Expanding Target to China Essay

China is, without a doubt, the fastest growing economy in the world today. Companies from around the world have wanted to tap into China’s market to cash in on the tremendous success that it continues to experience. There had been many restrictions for foreign companies who tried to do business in China, limiting the number of foreign companies, and allowing only the big players to come into China. Even then, these big players from around the globe faced more restrictions and rules once they entered China. But things have changed since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001; a new milestone for this country, as well as for other economies. Since then, restrictions for foreign investors and businesses to enter China’s market had begun to ease up. By December 11th, 2004, China must remove remaining restrictions on the retail sector in order to comply with the WTO rules. This means it will be much easier for foreign retailers to enter the market, and for c urrent foreign retailers in China to expand (1). Many retailers from all over the world will seize this golden opportunity, and Target should do so too. Target, a Minnesota based national retail company, has come a long way from being Dayton’s department store back in 1961 to being one of the biggest players in United States’ retail market, as we know it today. Over the last ten years, Target has experienced a continuous incline in growth year after year. Sales reached over $48 billion this past year, a 10 percent increase from the year prior (2). Just like its revenue, the number of stores across the United States has been on the rise. Currently there are 1313 Target stores operating in 47 states, including 136 SuperTarget stores in 20 states (3). Not surprisingly, Target ranks number four in Triversity’s Top 100 Retailers in the United States behind Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Kroger (4). Globally, Target is ranked number 7 in the top 100 retailers worldwide (5). With this kind of statistics, Target has the potential and the resources to begin expanding into the international market, such as China. Comparing to Metro AG, a German retailer, which ranks a couple spots ahead of Target on the worldwide list, is not that much ahead of Target in terms of sales. And yet, Metro AG is one of the largest foreign retailers in China, along with  Wal-Mart and Carrefour (6). Not only should Target continue to expand domestically, but it should also start looking to expand in other markets around the world as well, such as China. This will allow Target to become a multinational company and begin creating a global recognition for itself in the retail sector. Now of course Target cannot dive right into the China Market and expect everything to just work out. Like any other company entering a foreign market, there are challenges and factors that Target must consider and evaluate before doing business in China. In this report, different reasons why Target should enter China’s retail market and the benefits it offers to the company will be presented. China’s economic status, political status, and economic status, along with options of entry and other factors that will affect Target’s business, will be discussed. China’s Economic Status China is currently the world’s most potential market for consumer goods. Its average annual GDP growth rate of nearly 10 percent for the last 10 years is the strongest among other major economies around the world (7). This is mainly due to the increase in manufacturing investment from foreign companies over the years because China is full of resources and cheap labor. Many products we see today are labeled â€Å"Made in China† since China has essentially developed into â€Å"a manufacturing centre for the world’s consumer goods production† (8). With a population of 1.3 billion people and having more consumers than Europe and the United States put together, it is obvious that China is by far one of the most attractive markets to invest in for foreign companies that are in the retail and consumer sector (8). When combining the strong, continuous growth of the economy with a population of this magnitude, the results are more money in consumers’ pockets, meaning more money to spend on goods. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, â€Å"the retail sales of consumer goods in China quadrupled with a span of 10 years† (7). With this kind of statistics, it will be Target’s best interest to pursuit an expansion into China’s retail market. China’s economy and consumer market will continue to grow. The more people there are in a  market, the more money will be spent. Everyone will always need food and daily accessories regardless of how much money they have, and those that have more money to spend will spend that extra money on other goods. So by setting up operations there, Target will have a chance to go along with the ride and reap the promising rewards that China’s consumer market offers, which is what other foreign retailers are looking for. China’s Political Status One of the major milestones for China, which made a global impact, is its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. This is the main reason why the forecast of China’s growing economy remains strong. Since then, China’s has begun to ease up restrictions on imports and exports, and also for foreign businesses entering China’s market, most significantly the retail sector. By December 11, 2004, all restrictions on foreign retailing in China will be lifted, including restrictions on foreign ownership, number of branches, and geographic locations for where to set up stores (9). Currently, there are limited foreign investments in China’s retail sector. In 2000, the Retail and Wholesale sector only accounts for 2 percent of the total foreign direct investment in China (7). Today, this percentage is not much higher than it was in 2000. This is because prior to China’s accession to the WTO, there were many restrictions and regulations for foreign companies entering China. Some of the main restrictions were the annual sales volume requirement, assets requirement, and the minimum registered capital requirement. Before, in order to enter China’s retail sector, a foreign company must have annual sales volume of at least US $2 billion, assets of at least US $200 million, and minimum registered capital of at least RMB 50 million, or about US $6.1 million. Also, they were only allowed to enter the market with approval, and in a form of a joint venture with local partners with no more than 49 percent ownership (10). This limited China’s retail market to only the big international players such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Metro AG, etc, who all have already established a presence in China. But after China starts to comply with WTO rules next month; dramatic changes will take place in China’s retail sector. Once all the restrictions for foreign retail companies are lifted by China, the number of foreign retailers entering China will increase sharply, both small and medium retailers. All a company will need is a good reputation and a minimum registered capital requirement of US $36,000. Other than a joint venture, a wholly foreign-owned enterprise will become an option (10). Also, the foreign players that are currently in the market will be able expand more rapidly under the new rules. This is another reason why Target should enter China’s retail market, and soon. The percentage that the retail sector represents in the total direct foreign investment is still low, meaning there is a lot of room to grow. The sooner Target steps in, the more market share will be available for Target to gain. If Target delays its entry, other foreign retailers from all over the world will start to swarm in and the big players that are currently in the market will expand quickly; therefore making it more difficult for Target to create a significant presence. If Target decides not to enter this goldmine, then an incredible opportunity will be missed. WFOE or Joint Venture There are two options for Target to start business in China, establishing a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) or a joint venture with a local Chinese company. There are advantages and disadvantages for both options, and it will be important to understand each. Joint ventures were the only way to enter China for any foreign company due to the restrictions set by China prior to joining the WTO. With joint ventures, foreign companies were able enter China’s market easier. It really helps to have a local partner that is already familiar with the market and know the laws of doing business in China. Also, with a joint venture, it is much less capital intensive since the local partner will be contributing to the business. The downside of a joint venture is that it is difficult to find the right partner, and it requires a lot time because a good relationship must be formed before any negotiations take place. In China, a good relationship is the key to doing business. Some major causes of joint  venture failures have been overestimation of the partner’s capabilities, differing expectations, and different management styles (11). These are some of the reasons that limit a foreign company’s desire to expand. WFOE, an option that will be open to foreign retail companies doing or planning to do business in China after next month, would probably be the direction that most foreign retailers will choose. It should be Target’s choice as well when entering China. But before a WFOE can be set up, an application must be submitted to MOFCOM’s (Ministry of Commerce) provincial-level counterparts. The applications will then be forwarded to MOFOCOM for approval. The approval process takes about three to four months, but approval is only granted if the proposed business will help the development of China’s economy (12). Target will have no problem getting approved because it will help create more jobs in China, bring in more sophisticated technology to run its stores and operations, and increase manufacturing production in China since a good portion of the products that will be in Target stores will be made in China. The disadvantage of setting up a WFOE is that it is much more capital intensive. Foreign companies do not have anyone to share the investment costs with in the country. China only allows money coming from outside of the country when foreign companies want to set up a WFOE (12). However, the advantages that WFOE offers outweigh the disadvantages. A WFOE can enjoy the exclusive management control and operational controls with less interference from the Chinese government (13). A foreign company can bring in sophisticated technology without having to worry about losing its intellectual property or figure out how many shares the technology is worth in a joint venture (14). Because of all this, a WFOE can expand into other areas more freely. Although WFOE would be a capital intensive option for Target, it will pay off in the long run. Having complete control over its management and operations, less governmental interference, and less limitations to expand will be beneficial for Target. China’s Social Status There are some other things that it must take into account before Target jumps into China’s retail market, one of which is the social landscape of China. Just like in the United States, knowing where the customers are and where to set up stores are important strategies. The more wealthy cities are concentrated in China’s east and south-east coastal provinces. The top ten most prosperous provinces in China are: Shanghai, Guangdong, Beijing, Zhejiang, Tianjin, Liaoning, Fujian, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Chongqing. These areas are obviously where foreign investors want to go because of higher per capita income and consumer spending in those areas. Consumer activities in some major inland cities are slowly on the rise, but are still fairly undeveloped compared to the east (7). But it may be a good idea to start investing in those areas and capture those markets while competition level is still low. Target should obviously start with investing in a couple of the more prosperous areas, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, or Zhejiang. These four provinces have the highest per capita income and household consumption, which means there are more money spent by consumers (8). Besides this, Target should start investing in the major inland cities that are beginning to develop, such as Wuhan, Chengdu, Changsha, and Sichuan. Almost half of China’s population lives in the central and northwest provinces (7). Take advantage of the new rules that will lift restrictions on locations and the number of stores, and enjoy the benefit of being able to expand easier by being a wholly foreign-owned enterprise. The developing areas should be Target’s concentration. It may be a little more risky, and sales may be lower at first, but it will be beneficial in the long run. The biggest competitors, both domestic and foreign, are mostly located in the prosperous areas (8). It will be more difficult to establish a solid foothold in China’s retail market if Target starts off trying to compete with big foreign players such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour, or big domestic players such as Lianhua and Hualian, all of which are much more familiar with the market. So it will be a good idea for Target to tap into the less developed major  inland cities and create a niche market while competition is still very low in those areas. This can help them develop a presence in China, and become one of the major foreign players in China’s retail market. U.S. Commercial Service After understand all the details described previously throughout the report, Target still needs some help entering China’s retail market. Target is very successful in the United States, but China is a totally different market. There are different consumers, different languages, and different laws. Target needs to find someone that is familiar with the languages (Chinese and English), the Chinese retail market, and all the rules that foreign business must comply with. It would be the best if Target has some managers that fit these criterions within the corporation because then those people can be assigned to assist in Target’s plan to enter China. They will be familiar with China’s market and rules, as well as Target’s objectives and operations. But if there are no qualified candidates within Target, then this is where the U.S. Commercial Service comes in play to help. The U.S. Commercial Service offers customized solutions to help US companies enter and expand in the China Market. They have six offices in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong. There are several services that a US company can purchase, one of which is the Gold Key Service (GKS). This service identifies and arranges appointments with the people that the company will need to meet in order to break into the China market successfully. The U.S. Commercial Service will tailor the service to the company’s needs. They can assess the competition, and/or find lawyers, consultants, government officials, agents and distributors, etc (15). This is a great service that Target should use if they do not have people to use internally. Going into a foreign market, especially China, without being knowledgeable in the country’s laws and regulations, competition, consumers, and business environment is very risky. Any company that does this is essentially setting up for failure in the new market. This is why Target  needs to find experts that know how to do business in China. By being able to access competition, access the business environment, and working with a consultant or lawyer that knows the business laws in China will definitely help Target develop a safe and successful entry into China’s retail market. To order the Gold Key Service from the U.S. Commercial Service, all Target have to do is contact the nearest U.S. Commercial Service assistance center, call 1-800-USA-Trade, or email their FCS Beijing Office at Export.China@mail.doc.gov (15). Other Factors In the Chinese culture, the colors red and gold are favorable colors. They represent happiness, good luck, and good fortune. During festive holidays, such as Chinese New Year, red is seen every where. All businesses, as well as households, would put up red lanterns and decorations. This may be beneficial to Target since red is Target’s color. By having red in the stores in China, it may attract more consumers because people may associate the Target stores with the same meanings that they associate with the colors, especially during festive holidays. Aside from culture, Target should look into other things, such as education in China. Education is very important to China’s future development if it is to be sustainable, but it is not an easy task. The government has been focusing on the country’s economic development, and has neglected to improve the education system and health. However, the government’s new goal is to raise education spending to about 4 percent of GPD, with help from the private sector (8). In the United States, Target currently have a Community Giving Program where Target gives back over $2 million a week to neighborhoods, programs, and schools across the country (16). If Target sets up a similar program in China, it may help build its reputation in the China market. By helping the community receive better education, improving living conditions, and improving living standards will help Target gain favoritism from both consumers and the government, which can only help Target’s goal for success in the market. Conclusion China offers a golden opportunity for foreign retailers, such as Target. Target should take advantage of China’s accession to the WTO and seize the opportunity by entering China’s retail market. There are many factors that Target must review and consider before entering China. Main factors like China’s economic status, political status, and social status. As well as evaluating options of entry (WFOE vs. JV), understanding the culture, assessing both foreign and domestic competitions, and become knowledgeable in business rules and regulations in the country. Target will be very successful in establishing a foothold in China’s retail market and become a major foreign retailer in the country as long as all aspects are carefully reviewed, planned, and understood. Target’s presence and success has been well established in the United States, and now it is time to expand to the next big thing – China. End Notes (1) http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/public/0401/01.html (2) http://quicktake.morningstar.com/Stock/Income10.asp?Country=USA&Symbol= TGT&stocktab=finance (3) http://www.targetcorp.com/targetcorp_group/investor-relations/investor- relations.jhtml (4) http://www.stores.org/pdf/04TOP100chart2.pdf (5) http://retailindustry.about.com/library/bl/03q2/bl_rf100603.htm (6) http://www.bjreview.com.cn/200414/Business-200414(C).htm (7) http://www.pwchk.com/home/webmedia/1024303622085/RetailMarket_ China.pdf (8) http://www.pwcglobal.com/gx/eng/about/ind/retail/wef%20jan04_external.pdf3 (9) http://en-1.ce.cn/subject/RetailinginChina/Regulation&Policy/200409/29/ t20040929_1882374.shtml (10) http://www.osec.ch/~0xc1878d1b_0x0001b994/Investments/foreign_investment_ restrictions_in_trade_and_retail_lifted/en/china_fipdf (11) http://www.sinomedia.net/eurobiz/v200404/story0404.html (12) http://www.isinolaw.com/jsp/fie/fie/FIE_wfoe1.jsp?LangID=0 (13) http://english.sohu.com/2004/07/04/81/article220848132.shtml (14) http://www.businessweek.com/adsections/country/asia/ (15) http://www.buyusa.gov/china/en/gks.html (16) http://target.com/target_group/community_giving/index.jhtml

In Man and Superman Shaw Was Not Writing a Regular Play Essay

In Man and Superman Shaw was not writing a regular play; he only united up dialogue, discussion, arguments for the purpose of making them appear as plays. Still the incidents of situations in the play do in one way or the other perpetuate the pursuit of man by woman—of Tanner by Ann. The most interesting is the Hell Scene where the traditional Don Giovanni motif is most comically inverted in the spirit of parody to substantiate Shaw’s thesis that it is the woman basically who is boa-constrictor from whom the new Don Juan flies away to save his person. The Hell Scene has been grafted on the plot from outside and it does not grow from the soil of the story. Its central business is to highlight the central motive of the play—the chase of man by woman as part of the process of Creative Evolution as well as the edification of hell as a most dynamic, therefore desirable condition of existence which ensures happiness of humanity. The metamorphosis of the characters like Tanner and Ann suiting the atmosphere is amazing; but soon the dramatic interest wanes as the arguments start rattling the pros and cons of the Scene. From the point of view of the force of the arguments the Hell Scene has significance, otherwise it looks just bizarre and from the point of view of the force of the plot extraneous. It cannot be denied that the Hell Scene is a most powerful tour-de-force of Shaw’s imagination. Shaw had added to the play a lengthy Preface, rich in thought and content and at the end we get the Revolutionist’s Hand Book and Pocket Companion. The overriding Shavian pre-occupation with his philosophy gets to be continued in Hell Scene. Whenever Shae has an opportunity, he expresses his views (although comically) on happiness, love, marriage, sex relations, women, art, socialism, democracy, industrialisation, religion, morality, virtue, sin, death, peace, war, slavery and a host of other topics. Shaw has been impartial enough to allow even the Devil to have his say and freely express his point of view. The spur behind all this is the assumption that woman is far from weak and helpless and that sexually woman is Nature’s contrivance for the perpetuation of human race. A more intimidating fact is, sexually man is woman’s contrivance for fulfilling nature’s behest in the best possible way. Possessed by the blind fury of creation, woman searches for a male biologically most desirable and when she finds him, she is most ruthless in her pursuit of him. The Don Juan in Hell Scene lifts up this basic theme of life-Force and Creative Evolution with Superman and Superwoman into the realm of Shavian-Socratic dialogue. Shaw comically swaps the Superman of Nietzsche (who was a ruthless being and an embodiment of might! ) by a new Don Juan; Tanner who sees life as co-operation with woman in its upward struggle. If the evolutionist’s account is accurate, life has developed in the waters of the ocean and the slime of the beaches until it reached the gigantic and long since extinct creatures that peopled the earth in pre-historic times. In his vision Tanner hears Don Juan say this to him. Life is a force which has made innumerable experiments in organising itself. He further tells him that as long as he can conceive something better than himself, he cannot be easy unless he is striving to bring it into existence or clearing the way for it: â€Å"That is the law of my life. That is the working within me of life’s incessant aspiration to higher organisation, wider, deeper, intense, self-consciousness and clearer self-understanding. † The Devil in his turn expresses himself eloquently and forcibly about man’s conduct in the world and takes a pessimistic view of him. He holds that human beings are both stupid and evil and on the road to utter destruction. Shaw makes a firm distinction in the process between his two functions as writer: the function of an essayist on the one hand and on the other, that of a playwright. The important difference is that a playwright has to put on the stage a number of characters whose opinions differ and clash for the vital element in drama in conflict. It may be physical conflict, the conflict of emotions, of ideas or even of beliefs. The audience watches and hastens to the conflict; it hears the characters putting forward opposing views; and having heard the arguments the members of the audience use their own thinking powers and reach their own conclusions. Much of what is said by the Devil in Man and Superman is fair statement of the parts of human behaviour is endorsed in other plays by Shaw. What is in doubt is the conclusion the Devil draws from the facts. Can man be saved from his own destructive tendencies? The Devil declares that he cannot. Don Juan believes that he can if he is given the great idea to live for—the great idea, for example, that man can, if he wills, can carry out the divine purpose (read the purpose of Life-Force). The brain will not fail when the will is earnest to Life, the force behind the Man, and intellect is a necessity because without it he blunders into death. Just as Life, after ages of struggle, evolved that wonderful bodily organ, the eye, so that the living organism ould see where it was going and what was going and what was coming to help or threaten, and thus avoid a thousand dangers that finally slew it, so it is evolving to date in mind’s that shall see, not the physical world, but the purpose of Life, and thereby enable the individual to work for that purpose instead of thwarting and baffling it by setting up short-sighted personal aims as present: â€Å"I sing not arms and the Hero but the philosophic man; he who seeks in contemplation to discover the inner will of the world, in invention to discover the means of fulfilling that will and in action to do that will. The supreme triumph of Shaw’s dramaturgical dialectics is to be found in the renewal of renovation of the 18th century image of Don Juan or rather the Spanish Don Giovanni. It is important because Tanner receives the mantle of the incendiary from this super human image. Of course, the method has been one of conversion of old materials in to 19th century terms, both thematic and technical. He rejects altogether the schism oIn Man and Superman Shaw was not writing a regular play; he only united up dialogue, discussion, arguments for the purpose of making them appear as plays. Still the incidents of situations in the play do in one way or the other perpetuate the pursuit of man by woman—of Tanner by Ann. The most interesting is the Hell Scene where the traditional Don Giovanni motif is most comically inverted in the spirit of parody to substantiate Shaw’s thesis that it is the woman basically who is boa-constrictor from whom the new Don Juan flies away to save his person. The Hell Scene has been grafted on the plot from outside and it does not grow from the soil of the story. Its central business is to highlight the central motive of the play—the chase of man by woman as part of the process of Creative Evolution as well as the edification of hell as a most dynamic, therefore desirable condition of existence which ensures happiness of humanity. The metamorphosis of the characters like Tanner and Ann suiting the atmosphere is amazing; but soon the dramatic interest wanes as the arguments start rattling the pros and cons of the Scene. From the point of view of the force of the arguments the Hell Scene has significance, otherwise it looks just bizarre and from the point of view of the force of the plot extraneous. It cannot be denied that the Hell Scene is a most powerful tour-de-force of Shaw’s imagination. Shaw had added to the play a lengthy Preface, rich in thought and content and at the end we get the Revolutionist’s Hand Book and Pocket Companion. The overriding Shavian pre-occupation with his philosophy gets to be continued in Hell Scene. Whenever Shae has an opportunity, he expresses his views (although comically) on happiness, love, marriage, sex relations, women, art, socialism, democracy, industrialisation, religion, morality, virtue, sin, death, peace, war, slavery and a host of other topics. Shaw has been impartial enough to allow even the Devil to have his say and freely express his point of view. The spur behind all this is the assumption that woman is far from weak and helpless and that sexually woman is Nature’s contrivance for the perpetuation of human race. A more intimidating fact is, sexually man is woman’s contrivance for fulfilling nature’s behest in the best possible way. Possessed by the blind fury of creation, woman searches for a male biologically most desirable and when she finds him, she is most ruthless in her pursuit of him. The Don Juan in Hell Scene lifts up this basic theme of life-Force and Creative Evolution with Superman and Superwoman into the realm of Shavian-Socratic dialogue. Shaw comically swaps the Superman of Nietzsche (who was a ruthless being and an embodiment of might! ) by a new Don Juan; Tanner who sees life as co-operation with woman in its upward struggle. If the evolutionist’s account is accurate, life has developed in the waters of the ocean and the slime of the beaches until it reached the gigantic and long since extinct creatures that peopled the earth in pre-historic times. In his vision Tanner hears Don Juan say this to him. Life is a force which has made innumerable experiments in organising itself. He further tells him that as long as he can conceive something better than himself, he cannot be easy unless he is striving to bring it into existence or clearing the way for it: â€Å"That is the law of my life. That is the working within me of life’s incessant aspiration to higher organisation, wider, deeper, intense, self-consciousness and clearer self-understanding. † The Devil in his turn expresses himself eloquently and forcibly about man’s conduct in the world and takes a pessimistic view of him. He holds that human beings are both stupid and evil and on the road to utter destruction. Shaw makes a firm distinction in the process between his two functions as writer: the function of an essayist on the one hand and on the other, that of a playwright. The important difference is that a playwright has to put on the stage a number of characters whose opinions differ and clash for the vital element in drama in conflict. It may be physical conflict, the conflict of emotions, of ideas or even of beliefs. The audience watches and hastens to the conflict; it hears the characters putting forward opposing views; and having heard the arguments the members of the audience use their own thinking powers and reach their own conclusions. Much of what is said by the Devil in Man and Superman is fair statement of the parts of human behaviour is endorsed in other plays by Shaw. What is in doubt is the conclusion the Devil draws from the facts. Can man be saved from his own destructive tendencies? The Devil declares that he cannot. Don Juan believes that he can if he is given the great idea to live for—the great idea, for example, that man can, if he wills, can carry out the divine purpose (read the purpose of Life-Force). The brain will not fail when the will is earnest to Life, the force behind the Man, and intellect is a necessity because without it he blunders into death. Just as Life, after ages of struggle, evolved that wonderful bodily organ, the eye, so that the living organism could see where it was going and what was going and what was coming to help or threaten, and thus avoid a thousand dangers that finally slew it, so it is evolving to date in mind’s that shall see, not the physical world, but the purpose of Life, and thereby enable the individual to work for that purpose instead of thwarting and baffling it by setting up short-sighted personal aims as present: â€Å"I sing not arms and the Hero but the philosophic man; he who seeks in contemplation to discover the inner will of the world, in invention to discover the means of fulfilling that will and in action to do that will. † The supreme triumph of Shaw’s dramaturgical dialectics is to be found in the renewal of renovation of the 18th century image of Don Juan or rather the Spanish Don Giovanni. It is important because Tanner receives the mantle of the incendiary from this super human image. Of course, the method has been one of conversion of old materials in to 19th century terms, both thematic and technical. He rejects altogether the schism of Byron and Tanner can be the rake or a mindless Philanderer as Byron’s Don Juan has been. Shaw’s claim to be returning to a pristine Don Juan is valid to the extent that the theme had originally been less of psychological than of philosophical or even indeed theological interest. It is true that Don Juan runs away from them only after possessing them. Tanner in Shaw’s play runs away rather to prevent them from possessing them. That old motif has been deliberately turned upside down in a vein of parody, embodying Shaw’s standard new motif. Shaw substituted an utterly Scribean closed structure. The Don Juan episode in Act II is neither a well-made play, nor a portion of a well-made play. It stands out apart as something appropriately more austere and august. As Eric Bentley points out, â€Å"It is not a traditional work of any kind, not even a Platonic dialogue, the relation between Socrates and his interlocutors being quite different. † Nor is it s debate for two of the speakers, the Commander and Ann hardly present arguments at all. They simply represent a point of view. Do even the Devil and Don Juan discuss anything between them? A Devil is scarcely a being one can convert to a cause: â€Å"and if the Don is busy convincing anyone it is himself. † Certainly it is the philosophy of Bernard Shaw that he parrot-preaches. But one doubts if persuasion is exercised by that on the audience. Rather, the contribution of the four presences come together as a vision of life and an intimating of super-life—Man and Superman. The comedy of John Tanner of the vision of Don Juan Tenoria—Shaw and counter-Shaw thesis and antithesis are to be sure, of separate interests, and yet, as usual, the great Shavian achievement is to have related one to the other. Tanner seems a wise man, proves a fool. Don Juan passes for philanderer but proves an explorer and a missionary of the truth. In our trivial, tawdry, clever, Scribean world intellect is futile and ever at the mercy of instinct. Take away the episode in Hell and Shaw has written an anti-intellectual comedy! The episode assigns to the intellect the highest role. No longer, therefore, is Ann the centre and source of things—only a possible mother for Superman. Here Don Juan dominates. Here (or rather in Heaven) intellect is at home, and the Don is cured of that occupational disease of Shavian Heroes of homelessness. â€Å"He comes to a good end†Ã¢â‚¬â€only it is not an end, it’s an episode, and from these celestial infernal heights we must descend to earth with the shock of Shavian anti-climax, to earth and to tanner, from Superman. f Byron and Tanner can be the rake or a mindless Philanderer as Byron’s Don Juan has been. Shaw’s claim to be returning to a pristine Don Juan is valid to the extent that the theme had originally been less of psychological than of philosophical or even indeed theological interest. It is true that Don Juan runs away from them only after possessing them. Tanner in Shaw’s play runs away rather to prevent them from possessing them. That old motif has been deliberately turned upside down in a vein of parody, embodying Shaw’s standard new motif. Shaw substituted an utterly Scribean closed structure. The Don Juan episode in Act II is neither a well-made play, nor a portion of a well-made play. It stands out apart as something appropriately more austere and august. As Eric Bentley points out, â€Å"It is not a traditional work of any kind, not even a Platonic dialogue, the relation between Socrates and his interlocutors being quite different. † Nor is it s debate for two of the speakers, the Commander and Ann hardly present arguments at all. They simply represent a point of view. Do even the Devil and Don Juan discuss anything between them? A Devil is scarcely a being one can convert to a cause: â€Å"and if the Don is busy convincing anyone it is himself. † Certainly it is the philosophy of Bernard Shaw that he parrot-preaches. But one doubts if persuasion is exercised by that on the audience. Rather, the contribution of the four presences come together as a vision of life and an intimating of super-life—Man and Superman. The comedy of John Tanner of the vision of Don Juan Tenoria—Shaw and counter-Shaw thesis and antithesis are to be sure, of separate interests, and yet, as usual, the great Shavian achievement is to have related one to the other. Tanner seems a wise man, proves a fool. Don Juan passes for philanderer but proves an explorer and a missionary of the truth. In our trivial, tawdry, clever, Scribean world intellect is futile and ever at the mercy of instinct. Take away the episode in Hell and Shaw has written an anti-intellectual comedy! The episode assigns to the intellect the highest role. No longer, therefore, is Ann the centre and source of things—only a possible mother for Superman. Here Don Juan dominates. Here (or rather in Heaven) intellect is at home, and the Don is cured of that occupational disease of Shavian Heroes of homelessness. â€Å"He comes to a good end†Ã¢â‚¬â€only it is not an end, it’s an episode, and from these celestial infernal heights we must descend to earth with the shock of Shavian anti-climax, to earth and to tanner, from Superman.

Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Finance - Essay Example The government also gives a further indication for implementation of the recommendations. Hence, detailed explanation has been done in this paper to explain the rationale behind two of the recommendations of Vickers report. Retail Ring-Fencing One of the most controversial recommendations of the Vickers Commission is that the banks’ retail operations should be ring-fenced. Banks will be required to establish a separate legal entity within their corporate structure to provide retail and commercial banking services all over the country. The reason behind this to protect retail banking operations from risk-oriented financial activities and to ensure the continuous provision of retail banking services by ring-fenced banks, with reduced bail-out costs for taxpayers. The government agreed with Vickers Commission that banks should have relative freedom in respect of their investment. Banks will be permitted to continue copyrighted trading. The logic is that investment of UK banks sho uld operate without an implicit government guarantee and be allowed to fail in an orderly manner in case they enter into financial crisis. It is also predicted that the banks in UK will face challenges in implementing ring-fencing requirements, given their current corporate structures. ... The large exposure limits that are recommended in the report are designed to reduce the exposure a ring-fenced bank will have to other entities within its group. However, allowing secured exposure up to 45% of capital may prove unproductive in light of the write-downs of sovereign and asset-backed debts in the financial drawbacks (Kevin, 2007). Raise bank capital requirements The Vickers Commission has separately made various recommendations intended to raise the capital requirements of the banks in United Kingdom. It is also an attempt to increase the ability of banks to absorb losses or any other financial crisis. The ratio of equity to RWAs proposed by the Vickers Report for ring-fenced banks (of 10%) is higher than that proposed in Basel. The requirement for banks to have loss absorbing capacity of 17% is essentially more burdensome than under Basel III (Patrick, 2011). Therefore important banks will be required to hold capital at 11.5-13% of RWAs (Michael & Bernard, 2007). The g overnment of UK agreed that 17% is the appropriate number for large institutions, subject to further consultation. Moreover, accommodative tax regime will be required subjected to capital instruments subordinated debt for banks so that they could use these instruments to meet their enhanced capital ratios. HMRC is currently looking at ways to ensure these instruments work effectively and therefore reduce tax on interest payments. An important concession has been made by the government to UK-based multinational banks. The Vickers Report had proposed that such banks were required to have primary loss absorbing capital equal to 17% across all their operations. However, the government has stated that as long

Discussion and participation week 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discussion and participation week 4 - Essay Example ontingencies Gain is Probable Gain is Reasonably Possible Gain is Remote Disclose in notes only Disclose in notes only Nothing (Ecfa, 2011). Ecfa.org (2011). Accounting for Contingencies. Retrieved September 1, 2011 from http://www.ecfa.org/Content/Accounting-for-Contingencies Weygandt, J., Kieso, D., Kimmel, P. (2002). Accounting Principles (6th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. 2. Gain contingencies are not recognized in the income statement, but loss contingencies may be based on the circumstances. â€Å"Loss contingencies may be recorded in the financial statements after evaluation to determine if inclusion is required† (Ecfa, 2011). The probability of occurrence is the determining factor that must be evaluated to determine the proper accounting treatment. The three options are probable, reasonable possible, and remote. Each of the options has different accounting treatment based on losses or gains. The table below shows all the possibilities. Loss Contingencies    Loss is Probable Loss is Reasonably Possible Loss is Remote Amount of Loss can be estimated Record liability and disclose in notes Disclose in notes only Nothing Range of Loss can be estimated Record low end of range as liability and disclose in notes Disclose in notes only Nothing Loss can NOT be estimated Disclose in notes only Disclose in notes only Nothing Gain Contingencies Gain is Probable Gain is Reasonably Possible Gain is Remote Disclose in notes only Disclose in notes only Nothing (Ecfa, 2011). Ecfa.org (2011). Accounting for Contingencies. Retrieved September 1, 2011 from http://www.ecfa.org/Content/Accounting-for-Contingencies 3. A hedge can be defined as protecting a long position in one asset while being short in another in order to reduce overall risk (Tewales & Bradley & Tewales, 1992). If the fair value of the asset changes the investor can minimize his losses based on the use of a hedge. A hedge is a complex investment instrument that should be used only by expert and institutionalized investors. I would not recommend a novice investor in the stock market to invest in hedges. Teweles, R., Bradley, E., Teweles, T. (1992). The Stock Market (6th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. 4. The four types of contingencies mentioned in your answer are right on target. I only came up with liabilities as a potential contingency out of the top of my head. None of the contingencies you mentioned are ever included in the income statement when they are gain contingencies. If the gain contingency is probable or reasonably possible they are disclosed as a note to the financial statements. The existence of a gain contingency is a factor that can positively influenced the price of common stocks of public corporations. 5. Early extinguishment of debt typically results in either a gain or loss. In the income statement gains or loss resulting from early extinguishment of debt are included as other income. â€Å"

Economic Effects of Welfare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economic Effects of Welfare - Essay Example In welfare states, such procedures are applied by governments which help to improve lives of needy individuals. These might include unemployed; physically or mentally disable people, widows and orphans. It has been always important to see what effect these welfare activities leave on an economy. Design Different researchers have analyzed these effects differently by focusing on a specific area. The important aspects included in economic effects of welfare are as under: It helps in the alleviation of poverty by meeting individual’s needs. Link between percentages of Gross Domestic Production (GDP) spent on welfare economic indicators. Impact of welfare policies on poverty. Capabilities of individuals can be improved and they can participate in economic success and growth. Structural factors and poverty Findings All four above mentioned aspects are discussed under here: Alleviate poverty by meeting needs: In a research by Severine and Shahani, ... On analysis of economic indicators of both countries, it was found that indicators of United States were not performing well as compared with other countries. It concluded that welfare lead to progress and development of economy. Welfare Policies and poverty: Kenworthy (1119-1139) conducted a research Do social-welfare policies reduce poverty? A cross-national assessment, to find whether there is any evidence of relationship between welfare policies and poverty by collecting data using quantitative technique. Kenworthy also investigated that how these variables operate in different countries. These welfare programs have positive impact on economic conditions of developing countries as they spend more for welfare. Welfare enhances capabilities of individuals: A research by Sen (13-34) "The Perspective of Freedom" In Development as Freedom, found that while welfare system enhances capabilities of an individual, it also helps them to participate in success of society. Data was collected through questionnaires. Sen discussed that success shows a path for freedom and freedom leads to development of an individual as well as a society. It is concluded in Sen’s research that free society is more likely to experience economic and social stability and development Structural factors and poverty: In a research by Brady, â€Å"Structural Theory and Relative Poverty in Rich Western Democracies†, effect of welfare on five structural factors namely â€Å"manufacturing employment, agricultural employment, female labor force participation, the elderly population, and children in single mother families† were analyzed. Data was gathered via longitudinal survey. The

How Peer pressure can be turned into a positive Essay

How Peer pressure can be turned into a positive - Essay Example Peer pressure also motivates the youth. Despite the negative attributes often associated with peer pressure as being destructive to young people’s overall development, it has instrumentally uplifted youth from the depths of confusion and emotional turmoil to clear paths in life. Peer pressure is erroneously thought to only elicit negative effects amongst young people. However, this fails to consider the numerous positive benefits that can be gained from peer pressure. For example, peer pressure could act as a motivation because it boosts one’s morale in becoming better at certain things. Additionally, under motivation, children coming financially unstable homes find an impetus to work hard in their academic studies to get better jobs and earn handsome salaries. In the same capacity, motivation helps people in understanding different issues from multiple spectrums. Overall, it raises a person’s self-esteem and confidence. It is usually peer pressure through motivation, for example, that leads young people to embrace activities such as exercising to maintain healthy bodies. They also practice healthy habits that does not make susceptible to diseases. Integration of socialization skills is another way how peer pressure can be turned into a positive thing. This is because it enables the socializees to make friends that usually expand their networks in terms of opportunities and chances in life. Alternatively, socialization is a healthy exercise that inspires people to join different co-curricular activities such as drama, sports, and clubs among others to achieve popularity amongst their peers. Therefore, through socialization, citizens cultivate vital cultures of collective behavior and unity as benchmarks for group norms. In other words, peer groups interconnect its members through creating platforms for group conformity and group consensus. Identity formation is equally an integral merit emerging from peer pressure that is often overlooked. This

Reflection paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflection - Term Paper Example In the second section, the professor taught us how to write. We were given different kinds of assignments. Doing those assignments was a means of learning to write academically and professionally. Now that I reflect on my writing skills, I find noticeable improvement in the content, structure, organization, and quality of writing I produce. The most interesting thing about this course was the syllabus. The topics we discussed and wrote about were primarily oriented around freedom and independence. We learnt different ways in which advanced technology promoted personal freedom as well as intervened in people’s personal rights and space. For example, while we can explore the world and capture precious moments using the cameras of our smartphones, we can also freely take anybody’s pictures without having them even realize that they are being photographed. This is an intervention in an individual’s personal space and freedom but technology has equipped us to do this. We have to resort to our moral values to behave ethically in such scenarios and make only positive use of the technology in our hands. Similarly, we did an assignment where we discussed how cameras can be used to record people cheating on their spouses or how lie-detection machines can be used to learn the secret. All these practices come with certain advantages and disadvantages, with the disadvantage being primarily intervention in others’ personal freedom. We should use our moral judgment and conscience to make optimal use of such technology and avoid its secret use unless the benefits of the same outweigh the demerits. To discourage the inappropriate use of technology, the government should formulate laws and regulations to guide people’s behavior. People intervening in others’ personal space without consent and for unjustifiable reasons should be held accountable for their secret endeavors. Personal freedom is the fundamental right of every human being and must be granted. The

Economics of the UAE Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economics of the UAE - Research Paper Example km†¦..population of three million inhabitants in 2000† (202). However, out of the total population of the UAE, over half are non-nationals. With the discovery of oil, the economy of the United Arab Emirates was transformed from an unreliable economy that relied on agriculture, pearling, and fishing, to a high income economy based mainly on oil production. Although there were challenges and opportunities that came with the transformation of the United Arab Emirates economy, its government has succeed in utilizing the opportunities and confronting challenges. President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates is working hard to maintain the economic progress that was established by the nation’s first president (Al-Abed, Hellyer, and Vine 71). The first president of the UAE established an economic reform and liberalization programme, which was high approved by principal international bodies. According to Al-Abed, Hellyer, and Vine, due to the development of the UAE oil sector, and growth in other sectors of the nation’s economy, there is continued advancement in the real Gross Domestic Product growth of the UAE (71). Liberal economic policies have helped in maintaining sustained economic growth in the UAE, and the UAE government continues to focus on these policies for future sustained growth. Apart from the oil industry, the UAE government has continued to pay attention to the shipping, tourism, media, financial and commercial services, industries, and the manufacturing sectors of the UAE economy that have contributed to economic growth in the emirates. The economic development of the United Arab Emirates began in the 1970’s. In 1989, the real GDP growth was 11%, standing at 33.7 billion US dollars (Federal Research Division 74). In 1991, crude oil production increased, consequently increasing oil and gas exports. The level of imports for

Paper based on your own version of a walking tour of religious sites Essay

Paper based on your own version of a walking tour of religious sites in New Jersey or New York City - Essay Example e and 29th Street I came across the not so well-known Episcopal Church of Transfiguration, also known as the, â€Å"Little Church Around the Corner.† Later on my walk, I explored the famous St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral at 51st Street. And lastly, at 63rd Street, I found the Jewish Temple Emanu-El, the largest synagogue in the United States. At the beginning of my tour, the Little Church Around the Corner didn’t necessarily jump out at me as it’s rather hidden by the mammoth contemporary buildings along the block. The church was founded in 1848, and was originally a rather simple church lacking ornate design and magnitude. As the years have gone by, various architects have built additions to the church that now gives it a hodge-podge like architectural style of buildings that have been glued together. Upon arrival, the first thing I noticed was the quaint garden at the entrance of the chapel. The low gate that surrounds the property gives the feeling of a friendly playground rather than a church. Near this entrance is the Chapel of the Holy Family designed in a style reminiscent of the 1940s, but then, the Lady Chapel from 1906 is a jeweled room of bits of glass. The over-sized decorations are more fitting for a majestic cathedral, but this is what gives this little church its eccentricity. The church gain ed popularity in 1870 when a famous actor/comedian of that time passed away and his funeral was refused at the Marble Collegiate Church, the executor of his will was referred to the â€Å"Little church around the corner,† and has since then been considered a church for theatre misfits, immigrants, and those who see the lighter side of religion. It has also become a popular place for marriage ceremonies because of its romantic history and because the parish quickly accepts marriage situations from all walks of life. Considering the long history of this church, and the way its clergy have continued to creatively add to its physical size, it still

Domino's pizza case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Domino's pizza - Case Study Example This analysis presents the elemental constructs of the new information strategy, the digital technologies used in the implementation of the strategy as well as the qualification of such technology to be part or reminiscent of a digital ecosystem. Domino’s revolutionary information system stems primarily from operation innovation complimented by technology-enabled processes, and more specifically the store design. Since the basic steps of making pizza available entail placement of the order by the customer followed by an immediate order preparation that takes into consideration the waiting time duration balanced against quality maintenance, the need for store managers to monitor the rate of order preparation became imperative. Consequently, the business based on its operational design and available technology rolled out a program, the leaderboard that provides store managers with real-time information on performance analytics and operational metrics. Through this platform, store managers are able to monitor the performance of their respective stores relative to that of neighboring ones. In addition to providing information to the store managers, the leaderboard also relayed the same information to regional managers and to the headquarters, which implies that remote monitoring of store became possible. It also increased transparency in the operations of the stores since employees were able to track key performance indicators and make corrections whenever a situation arose that warranted such.

The Appropriate Criteria Essay Example for Free

The Appropriate Criteria Essay The internal QA process largely takes place within the college programme/ department itself. Generally, this process collects continued information in a systematic way about the quality being achieved. The Self Assessment reports are the corner stone of the whole QA system and need to be prepared by the college under the guidance provided by the external agencies e.g. City and Guilds, EAL The Self Assessment report should be validated by peers and is the backbone of the whole exercise of Quality Assurance and Enhancement in Colleges. Therefore a standard Self Assessment report should motivate the internal QA by identifying its weaknesses and strengths, in practicing to be prepared for external assessment and informing the external evaluators about internal QA System. A self assessment report should provide comprehensive information regarding objectives, structure and content of the academic programmes, the learning and teaching environment and curriculum organization etc. The processes of conducting Self Assessment (SA) of college programmes are outlined by the scheme providers which provide guidance for practicing self assessment of college programmes of higher education institutions to maintain and improve the quality standards simultaneously. see more:explain why a workers personal views should not influence an individual\s choices Self Assessment is an effective tool for academic Quality Assurance and provides feed back to administration to initiate action plans for improvement. Quality in higher education is a dynamic entity and therefore various factors that determine quality of higher education must be set in equilibrium at a level that matches with national expectations and standards. These factors include, inter alia, leadership, quality of faculty, quality of students, curriculum, infrastructure facilities, research and learning environment, governance, strategic planning, assessment procedures, and their relevance to market forces. Combined with this the criteria for judging the quality of assessment process is usually laid down in organisation standards, such as health and safety, equality and diversity. Along with this we require an evidence trail to ensure relevance. Another method is the use of the criteria of meeting targets Use of questionnaires to assess learner satisfaction to awarding organisat ion standards. e.g. Performance./assessment criteria Levels :- NVQ etc Performance indicators Checklists Logging and tracking documents Portfolios Occupational/vocational standards National Occupational Standards (NOS) Government regulatory body standards e.g. Ofqual/Ofsted. When assessing , VASCAR can be referred to when judging the quality of the assessment process. V Is it valid; does the work presented meet the criteria and standards that are being worked towards? A Is the work authentic; is the work the learners/assessors own? S Is the evidence sufficient: is there enough to meet the requirements? C Is it current; is it linked to the current standards and are they up to date? A Is it accurate R Reliability; are the assessment decisions consistent and assessed to the appropriate levels for the qualification? Another acronym which is good to relate to during the process is ACR A Accuracy/audit trail ensuring all paperwork matches C Is there consistency over all the assessments, are all assessors working to the same standardized procedures R Record keeping, are all records accurate and thorough (ie are all dates and signatures correct and present). It is vitally important to ensure the above systems are maintained and followed correctly when judging the quality of assessment process. It is also important that they are adhered to in order to contribute to standardization throughout the college. Their use is also important to identify any discrepancies or support needed either for individuals or the team as a whole.

Reviewing The Prison Management System Information Technology Essay

Reviewing The Prison Management System Information Technology Essay ICT in prisons was initiated in the year 2002 at Delhi Prisons, Tihar. The Tihar Prisons Complex in New Delhi is the biggest prison complex in Asia comprising of 9 prisons and one District Jail at Rohini with a total strength of more than 11,000 prisoners against a normal sanctioned capacity of 6250 prisoners. In a year, about 70,000 80,000 inmates remain lodged in these prisons for different duration and crimes committed by them. This prison population has about 80% under trials and includes about 480 women inmates. About 400 inmates are foreigners from different parts of the world. Many high security criminals also live here. There has been a substantial increase in number of prison inmates coming to Tihar because of a phenomenal increase in the crime scene at Delhi that has resulted in the increase of the ICT needs and its management at the Tihar Jail Complex. Nearly 1700-1800 visitors meet their relative inmates every day. There was manual system of booking mulaqats (meetings) in each jail for its respective inmates. Centralised visitor record was not available. There was lack of exchange of visitors information within jails and prison headquarters. There was no provision for identification / detection / verification of visitors. Keeping a tab on the movement of visitors / nefarious elements was difficult. There was no control either on multiple meetings with an inmate in a day / week or on number of visitors permissible to meet with each inmate. It was difficult for the jail administration to keep a record of those prisoners whose meetings were stopped by the courts by way of punishment. There was limi ted and unstructured recording of demographic details about the visitors. Managing the prisoner record and monitoring of prisoner / visitor was always difficult since most of the records were normally maintained manually (so the concerned authorities were required to go through all the registers to find out the details and status of the inmate as well as of the visitor). In order to cope up with the increasing number of prisoners being lodged in, the Tihar Administration required a re-engineering and rationalisation of their key business processes and functions of prisoners related information and their computerisation in order to speed up the processing of information. As the technology evolution took place, there arose a need for centralisation of prisoners data to facilitate information exchange and data sharing as well. This re-engineering would be aimed at reducing administrative overheads, speed up responsiveness to users, reduce risks involved in inmates custody, eliminate obsolete processes and reap cost-cutting benefits. 1) Based on your previous internship experience(s), identify any one business process which you have working knowledge of. Prison Management System (PMS) is a G-2-G and G-2-C e-governance application, which encapsulates the manual working-pattern of the prison rule book i.e. registration, movement within the jail and outside and release of the inmate. It captures the inmates photograph and stores the same in the database after reducing it to less than 2.5 KB size. This is directly stored in the central database such that duplicate entry of the prisoner can be identified in a global manner, which helps in tracing out the frequent flyers to the jail. It helps to generate more than 65 reports of administrative, performance and statistical nature. It helps in dealing with over populous prison that is housing inmates, which are more than 3 times of the sanctioned capacity. It facilitates in monitoring the inmate movement (both inside / outside the correction home). It also facilitates, regulates and simplifies the processes of meeting between the visitors who are coming to visit their relations and friends lodged in the correctional home. It is helping the prison authorities in identification / verification of the inmates using fingerprint based identification tools. Video conferencing is also held within the jail complex with courts and inmates are presented before the Honourable Justice. Using both digital and analog cameras, security is enhanced and a central video wall has also been installed. Around 250 300 cameras pan, tilt and zoom round the clock and feed signals at a central location using the integrated network, over which voice, video and data move freely and continuously. 2) Using the Funnel model diagram, briefly explain how this business process fits into the larger scheme of things for the organization. Funnel Model Diagram -Global Environment There has been a substantial increase in number of prison inmates coming to Tihar because of a phenomenal increase in the crime scene at Delhi that has resulted in the increase of the ICT needs and its management at the Tihar Jail Complex. It has been observed that these inmates tend to revert back to their old habits once they are released after the completion of their term. This can be attributed to several reasons ranging from mistreatment in the correction facility to their inability to obtain employment due to past record. Thus the government and the jail authorities have committed themselves to providing a safe as well as secure detention. They also aim to provide reformation and rehabilitation in a manner which results in welfare opportunities for all inmates. In the long term this should result in a reduction in the number of criminals created due to external environment and society. -Corporate Strategies In the last few years, the prison population has steadily grown, adding tremendous pressure to the overall capacity, basic standard of living and treatment to the prisoners remanded. Effective 24/7 security and vigilance by 1300 jail staff was a key area of concern. The jail management decided that an efficient video surveillance system was required to track, monitor and record movements in critical locations. Management of prisoner records and monitoring of prisoner / visitor has always been difficult in Indian jails since most of the records were normally maintained manually, so the concerned authorities were required to go through all the registers to find out the details and status of the inmate as well as of the visitor. In order to cope up with the increasing number of prisoners being lodged in, the Tihar Administration required a re-engineering and rationalisation of their key business processes and functions of prisoners related information and their computerisation in order to speed up the processing of information need of courts and various other national agencies. -Organizational Structure The Tihar correction facility has a clear set of standard operating procedures. The practical benefit of this model is that the correctional system is not overly dependent upon one or two people. It can easily promote or substitute personnel. The jail dominantly follows a bureaucratic model. This model revolves around a strict hierarchical system but it isnt focussed on one dominant personality. Organizational control flows through the hierarchy with a strict chain of command and a formal process of communication. Rules and regulations are written and specific. Additionally, the policy parameters stressed in this organizational structure are clear for all parties, and staff can be held accountable if they do not comply with written norms. On the negative side, for a difficult environment such as the Tihar jail, written norms do not guarantee consistent enforcement. Such norms are not helpful in every situation. Bureaucratic processes (currently) are slow to respond to change and do not encourage staff to demonstrate new initiative at any level of the organization. -Management and Business processes -Technological Platform 3) Explain in detail the working of this business process and what your role in it was. NIC took up this task of automating and streamlining the process of prisoner / visitor movement at Tihar Prisons. Following are the accomplishment in this area of prison management: Establishment of LAN: Establishment of LAN connecting all prisons situated in a big wide spread complex using 5,500 meters of Optical Fiber Cable (12 and 6 core) operated with one Layer 3 switch supported by 16 Layer 2 switches in the entire jail complex. The network has 185 IOs and can be expanded to 300 nodes without any additions / modifications / disruptions to the existing infrastructure. Surveys were got conducted and laying of OFC was found to be the best suitable option; Development and Implementation of PMS: Prison Management System (PMS) comprises of 12 primary functional modules. More than 65 reports of various types have been developed under Client / Server architecture. It has been developed, tested and implemented. This PMS has the following major features: Based on Client-Server Architecture and supports latest GUI features; Centralised Database for supporting powerful fast retrieval of data; Monitors physical location of inmate, their movements within and outside the jail complex, punishments, medical history of the inmate at the time of his / her arrival at the jail, cases filed against him, court hearings among other attributes; Supports more than 65 reports as per the present needs of the various monitoring agencies like National Human Rights Commission, National Crime Records Bureau and Tihar Jail itself. Biometric Tools: The PMS has been integrated with biometrics tools, which stores inmates biometric details at the time of entry and shall be used to authenticate at the time of their movement. The biometric based verification and authentication system is installed in all 9 jails of Tihar Prisons Complex and at District Jail, Rohini, New Delhi with facility to store prisoner photograph. Tihar Prisons was the first prison in India to use this technology for prisoners identification and verification along with the photograph; Photo pass for visitors: Visitor Management System [VMS] is implemented at Central Public Relation Office situated at Gate # 3 and at Gate # 4 of the Tihar Prisons. All visitors coming to Jail to meet their relative prisoners are first being photographed and then they are issued photo pass. Details of the visitors are being kept in the database and this information is shared with police for the investigation purpose. The meeting slip is generated within 45 seconds. The booking is using the concept of call centre. ISO Certification has been obtained for this process; Videoconferencing: The use of videoconferencing facility in prisons has drastically reduced expenditure incurred as compared to physically producing the jail inmates in the courts. Physical production of an inmate requires transportation, escort by armed police personnel, prevention of fights between inmates and nearly 6 hours of time wasted by each inmate. Fear of custody break is always there during the physical production. There are incidents when prisoners have fled after breaking lockups in the courtroom or from the custody of armed security personnel escorting them to court or by armed attack on the police vans by daredevils. Cameras: Using analog and digital cameras, security has been enhanced in the Tihar Prison complex. Cameras have been installed at strategic locations within wards. Each and every inmate can be watched from a video wall and surveillance brief is also sent to DG (Prisons) in real time. These video graphed shots are produced in case of any disputes. Implementation Processes Local Area Network (LAN): It was necessary to establish network in each prison and all prisons are connected over on LAN to capture and share prisoner information. This LAN is using 5,500 meters of Optical Fiber Cable (12 and 6 core) operated with one Layer 3 switches supported by 16 Layer 2 switches in the entire jail complex and having 145 IOs. The network is such that it can be expanded in future without any addition to the existing infrastructure and can support Closed Circuit Television [CCTV] System. Prison Management System (PMS): The application software Prison Management System (PMS), prison inmate information handling system, aims to facilitate modular but tightly integrated software solution for administering and managing the data related to inmates with their case details and other related activities of the inmates along with their photographs and also facilitate dissemination of information over the LAN to all the concerned officials of the correction homes. Visitor Management System (VMS): It aims to manage meetings of the inmates with their relatives and brings transparency in the Mulaqat (Meeting). It facilitates visitors to register their appointments / meetings with the inmates on telephone or in person at Central Public Relation Office of the Prison. Videoconferencing: The use of videoconferencing facility in prisons is for the purpose of remand extension and trial of prisoners (eTrial) in various courts of the country. The Delhi Government for speedy trial has changed the laws. This shall rule out any escape of prisoner from police custody while movement from Prisons to Courts for Court trials and after the trial when they return back to prisons. This shall minimise the manpower of security personnel, transportation cost and production time. VC sessions can be conducted between jail-2-jail, between jail-2-court within city and jail-2-court outside city for many important inmates like Pappu Yadav, who also happened to be MP. Use of Modern Security Gadgets: The use of modern security gadgets like Closed Circuit Television [CCTV] cameras and Biometric based Fingerprint Identification / Authentication / Verification System shall enhance the security of the Prisons and shall help prison administration in the effective management of Prisons / Prisoners. This has also been implemented at Tihar Jail. Tihar is the 1st jail in India where 258 cameras have been installed to provide digital surveillance. Training Training is a key part of any successful project. It should be tailored to the needs identified through the assessment of the work requirement, existing skills, knowledge and capacity of the employees. Training must be held for all levels and this training must be held separately for each level. The superintendent is the head of prison who is assisted by deputy and assistant superintendents. Warders and matrons are the lowest functionaries in the jail administrative setup. Primarily they have to maintain the day-to-day administration of inmates inside the jail, to know the number of prisoners in their charge; to count them frequently during their turn of duty and to satisfy themselves that they have all inmates in their custody. They have to report about any plots for the purpose of escaping or of assault or outbreak or any plan to obtain forbidden articles in the jail complex. Smoking is not allowed in the complex. Warders / matrons working in processes have been identified and provided with additional training developed for their specific functions. They possess good academic qualification, more disciplined and have keen interest to work on computers. Although the basic qualification for the post of warden / matron is only matriculation but a number of staff is having much higher qualification and this increase their interest in learning to use modern gadgets. One more important aspect was behind the training of warders / matrons is that they are from uniformed force and primary their responsibility being the safety and security of the prisons where more than 11000 criminals including hardcore criminals are lodged and we have to work within the security parameters. Monetary incentives were also given to them. Good work done by them was recorded in their annual confidential reports such that they get benefit in future. The Data Entry Operators were hired from private operators and they were provided training on the visitor module of the system. They are on contract and deployed outside the prison for visitor management. They were thoroughly sensitised before hiring for the job, so that they cannot try to connive with the prisoners relatives in any unlawful activity. 4) Draw a Business Process Modelling Diagram (BPMD) describing its working. BPMD (As-Is): BPMD (To-Be): Sample screenshot of the PMS software: 5) Identify any inefficiency (ies) in this business process and provide suitable justification for the same. General Issues / Inefficiencies in business process During the development of application software the requirements were not clear as the user was not supportive in sharing the information and subsequently could not be frozen. To overcome this problem, prototype of each module was first developed and then shown to the user department to get their suggestions / inputs. This regular interaction with the user helps in freezing out their requirements. There was no standard set for fingerprints scanning and matching which leads to non-interoperability of matching fingerprints. Many vendors provided fingerprint-matching solution, which was proprietary. There is no interoperability and standards in matching of fingerprints. The fingerprint solution integrated in the application software was taken after considering the solution to be used for whom, ruggedness of the scanner, omni directional scanning feature, live finger scanning and complete user satisfaction. Storage of photograph consumes lots of memory space. Reducing the resolution of the image and converting .bmp image to .jpeg image handled this issue. This process reduced image of size of 60k to less than 3k. Define the To-be state using certain metrics and (or) benchmarks. Metrics (Primes) along which To-be state was designed: For example, 7) Conclusions It has now become essential to embrace the new technologies in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for the development / modernisation / advancement of prisons. Internetworking of all the jails across the India for sharing of information related to prison inmates who had been lodged in various jails of the country should improve the law and order within the state. Tihar Prisons has been pioneer in this area and they have shown it through their IT setup, a role model for other states and even other countries. It is likely that this may be replicated in the SAARC Region.

Enablers and Inhibitors to Knowledge Management

Enablers and Inhibitors to Knowledge Management Enabling organizations to capture, share, and apply collective experience and know-how of people is emerging as fundamental to competing in the knowledge economy. There is a growing recognition in the business community about the importance of knowledge management. As a result, there is growing enthusiasm and activity centered on knowledge management. Some organizations have taken initiatives to understand and manage this critical resource. But, in spite of these initiatives, several organizations particularly the Small and Medium Enterprises still have not approached knowledge management activity formally or deliberately. The cause for this sluggishness towards knowledge management could be that most organizations are still struggling to comprehend the knowledge management concept. The reason for this confusion may be attributed to a gap between the emerging concept of knowledge management and the lack of understanding about it. To bridge the gap, the fundamental issue of identifyin g salient characteristics of knowledge management phenomena needs to be addressed. The key thesis is that enablers of the knowledge management paradigm often unravel inhibitors in adapting and evolving knowledge management systems for business environments that are characterized by high uncertainty and radical discontinuous change. This paper thus, explores by presenting a hierarchical model the enablers, inhibitors and identifies critical success factors necessary for a successful knowledge management initiative. The paper uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to ascertain the relative importance of the influential factors towards a successful Knowledge Management implementation. Keywords: Knowledge Management Systems, Critical Success Factors, Analytic Hierarchy Process 1. Introduction The information era has caused enterprises to realize the shift from resource economy of controlling land, machines, factories, raw materials, and labor forces to the knowledge economy of creating business value through utilization of intangible knowledge. This has caused knowledge management to be of crucial importance and it has grabbed peoples attention and generated significant discussions both in the academia and industry. The true creation of business value today mainly comes from knowledge and its management. Knowledge is critical in obtaining competitive advantage within an enterprise (Sang and Hong, 2002), enterprises should consider the knowledge to be a critical resource and leverage it judiciously (Gupta et al., 2000; Liebowitz, 2003). To facilitate the knowledge accumulation process, enterprises must encourage employees to share their experience and knowledge with others meanwhile accumulating their knowledge as an organizational asset. Therefore, the activities of knowledge management should enable the creation, communication, and application of knowledge; and they should drive the capability of creating and retaining a greater value onto the core business competencies (Tiwana, 2001). However, there are concerns about enablers and inhibitors to implementing knowledge management for enterprises. In the process of carrying out knowledge management, organizations face varying conditions of corporate culture, workflow processes, and integration of all the employees knowledge. They also need strong support from top management, because it is possible that during the process they will encounter resistance from employees. Organizations also need to increase the usage of information technology in order to help the problem regarding the flow of information. Wong, (2005) suggest the need for a more systematic and deliberate study on the critical success factors (CSFs) for implementing knowledge management is crucial. Organizations need to be cognizant and aware of the factors that will influence the success of a knowledge management initiative. Ignorance and oversight of the necessary important factors will likely hinder an organizations effort to realize its full benefit. Wong, (2005) also indicate that previous studies of critical success factors (CSFs) for knowledge management implementation have been heavily focused on large companies. This is because most of the early adopters and superior performers of knowledge management were in fact large and multinational corporations. As such, existing factors are mainly large companies oriented, thereby reflecting their situations and needs. Directly applying these factors into the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) environment may not be sufficient without an understanding of their very own and specific conditions. Previous studies fall short of studying and identifying the CSFs from the SMEs perspective. They have not considered the features, characteristics and situations of smaller firms. Nor have they explored other factors, which could potentially be more important for SMEs when accomplishing knowledge management. This paper evolves a model for critical success factors for knowledge management implementations in small medium enterprises (SMEs) based on a questionnaire survey. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework has been developed for finding the importance of the influential factors. AHP is an effective quantitative tool that helps to prioritize problems, issues or variables based on relevant criteria and alternatives. The applicability and usefulness of the AHP approach as a multi-criteria decision-making tool is well acknowledged in the management literature. The present work has adopted this tool for segregating a few critical aspects of knowledge management implementation from the inconsequential many, so that organizations could focus only on those dimensions that are crucial for their success instead of spending a large quantity of time, effort and resources in mindlessly concentrating on peripheral issues. Hence the objectives of this paper are two-fold: To identify the criteria for the AHP model with respect to issues relating to critical success factors for knowledge management implementations in SMEs To present an AHP framework for absolute measurement of priorities in order to critically evaluate the issues relating to critical success factors for knowledge management implementations in SMEs. 2. Review of Literature 2.1 Enablers to Knowledge Management As organizations embark into managing their knowledge they need to be clear of the factors that influence knowledge management, which are known as knowledge management enablers. Enablers are the driving force in carrying out knowledge management, they do not just generate knowledge in the organization by stimulating the creation of knowledge, but they also motivate the employees to share their knowledge and experiences with one another, allowing organizational knowledge to grow concurrently and systematically (Ichijo et al., 1998; Stonehouse and Pemberton, 1999). Knowledge management enablers are the mechanism for the organization to develop its knowledge and also stimulate an environment within the organization for the creation and protection of knowledge. They are also the necessary building blocks in the improvement of the effectiveness of activities for knowledge management (Ichijo et al., 1998; Stonehouse and Pemberton, 1999). Knowledge management enablers include the methods of knowledge management, organizational structure, corporate culture, information technology, people, and strategies, etc. (Bennett and Gabriel, 1999; Zack, 1999; Davenport, 1997; Long, 1997). A study by Yu et al. (2007) identified a set of critical enablers such as knowledge management team activity, learning orientation, knowledge management system quality, and knowledge management reward for developing organizational capabilities of knowledge management. These critical enablers have a significant, positive influence on knowledge management performance. Research done by Yeh et al. (2006) concludes that strategy and leadership, corporate culture, people, and information technology are four of the enablers in knowledge management. They found that for the strategy and leadership enabler the most important part is to obtain the support of the top managers. For the corporate culture enabler, the important part is the forming of a culture of sharing but needs to be supplemented by information technology. For the people enabler, other than the training courses, the channels of learning and the incentive program for the employees are also key factors. As for the information technology enabler, the speedy search of knowledge for its re-use is becoming more and more important. In practice they discovered that the establishment of a dedicated unit is also a key enabler, and this enabler mainly plays the role of furthering knowledge management, taking communication, and coordinating with other departments as its duty. 2.2 Inhibitors to Knowledge Management The biggest inhibitor to knowledge management implementation arises from unwillingness of people to systematically organize their knowledge. Since, this cannot be solved with technology, different kinds of work are needed. Examples include the promotion of knowledge management amongst people, or requiring top management to give their people pressure to implement knowledge management (Yeh et al., 2006). Chatzoglou and Diamantidis (2009) conducted research that focused on the IT impact on firms non-financial IT risk. Their results indicate that IT risk factors affect mainly coordination and partially information ability but not productivity. Furthermore, the most significant risk factors affecting business performance are management ability, information integrity, controllability and exclusivity. Lin et al. (2005) suggest inhibitors in implementing the knowledge management arise out of strategic, perception, planning and implementation issues. The results of their research reveal that: From the strategic aspect, the upper management should address the enterprises strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats, and then formulate a suitable knowledge management strategy. Furthermore, they should be equipped with information about the activities and performance throughout the organization. From the perception aspect, the critical task of the top managers is to identify the core knowledge required to maintain competitive advantage. Employees and top managers work together for a common goal; thus, employee efforts can guarantee a successful implementation of the knowledge management. Therefore, an organization should provide suitable training and resources to the employees, and use information technology to provide a friendly repository to standardize and store knowledge. The organization should also establish an atmosphere emphasizing knowledge sharing and innovation and encouraging employees to form such a culture through a reward system. From the planning aspect, the action plan should include schedule, people involved and resources required, although it is difficult to transfer the necessary knowledge to the knowledge management plan due to non-standardization. Employees orientation toward knowledge management, including the awareness of the importance and benefits of knowledge management and IT skills for knowledge management process, should be completely addressed. Knowledge-oriented employee assessments can also fail if they are not linked closely to existing incentive systems. The company should take steps to build up the trust of the knowledge owners by associating knowledge sharing to pay and incentives. From the implementation aspect, a robust set of metrics that evaluates the value of the knowledge management after implementation will need to be developed. It is essential that the top managers instill in the employees the importance and benefits of knowledge management. Employees often fear that if they pass on their knowledge to others, they will endanger their own position, authority, even power in the organization. Training and communication are essential to calm down employees fears of change, and perhaps to help them to enjoy new ways of working with their colleagues. Thus, firms need to create the right circumstance around the organization, primarily in the areas of knowledge management activities and culture. Jennex and Zakharova (2005) suggest a holistic approach that addresses critical elements such as an effective technological infrastructure; integrating the technology infrastructure into everyday processes; having an enterprise-wide knowledge structure or taxonomy; a knowledge management strategy; knowledge management metrics of success and identification of inhibitors of knowledge usage. Lang (2001) identified several inhibitors to knowledge creation and utilization in organizations. First, there may be inadequate care of those organizational relationships that promote knowledge creation. Second, there may be insufficient linkage between knowledge management and corporate strategy. Thirdly, inaccurate valuation of the contribution that knowledge makes to organizations profits renders the value of knowledge management ambiguous. Fourthly, there may be a pervasive lack of holism in knowledge management efforts. Finally perhaps not something ordinarily considered a problem for managers to deal with -poor verbal skills may hinder the actual processes of knowledge creation. Plessis, (2007) feel that the management of the inhibitors to knowledge management would need to be a mix of cultural, organizational, process, management and technology initiatives. The challenge is to select and combine the methods and approaches available, and harness them to address the organizations business needs. 2.3 Critical Success Factors for Knowledge Management Generic critical success factors exist for knowledge management; however, each organizational environment and culture is unique and presents unique critical success factors. Co-creation with all relevant stakeholders is extremely important on this road to understand the organizational culture and idiosyncrasies well before embarking on a knowledge management journey, as far as possible. Critical success factors specific to an environment are, however, often only identified once the journey has started, and it is thus important for a knowledge management strategy to be flexible to take these factors into account. The end state will be different than the original strategy and roadmap for an organizational knowledge management implementation due to these unique critical success factors. Adaptability and flexibility to take unique critical success factors into account will therefore be a critical success factor in itself (Plessis , 2007). As asserted by Frey (2001), although large organizations have led the way in introducing and implementing knowledge management, it is increasingly important for small businesses to manage their collective intellect. Okunoye and Karsten (2002) stated that knowledge management has indeed become the underlying sources for successful organizations regardless of their size and geographical locations. Therefore, a better understanding of the CSFs for implementing it in SMEs is needed in order to ensure the success of their efforts. Wong, (2005) has grouped the critical success factors into a number of generic factors such as management leadership and support, culture, technology, strategy, measurement, roles and responsibilities, etc. These are common in knowledge management efforts and therefore, they are also believed to be applicable to SMEs. He suggests that one should also consider the needs and situations of SMEs when developing CSFs for them. Wong, (2005) proposes a comprehensive model for implementing knowledge management in SMEs. They are: management leadership and support; culture; IT; strategy and purpose; measurement; organizational infrastructure; processes and activities; motivational aids; resources; training and education; and HRM. Recently (He and Wei, 2009) discussed that Knowledge Management System users beliefs are contextually differentiated, and a distinction between knowledge contribution and knowledge-seeking behaviors and an adequate emphasis on their variance in terms of user belief is needed. Yang et al. (2009) identified crucial knowledge management enablers and examined their impacts on organizational performance. Chen et al. (2009) proposed an approach of measuring a technology universitys knowledge management performance from competitive perspective. Their approach integrates analytical network process with balanced scorecard that contains four perspectives, including customer perspective, internal business perspective, innovation and learning perspective, and financial perspective. Chang et al. (2009) investigates the key factors for knowledge management in the national government of Taiwan. Their study relied on two distinctive dimensions: core KM processes (organizational missions and values, IT applications, documentation, process management, and human resource) and KM performance (knowledge capture and transformation, business performance, and knowledge sharing and value addition). Wen (2009) developed an AHP model for the measurement of the effectiveness of Knowledge Management in Taiwanese high-tech enterprises. Thus, what emerges from the review of literature is the following: There are both enablers and inhibitors to knowledge management implementations in SMEs. Both enablers and inhibitors may be classified essentially into three broad categories technical, human, and financial. Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for knowledge management implementations are different for SMEs from that of large organizations. Critical Success Factors (CSFs) also depend on the management of the enablers and the inhibitors. Thus, it is beneficial for the SME to build a framework that would be used to prioritize the enablers and inhibitors towards a successful knowledge management initiative. For this reason we propose the AHP framework to prioritize influential factors contributing to a SMEs initiative towards the implementation of knowledge management. 3. Framework for Knowledge Management implementation Any successful managerial implementation requires management of enablers and the inhibitors. Similarly, in case of knowledge management it is important to have the information about the influential factors (enablers and inhibitors) for the successful implementation of knowledge management. Not all of the influential factors are equally important for the successful knowledge management. For this reason we have used the AHP framework for finding the importance of the influential factors. AHP has been widely used as an analytical tool for decisions related to knowledge management. Recent work by Wen (2009) in presenting an effectiveness measurement model for knowledge management using AHP is a contribution in this direction. In AHP the complex decision is structured into a hierarchy descending from an overall objective to various influential factors, sub-factors, and so on, until the lowest level. The objective or the overall goal of the decision is represented at the top level of the hierarchy. The factors and sub-factors contributing to the decision are represented at the intermediate levels. Finally, the decision alternatives or selection choices are laid down at the last level of the hierarchy. According to Saaty (2000), a hierarchy can be constructed by creative thinking, recollection, and using peoples perspectives. It should be noted that there is no set procedures for generating the levels to be included in the hierarchy. The structure of the hierarchy depends upon the nature or type of managerial decisions. Also, the number of the levels in a hierarchy depends on the complexity of the problem being analyzed and the degree of detail of the problem that an analyst requires to solve. As such, the h ierarchy representation of a system may vary from one person to another. In the present study the influential factors are determined via widespread investigations and consultations with various experts, and owner/managers of SMEs. Synthesizing the literature review from (Chang et al., 2009; Chatzoglou, and Diamantidis, 2009; Chen et al. 2009; He and Wei, 2009; Lai et al., 2009; Wen, 2009; Yang et al., 2009), the opinions of the experts and owner/managers are employed to obtain the two main factors: enablers and inhibitors. From these factors, 6 influential sub-factors for the successful implementation of knowledge management are briefly described as follows (refer to Figure 1 for complete hierarchical structure): Enablers (C1): This factor includes three sub-factors, C11: technical; C12: human; C13: financial. Inhibitors (C2): This factor includes three sub-factors, C21: technical; C22: human; C23: financial. According to the AHP methodology, weights (priorities) can be determined using a pair-wise comparison within each pair of factors. To determine the relative weights, owner/managers can be asked to make pair-wise comparisons using a 1-9 preference scale (Saaty, 2000). However, in the present study for the pair-wise comparison, we have relied on actual data, that is, the data extracted from the questionnaire survey. The advantage of using actual data (quantitative data) over preference scale for pair-wise comparison eliminates the need for consistency checks (Saaty, 2000). Technical Human Financial Enablers Inhibitors Successful Knowledge Management Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Figure 1: Framework for Successful Knowledge Management Implementation 4. Methodology Data Source: The research used both secondary and primary data. An extensive literature survey was undertaken, which helped in framing the questionnaire for the primary data collection. The focus of the study was on primary data. Research approach: The survey method was used for the study. Our primary data has been gathered using questionnaire technique. Our target population is all small firms in the National Capital Territory of Delhi (India) with turnover ranging from Rs. 50 million to Rs. 250 million and employment levels between 15 and 50 employees. Specifically, we are targeting the owners or top managers at these firms. For the purposes of this research, we used a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire included 60 questions in two sections such as: [A] Enablers to Knowledge Management [B] Inhibitors to Knowledge Management Contact Method: The questionnaires were sent via email and were telephonically followed up. Sample Size: Amongst the 4263 companies (as per Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Prowess database) that belonged to the criteria in the entire country, 1039 such companies were located in the National Capital Region of Delhi, which included New Delhi, Delhi, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and NOIDA. Due care has been taken to include only those companies that made the sample more representative thus, e-mail questionnaires were sent to 500 amongst these 1039 companies. 119 responses were received that formed the sample for the study. This is a 23.8% response rate, which is acceptable. Data Analysis: The data so collected were analyzed with the AHP techniques to arrive at weights (priorities). The following procedure has been adopted on the collected questionnaire survey data for pair-wise comparison of AHP. Firstly, we calculated the average value of 119 responses (preferences based on 5- point Likert scale) obtained for each question. These average values were calculated to describe the central location of an entire distribution of responses. Then for every said category we calculated the Composite Preference Value (out of 5) using the following relation: Composite Preference Value (CPF) = (Corrected Value à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Maximum Value) x 5 where, Calculated value = sum of the average values for the questions considered in a category. Maximum value = sum of the highest possible values that a respondent can choose for the questions considered in a category. 5. Research Findings The pair-wise comparison matrices showing the measure of each factors relative importance with respect to the overall objective of successful knowledge management is summarized in Table 1. For the pair-wise comparison of the factors and sub factors, we relied on inputs obtained from the survey. We consider two critical factors important for successful knowledge management: enablers and inhibitors. From the pair wise comparison the picture emerges that for successful knowledge management, enablers (50.86%) are marginally important over inhibitors (49.14%). The difference of relative importance being marginal suggests that enablers are important and inhibitors cannot be ignored. Thus it is important to harness the enablers about knowledge management and its associated benefits amongst owner/managers without loosing sight about the inhibitors for a successful knowledge management. Based on investigations and consultations with various experts and owner/managers of SMEs these critical factors (enablers and inhibitors) were further decomposed into three sub factors, namely, technical, human and financial for capturing reality (see Figure 1 for complete hierarchical structure). On pair-wise comparison of technical, human and financial sub factors corresponding to enablers; technical (37.07%) dominates the other sub factors, i.e. human (36.26%) and financial (26.67%). It implies that owner/managers of SMEs consider investments in technology as the ultimate solution to all problems. It may be noted that when the same technical, human and financial sub factors are compared pair-wise corresponding to inhibitors, financial sub factor (38.36%) dominates the other sub factors, technical (31.64%) and human (30.01%). The result suggests that financial considerations are predominant inhibitor towards embarking into knowledge management implementations. In what follows next, we use the bottom up approach to get the global relevance of technical, human and financial aspects towards successful knowledge management. Towards this we multiply the local relevance of technical, human and financial sub factors corresponding to their parent factors with the local relevance of the parent factors corresponding to overall objective, i.e. successful knowledge management. Finally, the obtained relevances of technical, human and financial aspects corresponding to the critical factors, i.e. enablers and inhibitors are added to get the global relevance. The results obtained for the global relevance of technical, human and financial aspects incorporating relevance of the critical factors, i.e. enablers and inhibitors; technical (34.40%) is most important followed by human (33.19%) and financial (32.41%). Owner/managers of SMEs need to prioritize their efforts towards successful knowledge management in terms of technical, human and financial aspects necessarily in that order: The owner/mangers of SMEs should work out strategies for successful knowledge management by optimizing the enablers aspect of technical sub factor while mitigating the inhibitors emerging out of the same sub factor. The owner/managers may focus on process improvement, system improvement, and business intelligence development on a priority basis. Simultaneously they should keep a watch on damage to knowledge infrastructure, copyright/patent infringement and data pilferage and theft. In terms of human sub factor the owner/managers should make necessary efforts to enhance employee competencies, satisfaction, and retention. At the same time they should endeavor to reduce employee turnover, corporate espionage and withdrawal of efforts on the part of the employees. Regarding financial sub factor the owner/managers should try their best to enhance return on investments on building knowledge infrastructure and promoting knowledge management practices while keeping operational costs under control. 6. Conclusion We have developed a hierarchical model for the implementation of successful knowledge management. In the proposed model, first we identified the influencing factors and sub factors for the implementation of successful knowledge management. For this we relied on critical literature review and opinion of experts, and owner/managers of SMEs. Survey has been conducted for getting responses of owner/managers towards the influential factors and sub-factors with a view to successfully implement knowledge management. Finally, these responses have been collated to find the composite preference value (CPF) used as weights for the pair-wise comparison of the factors and sub-factors in AHP. Based on the AHP results, we conclude the following for successful knowledge management in SMEs: Managing enablers and inhibitors are critical success factors for knowledge management in SMEs. Owner/managers need to harness the enablers but not be complacent towards inhibitors. Owner/managers consider technology implementation as a major enabler towards successful knowledge management. Owner/managers consider financial considerations as a major inhibitor towards successful knowledge management. Owner/managers need to prioritize their efforts towards successful knowledge management in terms of technical, human and financial aspects necessarily in that order The key thesis is that enablers of the knowledge management paradigm often unravel inhibitors in adapting and evolving knowledge management systems for business environments that are characterized by high uncertainty and radical discontinuous change. Specifically, the study identified the critical success factors as: process improvement, system improvement, and business intelligence, enhancing employee competencies, satisfaction, and retention, return on investments on building knowledge infrastructure. The study also identified that success cannot be achieved unless damage to knowledge infrastructure is prevented, copyright/patent infringement and data pilferage and theft is stopped, employee turnover, corporate espionage and withdrawal of efforts on the part of employees is reduced, and operational costs are under control. In the present study the model considered influential factors such as enablers and inhibitors. The subject of knowledge management being vast, many other factors may influence knowledge management besides the ones considered in the present study. Future research may be directed towards identifying several other influential factors with a view to identifying a comprehensive list of critical success factors for knowledge management. Also the present work has considered only the top down approach. Clear identification of influencing factors would need to consider a bottom up approach as well.