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Political Philosophy

Political philosophy studies social organization and the nature of humans in society. It centres on issues related to the state and human relationships. State issues include social justice, law, authority, constitution, political obligation, freedoms, and rights, forms of governments, democracy, and wars. On social relationships, Political Philosophy addresses individuals’ responsibilities in interactions, relationship between governments and their citizens, property rights, the aspect of collective vs. individual, equality, obedience and disobedience, and relationships between different states.

Political Philosophy greatly draws from broader Philosophy, which employs logic and reason in answering important questions about reality, knowledge, life, human nature, and morality. In studying these questions, philosophers use a philosophical method, where they examine and analyse their beliefs about different life concepts. Similarly, Political Philosophy concerns itself with fundamental human questions, which it addresses using philosophical method of reason. The difference between Philosophy and Political Philosophy is that the latter is only concerned with fundamental political and social questions while the former is concerned with the general human life questions. In Political Philosophy, a bearing of Philosophy is merged in politics, thereby increasing knowledge and wisdom in politics, which is an essential factor.

John Locke (1632-1704) is famous for his Political Philosophy, which remains a basis for America’s concept of moral right. Locke addressed the question of morality and equality in his state of nature ideology, where he argued that all humans are equal, with equal rights to punish those who violate human rights. On law, Locke asserted that laws of nature emanate from human reason. Locke emphasized that state of nature is a state of equality. Through reason, humans know that it is wrong to harm other humans any context. On punishment, Locke noted that there was a need for law enforcers in society in order for justice and punishment to be realized. Punishment comes because of the laid down sanctions by the law enforcers in society. Locke also justified punishment, claiming that it should however measure up to the extent of the crime committed, and should be for the purpose of restraint and reparation. He noted that governments are instruments of law enforcement. To him, governments are important as they uphold fairness and justice for all individuals. Without the government, injustices and unfairness would prevail. Government therefore, is the remedy for the faults of the state of nature. Locke was also opposed to monarchies and argued that it is better to remain in the state of nature, than be ruled by a monarch. He justified public rebellion against tyrannies. He advocated for democratic governance and recommended balance of power, as this, together with legal and moral rights are the base of a government system. He emphasized on separation between the roles of church and the state, arguing that the state is only responsible for safeguarding human rights, while the church is charged with public morality.

Generally, John Locke believed that governments do not come naturally. Only the state of nature exists without governments. He argued it is better for people to be ruled by governments than to live in a state of nature, which had no restrictions. He thought that government is meant to protect its citizens, rights. However, I tend to think that there is more freedom in the state of nature than in government rulership. In the state of nature, people are free to act as they like, unlike when under governments, where many restrictions and laws are imposed on people. Locke also had faith in human nature, arguing that each person has reason and therefore is compelled to act according to the laws of nature, therefore did not need government to control them. On the contrary, I think that human nature is unpredictable and therefore cannot be easily trusted. Humans need a government to control them, as excessive freedom is lethal, and may result in many forms of harm.

 

Works Cited

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Loss of Sovereignty in “The Loss of the Creature” and “Brave New World”

In “The Loss of the Creature,” Percy debunks his experiential opinion on new things within his environment and that of the beholder and the social strata they belong. He uses different examples of tourists and locals experiencing nature in a different ways. Percy explores two sides of experience; first time encounter with new things on a new level and regaining experiences. Percy believes regaining experience is achievable (Bartholomae and Petrosky 97).

In Brave New World, Huxley explores a society’s quest for peace and social stability. The society is hinged on emotions, beauty, true relationship, and love. Huxley wrote a fictions piece of satire devoid of prophecies on science. Brave New world is a sinister, unsetting, and loveless place, endowed with features aimed at estranging the audience. The novel illustrates the feeling that disturbs the readers mind with a description of a vanquished society. (Huxley 2).

These books have quite similar themes. One major theme presented is the loss of sovereignty. Various events and experiences of the characters in these books point to their loss of sovereignty. Characters in the books are stripped of the rights to make their own independent decisions. Different forces in the society have robbed the characters their freedom of choosing how to lead, plan, and live their lives. The people are however are not aware that some of the things they cling to, which are dear to them, are the same things, which rob them of their sovereignty. Therefore, the loss of sovereignty in these books is mostly experienced unconsciously, even though it has negative influence on the characters. Being a representation of the real world, the authors of these books try to show us the different ways in which we have lost our sovereignty in society.

In Huxley’s novel loss of sovereignty emerges when science and technology is used in society to lead to totalitarianism. For instance, the state uses powerful technology to control people’s reproduction. People lose their sovereignty, as they cannot make independent decisions on their reproduction. Consumerism is another loss of sovereignty of people to the state and corporations. Due to people’s quest for happiness, there is manufacture of High-Tec entertainment mediums and increased consumption of these. Therefore, manufacturers, states, and corporations decide what products they will produce for the people. This way, the people lack power to decide what they want, hence loss of their sovereignty. Huxel also warns against an overly powerful state. This state runs on high technology, surveillance, torture, and secret police. The leaders are tyrannical, but wear the ‘goodness masks’ by ensuring citizens’ happiness, when in real sense, they limit their freedom. This is loss of sovereignty by citizens since the government makes most decisions and the citizens are under constant surveillance.

In The Loss of the Creature, loss of sovereignty is propagated by educational systems and classifications in society. Interactions among the characters portray the aspect of loss of sovereignty. For instance, the American couple loses their sovereignty to their ethnologist friend when they want him to agree that their experience in the Indian village was awesome. By asking him to certify the awesomeness of their experience, this couple gave their power of decision-making to the ethnologist. They want him to acknowledge their dancing style as interesting, and therefore unconsciously lose their sovereignty to the ethnologist.

In The Loss of the Creature, the sightseer’s surrender to the expert is a loss of sovereignty. Poor people may envy the rich, and the underprivileged may envy the privileged, the same way a reader may surrender their sovereignty to the experiences read. The American young man who visits France and experiences a riot in a restaurant surrenders his sovereignty to the experiences of French book he read. He delights in of this event since he relates to it. The pleasure he derives from this experience therefore means he has surrendered his sovereignty to the experiences he read in the book. In another case, a nonprofessional finds a strange object and returns it to the owner, and is rewarded. He does not care to find out what the object is due to his ignorance, claiming that he lacks expertise to unravel it. In this case, sovereignty of the nonprofessional is lost to the experts.

In Huxley’s New Brave World, a citizen of same origin as Shakespeare easily reads Shakespearean tales than a Harvard Sophomore. Similarly, in The Loss of the Creature, a Falkland Islander can easily spy a dead dogfish and work on it, than a Scarsdale pupil can. In these cases, the Harvard Sophomore and the Scarsdale pupil lose their sovereignty of experience, as their educational system has turned them into consumers of prepared experiences. Sovereignty is lost through theories, which devalue the experiences of different societies when they are published. The people therefore lose the sovereignty of their experiences.

In both books, loss of sovereignty results in the structure of society. The nonprofessional becomes a consumer, who finds a place in the classification and theories of consumers in society. He also loses his ownership rights. However, Percy argues that this can only be solved by struggling to repossess our rightful places in society. In both books, regaining experience is achievable, so is sovereignty.

 

Works cited

Bartholomae, David, and Anthony, Petrosky. Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. Print.

Huxley, Aldous (ed). Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. New York, NY: Facts on File, Incorporated, 2009. Print.

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Introduction

Leadership styles of countries influence their development. Good leadership ensures rights and liberty of citizens, upholds justice, and boosts citizens’ participation in legislation process. Authoritarian leadership is detrimental to national development as all power and decision-making in the state is by one individual. This deters development. Badly governed governments have a negative influence on global development; therefore, adopting a democratic government is a commendable step in the country governance due to its benefits to the nation.

New Political Institutions

The transition to democracy will result in many structural and procedural changes in the country change, including the county’s political institutions. The new political institutions such as the electorate and form of government set up must be voluntaristic, whereby the people contribute to their outcome. Centralization of these is essential in order to promote public policy, rather than personal interests (Lijphart 163-164).

Political Parties and Type of Electoral System

Democracies must have functioning political parties and electorate systems as these are the foundation of democratic rule. In this country, a multi-party system is the best approach for political parties. Choosing this ensures that citizens can determine whom they want to govern the country. Unlike a two-party system, a multi-party system gives full representation to the people, especially considering the ethnic diversity of this country (Lijphart 168-170). In this country therefore, multi-party will help in addressing the issue of multi-ethnicity.

The most appropriate electorate system for this new democracy is the proportional representation. This allows for the political equality, minority participation, a participatory leadership, and the consideration of the preferences of voters in the polity.  Proportional electorate therefore enhances equality and fairness. Unlike majority system, which focuses on the effectiveness of governance only, representation system focuses on effective governance as well as the representation of the minority in the polity. Proportional representation leads to the satisfaction of citizens in their country governance. This system is in alignment with democracy as it allows for personal choice, which is an individual’s right, and allows voting for personalities, and not manifestos. It is also a simple system, which is easy to understand. In addition, this formula has an integrating and concentrating effect for electors and society. The electioneering process must be conducted carefully by the legislature, which must also ensure effective electoral laws, as these determine the parliamentary regime. These laws should be enacted carefully. Democracy in the electoral system will ensure transparency and participation of all citizens in the electioneering process, which is essential for national development (Linz 127-132).

Form of Government

There are varieties of options of government forms this country may choose from. These are presidential, parliamentarianism, and semi-presidentialism. However, being a young democracy falling in the second wave of democracy, the most suitable form of government for this country is parliamentarianism. This is the best choice for democracies, which are fragile, young, and divided. In this country, multi-ethnicity serves a role of tearing democracy apart. Therefore, parliamentarianism will help alleviate the negative effects of multi-ethnicity. In the world today, the strongly established democracies use parliamentarianism. Authoritarian states today are known to have once used or still use presidentialism. Having experienced authoritarian leadership, if this country chooses presidentialism, it will plunge back into authoritarian, thereby not having solved their problems. Parliamentary system is known for strengthening democracy and promoting inclusion of people in legislation.

In the parliamentary system, this country will need to adopt a new structure of parliamentarianism. First, the three components of the parliamentary system should be developed. These are the executive, the legislature, and the president.  The legislature and the executive are closely linked. The executive will comprise the cabinet ministers, who are headed by the prime minister, who is commonly referred to as first among equals. This depicts the element of power sharing. The president is a separate head of the head, with different roles from those of the prime minister. Of the two types of parliamentary system: the majority and the minority and coalition government, this country should adopt the majority parliamentary model. In this model, it is the ruling party, which has a secure majority (Mainwaring 200-206).

Benefits of choosing the majority parliamentary model

Parliamentary systems guarantee the unitary element. The structure of this government form promotes a centralized government, through the executive and legislative, which are close to fusion and support each other. In presidential systems, these two only balance and check one another. The unitary element of parliamentary system will ensure the accountability of the prime minister through the vote of no confidence, which may be acted on him in case of incompetence. Any member of parliament who has noted the prime minister’s incompetence will introduce the vote of no-confidence. If this motion passes, the prime minister is compelled to leave office and is replaced by another member of a dominant party, whom the parliament chooses.

The unitary aspect of parliamentary system will also ensure stability, decisiveness, and efficiency of the different parties due to the intra-party unity. Here, one party will be in control of the legislature and the executive. The chief whip in the government’s whipping system will be responsible for party discipline during voting, as he will serve as a link between the executive and the government. It is also easy to pass legislation because members of parliament vote along their party line.

The centralized government of parliamentary system acts effectively. The central government control important political issues such as taxation, defence, welfare, and foreign affairs. On the other hand, the sub-central government controls less important political issues such as local welfare. In parliamentary systems today, the line between “high politics” and “low politics” is highly diminishing, therefore making the leadership roles to be more centralized.

Finally, a parliamentary system will ensure sovereignty of the parliament. Here, no one can overrule the decisions made by the parliament. This in turn will enhance the stability of the democracy. This prevents confusion as in the cases where decisions are made and changed frequently. Sovereignty also regulates the power exercised by the president and prime minister. Unlike presidentialism, this form of government ensures accountability of elected leaders as incompetent leaders can be removed from office through the vote of no-confidence. A new constitution, with democratic elements must be formulated and promulgated. This bases on the views of the people and its passing depends on peoples ‘votes. y do not get above the law (Horowitz 144-148).

 

Costs of parliamentary systems

Parliamentary sovereignty restricts judicial review. This is because when decisions are made by parliament, they are final and no other body can review them. The aspect of part intra-unity is also costly as the dominant party may exercise more power and become domineering over the others. In addition, the elaborate whipping system may lead to motions being passed by the dominant party, while the opposition can do nothing much.  Finally, unitary systems may not favour the local authorities due to the highly centralized government. The central government has the powers to abolish local governments; therefore, the local authorities have limited power to make policies making them vulnerable to stagnation.

Conclusion

Changing from authoritarianism to democracy is a positive step in country governance. However, democracy must be sustained after transition. With a parliamentary form of government, all policies will be centred on the people to avoid discrimination and negative ethnicity. Choosing a proportional electoral system will ensure free and fair elections. Political reforms through policies will clear messes caused by authoritarianism. Additionally, leaders must show political will and commitment to the goal of democracy by allocating sufficient funds, which will address the various needs of implementing democracy in the country. Leaders and citizens in ensuring sustainable democracy must play a collective role. No form of government is perfect. The unitary government in parliamentary systems, which is adopted by this country, has few imbalances in some aspects, mainly lack of legislative review and separate legislature and executive. Nonetheless, a parliamentary government is most suitable for new democracies as it guarantees stability, efficiency, and decisiveness in governance, in addition to it being highly accountable to its citizens.

 

Works Cited

Horowitz, Donald. “Comparing Democratic Systems,” in Diamond and Plattner (eds), The

Global Resurgence of Democracy, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1996. 143-149.

Lijphart, Arend. “Constitutional Choices for New Democracies,” in Diamond and Plattner (eds),

The Global Resurgence of Democracy, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1996. 162-174.

Linz, Juan. “The Perils of Presidentialism,” in Diamond and Plattner (eds), The Global

Resurgence of Democracy, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1996. 124-142.

Mainwaring, Scott. “Presidentialism, Multipartism and Democracy,” Comparative Political

Studies, 26.2(1993): 198-228.

 

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Introduction

The kind of leadership that is adopted by any country plays a big role in its economic and social development. A good kind of leadership is one that grants the citizens their rights and liberty, upholds fairness and justice, and includes all its citizens in the legislation process. Authoritarian type of leadership is the exact opposite of this and generally detrimental to the development of a country. An authoritarian leadership endows all power and decision-making to an individual, who also has absolute control over the state. Such states will most likely not register any development. Badly governed governments have a negative influence on global development; therefore, it is empirical to develop effective democratic governance due to its benefits.

Transition from Authoritarianism to Democracy

Transiting from authoritarianism to democracy is an enlightened move, as this will see a participatory leadership, which will boost national development. During a transition in leadership style of a country, many things change in the country, including different structures and procedures, and laws of a country are entitled to a change. Therefore, changing country’s leadership from authoritarianism to democracy will generally require that the government structure and the electoral system of the country be transformed through the implementation of relevant policies to spur change. This is in addition to other numerous changes that must take place (Lijphart 163-164).

Multi-ethnicity

 Multi-ethnicity has adverse effects on countries, as it causes socio-cultural differences between the component ethnic groups, and these results in cultural dissimilarity. Consequently, cultural dissimilarity unfolds in differential reactions of leaders and citizens to the government policies since each ethnic group has its own perspectives and worldviews. This also leads to a voting based on ethnic lines. Multi-ethnicity makes it hard for citizens to identify with their nation, as they are likely to identify with their ethnic groupings. This causes voting along ethnic lines, bias in distribution of employment, political offices, and power. Multi-ethnicity also results in violence, battles, and conflicts in a country, thereby threatening the security of country and lowers investment level in a country. If multi-ethnicity is not controlled, it results in many problems as it opposes democracy. The strategies employed in democracy process, should accommodate the need of eliminating negative ethnicity in the country. Multi-ethnicity and democracy are two opposing forces.

The Strategy

The development process of countries depends on the form of governance, including the form of power execution. Good democratic governance is a prerequisite for national development. Democracy increases effectiveness, participation, transparency, accountability, and lawfulness, and therefore must be embraced. The following strategies are important in successful adoption of democracy.

Clear Objectives

A country must set out its clear objectives on what it wants to achieve in democracy. These objectives should be more than the adoption of democracy, and should include what a country wants to do with the democracy. This is because democracies are prone to fall; therefore, adopting democracy only does not guarantee any country that the democracy will be stable. In the world, few leaders can sustain good leadership; therefore, for democracy to last, the leaders should be goal-oriented and be concerned with the interests of the country, rather than personal interests. The leaders chosen must show high level of commitment to the democratic governance. It is also important that a country set up institutional mechanisms to regulate power execution.

Free and Fair Elections

Free and fair elections are the backbone of democracy. The electoral system must be secured by restructuring it to fit in the paradigm of democracy. This should begin with the judiciary, which must be independent, with a clear rule of law. In addition, the parliament should be elected and comprise individuals who will ensure autonomy. These must also be capable of supervising the other government arms to ensure they execute their roles in the best way possible. Electoral laws are crucial in the electioneering process as these determine the parliamentary regime. These laws should therefore, be enacted carefully. Democracy in the electoral system will ensure transparency and participation of all citizens in the electioneering process, which is essential for national development (Linz 127-132).

Political reforms

Political reforms are essential as the ruins of the former authoritarian governance need to be cleared. These reforms will include development in different spheres of the country. The element of multi-party democracy should be established well, as this influences the electoral process. Its effectiveness and accountability must be highly regarded. It is quite impossible to offer a generalized approach to political reforms. Therefore, careful assessment of the previous political structure must be considered, from there, new effective reforms can be identified. There is no shortcut to doing this, developing and establishing a democracy requires patience and time. Therefore, the leaders and citizens must play a collective role in ensuring that democracy is sustained. The leaders and citizens must participate in the controlling of corruption and enhancing accountability. They should collectively strengthen their rule of law and democratic policies. Political parties must be highly democratized and their roots deepened in the country. It is also imperative for the government to support private organizations, which support democracy (Mainwaring 200-206).

Costs

            The journey to democracy is tough and requires a lot of sacrifice, time, and patience from the leaders and citizens. This is like an investment in future political security, and therefore calls for actions. These actions are executed with financial spending. Therefore, the government must fund all democratic processes indiscriminately to achieve balanced results. A part of country budget must be set aside to cater for implementation of democracy policies, civic training of people in democracy, among others. The government must be committed to the level of seeking international funding whenever local funding runs short (Lijphart 168-170).

Benefits

            Democracy is paramount to national development, and therefore is highly recommended. A country will benefit from democracy through the participation of citizens in legislation process. A participatory government ensures the citizen’s rights, and therefore, a happy nation. When citizens are happy and included in governance, they feel they are part of their nation, and will embrace their national identity. Effective democracy is responsive to the needs of its citizens through its transparent public administration, thereby increasing their patriotism levels. In democracy, the legislative and electoral systems are strengthened, therefore enhancing access to justice. Considering all these benefits, only democracy can bring positive change, harmony, and stability in a country (Horowitz 144-148).

Conclusion

Transition from authoritarianism to democracy is a positive step in governance of any country. However, after the transition, a country must be able to sustain the democracy, which is adopted. For successful change in governance and sustenance of democracy, there must be the achievement of rigorous and effective strategies and policies. These must be applied in the different political processes in the country to boost positive and lasting transformation. Clear objectives are essential to ensure the achievement, sustenance, and commitment to democracy. The electoral system is key to all democracies, and so must be strengthened and democratized, through ensuring free and fair elections, which is a component of democracy. Political reforms are necessary to clear the messes caused by authoritarianism, and these are possible through reforms in different areas. The leaders should show a political will and commitment to the goal of democracy by allocating sufficient funds, which will address the various needs of implementing democracy in the country. Sustenance is a collective role of both the leaders and citizens. Therefore, these must play their respective roles. Negative ethnicity should be eliminated, as this is an impediment to democracy. Once the leaders and the citizens are aware of what entails democracy, and what their place is in democracy, then the transitioning will be successful and subsequently result in sustenance of democracy.

 

Works Cited

Horowitz, Donald. “Comparing Democratic Systems,” in Diamond and Plattner (eds), The

Global Resurgence of Democracy, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1996. 143-149.

Lijphart, Arend. “Constitutional Choices for New Democracies,” in Diamond and Plattner (eds),

The Global Resurgence of Democracy, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1996. 162-174.

Linz, Juan. “The Perils of Presidentialism,” in Diamond and Plattner (eds), The Global

Resurgence of Democracy, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1996. 124-142.

Mainwaring, Scott. “Presidentialism, Multipartism and Democracy,” Comparative Political

Studies, 26.2(1993): 198-228.

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Lab Report

The fetal pig dissected was male. This was evident because of location of the urogenital opening, responsible for the passage of   liquid wastes and reproductive cells. On this fetal pig, the opening was on the ventral part of the pig, which is posterior to the umbilical cord. Additionally, the scrotal sacs were located at the posterior end of the pig. If it were female, the presence of ovaries and fallopian tube would attest to this (“Fetal Pig Dissection.”).

The whole dissection process was interesting and educative. However, what interested me most was seeing how the different organs and organ systems of the fetal pig are interconnected. There was a strikingly clear representation of the body organs. Additionally, observing a three dimensional structure of the body of an animal was thrilling.

This lab dissection gave me a better understanding of the human body. This is because pigs are mammals, same as humans. Therefore, they are a representation of the human bodies, since most features they possess are shared with humans. These include the nervous system, the digestive system, the respiratory, and circulatory systems, among others. Therefore, this experience was like viewing the internal organs of a person.

Human anatomy is a program that requires deeper understanding of the human body. A future career in surgery requires one to have an impeccable understanding of human anatomy since this is what it all entails. Failure of knowledge in this cannot guarantee one a surgery job. In addition, surgery requires genuine experts, and not quacks.

If presented with another opportunity, I would like to participate in another dissection lab. What I like most about dissection is that it is a hands-on or practical activity. It helps us to test the validity of the theory part of class work. Besides, continued dissection will help me acquire observational skills, as I will be able to keenly observe, analyze, and develop findings.

References

“Fetal Pig Dissection.” (n.d). Retrieved, 28^th November 2012,

http://www.biologyjunction.com/fetal_pig_dissection.htm

 

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Consciousness Variation

 

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28^th November 2012

 

Consciousness Variation

 “States of Consciousness” is an internet based Psychology article, which serves as a guide to students of Psychology. Any psychology student accessing this article will be equipped with important psychology knowledge, considering this article discusses diverse topics in psychology. However, the interest of this article review is on just one psychology topic among the different topics addressed by the article. The aspect of consciousness variation will be reviewed as presented by this article.

According to this article, the understanding of states of consciousness begins with a clear understanding of what consciousness is. This article classifies consciousness variation into two states, in which sleep plays a major role. These states are Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep and the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. The author regards the aspect of consciousness as a slippery concept, which cannot be touched or seen. That this nature of consciousness limited past psychologists from studying it, and so most were compelled to study behaviorism. At least behaviorism is observable, hence to study, unlike the unobservable consciousness, which is quite hard to study.

On the concept of sleep, the article emphasizes the importance of sleep. The author argues that the physical and psychological impact of sleeplessness is evidence that sleep is vital. The problems associated with sleeplessness are mentioned to include increased irritability, reduced alertness, and reduced attention. An important effect of loss of sleep is mentioned as sleep-deprivation psychosis, which is characterized by disorientation, confusion, hallucinations, and delusions. Nonetheless, the importance of both REM sleep and slow-wave sleep are emphasized. These have different roles they play in human body. Slow-wave sleep is vital in refreshing the body after physical fatigue. The author recommends that developing children must be offered ample time to sleep. He explains that it is during sleep that a growth hormone is produced. Therefore, the longer they sleep, the faster they will grow.

In the article, sleep is considered a biological rhythm, which cannot be sidestepped. It is like an internal clock, which is set to a 24-hour cycle. According to the author, this “clock” experiences grogginess and sometimes peaks at different times of the day, depending on temperature and neutral firings of human bodies. The hypothalamus and the pineal gland are responsible for the control of this rhythm. However, the optic nerve and melatonin hormone play crucial roles too. Optic nerve regulates amount of light entering the sensory system, while melatonin hormone induces sleep.

The article describes meditation as the transition to internal focus of attention, from the external focus of attention. The author emphasizes the health benefits of meditation to humans. The health benefits mentioned are, meditation lowers blood pressure, reduces anxiety, increases resiliency, as well as emotional stability. The author applies meditation to the case of asthmatic people. He argues that meditation, if practiced by asthmatic patients could contribute to their healing. He links this to the fact that in meditation, people learn how to breathe effectively, which is a requirement for all asthmatic people. It is believed that historically, Zen and transcendental are the origins of meditation today. The author also explains the concept of biofeedback training in relation to meditation and consciousness. This application of meditation is employed by psychologists to help people see how meditation plays the role of controlling breathing, as well as the brain waves. Normally, all this is displayed on the monitor, so that a person can decide and choose which one suits them best.

The article also addresses the concept of hypnosis as well, starting with its brief history. Anton Mesmer popularized hypnosis. He mainly used this in cases of mentally ill patients. The power of suggestion was instrumental in conducting the process on his patients. However, the methods Anton used on his patients were quite skeptical, as he passed magnets over people’s bodies in order to the animal magnetism. The author of this article however credits him for his contribution. The procedure of performing hypnosis is explained. First, hypnosis is induced, by having the subject to relax and shift their attention inwards. This process is similar to the onset of sleep. The benefits of hypnosis are identified as helping a person gather their forgotten memories, gaining super human strength, as well as helping one regress to an earlier time. Two theories of that can explain hypnosis are named as role taking theory and neo-dissociative theory.

Finally, on the psychoactive drugs, the article regards them as substances capable of affecting the central nervous system and altering a person’s consciousness. The author also briefly describes then concepts of drug tolerance and drug dependence. Three major categories of psychoactive drugs are described. First, depressants, responsible for depressing the nervous system include alcohol, tranquilizers, and barbituates. Stimulants cause stimulation of the nervous system, and include amphetamines, cocaine, nicotine, and caffeine. Finally, hallucinogens produce sensations and perceptions without stimulation by external factors, and include LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, and marijuana.

This article does not employ the author’s own practical experiment. Instead, the author bases his hypotheses on the researches and theories done by other psychologists. He uses these research findings to approve or disapprove of different psychological elements he is arguing against or for. However, the author has used this research approach to come up with useful information.

The accuracy of this page is quite commendable. However, a few important details about the page are not well represented. For instance, a reader cannot tell what institution is responsible for the creation of the page. Besides, there are no details of the author, publisher, or their contact details. The authority of this page does not also list the credential of the author; neither does it have a preferred domain. Nonetheless, the page has provides useful information for psychology students. In addition, this page has links to other psychology topics. Therefore, it is a resourceful page for psychology students. Objectivity is highly upheld by this page. There are no advertisements or any pop-outs on the page, only the information on psychology. The coverage is also clear as a reader can view the information clearly. No fee or charges are required to access the page. Additionally, for one to access the page, they do not require to have any special software or special browser. Therefore, the accessibility of the page is easy and not demanding. This makes it advantageous for students, as the access is easy.

Conclusively, despite the few flaws, this article remains resourceful as it addresses psychology concepts quite comprehensively. It brings us to the realization that consciousness varies, and that human beings can learn how to control consciousness variation by being increasing the awareness about our environment. The psychology information in the article therefore is crucial, as it can be applied to both academic use, as well as for personal psychology practice, including the awareness practice.

 

reference

“States of Consciousness.” (n.d) Retrieved from

http://www.kilfreud.com/consciousness.htm

 

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The McLean Hospital

The McLean Hospital at Fernside is an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and is located in Princeton, Massachusetts. This center serves adult men and women who are above 18 years old. The program offers treatment for addiction and other psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. It aims at helping adults get over addiction, uphold abstinence, and acquire knowledge and skills to ensure total recovery and a drug and alcohol-free life.

The duration of stay at the hospital depends on the nature of the patients’ needs. Some will stay longer while others will stay for shorter periods. Nonetheless, there is highly individualized treatment and the rehabilitation is intensive, while an on-going treatment for addicts by addiction psychiatrist runs for five days a week.

Treatment approaches are diverse, depending on the client’s situation. These include group therapies, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), as well as the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Other therapies for body and mind rehabilitation include yoga, music therapies, mindfulness, health education, and fitness programs, among others,  After treatment, the overall addiction plan concludes with a follow-up, which may involve consultations with referring providers, a detailed aftercare planning, and family education and support.

I chose this center because I believe it is the best center for addicts. The services and handling of patients is done in a classy way. In addition, the treatment is trusted as skilled health professionals perform it. The many testimonies of former drug addicts from McLean Hospital can attest to this. Nonetheless, apart from offering addiction rehabilitation, this center offers many more interventions that are psychological. Moreover, the U.S. News and World Report ranked this hospital first among all the freestanding psychiatric hospitals.

 

Reference

“McLean Hospital.” (n.d) “Help for Alcoholism and Drug Addiction.” Retrieved from http://www.mclean.harvard.edu/patient/adult/adatp/mcleancenter.php

 

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Cultural Awareness and Diversity in Effective Business Communication

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28^th, November 2012

 

Cultural Awareness and Appreciation of Diversity are Critical Aspects of Effective Business Communication

Diversity has become an issue of increasing importance, as the contemporary world is multi-cultural. Today, people interact in a variety of ways as compared to the past days; therefore, communication has increased among people in different countries. Similarly, in the economic sphere, the aspect of communication is of great importance, as it is the tool through which, companies sell themselves, and interact with their clients. It is therefore imperative that companies embrace the aspect of inter-cultural communication in order for them to be ranked globally. Effective inter-cultural communication is one that embraces the elements of cultural awareness and appreciation of diversity. At the work place, if these are upheld, the company will register greater productivity and smooth workflow. Therefore, cultural diversity and appreciation of diversity must be applied in business communication to ensure effectiveness.

One of the reasons why companies need to embrace cultural awareness and appreciation of diversity in the course of their communication is because of the most recent advanced communication forms. The presence of the internet helps companies, including the locals and multinationals to interact with their local and international clients. Since these clients are of different cultural backgrounds, if the said company lacks the elements of cultural awareness and diversity appreciation in its communication plan, then such is likely to miss many profits due to the ineffective communication between it and its local and international clients (Gibson 2002).

In addition, because of the internet, the world has become a global village, where information and knowledge must be shared across continents in order to sustain the world economy. Cultural diversity therefore has an impact on business communication, as it has to be considered when businesses are dealing with diverse cultures. If a business upholds cultural diversity, it means that a mixture of people from various cultural backgrounds, sexual orientation, language groups, ethnicity, and religions, co-exist together peacefully in a stable work environment.

Cultural diversity needs to be embraced by businesses for various reasons. First, business communication keeps evolving because of the globalization concept that has brings world business cultures together. The new emerging economies attempt to integrate business cultures of traditional powerhouse nations into their businesses, and they leave the influence of their own culture wherever they go. Both small and big businesses must uphold cultural diversity in their business communication plan, starting from the corporate boardrooms to employee break-rooms, they should understand the eccentricities of all cultures to which they are exposed (Okpara 2008).

Languages are greatly affected by worldviews of their indigenous cultures. Therefore, words in a language will have completely different meaning to people of different cultural backgrounds. In the workplace, employees therefore need to be extra-cautious to ensure that their messages are understood clearly, as they communicate with workers of different cultural backgrounds. Employees should avoid taboo topics while conversing. Additionally, different biases in religious aspects, political aspects, or social issues and nuances of life experiences differ between cultures, making it a challenge for employees to find a common ground while communicating. Additionally, different cultures have different ways of addressing and managing conflicts. For instance, people in Netherlands consider arguments as constructive and an essential part of communication. On the contrary, people from Japan consider public arguments and disagreements as offensive. Therefore, when the two work in the same company, communication problems are likely to come up due to the cultural differences in communication aspects. This is why communication plans of companies must integrate and accommodate different cultures (Gibson 2002).

In the previous years, most entrepreneurs and corporate managers developed their own unique business communication plans for interacting with their customers, suppliers, and business partners. Today, however, things have changed, as the workplace comprises people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Therefore, company managers have to take time to study the cultural eccentricities of their business counterparts before attempting to make contact with people in other countries or from other sub-cultures. For instance, an American tycoon must understand that he should not shake hands with his Chinese business partners, but bow and smile slightly, as a form of greeting. Therefore, in international business communication, verbal communication, as well as body language is essential communication components to be looked out for. Posture, mannerism, and gestures are the little communication details that have a great bearing on business communication, as misinterpretation of these can lead to a rift between business partners from different cultural backgrounds (Sundararajan 2005). Additionally, the diversity of culturally distinct managers has been melting away slowly as globalization and westernization give managers extensive experience in different cultures.

Written communication is similarly an important aspect of business communication. Companies in their communication plans should mainly consider this in order to accommodate foreign speakers. Today, in most universities, business-communication courses insist on the simplicity and readability of correspondence over the use of complex language and technical prowess in writing. The ability to deliver messages across in a simple way, which is understood by everyone, is more important than boasting and exhibiting mastery of the legalese language or the complexity of business research language.

Information transfer is critical in business operations; hence, the need for effective communication, as it drives the business process. Communication is influenced by culture. Companies face a challenge and dilemma whereby cross-cultural communication is introduced because of major reforms that come because of internationalization, merging, and joint ventures by businesses. All these changes have made culture an important component of business communication. Company managers therefore have to understand and invest in cross-cultural trainings in order to avoid great business losses. If business communication does not embrace cultural awareness and cultural diversity, it is likely to lose its customers, staff, as well as stakeholders (Sundararajan 2005). Additionally, misunderstandings, internal conflicts, poor motivation of staff, lack of team building, as well as poor company productivity will result. These are only the small problems that lack of cross-cultural communication in companies may result in.

Today, international countries with employees from diverse cultural backgrounds and nationalities face problems arising from the cultural differences in the company’s workforce. These differences are in form of language, behavior, business ethics, beliefs, cultural etiquettes, and values. Such differences result in conflict if a company does not adopt an effective business communication plan that accommodates cultural diversity and cultural awareness. Poor handling of this matter will lead to the collapse of big multi-internationals. To prove the importance of cultural awareness and diversity in business communication, businesses are seen to employ cross-cultural consultants as well as intercultural team builders to deal with the challenges posed by cultural diversity in companies (Gibson 2002).

Companies today realize the importance of effective business communication and so have ensured that they embrace cultural awareness and diversity by utilizing modern communication forms. The use of fax, mobile phones, e-mails, and other modern communication media by companies has helped to close in the barriers of cultural distance and has boosted intercultural communication awareness (Sundararajan 2005).

The company’s organizational culture influences the effectiveness of its business communication. For effective business communication, a company should be an open system, and not a closed one. Different company departments should exhibit cross communication synergy. Lack of this is a proof that there is a communication problem. In turn, team building is necessary to fix this. Such situations are common after mergers of two companies of different cultures; therefore, these must play a collective role of strengthening employee relations by encouraging cultural awareness and embracing diversity. Today, most companies go for mergers in anticipation of big profits, however, they forget about the effect of mergers on business communication, especially if the merging companies are of different cultural grounds (Okpara 2008).

More companies realize that most of their financial problems have their roots in company business communication. Previously, companies concentrated much on the employee qualifications and less on the cross-cultural environment in the company. In this era of globalization, the concepts of cultural awareness and diversity in workplaces, and their effects on business communication have been discovered. Therefore, most companies consider understanding the communication between cultures as a prerequisite for an effective business communication plan. This is why intercultural business management has skyrocketed (Niemeier, Campbell & Dirven 1998).

According to Okpara (2008), most mergers and cross-cultural business ventures fail terribly because of their underestimation of the impact of culture awareness and diversity in the working environment, and specifically, the business communication. There is therefore, need for companies to seek expert advice on such situations. If the experts help the company in designing an effective business communication plan, which embraces cultural awareness and appreciate diversity, this will be a worthy investment for the company, as the company productivity will be enhanced.

Therefore, in contemporary business environment, an understanding, awareness, and appreciation of cultural diversity are of great value to businesses. Cultural awareness helps to develop a productive, cohesive, and positive working environment. This is despite whether the diversity is in form of clients or employees in different countries or people from diverse cultural backgrounds working in the same office. If cultural awareness and understanding lacks, it is easy for companies to be involved in conflicts and misunderstandings based on cultural differences (Arredondo 1996).

Conclusively, cultural awareness and appreciation of diversity remain critical aspects of effective business communication. In the contemporary world, there is high multiculturalism in different institutions, including businesses. Since communication is an important aspect in business, companies are compelled to ensure effective communication. However, in the contemporary company, which is highly multicultural, effective business communication can never be achieved if the aspects of diversity appreciation and cultural awareness are neglected, and not integrated in the business communication plan. This only leads to business failures and conflicts, which is lethal to business health. Therefore, businesses have to embrace appreciate diversity and cultural awareness in business communication in order to boost productivity.

 

Works Cited

Arredondo, P 1996, Successful Diversity Management Initiatives: A Blueprint for Planning and Implementation. SAGE, New York.

Gibson, R 2002, Intercultural Business Communication: An introduction to the theory and practice of intercultural business communication for teachers, language trainers, and business people. Oxford University Press, London.

Niemeier, S., Campbell, C. & Dirven, R 1998, The Cultural Context in Business Communication. John Benjamins Publishing, New Jersey.

Okpara, J 2008, Globalization of Business: Theories and Strategies fo Tomorrow’s Managers. Adonis & Abbey, London.

Sundararajan, N 2005, Effective Business Communication. Sura Books, New Delhi.

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Introduction

This research paper analyzes the concept of health behavior change in the field of nursing. The structure of the paper, including theory development bases on the concept analysis framework of Smith and Liehr (2008).

Background

Working as a nurse in the ICU comes gives one different experiences basing on the various one is exposed to. I work in the ICU, where I am responsible for taking care of the critically ill patients.  Specifically, I am charged with those who need artificial ventilation or breath. In order to perform my duty perfectly, I am supposed to ensure that the patients get better by preventing any other side effects, which may result in the course of their admission in the ICU. One of the most dangerous risks that ICU patients on artificial air are exposed to is the Ventilator-associated Pneumonia (VAP). The prevention of VAP by nurses involves a is a 5-steps process, called the VAP bundle. Of the five steps, interruption of the sedation to introduce extubation to the patient is one most critical step. This is also commonly referred to as weaning from the mechanical ventilation. It has to be practiced every day, in addition to the assessment for the readiness of extubation. Previously, the physicians attending to patients in critical situations attempted to reduce the length of time of mechanical ventilation. They did this by manipulating ventilator modes and gradually decreasing the ventilator support. Nonetheless, reseatch today has shown that sedation can have a bigger impact on the length of time of mechanical ventilation, and other patient outcomes than can manipulating ventilator modes (Eber, Laximinarayan, Perencevich, Malani, 2010).

 

Different patients respond differently to the process of sedation, depending on their health status and ability to cope. One major incidence that comes to my mind when sedation is mentioned is one I experienced with a one day post renal transplant patient. This patient had been admitted to the ICU for 12 hours observation. She was in quite stable condition as she was alert and conscious, and waited to be transferred to the surgical ward. However, the patient exhibited high levels of anxiety a she kept questioning about the ICU experience and what her outcome would be. As a professional, I strengthened her hope, while talking to her. Unfortunately, an overdose of “FK” is administered to the patient, who collapses afterwards. After undergoing successful surgery, the patient is put on mechanical ventilation and later sedated so that she does not fight the mechanical ventilation equipment.  After she stabilized, the weaning process from mechanical ventilation took effect. This is in accordance with the VAP bundle protocol of preventing the occurrence of VAP. On receiving the physician’s order, I adhered to it by holding the sedation to assess if the patient is ready for extubation. However, after successful extubation, the patient grow agile, bitter, and violent. She asked if I could undertake the same processof extubation on my own mum. She felt this was some kind of a mean act as it dehumanized her.  My attempts to explain the importance of the process were not welcome by the patient, as she could not understand.

The Phenomenon of Interest

The phenomenon of interest related to my story and her first action after weaning her from mechanical ventilator, best described as “Waking up to breath”. This phenomenon was termed after a discussion with two of my colleagues while we are doing our assignment for statistics course. We stopped for a while and discussed our concept development. Thus, each one of us presented her story and then we helped each other the come up with a concept.

Theoretical Lens for Viewing the Phenomenon

The theoretical lenses used to view this phenomenon is used to shape the meaning of this phenomenon. The phenomena in this research is ‘waking up to breath.’ This describes the reaction of the involved patient after how she reacted to the fact that she was being weaned  from the mechanical ventilator. She reacted rather violently. Various theories can be used to bring this phenomenon into perspective. However, I choose to choose one of the middle range theories. The theory of self-efficacy is one that will bring a deeper meaning and understanding to this phenomenon. This theory is important in determining the activity or situation an individual can perform or avoid.

In this theory, a person’s self-efficacy is determined by behaviors, environment, and personal or cognitive factors. These influence each other; however, cognitive factors play a bigger role. In self-efficacy, objectives are achieved through perseverance and overcoming obstacles and observing others succeed through sustained efforts. In addition, in self-efficacy, it relates to a person’s perception of their ability to reach a goal. According to Bandura (1986), behavior relations and changes are affected by repeated failures, motivation, performance, and frustrations.  This theory is applied to this phenomenon since it is widely applied to health behavior change. Cognitive and behavioral psychotherapy for depression are based on theoretical concepts of self-efficacy.

 

 

Related Literature

Kasikci (2011) also addressed the self –efficacy theory emphasizing how it dras its roots from the social theory. He asserts that people are responsible for their own motivation and behavior. Thus there is a relationship between self-perception and individual action. On the other hand, Bandura refers to self-efficacy as the level of a person’s confidence in their abilities to successfully execute different tasks (Bandura, 1997). Bandura (1997) asserts that behaviour is a result of outcome expectations and self-efficacy expectation. Kasikci describes outcome expectations as hope that specific behavior will result to positive outcome. He describes efficacy expectations as a person’s assessment of their ability to behave in a particular way (Kasikci, 2011). Bandura named four mechanisms that influence self –efficacy; these are, mastery experience, modelling, social persuasion and judgement bodily states (Bandura, 1986).
Self-efficacy helps in the development and implemention of  health promotion programs in advanced practice. The role of advanced practice nurses emphasizes health maintenance, healthy life style promotions, consultations, case management counselling about risk status and risk reduction (Lev, 1997).

A reconstructed a story from a person who has experienced the phenomenon

The patient I dealt with in my case was a woman aged  fourty-two, a single mother with an adult daughter and son. She underwent a renal surgery successfully, but admitted for few more days because of her poor coping. When asked about her experience in the ICU, these were her words;

I had never been to the ICU before, and so I was really afraid. All my life, I believed ICU is for people who had slim chances of living, so when I entered the ICU doors, I did not know what to expect afterwards. I was anxious, as I pestered the attending nurse if I was going to live or die. The whole mechanical ventilation thing was awful. I felt I was not going to get any better. Extubation was irritating, and this compelled me to yell at the nurse and at some point turned violent. Nonetheless, I got better but since I did not cope well, it took me a little longer to totally heal.

A Mini-saga that captures the reconstructed story

 

 

 

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Comet Group Limited 

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30^th, November 2012

 

Table of Contents

Summary. 3

Company Overview.. 4

Business Description. 4

SWOT Analysis. 5

Strengths. 5

Weakness. 6

Opportunities. 6

Threats. 7

Five Force Analysis of Comet 9

The Strategy at Comet and its Possible Way Forward. 11

Recommendation. 14

Conclusion. 14

Works Cited. 16

Summary

Comet Company ranks among the top electrical retail companies in the United Kingdom. It comes second after Dixon. After its founding in 1933, Comet has continually changed its ownership. Most recently, a private investment partnership, OpCapita LLP took over the possession of Comet in February 2012. Today, Comet has succumbed to economic pressures, has closed most of its outlets, and is in administration under Deloitte (“Comet”). This collapse is attributed to the major losses incurred by the company, in addition to the withdrawal of its credit insurance by its insurer. The main strength of Comet is that it had developed the shopping experience of its customers, both in its online presence and retail store presence by use of modern computer technology (“Comet”). However, its main weakness is that it does not fully consider its customers, with whom it seems detached. Most of its strategies were not customer-centered, besides selling their products expensively. This paper therefore addresses the SWOT analysis of this company, in order to determine what could have led the company to collapse, and what can be done to revive the situation.

 

Company Overview

Comet Group Limited Company is owned by OpCapita, but is currently in administration by Deloitte. This specialized electrical retailer has its headquarters in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, which is its primary location. It has a total of 8 000 employees and 240 electrical stores in the UK. Being part of OpCapita LLP, Comet does not release its financials. Comet claims to have prioritized its customers’ needs such as price, choice, and services (“Comet”).

Business Description

Comet Company is highly diversified as it distributes a wide range of electrical products to its market. These include home appliances as well as electrical office equipment, among others. Home appliances sold include fridges, laundry, dishwashers, freezers, cooking products, and small kitchen appliances. In addition, it also distributes electronics such as televisions, digital versatile discs, computers, cameras, satellite navigation, camcorders, games and consoles, iPod, MP3, HiFi systems, blu ray, and a wide range of phones. Other special services offered by Comet are next day delivery, and home delivery services. Its representatives also perform full installation of products for customers, take back, and recycling facilities for large products, as well as after sale services (Moth 2011). Comet boasts of both the direct and online presence. Customers can shop directly at their stores or shop online through the company website, thus allowing convenient shopping. Online customers utilize the “click and collect” service, where they can select preferred products online and reserve them for later picking. Another service dubbed “click and chat” serves the purpose of connecting customers to a customer service advisor, who addresses customers’ queries on products and services. Apart from online and retail shopping, customers can shop using their phone by dialing a number provided by Comet. Comet also conducts weekly checks of its competitors’ prices in order to ensure a fair value for its customers (“Comet”).

SWOT Analysis

Comet’s popularity in the UK, as a vast retailer of different electrical products cannot be understated. Since the company is popular, it is expected that this popularity will alleviate the business risk the company is exposed to. This in turn results in diversification of revenue stream and the business stands a chance to equally participate in the fast developing retail market of the UK. However, Comet faces intense competition both in its online business as well as from other retailers of similar specialization. This scenario continues to affect this company adversely, even as it is currently on the verge of collapsing (Anja & Böhm 2009).

Strengths

The many retail outlets of the company in the UK should ideally lead to a reliable revenue stream of the company. With 240 different outlets in the country, it is expected that the revenue must be high. Due to Comet’s multiple presence in the UK, its sales are expected to be relatively high. Another major strength is that Comet has various models of operation including direct presence, and online presence. Ideally, this diversified business presence should serve to lower business risk of the company and increase profits (Moth 2011).

Consumer spending in the UK is not high; therefore, this negatively affects most companies. However, Comet’s strong brand portfolio enables it to be a participant in the renewing of consumer spending in the UK. In past years, Comet has undertaken an in-house research. This, in addition to other development facilities promotes a faster entrance into a market, as well as customer satisfaction. Through research, the needs of customers are made known to Comet, which is a competitive advantage. Moreover, if market research is backed by product development, this will see that the product is readily accepted by customers, while ensuring an easy market penetration. Comet also employs advertising, sales, and marketing strategies, which are appropriate for enhancing customer awareness of the company (Moth 2011).

Weakness

Retail outlets of Comet lack good positioning in the country. This is in relation to Comet’s distribution strategy, which is limited, thus allowing overreliance on specific channels. Comet primarily distributes its products and services through departmental stores and freestanding stores, which are to some extent limited. This limited distribution strategy is a competitive disadvantage to Comet, considering that it competes with several other companies with high value products. This puts a limit on Comet to explore the market (“Comet”).

Incompetent prices and product quality are key to Comet’s failure. In addition, service assurance, as well as lack of convenience as compared to other large supermarkets, retail outlets, and other web based retailers, is another great weakness of Comet (Moth 2011). Most customers in the UK have complained about Comet’s expensive prices for products as well as its poor customer services. This has seen Comet lose potential and existing customers to its competitors such as the Amazon, which boasts of high quality customer services and reduced prices of products.

Opportunities

According to Weinberg (2009), an opportunity for growth is presented by the increasing popularity of online retail channels, as well as social networking media. The online Comet channel has been growing in popularity as one of the most preferred channels in the UK. Moreover, Comet’s internet sales are higher as compared to retail sales. There is hope that the online sales will increase as customers use the internet to make price comparisons, even as VAT tax increases. Additionally, internet retail bears many beneficial aspects on both the distributors and the customers. For instance, a producer may not incur operational costs, as they can pass this onto the consumers. Therefore, more people are opting to shop online because of the convenience factor it presents. Comet has also developed its e-commerce site, where it performs its online campaigns and marketing. It uses social media to focus on its customers, in addition to other marketing initiatives, which help to broaden its customer base. Comet therefore has the opportunity to attract new customers and retain the existing ones through an increased use of social media. However, Comet had planned on continued investment in the digital social media. Nonetheless, online marketing strategy is crucial in increasing the customer base of most companies (Weinberg 2009).

Threats

High competition in the market

The business environment of Comet is characterized by immense competition. Such competition is mainly from the bigger and more established companies, which are mainly local companies. The competitors of Comet are Dixon, Amazon, Play.com, PC World, Best Buy, among others. Apart from these, Comet also faces competition from independent brands, and other smaller retailers. Some of the competitors have more resources and more appropriate and better strategies than those of Comet in reaching their customers. They therefore stand a better chance of weathering the current storm experienced in the world economy. Due to Comet’s strategies and management that are deemed less competitive as compared to those of its competitors’ Comet has been negatively impacted and maybe there is no hope for its revival (Cole 2004).

Incompetent Prices

The incompetent prices of Comet’s products make customers shy away from the company. The high prices of Comet have been responsible for the changes in their customers’ buying decision, thus affecting the sales. Sales of Comet have dropped when customers shop from other outlets that are less expensive (Moth 2011).

Increase in counterfeit products

Today, increase of counterfeit products continues to grow as compared to the previous years. This instance has been enhanced by the internet, where counterfeit market has thrived (Weinberg 2009). The abundance of these counterfeit products has a negative effect on the sales of genuine branded products. Counterfeit products have spread globally and more products are vulnerable to infringement. This is a threat to Comet as its products may face substitution.

Market Failure

Market failure is a contributing aspect to Comet’s downfall. First, amid the harsh economic climate, consumer spending has experienced a significant drop, leading many people to cut their purchase of items they consider are for luxury. Additionally, most business today is transacted online (Hill & Jones 2012). Comet has experienced numerous changes in its management system, thereby making it pay less attention to understanding the online business world in depth. Comet also did not effectively embrace multi-channel options for sales. Although Comet provided sales through their retail shops, mobile commerce, and through the company website, they still did not embrace or appreciate these as the driving forces in their retail business. In addition to the stiff competition Comet has faced in the market, its high cost of products is another disadvantage to its revenue. Moreover, people today are shifting from core visual products to combined platforms on smartphones and tablet computers. This is because of failure of Comet to research on customers’ product preference. All this makes Comet to be one of the biggest and oldest retail businesses to collapse, after the demise of Woolworths in 2008.

Five Force Analysis of Comet

Five major forces are responsible for shaping the attractiveness of a company in the market. This is according to Potter who argued that the probability of any company making profits in its market depends mainly on five factors, which include the likelihood of a new entry,  the power of buyers, the power of suppliers, the degree of rivalry, and the substitute threat (Qin 2009). In the case of Comet Company, its competitive structure can as well be analyzed using this model. However, this must bring out the poor state of Comet as it faces extinction today.

Bargaining Power of Buyers

The consumers of electrical products in the UK have a considerable amount of bargaining power as they have a variety of electrical retailers to choose to buy from. However, their limiting factor would be the location and the type of products they want to purchase. Therefore, Comet cannot boast of being influential in the UK market (   Qin 2009).

Threat of New Entrants

The electrical retail market in UK is faced with slim possibilities of having new entrants. One of the reasons is the nature of electrical products, which are highly diversified. Nonetheless, making an entrance into this market is quite costly and not easily affordable. Additionally, costs of labor incurred in UK are high, thus limiting the quality and quantity of skilled labor for potential new entrants in this market. Considering that Comet may soon be phased out, Dixon, the largest electrical retailer in UK will possibly monopolize the market, making it hard for new retailers to enter the market (Moth 2011). On the other hand, if new entrants occur, it is because of the UK market, which is not fully saturated with electrical retailers such as Comet. If a chance is made available, the possible new entrants in the market will be forced to compete stiffly against the existing product prices in the market (Qin 2009).

Threat of Substitutes

According to Qin (2009), these could range from the biggest electrical monopoly to a small independent retailer. Given that, Comet is the second largest electrical retailer in the UK after Dixon; chances for a substitute are limited. In the case of Comet, for a substitute to be successful and stand out, they must have better products and be larger than Comet. However, it is possible that a replacement of Comet will present itself, as the probability is high that Comet is collapsing soon. This is because Comet will have created a gap that will need to be filled somehow.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

In the electrical retail market, the bargaining power of suppliers is generally low. This is unless there be experienced some scarcity in the manufacturing materials of electronic products, which is unlikely to happen. Therefore, Comet can continue buying more electricals with limited constraints on the supply side.

Determinants of Rivalry among Existing Components

There are more competition opportunities in the UK’s electrical retail market as it keeps experiencing substantial growth each year. However, this market is greatly affected by the world economic climate, as well as the politics (Qin 2009). In addition, if an electrical retail company specializes in its sales, it minimizes the amount of competition it faces. However, this could turn out ineffective and lead the company to losses, if the consumers changed their product preference. On the other hand, giants in the electrical retail market in UK, including Dixon, are major determinants of how successsufl a business can be. These are capable of running marketing campaigns to boost their competition. Therefore, Comet is highly influenced by Dixon, which is much bigger.

The most influential force in the market structure of Comet is the bargaining power of its buyers. Today, buyers are exposed to many purchase information, including details about prices. (Moth 2011). This has made buyers to be more flexible and choose to buy from their preferred dealer. In addition, most of the financial problems experienced by Comet in the past, and even currently, all emanate from the relationship between Comet and its customers. Such relationships have a positive or negative influence on the perceptions of the buyer about the company, thereby, determining their buying powers (Qin 2009). Comet has lost most of its potential customers as well as existing ones, as it failed to provide best services to them, in addition to the high prices it tie to its products. Due to the bargaining power the consumers have, they have voluntarily left Comet after feeling dissatisfied and turned to other companies, such as Amazon. This in turn has greatly reduced the sale revenues of Comet. Additionally, the internet has made it possible for more producers to enter many markets, including the electrical retail market. The ability to sell online has broken the barrier to entrance into the market, which was faced by most companies in the past. This therefore has reduced the cost a company needs to develop a series of outlets. This factor has also increased bargaining power of consumers as they now have a variety of companies to choose from (Weinberg 2009).

The Strategy at Comet and Possible Way Forward

Comet has applied different strategies to address the challenges of limited revenues, quality services, as well as customer relations. In order to improve the shopping experience for its customers, Comet, in the late 2011, launched new application that gives users information about their products, reviews, and price checking facility. Android, iPhone, and Blackberry users were eligible to use the application. This was in form of a barcode scanner, which helps customers check prices in any retailer, and was the first application of its kind to feature in retail outlets. This valuable tool was instrumental in helping Comet draw to itself more customers, pulling them away from its top competitors PC World and Dixon. In addition, this came with the alternative of “click and collect,” as well as a store-finder for increased efficiency in shopping. Since this application provides more product information to customers, it made the customer shopping experience to be more interactive. The barcode scanner led to more than 15 000 customer reviews and 1 000 expert reviews and “how-to” guides on around 5 000 products (Moth 2011). Although this application was not transactional, it indirectly increased the customer base of Comet. Comet became the first electronic retailer to offer an interactive application for its clients. This way, Comet went a step further in beating its competitors. If only Comet would have based on this strategy to increase the awareness of its customers about their products, it would have recorded a considerable growth. This application would have been publicized by Comet, so that more people can download it, thus drawing sales away from their competitors, as this was a period, which many customers were price-sensitive (Moth 2011).

In an effort to counteract the economic heat, which has all along exposed Comet to a risk of incurring big losses, in May 2011, Comet adopted a short-term strategy of retrenchment, aimed at cutting on company costs due to its reduced profits. During this period, the sales at Comet were low by 15 percent. Therefore, Comet faced a great challenge considering its fixed costs of employees and rent for all its stores (“Comet”). In addition to the retrenchment, Comet planned on closing down 10 of its stores, as well as its 13 service centers. This decision came in anticipation that it would be able to lose a $20 million annual operation cost. However, this strategy was ineffective as today, Comet has closed down more of its stalls, and entered into administration by Deloitte, after losing its credit insurance and resulting in loss of 6 000 jobs for its employees (Moth 2011).

In 2010, Comet undertook the revamping of its brand identity, as well as its stores by running a television campaign to popularize its new “fun” brand personality. Comet introduced a slogan “Come and Play,” which made clients tie an “electrical” lifestyle to Comet. This rebranding strategy aimed at focusing on the relationship of the brand and customer emotions toward Comet’s products and services. Updating of the in-store language was a strategy to make the in-store experience conducive for choosing of products. All these marketing strategies were integrated to bring a change in the customers’ perception of the brand, as well as increase customers’ expectations of the electrical products (Moth 2011).

Nonetheless, the strategy taken by Comet was quite attractive; however, this was ineffective, as it did not lead to positive change today, as witnessed by the looming collapse of the company. According to Hill and Jones (2011), a customer-centered strategy is recommended as it puts into perspective the most of the preferences and needs of clients. In contrast, Comet concentrated only on the purchasing part of its customers, which is why it embarked on only making the buying experience more enjoyable. Comet needed to put into consideration the product preference of its customers by conducting an in-market research. It should have also set in place an avenue for addressing clients’ customer care needs. Besides, Comet did not care to consider its customers when coming up with its product prices. Comet is known for selling expensively, which is why most people preferred other cheaper outlets (Moth 2011). In addition, Comet should have embraced close relations with its stakeholders, as well as upholding transparency in its financial operations. This is vital as some stakeholders may offer expert financial advice to deal with an ailing company. I propose this integrated strategy mainly because the customer should be the “boss” in any business, hence needing a special treatment. Comet should be interested in their customers beyond just their pockets, in order to retain them and acquire others (Cole 2004).

Recommendation

In order for Comet to win back trust of its stakeholders and the customers, it needs to embrace transparency in its financial reporting. Currently, the investors of Comet are faced with lack of information on the company’s financial dealings, including funding, financial information, and business plans, thus miscommunication in the company. Recently, Comet had hired a reputable CEO to handle its insurance and supply problems (Moth 2011). However, this did not offer a lasting solution. Comet should embrace clarity and provide a proof that that its investment plans are moving forward. This should be tangible and proven by stockholders, not just based on rumors and hearsay.

The insurance cover of Comet was reduced previously due to its signs of poor business and definite collapse. This worse performance and lack of financial strength of Comet is because of the immense losses it has made in the past (Moth 2011). Just as in the case of Woolworths, Zavvi, Peacocks, and Focus DIY, Comet should realize that it is charged with responsibility for its own success. Therefore, to halt further poor financial performances, Comet ought to have invested highly in strong company-stakeholder relationship. If only it could show transparency and will to work with primary external stakeholders, this would have served to reduce pressure exerted on the company now, as well as the ease and aid of transition.

Conclusion

Conclusively, Comet’s predicament can easily be turned around if the necessary conditions are put in place. However, successful business rescues are only possible where there is confidence, clarity, and equality of information sharing with required and relevant partners. Actually, Comet lacked all these elements, thereby making it hard for its business rescue to be possible. Nonetheless, OpCapita is faced with a great challenge in reviving Comet given the circumstances and short-time frame of nine months between its acquisition and collapse. This has left a negative perception of Comet on its employees and creditors. OpCapita’s moving forward currently stands as an issue of reputation and image.

 

Works Cited

“Comet” n.d Retrieved, 30 November 2012, <http://press.comet.co.uk/index.php?cID=12>

Anja, B. & Böhm, A 2009, The Swot Analysis, GRIN Verlag, London.

Cole, G 2004, Management: Theory and Practice, Cengage Learning, New York.

Hill, C. & Jones, G 2012, Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach, Cengage

Learning, New York.

Moth, D 2011, Comet streaks ahead of the competition with new app, 24 November 2011

<http://econsultancy.com/ke/blog/8360-comet-streaks-ahead-of-the-competition-with-

new-app>

Qin, Z 2009, Introduction to E-commerce, Springer, New Jersey.

Weinberg, T 2009, The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web, O’Reilly Media

Inc., London.

 

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