Survivor: Philippines – an Analysis Using Communication Theory

â€Å"SURVIVOR: PHILIPPINES†: An Analysis of the CBS Program Using Three Theories of Communication Sally Annabella Communications 307 Dr. Debbie Way November 2012 No one has died. Some have been medevacked. It’s a rough game. The CBS television series Survivor is one of the first ‘reality tv’ shows and is now in its 12th year. It features eighteen contestants striving to â€Å"Outwit, Outplay and Outlast† each other to win one million dollars by the end of the season.While it is important to be in good physical shape (the challenges are just that, physically challenging) it is imperative to have impeccable communication skills. In watching episodes of the current season, Survivor: Philippines, I have noticed: Communication Privacy Management Theory, Message Design Logics, Uncertainty Reduction Theory, Politeness Theory, and Social Exchange Theory. While this paper only requires three theories to be mentioned, I will show that all five are tied togeth er.Each season Survivor is filmed over a period of 39 days on a different remote island. The contestants are divided into two or three tribes that start out competing against each other in challenges for a) rewards such as fishing supplies or an elegant feast and b) the coveted Immunity Idol, a token that means they will have the chance to play another three days. The tribe that does not win the idol will have to go to Tribal Council (an event that happens generally every three days) and risk being voted out of the game, hence no chance of winning the million dollar prize.About half-way through the season, the tribes merge into one, each player now plays for himself, and the remaining challenges are centered around winning Individual Immunity. All of the remaining players now go to Tribal Council and vote out one player. These ousted players now form the Jury, and they will be the ones to ultimately vote at the end of the game (when there are three remaining players) on who will tak e home the million dollars. Communication Privacy Management Theory, as stated by Dainton and Zelley on page 68, has four main principles. The one most applicable in Survivor involves boundaries.A boundary linkage is formed when two or more parties share information (Dainton and Zelley p. 71) with each owner of the information being responsible for its privacy. Inevitably, when one player finds a hidden Immunity Idol, they cannot seem to keep the information to themselves. They feel they must entrust someone else with this extremely private information and this almost certainly is their undoing. Dainton and Zelley show on page 72 that Petronio in 2002 states that boundary turbulence occurs when the rules for privacy management are not clear.This statement implies that boundary turbulence is unintentional. In watching Survivor, I found that boundary turbulence could also be intentional. In one instance, Player A told Player B she would not tell anyone that he (Player B) was in posses sion of a hidden immunity idol, yet she did tell someone else (Player C. ) Player C then confronted Player B, causing boundary turbulence with Player A. In another instance (and a different set of players), Players A and B together found a clue to a hidden immunity idol. They promised each other not to tell anyone else.Player A then told Player C. Player C seized an opportunity to plant the clue in Player B’s possessions, making it appear to Player A that Player B had betrayed her, thus creating boundary turbulence. In Message Design Logics Theory, there are three types of communication, expressive (p. 35), conventional and rhetorical (p. 36). Expressive is a sender-focused pattern of communication, concerned primarily with self-expression. Some players do not seem to have a ? lter and allow their thoughts to spew out, whether it be bene? cial to them or not. Conventional operates by rules.In one episode, others in the group let one player know that he was overstepping the li ne of acceptable behavior when he was snuggling with another particular contestant. They pointed out to him that it appeared to the rest of the group that he was in a strong alliance with her. He subsequently stopped sleeping next to her to show the group his allegiance was not tied to her. The more successful players of Survivor communicate in the rhetorical fashion. These individuals â€Å"view communication as a powerful tool used to create situations and negotiate multiple goals (p. 6). † They pay close attention to what others are communicating in order to be better able to understand their point of view, and therefore what they might be thinking beyond what they are saying. Those who use this type of communication are seeking a balance between their goals and keeping harmony with the receiver(s), even to the point of protecting another? s feelings (such as by not embarrassing them. ) They want to maintain a good working relationship with the other person in the future. Survivor contestants experience on a daily basis Uncertainty Reduction Theory.Dainton and Zelley point out on page 43 that, according to Berger and Calabrese (1975), humans regularly experience uncertainty, we do not like the feeling, and we use communication to reduce our uncertainties. In the game of Survivor, the players are in a constant state of uncertainty. They know that, by design of the game, they and their co-competitors all have the same goal. And only one of them is going to reach it. They go into the game knowing they are going to form friendships and they are going to have to lie and accept being lied to.One player stated that nobody wants to betray anybody else and nobody wants to feel betrayed. Politeness Theory also comes into play. Dainton and Zelley show on page 60 that if someone has more power or prestige than you, you will be more polite to them. This theory also states that if what you have to say may hurt the receiver of the information, you will be more poli te. Survivor is all about who has the power. The players all want to be the one with the power, whether they want to let the other players know or not.To tie it to Message Design Logics, if they are a rhetorical communicator, they will be more polite to the one perceived as having the power. The expressive communicator, however, will not be so aware of the need to be polite. Another theory that needs to be mentioned is Social Exchange Theory. Dainton and Zelley on page 61 show that Thibaut and Kelley in 1959 maintained that humans, by nature, are sel? sh. We determine the relationships we keep or let go by weighing the bene? ts versus the costs of these relationships. In Survivor, the players are continually assessing their relationships with each ther, strategizing which relationships will thrive and which will be detrimental to their ultimate goal of making it all 39 days and to the million dollar prize. The CBS television show Survivor is a wealth of examples of communication the ories in action. A contestant cannot possibly make it to the end and win the prize of one million dollars without being an exceptional communicator. This means not only being able to convey one’s own information (expressive Message Design Logics), but also being able to assess how his/her information is being interpreted (rhetorical Message Design Logics. They also need to be able to read the others that are communicating to them, and determine whether the information being portrayed is truthful or not. While contestants have had to be medevacked for physical issues, they have yet to be involuntarily removed from the game for lack of communication skills. References Dainton, M. , & Zelley, E. D. (2011). Applying communication theory for professional life: A practical introduction (2nd ed. ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Website: CBS Survivor. http://www. cbs. com/shows/survivor/

The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 12

â€Å"It's going to be a lovely day – perfect for a picnic,† Meredith observed calmly. Bonnie had tactful y but firmly steered Celia into Matt's car instead of Meredith's, and so Meredith was alone with Alaric – at last! – for the first time since he'd arrived. Half of her just wanted to pul off the road, grab Alaric, and kiss him and kiss him, she was so glad that he was final y here. Al through the insanity of the last few months, she'd wished that he were there to fight by her side, to depend on. But the other half of her wanted to pul off the road, grab Alaric, and demand that he explain to her exactly what his relationship was with Dr. Celia Connor. Instead, here she was, driving placidly, hands at ten and two on the steering wheel, making smal talk about the weather. She felt like a coward, and Meredith Suarez was no coward. But what could she say? What if she was just paranoid, and making a ridiculous fuss about a strictly professional relationship? She glanced at Alaric out of the corner of her eye. â€Å"So†¦Ã¢â‚¬  she said. â€Å"Tel me more about your research in Japan.† Alaric ran his hands through his already tousled hair and grinned at her. â€Å"The trip was fascinating,† he said. â€Å"Celia's so intel igent and experienced. She just puts together al these clues about a civilization. It was a real eye-opener for me to watch her decipher so much from the evidence in the graves there. I never knew much about forensic anthropology before, but she was able to reconstruct an amazing amount about the culture of Unmei no Shima.† â€Å"Sounds like she's simply amazing,† Meredith said, hearing the acid in her tone. Apparently Alaric didn't notice it. He smiled a little. â€Å"It took quite a while for her to take my paranormal research seriously,† he said rueful y. â€Å"Parapsychology isn't particularly wel regarded by the experts in other scientific disciplines. They think people like me who choose to spend their lives studying the supernatural are charlatans, or naive. Or a little crazy.† Meredith made herself speak pleasantly. â€Å"You were able to convince her at last, though? That's good.† â€Å"Sort of,† Alaric answered. â€Å"We got to be friends, anyway, so she stopped thinking I was a complete fraud. I think she's found it al a lot more believable after the one day she's spent here, though.† He gave a wry smile. â€Å"She tried to hide it, but she was blown away yesterday when Stefan saved her. The existence of a vampire makes it clear that there's a lot conventional science knows nothing about. I'm sure she'l want to examine Stefan if he'l let her.† â€Å"I would imagine so,† said Meredith dryly, resisting the urge to ask Alaric why he thought Stefan would cooperate when he had seemed so displeased that Alaric had told Celia about him. Alaric slid a hand across the car seat until he was close enough to run a finger gently along Meredith's arm. â€Å"I learned a lot while I was gone,† he said earnestly, â€Å"but I'm real y more concerned about what's going on right now in Fel ‘s Church.† â€Å"You mean this dark magic that is supposedly rising here?† Meredith asked. â€Å"I mean the dark magic that seems to be targeting you and Celia,† Alaric said forceful y. â€Å"I'm not sure either of you is taking it seriously enough.† Me and Celia, thought Meredith. He's just as worried about her as he is about me. Maybe more. â€Å"I know we've faced danger in the past, but I feel responsible for Celia,† Alaric went on. â€Å"I brought her here, and I'd never be able to forgive myself if something happened to her.† Definitely more, Meredith thought bitterly, and shrugged off Alaric's hand. She instantly regretted the motion. What was the matter with her? This wasn't who she was. She'd always been the calm, rational one. Now here she was feeling like, wel , like a jealous girlfriend. â€Å"And now it's threatening you, too,† Alaric went on. He tentatively touched her knee, and this time Meredith let his hand stay. â€Å"Meredith, I know how strong you are. But it's terrifying to me that this doesn't seem to be the kind of enemy we're used to. How can we fight what we can't even see?† â€Å"Al we can do is be vigilant,† Meredith said. Her training had been comprehensive, but even she didn't understand this new evil. Yet she knew how to protect herself much better than Alaric realized. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. His window was open a crack, and the breeze ruffled his sandy hair. They knew each other so wel , yet he stil didn't know her biggest secret. For a moment she considered tel ing him, but then he turned to her and said, â€Å"Celia's putting on a brave face, but I can tel she's scared. She's not as tough as you are.† Meredith stiffened. No, this wasn't the right time to tel Alaric that she was a hunter-slayer. Not when she was driving. Not when she was this angry. Suddenly his hand felt heavy and clammy on her knee, but she knew she couldn't push it off again without betraying her feelings. Inside, though, she was raging at how the conversation kept coming back to Celia. Alaric had thought of her first. And even when he was talking about the danger to Meredith, he couched it in terms of what had happened to Celia. Alaric's voice became a buzz in the background as Meredith clutched the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles whitened. Real y, why was she surprised that Alaric had feelings for Celia? Meredith wasn't blind. She could be objective. Celia was smart, accomplished, beautiful. Celia and Alaric were in the same place in their lives. Meredith hadn't even started col ege yet. She was attractive – she knew that – and certainly intel igent. But Celia was al that and more: She was Alaric's equal in a way Meredith couldn't be just yet. Sure, Meredith was a vampire hunter. But Alaric didn't know that. And when he did know, would he admire her strength? Or would he turn away from her, scared of her abilities, and toward someone more academic, like Celia? A black bubble of misery fil ed Meredith's chest. â€Å"I'm beginning to think I should take Celia away from here if I can get her to leave.† Alaric sounded reluctant, but Meredith could hardly hear him. She felt as cold as if she were being enveloped in a fog. â€Å"Maybe I should get her back to Boston. I think you should leave Fel ‘s Church, too, Meredith, if you can convince your family to let you go away for the rest of the summer. You could come with us, or maybe there's a relative you could stay with if your family wouldn't like that. I'm worried that you aren't safe here.† â€Å"Nothing's happened to me yet,† said Meredith, surprised by the calm of her own voice, when such dark emotions were boiling inside her. â€Å"And I have a responsibility to be here and protect the town. If you think Celia wil be safer away from here, do what you and she think is best. But you know there's no guarantee that whatever's threatening us won't fol ow her somewhere else. And at least here there are people who believe in the danger. â€Å"Besides,† she added thoughtful y, â€Å"the threat to Celia may be over. Maybe once the attack is averted, it moves on to someone else. My name didn't appear until after Stefan saved Celia. If so, then the danger is only to me.† Not that you care, she thought viciously, and was surprised at herself. Of course Alaric cared. It was just that he seemed to care about what happened to Celia more. Her fingernails cut into her palms around the steering wheel as she careful y fol owed Stefan's car off the road and toward the parking lot for Hot Springs. â€Å"Stop!† Alaric shouted, panic in his voice, and Meredith automatical y slammed on the brakes. The car squealed to a halt. â€Å"What?† Meredith gasped. â€Å"What is it?† And then she saw her. Dr. Celia Connor had gotten out of Matt's car to cross to the path up to the springs. Meredith had come speeding right toward her. Only inches from Meredith's front bumper, Celia was frozen, her pretty face gray with fear, her mouth a perfect O. One more second, and Meredith would have kil ed her.

Buddhism, Legitimation, and Conflict: The Political Functions of Urban Thai Buddhism Essay

Ideally, Buddhism is a religion with a huge following whereby the believers in the religion follow and interact socially with the Dharma doctrine which is basically what the Buddha taught or his way of living. Dharma is the path to attain such enlightenment and the teachings of Buddha and through the following of Buddhists traditions shows the variances in attaining Dharma and reaching enlightenment. The Buddha way of teaching is only considered helpful to individuals if it is practiced with discipline what the Buddha’s themselves called the VinayaCITATION Jac07 p 44 l 1033 (Jackson 44). The understanding of Buddhism is expressed by the acts of those who abide unwillingly to the apparition of Dharma-Vinaya and preach its beliefs to the masses. Like many other religions, Buddhists have multiple sects and traditions. In essence, the ultimate goal for all Buddhists is to attain enlightenment. Theraveda Buddhism accounts for nearly ninety five percent of the population in Thailand and this shows just how much Buddhism more than any other religion is influential in Thailand. In the long history of the existence of Thailand, the citizens seem to have been predominantly Buddhist by religion at least from the moment they were acquainted with it. Current historical records show that all the previous kings of Thailand were adherents of Buddhism. Most notable is the fact that the Thai constitution clearly states that a Thai King must be a Buddhist and as a result, must be the ultimate upholder of Buddhism. Theravada School of Buddhism has been one of the three major forces that have influence in the country. Despite the existence of substantial regional and local variations, the major themes of Buddhism in Thailand are provided by the Theravada schoolCITATION Mac07 p 87 l 1033 (Mackenzie 87). Traditionally, Pali is the language of religion in Thailand as evidenced by the fact that the scriptures are recorded in Pali through the older Tham and Khom scripts or the modern Thai script. As the primary religious Thai text, Pali is also used in religious rite despite the little number of Thai citizens who understand it. Hindu beliefs from Cambodia also serves are a significant influence on Buddhism in Thailand especially during the Sukothai period. The Thai kingship institution was largely influenced by Vedic Hinduism just as it did in Cambodia which as a result exerted influence in the creation of law and order in the society and religion of Thailand. There are certain rituals that are still practiced in modern Thailand by monks or specialists in Hindu rituals that can clearly be related to Hind practices or of Hindu origin. Essentially, Hindu influence can still be seen within Buddhist ceremonies and institutions in Thailand despite the fact that the visibility of Hinduism within Thai society has diminished significantly during the Chakri DynastyCITATION Suk10 p 34 l 1033 (Suksamran 34). Folk religion is the third major influence on Thai Buddhism as seen in the Buddhist rituals and precepts that are used in trying to appease the local spirits. Although the Thais who have received Western education often tend to define the line between practices of folk religion and Thai Buddhism, this is quite a gray area given the practices of the rural locales. An in-depth analysis of these three influences can clearly be traced through the current development and practices within the political system of Thailand. One of the most striking things that one notices upon arrival in Thailand is the magnificent Buddhist temple with its exquisite architecture coupled with the sight of monks and novices in yellow clad especially in the wee hours of the day. This sight serves as an inevitable reminder to both residents and foreigners of the dominance of Buddhism in the Thai nation Despite the fact that Thailand currently exists as a constitutional monarchy, its political system is quite a reflection of the string Southeast Asian tradition of Buddhist supremacy nature that link the legitimacy of the government to its support and protection for Buddhist institutions. This link has progressed into the modern era as seen in cases where Buddhist clergy and institutions are given special treatment by the Thai government as well as being subjected to a special government oversightCITATION Jac07 p 90 l 1033 (Jackson 90). Besides the cleric leadership of the Sangha, Buddhist temples and monks in Thailand are supervised by a profane government ministry. Good examples of these occurrences have been seen in the legal state of reform movements and Buddhist sects. For example , the case of Santi Asoke received legal prohibition from referring to itself as a Buddhist denomination and in the prosecution of monks who have been persecuted in the case of ordaining women by trying to revive lineage of the Theravada bhikkhuni and in so doing tried to impersonate clergy members hence their demiseCITATION Mac07 p 111 l 1033 (Mackenzie 111). A further examination of the Buddhist ways reveals certain themes and guidelines in the religious teachings of Buddha. The Srakakayana literally translates as the disciples. This is important to the Thai faith because as Buddhists listen to the teachings of Buddha and practice the teachings therefore becoming disciples. They thus listen to the text and scriptures then they can f ind their way to salvation. Generally, this concentration allows them to realize Dharma through listening and practicing. For a monk in Thailand to obtain a passport in order to travel abroad, one must have a Buddhist monk identification card, an official letter granting the permission to travel outside Thailand from the Sangha Supreme Council, any initial Thai passport or a certified equivalent thereof and a copy of House Registration. Beside these insurmountable acts of state recognition and support from the Thai state like the official gifts to monasteries from officials within the royal family and the government , Buddhist monks have quite a number of special rights bestowed upon them. Buddhist monks have access to free public transportation in airports and train stations where they often have special seating allocations. There is no law that directly forbids members of Buddhist institutions like monks and nuns from being candidates in the enrollment for recruitment as government officers. However, both the Sangha Supreme Council which serves as the supervising agency for Thai Buddhist communities a nd the Council of Ministers have placed such prohibition in cases of appropriateness in accordance with the Memorandum of the Administrative Department of the CabinetCITATION Suk10 p 127 l 1033 (Suksamran 127) . On the contrary, it is a crime for ordained monastic to stand for office or vote in elections. No member of the Buddhist community or other religious communities is entitled to either elect or be elected for any government position. The Thai constitution disfranchises a monk, novice, clergy member or priest of Buddhist religion from holding any government post. In addition, any member who is elected as a representative will lose membership upon becoming a Buddhist monk, nun or clergy. This illustrates a clear fact that Buddhist members are not in any way appropriate for Thai politics. The existence of Buddhists members like monks and nuns highly depends on the respect of the public and as a result, society expects them to behave in a way that calls for respect for the entire public and not a specific affiliate communityCITATION Jac07 p 221 l 1033 (Jackson 221). Any involvement by a Buddhist member either in support or participation of an election is considered a breach of the unusual conduct of the law and the Buddhist member is considered to have disgraced his religion, community as well as himself. Thus failure of monk or nun to uphold these stipulated rules is ground enough for them to condemned, disrespected and balked at in various ways. Since 2007 there have been several calls by Thai Buddhists to acquire recognition within the new constitution of Thailand as a state religion. Initially, this suggestion received rejection from the committee that was responsible for drafting the new constitution which consequently triggered quite a number of protests from those who supported the initiative such as a hunger strike by twelve of the Buddhist monk and various protest marches within the capital of ThailandCITATION Mac07 p 210 l 1033 (Mackenzie 210). Opponents of the plan, including Sulak Sivaraksa who is a renowned Thai social critic and scholar, did so based on claims that political gain is the driving force behind the call to declare Buddhism as a national religion and that it may have manipulated by the Thai supported Thaksin Sinawatra who had just been ousted as the country’s Prime Minister. As expected the Committee drafting the constitution later on failed to vote in support of the special status of Buddhism and in so doing provoked intense reaction from religious groups which criticized the committee for being impartial to religious affiliates. The issue also caught the attention of the Queen of Thailand who raised concerns over the matter and on her birthday, she delivered a speech through which she highlighted the notion that Buddhism goes way beyond politics. The reclusive politics of Thailand is in complete upheaval. The Sangha can no longer be dismissed as political force and simply perceived as a legitimacy fount for the country and for the monarchy. The role played by hundreds of monks in ProThaksin redshirts between March and May of 2010 are a clear proof of the growing apprehension within Buddhism. However, beyond these intense displays of complete lack of satisfaction, an important fact is the Buddhism and in this case the Sangha, faces quite a number of serious challenges. From a Buddhist perspective, the solution of Thailand’s approach to Buddhism is twofold. First and foremost, there should be a link between Buddhist base communities in Thailand to create a relatively decentralized society that can thereafter serve as a model for religion. The second solution lays in the attainment of a society that is more just on a national level through fighting for political reforms steered by Buddhist thinkers. The newly established Thai constitution that includes a democratic process that is reformed with a balance of power and structural check serves as a stepping stone towards structural change within Thailand’s political system. References Jackson , Peter A. Buddhism, Legitimation, and Conflict: The Political Functions of Urban Thai Buddhism. Bangkok: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2007. Mackenzie, Rory . New Buddhist Movements in Thailand: Towards an Understanding of Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Santi Asoke. New York: Routledge, 2007. Suksamran, Somboon . Buddhism and Politics in Thailand: A Study of Socio-political Change and Political Activism of the Thai Sangha. Bangkok: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2010. Source document

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The Great Depression Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Great Depression - Assignment Example These issues contributed to the Great Depression on the domestic front, however, President Hoover felt that much of the cause for America’s financial crisis could be found in international affairs; because European credit and income was highly dependent on the United States, when the U.S. lessened European investments we lessened their demand for United States goods and services. That said, the America economy was plummeting and not improving. The culmination of the Great Depression arrived on â€Å"Black Tuesday,† in October 29, 1929, when the stock market crashed and, both, individuals and companies, lost everything. During the 1929 election Hoover claimed that we would experience a â€Å"final triumph over poverty.†(Henretta et al. 2010) He initially adopted a â€Å"two-pronged strategy† that involved an ideology of volunteerism and more reliance and faith in the business industry; but his most notable initiative is the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, or RFC, which was based on a previous program developed during World War I, that granted government loans to businesses, railroads and financial institutions. (Henretta et al. 2010) All of this was intended to boost faith in the business industry and encourage them to maintain the wages to their employees. In the end, America survived the Great Depression and managed to recover, and not just recover but

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Orgnazational citizenship behavior( carrefour china) - Essay Example Although the Carrefour Foundation did succeed in taking humanitarian initiatives, yet it lacked involvement of the company’s own employees in its efforts. Therefore, the Board of Directors took measures to increase employees’ participation. Food program, professional integration and solidarity were the three core areas at which the Carrefour Foundation specifically focused. Carrefour primarily sells food and grocery products. The Carrefour Foundation has developed links between people and farmers for provision of healthy food. The employees of Carrefour established an organic pepper industry in Shuiruo and Saba and taught the farmers ways to implant certified organic Sichuan peppers. The employees also delivered lectures on personal hygiene to improve health and safety condition in the very villages. In 4 years, Carrefour has contributed up to â‚ ¬90,000 for the program. Fair trade is encouraged by purchasing significant portion of the total crops every year above ma rket value. Carrefour buys the products from farmers and then sells them over in 22 different countries. The foundation has also opened a school for the community and has improved the infrastructure. The program has helped raise the income of farmers, improved their living conditions in general, and has promoted social solidarity (carrefour.com).

Loyalty and its role in customer relationship management 02222 Essay

Loyalty and its role in customer relationship management 02222 - Essay Example This severely reduces the customer retention of the firm. Therefore maintaining the loyalty of the customers is imperative to organizational success. The companies are constantly seeking out for new ways to retain their existing customers. This paper is based on the study of customer relationship and how it is important in maintaining the customer loyalty. The consumer behaviour can be explained as the response that the consumers express under certain circumstances. These circumstances are often on the grounds of introduction of new products or services, post purchase behaviour and gradual change in the consumption patter of the society. These factors are always studies by the marketers so that they can provide the proper value addition for the consumers (Allentuck, 2007). The loyal of a customer towards a brand is mostly dependent on hid post purchase behaviour, which is turn is related to the buying process of the customer. The buying process of the customers can be divided into stages like need recognition, information search, evaluating alternatives, finalizing the purchase, post purchase behaviour. Among these four stages the post purchase behaviour determines whether or not the customer will remain loyal to the company. Customer loyalty can be described by the customer’s tendency to voluntarily make repeated purchase from one particular company. Anderson and Kerr (2008) stated that customer loyalty is proportional to their satisfaction level; more satisfied a customer is, the more likely he is to make a repeat purchase. The satisfaction of a customer can be assessed by the following five dimensions, which are cognitive, affective, conative, situational and social norms (Anderson and Kerr, 2009). The level of cognition suggests the level of relevancy between the customers’ needs or preferences and the offered products or services. The Affective dimension indicates how the customer

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What are the Psychological effects of the amount of violence portrayed Research Proposal

What are the Psychological effects of the amount of violence portrayed in movies - Research Proposal Example The case of violence against a specific ethnic group shows some psychological variance with movies such as Catch a Fire or Munich since they may shift the observers political viewpoint towards the individuals against which violence is perpetrated even if such a shift is short lived (Koopman and Butler, 2007). The researchers also note that â€Å"Research to date indicates that political films have a variety of discernible short-term effects on political beliefs and attitudes, behavior and behavioral intentions, emotions, and other psychological variables (Koopman and Butler, 2007, Pg. 1)†. However, when dealing with violence and the problem of violent films, it may be possible that the effect measured is less than the effect which actually takes place. For example, if a person has existing viewpoints about a certain political thought, violence for or against that political thought may only go to heighten and reinforce the political ideas rather than weaken them (Koopman and Butler, 2007). In essence, if a violent person sees violent behavior being rewarded in a film, it may go to reinforce their ideas about violence in general whether it is sexual violence or physical violence (Malamuth and Briere, 1986). The psychological effects of watching violent films become clear when we understand that individuals who habitually watch violent movies may be more likely to be violent with their peers and exhibit the same the kinds of behaviors even when their social conflicts could be resolved without violence (Bandura et. al., 1963). The same can be said to be true of sexual aggression since a viewer who sees violent sexual portrayals repeatedly may be more likely to enact them in his/her real life. The association between sexual arousal and violence may become a cue for some individuals to readily make violence a part of sexual arousal (Malamuth and Briere, 1986). Of course,

Situational analysis and action plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Situational analysis and action plan - Essay Example Through the efforts of our dedicated teachers, the school will manage to increase total pupil retention levels by a wide margin. This, unfortunately, is not enough to maintain the positive competitive edge needed to stand out as an educational leader in the 21st Century. Teachers will need to put their many talents together with the dedicated school leadership and parents and assist the school in meeting the new educational mission. That’s what we intend to find out. A series of strategy seminars are planned, as an initial path forward, to identify which teachers maintain the specific skills most appropriate for different student age groups. These strategy seminars are designed to let teachers know where the school is specifically moving as part of a path forward mentality (Bush, 2004). It is important to develop a team-based philosophy between different teachers, leaders, students and parents areas, and this intervention program will be beneficial in improving the relationship between teachers and students. These will further be designed as open forums in which questions can be proposed to teachers, school managers and concerned parents who might attend these publicized strategy seminars. Improving parent-teacher relations will only enhance the educational goals of the school and make it excel in the interpersonal group dynamic. The long-term benefits of these initial strategy sessions are to identify k ey skills with different teachers and apply relationship-based learnings to motivate students. The school requires the adopting of a systems-oriented organisation in which various interdependencies exist, such as the linkage between teacher skills and student learning. In order for one area of the school to stand as a leader, it involves personal mastery of job role function. Personal mastery refers to focusing on spirit, patience, and the

Market Planning Essay Example for Free

Market Planning Essay Analysis 1. Introduction In 2001, Doole and Lowe defined the international marketing. In a simple class, international marketing involves the firm in making one or more marketing mix decisions across national boundaries. And in a complex class, it involves the firm in establishing manufacturing facilities overseas and coordinating marketing strategies across the globe (Doole Lowe, 2001). And Chong and Kasturiratne said that, â€Å"the world of marketing is a dynamic and very exciting one where decision making is at the heart of the marketing process. New markets are opening and old markets are evolving, bringing with them new competitors but also alliances (Chong Kasturiratn, 2009).† 2.1 Primark Background Primark is an interesting, amazing and growing company that gives customers with low-cost fashion clothing. It has a supply chain, which is very effective. The production link in China, India, Turkey, Bangladesh and other countries, with retail outlets in Ireland, the UK and other parts of Europe (Businesscasestudies, 2011). Primark is a global clothing retailer found in June 1969, and in Mary Street, Dublin, the first Penneys store opened. The developing speed is fast, from 1969 to 2012, there are 38 stores in Ireland, 35 stores in Spain, 161 stores in UK, 4 stores in Netherlands, 6 stores in Portugal, 9 stores in Germany, 1 store in Belgium and 2stores in Austria. In total, there are 256 stores all over the world (Primark, 2012). The slogan of Primark is style, quality and affordable prices all rolled into one at Primark. And the key principle of Primark is to provide the consumers with low-coat fashion items. The target consumer is the people who has fashion thinking and want to save money. By using the way of sourcing productions efficiently, making clothing with easy design, using local raw material, paying attention to the mass size and speeding less on advertisement, the operating of Primark is efficient. 1.2 Chinese fast fashion According to Barnes and Lea-Greenwood, fast fashion is a kind of marketing strategy. When the demand of consumers touches a top value, to satisfy this peak, the purpose of fast fashion is to reduce involved processes in the buying cycle and save times for delivering new fashion productions into stores (Barnes Lea-Greenwood, 2006). In recent times, fast fashion developed very fast, it become an emerging market for the whole world, In China, Fast Fashion brands are now learning that the speed of bringing a new style to market is secondary to the speed of reaching the market at all (Poleg, 2012). 2. Analysis 2.1 PEST analysis If an organization want to enter a new market, before the beginning of the process, PEST analysis is very important. The PEST analysis is an efficient tool to understand the market. The factors include political, economic, social-cultural, and technological. Political: The political factor has a big influence on the business. In the year of 2012, the political environment is stable, though it is the time that China’s leader will change from Jintao Hu to Jinping Xi. As one of China’s fundamental political system, the multi-party cooperation system identifies the status and functions of the CPC and the eight other political parties in the political life of the state, and the relations between the parties (U.S. State Department, 2012). And the Chinese government consists of a system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC. The system ensures that the CPC is the only party in power in the Peoples Republic of China (Fogel, 2010). So even though the leader changed, the policy will change limited in the future. And at the same year, the Chinese government has put forward the 12th five year plan. In the twelfth chapter, there is a plan to improve the level of opening up, in order to make a win-win situation. That policy may be good for Primark’s entry to Beijing’s market. Economic: In recent years, as the result of successful economic reform and nimble marketing strategy, Beijing’s rag trade is becoming prosperous. GDP is becoming higher and higher, so the consumer awareness of people who living in Beijing is stronger than the past time. Rag trade in the Beijing is a big market ranked thirty-sixth (Wang Zhao, 2012). With the reform and open and the developing of economics, china is the biggest clothing industry and brand development all over the world. Beijing is a city of big consumption for clothing, there is more than 60 percent foreign clothing investment in Beijing. According to the Beijing statistical bureau’s data, in the year of 2011, the disposable incom e of each Beijing resident is increased 13.2 percent, consumer spending of each is increased 10.3 percent. And for the clothing spending is increased 8.5 percent, which occupy the whole spending 10.3 percent. Last year, the spending on clothing is 46.92 billion. And it occupies 22.6 percent for the last year in the shopping mall (Beijing business information consultation center, 2012). And for the economic growing, it is do a high speed of China’s developing in the past 10 years. GDP is 47156.4 billion, it increased 9.2 percent, and the expert forecast the date will be increased more than 12%. China’s clothing market is very huge, in the year of 2011, the sales volume of transnational clothing corporation is 5700 million, and the sales volume of shopping center is 2340 million (We the financial channel, 2012). Economic globalization has become the trend of world economic development. In the year of 2012, there are 1419 new foreign investments have been approved in Beijing. The growth year-on-year is 3.73%. The total investment of new established enterprise is 4.109 billion dollars, and the growth year-on-year is 92.05% (China industry research, 2012). Social: Beijing is the capital of China, so Beijing is the center of political, culture, science and technology, and diplomacy activity. The culture of clothing has a long history in here, there is strength in the culture deposits and arts and humanities. At the same time, Beijing is the center of national minority, it can sufficiently shows the glamour of brand. Beijing is the economical center of northern part of China, there is a vast potential for future development. Nowadays, the developing speed of Beijing’s economic is very fast, followed, the values and taste are changed, too. The demand of new clothing, new brand, and new style is the key point. There is a big latent purchasing power on the people who come from other places. After reform and open up, people travel to Beijing, people work in Beijing, people settle in Beijin g. International stars, HK, Macao and Taiwan compatriots, artists, and famous people, they all like to go to Beijing. All of these make a good foundation for the clothing development. As the capital of China, Beijing is the center of international communication. There are a large number of embassies, trade delegations, and foreign institutions. A lot of meetings in Beijing, China International Clothing and Accessories Fair are now the largest fashion fair in China and it stands for the authority level in China. The clothing market in Beijing contains top grade brand shopping mall, brand shop, boutique, exclusive shop, and supermarket, all of these make a system that good for new brand located. Technological: In Beijing, people can easy to get information and there is strength for the textile industry—update the technology and imported technology is convenience. So Beijing’s rag trade can follow the international fashion. The development of high technology makes Beijing’s market climb a high level. And there are some top-ranking clothing universities in Beijing, such as Beijing Institute of Fashion, Tsinghua University and China Academy of Art, and so on. There are 10 universities focus on clothing, they make high level talents for design, management and sales, which improve the Beijing’s rag trade. 2.2 Michael Porter Five Forces Analysis Suppliers bargaining power: A producing industry requires raw materials-labor, components, and other supplies. This requirement leads to buyer-supplier relationship between the industry and the firms that provide it the raw materials used to create products. Suppliers, if powerful, can exert an influence on the producing industry (Quick MBA, 2010). As we mentioned in the Primark background, the first supplier is China, the credible forward integration threat by suppliers, suppliers concentrated, significant cost to switch suppliers and customers powerful make the suppliers are powerful. Primark sell in bulk, and have a mandatory requirement. Primarks Supplier Code of Conduct is a mandatory requirement within which its suppliers work. It incorporates the United Nations Charter, Chapter IX, article 55 and is subject to strict and ongoing audits conducted by third parties (Primark, 2012). Primark takes this Code of Conduct very seriously and its management board reviews it regularly. But there is exiting a problem, which is the increasing cost of raw material. Because of the decreasing cotton cultivation makes the cotton price increased in China. So Primark should pay attention to the relationship with suppliers caused by price increasing. Buyer bargaining power: Buyer concentration versus firm concentration refers to the extent of concentration in the buyer’s industry compared to the extent of concentration in business. The more concentrated the buyer’s industry relative to business the greater the bargaining power of buyers (Lima, 2006). By the late 90’s, Chinese rag trade stepped into the buyer’s market. There is no definite brand and positioning, the increasing of productive power is faster than the increasing of order quantity. The competitors always win by low-cost. And for the targeting group of Primark is young people, there are a few buyers with significant market share and they possess a credible backward integration threat, so the bargaining power of consumers is high. Potential new entrants: The rag trade has low barriers to entry, and in theory, any form should be able to enter and exit a market, and if free entry and exit exists, then profits always should be nominal (Quick MBA, 2010). So, although the rag trade is easy to enter, there is exiting so many competitors. If Primark want to get the profits, it should have its own characteristics and build its own brand name. Like Lima said â€Å"Brand identity is the extent to which buyers take the brand name into account when making purchase decisions (Lima, 2006).† Threat of Substitutes: In Porter’s model, threat of substitutes is caused by the products in other industries. The price change of the substitutes can affect the product’s demand. But clothing is essential for people, it is difficult to find a substitute for clothing. But the consumers in current time, the function of clothing is not only kept warm, but also to follow fashion. So some consumer changes their attention to cosmetic and jewelry. Therefore, the threat of substitutes is high The rivalry among competing sellers: Primark’s main competitors are HM, ZARA, GAP, UNIQLO and other fast fashion brand. From a macroscopic analysis, there is no different between the competitors. But from the microcosmic, the price strategy of low-cost is an advantage point. So the threat of competitors is high and fierce. When Primark face to the competitors, it should improve the product differentiation, creatively use a distribution channel and improve the relationship with supp liers. 2.3 SWOT analysis A scan of the internal and external environment is an important part of the strategic planning process. Environmental factors internal to the firm usually can be classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those external to the form can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T). Such an analysis is referred to as a SWOT analysis (Quick MBA, 2010). Strengths: Primark has confirmed the market of goal and brand name. It comes from Europe and it is easy to develop in Beijing. And the style of clothing is prevailing with low price. It is easy to find factory to produce productions. The brand is fits for the youth to follow fashion and fits for their purchasing power. And it has a good industry chain. Weakness: Primark does not familiar with the market in Beijing, and Chinese consumer does not know the brand. Other fast fashion settle in Beijing early, and they occupy the market. Opportunities: There will be plenty of space for new brand to grow. There is a high purchasing power in Beijing’s market. The education of Beijing is high and people can accept new things. Threats: The culture, policy and human are totally different from Europe, these make difficult to entry. And some competitors have settled in Beijing a few years age, how to attract consumers and how to build brand name is the first problem. - Strategy Development 2 STP Analysis In the marketing theory, segmentation, targeting and positioning are the factors of company marketing strategies. When Primark enters Beijing’s market, it will face to thousands of consumers. The consumer psychology, consumption habit and income level are different. By analysis the strategies factors, we can know which way fits for the Primark in Beijing. 3.1 Segmentation Geographical factors In Beijing’s market, we divide the geographical factors into two parts, one is city consumer, and another is rural consumer. For the city consumer, they need the clothing style full of modern and the productions can follow the fashion trend. For the rural consumer, they focus on the practicability of the productions, and pay less attention to the appearance. Demographic factors A).Gender: The demand for clothing is different between men and women, women have a high demand for the appearance of the clothing, and men pay attention to the style and practicability. B).Age: Different age stay in the different level. The young people and students in school are the main consumer group. Based on some researches, the people whose age between 18 and 35 is a big consumer group, they hold the 50% of the clothing market, and there are only 19% held by the age of 40. The young people is the leading group for the fast fashion, different consumer group has its different consumption level. At present, the consumer of high-end expensive and of high quality is 0.6% for the Beijing’s market. And middle class is 70-75% (EFU, 2012). Psychological factors In Beijing’s market, we divide the psychological factors into five parts. Price| For this group, the first consideration is price. The income drives the purchasing power.| Quality| The consumers pay attention to the quality of the clothing, hats, shoes or bags.| Service| This group pays attention to the pre-sale services and after-sale services. They need high service system.| Fashion| The consumers love to follow the fashion trend and the renewal and replacement is fast.| Luxurious| They pursue the highest price, and they need satisfaction from shopping. Behavior factors For the confirmedly brand buyer, they only buy one brand, never considering to buy other brand, the purchasing pattern is A.A.A.A.A.A. For the middle brand buyer, they will buy the production from several brands, the purchasing pattern is A.A.B.B.A.A. For the shift brand buyer, they change their mind from one brand to another, it means they have no loyalty for one brand, the purchasing pattern is A.A.A.B.B.B. For the no loyal brand buyer, they do not have the favorite brand and do not care the brand, the purchasing pattern is A.C.E.B.D.B. 3.2 Targeting After analysis the Segmentation, The target group of Primark is the young people who have higher education in Beijing, because the characteristic of this group is the convergence of purchasing. They may be come from different city, have different personality, but they are in the golden age, they listen to the same music, watch the same movie. Especially the developed internet, they can get the information and then synchronization with the world. So it makes Primark to choose the undifferentiated marketing. Primark enters Beijing’s market, it can use the same production, the same price and the same selling way, but it should make a new business strategy to Beijing’s consumer. 3.3 Positioning When Primark enters Beijing, the first consideration of position is competitors. The tentative competitors in Beijing are HM, ZARA, GAP and UNIQLO. Product- positioning map 1 In fact, the productions of Primark have a competitive advantage on the price, but it will lose in the popularity of brand. Therefore we should pay attention to build the brand name. Then the Primark can attract more potential consumers (middle shift brand buyer). High popularity with low price Product- positioning map 2 For the entering of Beijing, one thing is difficult to change, that is equipment. The quality level is similar, and then Primark must put itself into a high service. As known, the shop of fast fashion is self-service just like supermarket. So Primark should improve service and then establish a good presence in Beijing’s market. Primark’s clothing is full of British style, the selling point is designed in British, and then the brand value in Beijing could be higher than the value in UK. And based on the price in the UK, Primark’s strategic positioning is middle class in Beijing. The middle class can help Primark to establish brand image and keep it have a long future. 3 Entry modes analysis When a company entry a new market, there are two major modes: they are equity mode and non-equity mode. The equity mode comprises joint venture and wholly owned subsidiaries, and non-equity mode comprises export and licensing. And the main purpose of each company is to establish itself in the aim market (Zekiri, 2012). According to Charles, no matter which entry mode the company chooses, it has implications for how much resources the company must commit to its foreign operations, the risk that the company must take, and the degree of control that the company can exercise over the operations on the new market (Charles, et al., 2011). The following tables will analysis the four entry way, and the factors that influence the entry mode, then we will know which way should chosen by Primark. Exporting Licensing Joint Ventures Direct Investment Factors that influence the entry mode Based on above analysis, we can see the country risk is low in Beijing’s market, and the polity and economy are stable recently in China, for these factories, exporting and Joint Ventures do not fit for Primark’s entry. Furthermore, Primark in the UK’s market, brand name has been built. It owns a lot of consumers not only in UK, but also in Europe. So the international experience is experienced. Finally, for the reason of big firm resources, experience abroad, low local market risk and a little intensity of the competition, it seems the most adapted for Primark entering in Beijing is direct investment. The direct investment, it may bring pressure to the investment and the company may take more risk. But the cost of the clothing is low, and the labor cost in China is lower than UK. The productions of Primark follow the fashion trends, which need the company uses the short time to produce, transport, and product release in the first time. Building the factory in Be ijing can satisfy the need of market. At the same time, Primark can catch the Beijing’s fashion trend, which makes the production diversification. IMPLEMENTATION 5. 7P marketing mix Booms and Bitner suggested that adding three factories in the marketing theory of 4Ps in the year of 1981 (MATT, 2012), the three factories are People, Process and Physical Evidence. In this section, we will use the marketing theory of 7Ps to analysis the implementation of Primark. 5.1 Product The marketing theory of 4Ps is leaded by the product, and Primark do well in product, there are two aspects to show the Primark’s product structure. A) From Primark’s website (2012) we know, there are three clothing style in Primark, they are menswear, womenswear and childrenswear. The womenswear include four branches, the first is atmosphere, which is high fashion clothing for women, with a focus on key fashion trends, classic casuals, accessories and footwear; the second is DENIM, which contain all the fashion style of pants; the third one is secret possessions, which is a branch to Primark’s underwear for women, from underclothes multipacks, to individual items and nightwear; and the fourth one is backswing, which is a sports branch with the emphasis on technical functionality. According to the Primark’s website (2012), the style for men is enough to male consumer. Primark has the clothing style for all occasions, consumer can buy everything from the formal one to the casual one. All of these make the Primark’s product structure complete, give a lot of choice for different consumer, and let each consumer have a good shopping experience. B) The quantity of each clothing is every huge, as Primark said â€Å"we buy and sell in bulk Primark has over 230 stores in Ireland, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Belgium.† The huge quantity satisfies the demand from the new market. 5.2 Price The strategy Primark used is low cost strategy. The target group is young people with higher education, their age between from 18 to 35. They have the purchasing power for the fashion trend, but they do not have the power to purchase the luxury. So the price can satisfy the demand of this group. When Primark entry Beijing’ market, it will use the same price strategy. As Zollinger said â€Å"prices that already exist in the subjective memory of consumers (Zollinger, 2011).† When a consumer choose a goods, if the performance, appearance and value are similar, one factor should considered by the consumer is the price. For long term thinking, the price is interrelated with sales. The low price could be got a higher level of the sales in the new market; and if the sales have risen, it can drive the financial income increase; the competition will face the austere market; the low price discourages the potential competition; and finally market does not allow a high price in the same level (Danciu, 2001). 5.3 Promotion and Place When a company entries a new market, an important point is promotion. There are 5 aspects of promotion. They are advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing. But in fact, according to Primark’s website (2012), it said that Primark has no advertising costs, instead relying on their customers â€Å"advertising on mouth (word of mouth)† about their products. But the competitors like HM, GAP and UNIQLO pay much attention to the advertising and designing. There are three main ways of Primark’s communications. The first is mentioned in the website â€Å"word of mouth†. The second is the product structure of Primark, which is the fashion design, diverse style with low price to attract the consumer. The third is the geographical position. Primark always set the shop in the city center or the bustling shopping mall. Although the rental cost is much higher than other competitors, Primark always give consumer a good shopping experience. However the shopping experience is different from Europe to China. Advertisements surround Chinese everywhere they go. Based on my personal experience, a good advertisement will attract me to try new product. According to Carl Hose, the purpose of advertisement is to sell the product. It is a communication of one-way form from company to consumer, and it will give consumers the important information to make a buying decision and attracting new consumers. It tells consumers about the products and how to get it. The purpose of advertising is to sell products and to build brand name (Carl Hose, Demand Media, 2011). Consequently, when Primark entry Beijing’s market, it need advertising to build the brand name at first time, and then it can use the promotion used in Europe. At the same time, Primark should keep the low price strategy and set the shop in the city center. 5.4 People When Primark entry to Beijing’s market, if it wants to move forward, the management should knows what has to be achieved, departments should know their role and stuff should know their goals. And they all should know what the consumers need. For Primark, it should hire the people who study abroad. Because they are familiar the behavior and thinking mode of Chinese cultural tradition, they can easily communicate and cooperate with the stuff, and make the management more effective. At the same time, the hired people got the western educations, they understand the western way of dealing problems and behaviors, and they can understand and implement foreign bosss management concept. So, these people have important function to deal the culture conflict, promotion to cooperate effectively (Sun, 2010). 5.5 Process and Physical Evidence The service is an essential point for the Primark entry the new market. It can build the brand name, at the same time, it can keep the consumers. Like James A Karl said that service good in an operation will greatly help in attracting new customers and the amazing consumer service can keep the consumer coming back. This is indeed a fact because people like to do business with the people who they trust and had a good experience (Karl, 2007). Conclusion and Critical Reflection 6. Conclusion and critical reflection After the Pestle and Porter five forces analysis in the first section, Primark seems to ready to entry Beijing’s market. But no one can predict the future and the condition of Beijing’s market is changing every time. For entry, the strong new market can help Primark to develop itself, at the same time, the new market may be weaken the brand name of Primark. Though the situation is good for Primark’s entry, it is an armchair strategist. There are so many problems we cannot consider, such as financial crisis, the changing of price and the changing of exchange rate. Primark’s strategy positioning is middle class in Beijing, and the target group is the people who have higher education, using the direct investment with low cost strategy. But the strategy cannot force the competitors, the success of Primark in Europe is decided by the strategy used in the UK’s market, and Primark has experience to face the competitors, but Chinese condition is different f rom Europe. Another problem is the cognize of price in China, Chinese always think the high price is equal to high quality, and low price is equal to low quality. So the effectiveness of low price strategy is worrying. And there are two problems we should consider, one is money, another is store. Because the direct investment, it will cost a large number of money. And the store should build in bustling street, but the Beijing’s bustling shopping mall seems in a situation of saturated. When Primark set in Beijing’s market, the 7P analysis is a basic for implementation. But the development of Primark should change the idea with the changing of each factor from 7P. When Primark face to the new market, the new policy, the new consumers, all the analysis engage in idle theorizing. Reference Barnes, L. Lea-Greenwood, G., (2006). Fast fashioning the supply chain: shaping. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 3 10, pp. 259-271. Beijing business information consultation center, (2012). The 2011 Beijing clothing market scale, expanding department store is still the main channel clothing sales. [Online] Available at: http://cif.mofcom.gov.cn/cif/html/jincheng/jjdt/2012/2/1330411616159.html [Accessed 2 12 2012]. Businesscasestudies, (2011). Providing consumers with ethically sourced garments. [Online] Available at: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/primark/providing-consumers-with-ethically-sourced-garments/introduction.html#axzz2F1kdeXYF [Accessed 1 12 2012]. Carl Hose, Demand Media, (2011). Difference Between Advertising Strategy Promotion Strategy. [Online] Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-advertising-strategy-promotion-strategy-20977.html [Accessed 1 12 2012]. Charles, H., Hwang, P. Kim, C., (2011). An Eclectic Theory of the Choice of International Entry Mode. Strategic Management Journal, 31 8, p. 15. China industry research, (2012). In the first half of 2012 Beijing foreign investment situation analysis. [Online] Available at: http://www.chinairn.com/news/20120731/523861.html [Accessed 1 12 2012]. Chong, D. Kasturiratn, D., (2009). International Marketing, London: University of London Press. Danciu, 2001. Marketing international, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Doole, I. Lowe, R., (2001). International marketing strategy: Analysis, development and implementation, London: Thomson Learning. EFU, (2012). Beijing dress kind of price 1.8% textile materials industry up 3.4. [Online] Available at: http://news.efu.com.cn/Market.aspx [Accessed 1 12 2012]. Fogel, G., (2010). BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN CHINA: ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND CULTURAL FACTORS, New york: The McGraw-Hill Companies. Karl, J., (2007). Customer Service The Importance of Quality Service. [Online] Available at: http://ezinearticles.com/?Customer-ServiceThe-Importance-of-Quality-Serviceid=2220862 [Accessed 1 12 2012]. Lima, T., (2006). Michael Porter’s â€Å"Five Forces† Model Summary and interpretation, Brazil: State University of Campinas Press. MATT, (2012). 7P’s by Booms and Bitner. [Online] Available at: http://www.sayeconomy.com/7ps-by-booms-and-bitner/ [Accessed 1 12 2012]. Poleg, D., (2012). Fast Fashion: Too slow for China?. [Online] Available at: http://www.buybuychina.com/is-fast-fashion-too-slow-for-china/ [Accessed 1 12 2012]. Primark, (2012). Company History. [Online] Available at: http://www.primark.co.uk/page.aspx?pointerid=eb44df4565934edca627dac6ec12145a [Accessed: 1 12 2012]. Primark, (2012). suppliers. [Online] Available at: http://www.primark.co.uk/aboutus/supplier [Accessed 1 12 2012]. Quick MBA, (2010). Porters Five Forces A model for industry analysis. [Online] Available at: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml [Accessed 1 12 2012]. Quick MBA, (2010). SWOT analysis. [Online] Available at: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/swot/ [Accessed 1 12 2012]. Sun, J., 2010. Studies on Multinational Corporations Management and Developmental Strategy in China. International Business Research, 2 3, p. 5. U.S. State Department, (2012). U.S. Relations With China. [Online] Available at: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/18902.htm [Accessed 1 12 2012]. Wang, M. Zhao, Y., (2012). Beijing’s Industry Development Statistical Evaluation Analysis, Beijing: Beijing Junbao Press. We the financial channel, (2012). In 2011, 47.1564 trillion yuan GDP growth rate compared with 9.2. [Online] Available at: http://finance.people.com.cn/GB/16898408.html [Accessed 1 12 2012]. Zekiri, J., (2012). Factors that Influence Entry Mode Choice in Foreign Markets. European Journal of Social Sciences, 31 1, p. 576. Zollinger, M., (2011). Decisions Marketing, New york: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers.

The Gothic form of writing Essay Example for Free

The Gothic form of writing Essay The Gothic form of writing is generally held to have started in the Eighteenth century with the publication of Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole. This form of writing developed over the next two centuries, utilising the realms of the supernatural and the fantastic, while creating an atmosphere of gloom and decay. Edgar Allan Poe was the founder of the modern detective story and one of the greatest exponents of the Gothic novel. His Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque published in 1840, included perhaps the epitome of the Gothic genre, The Fall of the House of Usher. In order to assess whether the passage given is typical of the Gothic and detective novel, it is necessary to examine both The Fall of the House of Usher and The Murder in the Rue Morgue. The Gothic novel exists both in a dark and unreal world and a world of normality, encouraging a co-existence between the natural and the unnatural. As the story of The Fall of the House of Usher unfolds, the mood and tone of the novel are enhanced by the bleak, isolated and ominous description of the house and its surroundings. This conveys to the reader the sensation that a mystery is about to take place, while also allowing one to become mindful of the pervasive feeling of trepidation and suspense. As the narrator draws nearer to the gloomy and forbidding home of the Ushers, he is unnerved by the house and its surroundings. He tries to allay these fears by maintaining that the unnatural and portentous aura that the house and its environs possess, are (III: pg 138) caused by natural phenomena. Gothic writers were concerned with the mind, the causation of madness and the borderline nature of sanity and insanity. J. Porte states that Edgar Allan Poe designs his tales as to show his narrators limited comprehension of their own problems and states of mind. (IV: pg 160). The narrator in the story seems to be the epitome of rationality and has no desire to loose his sanity. The world he is a part of is the world of common sense and pragmatism, (IV: pg 163), but this world is traumatised by the sensations he feels towards the House of Usher and its surroundings as he approaches it, and he can not grapple with the shadowy fancies that crowded upon him.(III: pg 138). He therefore acknowledges in true Gothic style that the supernatural effect created by the house has an impact on ones unconscious, creating a capacity for sorrowful impression. Although this notion may be forthcoming from a first impression, such impressions can be incorrect. The narrator believes however, that it is the mind that dictates ones feelings and senses, (III: pg. 138) and concludes that any investigation of the manipulative powers of these effects over the mind is beyond our depth.(III: pg. 139) This he feels is a a mystery all insoluble and states that if the house and its surroundings did not look so depressing and did not cause him to suffer a sense of insufferable gloom(III: pg 138), then this feeling of forbidding would not be so transparent in his mind. The Murders in the Rue Morgue deals with the seemingly mysterious and puzzling murders of two women in their apartment. The complexity and unusual circumstances of their deaths leaves the police completely baffled by the case and someone of supposedly superior intellect and mental acumen is needed to solve the murders. Dupin the detective and his companion the narrator, use analysis to solve the case. There are no shadowy fancies(III: pg 138), as in The Fall of the House of Usher, everything is calculated and logical. The fundamental difference between the passage from the House of Usher and Poes detective story is that, in the former the mystery is all insoluble, while exploring the restricted subjects of incest and the mind. In the latter however, the mystery is solved and there is no exploration of anything other than logic, which suggests that the author may be conforming to society and submitting to the bourgeoisie community and therefore creating a typically American detective novel. (II: pg 497.) The eerie way in which the room is locked leaving no signs of entry or exit, and the way in which the murders are committed, leaves the reader to assume the possibility that the murders are of supernatural element. This consideration is dismissed by Dupin, who maintains that The doers of the deed were material (III: pg 209), and that he did not believe in preternatural events. (III: pg 209) This is in complete opposition to The Fall of the House of Usher, where the narrator, as he first comes into contact with the house and its surroundings, is under the impression that here is something unnatural. The descriptive way in which the passage from The Fall of the House of Usher suggests that by changing the particulars of the scene(III: pg 139), the effect that the house imposes on the narrator can be changed. This reflection is not seen by Dupin in The murders in the Rue Morgue, there is no sense of sorrowful impression. (III: pg 138). To Dupin the murders are merely peculiar (III: pg 206), he is unattached and uninvolved in the murders, apart from the excitement that they generate. Both the narrators are however, sympathetic to the plight of the victims and show compassion, but they are unable to interfere in any of the proceedings and merely retell their account of the events. In order to be considered as part of the Gothic genre the passage from The Fall of the House of Usher and the story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, have to follow certain criteria. The dark and forbidding features which highlight the supernatural countenance of the The Fall of the House of Usher are certainly conducive to the Gothic novel. Also the perception of mystery and suspense created as the story delves into the hidden and sublime world of the subconscious, while exploring hidden agendas that supposedly should not be discussed in decent society, certainly qualify the story as belonging to the Gothic style. The Murders in the Rue Morgue, while following the same pattern of using horror, mystery and a sense of pervasive gloom does not however, seem to be able to align itself with this genre. There is no supernatural element involved. The story is recounted with rational explanation and it is logic that is used to solve the crime. This means the story is explained as it develops, rather than it developing by itself, as The Fall of the House of Usher does, thereby allowing it to remain enveloped in the Gothic shroud of mystery and suspense.

The Factors that Lead to Instability of Commodity Price

The Factors that Lead to Instability of Commodity Price 1.1 Background of the study Commodity price will influence the economy in some countries in the world. There are many factor that can cause the instability of commodity price. As we know commodity can be classified as goods that demanded by the people. In the economic theory, if the demand higher than the supply it can cause shortage, if this is happen the economy in the country will be instable. In the case of commodities, there are several technique to secure the price of commodity in order to make sure the price is stable. For example, change in exchanged rate, world political situation, inflation, global output, industrial production and etc. 1.2 Problem statement Over many years, there are many researchers make an analysis about the factor that lead to instability of commodity price. Most of them discover a different idea through out their research about the instability of commodity price. This is important to a country to know what is actually the cause of this factor. Therefore, a research must be conduct in order to know what is actually the factor that lead to instability of commodity price. 1.3 Research objectives The research objectives of this research as follows: To determine the factor that lead to instability of commodity price. To know the relationship between the factors toward the commodity price. To identify the effect of commodity price. 1.4 Scope and limitation of study In order to complete the research of the study, I have gathered trusted information from the internet. Few journals have been chosen to get some additional information. After that, in order to get what the objectives want of this study, secondary data have been chosen. The limitation of this study is to choose the best method that can conduct this research and it is hard to choose. There are methods can be used to know the factor that lead to instability of commodity price. 1.5 Significance of the problem By doing analysis on this study, we can reduce the risk of increasing commodity price due to the economic crisis.besides, we can determine the signoificant variables that effecting the commodity price. This research also can give advantages to government because they can control the commodity prce base on the economic condition. 2.0 Literature Review Commodity can be defined as goods whereby it is demanded by the people. As we can see today, the price of commodity is now increasing. In my opinion, it may be due the cost of resources that is also increasing. Therefore, we can say that the price of commodity is determined wholly by the market function. Commodity goods are consists of sugar, crude oil, gold, rice and etc. When the value of commodity increases, the cost will increase as well. There are some reasons that lead to the instability of the price of commodity. Thus, I have found out few reasons from knowledgable person that lead to the instability of the price of commodity. A study of Frankel Rose (2009), have shown that the price of commodity is influence by inflation and global output. It was found that the relationship between the commodity and both the inflation and global output is positive. In addition, the microeconomic variables also affect the commodity price. For example, inventories. Another evidence also shown that the inflation also influence the commodity price (Gospodinov Ng, 2010). After the unemployment gap and oil price being controlled, it was found that the price of 23 commodities were influenced by the inflation. Another study of Bower, Geis Winkler (2007), also shown that the inflation and exchange rate also influence the price of commodity. On the other hand, the study of Pindyck Rotemberg (1990), the macroeconomic shock influence the instability of price commodity, whereby, the industrial production and inflation will determine the future demand for commodity and will later affect the price of commodity. Thus, wh en the interest rate increase, the commodity price will decrease. However, the study of Bastourre, Carrera Ibarlucia (2007) have shown a different view on what affect the commodity price. This is because, in the long run the Argentina commodity price is influence by the real interest rate, real exchange rate of United States of America and the demand of raw materials. Other different view regarding instability of commodity price is influence by predictions of conditional variance and conditional expectations theories (Laroque, 1997). The global monetary conditions could also influenced the price of commodity whereby, in another study of Anzuin,Lombardi pagano(2010), it was found that the monetary policy shock gave impact to the instability of commodity price. In a different study of Wescott Hoffman (1999), it was found that the price of commodity as in corn and wheat were influenced by the agricultural policies, stockholding and government pricing support. When the agricultural policy maker asked the producer to increase the price, then the commodity price need to be increased or vice versa. According to Lalonde, Zhu Demers (2003), it has shown that the world economic activity and the effective exchange rate of US dollar lead to influence the price of commodity. Thus, if the economic activity is active, it may lead to increase in commodity price. On the other hand, according to Tadesse Guttormsen (2010) the periodic price threshold influence the instability of commodity price. When the price of threshold increase, the commodity price will increase as well. After viewing the resources, I found several factors that lead to the instability of commodity price. Those factors consist of inflation, exchange rate, interest rate, global output and more. After identifying all the factors, the theoretical framework can be sketched. Thus, the method to be used can be indentified and hypotheses can be made after analyzing all the data. 2.1 Theoretical framework Inflation Exchange Rate The factor that lead to instability of commodity price Interest rate Global output Theoretical framework is the part of the study including in research methodology. Usually the network of association can be more clear explained the entire variable in the study. If we look to the sketch above, there were independent variable on the left side and dependent variable on the right side. What is Independent and dependent variables? Independent is the variables that lend itself, and dependent vice versa. From the sketch of theoretical framework above, we can see that the independent variable consist of four, inflation, exchange rate, interest rate and global output. The dependent variable is the factor that lead to instability of commodity price. 3.0 DATA METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction By using the secondary data the factor that lead to instability of commodity price can be conducted. Secondary data can be define as the data that already exist by the previous researcher. The data is consist of published and unpublished material such as journal, article and etc. Through the data base, the secondary data can be gained. Thus, the methods for this analysis are used to complete the objectives of the analysis. 3.2 Data, population and sampling method In order to complete the research, the data can be collected from world bank and Bursa Malaysia. the population is data is collected for Malaysian only. It is because this research is on commodity price in Malaysia. In my opinion population is the group of people that lives together in certain area. The researcher can gain their information or data in that area in order to complete his research. For example, if the researcher want to investigate about academic dishonesty or plagiarism among the students in UiTM Sabah, he must collect the data from the population in UiTM Sabah only. On the other hand, this research is doing in Malaysia so that the data collected must be suitable because the data based on commodity price in Malaysia. Sampling method is divided into two which is probability sampling and non probability sampling. By using this sampling method, researcher can cut a lot of time doing research and also can cut cost. 3.3 Analysis of data To estimate the data, the univariate modeling technique such as naÃÆ'Â ¯ve trend model, exponential smoofhing and lagragian model will be use. 3.4 Hypothesis development The hypothesis that can be concluded for this research is whether the dependent variable such as inflation, exchange rate, interest rate and global output will effect the instability of commodity price. The directional and the non directional hypothesis is the classification of hypothesis. The null and alternate hypothesis can either be rejected or accepted in accordance with the result from the test of the variables. 3.5 Summary Before conducting a research, we have two element that have to be taken into consideration that is the data and methodology. It is better to make sure the availability of data before one proceeds to do research. To gain an accurate result for a research we must use proper methods. When data is already gathered and analyzed, hypothesis can then be tested.

Plato :: essays research papers

As a psyche in the ancient Greek cosmos, I have become aware of the logos of the cosmos. The cosmos becomes knowable to me through the virtues of truth, goodness, and beauty. Logos is Greek for measure and cosmos, a Greek word, can be translated as meaning totality. When I encounter the Greeks, they claim that there are three elements to cosmos. The first factor is anthrapoi which is Greek for human-like. The word anthrapoi resembles the English word, anthropology, which is the study of human life. The second element is polis, which is Greek for the political city. The final element is the psyche, which in Greek means the soul or the mind. The psyche enables thinking. According to the Greeks, there is no separation; there is only unification between mind and thoughts, which is the psyche part of things in the world. One Greek philosopher, Parmenides posits that to think is the same as to be and that knowledge is certainty. Like Descartes, Parmendies believes that to know is to know with certainty. However, Descartes’ method of attaining knowledge is through doubt, whereas Parmendies’ manner is through identifying with the circumstance. One can associate Parmendies’ definition of knowledge as being eternal, unchanging, single, and homogeneous. Parmendies lays out the two requirements for achieving knowledge both which involve the psyche. The first requirement is that one cannot be completely certain of knowledge obtained through the senses because the things that one senses are constantly changing. Moreover, the idea that the senses are in a states of flux concurs with his notion of knowledge is unchangeable. His second necessity is that since senses give relativism then sense perception will always be changing. Parmendies also claims that the only world that truly exists is the world that occurs. Present in his theories are two realms, the Realm of Nous (Greek), which can be translated into English as reality or knowledge and the Realm of Soma which is Greek for appearances. Characteristics existent in the Realm of Reality are changeless, immutable, individual, homogeneous, and singular. On the contrary, in the Realm of Appearance are factors that are plural, heterogeneous, and changeable. When Parmendies exists and is in being, he is in the Realm of Reality, also referred to as the Realm of Knowledge. In addition, the only thing he is certain of is in his mind or psyche. Therefore, Parmendies definition is only applied in the Realm of the Mind.

My Personal Philosophy of Education Essays -- Philosophy of Teaching S

Philosophy of Education As a child, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said that I wanted to do something to help other people. I realized that even though teachers do not get a lot of respect, or money, they have the greatest job anyone could ever hope for. They help children become adults. All children are inspired by someone to be what they will become in the future. Teachers inspire those of all professions; police officers, firefighters, secretaries, carpenters, bankers, trash collectors, actors, truck drivers, fast food workers, scientists, inventors, doctors, lawyers, even the president. Imagine how it would feel to know that you are the reason someone developed something to benefit mankind, saved a life, or became the first female president of the United States of America. Hopefully, as a teacher I can inspire a child to fulfill all of their dreams. As a teacher I hope to help my students set and achieve goals. Another goal of mine is to get my students to feel good about themselves. These are things they can take with them and use in the future. I will teach students about other cultures and races in an attempt to produce students more accepting, compassionate, and understanding of situations encountered in life. My students will understand that just because someone is not like you, does not mean that there is something wrong with them. Everyone is different in his or her own special way. The purpose of education is not to pre...

Frankenstein as a Modern Cyborg? Essays -- Frankenstein essays

Frankenstein as a Modern Cyborg?      Ã‚   The creature ("demon") created by Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus occupies a space that is neither quite masculine nor quite feminine, although he is clearly both created as a male and desires to be in the masculine role. Judith Halberstam describes this in-between-ness as being one of the primary characteristics of the Gothic monster--being in a space that's not easily classified or categorized, and therefore being rendered unintelligible and monstrous. Donna J. Haraway posits that the post-modern science fiction cyborg occupies a similar in-between space, or, perhaps, a non-space. Similarly, Cathy Griggs argues that the post-modern lesbian is linked to this notion of the cyborg. The lesbian is rendered monstrous in social discourse by her desire to ascend into the phallic privilege, connecting this in-between-ness as both a monstrous trait and a cybernetic one. Further, the transgender man (female-to-male) occupies a similar di scursive space and provides us with a post-modern link to Frankenstein's creature, as both are surgically constructed men, a construction that, in the eyes of society, renders them monstrous (particularly for trans-men who can't pass). Frankenstein's creature embodies gender transgression on two levels, both of which are the fuel for Victor's horror: the first being the creature's status as being a surgically constructed male, the second being Victor's own gender transgression in co-opting the feminine trait of reproduction, transforming his laboratory into a virtual womb. Given the scientific origin of the creature, as well as both its and Victor's unstable gender, is it possible that the modern Gothic monster pre-fi... ...th. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990. Griggers, Cathy. "Lesbian Bodies in the Age of (Post)mechanical Reproduction." Fear of a Queer Planet. Ed. Michael Warner. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1993. 178-192. Halberstam, Judith. Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters. Second ed. Durham: Duke UP, 1995. Haraway, Donna J. "The Promises of Monsters: A Regenerative Politics for Inappropriate/d Others." Cultural Studies. Eds. Lawrence Grossberg, Cary Nelson and Paula A. Treichler. New York: Routledge, 1992. 295-337. Haraway, Donna J. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. New York: Routledge, 1991. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. 1983 ed. New York: The Penguin Group, 1963. Zizek, Slavoj. The Sublime Object of Ideology. London: Verso, 1989.

Poverty Eradication Plan

The Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP), Uganda’s equivalent of a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), serves as the country’s main development strategy and planning framework for fighting poverty. Government’s overriding aim as espoused in PEAP is reducing the total number of people living in absolute poverty to less than 10% of the population by 2017 (MFPED 2001). PRSPs are national planning frameworks for low-income countries.They are a requirement for all countries that would like to access concessional loans through the Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF) or to benefit from debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. They are also the main framework around which most bilateral donors are to build their cooperation (WHO 2004). Developed in 1997, prior to the advent of the PRSP initiative by the World Bank, PEAP is widely acknowledged to be a home-grown plan with clear national ownership and leadership.Since its formula tion, PEAP has undergone two rounds of revision. The first round of revision was in 1999/2000 and it gave rise to PEAP 2001. The second round was in 2002/2003 and gave rise to the PEAP 2004. PEAP 1997 was structured around four areas: a) macroeconomic policy, b) institutional framework for poverty eradication, c) policy framework to increase incomes of the poor, and d) measures to improve the quality of life of the poor (MFPED 1997).Following the introduction of the PRSP initiative, a mutual agreement was reached between the Government of Uganda and the World Bank to retain PEAP as Uganda’s PRSP with some improvements such as widening consultations on the plan and broadening its scope to include detailed diagnosis of poverty in the country. * What's New * Site Map * Site Index * Contact Us * Glossary ————————————————- Top of Form Bottom of Form * Home * About the IM F * Research * Country Info * News * Videos * Data and Statistics * Publications Uganda and the IMFSend your comments on PRSPs and IPRSPs to [email  protected] rg See also: Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs)Free Email NotificationReceive emails when we post new items of interest to you. Subscribe or Modify your profile| | | | Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Uganda's Poverty Eradication Action Plan Summary and Main Objectives Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Kampala, Uganda March 24, 2000 Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are prepared by member countries in broad consultation with stakeholders and development partners, including the staffs of the World Bank and the IMF.Updated every three years with annual progress reports, they describe the country's macroeconomic, structural, and social policies in support of growth and poverty reduction, as well as associated external financing needs and major sources of financing. This country document is b eing made available on the IMF website by agreement with the member country as a service to users of the IMF website. | Use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view Annex Tables and Chart 1 (212 KB) Contents 1. Introduction Uganda's planning framework The revision of the PEAP2. National vision and overall goals   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reducing bsolute income poverty: Raising educational achievement of Ugandans Improving the health of the people Giving voice to poor communities3. The Poverty Eradication Strategy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Creating a framework for economic growth and transformation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Good governance and security Actions which directly increase the ability of the poor to raise their incomes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Actions which directly improve the quality of life of the poor4. Macroeconomic stability, medium- and long-term expenditure implications of the PEAP   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Macroeconomic stability and the macroeconomic framework   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Medium-Term Expenditure FrameworkU sing the PAF to prioritise public expenditure Poverty priorities and the PAF Additionality Accountability of PAF resources The overall allocation of expenditures within the MTEF   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Intermediate output targets in the medium-term Long-run targets and costings Long-run resource availability5. The Monitoring StrategyAnnex Table 1: Goals, targets and indicators in the PEAP 2000 Annex Table 2. 1. Uganda: Selected Economic and Financial Indicators, 1996/97–1999/2000 Annex Table 2. 2. Uganda: Fiscal Operations of the Central Government, 1996/97–2002/2003 Annex Table 2. . Uganda: Balance of Payments, 1996/97–2002/03 Annex Table 2. 4. Uganda: Monetary Survey, 2000–3 Annex Table 3: Summary of Medium-Term Expenditure Framework | Contents1. IntroductionThis paper is a synthesis of the main features of the Government of Uganda's Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP). The PEAP has guided the formulation of government policy since its inception in 1997, and is currently being revised. Under this plan, Uganda is being transformed into a modern economy in which people in all sectors can participate in economic growth.This implies a number of conditions: * The economy requires structural transformation, including the modernisation of agriculture, the development of industries which build on demand and supply linkages from agriculture, and continued institutional development in the legal and financial sectors. * Poor people must be able to participate in this growth, both by expanding smallholder agriculture and by increasing employment in industry and services. * Economic growth must be sustainable, high quality and broadly based. The non-material aspects of poverty must be addressed; participatory studies have shown that insecurity, illness, isolation, and disempowerment are as important to the poor as low incomes. Uganda's Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) is established on four major pillars: * Creating a framework for economic g rowth and transformation * Ensuring good governance and security * Directly increasing the ability of the poor to raise their incomes * Directly increasing the quality of the life of the poor.The revision of the PEAP in 2000 draws on the progress made since 1997, including the development of sector-wide approaches, the participatory research carried out by the Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Project (UPPAP), the constraints identified in the Poverty Status Report, and the development of costings of public actions and monitorable indicators in key, poverty-oriented sectors. It will also place a greater emphasis than the 1997 document on the actions which promote private sector development and therefore contribute indirectly to poverty-reduction. The revised PEAP is Uganda's Comprehensive Development Framework.Uganda's planning frameworkThere have been a number of initiatives to strengthen the planning process in recent years. This includes major consultative exercises concern ing Uganda's long term goals and objectives, such as Vision 2025, describing national aspirations, and the 1997 Poverty Eradication Action Plan as a national planning framework to guide detailed medium term sector plans, district plans, and the budget process. In turn, detailed sector-wide plans and investment programmes have reached varying stages of completion, set within an overall medium term expenditure framework.A programme of strengthening district capacity to prepare medium term expenditure frameworks is also underway. The modern approach to planning involves ensuring that the right framework has been established to enable effective programming, implementation and monitoring. Chart 1 describes the flows and relationships between different plan/policy processes in Uganda. The most important point to note is that these elements interact in an ongoing process. Uganda's over-arching national planning document is the Poverty Eradication Action Plan, signalling poverty eradication as the fundamental goal of the Government.Chart 1 shows the relations between the PEAP and other plans. The PEAP is not a blueprint for sector activities. It provides a framework for the development of detailed sector plans and investment programmes. Implementation of the PEAP demands sector-wide programming to determine sector objectives, outputs and outcomes expected from sector expenditures, and the activities which the expenditures will fund in order to achieve the desired outputs and outcomes. Quick guide to planning processes|   |Vision 2025:| an overview of long term goals and aspirations by the year 2025|   | The PEAP:| the national planning framework on which to develop detailed sector strategies|   | Sector Planning:| technical specifications of sector priorities, disciplined by hard budget constraints|   | District Planning:| implementation plans for sector strategies based on local priorities / needs|   | MTEF:| annual, rolling 3 year expenditure planning, set ting out the medium term expenditure priorities and hard budget constraints against which sector plans can be developed and refined|   |District MTEF:| setting out the medium term expenditure priorities and hard budget constraints Against which district plans can be developed and refined|   | Annual Budget ; District Budgets:  Ã‚  Ã‚  | annual implementation of the three year planning framework|   | Donor; NGO; private sector:| participating and sharing information / ideas in developing sector plans and budgets|   | Participatory processes:| bottom-up participation of districts in the planning and monitoring process, as well as participatory poverty assessments, providing essential feedback on progress towards poverty eradication goals| Thus the 1997 PEAP has guided the preparation of detailed sector plans. Capacity constraints within line ministries, which have been a serious limitation in sector planning, are being overcome by support from our donor and NGO communities i n a spirit of partnership and teamwork. In recent years, major advances have been recorded in production of the Ten Year Road Sector Development Programme, the Education Strategic Investment Plan and the Health Sector Plan, and the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture. Also underway are plans for the energy sector and the justice sector.Eventually all sectors will be covered by up-to-date, resource constrained sector plans and investment programmes which focus on achieving the goals of the PEAP. In turn, the PEAP and the sector plans set the framework for preparation of district plans (although these are still at an early stage of development). Under Uganda's decentralised system of governance, the local authorities are responsible for determining the implementation plan for sector programmes based on local priorities. Involvement of communities in the planning framework is also being strengthened.Under the Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Project (UPPAP), the second pha se will include dissemination of the perspectives of the poor in order to help guide policy at both national and district levels, and there will be further work in nine pilot districts to enhance community-level participatory planning and monitoring capacities. It is important to note that the relationship between both the PEAP and sector plans, and between sector and district plans, and between district and lower local council plans, is an iterative one. The PEAP sets the framework for other plans, but is also a product of those plans.For example, the current PEAP revision reflects the policy statements made in various sector plans, and tries to balance the sector objectives within a national framework. In turn, revisions of sector plans should take note of national priorities and constraints as outlined in the PEAP in refining their own sector strategies. The National Planning Authority, according to its mandate in the Constitution, will have the role of ensuring that the differen t plans are consistent. The same principle applies to the relationship between sector and district plans.While medium term plans establish a policy framework and desired outputs and outcomes, they are meaningless unless disciplined by hard budget constraints. Therefore another critical element of the planning framework is the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF). Since 1992, MFPED has been developing an MTEF, which is presented to Cabinet as part of the annual â€Å"Budget Framework Paper† (BFP), covering three fiscal years. Preparation of the annual BFP includes detailed discussions with sector working groups each year to monitor performance of current programmes and projects.These discussions identify implementation bottlenecks, inefficiencies in existing operations, and potentially unsustainable imbalances in the size of the recurrent and development programmes. The discussions also take account of any upcoming policy initiatives in order to ensure that all new policie s are comprehensively costed to reveal the full extent of their fiscal implications, and in order to propose how the Government's expenditure programme can be adjusted in light of new policy priorities, both within and between sectors.The important point is that, in the medium term, public resources can be redeployed in accordance with changing strategic priorities; it only requires development of the capacity and willingness to reprioritise spending needs and reallocate expenditures in a disciplined way. More recently, there have been attempts to broaden the consultation of the BFP process by increased discussion with donors, especially on the sectoral priorities of Government expenditure and on the consistency of Government assumptions regarding external financing with actual donor financing plans.Steps are also being taken to involve civil society in the consultation process. An abbreviated version of the BFP (the version that goes to Cabinet before the expenditure allocations ar e approved by Cabinet) is published in the annual â€Å"Background to the Budget†, and a detailed summary of the composition of expenditure for all sectors for the three year MTEF is published as an appendix table in the Budget Speech document. In 1999, a start was made on extending the BFP process to the districts, when training workshops were organised for the local Governments.Technical expertise is being provided by the central ministries to help district administrations to prepare their own three year expenditure planning frameworks consistent with resource availability. Government hopes that in due course this capacity can be extended to lower level local councils. The final element of the planning framework is an assessment of the impact of plans and budgets on civil society and beneficiaries, shown at the bottom of Chart 1 as â€Å"civil society†.There are a variety of monitoring techniques, such as technical assessments of project/programme performance, statis tical surveys, and more participatory methods to complement the traditional household survey methods such as the Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Project, which is attempting to bring the voice of the poor into national, district, and lower level planning. The results of monitoring activities provide feedback at all levels of the planning system.The revision of the PEAPWhile the basic principles behind the 1997 PEAP remain valid, there have been significant developments since its preparation both in outcomes—such as the huge increase in educational enrolments—and in the preparation of sectoral plans and the information available about poverty. Hence, to remain relevant, the plan has to be revised. It is envisaged that the revision of the PEAP will be a regular process carried out every two years, drawing on the results of the Poverty Status Report which will also be prepared every two years.Preparation of the revised PEAP remains a highly participatory process. Government recognises that the planning system does not consist of decision-making by a single institution at the centre. Rather, the system involves the interaction of a number of processes within an overall framework. As such, the process is much more dynamic and responsive to changes in policy priorities and/or resource constraints. The involvement of a much larger number of agencies in the planning process makes it important that planning linkages are clearly specified and understood.Substantial effort is being made to improve the partnership process in Uganda. As mentioned above, participatory approaches have increasingly been adopted both for sector plan preparation and monitoring and appraisal exercises. In revising the PEAP we have summarised and consolidated the results of previous consultations and research findings. The revised PEAP builds on an ongoing process of consultation. An initial â€Å"discussion draft† was circulated to a wide range of stakeholders to sti mulate dialogue and debate.Later drafts incorporate the results of this wide consultation. In order to ensure reasonable levels of participation in preparation of the revised PEAP, the editorial team prepared a Participatory Action Plan. This includes consultations at the central government level as well as with local governments, with donors, with Parliamentarians, and with civil society, as well as the development of adequate feedback mechanisms to ensure that all stakeholders have contributed effectively to the drafting process.General consultative workshops: the revision process includes two major consultative meetings involving wide representation of stakeholders (politicians; ministries; donors; NGOs; private sector; civil society; urban and local authority representatives, media). The objective of these workshops is to review current drafts and to provide detailed comments on policy issues arising from the drafts. Regional meetings for district officials: MFPED, working with the Ministry of Local Government, has already undertaken some regional work to explain the PEAP, UPPAP findings and budget issues.District officials will be presented with drafts of the revised PEAP at a series of regional workshops. As mentioned above, the CSO Task Force will also be promoting discussion of PEAP related issues within districts and communities. Donor consultations: in addition to participation in the general consultative workshops, the current draft has been presented at the Donor Consultative Group meetings in March 2000. Political consultation: In addition to attendance at the general consultative workshops, another meeting for members of all Parliamentary sessional committees was held in February 2000.This will be followed by further briefing sessions for specific sessional committees on issues relevant to their sector. Feedback mechanisms: It is very important to ensure that there is adequate time for written responses and contributions. Drafts have been widely circulated for the consultative workshops in February and April. There will be active follow-up, especially at the district level, to ensure that written responses are received from every district and sector ministry.Building on existing consultative processes: Issues raised during the revision process will not only be followed up at the general consultative meetings, but also raised through existing consultative fora (such as the sector working groups for the budget framework process; NGO consultative meetings; and regular donor meetings). Contents2. National vision and overall goalsPoverty has many dimensions including low and highly variable levels of income and consumption, physical insecurity, poor health, low levels of education, disempowerment, a heavy burden of work or unemployment, and isolation (both social and geographical).Drawing on recent evidence (including household surveys and the Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Project), the PEAP highlights the many dimensi ons of poverty in the Ugandan context. It recognises the importance of increasing income to poor households, and places a high priority on eradicating income poverty. It also views ignorance as a particularly constraining feature of the lives of poor people, and is concerned to improve literacy and educational achievement among the population at large.Health is another central concern for the poor, and the Government has established clear goals for improving the health of Ugandans. It is essential that poor people have an effective voice in the design and implementation of public policy. The objective of the PEAP is to marshal public effort at improving these dimensions of household wellbeing. Reducing absolute income poverty:Income levels are low in Uganda, and large sections of its population are unable to buy the basic necessities of life—food, clothing, and shelter. Low incomes also lead to poor health and limited education. Consumption poverty levels are high.In 1997, 44 percent of the population was estimated to consume less than what is required to meet the basic needs of life. Low rates of economic growth, and the effects of civil disorder, are important historical factors causing poverty in Uganda. Incomes are also highly unequally distributed, which reduces the impact of economic growth on poverty reduction. At the level of the household, poverty is related to rural residence (specifically to living in the north or the east), to land shortage, to low levels of education, to being headed by a female widow or by someone old, and to limited access to markets.Unequal sharing of resources within the household reflects not only cultural factors but unequal access to education and physical assets such as land, in which women are disadvantaged. Poverty also reflects society-wide phenomena including insecurity, the quality of public services, the availability of productive employment, macroeconomic stability and the functioning of markets, health infor mation, and the technical information available throughout society. But there are clear signs of improvement: * The proportion of Ugandans in consumption poverty fell from 56 percent in 1992 to 44 percent in 1997. Average real household consumption rose by 17 percent over the period, and rose in every year (this is confirmed in the national accounts data). * The expenditures of the bottom 20 percent rose even more: those of the bottom 10 percent rose by 29 percent, and those of the of the next 10 percent by 23 percent over the period. * A major factor in the reduction of poverty was the benefit farmers gained from the increase in coffee prices, reflecting the combined effect of the boom in world coffee prices and the liberalisation policy, which passed the price increase on to farmers. There was no systematic trend in inequality in the 1990s. But although inequality is not definitely getting worse in Uganda, it would be desirable to reduce it. These data are encouraging: incomes are rising without a significant increase in inequality, and therefore poverty is falling. However, not all groups participated equally in the growth in incomes. Although poverty fell in all regions, average incomes grew faster in the regions which were initially better off. So although overall inequality did not increase, regional inequality increased significantly (Table 2. 1). Table 2. : Household consumption gains by region| | Region| Percentage of population in consumption poverty| Percentage growth in real consumption|    | 1992| 1997| 1992–1997| | Central| 45. 5| 27. 7| 21. 4| West| 52. 8| 42. 0| 15. 9| East| 59. 2| 54. 3| 11. 0| North| 71. 3| 58. 8| 14. 4| | The income group which benefited most dramatically was cash crop farmers, reflecting the increase in cash crop prices. Poverty in this group fell from 60 percent to 44 percent between 1992 and 1996 (Table 2. 2). Income poverty among food crop farmers remained largely unchanged (falling marginally from 64 percent to 62 percent).Table 2. 2 Household consumption gains by economic sector| | Sector of household head| Share of population (%)| Percentage of population in consumption poverty|    | 1992| 1996| 1992| 1996| | Food crop| 47. 2| 44. 2| 63. 7| 62. 2| Non-food cash crop| 23. 4| 26. 7| 60. 1| 43. 7| Manufacturing| 3. 7| 3. 3| 44. 8| 27. 4| Trade| 6. 7| 6. 9| 25. 9| 19. 4| Government services| 6. 8| 5. 5| 35. 0| 28. 0| Not working| 4. 3| 4. 9| 60. 2| 63. 4| | Participatory data from the UPPAP indicate that many communities consider that poverty is increasing. This probably reflects two differences from the household survey.First, the participatory assessment was confined to poor, mainly food-producing communities, which gained the least from recent improvements. And the perceptions of poor people covered in the UPPAP were probably based on a broader view of poverty, encompassing more than simply low income. The Government of Uganda considers that absolute poverty must be eradicated. It has set itself the objective of reducing the headcount of income poverty to 10 percent of the population by 2017. Raising educational achievement of UgandansThe PEAP aims to raise educational achievement of the Ugandan population, especially among children of poor households.The significance of education is that it increases incomes and economic growth, and it offers an intrinsic benefit in itself. In 1997, the policy of free education for four children in every family was introduced and primary enrolment increased enormously from 2. 6 million in 1996 to 6. 5 million currently. Almost three million children entered the schooling system and the gross enrolment rate, using school-based data, rose to 128 percent in 1997 and 145 percent in 1999. Participatory evidence clearly shows that this increase is greatly appreciated by poor people.These data show that the main issue in primary education is no longer increasing quantity, but maintaining quantity while enhancing quality. It is generall y agreed that the quality of education in Uganda declined seriously between the mid-1970s and the late 1980s, and the increased enrolment is now straining the system. While the 1998 National Integrity Survey found that 60 percent of parents were satisfied with the quality of their children's education, the UPPAP investigation found widespread concern with schooling quality among the poor communities contacted.This is borne out by more formal investigations of schooling quality. The heavily burdened primary schooling system cannot meet the immediate demands for classrooms, teachers, and teaching/learning materials. Educational policy thus faces two central challenges: first, how to keep the increased number of children in school: and secondly, how to ensure that quality is maintained and improved given the expansion in the system. Enrolment rates in secondary and tertiary education remain low, although they have increased in recent years.Total secondary enrolment rose from 336,022 in 1997 to 427,592 in 1999. The draft strategic plan for secondary education estimates that only 10 percent of the secondary school age population is in school and that only 6 percent of the poorest 25 percent complete secondary education whereas 22 percent of the best-off 25 percent do so. Whereas Uganda is now well ahead of most countries in Africa in primary education, it is behind the others in secondary education.Although current policy will be focussed on achieving sustainable universal primary education, the requirements of a growing modern economy will place increasing emphasis on secondary schooling, and such schooling is certain to figure prominently in future PEAP revisions. The Government of Uganda has achieved its objective of universal primary education. The challenge it now faces is to encourage children to remain in school, and to acquire relevant skills for adult life.This implies the following objectives: * Maintain universal primary school enrollment (including poor households) * Reduce drop out rates and raise completion rates * Raise the cognitive skills of primary school graduates (as reflected in results from the National Assessment of Progress in Education). Improving the health of the peopleLife expectancy in Uganda has been estimated at just 42 years in 1997 (World Development Indicators). This is exceptionally low, mainly because of the AIDS epidemic. Child mortality is high, though it fell significantly from 180 per thousand in 1989 to 147 in 1994.In addition to increasing mortality, illnesses such as AIDS and malaria incapacitate large numbers of people. Trends in AIDS incidence are presented in the Poverty Status Report; there is a marked fall in incidence in urban areas, where the range of prevalence rates in ante-natal clinic attenders in six urban centers fell from 12–28 percent in 1991 to 7–15 percent in 1997. In rural areas there is no clear trend. Illness is a dimension of poverty which affects all income groups in Uganda, although it affects the poor particularly badly.Health outcomes depend on at least six factors: incomes, education, information, health services, water supply and sanitation. Studies of household data in Uganda have shown that both education and specific information about the causes of illness significantly reduce child mortality. For instance, one study (using 1992 data) found that if a mother has good information about malaria and diarrhea, this reduces the under-five mortality of her children by 0. 045, compared with the overall mortality rate of 0. 18. The same study found that child mortality was much more strongly related to education than to incomes.Mothers in the top expenditure quartile had lost almost the same proportion of their children as mothers in the bottom expenditure quartile, but child mortality dropped at every level of maternal education and mothers with further education had only a quarter as high a rate of child mortality as mothers with no educatio n. More recent data suggests that the link between incomes and mortality has grown stronger (Table 2. 3). Between 1988 and 1995, while under-three mortality fell by 6 percentage points for the poorest 20 percent, it declined by almost 60 points for the richest quintile. Table 2. Under-three mortality by wealth quintile| | | 1988| 1995| | Poorest quintile| 188. 5| 182. 5| Second quintile| 163. 9| 154. 5| Third quintile| 184. 9| 168. 1| Fourth quintile| 180. 6| 134. 3| Richest quintile| 157. 6| 99. 7| | Source: Sahn et al (1999)| Adult mortality may be more powerfully affected than child mortality by income and access to curative services. The most commonly named consequence of poverty in the UPPAP study was ill health, and the third most commonly named was death. It may also be more powerfully affected by the presence of health services, especially for maternal mortality.In the case of AIDS, cultural factors interact with poverty. In some parts of the country, single women cannot get access to land; finding a partner then becomes a matter of survival and people in these circumstances take risks which they would otherwise avoid. A World Bank study has developed projections of under-five mortality in Uganda. Using international data, it has been shown that child mortality responds to the effects of technical progress in preventive and curative care over time, and to female education and income growth within the economy. Using relationships estimated using international data, the ollowing projections are derived: Table 2. 4: Projections of Child Mortality in Uganda, 2017| | | Child mortality in 1995:| 160. 2| | Child mortality in 2015:| | | assuming time trend alone assuming increased female education assuming female education and 3% per capita income growth assuming female education and 5% per capita income growth| 118. 9 117. 6 110. 2 85. 2| | | | These projections show that child mortality could be halved by the end of the period. However, there are three cavea ts: * the impact of female education may be underestimated, especially given UPE. AIDS will tend to increase child mortality more than these data suggest. * Most importantly, the best international performers—many of whom have been socialist countries such as China and Cuba—have achieved much faster improvements in health outcomes. It is important to recognize that energetic public action can produce very fast improvements in health even at low income levels, as the examples of China, Cuba and Sri Lanka show; Uganda's primary education enrolment, though not its health status, is now much better than most countries at its income level.The lessons suggested by these countries include the enormous importance of getting simple health messages out to the population, and the importance of community-level management using very cheap personnel sometimes known as `barefoot doctors'. The very strong emphasis on preventive health messages in the minimum package is an attempt to r eorientate the health system to maximize its effects on health outcomes. Improving the health of the Ugandan population is a priority objective of the Government of Uganda.The Health Sector Strategy sets targets of reducing child mortality from 147 to 103 per thousand, maternal mortality from 506 to 354 per 100,000, to reduce HIV prevalence by 35%, reducing the total fertility rate to 5. 4, and reducing stunting to 28% by 2004/5. Giving voice to poor communitiesPoor people suffer directly from being disempowered. Powerlessness, described as inability to affect things around one, was reflected in the findings of UPPAP. The National Integrity Survey also found that 40 percent of the users of public services had to pay bribes.Such experiences are not only materially impoverishing; they are also demoralising. More broadly, people experience frustration when they cannot perceive their influence over public policy. UPPAP reported, for instance, that poor people saw no effective mechanisms to hold service deliverers accountable. The Government of Uganda aims to implement further administrative and political reforms which will increase poor people's control over their own lives and the policies and services which affect them. Contents3.The Poverty Eradication StrategyThe overall poverty eradication strategy is based on the following principles: * The public sector's role is to intervene in areas where markets function poorly or would produce very inequitable outcomes. * Where the public sector intervenes, it should use the most cost-effective methods, including the use of NGOs for service delivery where appropriate. * Poverty-eradication is a partnership and should involve the closest possible integration of the efforts of government with its development partners. All government policies should reflect the importance of distributional considerations, of gender, of children's rights, and of environmental impacts. * Each area of public action will be guided by the formu lation of desired outcomes and the designs of inputs and outputs to promote them. Strategic public action for poverty eradication is established on four pillars: * creating a framework for economic growth and transformation; * good governance and security; * actions which directly increase the ability of the poor to raise their incomes; * actions which directly improve the quality of life of the poor.It is important to note that these four elements interact. For instance, although primary education is discussed under `quality of life', it also has implications for all the other three goals. The distinction between the goals helps to focus attention on the actions which most directly affect poverty, but the interactions between the objectives need to be borne in mind. Creating a framework for economic growth and transformation. Economic growth and employment-generation are necessary conditions for poverty-eradication.The PEAP must be based on an understanding of the growth potential of the Ugandan economy, and of the public interventions needed to achieve it. .Work at Uganda's Economic Policy Research Centre has projected the growth of incomes and investment over the next twenty years. The EPRC's model has three main components; an investment function, a balance-of-payments constraint, and a production function. Economic growth in the model is driven by three main factors; the accumulation of human and physical capital, and the shift of labour from agriculture to manufacturing, in which it is assumed to be more productive.Estimates of the coefficients are derived from a sixteen-country panel data set. The projections for Uganda include a low-case, based on existing trends, giving 5. 5–6. 5 percent annual growth in GDP over the period (giving a GDP per capita of $550 in constant prices in 2020). They also provide a high-case, based on an increase in the productivity of aid and the diversification of the productive structure. This yields 7–8 percent per annum growth, giving a GDP per capita of $700 in 2020. This model therefore gives potential annual per capita GDP growth of between 2. percent and 4 percent. A very recent study at the World Bank takes a larger cross section to explain why growth rates vary across countries, and focuses more on institutional determinants. It identifies a number of factors which constrain growth, and assesses by how much economic growth could be raised if Uganda could close the gap in these factors compared with average values for developing countries (controlling for income levels). Some factors (such as trade openness and macroeconomic stability) are already better than average, and cannot yield higher future growth.Uganda must maintain the good performance of these indicators. But others—closing the gap in educational attainment, deepening financial institutions, and improving property and contract rights—can yield significant gains. The study estimates such gains could produce an additional GDP annual growth per capita of 1. 7 percentage points. Mean per capita growth of 3. 2 percent per annum (which is what was achieved in the 1990s) could be raised to around 4. 9 percent (assuming no deterioration in the external terms of trade).This translates into a GDP growth rate of 7. 8 percent per annum. These studies show that GDP growth of the order of 7 percent per annum is feasible over the longer term in Uganda. But such economic growth will not be automatic. It will call for public action today to build the institutions needed for higher growth. Economic growth in Uganda requires a framework within which the private sector can expand. The first essential element is macroeconomic stability. Without this, economic growth will not be sustainable.The revised PEAP therefore includes a commitment to maintain macroeconomic discipline which has underpinned the fast economic growth of recent years. The second key element is setting appropriate macroeconomic incentive s. This involves economic openness, which encourages exports and labor-intensive investments. The future for Ugandan industry is not reliance on a wall of high tariff protection—which encourages capital-intensive investment which does little for employment—but open competition in a market which is being expanded by rising incomes from agricultural modernisation.Thirdly, the framework for economic development also includes the equitable and efficient collection and use of public resources. On the revenue side, independent research has shown that recent tax reforms, including the introduction of VAT have made the incidence of taxes more progressive. Local taxation, however, may need review in order to make it more progressive. The use of the savings made available by external debt relief for poverty-reducing purposes and the development of a sound strategy for external borrowing are essential.On the expenditure side, the Poverty Action Fund has been used to reallocate ex penditures to directly poverty-reducing services – primary education, primary health, agricultural extension, feeder roads. Equalisation grants are gradually being introduced; these are designed to make the delivery of services more equals across the country. The aim is that a poor woman in a remote rural area should be able to demand the same standard of service from the public sector as a man in the most affluent urban setting. The budgetary reform under the MTEF is central to implementing the PEAP.Finally, in order to promote economic transformation, the constraints on private sector competitiveness need to be removed. Surveys of business people in Uganda have shown that they face severe constraints on their operations. Infrastructure is a major constraint; firms' experience of power cuts significantly reduces their investment, and the development of internal markets is impeded by the limitations of the road network. Hence the sector-wide transport strategy and the ongoing process of utility reform are key.Another constraint is the difficulty that business people experience in enforcing contracts; this will be addressed by the programme of commercial justice reform which the government is beginning. The weakness of the financial sector is also a serious constraint. Reform of these sectors is essential for the development of the private sector. This is a poverty issue, because the expansion of formal employment is a central part of the strategy. A crucial component of the PEAP is accelerating economic growth. The actions outlined above can be expected to raise GDP growth performance to a potential as high as almost 5 percent per capita per year.Good governance and securityGood governance is increasingly recognised as a prerequisite to economic growth and development. In Uganda, consultations with the poor have shown that insecurity is among their most pressing concerns. Work by the Human Rights Commission, the Law and Order Sector Working Group and th e Governance Action Plan project has identified the main priority areas in this sector. Conflict resolution and effective support to conflict-afflicted areas are essential. Armed conflict has been a decisive factor in the impoverishment of the North and the East.In 1999 the internally displaced population of Uganda is estimated at 622,000, and in addition insecurity affects many people who are not actually displaced. So the successful resolution of conflicts is a necessary part of poverty-eradication. The democratisation of Uganda has been pursued in a context of decentralisation. The process involves the transfer of responsibilities to district level. Participatory work has shown that the most highly appreciated level is the Local Council 1 or Village Council (LC1), the level which is closest to the people.The implications of decentralisation for ministries of central government have been reflected in the government restructuring, but the extent to which they are now ready to fulfi l their new role needs to be assessed. Good governance involves making public expenditure transparent and efficient. Many reforms have been undertaken to make it harder to misuse public funds with impunity, including the establishment of the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity and the design of a new regulatory structure for procurement. Service delivery on the ground urgently needs improvement, as various surveys have shown.This is to be addressed by the introduction of results-orientated management, by pay reform designed to increase and simplify public sector remuneration, and by strengthening bottom-up accountability; communities must be able to hold service deliverers accountable through the Village Councils. Law and order is being addressed by the introduction of a sector-wide approach in which reforms proposed for the criminal justice sector will be costed. The poor reputation of the police needs to be addressed by an improvement in service delivery.The relatively good reputatio ns of LDUs and LC courts can be built upon. Public information is central to good governance and innovative methods of disseminating information should be explored by inter-sectoral cooperation. The special needs of the disabled require a community-based approach which deserves priority. Disaster management, which includes the handling of drought, floods, earthquakes and conflict, requires both preparedness and response; the recently established Ministry within the Prime Minister's Office has prepared a national strategy.Actions which directly increase the ability of the poor to raise their incomesRecent empirical work (mentioned above) has established that GDP growth rates of over 7 percent per annum are feasible for Uganda, providing the needed public actions are taken. What does such growth mean for household income and poverty? The Government has prepared projections for GDP growth and other key macroeconomic variables. The model forecasts real GDP and real per capita private co nsumption up to fiscal year 2019/20, on the basis of a national accounts format.In these scenarios private incomes grow less fast than Government income. As a result, private consumption growth is slower than GDP growth. In real terms, consumption per capita grows by 3. 2 percent per annum for the high projection and 2. 5 percent per annum for the low one. How much poverty reduction are such consumption growth rates likely to yield? Taking the structure and distribution of income (measured by household consumption) as given in the 1997 Poverty Monitoring Survey, an assessment can be made of the effect of such growth on income poverty.If we assume that every Ugandan household experiences per capita income growth of 3. 3 percent per annum, the income poverty headcount would fall to 10 percent by 2017. The MOFEP higher growth scenario (a growth of household consumption of 6. 2 percent per annum, or 3. 3 percent in per capita terms) is therefore consistent with the poverty goal of the P EAP, so long as such growth is distributionally neutral (all households benefit proportionately). Not all sectors, however, will experience such high growth. Taking past experience as a guide, a growth rate of 6. percent in aggregate consumption might involve agricultural incomes growing at only 4. 7 percent per annum (with services and manufacturing growth being respectively 7. 9 percent and 12. 4 percent). If households are locked in their sectors of employment (as reported in the 1997 household survey), those employed in agriculture would experience slower income growth. We estimate that in this limiting case, headcount poverty would only fall to 22 percent, even if aggregate household income growth were 6. 2 percent per annum. Low agricultural growth constrains the poverty reducing impact of economic growth.These conditional projections of potential poverty reduction under the Gvovernment's assumptions for economic growth highlight the need for more targeted interventions, the e ffect of which would be to accelerate the incomes of the poor directly. Two main lessons emerge: first, poverty reduction calls for higher agricultural growth rates; and non-farm employment must be increased in the rural areas where most poor people live. Most Ugandans are self-employed, mainly in agriculture. This gives the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture a central role in poverty-eradication.Despite the constraints of limited technology and market access, the potential of raising agricultural incomes is considerable. The PMA identifies six core areas for public action in agriculture: research and technology, advisory services, education for agriculture, access to rural finance, access to markets, and sustainable natural resource utilisation and management. Employment outside agriculture can be promoted by microfinance, advisory services, and vocational training. Feeder roads remain a central priority as in the 1997 PEAP, since when maintenance expenditure has tripled.Lab our-intensive methods have been found to be financially cheaper than other methods of road-building and will contribute to employment generation. Research on land shows considerable inequality, often resulting from administrative and political factors more than the operation of the market. The Land Act is designed to strengthen the land rights of the poor. Women's land rights need to be strengthened further; public sensitisation for the purpose of the Land Act is needed: a cost-effective structure for land administration is needed; and the Land Fund needs to be operationalised, targeting the landless poor.The restocking programme for rural livestock has the potential to reduce poverty by restoring economically valuable assets, provided mechanisms are identified to target the poor. The Government is establishing a new regulatory and supervisory structure for microfinance in order to increase poor people's access to financial services. The Government has withdrawn from the provision o f capital for credit but will still provide support for capacity-building. Publicly supported research is coordinated by NARO. Research is to be decentralised, and stakeholders are to be involved.The appropriate mix between national and international research needs consideration. The potential benefits of publicly provided advisory services vastly outweigh their costs. Strategy is now being reviewed. The advisory service must address issues relevant to poor farmers, using ideas developed by NGOs for low-input technologies which the poor can afford. The services need to address productivity-enhancing techniques for farmers at different levels of resources, drought-resistant crops where needed, nutritional issues, marketing, storage and processing, and soil-conservation.Livestock, fisheries and agroforestry will also be covered by the advisory services. The management of markets is a private sector role under the PMA. The public sector has a role in ensuring that market access is affo rdable for vendors, in improving access to market information throughout the country, and in formulating policy on genetic modification and on organic farming. Sustainable resource use will be promoted by raising awareness, including the encouragement of communal initiatives to protect common property resources.Forestry needs to be promoted by a mixture of public protection and investment in private forests. Valley dam schemes will be reviewed; this is an important priority for addressing the poverty of the Karimojong and the insecurity associated with cattle-rustling. Energy for the poor will be promoted by encouraging the use of more efficient cooking technologies and by smart subsidies for rural electrification, which will encourage entrepreneurs to invest in power infrastructure in rural growth centres.This will make it easier for the rural poor to have their output processed, increasing their effective access to the market; it will also enable more households to gain access to electricity in their homes. Actions which directly improve the quality of life of the poorHuman development outcomes in Uganda have been transformed by the introduction of free primary education for four children in each family, which has lead to a massive increase in enrolment. Primary education is a central element of the PEAP. Now that quantity has increased so much, quality is critical.Challenges include the implementation of low-cost classroom construction and the management of the gap between teachers and classrooms including the use of double shifts where appropriate, measures for bottom-up accountability, and the possibility of using school gardens to educate children about agriculture while also providing some food. In secondary education, a strategy is in draft. Targeting gifted children from poor backgrounds is a poverty issue. Health care is being coordinated by the new health strategic plan. At the heart of this is the minimum health package.Service delivery is being im proved by a number of mechanisms including better remuneration and training, better infrastructure, and better accountability to consumers through village health committees. The pro-poor implementation of cost-recovery will require the successful identification of targeting mechanisms, perhaps geographically based. AIDS and population growth raise cross-cutting issues. Water and sanitation are being supported by major public interventions, with communities paying a small proportion of the investment costs and being responsible for the maintenance of the facilities.Community sensitisation on water-borne disease and on the need for maintenance is therefore critical. Adult literacy is likely to be made an element of PAF from this year; its benefits are potentially very considerable, as literacy has been directly found to increase agricultural productivity and evidence suggests it will also influence health outcomes. Housing is a private sector responsibility, but the state can encourag e the availability of low-cost housing. Contents4.Macroeconomic stability, medium- and long-term expenditure implications of the PEAPMacroeconomic stability and the macroeconomic frameworkIn the medium term (three years), Government's strategy for fighting poverty is reflected in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the expenditure priorities which are incorporated into the MTEF. The MTEF is itself fully integrated into a macroeconomic framework which is designed to ensure low inflation of no more than 5% and to support rapid broad based real GDP growth of 7% per annum. In the first year of the MTEF, 2000/01, inflation may be higher and growth lower than the medium term targets because of the lagged impact of the external terms of trade shock which Uganda suffered in 1999/2000). The exchange rate will continue to be market determined, with the Bank of Uganda intervening only to dampen excessive volatility in the exchange rate and to maintain net international reserves at a level which is consistent with the targets in the PRGF programme (these targets will be based on the objective of maintaining gross foreign reserves at a minimum of ive months of imports of goods and non factor services). Macroeconomic policy will be accompanied by a deepening of structural reforms in key areas including the banking and financial system, public utilities and the transport infrastructure, which are aimed at removing key constraints to private sector growth, and reforms to improve the efficiency and quality of public services. The key linkages between the MTEF and the macroeconomic framework are via the domestic borrowing requirement and the projected net inflows of external financing.The MTEF is consistent with both the levels of donor support projected over the medium term, relatively conservative projections of domestic revenue mobilisation and domestic bank borrowing which is consistent with the monetary objectives discussed in the next paragraph. The increased expenditures on programmes and projects specifically targeted on poverty reduction (for example, expenditures under the Poverty Action Fund (PAF) are projected to increase from 2. 9% of GDP in 1998/99 to 4. 6% of GDP in 2000/01) are fully consistent with the Government's macroeconomic objectives.Increased expenditures on the PAF will be funded by increased donor support, including debt relief made available under the enhanced HIPC initiative, and by restraint in the growth of non priority expenditures. The overall fiscal deficit, excluding grants, is projected to rise from the programmed 8. 1% of GDP in 1999/2000 to 9. 7% of GDP in 2000/01, before declining to 8. 7% and 8. 2% of GDP in 2001/02 and 2002/03 respectively. Donor support, net of external amortisation, is projected at 10. 4%, 10. 1% and 9. % of GDP respectively in 2000/01, 2001/02 and 2002/03, and will therefore more than cover the projected fiscal deficits, allowing Government to accumulate savings with the domestic ban king system and the non bank private sector. Annex Table 2. 1 refers. The medium term monetary objectives are to maintain a rate of growth of broad money (M2) of 15% per annum which is required to hold core inflation (which excludes food crop and fuel prices) to no more than 5% per annum. This rate of money supply growth is consistent with the projected increase in money demand given projected growth of nominal GDP (averaging 12. % per annum) and a decline in the velocity of circulation of circulation of an average of 2. 2% per annum. Private sector credit is projected to expand by 15% per annum in nominal terms. This will allow private sector credit to gradually increase as a share of GDP. The growth in the net foreign assets of the Bank of Uganda will be determined primarily by the objective of maintaining gross foreign reserves at a minimum of five months of imports. Consistent with these objectives, Government is projected to accumulate savings in the domestic banking system of Shs 14 billion (0. 14% of GDP) in 2000/01, Shs 89 billion (0. 1% of GDP) in 2001/02 and Shs 95 billion (0. 77% of GDP) in 2002/03. Annex Table 2. 4 refers. The trade deficit (denominated in dollars) is projected to widen in 2000/01 because of the impact of the external terms of trade shock, which will depress export earnings. However the increase in the trade deficit will be largely offset by the projected rise in official and private transfers. As a percentage of GDP, the current account deficit (including transfers and FDI) will rise from the outturn of 4. 1% in 1998/99 to a projected 4. 6% of GDP in 2000/01, before declining to 3. 8% and 3. % of GDP in the following two years. The capital account is projected to remain in surplus, which together with the debt relief provided under the HIPC and enhanced HIPC initiatives, will enable the Bank of Uganda to accumulate net international reserves of $58 million in 2000/01, $108 million in 2001/02, and $116 million in 2002/03. This is s ufficient to maintain gross reserves at the target level of five months of imports of goods and non factor services. Annex Table 2. 3 refers. Annex Table 2. 1 summarises projected investment and savings. Public investment is projected at 7. 4% of GDP in 1999/2000 and 7. %, 7. 3% and 7. 0% in the next three years. Public savings are projected at 5. 1% of GDP in 1999/2000 and 5. 0%, 5. 0% and 4. 7% in the next three years. Private investment is projected at 10. 3% of GDP in 1999/2000, rising to 10. 5%, 12. 8% and 12. 9% in the next three years. Finally, private savings are projected to fall to 8. 1% of GDP in 1999/2000, recovering to 8. 7%, 11. 2% and 11. 5% in the next three years. The Medium-Term Expenditure FrameworkThose aspects of the PEAP which have implications for public expenditure will be implemented through the medium-term expenditure framework.This framework is presented to Cabinet as part of the annual â€Å"Budget Framework Paper (BFP)†, covering three fiscal year s. The objective of the MTEF is the design of all public expenditure by a clear analysis of the link between inputs, outputs and outcomes, in a framework which ensures consistency of sectoral expenditure levels with the overall resource constraint in order to ensure macroeconomic stability and to maximise the efficiency of public expenditure in attaining predetermined utcomes. Ultimately, these medium-term objectives need to be consistent with the longer-term objectives defined by the PEAP; so the PEAP will be used to guide reallocations of expenditure. The sectoral implications of the PEAP objectives are reflected in the design of sectoral strategies which in turn guide the expenditure allocations made each year under the MTEF. The MTEF is intended to guide all public expenditure including the use of resources committed by donors.For this reason, the Government is introducing a sector-wide approach wherever feasible, under which government and donors contribute to a common pool of resources used to achieve the sectoral objectives. The flexibility which this arrangement allows is essential to the efficient use of public expenditure,. because only in a sector-wide approach can the overall implications of a national programme within each sector be considered, and because a sector-wide approach can reduce duplications of effort by different projects and divergences of cost structure between projects and other public activities.Using the PAF to prioritise public expenditureThe PEAP of 1997 drew particular attention to the need for increased expenditure on the delivery of those services which directly benefit the poor. It was recognised that in Uganda, as in most other countries, there could be a tendency to neglect the interests of the poor unless a conscious effort was made; this is one implication of the observation that powerlessness is one aspect of poverty. Since 1997, the institution of the Poverty Action Fund has been used to achieve the planned reallocatio ns.The PAF has three essential elements for this objective. First, no expenditure is included in PAF unless its direct poverty benefits are clearly demonstrated. Secondly, the use of funds in the PAF is subject to particularly stringent monitoring procedures in which civil society actively participates. Thirdly, the use of funds for PAF activities is clearly additional to the levels achieved in the 1997/8 budget. Most of the areas included in the PAF consist of service delivery which directly benefits poor people, rather than administration.In order to achieve the increase in spending on service delivery and on infrastructure, it is necessary to keep administration lean. Government will continue to endeavour to make its administrative elements as lean as possible and to avoid the proliferation of administrative structures which can impose serious fiscal costs. Poverty priorities and the PAF The PAF (summarised in Table 4. 1) includes the most high-priority public expenditures from t he poverty-eradication perspective.Inclusion of a particular sector or programme in the PAF is justified by the high economic and/or social returns to the form of expenditure, by the fact that a substantial proportion of the benefits of expenditure in that area are received by the poor, and by the priority which participatory work has shown the poor themselves attach to that area. Areas already included in the PAF include rural roads, agricultural extension, primary health, primary education, water supply, and equalisation grants whose purpose (defined in the Constitution) is to make the quality of service del