Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Mary Warren Essay Example for Free
Mary Warren Essay Arthur Miller Shows Mary Warren in different limelightââ¬â¢s of power. At the beginning of the play there is an aspect of her having no power but as you go through the play there seems to be shifts in her power. Miller uses Mary to demonstrate young, single womenââ¬â¢s power and how when you have so much power it can just slip right out of your hands in one brief moment. Miller shows that power can be taken away pretty easily and quite absentmindedly from Mary Warrenââ¬â¢s character. He demonstrates this by making her young and single and setting the scene to a subservient, naive girl. This makes her prepared to answer and obey others unquestioningly and serving as a means to an end. In Act 1, Mary has a conversation with Abigail about the dancing. ââ¬ËI never done any of it, Abby. I only looked. ââ¬â¢ This shows us that she lacks the confidence to get involved, making us see that Miller is trying to present a very timid, scared girl. Marys fear is also shown through this dialogue. A sense of her having no power is shown through Millers use of stage direction. ââ¬Ë(Enter Proctor. On seeing him Mary jumps in fright)ââ¬â¢. Miller is trying to illustrate the lack of confidence and courage she has to stand up to him. This is also a remark of the amount of importance he has upon her. This is also shown in dialogue. ââ¬ËI forbid you to leave the houseââ¬â¢. In these quotes Miller shows that young, single women have very little to no power and importance in Salem at this time. By Act 2 Mary Warrens character develops, so much so that Elizabeth is starting to fear her, ââ¬ËShe frightened all my strengths away. ââ¬â¢ This shows that Miller is making Mary stronger and more confidence that other characters have to talk about her behind her back. Even though Proctor still believes she is a ââ¬Ëmouseââ¬â¢ and still sees her as that, Elizabeth says ââ¬ËIt is a mouse no more. ââ¬â¢ Miller makes the other character see that there has been a spark switch on in Marys head. All this is shown through the dialogue of the other characters on the stage at this time. Miller uses other characters to illustrate how Maryââ¬â¢s character has changed over a little while. At the end of act two there is an immediate power shift between Proctor and Mary. This is when Mary tells Proctor ââ¬ËI saved her life todayââ¬â¢. ââ¬ËHerââ¬â¢ meaning Elizabeth, when Mary shares this with Proctor, he lowers the whip. The power shift is symbolised with this exact moment, Miller shows this moment through a stage direction. Then Marys dialogue after the power shift shows a side of Mary that we have never seen before, this is where she finally decides to stand up for herself. Miller shows her frustration at her lack of power and her lack of freedom that she is missing out on in a stage direction and her dialogue. ââ¬Ë(with a stamp of her foot): Iââ¬â¢ll not be ordered to bed no more, Mr Proctor! I am eighteen and a woman, however single. ââ¬â¢ In this quote Miller presents a respectful lady, however angry, who knows her authorities around the Proctors but still thinks that she has some say in what she does in her life. Miller also shows a depth to Maryââ¬â¢s character through her dialogue. In Act 3, Mary has reverted to her timid self like we saw in Act 1, this is shown through her silence and through Proctor speaking for her. In this part Miller tries to make her the weakest character in this Act through stage directions such as ââ¬Ë(Mary is keeping her eyes to the ground)ââ¬â¢ At the end of Act 3, Proctor threatens Mary in to telling the judges that Elizabeth did and is not using witchcraft and accusing Abigail of using it instead. This is effective because Proctor use his tender side for most of this Act ââ¬Ë(He lifts Maryââ¬â¢s chin. ) You cannot weep, Mary. Remember the angel, what he says to the boy. But at the last minute Proctor turns on his threatening side and turns on Mary to help him. This is just like at the end of Act 2 when he decides to turn on Mary, there is a strong correlation between Maryââ¬â¢s power and her importance. Abigail also starts to threaten Mary in to accusing Proctor of using witchcraft and not to listen to Proctor no more by pretending that Mary is using witchcraft. ââ¬Ë(backing further, eyes still fixed above): Mary, please donââ¬â¢t hurt me! ââ¬â¢ Miller tries to show in this part that Mary is powerless by using Abigailââ¬â¢s dialogue to portray this.
Monday, August 5, 2019
Effect of North Korea on Peace and Security
Effect of North Korea on Peace and Security North Korea and North East Asian Peace and Security Current security issues in North East Asia, raised by North Korea Nuclear Test. Please examine how far North Korea can affect the peace and stability in Northeast Asia and how other countries such as America, Japan, China, and Russia react on this issue. And lastly, How to solve this security issues permanently and increases future stability in the area? Contents (Jump to) Abstract Introduction Chapter One North Korean defence and foreign policy misrepresented or a threat to peace and security? Chapter Two ââ¬â Containing the North Korean threat to peace and security in the North East Asia Region Conclusions Bibliography Abstract The following dissertation will discuss and evaluate North Koreaââ¬â¢s influence and effect upon peace and security within the North East Asia region. This dissertation will evaluate North Koreaââ¬â¢s relationships with other countries in the North East Asia region such as South Korea, Japan, and China. Countries from outside the immediate North East Asia region like the United States, Russia (as the largest successor state of the Soviet Union) and to a lesser extent Britain and France also have an interest in the North East Asia Region. All these countries have an interest in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear tests. For instance these countries must consider how the actions or the potential actions of the North Korean government are able to influence or effect peace and security within the North East Asia region. Non-governmental organisations like the United Nations and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) have taken a great deal of interest in how North Korea effects the peace and security of its immediately neighbouring countries. These organisations are taking North Koreaââ¬â¢s nuclear programme as well as its ballistic missile capacity into account when they regard the North Korean threat to peace and security going beyond the confines of the North East Asia region itself. This dissertation will evaluate the development and changes in North Korean government policies that have influenced and arguably threatened peace and security of the North East Asia region from Koreaââ¬â¢s initial division at the end of the Second World War through to the present day. North Korea has been regarded as a threat to the peace and security of the North East Asia region ever since Pyongyangââ¬â¢s decision to invade South Korea provoked the Korean War of 1950 to 1953. The Korean War as will be discussed set the mould for North Korean defence and foreign policies, whilst ensuring the importance of the relationship with China and Russia. The North Korean regime, as will be shown, has been very reluctant to embrace and adopt any kind of economic or political reforms, preferring to use its scant resources on maintaining and expanding its military capacity. It is also continuing its nuclear weapons programme, long drawn talks having yet to result in effective nuclear disa rmament, and thus undermining peace and security within the North East Asia region, and when issues of nuclear proliferation are concerned outside that region. Finally the following will explore whether there are any ways in which North Korea can finally become a country that its neighbours in the North East Asia region could trust and believe will not threaten their common peace and stability rather than a country that they mistrust. The United Nations is an organisation that could offer the North Korean assistance to overcome its failed economy in return for the ending of North Koreaââ¬â¢s nuclear programme and potentially aggressive foreign policy. The main onus for international efforts to contain North Korean nuclear weapons development has been by the United States, China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. The prospects for the international community being able to monitor and eventually close down North Koreaââ¬â¢s nuclear weapons programme, dismantling any weapons already constructed will also be discussed and evaluated. Introduction Korea has a long history of being a definable and separate nation state, although it was for many centuries subject to Chinese and later Japanese control (Lenman, 2004, p.450). Japanese control of Korea was ended by its defeat in the Second World War, which would inadvertently lead to the partition of Korea (Whitakerââ¬â¢s, 2007, p.892). The division of Korea was caused by the way that the Allied powers liberated the country from Japanese occupation, United States troops cleared the south, with the Soviet Union being responsible for clearing the north. This was intended to be a temporary division along the 38th parallel that would provoke the hottest conflict of the Cold War, as well as creating a dispute that continues to destabilise the peace and the security of the North East Asia region. As with the division of Vietnam the division was purely carried out as a reflection of the distribution of American and Soviet armed forces at the time of the Japanese surrender in September 1 945 (Gaddis, 2005, p.41). It was Kim Il Sung who had previously fought the Japanese for many years that emerged as North Koreaââ¬â¢s first political leader, and he would be the man most responsible for his countryââ¬â¢s attempt to re-unite Korea by force. Kim Il Sung was also responsible for North Koreaââ¬â¢s subsequently militant defence and foreign policies that has remained stridently anti-Western, militaristic, and potentially aggressive towards its immediate neighbours in the North East Asia region ever since. It was Kim Il Sung that decided to re-unite Korea by force, after his realisation that diplomacy would not bring about such a re-unification led to the plan to invade South Korea, although he seems to have pre-empted similar plans that the South Koreans had hoped to implement. Kim Il Sung went ahead with that invasion with the approval of the Soviet Union and China, and the apparent indifference of the United States, which had already withdrawn its military garrisons from South Korea durin g 1949. However, the North Korean invasion which, was launched in June 1950 persuaded the United States to lead the United Nationââ¬â¢s forces into defending South Korea and driving the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel. The United States had been able to take advantage of the Soviet Unionââ¬â¢s representative not been at the United Nations due to the Soviet decision to boycott the organisation due to Communist China being excluded from the Security Council (Evans Newnham, 1998, p. 293). The United States decision to intervene in the Korean War started its long -standing military alliance with South Korea to guarantee South Korean security from the continued threat of North Korean aggression. The Korean War itself would drag on for three years with the North Koreans having to rely on large-scale Chinese military intervention and covert air support from the Soviet Union. North Korea only survived after the American led United Nations forces had captured the majority of North Korean territory due to Mao Zedong sending in the Chinese army. The conflict could have escalated, due to the involvement of Soviet aircraft that could have provoked a war between the superpowers yet both Moscow and Washington did not want an all out war to start due to the Korean War (Hobsbawm, 1994 p. 228). After the Korean War the prospects for Korean re-unification seemed to be remote, with the two Korean states being integrated into the alliance systems of the Soviet Union and the United States respectively. North Korea was therefore firmly in the communist camp, and initially enjoyed strong and productive political, economic and military relationships with both China and the Soviet Union. South Korea was a willing member of the United States alliance system and received substantial monetary and military backing from the United States, and later significant economic investment from Japan that would make it wealthier than North Korea. The United States government was not bothered by the Seoulââ¬â¢s regime lack of democratic practices just as long as it remained fervently anti-Communist (Hobsbawm, 1994 p. 228). Kim Il Sungââ¬â¢s North Korean regime was in contrast avowedly Marxist-Leninist in ideological outlook, whilst trying to create a strong sense of North Korean nationalism that was decidedly anti-American and increasingly isolationist in perspective (Heywood, 2003 p. 179). The Korean War meant that neighbouring countries such as South Korea, Japan, and China kept an interest in political and diplomatic developments that involved North Korea, the former as potential enemies, the latter originally as an ally. The balance of power during the Cold War meant that North Korea could only pose a threat to the peace and security of the North East Asia region if that suited the Soviet Union, and to a lesser extent China. The Kremlin to a large extent kept the regime in Pyongyang in check, not wishing to provoke further conflict, and realising that the United States would not tolerate North Korea attempting to invade South Korea again, or indeed developing its own nuclear weapons. On the other hand the Soviet Union exported missile and nuclear technologies to North Korea as part of its military and economic aid packages to the Pyongyang regime (Gaddis, 2005 p. 6 0). The fighting during the Korean War was heavy, the agricultural sector being particularly adversely affected, and the war had devastated North Koreaââ¬â¢s economy. American bombing had also heavily damaged the North Korean capital city, Pyongyang. The number of North Korean fatalities, 419,000 was testimony to the high human costs of the conflict, with around 3 million people dying during its course (Castleden, 2005, p.299). The scale of destruction did not prevent a strong economic revival and rapid industrialisation, although most of those improvements were brought about by considerable amounts of help from China and the Soviet Union (Castleden, 2005, p.300). Large-scale industrialisation in North Korea would therefore have undoubtedly been much harder to achieve without that substantial aid that North Korea received from China and the Soviet Union. The Soviet decision to export nuclear technology to North Korea, for the non-military use of generating electricity would later allo w Pyongyang the opportunity to start its own nuclear weapons programme. That would have been unthinkable at the height of the Cold War, as neither the Soviet Union nor the United States would allow any of their satellite states to disturb the nuclear power balance between them. However, once the North Korean regime believed that the Soviet Union and China would no longer offer North Korea any meaningful kind or level of protection that is indeed precisely what the North Korean regime decided to do (Lenman, 2004, p.451). North Korea would continue to operate a planned economy even though that would eventually fail to adequately support its military build up and its civilian population. The North Korean government opted to keep its military infrastructure expanding rather than attempt economic reforms or adequately providing for its people (Heywood, 2003 p.137). The Soviet Union would have certainly disapproved of North Korean plans to develop its own nuclear weapons, yet the Soviet U nionââ¬â¢s influence upon North Korean military and defence policies had waned long before its own disintegration in 1991 (Gaddis, 2005, p.264). North Korea arguably became a threat to the peace and stability of the North East Asia region due to the nature and character of its hard line Stalinist regime. Kim Il Sung was a Marxist dictator in the mode of Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. However for the majority of the Cold War period the North Korean threat was seen to be much less pronounced to the non-communist parts of the North East Asia region than the more obvious threats of the Soviet Union and China (Gaddis, 2005, p.60). Kim Il Sungââ¬â¢s craving for power meant that North Korea dedicated and continues to dedicate a large percentage of its national budget and resources towards internal repression and building up its military strength to threaten the other countries of the North East Asia region. However, North Koreaââ¬â¢s conventional weapons would not be enough to successfully invade South Korea whilst the United States continues to offer full protection against such attacks, even if their purchase had almost bankr upted the Pyongyang regime (Castleden, 2005, p.303). Despite the faltering of the North Korean economy in the last two decades or so, Pyongyang seems to be more interested in threatening South Korea and Japan with nuclear weapons and ballistic weapons than feeding its own population. Although North Korea should be wary of what happened to its erstwhile ally, the Soviet Union whose excessive and unsustainable military expenditure played a major part in its eventual collapse (Tipton, 1998, p.434). However, although the North Korean regime decided to start its nuclear weapons programme that decision violated North Koreaââ¬â¢s formal and legal pledges not to proliferate its own nuclear weapons. North Korea had signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and had joined the IAEA, which meant that it was not supposed to start its own nuclear weapons programme at all (Evans Newnham, 1998 p. 68). For the North Koreans there were other examples of small and large sized states that had already broken their promises and legal commitments not to develop their own nuclear weapons. Those states nuclear weapons programme with varying degrees of reaction from the official nuclear powers of the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, China, and France. Countries such as Israel, India, and Pakistan have gone on to successfully acquire their own nuclear weapons with little or no action been taken against them to make them give up those devices. The North Korean regime understood that it c ould develop nuclear weapons with the possiblity that the United Nations and the leading powers would not be able to take any effective action to take those weapons off North Korea (Fukuyama, 2006 p. 80). Chapter One North Korean defence and foreign policy misrepresented or a threat to peace and security? Since the foundation of North Korea as a separate nation state its defence and foreign policies have been geared towards the re-unification of Korea on Pyongyangââ¬â¢s terms, rather than South Koreaââ¬â¢s terms (Rayner Stanley, 2006, p.234). As far as the North Korean regime of Kim Il Sung was concerned the re-unification of Korea was not an issue that should concern any other countries apart from North and South Korea themselves. It was the context of the Cold War that complicated the strategic, military and diplomatic situation concerning the dispute between North and South Korea about which country should over power the other to dominate a re-unified Korean state. In military terms North Korea is the strongest, in economic terms South Korea is the strongest (Tipton, 1998, 434). On the one hand the assistance of China and the Soviet Union was useful for the economic development of North Korea and also as a means of building up the countryââ¬â¢s military power. On the othe r hand the Cold War meant that the United States was more alert about the need to protect the countries in the North East Asia region that were opposed to communism, like Japan, South Korea and South Vietnam (Gaddis, 2005, p.60). The Cold War meant that the United States was unwilling to allow any more parts of North East Asia to fall under communist rule. After all the presence of United States forces in Japan had allowed the United Nations forces to resist Kim Il Sungââ¬â¢s invasion of South Korea. North Vietnam would eventually overcome South Vietnam despite the best efforts of the United States, yet the terrain of Vietnam was different from that of Korea and the North Vietnamese had better military tactics than the North Koreans (Hobsbawm, 1994, p.228). Whilst the Cold War continued, North Korea was not seen as the main threat to peace and security in the North East Asia region, superpower rivalry meant that the Soviet Union and the United States mistrusted each other more th an they mistrusted any other state. China would also emerge as a major power within the region, one that eventually took independent policy decisions from those of the Soviet Union. The United States government however, remains wary of North Koreaââ¬â¢s intentions towards the rest of the North East Asia region (Gaddis, 2005, p.61). The peace and security of the North East Asia region altered during the 1960s, not as a result of changes in the Cold War, but as a result of alterations in the relationship between North Korea, China, and the Soviet Union. The regime of Kim Il Sung had not wished for North Korea to be reliant upon either China or the Soviet Union as soon as the country had recovered from the Korean War and had become economically self sufficient. By the mid 1960s the North Korean regime believed that it become self-sufficient and no longer such high levels of aid from China or the Soviet Union. Kim Il Sung wanted to maintain military links with China and the Soviet Union, yet did not wish for North Korea to be a mere client state of Beijing or Moscow. North Korea was not going to be like the majority of communist states in Central and Eastern Europe were in relation to the Soviet Union. Although of course the North Koreans did not have to worry about invasion by the Soviet Union if it took much of a n independent from Soviet policy (Castleden, 2005, p.301). North Koreaââ¬â¢s military power was originally reliant upon Chinese and Soviet built equipment and the regime could not afford weapons from any other countries outside of the communist bloc (Gaddis, 2005, p.61). Under Kim Il Sungââ¬â¢s leadership North Korea could not get away from its close economic links with the Soviet Union until the latterââ¬â¢s collapse in 1991, which in turn would have very detrimental affects upon North Korea (Watson, 1997, p.246). The strong relationship between China and the Soviet Union declined dramatically towards the end of the 1960s resulting in border clashes between the two states. The break down in the relationship between China and the Soviet Union meant North Koreaââ¬â¢s most powerful allies would spend more time arguing with each other than the United States. Pyongyang did not back either state publicly although Kim Il Sung regarded the Soviet Union as a more reliable ally, and unlike Beijing, Moscow did not occasionally make insulting comments about the North Korean leader (Watson, 1997, p.240). Whilst the North Korean economy seemed to enjoy impressive growth rates from the 1950s through to the 1970s, the country arguably did not have or develop the infrastructure or indeed have the resources to become a serious threat to peace and security in the North East Asia region. North Korean economic policy was heavily influenced by the planned economies of China and the Soviet Union, and was as unsuccessful in North Korea as they had been in China and the Soviet Union (Heywood, 2003 p. 152). Kim Il Sungââ¬â¢s regime collectivised agriculture and began the process of large-scale industrialisation. The collectivisation of agriculture commenced in 1946 when estates with Japanese owners were confiscated in the north under Soviet guidance (Tipton, 1998,p.304). Collectivisation and the modernisation of agriculture increased the life expectancy of the North Korean population. Industrialisation at least during the 1950s and 1960s appeared to be impressive. However much of that economic growth was due to the revenues raised from the export of natural resources to the Soviet Union and the receipt of aid from the Soviet Union (Watson, 1997, p.246) Economic growth could have been stronger if it had not been hampered by Kim Il Sungââ¬â¢s decision to make expenditure on the military as high as possible, and his governmentââ¬â¢s main priority. The military build up was meant to unnerve the South Korean government. In terms of total expenditure South Korea spent more on its military expenditure than North Korea. This was mainly due to North Korea being regarded as an ever-present threat to South Korean security. There were differences as to how the two countries military expenditure was regarded in the North East Asia region and beyond. South Koreaââ¬â¢s military expenditure was seen as being justified as it would deter North Korea. On the other hand, North Koreaââ¬â¢s military spending was viewed as being unjustified, aggressive and a sign of Kim Il Sungââ¬â¢s megalomania, policies that his son, Kim Jong Il has continued (Gaddis, 2005, p.61). North Korea had one major disadvantage if its regime wished to outspend South Korea in terms of their defence budgets, as they were poorer. Whilst North Korea found it difficult to find foreign investors, South Korea was able to attract very high volumes of investment, especially from the United States and Japan. South Koreaââ¬â¢s increasing levels of wealth meant it could easily match North Koreaââ¬â¢s military build up, without reducing the living standards of its population, or driving its government towards insolvency (Tipton, 1998, p.304). In terms of any future conventional war between North and South Korea, South Korea held key advantages. Firstly, the South Korean population was twice the size of its neighbour to the north, potentially allowing for its armed forces to have twice the number of personnel in war- time conditions. In 1985, South Korea was estimated to have a population of 41.2 million compared to North Koreaââ¬â¢s population of 20.1 million people (Watso n, 1997, p.262). South Korea was economically more productive and therefore wealthier than North Korea, with the latterââ¬â¢s seemingly impressive growth rates beginning to slow down by the start of the 1980s. An example of the growing disparity between the countries was the per capita income, whilst it was $790 for North Korea in 1982, it was $1,840 for South Korea in 1983. In economic terms, North Korea could not realistically afford its high levels of military expenditure, although Kim Il Sungââ¬â¢s regime was determined to carry on with spending money it believed kept the regime in power and made it a continuing danger to its capitalist neighbours (Watson, 1997, p.262). In the following decade North Korea was widely regarded as bring an increased threat to the peace and security of the North East Asia region, despite the countryââ¬â¢s economy going in to a steep decline. Whilst the North Korean regime refused to scale down its military expenditure its agricultural sector, especially suffered an alarming drop in productivity that contributed to an estimated two million North Koreans dying of starvation during the 1990s. Despite famine and economic decline the North Korean regime still used scarce resources to develop its nuclear weapons programme. North Korea barely increased its economic productivity during the 1990s and was by then considerably poorer than South Korea. To give a stark contrast, South Korean per capita gross domestic product (GDP) reached an impressive $13, 700, whilst North Korean GDP languished at $900. It was a paradoxical situation in which, although the North Korean regime could increasingly threaten its neighbours with miss iles and nuclear weapons, yet it would eventually need emergency aid from those countries to prevent more of its own population starving to death (Pipes, 2001, p.152). On paper at least, North Korea has impressive conventional military strength with around 3,500 tanks and 2,500 armoured personnel carriers, whilst the army had 950,000 troops. The North Korean air force has 590 combat aircraft, whilst the navyââ¬â¢s 88 submarines could pose a serious threat to shipping in the North East Asia region in the event of a future war. However it is the potential development and possible of nuclear weapons that causes a greater concern than North Koreaââ¬â¢s conventional arsenal (Whitakerââ¬â¢s 2007, pp.893-94). South Korea has smaller armed forces yet still has a standing army 560,000 strong and 2,330 main battle tanks. South Korea would no doubt have to increase those numbers if 94, 450 Americans were not based in South Korea (Whitakerââ¬â¢s 2007 p. 895). However, it was not just North Koreaââ¬â¢s strength in terms of conventional weapons that means it is regarded as being a threat to peace and security in the North East Asia region. The United States government has long suspected that North Korea has played a part in sponsoring and supporting terrorism within the North East Asia region and indeed further afield. The suspicions of the United States have been founded upon the anti-American rhetoric that the North Korean regime its content to produce from time to time (Gaddis, 2005, p.261). South Korea had previously accused North Korea of trying to undermine internal stability by supporting dissident South Korean groups and calling for the re-unification of Korea (Tipton, 1998, p.304). North Korea was one of the countries that the administration of Ronald Reagan denounced as being terrorist states back in 1985. The Reagan administration viewed North Korea as being a risk to international peace and security within and beyond the Nort h East Asia region (Ward, 2003, p.349). North Korea did not have any moral or political hang ups about selling weapons such as assault rifles to other countries that found it hard to acquire weapons due to arms embargoââ¬â¢s or sanctions. For instance, North Korea sold surplus Soviet manufactured assault rifles to Iran during the early years of the Iran-Iraq War. Such arms sales may have contributed to the United States accusing North Korea of being a terrorist state. The North Koreans could have countered that these claims were hypocrisy on the part of the American government that sold a much greater volume of weapons to any state or organisation that was anti-Communist, or if it suited the United States interests to do so. Hypocrisy that was demonstrated by the Iran ââ¬âContra Affair in which the money from arms sales to Iran was used to fund the Contra forces in Nicaragua (Fisk, 2006, p.278). North Korea also supplied ballistic missiles to the Iranians and even sent engine ers to Iran to ensure those missiles successfully reached Iraqi targets, especially Baghdad. The willingness of the North Koreans to sell missiles to the highest bidders certainly increased concerns about Pyongyang posing a threat to peace and security (Fisk, 2006, p.281). Surveillance and interceptions of cargo ships have provided evidence that North Korea will sell weapons to terrorist organisations as well as any state that can afford them. For instance, the Spanish navy intercepted a North Korean merchant ship that was officially taking cement to South Yemen. Once aboard that ship the Spanish found ballistic missiles that could have been used by the terrorist group that had brought those missiles. The Middle East is a volatile region at the best of times, so the ability of North Korea to supply ballistic missiles to governments and terrorists groups in that region is another concern for the United States and other Western countries (Davies, 2003 p. 238). It was during the early 1990s that the prospect of North Korea carrying out a successful nuclear weapons programme became the cause of major international concern. In the United States, the administration of President Bill Clinton was determined to persuade the North Korean regime to halt that nuclear weapons programme peacefully by preference, or by force if necessary (Clinton, 2004 p. 561). Aside from the United States, South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan were, and still are the countries that are most anxious to prevent North Korea acquiring and keeping nuclear weapons. Britain and France have also been involved in international efforts to prevent North Korea acquiring nuclear weapons as members of the United Nations Security Council, and as signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (Evans Newnham, 1998 p. 381). South Korea and Japan are particularly anxious and insecure about North Koreaââ¬â¢s attempts to produce nuclear weapons because they would be the most obvi ous targets if North Korea ever decided to use nuclear weapons. That anxiety is increased because the South Koreans and the Japanese are well aware that the North Koreans have the technical capacity to fit nuclear warheads to its force of ballistic missiles that can reach all the major cities in South Korea and Japan. China is also anxious that the nuclear weapons programme of North Korea does not provoke a military confrontation between North Korea and the United States that would bring widespread destruction and shatter the peace and stability of the North East Asia region. China remains keen to continue its impressive economic growth rates and also hopes to maintain political stability in the region, a stability that North Korea has a strong propensity to disrupt. China is therefore willing to act as a go between to prevent conflict arising between the United States and North Korea that would be very damaging to the North East Asia region as a whole (Cheek, 2006 p. 136). That als o means that China is willing to back the efforts of the United States, South Korea, and Japan to reduce the North Korean threat to peace and security (The Guardian, February 14 2007). Russia, as the main successor state to the Soviet Union, on the other hand has attempted to maintain strong economic, military, and economic links with North Korea. Those links leave Kim Jong Il hoping North Korea has more leeway in its disputes with the United States and the United Nations over its plans to acquire nuclear weapons. Whilst Russia is caught between promoting its economic links with North Korea without harming its relationship with the United States that improved with the latterââ¬â¢s war on terror in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, it would normally put its relationship with the United States first. The Russians and North Koreans remain keen upon maintaining a strong relationship between each other, although that is based on pragmatism rather than a common ideological outlook. Whilst the Russian government believes that like the Chinese government it could help resolve the international disputes that currently mean that North Korea is regarded as been a threat to pea ce and security in North East Asia region (Meir, 2004 p. 417). North Koreaââ¬â¢s defence and foreign policy was seen and remains seen as a serious and increasing threat to the peace and security of the North East Asia region because of the nature of the Pyongyang regime itself. That is due to Kim Il Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong Il concentrating upon the maintaining of their personal hold on power. That hold on power is through a strong military with undoubted loyalty to the national leader, and via a system of forced labour and prison camps that detain political dissidents or opponents of the regime. The regimeââ¬â¢s internal position is also protected and promoted through a cult of personality for Kim Il Sung and now Kim Jong Il that rivals other cults of personalities witnessed in other communist regimes. It most closely resembles the cults of personality experienced in the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, or China under Chairman Mao Zedong, especially during the tumultuous period of the Cultural Revolution (Castleden, 2005 p. 301). The North Korean regime during Kim Il Sungââ¬â¢s lifetime not only managed to copy Chinese and Soviet propaganda techniques; the North Koreans also managed to emulate their purges. Such pronounced levels of dictatorship have always managed to make the United States suspicious of North Korean intentions. The South Koreans and the Japanese tend to reinforce American concerns over the de-stabilising effects of North Korean defence and foreign policies. The South Koreans and the Japanese therefore have fears for their safety as without an American military presence in the North East Asia region they would not be
UK Social Enterprises for Sustainability
UK Social Enterprises for Sustainability Abstract Social enterprise is a dynamic and sustainable business model of choice which is able to bring social, economic and environmental benefits to the UK. It operates across all sectors of the economy, serving individuals in the private, public and third sectors. Through out this research will identify the increase levels of understanding of the role and value of Social Enterprise, given that a lack of understanding of the role and value of social enterprises was cited as a major barrier to the acceleration of the use of the business model. I will further state that social enterprises compete in the marketplace like any other business, but they use their business skills to achieve social aims. The purpose of this research will identify the key barriers faced by Social Enterprise and explore how these barriers have/could potentially be overcome to achieve sustainability. There is also a need to recognise that some social enterprise activity will need an element of finance through public fu nds, particularly because they are operating in areas of market failure or a non-commercial market such as providing services to vulnerable people, including supported employment in many cases. This paper is intended to create an environment which will lead to opportunities for social enterprise to grow successfully in the future. Chapter 1: Introduction A brief overview of social enterprise is introduced in the first chapter. Then, the purpose of the study will be next discussed which will end with a specific research question. In the end of this chapter the contribution of this research and limitation of the study are also presented. 1.1 A Brief Overview of Social Enterprise Social enterprises are organisations that supply goods and services as part of the social economy sector; this group constitutes a collection of organisations that exist between the traditionally private and public sectors and has a stronger relationship with the Community and Non-profit sector. This sector has a key role to play in achieving many of its goals, including overcoming social injustice and exclusion Todays completive business world defining social enterprise is a challenging task, according to OECD (1999, p.10) ââ¬Å"there is no universal, commonly accepted definition of Social Enterprise.â⬠However, the OECD (1999, p.10) has defined social enterprise as: ââ¬Å"any private activity conducted in the public interest, organised with an entrepreneurial strategy but whose main purpose is not the maximisation of profit but the accomplishment of certain economic and social goals, and which has a capacity of bringing innovative solutions to the problems of social exclusion and unemploymentâ⬠. Social enterprises are becoming a recognised part of the local and national economy in the UK, and the organisations operating in this sector are aware that becoming sustainable businesses is the path to independence both financially and in mission. However, social enterprises, in common with many small businesses, find growth difficult, and this could impact negatively on their sustainability. These should be supported and encouraged to grow both as a sector and as individual organizations so as to become more sustainable organizations. 1.2 Purpose of the Study My paper has been developed to explore how the term social enterprise has acquired meaning in England and to illustrate how practitioners, policymakers and academics influence each other in the development of new sustainable ideas, given that a lack of understanding of the role and significance of social enterprises was cited as a major barrier to the acceleration of the use of this business model. These challenges come in many forms. Some are the same as those affecting any other business including access to business support and finance, a lack of affordable premises and finding skilled staff. However, social enterprises also face one huge barrier that seriously affects their ability to assume a position within the market. That barrier is a lack of understanding of how social enterprises work and of their potential value. This lack of understanding exists across the public, private and voluntary and community sectors. The confusion and conflict about what the model could or should be for results all too often in misrepresentation and exaggeration of its potential, fragmentation in the provision of support and real and perceived barriers to accessing contracts and mainstream funding opportunities. So my dissertation will identify the key barriers faced by Social Enterprise and explore how these barriers have/could potentially be overcome in order to achieve sustainability. It examines critical incidents that have shaped the meaning of social enterprise in England and reflects on these incidents to draw conclusions about the future sustainable development of social enterprise practice. Through out this paper I will also examine the potential conditions for the growth of social enterprise through a set of outline scenarios. The aim is to inform both policy-making and the wider debate about social enterprise: what its potential might be and how that potential can be realised in different settings. So my research question is: To explore how the social enterprise is potential for sustainability in the UK. 1.3 Limitations of the Study: During conducting the research I came across certain limitations and among them the foremost one is time constrain. The interviewed person could not provide all necessary information due to lack of time. The research timeline also reveals that time constrain was actually a barrier as there was plenty to find about this research topic. A huge portion of the report is based on primary data collected through interviews which is very lengthy process. The key point here is that social enterprise cannot be identified solely by legal form or pre-set categories. Social enterprises can often see themselves as belonging to more than one category, leading to problems of double counting. For example, a social enterprise may be a charity registered with the Charities Commission or an ââ¬Ëexempt charity which is also an Industrial and Provident Society. There is also much variation in the categories which have been used in studies to date, making aggregation and comparison very difficult. 1.4 Structure of the Report: This research is divided into five chapters: the first chapter is an introduction with purpose and limitation of the study. In the second chapter, literature based review of definitions of social enterprise, roots of social enterprise, discussion relevant to the sustainability of social enterprise, the nature of their contribution and their sponsors and sources of funding. The third summarises the background information of social enterprise in the UK and the fourth and fifth chapter contain the methodology and the summary of the main findings of the study with implications for policy. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter will give an overview of literature and models that are related to the research problem presented in the previous chapter. This chapter will introduce the roots and concepts of social enterprise in order to give a clear idea about the research area. 2.1 Roots of social enterprise Scott specified (Market, Schmarket : Building the Post-Capitalist Society,2006, p50) ââ¬Å"The roots of social enterprises and community enterprise overall can be found in the mutual, self help and co-operative sector which goes back, in the UK, at least to the Fenwick Weavers in Ayrshire 1769 and Dr William King of Brighton in the 1820s (Trimingham, 2007), with earlier antecedents.â⬠Within the development of this movement there has always been an important strand which has focused on the local community-based nature of these organisations and also on the economic development of poorer communities including the need to maintain paid work. For example between the two world wars, local community activists such as Harry Cowley campaigned for housing and work for returning service people and support for small local businesses. He organised marches to demand public works ââ¬Ëjob creation programmes from the local council for unemployed people with some success. 2.3 General Discussion on Social Enterprise Social Enterprises combine the need to be successful businesses with social aims. This is a competitive business, owned and trading for a social purpose. They seek to succeed as businesses by establishing a market share and making a profit and emphasise the long-term benefits for employees, consumers and the community. Bob Doherty and John Thompson mentioned in the journal ââ¬ËThe diverse world of social enterprise stories (p.362) that social enterprises are organizations which are seeking business solutions to social crisis. These are needed to be differentiated from other socially-oriented organizations. These also need to take initiatives that can promote to communities but which are not wanting or seeking to be ââ¬Å"businessesâ⬠. In this esteem these latter organizations remain dependent on endowments and donations rather than build up true paying customers. According to DTI report A Progress Report on Social Enterprise: A Strategy for Success (2003, p.6), social enterprise is such a business which reinvests its surpluses in the business or in the community rather than increases profit for shareholders or owners. Peter Drucker argues that social entrepreneurs ââ¬Å"change the performance capacity of societyâ⬠(Gendron, 1996, p. 37) while Henton et al. (1997: p.1) speak of ââ¬Ëcivic entrepreneurs as ââ¬Å"a new generation of leaders who forge new, powerfully productive linkages at the intersection of business, government, education and communityâ⬠. Ali B. Somers (Shaping the balanced scorecard for use in UK social enterprises, p.46) stated ââ¬Å"Social enterprise emphasise creating social and/or environmental value at all stages of their production process, as an intrinsic part of their identityâ⬠. Figure:1 describes the production process of social enterprise. Inputs Production Process Outputs: Goods and Services Labour Employee/ Client Raw Materials: from Environmental Sources Can Include: Democratic Governance or training for employee/ client Base Goods and services sold to market: Economic Profit, Social Profit and Environmental Profit Economic Profit flows back to Social Enterprise and Ethical Investors Social and Environmental profit flow to Community Indicates environmental and social motives affect production Figure: 1 Production of Social Enterprise Source: Somers, A.B., 2005. Shaping the balanced scorecard for use in UK social enterprises. Social Enterprise Journal, 1(1), p.46 2.4 Discussion Relevant to the Sustainability of Social Enterprise There has been an unprecedented wave of growth in Social Entrepreneurship globally over the last ten years (Bornstein 2004, pp.3-6). For Example, as part of the 2004 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report a survey was conducted of social entrepreneurship activity in the UK; these data suggested that new ââ¬Ësocial start-ups are emerging at a faster ate than more conventional, commercial ventures (Harding and Cowling, 2004, p.5) There are three sides to sustainability in business activity: environment, economy and community. When aiming for sustainable practice all three factors must be given equal consideration from a local through to a global level. Environment Ensuring that business engages in the proper and careful use of finite resources and the management of waste so as to minimize the negative and maximize the positive impact of human activity. Economy Ensuring that business is financially viable, engages in good employment practice and is of benefit to the economy as a whole. Community Ensuring that business is overall of benefit to communities, their culture heritage and does not endanger them. Figure2: Sustainable Social Enterprise Schulyer (1998: p.3) describes social entrepreneurs as ââ¬Å"individuals who have a vision for social change and who have the financial resources to support their ideas.who exhibit all the skills of successful business people as well as a powerful desire for social changeâ⬠Greater flexibility in the use of public resources to respond to innovative community proposals, and venture investments from foundations and the private sector could be used to stimulate innovation in areas thought to be too risky for government as the sole investor. As Catford (1998, p. 96) argues that ââ¬Å"social entrepreneurswill only flourish if they are supported by the right environment, which will be created largely by governments together with the private sectorâ⬠. Social Enterprise seeks surplus generation in order to achieve financial sustainability. The need to financial sustainability is fundamental to social enterprises. Emphasizing financial sustainability in addition to profit distribution becomes a way to account for all activities the organization engages in, including advocacy and in support of bono work. Sacrificing one cause and effect chain for another can have significant implications for both the quality of work and social enterprises financial sustainability. Profit Distribution (Increase Income) Increase Revenue Use Resource Efficiently Trading Revenue Non Trading Revenue Manage Cost Track Advocacy Financial: Promote Sustainability of organization Social: Increase value to target community Whilst many may rely on combination of grant and trading income, ultimately, if an organisation is not financially sustainable, it cannot deliver its social and environmental impact. Fig3. shows how the profit of social organisation is distributed to the organization itself and community. Figure: 3 Financial Sustainability Source: Somers, A.B., 2005. Shaping the balanced scorecard for use in UK social enterprises. Social Enterprise Journal, 1(1), p.50 2.5 Policy Reform and Good Governance DTI report A Progress Report onSocial Enterprise: A Strategy for Success (2003, p.6) describes the three key goals for government as creating an enabling environment, making social enterprises better businesses and establishing the value of social enterprise. The danger in not supporting social entrepreneurship is obvious to Reis (1999: p. 4) who calls for systematic intervention to accelerate and improve philanthropic efforts. Without this he argues that substantial numbers of potential donors and social entrepreneurs could be ââ¬Å"discouraged, turned-off, and lost from philanthropy and social change workâ⬠. So, in recent years, the boundaries between the private sectors (in term of market thinking and managerial practices) have impacted the public and voluntary sectors and started to blur traditional distinctions between them (Bull, 2006, 2007). The emergence of radical business alternatives with a strong social orientation, democratic organisation, and positive attitude to profitable trading has led to formal recognition and academic scrutiny (Seanor, Bull and Ridley-Duff, 2007). Brown, H and Murphy, E (2003: p.57) mentioned on Bank of England report that ââ¬Å"Social enterprises, like all businesses, need access to a range of financial products appropriate to their activity and stage of developmentâ⬠An HM Treasury report on Enterpriseand Social Exclusion (1999, p 108) came to the conclusion, arguing that social enterprise was ââ¬Å"less understood and rarely promoted in a consistent way by the existing infrastructure for business supportâ⬠. Thompson et al. (2000: p. 328) describe ââ¬Å"people who realize where there is an opportunity to satisfy some unmet need that the state welfare system will not or cannot meet, and who gather together the necessary resources (generally people, often volunteers, money and premises) and use these to ââ¬Ëmake a differenceâ⬠. It is more useful to consider and develop social enterprise capabilities rather than skills and capacity building. The fact that social enterprises need to combine commercial objectives with social mission as well as internal governance, means that a ââ¬Å"capabilities approachâ⬠is more comprehensive. This is a useful way of recognising factors additional to individual skills that inter-play to determine the effectiveness and impact of a specific enterprise. It also moves away from limited considerations of a key person or group within the organisation, and their specific skills, towards a more holistic view of what the organisation is capable of doing, irrespective of the location of particular skills. Laville and Nyssens (2001: p 325) argue that while the origins of social enterprises are based in reciprocity and thus form part of the third system, their strength is based in their ability to tap into all three economic principles and systems. They are different from private enterprise in that their goal is not the maximization of profit to benefit owners, although they do develop market activities and generate profits. They are also different from the public sector in that they are independent from direct control by public authorities. But they benefit to a greater or lesser extent from public subsidy. Thus they mobilize market relations to sell services or goods, and can use redistributive relations by utilizing government funding to finance their services. Their long-term sustainability depends on their ability to ââ¬Ëcontinuously hybridise the three poles of the economy so as to serve the project. Their complementary use of monetary and non-monetary relations guarantees auto nomy of service based on their connections within communities and economic viability. This view of social enterprises offers an insight into their complexity in terms of the roles they must juggle and of the many forms from cooperatives, community enterprises, social firms, fair-trade companies and more that they take. Dees (1998: p.4) identifies five criteria that social entrepreneurs possess: adopting a mission to create and sustain social value; recognizing and relentlessly pursuing new opportunities to serve that mission; engaging in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation and learning; acting boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand; and exhibiting a heightened sense of accountability to the constituencies served and to the outcomes created. Catford (1998, p.97) who articulates the issues and one possible solution most eloquently: ââ¬Å"Traditional welfare-state approaches are in decline globally, and in response new ways of creating healthy and sustainable communities are required. This challenges our social, economic and political systems to respond with new, creative and effective environments that support and reward change. From the evidence available, current examples of social entrepreneurship offer exciting new ways of realizing the potential of individuals and communitiesinto the 21st centuryâ⬠. The Progress Report on Social Enterprise: A Strategy for Success(2003, p.68) concludes that there is little hard evidence to demonstrate the impact and added value of social enterprise. The report points out that one of the reasons for the lack of statistical evidence is that social enterprises create a range of social and environmental impacts, beyond their financial return (the ââ¬Ëdouble or the ââ¬Ëtriple bottom line) that are hard to measure (even by the social enterprises themselves). Limited information on their social and environmental, as well as financial, impact also means that policy makers, business support providers and finance providers find it difficult to assess the value of targeting social enterprises or of including them in their activities. 2.6 Concluding Remarks Academic writing about modern social entrepreneurship skills is relatively limited, compared to mainstream business or charities. The concept of ââ¬Ësocial enterprise has been rapidly emerging in the private, public and non-profit sectors over the last few years. Currently, the non-profit sector is facing increasing demands for improved effectiveness and sustainability in light of diminishing funding from traditional sources and increased competition for these scarce resources. At the same time, the increasing concentration of wealth in the private sector is promoting calls for increased corporate social responsibility and more proactive responses to complex social problems, while governments at all levels are struggling with multiple demands on public funds. Chapter 3: Background Information of Social Enterprise This chapter will give the idea about the social enterprise types and size in the UK along with the impact, barriers and sources of fund in this organizations. Social Enterprise in the UK The UK government has been at the front position of enabling and encouraging the increase of social enterprises as part of both welfare services delivery and community regeneration at the policy level. The impacts and influence of public, private, and citizen are empirically proven and exhibit that these conventional sectors of society are playing a part in re-evaluating the value creation opportunities offered by market (or quasi-market) mechanisms. [Brief overview of types] According to the UK policy-making community, social enterprises play a vital role in the creation of economic and social value. It has been claimed that, there were some 15,000 social enterprises in the UK SBS(2005, pp.1-2), accounting for around 1.2% of all employing enterprises in the UK. These social enterprises generate around à £18 billion in annual turnover and employ over 775,000 people (475,000 paid employees and 300,000 volunteer staff). Governments Survey and existing data for the social enterprise sector estimated that there are at least 55,000 social enterprises in the UK, with a combined turnover of à £27billion per year which is raised to over à £800 million from the preceding year. This corresponds to 2% of the UKs GDP . The number of registered charities rose from around 120,000 in 1995 to more than 164,000 in 2005, and there are also hundreds of thousands of small community groups. According to Government estimates, social enterprises account for 5% of all businesses with employees and contribute approximately à £8.4billion to GDP (HM Treasury and Cabinet Office, 2006, p.29), around 0.7% of the total economy. The data obtained from the cabinet office website in social sector showed that in the year 2003/04, 56% of third sector organisations reported an increase in activity in the previous year, and 67% of them expected activity to grow in the next three years. Positive aspects of social enterprise: Social enterprise is a varied activity and can include a range of organisations working on different scales and at different levels of trading. Some work at community level, while others work nationally. They can work in public services or commercial markets. They often work in the most disadvantaged areas and work with the most disadvantaged groups. Some organisations work only as a social enterprise while in other organisations social enterprise is often a part of their activity. This most commonly applies in a voluntary organisation or a housing association. According to Bob Doherty and John Thompson (The diverse world of social enterprise stories, p.362) the common characteristics for a Social Enterprise are: They have a social rationale and yields and surpluses are not shared out to shareholders. Reinvested profit can be used to provide training and development opportunities for staff. They use assets and capital to generate community benefit. They pursue this with (at least in part) trade in a market place. Members or employees can also take part in decision making. The enterprise is responsible to both its members and a wider society. Citizenship participation and volunteering are encouraged within the local community The social enterprise model could create new forms of entrepreneurship and employment within a community The model is ideally placed to meet new needs within a community, if supported sufficiently at start up Social Enterprises can offer goods and services to poor and disenfranchised communities The potential of a profits and revenue stream could liberate organisations from the tyranny of fundraising and grant applications Organisations could flourish effectively and creatively under this model There is either a double or triple-bottom line concept. The assumption is that the most effective social enterprises exhibit healthy financial and social returns rather than high profits in one and lower profits in the other. Social enterprise makes an important contribution to the social, economic and environmental development of Scotland. This can be summarised as follows. Fig 4: Beneficiaries of Social Enterprise Source: Social enterprise is extremely varied but, importantly, it works in a number of key priority areas for the UK economy- these include: employment and training; childcare; health; adult care services; recycling; renewable energy; transport; financial inclusion; community regeneration; and rural development. In particular, social enterprise contributes to regenerating our most deprived communities in both urban and rural areas. It often works with the people who have least opportunity in our society, including those outside the labour market, and so it has a major role to play in developing employability and supported employment and ensuring equal opportunities to those people. Social enterprise can add value to many of its activities by focusing on social, economic and environmental benefits, importantly linking these aims in a positive way, which in other business models may sometimes cause conflict. Social enterprise can offer goods and services to its customers in a flexible and innovative way. It can focus on their needs to deliver better public services. Often this is in areas where the market has failed areas where the private sector does not want to go. Social enterprise can make sure resources give value for money where a public-sector contract is needed for the activity. This includes working with very marginalised groups, where the enterprise activity helps reduce the amount of public funding needed. Through encouraging social entrepreneurship in communities, levels of public subsidy and grant dependency can be reduced. Barriers of social enterprise ââ¬Å"â⬠¦often have boards of directors or trustees who come from a voluntary sector rather than a business background. This can lead to a lack of business focus and prevent social enterprise from truly reaching their potential (DTI 2002, p.62) Several challenges remain before the full potential of the third sector can be realised. First, the Government must carry through its commitment to provide a constructive partnership with the sector and resist the temptation to treat it as one of the instruments for the marketisation of the Welfare State. Amicus, a trade union with workers in the public, private and third sectors, is concerned that an expansion of the third sector will be a ââ¬Ëstepping stone to the privitisation of the public sector (Maskell quoted in Little, 2007, p.31). Second, the majority of third sector organisations are small and under-capitalised and they are constrained in the growth aspirations by limited access to capital (Bank of England, 2003; SQW, 2007). Insufficient capital can lead to either under-investment, or a re-orientation towards market objectives in order to obtain finance, and the consequent re-prioritisation of economic over social and environmental outcomes. To enable third sector organisations to maintain the balance between economic, social and environmental outcomes, the Government must ensure that a pragmatic and realistic assessment of the financial costs of service delivery is incorporated into their policies and strategies (HM Treasury, 2006).Third, a curse of successful activities in the third sector is that they themselves are prone to being privatised and consequently turned into capitalist ventures that adopt orthodox business practices, as has been the case with the demutualisation of the Building Society movement in the UK. According to UK Government and various literatures review shows that there are mainly four significant barriers to accessing appropriate business support and finance for social enterprises throughout the region. 1. Cultural barriers between those setting up social enterprises and mainstream business advisors. 2. Lack of clarity about where to access business support at the local level, largely due to the huge diversity of routes into starting up social enterprises. 3. Limited numbers of accredited technical specialists in key business advice areas where social enterprises require specialist support, for example on legal structure, potential investors or taxation. 4. Limited sources of affordable equity and loan finance of all sizes. All of these barriers inhibit the use of available business support by social enterprise. Many of the issues are cultural, but there are also skills issues, with mainstream business advice agencies not being adequately equipped to address more technical aspects of social enterprise business development. Specialists do exist within the region but many of them are funded through short-term grant finance. This enables the free provision of services but a lack of long-term sustainability for the advice services themselves. To grow and develop social enterprise in UK, we must tackle a range of challenges and issues which have been highlighted by the research and consultation carried out to develop this strategy. Tackling these challenges, which are summarised into five key areas in this chapter, will be a major part of this strategy: Use of the social enterprise business model. Business opportunities. Finance and investment. Business support for social enterprise. Raising the profile and demonstrating value. Sources of Finance The key factor in an enterprises development is access to appropriate sources of finance. Social enterprises are more likely than SMEs to have been rejected for finance, although the majority of those rejected by one lender appear subsequently to be successful with another. In addition, a large minority of social enterprises perceive access to external finance as a major barrier to expansion, including some of those that have successfully accessed finance in the past. While there is no one, clear reason to account for the higher rejection rates among social enterprises than SMEs, this report explores possible contributory factors, which
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Ceasar Charater Analysis :: essays research papers
Character Analysis Antony- What Cassius says about Antony: "You know not whatâ⬠¦that which he will utter?" Pg. 582 lines 233-236. This shows that the conspirators are afraid of what Antony will say in his oration to the mob. Cassius is trying to make Brutus see what Antony is really up to, but Brutus is too caught up in honor to notice. What Antony does: He speaks to the crowd making them feel sorry for him, ashamed of themselves, and hate the conspirators. He causes them to go into an angry rage in scene 3. What Antony feels: "O pardon me thouâ⬠¦gentle with these butchers." Pg. 582 lines 254-236. Antony has made a deal with the conspirators that have killed his best friend. This quote is after the conspirators have left, and he is talking to the corpse of Caesar. He spills his true intentions and gives word of his counter conspiracy. He feels that even though the men are honorable, that they have butchered a man that could have been reasoned with and brou ght out of what it was he did wrong. What Antony says: "Let each man render me his bloody handâ⬠¦My credit now stands on such slippery ground that one of two bad ways you must conceit meâ⬠¦." Pg. 580 lines 184-194 He leads the conspirators on to trust him, when in fact, he wants to be able to speak to the mob. He uses a vicious pun so that he knows what he is talking about, but the conspirators think that he is simply talking about the blood on the ground being slippery. Caesar- What Caesar says: "Et tù Brute? Then fall Caesar!" Pg. 577 line 77 Caesar is shocked that Brutus, his most loyal friend would do this. His mask comes off at this point and shows his personal face. Throughout the play, he has put himself as an arrogant official, and only when he is around his friends does he show his true identity. This is so important because marks the point when Caesarââ¬â¢s spirit enters Antonyââ¬â¢s revenge. The play comes to its climax in this lin e. What Caesar does: Caesar refuses to let Publius Cimber back into Rome. He, in a way, kills himself by the way he responds. He puts himself up as a god-like man and almost says he is in control of his own destiny. This gives the conspirators final reason to kill him, and they do.
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Rosa Parks :: essays research papers
Rosa Parks Rosa parks was born on February 4,1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. She was a civil rights leader. She attended Alabama State College, worked as a seamstress and as a housekeeper. Her father, James McCauley, was a carpenter, and her mother, Leona (Edward's) McCauley was a teacher. Rosa P. had one younger brother named, Sylvester. Her family lived in Tuskegee. When Rosa was two years-old her parents split up and she, her mother, and her brother moved to her grandparents farm in Nearby Pine Level, Alabama. Her grandparents were one of the few black families who owned their own land, rather than work for someone else. Although they were poor, they were able to raise enough food for all. During the first half of this century for all blacks living in America skin color affected every part of their lives. The South in particular was very racist. Slavery had been abolished only by some fifty years earlier, and blacks were still hated and were feared by whites because of skin color. Jim Crow had a law "separate but equal." The Supreme Court ruled in 1896, that equal protection could not mean separate but equal facilities. Blacks were made to feel inferior to whites in every way. They were restricted in their choices of housing and jobs, were forced to attend segregated schools, and were prohibited from using many restaurants, movie theaters. Rosa Parks said, years later, "Whites would accuse you of causing trouble when all of you were doing was acting like a normal human being, instead of crining. You didn't have to wait for a lynching. You died each time you found yourself face to face with this kind of discrimination." Rosa Parks didn't like attending a poor, one-room school, with few books or supplies, not being able to stop on her way home from school to get a soda or a candybar. She hated how they were parts for blacks like restaurants, trains, and bus and even being forced to give up her seat for a white person. Rosa's mother, Leona McCau ley, worked as a teacher, and the whole family knew the value of education. Rosa attended the local black elementary school, where her mother was the only teacher. When she graduated, the family worked hard to save enough money to send her to a private school for black girls. At the age of 11 she began to attend Montgomery Industrial School for Girls.
Friday, August 2, 2019
Armstrong Helmet Company Essay
Armstrong Helmet Company manufactures a unique model of bicycle helmet. The company began operations December 1, 2013. Its accountant quit the second week of operations, and the company is searching for a replacement. The company has decided to test the knowledge and ability of all candidates interviewing for the position. Each candidate will be provided with the information below and then asked to prepare a series of reports, schedules, budgets, and recommendations based on that information. The information provided to each candidate is as follows. Cost Items and Account Balances $ Administrative salaries 15,500 Advertising for helmets 11,000 Cash , December 1 0 Depreciation ââ¬â Factory Building 1,500 Depreciation ââ¬â Office Equipment 800 Insurance ââ¬â Factory Building 1,500 Miscellaneous expenses ââ¬â Factory 1,000 Office supplies expense 300 Professional Fees 500 Property Taxes ââ¬â Factory Building 400 Raw material used 70,000 Rent on production equipment 6,000 Research & development 10,000 Sales commission 40,000 Utility Costs ââ¬â Factory 900 Wages ââ¬â Factory 70,000 Work in process ââ¬â Dec 1 0 Work in process ââ¬â Dec 31 0 Raw materials inventory, Dec 1 0 Raw materials inventory, Dec 31 0 Raw materials purchases 70,000 Finished goods inventory, Dec 1 0 Production and Sales Data Number of helmets produced 10,000 Expected sales in units for December ($40 unit sales price) 8,000 Expected sales in units for January 10,000 Desired ending inventory 20% of next monthââ¬â¢s sales Direct materials per finished unit 1 kilogram Direct materials cost $7 per kilogram Direct labour hours per unit .35 Direct labor hourly rate $20Cash Flow Data Cash collections from customers: 75% in month of sale and 25% the following month. Cash payments to suppliers: 75% in month of purchase and 25% the following month. Income tax rate: 45% Cost of proposed production equipment: $720,000 Manufacturing overhead and selling and administrative costs are paid as incurred. Desired ending cash balance: $30,000 Required: Using the data presented, do the following in your respective groups. 1) Classify the costs as either product costs or period costs using a five-column table as shown below. Enter the dollar amount of each cost in the appropriate column and total each classification. Product Costs Item Direct Materials Direct Labour Manufacturing Overhead Period Costs 2) Classify the costs as either variable or fixed costs. Assume there are no mixed costs. Enter the dollar amount of each cost in the appropriate column and total each classification. Use the format shown below. Use the format shown below. Assume that ââ¬ËUtility Costs ââ¬â Factoryââ¬â¢ are a fixed cost. Item Variable Costs Fixed Costs Total Costs 3) Prepare a schedule of cost of goods manufactured for the month of December, 2013. 4) Determine the cost of producing a helmet. 5) Identify the type of cost accounting system that Armstrong Helmet Company is probably using this time. Explain. 6) Under what circumstances might Armstrong use a different cost accounting system? 7) Compute the unit variable cost for a helmet. 8) Compute the unit contribution margin and the contribution margin ratio. 9) Calculate the break-even point in units and in sales dollars. 10) Prepare the following budgets for the month of December, 2013. a. Sales b. Production c. Direct materials d. Direct labour e. Selling and administrative expenses f. Cashg. Budgeted income statement 11) Prepare a flexible budget for manufacturing costs for activity levels between 8,000 and 10,000 units, in 1,000-unit increments.QUESTION 2 INCREMENTAL ANALYSIS (20 MARKS) Navula Company is considering the purchase of new equipment to replace the existing equipment it currently has. Details of the new equipment are tabulated below: Invoice Price $140,000 Freight Charges $ 4,000 Installation Costs $6,000 Expected useful life 5 years Salvage value 0 The new equipment is faster than the old equipment, and it is more efficient in its usage of materials. Existing equipment could be retained and used for an additional 5 years if the new equipment is not purchased and by that time the salvage value of the equipment would be zero. However, if the new equipment is purchased now, the existing machine would have to be scrapped. The current book value of the existing machine is $36,000 and the company uses the straight-line depreciation method. Navula Companyââ¬â¢s accountant has accumulated the following data below regarding annual sales and expenses with and without the new equipment. DETAILS OLD EQUIPMENT NEW EQUIPMENT Production & Sale Output 12 000 units Increase by 10% Selling Price $100 $100 Gross Profit Rate 25% of sales 30% of sales Annual Selling Expenses $180,000 Increase by 10% Annual Administrative Expenses $100,00
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Brand Community Analysis
Brand Community Analysis As the development of communication technology and global market, the concept of Brand Community was fist defined as ââ¬Ëa specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relationships among admirers of a brandââ¬â¢ by two social scientists, Albert M. Muniz, JR and Thomas C. Oââ¬â¢Guinn (2001). This essay will firstly give a brief overview of brand community, and then point out three main characteristics and further discuss these features of brand community based on the article by Muniz and Oââ¬â¢Guinn (2001) using the supporters of Manchester United Football Club as an example.Brand community is a customer-customer-brand triad. It reflects on a collection of brand-centric social group stressing the use of brand and the relationship formed by emotion between consumers (Muniz and Oââ¬â¢Guinn, 2001). Furthermore, McAlexander, Schouten and Koenig (2002) have extended this model to the extent that brand communit y is actually a customer-centric network and aim to provide customer special brand-related consumption experience. They have also emphasized the concept of brand experience in a community.Any brand experience comes from the interaction among members, and at the same time customers also construct the meaning of the brand in the process of interaction and experience. Subsequently, by the research in the abandoned Apple Newton, Muniz and Schau (2005) found brand community can be regarded to a kind of religious affiliation. Manchester United Football Club (MUFC) is a famous professional football team founded in 1878 in England. It is the best supported in Europe (Rice, 2009) and probably the most popular football club in the world.According to the article by Cass (2007) from Daily Mail, the number of worldwide MUFC supporters was closed to 333 million in 2007. In this case, I assume the fans of MUFC all are the members of the club community and they principally consume match tickets and club-related products. Muniz and Oââ¬â¢Guinn (2001) raised 3 basic characteristics for brand community, like other traditional communities, which respectively were a shared consciousness, rituals and traditions and a sense of moral responsibility. The most important shared consciousness is group awareness.It means there is an implicit relationship between community members and members can be distinct from others. Rituals and traditions is a vital social process. Brand and the meaning of brand community with their history, culture and consciousness can be duplicated and passed on through ritual and traditions. Moral responsibility indicates that community members are responsible for each other. These 3 characteristics show the nature of brand community. For the sense of consciousness, members feel a great relation toward one another is more important than the connection to the brand (Muniz and Oââ¬â¢Guinn, 2001).That is why two main organisations for MUFC supporters in the UK, Independent Manchester United Supporters Association (IMUSA) and Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST), were established to let like-minded people join together and formed local communities. IMUSA has even set up a committee to better represent the interest and voice of supports. Supporters from all around the world can also just easily use web-based communication tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and forums like MUFC fansforum (http://community. manutd. com/forums/) to share updated news and maintain connections.On the other hand, members, ââ¬Ëalso set them apart from others and makes them similar to one anotherââ¬â¢ Muniz and Oââ¬â¢Guinn (2001) claimed, especially try to distinct them from the main competitive brand in the market. This regards to oppositional brand loyalty. In this MUFC case, the oppositional brand is its main rivalry in the Premier league located in the same city ââ¬â Manchester City Football Club (MCFC). Fans from MUFC always differentiate them against MCFC supporters. Members usually said MCFC is built by money, just an upstart and a noisy neighbour.Most of the community members despise this kind of team because they think MUFC has the glories that MCFC lack of and embodies the passion and excitement of the world's most popular sport (Hill and Vincent, 2006). Muniz and Oââ¬â¢Guinn (2001) indicated rituals and traditions focus on sharing consumption experience with the brand. Supporters sing several specific songs during the match regarding to different circumstances to encourage and cheer the team. Those songs have already become a kind of spiritual symbol of the MUFC brand, and therefore will be passed on each time they are sung in matches.Celebrating the history of the brand is crucial for maintaining community and reproducing culture (Muniz and Oââ¬â¢Guinn, 2001). For the MUFC community, the most vital history is the trophies they gained. After MUFC won their 19th English top league title last season, the Barclay s Premiership Trophy Cup was being demonstrated around the world for the whole summer in 2011. This tour is not only presenting the precious trophy cup to supporters but also a promotion of the great history of MUFC to further raise reputation and attract new members.Sharing brand stories is another important means of maintaining and creating community (Muniz and Oââ¬â¢Guinn, 2001). MUFC fans always mention either face to face or on internet about the classic victory of the champion league final in 1999 in Munich. This can be related to viral marketing by which positive image and consciousness of the brand and community can be delivered through word of mouth or improved by the internet network effects. ââ¬ËThe sense of moral responsibility is what produces collective action and contributes to group cohesionââ¬â¢ Muniz and Oââ¬â¢Guinn (2001) said.There are two traditional shared missions: intergrading and retaining members and assisting members in the proper use of the br and. Firstly, it is crucial to retain existing members and obtain new ones. The fundamental way for MUFC to save and fascinate supporters is to keep winning. Getting consistent good record and reputation will really help the brand to attract and retain members. MUFC also gives discount to the existing official members to renew their membership and buy season tickets in the following year. Thus members can gain benefit from their loyalty.Secondly, moral responsibility also provides assistant normally in problem solving and shares brand-related information. For instance, members share transport information in away games on fansforum. In conclusion, the notion of brand community has been extended in recent years and become a usual marketing phenomenon. The three key characteristics represent the essence of brand community and each of them has its own manifestation. Due to the improvement of communication way, members of brand community are more convenient to communicate and the brand i s also easier to build connection with customers and create brand communities.Looking to the future, I believe brand community will become a crucial and staple marketing strategy. Reference: Cass, Bob (2007). ââ¬Å"United moving down south as fanbase reaches 333 millionâ⬠. Daily Mail (London: Associated Newspapers); 15 December 2007. Manchester United official fansforum: http://community. manutd. com/forums/t/84281. aspx Manchester United Membership benefit: http://www. manutd. com/en/One-United/Member-Benefits. aspx McAlexander, J H, Schouten , J W, and Koenig , H F. Building brand community[J ] . Journal of Marketing; Jan 2002; 66, 1; ABI/INFORM Global p. 8 Muniz Albert M. Jr. and Thomas C. Oââ¬â¢Guinn (2001), Brand Community, Journal of Consumer Research; March 2001; 27, 4; ABI/INFORM Global p. 412 Muniz Albert M. Jr. and Schau, H J. (2005), Religiosity in the Abandoned Apple Newton Brand Community, Journal of Consumer Research; Mar 2005; 31, 4; ABI/INFORM Global p. 737 Rice, Simon (6 November 2009). ââ¬Å"Manchester United top of the 25 best supported clubs in Europeâ⬠. The Independent (London: Independent Print). Vincent, John, Hill, John S. (2006) Globalisation and sports branding: the case of Manchester United.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)