Financial Performance And Position Of A Business Using...

P5. M2. D2.Perform ratio analysis to measure the profitability, liquidity and efficiency of a given organisation.Analyse the performance of a business using suitable ratios.Evaluate the financial performance and position of a business using ratio analysis. Starbucks. The research method will consist of literature and financial data study. The data sources will be: Starbuck annual reports, and expert opinions. Starting from the balance sheet and Income statement of Starbucks will be analyzed. Different categories of ratios (profitability, efficiency and liquidity) will be calculated. Finally, the obtained ratios will be compared with ratios of last years in order to know how good or bad is the financial situation of Starbucks. Financial†¦show more content†¦Liquidity is not only a measure of how much cash a business has. It is also a measure of how easy it will be for the company to raise enough cash or convert assets into cash. Assets like accounts receivable, trading securities, and inventory are relatively easy for many companies to convert into cash in the short term. Thus, all of these assets go into the liquidity calculation of a company. The ratios that will be calculated under this category are: -Current Ratio= current assets/ current liabilities, Providers of short term credit prefer a high current ratio. -Quick Ratio= current assets-inventory/ current liability Also commonly known as acid test ratio, it is a more severe test of liquidity as it does not include inventory as a liquid asset as they are not guaranteed to be sold, they may become obsolete or deteriorate. Profitability ratios Profitability ratios compare income statement accounts and categories to show a company s ability to generate profits from its operations. Profitability ratios focus on a company s return on investment in inventory and other assets. These ratios basically show how well companies can achieve profits from their operations. Investors and creditors can use profitability ratios to judge a company s return on investment based on its relative level of resources and assets. In other words, profitabilityShow MoreRelatedFinancial Ratio Analysis in a Company859 Words   |  3 Pagesto Olowe (1997), Financial Ratio Analysis is the relationship between the performance of a company and the monetary data in the financial statements to assist the economic conditions. Financial ratio was defined by Robert (1994) as two financial variables being used that have been taken from either the income statement or from the balance sheet. Ratio analysis is a tool that is brought in by individuals to perform an evaluative analysis of information in the company’s financial statements. 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Women Empowerment in India Free Essays

Women Empowerment in India: A psychological view Women Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social and economic strength of Women. It involves increasing their power over decision making, social participation, economic opportunity and economic participation, political participation, access to education and health. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are human rights that lie at the heart of development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by UNO. We will write a custom essay sample on Women Empowerment in India or any similar topic only for you Order Now Worldwide, in agriculture animal care the women contribute 90% of the total work force. Women constitute almost half of the population, perform nearly 2/3rd of its work hours, but receive 1/10th of the world’s income own less than 1/100th of the world property. †¢ Among the world’s 900 million illiterate people, women out number men two to one. †¢ 70% of people living in poverty are women. †¢ Lower sex ratio i. e. 933. †¢ The male child perceived as an asset for the landless rural labourer, a dowry earner for a greedy middle class family and a simple matter of pride for the mother. Women are relatively less healthy than men even though, they belong to same class. †¢ They constitute less than 1/7th of the administrators managers in developing countries. †¢ Only 10% seats in world’s parliament 6% in national cabinets are held by them. The Constitution of India guarantees to all Indian women equal rights, no discrimination by the State, equality of opportunity for work, equal pay for work and protection of dignity. The year 2001 was declared as the year of empowerment of women. In 2010 March 9, one day after International Women’s day, Rajyasabha passed Women’s Reservation Bill, ensuring 33% reservation to women in Parliament and state legislative bodies. There are laws, laws and laws. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, Dowry prohibition act, Child Marriage Restraint Act, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act etc etc. Still in India women are discriminated and marginalized at every level of the society. Gender disparity is high, crimes against women are increasing and violence against women is all time high and in most cases go unreported. Dowry related problems and death is increasing and is profoundly manifesting in the urban population. Workplace harassment of women is another phenomenon which is rapidly increasing as more women join the workforce. Early age marriages are still taking place in large numbers. According to UNICEF’s report, 47% of India’s women aged 20–24 were married before the legal age of 18, with 56% in rural area. The report also showed that 40% of the world’s child marriages occur in India. India, the world’s largest democracy, has only 60 women lawmakers in the current 543-member Lok Sabha, while there are 24 women MPs out of 240 members in Rajya Sabha at present. Everywhere women face barriers that hinder their ability to start or expand their businesses—challenges that CIPE is also working to address. Women often lack access to finance, to markets, to training, mentors, and networks, and to technology. They also frequently face discriminatory regulations, policies and practices that are often deeply entrenched. Sometimes they lack property, inheritance or land rights. A review of government’s various programmes for women empowerment such as Swashakti, Swayamsidha, Streeshakti, Balika samrudhi yojana and another two thousand projects reveal that little has been done or achieved through these programmes. Women’s access to formal financial services remains limited. Women’s empowerment cannot take place unless women come together and decide to self-empower themselves. Self empowerment should be all round in nature. Somewhere we have to make a beginning and it’s always better if we make the initiation at our own self. We can strengthen this mass movement for the â€Å"rise of womanhood† by bringing about the necessary changes in our own life as felt by our inner self. CHANGES: Two levels: 1. Individual level 2. Structural level Individual change: women become actors for change, able to analyze their own lives, make their own decisions and take their own actions. Women gain ability to act by building awareness, skills, knowledge, confidence and experience. Structural change: Women and men, individually and collectively, challenge the routines, attitudes, conventions, laws, family forms, kinship structures and taken-for-granted behaviors that shape their lives – the accepted forms of power and how these are perpetuated. Gender stereotypes and societal perceptions of females and their role are often the biggest barriers to change, because they shape women’s perception of themselves. Across all strata of Indian society, people still believe that women are capable of performing only certain types of jobs and that marriage must take precedence over career. This mind-set, common to both men and women, must change. We must focus on the girl child and help her escape the traditional stereotypes that stifle her potential. Take women in science as an example. The prejudice is that women are less capable of understanding science, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Psychological studies suggest that self-efficacy is one of the most commonly cited constructs for behavioral change. Self efficacy means ‘belief in one’s own competence and ability’. Low self-efficacy beliefs of women stem from the limited and disadvantaged positions women have in society. This makes any behavior change towards self-empowerment difficult if it merely relies on verbal persuasion. Own successful experiences, role models, positive feedback and persuasion raise the level of self efficacy. The best way by which self-efficacy is acquired is by combining persuasion with role modeling and successful experience in a supportive and appreciative environment. Micro credit schemes such as self help groups can give them successful experience. Governmental and non governmental organizations and progressive and resourceful women in the society need to come forward to help less privileged women in as many ways as possible, be the role models for them and persuade them to bring inner change. In India we have so many role models from our Puranas and Ithhasas. In the olden days Indian women have accomplished so much in adverse environments. We are the descendants of great achievers like Avvaiyar, Kannagi and Droupathi. Let us take them as role models and learn to attain their amazing mental strength and will power. Somewhere we have to make a beginning and it’s always better if we make the initiation at our own self. We can strengthen this mass movement for the â€Å"women empowerment† by bringing about the necessary changes in our own life as felt by our inner self. Further we can transmit the change to others and empower them. A small step today will definitely lead to a giant leap tomorrow. Let us remember Swamy Vivekannda’s words. â€Å"All the power is in you. Be conscious and bring it out. Arise, awake and stop not till you reach your goal’ [pic] How to cite Women Empowerment in India, Essay examples Women Empowerment in India Free Essays string(269) " percentage shares of position as legislators, senior officials and managers; and \(2\) Women and men’s percentage shares of professional and technical positions; and \(c\) 3 Power over economic resources as measured by women’s and men’s estimated earned income\." http://papers. ssrn. com/sol3/papers. We will write a custom essay sample on Women Empowerment in India or any similar topic only for you Order Now cfm? abstract_id=1320071 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN INDIA Purusottam Nayak and Bidisha Mahanta Email: nehu_pnayak@yahoo. co. in Web Address: www. pnayak. webs. com/ Abstract The present paper is an attempt to analyze the status of women empowerment in India using various indicators like women’s household decision making power, financial autonomy, freedom of movement, political participation, acceptance of unequal gender role, exposure to media, access to education, experience of domestic violence etc based on data from different sources. The study reveals that women of India are relatively disempowered and they enjoy somewhat lower status than that of men in spite of many efforts undertaken by government. Gender gap exists regarding access to education and employment. Household decision making power and freedom of movement of women vary considerably with their age, education and employment status. It is found that acceptance of unequal gender norms by women are still prevailing in the society. More than half of the women believe wife beating to be justified for one reason or the other. Fewer women have final say on how to spend their earnings. Control over cash earnings increases with age, education and with place of residence. Women’s exposure to media is also less relative to men. Rural women are more prone to domestic violence than that of urban women. A large gender gap exists in political participation too. The study concludes by an observation that access to education and employment are only the enabling factors to empowerment, achievement towards the goal, however, depends largely on the attitude of the people towards gender equality. Introduction In the last five decades, the concept of women empowerment has undergone a sea change from welfare oriented approach to equity approach. It has been understood as the process by which the powerless gain greater control over the circumstances of their lives. Empowerment particularly includes control over resources and ideology. According to Sen and Batliwala (2000) it leads to a growing intrinsic capabilitygreater self confidence, and an inner transformation of one’s consciousness that enables one to overcome external barrier. This view mainly emphasizes on two important aspects. Firstly, it is a power to achieve desired goals but not a power over others. Secondly, idea of empowerment is more applicable to those who are powerless- whether they are male or female, or group of individuals, class or caste. 1 Though concept of empowerment is not specific to women, yet it is unique in that and it cuts across all types of class and caste and also within families and households (Malhotra et al, 2002). Women empowerment is also defined as a change in the context of a women’s life, which enables her increased capacity for leading a fulfilling human life. It gets reflected both in external qualities (viz. health, mobility, education and awareness, status in the family, participation in decision making, and also at the level of material security) and internal qualities (viz. self awareness and self confidence) [Human Development in South Asia (2000) as quoted by Mathew (2003)]. UNDP (1990) for the first time introduced the concept of Human Development Index (HDI) that evolved initially as a broader measure of socio-economic progress of a nation but it became popular as a measure of average achievements in human development for both the sexes. Contrary to the general belief that development is gender neutral, statistics show that women lag behind men all over the world including India in almost all aspects of life. It is for this reason that the focus on human development has been to highlight the gender dimension and continuing inequalities confronting women since 1995 (UNDP 1995). The Report noted that without empowering women overall development of human beings is not possible. It further stressed that if development is not engendered, is endangered. To bring out the facts and figures relating to deprivation of women two indices, namely, Gender related Development Index (GDI) and Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) were introduced. While GDI measures the achievements in the same dimensions and variables as the HDI, it also takes into account inequality in achievement between women and men (Anand and Sen, 1995). The greater the gender disparity in human development, the lower is country’s GDI compared to its HDI. The GDI is the HDI adjusted downwards for gender inequality. On the other hand, GEM indicates whether women are able to actively participate in economic and political life. Theoretically, the index can take values between zero and infinity, with a value of unity reflecting an absolute equality in the respective attainments of males and females. A value higher than unity would imply that females have better attainments than males. 2 Construction of GDI As we know HDI is a composite index of three basic components of human development such as knowledge (Education Index), longevity (Health Index), and standard of living (Income Index) where: I1 ? Education Index ? , I 2 ? Health Index ? are constructed by (1) I 3 ? Income Index ? by (2) : (1)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. I j ? X ij ? Min( X ) Max( X i ) ? Min( X i ) Log ( X ij ) ? Log ? Min? X i Log ? Max? X i ? Log ? Min? X i (2)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ I 3 ? To construct GDI the following three steps are involved: Step-I: For each dimension of education and health, indices are constructed for males and females separately using the formula (1) and for income index by formula (2); Step-II: For each dimension, Equally Distributed Index (EDI) is constructed using the formula (3) as follows: ? Male population Share Female Population Share ? (3)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ EDI ? ? ? Dimension Index for Male ? Dimension Index for Female ? ? ? ? ? 1 Step-III: GDI is calculated by combining the three equally distributed indices in an un-weighted average using the formula (4): 1 (4)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. GDI j ? ( EDI1 ? EDI 2 ? EDI 3 ) 3 Construction of GEM Gender Empowerment Measure as we know focuses on women’s opportunity rather than their capabilities. It captures gender inequality in three key areas such as (a) Political participation and decision making power as measured by women’s and men’s percentage shares of parliamentary seats; (b) Economic participation and decision making power as measured by two indicators: (1) Women and men’s percentage shares of position as legislators, senior officials and managers; and (2) Women and men’s percentage shares of professional and technical positions; and (c) 3 Power over economic resources as measured by women’s and men’s estimated earned income. You read "Women Empowerment in India" in category "Papers" For each of these three dimensions, an Equally Distributed Equivalent Percentage (EDEP) is calculated as a population weighted average according to the general formula (5): ? Female Popn. Share Male Popn. Share ? (5)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ EDEP ? ? ? ? Male Index ? ? Female Index ?1 The EDEP for political participation and economic participation are each divided by 50 to construct the corresponding indexed EDEP whereas for economic resources simple EDEP is taken into consideration. All these three indices are averaged to construct the GEM. Planning Commission (G. O. I. , 2002) used a third index, namely, Gender Equality Index (GEI) in the National Human Development Report. The methodology for construction of GEI is the same as that of HDI. The point of departure involves expressing the index as a proportion of attainment level for females to that of males. Secondly, in estimating the index, the economic attainments for males and females have been captured by taking the respective worker-population ratio, unlike the use of per-capita monthly expenditure as in the HDI. This has been done, primarily, to avoid taking recourse to apportioning consumption or income, between males and females at the household or at an individual level, using criteria that could always be debated. Educational and health attainments have been captured using the same set of indicators as in the case of HDI. Besides these three indices, a number of other socioeconomic and political indicators are being widely used to measure women empowerment (G. O. I. , 2005-06). Review of Literature A number of studies have been undertaken on women empowerment at the global level and in India. Some studies dealt on methodological issues and some on empirical analysis. Moser (1993) focused on the interrelationship between gender and development, the formulation of gender policy and the implementation of gender planning and practices. The work of Shields (1995) provided an exploratory 4 framework to understand and develop the concept of empowerment both from a theoretical and practical perspective with a particular focus on women’s perception of the meaning of empowerment in their lives. Anand and Sen (1995) tried to develop a measure of gender inequality. Pillarisetti and Gillivray (1998) mainly emphasized on the methodology of construction, composition and determinant of GEM. Bardhan and Klasen (1999) criticized GEM as an inadequate index of measuring women empowerment at the aggregate level. Malhotra et al (2002) in their paper prepared for the World Bank highlighted methodological issues of measurement and analysis of women empowerment. Chattopadhyay and Duflo (2001) in their paper used a policy of political reservation for women adopted in India to study the impact of women’s leadership on policy decision. They found that women were more likely to participate in policy making process if the leader of the village community was happened to be women. Mahanta (2002) sought to explain the question of women’s access to or deprivation of basic human rights as the right to health, education and work, legal rights, rights of working women’s, besides issues like domestic violence, all the while keeping the peculiar socio-cultural situation of the North East in mind. A workshop organized in 2003 by the Institute of Social Sciences and South Asia Partnership, Canada addressed the issues like â€Å"Proxy Women† who after being elected to Panchayat bodies were merely puppets in the hands of their husbands, relatives and other male Panchayat members; and emphasized on training programme for their capacity building. Assam Human Development Report (Govt. of Assam, 2003) threw some light on inequality in the achievement between men and women of Assam in different spheres of life. The report viewed that poverty, violence and lack of political participation were the main issues of concern for South Asian Women, and Assam was no exception. The study of Kishor and Gupta (2004) revealed that average women in India were disempowered relative to men, and there had been little change in her empowerment over time. Parashar (2004) examined how mother’s empowerment in India is linked with child nutrition and immunization and suggested women to be empowered simultaneously along several different dimensions if they and their children were to benefit across the whole spectrum of their health and survival needs. Sridevi (2005) in her paper 5 provided a scientific method to measure empowerment. Study of Cote de Ivoire revealed that increased female share in household income leads to increased spending on human development enhancing items (as quoted by Ranis and Stewart, 2005). Blumberg (2005) viewed that economic empowerment of women was the key to gender equality and well being of a nation. This would not only enhance women’s capacity of decision making but also lead to reduction in corruption, armed conflict and violence against females in the long run. Karat (2005) in her works discussed the issues of violence against women, their survival, political participation and emancipation. Panda and Agarwal (2005) focused on the factor like women’s property status in the context of her risk of marital violence and opined that if development means expansion of human capabilities, then freedom from domestic violence should be an integral part of any exercise for evaluating developmental progress. Desai and Thakkar (2007) in their work discussed women’s political participation, legal rights and education as tools for their empowerment. Deepa Narayan (2007) made an attempt to measure women empowerment for different countries and regions by using self assessed points on a ten steps ladder of power and rights, where at the bottom of the ladder stood people who were completely powerless and without rights and on the top stood those who had a lot of power and rights. Figueras (2008) in her work studied the effect of female political representation in State legislature on public goods, policy and expenditure in the context of India and opined that politician’s gender and social position matters for policy. Barkat (www. goodgovernance. rg) while discussing the present status of women in Bangladesh opined that although women as mothers are held in high respect at the individual level, there was an unclear understanding of empowerment of women as a process of awareness and capacity building leading to greater participation in decision making and control over her own life. Thus, from the above review of literature it is evident that quite a number of studies have already been undertaken on women empowerment and related issues. Entire gamut of literature has centered mainly around conceptual and measurement issues and the constraints to women empowerment. The present study in this respect is 6 an attempt to highlight the status and trend of women empowerment in India by taking into consideration various dimensions of it. The Case of India As far as India is concerned, the principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Constitution and finds a place in the Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The Constitution not only grants equality to women but also empowers the States to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women. Historically the status of Indian women has been influenced by their past. There is evidence to show that women in the Vedic age got most honored positions in the society (Seth, 2004). They had the right to education. They were free to remain unmarried and devote their whole life to the pursuit of knowledge and self realization. The married women performed all the works and sacrifices equally with their husbands. They were educated in various disciplines of knowledge such as astrology, geography, veterinary sciences and even in martial arts. There were instances of women taking part in wars and fights. They were highly respected within and outside home. Gradually due to several socio-political changes, especially during the middle age, the glorious status of women declined. The urge for equality on the part of Indian women started getting momentum during the colonial times. Noted social reformers and national leaders like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Annie Besant, Sorojini Naidu and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar made selfless efforts to create awareness among women about their status and were quite successful in removing various social evils such as sati pratha, child marriage, and polygamy. They also encouraged widow remarriage and women education. The reformers were successful in creating a base for development of women and theirs strive for equality. In course of time Indian society got transformed from traditional to a modern one. Consequently women became more liberal and aware of various ways of life. Since they are quite capable of breaking the traditional barriers imposed by the society are now challenging the patriarchal system though in a limited scale. Since independence, the Government of India has been making various efforts to empower women. In various plan periods, the issues regarding women empowerment has been given priority. From fifth five year plan onwards there has 7 been a remarkable shift from welfare oriented approach of women empowerment to development approach. The National Commission for women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the rights’ of women. The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution of India provided opportunity to women to take part in active politics. The year 2001 was declared as the year of women’s empowerment for enhancing their status. To achieve the goal, the government introduced different programmes, identified strategies, established different institutions and made various legal provisions. In spite of all these efforts and actions, women in India still lag behind the men. According to 2001 Census, female literacy rate in the country was 54. 2 per cent as against 75. 9 per cent in case of males (G. O. I. , 2001). The situation was much worse in the rural and remote areas of the country. In spite of women going for higher education they face exclusion from their male counterparts and are alienated in various positions in governance. The incidence like early marriage, female feticides and infanticide, dowry, bride burning, rape, molestation, kidnapping etc are very frequent. In recent times, the record of crime against women indicates an increasing trend. The position of women in the country in the social, economic and political fields is by no means equal to that of their male counterparts. Besides low female literacy, there are many other factors that have contributed to gender biasness. Girl child is still given less priority in certain parts of India. Past studies indicate that it is the people’s perception in general that the birth of a girl child is less desirable and evokes less happiness than that of a boy child (Seth, 2005). It is ingrained in the Indian psyche, cutting across religion, caste and region. Since her birth she is victimized in all spheres including education, employment, nutrition and social status. The World Economic Forum (2005), in its first gender gap study placed India at 53rd position among 58 nations, which shows a significant gap in male and female achievements. In the same study, the rank of India in terms of political empowerment was 24th at both primary and grassroots level. The National Population Policy 2000 specifically identified the low status of women in India as an important barrier to the achievement of goals towards maternal and child welfare (G. O. I. 2000). 8 Indicators F Life Expectancy Adult Literacy Gross Enrolment Seats Share in Parliament Share of Professional Technical Persons Gender related Development Index Gender Empowerment Measure 1990 M NA 57 NA NA NA F 1995 M F 2000 M F 2005 M 2007-08 F M NA 29 NA NA NA 60. 4 60. 3 63. 3 62. 5 65. 0 61. 8 65. 3 62. 3 35. 2 63. 7 43. 5 67. 1 47. 8 73. 4 47. 8 73. 4 45. 8 63. 8 46. 0 61. 0 56. 0 64. 0 6 0. 0 68. 0 7. 3 92. 7 8. 9 91. 1 9. 3 NA 90. 7 NA 9. 8 NA 90. 2 NA 20. 5 79. 5 20. 5 79. 5 NA NA 0. 401 (R-99) 0. 226 (R- 101) Source: UNDP 0. 545 (R-108) NA 0. 586 (R-98) NA 0. 600 (R-113) NA UNDP in its various Human Development Reports since 1990 till 2007-08 have placed India at a very low level of development regarding the position of women in terms of various indicators such as adult literacy, gross enrolment, share of seats in parliament and the professional and technical positions held by them (as shown in the box above). Though data are not provided for GEM indicator after 1995, GDI values reveals that women are consistently lagging behind. India has been placed in the 113th rank with a GDI value of 0. 600 as against a rank of 89 with GDI value of 0. 753 in case of Sri Lanka (UNDP, 2007-08). The rank of India has also gone down from 99 in 1995 to 113 in 2007-08 and has been fluctuating from year to year National Human Development Report (G. O. I, 2002) brought out information on indices on GDI and GEM. GDI showed marginal improvement during the eighties. GEI increased from 62 per cent in the early eighties to 67. 6 per cent in the early nineties. This implies that on an average the attainments of women on human development indicators were only two-thirds of those of men. At the State level, gender equality was the highest for Kerala followed by Manipur, Meghalaya, 9 Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland in the eighties. Goa and the Union Territories, except for Delhi, had gender equality higher than the national level. In the nineties, Himachal Pradesh had the highest equality, whereas Bihar was at the bottom and witnessed a decline in absolute terms over the earlier period. In general, women were better off in the Southern India than in the Indo-Gangetic plains comprising mainly the States of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. States like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in the south and Haryana and Jammu Kashmir in the north made considerable progress in improving the status of women vis-a-vis men on the human development indicators. States that did well in improving their female literacy levels are also the ones that substantially improved their gender equality. On the whole, gender disparities across the States declined over the period. NFHS-III (G. O. I. , 2005-06) collected information on large number of indicators of women empowerment such as relative earnings of wives over their husbands’, control over the use of these earnings, participation in household decision making, freedom of movement, gender role attitude, freedom from domestic violence, etc. Data on some of these indicators of women empowerment are examined and findings are presented in the following paragraphs. Decision Making Power Decision making power of women in households is one of the important indicators of women empowerment. It is found that only 37 per cent of currently married women participate in making decisions either alone or jointly with their husband on their health care, large household purchases, purchases for daily household needs and on visiting their family members and relatives (Table 1). Forty three per cent participate in some but not all decisions and 21 per cent do not participate in any of the decision. As high as in 32. 4 per cent cases the decision regarding the purchase of daily household needs is taken mainly by the respondents whereas the decisions like visit to her relatives are in most cases taken alone by husbands or jointly. Decision like major household purchases is taken jointly in most of the cases. A very less number of women alone take this type of decision. About 27 per cent of total respondents take their own health care decision alone. 10 Women’s participation rate on household decision making not only varies from rural to urban areas but also gets affected by their background characteristics like age, educational status, husband’s education, employment status etc (Table 2). Urban married women are observed to be more empowered than that of the rural women. Empowerment of women increases with the increase in their age. Women who are more educated and employed are relatively more empowered. About 46 per cent of total women in the age group 40-49 years participate in all the four decisions compared to 15 per cent belonging to the age group 15-19 years. With higher spousal educational status women’s participation in decision making increases. About 21 per cent of women with no spousal education do not take part in any decision making at all as compared to 17 per cent of women with spousal education of 12 years or more. Employment also provides an advantage to women regarding their ability to decision making power. Employed women are more likely to participate in all decision makings. In urban setting and in nuclear type of family, women have more autonomy in household decision making. Freedom of Movement Free mobility of women is another indicator of women empowerment. The data reveals that about half of women are allowed to go to the market or to the health facility alone (Table 3). Only 38 per cent are allowed to travel alone to places outside the village or community. While not all women are allowed to go to these places alone, only a minority are not allowed to go at all. Compared to urban women, rural women have less mobility. Women’s mobility is also affected by their background characteristics like age, education, marital status, type of family etc. Table 4 reveals that freedom of movement increases with age though it does not vary linearly with education. Seventy per cent of the women of the highest education group are allowed to go alone to the market as against 49 per cent of women with no education. Employment is associated with greater freedom of movement. Only one in five never married women go to all of the three places compared with about one in three currently married women and two in three formerly married women. Nuclear residence and urban setting are also associated with greater freedom of movement. 11 Women of urban areas are freer than that of the rural women. Similarly as high as 37 per cent of women of nucleus families are freer regarding their movement as compared to 29. per cent in case of the non-nucleus families. Acceptance of Unequal Gender Role Women’s protest against unequal gender role in terms of their attitude towards preferences for son, wife beating etc. is another indicator of women empowerment. The data presented in Table 5 reveal that 54 per cent of women in India believe wife beating to be justifi ed for any of the specific reasons. Similarly 35 per cent women believe it to be justified if they neglect their house or children. However, agreement with wife beating does not vary much by women’s age and household structure, but decline sharply with education. It is to be noted that even among the most educated women, at least one in three agrees with one or more justifications for wife beating. In rural areas women are generally more agreeable to wife beating than in urban areas. Agreement is lower among never married women as compared to ever married women. Access to Education Women’s access to education which is one of the important sources of empowerment can be measured by gender gap in literacy rates and enrolment in different stages of school education. The literacy gap between men and women was as high as 21. 7 per cent in 2001 (Table 6). Though the gap was fluctuating from 18. 3 per cent in 1951 to 23. 9 per cent in 1971, it has been showing a marginal declining trend since 1981. Table 7 shows enrolment by stages from 1951 to 2001-02. It is clear that participation of girls at all stages of education has been steadily increasing over time. However, the overall performance of participation has not been satisfactory as it had been below 50 per cent at all stages of education Access to Employment Table 8 shows the employment and cash earnings of currently married men and women. Data reveal that only 43 per cent of women in the age group of 15-49 2 years are employed as against 99 per cent of men in the same age group. It also reveals that gender inequality exist in the arena of employment. As compared to 51% women employed for cash only, the corresponding figure for that of the males is as high as 72. 5%. Similarly a very few males are employed for kind only (3. 4%) as compared to females engaged for kind (11. 6%). Twen ty four per cent women are not paid at all for their work whereas this proportion is as low as 5% for men. For women earning cash is not likely to be a sufficient condition for financial empowerment. Employment and cash earnings are more likely to empower women if women make decisions about their own earnings alone or jointly with their husband rather than their husband alone and if these earnings are perceived by both wives and husbands to be significant relative to those of the husbands. Table 9 in this connection shows the extent of women’s control over earnings on the basis of background characteristics like age, education, place of residence, household structure etc. It is seen that women’s control over cash earnings increases with age. In the age group 15 19 years only 17. per cent women alone take decision about the use of their cash earnings as compared to 28. 3 per cent in the age group 40-49 years. Similarly husband mainly takes such decision in case of 20 per cent women in the age group 15-19 years in comparison to 12. 7 per cent in the age group 40-49 years. Influence of other person in making such decision decreases with the increase in age of responden ts. It varies from 18. 6 per cent in the age group 15-19 years to as low as 0. 4 per cent in 40-49 age groups. Place of residence also affects women’s control over their cash earnings. Generally women in urban areas have more control over their earnings than that in rural areas. About thirty three per cent take decision alone about the use of their own earnings in urban areas as compared to 21 per cent in rural areas Education is one of the important factors that affects greatly in women’s control over earnings. About 23 per cent women with no education have more control over their earnings whereas it is 28. 6 per cent in case of women completed 12 or more years of education. Other persons’ influence on the decision about the use of earnings reduces significantly with education. It is as high as 8. 3 percent in the case of 3 respondent with no education as compared to 4. 9 per cent respondent with secondary level education. Household structure has an important role to play in affecting women’s financial empowerment. In non nuclear family structure, influence of others is more in making such decision. In case of 6. 4 per cent women in non nuclea r family, the decision about the use of their own cash earnings are taken by others as compared to 0. 6 per cent women in nuclear family. Exposure to Media Table 10 which presents data on women’s exposure to media reveals that percentage of women not exposed to media is more than double that of men. About 71 per cent of women are exposed to media as compared to 88 per cent in case of men. Twenty nine per cent of women do not have access to media regularly. Since it is an important source of empowerment, greater proportion of women without having access to media reflects the relatively disadvantageous position of women in relation to men with regards to empowerment. Domestic Violence Table 11 shows percentage of women who have experienced different forms and combinations of physical and sexual violence according to selected background characteristics. It is observed that extent of violence is not lessened by age. In the age group of 15-19 years, 22. 5 per cent women experienced physical or sexual violence in India as compared to 39 per cent in the age group 40-49 years. Both types of violence are higher for ever married women than for never married women. Almost 40 per cent ever married women experienced physical or sexual violence as against 16. 9 per cent never married women. Extent of domestic violence is higher in rural areas as compared to urban areas. About thirty eight per cent women in rural area faced either physical or sexual violence as compared to about 29 percent women in urban areas. Political Participation Women’s political participation is one of the important issues in the context of empowerment. In conventional analysis it means activities related to electoral politics 14 like voting, campaigning, holding party office and contesting election. But in broader sense it encompasses all voluntary actions intended to influence the making of public policies, the administration of public affairs and the choice of political leaders at all levels of government. Political interventions by women of India today range from movement for peace and good governance to protest against dowry, rape, domestic violence, food adulteration, price rise etc. [Desai et at, 2007]. However in this section we discuss participation of women in formal politics by analyzing the indicators like women voters and women elected members in the first twelve general elections in India. The following Table 2. 12 shows the voting percentage of men and women in the first twelve elections of independent India. In the very first election the percentage of women voter was significantly low (37%). Many women were left out as their names were not properly registered. The gender gap in voting though has been narrowing gradually significant gap between male and female voters still exists. Elected Women Members Many factors are responsible and decisive in the election of women candidates such as literacy, financial position, liberal family background, support of other members of the family, strong personality etc. Since most of the women lack access to these, few women get tickets and even fewer get elected from this handful of women candidates. Table 2. 13 shows the elected women Members in Lok Sabha. From the table it is clear that percentage of women members to the total members has been consistently less than 10 per cent in each Lok Sabha starting from 1st to 12th one. This shows poor participation of women in political field. Thus it can be concluded with information provided by NFHS – III and others that women of India are disempowered relative to men in respect of decision making power, freedom of movement, education, employment, exposure to media, political participation etc and face domestic violence to a considerable degree and occupy the subordinate status both at home and in the society even in the 21 st century. 5 Constraints to Women Empowerment There are several constraints that check the process of women empowerment in India. Social norms and family structures in developing countries like India, manifests and perpetuate the subordinate status of women. One of such norms is the continuing preference for a son over the birth of a girl child, which is present in almost all societies and communities. The hold of this preference has strengthened rather than weakened and its most glaring evidence is in the falling sex ratio (Seth, 2004). The society is more biased in favor of male child in respect of education, nutrition and other opportunities. The root cause of this type of attitude lies in the belief that male child inherits the clan in India with an exception in Meghalaya. Women often internalize the traditional concept of their role as natural, thus inflicting an injustice upon them. Poverty is the reality of life for the vast majority of women in India. It is another factor that poses challenge in realizing women’s empowerment. In a poor family, girls are the main victims; they are malnourished and are denied the opportunity of better education and other facilities. But if they are financially independent or they have greater control over the resources then they exhibit greater autonomy both in the household and in public sphere and are no longer victims of poverty. Lack of awareness about legal and constitutional provisions and failure in realizing it, is another factor that hinders the process of empowerment. Most of the women are not aware of their legal rights. Even women who are aware lack the courage to take the legal step. The legislation which affects women most is their situation in marriage and inheritance. As far as the rights of inheritance are concerned, women generally do not try to inherit land left by their parents if brothers are alive (Seth, 2005). The traditional belief that land should not go outside the patriarchal family operates. The provision of Act like (1) Child Marriage Resistance Act, 1930, (2) The Suppression of Immoral Trafficking of Women Act, 1987 and (3) The Indecent Exposure of Women Act, have not led to the suppression of practice indicated in them. Of these three, the first one is by and large successful in restraining child marriage. The legislation almost failed in case of immoral trafficking and indecent exposure to 16 women. There are numerous incidence of indecent exposure of women in all forms of media with hardly any prosecution. Although the legal rights are in place to create an enabling atmosphere these have not been very successful in realizing women’s empowerment. Summery and Findings Various indicators of women empowerment are analyzed using the data from various sources while discussing women’s present status in India. The main emphasis is given to the indicators like women’s household decision making power, financial autonomy, freedom of movement, women’s acceptance of unequal gender roles, exposure to media, access to education, women’s experience of domestic violence etc. Women’s political participation is also analyzed by using indicators like percentage of women voters and women MPs. After analyzing the data it is found that household decision making power and freedom of movement of women vary considerably with age, education and employment. Freedom of movement of widow or divorcee is more than ever married or never married women. Similarly it is found that in the society the acceptance of unequal gender norms by women themselves are still prevailing. More than half of the women believe that wife beating is justified for any of the specific reasons like not cooking properly, not taking proper care of household and children, refuge to have sex with husband, showing disrespect to in-laws etc. However, this attitude is not varying much with age or household structure but decline sharply with education and places of residence. While studying women’s access to education and employment it is found that gender gap exist in both the situations. A large gender gap in literacy exists and participation of girls at all stages of education is below 50%. Similarly less than 50% of women are employed and a significant portion of them are not paid for their work. However, having access to employment does not mean that women have full control over their earnings. Fewer women have final say on how to spend their earnings. Control over cash earnings increases with age and with place of residence in urban areas and education, but not vary significantly with household structure. Women’s exposure to media is also less relative to men. Women’s experience of domestic violence shows that violence is not lessened by age. Rural women are more prone to domestic violence than urban women. Regarding women’s 17 political participation it is found that large gender gap exists in voting and less than ten per cent of total member in Lok Sabha are Women. This is because most of the women lack desired level of financial autonomy, literacy, strong personality, own decision making capacity, family support etc. Thus we see that these mutually interdependent factors reinforce each other and put women in a disadvantageous position relative to men. Various constraints in achieving the desired level of empowerment are also identified. Important among them are poverty, social norms and family structure, lack of awareness about legal and constitutional provision etc. Generally speaking the women of India are relatively disempowered and they enjoy somewhat lower status than that of men. In spite of so many efforts undertaken by government and NGOs the picture at present is not satisfactory. Mere access to education and employment can only help in the process of empowerment. These are the tools or the enabling factors through which the process gets speeded up. However, achievement towards this goal depends more on attitude. Unless the attitude towards the acceptance of unequal gender role by the society and even the women themselves changed women can not grab the opportunity provided to them through constitutional provision, law etc. Till then we can not say that women are empowered in India in its real sense. 18 References ? Anand, S. and A. Sen (1995): â€Å"Gender inequality in Human Development: Theories and Measurement†, in Fukuda Parr and A. K. Shiv Kumar (eds. ) Readings in Human Development, OUP, New Delhi. Bardhan, K. and K. Stephan (1999): â€Å"UNDP’s Gender Related Indices: A Critical Review†, World Development, Vol. 27, No. 6. Barkat, A. (2008): â€Å"Women empowerment: A key to Human Development. , http://www. goodgovernance. org visited on 20th April 2008 at 4. 30p. m. Blumberg, R. L. (2005): â€Å"Women’s Economic Empowerment as the Magic Potion of Development? † Paper presented at the 100th annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia Census of India (2001): Govt. of India, New Delhi. Chattopadhyay, R. nd E. Duflo (2001): â€Å"Women’s Leadership and Policy Decisions: Evidence from a Nationwide Randomized Experiment in India†, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and Department of Economics ,MIT, and NBER Desai, N. and U. Thakkar (2007): â€Å"Women and Political Participation in India†; Women in Indian Society, New Delhi, National Boo k Trust. Figueras, I. C. (2008): â€Å"Women in Politics: Evidence from the Indian States†, Department of Economics, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. G. O. I. (2000): National Population Policy, Ministry of Health Family Welfare, New Delhi. G. O. I. 2001): Census Report, Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, New Delhi. G. O. I. (2002): National Human Development Report, 2001, Planning Commission. G. O. I. (2005-06): National Family Health Survey – III, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi. Govt. of Assam (2003): â€Å"Women: Striving in an Unequal World† in Assam Human Development Report, 2003. http://planassam. org/report/hdr2003/ HDR. html. Visited on 20th February, 2008, at 5pm. IFUW (2001): â€Å"Empowering Women†, http://www. ifuw. org/saap2001/ empowerment. htm. Visited on 10th February 2008 at 10 a. m. Karat, B. 2005): Survival and Emancipation: Notes from Indian Women’s Struggles, Three Essays Collective, Ha ryana Kishor, S. and K. Gupta (2004): â€Å"Women’s Empowerment in India and Its States: Evidence from the NFHS†, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXXIX, No. 7. Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre (2000): Human Development in South Asia 2000: The Gender Question, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Mahanta, A. (ed. ) (2002): Human Rights and Women of North East India, Centre for Women’s Studies, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 19 ? Malhotra, A. , S. R. Schuler and C. Boender (2002): â€Å"Measuring Women’s Empowerment as a Variable in International Development† Unpublished Paper for the World Bank. www. unicef. org/pubsgen/humanrights-children/index. html. Visited on 11th January, 2008, at 5 p. m. Mathew, G. (2003): Keynote address in the workshop on â€Å"A Decade of Women’s Empowerment through Local Governance† organized jointly by Institute of Social Sciences and South Asia Partnership, Canada sponsored by International Development Research Centre. Moser, Caroline O. (1993): Gender Planning and Development: Theory Practice and Training, available from Women, Ink. ? ? Narayan, D. (2007): Empowerment: A Missing Dimension of Human Development, Oxford Poverty Human Development Initiative (OPHI) Conference, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford. Panda, P. and B. Agarwal (2005): â€Å"Marital Violence, Human Development and Women’s Property Status in India†, World Development, Vol. 33, No. 5. Parasar, S. (2004): â €Å"A Multidimensional Approach to Women’s Empowerment and its Links to the Nutritional Status and Immunization of Children in India†. http://www. allacademic. com/meta/p109193index. html. Visited on 15th February, 2008 at 1 p. m. Pillarisetti and Gillivray (1998): â€Å"Human Development and Gender Empowerment: Methodological and Measurement Issue† Development Policy Review, Vol. 16. Ranis, G. and F. Stewart (2005): â€Å"Dynamic Links between the Economy and Human Development†, DESA Working Paper No. 8. http://www. un. org/esa/desa/papers. Visited on 25th December, 2007 at 5 p. m. Sen and Batliwala (2000): â€Å"Empowering Women for Reproductive Rights†, in H. B. Presser and G. Sen (eds. ) Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Processes: Moving beyond Cairo, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 15-36. Seth, Meera (2004): â€Å"Women and Development- The Indian Experience†, Sage Publication, New Delhi. Shields, Lourene E. (1995): â€Å"Women’s Experiences of the Meaning of Empowerment† Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 5, No. 1. Sridevi, T. O. (2005): â€Å"Empowerment of Women-A Systematic Analysis† IDF Discussion Paper. U. N. D. P. (1990, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2007-08): Human Development Report. World Economic Forum (2005): Women’s Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap. http:/in. rediff. com/money/2005/may/17wef. htm. Visited on 20th January, 2008 at 9. 30 a. m. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 20 Table – 1 Married Women’s Participation in Decision making, 2005-06 (Figures in per cent) Decision on/Decision by Mainly Wife Mainly Husband Urban Own Health Care Major household purchases Purchases of daily household needs Visits to her family Relatives Own Health Care Major household purchases Purchases of daily household needs Visits to her family Relatives Own Health Care Major household purchases Purchases of daily household needs Visits to her family Relatives 29. 7 10. 4 39. 9 12. 2 26. 0 7. 6 29. 1 10. 0 27. 1 8. 5 32. 4 10. 7 39. 1 51. 5 28. 9 57. 3 Rural 33. 4 41. 2 27. 1 46. Total 35. 1 44. 4 27. 7 49. 8 30. 1 32. 2 24. 7 26. 8 6. 3 12. 0 12. 3 10. 4 1. 3 2. 8 2. 8 2. 2 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 31. 7 34. 6 26. 9 28. 9 7. 6 13. 5 13. 9 12. 1 1. 3 2. 9 2. 9 2. 9 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 26. 5 26. 8 19. 8 22. 0 3. 5 8. 7 8. 8 6. 6 1. 1 2. 5 2. 5 1. 8 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 Husband and Wife jointly Some one Else Other Missing Source: NFHS-3 21 Table – 2 Factors Affecti ng Women’s Participation in Decision making, 2005-06 (Figures in per cent) Background characteristics Own health care Making major househol d Purchase s 25. 1 39. 2 50. 7 60. 7 63. 6 61. 9 48. 9 51. 5 51. 4 50. 6 52. 56. 3 62. 6 53. 0 52. 3 52. 2 50. 1 51. 3 57. 3 55. 3 61. 0 45. 1 51. 1 62. 2 43. 0 Making purchase s for daily househol d needs 29. 1 44. 6 58. 7 6. 8 71. 2 68. 8 56. 2 59. 5 60. 1 58. 4 58. 3 61. 6 66. 3 61. 5 60. 5 60. 3 56. 8 58. 0 60. 2 63. 7 69. 5 53. 2 57. 4 70. 4 49. 2 Visits to her family or relative per cent who participat e in all four decisions 15. 1 25. 2 34. 3 42. 8 46. 3 45. 0 33. 0 34. 9 35. 2 35. 7 36. 2 40. 5 46. 1 36. 6 35. 7 36. 5 33. 7 36. 1 40. 6 38. 8 44. 3 29. 0 35. 1 44. 3 28. 7 per cent who particip ate in none 46. 1 31. 1 20. 4 14. 1 12. 8 13. 9 23. 4 22. 7 20. 21. 7 19. 7 16. 8 12. 1 21. 3 20. 3 20. 8 21. 8 21. 3 17. 3 19. 0 15. 0 26. 1 21. 6 13. 6 27. 7 Numbe r of women Age 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-39 40-49 Urban 40. 4 52. 5 62. 2 67. 7 6 9. 3 68. 8 59. 3 59. 4 61. 2 61. 0 63. 6 67. 2 73. 1 61. 6 61. 1 62. 0 59. 5 62. 5 66. 2 63. 0 67. 7 54. 6 61. 7 67. 7 56. 4 33. 5 47. 5 58. 9 67. 1 71. 6 69. 5 56. 5 57. 5 60. 4 59. 8 60. 7 65. 9 71. 6 59. 1 60. 9 59. 7 58. 3 60. 2 65. 2 69. 2 68. 0 53. 7 58. 7 68. 7 68. 7 6726 16782 18540 30952 20089 28604 64485 43931 7776 14018 10735 7704 8921 24918 8366 14793 14615 13144 17100 39835 25601 14234 53225 47851 45238 Residence Rural No education Less than 5 yrs 5-7 yrs 8-9 yrs 10-11yrs 12 or more yrs Education Husband ’s education No education Less than 5 yrs 5-7 yrs 8-9 yrs 10-11yrs 12 or more yrs Employed Employed for cash Employed not for cash Not employed Employment Household structure Nuclear Non nuclear Source: NFHS – 3 22 Table – 3 Freedom of Movement of Married Women in India, 2005-06 (Figures in per cent) Places Alone Urban 66. 2 60. 3 45. 5 Rural 44. 3 41. 5 34. 0 Total 51. 4 47. 7 37. 7 With somebody else 26. 8 36. 2 48. 0 40. 4 53. 0 56. 6 35. 9 47. 5 53. Not at all Total To the market To health facilities To outside the village/community To the market To health facilities To outside the village/community To the market To health facilities To outside the village/community 7. 0 3. 5 6. 6 15. 3 5. 5 9. 4 12. 6 4. 8 8. 5 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 100. 00 Source- NFHS- 3 Table – 4 Factors Affecting Freedom of Movement of Ma rried Women, 2005-06 Percentage allowed to go alone to Market Background Characteristics 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-39 40-49 Urban Rural No education How to cite Women Empowerment in India, Papers

Strategies For Creating more Employement for Arabic Country

Question: Discuss about theStrategies For Creating more Employement for Arabic Country. Answer: Introduction Kuwait is an Arabic country consisting of the sixth largest oil reserves in the world. The country has a huge share in the oil reserves making it one of the wealthiest nations in the world. The country experienced a period of growth and prosperity since 1946 (Al-Hawary and Alajmi 2017). The country started public work by introducing a modern standard of living. The country has become the largest oil exporter in the Persian Gulf region. This massive growth attracted many foreign workers to migrate to this nation for work. The society is an open society and is liberal in empowering women in their society. However, the trade limitation in Kuwait is focused only in oil exports as the maximum revenue is drawn from this section. The growing nation has many further options to increase their economy and expand their trading scopes by attracting Multinational companies. The Kuwaiti dinar has a high value in international market hence proving the economic stability of the country (Al-Shammari 2014). The country has further scopes to expand their economic condition and increase their business by introducing MNCs in their country. The discussion will discuss about the determinants of national competitive advantage that will attract MNCs to the country. The study will discuss the determinants by using the Porters diamond model. The four strategy that effects the national competitive advantages are firm structure, structure and rivalry, related supporting industries, demand condition and factor conditions. Firm strategy International and multinational companies have a high chance for trading in Kuwait. The GCC has 5% tariff on the imported products. The income tax for foreign corporation is only 15% (Chadee, Roxas and Rogmans 2015). The commercial service has sufficient number of programs and services to provide assistance to the U.S companies to get established in this growing nations. However, the entry in Kuwait market must be taken with the assistance of competent and tax counsel. They employ experienced workers with specialised experiences in industrial background who can provide proper guidance and support to the industry. They have special agency who will guide the emerging industry to the country with proper guidance and information. The government has an excellent infrastructure that will attract the foreign business to trade with the nation. They have a relaxed foreign exchange control(Al-Obaidi et al 2016). The taxation is also too low in the country, which attracts the international mark et to trade with the nation. The individual taxation is also low which increases the scope for further investments in business. This increases the scope of importing raw material and trading opportunities for the domestic firms. There a sufficient raw cash in the hand of the business person who can spend that money for further business. The supply of money has been controlled by the government and subsidising the prices of general materials (Assaad 2014). Thus, the country has enough cash flow for increasing their own business scope and market strategies and at the same time they can it attracts foreign countries to trade with them. A leisure tax system, flexible pricing and sufficient capital is present in this country (Marchi, Maria and Micelli 2013). The most vital aspect for business growth are available in this nation thus allowing the foreign countries to find better scope and opportunity to trade and expand in the country. Population growth: It is accounted that 70% of Kuwaits population constitute 28-32% Kuwaitis. a growing population means a growing nation. A growing population brings a growth tin the supply, production and growth of the nation. The growing nation can provide support to the emerging industry. The nation has a good population level that supports the growth of the business in the domestic and international market (Nosova 2018). A growing population also measn a greater demand for products, this will enable th eMNCs to create a proper demand for their products in this market. However, the government must make sure there is a reduction in corruption and a well- framed legal system is developed. The government should impose a strict restriction on corruption to prevent a bad image of the company legal system. However, an increasing population is always a better scope for emerging business to create a place in the market (Heffernan 2014). The population in Kuwait is one of the major determinants that will at tract foreign traders to trade with the nation. Rivalry: The Kuwait market is focused on their oil export trade. They have very less interest or expansion for other business scopes. The foreign countries that would like to emerge in this country would have an ease to enter and trade as the international market in Kuwait is highly flexible for foreign traders and has less changes of rivalry. The countries will face minimum objections for trading in this nation. The country has special laws for the competitive projects. The private sector of the country is yet to be covered by the nation itself. Hence, the scope for competition in this field is very low (Jehanzeb, Rasheed and Rasheed 2013). The majority is employed to the government sector. The country is recently opening its chances for private sectors thus making way for domestic and foreign business to create their own demand in the market. The MNCs that would like to emerge into this market will not face a high risk of rivalry or competition as there will be only a limited companies that will trade with this nation(Kuwait Times 2018). The business will enjoy monopoly on the system and will have high change for business expansion and profit. Demand and factor conditions: The factors that affect the demand of product are income, taste, preference of the products. The country has a high chance for foreign transaction and thus it is also creating a demand for the products. The ease of trade and import has created a huge demand for the products in Kuwait market. The emerging countries that are interested to trade with the country will face a huge advantage in this field, as they will be able to meet the demand of the customers in the country with a high profit scale for themselves(Madun Y.K.A). The unlimited resources in the country are also an important factor to create a demand in the market (Behar and Mok 2013). The oil export business increased the foreign relation of the country, thus creating a transactional relation with the foreign country. This will enhance the scope for MNCs to get attracted. The country also has enough cash flow and disposable cash as they have very less taxations (Laszlo and Zhexembayeva 2017). This will once again create a d emand for foreign product and services in the country. The MNCs will have many scopes to enter the market and establish a business organization in this country. Strategies for enhancing the capacity of firm in the country: Technology organization: The government must emphasis on the gaps in technology field and create new types of organization and system that would create a market and job opportunities. The franchise system should be implemented as it leads to rapids proliferation of new business and job scopes in the market. The technology should be developed further to create a demand for workers to access the technology and systems in the industry. They should introduce latest technology and upgraded version to assure quality production. The technology development will help the industry and company to raise their standard and at the same time increase the scope for employment (Sharabati and Fuqaha 2014). Expanding the business: The companies must try to expand the business in different parts of the country. If the business is expanded then the company would require more employees to work on those branches. This would increase the scope for employment in the country. The companies must have a vacancy for the skilled workers in each branches, hiring the skilled and trained workers for this place. Thus, if the business gets expanded around the country then there are high chances for the company to hire more employees thus creating employment for the countrymen. Educating the youth: The country should emphasis on the education of the growing generation. They must make sure that the growing generation is updating themselves along with the developing technology and strategies. This will make them fit to join the new emerging companies and the existing companies and get employed there. The technical knowledge about the business and current system is must for every child in the country. Thus, the country must stress on th education system to create better opportunity for employment. Merging with MNCs: The domestic business in the country can merge with the MNCs or take franchise to create their own scope of business in the country itself. The domestic business in the country can merge with the foreign business and develop a branch in their own country. This will demand for more workers for the branches thus, creating a demand for employment in the market. The businessperson can also take up franchise from the leading brands and open up branches in the nation. This will once again create a demand for employees in the market. Conclusion: Thus, if the country follows such strategies it will create a demand for employment in Kuwait market. The country has a high scope for foreign investment and MNCs to invest in the company. The relaxations and ease have been already mentioned in the study earlier. However, if the mentioned measures are taken, the country will create more employment. References: Al-Hawary, S.I.S. and Alajmi, H.M., 2017. Organizational Commitment of the Employees of the Ports Security Affairs of the State of Kuwait: The Impact of Human Recourses Management Practices.International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences,6(1), pp.52-78. Al-Obaidi, M., Ortiz-Volcan, J.L., Gomez, F.J. and Akbar, M.G., 2016, December. Supply Chain Modeling of a Steam-Based Thermal EOR Heavy Oil Field Development Project in Kuwait Lessons Learned. InSPE Heavy Oil Conference and Exhibition. Society of Petroleum Engineers. Al-Shammari, B., 2014. An investigation of the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on level of corporate risk disclosure: evidence from Kuwait.International Journal of Business and Social Research,4(6), pp.51-70. Assaad, R., 2014. Making sense of Arab labor markets: the enduring legacy of dualism.IZA Journal of Labor Development,3(1), p.6. Behar, M.A. and Mok, M.J., 2013.Does Public-Sector Employment Fully Crowd Out Private-Sector Employment?(No. 13-146). International Monetary Fund. Chadee, D., Roxas, B. and Rogmans, T., 2015. GCC Market Scope and Competitiveness. InProspects and Challenges of Free Trade Agreements: Unlocking Business Opportunities in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Markets(pp. 34-54). Palgrave Pivot, London. Heffernan, A., 2014. International Business Strategy. Logistics in Asia. Jehanzeb, K., Rasheed, A. and Rasheed, M.F., 2013. Organizational commitment and turnover intentions: impact of employees training in private sector of Saudi Arabia.International Journal of Business and Management,8(8), p.79. Kuwait Times. (2018).Iran eyes major economic growth next year - Kuwait Times. [online] Available at: https://news.kuwaittimes.net/website/iran-eyes-major-economic-growth-next-year/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2018]. Laszlo, C. and Zhexembayeva, N., 2017.Embedded sustainability: The next big competitive advantage. Routledge. Madun, Y.K.A., Business Strategy Series. Marchi, V.D., Maria, E.D. and Micelli, S., 2013. Environmental strategies, upg Nosova, A., 2018. Private Sector and Economic Diversification in Kuwait. InEconomic Diversification in the Gulf Region, Volume I(pp. 27-47). Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. Sharabati, A.A.A. and Fuqaha, S.J., 2014. The Impact of Strategic Management on the Jordanian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Organizations' Business Performance.International Review of Management and Business Research,3(2), p.668.

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Example

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay How does Jem and Scout change during the course of the novel? How do they stay the same? Through the perspectives of Jem and Scout Finch, the world’s famous classic, Harper Lee’s â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird†, explores adults’ discrimination towards race and colour, as Atticus Finch defends a Negro. Caught in the midst of it all, his children were forced to experience the severe consequences. Reluctant at first, Jem and Scout took everything to heart, but over a period of time, they gradually learnt to tolerate it as they grow into maturity. Throughout the novel, Jem Finch had transformed from an impulsive, mischievous boy into a responsible, thoughtful grown up. â€Å"No’, said Miss Stephanie. â€Å"Shot in the air. Scared him pale though. Says if anybody sees†¦ swiftly in front of Jem. â€Å"Yawl, write, hear? † he bawled after us. ’ (pp. 60 – 61) In the first part of the novel, Jem was almost caught for spying on his neighbors. This was a very foolish act from Jem as he should have known better than to infiltrate someone else’s property. But in the second half the novel, Jem seems to have evolved immensely. You oughta let your mother know where you are†, said Jem. â€Å"You oughta let your mother know you’re†¦ without your mother knowing’. † (pp. 155 – 156). Jem has good potential in notifying Atticus of Dill’s arrival. Even though, it meant betraying his friend’s loyalty, Jem had made the right decision. Jem’s rapid development had introduced him to the injustice of the adult world. Although, Jem had made a miraculous transition, Scout had her own story. â€Å"Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope He didn’t mind me much the way I do†. (p. 0) Aunt Alexandra was concerned about Scout physically and mentally. She thinks Scout should dress and behave more in a ladylike way, even though Scout was just satisfied with the way she was. With this in mind, Aunt Alexandra decided to lend a hand. â€Å"Jem’s growing up now and you are too†, she said to me. We will write a custom essay sample on To Kill a Mockingbird specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on To Kill a Mockingbird specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on To Kill a Mockingbird specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer † We decided that it would be best for to have some feminine influence. † (p. 140) Aunt Alexandra was coming to live with Jem and Scout, in the hopes of having an impact on Scout. However, it was not until the very end that Scout actually benefited from her aunt’s stay. Mr. Arthur, bend your arm down here, like that. That’s right†¦ escorting me down the sidewalk, as any gentleman would. † (p. 306) Scout had put her ladylike skills into practice by the way she had helped Boo Radley act like a gentleman. Consequently it was under Aunt Alexandra’s influence that Scout was able to successfully become a lady. Despite the fact that Jem and Scout both have to deal with their own dilemma, they always look out for one another. ‘When Jem came home he asked me where I got such a wad. I told him I found it†¦ You’ll get killed if you do! † (p. 7) Jem was very vigilant of his Scout, he is always worried about her safety and wellbe ing. Being the youngest, Scout is often causing a lot of chaos. Though in a similar way, Scout always came to Jem’s defense. â€Å"I’ll send him home†, a burly man said, and grabbed Jem roughly by the collar. He yanked Jem nearly.. nobody gonna do Jem that way,† I said. ’ (p. 168) Scout is very protective of her brother. She doesn’t like to see him hurt or harmed by strangers. This emphasizes that Jem and Scout care a lot about each other and will always be there for each other. Jem and Scout’s inseparable siblings bond had helped each other though difficult times. Apart from their close connection, Jem and Scout’s relationship with Atticus is very strong. ‘With this in mind, I faced Cecil Jacobs in the school yard the next day. â€Å"You gonna take that back, boy? †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ I would let Atticus down. ’ With her pride at stake, Scout was about to get into another fight, but then refrained at the last minute and thought about Atticus. She knew if she continued Atticus would be very disappointed and sad. This encapsulates Scout’s faithfulness to her father; she wanted him to be proud of her. Alternatively, Jem cares for Atticus in a slightly different manner. â€Å"Scout, try to not antagonize Aunt, hear? † Atticus’ remarks were still rankling, which made me miss the request in Jem’s question. My†¦ now for my edification and instruction. ’ (pp. 151 – 152) This demonstrates Jem’s consideration and love for Atticus. Jem really worries about Atticus and so he tells Scout to not disturb him. Jem is aware of what Atticus is going through and doesn’t want Scout, on top of it all, to cause him more istress. Jem and Scout, each express their affection for Atticus in different ways, Jem cares for Atticus through the approach of understanding his situation, whereas Scout would listen and follow Atticus’ instructions. It is therefore evidence that Jem and Scout had adapted to many obstacles as they grown into maturity. Without the support from each other, they would not have made it through. From an impulsive boy and a tomboyish girl, Jem and Scout had materialized into a responsible grown up boy and a lady. To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Example To Kill a Mockingbird Essay The book is set in the year 1933 in a small town called Maycomb, Alabama. In 1933 slavery is no longer legal but racism is common among people. At this time in the south the town is divided by race. This is portrayed in the town by different churches, schools, and communities. The theme of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is how racial prejudice hurts people, which are illustrated by Bob Ewell, the lynch mob, and Lula. One example of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird is Bob Ewell.Bob see’s Mayella and Tom Robinson through a window and is very mad. He’s not only mad because his oldest daughter is with someone in his kitchen, it’s because she was with a black man in his kitchen. Bob Ewell has no problem lying in court and making Mayella lie in court. Instead of telling the truth by saying he beat Mayella for letting a black man into his house, he makes up a whole story about what happened that day because he is racist. He even expresses his racism in court in fron t of the jury, judge, and audience.When testifying at the witness stand he says,† I seen that black negro yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella! †(Lee 173). Bob Ewell doesn’t hold back his racial prejudice for the courtroom. When Mayella is in the kitchen with Tom Robinson, Bob Ewell gets very angry. His character represents how some people in Maycomb just have a problem interacting with other races. Bob Ewell is a racist man. Another example of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird is the mob that comes to lynch Tom Robinson. To lynch somebody means to hang them without police involved or a legal process used.The mob is made up of citizens of Maycomb who want to take the law into their own hands. They feel that a trial is not necessary and that Tom Robinson should be killed no matter what actually happened because he is black. They think that an accusation from one of the most selfish, uneducated, racist families in Maycomb is enough to have a black man killed. This mob represents the majority of the townsfolk. These people like Mr. Cunningham are average Maycomb citizens. They are extremely racist and won’t even think twice about lynching an accused man like Tom Robinson.When they try to lynch Tom while he’s in prison, Atticus defends him. † He in there Mr. Finch? ’ a man said. ‘He is,’ we heard Atticus answer,’ and he’s asleep, don’t wake him up. ’ ‘You know what we want, another man said, ‘get aside from the door Mr. Finch. ’ ‘You can turn around and go home again, Walter† (Lee 151). This quote shows that the mob is clearly going to lynch Tom Robinson because he is a black man accused of rape. The mob went after Tom Robinson only because he is black, therefore, shows the racism in the book. Racism is present in most of the townsfolk.Another example of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird is Lula. Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to her church because the k ids aren’t responsible to go by themselves to their church. When she brings the kids there, they are the only white people at the church. She is confronted by another member of the church, Lula. † She spoke quietly, contemptuously. ’ I wants to know why you brinin’ white chillun to a negro church. ’ ‘Theys my comp’ny. ’ Said Calpurnia. Lula said,’ you ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here-they got their church, we got our’n.It is our church, ain’t it Miss Cal? ‘It’s the same God ain’t it? ’ (Lee 119). This represents the racism directed toward white people. This also shows that Calpurnia doesn’t have any racial prejudice and that she wants equality between people. By defending Jem and Scout and standing up to the racism, Calpurnia is able to use God to show people that racism is bad no matter who it is directed towards. This quote shows that racism i n the book is not only directed towards black people. This scene shows that sometimes black people can be racist towards white people.Racsim in the book can be directed towards anybody. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has many themes, but the main one is how racism puts people down which is portrayed by Lee through Bob Ewell, the lynch mob, and Lula. The reader learns that that U. S. history has a lot of racial prejudice. Also, that almost everybody in the south is racist and that few people stood up to it. The reader also learns that racism was a very common excuse for killing people. The reader also learns that prejudice can be directed towards any race, religion, or group of people.

The Story of Yingying features Essay Example

The Story of Yingying features Essay Example The Story of Yingying features Paper The Story of Yingying features Paper The Story of Yingying features two characters who approach their relationship from different moral perspectives. The two live in an ancient Chinese world in which complexities attend their individual stations in different ways that conspire to keep them apart. Zhang is a scholar who has little money but who holds the promise of becoming distinguished in his academic pursuits. Yingying, by contrast, is an aristocrat whose parents have already drafted her future as it regards whom she will marry. The circumstances under which they meet merely complicate the aspect of reality. Close attention to the action of the text will clearly demonstrate, however, that they also serve to reveal the true characters of each of the lovers and the depth to which their affections run. For though their romance’s end might have been socially inevitable and might have been the force behind the moral dilemmas they face, the two characters differ at the end in their consideration for each other. Zhang proves himself to be a profligate who has falsely won the affection of Yingying and broken her heart. Yingying, on the other hand, demonstrates constancy in her affections for Zhang. Therefore, while Zhang belies his true intentions and debases his nobility, Yingying distinguishes herself as a paragon of true fidelity. The character of Zhang the scholar might be seen as enigmatic from the beginning. Several considerations make it necessary for the reader to question his actions as soon as the story starts. He is introduced as a focused individual- a scholar who has through intense study prepared himself for the imperial examinations. Viewing this demonstration by Zhang of his (apparent) academic dedication, the reader feels a level of respect for the young man who seems determined to distinguish himself by furthering his studies. However, when he falls precipitately in love with Yingying upon first seeing her, the reader is inclined to become suspect of the intentions of a man who would fall so quickly. Zhang has, after all, seen only Yingying’s face and body; he has not had occasion to study her character. His amazement at seeing her announces two possibilities about him. The first possibility is that perhaps he has not been as exposed to the world as the reader has once believed. It is, of course, necessary to keep in mind the context of the situation. As a male youth of that era in China, Zhang may have been traditionally kept away from beautiful women of court. He may also have lacked opportunity, by virtue of his station, to be in the presence of a young woman of cultured upbringing and who possesses such physical enhancements to her natural beauty. Rather, he may have been privy only to the raw (and probably debased) femininity of the common servant girl- or perhaps he (as a scholar) had been kept away from women altogether. These scenarios are all indicative of innocence on the part of Zhang, and therefore his reaction to Yingying might be seen not as mere lechery but a true and flattering response to the sight of a well-groomed and naturally beautiful young woman. His character, in this light, remains noble. However, the second possibility is that, perhaps as a man of the world, Zhang has been exposed to the sights of beautiful women and knows the physical pleasures that might be had in the company of one. His reaction to her beauty in such a case might be seen as an ignoble act that causes his mind to conjure ways of defiling this woman. Jumping forward a bit in the story (to the scene in which Zheng is about to leave for his examination) hints that such behavior might even be tacitly expected of men within the period and in that land. Yingying, who suspects that Zheng is about to leave her forever, says to him, â€Å"To seduce someone and then abandon her is perfectly natural, and it would be presumptuous of me to resent it. It would be an act of charity on your part if, having first seduced me, you were to go through with it and fulfill your oath of lifelong devotion† (Zhen, 1978). This gives credence to an idea that Zhang might very well have been aware that such actions are expected, and had been planning from the beginning merely to seduce Yingying with promises and leave her.

Band of Brothers Essay Example for Free

Band of Brothers Essay The book title, â€Å"Band of Brothers,† by Stephen E. Ambrose is a book that shares the risky undertaking and hazardous experience that the United States Army had to go through in World War 2. Bravery is an understatement when describing the men of East Company’s personalities. The book really helps the reader describe the relationships and friendships that were either directly or indirectly developed as a result of going to war. From the extremely brutal training, to the depths of enemy territory, these men developed a brotherhood that only can come about as a result of extreme situations such as preparing and training for war, as well as World War 2 itself. This book not only describes Easy Company but other military veterans or active service members can relate to the situations described in the book. First of all, the book’s title describes things very accurately. Like most military divisions, Easy Company which was a part of the 101st Airborne Division in the Army, had to go through an exhausting basic training course in Camp Toccoa in Georgia. This alone is going to establish bonds and friendships among the young men participating in this training, whether they are looking for a buddy or not. Much of Easy Company already had an unspoken brotherhood before they even came into basic training. Many of these men had grown up in the terrible time of the depression and many of them had something in common. During Easy Company’s time in basic training, they not only had to compete with their selves, but with other militaries. â€Å"A day or so before leaving Toccoa, Colonel Sink read an article in the Reader’s Digest that said a Japanese Army battalion had set a world record for marching endurance by covering 100 miles down the Malayan Peninsula in seventy-two hours. (p. 28)† Colonel Sink wanted to top the Japanese’s achievement so he ordered his men to do better. This was a very miserable journey and test for Easy Company but they accomplished more than the Japanese Army had. War in itself is a competition but this book also examines with detail, the miniature competitions that occurred during World War 2. This march helped bring the soldiers together even closer and it also gave them the confidence and conditioning they needed to go into the brutal battles of World War 2. Most importantly, trust develops between these men because they are confident that they have well trained soldiers going into battle with them and not people that are going to drag their feet. â€Å"They were prepared to die for each other; more important, they were prepared to kill for each other (Pg. 1). The first battle which was the invasion of Normandy proved to be an eye opener that would just only strengthen the bond and brotherhood that Easy Company had. The pure terror of landing in Normandy and facing the Nazi German in a low vision area was at this point, the ultimate test to see if the training they bared in Camp Toccoa was good enough. With bullets flying and loud bangs disrupting their hearing, many of the men could not locate the rest of the group. Winters helped to organize and reunite a few men so they could have a better chance against the Germans by sticking together. Even though men were lost, Lieutenant Winters proved in a small victory that Easy Company was a highly trained group of soldiers that could get the job done in defeating the Nazis. Winters achieved this with a small group of soldiers as well. â€Å"The attack was a unique example of a small, well-led assault force overcoming and routing a much larger defending force in prepared positions (Pg. 84). † Even though this gruesome battle was an eye opener to the horrors of war, Easy Company’s soldiers were described as confident, had a will to survive and a sense of pride. Band of Brothers. (2017, Feb 03).

Genetic testing for overall population health Assignment

Genetic testing for overall population health - Assignment Example On the downside, genetic testing could further complicate people’s lives in regards to their health status. It is likely that genetic tests will lead to the realization of genetic conditions that leave patients worried over their health. Such an observation negates the prospects of genetic testing. On the same note, genetic conditions and/or disorders that previously received no serious attention, or those that are not necessarily threatening, could now become the new focus of healthcare practitioners. This could translate to increased costs of healthcare, medical research, and development. Moreover, an ethical concern in this matter relates to possible interference with an individual’s natural and biological genome. For a nurse, it is important to create awareness and promote legal and ethical practices as far as genetic testing is concerned. In essence, nursing plays an important role in promoting overall population health (DeNisco & Barker, 2013). In this respect, a nurse with advanced knowledge is a key driver of the prospects of genetic testing. The idea is to ensure that nurses work under mutual grounds with their patients to ensure proper genetic testing and improved population

Poem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 10

Poem - Essay Example The author of the poem (Merlin) applies the technique to point out that the contest was not fair, probably rigged and whichever decision Paris makes leads to the destruction of the city of Troy. Accordingly, Merwin’s point is to demonstrate the idea that human beings are naturally imperfect and avoidance of self-destructive conduct is not an easy task. The imperfection and self-destructive trait is an essential component of human behavior that makes their actions exciting and unpredictable. The self-destructive behavior is an essential factor that implores individuals to seek redemption after the consequences of their actions. The poem ends with a picture of Helen picking up a yellow flower with roots that relieves pain. The essence is that humans often bring pain and suffering on themselves but the grief prompts compassion that upholds unity. The yellow flower is an indication of human’s effort to relieve anguish and pain. According to Brunner (1991), the implicit metaphor in the heading â€Å"the Carrier of Ladders indicates a change in Merwin’s attitude and orientation. Apparently, only humans are capable of carrying ladders, and their aim to climb or rise to a new level, even if such people are not aware of what they will find the level of elevation. Accordingly, almost of the poems in the volume build from such premise. Similarly, there are those who regard reading the works of Merwin as being similar to reading a puzzle and it is normally beneficial to put an effort to grasp the bottom line of the author’s logic. The carriers of ladders reminds one of the old Icelanders’ Edda Kennings, who authored the objects in a roundabout, and playful manner. However, Merwin applies the approach to an individual’s spiritual and emotional life, with popular themes being loss, isolation, and death (Brunner 1991). The critically applauded

Critically discuss Essay Example for Free

Critically discuss Essay In order to critically discuss the quoted statement it is first necessary to determine what the power relations between adults and children are. How do adults demonstrate power over children, and what part does fear play in contributing to this power. Fear is another word which will need to be classified, what frightens children and how do adults exploit this fear to exercise power over children. Throughout history and in all cultures adults exercise power over children, in all aspects of their lives from parental power, teacher/school regulation through to the passing of laws at national level that affect the lives of all children within that society. S. A. Taylor (2000) cited in Doing Research with Children and Young People Edited by Fraser et al, pointed out that it is adults and not children themselves who write about, debate and decide what rights children should have. This can be seen as an indication of the power adults exercise over children which confines them to subordinate roles within society. Power means different thing to different people, however, it is generally thought of as the ability of individuals or groups to influence others and put forward their point of view despite the resistance or objections of others. Sometimes the direct use of force is used to exercise power, however idealogies are usually used to justify the application of this force (Giddens 1995) cited in Doing Research with Children and Young People Edited by Fraser et al pg81. Thus the old adage that knowledge is power can be said to be true. Children’s knowledge can be disregarded by adults and they can still be controlled by force, (no matter how well intentioned) by the adults who are responsible for them. In order to understand the role of power in research with children and young people, it is necessary to acknowledge the contribution of sociological thinking. Sociological thinking seeks to explain the role of power in people’s lives, how society as a whole works and how order is achieved (Doing Research with Children and Young People Edited by Fraser et al pg 81). In the past, such explanations emphasized the world of men with small consideration to the world of women and less still to the worlds of children. Feminists were critical of the ideas that portrayed the family as â€Å"natural† and unchanging. However, Feminists ideas also came into conflict with each other in particular black Feminists were critical of white Feminist fro ignoring the paradox of black experience in their arguments. Wright et al (1998) cited in Doing Research with Children and Young People Edited by Fraser et al pg83 Fraser et al pg83 Fraser et al pg83 Fraser et al pg83 Fraser et al pg83 acknowledged in his research the importance of Feminist researchers recognition of the reproduction of gender divisions within education. Research in this area has helped to address the educational performance of young women in school. Family life and public aspects of life are important in considering the concept of power in the lives of children and young people. Bill and Ribbens (1995) and Ribbens and Edwards (1998) cited in Doing Research with Children and Young People Edited by Fraser et al pg 83 suggest the concepts of public and private aspects of life and family are relevant for understanding the divisions within the of people in Western society in terms of the meanings men and women associate with the idea of public and private life. These aspects can contribute to the thinking about the position of children, who have limited power within family life. Research studies involving children and young people in their home environment, are often reliant on reports by their parents or carers. Modern researchers, however, increasingly conduct research with children and young people via direct communication with children in order to determine their views first hand. Power elations in research with children and young people are reinforced by more general and cultural ideas that exist between adults and children in society at large (Doing Research with Children and Young People Edited by Fraser et al pg 84.) Mayall maintained that adults have divided up the social order into two major groups that is adults and children, with specific conditions surrounding the lives of each group. One factor that helps to maintain unequal adult-child power relations is beliefs that adult possess a superior level of knowledge. However, it is difficult to believe that an adult would have a better knowledge of what it is like to be child than the child themselves. Mayall points out that she needs to acquire from a child their own unique knowledge of what it means to be a child, because although of course she has been a child herself, she may have forgotten much and childhoods vary and are likely to have changed in the time since she herself was a child. Researchers can try to minimise the power relation gulf between them as the adult to the child/children by trying to be â€Å"one of them† it is not easy to negate the central adult characteristic of having power over children. Christensen and Prout (2002) cited in Doing Research with Children and Young People Edited by Fraser et al pg 85, outlined four ways that children and childhood have been identified in research. The first of these is that of â€Å"the child as an object† this assumes that children and young people are dependent, incompetent and unable to deal appropriately with information. They are in need of care and protection by adults who undertake the role of â€Å"interpreters† of their lives. This orientation of research relies heavily on the adult perception of situations and the accounts of adults; it all but negates the views of children. The second view point is of â€Å"the child as subject† this puts children more to the fore in the research process and moving the research to a more child-centred perspective. Despite the suitability of involving children it is recognised that it can be countered by judgements about their social maturity and cognitive ability. Adult researchers exert power in determining who to include e.g. only children of a certain age or intelligence level. In the third viewpoint the child is seen as a â€Å"social actor†. That is they take part in, change and become changed by the world in which they live. Children are seen as entities in their own right, rather than just part of a family unit, or a member of a school, etc. The final viewpoint sees the child as a â€Å"participant or co-researcher†. This involves the children having an active role in the research. This perception considers that children should be informed, involved and consulted about all activities that have an affect on their lives; including research. In this situation the balance of power between adults and children can be volatile and changeable. The level of knowledge that the adult shares with the child, dictates the level at which the child is truly involved.