Human Resources Management The Key to Strategic Success

Introduction Human resource management is a relatively young concept in the management of people in an organizational setting. This approach of managing employees considers people the most important resources in any organization (Daft Marcic 2004). Human resource management entails the recruitment, selection, training, and development of the body of people that make up an organization in any sector of the economy (Anto 2013).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Human Resources Management: The Key to Strategic Success specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Kreitner (2008) defines HRM an organization’s process of enrollment, choosing, progress, deployment, reimbursement, and inspiration of human resources. According to Davidson, Woods, Simon, and Griffin (2008), human resource management involves the arrangement, categorization, leading, managing procurement processes, and improvement of organizational status until i ndividual and collective targets are accomplished. The two functions of HRM chosen in this essay are recruitment and selection. These processes are important for any organization that aims to improve the output of its human resource. The essay looks at how these functions are important in the competitive advantage of any organization. The study shows how these activities enable HRM meet its strategic objectives. HRM and Competitive Advantage An organization’s human resources can be a significant source of competitive advantage. The performance of an organization is associated with how well this organization is able to influence the performance of its human resource. According to Anto (2013), human resource determines the success or failure of an organization. The human resource department in an organization influences its output through a number of ways. One way in which the competitive advantage of an organization is influenced by the human resource is through the introducti on of efficiency, which is the manner in which an organization ensures adequate output (Buchanan Huczynski 2004). HRM enables the effective utilization of human resource in an organization. Besides, it allows effective performance in all functions of the organization. Human resource management also enables the subdivision of functions in an organization. This strategy constitutes the subdivision of responsibilities and hence the adequate performance of the organization. Employees are able to work effectively in an organization that has clearly defined employee roles (Sung Choi 2014).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Companies with a well-managed human resource are better competitors based on the exemplary output that they are able to register in comparison with organizations that lack these practices. The human resource department in an organization can ensure improved comp etitive advantage for an organization through the improvement of efficiency (Robbins Coulter 2009). The arm is the main contact point between the company and its clients. When employees are well motivated and/or have a positive attitude, they are able to maintain a significant client base for the organization (Anto 2013). This function ensures improved competitive advantage. Recruitment and Selection The two HRM activities that have been chosen for study include the recruitment and selection functions, which are important to the general performance and competitive advantage of an organization (Daft 2008). There is a need for cooperation between the various individuals who are involved in human resource management for the above processes to be successful (Jones George 2009). Recruitment and selection should be a planned, rational, and sequentially linked activity. Australian Human Resources Institute (n.d) has given a detailed description of what recruitment and selection entail. R ecruitment is a process that generates a pool of people that the organization recognizes as capable of applying for employment (Bartol, Martin, Tein, Matthews 2007; Australian Human Resources Institute n.d). On the other hand, selection is the process by which the individuals who are concerned with HRM in an organization use special tools to choose employees from a predetermined pool (Jones George 2009). According to Bartol et al. (2007), people who are selected from this pool are the most suitable to succeed in the available roles while working within the legal requirements and goals of the organization. Although these two functions of HRM are closely linked, there are different requirements for each of the functions, especially in the form of skills, expertise, and qualifications (Bartol et al. 2007).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Human Resources Management: The Key to Strategic Success specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, different staff members may be called to perform these functions. According to Start-up Special (n.d), some organizations even outsource the recruitment functions from external agencies. Recruitment and selection are important in the people management in organizations. People involved in the management of employees in organizations have a role to play in the recruitment and selection of employees, and it is not a requirement for them to be human resource managers (Bartol et al. 2007). Recruitment and selection of employees enables an organization to develop an adequate workforce to meet its goals and objectives. Therefore, the two activities contribute to the competitive advantage of an organization. A competency approach is one of the established strategies in the recruitment and selection of employees, with the results being highly qualified workers who are suited for the various available jobs (Baron 2000). When adopted in the recruitment and selection of employees, this approach ensures that employees who are available in the organization have the abilities and/or skills that are needed to perform the various functions of the organization (Bhattacharya, Gibson, Doty 2005). This approach is better than the traditional one where employees were matched to the jobs that were available for an organization. Recruitment and selection processes that adopt and welcome individual differences ensure the best performance of employees in the organization (O’Meara Petzall 2013). A diversity approach in recruitment and selection creates thinking performers among the recruited employees, and hence better organizational performance (O’Meara Petzall 2013). Therefore, recruitment and selection activities within HRM are critical in human resource management.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Introduction of Processes to build Recruitment and Selection Organizations can introduce practices to build the recruitment and selection activities within their operations. Since recruitment and selection are important activities within an organization, there is a need to get these activities right. The organization needs to adopt practices that ensure positive performance of recruitment and selection. The resourcing cycle in an organization needs to be well-defined (Anto 2013). The processes within the recruitment cycle in organizations such as recruitment and selection need to be carried out in a timely and professional manner. Some of the practices that an organization may introduce to ensure efficiency in the above processed of HRM include outsourcing in relevant agencies (O’Meara Petzall 2013). Some organizations are unable to perform adequate recruitment and selection of employees effectively. They may ensure that this role is done through contracting agencies that ar e experienced especially in recruitment. The other way that organizations may introduce a change in these practices is through the training of individuals who are concerned with carrying out these practices. According to O’Meara and Petzall (2013), training ensures that the management and other people who are concerned with recruitment and selection of candidates make decisions that affect the company positively. Recruitment and Selection and their relation to HRM Strategic Objectives The strategic objectives of HRM are similar in most organizations. The underlying ones include the provision of organizations with the best-qualified employees who can fill certain positions. Recruitment and selection are directly linked to the ability of HRM to meet these objectives (Meara Petzall 2013). One way that these activities ensure that the HRM strategic objectives are met is that they act as control areas for the activities. These activities are the first ones to be performed within the recruitment cycle. Therefore, employers are able to determine the type of staff that they get through the selection of employees who are best suited for their organization (Robbins Stagg 2011). During this part of the recruitment cycle, the employer may set the requirements for the potential employees. Recruitment and selection should be set according to the needs of an organization and according to the available resources (Sultana Razi 2012). Confirming this claim, Leung (2014) addresses the need to focus on the worker’s experience when recruiting new employees. The activities enable the organizations to select employees who are suited to the tasks within the organization and/or who can work under the conditions in the organization. They should work under the desired organizational culture for this organization. The activities may also be used to establish the quality of employees within an organization together with the required training. Therefore, recruitment and se lection are important control areas for employees who end up within an organization. They enable the HRM departments within an organization to set and meet their strategic objectives. Conclusion In conclusion, human resource management is an important part of an organization. It enables organizations meet their strategic objectives. The essay has established that the main activities of human resource management are recruitment, selection, training, and development. The competitive advantage for organizations can be assured through efficient and effective HRM practices. The two activities of HRM that have been discussed in this essay are recruitment and selection. These processes have been established as important ones in the success of an organization. The introduction of effective processes and management strategies for these activities ensures that the recruitment cycle in an organization leads to qualified and well-suited employees. References Anto, M 2013, ‘Human Resource Management Practices of Selected Companies’, European Journal of Business Management, vol. 5 no. 18, pp. 35-38. Australian Human Resources Institute n.d, Recruitment and Selection, https://www.ahri.com.au/. Baron, D 2006, Business and its environment, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, NJ. Bartol, K, Martin, D, Tein, M Matthews, G 2007, Management: a Pacific Rim focus, McGraw-Hill Education, N.S.W, North Ryde. Bhattacharya, M, Gibson, D Doty, H 2005, ‘The Effects of Flexibility in Employee Skills, Employee Behaviors, and Human Resource Practices on Firm Performance’, Journal of Management, vol. 31 no. 1, pp. 622-640. Buchanan, D Huczynski, A 2004, Organizational Behavior: An Introductory Text, Patience Hall, New Jersey, NJ. Daft, R Marcic, D 2008, Understanding management, Thomson/South-Western, Mason, Ohio. Daft, R 2006, The New era of Management, Thomson/South-Western, International Mason, Ohio. Davidson, P, Woods, P, Simon, A Griffin, W 200 8, Management, Wiley Publications, London. Jones, G George, M 2009, Contemporary Management, Academic Internet Publishers, New York, NY. Kreitner, R 2008, Management, Cengage Learning, New York, NY. Leung, M 2014, ‘Dilettante or Renaissance Person? How the Order of Job Experiences Affects Hiring in an External Labor Market’, American Sociological Review February, no. 79 no. 1, pp. 136-158. O’Meara, B Petzall, S 2013, The Handbook Of Strategic Recruitment And Selection: A Systems Approach, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J. Robbins, B Stagg, C 2011, Management, Pearson Education, Australia. Robbins, S Coulter, M 2009, Management, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J. Start-up Special n.d, Human Resource Management, https://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/human-resource-management.html. Sultana, N Razi, A 2012, ‘Is Recruitment and Staffing Decisions Are Crucial to Success?’, Global Journal of Management Business Research, vol. 12 no. 20, pp. 81-85. Sung, S Choi, J2014, ‘Do organizations spend wisely on employees? Effects of training and development investments on learning and innovation in organizations’, Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 35, no. pp. 393–412. This essay on Human Resources Management: The Key to Strategic Success was written and submitted by user Desiree Holder to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Philips and Matsushita essays

Philips and Matsushita essays In the post World War II era, Philips became the leading consumer electronics company in the world. Philips success in this postwar era can be attributed to their strong Research s, the same National Organizations to which Philips attributed its postwar success soon became the reason why Matsushita displaced Philips as the leading consumer electronics company. Early in Philips history, Gerard and Anton Philips agreed that strong research and development efforts were vital to the Philips success. The importance of research and development is evident in the physics and chemistry lab that developed a tungsten metal filament bulb that was a great commercial success enabling Philips to compete against its giant rivals. In the postwar era, Philips continued this tradition with fourteen product divisions responsible for development, production and global distribution. Another contributing factor to Philips success is the National Organizations. These postwar organizations were highly self-sufficient and extremely adept at responding to country-specific market conditions and needs. Each of the National Organizations had commercial and technical capabilities. And, despite the centralized research and development product divisions, the National Organizations were capable of designing, producing and marketing products tailored to the local needs. Communication ensured that product group directions fit with the national strategies and priorities. Despite their autonomy, each of the National Organizations sent envoys to the parent company to represent their interests and top management from the parent company also made frequent trips to the national organizations. Furthermore, all top managers had been with Philips for the majority of t...

Marketing Plan for Harvey Norman Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Plan for Harvey Norman - Assignment Example Due to the high demand of electronic products both locally and internationally, Harvey Norman Company has opened different stores to cater for the different needs of their customers both locally and internationally. The market situation analysis for the company indicates that the company has increased its sales significantly over the last years despite the harsh trading conditions they have operated. However, their retail spending has been largely affected by debt they have accrued both internally and externally. This is negative to the grot of the company, since most customers have decided to shop online because of the readily available substitutes for the products produced by the company by other companies (Synnot & Fitzgerald, 2007). Harvey Norman Company faces stiff competition from other companies dealing in similar products because of its large scale production tendencies. There are many companies that form strong competitive force for Harvey Norman Company dealings. Theses are companies that also share similar market as Harvey Norman Company, therefore, are major competitors for the company as they also target similar customers like Norman Harvey Company. Most major competitors for the company originate from the United States. ... According to the PESTLE analysis, there are different factors affecting the operation of Harvey Norman Company. These factors range from political, economic, social and technological. Political factors affect the company’s operation in terms of regulations placed by the government to control various activities being conducted by the company. Harvey Norman Company is both affected by internal and external regulation. Despite some of these working towards the growth of the company, others create conflict within the company, therefore, making the company unable to achieve its goals and objectives. Harvey Norman Company is forced to take into considerations various clauses stipulated by the law so as not go against specific regulations set by the government in their course of operation within different countries. An example is the environmental clause which is there to protect the environment from toxic waste or substances produced by companies. Moreover, there are consumer laws a lso plays a significant role in determining the success of the company. This is because all companies dealing in the same or different line are always eager to achieve a competitive advantage of their competitors. Harvey Norman Company is forced to adopt different consumer laws in the different countries they sell their products in despite some of the laws being unfruitful to their profits. Harvey Norman Company has devoted its time in concentrating on the society and engaging in various ways that has played in improving people’s way of life. In its contribution to charitable organizations, the company has show to the world that it not only concerned about their profits, but to the welfare of all their stakeholders which forms the current Harvey Norman Company. In addition,

The Life and Work of Michael Faraday Research Paper

The Life and Work of Michael Faraday - Research Paper Example He was born on 22 September, 1791 in the City of Newington, England. His family was not well off; therefore, Faraday could not receive a formal education, but instead just the basic essentials (Bhat 33). At the age of 14, Faraday became the apprentice to George Riebau in Blandford Street. He served as an apprentice for seven years; during this period he was able to read all that he desired. For example, he read the Isaac Watts’ book, The Improvement of the Mind, and implemented the principles and suggestions in it (Thompson 5). He also developed an interest in science, especially electricity, after reading the Jane Marcet’s book Conservations on Chemistry (Bhat 34). At the age of twenty and nearing the end of his apprenticeship, Faraday obtained tickets to attend the lectures of Humphry Davy at the royal institution in 1812. After the lectures, Faraday made a 386 page book based on notes that he had taken from the lectures and sent them to Davy together a job applicatio n to be Davy’s assistant (Thompson 10). Davy was very impressed with his work, but at the time he already had an assistant and could not hire Faraday. However, when Davy was temporarily blinded in an accident with nitrogen trichloride, he employed Faraday as his secretary. Eventually, Faraday got employed as a chemical assistant at the Royal Institution on March 1, 1813 when Sir Davy’s assistant was fired because of misconduct (The Life and Discoveries of Michael Faraday 12). In 1813, Davy resigned from his post at the Royal Institution and set out for along tour of the continent. His valet did not wish to go with him to the tour; therefore, he picked Faraday to go with him as his scientific assistant and act as his valet until he found a replacement in Paris. Throughout the trip, Davy was unable to get a replacement for his valet, hence, Faraday was forced to work both as an assistant and a valet (The Life and Discoveries of Michael Faraday 15). Davy’s wife, Ja ne, did not treat Faraday as an equal but rather treated him as a servant. This conduct of Jane angered Faraday to an extent that at some point he thought of returning to England alone and give up on science altogether (Thompson 28). However, although the trip made Faraday so miserable, it introduced him to prominent scientists, such as Ampere and Volta. Besides being a renowned scientist, Faraday was a devoted Christian of the Sandemanian denomination. After his marriage at the church, he confessed his faith to the congregation and thereafter served as a Deacon (Thompson 51). He also served as an elder in the meeting house of his youth for two years. Faraday was married to Sarah Barnard on 12 June, 1821; throughout there life they were not blessed with any child (The American journal of science and arts 146). Faraday’s work Faraday’s work was majorly in the field of chemistry and physics with his main contributions mainly in electrochemistry and electromagnetism. Chem istry The earliest works of Faraday in the field of chemistry began when he was still an assistant to Humphry Davy. In 1820, Faraday was mainly involved in the study of chlorine and discovered new compounds made from carbon and chlorine, C2Cl6 and C2Cl4 (Faraday 51). He also carried out the first rough experiments on the diffusion of gases and managed to liquefy several gases.

Different Aspects of Life of International Students Essay - 2

Different Aspects of Life of International Students - Essay Example There are a few numbers of students who do not suffer the cultural issues, while on the other hand there are many other people who have to face many hurdles just because of the lack of understanding with the host cultures (Luget 2014; Mason 2002). In addition to the cultural aspects, there are many other issues, which can create a problem for the settlement of the student in the international environment, which is not at all his homeland. In this paper, the topic of the research is the concerns of life of an international postgraduate student. By the end of the paper, we will be able to highlight major issues just because of the research based on an actual interview of a postgraduate student. There are many categories of the qualitative interviews as described by the research. The three most common types of such interviews are structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviews. The structured interviews more frequently fallout from incisive quantitative data and therefore the format of this research study would be on either semi-structured or unstructured interview, preferably semi-structured (Robert 2013; Saunders 2006). The unstructured interviews usually refer towards the collection of observational data while on the other hand, semi-structured interviews are the one and only reliable source for qualitative research. Semi-structured interviews are concerned about the around already constructed open-ended questions, or we can say free opinion-based questions. One question direct the interview session towards the next question. More questions could follow relating to the previous one, and the whole perspective could be brought into light (Robert 2013; Saunders 2006) . The most suitable type of interview for the study is semi-structured format just because of the nature of questions. As the topic is ‘Different aspects of a life of an international postgraduate student,’ it would always be a better idea to gain a deep insight about the perceptions and the actual difficulties, which a student may face in a foreign culture.

The Issue of Informatized Conflict

The Issue of Informatized Conflict Charles H. Rybeck, Lanny R. Cornwell, Philip M. Sagan It took the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936 to awaken many to the threat of the Nazis. In 1957, it took Sputnik to awaken the US to the Soviet threat in space. It took 9/11 to awaken many to the threat of violent Islamist extremism. And it took the Underwear Bomber of Christmas Day 2009 to awaken the White House to the inadequacy of the way the US used its Terrorism Watchlist. What will it take to awaken us to the threat of what the Chinese insightfully call Informatized Conflict[1]? Will we embolden our adversaries through an ineffectual response as the world did when facing the emerging Nazi threat? Or will we respond as decisively and with as much foresight as we did to Sputnik? What will it take to align the United States Government (USG, used here as synonymous with whole of Government as an enterprise construct) and its allies to take effective countermeasures to prevail in Informatized Conflict? In this article, we outline a non-partisan, USG-led strategy for security in the face of that challenge. Information Technology, the quaint and already outdated concept of IT, fails to capture the digital dimension of our world in the Information Age. The concept harkens back to the now-distant days when IT was a sequestered, relatively unimportant, compartment of our world. CIOs reported to CFOs because CEOs pigeonholed computers as simple aids to accounting. In reality, though, as anyone with a smart phone knows, the digital dimension is now integral to every aspect of business and societal interaction on a global scale. Each day we wake up in a world of active Informatized Conflict. Unseen battles are being waged all around us. After the Chinese penetrated our military weapons supply chain, after the North Koreans exposed our corporate vulnerabilities, and after the Russians influenced our national media in the 2016 Presidential Election, how is it that we havent responded strategically to this clear and present danger? What catastrophe would we have to experience to take the steps necessary for our own defense? Sadly, the USG and our entire National Security Enterprise (which includes all stakeholders, public and private) are failing to directly confront the digital threat because it is not constituted to see this issue. Our institutions look at the world as it was, not as it is, and not as it is inevitably becoming in the rapidly emerging world of the Internet of Things (IoT), where machine learning will play an essential role in organizing the growing sea of information in which we live. Every tool we use in national security (from weapons to intelligence to diplomacy), in commerce, and in governance now rests on a rapidly evolving digital foundation. Today we must run to keep up, and tomorrow we will be required to run even faster. This challenge to run is, unfortunately, in an area where we have seldom managed to crawl and our nations leaders have not fully recognized that reality at the highest levels. Senior executives are only beginning to realize that our digital challenges have become mission-critical, that they defy our routine acquisition processes, and that they are too consequential to be left to technologists and acquisition specialists, alone. The pressing need for consideration of Informatized Conflict by non-technologists prompted us to translate what have been internal Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC), IT-based debates into unclassified laymens terms for consideration by informed influencers. This article was written to (1) identify key, progress-limiting issues on which the Executive Branch and Congress need to act, (2) offer a unifying and non-partisan strategy to protect Security and Freedom. In Part II of this series uses two specific examples to illustrate the execution of this proposed strategy. Responding to Global Disruption: How do We Need to Change the Way We Fulfill our National Security Mission? The digital dimension is enhancing and disrupting the fabric of life in every society where modern technology is present. Walter Russell Meads Blue Social Model[2] describes the slow-motion collapse of that part of the 20th Centurys legacy is now accelerating in ways that will likely usher in an historic realignment. This realignment will, of necessity, change the frameworks within which America provides for its security, including how it acquires the goods and services it uses in that effort. 2017s national and international news is unfolding so feverishly that the non-partisan Joint action recommended in this article is in constant jeopardy of becoming overcome by events. As Mead points out, Donald Trumps election can best be understood as part of the Blue Social Models collapse. TAI readers will not be shocked to hear that Government, Industry, and Labor leaders have all, in their rush to preserve the old order, ignored the digital dimensions National Security imperatives. Despite all the Governments talk about the Internet Cybersecurity and all its investment in IT Cyber, our National Security Enterprise has yet to reorient its priorities or its budget to prepare for Informatized Conflict. Right now, our Government has a unique opportunity to reorient the structure, flow, and management of the information for the National Security Enterprise in ways that both ensure the security of our future and reduce the cost of our defense.[3] We have not yet recognized that-even though our challenges have their roots in the technology arena-business-as-usual technological solutions alone will not address these challenges. USG decision makers and influencers, from the Executive Branch to Congress to our citizenry as a whole, will have to consider and adopt a Joint strategy in order to realize the benefits of this digital reorientation. Of course, this will take us outside our national comfort zone, but, given the Informatized Conflict threat, the alternative of continuing with business-as-usual is unthinkable. Wise observers have pointed out that overreaction to catastrophic attack is likely to jeopardize our democracy. So, prevention of such attacks should be a rallying point for citizens of every political persuasion. And we should protect our capacity for non-partisan and bipartisan cooperation on confronting our vulnerabilities as one of our strongest National Security assets. Only the Trump Administrations actions to preserve and rebuild trust across the National Security Enterprise can make that cooperation possible. Vision for a New National Security Jointness: Figure 1: The Joint National Security Enterprise: Combining Capabilities of the DoD, IC, and International Partners Source: USD(I) In the US, we entrust our frontline National Defense leadership to the DoD and the IC, two interconnected but separate chains of command. These entities are chartered to deliver kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities.   Only the Commander-in-Chief (POTUS) controls both. In 2009, Lt Gen James Clapper, as Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence [USD(I)] combined his focus on Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) with all projections of national power that are informed by ISR in a vision for Jointness. This vision (see Figure 1.) has yet to be implemented, but it provides the basis necessary for C4ISR Fusion (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance). This vision summarizes what the DoD and the IC agree on in theory. They agree on Jointness and Fusion in the fields of intelligence, military operations, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism.[4] Jointness has a proud and successful history as a strategy for the US Armed Forces. But here we use the term Joint to refer not only to the combined Armed Services but to the unified actions of all the DoD, IC, and other stakeholders-and ever-shifting alliances-whose efforts combine in pursuit of National Security with all the instruments of national power. Fusion here combines data, data science, and data services to achieve security objectives first outlined by the bipartisan 9/11 Commission. We depend on this Fusion at every stage of conflict. For example, modern ISR depends on Upstream Data Fusion (UDF), not always having to wait for cumbersome sequences to produce a fully-vetted finished document. Similarly, active conflict with near-peer adversaries demands kinetic responses only possible via Fusion-based, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) interoperability. A concerted national application of Jointness and Fusion can break the deadlock that is keeping us from doing what we know we need to do at the enterprise-level to defend ourselves in a world of Informatized Conflict. That Jointness can only be achieved by bringing together the appropriate teams, at the appropriate levels, to ensure a clear commanders intent is realized. Our Three Indispensable Mission-Critical Teams   Ã‚   Figure 2: The National Security Enterprises Three Mission-Critical Teams Source: DMI Three Mission-Critical Teams combine to form the National Security Enterprise and fulfill its mission. The Government teams (Governance Budget, Mission Execution, and Technology) perform functions analogous to their three familiar private sector equivalents (i.e., the CEO, COO, and CIO organizations). The obvious differences between the Governments organization and the private sector (for example, the shared powers of Congress and POTUS) are useful in understanding why common-sense solutions and efficiencies adopted almost universally in the private sector have been rejected within the Government. C4ISR Fusion connects the three Mission-Critical Teams for Informatized Conflict. Acquisition to Support USG Innovation? Eisenhowers farewell address cautioned us to be wary as well as transparent in how we contract with the military-industrial base to improve capabilities. Despite yeoman efforts by the Executive Branch and Congress, Americas system for acquisition has not matched Eisenhowers challenge nor has it kept up with technologys structural transformation. Platforms, sensors, and systems are undergoing widely reported changes, but the USG meet the current acquisition challenge only by understanding the molecular structure of the information or digital substrate underlying them all. Without the discipline imposed by what the private sector calls a business case, the USG has become famous for failed large-scale technology initiatives.[5] Fortunately, though, new, private-sector innovations are creating opportunities to change how the Government conducts its National Security business. Industry observers are all aware that software development has undergone an historic transformation from grand, multi-year Waterfalls to modest, short-term Agile sprints. DevOps is now coming into use to describe software DEVelopment and information technology OPerationS as a way of accelerating the building, testing, and releasing software. Famously taking advantage of microservices and as-a-service infrastructure, private sector leaders (such as Netflix and Uber) are currently showing how new software can be delivered hourly. In contrast, fielding software enhancements in National Security now typically takes years. The USG is adopting Agile development-but within enterprise strictures that are preventing the implementation of many of its most potent benefits. Responding to these global, private sector-led changes, Congress has mandated acquisition change in the National Defense Authorization Acts of 2016 and 2017. [6]   Although such reform has been a perennial subject of conversation, Secretary of Defense Mattis has an opportunity to work with a receptive Administration and Congressional leaders like the Chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), to fundamentally reorient acquisition. In the past, the USG focused primarily on procuring existing products, services, and capabilities to meet known requirements. Now, the USG needs to build the inherently Governmental internal competency to lead a new way of doing business: continuous engineering to take advantage of evolving technology in a data-centric context and to confront evolving threats. In confronting the current strategic and acquisition challenge, the Trump Administration will need to avoid the pitfalls of commercial conflicts of interest, bureaucratic overreach, and unnecessary partisanship. In a dynamic commercial environment involving many vendors offering to sell partial solutions to the USG, the Administration will need to improve its acquisition and orchestration functions. What does an informed USG senior executive need to know about the infinite array of National Security technological and programmatic detail in order to affect such a consequential change? At one level, it is quite simple: Private Sector best practices can guide, regulate, and execute the many functions that are not unique to the USG. Key mission areas, in contrast, demand unique and USG-specific intervention. US law often refers to this as inherently Governmental and specifies how it needs to be handled. Private Sector best practices, here, are inadequate to meet USG needs. This simple distinction can be usefully applied to our current Informatized Conflict challenge. Commanders Intent/ Congressional Intent/ National Strategy:  We Already Know What Works The Trump Administration should begin immediately to remedy the gridlock inherent in so much of the USGs preparation for Informatized Conflict. The Executive Office of the President (EOP) could mobilize the leaders of Governments three Mission-Critical Teams (Governance Budget, Mission Execution, and Technology) across the entire National Security Enterprise. Together, the three Mission-Critical Teams could champion Tightly Aligned core capabilities to enable enterprise functionality and innovation at the Loosely Coupled edge. Figure 3: Tightly Aligned/ Loosely Coupled as an alternative to todays dysfunction and as a Winning Joint Strategy in Informatized Conflict While the Tightly Aligned/ Loosely Coupled approach originated as an engineering concept, it has been successfully applied in concert by the three private sector equivalents of the Mission-Critical Teams to guide similar foundational, Internet-dependent initiatives. Major retailers and service delivery firms (famously, Wal-Mart in the 1990s and Netflix in the 2000s, for example) rebuilt their supply chains using this approach. The Google Android used on smartphones, tablets, and other devices-the operating system (OS) with the worlds largest installed base-is an open source example of this strategy in action. The Tightly Aligned/ Loosely Coupled strategy applied to the USGs digital assets can be what Ernest May and Philip Zelikow called a Capital P Policy[7], a redirection around which the country unites over a long timespan and across political divides. This and subsequent Administrations will need a rigorous Mission/Business Case to sustain alignment among these three Mission-Critical Teams. Fortunately, the mission benefits are so powerful and the cost savings so dramatic that the Mission/Business Case could be strong enough to overcome the entrenched interests who will, of course, fight it with all the tools at their disposal. The essence of the Tightly Aligned/ Loosely Coupled strategy is to agree on those few principles, policies, and standards necessary for the enterprise to function as a unified whole. Then operational units and individual programs can be freed to innovate at the edge in whatever ways best serve their individual missions. Who Needs to Do What? What we are proposing is an approach inspired by extraordinary systems thinkers from each of the three Mission-Critical Teams. Here we give examples with an emphasis on those representing the Governance Budget and Mission Execution teams. The only technologist listed here is Dr. Cerf: Andy Marshall (retired leader of the Defense Departments Office of Net Assessment) Gen Mike Hayden (retired after leading NSA and CIA) Philip Zelikow (former executive director of both the Markle Foundation task force on National Security in the Information Age and then the 9/11 Commission; later Counselor of the Department of State under Secretary Condoleezza Rice) The late Ernie May (senior advisor to the 9/11 Commission) Michà ¨le Flournoy (former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and now head of the Center for a New American Security) Gen Paul Selva (the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) Vint Cerf (the co-inventor of TCP/IP, the messaging protocol that underlies the entire Internet) They and we have found that few Government executives have the cross-functional experience to fully appreciate their counterparts frames of reference. But the kind of changes that the USG needs now can only be made by aligning the strategies of all of the three Mission-Critical Teams. Figure 4: Aligning the Three Mission-Critical Teams Source: DMI The three Mission-Critical Teams bring very different foci, levers, and artifacts to the fight. These, in turn, depend on distinctive disciplines, equities, goals, methodologies, timetables, and metrics. In order for the teams to align, each need to accommodate the others demands and battle rhythms. A Call to Action President Dwight Eisenhower personally led the response to Sputnik. Among a series of coordinated initiatives, he formed the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) which changed the Governments approach to procurement of high risk, high payoff advanced technology, ensured US leadership in the Space Race, and funded what eventually became the Internet. Eisenhower demonstrated the power of senior executive decisions in combining the three Mission-Critical Teams under the coordination of the EOP. This article has proposed how the three Mission-Critical Teams Necessary for Security (Governance Budget, Mission Execution, and Technology) can mobilize around a Tightly Aligned/ Loosely Coupled strategy. We have specified roles and responsibilities in language understandable to each of those teams. We have proposed a framework that enables serious, public consideration of issues that have been ignored, enables senior executives to take decisive Joint action, and enables them to authorize unclassified metrics for assessing progress in classified realms.[8] Do we have to wait until adversaries inflict catastrophic damage before we take the steps that we already know we need? Will we allow ourselves to be incapacitated by internal divisions?   In advance of the unthinkable, can we do what it takes to provide for the common defense in this Age of Informatized Conflict? Charles H. Rybeck, Lanny R. Cornwell, and Philip M. Sagan are Senior Advisors to the Intelligence Community and the Defense Department on Enterprise Engineering issues. They are CEO, COO, and CTO of Digital Mobilizations, Inc. (DMI). This is Part II of an Occasional Special Series DRAFT IN PROCESS: Not Releasable in Any Form This requires Prepublication Review before official submission The Figures are in this draft for content only. They are being recreated in forms suitable for publication. This is a continuation of theWhat Will It Take? Part I of an Occasional TAI Special Series. Tightly Aligned/ Loosely Coupled Strategy in Action: Two Illustrative Examples Charles H. Rybeck, Lanny R. Cornwell, Philip M. Sagan The Tightly Aligned/ Loosely Coupled strategy calls for budgetary, operational, and technology changes, but in this article, we only introduce the strategy in broad outline using two representative examples of where the USG has already successfully begun. These two examples underscore the role of the combined three Mission-Critical Teams within the Government in initiatives that require broad popular support. Below we explore two examples in order to illustrate the challenge facing the USG, to show how pockets of excellence within the USG have already pointed the way forward, to demonstrate how the challenge of the digital dimension demands different USG responses, and to underscore what, concretely, will need to be done by the USG. Many achievements are classified, legitimately and necessarily protected from public discussion. But any digital strategy for National Security can and must be agreed upon at the unclassified level, sustaining widespread public support on the basis of sound arguments that include a full defense of our privacy and civil liberties. For that reason, we consider two pathfinding efforts, acknowledging their strengths and sketching what needs to be done next. Our System Can Work: Weve Shown We Can Crawl We assess the US response to the challenge of the digital dimension as requiring a progression from Crawl to Walk to Run. US visions for future defense such as the Third Offset, Integrated Intelligence, Cyber Security, Data-to-Decisions (D2D), and Fusion Warfare all depend on this digital foundation. For the last decade, for example, the DoD has been guided by the Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) construct in planning to confront near-peer adversaries. A2/AD will also need to adjust its view of platforms, sensors, and weapons to accommodate the kinetic and non-kinetic implications of this new digital foundation. Fortunately, much groundwork for this mobilization is already being laid at the Federal level. We can already point to many successes at the Crawl stage. Two examples can illuminate how consequential these decisions can be, how the role of the USG will need to be tailored to the problems, and how much further we have to go in order to Walk and Run. Example #1 Modernizing Infrastructure: In 2012, the IC recognized how it was consuming and delivering IT hardware, software, and services in ways that were unnecessarily inferior to the private sector. They awoke to the fact that the Governments acquisition approach was handcuffing every aspect of National Security. The Congress, the IC, and the Administration supported the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in taking the lead in this initiative. They all deserve credit for the joint effort. The CIA reoriented its office of the CIO. It created a Commercial Cloud Services (C2S) contract to end CIA reliance on internal, outmoded expenditures and shift to purchasing infrastructure services as a utility. And it put the CIO under a new Directorate of Digital Innovation (DDI) to better link it with Mission functions. The contract enables a new, market-based model for acquiring enterprise-level software. C2S-based applications are licensed with fees to software vendors paid on the basis of the utilization of their products. This marketplace allows competing products to be evaluated and adopted by users in their day-to-day decisions as to how best meet the requirements of a specific problem. In the rapidly evolving data craft of the Internet, this method is far more adaptive and effective than a pre-determined, one size fits all solution imposed by a centralized bureaucracy. In technical terms, the IC is shifting much of its infrastructure costs from CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) to OPEX (Operational Expenditure), eliminating recurring CAPEX, paying only for services as needed, and arranging to stay current with hardware and software innovation in ways that were impossible in the old business model. The success of the CIAs C2S initiative results from the Agencys recognition that the effective use of commercial market investments, technologies, and business processes can result in highly effective application of all too precious tax-payer capital, avoiding ineffective, costly duplication. The result of the Agencys strategy has been improved mission effectiveness while freeing scarce technology development funds to meet those needs that are truly unique to the Agencys mission. Example #2 Modernizing Knowledge Management (KM): In marked contrast to Infrastructure, the management of information within Federal systems was recognized by the IC as an inherently Governmental function, a core competence that should not be outsourced. Accepting that responsibility, the National Security Agency (NSA) took the lead in the Smart Data Initiative to identify what standardized labeling of packets of information are necessary in a modern digital environment. The first results, an Enterprise Data Header (EDH), was a signal achievement, admittedly and intentionally minimalist, but sufficient to enable the IC Cloud in its Crawl phase. In both these examples, Infrastructure and KM, success was achieved only because the organizations involved, specifically the Congress, the Administration, ODNI, CIA, and NSA all aligned their three Mission-Critical Teams in the service of a new strategic direction. But Can We Walk Run?    In order to achieve mission benefits well need to stop mistaking Easy for Hard and Complex for Simple. We have selected these two specific Crawl success stories because they also illustrate the executive decisions that need to be made today if we are going to Walk and Run tomorrow. In the case of infrastructure-which can best be thought of as plumbing-something relatively straightforward is being made unnecessarily complex within the DoD acquisition and planning apparatus. In the case of KM, many USG Departments Agencies-including the IC DoD-are mistaking KM as a simple issue. The USG is failing to come to grips with something inherently difficult by, in some cases, inaccurately imagining it is easy: if we just build the plumbing, everything else will take care of itself. It is only by effectively structuring and managing information (KM) that the USG will induce the digital dimension to yield its mission benefits. In both cases (Infrastructure and KM) necessary but insufficient actions have been taken. Creating Cloud repositories for data and minimal metadata standards are achievements, but, in themselves, they cannot produce the Mission Benefits that are needed and that have been promised. Sadly, many executives have bought into an automagic fallacy that these Crawl phase activities would automagically produce Walk and Run results. Figure 5: What is a Responsible Executive to Do? Source: DMI Lower level Government employees are left holding the bag. They are forced to describe classic Quick Wins and low-hanging fruit because it is only their boss bosses who are empowered to make the tough choices and substantial investments that will be required to produce the promised Mission Benefits. In the Agile development environment, where development of software continues apace as long as lower level Government product owners approve incremental progress, mission-critical decisions and investments are often postponed indefinitely. The impediments to the High Road are so formidable that thousands of National Security employees and contractors have adopted the Low Road. The distinction depicted in Figure 5. has actually been rejected by USG employees because it disparages the Low Road. That is the strategy weve adopted, and we need to promote it. Example #1 Enterprise Infrastructure: Private Sector Best Practices Leading the Way for Government Action Due to the disconnect between the DoD and the IC, Infrastructure Modernization is currently being held back at the National Security Enterprise level. Private sector solutions will need to drive this partnership. The DoD and its Armed Services are resisting the massive budgetary/acquisition changes needed to implement the CIA-led strategy. Only the Commanders Intent will be strong enough to clear this impediment. POTUS does not need to wait for a catastrophe to prompt this solution. Example #2 Enterprise Knowledge Management (KM): Government Active Management of a Modularized, Multi-Vendor Competitive Environment for Innovation At the same time that a sound foundation for KM was being laid through the establishment of IC data standards in the EDH, two basic strategies for the acquisition of knowledge exploitation technology were utilized. Weve termed the first approach The Hedgehog and the second The Fox in honor of Berlins 1953 essay on Tolstoy and the philosophy of history, which begins quoting the ancient Greek poet, Archilochus, who wrote The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. The Hedgehog. The hedgehog strategy entailed the acquisition of an all-inclusive solution from a single vendor, what we can think of as a highly-advanced knowledge appliance[9], a comprehensive solution that combined hardware, software, and a particular way of thinking about knowledge, problems, questions, and answers. This approach outsourced all to a single supplier. It fit the existing procurement system well because it focused on a single, big procurement decision. The Fox. The fox strategy entailed the acquisition of a collection of modularized[10], best of breed, highly-advanced devices, each of which solved parts of problems and in combination formed a system capable of solving a particular problem. Hardware, software, and way of thinking about knowledge, problems, questions, and answers could be quickly re-configured as better technologies came along or needs changed a critical capability given the ferment of Internet technologies and applications. This approach limited the amount of hardwa

We Must Create More Gardens for the Blind :: Architecture Design Essays

We Must Create More Gardens for the Blind What would it be like to live in a world of blindness? Those who are capable of seeing would probably shudder at the thought of permanently living in this state of dark and seemingly cloistered existence. Yet, one should not fail to realize that, despite their inability to see, the blind do, in fact, dwell in a world filled with a vast array of acute sensations which fully compensate for their lack of visionary capabilities. If anyone is interested in entering, at least temporarily, into the realm of sightlessness, then he should visit the restaurant, Dans le Noir in France. At this unique establishment, one is granted the privilege of enjoying an entire meal served by blind waiters in pitch darkness. The dark environment robs customers of their ability to see and as is so fluently stated on the Dans le Noir website, grants them the opportunity to completely re-evaluate the notion of taste and smelling through our gastronomic and pedagogical process? (http://www.danslenoir.fr). It might seem strange at first to think of eating without being able to see what one is consuming; but this truly might be the best way to dine. After all, the enjoyment of food is mainly centered on one's sense of taste. Yet, when a person is capable of seeing his meal, his attention is undoubtedly averted somewhat from its taste, because instead of focusing on the meal?s flavor, the person?s mind is partially consumed with absorbing the various visionary aspects of both the food as well as the surroundings. By eliminating this distraction, Dans le Noir, most likely, enhances the flavor of their food. If the customer is not capable of seeing what he is about to eat, it is plausible that he might be more willing to try new dishes. How many times has one heard a child proclaim his aversion to a new type of food before he has even tried it? By observing the new and unusual appearance of a dish, children often immediately assume that the meal will as distasteful to their taste buds as it is to their eyes. The truth is, though, that if they could not see the food, they would probably eat it and maybe even enjoy it. The same principle should apply to adults. Thus, it would probably be best for someone to be introduced to roasted octopus, dog, or elephant in a setting similar to that of Dans le Noir.

Housewife in India and Pakistan Essay

In India different approaches to domestic responsibilities are found in the various ethnic groups. In a Hindu family, the head of the family is the Griha Swami (Lord of the House) and his wife is the Griha Swamini(Lady of the House). The Sanskrit words Grihast and Grihasta perhaps come closest to describing the entire gamut of activities and roles undertaken by the householder or housewife. Grih is the Sanskrit root for house or home; Grihasta and Grihast are derivatives of this root, as is Grihastya. The couple lives in the state called Grihastashram or family system and together they nurture the family and help its members (both young and old) through the travails of life. The woman who increments the family tree (bears children) and protects those children is described as the Grihalakshmi (the wealth of the house) and Grihashoba (the glory of the house). The elders of the family are known as Grihshreshta. The husband or wife may engage in countless other activities which may be social, religious, political or economic in nature for the ultimate welfare of the family and society. However, their unified status as joint householders is the nucleus from within which they operate in society. The ‘status’ of a woman as a housewife anchors them in society and provides meaning to their activities within the social, religious, political and economic framework of their world. However, as India undergoes modernisation, many women are in employment, particularly in the larger cities such as Mumbai or Delhi, where most women will work. In Muslim families, use of the term housewife (or its equivalent) is uncommon, even though housewives are very common and stay-at-home husbands are extremely rare. Muslim society sets different expectations for the husband and wife, but respects their individuality.

Chinas Reliance on The World Market †Economics Essay

Chinas Reliance on The World Market – Economics Essay Free Online Research Papers Chinas Reliance on The World Market Economics Essay China at this moment is experiencing the transition of its grain trade policy from a policy of self-sufficiency to that of somewhat greater reliance on the world market. On June 1 this year, Premier Wen Jiabao announces that China has listed liberalization of grain trading and pricing and offering subsidies to grain growers as among Chinas priority tasks for reforming its grain distributing system. (1) Earlier this year, it is reported that Chinas grain output falls for five years in a row to 431 million tons last year from a record high of 512 million tons in 1998 while its farmland is also down 7 percent from 1998 to about 100 million hectares. (2) To encourage production, China for the first time in its history directly subsidizes its rural grain farmers: about 1.2 billion US dollars from its grain risk fund is used to directly subsidize individual rural households. Such subsidy is just one policy in the package of massive supporting measures, which also includes setting minimum grain purchasing prices, strictly protecting farmland and lowering agricultural tax. Such measures affect hundreds of millions of grain farmers in 13 provinces, accounting for 69 percent of China’s grain production. (3) Also China begins to liberalize its stri ctly-controlled and inefficient grain system to break state-owned enterprises’ long-held monopoly over the grain market. Private grain companies now can buy grain directly from farmers and resell or process them, which was unimaginable years ago when the central government held a complete monopoly over the grain market. (4) This paper will look into why China, as a WTO member now, goes for such dramatic policy change, examine the policy tools that China adopts most recently in the progressive liberalization of its grain trade and how they will impact the local and international communities. Agricultural resources put China at a disadvantage in producing grain from a comparative economic advantage standpoint. (5) The per capita arable land and water resource levels in China are much lower than world averages (6), and the demand on the land for other crops, particularly for vegetables and fruits, is great. (7) So, even though technologically China is able to feed its people, the self-sufficiency grain policy is irrational from an economic standpoint. Despite the relative success of government controls, with domestic grain costs increasing and domestic grain prices surpassing those of the world market as early as in 1994, Chinese scholars began to question the rationality of the self-sufficiency policy. (8) Moreover, self-sufficiency carries a heavy social cost. It is possible to make simple estimates on the social cost of grain self-sufficiency. According to Long (9), a net loss of social welfare USD 6.59 billion in the year 2020 will occurassuming that the demand for grain has no price elasticity and there is no price margin. If there is a price margin of, say, 20%, the net loss of social welfare will go further up to USD 13.52 billion. In Mid-1998, China instituted a price support program for grain. (10) The price support policy had two pricesa higher protection price for quota grain and a lower reservation price for any amount of grain that a farmer may have wished to sell. The state grain bureaus that purchased the grain were required to sell the grain to the marketing system at a price that covered their costs as well. The intention was that the price support policy would have no budgetary cost and that consumers would pay the full cost incurred in bringing grain to the retail shop. Of course, there should be no objection to that since urban consumers have far higher incomes than the grain producers, and there is no reason why their consumption of grain should be subsidized. But neither is there any reason why consumers should pay more for their grain than if they were served by an efficient marketing system. (11) If the policy functioned as planned, consumers would pay higher prices than necessary. To permit the grain bureaus and subsequent grain handlers to cover their costs, private traders were prohibited from buying directly from farmers. The reason for this action can only be that the private sector can move grain from the farmer to the consumer at significantly lower cost than the state enterprises that, once again, were given a monopoly in the marketing of grain. If this were not the case, there would have been no reason to give the grain bureaus the monopsony in purchases from farmers. If the grain bureaus promptly paid the farmers the specified prices and accepted all the grain farmers offered, as the policy said they should, private traders would have had to pay same prices as the grain bureau paid for grain in excess of the quota. (12) In fact, government losses in the purchase and sale of grain went up sharply since the program implemented. In 1995-1996 (April to March), the cost to the government was 19.7 billion renminbi (RMB); in 1996-1997, 40 billion RMB; and in 1997-1998, in excess of 100 billion RMB. (13) The losses in 1997-1998 exceeded the total expenditure urban consumers made in purchasing grain in 1997. According to the urban household survey, the per capita expenditure on grain by urban household survey, the per capita expenditure on grain by urban consumers was 238 RMB (14). With an urban population of 370 million (15), a total expenditure of 100 billion RMB would equal a per capita cost for the urban population of 270 RMB, or somewhat more than the average expenditure on grain 1997. While realizing the heavy costs of self-sufficiency and the apparent benefit of grain liberalization, Chinese leaders worry about a number of factors that inhibits China’s movement toward greater reliance on grain imports: food security, farmer unemployment, long-term foreign payment ability, as well as economic efficiency. Since the international community has significant influence over these factors, analysis of China’s grain policy suggests how the international community can promote China’s full engagement in the international trading system following is accession to the WTO. China has a long history of farmer rebellions, most of them were triggered by famine; the disastrous famine of the early 1960’s left an indelible imprint on China’s psyche. (16) The lowest requirements for the food safety are that nobody, particularly the poverty-stricken population, starves to death due to the short supply of grains and that the grains issue can not influence the social stabilization. Chinese leaders doubt whether China’s food security can be ensured by relying on the world market, especially records show that the main grain exporting countries have poor policy records, and specifically in times of domestic crises, they may transfer internal shocks to importing countries. Also, since China is a country of vast population, Chinese leaders are concerned that a grain embargo will be used by main exporters as a political weapon against China.(17) It is not until China’s accession to WTO that they finally gradually let go such uncertainties. The general commitments inherent in WTO membership include unconditional most-favored-nation treatment required by Article I of GATTthat member will not discriminate between members. Another basic condition is national treatment required by Article III of GATTthat imports can not be discriminated against other than through border priced-based measure such as tariffs. (18) Under this commitments and condition China can seek tighter disciplines on the use of export restrictions by food exporters to ensure the security of supply. The risk of grain embargos is greatly reduced. And China can increase the extent it relies on world markets as its source of grain. Increasing the security of supply would also be in the in the interest of the exporting countries, which face demands greatly diminished by China’s lack of confidence in the security of supply. Even when members of main grain exporting countries do not honor the WTO agreement and decide to use embargo against China, any grain embargoes have only short-term effects due to the high elasticity of grain supply. Supplier countries that do not participate in an embargo can easily increase their production to provide China with grain over time. Moreover, with an apparently high ratio of grain stock to grain consumption, China is definitely safe from famine in case grain embargo is used against it. (19) The volume of grain stocks is an important index used to measure whether a country is safe or not in terms of grains. In general, the proportion of carry-over stocks of grains at the end of a grains year in the estimated total consumption of grains during the next year will be taken as the grains stocks safety coefficient. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization holds that the lowest scope for a countrys grains stocks safety coefficient is 17~18 percent. If the coefficient is smaller than that, in combination with the analysis on other factors, it can be regarded that this country is not safe in terms of grains. (20) For China, even when grain prices fluctuate in a large range, the safety coefficient of the grains stocks is still higher than 18 percent, the lowest value for the countrys grain stocks safety coefficient. (21) Underemployment and unemployment has always been a problem in China’s rural area. Whether grain liberalization will aggravate unemployment has been a subject of controversy. Those who advocate for liberalization argue that Chinese grain farmers can adapt themselves to more grain imports by converting agricultural activities to higher value-added and labor-intensive production as in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. (22) As high value-added crops are more labor-intensive than grain, such a transition will provide a solution to the unemployment problem. Some also suggest the superabundance of rural labor can be dealt with by transferring most of them to non-agricultural sectors especially to the service sector. Such arguments are valid only when there are enough markets for higher value-added and labor intensive goods. However, China faces barriers in its exporting markets, and the extent of the barriers can be better understood by examining the duty burden that China faces in the export markets. It is clear that China faces some substantial tariff barriers and high tariff rates on its high value-added and labor-intensive agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits and fish products. The average tariff rate faced by China on its agricultural product exports is four times as high as the average tariff faced on its exports of other products. (23) The absence of reliable assurance of food security has been precluding China from opening up to the world grain market. To provide reassurance to China and boost Chinese confidence in the world grain market, greater market access from the international community therefore must be provided for China’s labor-intensive agricultural goods as well as other labor-intensive goods such as textiles. Skeptics of China’s grain liberalization also question China will be able to afford to import a large amount of grain. Since 1999 China has more than USD 140 billion in its foreign exchange reserve, the second highest in the world. (24) However, it is not clear if, in the long run, China will be able to sustain surpluses in its exchange reserve. There are several reasons behind such a pessimistic forecast. First, the rapid growth of China’s export is mainly attributable to â€Å"Processing trade†, in which countries import inputs and re-export processed goods. Between 1980 and 1997, normal exports did not increase as much as the average GDP growth. (25) The exports of â€Å"processing trade are mainly labor-intensive goods with value-added ratio of 10-15 %. (26) Because China has not realized processing trade industries are in fact â€Å"rootless industries†: The plants that produces goods for processing exports move to other countries due to the increase in the labor cost in China, as what had happened in Japan and East Asian Dragons. Unlike its predecessors, however, China will have difficulty in adopting the model of exporting higher value added intermediate inputs. Second, the long-term prospect of China’s capital account balance is ambiguous. As a result of its open-door policy, China has b een the second largest foreign direct investment (FDI) host since 1993. (27) Although decreasing profitability may prevent FDI from rising in the future, foreign investment in service sectors, such as telecommunication, banking and insurance, will rise if China lifts its restrictions on foreign investments. At the same time, the tremendous expansion of outward investment and illegal capital outflow explains why China’s foreign exchange reserve increased only slightly despite years of huge surplus. Given China’s unpromising outlook for its exchange reserve, some policy makers are pessimistic about China’s long-term balance of payment, although they tend to have confidence in China’s short-term balance of payment surplus. However, according to Long (28), such a view is not warrant as the expenditure in grain imports is predicted to be at most accounting for 2.5% of the exports by 2020. So there has to be other reasons other than balance of payment that make Chinese still uncertain about their ability to pay for grain imports. As China is on its path of rapid industrialization, imports of machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and high value services will inevitably increase rapidly with continued economic growth. Grain imports will have some crowding-out effects on other imports if foreign is a scarce resource and the opportunity cost of grain imports will be higher than nominal cost. (29) Still, even if China faces difficulties in keeping it s balance of payment, the Chinese currency can depreciate and lower domestic grain prices, reducing or halting grain imports at any time it The shift in the use of procurement prices as a means of taxing agriculture to a means of providing support suggests that policy transformation is well under way in China in light of food consumption change. China realizes the fact that over the past several decades the grain consumption structure has been changing: First, per capita grain consumption has been falling slowly since the early 1990s, offsetting some of the effects of population growth; second, the urban households consume much less grain than rural households. (30) Nevertheless, due to the expanding consumption in feed grains, seed and industrial input, research results suggest that the total grain demand will be growing at an average rate of 1.2 % between 1996 and 2020 and 1.1 % between 1996and 2030. (31) In order to be accurate, the above forecasts of grain demand take numerous factors into consideration, such as the urbanization rate, the consumption trends in the past 10 to 15 years and food consumption habits of ne ighboring countries in East Asia, etc. All of these factors indicate that per capita grain demand will only grow slowly (1.2 % and 1.1%) even if the Chinese economy further develops. (32) However, policies to increase prices received by farmers, like price support, even when successful, have limited effect on the returns to labor and capital engaged in agriculture. (33) Chinese officials did not learn from the similar serious and expensive agricultural policy errors made by the United States and the European Community until recently. (34) Rather than wasting money through high storage costs and payment to government employees, they realize that giving grain farmers direct subsidy and lowering agricultural tax do increase the income of farm people much moreeven though the government still applies price support, i.e., setting minimum purchasing prices. Such measures are implemented because increasing rural incomes is one of China’s prioritized commitments. While incomes have grown and poverty in rural China has been reduced substantially over the last 20 years, the income gap between rural and urban China has widened. (35) This has contributed to social tensions in rural areas and has become one of the major concerns for the government. While agriculture contributes almost one half to rural incomes, agricultural policy measures alone will have a very limited impact on rural incomes if they are not integrated with a wide range of other policies. In particular, the policy agenda has to include labor market reform to soften labor migration restrictions; education reform to provide the rural population with sufficient skills to compete on labor markets; fiscal policy reform combined with local administration reform to diminish the government-imposed burdens on rural households; and social policy reform to reduce the gap in access to social benefits between the rural and urban populations. China’s comprehensive reforms over the last 20 years have transformed its trade regime along with the economy as a whole. The reforms of the domestic economy have greatly increased the importance of market, rather than planning, in the allocation of resources. In fact, China has agreed to phase out restrictions on trading rights for most products. However, a small percentage of imports remains covered by the traditional monopoly trading system. Grain is a case in point. While such a system is allowed under GATT rules, there appears to be a strong case for, at minimum, reforming its operating procedures. It is because this system appears to involve the worst of both worldsthe poor information flows typical of command planning systems and the exploitation of market participants typically associated with poorly regulated markets. China realizes the importance of coordinating its domestic circulation system with the foreign trade system. Despite China’s commitment to distributing grain import quotas to private enterprises, the monopoly trading system will not allow it. Implemented in 1998, China’s domestic grain circulation system ensures the monopoly of the grain bureau by permitting no state-owned or private enterprises except the state grain bureau to purchase grain directly from farmers. If other enterprises can directly buy cheaper grain from the world market and sell at prices lower, the monopoly of the grain bureau will break down. Granting import quotas, thus, is not viable under the monopoly system to achieve the goal. For a broader distribution of import quotas, a reform of domestic circulation system is essential. That’s why, as mentioned in the first paragraph, China has started to progressively expand the scope of quota distribution to include private enterprises. Such a new move signifies an irreversible market reform of the country’s grain industry. As a member of the WTO, China controls over grain by the application of tariff rate quota. In accordance with Chinas promise on its entry into the WTO, during the transitional period, the tariff-rate quota for imported grains in 2004 will be no more than 22.15 billion kilograms; it is anticipated that the dependence on foreign trade will be 4.4 percent at most. During several years in the future, the annually average dependence on foreign trade in terms of grains will be 5 percent. (36) As the ratio of grain imports to total demand will expand to 10% or more by 2020, the amount of China’s grain import requirement will be about 60 million tons or more, significantly lower than 200 million tons suggested in the free trade scenario. (37) So with partial reliance, domestic grain prices would be higher than those of the world market, but lower than what would be if it adopted free grain trade. Although main grain exporters may prefer China to adopt grain trade policy than anything else, it is least likely to take effect. First, agricultural goods are far from being freely traded in the world. Even the United States, the largest exporter of agricultural goods, has a substantial level of government intervention when it comes to agriculture not to mention Canada. In this international framework, China can hardly go so far as to liberalize grain trade as a developing country. Second, free trade in grain does not constitute China’s national interest. China will not only exposed to the possible shock of price fluctuations in the world market, but also face the risk of serious rural unemployment, even in the absence of man-made attacks such as grain embargos. Third, other grain importers might not want China to adopt a free trade policy: The importing countries may object to the international pressure to open up their agricultural markets. Therefore it is understandable why Chinese government on the one hand let go of the old regime and progressively allows market force to take charge of its grain trade; on the other hand, however, it is still heavily involved by exerting powerful policy tools onto the market during the transition from planning-based regulations to free trade. As the world’s leading importer and exporter of grain, China has influenced the world grain market in many ways even with its long-held policy of grain self-sufficiency. As China now further liberalizes its grain trade, it will provide a larger market for grain exporters. There is no doubt that China, as the largest grain producer and consumer grain in the world, will become more powerful in affecting world food security. The question is how. China affects world food security through the price volatility it causes in the world market. There are two reasons for price volatility in the world market. First, almost every country, including China, imports to take advantage of the world market to stabilize its own domestic market. Almost no country relies solely on imports. Rather, countries vary the amount of grain imports according to the changes in their domestic grain prices. For this reason, the share of imports in the domestic market relative to domestic production is fairly small in most cases. Second, variations in the amount of imports in individual countries affect the world market prices since the world market is small relative to the total grain production. China swaps different varieties through the world market, and its enormous variations in import volumes usually affect world market prices. With China changing its trade policy and increasing its grain imports, the variations in China’s imports will be reduced substantially, mitigating the price volatility in the world grain market. Some researches pay attention to China’s grain imports and its impact on grain prices in the world market. Some researchers were alarmed by the prospect of China’s rising imports and its potential harmful effects on some of the poor grain importers. (38) However influential in policy-making, this view lacks credibility. Variation in China’s imports causes price shocks in the world grain market because suppliers can hardly anticipate the changes and adjust their production in time. If China relies more on grain imports, its import requirement will become more transparent and more predicable. Moreover, as mentioned earlier grain is an elastic commodity, main exporters will be able to expand their production to meet China’s increased import needs. Therefore, in the long-run the price of the world grain market will not soar even with China’s new grain policy. Besides direct economic benefits, the international community will also gain security benefits from China’s grain trade liberalization. China has been deeply involved in the global economy since the late 1970s as suggested by the amount of foreign trade in China. The twenty-year history of China’s integration into the international economy reveals that China has chosen to play under the current international rules along with the West, rather than to establish a new international framework that would challenge the existing rules. China has been involved with international organizations including the United Nations, the World Bank, the IMF and, eventually, the WTO. With deeper economic integration with the world market, the Chinese have realized the importance of interdependence and cooperation with other countries. Such a policy change will have important implication for China’s foreign policy. International and regional peace and stability will become a higher priority for China. When dealing with international affairs, China will be more cooperative with main grain exporting countries such as the United States. Consequently, the prospect of international cooperation will have positive consequences to certain extent for international security. Because grain is an important strategic good, a transition in grain trade policy will have important implications for China’s domestic and foreign policies. Because China is an indispensable player in the world grain market and a rising power in international affairs, China’s policy transition will also have major consequences for the international grain market and world security. Now, as it is liberalizing its grain trade, China requires smooth policy transition to bring a win-win situation to both China and the international community. If done successfully, both China and the international community will benefit from the policy change. Grain importers will gain a stable market for their product, a reduction in budget subsidies on agricultural goods, and a more predictable and reliable partner. China will be able to feed its people with lower costs and strengthen its international competitiveness. The policy transition, however, is dependent not only on China’s domestic circumstances but also on what the international community will do. In the international efforts to promote peaceful transition, the United States, Canada and Australiathe three major grain importers for Chinashould play a key role. Reference: 1.) china-embassy.org/eng/gyzg/t127570.htm 2.) http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-05/06/content_1454463.htm 3.) chinastudygroup.org/newsarchive/5603/ 4.) chinastudygroup.org/newsarchive/5941/ 5.) Cheng F. and Beghin J. C. (2003), â€Å"Protection and Comparative advantage of Chinese Agriculture: Implications for Regional and National Specialization†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 6.) www.agecon.ucdavis.edu/facultypages/sumner/iatrc/chengfang.pdf 7.) www.usda.gov/oce/forum/ Archives/2004/speeches/wade0220.doc 8.) Cheng F. and Beghin J. C. (2003), â€Å"Protection and Comparative advantage of Chinese Agriculture: Implications for Regional and National Specialization†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 9.) brookings.edu/fp/cnaps/papers/1999_long.htm 10.) Ke, Bingsheng (1998), â€Å"Grain Circulation and Market System Reform†, paper for Commemoration Seminar on the Twentieth Anniversary of China’s Rural Reform, Beijing, 1998. 11.) Johnson, D.G. (1999), â€Å"Agricultural adjustments in China: Problems and Prospects,† Office of Agricultural Economics Research, University of Chicago, Paper No. 96:03, August 10. 12.) Johnson D.G. (2003), â€Å"China’s Grain Trade: Some Policy Considerations†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 13.) Crook, Frederick W. (1998), â€Å"Agricultural Policies in 1998: Stability and Change,† U. S. Department of Agriculture, China: Situation and Outlook Series, International Agriculture and Trade reports, Economic Research Service, WRS-98-3, pp. 9-10 14.) State Statistical Bureau (1998), China Statistical Yearbook 1998, Beijing: China Statistical Publishing House 15.) State Statistical Bureau (1998), China Statistical Yearbook 1998, Beijing: China Statistical Publishing House 16.) Kane P., (1988), Famine in China, 1959-61: Demographic and Social Implications, New York: St. Martins Press. 17.) eco.utexas.edu/Homepages/Faculty/Cleaver/357Lsum_s4_Paarlberg_FA80.html 18.) gatt.org/ 19.) www.ers.usda.gov/publications/wrs012/wrs012k.pdf 20.) www.econ.worldbank.org/files/2469_wps2689.pdf 21.) http://en.ce.cn/main/Insight/200409/06/t20040906_1728837.shtml 22.) card.iastate.edu/iowa_ag_review/fall_00/competitiveness.aspx 23.) Hertel, T., (1997), Global Trade Analysis: Modeling and Applications, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 24.) Hunag Jikun, (2003), â€Å"Trade Liberalization and China’s Food Economy in the 21st Century: Implication for China’s National Food Security†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 25.) Naughton B., (2003), â€Å"China’s Trade Regime Entering a New Century†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 26.) Naughton B., (2003), â€Å"China’s Trade Regime Entering a New Century†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 27.) Hunag Jikun, (2003), â€Å"Trade Liberalization and China’s Food Economy in the 21st Century: Implication for China’s National Food Security†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 28.) brookings.edu/fp/cnaps/papers/1999_long.htm 29.) brookings.edu/fp/cnaps/papers/1999_long.htm 30.) www.ers.usda.gov/publications/wrs012/wrs012l.pdf 31.) brookings.edu/fp/cnaps/papers/1999_long.htm 32.) agriculture.com/default.sph/agNotebook.class?FNC=ArticleList__Aarticle_html___8683___826 33.) Johnson, D.G. (1991), World Agriculture in Disarray, 2nd ed., London: Macmillan. 34.) Johnson D.G. (2003), â€Å"China’s Grain Trade: Some Policy Considerations†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 35.) Johnson, D.G. (2000), Reducing the Urban-Rural Income Disparity in China, Office of Agricultural Economics Research, The University of Chicago, Paper: 00-06, mimeo. 36.) http://docsonline.wto.org/DDFDocuments/t/WT/ACC/CHN49.doc 37.) brookings.edu/fp/cnaps/papers/1999_long.htm 38.) Brown, Lester R., (1995), Who Will Feed China?: Wake-up Call for a small Planet, Norton Company Ltd. Research Papers on China's Reliance on The World Market - Economics EssayDefinition of Export QuotasAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesPETSTEL analysis of IndiaTwilight of the UAWMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductGenetic EngineeringNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of Self

secondhand smoking essays

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