Research on Science Essay

ABSTRACT The study explores ways in which students who have participated in a curriculum innovation, Science ALIVE! acquire Science process skills and perceive the relevance of Science in everyday life. It investigates whether students have, after the programme, perceived an improvement in applying Science process skills. Four classes of Secondary 2 Express students attended one of four modules in the Science ALIVE! programme and responded to a pre- and post-course survey to measure their perceived skill competency for each process skill. They also responded to questions on whether the programme enhanced their awareness of the relevance of Science in everyday life. Five students from each module were selected to provide written feedback at mid-course and write a journal after the course. The content of their feedback and journals were analysed to provide deeper insight of the results of the perception surveys. The data was triangulated with teachers’ feedback, which was used to provide insight of the factors that affect the acquisition of the process skills. The findings show significant increase in students’ perception of skill competency while a high percentage of students indicated that the programme has made them more aware of the relevance of Science in their lives. INTRODUCTION Traditional learning approaches in which students are passive recipients of knowledge are inconsistent with the call for Singapore schools to Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM). There is a need to allow learning to occur in settings that are relevant to students’ experiences and real world problems. In Clementi Town Secondary School (CTSS), Project Work was used as a platform for students to transfer their learning and apply in authentic applications. However, teachers who had conducted Project Work for Science at Secondary 2 observed that students’ projects lacked depth in the specific content area, and the skills needed for scientific investigations. This spurred the need to cover content knowledge relevant to the projects assigned. It also raised the concern that Science process skills, as stipulated in the MOE Lower Secondary Science (LSS) Syllabus, were not sufficiently emphasised compared to acquiring scientific knowledge. Teachers also indicated that students were una ble to appreciate the relevance of Science in solving problems in their lives after past Project Work tasks. Science Process Skills â€Å"Science process skills† is commonly used to describe a set of broadly transferable abilities that are reflective of what scientists do. These skills are grouped into two types – basic and integrated. Basic process skills provide a foundation for learning the integrated skills, which are more complex skills for solving problems or doing Science experiments. In this study, reflecting is listed as a process skill to be investigated, though it is usually considered part of thinking skills which is a broader category that subsumes process skills. Some Science educators have argued that â€Å"teaching students Science facts is not as important as developing their Science process skills so that they can learn this knowledge on their own† (Young, 1995). Studies in the United States have shown that elementary school students who are taught process skills, not only learn to use those processes, but also retain them for future use. In Singapore, the MOE Primary Science syllabus also emphasises the teaching of basic process skills and some integrated skills, while the LSS syllabus emphasises the use of process skills for planning investigations and creative problem solving, and other thinking skills. Curriculum design plays an important role in the acquisition of Science process skills. The MOE Assessment Guidelines for LSS recommends an explicit teaching of the process skills, followed by the integration of these skills by students in experimenting or carrying out investigative projects. Padilla (1990) pointed out that â€Å"when Science process skills are a specific planned outcome of a Science programme, those skills can be learned by students†¦ Teachers need to select curricula which emphasise Science process skills.† These basic skills are learnt more effectively if they are considered an important object of instruction and if proven teaching methods are used. There must be a deliberate effort to focus on teaching process skills through a modified LSS curriculum. Young (1995) recommended that if teachers have the freedom to select their own topics, they should choose topics of direct interest to themselves and which would excite students. Science knowledge serves as background for lessons but should not take up the whole lesson. Instead, more time should be spent on activities that enhance the understanding of Science concepts and improve Science skills. Some studies have shown that instead of using the didactic approach, teaching Science through the use of activity-based approaches significantly improved students’ achievement in Science process skills (Beaumont-Walters, 2001). Berry et al (1999) suggested a few crucial factors that influence the acquisition of process skills used in laboratory work. Firstly, students need the relevant content knowledge that is assumed by the task to be mentally engaged. For example, a more knowledgeable student would be able to explain an observation, which in turn â€Å"validates† his knowledge and gives him a certain amount of intellectual satisfaction. The ‘doing’ of Science has to be coupled with ‘learning about’ Science, if students are to appreciate the value of scientific inquiry (Haigh et al, 2005). A second factor suggested by Berry et al (1999) is students’ ownership of laboratory tasks. Ownership would be more apparent in open laboratory tasks, where the student has to design his own experiment than in closed laboratory tasks, where the â€Å"correct† experimental procedure is written out in a â€Å"cookbook† style and the student is likely to carry out the tasks unthinkingly. Another effective strategy to enhance students’ process skills would be to let students keep a â€Å"scientific journal† (Tomkins & Tunnicliffe, 2001). It was observed that diary writers tend to build more confidence in their own interpretations, engage in intellectual debates with themselves over the plausibility of their explanations and ask questions that are more quantifiable. Relevance of Science in everyday life Research studies conducted in recent decades on students’ perception of school Science have consistently shown that they perceive Science as not relevant (Bennett, 2001). Similar findings have raised a serious concern in several countries. For instance, a report by the Dutch Ministry of Education in 2002 observed that secondary school students did not see a connection between what they learnt in Chemistry lessons and the chemistry happening around them (Van Aalsvoort, 2004a). A subsequent report recommended teaching Science in context. However, a study carried out on a contextualised Science curriculum introduced to Swaziland students highlighted some shortcomings (Campbell et al, 2000). The findings showed that less than half of the sample students could draw on Science concepts to explain everyday experiences or solve everyday problems. It was suggested that contextualised learning could be made more effective through student-initiated project work on everyday problems. Van Aalsvoort (2004b) suggested using activity theory to address the issue of the relevance of Chemistry in chemical education, where reflection plays a key role in evaluating and developing an activity. Reflection could be carried out through writing reflection journals, which also helped enhance the acquisition of process skills, as mentioned earlier (Tomkins & Tunnicliffe, 2001). According to Van Aalsvoort (2004a), relevance can be defined in four aspects: (i) personal relevance – Science education makes connections to students’ lives; (ii) professional relevance – Science education offers students a picture of possible professions; (iii) social relevance – Science education clarifies the purpose of Science in human and social issues; and (iv) personal/social relevance – Science education helps students develop into responsible citizens. This study considers relevance in three aspects – personal, professional and social. INTERVENTION Project Work aims for students to transfer the learning of concepts into applications in authentic settings. To address the areas of concern raised by teachers teaching Project Work, the Science ALIVE! programme was conceived to integrate Project Work and the LSS syllabus. This 13-week programme was conducted during Semester 2 of the Secondary 2 Express Science curriculum and used alternative assessment to replace the traditional end-ofyear examination. In this programme, a team of teachers crafted four modules which covered a variety of topics from Biology, Chemistry and Physics. As a motivating factor, students could choose from one of the four modules offered: Aroma Chemistry, Biodiversity, Life Science and Water Rockets. In each Science ALIVE! module, specific content knowledge was taught using hands-on strategies such as laboratory work, field trips, journal writing and group discussions. These strategies were intended to promote student engagement. Most importantly, the programme addressed the three key issues of concern in the following ways: 1. Content knowledge covered was specific to each module and relevant to the projects that students were assigned. This enabled students to better transfer the concepts to the projects. 2. Science process skills could be applied by students through journal writing, laboratory work and investigative project work. Science process skills were used as criteria for assessment to emphasise their importance and focus. 3. To enhance the relevance of Science, students were given a choice of the elective module to study, and to decide on the problem to work on for their projects. Contextualised learning, which draws on scientific understanding to explain everyday situations, was consciously infused into the curriculum design for each module. Reflection journals were written after selected activities, which according to activity theory helped students evaluate their learning (Van Aalsvoort, 2004b). RESEARCH QUESTIONS The two research questions are: (1) How does the Science ALIVE! programme help students to apply their Science process skills? And (2) How can the Science ALIVE! programme enhance the relevance of Science in students’ lives? METHODOLOGY Participants 147 students from all four Secondary 2 Express classes attended the Science ALIVE! programme and participated in the study. Pre- and post-course perception surveys were conducted for all students to measure their perception of their skill competency and their awareness of the relevance of Science in their lives through the programme. In addition, five students were selected from each module to give written feedback in week 8 (mid-course) and write a journal in week 13 (at the end of the course). To provide maximum variation, the five students from each module were selected based on their Science grade in Semester 1 and their reasons for selecting the module which reflected their motivational level. Instruments In the pre- and post-course surveys, students were asked to rate their perception of their Science process skills using a four-point Likert scale. The post-course survey included an item to measure students’ perception of increased awareness of the relevance of Science in their lives. Data Analysis For survey items on Science process skills, the mean value of each skill was calculated for the individual module (Table 2) as well as across all modules (Table 1). Skills with ratings of less than 3 (out of 4) were identified and analysed. The differences in mean values for pre- and post-course surveys were compared. The differences were considered significant if there was an increase or decrease of at least 0.3 in value (or 10% of the range of scale used). Journals and mid-course written feedback of the 20 selected students were used to surface possible reasons for these perceptions. The data was triangulated with teachers’ feedback, which was used to provide insight of the factors that affect the acquisition of the process skills. For the survey item on the relevance of Science, the total percentage of students who indicated an â€Å"Agree† or â€Å"Strongly Agree† was computed for each module. Content analysis of the journals and written feedback from the selected students were carried out. Frequency counts of the responses were based on three categories: personal, professional and social relevance. Teachers’ feedback was used to provide depth to the findings. RESULTS Acquisition of Science process skills The perception of all students on the level of their skill competency before and after the Science ALIVE! programme was measured through surveys. The survey results were compared using the mean values for each process skill, as shown in Table 1. Table 1: Comparison of students’ perception of skills before and after Science ALIVE! Mean value (scale 1 – 4) Pre-Course Post-Course 3.1 3.2 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 3.1 2.8 2.6 3.0 3.0 2.7 3.1 3.2 Process Skill (a) Elaborating (Research) (b) Conducting scientific investigations (Planning investigations) (c) Conducting scientific investigations (Using scientific apparatus) (d) Conducting scientific investigations (Analysing data) (e) Communicating (Writing scientific reports) (f) Reflecting (g) Questioning (Learning by asking questions) In the pre-course survey, the items which scored less than 3 are the skills of ‘planning investigations’, ‘using scientific apparatus’, ‘analysing data’, ‘writing scientific reports’ and ‘learning by asking questions’. Students’ perception rating increased in the following skills ‘using scientific apparatus’, ‘analysing data’ and ‘learning by asking questions’ suggesting that the Science ALIVE! programme had benefited them in these areas, with the exception of ‘planning investigations’ and ‘writing scientific reports’ where there was marginal increase or no change between the pre- and post-course rating. This revealed that in general, students still did not have much confidence in these skills and suggests that more could be done in the next cycle to guide students in these aspects. The changes in the rating for items (b), (c) and (d) in the pre- and post-course surveys suggest that students’ perceptions that their skills in handling apparatus and equipment have improved. This could be attributed to the fact that students were introduced to various new apparatus or equipment during project experiments in all modules. For example, the Biodiversity module used dataloggers which was equipment new to students. Skills in items (b), (c) and (d) are all part of the process of conducting scientific investigations. However, there was only a marginal increase in the rating for (b) ‘planning investigations’ after the programme. This could be because planning investigations is a higher order process skill which encompasses making hypothesis, identifying variables and writing the experimental procedures. Analysis of Science process skills by skill category The results were further categorised to compare and study the changes in students’ perception of skill competency for the individual modules, as shown in Table 2. Table 2: Comparison of perception of skill competency by module Mean value (Scale 1 – 4) BioLife diversity Science Pre Post Pre Post 2.9 3.2 3.0 3.3 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.9 3.3 2.9 2.4 2.9 2.8 2.4 3.3 3.3 2.4 2.9 2.7 2.5 3.1 2.9 2.8 3.0 3.1 2.9 3.2 3.0 Module Process Skill (a) Elaborating (Research) (b) Conducting investigations (Planning investigations) (c) Conducting investigations (Using scientific apparatus) (d) Conducting investigations (Analysing data) (e) Communicating (Writing scientific report) (f) Reflecting (g) Questioning (Learning by asking questions) Elaborating Aroma Chemistry Pre Post 3.3 3.2 2.6 2.4 2.6 2.7 3.1 3.0 2.7 3.1 2.9 2.7 2.8 3.2 Water Rockets Pre Post 3.1 3.1 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.5 2.9 2.6 2.5 3.0 2.9 2.7 3.0 3.2 The results of item (a) in the pre- and post-surveys showed an increase in rating for this skill for the Biodiversity and Life Science modules. This could be because these modules are more content-based topics, which require greater use of such skills. It should, however, be noted that for Aroma Chemistry module, the pre-course survey score was already high and it might be difficult to make further significant improvement. From the written feedback of selected students in the 8th week of the programme, half indicated that they had learnt to research to look for more information. All five students from the Biodiversity module wrote that they had learnt to assess â€Å"how reliable the sources are†. For example, one student from the module wrote in her journal that â€Å"before creating our ecosystem, we need to do research on the organisms that we choose, on what they feed on and their suitable habitat† (Student S8). Teachers conducting the programme felt that most students were still at the developmental stage of doing research, as they could not extract relevant information from sources. They also observed that some students lacked the initiative and discipline to do research work, though teachers had provided a list of resources. This could be seen in project reports, where the evidence of research is lacking. A likely explanation for this observation is the past practice of didactic teaching, resulting in students â€Å"so used to being given all materials and information by teachers that they do not know how to get started† (Teacher T3). Teacher T1 recommended the need to balance between providing students with information and allowing them to be independent in their learning. Conducting Scientific Investigations For item (b) on ‘planning investigations’, the Life Science module had the largest increase in perception rating (more than 10%). Here the Life Science teacher explained that students were taught how to design experiments step-by-step with given examples. The importance of planning in investigations is stated by one of the students in the module: â€Å"When we need to choose something, we need to think about all its aspects. After everything is ok, we can start work† (Student S14). However, Teacher T2 commented that students still needed a lot of hand-holding and practice to be competent. A student from another module echoed this: â€Å"I am not sure how to design an experiment on my own†. Item (c) on the practical skill of ‘using scientific apparatus’ or equipment had the largest increase for all modules, except Life Science where the initial pre-course rating was already high (mean 2.9). All modules were designed to include more hands-on activities, which required the use of apparatus and equipment. One student wrote about the importance of using the right procedures as he â€Å"learnt how to use steam distillation by setting up the apparatus correctly and doing the extraction properly† (Student S2), while another student shared her new skill of using â€Å"dataloggers to measure the different abiotic factors from the †¦forests† (Student S7). Teachers observed that the students were excited and enjoyed themselves when using new apparatus. On their part, teachers also sought to infuse rigour by ensuring that students perform the experimental procedures accurately. The enjoyment of Science through hands-on activities, particularly laboratory work, was a motivating factor in learning Science. The rating for the skill of analysing or inferring from experimental data in item (d) increased more for three modules than for the Biodiversity module. This could be the result of students being given more opportunities to handle experimental data in their projects and make conclusions for the Aroma Chemistry, Life Science and Water Rockets modules. On the other hand, the investigative project for Biodiversity was of a smaller scale, and students’ main form of project assessment was a conservation proposal. One factor which attributed to the increase in perception rating was group collaboration. As students did their projects in groups, they could discuss how to analyse the data obtained from the investigations. Students analysed their data in various ways depending on the type of data collected in each module. For example, Student S11 commented: â€Å"I got a chance to compare and compile the results of surveys, test the reliability of our product, put into tables and identify the similarities and differences present†. Others learnt to analyse the cause of problems in their projects, as noted by Student S16: â€Å"†¦ our rocket failed in launching and we realise that the problem is due to the leaking of our rocket†. Teachers however concurred in their observations that though students could comment on their data, their analysis lacked depth. Besides these investigative skills, many students also reflected in their journals that they had developed observation skills during practical work and investigations. One student wrote: â€Å"In the past, I would have just used my eyes. Now I have learnt to use all of my five senses to know more about the subject I am observing† (Student S10). Communicating In item (e), ‘writing scientific reports’ was the focus in the skill of communicating. Though there was no change in overall student perception (see Table 1), Table 2 showed a significant drop in the rating for Biodiversity module compared to an increase in Life Science module. The Biodiversity teacher attributed the drop in rating to students’ â€Å"realisation and shock† in receiving feedback on their first report draft, as they â€Å"did not anticipate scientific reports to be of slightly different nature and demands though they were briefed†. But she noted that the provision of formative feedback and the re-drafting of reports helped students in this skill. The Life Science teacher linked the increased rating to having provided illustrative examples and templates for students, but she felt that they were still lacking in the skill and could be given more practice. Students’ journals hardly mentioned this skill, except Student S10 who wrote that he â€Å"learnt to sieve through the report for important points to put in the abstract†. Reflecting Generally, students felt that they were able to reflect on their lessons. Item (f) in Table 2 showed an initial high rating which was unchanged after the programme. Students saw their journals as an â€Å"opportunity to clarify and reflect upon their learning† (Student S3). At the end of the programme, a few students said that the reflections helped to monitor their understanding of lessons, and one student mentioned that she would research on the internet to address questions she had (Student S1). Teachers believed that â€Å"journal writing and providing consistent formative feedback help(ed) the students develop reflection skills† (Teacher T1). However, specific journal prompts are necessary to guide students so that they do not simply give a detailed account of the activities and concepts covered without reflecting on the learning points (Teacher T2). Questioning The survey results of item (g) showed more significant increase in the Biodiversity and Water Rockets modules. For each module, students acquired this skill through reflecting on their lessons in their journals and then asking relevant questions to find out more. One student reflected that she dared to ask more questions in class after learning to ask questions through journals (Student S6). Students had opportunities to generate questions when they were verifying the reliability of information. They also formulated questions prior to industrial visits and field trips, and posed them to the experts. At the mid-course feedback, a few students mentioned that they learnt to â€Å"raise questions in class† through ways such as â€Å"being a questioner in group discussions† (Student S13). The Biodiversity teacher attributed this improvement to conducive â€Å"lesson environment and delivery (that) promotes questioning†. Such lesson delivery may include guiding questions in class activities and journal prompts that encouraged further questioning, and peer evaluation where students critiqued the projects of other groups. The Water Rockets teacher reflected that in comparison to traditional Science lessons, â€Å"there was more chance for students to ask questions as things are now less predictable† as in most real world situations. The post-course survey included an item which required students to state whether â€Å"Science ALIVE! lessons have made them more aware of the relevance of Science in their lives†. Table 3 shows the percentage of students who â€Å"agreed† or â€Å"strongly agreed† with the statement. Table 3: Percentage of students who indicated that the programme had made them more aware of the relevance of Science in their lives Module Aroma Chemistry Biodiversity Life Science Water Rockets % Agree 73.5 47.2 64.1 73.0 % Strongly Agree 17.7 50.0 23.1 10.8 % (Agree + Strongly Agree) 91.2 97.2 87.2 83.8 The results in Table 3 show a very high concurrence with the statement for all modules. This is consistent with the programme objective of enhancing the relevance of Science in students’ lives. Students’ journals were analysed for indications of the relevance of Science in three areas: personal, professional and social. A frequency count of the responses showed 82% for personal relevance, 24% for professional relevance and 65% for social relevance. This revealed that students perceived the relevance of Science as mostly related to their personal lives. Only a handful of students could relate the relevance to their future career prospects. Further probing into students’ definition of personal relevance showed an extensive range of interpretation depending on the modules taken. Enhancing one’s quality of life is frequently mentioned in terms of personal relaxation and cure for illnesses. Students from the Aroma Chemistry module stated that they â€Å"could use essential oils to calm a person if he feels nervous† (Student S2). Life Science students surfaced the use of medicines when they fall sick and the growing of genetically modified food (GMF) for convenience (Student S15). Students also stated the importance of process skills in their lives, such as questioning the reliability of information sources. The majority of students could not appreciate Science as having professional relevance. Those who were able to see career possibilities were students who had gone for field trips, where they were introduced to experts in the related field. They saw the knowledge and skills gained through the programme as relevant to their â€Å"future education and working career† (Student S11). Others used the knowledge gained to better understand the requirements of various jobs. A student stated that she â€Å"could understand how people designing furniture, buildings and other things require this knowledge (of centre of gravity)† (Student S16). Three out of five students could relate Science to social relevance, which included how Science affected interaction between people and the environment. One Biodiversity student wrote: â€Å"This also taught me that in school or at work, we have to depend on one another for a living† (Student S10), while another could â€Å"understand nature better† and learnt not to pollute the environment (Student S7). Life Science students pointed out various applications in social and ethical issues, such as the use of forensic Science by police to solve crime (Student S11), knowledge of DNA in cloning (Student S15), and even checking via blood tests whether a child is biologically conceived or adopted (Student S12). Teachers’ feedback indicated that students were generally able to â€Å"connect Science to reality and †¦ in explaining happenings in their lives† (Teacher T2). These observations were made through students’ group discussions and written journals. Examples quoted by the teachers were mostly related to personal and social relevance. It showed that students had an increased awareness of scientific discovery (e.g. antibiotics, genetics) and technology (e.g. making of soap and sweets) that were directly related to their lives and the lives of those around them. The main catalyst that enhanced their awareness was personal experiences through engaging them in experiments that relate to real life and exposing them to more field trips (e.g. Yakult factory, flavour and fragrance industry, nature reserve). DISCUSSION Key features in Science ALIVE! that have helped students acquire Science process skills include scaffolding, group collaboration and journal writing. Scaffolding guides students in learning new or complex skills. Nelson (2004) pointed out that more scaffolding is required for students to be able to do research independently. To illustrate this, the increase in rating for skills on ‘planning investigations’ and ‘writing of scientific report’ in the Life Science module was attributed to â€Å"a lot of hand-holding† and exemplars provided by the teacher. Scaffolding in the form of specific journal prompts can also be adopted to ensure greater depth in student reflection. Teachers, however, will need to balance between providing students support and allowing them to be independent learners. Group collaboration is deployed extensively in the programme, where students worked in groups of three on projects, laboratory work and group assignments. This concurs with findings of a study conducted by Hofstein et al (2004), where cooperative learning in laboratory work helped students construct knowledge. Hofstein et al argued for more time to be spent on laboratory tasks, so that students could reflect on findings and also discuss with their peers. This would be one way to further improve students’ analytical skills, which they are still lacking. Journal writing in Science ALIVE! proves to be very useful in informing teachers of students’ conceptual understanding, acquisition of skills such as reflecting and questioning, and how students relate Science to their everyday life. It allows teachers to give regular feedback as part of assessment for learning. It is also of considerable value to students as it promotes greater ownership to their learning (Tomkins and Tunnicliffe, 2001). This leads to independent learning and moves students to a higher level of thinking, according to the principle on ‘Experience of learning’ in the Principles of Engaged Learning (MOE, 2005). Science ALIVE! lessons are different from the didactic traditional Science lessons, as they focus largely on the application of Science process skills. Hence there is a need to prepare students for the change, for example, from structured experiments to partially open investigations (Haigh et al, 2005). The need for such preparation was evident in the Biodiversity module as students were surprised to learn that scientific reports were different from other project reports, but they managed to overcome it after a few rounds of re-drafting. After the pilot run of Science ALIVE! programme, the teachers recommended that process skills be explicitly taught first followed by opportunities â€Å"created on purpose† for students to practise the skills. This is consistent with Padilla (1990) who suggested the need to provide students with â€Å"multiple opportunities to work with these skills in different content areas and contexts†. To enhance students’ investigative skills, Haigh et al (2005) proposed that teachers provide ‘refresher’ courses to cue students in the planning and conducting of their investigations .On completion of the investigation, students should be given the opportunity to evaluate their work so as to make it more meaningful. In Aroma Chemistry, students were asked to compare the quality of two batches of soap that they had made from different laboratory sessions and analyse the possible causes for the difference, while Biodiversity students had to reflect on the additiona l learning gained after a second trip to the nature reserve. Besides using appropriate strategies to help students adapt to the shift, it is also crucial to rectify students’ mindset on the importance and relevance of acquiring Science process skills. This is because students will be more motivated if they consider process skills an important object of instruction (Padilla, 1990). Thus teachers need to make explicit the â€Å"why† of teaching process skills (Haigh et al, 2005). The deliberate infusion of relevant Science applications in the curriculum of each module has succeeded in enhancing students’ awareness of the usefulness of Science in everyday life. Personal and social relevance dominated students’ ideas of the relevance of Science, though exposure to related industries and appropriate working environments could further promote an awareness of professional relevance. CONCLUSION Going forward, the Science ALIVE! programme would be refined in the next cycle to enhance students’ acquisition of Science process skills. Successful strategies such as the use of reflection journals, activity-based learning, group collaboration and contextualised learning will continue to be used. There would be more emphasis on the explicit teaching of process skills. In addition, more opportunities would be provided for the application of process skills in the core curriculum. RECOMMENDATION Further research on the Science ALIVE! programme could focus on the process skills which students found more difficult to master. With explicit teaching of these skills in the core curriculum prior to Science ALIVE!, the impact could be investigated. The usefulness of Science process skills acquired through the programme could be studied in terms of its impact on Upper Secondary Science, for example, the sustainability of student motivation in Upper Secondary Science. The findings in these research areas will help to inform the effectiveness of future Science ALIVE! programmes. REFERENCES Beaumont-Walters, Y. (2001). An analysis of high school students’ performance on five integrated Science process skills. Research in Science & Technological Education, 19(2), 133-145. Bennett, J. (2001). Science with attitude: the perennial issue of pupils’ responses to Science. School Science Review, 82(300), 59-67. Berry, A., Mulhall, P., Gunstone, R., & Loughran, J. (1999). Helping students learn from laboratory work. Australian Science Teachers’ Journal, 45(1), 27-31. Campbell, B., Lubben, F., & Dlamini, Z. (2000). Learning Science through contexts: helping pupils make sense of everyday situations. International Journal of Science Education, 22(3), 239-252. Haigh, M., France, B., & Forret, M. (2005). Is ‘doing Science’ in New Zealand classrooms an expression of scientific inquiry? International Journal of Science Education, 27(2), 215-226. Hofstein, A., Shore, R., & Kipnis, M. (2004). Providing high school chemistry students with opportunities to develop learning skills in an inquiry-type laboratory: a Case Study. International Journal of Science Education, 26(1), 47-62. Ministry of Education (2005). A toolkit for engaged teaching and learning. Curriculum Planning and Development Division, Ministry of Education, Singapore. Nelson, T.H. (2004). Helping students make connections. The Science Teacher, 71(3), 32-35. Padilla, M.J. (1990). The Science process skills. Research Matters – to the Science Teacher, No. 9004. Retrieved December 1, 2006 from http://www.narst.org/publications/ research/skill.htm Tomkins, S.P., & Tunnicliffe, S.D. (2001). Looking for ideas: observation, interpretation and hypothesis making by 12-year-old pupils undertaking Science investigations. International Journal of Science Education, 23(8), 791-813. Van Aalsvoort, J. (2004a). Logical positivism as a tool to analyse the problem of Chemistry’s lack of relevance in secondary school chemical education. International Journal of Science Education, 26(9), 1151-1168. Van Aalsvoort, J. (2004b). Activity theory as a tool to address the problem of Chemistry’s lack of relevance in secondary school chemical education. International Journal of Science Education, 26(13), 1635-1651. Young, R. M. (1995). Hands-on Science. Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Materials, Inc.

Juvenile Court Characteristics Essay

A juvenile is a person who was less than 17 years old but more than 10 years old when he or she committed an act defined as a delinquent act or a conduct in need of supervision. This is an act if committed by an adult could lead to imprisonment. A conduct in need of supervision (CINS) is a conduct that if committed by an adult could result in a fine. Juvenile Court Characteristics in Texas According to Roberts (2004), when a juvenile has been found to have committed a CINS or delinquent conduct, he/she is adjudicated. Texas juvenile board is in charge of the juvenile justice operations. It’s made up of district court judges and country court judges. The juvenile board decides which court that will be used as a juvenile court in the county. There are different courts that are involved: district, Constitutional County or county courts. District courts are courts of general jurisdiction; constitutional county courts have concurrent authority with district judges and county courts may have concurrent authority with district judges or it may vary according to the statute that formed them (Zimring, 2005). When a juvenile has been found with an adjudicated conduct, the following is done: the person can be placed on probation, sent to the Texas youth commission (TYC) with an indeterminable sentence. However, this can only be done in victims of felony offences or it can be referred to the TYC with a determined sentence for certain offences. Juveniles put on probation and not sent to the TYC are supposed to be released by the time they turn 18. When sent to the TYC with an indeterminate verdict, the victims are released by the time they turn 19 and when sent to the TYC with a determined sentence, they can be transferred to an adult court depending on their behavior while in the TYC programs (Myers, 2001). If the juvenile is put on probation, the judge orders the juvenile to live with a responsible adult and gives the conditions that are to be followed. The conditions may range from a curfew, undergoing counseling or the juvenile may be required to attend a school. If the conditions given are not kept by the adult, the court may order the adult responsible to pay a fine or be imprisoned (Feld, 1999). Conclusion Many juveniles are found to commit crimes that if they were adults, they might have been convicted or fined. To deal with such cases, the Texas courts have come up with modes of dealing the culprits.

Current Historical Examples Constraints Opportunities Work Organisation Economics Essay

Work administration ( WO ) has a great and important impact non merely on a micro-firm degree but besides on national and planetary degrees as it influences political, societal and economic systems. WO is a wide construct with no rigorous definition as it deals with the manner work is organised and managed. The most successful and widely used signifier of WO is the capitalist labor procedure ( CLP ) , as can be seen by the laterality, success and increasing influence of western ( Anglo-Saxon ) CLP. There are nevertheless legion alternate work administration ( AWO ) structures in pattern in many states around the universe, many with their ain viing political, economic and societal political orientation, born out of historical and cultural patterns or revolution. Nevertheless in an progressively globalized and competitory universe AWO constructions have to turn out their sustainability and profitableness, while foregrounding their possible benefits over CLP, disputing the position quo and reshaping the predominating ideas on current signifiers of work administration. In this essay I will look at the both theoretical and practical facets of AWO both in a current and historical context and compare it with the CLP on a planetary degree. We begin with the CLP ‘s which is an economic and societal system where capital and the non-labour factors of production ( the agency of production ) are in private controlled to bring forth a trade good which has exchange-value every bit good as surplus-value, ( value of trade good is greater than the amount of the values of the trade goods used to bring forth it ) , in order to do a net income. Production is technically and socially organised to pull out maximal net income which is cardinal to CLP, therefore it is in the best involvement of capitalist/management to arouse the consent of workers in add-on to straight commanding them in order to use their creativeness and inventiveness of the work force ( Braverman, 1974 ) . Furthermore, labour, goods and capital are traded in markets ; and net incomes distributed to proprietors or invested in engineerings and industries. The chief characteristics of CLP are ; workers work for the capitalist, non for themselves and are separated from the agencies of production, ( the merchandise and its production procedure belong to the capitalist ) . They ( workers ) can non transform nature and autonomously supply their ain support as they do non hold entree to raw stuffs ( land or minerals ) or means of production ( tools and machines ) or proficient cognition. Additionally, workers work in an environment controlled in a â€Å" proper † mode set-out by the capitalist ( working-rules ) , they have nil to sell other than their labor ( but, unlike slaves, they are ‘free ‘ to sell it ) . However in order to last they must sell their labor to capitalists in return for rewards as a agency to last, this acts as a self-motivating factor to roll up resources ( money ) for themselves. Criticism of CLP is chiefly based around disaffection, where the worker is unable to command their work and work environment. This is due to the division of labor, which is the contracting down of the set of single undertakings and procedures in production, and seen as the thrust for profitableness and efficiency ( Braverman, 1974 ) . The division of labor is necessary in order to spread out production appropriate cognition and better engineering. Consequently, the liberty, creativeness and ability of the single employee were made wholly independent of work. Marx points out the following points of disaffection under capitalist economy, ( 1 ) Alienation from the merchandises of their labor, workers do non command what they produce taking to the inability to fulfill basic demands ( nutrient, apparels etc ) straight through their work. This was further increased by the distance between the figure of things produced and workers lack of entree to them, taking to stuff, cultural and moral poverty. ( 2 ) Alienation from the activity of work itself which led to a decrease in the creativeness lost with control of Labour Process ( LP ) given to the employer. Work becomes a agency to last hence more mentally and physically wash uping. ( 3 ) Workers are alienated from each other and the atomization of undertaking undermines cooperation farther estranging workers. They are besides made to vie with each other in a perpendicular hierarchal construction. Therefore alienated workers merely feel themselves outside work devising leisure go necessary to get the better of disaffection. This could take to a inclination to de-skilling in both fabrication and service industry. As a consequence ‘workers bring forthing more than their pay ‘ would take to the death of capitalist economy ( Marx, 1976 ) . Marx defined work as ‘a procedure between adult male and nature, by which adult male through his ain actions mediates, regulates and controls the metamorphosis between himself and nature ‘ . He emphasised that worlds should merely take and transform plenty for their basic demands. His ideal construct of work, which should do worlds experience self developed and self realized. Not like under capitalist economy where workers have no freedom or equality. This therefore led to the ideological and practical formation of AWO as a extremist battle of rank and file scheme for corporate action peculiarly in relation to the LP, decision-making, workers ‘ corporate actions and battles for emancipation from capitalists. AWOs consist of some of the undermentioned, Co-operativism which can be operated otherwise due to in different civilizations, and a proposal for an alternate economic system which is a participatory economic sciences. Co-operativism is a different manner of organizing concern through common ownership and democratic control of the endeavor. It differs from the capitalist economy in a figure of ways, unlike under capitalist economy power depends on the figure of portions owned by persons, there is non a hierarchal direction construction and net incomes and duties are shared every bit in co-ops. It operates basically to carry through the demands of their members. It seeks to supply the goods and services which their members need, for illustration, instruction and preparation are provided to better the ego development of workers, and it is the members who benefit most when the concern is successful. Another one of the major features of co-operatives is worker self-management ( WSM ) , this is the thought that those who produce should command their workplaces ; it is more than merely an economic activity and a agency of endurance. It is a beginning of originative fulfillment, self-development, self-actualisation and realization of one ‘s humanity through productive activity. The intent of being self managed was to spread out the chances for free originative activity by saving on labour clip during which people where obliged to execute activities which met their physical demands ( Marx, 1992 ) . The benefits of co-ops through WSM would be that all citizens/workers would be equal and have a say or ownership in the agencies of production that would let them to concentrate on what they are comparatively best at. In this alternate, net income is non the chief nonsubjective but alternatively the sweetening of person ‘s capablenesss by revolving undertakings and transforming work into an enriching, originative and socially utile agencies of being while extinguishing the disaffection of CLP construction. However there is no specific manner in which the co-ops is carried out and different states and parts have differing co-ops harmonizing to their civilization and societal and political systems as the undermentioned illustrations will demo: Advocates of the existent socialism tradition, which is a radical option imposed by authorities based on collectives. The province is directed to act like every bit houses in a capitalist economic system, contend that it combines the advantages of a planned economic system with the efficiencies that result from the usage of markets as an exchange mechanism ( Estrin 1991 ) . Get downing with the most utmost signifier which was communism and was most apparent in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR ) , the system seeks to pull off both the economic system and society through a cardinal authorities which ensures centralized control and corporate ownership of belongings to accomplish both classlessness and statelessness. The design was that the province would keep the state ‘s assets in trust for the workers who would be working for their ain and general and each other ‘s good with all being equal. This political orientation spread across Europe including Poland and Czechoslovakia in the early 1900s and took on assorted signifiers, such as, in the former Yugoslavia where workers ‘ council were established at the behest of the workers ( Sturmthal, 1964 ) due to the dissatisfaction with the bureaucratic and statist discrepancy of socialism. In Russia, nevertheless, representative and regulating map of the first workers ‘ council were replaced with a more political and bureaucratic theoretical account. Most endeavors and industries were nationalized and the province controlled virtually all facets of work and production, with workers holding small say. In 1948 nevertheless Yugoslavia was expelled from the communist Eastern axis and accordingly lost the Eastern markets. Political and economic isolation forced the Yugoslav leaders to experiment with new economic theoretical accounts ( Schrenk, et al 1979 ) . Under the new construct of â€Å" societal ownership † ( although this is still the existent socialism tradition, but different at some facets ) , neither the province nor single citizens nor workers lawfully owned the assets or capital of productive endeavors. Rather, assets were made available to single independent endeavors, which were in bend governed by the new workers ‘ councils ( Huselid, 1995 ) . Collectives were besides free to put their ain internal pay ratios. The purpose was to increase worker engagement in the decision-making procedure and was widely viewed as critical in procuring and heightening employee satisfaction and productiveness in organisations ( Witt, 1992 ) . As a consequence Yugoslavia experienced a comparative economic roar between 1950 and the mid-1970s, when the state had one of the highest growing rates in the universe ( Sturmthal, 1964 ) . Another good illustration of co-ops is the democratic community-Kibbutz system runing in Israel, this can besides be seen as a type of co-ops named socialist tradition which opposes to private belongings and capitalist economy and has multifunctional concerted communities. More features of how this type operates can be found in the undermentioned illustration: In the mid-1970s in Kibbutz, it was the ‘normative ‘ theoretical account of pull offing industry through its internal political organic structures. In its authoritative signifier merely members participated in the disposal and direction of all domains of life on the Kibbutz, to stress equality, many works directors had same uniforms as their workers. The chief ends were industrialisation and for persons to recognize their accomplishments and abilities which would take to an economic roar, while accomplishing direct democracy, freedom and autonomy in labor. Other purposes were to advance exports, defense mechanism production and cut down imports. The theoretical accounts characteristics of self-management include ; single freedom, corporate ownership of industrial workss, outgos and income besides belonged to the Kibbutz. The democratically elected Kibbutz assembly made determinations on production and investing programs. The Kibbutz system enjoyed success for many old ages prior to the mid-1980s. Palgi ( 1984 ) stated that compared to workers under capitalist mills, workers in Kibbutz workss had more chances to open them for promotion and in make up one's minding how the work would be carried out. However despite the diminution of the Kibbutz co-op system, elements of it have been adopted across the Earth, one such illustration of a current industrial democracy is Suma Wholefoods Coop, a just trade and organic merchandise distribution house established in 1974 in the UK. The house considers itself a ‘radical concern ‘ as it does non organize itself in a conventional manner such as through division of labor and separation between direction and worker, and hierarchy system. All worker proprietors are responsible for direction and involved in determination devisings for major strategic issues, company officers are appointed by the direction commission, and most ‘radically ‘ all workers from officers to warehouse baggers are on the same rewards and they are encouraged to make assorted occupations with different accomplishments, for illustration, drivers will work in the warehouse or in the office for two yearss a hebdomad. This is to promote multi-skilling and occupation rotary motion, in a command to hike morale and self-fulfilment and a sense of worth as envisaged by Marx. Another different type of co-ops is economic crisis tradition, which defends thoughts of common belongings, common work, equal wages and workplace democracy. An illustration of economic crisis tradition is the Bauen hotel in Argentina, which was reopened and operated as a co-op in summer 2004 after following the state ‘s fiscal prostration ( 2001- 2002 ) . Today, despite an on-going ownership struggle with the ex-owner over the legal expropriation of the edifice, the Bauen operates at 80 % capacity and has hired about 80 extra workers. The hierarchal and autocratic signifiers of organisation that characterized work-life at the hotel in the yesteryear have been officially replaced by corporate decision-making procedures and an classless ethos, free of from foremans and directors. Another illustration of co-ops is seen in the solidarity and concerted motion in Venezuela, where the purposes are non merely those of the co-ops and WSM ends but to besides to beef up Venezuelan independency and sovereignty, by puting up a national production web to cut down dependance on imports and foreign. â€Å" The different attacks adopted since 2000 were foremost a strengthening of co-ops, chiefly through revenue enhancement inducements. Then the creative activity of Social production companies [ EPS ] and eventually the Socialistic Enterprises every bit good as the construct of endogenous development, normative orientation of production organisation, and province occupation preparation † ( Azzellini, 2009 ) . The overall end was ab initio defined as a â€Å" humanistic and solidarity economic system. † In an EPS, an employee ‘s place should non give him or her any privileges, and the internal organisation of work should follow a democratic theoretical account. Work activities would be rotated, and disaffection in the production procedure should be bit by bit abolished. EPS are directed to weigh societal net income more than private net income, and direct their production toward societal demands instead than along the lines of selling and capital accretion. They are besides directed to put portion of their net incomes ( 10-15 % ) in local societal undertakings and substructure, incorporating themselves into the surrounding communities through the community councils, every bit good as being transparent and publically accountable ( Azzellini, 2009 ) . We can see from above that all these signifiers of co-ops have similarities in that there is less managerial supervising as determinations are meant to be made democratically due to the higher equality amongst members. This besides means, more enriching as net incomes are every bit shared out. Cooperatives can besides be implemented on a national or steadfast degree due to their flexibleness and the fact that they incorporate like-minded people. The advantages of all these signifiers of co-ops were improved societal contact in the on the job collective and enhanced equality. When doing determinations together, workers communicate more with each other and with their directors. In the self-management system, workers â€Å" exercise control over work † while take parting in the direction procedure and workers besides viewed the system positively ( Grandjean & A ; ToA? , 1987 ) . However the AWO constructions portion many of the same drawbacks, and the same facets that made these options attractive are now the designers of their ruin and oppugning their feasibleness in an progressively globalised and competitory profit-driven universe economic system. Market competition challenges these accomplishments, as workers can command and make up one's mind production, but can non independently act upon the market ( monetary values, crisis, offer and demand ) . The market hence can non suit consensus but immediate determinations. Most of these AWO besides suffered from technological retardation and a deficiency of sufficient capital as they had different attacks to profitableness and efficiency every bit compared to capitalist economy. This is most apparent in Argentina where mills were the victims of the market oriented reforms which opened the economic system to international competition ( Atzeni & A ; Ghigliani, 2007 ) . Problems are farther compounded by the demand to hold democratic constructions and decision-making surveies in four Argentinean mills found that where each worker can freely show sentiments and acquire involved in decision-making guaranteed by legislative act ( Atzeni & A ; Ghigliani, 2007 ) . The possibility of coercing direction councils to name a mass meeting provided that a minimal figure of workers formulate a common petition creates a changeless tenseness which ever seems to be present between the demand to portion information, corporate decision-making, and the demand to centralise the same procedure in the custodies of a restricted figure of workers. Decisions need to be taken in relation to concern, and by the most competent people. There therefore should be a priori docket for interfering with the democratic decision-making procedure. In regard of this facet, a inclination to cut down the infinite for corporate decision-making can be discerned and accordingly there occurs a natural separation between production and direction workers. Furthermore this besides created a farther job in AWOs because most workers lacked the needed cognition and competency to do the necessary investing and fiscal determinations, and as a consequence, there are inclinations towards the intrenchment of decision-making elites within the worker councils over clip ( Obradovic, 1975 ) . Frequent occupation and leader ( s ) rotary motion seen as a solution can take to a state of affairs in which unqualified people were running the economic system and lead to incorrect determination devising and hapless leading and administration. Besides the democratic decision-making procedure can be slow therefore losing the concern chances and hence bing money. Furthermore, the sophisticated industrial works of today agencies that non everyone can make the same occupation as some require specialist cognition acquired through expensive higher acquisition or old ages of experience in order to bring forth maximal efficiency. This limits the worker ‘s ability to present alterations in the LP, the proficient division of labor shows no significant differences with the production of capitalist economy. Another major challenge for AWO ‘s is how to actuate workers while at the same clip alining their ends with the long-run involvements of the organisation. Some critics argued that these systems encourage inordinate pay payments, such as can in Suma Wholefoods where they all every bit paid despite their work. Plus unsustainable occupation security warrants, and other inefficient patterns and inducement jobs ( Kavcic & A ; Cibron 1992 ) . One key job cited in this respect was local workers council penchants for pay and employment protection at the disbursal of capital reinvestment in the endeavor, since workers lost all claims to a house ‘s future returns if they exited the house. This may hold generated a inclination to favor current income over long-run investing ( Estrin 1991 ) . This besides applies to other signifiers of AWOs. It has been argued that the aggregative system of self-management had an built-in inclination toward high unemployment because income is every bit shared, hence there is a opposition by bing members to take on new employees as incumbent workers are interested in income maximization. Workers councils hence did non cut down unemployment rates to the extent that might be expected within an officially socialist state ( Pejovich, 1979 ) . In other less socialist and more communist provinces like Russia where that province controlled employment at that place tended to be low rewards and under-employment due to the high figure of employees. The increased globalization and force per unit areas to be profitable in order to stay in competitory and in being has besides claimed many AWOs for illustration the Kibbutz system succumbed to weakening corporate political orientation ( Talmon, 1970 ) , and altering in the economic state of affairs ( Rosner & A ; Getz, 1994 ) , such as money being distributed every bit and non harmonizing to demand. There was besides a alteration in the Israeli society from socialist to capitalist. The crisis resulted in alterations in both industrial sector and community life, alterations include: re-prioritizing the aims that an industrial works should accomplish. Profitability and non workers demands became the primary concern for industry. Firms today besides see it important to hold a hierarchal construction with a clear division of authorization ( and labour ) among the different degrees. These alterations have a profound impact on the Kibbutz ‘s organisational construction and have threatened its economic and societal endurance. Another job of AWOs is that passage to a new system is complex, this is apparent from the Bauen hotel illustration, while there is no official hierarchy between workers in the Bauen, and hints of a capitalist commonsense persist. Specifically in the manner workers still hold onto the subjective perceptual experiences that a worker ‘s undertaking and place within the hotel should find their degree of engagement in decision-making procedures. Albert ( 2004 ) hence proposed an alternate economic system, participatory economic sciences ( parecon ) and seek to work out the jobs of AWOs mentioned before. Parecon has common characteristics of AWOs, it promotes equity, diverseness, solidarity, self-management and ecological balance, but this is a diverseness economic system, is built on workers and consumers councils, combines societal ownership, participatory planning allotment, council construction, balanced occupation composites, wage for attempt and forfeit, and participatory self-management with no category distinction. As for participatory planning, it does n't hold purchasers and Sellerss maximising their ain advantage each at the cost of the other. It does n't hold competitively determined monetary values and net income or excess maximization. For the solution of occupation rotary motion in co-ops, proposed balanced occupation composites in this system would guarantee that when workers participate in decision-making, they have been comparably prepared by their work with assurance, accomplishments, and cognition to make so. Balanced occupation composites distribute unequal undertakings empower certain sort of workers, e.g. coordinator category. The purpose of parecon is non to extinguish divisions of labor, but to redefining the division of labor by guaranting that over some sensible clip frame people should hold duty for some reasonable sequence of undertakings for which they are adequately trained and such that no 1 enjoys consistent advantages in footings of the empowerment effects of their work. This gives workers a just portion of burdensome and fulfilling or drilling and authorising undertakings. Although this establishes a division of labor, it does n't bring forth a category division between lasting order-givers and order-takers. However others argue that more solidarity might cut down privateness, or more self-management might cut down quality of end products. In add-on, although making absolutely balanced occupation composites is theoretically possible, can it be done in existent life state of affairss? The reply is really likely will be no, one of the grounds could be that preparation is socially dearly-won, it would be inefficient for gifted people to make humble undertakings. In decision AWOs theoretically work absolutely and accomplish the purposes that are set out, but they make the large premise that all worlds have homogeneousness in their physical and rational capablenesss and gifts and will be satisfied with being equal and an equal portion of net incomes no affair how much they put in compared to others, and will fulfill with holding no more than what they require to run into their demands. It besides does non see the institutional troubles of altering to and pull offing such systems such as guaranting equality ( .i.e through occupation rotary motion and democratic-voting ) , altering mentalities, or market system force per unit areas. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez recognized publically on January 28, 2007, that it had been a ‘mistake ‘ to turn the employees into partial proprietors ( Azzellini 2009 ) . There seems to be no room for this political and economic political orientation in this globalised world/age of consumerism and private entrepreneurship, where greater value is placed on personal accomplishment and organisational efficiency. Despite these AWOs still have much to offer particularly in their practical facets, on a micro house degree such as Suma Wholefoods Coop and peculiarly in commanding decreasing natural resources. All members of capitalist societies are conditioned by constructions and procedures that appear to be independently of them and every bit long as the advantages of CLP remain, capitalist economy will be the dominant economic system in the universe, citizens and states will go on to take it over other AWOs.

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Operations and Information Management - Essay Example This was a significant and big expansion by the retail shop moving towards becoming a huge retail chain in the country having its stores across in all the main places. MobUlike also had its two stores in Italy which gave the chance to Smartz to spread its business even in Europe. Through this report using various theories and aspects the importance of usage of new IT strategies like ecommerce in the business expansion and its benefits are been seen and understood. Along with this the importance of information management system for a company in its process improvement is been studied which gives a clear understanding over what and how IT system helps in growth of a particular company. The particular retail chain Smartz sells smartphones and its accessories. This company is looking to grow its chain widely across the country and trying to reach every customer by providing the best facility and good products and a good price. The company owner has looked to take up packaged software’s from commercial vendors to interconnect the whole process of Smatrz, MobUlike and also the end consumers in all aspects. The acquisition of MobUlike by Smartz is a big change in the business process for the company. The company is looking to take up the process of ecommerce to reach the end consumer which is a big step towards the growth as the ecommerce usage in the country has grown a lot and that to at a rapid pace (Doyle, 2001, pp.34-45). Business process management is basically the process involved in management of the overall business in an efficient way as per the requirements of the client or the customer to achieve the customer satisfaction by fulfilling their needs and wants. In this case the owner Imran needs to manage the process of both Smartz and MobUlike and integrate them along with launching the ecommerce process (Golden, 2005, pp. 65-72). The It systems in both the companies are different as a result the integration of

Service Operations Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Service Operations Management - Research Paper Example Standard Chartered Bank in the United Arab Emirates serves both the Consumer and the Wholesale Banking customers. The Consumer Banking section provides deposit taking, personal loans, credit cards, mortgages, and wealth management services to various individuals and to small to medium-sized enterprises. The Wholesale Banking section provides the corporate and institutional customers with services ranging from lending, trade finance, custody, cash management, debt capital markets, foreign exchange and corporate finance (Standard Chartered). This noble bank in the United Arabs Emirates is well established in the growth markets where it aims at being the right business partner, mainly for its clients. Standard Charted Bank in the United Arab Emirates combines in-depth local knowledge together with global capability to offer the best financial services to its customers. The Bank is well trusted across its numerous branches and networks for its high standards of governance as well as its commitment in making a huge difference in the various communities where it operates. Standard Chartered Bank is the world's leader in the emerging markets' banks, and its headquarters are in London. However, the bank’s businesses are always overwhelmingly international (Standard Chartered). ... llowed by the Branch Cash Officers who are responsible for the back office of the branch operations followed by the bank tellers or cashiers who are responsible for the daily operations of depositing as well as withdrawing cash for the various clients in the bank. It is worth noting that these noble people always work in harmony in order to achieve the bank’s mission and vision statement whereby each employee is expected to fully know their various roles. Each employee of the bank has their individual targets, which they are supposed to attain in order to remain in employment, and this makes them to surpass their targets since there are bonuses and other incentives that are awarded by the bank if an employee surpasses their targets (Parker 03). There are various key Tactical and Strategic Challenges that are faced by the Operations Managers as they continue working on a daily basis. Such challenges include keeping a keen eye on the numerous transactions that the branch of the bank is undertaking. This is a paramount challenge since the bank deals with other people’s money, and any loss would result to diverse repercussions to the entire bank as well as ruining its reputation. A bank’s operations manager in Standard Chartered bank in UAE is not even supposed to deal with customers on a face-to-face basis since they will not be able to concentrate on their noble work effectively. They are also supposed to authorize various transactions, especially those that deal with a large amount of money. They have to know anti-money laundry laws, which the bank has to adhere to efficiently, govern the real source of the money since the bank. This is a key function of the bank’s operations manager and also a tactical and strategic challenge since any mistake can affect the

Satyam Scam Essay Example for Free

Satyam Scam Essay Mahindra Satyam (formerly Satyam Computer Services) is an Indian IT services company based in Hyderabad, India. It was founded in 1987 by B Ramalinga Raju. Mahindra Satyam is a part of the Mahindra Group which is one of the top 10 industrial firms based in India. The company offers consulting and information technology (IT) services spanning various sectors, and is listed on the Pink Sheets, the National Stock Exchange (India) and Bombay Stock Exchange (India). In June 2009, the company unveiled its new brand identity â€Å"Mahindra Satyam† subsequent to its takeover by the Mahindra Group’s IT arm, Tech Mahindra on April 13, 2009. Satyam, a SEI-CMM Level 5 company, offers a range of expertise in the areas of Information Technology Software Development Services, Systems Integration, ERP Solutions, Product Development, Internet access hosting services, Electronic Commerce and Consulting. Satyam has nearly 6,000 IT professionals, who operate out of its state-of-the-art software development centers located in India, the USA, Japan, Singapore and the UK. These Centers work as an extended enterprise (IT partner) for over 150 Fortune 500 and multinational clients worldwide. Satyam, a multifaceted, totally integrated IT solutions provider is engaged in application development and maintenance, systems integration, datamarts, conversion and migration, Euro currency and engineering services (CADCAMCAE). It specializes in customized IT solutions for industries in the areas of Manufacturing, Financial services, Insurance, Transportation, Telecom,  Healthcare and Power. The company also offers Network and network-enabled services in India. It provides Internet access hosting services, Intranet, e-mail, EDI, store forward, and online information services. In the year 2001, Satyam Computer Services and the US-based Idea EDGE Ventures entered into an alliance to set up a 50:50 joint venture Satyam Idea EDGE Technologies to focus on business emerging from mobile Internet convergence. In 2001, the company was awarded IMC Ram krishna Bajaj National Award Trophy in the service category .The launch of its operation in China. WHAT WENT WRONG WITH SATYAM? Till about two decades ago corporate governance was relatively an unknown subject. The subject came into prominence in the late 80’s and early 90’s when the corporate sector in many countries was surrounded with problems of questionable corporate policies or unethical practices. Junk Bondfiasco of USA and failure of Maxwell, BCCI and Polypeck in UK resulted in the beginning of codes and standards on corporate governance. The USA, UK and number of other developed countries reacted strongly to the corporate failures and codes standards on corporate governance came to the centre stage. Enron debacle in 2001 and number of other scandals involving large US companies such as the Tyco, Quest, Global Crossings, the World.Com and the exposure of auditing lacunae, which led to the collapse of the Andersen, triggered the reform process and resulted in the passing of the Public Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 known as Sarbanes- Oxley (SOX) Act, 2002 in USA. PROBLEMS BEGIN:- Problems in Satyam begin when on December the 16th, 2008; its chairman Mr Ramalinga Raju, in a surprise move announced a $1.6 billion bid for two Maytas companies i.e. Maytas Infrastructure Ltd and Maytas Properties Ltd saying he wanted to deploy the cash available for the benefit of investors. The two companies have been promoted and controlled by Raju’s family. The thumbs down given by investors and the market forced him to retreat within 12 hours.2 Share prices plunges by 55% on concerns about Satyam’s corporate governance3. In a surprise move, the World Bank announced on December 23,  2008 that Satyam has been barred from business with World Bank4 for eight years for providing Bank staff with â€Å"improper benefits† and charged with data theft and bribing the staff.5 Share prices fell another 14% to the lowest in over 4 years. Satyam’s promoters, two brothers B ,Ramalinga Raju and B Rama Raju were arrested by the State of Andhra Pradesh police and the Central government took control of the tainted company.8 The Raju brothers were booked for criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal conspiracy and forgery under the Indian Penal Code. The Central Government reconstituted Satyams board that included three-members, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, Ex Nasscom chairman and IT expert Kiran Karnik and former SEBI member C . The Central Government added three more directors to the reconstituted Board i.e., CII chief mentor Tarun Das, former president of the Institute for Chartered Accountants (ICAI) TN Manoharan and LICs S Balakrishnan. A week after Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju’s scandalous confession, Satyam’s auditors Price .Waterhouse finally admitted that its audit report was wrong as it was based on wrong financial statements provided by the Satyam’s management.9 On January 22, 2009, Satyam’s CFO Srinivas Vadlamani confessed to having inflated the number of employees by 10,000. He told CID officials interrogating him that this helped in drawing around Rs 20 crore per month from the related but fictitious salary accounts. Andhra Pradesh State CB-CID raided the house of Suryanarayana Raju, the youngest sibling of Ramalinga Raju who owned 4.3 per cent in Maytas Infra, and recovered sale deeds of different land purchases and development agreements.10 Senior partners S Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri of the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were arrested for their alleged role in the Satyam scandal. The State’s CID police booked them, on charges of fraud (Section 42 0 of the IPC) and criminal conspiracy (120B). Now, they faced many challenges and the investigation ,like SFIO INVESTIGATION, CBI INVESTIGATION, SEC INVESTIGATION. JUDGEMENT:- Satyam fraud case: Supreme Court rejects Ramalinga Rajus plea:- The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the plea of former Satyam chairman B. Ramalinga Raju, seeking extension of tomorrows deadline for his surrender. The apex court had earlier cancelled Rajus bail and directed him to surrender by November 10. However, Raju had moved an application seeking extension of this deadline to surrender citing poor health. The application did not mention as to how much time he needed to surrender. Raju had merely sought reasonable extension. Raju, the founder of Satyam was arrested in January 2009 for one of Indias biggest corporate scams, worth more than 7000 crore. The apex court had earlier on October 1 issued notice to Raju on a petition by the CBI seeking cancellation of his bail granted by the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Raju was granted bail by the Andhra High Court in August. The CBI believes that Raju may try to tamper with evidence against him and influence witnesses. He has been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including Section 120B for criminal conspiracy, under Section 409 for breach of trust, under Section 420 for cheating, and under Section 468 and Section 471 for forgery. Andhra Pradesh Police arrested Raju and his brother Rama Raju on January 9, 2010. Nine other accused, including top company officials and auditors, were also arrested in the case. (ANI) |Supreme Court upholds Monika Bedis conviction in fake passport case| National. The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the conviction of gangster Abu Salems girlfriend actress Monika Bedi in the fake passport case. The apex court bench rejected Monikas appeal that she could not be convicted in India as it would amount to double jeopardy since she had been convicted by the Portugal court for the same offence. The apex court bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar passed the judgement, while dismissing Monikas appeal challenging her conviction. The Supreme Court, however, gave Monika Bedi some relief by reducing her sentence to period of jail term she had already undergone, which is two-and-half years. The Hyderabad sessions court had earlier sentenced Monika Bedi to five years term, which was later reduced to three years by the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Monika Bedi was caught in Portugal for travelling on a false passport to the name of Sana Malik Kamal.

Social Cohesion And Quality Life

Social Cohesion And Quality Life In the last few decades, quality of life has replaced the idea of wealth as the dominant goal of societal development. In opposition to the individual-centered perspective of societal development, several other welfare concepts emerged which put the focus on the aspects concerning societal qualities such as the extent of equality, security or freedom, or the quality and structure of the social relations within a society. Among those welfare concepts referring to characteristics of societies are, for example, „sustainabilityâ€Å", „social cohesionâ€Å", „social inclusionâ€Å" etc. Idea of the social cohesion of a society received great political attention at the national and supranational level. In regard to these developments, this paper attempts: first, to clarify the meaning of the concept of social cohesion and to determine its inherent dimensions by reviewing the existing theoretical approaches to this issue; second, to explore relationship between social cohesion and the quality of life. Quality of life is a concept related to the individual welfare. Although social cohesion represents a societal quality, it affects the individual quality of life because the elements of social cohesion are perceived and experienced by the members of the society. Thus, the social cohesion of a society can be conceived as an aspect relevant to the individual life situation, and in this sence, it represents a part of the individual quality of life. Under this perspective a broad conceptualization of quality of life seems appropriate. Quality of life can be considered as the complex policy goal which includes social cohesion as one component. The very broad and multidimensional notion of quality of life enlarged the perspective of societal development by considering not only economic aspects but also social and ecological concerns. Several welfare concepts emerged which put the focus on aspects concerning societal qualities such as the extent of equality, security or freedom, or the qual ity and structure of the social relations within a society. One of these welfare concept is social cohesion. The goal of this paper is: first, to clarify the meaning of the concept of social cohesion and to determine its inherent dimensions by reviewing the existing theoretical approaches to this issue; second, to explore relationship between social cohesion and the quality of life. 1. The concept of social cohesion The idea of social cohesion is difficult to express in a single definition. Émile Durkheim first coined the concept of social cohesion at the end of the nineteenth century. He considered social cohesion as an ordering feature of a society and defined it as the interdependence between the members of the society, shared loyalties and solidarity [14]. Aspects often mentioned in describing social cohesion are the strenght of social relations, shared values and communities of interpretation, feelings of a common identity and a sense of belonging to the same community, trust among societal members as well as the extent of inequality and disparities [26; 14). The simpler the division of labor in a society is, the stronger the bond between individuals and the social group will be. This bond is a result of mechanical solidarity, which arises from segmented similarities based on territory, traditions and group customs. The social division of labour that modernity brings with it erodes and weakens such bonds, as does the increased autonomy of individuals in modern society. In such a context, cohesion is part of the social solidarity that is required in order for the members of a society to remain bound to it with a force comparable to that of pre-modern, mechanical solidarity. This requires stronger, more numerous ties, and must even include bonds based on common ideas and feelings, leading to what Durkheim calls â€Å"organic solidarity†. As of today there is no single definition of social cohesion and it is still debated whether social cohesion is a cause or a consequence of other aspects of social, economic and political life. There is no clear definition of the concept probably because the very tradition of social citizenship that characterizes European societies assumes that social rights entail an intrinsic relationship between social inclusion and the provision of mechanisms to integrate individuals and give them a sense of full membership in society. According to this view, social cohesion implies a causal link between the mechanisms that provide integration and well-being, on the one hand, and a full individual sense of belonging to society, on the other. Inclusion and belonging, or equality and belonging, are the cornerstones of the idea of social cohesion in societies organized around the principles of the welfare state. The concept of social cohesion is often confused with other concepts, like social capital, social integration, or social inclusion. Social capital is closely related to social cohesion, and the two are very important concepts in policy and policy research circles. Social capital understood as a symbolic societal asset consisting of the ability to manage rules, networks and bonds of social trust which strengthen collective action, pave the way for reciprocity and progressively spread throughout society resembles cohesion, and can largely be described as a stock upon which social agents can draw to make society more cohesive. However, social capital is both a consequence and a producer of social cohesion. Whereas social cohesion emphasizes processes and outcomes, social capital emphasizes the notion of investments and assets that bring benefits, benefits that are not fully appropriated by the individuals making the investments. Social cohesion is often confused with social inclusion. Inclusion mechanisms include employment, educational systems, rights and policies designed to encourage equity, well-being and social protection. In that context, social cohesion may be understood in terms of both the effectiveness of instituted social inclusion mechanisms and the behaviours and value judgments of the members of society. Behaviours and value judgments include issues as diverse as trust in institutions, social capital, belonging and solidarity, acceptance of social rules and the willingness to participate in deliberative processes and collective endeavours. Another proximate notion is that of social integration, defined as the dynamic, multifactoral process whereby individuals share in a minimum standard of well-being consistent with the level of development achieved by a country. This restrictive definition views integration as the opposite of exclusion. In a broader sense, integration into society has also been defined as a common system of efforts and rewards, which levels the playing field in terms of opportunities and delivers rewards based on merit. The idea of social inclusion may be viewed as an expanded form of integration. Rather than emphasize a structure to which individuals must adapt in order to fit into the systemic equation, it also focuses on the need to adapt the system in such a way as to accommodate a diversity of actors and individuals. Inclusion requires not only an improvement in conditions of access to integration mechanisms, but also an effort to increase the self-determination of the actors involved. The idea of a social ethic also includes an essential aspect of social cohesion, emphasizing common values, agreement on a minimum set of rules and social norms, solidarity as an ethical and practical principle, and the assumption of reciprocity. These concepts are part of the â€Å"semantic universe† of social cohesion. Viewed in this light, the specific difference that sets social cohesion apart is the dialectical relationship between integration and inclusion, on the one hand, and social capital and social ethics, on the other. Consequently, there is a distinction between social inclusion and social cohesion, inasmuch as the latter includes the attitudes and behaviours of actors, without being limited to those factors. Social cohesion may thus be defined as the dialectic between instituted social inclusion and exclusion mechanisms and the responses, perceptions and attitudes of citizens towards the way these mechanisms operate. A definition of social cohesion by relating it to the concepts of social exclusion/exclusion and social capital has also been present. For example Dahrendorf et al. described a social cohesive society as a society preventing social exclusion: „Social cohesion comes in to describe a society which offers opportunities to all its members of a framework of accepted values and institutions. Such a society is, therefore, one of inclusion. People belong; they are not allowed to be excludedâ€Å" [4, str.vii]. Other scientist have emphasised that the social capital of a society is an essential foundation of its social cohesion [18; 17]. On the basis of review of the various approaches we could conclude that the concept of social cohesion incorporates mainly two societal goal dimensions which can be analytically distinguished: 1) The first dimension concerns the reduction of disparities, inequalities, and social exclusion. 2) The second dimension concerns the strengthening of social relations, interactions and ties. This dimension embraces all aspects which are generally also considered as the social capital of a society [6]. These two dimensions must be viewed as independent from each other to a certain degree. In principle, strong ties within a community can be accompanied by the tendency to discriminate and exclude those people who do not belong to that community [19]. This problem highlights the importance of considering both dimensions disparities/inequalities/social exclusion and social relations/ties/social capital in order to get a comprehensive picture of the social cohesion of a society. 3. Social exclusion Social exclusion represents concept with increasing popularity among scholars during last decade. The popularity of the concept was especially promoted through the growing interest in matters of social exclusion at the level of the European Union. The European Commission launched a series of research programmes in the framework of the European Observatory on National Policies to Combat Social Exclusion and of the European Poverty Programmes. Research on social exclusion replaced, to some extent, older terms of poor living conditions, such as poverty or deprivation. Originally, the term was used in the context of debates on a new poverty and defined as a rupture of the relationship between individual and the society due to the failure of societal institutions to integrate individuals. Today, it is suggested that social exclusion should be conceptualised as the insufficiency of one or more of the following four systems [1, str. 258-259]: This approach focuses on relational issues, i.e. on the disruption of social ties between individual and the society. Unlike social cohesion, poverty is concerned with distributional issues, i.e. on the lack of resources at the disposal of individuals or househods [23; 12]. Thus poverty may be regarded as characteristic of indiviudals and households, whereas social exclusion may be conceived as a feature of societies and of the individuals relations to society. In contrast to this position are considerations that social exclusion can be regarded both as a property of societies and as an attribute of individuals. As an individual attribute it is defined as a low level of welfare (economic disadvantage) and the inability to participate in social life (sociopolitical disadvantage). This perspective equals social exclusion to a multidimensional notion of poverty which describes a state or an outcome of a process. As a societal characteristc the term social exclusion refers to the impairment of social cohesion caused by the way in which institutions regulate and thereby constrain access to goods, services, acitivities and resources which are generally associated with citizenship rights. This view focuses attention to the processes of social exclusion and its causes which are attributed to the failure of institutions [5]. The conclusion arising out of these considerations is the requirement to differentiate between the causes of disadvantageous living circumstances and the processes leading to them on the one side and the outcomes of those processes themselves, that is peoples living situation. The causes may be attributed to societal institutions and can then be described by the concept of social exclusion as a property of societies. The impact of social exclusion on people is observable in the form of poor living conditions. In this sense, social exclusion represents a characteristic of individual and corresponds to the concept of poverty in a multidimensional notion. 4. Social capital The counceptualization of social cohesion as it is proposed here considers social capital as representing a second main dimension which may be used to describe the social cohesion of a society. Social capital represents one of the most powerful and popular metaphors in current social science research. Broadly understood as referring to the community relations that affect personal interactions, social capital has been used to explain an immense range of phenomena, ranging from voting patterns to health to the economic success of countries [7]. Literally hundreds of papers have appeared throughout the social science literature arguing that social capital matters in understanding individual and group differences and further that successful public policy design needs to account for the effects of policy on social capital formation. In this paper we will give the primary focus to the role of social capital in stenghtening the social cohesion and further link with the quality of life. We often observe countries with similar endowments of natural, hysical, and human capital achieving very different levels of economic success. This paradox has led scholars to search for deeper and more meaningful explanations about what holds people and societies together in order to foster economic development. Over time, scholars have constructed various frameworks for understanding the social aspects of this phenomenon and what we currently refer to as â€Å"social capital†. Fueled by continuous empirical investigations, these frameworks have evolved quite rapidly in recent decades. Since Loury [16] introduced it into modern social science research and Colemans [3] seminal study placed it at the forefront of research in sociology, the term social capital has spread throughout the social sciences and has spawned a huge literature that runs across disciplines. James Coleman popularized the term as he sought to conceptualize the aspects of social structure that facilitate eco nomic transactions. His work is widely recognized as one of the most significant, as is Robert Putnams study of voluntary associations in Italy. Putnam [21] concluded that the high density of voluntary associations in the north was responsible for the regions economic success. Many others have also made significant strides in advancing our knowledge and understanding of the subject. However, despite the immense amount of research on it, however, the definition of social capital has remained elusive. There are various theoretical approaches and perspectives of social captial which use more or less narrow concept. But they all have in common that they regard social capital as a property of a social entity and not of an individual [10]. It is a relational concept, it presupposes a social relation and exists only as far as it is shared by other individuals. Therefore, it cannot be the private property of a single person, but heas a character of a public good [11; 19]. The social capital of a society includes the institutions, the relationships, the attitudes and values that govern interactions among people and contribute to economic and social development. Social capital, however, is not simply the sum of the institutions which underpin society, it is also the glue that holds them together. It includes the shared values and rules for social conduct expressed in personal relationships, trust and a common sense of civic responsibility, that makes society more than a collection of indi viduals. Without a degree of common identification with forms of governance, cultural norms and social rules, it is difficult to imagine a functioning society [25, str.1]. Social capital is not only considered to be an essential basis for the social cohesion of a society, but at the same time as a main component of the wealth of a nation and as an important determinant of economic growth, besides physical, human and environmental capital [13]. The view is empirically supported by results showing a relation between the social capital of a society and its economic well-being [21; 15; 24]. Furthermore, there are also investigations pointing to the improvement of other dimensions of welfare such as education, health, rates of crime, and the environment [3; 20]. 5. The interdependence of social cohesion and the quality of life The concepts of social cohesion and quality of life are interrelated [8; 9]. Althought social cohesion represents an attribute of a society, it ultimately rests on the behaviour, attitudes and evaluations of its members, too. Social cohesion is based on social capital which is also created by social relations and ties established, maintained and experienced by individuals. Thus, looking at the social cohesion of a society involves aspects which are part of the individual life situation and in this sense components of the individual quality of life. Secondly, elements of the social cohesion of a society may have direct impact on individual quality of life. Empirical examples are the above cited results on the influence of social capital on economic and other dimensions of welfare. At a conceptual level, the perspective of social exclusion as a process rooting in the malfunction of social institutitons and resulting in a deprived living situation of the individual is another example. Social cohesion can be conceived as a societal quality which is experienced by individuals in their daily lives, for example in the form of the perceived inequality or the social climate at the working place, at school or in the neighbourhood, and thus also refers to the individual quality of life. This perspective conciders elements of the social cohesion of a society to form an integral part of the quality of life of the individuals belonging to that society. Such a position, which is supported here, advocates a broad conceptualisation of quality of life encompassing not only individual characteristics of the life situation but also societal qualities. In this sense, quality of life represents the common policy goal with social cohesion as an important component to be addressed. 6. The measurement of social cohesion On the basis of the conclusion about two dimensions of social cohesion, measurement of social cohesion should include measures concerning: Concerning the first dimension measurement dimensions for the various aspects can be derived for nearly all domains. Regional disparities are taken into account for example with respect to access to transport, leisure and cultural facilitites, educational and health care institutions, employment opportunities or the state of the environment. Issues of equal opportunities/inequalities could be considered therough political participation and employment opportunities, generation of inequalities in social relations or unemployment risks; inequalities between disabled and non-disabled people in access to public transport or educational institutions; etc. The aspect of social exclusion can be operationalised in many domains, too. Manifestatios of social exclusion are ususally measured such as homelessness, social isolation, long-term unemployment, poverty or a lack of social protection. Concerning second goal dimension of social cohesion and that is strenghtening the social capital of a society, most of the aspects of this dimension refer to the life domain of „social and political participation and integrationâ€Å". This domain covers all general issues of social relations and engagement outside the own household community such as the availability of relatives and friends, frequency of contacts and support within those personal networks, membership in organisations, engagement in the public realm such as volunteering and political activities. The quality of societal institutions is a component of social capital which applies to several life domains since, for example, institutions of education, health care, social security or the legal system. 7. Possible contemporary threats to social cohesion There are numerous possible demographic, socio-economic and political trends and processes which have been associated with a general deterioration of social cohesion throughout the world. Over the past three decades, globalization in the form of processes of structural transformation has impacted severely, in many ways, on people throughout the world. The intensified linkage of local social conditions with activities and decisions within world financial, commodity and labor markets is increasingly apparent and in many places its consequences are devastating. Perhaps the most fundamental feature of structural transformation in industrial countries has been reducing the share of industry in the formation of GDP and consequently the massive decline in manufacturing employment. We have been witnesses to the massive relocation of capital, jobs and manufacturing to areas of the globe where labor is cheaper. Instead of a relatively stable work conditions, characterized by institutionalized wage agreements and strong trade unions, internal labor markets within large firms, and secure, tenured and full-time employment; new socio-economic patterns emerge: More and more, opportunities for work and flows of income became variable and unpredictable and stable conditions characterizing employment are replaced by growing insecurity. These kinds of changes add to a growing polarization not only between employed and unemployed, but between secure, highly skilled, well paid workers and the larger proportion of insecure, unskilled, low paid workers. In addition to that, the gender dimension is critical to this shift, since women are greatly over represented in the new flexible yet precarious sectors of casual, part-time and short-contract employment [2, str. 142]. The rise of neo-liberal political philosophy has driven many of the processes of political restructuring over the past two decades. A key aspect of the neo-liberal vision of society is bringing the market principle, along with notions of self-responsibility and individualism, to almost every sphere of politics, economics and society. Aspects of political change which have subsequently emerged, and impacted dramatically on social cohesion, include: Such policies and processes which have brought about â€Å"the new inequality† can be seen as fuelling a process of â€Å"inequalisation†. The consequences for social cohesion, however defined, are devastating. â€Å"Such a divergence of the life chances of large social groups†, Dahrendorf observes, â€Å"is incompatible with civil society† [4, str. 38]. The most socially stigmatised, spatially segregated and economically disadvantaged also become the most politically excluded. The combined forces of economic and political restructuring, along with the new social fissions created in their wake, have also threatened a key socio-psychological source of social cohesion, the idea of â€Å"the nation†. The changes associated with globalization (here considered as processes involving the intensified linkage and increased scope, scale and speed of world-wide economic activity) are now so pervasive that national governments arguably no longer hold the keys to their own national larders. The flow and control of a variety of forms of investment, currency trading, commodity markets, and labor pools are increasingly determined by agents and forces above and beyond the reins of nation-state policy. For the nation-state, prerogatives and margins for maneuvers in economic policy are greatly reduced. Conclusions Social cohesion represents a concept which focuses on societal qualities such as the extent of inequality or the strength of social relations and ties within a society. In the terms described above, it is both a means and an end. As an end, it is an object of public policy, to the extent that policies attempt to ensure that all members of society feel themselves to be an active part of it, as both contributors to and beneficiaries of progress. In an age of profound, rapid changes resulting from globalization and the new paradigm of the information society, recreating and ensuring a sense of belonging and inclusion is an end in itself. Social cohesion is also a means, however, in more ways than one. Societies that boast higher levels of social cohesion provide a better institutional framework for economic growth and attract investment by offering an environment of trust and clearly defined rules. Moreover, long-term policies that seek to level the playing field require a social contra ct to lend them force and staying power, and such a contract must have the support of a wide range of actors willing to negotiate and reach broad agreements. In order to do so, they must feel themselves to be a part of the whole, and they must be willing to sacrifice personal interests for the good of the community. The formation of the social covenants needed to support pro-equity and pro-inclusion policies is facilitated by a greater willingness to support democracy, become involved in issues of public interest, participate in deliberative processes and trust institutions, as well as a stronger sense of belonging to a community and solidarity with excluded and vulnerable groups. In this paper we have established two goal dimensios inherent in the concept of social cohesion: 1) the reduction of disprarities, inequalities and social exclusion and 2) the strenthtening of social relations, interacions and ties. Concerning the first dimension of social cohesion, examples of measurement dimensions within various life domains are regional disparities of the state of environment, equal opportunities of women and men in employment, inequalitites between social strate in the state of health, social exclusion from material goods measured by income poverty. As far as second dimension is concerned, it comprises all aspects which together constitute the social capital of a society. This includes the social relations available at the informal level of private networks and the more formal level of organisations, the activities and engagement within private networks as well as within public realms, the quality of social relations and the quality of societal instiutitons. The quality of societal institutions represents a component of social capital which applies to several life domains. Institutions of education, health care, working life, social security, social services, the political system and legal system. The perceived quality of these institutitons are measured by the level of trust, satisfaction with or approval of institutions. The combined forces of economic and political restructuring, along with the new social fissions created in their wake, threaten to deteriorate a key sources of social cohesion in contemporary societies. It is therefore not surprising that idea of social cohesion receives great attention by social scientists as well as by politicians and gradually establish itself as one of the central societal goals at the national and the supranational level.