Economic Recession in Ireland 2007-2012

â€Å"Ireland’s Great Recession. † The Irish Economy, 2007-2012. The title of this essay, â€Å"Ireland’s great recession,† refers to the Irish economy from 2007-2012. From my research into this essay, I found that the Irish economy of this period could be referred to as â€Å"The Great Depression. † There are parallel similarities to the Irish economy now as experienced in America in the 1920’s. This essay will examine what a recession is, why Ireland is in a recession, the effects and face of the recession, and my own personal views on the crisis.Not a day goes by when you don’t hear stories of â€Å"doom and gloom† in relation to Ireland’s economic state of affairs. Everybody you talk to has someone belonging to them or knows someone who has had to emigrate. Australia has replaced America as the land of hope and dreams, as thousands flock our shores in search of a better life. Within the country recession has not only resulted in mass emigration. Internally people are struggling to repay their mortgages because of the housing collapse. Wages have been cut and taxes have been increased. Disposable income for many a non-entity.Ireland was the first EU country to declare itself officially in recession in August 2008. We are the second EU country to have a structural adjustment programme imposed by the IMF/ECB/EU, known as ‘the Troika’. The turnaround of the Irish economy has been dramatic – from one with the highest levels of GDP and employment growth to among those with the highest unemployment, emigration and debt levels across the EU – in the space of just a few short years. The recession has affected everybody, young and old. We are in a time where we have to cut spending in order to meet our EU obligations.The financial crisis that sparked the recession and collapse of our banking system is the most serious problem that we face. The Calm before the Storm- The Celtic T iger Years(1995-2007) â€Å"The Celtic Tiger† was a term used to describe the boom years which our economy went through from around 1995-2007. UK economist Kevin Gardiner coined the term â€Å"Celtic Tiger†, comparing Ireland's unexpected economic take-off to the Asian tiger economies. Many believe the foundations of the Celtic Tiger were laid in the 1990’s in a Dublin pub called Nesbitts.It was here that politicians, economists and civil servants met to discuss future government policies. It was agreed that the government of the day should cut taxes, lower interest rates, reduce import duties which would encourage foreign investment. It was later referred to as the â€Å"Doheny & Nesbitt School of Economics. † Our generous corporation tax of 12. 5% enticed foreign investment into the country. The fact that Ireland was a member of the European Union since 1973 helped enormously. The EU pumped vast amounts of money into infrastructure and grants especially in the agricultural sector.It meant a single currency and free trade within the EU. Ireland had an open economy where trade was promoted and thrived, especially in the area of exports. Ireland has a workforce that is highly educated and attracted further investment especially from high-tech and pharmaceutical industries. As the economy started to grow so did immigration into the country, as there was lots of work particularly in the construction industry. There was a surge in demand for housing and as a result this triggered the housing boom. Banks were encouraging customers to borrow as there were low interest rates.Property prices began to rise and many people sought property as a form of investment not just as a home. Property developers became millionaires over night as a result of the property boom. People in Ireland began living lavish lifestyles and in a lot of cases had lost the run of themselves. Collapse of the World Financial Market On the 15th of September, 2008 Lehman Brothers, one of America Largest Investment Banks in the USA, declared itself bankrupt. Major panic broke out on the inter-bank loan market as a result.As share prices declined, many large and well established investment and commercial banks in the United States and Europe suffered huge losses and even faced bankruptcy, resulting in massive financial assistance. Ireland is a very small fish in a big pond. Ireland is an open economy and our banks, like our businesses, trade with other banks. Irish Banks borrowed huge sums of money on credit from foreign banks. Our main source of repayment was taxes through our construction industry. What resulted was a domino effect; when one major bank fell the others in turn throughout America and the EU started to fall.Governments stepped in pumping billions into their banks to save them. The collapse of the world financial markets triggered the recession but some countries suffered a lot worse than others. Ireland is one of those countries, becau se Ireland borrowed beyond their means but mainly to support the purchase of private property. Recessionary Times A recession is a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters: (oxford Dictionary) GDP is made up of private consumption, government spending, investments and exports-imports.A recession is typically accompanied by a drop in the stock market, an increase in unemployment, and a decline in the housing market. It is also a term that people refer to when there is on-going hardships that people face in their daily lives. In recessionary times people have little disposable income and money is more often spent on necessity items like food and clothing, whereas luxury goods are beyond reach for many. Banks The crash of our banking system was the biggest cause of our country going into recession. Our banks lent recklessly when times were good.Loans were given to people without consideration. People within the banking system were paid bonuses the more they lent. Most people seeking these loans did not meet international regulations. The banks misguided thousands of ordinary people by giving these loans for enormous amounts, knowing that they realistically could not afford repayments. During the Celtic Tiger period of growth, capital to finance Ireland’s boom was raised in the interbank market, typically on a three-month basis, but with repayment not expected until two or three years later.When Irish property values went into decline and the freezing-up of the world's interbank market in 2007, it was certain by the start of 2008 that the Irish banking system would have great difficulty in financing its day-to-day operations. This trading difficulty, and inadequate supervision by the regulatory body, led to a series of government interventions, starting with a Bank guarantee in September 2008. It is nearly four years since the fateful night o f September 29th/30th 2008 when the Irish government guaranteed the key financial liabilities of our biggest banks.That decision has dominated national politics since then. For the economic and political consequences of that decision are immense. Since 2008, Irish taxpayers have invested â‚ ¬64. 1 billion into our banks. In addition to that direct investment, we have also indirectly invested a further â‚ ¬6 billion through NAMA (National Account Management Agency). That was the estimate given by the Controller and Auditor General, in May this year. He reported that NAMA had paid Irish banks â‚ ¬32 billion for loans that were, in fact, worth only â‚ ¬26 billion. In total then, we have already pumped â‚ ¬70. billion into our ailing banks. That’s the equivalent of â‚ ¬46,700 for every person working full-time. It’s a second mortgage that we didn’t want and can barely afford. And we mightn’t be finished yet in terms of how much money we have to pump into the banks. As of December last, the balance sheets of the three main Irish banks (AIB, Bank of Ireland and Irish Life & Permanent) showed a book value of their loans of â‚ ¬218 billion. But the banks’ own aggregate estimate of the fair value of those loans was only â‚ ¬181 billion, some â‚ ¬37 billion below their balance sheet carrying value.That suggests further heavy loan losses to come. Construction Industry During the boom years, demand for housing increased. It increased as a result of many factors: population growth, investments, tax breaks and low interest rates. As a result of this demand there was a rapid growth in housing and house prices began to soar. â€Å"The TSB/ESRI Index reveals that national prices increased at an average pace of almost 15% per annum between the years of 1997-2006, resulting in a cumulative increase of 240% over this period. † (class notes) Ireland tried to grow its economy inward through construction.It did so but there was too much emphasis put on construction. There was far too many people employed in the construction sector and there was an over reliance on construction industry alone to grow our economy. â€Å"Around 330,000 jobs have been lost since employment peaked in 2007, with the construction industry accounting for more than half of this total. † (class notes) Inflation of Egos Whether you are a banker, builder or bus driver it seemed that everyone had a second car and second home during the Celtic Tiger years.Having a little place in the sun seemed the norm. However thunder storms have emerged since the recession. People were running up massive debts in a society gone mad. People were borrowing beyond their means with banks only too happy to oblige. While people must be responsible for the choices they make, perhaps the banks, the so called experts in finance should have been more responsible. Everybody jumped on the band wagon; some builders built houses too quickly, c heaply and not following safety regulations. Priory Hall) Tradesmen were demanding and receiving vast sums of money for their work. According to Ronan Lyons an Economist in Oxford University, a recession becomes a depression when you have a fall in GDP by more than 10%. He has compared both job losses in the USA in the 1920’s to that of Ireland now. The results are striking. As the graph below shows, Ireland’s situation closely resembles the Great Depression. (Lyons ,2012) Irish GDP has fallen recording a peak to trough fall of 12. 4% (Class Notes) ConclusionAs I said earlier Ireland is a small fish in a big pond. The majority of people like to point the finger at the last government as I would, but not as strongly as others. Our last Government had a part to play. However there was a world-wide recession and we would have suffered economically as a result as every country has within the EU. I believe however that our last government could have done some of the followi ng; regulate the banks so they would not lend recklessly, re invests elsewhere in the economy for growth when times were good.There was an over reliance on construction to feed the economy. They could have increased interest rates to bring down inflation therefore slowing the economy. The government could have closed Anglo Irish Bank- Anglo is mainly a commercial bank with little customers in Ireland. This would have saved Irish taxpayers in the region of 30 billion euros. Our current government promised not to make the same mistakes of our previous government in their pre-election manifestos.They now tell us they are locked by the terms of the EU/IMF bailout. Can our government not re-negotiate a deal? Can they not tell Europe that further cuts cannot be put in place if we are to see growth in our economy in the long term? Germany only in the last couple of years repaid there debt after the Second World War. Ireland unlike many of its European counterparts is meeting the terms of t he agreement. We keep hearing how good a nation we are and that we are a success story, and the measures that we are taking in reducing debt.We are receiving a pat on the back from our German friends, but is this a pat on the back, or a further shove into the quick sand that we are already standing in? Is it a sign of success that young Irish people are emigrating, that the dole queues are getting longer? It is a success that the people of Ireland will be in debt for years to come? Recently Enda Kenny was on the cover of Time magazine under the caption â€Å"Celtic Comeback†. Great people like Einstein have also graced the cover of this famous magazine. So too has BART SIMPSON†¦

Queen Mary’s Restoration of Catholicism- a Failure

Englandâ€Å"†¦.. as were to be seen in the reign of this queen Mary, whether we behold the shortness of her time or the unfortunate event of all her purposes†¦. † The unforgettable regnant Queen Mary of England and Ireland did attempt to restore the Catholic faith during her short reign of July 6th 1553 to 17th November 1558, albeit failed at this mission. She is not remembered for her colourful reign with cacophony sounding triumphs nor peaceful approaches to English society.In fact she is established in history as ‘Bloody Mary’, a callous character, who viciously burned Protestants; their flesh scents pouring into the streets of England and lucent cries hauntingly echoing. Her legacy is remembered by many as a failure to restore Catholicism during her reign. Her failed attempt of restoring the Catholic faith can be highlighted in seven main reasons which will be accounted for in detail. Indeed, Queen Mary’s attempted restoration of Catholicism did prove to be a failure for many reasons.Firstly, she had succeeded her half-brother Edward VI, who governed England under a Protestant regime. Edward had introduced extreme changes to the Church that dramatically transformed the religion to a purely Protestantism doctrine. This was to prove difficult to reverse to a Catholic country. Secondly, Mary as first Queen of England and Ireland (debated whether Lady Jane Grey was) had to make a powerful approach to the throne. She was burdened with the position of being the illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII’s.The fear of being ridiculed by the public stood tall and Protestants infiltrated into England from Edwards contradicting reign. Thirdly, Mary during her reign of course re-introduced England under Catholicism yet, in doing so England had much more consequences at hand. These consequences majorly filled the position of radical movements such as the traumatic ‘Marian Persecutions’ which profoundly scared the Prote stant followers and climaxed opposition towards her. Fourthly, Queen Mary married Prince Philip II of Spain and Portugal which was widely criticised and publically denounced.This subsequently led to the fifth reason which proved Queen Marys attempted restoration of Catholicism to be a failure. In war, allied with Spain, England lost Calais (in France). A sixth reason of failure emerges due to the fact that Queen Mary was unable to produce an heir to take over her title. Lastly, her short lived reign was abruptly caused by her untimely death in November 1558. These points will be explored more specifically. To expand the first point much is to be added.After Mary Tudor was born to Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon into a Roman Catholic religion in 1516, Henry had their marriage annulled by Thomas Cranmer just over a decade of Mary’s birth. Thus, this left Mary with the handicap of being an illegitimate daughter. It was after Henry’s third wife Jane Seymour (the second being Anne Boleyn) a son, Edward VI was born in 1537. This birth of a male heir dramatically and immediately impacted Mary’s entire life. Edward was to have a major effect on Mary’ position as he dominated the throne from birth. After Henry’s death in 1547 Edward fulfilled this position at the young of age of nine.As Edward had been educated by Protestant tutors due to his father break with the Roman Catholic Church with his subsequent title Supreme Head of the Church of England and Ireland; it meant that he was an actively practising Protestant and his uncle Edward Seymour strongly encouraged reform in the Church. The first attack was that of the dissolution of the Chantries, this omitted the belief of purgatory. In 1549 he announced that priests could marry. By 1552 Edward had made a series of dramatic changes that were quickly crumbling Mary’s beliefs.Edward had introduced the Book of Common Prayer that included; the abolition of stone altars with simp le wooden tables and the Mass was replaced with the consubstantiation Holy Communion. However, Predestination was accepted by Edward. A position in heaven could not be bought. Protestants abroad began to immigrate to England where they could freely and comfortably practise their religion without fear of being dictated as heretics. These changes completely transformed the Church of England during Henry VIII’ reign and more importantly were to prove more difficult for Mary to deal with during her reign.King Edward VI had died very unexpectedly from a cough that deteriorated and developed into a fever and the subsequent â€Å". difficulty in drawing his breath†, and later â€Å" . . compression of the organs on the right side. † It was proposed he had a tumour of some sort yet he was beyond recover. He died on the 6th July 1553. Ironically, Mary Tudor became queen at the age of fifteen. Yet, England’s religion now was completely opposite to that of Mary†™s belief due to Edward, this truly contributed to her restoration of Catholicism being that of a failure.Thus, the second point emerges. As Edward was slowly passing he conducted a â€Å"Devise for Succession†. He denounced that his half-sister Mary should take to the throne. Not only were they simultaneously contradicting on religious terms but also, Edward was unwilling to witness an illegitimate Queen take to the throne. This also applied to Anne Boleyn’s daughter Elizabeth, who was also declared a bastard. Mary was furious that Edward had declared that his cousin (once removed) Lady Jane Grey was to succeed him.However, Lady Jane Grey’s reign was quite ironic in the fact that she succeeded for only nine days beginning from the 10th July 1553. A proposal was announced in which â€Å"barring Mary from the succession was a cause in which the young King believed. † Marry stood firmly on her ground and publically announced that she should be made queen. By the 19th July Mary had a brewing and overwhelming number of supporters. In Suffolk she rounded up an army of nearly twenty thousand. Soon Lady Jane Grey was accused of high treason and imprisoned in Tower’s Gentleman Gaoler’s apartments by Mary. She was beheaded in private.Yes, there was quite a rejoicing orientation with Mary’s now fundamental establishment as queen; however, she was doomed in many respects from the beginning due to Edwards’s success. The Book of Common Prayer at this stage was in full use and it hugely denounced and contrasted with her Catholic faith. Cranmer’s Forty Two Articles proved very successful in the Protestant religion and were entirely difficult for Mary to dissolve due to the vast support. Another huge obstacle stood in Mary’s path and indeed weakened her position. This damaging figuring was the Dissolution/Suppression of the Monasteries during Henry VIII’s Anglican reign.With the Acts of Supremacy i n place from 1534, Henry VIII took over Church lands. Therefore, she found it completely difficult to restore Church lands due to their ownership now in the hands of private landowners. This was a major problem that resulted in her failed attempt of Catholic restoration. A third reason exists that caused Mary’s failure. The Council of Trent encouraged by Pope Paul III lasted from 1543-1565; a revival of the Catholic faith was debated and in desperate need of restoration which was the era of the Counter-Reformation. Therefore, as the revival took place during Mary’s reign a lot of restoration was needed.Sadly, Mary proved ineffective here. Prior to her reign Edward had successfully dismantled England’s hundred year reign of Catholicism inside a period of six years under Protestantism. Indeed, she immediately proved unpopular with the Protestants due to her proclamation that she was to lead England under Catholic rule. She firstly imprisoned the Protestant leaders which were participating in the Church during Edward VI’s reign; these included such reformers as John Roger, Hugh Latimer, John Hooper, John Bradford and Thomas Cranmer by the end of September of 1553.Mary abolished Edward’s successful religious laws and restored the 1539 Six Articles which was that of the Catholic doctrine that set out once again confirming that priests could not marry. A huge contribution to Mary’s failure was the brutal Marian Persecutions. By 1554 Pope Julius III had reviewed and approved of the Heresy Acts. Mary I greatly abused this authority which granted her the drastic title of ‘Bloody Mary’. Many desired to flee the continent rather than be burned for heresy. In fact over eight hundred Protestant reformers (many of whom landed in England during Edward’s reign) retreated to Western Europe.By February 1555 Mary had already began her heretical burnings that were to be made her trademark. Also, by the ninth of Februar y Mary Tudor already had four Protestants burned including that of J. Hooper and J. Roger. Thomas Cranmer too was burned as a heretic. His position was soon succeeded by Mary’s executive governess Margaret Pole’s, (the 8th Countess of Salisbury) son, Reginald Pole in March 1556. Barbarically, ‘Bloody Mary’ had over 283 Protestants executed; the majority of them were burned. The Athenaeum; or, spirit of the English Magazines statistically conveys the significant number of these innocent civilians.It states that there were twenty widowers, twenty-six wives, and even two infants were also involved in the executions (those mentioned were burnt). It was not surprising that a large opposition towards Catholicism emerged after the huge number of ‘heretics’ were burned. Marys support became unpopular in England due to the burnings. These victims of who were burned at the stake soon were regarded as martyrs. This form of punishment was so intense that even the jurist and Franciscan theologian, Alfonso de Castro utterly denounced it.This widespread outrage and opposition seriously damaged Mary’s reputation and moreover failed the restoration of Catholicism. It was not peaceful and definitely not popular. Fourthly, Mary’s failed attempt to restore Catholicism can also be based on her marriage. From a very young age plans for a suitable husband were continuously being negotiated by Henry VIII. It is quite interesting in the fact that even when she was at the age of two Henry suggested that Mary in time should marry the Dauphin, the infant son of the King Francis I of France. However, this politically changed due to a contract.Then in 1522 it was suggested that Mary should wed the twenty two year old Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, who was also her cousin. From chopping and changing of wedding plans Thomas Wolsey then proposed that an English alliance with France was secured, thus a French marriage did not have to commen ce. When Mary was in her late thirties it began to dawn on her that she should find a husband in hope to produce an heir. Mary was relentlessly eager not to have Elizabeth, her half-sister, abdicate the throne. Charles V suggested that Mary marry his son Prince Philip II of Spain.However, in sharp contrast in England both the House of Commons and Lord Chancellor Gardiner encouraged her to marry an Englishman as they were terrified of foreign affair clashes with the Habsburgs. In Kent a rebellion broke out under Thomas Wyatt, the younger, which also involved the Duke of Suffolk, who was Lady Jane Grey’s father. They wished to cease the marriage between Mary and Philip which was about to commence. They were in favour of Elizabeth. However, they were captured and imprisoned. Nevertheless, the French style wedding proceeded on 25th July 1554 in Winchester Cathedral.Gardiner, even though in opposition with the marriage performed the ceremony which was spoke in a range of language; Spanish, French and Latin as Philip could not speak English. Both in England and Spain the wedding was denounced. For Mary this immediately withdrew huge support and weakened her restoration of Catholicism. As mentioned, the wedding was nationally opposed due to contradicting countries with different affairs and policies. When Philip married Mary it meant that he was given the title ‘King of England’ and a monarch like Mary, of Ireland. Also, coinage then bore both Mary’s and Philip’s head that was engraved on them.Philip had married Mary for political reason only and in fact wrote to Brussels’ correspondent stating that, â€Å"the marriage was concluded for no fleshly consideration, but in order to remedy the disorders of this kingdom and to preserve the Low Countries. † This then leads the question to a fifth reason. In July 1557 Philip, confident with more power was eager to renew a war with France; he urged for Mary to support, which she did with little hesitation nor reluctance. Advisers begged Mary that England was in an unstable state to wedge a war due to continuous bad harvests meant that they lacked both food and finance.To make matters even worse was the fact that Pope Paul IV was allied with the French force under Henry II. This aided in Mary’s failure to restore Catholicism. Disaster occurred again at a huge defeat in January 1558 when the French forces took England’s only colony on the European mainland, Calais. This defeat really was not needed. It positioned England in a very problematic state with attacks (which were more minor to the Battle with France) in the Pale area in Dublin, Ireland due to the Plantations that were in progress during the Tudor Dynasty.Mary’s reign was becoming completely tattered at this point to the extent of several and continuous faults. They all surrounded the failure of her attempt to restore Catholicism which was her main aim. As Philips marriage to Ma ry was solely based on political aspects Mary plans were different. Mary Tudor’s initial plan for marriage was in hopes to produce an heir to abdicate the throne. Elizabeth was Protestant and Mary did not intend to witness her enforcement of Catholicism (even though a failure) be diminished. Thus, this spring’s a sixth reason as to why Mary’s Catholic restoration was a failure.In short, she could not produce a child due to medical reasons later devised, yet to elaborate there is more to the story. It was in September 1554 Mary began to show signs and symptoms of a pregnant woman. Of course, she stopped menstruating, her weight increased and she suffered from nausea in mornings and evenings. By April 1555, her child was expected and even Elizabeth, who had been arrested since the Wyatt Rebellion, made an appearance at the awaited event. However, even Philip was unsure of the pregnancy. He even wrote in a letter to Maximilian of Austria (his brother-in-law) portra ying his disbelief, he quotes â€Å". . the queen’s pregnancy turn out not to have been as certain as we thought†. Even Susan Clarencieux (a lady in waiting), who was a friend of Mary I’s, did begin to doubt that a child was present in her whom. Even by July Mary still showed signs of being pregnant yet no child emerged and it was believed that she suffered from a ‘phantom pregnancy’. Possibly, she desired to have a child to succeed her that she was willing to create a tale. Her inability to produce an heir automatically meant that Elizabeth was next in line to the throne.This condition which Mary possessed meant that an heir under her faith would not be able to succeed the thrown. This was a huge catalyst that failed her attempted restoration of Catholicism. Lastly, the ultimate cause of Mary’s failed restoration of Catholicism was due to the fact that her reign from 19th July 1553 was disturbed by her untimely death on 17th November 1558. I t was proposed that she had died of an ovarian cyst or even a tumour which had caused her to believe (prior to her death) that she was pregnant. Philip was not in England at the time but in Brussels.He as he states, he felt â€Å"a reasonable regret for her death†. To conclude, there were seven main reasons for Mary’s failed attempt to restore Catholicism. Possibly if she had lived longer she could have improved her position of the throne most importantly the restoration of Catholicism. However, there were so many reasons for this failure it is doubtful it could have been improved. Indeed, she left an impact, yet it is majorly fixed on her negative title as ‘Bloody Mary’ and most certainly not on her restoration of Catholicism which was, sadly, a failure. BibliographyPrimary Sources: Spirit of the English magazine. The Athenaeum; or, spirit of the English Magazines. Volume 3-April-October, 1818. Boston: Munroe and Francis, 1818. Secondary Sources: Cobbett, William. A history of Protestant â€Å"reformation†, in England and Ireland. Harvard; Willaim Clement Publishers, 1824. De Groot, Wim. The Seventh window: The King’s window donated by Philip II and Mary Tudor to Sint Janskerk in Gouda (1557). Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Verloren, 2005. Duffy, Eamon. Fires of Faith: Catholic England under Mary Tudor. Yale: Yale University Press, 2009. Elton, G.R. England under the Tudors. London: Methuen, 1962. Fardell, Lane. The Royal Doctors, 1485-1714: medical personnel at the Tudor and Stuart Courts. Kent: University Rocheter Press, 2001. Fletcher, Anthony and MacCulloch, Diarmaid. Tudor Rebellion. England; Pearon Education, 2011. Foister, Susan. Holbein in England. London: Tate Publishing. Foxe, J. The Actes and Monuments of these latter and perilous days touching matter of the Church, ed. S. R. Frederic Madden, Privy purse expenses of the Princess Mary, daughter of the King Henry the Eighth, afterwards Queen Mary.London: W. Pickering, 1831. Haigh, Christopher. The English Reformation revised. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Skidmore, Chris. Edward VI: The Lost King of England. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2007. Ivers, Eric. Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery. Chicester: Wiley-Blackwell Publications, 2009. Loach, Jennifer. Edward VI, eds. George Bernard and Penry Willaims. New Haven: Yale University, 1999. Loades, David. The Reign of Mary Tudor. London: Longman Publications, 1991. McNeese, Tim. History of Civilization- The Reformation.Dayton: Lorenz Educational Pres, 2001. Porter, Linda. Mary Tudor: The First Queen. London: Little Brown, 2007. Redworth, Glyn. Philip (1527-1598), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, May 2011 edition. Rudolph Elton, Geoffrey. England under the Tudors. Britain; Routledge Publications, 1991. Waller, Maureen. Sovereign Ladies: The six Reigning Queens of England. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2006. Whitelock, Anna. Mary Tudor: England’s First Queen. Londo n: Bloomsbury, 2009. Williams, Neville and Fraser, Antonia. The Tudors. California: University of California, 2006.

Rock Ideology

Does popular music equate to commercial success? Is mass appeal enough to describe popular music? The answers to these questions may not come in handy. Oftentimes, what are considered to be popular music are the ones that are often played in the radio or promoted through various television shows and programs. Record sales and concert attendance are also important factors in determining (popular music). Yet, if one has to take a closer look, the above-given considerations can be summed up in achieving commercial triumph. However, for experts, there is a thing line that demarcates popular music from those that have emerged victorious from the economy of music making. Through the years, various musical genres have emerged. Their existence can be attributed for several reasons. First, music goes through a series of changes and transformations. Each and every generation of musicians and artists are on a constant experiment on how to create new sounds that can possible exceed the expectations of their predecessors. The other reason stems from the fact that the audience’s musical needs vary from time to time. Like food, music is a media commodity that must be constantly consumed by its specific target market or audience. But the moment wherein the peaks of satiety levels have been already reached, there is a strong tendency for an individual to look or crave for another media commodity that can attend to his or her demands. If music is viewed both as a commodity and a form of expression, then there is no doubt that being popular is also relative to being commercially triumphant. However, this generic notion tends to abolish music’s true meaning, essence, value and social significance. Commercial success, if such will be used as framework for what accounts as popular music stripped off the latter’s intrinsic and intangible characteristics and features. Each musical genre goes through such concerns. Musicians and artists alike are trapped within the norms of creating music for profit and at the same time maintaining their musical integrity and artistry. With regards to categorizing popular music, it is apparent that Rock and Roll often finds itself as the center of argument between music scholars and expert. Many Rock and Roll bands have managed to become commercially efficient, yet some stress that the lack of musical authenticity deprives them from being considered as popular music. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that there are some Rock and Roll bands which have remained popular only to a few selective audiences, their commercial appeal is not highlighted, yet they are often tagged as popular music. This discussion aims to tackle how Rock and Roll struggles to balance its profit-based orientation and at the same time preserve the pure and unadulterated nature of its music. The paper will also deal with rock ideology, its effect on the music’s fan base and youth culture and on the overall nature of Rock and Roll per se. Rockin the Youth Culture Beebe, Fullbrook and Saunders (2002) explained that Rock and Roll and youth culture are interrelated to each other. The two readily share a special relationship. Rock and Roll is the youth and the youth is Rock and Roll. The two seem to find it hard to be separated from each other. For one reason, a number of youth groups are able to relate to the themes perpetuated by Rock and Roll. The music became the youth’s language in articulating their own concerns and issues that cannot be overtly expressed through direct communication or confrontational scenarios. As Epstein (1998) emphasized, rock music played an important role within many youth subcultural groups wherein musical tastes and preferences provide a sense of belongingness and togetherness. Rock and Roll allowed these youngsters to relate and identify themselves to the youth’s basic needs and demands (Epstein, 1998). Gillet (1996) explained that Rock music is able to provide pleasure—the kind of satisfaction that no other musical genres can provide. But of course, this is something that extends beyond entertainment purposes. Through co-optation, as Grossberg (1997) maintains, the intersection of youth culture and Rock and Roll is preserved and sustained. Rock and Roll and Popular Music Kellog (2003) discussed that popular music is a representation or reflection of the cultural facets of society wherein it emanates. He added that the evolution of Rock and Roll is heavily influenced by the post-war era. In a time wherein a nation is trying to recover from war’s damages, the seemingly antagonistic and hostile nature of rock and roll would not really come as a surprise. It is not uncommon for such music to tackle social dilemmas that are experienced by the community. This is most especially felt during the times wherein Rock and Roll is on the process of growth and development. In Latin America for example, rock music functioned for propaganda purposes (Hernandez, L’Hoeste   & Zolov, 2004). Going back, it can be seen that such music is not merely used for entertainment activities. To give pleasure and at the same time take into consideration society’s critical issues transformed rock music into something that is revolutionary in nature. Commercially Popular Sterns (2001) emphasized that Rock and Roll is â€Å"eminently commercial.† The glitter and glamour that is associated with it is a concrete sign of a consumer-oriented music. There is the desire to garner mass appeal which is nonetheless avoided by those individuals that belong to the counter-culture (Sterns, 2001). Placing too much importance on form over substance makes Rock music prone to being a â€Å"consumer item (Sterns, 2001).† However, Hernandez, L’Hoeste and Zolov (2004) mentioned that under the circumstances wherein Rock music strayed from entertainment function, Rock and Roll as popular music has now differentiated itself from music that are commercially produced, this is of course in reference to the Latin American Rock music scene. Rock as popular music in contrast to rock as consumer item can be differentiated into four different ways. The latter’s differences are deeply characterized by its content and social function. First of all, rock as popular music possesses â€Å"intrinsic intent† which is to promote awareness to social and political issues (Hernandez, L’Hoeste & Zolov, 2004). Secondly, it breaks free from â€Å"bodily gratifications, wherein Rock is produced as something worth listening since it embodies the Pan Latin-American dream (Hernandez, L’Hoeste & Zolov, 2004). The lat but definitely not the least is that Rock has revolutionized the term â€Å"popular† wherein it previously refer to music created via the use of indigenous instruments (Hernandez, L’Hoeste & Zolov, 2004). In the meantime, going against commerciality, most especially as for the case of Rock and Roll bands may seem too complicated. This stems from the fact that these musicians earn their bread and butter from this industry. Yet, in as much as musical authenticity and artistry is concerned in popular music, Marshall (2005) explained that popular music must adhere to the canons of music making in the Romantic period. During those times, music creation was focused on maintaining the â€Å"truth† in artist and music’s intention, regardless of whether it would be socially accepted or not by many (Marshall, 2005). Rock Ideology In order to preserve authenticity in rock music, may bands have successfully practiced the so-called rock ideology (Frith, 2007). Rock ideology purports that the music has an exclusive   fan base or community that highlights their individualistic approach and orientations (Frith, 2007). This is in stark contrast to pop icons and celebrities whose popularities are attained through excessive media hype and exaggeration. In other words, rock to maintain its ideology must create music that is not present in other genres and would cater to a specific set of audience. In this aspect, rock and roll is famous but its scope and coverage is far by more limited and narrow. It can be categorized as popular music but only within smaller groups, compared to music that follows a certain kind of formula. Once and for all, rock as popular music is something that cannot be readily digested and appreciated by everybody else. And so through following its ideological threshold, the genre qualifies into the context of popular music—something that is worth listening and packed with cultural and social significance. References Beebe, R.; Fullbrook, D and Saunders, B. (2002) Rock Over the Edge: Transformation in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Popular Music Culture.   USA: Duke University Press Epstein, J. (1998). Youth Culture: Identity in a Postmodern World. Massachusetts:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Blackwell Publishing Frith, S. (2007). Taking Popular Music Seriously: Selected Essays. Hampshire, England:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ashgate Publishing Gillett, C. (1996). The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll. USA: Da Capo Press Grossberg, L. (1997). Dancing in Spite of Myself: Essays on Popular Culture. USA: Duke   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   University Press Hernandez, D; L’Hoeste, H and Zolov, E. (2004). Rockin’ Las Americas: The Global Politics   Ã‚   of Rock in Latin/o America. Pittsbyurgh, USA: University of Pittsburgh Press Kellog, W. (2003). American History The Easy Way. New York: Barron’s Online Bookstore Marshall, L. (2005). Bootlegging: Romanticism and Copyright in the Music Industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   London: Sage Publications Sterns, P (2001). Consumerism in World History: The Global Transformation of Desire. London: Routledge

Family Cultural Values Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Family Cultural Values - Essay Example Filipino Americans have created a language that includes elements of English as well as Tagalog known as ‘Tag-lish’- and this is commonly used, particularly in the younger generation of Filipino-Americans. Filipino society places great emphasis on the practice of ‘kapwa’ or shared identity. This society emphasizes on the importance of developing strong relationships between all members of society. In traditional Filipino society, there were domains of interactions that marked all social as well as communal activities (Espiritu, 2007). The external domain was marked by civility, known as pakikitungo, pakikilahok- or participation in societal activities, pakikitungo – or mixing with others, and pakikisama, which literarily meant adjusting one’s perceptions in order to fit better in one’s society. All these stages were essential before one could be held in full trust- or pakiisa- by the society (Espiritu, 2007). The enduring values extolled by Filipino society could be said to be the result of years of having to share more than 7000 islands even though just 1000 are inhabitable. Religion also plays a central role in Filipino society. There are traditional animistic religions that are still practiced in some sections of the Philippines. Moreover, most Filipinos are Catholics. There are small minorities in Mindanao and Sulu that are Muslims, though (Espiritu, 2007). The central place of faith even among Filipino Americans is such that even matters of health are given interpretations based on issues of faith. The importance of prayer and faith as important aspects in securing healing from disease is a reality in Filipino-American society.... This essay stresses that In America, most Filipino Americans tend to combine aspects such as maintaining balance, exercising the body, and sustaining harmony to ensure that they remain disease free or fight off opportunistic infections. There is also an emphasis on maintaining social relationships with various important people in one’s life in order to keep the psychological man happy as well. The stress on the significance of maintaining balance within the body’s humors can be utilized as a cultural strength to improve the management of chronic illness as the patient can be educated on other aspects, discovered by modern medicine that could result in the body being unable to heal itself. This paper makes a conclusion that Filipino Americans also still observe traditional rules about the consumption of certain foods. Medical practitioners can use cultural norms on the best foods to consume when ill to stimulate their patients to play an active role in the process of their own treatment. In the case of terminally ill patients, it would be necessary to make use of the family members as nurses for the ill person. In most Asian American cultures, including the Filipino-American culture, decisions on how a sick member of the family is treated are made by the heads of families after a moment of consultation. Most families are more likely to feel comfortable with their terminally ill patient being looked after in their own homes.

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 10

Case Study Example ular profession and these conducts stems from ethical point of view since some of the professional code of conducts are inefficient without the ethical inclination. Thus profession and religious ethics are intertwined and anybody dealing with professional life problem will in most cases be influenced by the religious ethical views. (Kultgen, H pg 4 & 5) In the case scenarios given, Mayor Bazelon, governor Schreiner and Alya are concerned as to what is the appropriate dress code for students, the issue of female genital mutilation and submission to husband respectively, with restorationists opposing the view of school uniforms as not being modest and against their religious teachings and FGM is grounded on their religious practices, feminists argue that restrictive robes are degrading to women and FGM is inhumane, conservatives holds that their shall be segregation of Muslims and loss of American culture if they are allowed to wear religious robes. The Jews also express concerns of totally outlawing circumcision including male. It can be viewed that we should respect the religious teachings for they are what shape our daily lives and makes us righteous with the creator, thus Muslims who are the dominant group should be allowed to exercise their obedience to Allah through their daughters wearing restrictive robes (Utilitarian approach). (Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, pg 5) Given that ethical actions should be that which allows all to choose freely what they desire, in this regard therefore Muslims, feminists, conservatives and Jews should choose freely whatever they want. However, since social order is fundamental for societal prosperity, the end of this is disorder, therefore in my view it should not be followed (Rights approach). (Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, pg 6) Since all are Americans bound by the federal and State constitution with the obligation to respect them, thus if it’s a matter of law then all ought to adhere as this is fair and just

Questions about Managing People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Questions about Managing People - Essay Example Secondly, by being in the ASEAN region culture plays a big role in terms of dictating how individuals behave. In this region, individuals are expected to think, act and live collectively as members of a family and or group. Those who do not are rejected by society. The dabbawalah organisation provides an environment within which the employees can satisfy both their existence needs and relatedness needs. The sense of belonging, affiliation and meaningful interpersonal relationships is as important as the physiological material needs in collectivist societies such as the Indian society. In the case Sapan Mare confirms this when he states that his family has been in the tiffin business for four generations. It is therefore likely that the tiffin-walahs are driven to increase their performance by the strong affiliation they have and the sense of ownership of the business. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory: Vroom’s expectancy theory states that motivational force is a combination of valence and expectancy. Valence is the anticipated satisfaction from an outcome whereas expectancy is a perception of the degree of probability that the choice of a particular action will actually lead to the desired outcome (Mullins 2010a). ... It could also be argued that there is some form of external pressure from either family or society for tiffin-walahs to join the trade. With these two arguments, and taking into consideration that the culture here is largely collectivist, it is possible to conceive that tiffin-walahs get satisfaction in joining the â€Å"ancestral† business. This high sense of ownership implies that their valence is high. Secondly the fact that they are also shareholders compels them to work harder thus increasing their expectancy. According to Vroom’s expectancy equation, combining the high valence and high expectancy equates to a high motivational force (Mullins 2010a). High motivational force makes the tiffin-walahs to increase their level of performance which results in the overall Six Sigma capabilities of the organisation. Herzberg’s two factor theory: Herzberg’s theory states that there are two sets of factors, hygiene and motivating factors, which affect motivati on and job satisfaction. Hygiene factors are extrinsic to the job and are concerned with the job environment. They prevent dissatisfaction. Motivation is largely affected by the other set of factors, motivators, which are related to the job content (Mullins 2010a). From the evaluation so far one can identify that the dabbawalah scores highly in term of extrinsic factors while its intrinsic factors are not as remarkable. Example of the dabbawalah service’s extrinsic factors include: a very sociable job, strong policies on discipline and offences and job security – â€Å"it lasts for as long as the member is strong enough to do the work (from Case Study)†. However, according to Herzberg’s theory, the factors we have listed above have no effect on satisfaction,

American me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American me - Essay Example It usually comes to the aid of developing and under-developed countries when disasters such as war, hunger and terrorist attacks happen. The people of America come from different origins; we do not look at ethnical backgrounds of people but their nationality (Swirski). Our culture is described as mainstream American culture which combines a number of cultures for example, the European, and African-American. As an American citizen by birth, I am patriotic to my country, ready to serve whenever called upon. I love hiking and sea sports which Americans are well known for. Every summer holiday we go for camping and skiing with my family and sometimes my friends too. Being the tourists that we are I have visited a lot of places and different states, and interacted with different people. The American people are usually givers and this characteristic is a foundation passed on from one generation to another. My parents taught me to give at a tender age; we used to carry the things we do not need to church where they were then distributed to the less fortunate in the community. Sometimes they were sent to Africa to war tone countries where there are no resources. I travelled to Africa once, not on a welfare journey but on safari, I was astonished at the rich culture the people had, they were welcoming living as brothers and sisters. They share what they have however little it may be, one time I thanked God for all I have. They had animals which I only used to see in the Zoo and others in books only, For example the lion king of the jungle, the antelopes, gazelles and hyenas animals that can only survive in savannah areas. I love to enjoy life, I believe that we only live once and so we should enjoy life. That is what I do by sharing time with my friends and appreciating them, spending time with my family and partying. Americans are known for hosting the best parties and staying till dawn. This is the best way to

Muslim Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Muslim Culture - Essay Example From this, Muslims believed that Abraham was the first Muslim. Mecca had grown into a huge city by the time prophet Muhammad was born in the 6th century. Although the exact date of birth of Prophet Muhammad is not known, it is believed that he was born in A.D 570. Muhammad worked as a caravan trader and later worked for a wealthy widow as her business agent. He managed to alleviate the divisions in Mecca that had been caused by large influx of foreigners. Muhammad set to subjugate Mecca. Under the leadership of Muhammad, Islamized Arabs conquered many parts of Arab. The fact that Muhammad was God’s prophet on earth made it hard for anyone to succeed him. Some Muslims proposed that Islamic leadership should be passed within Muhammad’s family. However, most Muslims were opposed to this opting for tribal traditions where inheritance was based on prestige and power of one’s family as well as its position in the tribal system. Abu Bakr, believed to be the first convert to Islam outside Muhammad’s family, became the first caliph. His successor as caliph was Umar bin Al-Khattab. Muslims regard Umar as the second founder of Islam. He was later succeeded by Uthman bin Affan. Islam: Empire of Faith is a documentary film produced by Robert Gardner for PBS. There are several similarities as well as differences between the information from the above discussed text and the film; While the film does not provide much information on the birthplace of Islam, it acknowledges that Islam could have originated from Mecca. According to the film, the city enjoyed great economic success as a centre for trade. This impacted heavily on the origin and growth of Islam. The film, however, does not indicate whether Abraham was the first Islam. The film differs from the information provided in the text by claiming that Prophet Muhammad was born in the 7th century (Islam: Empire of Faith). It, however, asserts that Muhammad conquered Mecca and its neighboring. The film shows

Financials sector Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Financials sector - Essay Example When it comes to investing I normally prefer the buy and hold strategy. This kind of investing usually requires one to be patient and comprises of a holding period which basically refers to the expected or real period of time within which an investment is attributable to a specific investor. Nevertheless, in a long position, the holding period means the time between a security’s purchase and when it’s sold. Every successful investor usually has a lot of patience and s/he is dedicated to buying and holding great growth securities. Most of the time, the stocks that one buys may not do well for several weeks. Nonetheless, if one has the courage to stick with them, some are likely to turn out to be big winners. Eventually these big wins are the ones that can make all the difference to an investor (Thomsett, 2002). My hero in investing and one of the greatest investors of all times, Mr. Warren Buffet has proven this to be very effective with his Berkshire Hathaway Inc company whose stocks he has never sold since he bought them. The stocks have grown in value easily making me one of the richest men in the

Strategic Analysis Of Starbucks Corporation Essay Example for Free

Strategic Analysis Of Starbucks Corporation Essay Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service !!Case Write-Up 2 Hamayun Khan In der krà ¼mm 8 65934 Frankfurt E-Mail: [emailprotected] ID: 6495923 16.11.2017 Submitted to J.-Prof. Simone Wies Strategic Market Management M.S. Program Marketing Analytics Goethe University Frankfurt Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Winter Term 2017/2018 Success is the best when it shares, according to case study Starbucks branding strategy, was live coffee which associates to keep national coffee culture and also provide high quality coffee. Starbucks  ´Ã‚ ´Service ´  ´to customize the drink that customers want. Their brand strategy was a big large location to make an environment to gathered peoples, in order to pursue customer satisfaction. One of the distribution strategies in high traffic areas was retail centers, and university campuses etc. Depending on stores, size and it offers a variety of coffee accessories. To reach their customers Starbucks creates third parties distribution like joint venture with Pepsi. Delivering quality service, well-trained workers are important as Starbucks focused. Just say  ´yes ´ policy to deliver best service to the customer. The main problem that Starbucks faced is that their customers customized their products which also affects product quality and customer focus for the company. Mystery shopper program, which is called Customer snapshot, was also a good tool to monitor better service, product quality, speed of service and the most important is cleanliness, that also customers rated high importance in creating customer satisfaction. A great move of the company ´s growth is RD in product innovation and Starbucks also innovates 3rd waves coffee experience which is also a good move for better service, that new fancy reserve stores which are large. Starbuck introduce a concept in urb an areas an evening program. Also a mobile app which offers to customers order and pay from their smartphone. Another big idea to brews up delivery service, which is not free but according to research suggests that people will pay additional surcharge but its riskier too like Frappuccino loses cream balm in some time and whipped cream also it mild into hot drinks. If it fails it will be a huge dark spot in a company. The campaign  ´Ã‚ ´Halo ´Ã‚ ´ effect also increased sales of bottled Frappuccino. This successful campaign also affects business model. I think its possible to deliver customer intimacy through different strategies like customer loyalty programs or music event because most of customers are young and university students. And increasing customers touch points. The Starbucks cards and reward programs brought a big change for customer loyalty and retention, and also to investigate customer ´s need and want. Another way to gain competitive advantages as well as customer satisfaction is low cost leadership and high quality product and service. In todays business world most of the companies focus more on CSR activities like not only to sell a product or provide service but also to do something for the community. Fairtrade is the best way. Consistent customer base and tailored marketing campaign is also possible way to achieve customer satisfaction. Starbucks always pride in retail service but not meeting customer experiences in area of customer satisfaction. To improve speed of service, reduce employees stress increase customer satisfaction. Because companies who build customer intimacy they understand customer ´s world which also helps to closer and trustful relationship with customers.

Effect On Air Pollution Of Kathmandu Valley

Effect On Air Pollution Of Kathmandu Valley Clean air is necessary for human health. Human body needs approximately 25 kg of air per day to keep up its requirement of oxygen (CEN, 2002). It replicates signifies the importance of air to human beings and any contamination in the air will have a direct impact on our health. Pure air consists 21% of oxygen 78% of nitrogen and 1% other gases. If the air composition is altered by the increase in concentration of certain gases or by intrusion of non-gaseous components like particulate matters, then the air is understood to be polluted and the components that alter the inherent compositional property of air are termed as air pollutants. Air pollution affects almost all aspects of the environment including the biota and the physical components where they strive on. A variety of sources have been identified as the components of the air pollution and they include both the natural and anthropogenic sources of origin; however, the anthropogenic sources of air pollution are more pronounced. Anthropogenic air pollutants are more harmful and include Particulate matter (PM), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Carbon monoxide (CO), Lead (Pb), Ozone (O3) and Hydrocarbons (HCs). (CEN, 2002) Air pollution is a big issue all over the world mainly in urban areas because of fossil fuel driven transportation system.. Besides this, the unmanaged booming of urban settlements has helped to increase the concentration of air pollutants by limiting their horizontal dispersion thereby interfering with the health of people. Mainly, children, elderly and the patients of lungs and heart are more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution. According to Asian Development Bank (2001), in the South Asian Cities, approximately 100,000 premature deaths every year is caused by the detrimental effects of air pollution. Air Pollution in Kathmandu The issue of air pollution in Kathmandu Valley is continuously drawing the attention of concerned bodies and the gravity of the problem is growing year by year. Owing to the topography of Kathmandu Valley, growing population, haphazard urbanization and increase in vehicle density imparted as an effect of affluence and need to serve the growing population, the valley has been facing worse situation of ambient air every year. However, the issue of air pollution in Kathmandu Valley doesnt bear a long history as the development of road networks and history of transportation system in the valley do not have the long history either. Many researches and the discourse held within the country on air pollution has identified the transportation system and linked with it, the poor situation of the infrastructure as the root causes of air pollution in Kathmandu Valley. Regarding the dominant air pollutant of Kathmandu, it is Particulate Matter (PM), the concentration of which is observed higher d uring night in the winter due to the creation of inversion layer which acts as the blanket to trap pollutants. The PM concentration in Kathmandu has always exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) standard and National Ambient Air Quality Standard of Nepal. Besides particulate matters (PM10 and PM2.5) the concentration of other pollutants are not a major issue in Kathmandu Valley. Gaseous pollutants such as NO2 and SO2 are generally within standards but the concentration of NO2 is fairly high in areas with heavy traffic and this has the potential of future increase with further increase in number of vehicles operating within the valley. Another potential concern is the concentration of air toxins such as benzene and poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The concentration of benzene is within national standards but the national standard of 20 µg/m3 is itself fairly high. Although Nepal does not have any standards for PAH, monitoring done in 2003 indicated fairly high levels of these pollutants in Kathmandu Valley. (ICIMOD, 2007) PM2.5 is considered to be more hazardous than PM10. Although Nepal does not have any standards for PM2.5, some monitoring has been carried out for PM2.5 in Kathmandu Valley. (ICIMOD, 2007) Statement of Problem Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal is the focus of all the major facets of the country, namely economy, tourism, culture, politics, administration and natural environment. Due to the above reasons, the population of Kathmandu valley is increasing day by day. Apart from this, the infrastructure development has never been able to keep up with the unmanaged and accelerating growth. As a result, this has led to increase in slums, inadequate and polluted drinking water supply, polluted air to breathe, haphazard manner of dumping the solid waste in the neighborhoods. Every people have right to breath clean air. Increase in population, vehicular fleet, energy consumption and industries, mainly brick industries have contributed to degrade air quality in Kathmandu valley. Overall, the bowl or the cup shaped topography of the valley also has prevented the dispersion of air pollutants to longer distances. Research questions: The research will address following issues: 1. What is the main air pollution facing by local people in Kathmandu valley? 2. What are the main institutional changes that have been made to control the air pollution? 3. What are strength and weakness of these institutional changes? 4. What further policy measures should be instituted to reduce air pollution to acceptable levels? 2. Background Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal. The Kathmandu valley consists of three major cities i.e Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. Kathmandu Valley is situated in 27 ° 3730 N and 27 ° 450 N latitude and 85 ° 15 ´0à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ³ E and 85 ° 22 ´30à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ³ E longitude. And the Kathmandu valley is located at an altitude of 1350meters. The Kathmandu valley is oval shaped and surrounded by high hill range. And the area of Kathmandu valley is 340 sq.km and the total population of Kathmandu valley is 1,442,271(CBS 2001). The climate of Kathmandu valley is sub tropical temperate. Along with it have four seasons pre-monsoon, monsoon, post monsoon and winter. In general, average temperature in summer is 32 °c and in winter is 5 °c. Due to economic activity and high chances of opportunities and facilities many people from all around the country has been migrated in the Kathmandu valley and is been highly dense. Air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley has been one of the major problems. It can be said that air pollution started as the invention of road networks and automobiles. High population with unplanned and unmanaged urbanization, rapid increasing of automobiles, vehicles and industries are the factors in the causes of air pollution. http://www.tsiindia.com/img/nepal_map.gif (Source: http://www.tsiindia.com/img/nepal_map.gif, date:30th November 2010) According to the presentation given by traffic police, road length per traffic police has improved since 1995 from 2.3 km to 1.6 km that is good sign for better traffic management. Nevertheless, due to enormous rise in the number of vehicles in Kathmandu, the traffic police are laden with responsibilities of higher number of vehicles than they had to be for 1995. From 2002 to 2009, the total number of vehicles in Bagmati zone increased by 1.25 times than that was before 2002 from 176415 to 396151. The statistics show that the vehicles has progressively increased from 2002 to 2009, the only exception being at 2006/07 probably due to the cause of contemporary political situation. The number of vehicles for individual traffic police has increased from 165 in 1995 to 415 in 2008 i.e. more than 2.5 times. In reality, the number of vehicles a traffic police should look for is even higher because not all the traffic police within Kathmandu are in duty at the same time during a day. In the context of road length and vehicle numbers, the nominal increase in road length has resulted in crowding of roads. The population density per kilometer road length during 1995 was 1668 that rose to 2353 in 2008 while, the number of vehicles per kilometer road length in Kathmandu was 70 in 1995 that has risen by about four times i.e. 255 in 2008. Moreover, in case of Kathmandu the traffic congestion, in practice, is observed due to the inadequate road width and lack of proper identification of the road lane for vehicles moving from the opposite directions. The proper traffic management can thus be initiated with the demarcation of lane, which can, as additional benefit, reduce the vehicle collision and traffic accident. Figure : Comparison on Transportation Attributes for 1995 and 2005 (Source: Valley Traffic Control, 2009 where Blue colour shows 1995 and red is 2005) Causes of Air pollution: If any unwanted particles mixed in the air, it is called air pollution. It can cause for both human Well as environment also. Air pollutants can be in the form of solid particles, liquid as well as gas form. They are may be either natural or artificial. Main artificial air pollutants are Sulfur Oxides, Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon monoxide, Carbon dioxide, Volatile organic compounds, Particulate matters, ground ozone, ammonia etc. (Wikipedia). Sources of artificial air pollution are as follows: i) Rapid Urbanization ii) Vehicular emission iii) Industrial growth iv) Unmanaged disposal of waste etc. 3. THEORY 3.1 Concept of Institution: An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order or it may bee said as a set of some formal rules, regulation and norms of some formal rules, regulation and norms formulated to establish the smooth running society or to govern the behavior of human being in the society. Institutions are formed to formalize the society and to show the human being to act as a social animal. It is the outcome of the society and can be said as the need in the human community to harmonize the behavior of the people. The term institution is commonly applied to customs and behavior patterns important to a society, as well as to particular formal organizations of government and public service (Stanford Encyclopedia: social institutions). Although individual, formal organizations, commonly identifies as Institution may be deliberately and intentionally created by people, the development and functioning of institutions in society in general may be regarded as an instance of emergency, that is institution arise, develop and function in a pattern of social self organizations, which goes beyond the conscious intentions of the individual human involved (http://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/institution#aspects_of_institutions, 28th nov. 2010). The institution that has been established to enhance the quality of ambient air quality in Kathmandu is the outcome of the result from the air pollution. Those are not demand of the people but the result of the problem. The banning of two stroke vehicles in Kathmandu, banning of brick kiln factories was not in favor of people. It just hit on the head of the poor people in the society, but that was the outcomes of the problems not as the intentional outcomes. 3.2 Resource Use and Resource Regimes: Those goods which consists of a natural or human made resource system whose size or characteristics makes it costly but not impossible to exclude the people from getting benefits from its use are generally known as common-pool resource (CPR) or it may be called as common-property resources. Since the common-pool resources are open access, there is the problem off congestion or over use. Unlike public goods, they are subtractable. A common pool resource for example air is a large stock but only provides the limited quantity of extractable unit and over use will create problems as we are here to discuss the air pollution in Kathmandu. A common property regime is a particular social arrangement regulating the preservation, maintenance, and consumption of a common pool resource. The use of the term Common property resource to designate a type of good has been critized, because common pool resource is not necessarily governed by common property regimes.(http://en.wikkipedia.org/wiki/commo n/pool/resource,date26th Nov.2010). Example may be taken as the air in Kathmandu which is the common pool resources. It allows certain amount of pollutants but beyond this the gets polluted. There will be various consequences as it gets polluted. Because the core resource is vulnerable, it is subjected to congestion, over use and ultimately pollution. Any system has their own certain capacity to cope with the change and beyond that the system gets disturb and in case off air in Kathmandu, situation came due to the dramatic increase in population and excessive use of vehicles that run by the fossil-fuels. The use of common pool resources can be continuously done as the loop if they are managed properly and carefully exploited because they form the positive feedback loop since they are stock variable but the haphazard use of it deteriorates the stock and disrupt the flow variable for good. 3.2.1 Resource Use in Kathmandu: Open access Market Effect of distribution No rules As shown in the above figure, the air in the Kathmandu was open access and there was no any rules concerning the use of it and the ownership for it. As the time passes, there araised several agents and market introduced. The outcome of the dramatic increase in the population in the city results in the excessive use of vehicles for the transportation system. Unfortunately those vehicles are run by fossil fuel which when used emit air pollutant in the atmosphere. So there is the pollution problem in the valley. Now government has their head towards it and they are formulating institution to enhance thee quality of it. Though the air in the valley is open access but there are some rules concerning the use of it. Thee government have introduced green tax, banning of diesel running three wheelers etc. Now the system approaches where it is still the open access but with market, shown in the figure above. There are some rules concerning the use of it and hence thee distributional have came into action in this case. 3.3 Framework for Analyzing for resource use problem Air in the Kathmandu valley is common property and is open access. At the time passes, the technology has developed as well as the population of city increase dramatically. This is partly due the centralization and civil war in Nepal. If the natural resources was vast compare to the capacity of people to use it, there could be no problem (vatn, 2005), but here the thing is just opposite to that. Technology Attributes of the resources: Outcomes -resource use -state of resource Agents and aagents choices Patterns of interaction Institutions- regimes Convention Norms Formal rules (Source: Vatn, 2005,) (Figure: Framework for analyzing resource use problems) Finally this aspect has influence has chose new institution and government of Nepal formulated some rules and regulation for the enhancement of air quality in Kathmandu valley. Along with this, different Medias, NGOs, INGOs are involved to motivate people regarding air pollution. The institution such as banning of two stock vehicles, relocation of Himal cement factory, introduction of green tax was introduced. Although there are many such many rules regulation and acts came into existence but some the institution lack third party control system. The government formulated the rules and people were not seemed to walk along with this change. Since there was lack of third party no body were there to check and control the implementation of such policies. With regards to institution we may also distinguish between operational rules, rules concerning the defining of operation rules and finally external arrangement / rules. The operational rule defines the everyday regulation regimes. (Vatn, 2005). The next important factor to take into consideration is agents and agents choice. Here the structure of institution greatly helps to motivate the people. Institution in Nepal was so formed that people were motivated and aware of air pollution and its impact to some extent. But the technology did not fit the resource use. As being the developing county the people do not have any option rather than to use fissile fuels as the main source of energy for the transportation system. At the same time dramatic increase in population in the city force to consume more fuel energy and Kathmandu valley stood first in position in term of vehicle registration in Nepal. So the air being the open access was very vulnerable to risk. Eventually due interaction of technology and choice of agents the problem of air pollution came in the valley. There difficulties are mainly due to four factors. Basically regime is not able to motivate correlation action in accordance with what is demanded given resource characteristic, technology, number of agents and corruption by the government official. Corruption is so deep rooted that one can easily break up the institution formulated by the state. This can be seen as the drawback of the system or the lack of motivation. If outcomes are not in accordance what is expected or wanted agents can change institutional structures. In principal this may occur at all level, with regards to conventions, norms and formal rules (Vatn, 2005). However, changing such rules and regulation certainly need considerable time and result of such change to the institution can only be noticed after some period of time. 3.4 Air as a common pool resource in Kathmandu Goods or resources can be generally classified into two groups. They are Excludable or Non-excludable and Rivalry or Non Rivalry. When a person or a firm can set a barrier on his/her property like land to prevent the use of it by other are called excludable goods and those where the demarcation is not possible are called non-excludable goods. When the goods at one time prevent the use off same good simultaneously by other is called rivalry goods and on the other hand, just like air, the of which can never stop other to use it at the same time is called non-rivalry goods or resource. Exclusion costs (TCs) Low High I III II IV Yes Rivalry in use or consumption No (Source: Vatn, 2005, pp 263) (Fig: Characterization of resources or goods according to the cost of exclusion and rivalry in use or consumption). While goods of type I are typically labeled Private goods, type II and type IV are called goods and public goods, respectively. With regards to type III, common-pool-resourceis an often used concept. In the tradition of leaping of resource characteristics to regime implication, type I is often equated with private property and markets, II with clubs, III with standard common property or open access and IV with state/public property. (Vatn, 2005, pp 263) 3.4.1 Rivalry goods As we are discussing about the in the Kathmandu valley, it can bee seen that the resource is rivalry type. In Kathmandu valley, different types of factories, industries, vehicles are continuously meeting the air pollutant which ultimately invited the pollution problem and all the citizens are suffering from it. In the case of rival goods, the core problem is that of external effect. This is typically the case for many environmental resources where use-at least beyond the certain level-reduce its quantity and/or quality (Vatn, 2005, pp263). Therefore air in case of Kathmandu valley can be considered as rival goods. 3.4.2 Non-Excludable goods When the goods are private or owned by certain people or organization, than the demarcation is very easy that means transaction cost is very low. But when thee goods or resources are open access or common property, the exclusion cost is very high because the typical demarcation is not possible. In this case, air is common property and everybody in the city can use it undoubtly and the transaction cost is very high 3.5 Mechanism to reduce air pollution: The pollution problem in Kathmandu can be seen as the outcome of excessive energy used and technological development. This can simply be framed as follows: Production Input Output 3.5.1 Taxation input Basically the major pollution problem in the valley is due to the excessive use of the vehicles which are runes by the petroleum products. So air pollution can be reduced by introducing the tax in the fossil fuel. This is the best way because there is low transaction cost in doing so. High tax in the fule wills automatically reduce the use of private vehicles and the public vehicles uses will be increased to the considerable extent. 3.5.2 Taxation in production and technology On the other hand, this can be done by introducing the tax in the technology that means motor car, private vehicles, and factories, industries which use energy and emit the pollutants in the air and also providing the subsidy to those who use bicycle or electronic means of transportation. As the government of Nepal is doing , banning of diesel running three wheelers, two stock vehicles are also the way to enhance the air quality to some extent. This is a very simple way and there is low transaction cost in introduction such institutions but this dominantly hit the poor in the society. 3.5.3 Taxation in Output There is another way of controlling the air pollution but the transaction cost in very high in doing so. The introduction of emission tax can be very good way to enhance the air quality. Here the transaction cost will be fairly very high. 4. Methods For fulfilling the study objectives, a systematic study approach was followed. The major base for research founded with the collection of relevant secondary data and information from various national and international sources. The field-based study could not be done. The following process are done: Literature Review Secondary Data Collection Data Analysis Draft Report Preparation Final Report Dissemination 5. Analysis Increasing number of vehicles without extension of roads is diagnosed to be the major problem in Kathmandu. The growth of the vehicles in Kathmandu is a major concern to traffic police, vehicle drivers, and pedestrians. From the result, it is observed that the road length of Kathmandu is increasing very nominally while the numbers of vehicles are increasing with an exceptional growth rate and it ultimately help to increase air pollution. 5.1 Causes of Air Pollution Air pollution causes by both anthropogenic as well as natural sources. Anthropogenic source is the main cause in Kathmandu valley than that of natural source. Mainly fossil fuel combustion and other activities like brick factories, unmanaged road system, stone grinding factories are added pollution. Vehicle system is the main source to emit carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxide. Approximately 67 percent of Particulate matter is supplied by vehicular emission in Kathmandu valley. 5.1.1 Sources of air pollution Sources of air pollution are of two types: Natural and artificial. Main sources of artificial air pollution are as follows: A) Rapid Urbanization: Kathmandu valley has very fertile land, but nowadays it is known as unmanaged urban area. The main cause of this is Kathmandu-centric development and migration of people due to insurgency and political conflict. It is the biggest city of the Nepal and about 20 percent urban people live here. The population increase rate here is as twice as national rate of 2.2%. (ICIMOD, 2007). B) Vehicular Emission: It is the main source for air pollution. According to the Department of Transportation and Management, Government of Nepal, the first bus service in Nepal commenced in1957 and since then the fleet has grown substantially. The cumulative vehicular number in Bagmati zone (administrative zone where the vehicles of Kathmandu Valley are registered) was 176,415 in 2001 and it reached 396,151 in 2008. Most of the vehicles registered in Bagmati zone is used in Kathmandu valley. This record shows the rapid increment of vehicles in Kathmandu valley. Vehicle number in Kathmandu has been increasing rapidly in the last five years. C) Industrial Emissions: About two-fifth industries in Nepal are located in Kathmandu valley. According to the Department of Cottage and small industries, there were 14,971 up to 2006. Out of them, 111 are brick kilns and 89 are stone crushers. They contribute 14% of the total particulate matter in Kathmandu valley. Management of solid waste is another problem which also causes air pollution and vulnerable to health. (ICIMOD,2007) 5.1.2 Effects of air pollution The effect of air pollution is high in human health. High exposure in air pollution may cause chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, asthma and other respiratory problems. It also affects cardio vascular system and nervous system (Lahiri, 2003). Particulate matter is the main problem of Kathmandu, which not only affects the health but also the tourism industry. Due to the poor health, human productivity is also loss. All these impacts finally affect the economic system of individual as well as of state. The long term study of health impact due to air pollution is yet to be conducted in Kathmandu Valley. However, Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN) surveyed about 60 children who were working as staffs on three-wheelers in valley and result showed that 84% staffs were suffering from eye problem, 82% chest pains, 66% were suffering from coughs and 58% by headaches. Similarly 45% children were suffering by respiratory problem. Shakya S conducted a study incorporating questionnaires to the traffic police. He observed that out of 90 traffic police, most of them were suffering from diseases related to nervous and respiratory systems. Similarly, Clean Energy Nepal (CEN) also did a questionnaire survey for the people who live near to the brick industries and in control area. The study revealed that 54% out of surveyed people near to the brick kiln were suffering from respiratory problem and 41% people in the control area were affected by respiratory disorder. The other problems due to air pollution are as follows: Acid rain Ozone layer depletion Reduction of visibility In context of Kathmandu, the issues of acid rain and ozone layer depletion are not very significant as both of these issues are the outcomes of the heavy industrial pollution. The formation of the photochemical smog and acid droplets due to hydration of the SOx and NOx are not well defined in the pollution status of the ambient air of Kathmandu. As mentioned in the earlier sections the concentrations of both these gases are well below the standards set by the Government of Nepal and WHO. However, regarding the visibility the problem perpetuates in Kathmandu during all seasons with even more pronounced effects during the winters when temperature inversion takes place. The visibility problem is basically caused by the particulate matters and the problem subsides only during the periods of heavy rainfall. 5.2. Policies and institutional arrangements for managing emissions from motor vehicles: A number of programs have been done to fight against the air pollution in Kathmandu Valley. Some are given below. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1991, government stopped to register three-wheelers. It was the first response related to air pollution of Kathmandu valley. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1994, government place emission standards for in-use vehicles. Green stickers were given those vehicles which met emission values. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Ministry of Population and Environment was established in 1995. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Environmet Protection Act 2000 and Rules were enacted in 1997. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1998, the government formulated NVMES in 2000; these standards, equivalent to EURO-I emission norms, went into effect from January 2000. All new means of transportation imported from abroad since then have had to meet the terms. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1997 the government decided to provide financial support to battery-operated electric three-wheelers. It was given in the form of tax breaks. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 1999, diesel three-wheelers were banned in Kathmandu Valley. Similarly it was banned in other cities also. Vehicle owners were given tax incentive to buy new vehicles. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In November 2000, the government decided to ban public vehicles older than 20 years. Similarly it banned all two stroke vehicle in Kathmandu Valley. The policy was followed from 16 November, 2001. Government tried to follow this rule strictly but was unable to put into practice the decision. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In late 2000, two-stroke motorcycle registration was restricted. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The vehicle run by LPG and CPG (compressed natural gas) was improved from 2000. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 2001, government decided adds 10% extra tax for the vehicle having older than 15 years. This is the first case that government linked between tax and vehicle age. It helped to discourage the use of older vehicles. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 2001, The National Transport Policy was formulated. This policy is directly related to clean transportation system. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 2003, the National Ambient Air Quality System for various air pollutants was established. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Two-stroke three-wheeler vehicles were banned from 2004 in the Kathmandu Valley. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Government closed Himal Cement Factory to control the air pollution which was situated near the valley. (Source: Dahal, 2006) Government has formulated and applied many rules and regulations to address the air pollution of Kathmandu valley, but the graph below shows that the main air pollutants Total Suspended Particulates (Particulate matters) is increasing every year. (Source: MoEST Report 2006) 5.3. Strength and weakness of these institutional changes: It is found that reforms in existing institutional set up is likely to bring some positive impact on the air quality of Kathmandu valley. Removing two stroke vehicles from the valley have reduced the air pollution as well as noise pollution. It has also helped to reduce the energy consumption because the two stroke vehicles use more fuel than other. However, the rules and regulations are no implemented because of the political instability and corruptions. The economic condition of the country has also impacted on the implementation the institutions because the government has not allocated sufficient fund for environment. In Nepal there is separate ministry dealing with environment (Ministry of Environment), however, the establishment of the local authority like environment department and its associated regional and district bodies, to effectively deal with the problems related to environment has not been materialized yet, even after more than a decade has passed with the establishmen t of environment ministry. The establishment of environment department is still in the stage of planning and government has made efforts to establish it in near future, but according to the government financial constraint

Procurement of Subcontract Packages

Procurement of Subcontract Packages Purpose The aim of this paper is to investigate how Main Contractor procurement procedures influence value on a project through competitively tendering Sub Contract packages; whereby cost is driven down by competition or single sourcing Sub Contract packages creating value through negotiation and innovation. Design/Methodology/Approach Empirical data was collected through structured questionnaires issued to Sub Contract companies and Main Contractor firms. 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background What the Study is about When considering the procurement of a Sub-Contract package, the procurer is faced with numerous challenges. First he/she needs to gather all information required to decipher what needs to be procured and how the information can be transposed to potential Sub-Contractors. Secondly a contractual agreement is created including obligations and methods of compensation. Thirdly, the procurer needs to decide how to award the procurement contract between the Sub-Contractors, either through competitive tendering or single source negotiation. Ultimately the award method should result in the selection of a highly competent and desirable Sub-Contractor resulting in a cost effective product. The award method may be appointed to Sub-Contractors in two ways. Either a single Sub-Contractor can be approached to discuss and agree the works (single source tendering), or a number of Sub-Contractors can be invited to compete for it (competitive tendering). With regards to competitive tendering it is important to distinguish the method or form of competition from the criteria used for the selection of Sub-Contractors. Ciria (1994, p15) states that competition may be either: Open, where there is no limit on the number of Sub-Contractors invited to compete for work. Or Selective or restricted, where the number of Sub-Contractors invited to compete is limited. For the purpose of this study open competitive tendering will not be taken into consideration to keep the number of variables to a constant. Where competition is referenced throughout the paper we are to assume selective or restricted competition. 1.2 Research Focus This paper addresss the potential increase of project value generated by detailing a partnering approach based on Sub-Contractor and Main Contractor relationships; compared to that of traditional competitive tendering. Competitive tendering can be described as determining the value of the subcontract; whereas in contrast, negotiation is designed to create the value of the subcontract. Since the Latham Report (1994) and Egan (1998) was published there has been a greater awareness regarding the possible benefits to single source a product or service. In theory if contractors and subcontractors engage and work together would it provide best value? Alternatively would value be added by competition? Competitive tendering is still widely recognised as an attractive procurement mechanism and is strongly advocated as it helps to stimulate and promote competition encouraging many potential suppliers. This subject area has been addressed due to its close relationship with the Quantity Surveying profession. Accurate procuring of goods and services is essential to a projects success, having a direct impact on profit margins. This study is relevant to everyday work for a site based Quantity Surveyor dealing with nominated Sub-Contractors on a daily basis while working closely with the procurement team to procure future packages. Interest has motivated the investigation and address of the thesis question; Single source or competitive tendering; which procurement route gives best value? 1.3 Overall Research Aim and Individual Research Objectives The overall aim of this research is to advance an understanding of the impacts that tendering Sub-Contract packages through negotiation or competition have on a projects value. However, in order to understand tendering methods and its effects on value it is felt necessary to gain an insight into the forces driving Sub-Contractor and Main Contractor relationships and explore the barriers to implementation of both parties achieving maximum value. Further, this research will assess existing practices, exploring the experiences and views of professionals involved with Sub-Contract procurement. In turn two main research vehicles will be exploited to facilitate this study: an in depth review of relevant literature and the collection of and analysis of empirical data. The chapter entitled Methodology contains the details of both research strategy and data collection techniques to be used to obtain empirical data. Specifically, a range of objectives have been developed and unpacked from the central question, the objectives of this research are to: Identify and investigate the forces driving single source and competitive tendering procurement routes. Evaluate critically the construction industries current views and opinions, compiling the attitudes of the experts. Explore and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages for each method of procurement. Formulate and propose recommendations on the procurement route that provides more value to a construction project. 1.4 Value of this research At the risk of oversimplification of the purpose and value of each of the above objectives, objective 1 focuses on methods, reasons and emerging issues. Whereas it is in objectives 2, 3 and 4 is where this research will make key contributions to the field of Sub-Contract package procurement through single sourcing or competitive tendering. Each of the objectives must not be viewed as separate, unrelated issues. The listed objectives are necessarily interlinked. The first objective on investigating procurement routes will cover the strategic drivers and methods associated with the procurement of Sub-Contract packages. For example, it will, in effect, attempt to answer the question are there forces driving companies to procure Sub-Contract packages in certain ways and, if so, what are they and what do they involve? An example of such driver could be perceived as communication, which if the case, may act as a driver to encourage negotiation through single sourcing Sub-Contractors. Obj ective 2 on critically analysing the construction industries views provides an opportunity to gain meaningful insight into the views of professional staff, and management form Sub-Contractor and Main Contractor backgrounds, on what would encourage them to procure Subcontract packages through either negotiation or competition, what would discourage them and how these link to value creation as well as their views on the industries past and current approaches. Objective 3 on the advantages and disadvantages is of obvious relevance to assist in the analysis of each procurement route and links in with objective 4. Finally objective 4 formulating recommendations will, as a result of both a review of literature and the collection and discussion of empirical data, make recommendations. The objectives are not to be seen as independent of each other, but rather as all linked to issues surrounding procurement routes and how they can add value in the construction industry. 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 Introduction This literature review will examine the main issues surrounding the drive for single sourcing and competitive tendering associated with Sub-Contractor selection. Emphasizing current obstacles and potential benefits for each procurement routes from both parties. The study within this review of literature focuses on objectives 1 and 2 as set out in sub-section 1.3 of the Introductory chapter (the third objective will be completed through the vehicle of empirical data collection and analysis, while the final objective objective 4 is derived as a result of findings from objectives 1, 2 and 3): Identify and investigate the forces driving single source and competitive tendering procurement routes. Evaluate critically the construction industries current views and opinions, compiling the attitudes of the experts. Explore and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages for each method of procurement. Formulate and propose recommendations on the procurement route that provides more value to a construction project. By exploring the above areas of literature, a significant contribution will be made to this research. At the end of this chapter it is hoped that a critical understanding of key issues is exhibited, that the reader will be better informed in these areas and that there will emerge a clear focus, and justification, for empirical research in the field of Sub-Contractor procurement methods and their effect on value during a construction project. 2.2 Forces driving single source and competitive tendering procurement routes. 2.2.1 Historical Events Government Legislation Subcontracting became a popular practice in the 1960s and over the years established itself as an integral part of the industries production process. Projects were procured using traditional methods of delivery with main contracts being awarded through competitive tendering (Uher, 2009; Davenport, 2009, p.200). During these years the economy was stable with little inflation and low interest rates, the contractor was seen as the Master Builder due to employing most of its own direct labour and only specialised areas of work such as mechanical and electrical were subcontracted. Since the late 1960s the worlds economies experienced periodic economic downturns, increased inflation and higher interest charges. With the Construction Industry being highly susceptible to economic fluctuations, the adverse economic actions changed the traditional practices of the construction industry; one of the foremost changes being the shift towards subcontracting. Since the early 1990s the Construction Industry has continued its conflict-ridden competitive tendering culture, together with adversarial working relationships throughout its supply chain, (Brindley, 2004). The Construction Industry continued to pressure its suppliers to lower prices, along with delaying payments to them so that it could profit from a level of interest. This tradition placed risk on smaller businesses causing them to cease to exist or execute projects at inferior quality. Authors in the early 1990s were somewhat certain about their view between main contractor and subcontractor relationships; with main contractors driving prices down even if detrimental to quality, not paying subcontractors on time and in some cases forcing smaller companies to cease trading. The UK government, concerned by these facts employed Sir Michael Latham in 1994 and Egan in 1998 to produce two reports. Latham advocated the need for a Code of Practice for subcontractor procurement and for st atutory backing to fair payment terms (Latham, 1994). Consequently in 1996 the Construction Industry Board published and implemented a Code of Practice for the Selection of Subcontractors and the Housing Grants and Regeneration Act. In addition, Egan (1998) pointed out that partnering through the supply chain is a critical approach with which the UK construction industry can drive innovation and sustain incremental improvement in performance. In recent years main contractor supply chain relationships have changed from the traditional adversarial to the joint venture, with tendering experiencing a retreat from traditional methods of procurement towards single source processes. According to Davenport (2009) the contribution of subcontractors to the total construction process can account for as much as 90 per cent of the total value of a construction project. One of the results of this is that main contractors are concentrating their efforts on managing site processs rather than employing direct labour to undertake construction work. Main contractors have recognised the positive impacts that closer working relationships with subcontractors can have on package value and quality. Most work undertaken on construction partnering has been between client and main contractor relationships with little mention of adopting partnering with subcontractors. 2.2.2 The Contracting Framework A central problem in procurement is that both Sub-Contractors and Main Contractors share uncertainty about many important design changes that occur after the contract has been awarded. These changes are usually a consequence of design failures, unexpected conditions and changes in regulations, which have an effect on project costs. This observation suggests that relationships between both parties can become adversarial hindering supply chain relationships. Therefore project design completeness will have an impact on the procurement award method selected. (Tadelis, 2006; Bajari, 2006) argue that simple projects, requiring an uncomplicated design ought to be procured using fixed-price contracts as they have high design completeness. Therefore preventing the need for contract variations, and are best awarded through competitive tendering. In contrast (Tadelis, 2006; Bajari, 2006) state that complex projects demanding large design give rise to surprises throughout the projects due to low levels of design completeness. Implying that there will be a high chance for variations therefore it should be awarded through negotiation. The insight for these thoughts is through incentives to reduce costs that follow on site variations consequently having an effect on a projects overall value. In fixed price contracts, the Sub-Contractor offers the procurer a lump sum price to carry out the works as specified, with any changes being negotiated throughout the contract. The incentives for a Sub-Contractor to reduce tender costs offered by fixed price lump sum tendered contracts will lead to increased costs for the Main Contractor through variations when changes need to be negotiated. This valuable surplus to the Sub-Contractor leads to efficiency loss through the Sub-Contractor wishing to use these changes to his advantage. On the topic of competitive tendering Tadelis (2006, p.4) states: While competitive bidding does have the advantage of unbiased awarding of projects, it fails to respond optimally to ex post adaption. Therefore it appears that competitive tendering stifles coordination between Sub-Contractors and Main Contractors before specifications and drawings have been finalised. After all a Sub-Contractor has no incentive to offer the procurer advice on value engineering or innovative ideas, if anything the Sub-Contractor would benefit from holding any information from the Main Contractor as they would offer a competitive advantage over the rival competitors. Once awarded the contract the anticipated design errors will be discovered and the Sub-Contractor will be in a position to claim excessive variation costs. However In negotiated single source tendering both the Main Contractor and Subcontractor typically spend time discussing the project before construction begins. During these discussions the Sub-Contractor will have better incentives to suggest potential cost saving techniques through design and specification changes. Accompanying this more design pitfalls will be picked up before a p roject begins, potentially adding value. The competitive pressure through negotiating contracts with a single Sub-Contractor is weak with the procurer not achieving all the potential cost savings. 2.3 The construction industries current views and opinions Competitive tendering is widely recognised as an attractive procurement method and is commonly supported for numerous reasons. Largely it is viewed as a means of promoting and stimulating competition amongst Sub Contractors. By its nature open competitive tendering invites potential Sub Contractors from many venues reducing the likelihood for price inflation (Tadelis, 2006; Bajari, 2006). Fair market price discovery is beneficial to this type of tendering with open competitive mechanisms being transparent, making it easier to prevent corruption. (Cira,1994) suggests that competitive tendering has three significant advantages over negotiation which as as follows: Competition encourages a systematic approach which is more likely to yield the right Sub-Contractors than negotiation with a single Sub-Contractor Competition is a transparent process and so helps satisfy the increasing demand for accountability in both public and private sectors. Competition can give clients better value for money, particularly when compared on the basis of both their ability and fees. An interesting point made by CIRA, 1994 pg 14 arguing against competition was that Sub-Contractor input at an early stage cannot be described well enough to allow fair competition. This is because the Sub-Contractor helps define the works needed and bids consist of an element of judgement due to incomplete design. CIRA also mentioned that initially competition is a time consuming and expensive process and costs may outweigh any value saved. However the benefits of selecting the most suitable Sub-Contractor for the job could outweigh this initial investment. Competition can have practical exceptions to its use through complicated packages where only one Sub-Contractor has the specialist expertise needed. Or is services are needed urgently and there is not enough time to undertake the competitive process properly. Competitive tendering, where the lowest bidder gets awarded the contract, is deeply embedded in the construction industry and can be destructive in the long term as the need to minimise transactional costs tends to reduce quality and client satisfaction. The emphasis on cost competition, and the traditional adversarial Main Contractor Sub-Contractor relationships, results in frequent changes in participating firms from one construction project to another. This makes collaboration between them difficult. Partnering leading to single sourcing between Sub-Contractors and Main Contractors has been cited as effective approaches to overcome these difficulties and add value to a project. (Dainty, 2001) identified the following barriers to integration from the subcontractor point of view: Financial/cost-related issues related to competitive tendering based on price, which has developed adversarial relationships that result in serious problems with regard to payments; Planning/time-related issues, such as false expectations on part of the main contractor and unrealistic schedules; and Attitude-related issues, such as arrogant conducts, exclusion of the subcontractor from the early phases, lack of praise for good performance, poor site management practices, and lack of understanding of subcontractors problems. Latham (1994) defines partnering as a contractual arrangement between two parties for either a specific length of time or for an indefinite time period. The parties agree to work together, in a relationship of trust, to achieve specific primary objectives by maximizing the effectiveness of each participants resources and expertise. It is for this reason, that principal contractors are oblivious of the fact that sub contractors can bring added value to the construction project (Dainty et al., 2001). Conversely authors such as (Dimitri, 2006) recognise competitive tendering as an attractive procurement mechanism, stimulating and promoting competition, hampering corruption and inviting more potential subcontractors to price work. Although the single sourcing approach has shown promising results, there are some cases in which subcontractors have considered that it did not add any value, while some main contractors have seen little benefit in forming alliances with firms that they do not regularly work with (Dainty et al. 2001). Egan (1998) feels that sub contractors should be involved in the design team as early as possible. An argument which is echoed by Briscoe et al. (2004), who believes that sub contractors should be procured early, therefore need knowledge and ability to exercise value engineering and other innovation exercises. The primary reason for selecting sub contractors is their innovation and knowledge, not necessarily for the lowest price. However, high performing sub contractors use their innovation and knowledge, and can often deliver a better service at a lesser price. Low performing sub contractors offer only on low price, while high performing contractors offer value (Garrison, T. 2006). The next stage of this research will detail the Research Methods to be used to capture the empirical data, including details on the research strategy to be adopted, data collection techniques, sample selection and management of the researchers role. Ethics Statement When undertaking a research project careful consideration must be taken to ensure that any material contained within the project causes no harm or potential harm to anyone, or organisation. Ethics is the science that deals with conduct, in so far as this is considered as right or wrong, good or bad. (Dewey, 2008) An Ethics Review Checklist has been completed (Appendix A) which has highlighted a potential area for approval. This is due to the methods of research being undertaken which involve human participation. These activities specifically include questionnaires; to ensure they are executed in a morally correct and ethical manner the following steps will be taken. Ensuring that the subjects have the option to grant voluntary consent the questionnaire will be structured in a way that participants can opt out of answering either individual questions or not participate at all. This is honoured by all questionnaires being issued to the subjects via e-mail, permitting candidates to return the document in their own time and at their own will with no pressure to respond, therefore there will be no reason for any of the participants to feel uncomfortable. All questionnaires issued will be sent with a participation consent form and information sheet. The questionnaire refers to this documentation via a disclaimer that by returning the survey the subject agrees to the terms and conditions and privacy statement as disclosed in the consent form. This disclaimer ensures the subject that careful consideration is being taken to ensure that all participants and respective companies remain anonymous, to prevent any possible harm. Subjects will be referred to by job role only with no mention of name or company to eliminate any matters of commercial risk or damage to reputations. Feedback will be issued to subjects that assisted in the research thanking each subject for his/her time and input; including a summary of the findings once all research has been populated. In line with the Data Protection Act 1998 upon completion of the research all completed questionnaires and sensitive data will be destroyed, including any stored on hard disk and in the recycle bin. Two hard copy publications of the finished article will be produced for the university, in addition with one electronic; these publications may be available for public viewing in the university library which is disclosed in the participation information sheet. I intend to conduct a number of case studies for research; therefore it is incredibly important that each case study will be alphabetically referenced, with no mention of any information that could identify the individual, project, location, contractor, client or consultants. All material will remain unidentifiable including any diagrams, illustrations or drawings used. This ensures that all parties involved can be assured that there will be no information detailed in the document which could potentially cause harm. All sensitive material collated will be dealt with due care, and destroyed in the correct manner either by shredding hard copies or deleting the information from hard disk. Any secondary research undertaken will be wholly and correctly recognized to the author and source throughout the dissertation by means of Harvard referencing. Methodology Introduction A valuable aspect to this research relates to Objective 2: the opportunity to study the construction industries current views and implementation in practice in a subject that, although generating much discussion, is in terms of research in its embryonic stages. Research Strategy One research method that will be adopted, related to research strategy, is a questionnaire. What is a questionnaire approach and why is it suitable for this research? Cohen and Manion (2007: 317) describe a questionnaire accordingly: The questionnaire is a widely used and useful instrument for collecting survey information, providing structured , often numerical data, being able to be administered without the presence of the researcher, and often being comparatively straight forward to analyse. According to this definition, a questionnaire is therefore concerned with seeking individuals views, facilitating this researchers drive to probe deeply into answering the thesis question as to which procurement route provides more value by seeking representatives opinions. Cohen and Manions definition also gives merit to a questionnaires practical consideration, aiding the justification for using this researchers chosen research strategy and data collection technique. Data Collection The questionnaire has been structured using primarily qualitative research as it is linked to in-depth exploratory study. Enabling the opportunity for quality responses exist through open ended questions, probing participants thoughts and views. Denzin and Lincoln (2003) hold that qualitative research involves studying things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. The subjects have been selected through convenience sampling, a non-probability approach to sampling as they have been exclusively targeted. Convenience sampling was used because of its expediency through issuing questionnaires to staff in the organisation for which this researcher works, and to subcontractors whom this researcher has dealt with. Through having a prior association with the subjects a better rate of return has been achieved, with subjects wanting to engage more in the research. In addition to this further time will be spent by each individual on providing more detailed responses further enhancing the thoroughness of this paper. Respondents are construction professionals and range from job roles such as estimators to surveyors and project managers to directors. The wide variety of job roles will give me the levels of unbiased data required to reach a conclusion. This method of research has been selected with the aim that subjects ideas and insights may lead to other, m ore detailed and representative research. Two different questionnaires were issued via electronic mail to a pre populated list of employees with one questionnaire issued to subcontractors and the other to main contractors. The purpose of this was so that the questions could be tailored to suit either the contractor or subcontractor, it was important to collate both views to reach an accurate conclusion. The theory behind using E-mail to distribute and collate the questionnaires was that it is much more reliable than circulation by post, easier to manage and track, whilst being convenient to people encouraging a larger participation as well as being more environmentally friendly and cost effective. Limited background data was requested such as position in company and level of industry experience as I felt other information would be irrelevant and not unpack the central question. There are no more than ten questions asked per questionnaire, it was felt that no further questions were required as a conclusion can be drawn from t he results and that by using fewer questions the participant is more likely to contribute as it will not encroach on their working day. The questions have been structured in a standardised manner so that they can be interpreted and analysed efficiently, there is a balance between open and closed questioning. Framework for Data Analysis Limitations and Potential Problems Convenience sampling suits this area of study because it is industry specific, by targeting known subjects this reduces the limitations of the research as there is only one researcher so manually sourcing or random sampling would be very time consuming with no guarantee of the quality of results. A perceived limitation with using questionnaires for research is that they are limited in number. This is predominantly justified due to the lack of time available as a student. To negate this risk the subjects were carefully selected to ensure a high rate of questionnaire return and an increased level of detailed answers. Methodology Rational Behind the Questions Questions issued to Sub-Contractors Interviews were dismissed as a potential research strategy; the rationale behind this is for the reason that unlike questionnaires they are not anonymous. Therefore interviewees may hold back from their true feelings or not give as much detail in their answers. This researcher has counteracted this by using open ended questions in the questionnaire permitting the subject the opportunity to express concerns and genuine views with the knowledge of total incognito; further substantiating that by using a questionnaire counts as valid empirical research due to its is suitability and relevance to this research paper. This researchers own primary data has been collected due to the lack of previous literature available on this subject; the majority of accessible information is concerned with client and contractor relationships and not contractor/subcontractor relations. Findings Introduction This chapter reveals the results of the survey described in Chapter 3 Methodology. This research concentrates on obtaining the views of Sub-Contractors and Principle Contractors with regards to single sourcing or competitively tendering Sub-Contract packages. Survey Findings; Description, Analysis and Synthesis Main Contractor Question 1.0 The first question Question 1.0 was: Do you feel that repeat work with the same subcontractor improves the working relationship in terms of discussing site issues/valuations? Response 17 (81%) of subjects questioned felt that working with the same Sub-Contractor improves the working relationship with 4 (19%) arguing against the majority. One respondent responded positively: A collaborative working relationship forms the basis of a much stronger approach to on site discussions and subsequent resolution of variations. Another stated: It needs to be two ways, with both parties fully buying into the benefits. One member conjectured that repeat business can improve working relationships however; at times this can be tested due to commercial pressures. No Main Contractor respondents stated a reason behind why repeat work with the same Sub-Contractor does not improve the working relationship. The replies from Main Contractor personnel suggest that there is still a problem with collaborative working. Although 81% of respondents viewed repeat work with the same Sub-Contractor in a wholly positive light, 19% felt differently. Question 2.0 The second question Question 2.0 was: Do you believe that repeat work with the same subcontractor gives a higher quality of workmanship? Response This question gave rise to many mixed views with 57% of the subjects surveyed believing that repeat work with the