs through capacity building help to sustain community development assist government in the provision of basic social amenities. NGOs are often created in order to expand the capacities of people and government there by breaching the gap of poverty (Korten 1990). NGOs are praised for promoting community self-reliance and empowerment through supporting community-based groups and relying on participatory processes (Korten 1990; Clark 1991; Friedmann 1992; Fowler 1993; Edwards and Hulme 1994; Salamon 1994).In Sub-Saharan Africa for instance where survival for daily bread is a major hurdle, NGOs have been seen as liberators of human suffering the evidence is in Sierra Leone were sixty percent of citizens survival dependent upon donors. Sustainable development, on the other hand, has emerged over the past few decades as an important paradigm for poverty alleviation. As Bradshaw and Winn (2000) have noted, sustainability is rooted largely in an environmental approach, particularly in the industrialized countries. But, the goal of sustainable development is to find a balance between three pillars social, economic and environmental of communities (Sneddon 2000). Hibbard and Tang (2004) in their study in Vietnam have noted the importance of NGOs roles in sustainable community development. One of the roles was that NGOs balance the social, economic and environmental factors in promoting sustainable development. Another important role of NGO that they discovered was decentralization of the central government which helps the local communities to acquire more power in order to make their own decisions. As in the case of Sierra Leone where civil society groups and other NGOs like MERLIN, Caritas and CRS, have succeeded in winning bills for decentralization in the Health ministry. But, sometimes the local communities lack specialists to do professional work and resources that are important for the particular projects. In this situation, NGO assists local staff with drafting sustainable development plans that are functional under the umbrella of a central government policy. Finally, they concluded that poverty alleviation is process-oriented, and it requires extensive community participation and relies on network to share resources, knowledge and expertise. From the literatures, it could be summarized that NGOs play an important function in fighting poverty via promoting sustainable community development. Sustainable community development emphasizes on a balance between environmental concerns and development objectives, while simultaneously enhancing local social relationships. Sustainable communities meet the economic needs of their residents, enhance and protect the environment, and promote more human local societies (Bridger and Luloff 1997). Through the functions of providing microfinance, initiating capacity building and self -reliance, peace building projects, relief services during emergencies, NGOs could bridge the gap of poverty in Sub-Saharan African. Below are the reviews of NGOs roles, functions and strategies they used to fight poverty. 2.1- NGOs MICROFINANCE ROLE A STRATEGY FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION Microfinance is another important sector that NGOs have fully ultilised in reaching out to the poor. Their roles in this sector, has immensely contributed to alleviating poverty among the poor. The purpose of using microfinance to alleviate poverty is as a result of what role microfinance can play and what impact it created on the beneficiaries. Microfinance has a very important role to play in development according to proponents of microfinance. In the 1990s, scholars have increasingly referred to microfinance as an effective means of poverty reduction (Rekha 1995; Cerven and Ghazanfar 1999; Pankhurst and Johnston 1999). The microfinance has long existed in Africa, but saw it decline when government established banking institutions took over Oxaal and Baden (1997). The World Bank found, in 1998, that the poorest 48% of Bangladeshi families with access to microcredit from Grameen Bank rose above the poverty line. In Peoples Republic of China (PRC), for instance, microfinance programs have helped lift 150 million people out of poverty since 1990 (UNHDR, 2005). Similarly in, in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia, MkNelly and Dunford (1998) Mansaray (1998-99), found that microcredit beneficiaries increased their income by $36, compared with $18 for nonclients. Clients of microfinance generally shifted from irregular, low-paid daily jobs to more secured employment in India (Simanowitz, 2003) and Bangladesh (Zaman, 2000). Otero (1999, p.10) illustrates the various ways in which microfinance, at its core combats poverty. She states that microfinance creates access to productive capital for the poor, which together with human capital, addressed through education and training, and social capital, achieved through local organization building, enables people to move out of poverty (1999). By providing material capital to a poor person, their sense of dignity is strengthened and this can help to empower the person to participate in the economy and society (Otero, 1999). The aim of microfinance according to Otero (1999) is not just about providing capital to the poor to combat poverty on an individual level, it also has a role at an institutional level. It seeks to create institutions that deliver financial services to the poor, who are continuously ignored by the formal banking sector. Mayoux (2000) and Cheston and Khan (2002) have pointed out the importance of microfinance in empowerment, particularly women empowerment. Microfinance is defined as efforts to improve the access to loans and to saving services for poor people (Shreiner2001). UNCDF (2001) states that studies have shown that microfinance plays key roles in development. It is currently being promoted as a key development strategy for promoting poverty eradication and economic empowerment. It has the potential to effectively address material poverty, the physical deprivation of goods and services and the income to attain them by granting financial services to households who are not supported by the formal banking sector (Sheraton 2004). Microcredit programs provide small loans and savings opportunities to those who have traditionally been excluded from commercial financial services. As a development inclusion strategy, adopted by NGOs through the provision of funds to both locally established groups and government and private institutions, microfinance programs emphasize womens economic contribution as a way to increase overall financial efficiency within national economies. This is because in Sub-Saharan Africa, as whole women are said to be bread winners and care takers of their families. It should be noted that women are always at mercy regarding social misshapes .According to Cheston and Khan (2002), one of the most popular forms of economic empowerment for women is microfinance, which provides credit for poor women who are usually excluded from formal credit institutions. This issue of gender discrimination in the microfinance sector have been researched and debated by donor agencies, NGOs, feminists, and activists (Johnson and Rogaly 1997; Razavi 1997; Kabeer 1999; Mayoux 2001; Mahmud 2003). However, underneath these shared concerns lie three fundamentally different approaches to microfinance: financial sustainability, feminist empowerment, and poverty alleviation. All three microfinance approaches have different goals coupled with varied perspectives on how to incorporate gender into microfinance policy and programs (Mayoux 2000). The microfinance empowers women by putting capital in their hands and allowing them to earn an independent income and contribute financially to their households and communities. This economic empowerment is expected to generate increased self-esteem, respect, and other forms of empowerment for women beneficiaries. Some evidence show that microfinance would empower women in some domains such as increased participation in decision making, more equitable status of women in the family and community, increased political power and rights, and increased self-esteem (Cheston and Kuhn 2002). Well-being as an output of microfinance not only covers the economic indicators, but also other indicators such as community education, environment, recreation and accessibility to social services. It is related to the quality of life (Asnarulkhadi 2002). In order to gain economic sustainability, NGOs through microfinance help the communities to reduce poverty, create jobs, and promote income generation. In the developing countries, sustainability is linked more closely to issues of poverty and the gross inequalities of power and resources (Hamnett and Hassan 2003). This is due to the fact that in the Third World countries like sub-Saharan Africa, the ecological system, climate, sometimes conflicts with the socio-economic needs of local people who depend on a local ecosystem for their survival (Nygren 2000). In contrast, in the developed countries, as Bradshaw and Winn (2000) have noted, more priority is given on environmental aspect of sustainable development. Despite the importance attached to microfinance as an effective tool for poverty alleviation, yet it cannot be over ruled that this sector do have many problems. This has even led some scholars to doubt it usefulness, there by suggesting that NGOs still need to do more to reach out to the poor. Littlefield, Murduch and Hashemi (2003), Simanowitz and Brody (2004) and the IMF (2005) have commented on the critical role of microfinance in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Simanowitz and Brody (2004, p.1) state, Microfinance is a key strategy in reaching the MDGs and in building global financial systems that meet the needs of the most poor people. Littlefield, Murduch and Hashemi (2003) state microfinance is a critical contextual factor with strong impact on the achievements of the MDGsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦microfinance is unique among development interventions: it can deliver social benefits on an ongoing, permanent basis and on a large scale. Referring to various case studies, they show how microfinance has played a role in eradicating poverty, promoting education, improving health and empowering women (2003). However, other scholars are not enthusiastic about the role of microfinance in development because of it lapses, and it is important to realize that microfinance is not a all done strategy when it comes to fighting poverty. Hulme and Mosley (1996), while acknowledging the role microfinance can have in helping to reduce poverty, concluded from their research on microfinance that most contemporary schemes are less effective than they might be (1996, p.134). They state that microfinance is not a total solution for poverty-alleviation and that in some cases the poorest people have been made worse-off by microfinance. Wright (2000,p.6) states that much of the skepticism of MFIs stems from the argument that microfinance projects fail to reach the poorest, generally have a limited effect on incomeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦drive women into greater dependence on their husbands and fail to provide additional services desperately needed by the poor. In addition, Wright says that many development practitioners not only find microfinance inadequate, but that it actually diverts funding from more pressing or important interventions such as health and education (2000, p.6). As argued by Navajas et al (2000), there is a danger that microfinance may siphon funds from other projects that might help the poor more. They state that governments and donors should know whether the poor gain more from microfinance, than from more health care or food aid for example. Therefore, there is a need for all involved in microfinance and development to ascertain what exactly has been the impact of microfinance in combating poverty. Considerable debate remains about the effectiveness of microfinance as a tool for directly reducing poverty, and about the characteristics of the people it benefits (Chowdhury, Mosley and Simanowitz, 2004). Sinha (1998) argues that it is notoriously difficult to measure the impact of microfinance programmes on poverty. 2.2. NGOs CAPACITY BUILDING ROLE A STRATEGY FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION Capacity building is another NGOs strategy and role that helps to bridge a gap between the haves and have not in society. Capacity building is an approach to development that builds independence. It can be: A means to an end, where the purpose is for others to take on programs. Is a process, where the capacity building strategies are routinely incorporated as an important element of effective practice (NSW Health 2001). Langran (2002) has defined capacity building as the ability of one group (NGOs) to strengthen the development abilities of another group (local communities) through education, skill training and organizational support. Capacity building is a strategy used to develop not a set of pre-determined activities. There is no single way to the build capacity of an individual or groups of individuals. Although experience tells us that there is a need to work across the key action areas, practitioners approach each situation separately to identify pre-existing capacities and develop strategies particular to a program or organization, in its time and place. Before beginning to build capacity within programs, practitioners need to identify pre-existing capacities such as skills, structures, partnerships and resources. Frankish (2003) has counted a number of dimensions for community capacity including financial capacity (resources, opportunities and knowledge), human resources (skills, motivations, confidence, and relational abilities and trust) and social resources (networks, participation structures, shared trust and bonding). UNDP (1997-2009) has introduced capacity building as the process by which individuals, groups, and organizations increase their abilities to first, perform core functions, solve problems, define and achieve objectives; and second, understand and deal with their development needs in a broad context and in a sustainable manner. NGOs, through the provision of education, skills and knowledge, develop the capacity of community towards achieving sustainable development. In fact, NGOs act as a capacity builder to help the communities to develop the resources, building awareness, motivating to participation in project and finally improving the quality of communitys lives. Inger Ulleberg (2009) has supported the view that NGOs play important role through the provision of skills for the rural poor. He has maintained that through capacity building, NGOs have been able to reach the poor, and has contributed to the development of the beneficiaries through skills training, the given of technical advice, exchange of experiences, research and policy advice which is key to todays development. Through the case study of Afghanistan NGOs, it suggested that these areas of interest have yielded fruit for the intended beneficiaries. The activities have usually strengthened the skills of individuals, as it was intended but have not always succeeded in improving the effectiveness of the ministries and other organizations where those individuals are working. This according to Kpaka (2007) considered it as a failure on the part of the implementers because of improper allocation of stratetigies and argues that they failed because of poor planning and poor implementation strategy. 2.3.NGOs ROLES OF SELF-RELIANCE AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT A STRATEGY FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION Self-reliance is another strategy that affects sustainable community development. Effective community development sits on the foundation of self-reliance. The concept of self-reliance is strategically situated within the essence of community development and is related to other concepts like mutual-help, self-help, participation of the indigenous people and rural progress. Self-reliance encourages the necessity for people to use local initiatives, their abilities and their own possessions to improve their condition. Fonchingong and Fonjong (2002) have pointed out that self-reliance is increasingly being adopted as modus operandi for community development. Therefore, to attain self-reliance, NGOs and community groups must discover their own potential and look for ways to innovatively develop such discovered potential to use as sources of wealth for the development of the community (Ife and Tesoriero 2006). Motivating and mobilizing people to be self-reliant and to participate in development activities become an important objective of the NGOs. According to Kelly (1992), self-reliance means that the people rely on their own resources and are independent of funds sourced outside the community. Self-reliant strategy relies on the willingness and ability of the local people to depend on their own available resources and technology which they can control and manage. A self-reliant strategy requires the optional use of all available human, natural and technological resources (Agere 1982). Although dependence on the state maybe desirable in the short term, it should not be a long term objective, because the aim of the community development must ultimately be self-reliance. Mansaray (1982) has maintained that reliance on external resources will lead to the loss of autonomy and independence of the community, therefore communities should be bound to carry out autonomous programmes. This according to him, autonomous communities can flourish only in the absence of such external dependency. According to Korten (1990), the second strategy of the NGOs focuses on developing the capacities of the people to better meet their own needs through self-reliant local action. In the second generation strategy, Korten (1990) mentioned that the local inertia is the heart of problem in a village or community. There is a potential energy in a community but remains inactive because of the inertia of tradition, isolation and lack of education. But this unwillingness on the part of the local beneficiaries can be broken through the intervention of an outside change agent, who supposedly are to be NGOs, whose role is to who help the community realize its potentials through education, organization, consciousness raising, small loans and the introduction of simple new technologies. It is the stress on local self-reliance, with the intent that benefits will be sustained by community self-help action beyond the period of NGO assistance (Korten 1990). Therefore, NGOs, through the strategy of self-reliance, has facilitated sustainable development of the community through its participation in the community actives, project sponsorship, monitoring and evaluation processes. 2.4. NGOS PEACE BUILDING ROLE A STRATEGY FOR POVERTY FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION NGOs roles are extended to peace building in Africa. The crucial role played by NGOs in the restoration of peace in war affected zones, is one seen as important. Many African countries have witnessed war and are still going through the trauma of war. Countries like Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola, Somalia and many are witnesses of NGOs intervention in peace building. From the evidence of the current conflict in Afghanistan, Richard Barajas, Rachel Howard, Andrew Miner Jeff Sartin, Karina Silver (2000), have maintained that NGOs can play peace building roles. The presence of NGOs in Afghanistan according to them have led to the restoration of fair peace as their propagation of the human rights law, and their involvement in the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes, is fostering cooperation among the warlords. I am in total agreement with them. The role of Peace Wing in Sierra Leone, for instance, justify the effectiveness of peace building NGOs through their organizat ional strategies which was able to bring the rebels out of the bush and negotiating between the government and war factions to negotiate a peace talk rather using guns and bullets to cease war. 2.5. NGOs HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE/RELIEF SERVICES ROLES FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION The provision of food and non-food items during emergency periods and war time and other disasters periods, often see NGOs functions as important one. The provision of these items is short run but very significance in alleviating poverty. According to Kpaka (2007), humanitarian assistance is a fastest means to fight poverty and ensure sustainability in todays society. During emergency period, governments are unable to settle their displaced and refugee population, because of inadequacies of resources. As a result of the shortcoming of the government, the issue of NGOs influx into a country becomes unquestionable Kpaka (2007). Conflict and other disasters that occurred in society always left a strong poverty bench mark. During these conflicting periods, lives, properties, and physical infrastructures, diseases, and other hazardous issues are left as strong legacy in our society. To remedy these legacies, Humanitarian NGOs have different strategies to implement their relief programmes. Generally, the roles of NGOs are still debatable as many sees their roles as positive and others sees these roles as not proper. It has been noted that, NGO contributions in poverty reduction are limited. Edwards Hulme (1995:6) stated that it is difficult to find general evidence that NGOs are close to the poor. There is growing evidence that in terms of poverty reduction, NGOs do not perform as effectively as had been usually assumed by many agencies. More specific evidence is provided by Riddell and Robinson (1995) who conducted a case study on sixteen NGOs undertaken in four countries in Asia and Africa. They found that while NGO projects reach the poor people, they tend not to reach down to the very poorest. NGO projects also tend to be small scale. The total numbers assisted are also small. Furthermore, it is also rare for NGO projects to be financially self sufficient. Finally, although NGOs execute a number of very imaginative projects, many of them appear to be unwilling to innovate in certain areas or activities. Therefore, because of these limitations, the roles of NGOs in alleviating poverty cannot be exaggerated. 2.6. CONCLUTION The literature established the important roles played by of NGOs in the fight against poverty through micro-finance, capacity building, self-reliance, peace building, sustainable community development, and empowerment especially womens empowerment all aiming at poverty alleviation. NGOs through the micro-finance help members of community to access jobs, income-generation and improve economic situation there by alleviating poverty from the poor. And then they would become empowered economically. NGOs developed the capacities of community such as skills, abilities, knowledge, assets and motivates the community to participate in the project to improve the quality of their lives. NGOs act as capacity builders that help the community to achieve the empowerment particularly individual empowerment. Since the philosophy of community development is independent from any outside agents, thus the community must rely on their own resources. NGOs do assist the community to discover their potentials and also mobilize community to be self-reliant. Therefore, the final outcome of community development is the independence of the community from external agents in formulating its agenda and managing its affairs. This process involves capacity building, where people get involved in human capital training, transferring of authority from donor to recipient and receive supports from stakeholders (World Bank group 1999). When people become fully empowered, they are able to contribute toward sustainable development (Lyons et al. 2001). Therefore, NGOs through some programs and functions, such as microfinance, capacity building and self-reliance help community to be empowered, and finally contribute towards sustainable community development. However, though many dont see a need for NGOs in the fight against poverty alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa, I strongly believed that presence in black Africa is importance. Their strategies and approaches they use to fight this disease is one that should not be neglected. Having looked into all the literature NGOs, in the next chapter, researcher will be discussing the strategies adopted by some NGOs in the fight against poverty.

What is love? Essay -- Literary Analysis, Shakespeare

The word Love may mean many things to different people. For some it can be dangerous and complex, whereas for others it can be simple, yet fulfilling. Many have also attempted to prove the meaning of love, some successful, others not. In the poems A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning by John Donne and Sonnet 147 by William Shakespeare, both authors view love from opposite spectrums. They both attempt to argue what the meaning of love really is. They do this, by using imagery and symbols, and by writing in extended metaphors. In both A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning and Sonnet 147, Donne and Shakespeare’s use of imagery and symbolism are well used to describe the meaning of love according to them. Death is a recurrent image in both poems. In Sonnet 147, Shakespeare compares the love he has for a woman to a disease. Oftentimes disease is associated with death. He uses this imagery, first when he states â€Å"Desire is death† (8); meaning the desire or love he has for this woman, is indeed deadly; a disease which is figuratively leading to his death. Shortly after this, Shakespeare refers to this woman as â€Å"Black as hell, as dark as night† (14) although this may not seem like death right away, one must remember that the colour black and night often signify the idea of death. The line before this states â€Å"I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright† (13) Therefore the idea he had of this woman, used to be bright and loving, however he now finds her in a way, evil a nd associates the metaphorical death of his heart to her. Despite using death imagery, Shakespeare also uses medical imagery in the poem. Ultimately disease is associated with medicine. There are a slew of words in the poem which symbolize medical imagery; the words Shak... ...(31-34) In this metaphor, his wife is the fix’d foot which â€Å"in the centre sit†, as she always remains in the same spot, waiting for her husband, the other foot, to return home. Donne writes this, not so much as a love poem, but more as a plea for his wife not to worry about his absence, that their love will only grow stronger, and for her not to be scared that he wont return as (the compass) â€Å"makes me end where I begun.† (38) Despite not being classified a metaphysical poet, Shakespeare like Donne, was very famous for his wordplay and metaphors. Although both authors take different stands on the meaning of love, Donne a positive one and Shakespeare a more negative view; both authors attempt to prove this using imagery and symbols and extended metaphors. The use of metaphors in both Donne and Shakespeare’s poems are intricately intertwined with genius wordplay.