Learning Organizations Essay

In the 1990, Peter Senge published a book called The Fifth Discipline that created a flurry of change within management thinking, or at least that is what people say has happened as they avidly quote him. In the September/October 1999 issue of the Journal of Business Strategy, he was named a â€Å"Strategist of the Century†; one of 24 men and women who have â€Å"had the greatest impact on the way we conduct business today. † (Smith 2001) In recent book reviews on amazon. com he is still lauded and his work touches the international business community as evidenced by reviews from UAE and India: (The emphasis within the reviews has been added by the author) Amazon. com Peter Senge, founder of the Center for Organizational Learning at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, experienced an epiphany while meditating one morning back in the fall of 1987. That was the day he first saw the possibilities of a â€Å"learning organization† that used â€Å"systems thinking† as the primary tenet of a revolutionary management philosophy. He advanced the concept into this primer, originally released in 1990, written for those interested in integrating his philosophy into their corporate culture. The Fifth Discipline has turned many readers into true believers; it remains the ideal introduction to Senge’s carefully integrated corporate framework, which is structured around â€Å"personal mastery,† â€Å"mental models,† â€Å"shared vision,† and â€Å"team learning. † Using ideas that originate in fields from science to spirituality, Senge explains why the learning organization matters, provides an unvanished summary of his management principals, offers some basic tools for practicing it, and shows what it’s like to operate under this system. The book’s concepts remain stimulating and relevant as ever. –Howard Rothman [pic]The Book that began a fad, January 26, 2003 | |Reviewer: ggxl from Bangalore, India |This book was written quite a long time ago (in 1990) and shifted the boundaries of management from concentrating on silos (marketing, HR, finance, production) to looking at organizations as open systems which interact with outside systems and put into motion forces that may not be easily understood using traditional systems to assessment. This ability of Systems Thinking Senge called the â€Å"Fifth Discipline†, the other four being: 1) Building Shared Vision 2) Mental models 3) Team Learning 4) Personal Mastery The field of Systems Thinking was developed in MIT under Prof Jay W. Forrester, but Senge gave it the ‘managerial’ flavour, cross-fertilising [sic] it with folk beliefs, spirituality and scientific thought from around the world. The belief being, once an organization has mastery of all the five disciplines, the organization can become ‘a learning organization’. This book, therefore triggered the craze and fad on part of organizations to become ‘learning organizations’ and the rise of the ‘knowledge economy’ was perfect timing for it. Now when the hoopla has settled, it is time again to revisit the true essence of Senge’s work and what he REALLY means. [pic]An inspiration†¦ , February 7, 2002 | |Reviewer: la-layl from Dubai, UAE | The Learning Organization remains one of the most talked-of management concepts in today’s business world, and nobody is as capable of explaining exactly what is a Learning Organization or what are the requirements for such an elusive concept than Peter Senge. Senge’s five disciplines are common concepts in many corporate offices. Often quoted in the management literature, he is considered by many to be the founder of the concept of the learning organization. Thirteen years later, the buzz has died down, and while Senge is still quoted, have the principles of the learning organization been implemented? Are organizations learning? A search of the term â€Å"learning organization† produces 133,000 hits on google. com, so people still embrace the concepts. This paper will endeavor to examine the literature on the learning organization in an attempt to define it and review some of the theories about it. It will also provide examples of the attempt to experiment with the concepts of the learning organization in two organizations. The first, an education department of a church undergoing transformation and the second, the training department of a large managed healthcare network provider. What does it take to become a learning organization? Are organizations by nature, learning entities? This paper is an attempt to answer these questions. Defining the Learning Organization Learning organization, organizational learning, organizational development, knowledge management†¦ these are key terms to differentiate at the beginning of the journey of this discovery process. These are my definitions: Organizational development is a defined methodology of looking at an organization from a holistic perspective with the intention of improving it. Organizational learning is what happens as an organization matures and improves; in essence, recognizing and changing the widget-making/serving process it is involved with to build a better widget maker/server. The learning organization is an organization that takes a step back to look at the big picture of how it benefits from new ideas and errors with the intention of continuous improvement. It is a deliberate process,  and one component of organizational development. Knowledge management is the storage and retrieval of the tacit and implicit information contained within an organization, whether it is procedural or content oriented. Knowledge management makes information that is within individuals available and externalizes it for the availability of the organization. Others define these differently and have written much about them. In the research literature, there does not appear to be a common, well accepted definition of these terms, though they are used frequently. The next section will explore the theories and definitions of others. From the Experts Peter Senge In the opening (page 3) of Senge’s flagship book, The Fifth Discipline, he defines the learning organization as â€Å"†¦organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together. † (Senge 1990) As mentioned earlier, he defines the core of learning organization work based on five â€Å"learning disciplines†. To expand on them, in Senge’s words they are Personal Mastery Learning to expand our personal capacity to create the results we most desire, and creating an organizational environment which encourages all its members to develop themselves toward the goals and purposes they choose. Mental Models Reflecting upon, continually clarifying, and improving our internal pictures of the world, and seeing how they shape our actions and decisions. Shared Vision Building a sense of commitment in a group, by developing shared images of the future we seek to create, and the principles and guiding practices by which we hope to get there. Team Learning Transforming conversational and collective thinking skills, so that groups of people can reliably develop intelligence and ability greater than the sum of individual members’ talents. Systems Thinking A way of thinking about, and a language for describing and understanding, the forces and the interrelationships that shape the behavior of systems. This discipline helps us to see how to change systems more effectively, and to act more in tune with the larger processes of the natural and economic world. (Senge, Roberts et al. 1994) Senge believes that â€Å"the learning organization exists primarily as a vision in our collective experience and imagination. † ( p5, 1994) He also believes that the impact of practices, principles and essences are highly influential. Practices are â€Å"what you do†. Principles are â€Å"guiding ideas and insights,† and essence is â€Å"the state of being those with high levels of mastery in the discipline. † (Senge, 1990, p 373) He looks at leaders as teachers, stewards and designers—quite a different metaphor than the traditional business practices of the time. It is the leaders who must pave the way to the creation of the learning organization, and they must also model the process. The authors of the companion work The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook (1994) see the learning organization as something that develops within a team, and is part of a â€Å"deep learning cycle† where team members develop new skills and abilities, which in turn create new awareness and sensibilities, which it turn creates new attitudes and beliefs. These new attitudes are the things that can change the deep beliefs and assumptions inherent in an organization and product transformation. Within the learning organization a sense of trust and safety are established and the members are willing to reveal uncertainties and make and acknowledge mistakes. This cycle provides a â€Å"domain of enduring change† within the organization. The architecture of a learning organization is considered a â€Å"domain of action† and consists of guiding ideas, innovations in infrastructure, and theory, methods and tools. The guiding ideas include the vision, values and purpose of the organization. They have philosophical depth and are seen as ongoing. They include the philosophy of the whole, the community nature of the self and the generative power of language. The development of tools and methods test these theories and cause them to be shaped and refined, and bring about the cyclical nature of this domain of action. These changes create infrastructure innovations and â€Å"enable people to develop capabilities like systems thinking and collaborative inquiry within the context of their jobs. † (1994, p34) Senge’s philosophy has been graphically illustrated using the domain of enduring change as a circle and the domain of action as a triangle (Figure 1). It is the interaction between the two that creates the dynamic of the learning organization. [pic] Figure 1 Adapted from Senge, et al, 1994, p42 It is difficult to assess the results in this type of a system because â€Å"deeper learning often does not produce tangible evidence for considerable time. † (p. 45) The core concepts contained in this model are: â€Å"At its essence, every organization is a product of how its members think and interact†¦Learning in organizations means the continuous testing of experience, and the transformation of that experience into knowledge—accessible to the whole organization, and relevant to its core purpose. † (p 48-49) The creation of this type of learning organization comes from establishing a group that learns new ways to work together: discussing priorities, working through divergent thinking, clarification, then convergent thinking to come to conclusions and implementation of the solution. The learning organization discovers how to best work with individual styles, allowing for reflection and other individual needs. It becomes a safe place to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from the results. The learning organization also works through the five disciplines of 1) building shared vision, 2) creating mental models 3) reinforcing team learning, 4) developing personal mastery and 5) understanding systems thinking. Much of what occurs is the creation of shared vocabulary to produce common understandings. Learning about systems thinking concepts of links, reinforcing and balancing loops helps to define problem issues. Following the publication of The Fifth Discipline, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook (Senge, Roberts et al. 1994) and The Dance of Change (Senge, Kleiner et al. 1999) were released with exercises to assist in the organizational development process and support the changes it created. Both contain resources helpful in the implementation process. To summarize, Senge’s model is based on the interaction and the learning that goes on between individuals in an organization. It is an intangible process, but one that can be enhanced by taking certain measures to foster development. Peter Kline Peter Kline’s work on learning organizations, Ten Steps to a Learning Organization (Kline and Saunders 1998) focuses primarily on cultural change. He believes â€Å"to have a Learning Organization, you must begin by having an organization of learners, then show them how to function in such a way that the organization as a whole can learn. † (p8) He differentiates how individuals learn versus how organizations learn: The most obvious difference between the way organization and individuals learn is that individuals have memories, which are essential to learning, while organizations don’t†¦The main difference between a learning individual and a Learning Organization is in the information storage process. Individuals store their learning primarily in their memories, augmented by libraries, notes and other aids to memory. Organizations store it primarily in their cultures, with a secondary backup in documentation that is useful only if the culture is committed to making use of it†¦In simple terms, individuals learn through the activation and updating of their memories while organizations learn through change in the culture. (p24) Kline discusses the difficulties of creating change in the organization, realizing that people in general are resistant to change. He defines ten conditions to build a learning organization, allowing people to be able to cope with the ambiguity of the change process. These conditions are: 1) Assess the current learning culture to create a benchmark, Then have: 2) Positive expectation that dilemmas can be resolved. 3) Support for the learning process itself. 4) Willingness to delay closure long enough to arrive at significant Gestalts rather than forced and trivial ones. 5) Communication processes that bring people together to consider in a friendly and noncompetitive atmosphere many different perceptions, templates, habits of thought and possible solutions, from which the most useful may then be chosen. 6) A cultural habit that encourages exploring apparently meaningless ambiguities with the expectation that meaning can be found in them—as an expression of both a personal and organizational commitment to learning over the long haul. 7) The establishment of contexts within which meaning for new possibilities can be found as they emerge. 8) A set of modeling skills, strategies and techniques or mechanisms that allows people more easily to construct meaning out of apparent chaos. 9) A cultural understanding which is shared throughout management of the systemic interactions that will inevitably be present as complex Gestalts are formed. 10) An intuitive feeling for how complex interactions will be likely to occur. (p32) Kline’s third point is one of the key elements of creative thinking—learning to continue to look for solutions rather than just accepting the first one that fits as best. His fourth point is similar to Senge’s concept of the team learning to work together in new ways, and incorporates convergent and divergent thinking. Kline presents his change model as â€Å"The Great Game of Business,† with three elements: 1) know the rules, 2) keep score, and 3) have a stake in the action. (p 35) Knowing the rules is working to choose rules that emerge from self-organizing systems to select the ones that lead to the most productive behavior. Keeping score is about measurement, and having a stake in the action is about employee buy-in. He encourages that one of the rules must be the breaking down the cultural barriers between managers and workers. Rules should also include integrative learning, (the restoration of the natural learning of early life), strategic micromanagement tools for decision making, communication and problem solving, generally originating from the people who use them; and expanding the scoring system beyond financial reports. (p 38-39) Kline also acknowledges that the most valued asset of the organization is people, and the development of relationships between them if highly important so they can work together well. In the end of his book, Kline equates business to a theatre metaphor, by â€Å"getting the show on the road. † He speaks of improvisation, ensemble work, and creativity; then continues the metaphor making workers the actors and leaders the directors. He emphasizes the need for continuous improvement and awareness of what everyone is doing while excelling in one’s individual role as would occur in a theatrical production. He begins the process with an assessment of the culture from an institutional perspective: to learn what everyone thinks, then from an individual perspective: take responsibility for what you think and what you do. He stresses looking for fear, which can be disabling to an organization. Kline has created an assessment to look at the culture of the organization. It is designed to be filled out by the members of the organization, and discussed as a group to explore differences. The assessment may be scored by averaging the rating numbers for each question to provide an overall score of the conditions for creating a learning organization, or the individual scores may be entered in a matrix, which assigns the different questions to one of the ten steps of his later plan. Using the matrix, scores are obtained for each of the ten areas, providing a more specific idea of which areas the organization needs the most work in. In filling out the form within an organization, it is anticipated that different groups within the establishment will have different perceptions of the organization itself. He recommends creating an overall report for the organization and asking the members to voice agreement or disagreement with the results. He also encourages that at this stage, the ideal state of the organization is discussed to determine where it would like to be at the end of the process. A large portion of the learning comes from the discussions and the decisions for direction that follow afterwards. This is a similar pattern to DiBella’s model of assessment. After the assessment is completed, the organization is instructed to work through steps two through ten. Kline provides numerous activities that focus on a variety of thinking skills, working to change attitudes and behaviors of individuals. Learning to reframe things in a positive way by â€Å"looking in two directions at once: at the current reality and the positive outcome that can be developed from it† (p 70) is just one of the many ideas given for step two. He deals with learning styles, mind mapping, and teaches people how to listen to one another. He creates safe ways for people to take risks. Unlike some of the more theoretical books on Learning Organizations, Kline’s book contains practical steps for developing a group to become a Learning Organization. Working through the ten steps as a team would do remarkable things within the group as they learn to learn together. Chris Argyris/Donald Schon Argyris is best known for his concepts of single and double-loop learning. In a book written with Donald Schon (1974), they believe that organizations learn through individuals acting as agents. Organization learning is the detection and correction of error. Their key concepts revolve around single- and double-loop learning. Single-loop learning results in the organization continuing in the existing policies while remedying the situation at hand, while double-loop learning examines and modifies norms, policies and objectives as necessary. There are needs for both types of learning. Argyris’ model is much earlier than most of the other organizational learning literature, and he is revered as a founding father by others and like Senge, often quoted in discussions on the learning organization. As a side note, Argyris was one of Senge’s influential teachers: Despite having read much of his writing, I was unprepared for what I learned when I first saw Chris Argyris practice his approach in an informal workshop†¦ Ostensibly an academic presentation of Argyris’s methods, it quickly evolved into a powerful demonstration of what action science practitioners call ‘reflection in action’†¦. Within a matter of minutes, I watched the level of alertness and ‘presentness’ of the entire group rise ten notches – thanks not so much to Argyris’s personal charisma, but to his skilful practice of drawing out†¦ generalizations. As the afternoon moved on, all of us were led to see (sometimes for he first time in our lives) subtle patterns of reasoning which underlay our behaviour; and how those patterns continually got us into trouble. I had never had such a dramatic demonstration of own mental models in action†¦ But even more interesting, it became clear that, with proper training, I could become much more aware of my mental models and how they operated. This was exciting. (Senge 1990, p. 182-183) In the December 2002 issue of Reflections, the Society of Organizational Learning Journal on Knowledge, Learning, and Change, Argyris’ article on Teaching Smart People How to Learn is reprinted as a â€Å"classic. † In this article, he references single- and double-loop learning, but discusses the need for â€Å"managers and employees [to] look inward. They need to reflect critically on their own behavior, identify the ways they often inadvertently contribute to the organization’s problems, and then change how they act. † He makes the observation that the individuals in leadership in an organization are not accustomed to failing, therefore they â€Å"have never learned to learn from failure†¦they become defensive, screen out criticism, and put the ‘blame’ on anyone and everyone but themselves. In short, their ability to learn shuts down precisely at the moment they need it the most. † He sees the learning from mistakes something that must become a â€Å"focus of organization learning† and part of the continuous improvement programs within an organization. He discusses how often individuals â€Å"turn the focus away from their own behavior to that of others [which] brings learning to a grinding halt. † This type of behavior creates what he calls the â€Å"doom loop† where people do not follow the theories they espouse, acting inconsistently. He calls what they do as behaviors that apply â€Å"theories-in-use. † This type of behavior without examination creates repetition without reflection, and doesn’t promote improvement. His first recommendation is to step back and examine what is occurring, and challenging it beginning with the uppermost strata of the organization. Argyris and Schon’s model involves governing variables, action strategies, and consequences. The governing values are the individual’s theories-in-use, and the action strategies are what keeps their behavior within the boundaries created by the theories-in-use. The resulting actions are the consequences. The interaction between these concepts is illustrated in Figure 2. [pic] Figure 2 from (Smith 2001) When the consequences of the action strategy used are what the person anticipated, the theory-in-use is confirmed because there is a match between intention and outcome. There also may be a mismatch between intention and outcome. Sometimes, however, the consequences may be unintended or not match, or work against the person’s governing values. This is where double-loop learning needs to be applied and processes and concepts revised. When only the action is corrected, Argyris refers to this as single-loop learning. (figure 3) [pic] Figure 3 (from Smith, 2001) Anthony DiBella DiBella defines organizational learning as â€Å"the capacity (or processes) within an organization to maintain or improve performance based on experience. This activity involves knowledge acquisition (the development or creation of skills, insights, relationships), knowledge sharing (the dissemination to others of what has been acquired by some), and knowledge utilization (integration of the learning so that it is assimilated, broadly available, and can also be generalized to new situations. )† (DiBella, Nevis et al. 1996) DiBella’s work in How Organizations Learn (DiBella and Nevis 1998), overviews the Learning Organization literature of that time, and classifies the writing into three categories: the normative, the developmental and the capability perspectives. In the normative perspective, the â€Å"learning organization presumes that learning as a collective activity only takes place under certain conditions or circumstances†¦The role of organizational leaders is to create the conditions essential for learning to take place† (DiBella 1995) Senge’s model fits this category. In the developmental perspective, the learning organization is a stage in the development of a maturing organization or in parallel, the development phase of the organization determines its learning styles and character. The third perspective, capability, identifies that organizations develop and learn as they mature or by strategic choice, and that â€Å"all organizations have embedded learning processes. † Rather than ascribing to perspectives one or two, DiBella and his colleagues believe that all organizations have learning capabilities. These seven areas are labeled â€Å"learning orientations† and each runs on a continuum of opposites. For example, the knowledge source may be internal or external. These seven orientations and their descriptors are: Seven Learning Orientations. |Orientation |Spectrum |Description | |Knowledge source |Internal/External |Where does the organization get information from? Primarily | | | |from the inside or outside world? | |Content-Process focus |Content/Process |Which is more important: the content of the information, or | | | |the process of doing it? | |Knowledge Reserve |Personal/Public |Where is information stored? Is it accessible to all, or in | | | |the heads of individuals? | |Dissemination Mode |Formal/Informal |How is information given out in the organization? Through | | | |informal conversations, or in official meetings or written | | | |communication? | |Learning Scope |Incremental/Transformative |When learning occurs, are the changes little by little or | | | |dramatic ones? | |Value-Chain Focus |Design-Make/Market-Deliver |Is the focus more on how something is created and made, or | | | |promoted to the customer? | |Learning Focus |Individual/Group |Is intentional learning geared toward individuals, or | | | |groups? | Figure 4 These orientations are facilitated by ten factors called Facilitating Factors. These factors enhance certain orientations, and increase the likelihood of the organization functioning as a learning organization. Facilitating Factors |Facilitating Factor |Description | |Scanning Imperative |Gathering of information on best practices and conditions outside of the organization | |Performance Gap |Shared perception in the organization between the current and desired performance | |Concern for Measurement |Desire to measure key factors and discussion about the statistics | |Organizational Curiosity |Interest in creative ideas and technology, with support for experimentation | |Climate of Openness |Sharing of lessons learned, open communication about all areas at all levels | |Continuous Education |Commitment to quality resources for learning | |Operational Variety |Valuing different methods; appreciation of diversity | |Multiple Advocates | New ideas can be advanced by anyone in the organization; multiple champions for learning exist | | |throughout | |Involved Leadership |Management is personally involved in the learning and perpetuation of the learning organization | |Systems Perspective |Recognition of interdependence among organizational units and groups; awareness of the time delay | | |between actions and their outcomes | Figure 5, adapted from DiBella In the analysis process utilizing DiBella’s methods, the organization determines its current status and desired status using the learning orientations and facilitating factors. There is an interrelationship between the ten facilitating factors and the seven orientations, and focusing on specific factors can help an organization become a better learning organization. In an article written with DiBella, Edwin Nevis calls learning â€Å"a systems-level phenomenon because it stays within the organization, even if individuals change†¦Organizations learn as they produce. Learning is as much a task as the production and delivery of goods and services. † (Nevis, DiBella et al. 1995) Nevis et al sees â€Å"three learning-related factors important to an organization’s success: 1. Well developed core competencies that serve as launch points for new products and services 2. An attitude that supports continuous improvement in the business’s value-added chain. 3. The ability to fundamentally renew or revitalize. † They see these factors as â€Å"some of the qualities of an effective learning organization that diligently pursues a constantly enhanced knowledge base. † There is also an assumption made about the learning process following three stages: knowledge acquisition, sharing and utilization. There is the belief that all organizations are learning systems, that learning conforms to culture, there are stylistic variations between learning systems and that generic processes facilitate learning. The model supporting all this is comprised of the learning orientations and facilitating factors. Other perspectives Consultants online define the learning organization in similar ways. From the UK, David Skyrme (Farago and Skyrme 1995) quotes several other theorists on his website: â€Å"The essence of organisational learning is the organization’s ability to use the amazing mental capacity of all its members to create the kind of processes that will improve its own† (Nancy Dixon 1994) â€Å"A Learning Company is an organization that facilitates the learning of all its members and continually transforms itself† (M. Pedler, J. Burgoyne and Tom Boydell, 1991) â€Å"Organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to learn together† (Peter Senge, 1990). Fargo and Skyrme use these thoughts to create their own definition: â€Å"Learning organizations are those that have in place systems, mechanisms and processes, that are used to continually enhance their capabilities and those who work with it or for it, to achieve sustainable objectives – for themselves and the communities in which they participate. † They speak of four elements that create learning organizations: learning culture, processes, tools and techniques and skills and motivation. They define these as: Learning Culture – an organizational climate that nurtures learning. There is a strong similarity with those characteristics associated with innovation. Processes – processes that encourage interaction across boundaries. These are infrastructure, development and management processes, as opposed to business operational processes (the typical focus of many BPR initiatives). Tools and Techniques – methods that aid individual and group learning, such as creativity and problem solving techniques. Skills and Motivation – to learn and adapt. They also define things that inhibit learning organizations: †¢ operational/fire fighting preoccupation – not creating time to sit back and think strategically †¢ too focused on systems and process (e. g. ISO9000) to exclusion of other factors (bureaucratic vs. thinking) †¢ reluctance to train (or invest in training), other than for obvious immediate needs †¢ too many hidden personal agendas. †¢ too top-down driven, overtight supervision = lack of real empowerment Fredrick Simon and Ketsara Rugchart define a learning organization as â€Å"one that is continually enhancing its ability to get the results it truly wants. † (Simon and Rugchart 2003) They see organizational learning as â€Å"facilitative of knowledge management by first aligning common vision reduces competitiveness†¦allowing for greater demand for the shared knowledge (the information retrieval side of the equation)†¦ The greatest learning takes place in failure, when things don’t go as expected†¦[sharing] leads to a willingness to be open and to risk vulnerability by sharing the learning from failure (the input side of the equation. ) †¦Organizational learning does not replace knowledge management tools, but can provide a substantial accelerator to the KM effort. † DaeYeon Cho looks at the connectio.

Access Control Essay

In this scenario, the fitness club was hacked from an unknown source. The fitness club has contracted Malcom Testing Solutions to do penetration tests and find any vulnerabilities along with make some security changes to prevent this issue from happening again. The security policies need to be changed as far as account management. For starters, the security policies for account management need to be updated. The user’s password needs to changed every 90 days. Any employee that has remote access should have a token key on a USB drive that provides the user’s credentials. When an employee retires, quits, or gets fired, they accounts should be locked until IT administrators can go through the account. If the employee had a USB token for remote access, it should be taken back by the IT personnel to prevent unauthorized remote access. Penetration testing should be done to test the network for vulnerabilities. There are several types of penetration testing. â€Å"An automate d port based scan is generally one of the first steps in a traditional penetration test because it helps obtain a basic overview of what may be available on the target network or host. Port based scanners check to determine whether a port on a remote host is able to receive a connection. See more:  First Poem for You Essay Generally, this will involve the protocols which utilize IP (such as TCP, UDP, ICMP, etc.), However, ports on other network protocols could be present as well dependent on the environment (for example, it’s quite common in large mainframe environments for SNA to be in use). Typically, a port can have one of two possible states: open – the port is able to receive data and closed – the port is not able to receive data. A service based vulnerability scanner is one which utilizes specific protocols to communicate with open ports on a remote host, to determine more  about the service that is running on that port. This is more precise than a port scan, because it does not rely on the port alone to determine what service is running. For example, a port scan may be able to identify that TCP port 8000 is open on a host, but it will not know based on that information alone what service is running there. A service scanner would attempt to communicate with the port using d ifferent protocols. If the service running on port 8000 is able to correctly communicate using HTTP, then it will be identified as a web server. Lastly, banner grabbing is the process of connecting to a specific port and examining data returned from the remote host to identify the service/application bound to that port. Often in the connection process, software will provide an identification string which may include information such as the name of the application, or information about which specific version of the software is running.† (â€Å"Vulnerability Analysis,† 2014) After the penetration testing, the system can be updated to mitigate any vulnerabilities that were found. Firewall changes, IP addresses can be allowed or denied, and software updates are some simple changes that can be made to make a network system more secure. References Vulnerability Analysis. (2014, August 16). http://www.pentest-standard.org/. Retrieved from http://www.pentest-standard.org/index.php/Vulnerability_Analysis

Contributions of Religion Essay

Explain the ways in which religion contributes to the lives of individuals and society. Religion is a set of beliefs that govern an adherents morality, ethics, values, and as a whole their daily behaviours and attitudes. Offering the cause, nature and purpose of the universe; religion provides an individual with an identity and a sense of belonging to the world and their community. Devoid of such an understanding, people wouldn’t know how to treat themselves, others and the environment; taking away the crucial sense of their place on earth and furthermore their aspirations of peace, development and survival. Naturally as consequence, religion contributes to the lives of all individuals and society. As long as humanity has existed, people have been avidly trying to find the answer to life’s profound questions; how did the universe come to be, what it is they need to do to last both on earth and after death. Due to answering such questions, religion has been used by humans to develop and improve their lives, giving life meaning and order. Maintaining such order and wellbeing is the essential basis that human society rests on. Giving people the idea of how to behave and interact with one another, religion’s order creates harmony, the factor that is compulsory for survival. Principal teachings of religion are what then coach generations on how to preserve this amity. Even if a person is not spiritual, Religion’s ethical teachings have been known to even influence the administration of each nation’s legislative acts; Separate legal systems and law reforms rising from the laws inability to discriminate people’s virtues. Moreover social welfare is a constant practice within religious traditions, care facilities such as hospitals and orphanages often developed by religious institutes. The roles and positions of people within society are also determined by religions. The place of each sex and the definitions of childhood are two main examples. This is then followed by its dictation of appropriate diet, dress and definitions of the weekly and yearly calendar. Following the guidelines that all of society are expected to follow, religion also relates to people on a more personal level. Already having answered how we all came to exist, religions and their texts bear understanding of what it means to be who people are and the relationships that are expected of them when it comes to their interactions with others and nature. This understanding is what entails the ethics, morals and values that guide the person to behave appropriately towards life. When ethical issues in someone’s life prove to be challenging, people turn to religion to help them decide on what is right and what isn’t. When it comes to the proper celebration of significant events and times in their lives, religion also gives individuals ways by which they can do so. These rituals can mark growing up, acceptance of faith, or holy unions such as when as the marriage of an upcoming priest to God. In order to stay true to each faith, religion also shares the traditions that are upheld to help each individual become a better person. Examples of such traditions are prayer, sacrifice and fasting. Overall, religion is a crucial aspect of modern day society. Without the order and meaning it has given civilization, human existence would be chaotic and seemingly futile. This is because without religion instructing individuals on how to act, and society’s general conservation of peace; life as we know it wouldn’t exist let alone be as in order. These are the ways religion has contributed to individuals and society.

The importance of database systems in today's information technology Term Paper

The importance of database systems in today's information technology paradigm - Term Paper Example One must understand that the database systems are deemed as pivotal when one wants to comprehend the real essence behind the Information Technology domains because the database systems echo the need of the Information Technology paradigm that is constantly on the move and brings about changes and amendments within its folds. It is important to define what a database system in reality is. A database system is a terminology that takes into consideration the construction of data models, the database management system (DBMS) and the database itself. The database system is therefore the basis of acquiring data which is valuable, and which shall form the cornerstone of achieving results within the related settings of the Information Technology realms (Anjard, 1994). The database systems therefore collect the data, analyze it from different angles and manifestations, make them available as and when required, present it in sequential, hierarchical and network structures, get embedded within the retrieval and maintenance platforms, are made use of by different software programs and controls, and offers an array of choices to the intended users of the Information Technology as and when needed. ... The database systems are essentially shells which take into perspective a database or even a sequence of the same through which a number of interactions take place with respect to this database itself. The interactions which come about due to the same are catered by most DBMS that exist today and are essentially divided into four significant categories (Rob, 2009). These are the data definition where new structures for a database are defined. Data definition also removes data structures that exist within a database as well as modifies it as and when needed so that the existing data is made use of in a proper way (Kapetis, 1999). The second main category is the data maintenance which inserts new data within the already existent data structures and later on updates the same within these existing data structures. Also the data is deleted from these data structures which are current and manifest complete harmony for the sake of the data maintenance realms. The third main category is the data retrieval which has the essential link of querying existing data through the incorporation of the end users. It also finds out data which could be used by the different application programs and software. The last main category here is that of the data control that has the task of creating and monitoring the users that are present within the database as well as limiting access to certain data within the database and not to forget the monitoring of the performance of the databases in entirety. Since the four main categories are manifesting the data in one way or the other, their individual roles as well as the collective inputs are important for the sake

Discourse Analysis Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discourse Analysis - Case Study Example The author further illustrates ‘islandness’ as a â€Å"construct of the mind,† which facilitates the islanders a â€Å"singular way† of looking at the world (192). Thus, the Island Institute has begun to publish the Island’s Journal, to create awareness in the general public about the islanders. The article draws research evidence from a wide variety of literature published in this journal, which the author has reviewed and he also uses his personal experience with island life. The author has supported and validated his thesis through an array of evidence from the island culture as well as referring to certain island qualities that â€Å"transcend local culture† (192). This becomes apparent in his illustration of the â€Å"self-consciousness about islandness† among the inhabitants of different islands (193). He also refers to the â€Å"cellarhole melancholy† that defines the sense of loss that permeates every inch of the island space and reflects on the islanders (193). The intended audience for this type of an audience may include scholars and teachers of geography, anthropology, literature and other humanities as well as people who have an interest in these subjects. The Geography Review, in which the article has been published, is a suitable publication for an article that contains such a topic. The author has taken a judicious stance in presenting the topic and there are not apparent bias on his part, except for his specific affini ty for the Islanders and his keen interest in informing the world about them. Similarly, Conkling also identifies many attributes that are common in islanders across the archipelagos different islands such as: a sense of freedom, loyalty and honor, frugality, â€Å"polydextrous and multifaceted competence† as well as the oral traditions, canny literacy and ability to tolerate eccentricity (192). The author’s use of language and style has been appropriate to the topic

SS310 unit 6 DB Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SS310 unit 6 DB - Research Paper Example The civil rights movement also coincided with the women’s movement which had the same aspirations and ambitions that civil rights strove for but focused on the female population and their rights (MacLean, 2006). The successes that were achieved by the civil rights movement helped the Women’s rights as well and enabled them to gain the equality that they had been struggling so hard to gain over the years. A number of the successes that were achieved affected the women as well and thus in this way it can be said that both movements were connected in their fight to achieve their goal of equality(English, 2009). A good example would be the passage of the 1963Equal Pay Act that can be related to the Greensboro sit-ins in 1960. The sit ins were staged in protest of the racial segregation policies that were practiced by Woolworth in the southern states whereby the white employees received better treatment and pay than their African American counterparts (English, 2009). The sit-ins were able to gain a lot of media coverage and can be said to be part of the reason that the equal pay act was eventually passed in 1963 and abolished pay disparities which affected the women as well. Through these two connections one can see that the civil rights movement did serve a part in increasing the momentum of the women’s movement and the rights that they were fighting for as they took into consideration all groups that were discriminated against including the female population(MacLean,

DNS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

DNS - Essay Example When DNS receives data from the computer named as ‘Peter’, it translates the computer name in to its IP address so that it can be recognized by routers and switches. Likewise, switches and routers recognize number based IP addresses for example, 192.168.0.1 ("What is DNS?† 2005). Moreover, while accessing Internet, or opening any website, humans need to know only the Uniform Resource Location (URL) i.e. the website address ‘www.hotmail.com’. This is a convenient way for humans of accessing the website with the URL instead of its IP address. DNS is a mechanism that converts these web based addresses in to IP address. Consequently, the expediency for humans of accessing IP address based systems via easy names is handled by the DNS server. DNS server is configured separately for this specific function in organizations. A typical DNS server requires configuration of critical components in order to work correctly. One of these components is the Resource Records (RRs) (Davidowicz, 1999) as these records are configured to handle several tasks including the translation of URL’s in to IP addresses, identification of host and host names i.e. the web server on which the website is hosted and processes associated with mail exchange functions. DNS logical architecture resembles a tree structure that works from top to bottom along with branches that are called leaves i.e. every single branch represents a leave (Davidowicz, 1999). Likewise, the main branch also called as node from where the tree originates extends from top to bottom represents the root. Nodes can be represented as .org, .com, .ws etc. identifies label of the website. If the length of the website is long there will are more branches and nodes associated with it. Likewise, while considering a URL from a DNS structure representing tree, labels are selected from the direction i.e. from left to the right. In the current information age,

Master dissertation proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Master dissertation proposal - Essay Example According to Henry Sweet, the real intrinsic difficulty in learning English as a foreign language lies in having to master its vocabulary. (p. 66) Indeed, the value of vocabulary for foreign learners of English is out of all proportion to its size, because, once it is mastered, it would inevitably lead to flexibility and acceptable standards in the productive use of English. Specifically, learning the English vocabulary is difficult for Arabs due to several reasons. First, there is no positive transfer between Arab and English vocabularies. There are only few English words borrowed from Arabic and that a small range of mainly English technical words such as radar, helicopter and television have found their away in Arabic vocabulary. In addition to this, wrote Swan and Smith, Arabic speakers have very few aids to reading and listening comprehension by virtue of their first language, and they should not be expected to acquire English at anything like the same pace as European learners. Here lies the significance of CALL. According to Keith Cameron, one interesting clue in vocabulary acquisition is that initially learners store vocabulary on the basis of sound, and only later on the basis of meaning. (p. 9) This is just one of the dimensions in vocabulary acquisition that CALL could address. For instance, the long period of time required to learn new words can be remarkably shortened with CALL’s capability of providing multiple exposure in varied contexts. This is particularly important because it gives the learner the opportunity to use his or her normal vocabulary learning faculties such as guessing, inducing, experimenting, checking, refining hypothesis, among others. (Cameron, p. 9) The above arguments in regard to the potential of CALL in improving vocabulary acquisition are the main subject of this research. This paper seeks to identify the positive effects as well as the disadvantages of the vocabulary learning strategies that feature CALL. The

Culture and Organisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Culture and Organisation - Essay Example The company is involved in a range of services, including consumer banking, credit cards, investment banking, mortgage loans, corporate banking, wealth management and private banking. The bank refers both Hong Kong and United Kingdom as its ancestral markets. The company has more than 7500 offices across 85 counties. The branches and subsidiaries are spread across Asia, Africa, North America, Europe and South America (HSBC, 2014d). The company operates across four business categories: commercial banking; global banking and markets; wealth management and retail banking; and overseas private banking. HSBC’s internal environment is based on values such as, integrity, diversity, cultural inclusion as well as global expansion for growth and development (HSBC, 2014a). Employee empowerment is a major strategy followed by HSBC for overall development of the organisation. The bank believes that empowered employees will help in meeting expectations of customers, society, investors and regulators. The bank has also given major stress on its culture and rich tradition. The culture of HSBC is unique mixture of traditional values as well as contemporary management practices, making it a distinctive organisation (Trompenaars, 1993). Significant differences lies among different cultures in terms of behaviour, communication and body language (Adler, 1997). One of the major distinctions between high and low context cultures was proposed by Edward T. Hall, a well-known anthropologist from America. High context culture is defined as the one where communication is highly implicit and coded in physical context or other communication channels, apart from verbal. A low context culture can be defined as a type of communication where major part of the information is present in explicit code and little is transmitted through other mediums such as, gestures or body language (Chaney, 2005). The current focus of the report is to understand the organisational practice followed

Advantages of owning a franchise Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Advantages of owning a franchise - Term Paper Example Over the recent years, franchising has become a beneficial venture and has attracted many entrepreneurs. Franchise refers to the license describing the relationship between two individuals; the franchisor and franchisee (Inma, 2005). In this case, the license includes support, control, trademarks and fees. Franchising allows the goodwill, reputation, expertise, and technical knowledge of the franchise to be used together with the investment of the franchisee so as to produce and sell goods and services. In other words, a franchise is a form of business that involves one organization using another organization’s successful business model. Owing to its effectiveness in combining the skills, investments, expertise, and knowledge of the franchisor and the franchisee, franchising has become more and more popular among business people over the last few years. There are several advantages of owning a franchise which are having: continual support, financial assistance, and proven prof itability. Continual Support One main advantage of franchising is that the franchisee is subject to continued support from the franchisor. Owning a franchise helps one to get various forms of support such as pre-opening training in which one is trained about the technologies, operations, marketing and financial aspects of a business. During pre-opening training, the franchisee is trained on how a particular business operates and how to handle matters that the business may face (Kong 2011). In other words the franchisee enjoys ongoing support as the situation dictates, the franchisor acting as a mentor to the franchisee. In this respect, the franchisee and their employees may receive continuous training as and when the need arises. Given that the franchisor benefits from the success of the franchisee, they are bound to go an extra step to ensure that the franchisee succeeds in business. This being the case, the franchisor will always be ready to offer continuous technical support to the franchisee which is good for the wellbeing of the business and both of the parties. The franchisee can also be offered financial support for advertising and promotion by the franchisor. It is important for an entrepreneur to understand the different aspects of the business they intend to engage in. In many cases, businesses wind up simply because the entrepreneur lacks the requisite skills and knowledge, technologies, finances, or support. While these are some of the challenges that people who engage in other forms of businesses face, a person who starts a franchise has higher chance of succeeding. With this kind of support, the franchisee is able to start and grow his/her venture very fast without many problems associated with lack of knowledge and finances. Financial Assistance The second advantage of franchising is that unlike it happens with other forms of businesses, a franchisee can easily receive financial support to start and run a franchise. It is well known that many q ualified franchisees do not have enough capital to run an outlet. The franchisor may finance the franchisee either directly or through third parties (Beshel 2001). With respect to third party financing, the franchisee is financed by a third party but the franchisor acts as guarantor. If the cost of general advertizing is high, the franchisor may also offer financial assistance to the franchisee so as to help in increasing sales. This is aimed at generating more income to recover the advertizing costs. In other cases, the franchisor may opt to temporarily exempt the franchisee from paying the franchising fees or remitting a share of the profit so that the franchise may achieve stability. With the franchisor offering financial support, the franchisee is able to set up an outlet even if he has limited capital. Proven Profitability Franchises are generally associated with high success levels and, therefore, high profitability. Operating a sole proprietorship,

Website Evaulation of American Cancer Society Research Paper

Website Evaulation of American Cancer Society - Research Paper Example These factors include: authority, information, objectivity, ease of navigation, privacy and security policies (Harmon, J. et al., 2010). Authority is defined by the underlying permissions and operational approval that guide the website. The website is meant to reach out to all stakeholders outlined in the objectives of setting up the website. The website is however subject to communications and internet laws and regulations. The monitoring and regulation is set to ensure that the power and authority jurisdiction of the website is not taken outside the set limits. The website is rich in information about cancer and related health issues. Information that pertains to every activity undertaken by the American Cancer Society is displayed on the home page. Research and development undertakings in relation to cancer are outlined. There are also links to external information of central importance to all parties interested in learning about cancer and related health issues. Objectivity factor of the website is an interesting scenario. The presentation made on the website in relation to the undertakings of the American Cancer Society is primarily based on phenomena observed in the health sector. Emotional and/or personal prejudices do not seem to influence the intended purpose and objective of the website. However, views and opinions at personal level are taken through the website to enhance further development and responsiveness of American Cancer Society to cancer and other health issues. The website’s set up is development in such a way that best suits the user. Navigation from one link to another is clearly outlined. At the lower part of the web page, there are numerous quick links that are specific to the information that will be pulled up when the user clicks on that link. The page is simply developed, with clear

The United States Annexation of Hawaii Essay Example for Free

The United States Annexation of Hawaii Essay The United States annexes Hawaii in 1900 is Imperialism.Because it had to do with hawaii and their economical power.It also had to do with them other countries fighting over them.It also had to do with Hawaii being scared of countries and their territory nations. The Untied States wanted Hawaii to become a state .In 1959 the Untied states government annexed Hawaii and was later declared a state. The reason why is because British and French governments negotiation on Hawaii for economic privileges. So Hawaii was fearful that it would become one of the territory nation . So the United States signed a treat with them. Which they decalred a friendly relationship. The United States attempts to mediate in the Venezuela -Great Britain dispute in 1895 is Intervention.Because it had ivolvement with foreign power in affairs for another nation.It achieve the stronger powers. There was a dispute between Venezuela and Great Britian. That even Cleaveland invoked the Monroe Doctrine. The United States secretary toke interpretation on the Monroe Doctrine when the dispute occurred between British Guiana and Venezuela.Monroe Doctrine gave United States the authority to mediate the border dispute on the Western Hemisphere.The reason why this was happening because Venezuela and Great Britian disputed over the boundaries deprarting the Venezuela and British Guiana.The bountries claimed gold was in their territory.So thats when United Stated sent a message to the world that they would enforce the monroe Doctrine.They made it clear to them that it was going to be enforced. The United States declines to give aid to Hungarian patriots in 1849 is Isolation.Because it was remaining apart from other nations affairs. Hungary was basically classfied as a national independent country. Note:There is like nothing on Hungarian and why the United Stated declines them Ive looked everywhere I asked my mom if you have any info I will be gladly to refix this one and resubmit it.

Introduction To Industrialised Building System Construction Essay

Introduction To Industrialised Building System Construction Essay In this chapter, the detail of explanation and relevant literature review of Industrialised Building System in Malaysia high rise project will be presented. Generally, the contents of this chapter are covered by definitions, classification, essential characteristic, critical success factors and barriers of the IBS implementation of the high rise buildings in our local construction industry. The IBS is not a common term in Malaysia Construction industry now. Until now, it still has no one common accepted or agreed definition of IBS by any researchers. However, there are few researchers define the IBS on the characteristics and definition with different way. IBS is often referred to as off-site construction of the literature (Pan et al. 2008), remote (Blismas, 2006) the production, industrialization and automation of construction (Warszawski 1999), the off-site manufacturing, prefabricated buildings, pre-assemblies building (Gibb Isack, 2003), the prefabricated building, prefabricated building, non-traditional architecture and modern method of construction (MMC) said by Kamar, 2009. The following is the definition of the IBS from different authors: Warszawski (1999) described the process of industrialization, investment in equipment, facilities and technology to maximize production, reduce labour resources, and improve the quality. These elements are interconnected and joint together to make or improve performances of the building. Rahman and Omar (2006) said that the IBS as a construction system by using prefabricated building systems. The manufacturing of the components are done with machines, templates, and other forms of machinery and equipment. Components manufactured off-site, once completed, will be delivered to the General Assembly and erection of the construction site. IBS is defined as an integrated manufacturing and construction process, carefully planned organization, and efficient management, preparation and control of resources, activities and results from the highly developed components (Lessing, et al., 2005). The most comprehensive definition of IBS was perhaps clarified by Junid (1986). He said that in the process of industrialization in the construction industry, including IBS, building component, vision, planning, fabrication, transportation and site erection. The system includes a combination of software and hardware components of the balance between. Software includes system design; this is a complex process, learning the end-user requirements, market analysis, development of standardized components, manufacturing and assembly layout and process of the establishment, allocation of resources and material, a definition of the concept of architect framework. The software element provides a prerequisite for creating an enabling environment for industrialization and expansion. Chung Kadir (2007) defined as a large-scale production of building components IBS both in the factory or on-site according to standard shapes and sizes and transportation to the construction site, re-arrange some standard form construction and specifications Construction Industry Development Board (2003) defined as a construction method in which components are produced in a controlled environment (or off) IBS, transportation, location and assembled into a minimal additional site works with the structure. The definition of Industrial building systems (IBS) is varies. It depends on the authors position and philosophy in the ontology and epistemology. Some authors may be defined as a process or technology IBS. Table 2.1 is to highlight the definition of IBS category. On the other hand, there is an ontological position, either as a method, idea, product, innovation, improvement, modernization and new methods of provision. This problem has been discussed in the construction industry, since the industrial revolution, to change the human way of life and economic activity. Since the concept of quality improvement and in industry, invention and innovation, has become an important industry to deal with. This production and services, as the construction industry continues to progress and development, the latest and modern instrument factors. Then, every industry stakeholder can define with themselves on their practices and methods. Table 2.2 shows, only the author describes the process of defin ing a list of IBS and technology. Table 2.1: The Ontology of Building system (Sources: Adopted from Abdullah, 2009) Authors Characteristics Factory Base(Off-site) Production Techniques Mass Production Site Erection and Preassemblies Modular Component Elements Standardisation Labour Reduction Modem Method Automation Manufacturing Parid, W., 1997 X Trikha, D.N., 1999 X X X X Gibb, A,. 1999 X X X Warszawski, 1999 X X X X Ingemar, L. and Gylltoft.K 2000 X X X Kadir, M.R.A., et al., 2005 X X X X Marsono, A.K. et al,. 2006 X X X Table 2.2: The Characteristics of Building system (Sources: Adopted from Abdullah, 2009) Bil Authors Process Techniques 1 Dietz (1971) X 2 Dickerman (1973) X 3 Junid (1986) X 4 Parid (1997) X 5 Esa Nurrudin (1998) X 6 Badir Razali (1998) X 7 Trikha (1999) X 8 Warszawski (1999) X 9 CIDB Malaysia (1999) X 10 CIDB Malaysia (2003) X 11 Lessing (2005) X 12 Marsono. (2006) X 13 Rahman Omar (2006) X 14 MD Rahim (2006) X 15 Chung L.P. (2006) X 16 Henry M.A. (2006) X 17 (CIB) TG57 X 18 (CIB W24) X 2.2 Classification of IBS MMC is a long-term off-site infrastructure as technology and technological innovation of the collective description of the scene. The latter includes techniques such as thin-joint block work and tunnel in the form of construction (Goodier and Gibb, 2006). MMC also includes the floor or roof cassettes, pre-cast concrete foundation components, pre-formed wiring looms, mechanical engineering composite materials and modern construction methods. They can also include such as a tunnel or in combination with thin pieces of work (NAO, 2005; Gibb and Pendlebury, 2006) innovation (which is the essential characteristic). As the above quote, IBS is a component in which manufacturing, positioning and assembled into a structure with minimal extra site works off and on-site (CIDB, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹2003; Chung, 2006). Although outside the technology will be discussed below, on-site prefabricated IBS can be used in place of steel formwork system (CIDB, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ †¹2003) in the form. Production and construction site prior to installation, they found a remote location off-site construction of the assembly or part of the description of the spectrum. All off-site may be a general decline in IBS and MMC title, not all of the IBS and MMC can be considered as off-site (Gibb and Pendleton, 2006). Off-site construction (OSC), off-site manufacturing (OSM) and off-site production (OSP) is basically interchangeable terms refers to the construction process, to carry out the construction site, such as in factories, away from the part of or sometimes in a specially established near the construction site (or field factories) (Goodier and Gibb, 2006) of temporary production facilities. Pre-fabrication is usually in a dedicated facility where a variety of materials joined to form the final part of the installation components (Tatum et al, 1986). While, the components maybe assemble on and offsite, Pre-assembly carried on a definition as in which a variety of materials, prefabricated components and equipment to join up as a sub-unit of the installation process in a remote location. It is generally concentrated in the system (ibid). Therefore, a general classification of IBS-MMC term is promoted in this paper based on the following hypothesis compiled by the previous researchers. Figure 2.1 below is show that a generic classification of IBS in MMC. Modern Method of Construction (MMC) Industrialised Building System Non Industrialised System Off-site Manufacturing (OSM), Prefabrication, Offsite Fabrication (OSF), Offsite Production (OSP) On-Site Fabrication Pre-assembly at Factory Assembly on site Figure 2.1: A generic classification of IBS in MMC (Sources: adopted from Kamarul Anuar Mohd Kamar, 2009) As defined, IBS-MMC has a various classifications, materials, processes and systems basis. Table 2.3 describes the classification of IBS, system construction, MMC and OSMs. It compares the different views and classification terms. Table 2.3: Comparison of IBS-MMC Classification (Sources: Adopted from Kamarul Anuar Mohd Kamar, 2009) Industrialised system classification (Badir et. Al 1998) Majzub (1977) system classification MMC classification (Gibb Pendlebury, 2006). Ross and Richards on (2005) and (NOA, 2005) Gibb Issac (2003) pre-assembly and pre-fabrication classification Abosad et. Al (2009) classification on OSM IBS Classification (CIDB, 2003) -Conventional building system -Cast in situ formwork system table or tunnel formwork -Prefabricated system -Composite system -Panel System -Box System -Frame System -Volumetric -Panelised -Hybrid -Subassemblies and components -Non-off-sites-Modem Methods of Construction -Component manufacture and sub-assembly -Non-volumetric sub-assembly -Volumetric pre-assembly -Modular Housing -Volumetric System -Panelised System -Hybrid System -Sub-assemblies and component system -Modular system -Pre-cast concrete-framed building -Pre-cast concrete wall system -Reinforced concrete Building with Pre-cast concrete slab -Steel Formwork System -Steel-framed building and Roof Trusses Majzub (1977) described the construction of classification should be based on the proposed use of components in Table 2.4 the relative weights. Weight factors have a significant impact on the portability of components, but also on the production of components and field methods of installation method. By weight category, there are components used in the production of basic material itself to determine the characteristics of the system being studied to distinguish between the advantages. However, Majzub classification is found to have inadequate construction of the recently incorporated into other systems to flourish. One striking example is the interlocking load-bearing blocks; this is a group of researchers at the University Putra Malaysia brainchild. This new system construction cannot be according to the framework, panels, and even box system. On the other hand, complex system that combines two or more of the construction methods cannot be classified under the classification of Maj zub. Therefore, the classification needs to be updated to imitate current technological progress. Table 2.4: Building system classification according to relative weight of component (Source: Adopted from Majzub, 1977) No General System System Production Material 1 Frame system Light weight frame Wood, light gage metals Medium light weight frame Metal, reinforced plastics, laminated wood Heavy weight frame Heavy steel, concrete 2 Panel system Light and medium weight panel Wood frame, metal frame, and composite materials Heavy weight panel (factory produced) Concrete Heavy weight panel (tilt up- produced on site) Concrete 3 Box system (module) Medium weight box (mobile) Wood frame, light gage metal, composite Medium weight box (sectional) Wood frame, light gage metal, composite Heavy weight box (factory produced) Concrete Heavy weight box (tunnel produced on site) Concrete C:UsersAndyNGAppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordNew Picture (2).png Figure 2.2 Type of Building System in Malaysia (Source: Adopted from Thanoon et al, 2003) In general, there are currently four types of building systems in Malaysia, Razali building system classification according to Badir et al. 1998, there are traditional, cast in situ, precast composite building system is shown in Figure 2.2. Each building system is on behalf of their construction method, which is further through its construction technology, features and geometry features. It is reported that there are at least 22 companies in Malaysia to provide institution building (Badir et al, 2002). From the point of  structural classification,  IBS  can be categorized  into five  major  groups, which are: prefabricated  timber  frame system Components  under  this group are  the columns, beams, floor slabs, prefabricated  roof  truss  system and similar as  made à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹from wood. Formwork system Mould for  concrete  component  moulds to  cast  there  as pillars, beams,  floor slabs  and wall panels  that can be used  repeatedly. These  moulds  are usually made  of plastic, fibreglass,  steel, aluminium  and  other  metal materials. Steel frame system Components  of this category are column, beam, portal frame and  roof  truss systems are made à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹of  steel. framing systems,  panel  and pre-cast  concrete  box Components  of this category are column, beam, portal frame and  pre-cast wall panels. It also including in three-dimensional pre-fabricated  components  such as  stairs, balusters  and toilets. System block This system refers to the use of concrete block (precision block works), including lightweight concrete blocks; the blocks are locked (interlocking block) and so on. It is hoping that IBS classification can be standardized in order for IBS-MMC to be acknowledged by practitioners as a primer construction method. 2.3 Essential Characteristics of IBS This is a reasonable review of the conditions, they emphasized that the successful implementation of industrialized building systems. Each of them briefly discussed below. 2.3.1 Modular Coordination Modular coordination or MC is a dimensional system. Coordination of a modular space size  harmonized system, parts,  accessories, etc.,  so that all  elements  fit  not to cut  or extend the  components and  accessories,  even  from different vendors (Trikha, 1999) made together. It is a concept of dimension and space, including construction and components on the basis of their name is called 1M, equal to 100 mm in the basic module units or coordination. The use of MC in IBS is effective application of the important factors, because it completed the industry through quality control and productivity answered by a staff of CIDB. The objectives of the modular coordination are: Create a variety of types and sizes of building components, can minimize foundation. Through the rationalization of the construction method, each component of the design and other similar exchange, therefore, designers freedom and choice provides the greatest degree. This can take a relatively large basic unit of measurement (basic module) and by limiting the dimensions of building components to recommended preferred sizes said by Warszawski (1999). Allow easy by any prefabricated buildings layout and exchange capacity. This is to achieve a common, rather than references to other components (Warszawski 1999) definition of modular grid construction and placement of each component. To reduce waste in the production of the installation process, by increasing productivity, to improve the quality of the construction industry and to encourage an open system. With open systems approach, building components can be combined in a variety of individual projects, while ensuring that their design architects of freedom. Modular building component of the length of the coordinated application of the basic units or M = 100cm module. This allows designers to apply this size or in the production of building components, its multiple. While the concept seems easy to pass, its application in the manufacturing process involves a large degree of harmonization and alignment and component interfaces (Kamar et al. 2009). 2.3.2 Closed system A closed system can be divided into two categories, namely design and production according to customer design and production based on pre-casters. The first category is designed to meet customer space requirements, that is, the specific building design and construction of various features of the space required. In this case, the customer needs is critical, pre-caster always forced to a specific part of the building. On the other hand, the fabrication on the basis of pre-casters design, including design and production of a single building type or alternative of a group of buildings, can generate common component assortments of. Such building includes school, parking garage, gas station, low cost housing, etc. Nevertheless these types of building arrangement can be justified economically only when the following circumstances are observed (Warszawski, 1999): Commitment because of specific design and project large enough to allow for the additional cost of each component in design and production costs of distribution. Openerved a large number of architectural design elements of repetition and standardization. In this regard, a new kind of prefabricated systems can automated the design and production process to overcome a number of standardized elements of the requirements. There is sufficient demand, is a typical types such as school construction, so that mass production can be. There is a pre-caster intensive marketing strategy to inspire customers and designers in the economic and non-economic aspects of long-term potential benefits of the system. 2.3.3 Open system In closed system the limitations inherent to an open system, which allows greater design flexibility to maximize coordination with designers and pre-caster have been proposed. The system is feasible, because it allows pre-caster products in a predetermined range and architectural aesthetic value while maintaining a limited number of elements. Kamarul Anuar Mohamad Kamar (2009) defined that open system concept is encouraged by the irritable bowel syndrome, to ensure that the architects in their design freedom. Open systems approach building components, a variety of individual projects can be combined in different products and technologies as part of interchange ability. A partition between the structure and the filling system may give different solutions, customized and pre-level standards. Separation according to building components, could lead to new forms of organization of production, use of standardized elements. Open System was first promoted during the rebuilding years of post-war Netherlands. Size, location and components of the interface rules of the open system is an important part. Kamarul Anuar Mohamad Kamar (2009) defined open system with the following characteristics: Open system is an innovative design and construction. It allows interchange ability of various components and subsystems manufacturers and suppliers. An open architecture components together the advantages of market needs, a variety of geometric and functional building types. It will encourage participation in manufacturing and assembly to enter the market, thereby reducing the price of IBS components. It advocates a modular concept and the separation of different levels of decision-making. Use standard welding system to resolve two or more systems in a building. It allows customers to participate in the design. Customers can choose to use the components provided by the developer of any building components directory. Open system will encourage pre-assembled by a higher level of industrialization and automation. 2.3.4 Standardisation and Tolerances To achieve the requirements of modular coordination, all components need to be standardized production. This standardization of the elements of space and the need to provide at various stages of construction, such as manufacturing tolerances, the tolerances and erection tolerances, so that combined statistical considerations on acquired tolerance to the extent permitted (Trikha, 1999). If the output is standardised, then the production resources can be used in most efficient manner. Then the production process, machinery and training of workers, can best absorb the specific characteristics of the product. 2.3.5 Specialisation Large precast production and standardization of production process, the height of the division of labour. This process can be subdivided into a lot of small standardized tasks. In such working conditions, workers exposures to their work repetitiously have a high level of productivity (Warszawski, 1999). 2.3.6 Production facility The initial capital investment to establish a permanent factor is the relative experience. Plant, equipment, skilled workers, management of resources needed to produce pre-acquisition can begin. Such a huge investment can only break even, if there is sufficient demand for the product. On the other hand, the establishment of a temporary casting yard or plant in the project site to minimize transportation costs (Peng, 1986). 2.3.7 Transportation It is found that the casting slab system can reduce the cost of labour up to 30%. However, these cost savings partially offset by transportation costs. Traffic has also been a large board in the countrys road sector requirements. When adopting prefabrication system, those limitations must be taken into consideration (Peng, 1986). 2.4 Barriers of implementation of IBS in Malaysia Clearly, the benefits offered by IBS are immense and plausible. It has been six years since the launching of the IBS Roadmap 2003 and is about the end of the mission of industrialising construction. The construction industrys stakeholders are little bit sceptical on using IBS product. It is pertinent to examine the progress and how close to the completion of the mission to date. More importantly, it is imperative to evaluate whether the implementation of the roadmap has met the market response to the IBS programme so far. Most policy issues have been resolved and implemented, while all relevant documents required to support the programme have been developed. In particular activities under the charge of CIDB are all meeting their datelines. Notwithstanding these achievements a number of implementation snags were identified as being potential hurdles to the implementation of the roadmap. Warszawski (1999) pointed out some of the barriers in implementing industrialisation in construction industry. There are decline in demand and volatile of building market make an investment in IBS more risky compared to conventional labour intensive method. Prefabrication elements are considered inflexible with respect to changes with may required over its life span. At university level student are less exposed to technology, organization and design of industrialised building system. An adaptation of standardization requires a tremendous education and training effort. Standardization of building elements face resistance from construction industry due to aesthetics reservation and economic reasons (Kampempool et al, 1986). Trikha (1999) cited the hindrance to the use of IBS due to lack of assessment criteria set by the approving authorities to urge the developers to use IBS. Poor response from the construction players to modular coordination despite heavy promotions and incentives from the government is also a hindrance to the successive implementation of IBS in Malaysia. As a result, partial introduction of IBS such as lintels and staircase has not been successful compare to the traditional cast in situ design. Kamar et al. (2009) said that a clear need for the construction industry in Malaysia IBS is a huge and credible strongly encourage the government and the system implementation plan. In fact, most of the contractors are not prepared to bid for IBS construction tender. Thanoon et. al. (2003) also highlighted cheap labour cost is the main barriers to the expedition of IBS. There are wide swing in house demands, whereas mainly caused by the high interest rate and low performance in economical factor. He also pointed out lack of skilled construction workforce which severe the situation. The nature characteristics of construction project which are fragmented, diverse and involve many parties. There lack of local RD and novel building system that use local material, which makes IBS often relies to imported technology from other countries. There are also insufficient incentive and promotion from the government to use IBS. The main reasons for the low adoption of IBS in Malaysia as stated in Construction Industry Master Plan (CIMP 2006-2015) are lack of integration in design stage and poor knowledge. IBS manufacturers are currently involved only after design stage. This lack of integration among relevant players in design stage has resultant in need for plan redesign and additional cost to be incurred if IBS is adopted. Client and approving authorities have poor knowledge of IBS compared to architects and engineers. Familiarity with IBS concept and its benefits is vital to its success because IBS requires different approach in construction. Despite this advances, some of the barriers were identified as potential barriers are being implemented: 2.4.1 Awareness and Knowledge According to the IBS Roadmap Review Report (2007), in Malaysia IBS is through a client-driven. Benefit of IBS has a good knowledge and awareness of the customer is bound to encourage the appointment of architect to design building to the IBS. However, the lack of awareness programs, to understand customer needs, and give correct information on IBS lack of interest from clients and policymakers (Rahman and Omar, 2006). Therefore, IBS is often misunderstood as high-risk process, rather than any interests of the owner of the building to contribute the lack of knowledge between the designer project lead to take the extra time delay to produce the details of the drawing. Client IBS roadmap (2007) based on client review, by Malaysia IBS is no longer such as customer-oriented Jusco, Tesco and other customers have insisted fast track construction. In housing development, with good knowledge and awareness of IBS clients will thus benefit from the appointment of designers to encourage the construction of IBS. However, the lack of awareness programs, leading to misunderstanding led to a lack of interest from clients and decision makers (Rahman and Omar, 2006). IBS is from the clients point of view, unless it is necessary to fast track projects, such as Tesco, Jusco projects, often misinterpreted as high-risk and expensive solutions. Local Authority Lack of knowledge among the approving authority, IBS, and the relationship between the current building codes misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Familiar with IBS will speed up the design approval, to ensure the success of IBS projects (construction of the master plan, 2007) is essential. But most of local authorities do not know the design of IBS often need more time than usual to deal with design approval. Policy Makers Chung and Kadir (2007) observed that most local authorities in Malaysia is unlikely to change local building regulations, to meet the adjustment, will consume a lot of time and cost of IBS. IBSs mid-term review (2007) stated that through a unified architecture from low amendment (MC) of modular coordination of law enforcement (UBBL) has not been implemented due to lack of knowledge and decision-makers between the concept of understanding. Workers Government hopes the IBS will help reduce dependence on foreign workers, 30% by 2015. But most people in the industry do not think IBS will greatly decrease the number of workers in the industry. IBS is a plant from the job site environment, environmental issues, said: A senior industry source said. 2.4.2 Planning and Implementation At presents, the pre-casters and contracting companies in Malaysia involved in the construction bidding phase the value chain. However, the observation of the design of IBS, and plans need to be addressed in the form at the design stage, to be successful through the slot before casting machine, designers and contractors (IBS roadmap review, 2007) integration. As a result, many projects in Malaysia IBS are not cost-effective, because it is intended to replace the traditional methods of design. IBS application has been included in the design stage. Changes in design, requires a lot of further adjustment, the rise of the initial time and cost. In addition, IBS demands a more coherent process, from initial planning and control structure, the end of the project, in order to achieve the target, and decrease defects and errors (Gibb, 2001 and Warszawski 1999). The overall project should be considered in such way that as soon as the components are manufactured, it is probable to bring it to the construction site and assemble it. Any delay, either in workshop or construction site has been phased requirements and production plans, from the part of several construction projects, as scheduled at the same time a serious impact on production. Although you can create any type of pre-architectural design, but if the possibility of production and construction, taking into account at the design stage itself can solve several problems related to manufacturing, transportation, and assembly of complex interfaces (Pan et al. 2008 and Hamid et al. 2008). The most common problems usually involve beams, columns and column bases in connection with the improper assembly of the components. These problems arise due to the fact that the parties involved in the construction of a main underestimating the accuracy of the base line and levelling. Basically, the precise formation and alignment of the two bases is the most important aspects of the rapid success of precast concrete erection (Rahman and Omar, 2006). 2.4.3 Costs Kamar et al. (2009) mentioned that many small contractors are unwilling to use the IBS system, and want to continue using traditional construction methods. This is due to the fact that small contractors are already common with the technology and suitable for small scale projects, so do not want to switch t

Direct Effects of Financial Repression in India

Direct Effects of Financial Repression in India FINANCIAL REPRESSION (PAPER 7) Financial repression refers to the notion that a set of government regulations, laws, and other non-market restrictions prevent the financial intermediaries of an economy from functioning at their full capacity (McKinnon (1973) and Shaw (1973)PAPER 1). Generally, financial repression consists of three elements. First, the banking system is forced to hold government bonds and money through the imposition of high reserve and liquidity ratio requirements. This allows the government to finance budget deficits at a low or zero cost. Second, given that government revenue cannot be extracted that easily from private securities, the development of private bond and equity markets is discouraged. Finally, the banking system is characterized by interest rate ceilings to prevent competition with public sector fund raising from the private sector and to encourage low-cost investment (PAPER 1). The policies that cause financial repression include interest rate ceilings, liquidity ratio requirements, high bank reserve requirements, capital controls and restrictions on market entry into the financial sector, credit ceilings or restrictions on directions of credit allocation, and government ownership or domination of banks (PAPER 7). Economists have commonly argued that financial repression prevents the efficient allocation of capital and thereby impairs economic growth. While theoretically an economy with an efficient financial system can achieve growth and development through efficient capital allocation, McKinnon and Shaw argue that historically, many countries, including developed ones but especially developing ones, have restricted competition in the financial sector with government interventions and regulations. According to their argument, a repressed financial sector discourages both saving and investment because the rates of return are lower than what could be obtained in a competitive market. In such a system, financial intermediaries do not function at their full capacity and fail to channel saving into investment efficiently, thereby impeding the development of the overall economic system (PAPER 7). This paper aims to analyse the concept of financial repression and reasons why it is seen and detrimental to economic growthexplain sections below. Rationale for and types of financial repression The key reason for the government to implement financially repressive policies is to control fiscal resources. By having a direct control over the financial system, the government can funnel funds to itself without going through legislative procedures and more cheaply than it could when it resorts to market financing. More specifically, by restricting the behaviour of existing and potential participants of the financial markets, the government can create monopoly or captivate rents for the existing banks and also tax some of these rents so as to finance its overall budget. Existing banks may try to collude with each other and to interrupt possible liberalization policies as long as they are guaranteed their collective monopoly position in the domestic market. In some countries, governments require banks to meet high rates of the reserve ratios, and use the reserves as a method to generate revenues. Since reserves earn no interest, they function as an implicit tax on banks and restrict banks from allocating a certain portion of their portfolios to productive investments and loans. If high reserve requirements are combined with interest ceilings and protective government directives for certain borrowers, savers who are usually unaware of the requirement policy become the main taxpayers because they face reduced rates of interest on their savings. Inflation can aggravate the reserve tax because it reduces the real rates of interest. Thus, high reserves requirements make the best use of the governments monopolistic power to generate seigniorage revenue as well as to regulate reserve requirements. A variant of this policy includes required liquidity ratios; that is when banks are required to allocate a certain fraction of their deposits to holding government securities that usually yield a return lower than could be obtained in the market. Governments often impose a ceiling on the interest rate banks can offer to depositors. Interest ceilings function in the same way as price controls, and thereby provide banks with economic rents. Like high required reserve ratios, those rents benefit incumbent banks and provide tax sources for the government, paid for by savers and by borrowers or would-be-borrowers. The rents borne by the interest ceiling reduce the number of loans available in the market thereby discouraging both saving and investment. In return for allowing incumbent banks to reap rents, the government often require banks to make subsidized loans to certain borrowers for the purpose of implementing industrial policy (or simply achieving political goals). Interest ceilings in high inflation countries can victimize savers because high inflation can make the real interest rates of return negative. Financial repression also takes the form of government directives for banks to allocate credit at subsidized rates to specific firms and industries to implement industrial policy. Forcing banks to allocate credit to industries that are perceived to be strategically important for industrial policy ensures stable provision of capital rather than leaving it to decisions of disinterested banks or to efficient securities markets. It is also more cost effective than going through the public sectors budgetary process. Government directives and guidance sometimes include detailed orders and instructions on managerial issues of financial institutions to ensure that their behaviour and business is in line with industrial policy or other government policies. The Japanese Ministry of Finance (MOF) is a typical example of governments micromanagement of financial industry. Capital controls are restrictions on the inflows and outflows of capital and are also financially repressive policies. Despite their virtues, the use of capital controls can involve costs. Because of their uncompetitive nature, capital controls increases the cost of capital by creating financial autarky; limits both domestic and foreign investors ability to diversify portfolios; and helps inefficient financial institutions survive. Impacts of Financial Repression Because financial repression leads to inefficient allocation of capital, high costs of financial intermediation, and lower rates of return to savers, it is theoretically clear that financial repression inhibits growth (Roubini and Sala-i-Martin, 1992). The empirical findings on the effect of removing financial repression, i.e., financial liberalization on growth supports this view, but various channels through which liberalization spurs growth have been evidenced. The possible negative effect of financial repression on economic growth does not automatically mean that countries should adopt a laissez-faire stance on financial development and remove all regulations and controls that create financial repression. Many developing countries that liberalized their financial markets experienced crises partly because of the external shocks that financial liberalization introduces or amplifies. Financial liberalization can create short-term volatility despite its long-term gains (Kaminsky and Schmukler, 2002). Also, because of market imperfections and information asymmetries, removing all public financial regulations may not yield an optimal environment for financial development. An alternative to a financially repressive administration would be a new set of regulations to ensure market competition as well as prudential regulation and supervision. ECONOMIC THOUGHTS The literature on finance and development postulates a symbiotic relationship between the evolution of the financial system and the development of the real economy. This prediction is common to both the McKinnon-Shaw approach and the endogenous growth literature. However, while in the former financial development determines the level of steady-state output, in the latter it is a determinant of the equilibrium rate of economic growth. In the McKinnon-Shaw literature the basis for the relationship between financial and economic development is Gurley and Shaws (1955) debt-intermediation hypothesis. In this framework an increase in financial saving relative to the level of real economic activity increases the extent of financial intermediation and raises productive investment which, in turn, raises per-capita income. In these models nominal interest rate controls inhibit capital accumulation because they reduce the real rate of return on bank deposits, thereby discouraging financial saving. Moreover, higher reserve requirements also exert a negative influence on financial intermediation by increasing the wedge between lending and deposit rates. Under a competitive banking system this wedge is an increasing function of the rate of inflation. Thus higher real interest rates encourage capital accumulation and real economic activity, largely through an increase in the extent of financial intermediation. The competitive model of the banking industry are theoretically inadequate because First, in many less developed countries the banking industry is typically dominated by a small number of banks and collusive behaviour is not uncommon. Second, asymmetric information in loan markets is sufficient to generate a considerable degree of market power for lenders. Theoretical inadequacy relates to the implication of the assumptions of perfect competition, which leave little room for analyzing the behaviour of banks and their reactions to government interventions. Departure of the benchmark model from perfect competition has important implications for the way in which repressionist policies affect financial development. These effects may differ depending on the source of the departure from perfectly competitive behaviour. In the case where the departure is due to collusive behaviour, banking controls may induce banks to use non-interest-rate methods to influence the volume of bank deposits. Whenever the departure from perfect competition is due to imperfect information, the possibility of government corrective actions must be acknowledged. According to Stiglitz (1993), interest rate restrictions may be able to address moral hazard in the form of excessive risk taking by banks. Thus if one is prepared to assume that depositors perceive such restrictions as enhancing the stability of the banking system, their imposition may increase depositors willingness to hold their savings in the form of bank deposits. However, this crucially depends on how government policies are perceived by the public, which in turn relates to the existence or otherwise of good governance. Ill perceived and/or executed policies may have the opposite effect than that predicted by the market failure paradigm. Thus the success or failure of certain policies may largely depend on the effectiveness of the institutions that implement them (World Bank (1993). The endogenous growth literature offers additional channels through which financial sector policies may affect financial development, independently of the real rate of interest. In contrast to the Courakis-Stiglitz analysis, where repressionist policies may have positive effects, this literature typically predicts negative effects. The above analyses serve to suggest that the effects of certain types of interventionist policies as well as the channel through which they work may be different than has so far been recognized by much of the empirical literature. In particular, these policies may have direct effects on financial depth by: (1) changing the willingness of banks to raise deposits by non-interest-rate methods, and (2) changing the willingness of savers to supply their savings to the banking system. Thus these policies can have effects over and above-and sometimes conflicting with-those that are widely recognized in the literature. DATA ANALYSIS We focus on the economy of India for a variety of reasons. Besides the obvious reason that India is one of the most important developing economies in the world, it also has a rich history of varying types of repressionist policies which aids the statistical investigation. In the late 1950s the financial system of India was fairly liberal with no ceilings on interest rates and low reserve requirements. In the early 1960st he government tightened its control over the financial system by introducing lending rate controls, higher liquidity requirements, and by establishing state development banks for industry and agriculture. This process culminated in the nationalization of the 14 largest commercial banks in 1969. Further nationalizations took place in 1980. Interest rate controls were rigidly applied from the 1970s to the late 1980s to all types of loans and deposits. The term structure of interest rates was largely dictated by the Reserve Bank. Credit planning, a formal system of dire cted credit introduced in 1970, increasingly covered a very large percentage of total lending. Moreover, concessionary lending rates were offered to priority sectors. The late 1980s were, however, marked by the beginning of a process of gradual liberalization of the financial system. Ceilings on lending rates began to be lifted in 1988 and were completely abolished in 1989. Finally, further relaxations on directed credit and concessionary lending rates took place in 1990 and 1992. Interestingly, the index appears to reflect quite well many of the policy shifts that occurred during the sample period. According to this index, the early 1960s appear to be characterized with gradual increases in the level of financial repression. There was some stability in the mid-1960s followed by a big jump in 1969. This behaviour coincides with developments in the 1960s which culminated with the nationalization of the largest eleven banks in 1969, which allowed the Reserve Bank of India to intensify its directed credit program and to impose controls on deposit rates. The 1970s were characterized with the gradual imposition of more controls, i .e. a lending rate floor operated during 1973 and 1974, a lending rate ceiling was imposed in 1975 and remained in operation for 13 years, and reserve requirements (PAPER 3) were raised in 1976. The early 1980s saw even more controls imposed and an intensification of the directed credit program. Once again the gradual increase in the inde x follows these developments quite well. The index drops significantly in 1985, which coincides with a partial deregulation of deposit rate controls. It then rises again, reflecting the reintroduction of deposit rate controls in 1988 and a 4% increase of reserve requirements in 1989, but drops again in 1990 when the directed credit program is relaxed. Finally, there is a small drop of the index in 1991, which coincides with further deregulations of deposit rates. (PAPER 3) RECOMMENDATION (financial liberalisation) Since the break-up of the colonial empires, many developing countries suffered from stagnant economic growth, high and persistent inflation, and external imbalances under a financially repressed regime. To cope with these difficulties economic experts had advocated what they called â€Å"Financial liberalization mainly a high interest rate policy to accelerate capital accumulation, hence growth with lower rates of inflation (McKinnon (1973), Shaw (1973), Kapur (1976) and Matheison (1980)). Their argument that relaxation of the institutionally determined interest rate ceilings on bank deposit rates would lead to price stabilization and long-run growth through capital accumulation is based on the following chronology of events: (a) the higher deposit rates would cause the households to substitute away from unproductive assets (foreign currency, cash, land, commodity stocks, an so on) in favour of bank deposits; (b) this in turn would raise the availability of deposits into the banking system, and would enhance the supply of bank credit to finance firms capital requirements, and ; (c) this upsurge in investment would cause a strong supply side effect leading to higher output and lower inflation.(paper 1) CONCLUSION The main finding of this paper is that the direct effects of financial repression in India were negative and quite substantial. We would, however, advise caution in generalizing from these results to other countries. It is well known that the success of economic policies largely depends on the effectiveness of the institutions that implement them, and this clearly varies from country to country (e.g., World Bank (1993)). Thus we would not be surprised if future research showed- that the direct effects of financial repression in other countries (e.g., South Korea) were positive and significant.19 In fact, according to our theoretical analysis, the possibility of positive effects cannot be ruled out. Our conjecture is that repressionist policies may have positive effects whenever they are able to successfully address market failure. How-ever, market failure should encompass not only information-related imperfections but also those pertaining to the structure of the banking industry, as the latter may be equally important. Our results highlight a number of potentially fruitful avenues for further research. From a theoretical view point much work needs to be done to model financial repression in a framework where banks are more active than has so far been customarily assumed. Models where banks are able to influence the volume of their loanable funds may also be in the spirit of the modem banking literature, which emphasises the importance of active liability management. In such a framework it would be interesting to explore the role of market structure. A game-theoretic approach may also be taken, which could yield rich insights about the strategic aspects of financial repression. From an empirical point of view, the examination of the direct effects of financial repression in other countries is likely to be of considerable value. Furthermore, comparisons of these effects across different economies are likely to shed light on the relative effectiveness of repressi onist policies, thereby providing indirect evidence on relative levels of good governance. Finally, our results suggest that there is also considerable scope for empirical studies of bank behaviour under conditions of financial repression. (PAPER 3)