Higher Education Marketing Mix

CHAPTER 3 MARKETING’S ROLE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 3. 1 INTRODUCTION Chapter 2 introduced some of the major changes and trends that have taken place in the higher education environment both internationally and locally. Although higher education institutions can be classified as non-profit organisations, the challenges discussed in Chapter 2 necessitate higher education institutions to take on the organisation-like behaviour of profit organisations and to become more marketingoriented.An understanding of the environment in which higher education institutions operate, provides an essential background against which to understand and assess the benefits of focusing on students as customers. If higher education institutions understand the landscape in which they operate, they can begin to plan to serve the market effectively and efficiently with their marketing strategy. Being marketingoriented requires that organisations have knowledge on external forces (as explained in Chapter 2), b ut also knowledge on customers’ needs and wants (to be addressed in Chapter 4).It is against this backdrop of changes in the environment, such as the decrease in government funding and the increase in competition, that the need for marketing in higher education can be seen. In order to survive and to develop a sustainable competitive advantage in a changing higher education landscape, higher education institutions should satisfy the needs of their customers by adding value. Institutions should provide more benefits to their customers than competitors if they want to stay competitive.In the competitive environment in which higher education institutions operate (refer to Chapter 2), enhanced customer satisfaction may be one of the ways in which institutions can create and sustain a competitive advantage. This can be achieved with the effective application of the marketing mix elements. Marketing, and more specific a market-orientation, can provide a detailed understanding of th e needs of ustomers and ensure that higher education institutions address the needs in as – 73 – efficient and comprehensive manner as possible. In short, higher education institutions need to set marketing objectives and formulate a marketing strategy. Given the market-oriented focus and importance of the marketing mix elements, the main focus of this chapter will be on higher education institutions’ formulation and implementation of the elements of the services marketing mix.This chapter will explore the literature available on the changing role of marketing, the marketing concept, market- and marketing-orientation, consumer behaviour and the integration of all the units of a higher education institution to formulate a service product strategy, price strategy, distribution strategy, communication strategy, people strategy, physical evidence strategy and process strategy in order to meet the needs of students. 3. 2 THE CHANGING ROLE OF MARKETING Marketing plays a major role in any organisation and is viewed by Lamb et al. 2004:5) as a process that starts with identifying customer groups, finding out about their needs and wants, matching what the organisation can offer with what the customer wants and then effectively communicating and selling it to the customer. Although the primary aim of marketing is to satisfy the needs of customers, it involves a cluster of activities such as product/service innovation, design, development, distribution, advertising, selling and how the product/service is acquired and used by the customer.Machado and Cassim (2002:2) regard marketing as the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational objectives. Mowen (1995:7) states that the importance of understanding consumer behaviour is found in the definition of marketing as a human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants t hrough a human exchange process. Effective marketing requires a higher education institution to identify their target audiences, understand them, and communicate with them as directly and interactively as possible (Laurer, 2006).According to Shoemaker (1999), marketing is the proactive management of the relationship between a higher education institution and its various – 74 – markets by using the tools of marketing: service product, place, price, promotion, process, people and physical evidence. Marketing’s greater contribution lies in its ability to facilitate the exchange process that takes place between the non-profit organisation such as the higher education institution, and each of the customer groups it addresses (Sargeant, 2005:295).Marketing can provide a detailed understanding of the needs of such customers and ensure that the institution addresses these needs in as efficient and comprehensive manner as possible. This understanding of customers’ needs can aid organisations in creating and sustaining a competitive advantage. Lynch and Baines (2004:171) found that higher education institutions’ sustainable competitive advantages are usually based on superior knowledge, reputation, innovation or architectural related advantages.However, marketing is not stagnant and over the years the marketing activities of organisations have changed. Kolter (2003) and Strydom, Jooste and Cant (2000:10) identify four stages that strongly influence the evolution of organisations’ marketing activities. These stages are referred to as production, sales, marketing and societal marketing. The production orientation focuses on the internal capabilities of the organisation rather than the needs of the market, while a sales orientation is based on the premise that people will buy more if aggressive sales techniques are used.Both of these orientations lack a customer focus. Organisations realise the importance of marketing and building long-term relationships with their customers; thus, a marketing orientation. The societal marketing orientation builds on the marketing orientation but adds that customer value must be delivered in such a way that it maintains or improves the society’s wellbeing. According to Kotler and Fox (1995:11), there are also definite stages in the evolution of marketing in higher education.The focus has moved from â€Å"marketing is unnecessary† to â€Å"marketing is promotion† to â€Å"marketing is positioning† to the stage where in some cases marketing is seen as part of strategic planning for higher education institutions. Law (2002:4) is of the opinion that higher education institutions in South Africa are moving from â€Å"marketing is promotion† to more emphasis on positioning and strategic planning. This stage is also described as the â€Å"marketing company† era. The marketing – 75 – ompany era is characterised by short- and lon g-term marketing planning and the whole organisation’s efforts are guided by the marketing concept (Perreault & McCarthy 2002:34). The marketing concept is a management philosophy with the basic premises that an organisation needs to research the needs and wants of customers and then produce products or services that will satisfy these needs and wants (Strydom, Jooste & Cant, 2000:12; and Kohli & Jaworski, 1990:467). The marketing concept will be explained in the next section. 3. 3 THE MARKETING CONCEPTChurchill and Peter (1998:12) describe the implementation of the marketing concept as an organisation that satisfies customer needs and wants as a means to achieve their own objectives. Although it seems simple, it is complex in the sense that changes within the economic, social, political and technological environment, as discussed in Chapter 2, constantly leads to changing customer needs and wants. Lamb et al. (2004:17) state that institutions who want to survive in the futur e will have to be customer-focused, market-driven, global in scope and flexible in its ability to deliver superior value to ustomers whose preferences and expectations change continuously. Foxall and Goldsmith (1998:7) feel that consumer orientation stems from an organisation’s adoption and implementation of the marketing mix (price, service product, promotion, place, people, process, physical evidence), but adds that the adoption and implementation of the marketing concept has four major implications: †¢ The success of any organisation depends above all on the consumers and what they are willing to accept and pay. †¢ The organisation must be aware of what the market wants, preferably well before production commences. Consumer wants must be continually monitored and measured so that, through service product and market development, the organisation keeps ahead of competitors. †¢ Top management must achieve the integration of all the components of the marketing s trategy into a single strategic plan, based on knowledge of consumer behaviour. – 76 – Mowen (1995:4) underlines the importance of the marketing concept by stating that the marketing concept embodies the view that an industry is a customer satisfying process, not a goods producing process.An industry begins with the customer and its needs, not a patent, raw material, or selling skill. The general acceptance of the concept that an organisation functions to fulfil consumers’ needs and wants, through understanding their exchange partner (customers), makes the study of consumer behaviour, and thus this study, essential. Mowen (1995:5) and Churchill and Peter (1998:13) agree that the basic idea of the marketing concept is to give the customers what they want.However, consumers are not always sure of their wants or what they are being offered, and are much more open to persuasion than is commonly acknowledged by the marketing concept. The marketing concept is based on four basic principles: consumer orientation or the target market; long-term maximisation of profitability or another measure of long-term success, total organisation effort, and social responsibility (Kotler, 2003:20 and Perreault & McCarthy, 2002:34). The four principles of the marketing concept will be briefly explained below. 3. 3. THE PRINCIPLE OF CONSUMER ORIENTATION Strydom et al. (2000:12) view consumer orientation as the first principle of the marketing concept, indicating that all actions should be aimed at satisfying consumer needs, demands and preferences. Although this implies that the consumer objective is to achieve total need satisfaction, it does not mean that an organisation must provide for unrealistic consumer needs. According to Kotler (2003:20), organisations have to carefully choose their target markets and then prepare a tailored marketing programme.Research conducted by Conway, Mackay and Yorke (1994:35) on higher education institutions in the United Kingdom (UK) found that more than half of the institutions did not have a customer orientation in their planning and that most institutions merely pay lip service to the variety of target markets they serve. This study will attempt to gather the necessary information to enable institutions to become more customer oriented in understanding the needs and wants of students, specifically regarding the choice factors and information sources used when selecting a university. 3. 3. THE PRINCIPLE OF INTEGRATION AND COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES – 77 – Strydom et al. (2000:14) define a system as an integrated whole – a group of related units working together to achieve a joint objective. The second principle suggests that marketing activities of a higher education institution should be closely coordinated with each other and with other functional areas such as production, finance, administration, human resources and procurement. The marketing concept has been a useful mechanism in helping to unify the independent functional areas to increase customer satisfaction.All seven marketing mix instruments (price, service product, promotion, distribution, people, process and physical evidence) should complement and reinforce one another in such a way that the student will prefer the institution’s service offerings to that of competitors. 3. 3. 3 THE PRINCIPLE OF MAXIMISING LONG-TERM SUCCESS The third principle is directed at achieving market share, return on investment and the objectives of the organisation. Marketing plans and corporate goals must be closely coordinated to ensure profitability.Maximising profitability is the primary objective of a profit-seeking organisation and can be achieved only through the consideration of consumer needs. Non-profit organisations attempt to achieve some other objective than profit. This does not mean than they are uninterested in income, as they have to generate cash to survive. However, their primary goal is non-econom ic, and for higher education institutions that is to provide education. Although there is an emergence of for-profit higher education institutions, as discussed in Chapter 2, non-profit higher education institutions also need to focus on their long-term sustainability.For-profit organisational success is measured ultimately by profitability. For non-profit organisations, measuring success is not so easy. Higher education institutions’ success can be measured in research output terms, number of students taught, student pass rate, range of qualifications of staff or even the quality of teaching. The combination of these factors makes the measurement of success difficult and can lead to conflict. For example: more students and larger classes may reduce time needed for research by staff to deliver the required research outputs.The principle of maximising long-term success is therefore more complex in higher education institutions than for for-profit organisations. Marketing is of growing importance to non-profit organisations, because of the need to generate funds in an increasingly competitive arena. Even – 78 – higher education institutions that rely on government funding must show how their work is of benefit to society and must meet the needs of their customers. 3. 3. 4 THE PRINCIPLE OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITYZikmund and D’Amico (2001:20) state that the pure marketing concept disregards environmental changes and problems and focuses on short-term customer satisfaction rather than on the long-term wellbeing of society. Involvement and concern for the environment and the society in which the marketing task is performed are typical characteristics of a strategic approach to marketing management. Organisations should therefore strive to obtain the goodwill of the society, rather than only the support of the target market. By demonstrating social responsibility, higher education institutions can earn the goodwill of the public and governme nt.This has a long-term dimension that can favourably influence the future of any institution in terms of funding and a steady supply of customers. From the discussion of the marketing concept and its principles, it is clear that by accepting the marketing concept, institutions have recognised that consumers and their behaviour has a direct bearing on the formulation of a marketing strategy – and therefore the relevance of this study. The marketing concept helps to bring focus and enables an organisation to satisfy consumers’ needs (Perreault & McCarthy, 2002:41).If higher education institutions want to be successful in today’s dynamic higher education landscape, competing for resources, support and customers, they too should adhere to principles of the marketing concept, especially being consumeroriented, when conducting their business. Applied to higher education, the marketing concept holds that higher education institutions should conduct their planning bear ing in mind and recognising that they exist primarily for the purpose of providing a service product to students. Campus activities should thus focus on satisfying the needs of students (Massad & Tucker, 2000:1-5).The philosophy of the marketing concept forms the underlying basis for an organisation’s market- and marketing-orientation. These two concepts will be briefly explained in the next section. – 79 – 3. 4 MARKET-ORIENTATION AND MARKETING-ORIENTATION Throughout the literature, the term market-orientation and marketing-orientation is used interchangeably (Payne, 1988; Kohli, Jaworski, & Kumar, 1993 and Sharp, 1991). Notice should however be taken of a small group of authors, such as Cravens, Lamb and Crittenden (1996), who argue that there are slight differences between the two concepts.However, it is not the purpose of this study to argue or investigate if there are differences between these concepts, but rather to show how the adherence to these concepts can enable higher education institutions to survive and grow (Voon, 2006:598). 3. 4. 1 MARKET-ORIENTATION Market-orientation refers to everyone in the organisation being committed to the customer and adapting in a timely way to meeting the changing needs of the customer. Market-orientation is a bias towards the market, requiring knowledge of customer needs and wants, competitors and external forces (Evans, James & Tomes, 1996:209).Kasper (2002:1047) defines a market-orientation as the degree to which an organisation and all its thinking and acting (internally as well as externally) is guided and committed to the factors determining the market behaviour of the organisation itself and its customers. Kohli and Jaworski (1990:3) define market-orientation as the activities involved in the implementation of the marketing concept. An organisation with a market-orientation determines the needs and wants of the target market and delivers the desired satisfaction more effectively and efficien tly than the competition.Thus, market-orientation extends beyond the marketing concept philosophy, as it also offers a process for delivering customer value. A market-oriented organisation understands customer preference and requirements and effectively combines and directs the skills and resources of the entire organisation to satisfy customers’ needs. According to Kasper (2002:1052), a robust market-orientation has become a strategic necessity for any service organisation due to increasing market turbulence and intensifying competition.He states that the market-orientation of an organisation can be seen as a particular position on a scale ranging from being truly market-oriented to not being market-oriented at all. Results from Kasper’s research show that a market-oriented service organisation has an open, employee-oriented, result-oriented, pragmatic, – 80 – professional, well-communicated, marketing goals-oriented, market knowledge (customers and comp etition) system with dedicated employees that know what customer focus and service means.Market forces (refer to Chapter 2) changed the landscape of higher education into a competitive environment requiring a market-orientation (Koerwer, 2001). According to Couturier (2002), reduction in government support and increase in new technologies and improved learning produce students with high expectations and this further pressurises higher education institutions to become more market-oriented. Shoemaker (1999) states that glossy brochures, catchy slogans and the existence of marketing programmes do not give higher education institutions a market-orientation.Marketorientation requires a philosophy and a culture that go deep in the organisation. This means an institution where students are involved in the service production process and where administration, faculty and support staff work together effectively. A marketorientation requires a commitment and power from top management. Shoemake r (1999) states that a market-oriented higher education institution is characterised by: †¢ A top management actively involved in providing institutional marketing leadership; †¢ A marketing process integrated to reflect, recognise and involve all institutional stakeholders; Marketing plans that are well distributed among top institutional officers; †¢ Outside marketing consultants used to build and enrich the institutional culture; †¢ Regular and structured marketing research studies of all important stakeholder areas; †¢ A marketing-oriented planning culture that includes the participation of all stakeholder areas; and †¢ Marketing evaluation systems in place to assure continuous monitoring and improvement of marketing programmes and strategies. – 81 – 3. 4. 2 MARKETING-ORIENTATIONAn organisation with a marketing-orientation adheres to the principles of the marketing concept and offer customers what they need (Perreault & McCarthy, 2002: 37). Marketing-orientation implies that the main task of a higher education institution is to determine the needs and wants of target markets and to satisfy them through the design, communication, pricing, delivery of appropriate and competitively viable programmes and services (Kotler & Fox, 1995:8). Laurer (2006) states that strategic plans of higher education institutions will have to become marketing-oriented plans.This begins with an environmental scan that determines how society is changing and then outlines how programmes, pricing and access to learning (distribution), employees (people) and process will meet these changing needs. According to Massad and Tucker (2000), higher education institutions in the United States have embraced a marketing-oriented approach to admission. They state that the trend began in the late 1970’s in the USA and is driven by increased competition and a shrinking enrolment pool. Higher education institutions in Shanghai started in 1999 to re form their policies to be more marketing-oriented (People Daily, 1999).These policies include practical plans such as providing enough residence and departmental buildings for students and lecturers, logistic service renovations, and improved logistic service quality. Several reasons exist why achieving a marketing-orientation is problematic for some higher education institutions (Sargeant, 2005:297): †¢ Conflict between management and academic interest. There is a split in the responsibility for dealing with customers between departments and an institution’s central administrative function. †¢ The lack of a strategic perspective.Courses are sometimes established and maintained for the status of the department or institution rather than where there is clear evidence of an economic viability or long-term demand. †¢ The diversity of the marketing activity. Marketing is conducted by a variety of players, such as the admissions officer, school liaison officers, res earch officer and faculties, making the coordination difficult. †¢ Academic value. Some institutions still perceive marketing as being incompatible with their education mission. – 82 – Nevertheless, higher education institutions must aim to become marketing-oriented.The market concept forms the underlying philosophy for both a market and marketingorientation. A marketing-orientation is an all-embracing concept referring to both behavioural and philosophical standing of marketing, therefore incorporating the market-orientation. Thus, for the purpose of this study, the term marketing-orientation will be used to indicate a market- and/or marketing-orientation. 3. 5 MARKETING STRATEGY AND CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR According to Hawkins et al. (2001:7), an effective marketing strategy is based on knowledge of the environment, competitors and customers.The study of customers’ needs, perceptions, aspirations, motivations, culture and decision-making processes is called co nsumer behaviour (Du Plessis & Rousseau 2005:8). Consumer behaviour serves as a basis for marketing strategy formulation. Figure 3. 1 indicates that an understanding of consumer behaviour is the basis for marketing strategy formulation and will serve as a visual guide for the remainder of this chapter. It also visually shows the integration and link between Chapter 2, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4. Figure 3. begins with the analysis of the market (Step 1) in which the organisation is operating. It requires a detailed analysis of the organisation’s capabilities, strengths and weaknesses, competition, the economical and technological forces affecting the market, and the current and potential customers in the market (refer to Chapter 2). The consumer analysis component of the first step enables an organisation to identify groups of individuals with similar needs. The identified market segments, in step two, can be described in terms of demographics, media preference and geographic loc ation.One or more of these segments are then selected as target market, based on the organisation’s capabilities relative to those of its competition, taking into account current economic and technological conditions. The organisation then decides on the desired image of the service product or brand, also known as the service product or brand position. The third step entails the marketing mix/strategy formulation. Hawkins et al. (2001:14) point out that a marketing strategy basically answers the question: How will we provide – 83 – superior customer value to our target market?The answer requires the formulation of a consistent marketing mix. Thus, the marketing strategy is formulated in terms of the marketing mix. Lamb et al. (2004:12) point out that this step involves the determining of service product features, price, communications (promotion), distribution (place), people, process and physical evidence that will provide the customer with superior value. The total service product is then presented to the target market, which constantly engages in processing information and making decisions to enhance and maintain their lifestyles.The marketing strategy (as implemented in the marketing mix) intervenes between the decision-making process of consumers (Step 4) and the outcomes/goals of an organisation. The outcomes of the organisation are determined by its interaction with the consumer decision-making process. Organisations can only succeed if consumers see a need that the organisation’s service product can address, become aware of the service product, decide that it is the best viable alternative solution, proceed to buy it, and become satisfied with the results (Hawkins et al. , 2004:22-23). The consumer decision-making process will be discussed in detail in Chapter 4.Finally, the reaction of the target market to the total service product produces an image of the service product, brand or organisation, sales (or the lack thereof), and some level of customer satisfaction among those who did purchase. As the components of the market analysis (Step 1) was discussed as part of the trends in the higher education landscape in Chapter 2 and the consumer decision-making process (Step 4) will be explained in Chapter 4, the remainder of the chapter will focus on the STP process (Step 2) and marketing strategy (Step 3) as depicted in Figure 3. . – 84 – MARKETING MIX/STRATEGY (CHAPTER 3) Service product (3. 7. 1) Price (3. 7. 2) Promotion (3. 7. 3) Place (3. 7. 4) People (3. 7. 5) Process (3. 7. 8) Physical evidence (3. 7. 9) Problem recognition (4. 7) Information search (4. 8) Alternative evaluation (4. 9) Selection and purchase (4. 10) Post-purchase process (4. 11) OUTCOME Customer Satisfaction Sales Product/brand image/organisation Source: Adapted from Hawkins, Best and Coney (2001:8). – 85 – CHAPTER 3 STP- PROCESS (CHAPTER 3) Segmentation, target market and product positioning (3. 6)CONSU MER DECISION-MAKING PROCESS (CHAPTER 4) STEP 4 CHAPTER 2 MARKET ANALYSIS (CHAPTER 2) Competitors Company Consumer Conditions CHAPTER 4 STEP 3 STEP 2 STEP 1 Figure 3. 1: Marketing strategy and consumer behaviour As the components of the market analysis (Step 1) was discussed as part of the trends in the higher education landscape in Chapter 2 and the consumer decision-making process (Step 4) will be explained in Chapter 4, the remainder of the chapter will focus on the STP process (Step 2) and marketing strategy (Step 3) as depicted in Figure 3. . 3. 6 SEGMENTATION, TARGET MARKETING AND POSITIONING (STP PROCESS) Marketing strategy formulation for organisations takes place via the process of integrating segmentation, targeting, positioning and the services marketing mix. Once organisations have segmented the market, they must determine the market potential of each segment and then select segments to target. A target market can be defined as a fairly homogeneous group of customers to w hom an organisation directs its market offering.Organisations must determine a mixture of the marketing elements that they will combine to satisfy their target market. Selecting a market-oriented strategy is referred to as target marketing. A specific marketing strategy specifies a particular target customer (Perreault & McCarthy, 2002:47). Most non-profit organisations serve several groups or publics. The two broad groups are donors, who may be individuals, trusts, companies or governmental bodies. The second group consists of their clients such as students, parents, government or employers.Often higher education institutions need to satisfy both groups and this complicates the marketing task (Lovelock & Wright, 2002:233). Students, prospective students and their families are seen as customers or consumers who must be attracted to the institution, who must be satisfied, and who must have a good experience at the institution. This will ensure that they spread positive word-of-mouth and influence other potential students to select the institution (Reich, 2004).Students can be regarded as the primary clients of higher education institutions and parents, employers and society as secondary beneficiaries. As an institution’s target market changes, new needs and trends evolve (as discussed in Chapter 2), making it necessary for institutions to rethink their position and often to reposition in order to address the new needs or trends (McGolddrick, 2000:54) This study focuses on students as a target market of institutions, as traditionally most institutions’ marketing efforts are directed at satisfying 86 – the needs of students. This study will provide insight into the demographics and choice factor importance that forms part of students decision-making behaviour, which will aid higher education institutions in understanding their target market to ensure satisfaction through implementing an appropriate marketing strategy. After segmentation and t arget marketing, organisations should position their market offerings in such a way that it is perceived to satisfy the needs of customers better than the competition. According to Hawkins et al. 2001:289), a product’s position refers to the schematic memory of a brand in relation to competing brands, products, services and stores. Brand image, a closely related concept, can be defined as the schematic memory of a brand without reference to competing brands. Strydom et al. (2000:14) regard a product’s position as the way consumers perceive a product or service in terms of its character and advantages in relation to competitors. Du Plessis and Rousseau (2003:276) state that the important underlying principle is recognising that the marketing battle today is fought in the minds of the consumer.Research shows those products or services that enjoy high awareness levels usually enjoy dominant market penetration and market share. But awareness is not enough; the service prod uct must have a meaningful position in the mind of the consumer and stand for something of value to the consumer. Mowen (1995:18) defines product differentiation as the process of positioning the product by manipulating the marketing mix so that customers can perceive meaningful differences between a particular brand and competing brands.A highly differentiated brand may have strong competitive advantages, because it is easily recognisable as being different from competitors. Institutions need to know how they and their service products are positioned in the student’s mind. The stimuli that institutions employ, such as advertising or sponsorships, can influence the service product’s interpretation and thus its position. Hawkins et al. (2001:289) is of the opinion that organisations frequently fail to achieve the type of service product image or position they desire, because they fail to anticipate or test the consumer’s reaction.These positions have developed an d evolved over time. Therefore, the message received from the organisation must be consistent or change in a deliberate manner to reflect or alter a desired change in brand position. – 87 – Strydom et al. (2000:134) state that organisations must position their brands so that they are perceived to satisfy the needs of the target market better than competitors’ offerings. The institution must develop a unique appeal for the brand in the consumer’s mind and position the brand as filling a particular need of the consumer.Berman and Evans (2001:122) point out that through positioning, institutions devise their strategy in a way that projects an image relative to the institution’s category and its competitors, and elicits consumers’ responses to their image. Sargeant (2005:322) notes that positioning can also have a profound impact on the success or failure of fundraising initiatives and attempts to work closely with commerce and industry. Those h igher education institutions that are perceived as being either of high quality or as unique in some way, are likely to have the greatest success in these areas.Law (2002:3) states that it is important for institutions to distinguish themselves from competitors in terms of values that are important to the student. Therefore, higher education institutions need to develop a clear position that can be stated simply, effectively and often (Dehne, 2001). The author continues by saying that as competition becomes stronger, an integrated marketing strategy based on the identified positioning of the institution will play a crucial role.If organisations want staff and students to project a positive image, they must clearly define exactly what that image is; not vague understanding, but specifics (Sharpe & Harville, 1987). Law (2002:4) emphasises the importance of addressing the values that are important for prospective students in the publications of the institution. It can therefore be said that in the positioning of the institution, the needs and perceptions of important values of the respective public should be seriously considered.The elements of higher education institutions’ marketing are mixed to form an integrated strategy where each component plays a role to position the institution in its chosen target market (Van Biljon, 1992:65). According to Czinkota, Kotabe and Mecer (1997:217), organisations must first determine how they want to position their service products and use their service products’ position as basis for developing their marketing strategies. This means that after the STP (segmentation, targeting and positioning) process, organisations must blend the services marketing mix elements into a marketing strategy that reflect the organisation’s desired osition to their target market. – 88 – The next section focuses on the services marketing mix and its elements as it pertains to higher education institutions. 3. 7 TH E SERVICES MARKETING MIX OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS The development of a marketing strategy involves the coordination and combination of the marketing mix elements (Mowen, 1995:19; and Hawkins et al. , 2001:6). It is the combination and coordination of the elements in the marketing mix that enables organisations to meet customers’ needs and provides customer value.A traditional marketing mix consists of the following elements: price, service product, promotion and place (distribution). However, due to the intangible, inseparable, heterogeneous and perishable nature of services, the traditional marketing mix was extended to include process, people and physical evidence (Goldsmith, 1999:178). Because higher education institutions mainly provide intangible service products, the extended marketing mix, better known as the services marketing mix, forms the focus of this chapter.Higher education institutions need a well-developed comprehensive marketing strategy that is caref ully communicated throughout the institution (Robinson & Long, 1987:44; Brooker & Noble, 1985:34) and the services marketing mix will help higher education institutions to shape their service offerings according to the needs of their customers. Grove, in Kraft (2006) showed that in the marketing of education, the marketing mix is the single most important determinant of marketing success.In the light of the fact that marketing can influence the consumer’s behaviour and the services marketing mix can assist higher education institutions in developing a holistic and well thought-through service offering, the seven services marketing mix elements (service product, price, promotion, distribution, people, physical evidence and process) will be discussed in the main part of this chapter. – 89 – 3. 7. 1 THE SERVICE PRODUCT STRATEGY OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS The most basic decision that higher education institutions have to make is what programmes and services th ey will offer to their students, alumni and donors.An institution’s service product strategy determines its identity, position and how customers will respond to the institution. A product is anything a consumer acquires, or might acquire to meet a perceived need and thus the sum of all the products and/or services offered by an organisation. To define the term service is not easy or simplistic. Although the process may be tied to a physical product, the performance is essentially intangible and does not normally result in ownership of any of the factors of production. Services create value and provide benefits for customers at specific times and places.Lovelock and Wright (2002:3) define services as an act or performance offered by one party to another. Irons (1997:12) defines services as perishable, transient acts that have no lasting material, being mainly presented by people that cannot be separated from the provider. Therefore, the personal characteristics of the provider are an important part of the service. Du Plessis and Rousseau (2003:175) state that these definitions reveal that the nature of service centres on the characteristic of intangibility and that it is this feature that distinguishes services marketing from the marketing of physical goods.The goods and services continuum is shown in Figure 3. 2 below. Figure 3. 2: Goods and services continuum Tangible dominant Complete tangible products Tangible products with supporting services Intangible dominant Hybrid offers Source: Adapted from Palmer (2005:24). – 90 – Major service with supporting products Pure services It is evident that in services, the intangible element is dominant. The provision of education, although intangible, also contains tangible elements. Institutions provide service activities such as the teaching process and contact with customers (intangible element) as well as learning aterial such as textbooks (tangible element). McCollKennedy (2003:6-7) regards goo ds and services’ tangibility on a continuum, rather than in one category. At one end of the continuum are the intangible services and at the other end are tangible products. Higher education, which can be described as a major service (intangible) with minor supporting products (tangible), are leaning towards the intangible side of the continuum. In addition to categorising services based on their tangibility, it is also useful to identify who or what is the direct recipient of the service.Services can either be directed at people’s bodies, intangible assetes, physical possessions or people’s minds such as education (Lovelock, 1996:29). In order to better understand the concept of services, the distinguishing characteristics of services will now be explained. The basic characteristics of services are briefly outlined below (Lovelock & Wright, 2002:14-16): †¢ Customers do not obtain ownership. Customers usually derive value from a service without obtaining ow nership of any tangible elements; †¢ Service products are intangible performances.Intangible refers to something that is experienced and cannot be touched or preserved. Although services often include tangible elements, the service performance itself is basically intangible; †¢ Customer involvement in the production process. Customers are often actively involved in helping to create the service product by helping themselves or by cooperating with the service personnel. Customers cannot sit back and wait for the experience to be delivered as they do with the purchase of tangible products they have to participate. †¢People as part of the service product. Given the fact that different service personnel may deliver the service product to customers, it is difficult to achieve – 91 – uniformity in service delivery. This difference (heterogeneity) in attitude and action will typically result in very different customer perceptions of the quality and overall sati sfaction levels. People are such an important component of service delivery that it is added as an element to service organisations marketing mix and will be discussed in Section 3. 7. 5; †¢ Importance of time.Customers have to be physically present to receive services. Customers are becoming increasingly time sensitive and speed is often a key element in good service delivery; and †¢ Services are perishable and cannot be stored like physical goods. Thus, although education includes tangible elements such as textbooks, chairs and notes, students derive value from higher education without obtaining ownership. Students are involved in the education production process as they participate in and help make the final service product, by giving inputs in class or participating in campus events.As higher education is perishable and cannot be stored, students must be physically present to receive education. It is evident that offering educational services involve special challenges , since most services education is intangible, inseparable, variable and perishable. Developing service products that satisfy consumers’ wants and needs are a critical marketing activity for institutions (Hoyer & MacInnis, 2001:40). Consumer research can provide useful information for service product decisions.According to Czinkota et al. (1997:109), information provided by consumer behaviour research, such as this study, can help organisations to decide which attributes to add to or change in an existing offering; aid them in correctly naming or re-naming their organisations and make effective packaging and branding decisions. Higher education institutions should evaluate its academic programmes and service product mix periodically, and particularly when considering modifications. Some programmes are more central than others.Education offerings are specifically essential programmes that institutions cannot do without. Other programmes may be easier to modify, like recreation al activities that are usually auxiliary programmes. Certain programmes will play a major role in attracting customers and these are called flagship programmes (Kotler & Fox, 1995:282). – 92 – Information provided by this study will enable institutions to determine the importance of some components of their service product (variety of study courses, academic quality and sport programmes) in the institution selection process of students.Higher education institutions must also develop a pricing strategy for their service products. The pricing decision is of utmost importance, as this will ensure income for higher education institutions that will enable them to implement al the other decisions such as promotion, distribution, processes, physical evidence and people. Section 3. 7. 2 will focus on the pricing strategy of higher education institutions. 3. 7. 2 THE PRICING STRATEGY OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONSIn this section, the pricing strategy of higher education insti tutions will be discussed by defining the term price, explaining possible pricing objectives of higher education institutions, explaining discounts and highlighting the role of price. Price plays an important role in the marketing mix, quality perception, attracting customers and providing revenue to institutions. Price is the amount of money (or some other item that is exchanged or bartered) that the buyer exchanges for a service product provided by the seller. Lamb et al. (2004:570) describe prices as that which is given up in exchange to acquire goods and services.The price of a service plays two major roles. Firstly, it influences how much of the service product the customer will purchase, and secondly, it influences whether selling the service will be profitable for the organisation or not (Machado & Cassim, 2000:99). Prices can be seen as the amount that a customer (students, parents or employers) must pay to be educated. The price of higher education institutions are influenc ed by the subsidy from government as well as donations and the cost of presenting the course, prices of competition and inflation.Price, for students, consists of a monetary cost as well as other costs, for example effort cost (completing long essay application forms), psychological cost (stress of enrolling in an institution far from home) and time cost (visiting or attending open days at different institutions) (Kotler & Fox, 1995:311). Students and their parents are not just interested in the institution’s list price (official – 93 – tuition and fees printed in a catalogue), but also the effective price. According to Kotler and Fox (1995:312), the effective price is the amount the customer will actually pay for all the educational benefits and value received.Prospective students may find it difficult to measure effective price early in the decision process, since effective price can only be known after the student has gone though the application process and h as been accepted and financial aid has been allocated. Tuition fees represent only a fraction of the total cost of attending a higher education institution and living cost and other education related expenses must also be considered by students (Anon, 2006b). Diederichs (1987:112) found that price plays an important role in students’ choices of a higher education institution.The first aspect organisations should consider when pricing a service product is to decide on the pricing objectives they want to achieve. Pricing objectives can influence the price of the service product and include: maximising profit (short- or long-term), building market share, maximising long-term customer perceptions of the value of the service product, maximising immediate cash flow, positioning the service product in a certain place in customers’ minds, and targeting a given segment of the market.Higher education institutions may pursue more than one of these objectives at the same time depe nding on the situation they are facing. A new higher education institution emerging after a merger may aim to position their service product, as well as targeting a given segment and maximising long-term perceptions of value (McColl-Kennedy, 2003:270 and Machado & Cassim, 2002:106-107). Higher education institutions should take into account three factors when setting prices for their educational programmes: †¢ Firstly, cost, by determining the amount of revenue needed to cover expected operating expenses; Secondly, customer demand, which emphasises that the final price decision is always made by the customer; and †¢ Thirdly, competition, as institutions have to weigh their â€Å"value† and establish their price relative to their competitors. Institutions should always consider the effects of a given pricing policy on enrolment, the nature and mission of the institution, the prices charged by competition and the – 94 – effect of their prices and price c hanges on actions of competition (Kotler & Fox, 1995:309).The pricing objective of a higher education institution will also affect its discount policy, as discount influence profit, market share, cash flow and positioning. Once the basic price is established, organisations need to establish some flexibility in terms of that price. Discount can be defined as the reductions to the basic price (Machado & Cassim, 2002:116). Higher education institutions need to determine and publish their prices (tuition fees) and discounts. Financial aid is seen as a form as discount by students.Kotler and Fox (1995:310) state that financial aid is not just used to attract students to increase the size of classes, but also to ensure the needed composition of the class to meet diversity objectives. Student aid or financial aid makes it possible for many students from low- and middle income families to afford higher education (Anon, 2006b). Cabrera and La Nasa (2000:10) found that financial aid especiall y influences students positively to select a particular institution and also allows parents to consider a wider range of institutions.This study will include the importance of financial aid in selecting a higher education institution. Diederichs (1987:114) found that a higher education institution’s price policy should take into consideration the facilities needed, quality of education and competitiveness, as students often use the price of a product or service as an indicator of quality. For example, more expensive institutions may be viewed as providing better education. Some institutions make use of their price/quality relationship by trying to raise the prestige and attractiveness of their institution by raising the tuition fees.Higher education institutions must carefully consider the role of price in the marketing mix, as price can be used as a quality indicator and thereby influence the perception of the institution’s position. Higher education institutions ofte n offer substantial amounts of financial aid to talented students to maintain their competitive advantage. Students and parents are looking for the best overall deal in terms of educational quality and prices (Laurer, 2006).Courant (2006:4) is of the opinion that higher education institutions prepare students to lead an examined life and should therefore price higher education as an expensive, high value proposition. Wallace (2003:32) argues that higher tuition fees will enable institutions to improve the quality of education and in countries where higher education is subsidised or offered for free, education would be held in higher esteem if a price were attached to it. However, Beckett (2005) warns that institutions – 95 – should be aware that charging top fees may cause institutions to loose students and not widen the participation.Wallace (2003) states that universities in France, England, the United States and Germany are facing the same problems with the price of education, as government funding for education is decreasing and institutions have to look at increasing tuition fees. The result is that students in these countries are protesting the price increases. The increased value of a higher education degree, increased research at universities, reduced state funding for public higher education institutions and monopolistic behaviour of higher education institutions are other possible reasons for higher prices (Barry, 1998:84).Higher educational institutions rely on tuition fees, donors and government subsidies as sources of revenue. As discussed in Chapter 2, changes in the financial environment emphasise the trend of institutions to cut cost, increase productivity and offer more financial aid to students. Most educational institutions depend heavily on tuition fees to keep operating and pricing therefore becomes very important. Price plays a role in determining who will apply, who will attend, who the institutions will serve, what the ins titutions will be able to offer and whether the institutions will meet its enrolment objectives and revenue needs.From the discussion it is evident that a pricing strategy is important for education institutions because they depend on revenue to operate, especially in the light of the decrease in subsidies (refer to Chapter 2). Price is part of the marketing mix and should be considered as an element of the institution’s strategy planning. When setting price, decision-makers should understand how students perceive price and the importance of price in selecting institutions.According to Cosser and Du Toit (2002:77), price is an important factor considered in choosing a higher education institution. It is important that higher education institutions know the cost of producing the service, know the price of competitors, identify pricing factors that are relevant to pricing decisions, and decide on a pricing strategy that will attract enough students. It is evident from the above -mentioned that higher education management needs information on the students and market to make effective pricing decisions.This study will provide some insight on the importance of price in the institution selection process. – 96 – Higher education institutions can have good quality educational services offered at the right price to students, but if students and parents are not aware of these services and prices, they will not consider the institution. It is thus important that higher education institutions communicate with their prospective students and parents. The next section will focus on the promotional or communication strategy of higher education institutions. 3. 7. THE PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS Educational institutions need to effectively communicate with their target market(s) and publics. Institutions must inform students and parents about its goals, activities and offerings and motivate them to take an interest in the instituti on. To identify and satisfy consumers’ needs, an institution must have a good understanding of the consumer in order to gain a competitive advantage through its marketing mix (service product, price, distribution, promotion, process, people and physical evidence).Persuasive communication is central to the marketing of service products as features, benefits and values must be communicated to the consumers to influence their purchase behaviour. Everything and everybody in an institution has a role to play in communication. Examples include the organisation’s brand name or logo, campus grounds, service product quality, prices, employees, delivery vehicles, buildings, the technology the organisation has at its disposal, the capital the organisation has at its disposal and the organisational philosophy.Kelley and Mahady (2003:2) are of the opinion that promotion is an element sometimes overlooked by non-profit organisations. They argue that even if an institution offers som e of the best programmes and services, these will not be utilised to the fullest if the market they were intended for has no knowledge of their existence. The remainder of Section 3. 7. 3 will focus on the definition of promotion, the communication process and the integrated services marketing communication (ISMC) mix available for higher education institutions. According to Hawkins et al. 2001:19), promotion or marketing communication includes advertising, the sales force, public relations, packaging and any other signals that the – 97 – organisation provides about itself and its products and services. Lamb et al. (2004:466) describe the promotional strategy as a plan for the optimal use of the elements of promotion, namely advertising, sales promotion, publicity and personal selling. Many higher education institutions are returning to promotional or communication tools to promote courses in an attempt to maintain and/or expand their market share.The importance of com munication can be seen in the establishment of communication departments, more funds that are allocated to marketing and appointing marketing managers or external communication experts to help with promotional activities. Higher education institutions are making use of radio, television, newspapers, buses, taxis and open days as well as more professional brochures and promotional material as vehicles for communication (Jones, 2002:41). This is necessary, since higher education institutions can no longer depend on pass rates alone to attract students.In order to utilise the promotional tools to their fullest and to ensure effective communication, higher education institutions need to understand the communication process. Communication involves the creation of shared meaning between participants. The intangibility, inseparability, perishability and heterogeneity of services create special communication requirements and involve the risk of miscommunication that is not so evident in the marketing of goods (McColl-Kennedy, 2003:236). Communication can be viewed upon as the transfer of a message from a sender to a receiver by means of a signal of some sort via a channel or medium.The sender translates his/her objectives, ideas and concepts through language into a message also known as encoding (Strydom et al. , 2000:344). The receiver tries to decode the message before he/she can comprehend its meaning and then the receiver reacts or responds to the message (Lamb et al. , 2004:326). The disturbances (physical or psychological) that prevent the successful transfer of the message are known as noise. Noise influences all the components of the communication process and places obstacles in the way of effective communication.Higher education institutions are the senders, while the receivers of the message are the potential students, existing students, parents, employers or alumni. For the purpose of this study, the focus is on the students of a higher education institutio n. This does not mean that institutions do not need to communicate with other publics such as alumni, parents, donors, government or the general public as well. According – 98 – to Jones (2002:44) the student’s ability to decode the message is influenced by his/her past experiences, feelings, emotions, attitudes and perceptions of the institution.Thus, higher education institutions need to fully understand their target market to identify the appropriate intended messages for the target market. The communication process gives higher education institutions the opportunity to influence prospective students’ behaviour by developing a message that creates awareness, position themselves in the mind of the student, change the student’s attitude towards the institution, or encourage the student to apply to the institution (Jones, 2002:45). The most popular communication/promotion objectives are general image enhancement and awareness of the institutions (K ittle, 2000).According to Jones (2002:43), emotions or feelings also play an important part in the encoding process and it is vital that higher education institutions should have empathy for other people’s cultural backgrounds. Higher education institutions need to select a medium that will attract attention, arouse interest and present the message clearly (Kotler & Fox, 1995:353). Higher education institutions need knowledge about the language of the prospective students, knowledge of forms of communication and general background information about the prospective students in order to encode successfully.The media that will be investigated in this study include: printed media (advertisement in magazines, newspapers or outdoor media), broadcasting media (advertisements on radio and television), direct mail or direct marketing (newsletters and brochures of higher education institutions), body language and direct communication through representatives of the institution (school v isits by staff or open days attended by students), word-of-mouth (conversations with alumni, friends or family members), or websites. In Chapter 4 the different media will be further discussed as part of the sources of information used by students.The promotional mix that an institution uses is determined by the student market’s expectations and requirements of the service products, together with the other elements of institutions’ marketing decisions. Machado and Cassim (2002:157) describe the promotional mix as the blend of promotional methods used by the organisation to communicate. A huge array of promotion elements exist, such as direct marketing, sales promotions, advertising, Internet and sponsorships. The communication process and the promotional mix elements (advertising, public – 99 – elations, personal selling and sales promotions) are used by organisations to communicate to their prospective customers. The message that reaches the customer sho uld be the same regardless of whether it is an advertisement on the radio, websites, open days, or a newspaper insert. To ensure the careful coordination of all the promotional mix elements, organisations must adopt the concept of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) (Du Plessis & Rousseau, 2005:345). For a higher education institution, this means that the institution coordinates all its communication activities.Zeithaml and Bitner (2000:405) suggest that a more complex integrated form of communication is needed for services, hence the ISMC approach as shown in Figure 3. 3. This concept requires a complete communication strategy that involves staff, every interface the institution has with its students, stakeholders and the community at large (Jones, 2002:450). Laurer (2006) suggests that institutions must coordinate all the promotional elements so that they meet the needs of students and parents who will pay for their products and services. Figure 3. serves as a visual guide f or the discussion

Group Characteristics and Development Essay

I was one of the founders of World Movers Research Firm (WMRF). The aim of forming this group was to create employment, earn better incomes and offer consultancy services to those organizations and business entities that could not afford these services at lesser charges than the normal market price in order to help them to grow and achieve their goals. The group comprised of people from diverse areas of study and we thought that this was an advantage since we would inject professionalism into the intended research firm. During forming stage, great care was taken to ensure all diverse disciplines were accorded the respect they deserved. It was also expected that some of us would do lesser job than the rest but this was handled with great care to ensure that no discipline was underrated because this would create intra group conflicts. We therefore discussed the objectives in detail and the job expected of every group member. There was need to have interim leaders who would coordinate the operations of the firm and we gave a chance for members to volunteer as we prepare for group elections. Even though two of our members wanted to head the organization, we managed to solve the conflict by encouraging dialogue amongst them. They were informed that the elections were to be conducted soon and there was no point of arguing. (Marilyn B. Cole, 2005, Pp. 20 – 32; Robins, S. , & Judge, T. , 2009) The most challenging part was perhaps the norming stage. There was a great need of constitution and there was a very hot debate. We managed to come up with a constitution and we agreed unanimously to stick to it and amend it when necessary incase we felt that there was a deficiency. We defined the roles of each member. We also agreed on the groups rewarding system and sharing of profits as well as the losses. All this was made possible by conforming to the agreed upon rules (Marilyn B. Cole, 2005, Pp. 28 – 32) After acquiring an office and making the necessary procurements, it was time to start the work. We managed to get a tender to review the operations of the joint loans boards in the country and make recommendations to improve them. The job was so well done that we were given the opportunity to implement the report. We found out that some of the roles needed modifications, and some of the members were not comfortable with the tasks in which they were supposed to carry out. We amended the constitution and everything came back to normal. (Marilyn B. Cole, 2005, Pp. 21 – 32) We all had high expectations and same objectives. Everyone worked very hard to achieve his part. The constitution was also very clear and conflicts were kept as minimal as possible. The group had minimal cohesion. This was just one of the ways of avoiding the negative symptoms of groupthink. In addition, through voting, we managed to set up a good directive leadership. The group was very independent from outside influences and the groups homogeneity nature in terms of ideologies and social background also suppressed negative groupthink effects. (Marilyn B. Cole, 2005, Pp. 28 – 38; Robins, S. , & Judge, T. , 2009) I can say that the group has been successful since it is still operating. Everyone is contented with his role in the group and we have even gone a step further to venture in investments from the income we have been able References Marilyn B. Cole, (2005). GROUP DYNAMICS IN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY: THE THEORETICAL BASIS AND PRACTICE APPLICATION OF GROUP INTERVENTION, Slack Robins, S. , & Judge, T. (2009). ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, (13th Ed). Upper Saddle River, N. J: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Judiciary of Indian Subcontinent Essay

The present legal and judicial system of Bangladesh owes its origin mainly to two hundred years British rule in the Indian Sub-Continent although some elements of it are remnants of Pre-British period tracing back to Hindu and Muslim administration. It passed through various stages and has been gradually developed as a continuous historical process. The process of evolution has been partly indigenous and partly foreign and the legal system of the present day emanates from a mixed system which has structure, legal principles and concepts modeled on both Indo-Mughal and English law. The Indian sub-continent has a known history of over five hundred years with Hindu and Muslim periods which preceeded the British period, and each of these early periods had a distinctive legal system of its own. The Hindu period extends for nearly 1500 years before and after the beginning of the Christian era. The ancient India was divided into several independent states and the king was the Supreme authority of each state. So far as the administration of justice was concerned, the king was considered to be the fountain of justice and was entrusted with the Supreme authority of administration of justice in his kingdom. The Muslim period starts with the invasion of the Muslim rulers in the Indian sub-continent in 1100 A.D. The Hindu Kingdoms began to disintegrate gradually with the invasion of Muslim rulers at the end of eleventh and at the beginning of twelfth century. When the Muslims conquered all the states, they brought with them the theory based o n the Holy Quran, their religious book. According to the Holy Quran, sovereignty lies in the hand of Almighty Allah and the king is His humble servant to carry out His will on the earth. The ruler was Almighty’s chosen agent and trustee. The modernization of ancient Indian legal and judicial system took place in the hand of the Britis h people who came here as being trading company under a series of Royal Charters. East India Company gradually established control and possession over Bombay, Madras and Calcutta which were later on known as Presidency Towns. Ultimately the Company participated in administration of justice in co-operation with the local authorities. The Charter of 1726 issued by King George-I, by way of granting Letters Patent to the Company, was the first gateway to introduce English legal and judicial system in India. Later on, Charter of 1753 was issued by King George-II with a view to remove the defects of the Charter of 1726. To improve the system, the secret committee of House of Commons intervened, and passed the Regulation Act, 1773 under which the King issued a separate Charter of 1774 establishing the Supreme Court of judicature at Calcutta. Subsequently, Supreme Courts were established in Madras in 1801 and in Bombay in 1824. In 1853, the first Law Commission was established in India and an all India legislature was created whose laws were to be binding on all Courts. East India Company was dissolved and the Government of India was taken over by the British Crown in 1858, following the event of mutiny in 1857. The Civil Procedure Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Penal Code, Evidence Act, etc. were enacted and with this common legal fabric, the British Parliament in 1861 enacted Indian High Courts Act which provided for the establishment of High Courts in three Presidency Towns (Calcutta, Bombay & Madras) replacing the Supreme Court. After the establishment of High Courts a regular hierarchy of Civil and Criminal Courts were established by Civil Courts Act, 1887 and Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 respectively. The present system of Civil and Criminal Court, in Indian sub-Continent has their legal basis by virtue of these Civil Courts Act, 1887 and Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 respectively. The British Parliament declared India & Pakistan as independent dominions on 15 August, 1947 by the Indian Independence Act, 1947. This Act also provide that until the new Constitutions were framed for independent India & Pakistan, the Government of these two countries were to run by the Government of India Act, 1935. Judicial structure mostly remained the same as it was before 1947. The Government of India Act.1935 changed the structure of the Government from unitary to that of federal type. Accordingly, in both India and Pakistan Federal Court was retained to function until new constitutions were framed. Pakistan constituent Assembly passed the privy council (Abolition of Jurisdiction) Act, 1950 which abolished the system of appeal to the Privy Council from the Federal Court of Pakistan. The Federal Court appeared as the highest Court in Pakistan till 1956, when the High courts in the provinces and the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the centre were established under the new Constitution. In Pakistan, the constitution of 1956 was abrogated in 1958 and another one was introduced in 1962, but the whole judicial structure remained all the same. After liberation in 1971, Bangladesh adopted its Constitution in 1972, which provides the structure and functioning of the Supreme Court comprising with the High Court Division and the Appellate Division. Needless to say that in Bangladesh the sub-ordinate judiciary both in Civil and Criminal side originated from Civil Court Act, 1887 and Criminal Procedure Code, 1898. Apart from this, in Bangladesh there are some other special laws providing for the basis of some special courts, such as labor court, Juvenile Court, Administrative tribunal etc.

Discussion and Planning Log Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Discussion and Planning Log - Assignment Example Nevertheless, Gunther offers useful tips that include being specific, addressing the topic, focusing on strengths, good communication, include authoritative links, and being formal. However, some tips like reading everything aloud before sending the email and using paragraph breaks are too basic for any writer to forget. Notably, Gunther would have helped the applicants by offering short, detailed, and positive advice without irritating them with his pride and all-knowing attitude. He should have started with appreciating the applicants for applying and include only the most important tips to shorten the letter. Having received other rejection letters, I think Gunthers approach was ineffective. The other rejection letters were short, objective, and communicated the unavailability of the applied position in a courteous manner. This letter should be shorter for the reader to develop some interest on its content. The letter should also be positive, sincere, courteous, and objective. The rudeness, emotions, and pride depicted in the letter discourage the applicants from appreciating its contents. This letter should advice the rejected applicants on how to write successful job application emails. The letter should also inform them of the reasons for their rejection in a short, sincere, polite, and positive manner. Addressing the letter to only the rejected applicants would be the most effective manner to help future job applicants. The letter should only include the most important tips. In writing the letter, I will consider the fact that the readers do not like long letters, hate a negative approach in writing, appreciate objectivity and sincere rejection, and need advice on how to apply for a job. The readers have prior knowledge of rejection letters after failures in applying for jobs. They know the contents, length, and tone of a rejection letter. However, they lack knowledge on unique rejection letters that define the reasons for a rejected

Book Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Book Review - Essay Example Even with the good press associated with the Marshall Plan, revisionists and diplomatic historians from both the United States and the sixteen involved nations from Western Europe—even more than fifty years after its ratification and implementation—still debate on its origins, motives and effects (Agnew and Entrikin 2004, p. 1). For instance, historical revisionists have found that â€Å"the economic impact of the plan has been significantly downgraded as scholars concluded that the crisis of 1947 in Europe was less grave than American policy-makers had thought† (Hitchcock n.d.). With these considerations in mind, two of the most substantial and celebrated books on rethinking and revisiting the Marshall Plan will be reviewed in this paper in order to shed some light on what the real purposes and effects of the Marshall Plan are in relation to the United States’ supposed gigantic role in the economic recovery of Europe. The book by Michael Hogan and two chapters from Agnew and Entrikin’s volume will be compared against each other through their contributions to the rethinking of the Marshall Plan. While the former is very detailed, the message that Hogan wants to state is somewhat lost within the detailing of the various facets of the creation of the Marshall Plan. On the other hand, Agnew and Entrikin’s chapters are composed of separate papers that present an all-encompassing view of the Marshall Plan and its effects. These separate chapters that can stand on their own present a more comprehensive and understandable argument as to the sig nificance of the Marshall Plan in history. It can be said then that quality and readability of a work does not depend on the length and an extreme attention to detail, but on a concise presentation of facts and figures that would make the reader understand and accept the argument presented as true. Although there are a lot of differences between the two books, one of the main causes

REFLECTIVE WRITING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

REFLECTIVE WRITING - Essay Example I also ensured that all the company’s activities were run according to the set plan. This is mainly to ensure that there would be no discrepancies between the plan of the company and the results obtained. Being a multinational company, Caltex experienced a number of changes in its operations. Therefore, as the organizational manager, I had to ensure that I identify all activities which are to be performed in the company, and any changes that could have occurred. In addition, I also had to organize activities according to departments. This is whereby; activities of the personnel department would be separated from activities of the accounting department (Sims, 2002, 9). This helped me to be organized and to ensure that there was no conflict in the activities of the company. The learning theory that extremely helped during my work is the Kolb’s experiential learning theory. This involved; a clear observation of all the experiences that occurred in the company. After any pa rticular occurrence, whether good or bad, I would take time and observe its causes and its implications. For example, during a time when the company’s sales were falling, I observed the issue carefully and the possible mechanisms that would help to increase the sales back. Other experiences such as fall in the customer numbers, conflicts among employees or poor media coverage also helped me to learn from them. Afterwards, I would then try to formalize the concepts that could have been associated with the occurrence. I would then generalize these concepts in order to access the possibility of the situation occurring again. For instance, in a case where the sales of the company were falling, I would use concepts such as new promotion methods, or increasing the sales personnel. If there were employee conflicts within the organization, I would use concepts such as having peace talks within the organization, and counseling of the employees. After assessing the concepts that are ap plicable to a new situation, I would then use them on a new situation. Therefore, in case of future falling of sales or future employee conflicts, I would know the concepts to use. This learning theory has really helped me to learn from challenges and make use of them instead of getting discouraged (Leonard, 2002, 69). Substantive Topic Applied: Managing Organizational Change Organizational change occurs when a company goes through a transition from its current state to some desired state (Inc.com, 2012, 1). Therefore, managing organizational change is the process of planning, controlling and implementing change in the organization. This is important because; in some organizations change is resisted by the employees. In addition, managing organizational change is important since; it might be very costly for the company at times. In Caltex Company, we experienced a series of changes especially with the improved technology. For instance, the company introduced electronic payment of bi lls by customers. This is whereby; customers could purchase fuel and pay for it electronically without requiring an attendant at the petrol stations. The company also introduced online purchasing of petroleum products and door-to-door delivery of the products. This technology had a lot of impact on the company since; it reduced the number of employees thus, lowering the salary expenses. With introduction of online purchasing, the customers also increased greatly. The company had to embrace the technology and hence, there were a lot of

Critical Thinking Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Critical Thinking Questions - Assignment Example Other times, the listener is preoccupied with other things apart from what the listener is talking about at that moment. In other times, the listener is ego-occupied, or very busy with personal needs to concentrate on what is being conveyed. Lack of interest or curiosity in the message being delivered or lack of energy to listen is another hindrance to listening well. Listeners literally choose not to have an attachment with what the listener is saying and end up not getting anything. Many listeners simply do not have adequate listening skills while others have no discipline in controlling themselves. Others lack the motivation to take up responsibility for good listening habits. There are various ways to improve your listening ability. One you have to be alert and force yourself to pay attention. To achieve this, you have to be disciplined and responsible you have to make right decisions and know that listening is beneficial to you. This means that you will have to force your mind to concentrate on the speaker. Second, you need to concentrate on improving your interpreting. You can achieve this through be attentive and following the speaker from beginning to the end. You have to understand the exact context to which the speaker is in i.e. knowing the meaning of the message being delivered. Third, you need to think from the speakers viewpoint. This means connecting with the speaker and developing a mind picture of what the speaker is conveying this will help you not to be lost in the course of conversation. Finally yet importantly, you will need to consciously try to remember. You will never be in a position to process information if memory is left out. With out remembering, you will not be able to connect words to bring out a meaning of what is being said. Without memory, you will not understand the full meaning of any message.

An Lee - Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

An Lee - Final - Essay Example He is rescued and taken to hospital where he narrates his ordeal, but failing to convince policemen, narrates another tragic story, this time involving real human beings rather than animals we saw in the movie, but follows the same pattern, only animals substituted by human beings. The Brokeback Mountain is another film based on a novel by the same title written by Annie Proulx. It is about two farmhands employed to look after sheep in a ranch who get interested in each other and ends up in a gay relationship. They are spotted by their employers in his binoculars and he fires them. They go their separate ways and start their families. Ennis later on marries Alma and are blessed with two daughters while Jack goes to Texas, marries and has a son. The story is about these two husbands finding it difficult to deal with the truth that they are gay. It is easier for them to live a lie than come out in the open. This secrecy continues until Jack visits after four years and the two men are excited to seeing each other after the long period. They lock lips while Alma is looking them through the window, confirming her fears. She is repulsed by this behavior, and in the end she announces to her father, in the presence of Ennis, that she is remarrying. Ennis rejects the offer of settling down with Jack, letting him go on to Mexico to look for love in bars and alleys. Ennis is fearful of living with another man whom he loves dearly. A particular incidence in his childhood is real to him; a scene of a man being pulled by his private parts until it rips off for the crime of ‘living’ with another man in a homosexual relationship. The man is eventually killed. Ennis would rather die than have himself married another man he truly loves. In both films, Ang Lee appears to have broken new ground, and taken film industry to new levels. Life of Pi is a 2012 film

Assignment 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Assignment 3 - Essay Example Additionally, the company represents black at many functions and events, for example, BET Awards, Essence Music Festival, and Hoodie Awards. During the beginning of 2011, the company launched advertisements campaigns such as Inspired by color and urban market initiative. These campaigns were calling the people to express their taste and personal styles as exemplified by the features and colors of the new Fiesta launched in 2011. In the campaign, the company selected five black people who appear in the advertisement for the car. The other initiative known as ALL IN, which features videos having Black executives that had played key roles in the revival of the company. The other company is the America Airlines that is associated with the Africa American market. Besides Southwest Airlines, America Airlines has consistently supported Black people in the United States. American Airlines made an agreement with Steve Harvey Show to make advertisements on the radio and the Show official website. In addition, the airline through the social media launched a site known as blackatlas.com dedicated to promoting Black Traveler. The airline company launched a virtual museum. The museum explores all the African-Americans who have worked in the aviation industry from the historical past or the pre-civil rights to the current (Smith, 2006). Ford Motor Company by initiating and supporting the various events such as BET Awards, Essence Music Awards and Hoodie Awards the company succeeded in creating a consumer engagement model that enable them meet their target customers. It also creates awareness of the various products that the business manufactures. Moreover, users can make a clear differentiation of the different motors that Ford Company produced during that period. Additionally, ALL IN an ad successfully engaged their target customers by featuring some of their target clients in their promotions. All these structures have created an efficient

Virtue ethics Essay Example for Free

Virtue ethics Essay Virtue ethics belongs to the branch of philosophy called ethics. Virtue ethics is also a sub branch of normative ethics and it contrasts with disteleology because normative ethics is more concerned about characteristics of a person rather than the moral duties and laws they must abide, so Natural Moral Law, Kantian ethics and Divine Command are usually dismissed by Virtue Ethics. This ethical theory also contrasts with consequentialism e. g. Utilitarianism which is more focused on results and outcomes. Virtue ethics was first introduces by Plato and was further developed by Aristotle. Virtue ethics is based on the focus of characteristics, also known as virtues. This means the good character traits an individual has- and the opposite of a virtue (a vice) which are the negatives traits of an individual. Virtue ethics can be seen as an anti-theory because it is not concerned about the theory aspect but rather it is about the practice of it. In other words Virtue ethics focuses upon what kind of human being you ought to be rather than the actions of a human being. Plato, in his book â€Å"Republic†, focused on justices and further on argues that, with his beliefs about the soul, that there is a virtue connected to such part of the soul. These different parts of the soul, are called imperative and it is divided into three parts, with a virtue connected to it. These virtues are the cardinal virtues; thus reason and wisdom are one, the human spirit performing well is paired with courage and destiny which is paired with temperance or otherwise known as moderation (self-control). If we have all these virtues we can obtain justice, the fourth virtue. According to Plato, justice is an important virtue because it balances out the interrelationship between the parts of the soul. There is justice when reason rules over spirit and desires. Wisdom is the knowledge of Forms especially the knowledge of the Form of God, having to know what goodness is itself. The forms are the fixed, unities and unchanging concepts that are ultimately real. This type of thinking presupposes both anthropological dualism and ontological dualism. The problems with Plato is that he has based his argument on a questionable metaphysic cleansing that we cannot prove something we have little to no experience to. The concept about the soul and the priparte are criticised because there is no empirical evidence to support it, it is only logic and reason. A fortiori is the criticism of the preparative soul because there is no solid empirical evidence to support it. Furthermore there is no evidence to support the claim that there are forms, again it is only a concept based on reasoning. Lace Wing presents the argument that even if ontology accepted Virtue Ethics, then it is unclear what the practical implications are. If Virtue Ethics is an anti-ethical theory then to how would you practice it? What would you do afterwards? How would knowing these virtues and forms affect you? In the hope of rescuing Virtue Ethics, Aristotle (Plato’s student) delivers his interpretation of this ethical theory. Aristotle does not necessarily agree into Plato’s metaphysic, epistemology or ontology but he does agree with Plato that reason is vital to virtue’s. This is because human’s are rational animals and agrees that virtue’s are vital to human flourishing otherwise known as â€Å"eudsimonia†. Unlike Plato, Aristotle believes that there are only two kinds of virtues; intellectual virtues and moral virtues.

Theoretical Explanation Of Balance Of Power

Theoretical Explanation Of Balance Of Power The concept of the Balance of Power can be a useful tool in explaining the behaviour of states. Mostly because it is founded on the theory that all states act to preserve their own self interest. If they are to do this they must prevent domination by any other state, which leads to the assumption that they must build up power and form alliances. Throughout history we can see the B.O.P. concept in action. The states of Europe held each other in balance through the first 300 years of the modern state system. The clearest example of the B.O.P. concept can be found in the Cold War. In the Cold War the two superpowers the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. held a stable world balance between them. Both states sought to deter domination by the other through a build up of arms and through the creation of strong alliance systems. Under the B.O.P. theory the logic of the Cold War strategies and alliances seems apparent, with the best method of security being strength. In comparison with the era of the Cold War, we are now living in a constantly changing world. In recent years a number of emerging nations have been challenging the position of dominance of the old powers, which are dropping down the international pecking order. In economic terms, countries from the South now account for more than half of global GDP (Gross Domestic Product), are leading world growth -with growth rates above 11% (China) and 9% (India) -and consume more than half of the worlds energy. It is forecast that in thirty years time, China and India will be global powers and that, along with the United States of America (USA), they will compete amongst themselves for world leadership. Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has been alone in the world; no state or combination of states provides an effective counterweight. Moreover Globalization, Market forces and operation of non state elements without regard for national boundaries and loyalties have made the balancing phenomenon more complicated. Therefore, some recent studies in the field of International relations advocate that power politics including balancing of power has become obsolete and the theory of the balance of power has lost its relevance. This phenomenon has raised series of questions and just a few are picked out here:- Question 1: Historically why and how the states opt for International balance of power? Question 2: Is contemporary international politics devoid of balance of power and power politics? Question 3: Are traditional measures and sources of power losing their relevance in world? Question 4 What is the effect of prevailing global security situations on International balance of power? Aim of the Paper: The dual aim of the paper is to map the different trends that are shaping the senario for the future global power balance as well as to offer a tool to better cope with the high uncertainty on how this landscape will evolve in the comming decades. Research design:- This paper represents an attempt by five individuals to think collectively about the international Balance of Power (BoP), analyse past and current international setup to establish pattern of BoP and finally make futuristic prediction in this regard. A humble attempt has also been made to suggest a strategy for Pakistan to carving out its role and relevance in future global seting. Relatively simple research design is used for this paper. It is in fact a historical, qualitative and an analytical appraisal of transformation of the global power balance that rests on the data extracted from both primary and secondary sources. This paper is mainly focused on studying the building blocks and mechanisms, by virtue of which the theories global power balance, are offering its scholarly and normative influence for contributing in predicting futuristic international scenarios. Three empirical gaps and theoretical arguments in the field of foreign/security policy and IR have been discussed in the study. For conduct of the research the paper would follow the standpoint of the realists school. In the simplest form the realist paradigm claims that in International relations, sovereign states are the key actors. In due process of International interaction among the states, their interests intrinsically come into conflict, mainly for gain of material power. Balancing thus occu rs to protect/ promote its share in material gain. Organization Of The Paper: Paper is organized in six parts. Part one is about theoretical explanation of balance of power. Part two discusses historical perspective of BOP. Part three is comprised of Determinants of Rising power. Part four presents Shifts in Global balance of Power a myth or reality consequences and likely power counter in the next two decades alternatives to the balance of power as a basis for international order . Part five is focused on Challenges and Opportunities for Pakistan in likely future international settings. Conclusion and Recommendations are placed at the end. THEORY OF BOP According to the balance-of-power theory balance of power is a fundamental process of international politics, it is a kind of master law of international relations. There is a long history to this Newtonian conception of the balance of power. Yet in the European intellectual tradition it was, at least through the eighteenth century, a minority view. Much more common was the idea that prudent sovereigns ought to pursue balance-of-power politics. If they followed balance-of-power logic, they would preserve their own independence as well as prevent Europe from falling prey to an oriental-style despotism. Thus the balance of power was an important adjunct to European ideologies that rejected universal empire on normative grounds. In contemporary international-relations theory, balance-of-power theory is primarily associated with structural realism. Kenneth Waltz, the founder of structural realism, argues that because the international system lacks a common authority (is in a state of anarchy), it inclines states to behave in ways that, over time, produce recurrent balancing equilibria. Within contemporary realism (broadly defined) there exist a number of approaches that reject this interpretation of the basic dynamics of world politics. Both hegemonic-stability theorists and power-transition theorists argue that the natural equilibrium of international systems is unbalanced: that systems are characterized by the repeated emergence of dominant powers. In substance, the arguments of both camps are basically identical, although the former incline towards qualitative analysis and the latter towards statistical studies. They do adopt somewhat distinctive terminology, however. Hegemonic-stability theorists generally view such systems as hegemony under anarchy, i.e., the dominant power acts as a kind of quasi-world government, setting the rules for trade, war, and peace. Power-transition theorists, in contrast, tend to dismiss the notion that the international system is anarchical. In J.F.K. Organskis view, the international system is characterized by a pyramid of power, with the dominant state at the top. This system is hierarchical, and has a great deal in common with domestic systems. Advocates of both approaches tend to disagree with balance-of-power theorists that the best way to preserve peace between major powers is for states to achieve a balance of power between them. The logic is straightforward: when power is unbalanced, i.e., when a state or coalition of states is clearly superior to their potential rivals, then the former have no need to initiate wars to get what they want while the latter know they are likely to lose any confrontation. Wars between great powers, however, happen when both sides believe they can win, i.e., when they at least perceive the existence of a rough equality of capabilities. Hegemonic-stability theory and particularly the work of Robert Gilpin helped spawn a third variant of realism, often called neoclassical realism. Neoclassical realism shares a great deal in common with the understanding of the balance of power prevalent in early modern Europe: balancing is a prudent policy, but there is no force of nature that impels states to engage in balancing behavior. In my view, behind all the interpretations of the balance of power lies the appeal to realism in the conduct of international affairs. Realism remains the best, perhaps the only persuasive, argument for restraint; and it is common ground that the doctrine of the balance of power is a device to promote restraint, whether it is argued that lack of restraint is wrong, or dangerous, or ultimately bound to fail. In that sense the balance of power in international affairs is clearly related to the idea of checks and balances within a government, which is equally a device to impose restraint on men who might otherwise, seduced by power, abandon it. When Hans Morgenthau wrote Politics Among Nations in 1948, he was coming from the experience of World War II and his observations of the struggle for power and peace. He was very aware of the international system of the 19th century and how it changed through the first half of the 20th century. Then, as the Cold War settled in, he observed how a new bipolar world emerged from the former multi-polar world. He was very sure that an objective and universally valid truth existed to explain the world politic and that truth was accessible to human reason. The Realist view of the world was born with Morgenthau (and others) with this view that to successfully navigate the treacherous world of international politics, one must have a very clear understanding of how the world really operated. Waltz, arriving on the scene a generation later and with more time to observe the apparent bipolarity established by the United States and the Soviet Union, decided that the early Realists were fundamentally correct. He posits that since the international world is anarchical and that power is the coin of the realm, states must make decisions based on the position they have relative to others. Therefore, the actions of states can, to some extent, be predicted based on their power position in the region and world. States, in Waltzs understanding of the World, remain the principal actor. Transnational, sub-national, and even a-national actors may arrive on the scene and even have effects in the international arena, but the state will always find a way to deal with the interlopers. None of the other potential replacements for the state have the capability of providing what states can do for their populations. Realists have a pessimistic view of the world; there is conflict, always has been conflict, and there always will be conflict. This view rejects the notion that one can differentiate morally between virtuous and non-virtuous states in the international system. Such a view of how the world really works does not easily admit that the system can be changed and that conflict can be avoided. The Realist, then, is concerned with how the world actually operates and not with how the world ought to operate. The Realist sees the state as the fundamental actor in the international system, which is anarchical and amoral. As a result, actions taken by states that are not aligned with or do not at least take into account these realities are likely doomed to failure. Morgenthau was quite convinced that mistaken faith in Wilsons liberal philosophy had taken the world to the brink of disaster. The attempt to use morals to decide on actions was not successful. Only firm decisions taken with a full understanding of the reality of the international system would bring successful foreign policy. Fundamental is this system is the balance of power. Each state is concerned as to where it sits in relation to other states. When one state begins to gain power, other states will make decisions based on that power. Some will organize to counter those gains, either as an individual or by forming alliances. Coming along a generation after Waltz, Stephen Walt added to the Realist paradigm the notion of the balance of threat. Really just another way of discussing the balance of power, he shows how threats are the means by which states communicate with each other, thus ensuring they are taken seriously so their interests are protected. Balancing of power is a two sided proposition, though, meaning that a state, by its actions, can convince other states to either balance against them or with them. Band-wagoning, a process, by which states join with others, ostensibly to counter an aggressive state, is a mechanism Walt believes must be better understood and taken into account by leaders of states. We may actually be seeing some of this going on in response to U. S. actions with respect to Afghanistan and Iraq. In the case of Iraq, by standing up to aggressive action on the part of Al Qaeda, most of NATO stood with the United States and remains with US in the fight in Afghanistan. The opposite occurred with Iraq, when the European states saw American actions as being aggressive, and have band-wagoned in opposition to the United States. In order to promote a theoretical understanding of international relations and get answers of our research questions we will use realists approach of the balance of power. The realists theory provides answers to our questions as under:- Realists Theory Question 1: Historically why and how the states opt for International balance of power? Against threatening (or powerful) states by forming alliance Question 2: Is contemporary international politics devoid of balance of power and power politics? Balance of power is still relevant Question 3: Are traditional measures and sources of power losing their relevance in world politics? They are still relevant Question 4 what is the effect of prevailing global security situations on International balance of power? After the disintegration of USSR, traditional international balance of power was disturbed because of US unilateral approach to the worlds leading problems. After the current transitional flux, several poles are emerging and the traditional balance of power is going to be restored. DEFINITION OF BALANCE OF POWER Political Dictionary: balance of power Probably the oldest concept in the study of International Relations going back at least to the work of Thucydides. It is closely associated with both diplomatic parlance and realist theory. Its logic derives from the self-help imperative of the international systems anarchic structure, in which states are obliged to give priority to survival and security. In pursuing this logic, states will usually join together to oppose any expansionist centre of power that threatens to dominate the system and thus threaten their sovereignty. Balance of power behaviour is central to conceptions of the national interest and to alliance policy. If successful, it preserves individual states and the anarchic structure of the system as a whole. Its opposite is bandwagoning, in which states seek security by joining with the dominant power. Realists conceive balance of power as an automatic tendency in state behaviour. In an international society perspective, balance of power is a conscious policy shared amongst a group of states, and serving as the principle by which they regulate their relations. Neither balance nor power are measurable, and their interpretation is much debated. Barry Buzan Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: In international relations, an equilibrium of power sufficient to discourage or prevent one nation or party from imposing its will on or interfering with the interests of another. The term came into use at the end of the Napoleonic Wars to denote the power relationships in the European state system. Until World War I, Britain played the role of balancer in a number of shifting alliances. After World War II, a Northern Hemisphere balance of power pitted the U.S. and its allies (NATO) against the Soviet Union and its satellites ( Warsaw Pact) in a bipolar balance of power backed by the threat of nuclear war. Chinas defection from the Soviet camp to a nonaligned but covertly anti-Soviet stance produced a third node of power. With the Soviet Unions collapse (1991), the U.S. and its NATO allies were recognized universally as the worlds paramount military power. Balance of power, 0n Britannica.com Columbia Encyclopedia: Balance of power is system of international relations in which nations seek to maintain an approximate equilibrium of power among many rivals, thus preventing the preponderance of any one state. Crucial to the system is a willingness on the part of individual national governments to change alliances as the situation demands in order to maintain the balance. Thucydides description of Greece in the 5th cent. B.C. and Guicciardinis description of 15th-century Italy are early illustrations. Its modern development began in the mid-17th cent., when it was directed against the France of Louis XIV. Balance of power was the stated British objective for much of the 18th and 19th cent., and it characterized the European international system, for example, from 1815-1914. After World War I the balance of power system was attacked by proponents of cooperation and a community of power. International relations were changed radically after World War II by the predominance of two superpowers, the Unit ed States and the Soviet Union, with major ideological differences between them. After the 1960s, with the emergence of China and the Third World, a revived Europe and Japan, it reemerged as a component of international relations. With the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the United States, as the sole remaining superpower, has been dominant militarily and, to a lesser degree, economically. US Foreign Policy Encyclopedia: The balance of power appears at first sight a simple concept. It has been defined as a phrase in international law for such a just equilibrium between the members of the family of nations as should prevent any one of them from becoming sufficiently strong to enforce its will upon the rest. Yet the phrase has always been of more use in political polemic than in political analysis. Like other phrases with a strong emotional appeal it is vague, and it would lose its appeal if it were more precise. Its obscurities are several, but the most important is that it blends the descriptive and the normative. The condition is one, the term balance implies, toward which international life is forever tending. That is the descriptive element. But the condition is also one that may be upset, and right-thinking statesmen should constantly be on the alert to preserve or restore it. That is the normative element. These two elements reinforce one another. Because such a balance will be established in an y event, it is sensible and moral to work toward it. PART-II HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF BALANCE OF POWER HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF BALANCE OF POWER 4. Prehistoric and Medieval Periods. During the Period of the Warring States in China (403-221 BC), the development of large, cohesive states accompanied the creation of irrigation systems, bureaucracies, and large armies equipped with iron weapons. These Chinese states pursued power through a constantly shifting network of alliances. In ancient Greece during the Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 BC), the rising power of Athens triggered the formation of a coalition of city-states that felt threatened by Athenian power. 5. Pre World Wars Period a. In the 17th century the Habsburg dynasty, which ruled Austria and Spain, threatened to dominate Europe. During the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), a coalition that included Sweden, England, France, and The Netherlands defeated the rulers of the Habsburg Empire. b. Early in the 19th century, Napoleon repeatedly made efforts to conquer large areas of Europe. A broad coalition of European states-including Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia-defeated France in a series of major battles that climaxed with Napoleons defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. c. The classical European balance of power system emerged thereafter in an alliance known as the Concert of Europe, organized in 1815 by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich. This loose alliance between Britain, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and France ensured that a handful of great powers would coexist, with none able to dominate the others. Under this system, and with Britain playing a balancer role, peace largely prevailed in Europe during the 19th century. It is not an accident that the doctrine of the balance of power-alike in international and in domestic politics-received its classic and most rigorous statements at a time when foreign policy was largely a matter for rulers who could use the war potential of their states for their own aggrandizement. It was because a ruler had to be able to wage effective war that he had to be allowed the armed force that contributed to his domestic control. d. British reliance on a navy rather than on a standing army was important to the growth of British liberties-and later to American liberty. In a sense, therefore, the international balance of power was needed to check the pretensions of rulers who lacked any effective domestic check. The balance of power, however, although it may act to restrain the actions of those who believe in the doctrine, is in the first instance a device to restrain others. 6. Inter and Intra World Wars Period (1914-1945) a. When World War I broke out, although all parties made some effort to maintain or protect the balance of power (which, of course, they interpreted differently), none of them could argue that governments, or princes, were behaving in the way that one would expect. German apologists had to contend that Germany was surrounded by malevolent foes and that the survival of Germany was at stake. The allies had to contend not merely that Germany was too powerful for comfort, but that German militarism threatened a European civilization that would otherwise be peaceful. The argument, in short, could not be cast in terms of the balance of power. b. In order to contain German and its allies, a formidable alliance was formed in Europe. German threat was such that USA broke away with the centuries long stand of neutrality and joined the alliance against Germany. Status quo however, was maintained in Europe. Historians will long continue to debate the causes that finally brought the United States into the war. c. Same was the case in World War II, where, a status quo was required to be maintained and German advances were to be stopped, alliance on the lines of World War I was formed. The alliance completely decapacitated German led axis powers. In both the World Wars, the entry of the United States so quickly and completely tilted the balance of power in favor of the side it joined. Had the United States been regarded as an element in the balance; the wars in the form they took would never have broken out and it is here that the world saw the introduction of WMD. 7. Cold War Period a. It was well recognized that the United States and the Soviet Union were in direct and unique competition. The appalling consequences of nuclear war introduced a new kind of stability. The so-called balance of terror or balance of deterrence ensured that each nuclear power was anxious not to give the other power any sort of signal that would justify an attack, and was also anxious not to identify such a signal. This caution was compatible with, and even required, an arms race. b. The ideological struggle reflected the knowledge of both great powers that they contended in a fast-changing world; and the Cold War began to lose intensity, not when the protagonists decided to abandon it but when world circumstances changed and new elements began to contribute to the balance. c. It became almost conventional to speak in terms of a world of four poles-the United States, the Soviet Union, Europe and Japan. d. US led West used all means and opportunities to balance Soviet military power and kept on trying to contain Soviet Union. On the other hand Soviet Union formed an alliance with the opposite block countries to counter the US. Struggle of countering each power continued till the Soviet Union finally collapsed. With the subsequent disintegration of the Soviet Union, the United States became incontrovertibly the worlds dominant power. 8. Post Cold War a. After the disintegration of Soviet Union, USA emerged as sole global power hence as per the ground realities, the entire world had to align its policies with the US. Without an apparent foe to challenge its security, the major question confronting U.S. foreign policy was what would succeed the Cold Wars bipolar balance of power. b. The issue among academics and political commentators was whether the United States should emphasize its dominant position as a unipolar global power, or seek a leading role in a tripolar or multipolar system. 9. Conclusions from Historical Perspective. In nut shell post cold war power balance is categorized by US unilateralism, Wests political, economic and social control to the extent that the situations symbolize with that of eighteenth and nineteenth centurys colonization. Striking conclusions of the post cold war power balance are as under:- a. The end of the Cold War in US and Europe and the ongoing integration of the European economies alongside attempts at greater political integration in the continent have given rise to a view that traditional concepts of security are no longer relevant. There is a powerful perception that the idea of the state and its sovereignty has been made irrelevant by processes that are taking place at both the global and local level. Concept of security has been widened to the extent that currently it includes everything under the sun. b. Concept of Balance of Power has also been changed from the known enemy threat to fear of unlimited unknowns. Interpretations of the balance has also been changed from balance among nation states to balance among civilizations and much beyond. c. Post cold war era reintroduces the phenomena of colonization with changed face of chaining the third world through economic, trade and technology transfer policies under the umbrella of IMF, world bank, various technological regimes and UN. PART III DETERMINANTS OF RISING POWER (ELEMENTS OF NATIONAL POWER OR ANY OTHER FACTORS DEEMED NECESSARY TO QUALIFY A POWER TO BE THE RISING POWER) The international system is characterized by several unique features which colour the entire pattern of interstate relations and international politics. These features may be summarized as follows:- The central fact about the international system is that it consists of sovereign and independent nation states. These nation states act in their several interests. Their actions are the result of such factors as the judgments of the individual state authorities. The international system has no central political organ capable of enforcing uniform laws and standards of behavior. The United Nation is too weak to perform the task. There are very few universally accepted rules of the game. Generally recognized sources of these rules are four:- Diplomatic practices, (b) International law, (c) Morality and (d) World Public opinion. The significance of morality and world public opinion in international politics is hard to determine. The laws and principles flowing from other two sources are not properly codified and states individually interpret them in their interest. (5) Various states differ in their historical experiences, political ideologies and economic systems. Again they follow different religions, belong to different cultures and value systems. It is the complicated interaction between these various factors that colours their entire outlook. (6) The different states vary with respect to such vital factors as size of population and territory, character, political systems, resources, ideology and judgment. (7) The power distribution of the world is very odd. Between super powers (like the USA and the Soviet Union) and small powers (like Peru, Ethiopia, Srilanka, Sudan etc) there are a number of powers-medium, secondary and lesser powers. (8) Despite the fact of unequal power distribution each state by virtue of being independent and sovereign is regarded as equal and claims equal rights. In the absence of any central organ capable of guaranteeing these equal rights, the protection of these equal rights becomes the concern of each individual state. They are free to select and apply their own methods to protect their status and rights. The result is the international political activity. (9) The cumulative result of all the above factors is the emergence of a typical system which unlike community lacks common values and goals, has no universally accepted procedures and code of conduct where because of these factors resort to arms to resolve disputes is not uncommon. NATURE AND ROLE OF POWER The word power refers to ones capacity to control. As man endeavours to control the various aspects of his environment, his capacity to control these aspects manifests itself in different ways. It is his scientific knowledge (power) through which he controls nature whereas his capacity to control the means of production and distribution is called his economic power. Political power is different from these. It is mans power over the minds and actions of other men. Two questions arise in this connection-first, why men want to control and direct the activities of others and second, what are the sources of this power. One probable answer to the first question is that the best way to avoid control over one-self by others is to control all others. Perhaps controlling all others is the only surest means for avoiding possible control by them over one-self. Diving deeper into this line of analysis leads one to the Hobbesean conception of human nature. Another answer is that man wants to control others for material benefits. Thus economic needs of man become the principal driving force behind all his political activity. As regards the sources of power, too, there is a wide divergence of opinion. The different views can broadly be categorized into two- the classical view and the modern view. According to the classical view the sources of political power are economic and physical strength, which one can exert on others. It exerts through orders, threats etc., and operates by creating either an expectation of benefit or the fear of disadvantages. In the modern sense power is more a spiritual and intellectual leadership. It is the capacity of a leading state to invite confidence, support and co-operation from lesser states through its championship of promising political principles or a value system. This type of power is based on a kind of concensus in shared values. It assumes the form of voluntary agreement among states to follow a given course of action. It is exerted not through orders and threats but through persuasion. It is tutelage in principles and values through which the powerful try to ident ify their aims with the aspirations of the lesser powers. It is because of this that it is some times called an ideological contest or