Sustainable Supply Chains

Introduction to Sustainable Supply Chains A supply chain is a system in organizations, technology, information, people, resources, and activities that involves moving a product or service from the supplier to the customer.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Sustainable Supply Chains specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Sustainable supply chains are supply chains with the ability of helping organizations to grow, protect, and create long term social, economic and environmental value for shareholders involved in bringing products and services to the market. Supply chain sustainability is the management of social, economic, and environmental impacts and the encouragement of practices of good governance through the lifecycle of services and goods. Sustainable supply chain management is the transparent and strategic achievement and integration of economic, environmental, and social goals in an organization in a systematic c oordination of key business inter-organizational processes for improving the economic performance on individual companies in the long term (Pullman, Maloni Carter, 2009). Sustainable supply chains are important to ensure that an organization complies with laws and regulations and to support and adhere to international principles for sustainable business conduct. Organizations adopt sustainable supply chain to reduce costs of operations in order to maximize profits. The organizations acquire the potential of satisfying the interests of stakeholders and the society. Examples of successful sustainable supply chains are those that practices of collaboration. An example of collaboration is â€Å"investment in alternative modes of transportation to reduce environmental impacts and cost of deliveries†.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Some of the modes of transportation inc lude airports, ships and canals. A successful sustainable supply chain is also in major components of management of supplier relationships. It is applied to create efficient way of cutting costs in the retail business (Krause, Vachon Klassen, 2009). For example, Wal-Mart has a Supplier Energy Efficiency Project that are aimed at emission elimination the company’s supply chain.The project’s suppliers â€Å"reduced 3300 metric tons of GHG emissions saving approximately $200,000 costs of energy in 2009†. The suppliers of Wal-Mart were requested its suppliers to show efficiency in management of environmental footprint as a measure of reducing cost and realize this benefit. This could save energy, time, and cost for the company. IBM has a sustainable supply chain in which it conducts studies annually to address the issues in its supply chain. The company prepares strategies to overcome global challenges that arise from globalization to create business value (Pagell Wu, 2009). Difference Between Traditional Supply Chains and Sustainable Supply Chains Have Created Competitive Advantage For OrganizationsAdvertising We will write a custom report sample on Sustainable Supply Chains specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When accurately designed, traditional or conventional supply chains present clientele the advantages of quality enhancement, reduced overheads, and rapid delivery. Sustainable supply chain offer reduced costs and create value in the supply chain. Supply chain managers face challenges of changes in requirements of expertise in today’s business long-term trends. Business trends in recent years involve increasing intensity of competition and demand in environmental protection, resource scarcity, and security arising from the ongoing globalization. Businesses have to adopt better business systems that have the potential of satisfying stakeholders and customers. This makes the tradi tional supply chain insufficient in the modern business world. Under the objectives of a variety performance, a new prototype of a more complicated supply chain is emerging that caters for the needs of sustainable and developing competitiveness. The main differences between the traditional and sustainable supply chain is that the traditional supply chain is a drive of prices and decouple strategically but the sustainable supply chain is a drive of value and couple strategically. This means that management and design of supply chains should deliver specific outcomes, such as security, sustainability, innovation, cost reduction, and resilience (Pagell, Wu Wasserma, 2010). Paulraj (2011) identified that sustainable supply chains create competitive advantage in businesses by managing risks, creating sustainable production, and realizing efficiencies.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Managing business risks minimizes disruptions in business from social, economic, and environmental impacts. Managing business risks also protects the brand value and reputation of the company. Companies can protect themselves from interruptions in their potential supply chains associated with labor, human rights, governmental practices, environmental practices, and suppliers’ human rights by ensuring that suppliers comply with management systems and programmes covering sustainable supply chain management principles. Managing risks ensures that a company has access to resources. A company with a sustainable supply chain has the potential of reducing future liability and additional costs. Therefore, companies with sustainable supply chains understand the different strategies to undertake to ensure productivity and efficiency. Realizing efficiencies occurs when sustainable supply chains reduce costs of energy, transportation, and material inputs. Realizing efficiencies also incr ease labor production and create efficiencies across the entire supply chain. Creating sustainable products involve meeting the requirements of business and customer partners and innovating to satisfy the changing market. A company can reduce costs of supply through creating strong health, safety, and labor practices, increasing the understanding of key processes in the supply chain, and designing systems and processes that reduce required inputs. Companies create competitive advantage through developing new products and improving existing products through collaborating with suppliers on sustainable issues that foster product innovation. Sustainable supply chain creates competitive advantage by providing understanding of the business value and incorporated ideas in the market by competitors. This is addresses as benchmarking against the competitors. Sustainable supply chain enables an understanding of customer, suppliers, and shareholder expectations creating maximum return on the i nvestments of the company. A sustainable supply chain creates a vision for the company providing direction of the company’s strategies and defining the company’s commitment to achieve competitive advantage. The company can evaluate and identify areas that need improvement to create competitive advantage (Reuter, Foerstl, Hartmann Blome, 2010). Challenges in Building Sustainable Supply Chains Supply chain managers face challenges because of the increase in the requirements of management expertise in the long-term trends of companies today. These trends include the increasing intensity of competition, ongoing globalization, environmental protection, resource scarcity, and the growing security demand in businesses. Businesses are also requiring cost efficient, flexible, and reliable business systems that have the capability of supporting customer differentiation. Modern supply chain managers have to confront complex and dynamic supply chains becoming difficult to predict developments and trends in the long term (Paulraj, 2011). Supply chain management has to come up with additional plans that extend beyond the operational scope of the current activities. Supply chain managers need to understand and identify the new sustainability issues in their businesses and company environment to respond to respond to the changes in the long term trends and to remain competitive. This challenges calls for international, global, and the fragmented supply chain to apply skills of networking and creating efficient supply chain operations that adapt to sustainable demands to create sustainable customer focused supply chains in the long term. This is because sustainable supply chains must be able to create sustainable competitive advantage (Pullman, Maloni Carter, 2009). Challenges of building sustainable supply chains can arise from the weak and non-built relationships of companies with suppliers. It becomes difficult for companies to form strong relationships with suppliers because some of the suppliers are untrustworthy in that they fail to deliver the quantity and quality paid by the company. The owners or managers have to inspect the suppliers, especially in cases in which the suppliers can corrupt the employees easily. Challenges can arise when the company has inadequate capital to pay the suppliers at the required time. The company can strain to pay the suppliers or the suppliers can reduce business relationships with the company. Challenges in building a sustainable supply chain can arise when the suppliers create inconsistencies in price and quality without providing notice to the purchasing enterprise. This means that this change would pass to the customers creating inefficiency in the supply chain (Reuter, Foerstl, Hartmann Blome, 2010). According to Pullman, Maloni and Carter (2009), challenges can arise when the suppliers have a poor record from the purchasing entity making it difficult for the purchasing enterprise to keep a tre nd of their suppliers in frequency of supply, quality of supply, and prices of supply. This makes it difficult for the purchasing enterprise to build a strong relationship with the supplier. Challenges in building sustainable supply chain can result from poor planning where the purchasing enterprise makes quick decisions on the supplier without taking time to understand the competence of the supplier. This makes it difficult for the supplier and the purchase enterprise to create good relationships when the problems in the supply chain begin to occur. Other challenges arise from unfair competition based on prices, high prices for poor quality of products, lack of customer records and statistics, and interpersonal challenges, such as religious differences, race, and social status. Cases of corruption can arise from the purchase enterprises to suppliers passing on the costs through price increments on the customers. Corruption destroys the sustainability in the supply chains. Challenge s can arise from changes in government levies and taxes. Government taxes and levies affect cost of operations to both the suppliers and the purchasing enterprises leading to additional costs that have to depict in changes in the quantity, quality, and prices of products and services in the market. These changes affect the satisfaction of the shareholders and customers forcing them to shift to competitors. The company profits and resources decrease leading to collapse of some of the supply chains (Pagell Wu, 2009). Management Implications to the Importance and Challenges in Building Sustainable Supply Chains Various enterprises strive to build positive public relations to improve image and reputation essential for attracting and maintaining potential and competent suppliers and customers. A company can improve the nature and frequency of communication to customers and suppliers to maintain or improve sustainable supply chains. Some enterprises offer promotional items and credit to customers in efforts to build strong relationships for sustainable supply chains. Business enterprises reduce prices below that of competitors and improve quality of products to attract customers. This is difficult because cost of production match prices, quantity, and quality and reducing the prices means that the quality or quantity will decline. Enterprises have difficult time managing sustainable supply chains with prices, especially when the business has obligation of satisfying the stakeholders, customers and suppliers (Paulraj, 2011). According to Reuter, Foerstl, Hartmann and Blome (2010), business enterprises provide quality and unique services to loyal customers and suppliers to attract and maintain them. This action strengthens their relationships making it easy to build a sustainable supply chain. This has been possible through creation of clubs, especially in retail shops and food points (Lamp, 2011). Enterprises result to supporting sporting events, channels, and teams to nurture prestige and good reputation of businesses. Businesses offer sponsorships and donations to the society to attract the attention and interest in the members in the supply chain. Business enterprises also offer newspapers and special seats to the members of the supply chain to ensure good relationships and image. Businesses enterprises have also put extra efforts in building sustainable supply chains by paying its suppliers promptly and involving the suppliers and customers in their business and personal functions and initiatives. For example, Unilever is multinational company that earns annual revenue of more than $50 billion in approximately 400 brands. It sources from 100000 non-production suppliers and 10000 suppliers of raw materials. The company approximately purchases 3% of the world’s palm oil and 6% of the world’s black tea (Krause, Vachon, Klassen, 2009). Securing sustainable supply chains is critical for sustaining growth and the success of the bu siness in the future. The company has developed tangible benefits in business through sustainable supply chains. The company invests resources and time in building strong relationships with suppliers, customers, and stakeholders. The company achieves this by providing good wage incomes, managing environmental issues, such as climate change and waste, and ensuring good working conditions in the supply chains. Unilever’s ability to maintain sustainability in chain of supply helps in creating cost efficiency in the company operations, improve company’s reputational image, and assist in securing and stabilizing business long-term operations.. Unilever has created competitive advantage successfully through building sustainable supply chains (Pagell, Wu Wasserma, 2010). References Krause, D., Vachon, S., Klassen, R. (2009). Special topic forum on sustainable supply chain management: introduction and reflections on the role of purchasing management. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 45(4), 18-25. Lamp, C. (2011). Essentials of marketing. New York, NY: Cengage Learning. Pagell, M. Wu, Z. (2009). Building a more complete theory of sustainable supply chain management using case studies of 10 exemplars. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 45(2), 37-56. Pagell, M., Wu, Z., Wasserma, M. (2010). Thinking differently about purchasing portfolios: an assessment of sustainable sourcing. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 46(1), 57-73. Paulraj, A. (2011). Understanding the relationships between internal resources and capabilities, sustainable supply management and organizational sustainability. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 47(1), 19-37. Pullman, M., Maloni, M., Carter, C. (2009). Food for thought: social versus environmental sustainability practices and performance outcomes. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 45(4), 38-54. Reuter, C., Foerstl, K., Hartmann, E., Blome, C. (2010). Sustainable global supplier management: the role of dynamic capabiliti es in achieving competitive advantage. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 46(2), 45-63. This report on Sustainable Supply Chains was written and submitted by user Camila Harvey to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Definition of Japanese Hontou, or Really

Definition of Japanese Hontou, or Really Those of us for whom English is our first language might not realize how much we use the word really in everyday conversations. Often, someone will tell us a startling fact or make a somewhat surprising statement and the natural response is, Really? There are many ways to say the word really for speakers of Japanese. One of the most common ways is  hontou. Writing and Saying Hontou Japanese Characters: æÅ" ¬Ã¥ ½â€œÃ£â‚¬â€š (㠁 »Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¨Ã£ â€ Ã£â‚¬â€š)Pronunciation of Hontou. Other Ways to Say Really? hontou ni: Really, however, there is a stronger emphasis on the ni so it tends to be a stronger version of the word in verbal and written form. Examples of really in a Japanese formal conversation are: Hontou ni hajimete desu ka? (Is it really your first time?); Hontou ni yoku nite iru! (She’s really like you!); Hontou ni sono saabisu wa tadadesuka? (So is your service really free?).hontou desu ka: Are you sure? can be used in  place of hontou in formal situations.  Hontou desu ka allows you to express more doubt when saying really? in Japanese.sou desu ka: Is that so? or Are you sure?hontoudesu: It is true, or It is a fact.honki: Really. Hon means true, and ki means spirit or state of being. Example: Honki desu ka? (Are you serious?) Resources and Further Reading â€Å"Hontou?† Nihongo De Care-Navi, Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, 2019.â€Å"Question to Teacher: HONTOU versus HONTOUNI.† Japanese From Zero, Yes Japan, 17 July 2009.

Military Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Military Strategy - Essay Example In the case of the War on Terror by the United States and its allies, non-state actors refer to organisations actively pursuing or having war with the United States. There are a number of these organisations which involve themselves in terrorism in trying to attain their objectives, for example Hezbollah and al-Qaeda. These two are called non-state actors because they are organisations whose aims are far higher than the aims of normally recognized nation-states. And they pursue their goals through terrorism like suicide bombings, sabotage and all sorts of creating panic and fear against their enemies. In the current controversy over Iran’s nuclear programme in which Iran categorically denies that it is building nuclear weapons, various scenarios can happen. As a deterrent, the United States wants to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities. Now Iran is trying to close the Strait of Hormuz, to block the flow of commerce in the region. But when the United States stops Iranâ€⠄¢s blockage of this important sea channel, it can push through and go as far as bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities. As the US bombs Iran, Iran will instruct Hezbollah to conduct suicide bombing against Israel but US bombing will force Iran to stop Hezbollah from retaliating. Hezbollah, a militant organisation whose aims are for the advancement of the Palestinian people who are living along the Gaza Strip in Israel, may or may not provoke Israel. This is because Iran can stop it to continue attacking Israel through suicide bombing while at the same time convincing the US to stop the bombing. But it is a different story with Hezbollah in the field of battle. Hezbollah can be deterred only when it concerns the Palestinians. On the other hand, if groups like the al Qaeda were given the chance to possess nuclear weapons, they won’t hesitate to use these weapons against America or the United Kingdom, and Israel. Terrorist groups may not anymore be content of killing thousand s of Americans or the enemies they call ‘infidels’, but millions, and they use the Quran to justify their murderous desire. Deterrence is the only way wherein the United States and its allies can stop these terrorists. And deterrence means looking after every terrorist ‘cell’, which is just waiting for the right time to move and pull the trigger. Iran and other terrorist groups have long desired to manufacture nuclear weapons. The only way this can be stopped is through deterrent actions. Al-Qaeda has been stopped – at least temporarily – with the killing of their leader Osama bin Laden. An example of deterrent is denying rights to suspected terrorists. Rosenberg cites an instance wherein Homeland Security denied suspected terrorists entry into the U.S. and that action actually saved lives. There was this guy who was stopped from entering the U.S. border because an agent didn’t feel that he was legitimate. The U.S. Homeland Security fou nd, two years later, that he was a suicide bomber. His hands were found attached to the steering wheel after a suicide truck bombing in Iraq. The U.S. authorities in Iraq took the fingerprints from those hands and ran them through the Homeland Security database to see who he was. They identified the man and confirmed that he had tried to enter U.S. territories but had been refused (Rosenberg 137). 2. War Termination   It s said that when a war ends, there are no victors, only losers. The metaphor to this saying is that both sides are

Compare and Contrast Wilde and Hardy's Presentation of the Fallen Coursework

Compare and Contrast Wilde and Hardy's Presentation of the Fallen Woman - Coursework Example He depicts the type of woman Tess portrays by putting it her description in the story. In a very good manner, he uses narration to highlight facts about women. Hardy provokes more sympathy through his portrayal of Tess than Wilde because of the systematic way he shows her suffering. First, Tess is in a relationship that she expects to work out, but has a secret that when revealed can destroy the relationship. Hardy explains the way Alec got hold of Tess while in the woods and molested her without caring about the consequences2. Hardy could have chosen to minimize the suffering for this woman, but instead adds on more. Angel, Tess partner, leaves for Brazil on realizing that she was raped leaving her without somebody to nurse her wounded heart. Tess wishes that Alec was a lusty young farmer instead of being that entire Angel hated. Probably, the idea of being just a farmer would have lessened Angel’s heart into forgiving her. Peak of emotional sympathy happens when she had to g et executed for murdering Alec. In my opinion, she deserved to get pardoned because her actions towards Alec were based on the pain she felt and the pain he had caused her. Hardy brings more sympathy in the way he portrays Tess as the neglected woman. She is left to give birth in her village despite that her child is of a very wealthy man. Despite having just delivered, she has to ensure her survival by working as a field hand which leads to the death of her child. Hardy ensures that Tess’ misfortunes are elaborated in a narrated way. On the other hand, Wilde uses a number of characters to portray a fallen woman. The main character could be Mrs. Arbuthnot since she holds a dark secret of how she failed to stop her affair with the lord master. Her affair led to the emergence of a son out of wedlock. Wilde’s character does not provoke a lot of sympathy since; she has acquired a respectable name and lives a good life. Mrs. Allonby has had a lot of controversies in her lif e resulting to a flirtatious lady. Miss Hester can be used to portray a fallen woman since she is an orphan and has had to witness the shortcomings of life, despite being an heiress3. In addition, Jane can be identified as an indication of a fallen woman in the piece because the way she argues her points. Her arguments depict a woman of great ignorance and lack of education. Tess is used to show the different suffering women undergo and the how painful events can concurrently occur in a person’s life4. Hardy uses her to show the different ways in which women are treated in the society. During a conversation with Alec, Tess tries to bring out her own thinking about theology by rejecting sign writers words of condemnation. Her argument is purely ignored Hardy simply because he thought her agnosticism could be attributed to just a replication of angels. The fact that Tess’ ideas are not made up to something shows how the author used Tess to depict women in certain societi es. In contrast, Mrs. Arbuthnot is a woman who lost her husband but has gained a lot of respect from the people of her village. Her respect s earned from helping the poor and her neglect to associate with various people in social gatherings. Tess is identified as woman with sixth grade training in understanding and reproducing arguments. She seems intelligent and could have prospered as teacher if she was given a chance. This proves

Is There Life Off Earth Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Is There Life Off Earth - Term Paper Example But even it is taken for granted that on some planets in this universe, there prevails an environment like the one on the earth, one cannot be sure of the existence of life on those planet. This paper will devise an experiment to test whether any form of life as defined on Earth could prosper on Mars. This experiment will be conveyed mainly by the theoretical assessment of the possibility of life on Mars. Traditional search for life on Mars as well as in the universe is centered on the quest whether Mars can provide essential conditions of life. These conditions are to be the same as they are required for the survival of life on Earth. In order to life to exist on Mars, scientists suggest that the planet must have water. But the temperature of the planet must not be high enough to evaporate the water. Therefore, liquidity of water must be preserved in order to initiate the existence of life (Stewart 39). This opinion of the scientists is greatly influenced by the hydro-evolutionary theory that asserts that life on Earth has been initiated from the movement of water in the ocean. Also in order to sustain life, Mars must have the availability of elements like carbon and nitrogen, so that the unary organic system like cells can grow easily. At the same time, the planet should have an apparently congenial environment that can sustain life as well as preserve each its evolutionary steps. The question whether Mars can provide the conditions of life is totally based on empirical science. With a highest -600 C temperature that is slightly higher that the lowest -800 C temperature of the Antarctic region, the environment of Mars is supposed to be hostile for most of the microorganism organisms as well as other forms of earthly life. Also having a gravitational force, 38 percent of that of Earth, it has a thin layer atmosphere, .7% of Earth’s atmosphere. Even though there are other dissimilarities,

Post Modernism To Sociological Understanding Sociology Essay

Post Modernism To Sociological Understanding Sociology Essay Important contributions to sociological thinking about postmodernism emerged from several academics, some of whom considered themselves postmodernists and others who did not. This essay will discuss the origins of postmodernism and its views and focus primarily on the works of Jean-Franà §ois Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard and poststructuralist Michel Foucault. In addition to this, criticisms of their work and their influences within social theory shall be analysed. Postmodernism developed as a reaction to the inadequacies of the eighteenth century Enlightenment movement which held views about scientific positivism, the search for absolute truth, ultimate meaning and the nature of reality using rationality. Postmodernists are anti-essentialist and argue that an absolute scientific truth has been discredited as truths are multiple and always changing. The belief is that people no longer rely on science. In support of this, Fulcher Scott (2003) argue that in 1962, Thomas Kuhn suggested that science creates its facts instead of providing given facts. He argued that scientists collaborated with other researchers who shared particular concepts and methods in common to bring about factual knowledge; Kuhn claims this tells scientists what to find in experiments and help explain observations that do not match their preconceived ideas. This view was developed further by Lyotard, which shall be discussed in more detail (Haralambos Holborn, 2004). It is argued that the postmodern society is associated with pluralism, difference, uncertainty and cultural relativism as there is a vast choice of interpretations of the world surrounding humans. Moreover, individualism reigns and people find it difficult to form a real identity making them anxious and insecure (Jones et al. 2011, Giddens 2006, Bilton et al.2002, Connolly 2013, Boyne Rattansi, 1990). Therefore, postmodernists stress for the need for local knowledge produced out of particular locations (Macionis Plummer, 2nd edn). Jean- Francois Lyotard  (1995) stated I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives. This incredulity is undoubtedly a product of progress in the sciences. This rejection of metanarratives is related to the postmodernist idea that there is no social theory that can provide absolute sociological knowledge. Meta-narratives which are big stories that seek to find the objective truth about society, provided by the likes of Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx who attempt to explain the social world in its entirety have been abandoned, as suggested by Lyotard. This involves scepticism towards the idea of history moving in the direction of progress, freedom and reason (Beyer 1992, Connolly 2013, Ritzer,). Lyotard uses the concept of language- games. He argues that language is problematic as it does not provide a map for reality. With positivism however, language is considered to be a natural outlet to describe observations but postmodernists reject this notion as there are too many meanings for one word which are in constant flux. Lyotard argues that the Enlightenment brought about scientific denotative games whereby scientific statements are scrutinised by other scientists and rational argument is used to establish whether a statement should be accepted or rejected. The belief is that science can help humans to become more self-conscious. However, Lyotard rejects this view and argues that nowadays statements are judged not by whether they are true or not, but whether they are useful and efficient or not (Connolly 2013, Haralambos Holborn, 2004). On the other hand, Giddens (2006) argues that Jean Baudrillard sees society as characterised by simulations and hyper reality. The creation of simulacra attempt to reproduce reality and hype reality is a description of the social world in which simulations and simulacra become real and predominate. Society is dominated by media, technology and information which have created an empty world. Appignanesi et al. (2004) suggest that Baudrillard argues that this has reversed Marxs theory that economic forces shape society. Instead, society is influenced by a constant flux of meaningless signs and images. Meaning is now created by the flow of images such as in TV programmes, pop music and so forth. Individuals now respond to media images rather than to real people or places. These provide impermanent multiples of reality to consume (Haralambos Holborn, 2004, Kirby 2000, Agger, 1991 and Giddens 2009). Jones et al. (2011) argue that this breakdown between reality and knowledge is part of peo ples knowledge in the postmodern world as suggested by Baudrillard. He calls this the dissolution of life into TV (cited in Giddens, 2006: 115). In addition he states, TV watches us, TV alienates us, TV manipulates us, and TV informs us (Haralambos Holborn, 2004, p. 976). Baudrillard is pessimistic about the future and does not believe in socialism as suggested by Marx. He views the masses as being gradually more passive. Thus, life is led toward nihilism (Ritzer, 2008). In contrast, Lyotard is optimistic about these new changes. Unfortunately, Baudrillards work has been criticised for being highly abstract and relies upon examples to illustrate arguments (Haralambos Holborn, 2004). Alternatively, associated with post structuralism is Michel Foucault who incorporated a variety of theoretical insights, particularly from Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche. Like Nietzsche, he was particularly interested in the relationship between power and knowledge. Foucault pays particular attention to the techniques that are developed from scientific knowledge and how they are used by various institutions to exert power over people via surveillance, enforcement and discipline. His work is known as Foucaults archaeology where he sets about making sense of the familiar by looking into the past. He sees history moving from one system of domination based on knowledge to another. He suggests that there is no history but a multiple, overlapping and interactive series of legitimate vs. excluded histories. One example he suggests is that there are increases in the ability of the sane and their agents such as psychologists to oppress and repress the mad, who initially used to be viewed t o possess a gift (Ritzer 2008, Marsh et al. 2009, Giddens, 2006, Macionis Plummer 2002, Jones et al. 2011, Appignanesi et al. 2004). This means that what counts as true, morally right is relative to a particular time, place and power struggle; truth changes according to whoever is powerful enough to define it (Jones et al. 2011). Foucault developed the concept of discourse by drawing upon the work of Claude Levi-Strauss who argued that language originates in the unconscious human mind. Furthermore, culture is also the creation of the same unconscious thought processes. Culture is therefore like language. Thus there is nothing in social life that is a result of the creation of the imaginative mind. Human beings are not the authors of their life stories as these are written for them in language and in culture which exist independently of individuals. Therefore social reality is defined by structural influences as a system of language external to the actor. This link between thought, language, knowledge and action Foucault summarizes with the phrase discursive practises (Jones et al, 2011). Fulcher and Scott (2003) argue that Foucault and Lyotards works are often linked as they both reject the idea that there are constraining structures in social life and recognise fragmentation and diversity in cultural and social life. Foucaults writings have been influential in furthering research into power and knowledge across the social sciences (Ritzer, 2008). His approach to analysing the relationship between truths, meaning and power has shaped the theoretical and research agendas of the social sciences Jones et al. (2011) (p. 128). Moreover, Agger argued that Foucault has made direct empirical contributions to social sciences where he has studied the discourse/practices of prisons (1977) and sexuality (1978). This research supports his argument. Overall, postmodernism is criticized for being untestable, superficial, fragmented, relativistic, abstract and lacking depth. A consequence of this is that people are unable to make sense of an increasingly complex society. In addition to this, Giddens (1990 cited in Bilton et al. (2002) argues that the postmodernist account of contemporary society is contradictory because Lyotard and Baudrillards arguments are based on uncertainty. Furthermore, Giddens criticises postmodernist approaches for rejecting the notion that humans are creative agents with an active part in shaping their social worlds. The view that an absolute break with past has occurred, as suggested by Baudrillard, has been solidly rejected by most sociologists, as he was unable to identify the point of separation between modernity and postmodernity or provide a clear account of the move into postmodern society. This inadequacy may have led sceptical sociologists like Giddens (1991) and Beck (1999) to go for terms such as late modernity to describe the social changes representative of contemporary society. Other criticisms by Greg Philo and David Miller suggest postmodernisms inability to account for social causation and the implication of factors such as the economy. Instead, the focus was only on surface portrayals of social change and missing the impact of deep social structures and growing inequalities which should not be ignored within sociology. Moreover, Philo and Miller argue that Baudrillard is said to pretend as though media images have no connection with reality at all. In their research, they found that media audiences are well aware of the difference between reality and TV images. Philo and Miller abandon the postmodern impression that people are free to consume, do as they wish and recreate identities as they please. They believe that people are still very much inhibited and shaped by structures such as the capitalist economy. Postmodernists ignore that culture is shaped by the capit alist economy (Haralambos Holborn, 2004). Another criticism is brought forward by Jà ¼rgen Habermas who rejects the arguments of postmodernism notion that it is impossible to understand the social world rationally (Kirby, 2000). Nevertheless, the biggest contribution of postmodernism may lie in its methodological approach in denying both the search for absolute truths and an emphasis on finding the foundations of social occurrences. Instead, the postmodern approach suggests that the influence of authority and power need to be analysed in social theory, with the intention of concentrating on the uncovered social conditions of marginalised groups of society (Ritzer, 1997). Additionally, Agger argues that postmodern approaches have been effective critiques of positivism, interrogating taken for granted assumptions about science. However, postmodernism has not produced a concrete version to replace positivist classical theories. In conclusion, Foucault has shown through his studies how knowledge was historically established through his concept of discourses. Baudrillards analysis has been suggested to possibly enhance research in the social sciences on culture and the media (Agger, 1991) and Lyotard has shown how science is just one of the many discourses currently in power to control people.

Teaching Philosophy :: Education Educating Teacher Essays

Teaching Philosophy The most important impact I want to have on students is that they remember me as a teacher who cares about their education. I want to leave an impact on each child’s life. My motivation to teach comes from a desire to help others and see student’s excitements as they learn new concepts. I believe teaching is my way to make a positive difference for each of my students. My approach to teaching is based on the belief that my purpose at any school is to serve the students. I will focus on the long-term best interests of each student. Serving students begins with respecting them as an individual who can make worthwhile contributions to my learning and others’ learning. This type of respect also leads to taking a personal interest in my students so they know that I value them. Serving students goes beyond just teaching them the facts of economics of how to think and learn. It means challenging them to be successful and excel in anything they accomplish. A prerequisite for good teaching is a solid understanding and thorough knowledge of the subject area. As I want my students to respect me, I desire to earn their respect by having something valuable to teach them. I will use my knowledge of real life experiences in the subject area I will teach. To me the overall purpose of education is to get win the battle with getting the students to be motivated in doing their best in school. For the students to develop an interest in a subject to learn it well and the primary source of that interest comes from the enthusiasm of the teacher. I believe that my passion for teaching will allow me to motivate my students to learn any difficult material. I will model this attitude by learning from my students in the classroom, showing that they have things to teach me. To make the best use of my classroom time I as a teacher need to know what strategies to apply to promote good classroom management. The following are the methods I would apply to my classroom: . Using rewards and reinforcements . Understanding my student’s level of learning