Walmart, Amazon, and Ebay: Who Will Dominate Internet Retailing?

There are many different business trends shaping e-commerce today. For one, ecommerce remains the fastest growing form of commerce when compared to physical retain store, services, and entertainment. Another trend is that the online demographics of shoppers broaden to match those of ordinary shoppers. Also, small businesses and entrepreneurs continue to flood through the e-commerce marketplace, often riding on the infrastructures created by industry giants and increasingly taking advantage of cloud-based computing resources. Lastly, pure e-commerce business models are refined further to achieve higher levels of profitability, whereas traditional retail brands use e-commerce to retain their dominant retail positions. 1b Name and describe three technology trends shaping e-commerce today. There are many different technology trends shaping e-commerce today. One technology trend is that wireless internet connections grow rapidly. Also, powerful handheld mobile devices support music, Web surfing, and entertainment as well as voice communication. Podcasting and streaming take off as mediums for distribution of video, radio, and user-generation content. c List and describe the eight unique features of e-commerce. There are eight different unique features of e-commerce today. First, ubiquity, which means that e-commerce is available everywhere; it is available at home, work, and elsewhere via mobile devices. Mobile devices extend service to local areas and merchants. Next, global reach makes e-commerce unique bec ause technology can reach all the way around the Earth. E-commerce is also unique because of universal standards; there is one set of technology standards, namely internet standards, making communication between computer systems easy. Richness is a unique quality because it makes video, audio, and text messages possible. They are integrated into a single marketing message and consumer experiment. Interactivity is unique because it allows the technology to work through interaction with the users. Another unique feature of e-commerce is information density because the technology reduces information costs and raises the quality. Personalization is a unique feature because the technology allows personalized messages to be delivered to individuals as well as groups. Lastly, social technology is a unique feature of e-commerce because it allows the user to use social networking to share with personal friends, content of many different forms. 2a Name and describe the principal e-commerce business models. There are several principal e-commerce business models. E-tailer sells physical products directly to consumers or to individual businesses. Transaction brokers save users money and time by processing online sales transactions and generating a fee each time a transaction occurs. The market creator business model provides a digital environment where buyers and sellers can meet, search for products, display products, and establish prices for those products. The content provider model creates revenue by providing digital content such as news, music, photos, or video over the Web. The customer can pay to access the content, or revenue may be generated by selling advertising space. A community provider provides an online meeting place where people with similar interests can communicate and find useful information. The portal business model provides initial point of entry to the Web along with specialized content and other services. Lastly, a service provider provides Web applications such as photo sharing, video sharing, and user generated content as services. Other services are also provided such as online data storage and backup. 2b Name and describe the e-commerce revenue models. There are several different e-commerce revenue models that describe how the firm will earn revenue, generate profit, and produce a superior return on investment. The advertising revenue model is the most widely used revenue model. In this model, a Web site generates revenue by attracting a large audience of visitors who can then be exposed to advertisements. In the sales revenue model, companies derive revenue by selling goods, information, or services to customers. In the subscription revenue model, a Web site offering content or services charges a subscription fee for access to some or all of its offerings on an ongoing basis. In the free revenue model, firms offer basic services or content for free, while charging a premium for advanced or special features. In the transactions fee revenue model, a company receives a fee for enabling a transaction. Lastly, in the affiliate revenue model, Web sites send visitors to other Web sites in return for a referral fee or percentage of the revenue from any resulting sales. 3a How do social networking and â€Å"the wisdom of crowds† help companies improve their marketing. Social networking helps companies improve marketing because they link people through their mutual business or personal connections, enabling them to mine their friends for sales leads, job hunting tips, or new friends. The wisdom of crowds†, it is argued that a large number of people can make better decisions about a wide range of topics or products than a single person or a small group of experts. It helps improve marketing by suggesting that firms should consult with thousands of their customers first as a way of establishing a relationship with them and to better understand how their products and services are used a nd appreciated. 3b Define the social graph and explain how it is used in e-commerce marketing. The social graph is a map of all significant online social relationships, comparable to a social network describing offline relationships. It is a small world that links people more tightly than they think. Overall, marking with social media is still in early stages and companies are experimenting in hopes of finding a winning formula. It is used to shape social networks, connecting people all over the world to businesses. 4 Explain how Internet technology supports business-to-business electronic commerce. Internet technology supports business to business electronic commerce because it has potential to have trillions of dollars released for more productive uses, consumer prices would fall potentially, productivity would increase, and the economic wealth of the nation would expand. Business to business e-commerce refers to the commercial transactions that occur among business firms which flow through a variety of different Internet-enabled mechanisms. Transactions are automatically transmitted through networks, eliminating the printing and handling of paper. a List and describe important types of e-commerce services and applications. There are many important types of e-commerce services and applications. Location based services is built with a GPS and compass that can identify your precise location and where the phone is pointed. It can put adds on a website based on a person’s location and can allow business to market over the internet based on a person’s location. Bankin g and Financial services let customers manage their accounts from their mobile devices. Mobile advertising and retailing is where companies can put ads on different aps for smartphones to advertise or have their own aps where a person can download and get coupons and deals just by walking into the store and logging into the application on their smartphone. Games and entertainment platforms are offered on Smartphones where a user can play games, watch TV or videos, etc. and connect to other game players and users all around the world. 5b Describe some of the barriers to e-commerce. There are a few barriers to e-commerce. One barrier is security concerns. With this there are risks of identity theft, viruses, and much more that consumers are worried about because they do not want their information stolen, especially because the internet is so easily accessible. Another barrier through e-commerce is that over the internet, a consumer cannot tough and feel a product, such as a book. There are Kindle apps where you can virtually buy and read a book, but people like reading actual books in their hand. Education also acts as a barrier because with e-commerce, new processes are coming to the surface all of the time making employees having to adapt. This is hard because a lot of people don’t want to change their ways. 6a List and describe each of the factors that go into the building of an e-commerce Web site. There are many factors that go into the building of an e-commerce Web site. First, a team has to be assembled with the right skills to make decisions about technology, site design, social and information policies, and hardware, software, and telecommunications infrastructure. The customer’s demands need to drive the site’s technology and design. The site can eight be built in-house or parts, if not all, of the site can be outsourced to be maintained. With outsourcing, companies need to be aware of their Web-site budget and maintenance. 6b List and describe four business objectives of a typical e-commerce Web site. One business object of a typical e-commerce Web site is to display goods, meaning, making the goods and products easily accessible and viewable to consumers in order to be productive. Another is the objective of a personalized/customized product. This makes the seller stand out from other businesses, making their product stand out and be more appealing than others. This makes the customer want to purchase the unique product. Businesses providing product information is another objective. Consumers do not want to purchase something that they know nothing about; therefore it is important to tell the customer what they need to know. Lastly, the objective of coordinating marking/advertising is important because companies need to advertise their product to consumers in order for them to want to purchase it. Without marketing, the product would not be known and less people would buy it because of this. 6c List and describe four system functionalities of a typical e-commerce Web site. There are many different system functionalities of a typical e-commerce Web site. One is a product database, which is database of all of the company’s products, allowing the company to know how much they are selling and what they have in inventory. The shopping care and payment system functionality allows the user to put interesting items in their virtual shopping cart to purchase. Once they have finished shopping, they can view the total price, edit their order, and continue to check-out all over the internet. A site tracking and reporting system is a great function that allows the company to see who is purchasing what and from where. This is a helpful tool that allows companies the ability to change their market audience to an audience closer to what the site tracking system is displaying. Lastly, a digital catalog is important for a site so consumers can see what exactly a company is selling or offering. 6d List and describe four information requirements of a typical e-commerce Web site. There are several information requirements of a typical e-commerce Web site. Product descriptions, stocking numbers, and inventory levels are important information to have because the business needs to know what and where their consumers are buying so it can be efficiently shipped. Secure credit card clearing is important because consumers want to be able to trust a company with their purchasing information, knowing that the information will not be hacked leading to identity theft. The customer ID, product, date, payment, and shipment date is important for the company to have because it acts as a log of prior business and they can track profitability and productivity. The number of products purchased is important because the company needs to know if they are underestimating or overestimating their sales and must act accordingly.

Leadership Characteristics

Leadership Characteristics Executive summary: Since early beginning of the last century, the leadership has emerged as an important issue in the business regard of the dramatic transformation in the world economy. Thus far, the following report represents an attempt to shed the light on the leadership issue. In order to provide a hint of the leadership meaning, the report will demonstrate brief idea about some of the leadership theories which perceive the leadership skills form different view.The report then will identify certain characteristics that should be attained in the personality of the leader which ensure his successful. The requisite of the contemporary leadership skills has appeared at the latter part of twentieth century, regard of the globalisation phenomenon as well the rapid development in technology; which resulted in the increase of the competition. As the knowledge does not stop, leaders require training and development, thus, the report will also investigate the pr ocess of leadership development. 1Chapter One: Introduction: Throughout the last century and insofar the 21st century, the mankind has undergone dramatic transformation in the whole domains, and the individuals needs and requirements significantly expended, however, many people managed to maintain successfully their life and obtained the benefit of this change, while others could not cope with this change, which resulted with dissatisfaction and pessimistic view of the life.Significant amount of researches and investigations have been done in order to identify such a pattern or a process that can raise the performance of human beings, thus the concept of leadership appeared as a critical requisite for any entity, including an individuals, family, organisations or even countries. In the early part of 20th century, ‘Freud (1927) in his famous book theCivilisation and It Discontents, he approached the leadership issue when he said that groups of individuals need leaders to provid e them with an identity and sense of purpose’ (Higgs, 2003) With the rapid transformation in the world, the competition has become more aggrieve, and organisations urged to deal with this rapid change and the continue development has become an urgent need for the company prosper and survive. Hence, Leadership issue was put under the limelight as an important process for the company sustainability.Although there have been momentous efforts devoted to investigate the leadership issue including theories, definitions and identification for its characteristics, till now there is no complete agreement about the notion of leadership, since these different suggestions and concepts approached the leadership from different perspectives. The following report embodies an attempt to shed the light on the leadership issues, throughout quick review of the leadership theories, and examine the leadership characterises in both the 20th and the 21st century, before dissect the reflection of the personal-experience on the leadership characteristics Chapter Two: Leadership Theories: Due to the importance of the leadership issue, many theories have been emerged throughout the time, each theory tackles with the leadership from different perspectives and aspects, and one can not determine whether this theory right and others are wrong; however the main theories of the leadership are: †¢Trait Theory: this theory defines specific characteristics which are existed in the successful leadership such as attitudes, personality, intelligence and decisiveness, regardless of any consideration of other assisted factors such as team work and the internal and external work environment.However, there are two criticisms for this theory. â€Å"The first, it doesn’t specify what the most important leadership characteristics are, and the second, it ignores the contribution of the others. † (Dessler, 1976) †¢Behavioural Theory: it approaches the leadership from another pe rspectives, it dissects the achievement of leaders and the outcomes of their contributions within the organisations. The remarkable differences between the trait and behavioural theory are that the last one emphasises on oth the accomplishment of the task as the main indications for the leader success, and employees’ satisfaction, †¢Situational leadership: According to this theory, the effectiveness of the leader is significantly correlated with situational factors which restrict the performance of the leader positively or negatively. In other words, â€Å"the efficiency of leader’s skills or traits are determined by the situation in which leaders exercise leadership† (Dessler,1976), These factors are: -Follower’s contributions. The availability and the utilization of the resources. However, creating the harmonisation and the collaboration between the situational factors and the leader are essential to determine leader’s effectiveness. †¢ Contingency Theories: basically, the assumption of this theory, that the behaviour of the leader can not be standardised, instead, the leader should consider situational factors. The success of the leader in this theory is measured by the ability of leader to adopt such a style to achieve certain task with a consideration to the followers.This theory was the beginning of new view of leadership; based on this assumption other contingency theories were emerged such as, Fiedler’s concept of situational favourability (1967), which defined position power, task structure and leader-member relation, as the main factors that determine the effectiveness of the leader’s style. Path-goal is another theory (House and Mitchell 1974) which assumes that the leader has a significant contribution on the follower to enable them to achieve their objectives. Horner, 1997) †¢Transactional theories: it assumes that since the task and responsibilities have been identified, the leader ha s a full right to do whatever it requires to achieve this task. This theory depends on praise and rewards as motivation system for followers, meanwhile, punishment is used to ensure the abidance by the roles and the request of the task. However, this theory is criticised as it assumes the behaviour of a human being is predictable without any consideration of the reflection of the environment. Transformational theories: this theory depends on the development of the vision and convinces the follower, in other words, the leader adopts the visions and does whatever it requires to encourage followers. In this case the leader will become an inspiration for followers and they create their relationship with them depending on trust. As it is clearly perceived, those theories tackle with the leadership from different perspectives. Since there is no enough room, the report will investigate the transformational theory. Transformational Theory: This theory was generated under assumption of peopl e follow a person who has vision and passion.He or she will inspire them to achieve the goal. Transformational leadership is the modern view of leadership that seems to match with the style of business leader in 21st century since the business competition; turbulence, unforeseen contingencies, and rapid change in technologies create such a momentous stress. Under this stress, the need for transformational leaders who are proactive is emerged as an important requisite to help follower to cope with the dramatic change. (Bass, 1997) The characteristic of transformational leaders is mainly embodied by their charisma; they inspire followers by their innovation and ability to create change.However, the success of charismatic leader is through a belief in themselves rather than others, while transformational leaders concern with other around them such as colleagues and employees. They are not narcissistic as charismatic. This style of leader will create an important transformation to both organisation and employees. Moreover, it may impact the strategy and the structure of the organisation. The power of transformational leader is not derived by the reward system or rules and regulation, yet it is obtained from an intangible value such as their visions and the relationship among others. Draft, 2002) According to Tichy and Devanna (Lussier, 1996), there are three main activities for transformational leadership. Recognition for the need of revitalisation: leaders should understand the urgent need of the organisation for transformation, in order to create such a sustainable resource of competitive advantage to maintain the company success in such a competitive environment. Creating a new vision: by having visualise in innovation and organisation changed, leader will be able to inspire and motivate others to reach the objectives.Institutionalising change: it is essential for transformational leaders to put an effort to convince others. Leaders need to advise and create tr ust among employees in the organisation in order to let them understand the idea of vision and reach the goal. The style of transformational leadership tends to match with the business world today since it is flexible and innovator. In addition, there are many business articles mentioned that workforce is the most important resource for organisation. Thus, this type of leadership takes into consideration of both business activity and relationship within organisation.These two factors pave the passage of the company success. There are several distinctions between those theories; nevertheless, they agree that there are certain characteristics should be attained in the leader to ensure the efficiency of his contribution. 3Chapter Three: Leadership Characteristics: 3. 1Leadership Definition: As there are many theories approached the leadership, there are also many definitions have been suggested for the leadership, some authors identify the leadership as a process to achieve groups/ org anisations goals, others see the notion of leadership as trait, transformation or even as management.However, the definition of leadership by Rost (1993) can be used to dissect this notion (8). He defines the leadership as an influence relationship among leader and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes. According to Rost, leadership is: †¢Influence Relationship: the influence will be in both directions top-bottom and bottom-top. †¢Intend real changes: it means leadership includes substantial development in both leaders and followers. †¢Mutual purposes: both leader and followers agree about certain purposes which can be considered as missions or statements. . 2Leadership Characteristics: There is a view argues that leaders are born and other say it is a science can be taught, both of those views did not describe leadership accurately, â€Å"leadership is an art to be studied, practised, developed and lived. † (Scott, 1996) There ar e certain characteristics that determine the effectiveness of leadership and shape the performance of leaders: 1. Communicative: the importance of this skill, that it provides the leader with an ability to deliver precisely the ideas, visions and objectives required to be achieved.However, it is crucial to understand that the communications include the flow of data and information in two sides, top-bottom and bottom-top. Leaders have to consider sharing the ideas and unleash the contribution of employees, since occasionally, employees come up with innovative suggestions that might enhance or develop certain objectives. 2. Rewards and recognizes achievement: express the appreciation for others efforts, has a vital role as a motivation. Leaders could achieve that by financial rewards or even by praise the follower.Sometime simple gestures such as approving nod, thumbs- up or even quick comment like ‘great job’, ‘you are doing well’ is enough to encourage foll owers to improve their performance and productivity. 3. Genuine interest in others: it is undeniable fact that financial rewards have a significant influence on followers; meanwhile, there are other motivations that should be attained. The leader should recognise the emotional support for followers since it creates loyalty.Genuine interest does not require a lot of efforts; it might be expressed by asking about the personal health or family. For instance, in the company that I used to work, the owner asks employees about their general life before he asked about any other thing related to the work, this simple action was enough to motivate employees to work as they own the company. 4. Team orientation: the successful leader takes into account the importance of team-work; he gathers the followers and discusses with them the task or the missions.The leader listens to their opinion, stimulates their innovation, and finally creates the harmony required to achieve the task. This gives emp loyees more responsibility to improve their performance and productivity since they have significant role as decision- makers. 5. Visionary and idea-oriented: the long-term objectives are vital issue in the successful leadership agenda; he always seeks for new ideas and creativity. They consider the available competitive advantages and establish the stream of substantial competitive advantages.When Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (Dubai’s ruler) unveiled the growth strategy of 2015, it was unsurprising for many economists that the city had met its 2010 GDP target two years ago. Many people argue that Dubai is only a bubble and it would diminish after it consumes its oil. However, this completely untrue, nowadays, 74% of emirits GDP derives from real-estate, tourism and retail sectors (Kerr, 2007). The rapid strides of the development of Dubai is referred to the log-term successful visions of it rulers, and his ability to create new competitive advantages for the country instead of the oil.Similar to that in the business world, â€Å"Henry Ford by his long term vision as well as rational risk calculated he managed to predict the market and customer trend and made Ford on of the most successful organisation. † (Grint, 2000) 6. Decisiveness, responsibility and Integrity: although, it has been mentioned that followers should be involved in decision-making process, the leader is still the ultimate decision-maker depending on the ability to consider the right decision in the proper time.Since a decision has been made, the leader is completely responsible for the consequences of any possible risk, even if the leader is involved directly in the execution. Integrity is also very important, â€Å"leaders do not use followers as means to achieve their purpose in satisfying the shareholder; instead, they understand that their contribution should consider the whole stakeholders. † (Bowie et al, 2000) 7. Competence: the word of competence derives from innovation, training and development, accumulated experience, and the ability of the leader to learn.Since the leadership is an art, leaders have to consider the importance of shaping and the development of their skills; this should be attained by substantial willing for knowledge and self-development. Those characteristics are very important to be attained by the leaders because they have crucial impact on the effectiveness of leadership, moreover, the effective leaders manage to create synergy between their followers, and loyalty required for achieving certain objectives and tasks. 4Chapter Four: Leadership in the 21st Century:Since the latter part of twentieth century the world has witnessed dramatic change in the whole domains, â€Å"due to the rapid strides of technologies development, the spread of the globalisation phenomenon, demographic shifts, migration and the rapid degradation of social and natural capital – are creating opposing tensions. † (Connor et al, 2003, P. 59). Taking into account those challenges, the demand of leadership has been increased noticeably with an urgent requisite of organisations for framework that tates the new criteria of leadership. Some of these are an expansion for the previous characteristics of leadership and others are new, however, those could be summarised as: †¢Understanding the Culture Diversity: although the geographical barriers have been eliminated, the cultural barriers are still an enormous challenge for businesses. Leaders should be aware that doing business is different from nation to nation, and it is completely restricted by the national traditions and habits.For instant: In the USA, Innovations and achievements are considered as individual effort, hence, the influence of the individual recognition will be obvious in Human Resource Management of the American firms, individual reward system, appraisal and even in the job designed. While in China the individual efforts and innovation s are referred to the founder of the firm. In Chinese tradition the achievement are always referred to the collective units such as families, organisations, and the country. (Tsang, 2007) The misunderstanding in the communication is another consequence of the lack of culture appreciation.Many conflicts were occurred, contracts were rejected and negotiations failed at the last stage because of the lack of communication with other culture. Thus far, the comprehensive understanding for influence of the culture on business is vital, because the world has become more united under the umbrella of globalisation. †¢Strategic thinking: An organisation can not be considered as an individual entity, instead it is influenced by external factors, such as competitors, suppliers, customers, critical financers and fluctuation in the market demand.From this view the needs of substantial change in the corporate strategy emerges as an important requisite to enable the company to cope with change of the business environment. However, â€Å"the ways-of-thinking of the leader have continues impact on corporate reorientation. † (Hendry et al,1993). However, it is important to understand that strategic thinking is different from the strategic planning, â€Å"Mintzberg argues that strategic planning derives from strategic thinking† (Bonn, 2001, P63). The first aspect of the strategic thinking is observation and company knowledge.The leader observes the company daily life with its complexity and understands the drivers of the organisation performance and the influence of the external factors on this performance. The second aspect of the strategic thinking is creativity; it is the core of strategic thinking. The leader seeks the substantial development for his organisation; he identifies solutions for the company problems and creates vision which will determine the future of firm. Thereafter, the strategic thinking of the leader establishes the implementation required to achieve the company vision.Sharing vision with others is another significant element for the strategic thinking successful, since it generates loyalty and encourage them because they participate in decision-making process. Jeffery Bezos the founder of Amazon is considered as an important example of a successful leader, in such a high competitive business sector like the online, where other companies struggle to cope with the rapid stride of technology, Amazon imposes itself as the leader of the online industries and especially the e- retailers, there is no doubt that the strategic thinking of Bezos is an ultimate key of the Amazon success.Bezos always has one eye on the future, in order to build the company long term objectives, however, his strategic thinking embodies by creating the Amazon vision and establishing the strategy needed to achieve the company objectives. Innovation is one of most important aspect of Bezos strategic thinking, since Amazon invests huge amount of mon ey to provide the world with amazing technologies such as Elastic Compute Cloud (ECC) to ensure that the company is still the leader of the dot-com race. Hof, 2006) Whenever the world doubts, if Amazon can fulfil its promise to revolutionise retailing, Bezos wonders the people with such an innovative idea to reinforce Amazon position as being the e-retailer leader. With his strategic thinking as well as his creative working-team, Amazon never stops building its substantial competitive advantages. Humanistic awareness: as workforce constitutes the most value asset of the firm, the leader has significant responsibility to ensure their satisfaction; considerable motivation system, training and development, praise, empowerment, participation in decision-making process are samples to obtain employees satisfaction. Since they have impact on employees’ productivity and innovation. However, employees’ retention reflects the level of their satisfaction, and appreciation for com pany leader. Learning and self-awareness: the leader has to have a profound knowledge about his organisation to be able to recognise its capability in order to create the vision and framework and means needed to achieve this vision, moreover, the successful leader is knowledge seeker to cope with rapid change in the business world. Self-awareness is another issue that leaders should take into consideration; they distinguish their weaknesses and strengths, and use the last one to eliminate the weaknesses to improve the effectiveness of their leadership.Hence, leaders empower their ability to inspire and unite employees around themselves to maintain the company performance. 5Chapter Five: Leadership Development: The increase of the competition in the business world urges organisations to search more for competitive advantages in order to be able to survive and conquer their competitors in such a hostile business environment. Nowadays organisations eventually start to concern about lea dership development and devote tangible efforts to improve efficiencies of its individuals.However, the leadership development program should be prepared comprehensively in order to attain its purpose. The 360 degree appraisal system is an important step to initiate this program, since it provides feedback about the employee performance from different resources which helps to determine the improvement required regard to his strengths and weaknesses. (Ladyshewsky, 2007). Thereafter, the priority of the leadership development will be for the higher level managers, regard to their expected contribution on their subordinates, yet the improvement of the subordinate should be in the leadership development agenda.The leadership development program should cover the weakness of the employees that has listed in the 360 degree appraisal; meanwhile, it should depend on modern techniques and case studies from other companies, rather than depending on the literatures and theories only. The final step in the leadership development program is the evaluation which derived from many criteria, such as the feedback of the program, the examination of the participant’s understanding, and the tangible outcomes that the company will acquire which is the decisive for the program evaluation. Leskiw et al, 2007) However, there is another view should be deemed in the issue of leadership development, individuals perseverance is ultimate criteria for development, leader should have enough credibility to admit there weaknesses and finds the appropriate strategy to mitigate the impact of this weakness, moreover, the leader should be knowledge seeker to obtain the benefit of the others experience. 6Chapter Eight: Conclusion: The leadership an old requisite in the human beings life, nevertheless, it has become a considerable obsession for the organisations, regard to the substantial transformation in the world business.Although the theories of the leadership are different, they agree th at there are several characteristic that should be attain by a person in order to be such a successful leader. Most of the leadership theories concern about the characteristic needed to reinforce two main things, creating competitive advantages and the workforce. As the workforce is the most important asset for the firm, the leader should consider employee alignment around the company objectives throughout the leader humanistic consideration as followers need inspiration, different kind of motivation in order to enhance their performance.Meanwhile, the leader should eventually find the resource of the competitive advantages. Due to the dissemination of the globalisation phenomenon as well as the rapid development in technology, organisations require new leadership characteristic to cope with change in the business environment. However, the new leadership characteristics have emerged from the need for crossing the culture barriers, since it is an enormous obstacle for organisation. C reating the long-term planning depends on the strategic thinking of the leader to identify new vision for the company.The increase in the world competition is accomplished with raise of the leadership demand, thus far organisations should invest considerably in improving their leadership capability, since the world development will never stop. References Bass, B. M. , (1998), Stress and Transactional-Transformational Leadership, Transformational Leadership: Industrial, Military, and Educational Impact, London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Bonn, I. , (2001) Developing Strategic Thinking as a Core Competency, Management Decision, Vol. 39, No. , pp. 63-71 Bowie, N and Elmer, L. , (2000), Kantian Theory of Leadership, Leadership & organisation Development Journal, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 185-193 Connor, R. and Mackenzie-Smith, P. (2003), The Leadership Jigsaw -finding the Missing Piece, Business Strategy Review, Vol. 14, Issue 1, pp 59-66 Dessler, G. , (1976) Leadership and Supervision, Organ isation and Management: Contingency Approach, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Publication. Draft, R. L. , (2002), Management, 6th Ed. Mason, OH: South-Western Publication. Grint, K. (2000), Henry Ford: The Blind Business Visionary, The Arts of Leadership, Oxford: Oxford University Press Hendry, J (ed) and Johnson, G (ed) with Newton, J (1993), Strategic Thinking: Leadership and the Management of Change, England: John Wiley Publication Higgs, M. , (2003) How can we make sense of leadership in the 21st century? , Leadership & organisation Development Journal, Vol. 24 No. 5, pp. 273-284 Hof, R. D. , (13/10/2006), Jeff Bezos' Risky Bet, Business week magazine [Online]. Available from Business week: http://www. businessweek. com/magazine/content/06_46/b4009001. tm Accessed (20/04/2007)) Horner, M. , (1997) Leadership Theory: Past, Present and Future, Team Performance Management, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 270-287 Kerr, S. , (24/07/2007), Emirate Sets its Sights on Trebled GDP by 2015, The Financial Tim es. Economy, pp. 2 Ladyshewsky, K. R, () A Strategic Approach for Integrating Theory to Practice in Leadership Development, Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, Vol. 28, No. 5, pp. 426-443 Leskiw, S and Singh, P. , (2007), Leadedrship Development: Learning from Best Practices, Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, Vol. 8, No. 5, pp. 444-464 Lussier, R. N. , (1996), Human relations in organizations: A skill-building approach. 2nd Ed. Chicago, IL: Irwin, Inc Rost, J. C, (1993), Leadership definition, Leadership for the Twenty-First Century, London: Praeger Publication. Scott , E. D. and Kleiner, B. H, (1996), Good? Leadership, Management Development Review, Vol. 9, No. 5, pp. 30-33 Tsang, D. , (2007), Leadership, National Culture and Performance Management in The Chinese Software Industry, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 270-284

Business Outsourcing and Functions †Free Samples to Students

The process of contracting out or delegating work to people or agencies outside the business premises is called outsourcing business function. It may evolve in carrying tasks, job, or any operation where external third parties are contracted for significant time period  (Riley, 2010). The work outsourced can be performed in house or outside the firm. Outsourcing has gained much importance with changing nature of businesses   (Dendler, n.d.). In last decades, many big and small organisations which are getting associated with globalisation, considers outsourcing function as a positive approach. Geographical limitations are dealt with ease by facilitating outsourcing business functions like manufacturing, customer support, in house support, advertisement, etc.  (ITONews.eu, 2017) The role of strategic management has become important not only to look after business practice carried within organisations, but also manage work that can be outsourced to get efficient work with cost red uctive ways. Since outsourcing itself is a complicated process, a company may face various challenges while implementing it into business  (Pellicelli, 2012). In this literature review opportunities of outsourcing in business along with major challenges faced by it will be reviewed and analysed with the help of research made by authors and researchers along with identifying gaps between the studies. As shown in above figure, the reason to outsource work to external providers is various and thus becomes necessary to introduce it in business. Depending on the nature of business the outsourcing function may vary but the primary objective behind it lays the same i.e. cost reduction or gaining efficiency in work  (Kremic, 2006). For example, in large manufacturing companies where great number of people is required like labours, designers, suppliers, contractors, etc. outsourcing provides great help as requirement of hiring full time staff is not necessary on outsourced areas. In manufacturing firms large number of parts are manufactured by outsourced companies which could otherwise have been expensive or difficult to manufacture by own. In customer service companies like call centres and BPOs, large firms outsource their customer related services in order to reduce costs of making separate department for them in house. Other human resource management tasks like employee training ce ntres, payroll, staff benefit management, etc are largely outsourced in order to get higher quality work from experts  (Anon., 2011). Advertising plays a major role to make enhanced sale of product or services in business. Outsourcing has given industries a great backing here as large number of advertising companies and social media sites gets outsourced by businesses and carries the work in lesser time. Therefore in some or the other way business is largely depended on outsourcing function to expand their work area and bring in efficiency. Work quality is improved by hiring experts along with enabling business owners to give core efforts in major activities for development of the firm. Although outsourcing is becoming centre in today’s business functions, the challenges to improvise them are also increasing. Thus it becomes necessary on management part to understand the key benefits and potential challenges behind outsourcing function in business  (LLP, 2010). The opportunities relating outsourcing function is been developing and is considered to be highly potential in business  (Kremic, 2006). The advantages of it can be clearly seen in running of organisations which is observed and described by different authors. The following figure depicts major opportunity that can be gained by business while implementing outsourcing function. Operation costs reduction: This is the most advantageous feature of outsourcing which helps organisations to eliminate expenses of full time staff for executing operational or manufacturing area. If manufacturing of parts that requires special machine or assistance of special technicians is outsourced, it can reduce the requirement of setting those expensive machines and hiring full time technicians  (Crosby, 2017). Works related to internal management area like legal, planning, product designing, etc. requires expert advices. Outsourcing can provide scope for expert advice in cost effective manner as they may be efficient in their work while giving services to many companies simultaneously. Easier cost control: The role of management plays an important part to recognise cost curtail in organisational functions as if outsourcing is done in proper and planned manner, it can prove very effective in controlling overall costs of business. Like if a company’s work is seasonal, the hiring of full time staff can increase the cost of project while outsourcing can minimise the costs, provided, the availability of staff is possible during peak season. In other areas like cleaning and sanitizing, transportation, currier service, advertising etc. are normally outsourced in large organisations in order to perform the task in effective and cost reductive way  (Simeoni, 2011). Cooperation with specialist from narrow area: The requirement of advisors in legal and administrative part of firms can prove expensive as the specialists charge higher rates if engaged full time. Outsourcing these functions can provide engagement of experts in lower costs as they work together for many companies and take charges in distributed way. Big organisations prefer to hire full time staff for crucial jobs where important data is used whereas small companies find it easier to outsource these functions and get expert advices in nominal rates  (McCray, 2012). Process optimization and rising efficiency: Outsourcing gives opportunities to the companies to get exposure to merchant specialized systems. By outsourcing work to them, efficiency is increased along with gaining quality products. It also enables time optimization by outsourcing time taking processes to outsiders  (Simeoni, 2011). For example in restaurants and hospitals where large quantity of food and vegetables along with other supplies is required to be purchased on daily basis, outsourcing its marketing function to vendors and supply agencies can get their work done in quicker way and on time. Liberating capital for other purposes: While outsourcing work, capital of the firm is liberated and can be utilized for other important areas. For example, outsourcing Social Medias for advertisement or brand promotion will be easier for the company than to make provision for brand promotion by them and invest in campaigning and door to door advertising. Expenditure can be saved as Social Medias provide advertising function in cheaper and effective way. Thus saved expenditure can be utilised in other important areas like planning and executing  (Pellicelli, 2012). Releasing internal capabilities: This function is also very important as many companies take advantage of outsourcing to release themselves from tedious jobs for other important works. In businesses large number of activities is carried and distributed among employees within the organisation and some are delegated to outside agencies. The owners keep themselves free for monitoring and executing confidential functions of organisations  (Kremic, 2006). This function not only saves time and energy of delegators but also helps them in sharing risks with the outsourced agencies. While making contracts and terms, company’s mentions the time and quality required and if the outsourced company fails to do that, they are entailed to bear losses if the products are not appreciated by the customers  (Crosby, 2017). Although there are many benefits of outsourcing, there are many challenges also which are faced by the companies. No matter how much planned or budgeted management is, there are few challenges still met by them which have been identified by researchers  (Wong, 2006). As shown in the figure below, the major challenges faced by companies are considered and discussed while giving suitable example. Loss of control: One of the biggest challenges faced by business while outsourcing some of its functions is losing significant control over the outsourced area. Since the external agencies become responsible for task completion, they might not let the delegators to interfere while the task is been performed  (Arena Solutions, Inc., 2017). Thus before realizing the possession; the owners lose control in those areas. Like in product manufacturing company, the outsourced manufacturer may lose quality as they work for many companies altogether and cannot look at each company with consideration and while they restrict the delegators to interfere with their processes, it becomes challenging situation for the outsourcing companies. Coverage: In larger companies where many tasks are outsourced, it becomes difficult on management part to cover entire area monitoring in regular basis. Challenges relating outsourcing done in house are exempted from this factor, while others like manufacturers, advisors, advertising agencies, transport agencies, training experts, etc. are difficult to get covered under monitoring system of management. For example, in hotel business, where large number of activities takes place like cooking, cleaning, sanitising, marketing, etc. lots of people are engaged and many works are outsourced. Thus can become challenging for the management to look after all areas with concentration  (Gammelgard, 2017). Employment Inefficiency: While work is outsourced, it may sometimes result in losing morale of employees and reduce their work quality. This is another challenge faced by organisations and to overcome it the management needs to consider outsourcing from employees view point  (Sethi, 2011). For example if an important or growth oriented program is outsourced and employees are given only tedious and directive work, they might lose faith in their capabilities and thus reduces work performance and efficiency. Many stakeholders: Stakeholders are the ones who are directly or indirectly related to the firm commercially. When work is outsourced, more people and agencies get attached to the company and thus becomes an integrated part of the firm. To some extent company becomes liable to them as if their reputation is hampered; the affects might also be faced by the company. Thus outsourcing involves many stakeholders who bring in risks for delegators. This challenge is normally faced by big organisations where huge activities take place in speckled and global ways. While the organisations work is delegated in dispersed way and sometimes to other countries also, they become liable for many stakeholders  (Whitebox Buisness Solutions, 2012). Dispersed locations: Most companies outsource work to agencies in dispersed areas and sometimes to other countries also (of-shoring). While the work is scattered it becomes challenging on the management part to deal with them at the time of difficulties  (Whitebox Buisness Solutions, 2012). For example, agriculture functions for producing food crops are outsourced in food industries where the organisations are unable to do of their own. Since it requires large area and sometimes even outsourced to other countries favourable for producing required crops, the challenge of dispersed location is faced. Other challenge faced by organisations while dispersing its activity to other countries is challenge of culture and language diversification which makes difficult for organisations to tackle while trading product and service related issues. Budget inadequacy: Sometimes the outsourcing companies are unable to understand and figure out the difference in costs between self working and outsourcing. If made without proper planning, outsourcing can sometimes prove ineffective function with increased cost expenditure. The challenge faced here is to make proper planning for the outsourcing function so that budget is not disturbed. On the other hand where the business has got limited number of administrators, outsourcing becomes necessary and the budget for it can sometimes prove inadequate for them  (McCray, 2012). Know how: This challenge has two meanings in literature. One reveals the challenge of getting knowledge about the quality of outsourced work while other reveals the knowledge about method used for doing the work. For example, firms relating manufacturing of medicine outsources manufacturing of some medicines which requires special machines and is difficult for them to purchase. While the manufacturing is outsourced, sometimes the product delivered by the agencies can be of inferior quality and made under unhygienic conditions. This can become dangerous and even lead to shutting down of outsourcing companies. Thus a very crucial challenge faced by organisations is getting informed about the procedure of outsourced work  (Wong, 2006). To understand the opportunities and challenges while outsourcing in business is very important as to outsource work in business has become extremely important in today’s business world. In fast developing countries, globalisation in organisations has gained significance which could be facilitated by outsourcing  (Anon., 2011). The key opportunities that lie in outsourcing like cost reducing way and work efficiency are the reason why most companies prefer outsourcing their business function  (ITONews.eu, 2017). The gaps that are identified in this study are knowledge about proper method and technique with which successful outsourcing function can be obtained. Although researchers and authors have provided many important information’s for the company’s who have or are planning to implement outsourcing function in their business, still the effective procedure for outsourcing is required so that it becomes easier for managers to improvise it with ease. In this re search paper the analysis between opportunities and challenges of outsourcing business function have been made after making a brief study about outsourcing in order to attain utmost information  (Simeoni, 2011). While outsourcing, opportunities like cost effectiveness is gained along with increased efficiency on the other hand the company tends to lose control over significant areas. Engagement of experts gives opportunities to firms in gaining expert advices while security risks relating important data are also possible. Time saving is probable if the work is done correctly or else could result in adverse affects. Although the managers are released for other significant growth related works, the quality of the outsourced work is sometimes hampered  (Simeoni, 2011). Therefore after analysing, it can be rightfully said that gaining opportunity of outsourcing is possible only after getting profound knowledge and talent to manage its challenges. Anon., 2011. Business Process Outsourcing. (BPO) Needs, Scope and benefits. [Online] Available at: https://freeinfotipsonline.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/business-process-outsourcing-bpo-needs-scope-and-benefits/ [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Arena Solutions, Inc., 2017. Manufacturing Outsourcing for Small and Mid-Size Companies: 10 Key Challenges & How to Address Them. [Online] Available at: https://www.arenasolutions.com/resources/articles/manufacturing-outsourcing-challenges/ [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Compare Infobase Limited, 2017. Challenges Of Outsourcing. [Online] Available at: https://www.naukrihub.com/trainings/challenges-of-outsourcing.html [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Crosby, T., 2017. How Outsourcing Works. [Online] Available at: https://money.howstuffworks.com/outsourcing2.htm [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Dendler, M.J., n.d. Outsourcing Challenges and Solutions: The Example of Craft Trades. [Online] Available at: https://www.neumann.edu/about/publications/NeumannBusinessReview/journal/Review_SP06/pdf/woodworkingoutsourcing.pdf [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Gammelgard, A., 2017. Three outsourcing challenges you may be facing. [Online] Available at: https://www.arenasolutions.com/blog/post/outsourcing-decisions/ [Accessed 29 August 2017]. ITONews.eu, 2017. Outsourcing – What are the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing? [Online] Available at: https://itonews.eu/outsourcing-what-are-the-advantages-and-disadvantages/ [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Kingsley, J., 2017. Why OUTSOURCE CAD? and Advantages of Outsourcing. [Online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-outsource-cad-advantages-outsourcing-john-kingsley [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Kremic, T., 2006. Outsourcing decision support: a survey of benefits, risks, and decision factors. [Online] Available at: https://ankara.lti.cs.cmu.edu/11780/sites/default/files/Outsourcing-Survey.pdf [Accessed 29 August 2017]. LLP, M., 2010. The benefits and risks of outsourcing. [Online] Available at: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=e698d613-af77-4e34-b84e-940e14e94ce4 [Accessed 29 August 2017]. McCray, S., 2012. The Top 10 Problems with Outsourcing Implementation (and how to overcome them). [Online] Available at: https://www.ssonetwork.com/business-process-outsourcing/articles/the-top-10-problems-with-outsourcing-implementatio [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Pellicelli, P.M.a.M., 2012. The Strategies of Outsourcing and Offshoring. [Online] Available at: https://www.aijcrnet.com/journals/Vol_2_No_9_September_2012/15.pdf [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Riley, J., 2010. Q&A - Explain what is meant by outsourcing. [Online] Available at: https://www.tutor2u.net/business/blog/qa-explain-what-is-meant-by-outsourcing [Accessed 29August 2017]. Schaffhauser, D., 2005. Outsourcing – What is Outsourcing? [Online] Available at: https://www.sourcingmag.com/what-is-outsourcing/ [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Sethi, M.S.a.D., 2011. Human Resource Outsourcing: Analysis Based On Literature Review. [Online] Available at: https://www.ijimt.org/papers/118-M514.pdf [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Simeoni, R., 2011. Understanding Outsourcing Arrangements 2. The reasons and the risks of outsourcing. [Online] Available at: https://inspiringscm.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/understanding-outsourcing-arrangements-2-the-reasons-and-the-risks-of-outsourcing/ [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Whitebox Buisness Solutions, 2012. Seven Challenges of Outsourcing Governance. [Online] Available at: https://whiteboxbizsolutions.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/seven-challenges-of-outsourcing-governance/ [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Wong, K., 2006. Top 10 Challenges of Outsourcing. [Online] Available at: https://www.cadalyst.com/management/news/top-10-challenges-outsourcing-6845 [Accessed 29 August 2017]. Looking for an answer 'who will do my essay for cheap',

Preparing to Conduct Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Preparing to Conduct Business - Research Paper Example The organization chart should focus on specific roles and responsibilities instead of individual workers. If the organizational structure does not exist it means that job duties, roles and responsibilities are frequently neglected. If the gap in responsibilities exist than no one will acknowledge the accountability part or take the responsibilities of their duties, instead they will be pointing fingers. Basically the gap is the one thing which leads the company to identify the areas in the organization which require improvement. This improvement may include training and development of a single employee or it might include the restructuring of a whole department or more than one department. If the organization lacks a structure, the productivity and efficiency of the organization can suffer a lot as the basic factor of accountability is missing. If the organization lacks a structure or if it is weak, conflicts can arise because employees are not clearly informed about their job description, which includes the job duties and job responsibilities. Conflicts can occur as everyone will put the task on the shoulder of other employee as no one knows who has to perform it or how it will get done. Another cause which can lead to conflict is that when people having no authority tend to seek control in the organization. Due to this reason many responsibilities and roles can suffer including managerial and non-managerial as the organizational hierarchy doesn’t exist. The whole effect of the problem that occurs due to lack of organizational structure results in reduced productivity and poor operations which lead to low profitability. As the responsibilities are not clear to management individuals or management teams, everyone lacks coordination and right direction to generate profits (Hill and Jones, 2010). Here we can also say the strategic management part is absent in

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Travel and Tourism Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Travel and Tourism - Coursework Example Among the cities that developed include; Bath, Buxton, Harrogate and Cheltenham. These cities were the most admired in the early 18th century (Cockrell and Trew, 2003, p. 25) Bath as a city was the representative city with a striking social and urban development of hot springs in England. Bath now had become famous and had developed from a small spa provincially to the most adorable place, outside London. The spa was famous for its healing powers. Bath became a valley of treasure to most people. People from different societies came to drink waters and enjoy the unique society, shop and even gamble (Billy, 1967, p. 45). While there was beneficial and healing properties of the waters of bathe. People did not mind about the modesty and decency depicted by the use of the waters. Individuals of both sexes male and female always bath by day and were naked. In the early 18th century, new private baths were built to cater for this situation. There was now a portion of the female and another one for males, and they no longer had to bath together. There was also the development of the National Health Service which was responsible in providing water treatments on prescription (oppapers, 2012, p.2) According to Chandra, (2009, p. 12) in 19th century seaside resorts had developed and had overtaken the most admired spots to visit. These resorts offered attractions that reflected the fitness obsessions and spiritual fulfillment of different individuals in the society. Most resorts had a theme running from religious virtues to retreats that were meditative. The seashore was also a relief to the invalid, but mostly it was used for recreational purposes. The earliest visitors could drink and not bathe in the water. Some small fishing resorts also developed in England as a result of those visitors who sunk themselves deeply into the sea water (Altman, 1945, p. 12). The sea side resorts became popular and gradually became the social meeting points. The number of

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Acquisition of Gender Identity and Gender Roles Term Paper

Acquisition of Gender Identity and Gender Roles - Term Paper Example From the very start, the gender identity is determined through the sex of the person at conception, the influence of the male and female hormones secreted in the body, and the societal definitions and perceptions which identify the requirements of roles particular to one gender (Cox, 2008). The biological factors remain the core of defining gender identity and roles. However, each child passes through numerous phases of cognitive and psychological development, which creates the initial pattern of self-identity as a sexual being (Sammons, nd). One of the primary researches and understanding of gender identity and gender role has been achieved through Kohlberg’s development theory (Cox, 2008). He states that children, according to their mental capacity, growth and approach develop the sense of gender identity in three successive stages. The first stage which takes place at 2 years of age is when the child identifies himself as male or female (Cox, 2008 and Sammons, nd). The second stage is called gender stability, which takes place at age four years. At this stage, the child realizes that he or she is permanently male or female, that is, gender is a permanent phenomenon (Bussey and Bandura, 1999). The final stage, the gender constancy, takes place at ages 5 and 7 y ears. At this stage, the child realizes that clothes or change of appearance does not alter the sex of the person (Cox, 2008). I remember how it was very difficult for my mother to make me conform to things that are considered girlish. At first, it was always the correction of me being a girl and not a boy. Then further emphasis on me being a girl, by showing me what I should like and which are boy things to do. Finally, I was instructed how to dress and act, with a constant barrage of statements starting with â€Å"little girls don’t do that†.  

Due Process Rights Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Due Process Rights - Research Paper Example The Due Process also is intended to make people feel that the government is fair in the way it treats citizens in the legal process by listening to both sides of the story (Cornell University Law School, 1992). In Procedural Due Process, the government has to do more than just act in accordance with the law, by observing and granting citizens far procedures, whether or not the procedures are provided for within the law. It would be unconstitutional for the government to deny citizens the due process. The Procedural Due Process is intended to guarantee basic fairness to all citizens regardless of the crimes purported to be committed. Fairness entails a variety of aspects including a chance to be heard in a timely and meaningful manner, the making of a decision based on substantial evidence and the right to even appeal the decision if need be. Due process also puts in focus the importance of individual rights and interests in question, so that the more important the interests are, the more reason why the due process must be afforded to a citizen. The Procedural Due Process entails three main steps, which begin by asking whether there has been a deprivation of rights. Secondly, it has to be established whether the deprivation is of life, liberty or property, and thirdly, there needs to be established what procedures to follow to ensure justice (Chemerinsky, n.d.). The first step determines whether the court would go through the due process, because if there has been a deprivation then it is important to undertake a procedural due process analysis. By undertaking the process, the court must determine the right procedures to follow, and consequently if the government procedures available are inadequate, this will constitute a deprivation of the due process. In these three steps, the Constitution advocates for a fair hearing, before a tribunal or court. The citizen in question must e given the opportunity to present their evidence, while

A Teenage Girl Essay Example for Free

A Teenage Girl Essay I chose the scenario, A teenage girl is in love with her 17-year-old boyfriend. He is encouraging her to have sex with him saying that he will make sure they only have protected sex. This actually happens often these days with youth; they have the want to experiment a lot. There are five components in which wise judgments could be used. First, there is emotional intelligence which has four components; emotional perception and expression, emotional facilitation of thought, emotional understanding, and emotional management. Emotional perception and expression is the skill to recognize your own emotions and recognizing other emotionstoo. This component involves the ability to both express positive and negative emotions correctly as well. Being a teenage girl is hard;there are so many hard decisions to make. So almost every teen girl thinks she is in love at one point in her teenage life. It is like a must to have a boyfriend when you are a teen and the fact he is 17 years old really makes you seem it. You are not mentally stable when you have puppy love feelings, you do whatever to please this guy you love and when you are young you think that guy is in love with you. Being young you really dont know how to act on situations like this, you do what you think is right. When I was 14 years old I had a 17 year old boyfriend and wow, the way I acted was insane, I know now I was never in love. I did any and everything for him and now I look back and think, how could I let someone have so much control, but I was just so young, there were a lot of major decisions to make. On top of everything the encouragement from others is hard as well. If Emotional facilitation of thought came about in this teen girl, she could use her emotions to be more able to help with her decision-making. On the other hand, being a teen, she most likely is not emotionally mature. Emotional understanding is to have the ability to recognize emotions with words, to understand the cause and effect of the all different emotions as well have the ability to recognize the relationships between them. Understanding and sometimes have contradictory feelings and how they change over time is an important dimension of emotional intelligence. Personally this is the hardest to overcome when you are young your emotions are everywhere and your changing from a girl into a woman, the feelings and emotions are new to a young teen, I would say they are emotional and impulsive with no understanding. When you are young you think if youre in love then sex would come next, and so on. But when youre young you never see the consequences after your actions, they rather just act, and the consequences never come to a young ones mind. Finally, there is emotional management which is self-explanatory which is again hard for teens to achieve because all the emotions combined are overwhelming hard to take on. This makes it much easier for them to act impulsive especially when it comes to sex. The only thing that matters to a teen is what is happening now, not what they would see on the outside looking gin at themselves. The next component would be successful intelligence. Which it is known, successful intelligence you would think fine in three different ways: analytically, creatively, and practically. Creative thinking is more of a personal trait. I think the other two areas, would show ones maturity level. This scenario is an example of how teens really are; having sex at a young age is very common. Although with the decisions they make they do not think sensible, they think physically more so. Teens have a tendency to think irrational; it is a trait most all of them have. This girl is thinking how to make this guy she thinks she is in love with, happy, so she wont have boundaries for herself. If she loves him she will do almost anything for him because that is how teen girls think is love. The consequences arent ever an issue until after they act upon it. Wearing a condom does not completely protect you what so ever. Last but most definitely not least, there is wisdom itself. When being a wise individual one must be able to balance a variety of self-interests (intrapersonal) with the interests of other people (interpersonal) and of other aspects of the environment in which one lives (extra personal) such as ones environment. Wisdom is more of the outcome of what decision the girl would make. Dealing with her interpersonal interest would reflect on her interest in having sex or not having sex. Also, she would be dealing with how this decision would affect others around her including her boyfriends interest as well; mainly dealing with the consequences could eventually affect the interest of her family and friends. It will affect her environment and/or her extra personal interest counting on what decision the girl makes whether she has sex or not. If she chooses to not have sex it will affect because the guy might not want her and it will hurt her a lot emotionally. Also, she must stay away from the influences that surround her, she will get pulled right back in. If she were to have sex I am not sure she would enjoy the outcome very much, guys tend to get what they want and girls never get what they need, if I said that right it makes really good sense. There are also factors to balance when it comes to wisdom: balancing goals and interests, balancing short- and long-term interests, balancing responses to the environment context, and acquiring and using tactic knowledge. When balancing goals and interests, this teenage girl has to reason with the consequences of every single choice she makes in a situationsuch as this one. Also, looking at how it might affect her future goals, whether its long-term or short-term. I would say if she were to have sex possibly the condom breaks she could get an STD or even PREGNANT, which mess everything up mentally and emotionally for the bad. There is balancing short- and long-term interests as well. Teens never think before they act, having sex being the short-term, and the STDs being the long-term. There are so consequences that are faced with sex, it isnt even worth it, and really till you 100% understand the concept of it. Balancing a set comeback to the environment goes back to the outcome of her choices and situation. Not having sex with this guy will probably make him not want her in which being in the environment wouldnt be very healthy for her. Acquiring and using tactic knowledge, say she has good tactic knowledge, she would be able to have her boyfriend understand and explain the possible outcome. In which he will take in consideration, or agree with her. Now if she does not have good tactic knowledge than possibly she doesnt have much self control, I think personally. A teenage girl is in love with her 17-year-old boyfriend. He is encouraging her to have sex with him saying that he will make sure they only have protected sex. I have personally experienced this situation although today I would have not made that say desision. If I were to step back and look from the outside in, I would of seen what the was a head of me. Being wise is a good trait to have, in which most teens are not. But a wise one analyzes a situation have the knowledge of the bad that could come out of it. Also, seeing that patients are a virtue is also being wise in my eyes personally. Dont rush into things when youre young that is the problem with some people today like me, you experience everything, when the real time comes it isnt as special. Confusing ones emotions with their feelings is rather tough for teens. Dont risk the consequences; it is so not worth it. You have one but so many major decisions, make the wise decision, and always look at what the outcome could possibly be they are usually never worth it though. Having sex there is too many risks behind it, think before one acts, I would ask for advice if I knew what I knew now a days.

Us Involvement in the Vietnam War

Us Involvement in the Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1965-1973) was a conflict fought in South Vietnam between the government forces, aided by the United States, and the guerrilla forces, backed by the predominantly communist North Vietnam. The conflict escalated from a Vietnamese civil war into an international conflict in which the United States played a dominant role. Despite peace agreements of 1973 between the two factions, the conflict did not end! In fact, peace only emerged when North Vietnams successful offensive in 1975 resulted in South Vietnams collapse and the subsequent unification of Vietnam under the Communist government in the North. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) The Vietnam War (1965-1973) was one of the longest wars the United States was ever engaged in. It is distinctive as it gave rise to the largest and the most successful antiwar movement in the United States history. In fact, the war in Vietnam can be described as a war that was fought on two fronts: a war in Vietnam: being waged with tanks, guns and bullets, and a war in the United States: fought through demonstrations on the streets and college campuses across the US. (Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed) Along with the Civil Rights campaigns of the 1960s, the antiwar movement was one of the most divisive forces in twentieth-century U.S. history. It attracted members from college campuses, middle-class suburbs, labour unions and government institutions. The movement gained national prominence in 1965, peaked in 1968, and remained potent through the conflict. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) The American movement against the Vietnam War was the most triumphant antiwar movement in U.S. history. During the Johnson administration, it helped constrain the war and was a major factor in the administrations policy reversal in 1968. During the Nixon years, it hastened U.S. troop withdrawals, fed the deterioration in U.S. troop morale and discipline, and promoted legislation that severed U.S. funding for the war. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) The discussion of the Vietnamese antiwar movement is extremely relevant today. This was the first time in history that the military might of the United States was successfully blocked, that too by the guerrilla movement of a virtually unarmed section of the Vietnamese people. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) This triumph of the human spirit is a significant chapter in history. It made the American people question the almost dogmatic anti-communist focus of the American government. This movement went beyond ideology, encompassing nationalist fervour and ingraining in the American people a national fear of whether every war they participated in would spiral into another Vietnam. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) CHAPTER ONE A ZEALOUS FORCE TO RECKON WITH : THE IRATE AMERICAN PUBLIC In 1965, a majority of Americans supported U.S. policies in Vietnam; by the fall of 1967, only 35 percent did so. For the first time, more people thought U.S. intervention in Vietnam had been a mistake than did not. They questioned how the U.S. could be fighting for the freedom of the Vietnamese people if it had to indiscriminately bomb, burn, and imprison the Vietnamese people themselves for fear that any one of them could be an enemy? The Vietnam war protests, or Anti-war movement, initiated by the American college students, was instrumental in questioning the policies surrounding Americas involvement in Vietnams bloody affairs. The countrys youth, the ones dying in the line fire, began demanding answers to Americas high profile presence in Vietnam. They wanted to know what they were fighting for. Through it all, the bombings continued and more and more of Americas young GIs came home in body bags. Aspects Leading to Anti War Protests Why did the Americans react adversely to the senseless War? During the four years following passage of the Tonkin Gulf resolution (Aug., 1964), which authorized U.S. military action in Southeast Asia, the American air war intensified and troop levels climbed to over 500,000. Opposition to the war grew as television and press coverage graphically showed the suffering of both civilians and conscripts. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) Extensive media coverage brought the violent and bloody guerrilla war home each night to every American living room. People realised that the glowing reviews of the war effort their government had been releasing were sanitised and far from the truth. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) Americans wanted to know why peace talks were organized and continually failed. Alongwith, they objected to the military draft policy. North Vietnams bloody TET Offensive of 1968 and the resultant horrendous casualties the Americans suffered eroded the situation in America even further. The assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy also sparked racial tension and unrest. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) The length of the war, the high number of U.S. casualties, and the exposure of U.S. involvement in war crimes such as the massacre at My Lai helped to turn many in the United States against the war. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) One of the most controversial aspects of the of the U.S. military effort in South East Asia was the wide-spread use of herbicides between 1961 and 1971. They were used to defoliate large parts of the countryside. These chemicals continue to change the landscape, cause diseases and birth defects, and poison the food chain. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) Early in the American military effort it was decided that, since PAVN/NLF were hiding their activities under triple-canopy jungle, a useful first step might be to defoliate certain areas. This was known as Operation Ranch Hand. Corporations like Dow Chemical and Monsanto were given the task of developing herbicides for this purpose. When the Americans realized this, they were disgusted. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) Richard Nixons number one campaign promise to Americans was that hed end the war with Vietnamization, or systematic troop withdrawals. Yet the American presence in Vietnam remained high and casualties mounted, as did the cost of running the war effort. Taxpayers were paying 25 billion dollars per year to finance a conflict no one believed in anymore. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) Nixons plan to attack communist supply locations in Cambodia in 1970 failed and set off another round of protests. The Kent State student protest in May of 1970 turned deadly when National Guardsman fired into crowds, killing 4 students and injuring dozens more. Students all across the country became enraged and over the next few days campuses all over the US came to a virtual standstill. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) As the year drew to a close Nixons plans to end the Vietnam war had not been realized. American citizens were not impressed. However, after Kent State Anti-war activism seemed to wane. Yet the people still demanded to know why their country was involved in a war where a resolution seemed impossible. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) 1971 also saw the Mylai massacre come to light, an atrocity committed by American soldiers that shocked the world and gained huge media attention. Another round of peace talks were organized on the heels of this controversy but again all attempts to end the fighting in Vietnam failed. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) When the New York Times published the first installment of the Pentagon Papers on 13 June 1971, Americans became aware of the true nature of the war. Stories of drug trafficking, political assassinations, and indiscriminate bombings led many to believe that military and intelligence services had lost all accountability. The top-secret history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, commissioned by the Department of Defense, detailed a long series of public deceptions. The Supreme Court ruled that its publication was legal. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) Bombings raids on North Vietnam were re-escalated in the spring of 1972, after peace talks headed by Henry Kissinger once again collapsed. The cities of Hanoi and Haiphong were subjected to night raids by American B-52 bombers that was unprecedented and that left the world in shock. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) Antiwar sentiment, previously tainted with an air of anti-Americanism, became instead a normal reaction against zealous excess. Dissent dominated America; the antiwar cause had become institutionalized. By January 1973, when Nixon announced the effective end of U.S. involvement, he did so in response to a mandate unequaled in modern times. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) Peace talks resumed in Paris and by the end of January, 1973, a pact had been signed by the United States, South and North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. By March, all American troops were pulled out of the country and systematic release of prisoners of war on both sides was initiated. Yet by the time the Watergate scandal came to light, and ruined Nixons presidency at the close of 1974, Communist forces had overrun Saigon. Within a few short months most of Indochina fell into Communist hands. The Anti-war movements mantra of what are we fighting for seemed eerily prophetic. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) U.S. casualties in Vietnam during the era of direct U.S. involvement (1961-72) were more than 50,000 dead; South Vietnamese dead were estimated at more than 400,000, and Viet Cong and North Vietnamese at over 900,000. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) The U.S. war against Vietnam was over, although the destruction continued. Large parts of Cambodia were devastated, populations were dislocated, and famine and war brought on by the U.S. war against Vietnam led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands there, and the Vietnamese had to cope with thousands of injured, with destroyed industrial facilities, and with burned and poisoned land. But the war was over, and the anti-war movement was over(Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) A Series of Protests: The Anti War Movement Once the draft was introduced, young people on college and university campuses all around America began to organise protests against the war. Teach-ins and student organizations like the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) held rallies and marches, the first of which happened in Washington in April of 1965. Over the next 2 years the anti-war movement snow balled. Activists, celebrities and musicians like Abbie Hoffmann, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Jane Fonda, Jefferson Airplane, and countless others took up the Anti-war cause and waved Anti-war banners. Their speeches and their music reflected the anger and hopelessness that Americans felt over the Vietnam war. Even the GIs stationed overseas began supporting the Anti-war movement in whatever capacity they could, from wearing peace symbols to refusing to obey orders. As the American public realized the intensity of its involvement in the Vietnam War, civil unrest fomented. 100,000 Anti-war protesters gathered in New York and thousands more in San Francisco. There were urban riots in Detroit. Johnsons support fell drastically on all fronts. Anti-war rallies, speeches, demonstrations and concerts continued being organized all over the country. There was a backlash against all that was military. Soldiers returning home from the war were no longer regarded as heroes but as baby killers. Young men sought to evade the draft by being conscientous objectors or leaving for Canada. The Woodstock concert brought 500,000 together from across North America in a non-violent protest against the war. The most famous campus protest of the early 1960s was the Free Speech Movement (FSM) at University of California, Berkeley. In 1965, demonstrations in New York City attracted 25,000 marchers; within two years similar demonstrations drew several hundred thousand participants in Washington, D.C., London, and other European capitals. Most of the demonstrations were peaceful, though acts of civil disobedience-intended to provoke arrest-were common. Much of the impetus for the antiwar protests came from college students. Objections to the military draft led some protesters to burn their draft cards and to refuse to obey induction notices. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) In October, 1967, a large anti-war demonstration was held on the steps of the Pentagon. Some protesters were heard to chant, Hey, hey, LBJ (Lyndon Baines Johnson)! How many kids did you kill today? One reason for the increase in the opposition to the Vietnam War was larger draft. By 1967 the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) invoked the language of revolution in its denunciations of the war in Vietnam as an inevitable consequence of American imperialism. There was also a more moderate opposition to the war from clergy, elected politicians, and people such as Dr. Benjamin Spock. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) Perhaps the most significant development of the period between 1965 and 1968 was the emergence of Civil Rights leaders as active proponents of peace in Vietnam. In a January 1967 article written for the Chicago Defender, Martin Luther King, Jr. openly expressed support for the antiwar movement on moral grounds. Reverend King expanded on his views in April at the Riverside Church in New York, asserting that the war was draining much-needed resources from domestic programs. He also voiced concern about the percentage of African American casualties in relation to the total population. Kings statements rallied African American activists to the antiwar cause and established a new dimension to the moral objections of the movement. The peaceful phase of the antiwar movement had reached maturity as the entire nation was now aware that the foundations of administration foreign policy were being widely questioned. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) The antiwar movement became both more powerful and, at the same time, less cohesive between 1969 and 1973. Most Americans pragmatically opposed escalating the U.S. role in Vietnam, believing the economic cost too high; in November of 1969 a second march on Washington drew an estimated 500,000 participants. The invasion of Cambodia sparked nationwide U.S. protests. On 4th May, 1970, four students were killed by the National Guard at Kent State University during a protest in Ohio, which provoked public outrage in the United States. The reaction to the incident by the Nixon administration was seen as callous and indifferent, providing additional impetus for the anti-war movement. Nixon was taken to Camp David for his own safety. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) Waning Support From Within the Government As the Anti War movements ideals spread beyond college campuses, doubts about the wisdom of war escalation also began to appear within the Johnson administration itself. As early as the summer of 1965, Undersecretary of State George Ball counseled President Johnson against further military involvement in Vietnam. In 1967, Johnson fired Defense Secretary McNamara after the secretary expressed concern about the moral justifications for war. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) After the news of My Lai massacre became public in February 1970, new groups-Nobel science laureates, State Department officers, the American Civil Liberties Union-all openly called for withdrawal. Congress began threatening the Nixon administration with challenges to presidential authority. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) As the number of troops in Vietnam increased, the financial burden of the war grew. One of the rarely mentioned consequences of the war were the budget cuts to President Johnsons Great Society programs. As defense spending and inflation grew, Johnson was forced to raise taxes. The Republicans, however, refused to vote for the increases, unless a $6 billion cut was made to the administrations social programs. The Vietnam War claimed more than just victims overseas at home it claimed reforms aimed at lifting millions of people out of poverty. (Columbia Encyclopedia,6th Ed) The Americans were no longer going to accept the ongoing nature of American involvement in the Vietnam War. The entire nation was questioning the administrations foundation of foreign policy. The Anti-War Counter Culture Alongside the antiwar protest movement, a counter culture arose that most Americans disapproved of. The clean-cut, well-dressed SDS members were being subordinated as movement leaders. Their replacements deservedly gained less public respect, were tagged with the label hippie, and faced much mainstream opposition from middle-class Americans uncomfortable with the youth culture of the period-long hair, casual drug use, promiscuity. Words like counter culture, establishment, non-violence, pacification, draft-dodger, free love, Kent State, and Woodstock were added to the American vocabulary. It was the beginning of the hippie generation, the sexual revolution and the drug culture. Protest music, typified by Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, contributed to the gulf between young and old. A Cultural and political protest had become inextricably intertwined within the movements vanguard. The new leaders became increasingly strident, greeting returning soldiers with jeers and taunts, spitting on tro ops in airports and on public streets. unique situation arose in which most Americans supported the cause but opposed the leaders, methods, and culture of protest. CHAPTER TWO CONTAINING THE COMMUNIST EXPANSION:THE AMERICAN POLICY OBSESSION The Domino theory is the notion that if one country embraces Communism, other nations in the region will probably follow. This can be likened to dominoes falling in a line. This absurd argument simply assumed nations to be dominos in a row, to be knocked down or picked up by the worlds two largest powers: US and the Soviet Union. (Columbia Encyclopedia, 2007) The Domino Theory The cornerstone of U.S. policy was the Domino Theory. The theory argued that if South Vietnam fell to communist forces, then all of South East Asia would follow suit. This theory was popularized by President Dwight Eisenhowers administration. A section of individuals believed that if communism spread unchecked, it would follow them home by first reaching Hawaii and then emerging in the West Coast of the United States. They were thus of the opinion that it was prudent to contain communism in Asia itself. Thus, the Domino Theory provided a powerful impetus for the American involvement in southern Vietnam. (Columbia Encyclopedia, 2007) Policy of Containment In a bid to stop this communist expansion, the United States pursued a policy of containment.  [1]  This policy of containment was first suggested by George F. Kennan in the 1947 X article, published anonymously in Foreign Affairs. It remained the U.S. policy for the next quarter of a century. (Columbia Encyclopedia,2007) The policy of Containment adopted the approach of not fighting an all out war with the communist Soviet Union. Rather, it propounded confining communism and the Soviet Union to their existing boundaries. This doctrine led directly to the Vietnam war. Containment was based on several arguments: (Chomsky,2003) That the Soviet Union was always expansionistthe Soviet Union, driven by its dogmatic faith in communism was determined to impose its absolute authority on the worlds nations. Containment was necessary for maintaining the worldwide balance of power between the US and the Soviet Union. (Chomsky, 2003)   2. That any newly established communist governments would inevitably be part of Soviet empire. The Doctrine of Containment believed that there could be no such thing as a nonaligned nation. No nation could be neutral: it must either align itself with the Soviet block or the democratic American block. (Chomsky,2003) 3. That communist and Soviet expansion must be limited. The Doctrine of Containment advocated that a conventional war should be avoided. However, the US should pledge itself to stopping the formation of any new communist governments and preventing existing communist governments from growing. (Chomsky, 2003)   4. Most importantly, it was based on a belief in the special mission and destiny of America. Kennedys advisor McGeorge Bundy believed that the United States was the locomotive at the helm of mankind, and the remaining world was dependent on this mighty nation. They seemed to believe that it was their destiny to protect the world from the evils of communism. (Chomsky,2003) Thus, we can conclude that the American policy makers believed in a simplistic American vs. Communism stand. The general premise of Containment was that every communist government, the world over, was an implement of Moscow and it was the duty of the American government to safeguard the nations of the world from communism. (Chomsky,2003) Was the Soviet Threat A Realistic Assessment? The threat of an expanding communism was indeed a realistic assessment. The Soviet Union had certainly acted in an expansionist way in the recent past. More worryingly, the Soviet Union was officially committed to the worldwide spread of communism. A newly acquired nuclear capability and a vast army positioned the Soviet Union as a perilous potential enemy of the United States. In fact, in 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev, while debating with Richard Nixon in Moscow, threatened we will bury you!. It would indeed have been wrong, as also foolish, to underestimate the force of the Soviet Union as an enemy. (Chomsky,2003) Subsequently, however, the Domino theory was disprovedcommunist governments in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China do not act collectively. After a period of great turmoil, most have abandoned communism. Vietnam, surprisingly, is now enthusiastically pro-capitalist, and an inviting place of investment for the United States of America. (Chomsky,2003)   Americans will, sometimes citing a dozen reasons, argue that we could have won if. Example: Ronald Reagan frequently asserted that the US would have won if the government had made a wholesale commitment instead of a limited war.  (Chomsky,2003) However, one could argue, won what? Can a victory be defined as one that leaves the nation with a devastated landscape, millions of dead civilians and a crippled economy? A victory, by means of which, the US would have ruled repressively over a country whose citizens despised it? It would certainly have been a hollow victory. (Chomsky, 2003) A Misguided Attempt The Vietnam War was misguided from its inception. A large number of major architects of the Containment policy George Kennan, McGeorge Bundy, Robert MacNamara have unequivocally acknowledged they were mistaken about the Vietnam War. They admit that Containment was a flawed policy. It was flawed due to its indifference to the history of Southeast Asia. The American obsession with Communism led them deeper and deeper into a tragedy. They believed in Americas mission, and in the undisputable superiority of Americas endeavours. They were erroneous, and consequently, so was the war! (Chomsky,2003) CHAPTER THREE PARALLELS OF IRAQ WITH THE VIETNAM WAR The Iraq war has evoked memories of the Vietnam war, the most significant political experience of an entire American generation. American involvement in both the wars was inspired to contain the expansion of a principle that it rejected: one was expansion of communism and the other is expansion of Islam radicalism. Vietnam was an event that emerged in the backdrop of the Cold War, a combination of geopolitical and ideological conflict with the expansion of communism. Iraq is part of an ideological struggle between radical Islam and the rest of the world in which the jihadists reject the established order, challenge the structure of the international system based on the nation state. (Kissinger,2007) 1. Was the US unilateral withdrawal from Vietnam an option in 1969 when Nixon took office? In Vietnam, unilateral withdrawal was not practically feasible. To dispatch over half a million troops, from Vietnam to the US, would have been a logistical nightmare, even under peacetime conditions. But in Vietnam, the US troops were countering over 600,000 armed North Vietnamese Communist forces on the ground, who were being bolstered by guerrilla forces. If the US troops even hinted at withdrawal, these troops may well have been joined by a large section of the 700,000 strong South Vietnamese army as they may have felt betrayed by their allies and tried to work their way back into the good graces of the Communists. The U.S. forces tried to withdraw, they would have become hostages and the ordinary Vietnamese people victims. (Kissinger,2007) A diplomatic alternative did not exist. Nixon correctly summed up the choices before him when he rejected unilateral withdrawal: Shall we leave Vietnam in a way that by our own actions consciously turns the country over to the Communists? Or shall we leave in a way that gives the South Vietnamese a reasonable choice to survive as a free people? When negotiations stalemated, the Nixon administration moved to implement what could be done unilaterally without undermining the political structure of South Vietnam. Between 1969 and 1972, it withdrew 515,000 American troops, ended American ground combat in 1971 and reduced American casualties by nearly 90 percent. (Kissinger,2007) In the same vein, unilateral withdrawal is not practically feasible even in Iraq. Whenever gradual withdrawal from Iraq is implemented, it should be done in a way that it prevents a takeover by radical Islam in Iraq. Given that a democratic government has been installed, after much struggle, the US should try to do everything possible to ensure its continuance. The following issues should be kept in mind before implementing a graduated withdrawal: In Iraq, the military forces of the adversary are less powerful than they were in Vietnam, but the international political framework is more complex. This fragile situation should be handled with caution. Before withdrawal, a political settlement has to be distilled from the partially conflicting, partially overlapping views of the Iraqi parties, Iraqs neighbors and other affected states. It should be based on a shared conviction that the cauldron of Iraq would otherwise overflow and engulf all surrounding countries and then spread internationally. 2. Did the American domestic debate and American publics protest movement doom the effort in Vietnam? During the Vietnam war, a point was reached when the domestic debate over American involvement in the War, became so bitter as to preclude rational discussion of hard choices. For a decade and a half, successive administrations of both political parties perceived the survival of South Vietnam as a significant national interest. Starting with the Johnson administration, they were opposed by a protest movement. This impasse doomed the American effort in Vietnam! The American public should learn to contain their outrage so that it does not lead to an impasse or due consideration to available choices as and when the time is right. The American public must not repeat the massive show of angst over Iraq.(Kissenger,2007). It is creditable that American officials have gone to great lengths to make sure the American people understand that the American military cannot possibly be defeated in Iraq (PINR,2003). The strategy of Vietnamese and Iraqi guerrillas was/is to sap the political will of the U.S. public. Is their political will being sapped? The attacks launched against U.S. forces in Iraq are not the type required or intended to defeat the United States militarily. But the fact is that Washington is not operating in a military vacuum. The strength of the U.S. military means little when faced with an increasingly skeptical U.S. public who has the potential to force Washington to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq. In addition, while Washington cannot be overwhelmed by sheer force, there is no evidence that the guerrilla fighters in Iraq can be defeated that way either. In Vietnam, Washington faced a similar predicament. There was an increasingly organized and brash guerrilla force preventing the U.S. from bringing stability to South Vietnam. Due to the massive technology gap, Vietnamese guerrillas and the North Vietnamese Army stood little chance of defeating the U.S. militarily. Just the same, however, Washington stood little chance of defeating the Vietnamese guerrilla movement militarily. The effective guerrilla tactics of the North Vietnamese Army were a military strategy aimed at sapping the political will from the U.S. public. This was well known at the time and was often articulated in the speeches of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Always aware of U.S. public opinion, North and South Vietnamese military and guerrilla leaders worked to undermine Washington. When they launched the massive Tet Offensive in over 100 different cities of South Vietnam on January 31, 1968 successfully storming and occupying the U.S. Embassy in Saigon the attack was orchestrated shortly after U.S. military leaders and politicians claimed that the war in Vietnam was almost over. The strategy of Vietnamese resistance fighters was successful, and it looks as if resistance fighters in Iraq are following a similar one; Iraqi guerrillas are most likely aware that they will not be able to crush the U.S. military occupation in Iraq. They do know, however, that if they continue to kill and maim U.S. soldiers, it will only be a matter of time until the American public demands a return of U.S. troops and applies political pressure to the Bush administration. General Abizaid admitted as much, recently warning, The goal of the enemy is not to defeat us militarily. The goal of the enemy is to break the will of the United States of America, to make us leave. It is evident that the Iraqi guerrillas have been somewhat successful in this goal. According to a CBS News poll released on November 13, 2006 only 50 percent of the American public now believe that removing Saddam Hussein was worth the loss of American lives and other costs of attacking Iraq. If the losses of U.S. troops continue to mount, this number can be expected to drop further. Therefore, the strategy of anti-U.S. guerrillas in Iraq will be to launch high profile attacks on U.S. and also coalition troops. Yet, at the same time, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released a report, titled appraisal of situation, written by the CIA station chief in Baghdad, which contradicted Abizaids Whether or not Washington is able to bring stability to Iraq before the U.S. public becomes disenchanted with U.S. objectives there, largely depends on the size and capacity of the guerrilla movement. (Kissinger,2007) Furthermore, the CIA report concluded that more and more ordinary Iraqis were siding with the insurgency due to their disillusionment with the U.S. occupation and because of the instability plaguing the country since the fall of Saddam Husseins hold on power. These assessments indicate that the U.S. occupation in Iraq is becoming increasingly precarious, and it is not yet clear how the U.S. public will respond to deadlier and bolder attacks launched on U.S. forces. (Kissinger,2007) Lessons for the Americans to Apply to the Conflict in Iraq Two lessons emerge from the American experience in Vietnam. A strategic design cannot be achieved on a fixed, arbitrary deadline; it must reflect conditions on the ground. But, at the same time, it must also not test the endura